Homeland Security News

A Syrian refugee who committed suicide in prison after being arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on a Berlin airport experimented with chemicals in August in an attempt to make a bomb, a magazine reported on Friday.

Der Spiegel said Jaber Albakr, detained earlier this month after police discovered about 1.5 kg (3 lb) of explosives in his flat in the eastern city of Chemnitz, caused 6,000 euros ($6,525) of damage in a serviced apartment.

Pictures of the kitchen taken by the owner of the property in nearby Leipzig showed acid and other stains, Spiegel said, giving no source for its report.

Read more: Reuters

The man, named locally as Joe Reilly (43), is believed to have been shot twice in the chest by gunmen through a window of his Glenwood Court home in the Poleglass area yesterday around 8pm.  No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack but speculation is mounting that the murder was carried out by dissident republicans.

The incident comes just days after Peter Lagan (56) was shot six times in the legs in nearby Glenwood Drive after being abducted in Ardoyne. That attack was claimed by Oglaigh na hEireann in a statement.  Sinn Fein MLA Jennifer McCann described distraught scenes at the house last night as members of the victim's family tried to see him.  Local councillor Stephen Magennis said the family of the man who was shot dead, and the local community, were in shock at the murder.

Mr Magennis said that, coming just a few days after another paramilitary-style shooting in the same area, it looked like republican dissidents were responsible for last night's crime.

Read more: Belfast Telegraph

Islamic State (IS) militants have raided government buildings in and around the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.  Iraqi media reported that suicide bombers had attacked police stations and a power station, but that security forces had repelled the assaults.

A news agency affiliated to IS claimed its fighters had broken into Kirkuk's town hall and seized a central hotel.  The attacks come as Iraqi pro-government forces continue an offensive to retake IS-held Mosul, to the north.

IS militants were reported to have set fire to a chemical plant south of Mosul as they retreated on Thursday.

Sources said they started the fire at the sulphur plant in al-Mishraq deliberately when they were being pushed out of the area by security forces.  There are conflicting reports about the scale and extent of the attack on Kirkuk.

A local TV channel broadcast footage of black smoke rising over the city, with automatic gunfire audible.

Read more:  BBC News