Homeland Security News

Algerian police have broken up an Islamic State militant cell led by a former al Qaeda commander convicted in France more than a decade ago for planning an attempted bombing in Strasbourg, a security source said on Wednesday.

Mohamed Yacine Aknouche, 43, was once a Europe-based affiliate of Algeria's Islamic Armed Group (GIA), and was sentenced in absentia by a French court in 2004 to eight years prison, said the source, who asked not to be named.

The source told Reuters that Algerian forces captured Aknouche this week near Tipaza, a coastal city 50 km west of the capital Algiers where officials charge he had been planning to carry out attacks on security forces. It was not clear when he had returned to Algeria.

Read more: U.S. News and World Report

An explosion at a mosque in the Afghan city of Herat has killed at least 20 people and injured dozens more.  The blast, which struck the Jawadia mosque, coincided with evening prayers.

One doctor told the Associated Press news agency that 20 bodies had been transported to his hospital.  A spokesman for the interior ministry, speaking to the AFP agency, confirmed only "ten wounded", but said the explosion may have been "caused by a car bomb".  Other local reports suggested a combined explosion and gunfire attack.

Tolo News quoted officials as saying that a second attacker had opened fire on worshippers inside the mosque after the initial explosion.  Local officials say that the death toll is expected to rise.
 
No group has said it was behind attack, which occurred in a predominantly Shia Muslim area.  Herat, on the border with Iran, is considered one of the most peaceful cities of Afghanistan. 

Source: BBC News

A new and nefarious connection between criminal networks and jihadi groups is potentially emerging across the Mediterranean, according to Italian police.

Authorities in Rome are investigating links between the country's mafia criminal organizations and the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), suspecting them of possibly working together to smuggle oil into Europe.

The police force has discovered quantities of oil in the country that exceed the amount some Italian refineries can hold, according to an article in the print edition of Italian newspaper La Repubblica. They believe the contraband oil was imported from Syria and Libya, both countries where ISIS militants maintain a presence.

In order to illegally smuggle the oil into Europe, La Repubblica reported, tankers would stop in the Mediterranean, meeting other tankers where the oil would be transferred. They would turn off radios to prevent detection.

Read more: Newsweek 

Two militants including the chief commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit in Kashmir, Abu Dujana, were killed in a gunfight with the Indian armed forces on Tuesday in Pulwama district of the disputed Jammu Kashmir.

The Indian government had placed on Dujana's head a bounty of $23,000.  According to police, Dujana had earlier managed to escape five times when the Indian forces closed in on him.

Sources in police department said that they had specific information about the presence of Dujana and Lelhari, and that the forces surrounded the village around 4 a.m. local time on Tuesday (2230GMT Monday) and the gunfight ended with the killing of both militants.

Read more: World Bulletin

Osama bin Laden's son Hamza has issued chilling messages aimed at the Saudi royal family.  The 28-year-old, labelled the 'poster boy' for al Qaeda, is reportedly poised to lead the terror organisation in a bid to avenge his father's death.

The first video message from Hamza released a year ago hailed lone-wolf terror attacks and called for an uprising in the kingdom, according to AlMonitor.  Hamza has been a prominent figure in several propaganda videos for al Qaeda, even as a young boy.

He was filmed calling for terrorist attacks on London, Washington and Paris in an audio message released by the organization in 2015.  He has recorded four of theses types of messages in the last two years. 

In January, Hamza was placed on a State Department terror watch list and named a 'specially designated global terrorist' - the same classification Osama had.

Read more: Daily Mail