Homeland Security News

The hard-line Taliban faction that claimed responsibility for an Easter suicide-bomb attack here released a photo of the alleged bomber Tuesday, as Pakistan officials said they had arrested more than 200 people in a campaign to ferret out extremists in the southern part of the country.

The suicide bomber, a man identified by the terrorist group Jamaat ul-Ahrar as Salahuddin Khorasani, donned a vest loaded with explosives and ball bearings and blew himself up in a park crowded with people Sunday evening, killing at least 70 people, including 29 children.

The terrorist group, an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, issued a statement that said that Khorasani “has carried out the attack on the eve of Christian festival Easter on March 27, 2016 as per his will. He has gifted his life to Allah.” A video is forthcoming, the group said.

Read more: The Washington Post

French naval forces patrolling the northern Indian Ocean have seized a ship full of weapons they say was heading towards Somalia.  Hundreds of assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank weapons were found.  They seized the weapons under a UN embargo to prevent arms from getting to Somali Islamist militants.

Earlier this month, the Australian navy intercepted a cache of arms on a fishing boat off Oman, also believed to be on its way to Somalia.  BBC Monitoring's Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo says the French helicopter that spotted the ship is part of the multinational Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) that patrols the Indian Ocean.

The multinational force, which was also set up to tackle piracy off the coast of Somalia, seized the weapons to prevent them from getting to the Islamist militant group, al-Shabab.

Read more:  BBC News

A Mississippi woman accused of planning to join the Islamic State will appear in federal court Tuesday to change her plea in at least one count against her.  Jaelyn Delshaun Young is scheduled to appear before Chief U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock in Aberdeen Tuesday and respond to count one of her indictment, which is "conspiring to provide material support or resources to ISIS."

Young, 20, was arrested with Muhammad Dakhlalla, 23, her fiancé, on suspicion of conspiring to provide material support or resources to the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS. Both pleaded not guilty in December, but Dakhlalla changed his plea to guilty to that count earlier this month.

The couple was arrested at the Golden Triangle Airport in Columbus, Miss. on Aug.8. Investigators said they were bound for Atlanta, and eventually for Syria, where they hoped to join the Islamic State.

Read more:  USA Today

Indonesia's foreign ministry said Tuesday that 10 Indonesian nationals are being held hostage after their ship was hijacked in Philippine waters.  The ministry said in a statement that the owner of the hijacked tug boat and coal barge has received two telephone calls, purportedly from militant group Abu Sayyaf, demanding a ransom.

It does not know exactly when the incident occurred but said the ship owner was first contacted on Saturday. The ministry's statement also referred to the hostage takers as pirates.  "The current priority is the safety of 10 citizens who were taken hostage," the statement said. It said the company that owns the ship has informed the families of the crew.

Abu Sayyaf, which is on U.S. and Philippine lists of terrorist organizations, is notorious for bombings, extortions and kidnappings for ransom in the volatile south of the Philippines. It has been weakened by years of U.S.-backed Philippine offensives but remains a security threat.

Read more:  USA Today

A suicide bomber blew himself up on Tuesday morning in central Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 27, a police spokesman said.

The blast happened near a gathering of workers in Tayaran Square, about a kilometer (mile) from a sit-in held by supporters of influential Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to demand political reforms.

No organization claimed the attack but all suicide bombings carried out so far this year in the country have been claimed by Islamic State, the Sunni militant group that controls parts of northern and western Iraq.

Source:  Reuters