Sydney Siege: Flag In Australian Terrorist Attack Is Not ISIS, But Similar To A Hizb al-Tahrir Flag

By  Alessandria Masi @alessandriamasi a.masi@ibtimes.com on December 15 2014 9:04 AM

A police officer runs across Martin Place near Lindt café, where hostages are being held, in central Sydney. Reuters/David Gray

A number of terrorist groups active in Australia could be responsible for the hostage-taking that began Sunday in siege, with affiliations that range from Hezbollah to Hamas, but the Islamic State group has not officially aligned with any of them. At least one of those groups uses the flag that was displayed in the window in the Martin Place coffee shop where a man saying he has a bomb is holding several hostages, but it isn’t ISIS.

A gunman overran the Lindt Café in Sydney Sunday night and reportedly forced hostages to display a black flag with what appeared to be the shahada, the Muslim creed, in white. Though many were quick to tie the flag to the terrorist group known as the Islamic State or ISIS that has made unprecedented gains across Iraq and Syria and recruited thousands of foreign fighters, the flags are not the same. However, ISIS has put out a global call for its supporters to conduct lone-wolf attacks and that possibility has not been ruled out in Sydney.

After Fatal Attack on Shi’as, Saudi Arabia Gets Tough on Terrorism

Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 12 Issue: 22

November 21, 2014 04:04 PM

By: Zaina Konbaz   Files:TerrorismMonitorVol12Issue22_02.pdf

 

Captain Muhammad al-Enezi and Corporal Turki al-Rasheed were killed in a raid on the perpetrators of the al-Dalwa attack. (Source: Arab News)

On November 3, five people were shot dead and nine others wounded when three masked gunmen attacked a group of Shi’as who were leaving a mosque at the village of al-Dalwa in Ahsa governorate in Saudi Arabia’s eastern region. The attackers reportedly used machine guns and pistols in their attack, which took place as the victims were leaving a Shi’a ceremony commemorating Ashura, which marks the death of Imam Hussain, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Within 24 hours, Saudi security forces reported that they had arrested six suspects as part of “simultaneous security operations implemented in Shaqra governorate in Riyadh region and Ahsa governorate and Khobar city in the eastern region” (al-Riyadh, November 4). Two members of the Saudi security forces and two suspects were reportedly killed in the operations. Further arrests have been made since then, with a total of 26 suspects reportedly being detained to date (al-Sharq al-Awsat, November 7).

Legendary Marine General James Mattis: To Fight ISIS, ‘Boots On The Ground’ Needs To Be An Option

By Paul Szoldra 19 hours ago

Robert Johnson — Business Insider

Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis will describe the threat posed by militants of the Islamic State a s “a combined al Qaeda and Lebanese Hezbollah on steroids ” in a hearing for the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning.

The legendary general, who currently splits his time between teaching at Dartmouth and Stanford, has firsthand knowledge of the group formerly named Al Qaeda in Iraq from his time as the commander of U.S. Central Command. Also giving testimony at 8 a.m. in Washington, D.C. is former Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Dafna H. Rand of the Center for a New American Security.

In Mattis’ opening statement, which Business Insider obtained ahead of his testimony, he offers a brief history of terrorism and terror groups, how IS formed and what he believes the militant group will do next, and offers advice — along with a critique of some of Obama’s moves — for what the US should do next.

You can read the full statement towards the bottom of the post, but we’ve highlighted the main points.

Video Of Young Boy Holding AK47 Uploaded To Pro-ISIS Account

By Amanda Schallert, Tue, September 02, 2014

Footage of a young boy shooting an AK47 rifle and then saying Islamic chants was uploaded to YouTube last week by a user who has previously posted a pro-ISIS video.

The videos show a boy in a mask told to fire the assault rifle by a man, according to the Daily Mail.

The interaction reportedly occurred in a rural area of Damascus. Each time the boy fires the gun, he looks like he is about to fall underneath its weight. Then, the adult in the video tells the boy to say Islamic phrases.