Homeland Security News

 The New IRA terror group has warned of more attacks on prison officers and members of the security forces in Northern Ireland. In a statement to mark the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, the paramilitary organisation claimed that “a century on and the IRA armed actions against Britain and her agents are [as] legitimate as they were in 1916”.

In a warning that it was prepared to target more prison officers following the murder of Adrian Ismay in a van bomb earlier this month, the hardline dissident republican said: “The IRA will not leave our prisoners at the mercy of Britain and will take further action as we see fit.”

The New IRA is the largest of the three main republican terror groups opposed to the peace process and the political power-sharing arrangement between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland.

Read more: The Guardian (UK)

Authorities in Mali have arrested a man considered to be one of the main Islamist insurgent leaders operating in the south of the country, a hub for the expansion of militancy in West Africa, defense and intelligence sources said on Thursday.  The intelligence services had monitored Souleymane Keita since the capture of two of his men last year. He is believed by the authorities to be an associate of Iyad Ag Ghali, head of the northern Mali Islamist group Ansar Dine.

"We'd been on his trail since then (the capture of his men). And it was recently, when he attempted to come back into Mali across the border from Mauritania, that he was arrested by our men," said one intelligence officer, who asked not to be named.  According to the officer, Keita had expanded Ansar Dine's operations in southern Mali. He heads a group known as the Katiba Khalid Ibn Walid, analysts say.

Read more: Reuters

A car bomb detonated Thursday near a bus stop in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir, killing at least four police officers.  The attack took place as a police vehicle was passing by the bus stop.

The bombing took place one day before Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was scheduled to visit the city.

Read more: UPI

A suicide bombing in central Somalia killed at least nine people and wounded 10 others, a police official said Thursday.

The bomber blew himself up among a group of people at a cafe near a hotel in the town of Galkayo on Thursday, said Ali Aden.

Read more: Associated Press

Police Scotland has confirmed it is investigating claims made by the BBC that a leading member of Glasgow Central mosque had links with a banned Islamic terrorist organisation.  The investigation will be carried out by officers from the Scottish Crime Campus.  BBC Scotland revealed that figures at two Scottish mosques have held office in a proscribed organisation.

Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) has previously committed massacres in Pakistan.

Read more: BBC News