Homeland Security News

The Islamic State group (IS) announced the launch of its own currency in a video posted online at the weekend, saying it would release Muslims from “enslavement by satanic banks”.  The jihadist group showcased its gold, silver and copper coins in an hour-long video released on Saturday, touting the “return of the Gold Dinar” – a currency originally used in the early days of Islam.  The announcement comes two months after IS first released pictures of the new currency it planned to use in the so-called “Caliphate”, a territory carved out of vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.  It marks another step in the group’s efforts to establish itself as a functioning state.

The IS group already boasts of its own territory, armed forces, services (including schools and hospitals), and judicial system. It also raises taxes – the “jizzieh, imposed on religious minorities – in the areas it controls.

FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr, an expert on jihadist networks, said the currency’s launch followed a double imperative for the IS group, which has amassed a war chest of millions of dollars through tax collection, seizing oil refineries, smuggling and kidnappings for ransom.

Read more:  France24

Over the past year, Islamic State (ISIS) militants have embarked on an unstoppable rampage of destruction of some of the greatest ancient sites in the world.  Most recently, the terrorist organization destroyed a Baalshamin temple in Palmyra, Syria—just weeks after publicly beheading Professor Khaled al-Assaad, the archaeologist who had looked after Palmyra's ruins for four decades.  Irina Bokova, the director-general of UNESCO, said in a statement the destruction of the temple was “a new war crime” that “reveals the true intent of such attacks, which is to deprive the Syrian people of its knowledge, its identity and history.”

In the wake of this destruction, reports emerged warning that ISIS is selling looted antiquities.  Just last week, the FBI alerted US art collectors and dealers that artifacts plundered by ISIS have now entered the marketplace.  “We now have credible reports that US persons have been offered cultural property that appears to have been removed from Syria and Iraq recently,” said Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, manager of the FBI’s Art Theft Program.

The one-page flyer issued by the FBI asks US art and antiquities market leaders to spread the word that preventing illegally obtained artifacts from reaching the market may help prevent the financing of Islamist militants through the sale of plundered artifacts.  In particular, the flyer urged due diligence in purchasing any antiquities from the region, paying special attention to an object’s origin.

Read more: Homeland Security Today

A car bomb went off in Libya's capital Tripoli on Monday in front of the headquarters of Mellitah, an oil and gas joint venture between Italy's ENI and Libyan state oil firm NOC, witnesses said.  Residents said there were no casualties. A Reuters reporter said there were smashed windows and damaged doors.  In a text message, an ENI spokesman played down the extent of the damage. "Nobody wounded and no significant damage to the office buildings," he said.

ENI is still active in Libya, a major oil producer gripped by chaos and fighting. Like other Western companies, it has withdrawn expatriate staff.

Mellitah's biggest asset, El Feel oilfield, has been closed for months due to a protest by local security guards. The Wafa oil and gas field and its offshore operations are still working.  There was no immediate claim of responsibility.  Militants loyal to Islamic State have claimed a string of killings of foreigners as well as attacks on embassies and oilfields in Libya.

Islamic State militants have exploited chaos in the North African country, where two governments allied to a host of armed groups are fighting for control four years after the ousting of veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi.

News source: Reuters

Brian Cannon, 37, Terry Peace, 47, and Cory Williamson, 29, have been sentenced for conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in attacks against federal government agencies. The defendants planned to attack critical infrastructure while motivating militia groups in other states to rise up and join them in removing government officials who they believed had exceeded their Constitutional power.

“In this case, anti-government ideology and rhetoric morphed into dangerous extremism and led these defendants to arm themselves and travel to a meeting to pick up pipe bombs and other explosives intended for attacks,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn of the Northern District of Georgia. “The attacks planned by the defendants, while rare, posed a serious threat to not only the safety of our public servants, but also all other members of the community.”

“This case illustrates the FBI’s commitment in preventing attacks instead of responding to their aftermath,” said Special Agent in Charge J. Britt Johnson for the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office. “The convictions and now federal sentencing of these individuals on conspiracy charges again represents that the juries and courts understand this shift in the law enforcement mindset in dealing with individuals or groups that wish to bring harm to the public or those who serve the public.”

Read more: Homeland Security News Wire

According to Ellicott City resident Angie Kozlowski, many people were taught to stop, drop and roll at a young age if their clothing were ever to catch on fire.  "I can talk to anyone who grew up in this country who is my age, or maybe younger, and ask, 'If your clothing caught on fire, what would you do?'" Ellicott City resident Angie Kozlowski said. "Every person would say, 'You stop, drop and roll.'"

But, as the number of active shootings, bombings and other forms of domestic terrorism rise, Kozlowski said its time for citizens to learn to "run, hide, fight," educating the citizens on what to do if they find themselves in the middle of tragedy.  "A lot more people are having their worlds shattered by violence with mass shootings than ever," Kozlowski said. "If I'm just the random person in the supermarket or in the movie theater, I don't have that benefit of [knowing what to do]."

That's why Kozlowski joined the National Center for Citizen Safety, working to close "the gap in the education and public awareness" in schools, businesses and other gathering places and potentially save lives. As an effort to raise funds for survivor programs, the nonprofit organization is continuing to spread the word in preparation for their Survivor Strong 5k Run & Walk on Aug. 30 in Columbia.

Read more: Emergency Management