Eye on Extremism
January 10, 2020
CNN:
Ukraine Investigators Consider Missile Strike, Terrorism As Possible
Causes Of Iran Plane Crash
“Ukrainian officials were on Thursday considering terrorism, a
missile strike and catastrophic engine failure as potential causes for
the fatal crash of one of its airliners in Iran, as aviation
authorities in Tehran revealed the jetliner was on fire before it came
down. Ukraine's National Security and Defense council chief, Oleksiy
Danilov, said a meeting was taking place with Iranian authorities,
where various causes behind the crash were “being studied,” including
a theory that the plane was hit by an anti-aircraft missile, according
to a statement on Facebook. Other theories under consideration are
whether there were technical problems with one of the plane's engines
that caused it to explode, whether the plane could have collided with
a drone or “other flying object,” or whether there was an explosion
inside the plane. The Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA) flight
PS752 came down just minutes after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday,
killing all 176 people on board, including dozens of Iranians and
Canadians. The Boeing 737-800 was headed for Kiev, where 138
passengers were expected to take a connecting flight to Canada.
Ukrainians, Swedes, Afghans, Germans and British nationals were also
aboard.”
Council
On Foreign Relations: Jihadi Violence And Terror Surging In West
Africa
“In a follow up to his remarks in December, Mohamed Ibn Chambas,
the UN special representative and head of the UN Office for West
Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) sounded the alarm on growing militant
and jihadi violence. In his January 8 briefing to the UN Security
Council, he said the “devastating surge” in terrorism has “shaken
public confidence.” He focused on Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, where
casualties from terrorism have increased fivefold since 2016, with
4,000 deaths in 2019 compared to 770 in 2016. He estimated those
displaced in their own countries number half a million with an
additional twenty-five thousand who have fled across national borders.
He also noted that terrorist activity, broadly speaking, is moving
from west to east. As though it were underscoring Dr. Chambas’s
presentation, a rocket attack on a joint Malian, French, and UN base
in northern Mali on January 9 wounded twenty, of whom eighteen were UN
peacekeepers. Likely unconnected to the upsurge in violence further
west, Boko Haram activity in the Lake Chad basin (Nigeria, Niger,
Chad, Cameroon) continues, seemingly unabated. Militants, claiming to
be the Boko Haram offshoot Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA), killed
some twenty Nigerian soldiers around January 8.”
Arab
News: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Says Turkey Supports Extremists In
Libya
“Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry claims Turkey continues to
support extremists in Libya’s long-running civil war. Speaking at a
press conference on Wednesday following a meeting in Cairo with his
counterparts from France, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus on the situation
in the eastern Mediterranean and Libya, Shoukry said the meeting aimed
to reach a political consensus for the crisis, that political
solutions are the best possible resolution, and that armed conflicts
cannot help solve the crisis. Shoukry called for a cessation of
hostilities in Libya, stressing that international law should be
respected. He claimed that Turkey supports armed militias listed as
sanctioned by the UN Security Council. He noted that the recent
agreements signed between Fayez Al-Serraj and Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan were a violation of the Sokhairat Agreement and that
Turkish support for extremists continues. The Egyptian foreign
minister said that Egypt had exerted “numerous efforts” to enable the
people of Libya to reach a compromise. He stressed that Libya’s
Presidential Council should represent all the Libyan regions,
something it does not do currently.”
United States
CNN:
Woman Who Planned To Build Bomb For US Terror Attack Sentenced To 15
Years In Prison
“A Queens woman who planned to build a bomb to be used in a US
terrorist attack was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a federal
judge on Thursday, according to a US attorney's office. Asia Siddiqui,
along with her co-defendant Noelle Velentzas, pleaded guilty last year
to planning to make a bomb for use in an attack inside the United
States, according to a news release from the US Attorney's Office for
the Eastern District. Velentzas is awaiting sentencing. “Lives were
saved when the defendants' plot to detonate a bomb in a terrorist
attack was thwarted by the tireless efforts of law enforcement,” US
Attorney Richard P. Donoghue said. Siddiqui, 35, and Velentzas, 31,
are both US citizens and residents of the New York borough of Queens.
They pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn in August 2019. In
the news release, authorities said the pair planned between 2013 and
2015 to build a bomb for use in an attack in the United States, taught
each other chemistry and electrical skills and purchased materials to
make an explosive device. Assistant Attorney General John Demers said
the women were “inspired by radical Islam.”
Fox
News: Who Is The FBI’s Most Wanted American Terrorist? Meet Jehad
Serwan Mostafa
“Late last year, the U.S. government upped the ante on Jehad Serwan
Mostafa – a 38-year-old American citizen and former San Diego resident
– branding him the most wanted American terrorist in the world.
“Mostafa is believed to be the highest-ranking United States citizen
fighting overseas for a terrorist organization,” U.S. Attorney Robert
Brewer stated. “Al-Shabab’s reign of terror threatens U.S. national
security, our international allies, and innocent civilians.” According
to a recently unsealed federal indictment, the U.S. citizen – who has
for years been on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terror list – has been charged
with additional crimes related to his alleged involvement with Al
Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab in East Africa. Mostafa was first indicted
in 2010, having fled the U.S. in December 2005. The superseding
indictment expands the scope of the previous charges. It claims that
Mostafa, at some point between March 2008 to at least February 2017,
“conspired to provide material support, including himself as personnel
to terrorists.” Now operating under “Ahmed Gurey,” “Ahmed,” “Abu Anwar
al-Muhajir” and “Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir,” the FBI stated that Mostafa
is a leader in Al-Shabab’s “explosives department,” and has taken on
critical roles across the media and soldier training wings.”
Yahoo
News: Salvadoran Accused Of Terrorism Ties Arrested In Carson
City
“Federal marshals have arrested a Salvadoran man in Carson City
that they say is in the U.S. illegally and has ties to a terrorist
organization in Central America. U.S immigration and customs officials
say Rene Antonio “Scrapy” Hernandez-Mejia was taken into custody on
Wednesday. They say they intend to deport him to El Salvador to face
criminal charges in his home country. ICE said in a statement
Wednesday that Interpol issued a notice indicating Hernandez-Mejia was
wanted for being part of a terrorist organization. Iterpol said he was
part of the 18 Revolutionary Pandilla, which is a faction of an El
Salvadoran gang called Shadow Park Locos, also known as “SPL.” Federal
officials didn't specify the charges he faces in El Salvador but they
say the gang has been involved with crimes including homicide,
extortion and terrorism. No other details have been released. Federal
court records in Reno don't list a lawyer for Hernandez-Mejia or
indicate if a federal hearing is pending.”
Syria
Vice:
Trump Says The U.S. Has Destroyed ‘100% Of ISIS.’ It
Hasn’t.
“President Donald Trump made a number of eyebrow-raising claims
during Wednesday’s address to the nation on the latest tensions in the
Middle East — but perhaps none more so than his assertion that the
U.S. had destroyed “100 percent of ISIS.” Near the end of his
10-minute address from the White House, responding to Iran’s missile
strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq, Trump claimed the U.S. had destroyed
“100 percent of ISIS and its territorial caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.
But experts say that’s a misrepresentation of the situation. While the
last pocket of the Sunni terror group’s so-called caliphate — which
once stretched across wide swathes of Syria and Iraq, ruling as many
as 12 million people — was finally retaken by U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led
forces last March, that only spelled the end of the group’s existence
as a territorial entity. The group continues to operate as an
underground insurgent movement, commanding the loyalty of perhaps as
many as 10,000 fighters across both countries, according to Matthew
Henman, the head of Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center at IHS
Markit, a nonpartisan defense information provider headquartered in
London. “The territorial caliphate has been defeated, but the group is
still very much active,” Henman told VICE News.”
Daily
Sabah: Airstrikes Kill 8 Iran-Backed Militants Near Syria-Iraq Border,
Monitor Says
“Airstrikes in eastern Syria killed eight fighters of the
Iran-backed Iraqi militia in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization
Forces overnight, a war monitor said Friday. “Unidentified aircraft
targeted vehicles and arms depots in the Boukamal area, causing a
large explosion. At least eight Iraqi Hashed fighters were killed,”
the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel
Rahman, said. The Observatory said the planes targeted positions
belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces near the border with
Iraq. The Britain-based organization which documents the war in Syria
through a network of activists on the ground said the planes struck
among other targets weapons depots and vehicles belonging to the
militias. It reported several explosions in the border area. Deir
Ezzor 24, an activist collective that reports on news in the border
area, said that the planes strikes struck trucks carrying weapons and
depots for ballistic missiles in the area. Omar Abu Laila, a
Europe-based activist from Deir el-Zour who runs the group, said the
attack triggered “a huge explosion” heard in the Syrian-Iraqi
border.”
Iran
BBC
News: US Killing Of Qasem Soleimani Is Good News For IS
Jihadists
“US President Donald Trump's decision to assassinate Gen Qasem
Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Force, has set off a chain of
consequences. One of the first was on the unfinished war against
jihadists. Almost immediately the US-led coalition fighting the
Islamic State group suspended operations in Iraq. The US and their
allies announced that their main job was now defending themselves.
From a military point of view, probably they had no choice. Iran and
the militias it sponsors here in Iraq have sworn vengeance for the
killings caused by the missile fired by a US drone at Soleimani's
vehicle as it left Baghdad airport on Friday. That puts US forces in
Iraq, and those from Western allies working alongside them, squarely
in the firing line. It is also very good for IS, and will speed up its
recovery from the blows it took when its “caliphate” was smashed. It
is also good news for the extremists that the Iraqi parliament passed
a motion demanding an immediate American withdrawal from the entire
country.”
Iraq
The
Wall Street Journal: Iraqi Militias Remain A Wild Card In U.S.-Iran
Standoff
“In the hours after President Trump declared that the U.S. and Iran
were backing away from open conflict, militants in Baghdad fired two
rockets that set off warning sirens at the U.S. Embassy. The blasts
late Wednesday caused little damage, but they appeared to be a sign
that Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran could still play spoilers
in the volatile conflict between Washington and Tehran. The groups
have made clear they still want to exact revenge on America for last
Friday’s drone strike in Baghdad. That U.S. attack killed not only
Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Tehran’s most important military
leader, but also Iraq’s top paramilitary commander, Abu Mahdi
al-Mohandes. As Iran’s point man in Iraq, Mr. Mohandes played an
important role in exerting control over militias that are formally
part of Iraq’s security forces, but often pursue their own agendas. In
the past, Iran has relied on those militias—along with similar allies
in places such as Lebanon and Yemen—to act as proxies in the region,
conducting attacks that couldn’t be linked directly back to Tehran.
Last month, one of those militias launched the rocket attack that
killed an Iraqi-American contractor working on a base in northern
Iraq, triggering the military escalation that led to the killing of
Messrs. Mohandes and Soleimani.”
Kurdistan
24: Iraqi Forces Seize Dozens Of Explosives, Destroy 2 ISIS Caves In
Kirkuk
“Iraqi security forces announced on Thursday that they had seized
dozens of explosive devices and destroyed two caves and Islamic State
sites northwest of the disputed Kirkuk province. An Iraqi military
statement said the security forces carried out “inspections” in the
Mama mountain range, including the villages of Kubaiba, Mzirir, and
Mansuriya. The operations were meant “to purify the area of
terrorist elements and arrest the wanted” within the Dibis district,
located in northwestern Kirkuk. According to the security media cell,
security forces found 32 explosive devices that belong to Islamic
State remnants, adding that a bomb squad defused the explosives. Two
caves and three Islamic State sleeper cell hideouts were also found in
the same area and “destroyed,” it added. Elsewhere, the Islamic State
launched an attack early Thursday against an Iraqi border police
headquarters at the Iraq-Syria border, killing two people and wounding
two others. Iraq’s security media cell said in a statement that
“terrorist elements” attacked “the third regiment in the fourth border
police brigade within the Iraqi-Syrian borders, which resulted in the
death of two associates and the wounding of two others.” Iraqi
security forces also carried out their first military operation since
the US-led coalition announced the suspension of operations in
Iraq.”
Xinhua:
2 Iraqi Border Guards Killed In IS Attack Near Border With
Syria
“Two Iraqi border guards were killed, and two others wounded in an
attack by Islamic State (IS) militants near the border with Syria in
western Iraq, the Iraqi military said on Thursday. The extremist IS
militants attacked a border guard force while conducting a search
operation near the border line with neighboring Syria, leaving two
border guards killed and wounding two others, according to a statement
by the media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations
Command. The statement did not give further details about where and
when exactly the incident took place. Late in 2017, Iraq declared full
liberation of its territories from IS militants after Iraqi forces
seized the whole border areas with Syria and nearby desert in western
Iraq. However, small groups or individuals of IS militants still
trying to infiltrate into Iraq from neighboring Syria through the
roughly 600 km long border with Iraq with vast rugged areas and desert
land.”
Turkey
Reuters:
Turkey Says 4 Of Its Soldiers Killed In Northeast
Syria
“Four Turkish soldiers were killed in a car bomb attack in
northeast Syria on Wednesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a
statement overnight. It said the attack occurred during a roadside
security check in the region east of the Euphrates river in Syria,
where Turkey carried out a military operation with allied Syrian
rebels in October. The Turkish incursion targeted the Syrian Kurdish
YPG militia, which spearheaded the U.S.-led war against Islamic State
and which Ankara regards as a terrorist group tied to militants
fighting an insurgency in southeast Turkey. No further details on the
attack were immediately available.”
Afghanistan
Voice
Of America: Taliban Says US-Iran Dispute Will Not Harm Afghan Peace
Process
“The Taliban said Thursday it believes escalating military tensions
between the United States and Iran are unlikely to hurt the insurgent
group's negotiations with Washington aimed at ending the war in
Afghanistan. The first official reaction from the Taliban comes a day
after Tehran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two bases
in Iraq housing U.S. troops, though they did not cause any
casualties.The attack was a retaliation to Friday's American airstrike
in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad that killed Iranian military
commander, Qassem Soleimani. Suhail Shaheen, who speaks for the
Taliban's negotiating team, told VOA their meetings with U.S.
interlocutors over the past year have brought the two adversaries in
the 18-year-old Afghan on the verge of signing a peace deal. He
dismissed reported concerns U.S.-Iran tensions threatens the peace
initiative. “The developments will not have negative impact on the
peace process because the (U.S.-Taliban) peace agreement is finalized
and only remains to be signed (by the two sides),” Shaheen asserted.
The progress, he insisted, has been achieved because both the Taliban
and the U.S. agree the Afghan conflict could only be settled through
peaceful means.”
The
National: Rumblings Within The Taliban Make Ordinary Afghans Cautious
Amid Prospects For Peace
“On the last Sunday of 2019, Afghans woke up to an exciting news of
the Taliban insurgency agreeing to possible ceasefire, a much-needed
respite from the constant violence. Reports suggested that this
temporary truce with the US administration could last for as long as
10 days – a week longer than the last ceasefire between the two
warring parties, during which time they would sit down to sign a deal
to end America’s longest war. There was no mention of negotiations
with the Afghan government in Kabul, a party to the conflict with whom
the Taliban have consistently refused to talk to. But that did not
deter the jubilation among the public who have been the worst victims
of a war that began in 2001, when US-led forces – in response to the
September 11 attacks on American soil – invaded the country and
unseated the terror group from power. People posted on social media
about plans to explore their homeland and visit far corners of the
country that have been under Taliban control. There was talk of
bonhomie and brotherhood between the Afghan security forces and
Taliban fighters, much like during the three-day ceasefire – the first
of its kind – that took place during Eid Al Adha in June 2018.”
Pakistan
Voice
Of America: Afghan Government Returns Pakistani Relatives Of IS
Fighters
“The Afghan government says more than 130 Pakistanis — women and
children related to former fighters of the Islamic State terror group
— have been returned to other family members and will be going home to
Pakistan after being held in a detention center for several weeks. The
55 women and 76 children, mostly wives and children of IS fighters who
were either killed or defected to the government last November, were
reunited Thursday with their extended families in a ceremony in
Jalalabad, the capital of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. The women
and children had been held since November, when a large number of IS
fighters surrendered. The facility in Nangarhar had been manned by
Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of
Security (NDS). Six years ago we came to Achin and my father was
killed in a fight with the Taliban,” said 12-year-old Ismatullah. “I
was living in very difficult conditions in Achin with my mother and
sisters. We are very happy we are going back to our own village,”
Achin is a district in Nangarhar.”
Nigeria
Pulse
Nigeria: How Boko Haram Killed 20 Soldiers In Borno
“When suspected Boko Haram militants snuck into Monguno in Borno
state on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, they first posed as a convoy of
soldiers. Once inside Monguno however, they went for the soldiers
guarding the northeastern community, destroyed at least 750 homes and
sent residents scampering into surrounding bushes. When the dust
settled in Monguno and gunpowder grew cold at dusk, about 20 soldiers
had been killed and nearly 1,000 people rendered homeless, according
to two residents and a military source who spoke to Reuters. One
Monguno resident who identified himself as Gumati Sadu said people
fled into the bush for safety during the fighting. Sadu added that
three civilians were killed by stray bullets. At the time of filing
this, a military spokesman has declined to comment. Boko Haram
splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), claimed
responsibility for the attack on its Amaq news agency. According to
ISWAP, one of its militants detonated a car bomb in the town, killing
at least 8 soldiers and destroying 3 armored vehicles. The group also
said it had seized a vehicle, weapons and ammunition before exiting
the town.”
Premium
Times: Boko Haram Abducts 7 Travellers Near
Maiduguri
“Gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram Thursday ambushed
vehicles travelling along the Maiduguri-Damaturu highway and abducted
seven travellers, a witness said. According to a passenger who escaped
the attack, the insurgents, driving in two Hilux vehicles, waylaid two
unsuspecting vehicles – a Volkswagen golf and a Toyota Hiace Mass
Transit bus belong to the Adamawa Sunshine Transport Company. They
took seven passengers from the vehicles, the source said. The source,
who witnessed the incident, said the attackers were all armed and some
were dressed in military uniforms. The eyewitness, who asked not to be
named, said the attack took place a few kilometres from Auno village.
Auno is an agrarian community about 20km from Maiduguri, the Borno
State capital. “They came in two Hilux jeeps; and as we were driving
towards Auno, after Jakana village, they stormed the highway and
stopped a Volkswagen golf car that was ahead and forced every person,
including the driver out,” the source said. “While this was happening,
a 19-seater Toyota Hiace bus of the Adamawa Sunshine Toyota ran into
the scene and could not escape the gunmen. So they forced two
passengers on the bus to come down and then took all of them away in
their vehicle.”
Somalia
Xinhua:
AU Urges World To Support Somalia To Tackle Terrorism
“The African Union on Thursday appealed to the international
community to increase its assistance and support to Somalia to help
Mogadishu fight global terrorism and extremism amid increased terror
attacks. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union
Commission also condemned a car bomb attack at Sayidka Junction
checkpoint in Mogadishu on Wednesday in which at least five people
were killed and 11 others injured. “The perpetrators of yesterday's
(Wednesday) murderous act shall be pursued until justice is done,”
Mahamat said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. Security officials
said al-Shabab suicide bomber was trying to pass through the
checkpoint but detonated the explosive device when he was unable to do
so. The military group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying
it targeted the heavily guarded checkpoint at the entrance of the
presidential palace where senior government officials intending to
enter the presidential palace were being searched at the checkpoint.
Mahamat said the terrorists have shown no respect for life by
indiscriminately targeting innocent Somalis, noting that their
interest is to spread carnage, fear and destruction among the civilian
population.”
Africa
The
Washington Post: Suspected Islamist Militants Kill 25 Soldiers In
Niger
“An attack by suspected Islamist militants on motorbikes killed at
least 25 soldiers Thursday in the West African nation of Niger, adding
to a death toll that has surged in recent weeks as troops struggle to
contain violent extremism in the region. The clash unfolded in the
western village of Chinegodar near the border with Mali, according to
Nigerien defense officials, as fighters with ties to the Islamic State
and al-Qaeda look to seize new swaths of territory. The bloodshed came
about a month after gunmen ambushed a Nigerien army post in another
border town, killing 71 soldiers in the deadliest strike on the
nation’s forces in recent memory. The Islamic State West Africa
Province asserted responsibility for that massacre two days later.
Extremist groups routinely carry out attacks across the Sahel region,
which lies south of the Sahara Desert. The scourge took root nearly a
decade ago, and authorities warn it is spreading as governments
struggle to combat it amid limited resources. The Thursday battle in
western Niger also killed 63 “terrorists,” Col. Souleymane Gozobi, a
Nigerien defense spokesman, said on national television. No group
immediately asserted responsibility for the attack. The Niger ambush
followed a rocket attack on a U.N. military base Thursday in northern
Mali that wounded 20 people, including 18 peacekeepers from Chad.”
Long
War Journal: Deadly Raid In Kenya Carried Out Under ‘Direction’ Of
Al-Qaeda Leadership, Shabaab Says
“Shabaab has released a video featuring its spokesman, Ali Mohamud
Rage, who claims credit on behalf of the organization for the deadly
raid on an airfield in Kenya earlier this week. Three Americans were
killed and others wounded when the jihadists stormed the Manda Bay
Airfield (Camp Simba) in a predawn raid. It is not clear how many
casualties Kenya suffered. Several planes and equipment were also
damaged in the raid. In the video, Rage says the attack was “carried
out under the guidance and direction of the leadership of al-Qaeda,
foremost among them being Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri, may Allah protect
him.” Shabaab has repeatedly signaled its loyalty to al-Qaeda’s global
leadership. And the group’s latest video is filled with footage of
both Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. An archival clip of
Zawahiri is featured at the beginning of the production. “Oh Muslims
of Somalia, I give you the glad tidings that America and its servile
allies will be defeated in Somalia, by the permission of Allah, the
same way they were defeated in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Zawahiri says in
the recording. “However, you must be patient and steadfast.”
Deutsche
Welle: Africa's Sahel Seeks New Ways To Fight
Terrorism
“The tranquil city of Pau at the foot of the Pyrenees in
south-western France is the venue for Monday's meeting between heads
of states from five West African countries – Mali, Niger, Burkina
Faso, Mauritania, Chad – and French President Emmanuel Macron. The
three-hour meeting focuses on the fight against terrorism in the Sahel
region. But the meeting is not just about the views of the French and
West African leaders. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, EU
Council President Charles Michel and the President of the African
Union Moussa Faki are also invited to the working lunch. The goal is
to adopt a new, common strategy for military missions in West Africa.
French troops have been stationed in West Africa since 2014 under the
military Operation Barkhane. The five states on the southern edge of
the Sahara founded their own joint reaction force in 2018 with 5,000
soldiers from all five countries. The United Nations is also in Mali
with its MINUSMA mission. But the lack of coordination, frequent fatal
accidents and attacks has shaken trust in the mission. “Despite all
military efforts that have been put in, more is needed to tackle the
problem of jihadist terrorism in the Sahel,” said Paul Melly, a West
Africa expert at the London-based think tank Chatham House.”
United Kingdom
The
Guardian: Counter-Terrorism Police Investigate Attack On Prison
Officers
“Counter-terrorism police are investigating an attack by two
inmates at a maximum-security jail that resulted in five prison
officers being taken to hospital. The two prisoners involved at the
incident at HMP Whitemoor near March in Cambridgeshire were wearing
fake suicide vests and brandishing improvised bladed weapons,
according to reports. One of the alleged perpetrators of the incident,
which took place on Thursday morning as cells were unlocked, is
serving a sentence for a terrorism offence while the other had been
jailed for a violent offence, the BBC reported. One officer, thought
to be the initial target, was stabbed and slashed, the others had
rushed to help. The officers’ injuries are not believed to be
life-threatening. The Metropolitan police said their counter-terrorism
command unit had been called in to the maximum security prison “due to
certain circumstances relating to this incident”. No arrests had been
made so far, the force said. A Prison Service spokesman said the
incident was “quickly resolved by brave staff – and our thoughts are
with the injured officers at this time”. He did not state the nature
of the officers’ injuries.”
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