Homeland Security News

At least 16 people were killed and 41 wounded on Monday in a suicide bomb attack on a crowded cafe in Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, part of the worst wave of violence in Iraq in around five years.  Two roadside bombs - one planted near a playground and another near a school - also killed six people and wounded dozens, some of them children, in the town of Muqdadiya, 80 km northeast of the capital.

Those blasts underlined a shift in tactics by suspected Islamist militants, who are increasingly targeting not only military checkpoints and marketplaces, but also cafes and recreational areas used by families and children.

The latest bloodshed came as al Qaeda claimed responsibility for weekend bombings across Iraq which killed dozens of people during Eid al-Fitr, the festive end to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, heightening fears of even wider sectarian slaughter.

Read more:  Reuters

A Florida teen accused of conspiring to aid al-Qaida has pleaded not guilty in federal court.

Shelton Thomas Bell, from Jacksonville, entered the not guilty pleas Monday to two federal counts of trying to provide material support to terrorists.

An indictment says Bell, 19, planned to join Ansar Al-Sharia, which is an alias for al-Qaida in the Middle East region. The group has taken responsibility for attacks on Yemeni forces, including a suicide bombing during a parade in May 2012, That attack killed more than 100 Yemeni soldiers.

Investigators say Bell participated in physical, firearm and other training in Florida to prepare for armed conflict. Bell is also accused of soliciting others to travel overseas with him to train.

Read more: CBS Miami

Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), vowed on Monday that imprisoned members of the terror network would be freed.  Wuhayshi, a former aide to al-Qaeda’s late founder Osama bin Laden, tunneled his way out of prison to become head of AQAP in 2007, according to AFP news agency.  In July 2011, Wuhayshi pledged allegiance to Bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Monday's message comes after an attack by “Al-Qaeda elements” at a gas export terminal in Yemen on Sunday, which killed five soldiers, a military source told AFP.  His group is at the heart of the latest U.S. security alert which has prompted Washington to keep its embassy in Sana’a closed.  A wave of U.S. drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen that has killed 38 people since July 28, according to AFP.

Read more: al-Arabiya