Counter Terror Gazette

Terror Watch

Middle East Israel 18 August:  Militants opened fire on a bus, fired a missile at a private vehicle and detonated a bomb next to an army patrol, near the Egyptian border.  Eight Israelis, five Egyptians  and 10 of the estimated 12 militants were killed.  The attack led to increased attacks between Israel and Hamas in [...]

Security Technology and the Fight against Terrorism

By Peter Löffler, Head of Life Cycle Security, Siemens Building Technologies The horrific attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York, and those in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005, naturally led to a major change in the requirements demanded of security technology in combating and dealing with terrorist threats. Before that time, the [...]

From Farm to Fork: Food Chain Security and Terrorism

Unintentional contamination of the food chain due to negligence, such as the fatal E.Coli outbreak in Germany in June 2011, can cause mass fatalities, severe disruption to food supplies and economies internationally, as well as wide spread panic.  But deliberate contamination of the food chain, an international production and supply system, by terrorists could be [...]

Group Profile: Dissident Irish Republicans

Background: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA – or just IRA) was established in 1969 after many members of the original Irish Republican Army (IRA) opposed its position on recognising the jurisdiction and authority of parliaments in London, Belfast and Dublin. The original IRA had been fighting for a united Ireland, free from British administration [...]

Case Study: Counter Terrorism Policing in New Zealand

Counter terrorism in New Zealand is overseen by the Officials Committee for Domestic and External Security Coordination (ODESC). The ODESC reports to the Prime Minister and is made up of government and non-government agencies which work together to manage New Zealand’s wider counter terrorism efforts. New Zealand is a very low risk country for terrorist [...]

AVSEC latest news

Protecting the British Royal Wedding

The event: 29 April 2011 sees the wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales, currently second in line to the British throne and the future King, to Catherine Middleton, at London’s Westminster Abbey.  The ceremony will be followed by a reception at Buckingham Palace. The event has been classed by security services and the police [...]

Cruise Missiles – protecting cruise ships from terrorism

Following 11 September 2001, the US government assembled a team of intelligence and maritime industry experts to identify what might be the most likely terrorist target in the maritime world. A consensus was reached that cruise ships, more than cargo ships, tankers or ferries, were likely to be the most attractive target to terrorists. Furthermore, cruise ships often sail to remote ports that specialise in cargo rather than passenger operations and in developing countries where security is not the same as at Western ports.

Group Profile: East Turkestan Islamic Movement

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is an Islamist terrorist organisation, based in Waziristan, in the Pakistan tribal region, close to its border with China, whose aim is to establish an independent caliphate in ‘East Turkestan’ and to convert all Chinese nationals to Islam. ‘East Turkestan’ is a controversial term and an unofficial territory which approximately equates to Xinjiang province, an autonomous region in the far west of China, which borders Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is China’s biggest natural gas producing region and has large oil reserves, making it one of the country’s most valuable and economically important areas.

Regional Focus: The Caribbean

In February 2011, Russell Defreitas, a US citizen born in Guyana and a former baggage handler at New York’s JFK Airport, was sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting to blow up fuel tanks and a pipeline at the airport. The 40 mile long pipeline also serves LaGuardia and Newark airports. Defreitas is the alleged ring-leader of a cell whose plan was hatched in the Caribbean, a region, with the exception of the location of the US high security military base at Guantanamo Bay, usually associated with tourism not terrorism.