Homeland Security News

At least 21 people were killed on Friday as Libyan army soldiers believed to be loyal to a rogue general clashed with Islamist militants in the eastern city of Benghazi, medical sources said.  It is the first time that national army units backed by war planes have attacked Islamist militias with no apparent orders from the Libya's central government, Associated Press reported.

Fighter jets and helicopters, under the command of Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a former rebel chief in the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi, flew over Benghazi, the sources said.  On the ground, Hifter's troops besieged the bases of the Rafallah al-Sahati, which is led by an Islamist commander, and a militia known as February 17, the officials said.  Hifter's forces fired missiles at February 17's base in the attack, the officials added.

The former spokesman of the joint security committee of Benghazi, Mohammed al-Hegazi, told Libyan television station Al-Ahrar that some military units joined Hifter and his forces in their fight against the Islamist militia.  He said the operation, called the “Dignity of Libya,” include air forces and special forces.  Al-Hegazi said Hifter's forces now controlled the two militia bases.

Libyan Prime minister-designate Abdullah al-Thini appeared on TV condemning terrorism but warning against any military action outside the government’s control.  “There is no place for terrorism in Libya, but any military action without clear government orders is illegitimate,” al-Thini told a news conference in Tripoli.

Read more: al-Arabiya

The deputy leader of a al Qaeda-allied jihadist group that is led by commanders from the Caucasus and other former Soviet republics has called for Ukrainian Muslims to wage jihad against the Russia government.  Abdul Karim Krymsky, the deputy emir of Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar [the Army of the Emigrants and Helpers, or Muhajireen Army], said that Crimean Tatars and Ukrainian Muslims should "start on the path of jihad." Krymsky made the statement in a video where he appeared with Salahuddin Shishani (the Chechen), the emir of the Muhajireen Army.

The video was obtained and partially translated by From Chechnya to Syria, a website that tracks fighters from the Caucasus and Central Asia who are waging jihad in Syria. The video was first published on May 13 by Akhbar Sham, a Russian-language website that promotes the Muhajireen Army.  "You have to open up lands yourselves and defeat the infidels," Krymsky, a Crimean Tatar, says.

"We see now that Muslims, Tatars, who went to Crimea and Ukraine have reached such a level of humiliation while here [in Syria] Muslims are proud and walk around freely and we simply see the difference in that," he continues. Krymsky then says that fighters in the Crimea who cannot emigrate to wage jihad should do so at home or in "Moscow or Poland." Crimea, a region in Ukraine, was annexed by force by the Russian government this spring.

Read more: Long War Journal

Two explosions have struck the Gikomba market area of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, killing at least four people and injuring scores, officials say.  It is not clear what caused the blasts but Kenya has been hit by a spate of attacks in recent years.  They have mostly been blamed on the al-Shabab militant Islamist group from neighbouring Somalia.

Hundreds of British tourists have been evacuated from the coastal resort area of Mombasa amid warnings of an attack.  British tourist companies have suspended flights to Mombasa, Kenya's second largest city.

The Kenyan National Disaster Operation Centre said the first blast occurred in a minibus, the second in the large open-air Gikomba market.

Read More:  BBC News

Hundreds of UK tourists are being evacuated from parts of the Kenyan coast, after the Foreign Office warned of a "high threat" from terrorists.

Tour operators Thomson and First Choice cancelled all flights to Mombasa until October and said some 400 holidaymakers would be flown back as a precaution.  The FCO advised against non-essential travel to areas within 37 miles of the Kenya-Somali border and Nairobi.

The main threat has been linked to the militant Islamist al-Shabab group.  The FCO's warning against non-essential travel covered the Mombasa Island area, Kiwayu and coastal areas north of Pate Island, the Garissa district, the Eastleigh area of Nairobi and the slum areas of the Kenyan capital.

Read More:  BBC News

Despite apparently reducing illicit purchases that breach U.N. sanctions, Iran is pursuing development of ballistic missiles, a confidential U.N. report says, posing an acute challenge to six powers negotiating with Tehran to rein in its nuclear program.  On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile program. He decreed mass production of ballistic weapons, striking a defiant tone just before nuclear talks resumed on Wednesday in Vienna.

The high-stakes negotiations aim for a deal by a July 20 deadline to end a long stand-off that has raised the risk of a wider Middle East war.

Tehran's often repeated view that missiles should not be part of the nuclear talks appears to enjoy the support of Russia, one of the six global powers.

Read More: Reuters