The Latest: Governor Raises Death Toll in Ankara Blast to 18 - NYT
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ANKARA, Turkey — The Latest on the large explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara (all times local):
8:35 p.m.
The governor of Ankara has raised the death toll in the attack in the Turkish capital to 18.
Mehmet Kiliclar says at least 45 others were wounded in the attack Wednesday apparently targeting vehicles that were carrying military personnel.
Earlier the governor said the explosion is believed to have been caused by a car bomb.
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8:10 p.m.
Turkey's military says the attack that killed at least five people in the capital Ankara targeted military vehicles carrying personnel.
A statement from the military said the vehicles were attacked as they stopped at traffic lights Wednesday.
The military added that it condemned the "contemptible and dastardly" attack.
The governor of Ankara says at least five people were killed and 10 others wounded in the explosion that is believed to have been caused by a car bomb.
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7:55 p.m.
Turkey's state-run agency says the government has imposed a media gag order following a bombing that killed at least five people and wounded 10 others.
The Anadolu Agency says Wednesday that the gag order bans media organizations from broadcasting or printing graphic images of the dead or injured from the scene of the explosion. The blast occurred in an area near military headquarters and parliament.
Turkey has imposed similar bans after previous attacks.
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7:50 p.m.
Turkey's prime minister has canceled a planned visit to Brussels following the explosion in the Turkish capital.
Ahmet Davutoglu had been scheduled to travel to Brussels later Wednesday.
Instead, Davutoglu attended a security meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials.
At least five people were killed and 10 others were wounded in the blast in an area near military headquarters and parliament.
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7:10 p.m.
The governor of Ankara says at least five people have been killed and 10 others were wounded in the explosion that rocked the Turkish capital.
Mehmet Kiliclar said Wednesday officials believe the explosion was caused by a car bomb.
The explosion occurred during rush hour in an area some 300 meters (328 yards) away from military headquarters.
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6:50 p.m.
Media reports say a large explosion, believed to have been caused by a bomb, has wounded several people in the Turkish capital.
Dogan news agency says Wednesday's explosion occurred near military lodgings. The explosion caused a large fire and dark smoke could be seen billowing from a distance.
Police told The Associated Press they are investigating the cause of the explosion.
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At least 18 dead in Ankara car bomb targeting military personnel
The Guardian-1 hour ago
Mehmet Kiliçer, the Ankara governor, said the explosion was aimed at a convoy of military vehicles as it passed through the administrative ...
Large explosion in Turkish capital Ankara, injuries reported
International-Hurriyet Daily News-1 hour ago
International-Hurriyet Daily News-1 hour ago
Turkey PM cancels trip to Brussels following Ankara blast
Opinion-Jerusalem Post Israel News-58 minutes ago
Opinion-Jerusalem Post Israel News-58 minutes ago
Terror attack on military service bus in central Ankara leaves 5 dead ...
International-Daily Sabah-1 hour ago
International-Daily Sabah-1 hour ago
Росбалт.RU |
Власти Турции признали взрыв с почти 20 погибшими в Анкаре терактом
Росбалт.RU Власти Турции уточнили данные о погибших и пострадавших в результате мощного взрыва у военного общежития в Анкаре. По информации The Associated Press, количество жертв возросло с пяти до 18. Ранены не менее 45 человек. Об этом сообщил губернатор Анкары Мехмет ... Число жертв теракта в Анкаре возросло до 18 человекТАСС В сети появилось видео с места взрыва в АнкареРИА Новости Число погибших при взрыве в Анкаре растетBBC Russian Российская Газета -Газета.Ru -РБК Все похожие статьи: 237 » |
Ankara car bomb aftermath – video by Guardian Staff
The aftermath of a blast in Ankara on Wednesday. Several people have reportedly been killed in the explosion close to military buildings in the Turkish capital. Turkish television footage shows a plume of black smoke billowing into the sky and a large fire on the ground. Emergency services can also be seen at the scene of the blast
Continue reading...Jeb Bush's Gun Tweet Backfiresby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush got a lot of attention for tweeting a picture of a gun engraved with his name, but it was likely not the kind of attention he wanted. The former Florida governor tweeted a picture of a semi-automatic pistol Tuesday, captioned “America.” The instant response on social media ranged from outrage to mockery. People outside the U.S. posted pictures of things their countries are known...
A farm director tells Sky News that bribe-seeking officials are making it extremely difficult to do business in Russia.
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Before the start of business, Just Security provides a curated summary of up-to-the-minute developments at home and abroad. Here’s today’s news.
IRAQ and SYRIA
Syrian Kurds. US-backed Kurdish fighters gained control of new territory in the north of Syria yesterday, an offensive which is heading towards areas held by the Islamic State. Turkey sought to halt their progress by firing artillery across the border, adding to disagreements between Ankara and Washington over the fight against ISIS. [Wall Street Journal’s Dion Nissenbaum and Sam Dagher] Turkey’s US Ambassador said that America’s support for the Kurds “is a big strategic mistake … it will be regretted, but it will be too late,” reports Karen DeYoung. [Washington Post]
Turkey wants a 10km (6.2 mile) deep secure strip on the Syrian side of the border, designed to prevent attempts to “change the diplomatic structure” of the region, a Turkey official said today. Turkey has accused the Kurds of pursuing “demographic change.” [Reuters]
Russia described Turkey’s artillery strikes across the border into northern Syria as “absolute lawlessness,” the RIA state news agency reported. [Reuters]
The Syrian government has agreed to allow the access for humanitarian convoys to five towns which have been blocked by sieges for months, UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura announced. Eighty trucks are hoped to begin delivering food and medicine by the end of today, the UN said. [New York Times’ Somini Sengupta and Ceylan Yeginsu] The AP considers the use of sieges as a tool of warfare, noting that the US has accused the Assad regime of violating war law with its policy of “surrender or starve.”
“The operation to recapture Aleppo marks the boldest role for Iran and its proxies since the start of the conflict in Syria nearly five years ago,” reports Sam Dagher. [Wall Street Journal]
“Given Assad’s previous documented use of barrel bombs, chemical weapons, airstrikes and heavy artillery against civilian areas,” Russia’s alleged tactics hardly seem new.” Simon Tisdall reports on Russia’s alleged use of increased refugee exoduses from its airstrikes as a weapon of war. [The Guardian]
Defense Secretary Ash Carter is “gratified” by offers from numerous members of the global coalition against ISIS to step up their contributions, said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook yesterday. [DoD News]
Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep Mac Thornberry, has lambasted the Obama administration for failing to present a counter-ISIS strategy for this week’s deadline. Rebecca Kheel reports. [The Hill] And House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has criticized the White House for failing to take a stronger line following revelations that the Islamic State used chemical weapons against the US-allied Kurds. [The Hill’s Kristina Wong]
Three US citizens reported missing in January have been safely released, the result of efforts by the Iraqi government, the State Department has announced. No clear details on the circumstances of their kidnap or the group responsible were provided. [Wall Street Journal’s Safa Majeed]
US-led airstrikes continue. US and coalition military forces carried out 10 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on Feb. 15. Separately, partner forces conducted a further 20 strikes on targets in Iraq. [Central Command]
Reports on Islamic State were “skewed and manipulated by their bosses,” and US military analysts at US Central Command reportedly informed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the top intelligence official, that this was the case. The analysts said that their reports were changed in order to correlate with the Obama administration’s public statements about the progress of the US-led campaign against the militant group. [The Daily Beast’s Shane Harris and Nancy A Youssef]
“In considering the American legacy here, Iraqis weigh the benefits of being relieved of a cruel dictator against the seemingly unending costs.” Tim Arango discusses the 25th anniversary of the destruction of the Amiriya bomb shelter in 1991, the “deadliest episode of civilian casualties in the painful history … of the United States in Iraq.” [New York Times]
SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY and TECHNOLOGY
A California judge has ordered Apple to assist the FBI to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. The order potentially constitutes a significant victory for law enforcement that has spent years in a protracted battle with tech firms over government access to encrypted data, reports Eric Lichtblau. [New York Times] Apple has rejected the order and will contest it, chief executive Tim Cook saying that the ruling constitutes an “unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers.” [BBC]
It has become apparent that the NSA has been receiving less data from Americans’ international Internet communications than privacy advocates had suspected, writes Charlie Savage, citing a newly declassified report by the NSA’s inspector general. [New York Times]
The United States designed a complex plan for a cyberattack on Iran, during the early years of this administration, in case diplomatic efforts to reduce its nuclear program failed and resulted in a military confrontation. David E Sanger and Mark Mazzetti provide the details at the New York Times.
GUANTANAMO BAY
The military has refused to transfer Guantánamo Bay detainees to the US while the law continues to prohibit such an action, Lieutenant General William Mayville said in a letter to a member of the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year. [The Hill’s Kristina Wong]
The 9/11 pre-trial hearings at Camp Justice have been “derailed” following an attempt by detainee Walid bin Attash to fire his legal team. Bin Attash told the judge that his team have “become the enemy.” [Miami Herald’s Carol Rosenberg]
“We learned a significant amount.” Retired Army Major Jay Hood, who ran Guantánamo Bay from 2004 to 2006, has defended the prison as an opportunity to gain intelligence. [Miami Herald’s Howard Altman]
The Periodic Review Board, that has been conducting reviews of dozens of Guantánamo Bay prisoners with the aim of deciding whether they can be released, has found that Yemeni detainee, Ayyub Murshid Ali Salih, was a low-level militant when he was captured in 2002 and not a member of an al-Qaida terrorist cell, as was thought. [AP]
CHINA
China has deployed surface-to-air missiles on an island in the South China Sea, Woody Island, according to the Taiwan government and senior US military officials. At a press conference today, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not confirm or deny the deployment. [The Washington Post’s Simon Denyer; Wall Street Journal’s Gordon Lubold et al] The move signals a stepping up of China’s “militarization” of the South China Sea which, according to Euan Graham, may make the US “think twice” about future overflight operations in the area. [The Guardian]
China’s foreign minister has called on Australia to “take into consideration the feelings of Asian countries” as it considers the purchase of a fleet of submarines from Japan, referring to Japan’s role in the Second World War. Washington, on the other hand, has been encouraging closer cooperation between Australia and Japan on security matters. [Reuters]
RUSSIA
The world has stumbled into “a new cold war.” Lamberto Zannier, secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has said that the “structure of agreed pattern of behaviors” which keeps the relationship between NATO and Russia in check is breaking apart. [Financial Times’ Sam Jones]
The Obama administration’s fiscal 2017 summary marks a shift toward viewing Russia as a serious threat and aims to send “a strong message of deterrence” in the face of Russia’s new aggressiveness, an attitude the Washington Post editorial board welcomes.
Iran’s defense minister met with Russia’s President Putin, yesterday, to discuss the delivery of an S-300 air defense system, despite a UN resolution banning Iran from making arms sales for the next five years. [Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson]
Russia will send its first air defense missile system to Iran tomorrow, under the terms of an earlier contract. [Reuters]
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
A suicide attack has killed at least 10 people at a Yemeni army camp, used to train recruits by the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, in Aden. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. [Reuters]
The US journalist and her three crew members who were arrested in Bahrain have been charged, released and allowed to leave the country. The US Embassy in Manama is believed to have intervened. [AP]
The US has flown four F-22 stealth jets over the US military air base in Osan in Gyeonggi province, which borders North Korea. [BBC] And the Department of State has said that Deputy Secretary Antony Blinken will receive South Korea’s Deputy National Security Advisor Cho Tae-yong in Washington tomorrow in order to discuss, among other things, the international community’s reaction to the North Korea missile launc
UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon has confirmed that Britain intends to continue to defend the Falkland Islands, speaking during what was the first visit by a UK defense secretary to the Islands in over ten years. [BBC]
Raids in northern Germany involving more than 200 police officers have resulted in the confiscation of several computers and cellphones. The raids were aimed at a Salafist group which has been linked to another, previously outlawed group responsible for sending at least 15 people to join Islamic State in Syria. [New York Times’ Alison Smale]
Belgian police have charged three people with terrorist offences following raids on homes in Brussels. Those arrested were not involved in the Paris attacks, a spokesperson has confirmed. [New York Times’ Milan Schreuer]
Israeli authorities have issued a “statement of regret” after detaining the Washington Post’s bureau chief and a Palestinian contract reporter on suspicion of “inciting Palestinians.” The pair were released after about 40 minutes. [New York Times’ Isabel Kershner and Sewell Chan]
Kenya is to build a new, separate prison for “violent and extremist” offenders, in an attempt to stop them from influencing other prisoners, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced. No timelines for the building of the prison have been announced. [Reuters]
Islamic State is determined to prove its strength by perpetrating further attacks in EU countries, US and EU intelligence officials believe. The next attack is “likely to be bigger” than the Paris attacks last November, a former French intelligence official, who heads the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, has advised. [Politico]
A new email released by conservative group Judicial Watch on Monday has revealed that the State Department unofficially requested that Hillary Clinton hand over copies of her work emails as early as July 2014. This is earlier than the October 2014 date Clinton has been referring to until now. [Politico’s Rachael Bade]
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former UN Secretary-General, has died at the age of 93. He was responsible for guiding the international organization through the “chaotic” 1990s and for helping to shape its response to the Cold War. [New York Times’ Robert D McFadden; UN News Centre] And as the end of the current UN secretary general’s tenure approaches, Mark Seddon considers the possible front-runners to replace him, including Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel. [New York Times]
Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the explosion on board an airplane in Somalia on Feb 2, “retribution for the crimes committed by the coalition of Western crusaders.” This is one of numerous factors indicating that Islamism is “wreaking havoc in Africa,” with militant groups controlling territory from the Horn of Africa to the Mediterranean coast, to Nigeria. [Wall Street Journal]
“National security efforts rest on the assumption that home-grown terrorists can be detected.” While this may not be untrue, US tactics rely too heavily on racial profiling and the assumption that normative values such as marriage and employment shield individuals from extremist ideologies. Instead, writes Morwari Zafar, authorities need to recognise radicalization as the result of “an explosive mix of very human experiences and frustrations that lack outlets for self-expression” and approach the issue accordingly. [Al Jazeera]
The removal of the last MX Peacekeeper ballistic missile in 2005, which went largely unnoticed, has left the US’ nuclear arsenal with a “targeting deficiency,” reports Elaine M Grossman. [The Daily Beast]
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A new study "Does Immigration Induce Terrorism?" was published this week in the University of Chicago's Journal of Politics.
Britain's defense secretary paid tribute to fallen British veterans on a visit Tuesday to the contested Falkland Islands and said the election of a new government in Argentina could open the door for better relations between the countries.
At last week’s Senate Intelligence Committeehearing on Worldwide Threats, FBI Director James Comey reiterated his call for a major expansion of the FBI’s surveillance authorities, but disingenuously downplayed it as fixing a “typo” in the law. In fact, Comey’s proposed fix, which he calls one of the FBI’s top legislative priorities, would be a major expansion of surveillance authority, and a major hit to Americans’ privacy and civil liberties. It would grant the FBI access to a range of revealing and personal details about Americans’ online communications — what are called Electronic Communications Transactional Records (ECTR), in legalese — without court approval.
Through Comey’s “ECTR fix,” the FBI would have the unilateral authority to obtain information from phone and Internet companies about your online communications such as logs of emails you send and receive, cell site data (including your location information), and lists of websites you visit. The FBI wants to get this information using National Security Letters (NSLs), which are demands for information issued directly by local FBI offices without any court approval or supervision.
Under current law, the FBI can only use NSLs to get information pertaining to a customer’s “name, address, length of service, and local and long distance toll billing records of a person or entity.” By contrast, if the FBI wants to compel a company to hand over the much more revealing private information that is included in ECTRs, they currently can’t use NSLs — instead, they have to get a court order after convincing a judge that they have a factual basis for demanding those records. Therefore, the FBI’s proposal that Congress add ECTRs to the NSL statute is far from a typo fix, and would instead be a major expansion of FBI’s authority to conduct surveillance with virtually no oversight and no accountability.
If it isn’t already clear that the FBI’s ECTR “fix” is primed for abuse, one need only look at the history of NSLs. Since the passage of the Patriot Act in 2001, the FBI has massively overused and abused NSLs more than almost any other surveillance authority. NSLs have been used for bulk collection, which is why the USA Freedom Act explicitly prohibits their use for this purpose going forward. In 2004, agents issued nine demands that forced companies to hand over the private information of 11,000 customers. That’s not to mention the other 56,498 NSLs they issued that year. Additionally, the FBI improperly issued NSLs for ECTRs. This practice stopped in 2008 when Justice Department lawyers concluded that the NSL statute covered only what was listed — again, ECTRs are not. Thus, the FBI’s NSL demands for ECTRs were illegal.
By 2010, the Obama administration had started quietly lobbying Congress to amend the law to expand it to include ECTRs. There was little appetite for granting this new surveillance authority before the Snowden revelations, and there was even less after. The administration’s requests went ignored, including in last year’s USA Freedom Act, though we do know that an ECTR “fix” was in the mix when the final bill was being negotiated — and now it’s back again.
Comey is continuing to push for this expansion, and he may be starting to get Congress’ attention. In the last two or so months, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, and Sen. Tom Cotton, a member of the Intelligence Committee, each gave Comey a platform to lobby for this expansion at open hearings. Even more worrisome, Intelligence Committee ChairmanSen. Richard Burr and Cotton each had bills last year that would have addressed the FBI’s desired “fix.”
No one knows whether or not Congress will take up Comey’s proposal anytime soon. We do know that where the FBI is concerned, they generally don’t stop pushing for what they want until they get it. Even if it takes decades, they tend to wait for an opportune moment to push their agenda over the finish line or they simply wear Congress down until it gives them what they want. We saw this with the Patriot Act, which was largely drafted, debated, and rejected in the ’80s and ’90s, and only became law in response to 9/11. We saw it with the debate around encryption that we thought was settled during the Crypto Wars of the ’90s, but which the FBI recently reignited with unsubstantiated claimsthat it is “going dark.” Over the last few years, we’ve also seen efforts by the FBI to force an update to CALEA, the law that requires telecommunications companies to be wiretap-able, and similar pushes for mandatory data retention by phone or Internet companies. When it comes to getting changes to the law that it wants, the FBI plays a long game — and it’s been talking about the ECTR issue for a long time.
Comey was clear at last week’s hearing that getting an ECTR “fix” is still one of the FBI’s top legislative priorities. The privacy community, and lawmakers who value privacy, should heed that warning. We can’t afford to dismiss his comments just because the issue doesn’t seem urgent. Unless we push back against Comey now, before you know it, the long slow push for an ECTR fix may just be unstoppable.
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Mintpress News (blog) |
10 Times The CIA Used Secret Armies To Overthrow Foreign Governments
Mintpress News (blog) If that seems out of the question, remember the CIA once started a war over bananas… literal bananas. Cuba: Probably the best known secret army. Castro nationalized the assets of western companies after his government took power, so the US decided to ... |
A “senior official” of the military alliance between Iran, Russia, and Syria that is currently waging a ground offensive in Aleppo boasted about subverting U.S. diplomacy in a recent interview with an U.S. newspaper.
The official told the Wall Street Journal that military forces from Iran, Russia, and Syria would use a recent ceasefire deal brokered by world powers—including the United States—not to take steps towards a peaceful resolution of the Syrian war, but to consolidate their military gains.
The Journal reported:
“These allies are together in the same command center, working, planning and coordinating their operations in the battlefield,” said a senior official in the Iran-Russia-Syrian regime military alliance. “Retaking Aleppo will restore the regime’s strength and control over Syria; toppling the regime is now a thing of the past.” A cease-fire as proposed by world powers in Munich last week, he said, would simply be a pause for the Iran-led ground forces to consolidate recent territorial gains.
Thousands of fighters organized by Iran—including Hezbollah, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Shia fighters from Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries—have launched the assault on Aleppo alongside Syrian army forces. Emboldened by Russian airstrikes, the fighters have been able to advance on Syria’s largest city.
There is some doubt regarding whether the ceasefire will be implemented at all. The deal wasestablished by global powers on Friday, though neither Assad nor the Syrian opposition formally signed off on it. The deal was supposed to allow humanitarian aid to be sent to Syria and commence peace negotiations. The United States hoped that the ceasefire would be implemented in a week’s time.
Hours before the ceasefire was announced, Assad vowed to retake Syria in its entirety in an interview published by AFP.
Iran has put billions of dollars toward backing Assad, and Russia has launched a military intervention in Syria to back the Assad regime under the guise of fighting terrorist groups.
While the Obama administration has long said that Assad must be removed from power, the United States has softened that stance since 2011, when the Syrian civil war began. Secretary of State John Kerry said in December that the administration was not seeking a “regime change” in Syria following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change,” Kerry said then, indicating that world powers were focused on achieving a peace process in which “Syrians will be making decisions for the future of Syria.”
Both Russia and Iran have resisted any effort to oust Assad.
The post ‘Senior Official’ of Iran-Russia-Syria Alliance Brags About Subverting U.S. Diplomacyappeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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NEW YORK (AP) - Several of New York City's top officials are joining Senator Charles Schumer in criticizing a plan that would cut federal counterterrorism funding.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner William Bratton, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro (NY'-groh) and others denounced the White House plan on Wednesday.
The proposal ...
By Ahmed Rasheed, Aref Mohammed and Stephen Kalin
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq is searching for “highly dangerous” radioactive material stolen last year, according to an environment ministry document and seven security, environmental and provincial officials who fear it could be used as a weapon if acquired by Islamic State.
The material, stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer, went missing in November from a storage facility near the southern city of Basra belonging to U.S. oilfield services company Weatherford <WFT.N>, the document obtained by Reuters showed and officials confirmed.
A spokesman for Iraq’s environment ministry said he could not discuss the issue, citing national security concerns. A Weatherford spokesman in Iraq declined to comment, and the company’s Houston headquarters did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The material, which uses gamma rays to test flaws in materials used for oil and gas pipelines in a process called industrial gamma radiography, is owned by Istanbul-based SGS Turkey, according to the document and officials.
An SGS official in Iraq declined to comment and referred Reuters to its Turkish headquarters, which did not respond to phone calls.
The document, dated Nov. 30 and addressed to the ministry’s Centre for Prevention of Radiation, describes “the theft of a highly dangerous radioactive source of Ir-192 with highly radioactive activity belonging to SGS from a depot belonging to Weatherford in the Rafidhia area of Basra province”.
A senior environment ministry official based in Basra, who declined to be named as he is not authorized to speak publicly, told Reuters the device contained up to 10 grams (0.35 ounces) of Ir-192 “capsules”, a radioactive isotope of iridium also used to treat cancer.
The material is classed as a Category 2 radioactive source by the International Atomic Energy Agency, meaning if not managed properly it could cause permanent injury to a person in close proximity to it for minutes or hours, and could be fatal to someone exposed for a period of hours to days.
How harmful exposure can be is determined by a number of factors such as the material’s strength and age, which Reuters could not immediately determine. The ministry document said it posed a risk of bodily and environmental harm as well as a national security threat.
DIRTY BOMB FEAR
Large quantities of Ir-192 have gone missing before in the United States, Britain and other countries, stoking fears among security officials that it could be used to make a dirty bomb.
A dirty bomb combines nuclear material with conventional explosives to contaminate an area with radiation, in contrast to a nuclear weapon, which uses nuclear fission to trigger a vastly more powerful blast.
“We are afraid the radioactive element will fall into the hands of Daesh,” said a senior security official with knowledge of the theft, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
“They could simply attach it to explosives to make a dirty bomb,” said the official, who works at the interior ministry and spoke on condition of anonymity as he is also not authorized to speak publicly.
There was no indication the material had come into the possession of Islamic State, which seized territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014 but does not control areas near Basra.
The security official, based in Baghdad, told Reuters there were no immediate suspects for the theft. But the official said the initial investigation suggested the perpetrators had specific knowledge of the material and the facility: “No broken locks, no smashed doors and no evidence of forced entry,” he said.
An operations manager for Iraqi security firm Taiz, which was contracted to protect the facility, declined to comment, citing instructions from Iraqi security authorities.
A spokesman for Basra operations command, responsible for security in Basra province, said army, police and intelligence forces were working “day and night” to locate the material.
The army and police have responsibility for security in the country’s south, where Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias and criminal gangs also operate.
POLLUTION RISK
Iraqi forces are battling Islamic State in the country’s north and west, backed by a U.S.-led coalition. The militant group has been accused of using chemical weapons on more than one occasion over the past few years.
The closest area fully controlled by Islamic State is more than 500 km (300 miles) north of Basra in the western province of Anbar. The Sunni militants control no territory in the predominantly Shi’ite southern provinces but have claimed bomb attacks there, including one that killed 10 people in October in the district where the Weatherford facility is located.
Besides the risk of a dirty bomb, the radioactive material could cause harm simply by being left exposed in a public place for several days, said David Albright, a physicist and president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.
“If they left it in some crowded place, that would be more of the risk. If they kept it together but without shielding,” he said. “Certainly it’s not insignificant. You could cause some panic with this. They would want to get this back.”
The senior environmental official said authorities were worried that whoever stole the material would mishandle it, leading to radioactive pollution of “catastrophic proportions”.
A second senior environment ministry official, also based in Basra, said counter-radiation teams had begun inspecting oil sites, scrap yards and border crossings to locate the device after an emergency task force raised the alarm on Nov. 13.
Two Basra provincial government officials said they were directed on Nov. 25 to coordinate with local hospitals. “We instructed hospitals in Basra to be alert to any burn cases caused by radioactivity and inform security forces immediately,” said one.
(Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Pravin Char)
The post Radioactive Material Stolen in Iraq Raises Security Fears appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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JERUSALEM—Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned this week that his militia has the capability of inflicting casualties on Israel, comparable in numbers to those from an atomic bomb, by firing missiles at an ammonia plant in Haifa’s industrial zone.
In a speech broadcast from his secret bunker in Beirut, Nasrallah cited Israeli experts who have said there could be 70,000 casualties or higher if the ammonia plant is hit in another round of fighting with Hezbollah. The militia in fact tried to hit the industrial zone in its 2006 war with Israel but failed to strike any critical facility.
Israelis do not contest Nasrallah’s claim. Environmentalists and municipal officials, who have for years been trying to get the facility relocated, in fact applauded Nasrallah, tongue in cheek, for bringing the subject up as a national issue. “We are happy for help in putting the environmental issue on the agenda,” said Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, “even if it comes from a frightened man hiding in his bunker for years.” He said the municipality has long wanted to get rid of the ammonia facility and an oil refinery from the portside industrial zone.
After the 2006 war, the Haifa municipality ordered a report from a British firm regarding the risks from the ammonia plant in the event of war. The report warned that in the event of a hit, the plant, which stores 15,000 tons of ammonia, could release a deadly cloud ten miles in diameter. Studies from the 1990s concluded that there could be 70,000 casualties or more.
Environment Minister Avi Gabay said following Nasrallah’s broadcast that a tender has already been issued for the construction of an ammonia facility in the sparsely settled Negev in southern Israel to replace the Haifa facility. “Israel does not have to conduct itself according to the threats of Nasrallah,” said Gabay, “but we are happy that he raised consciousness about the issue.”
Ironically, Haifa area residents may owe a real debt to Nasrallah. Infrastructure projects have a way of dragging out for years before execution. The specific warning from Nasrallah, and the knowledge that he now possesses precise weaponry he did not possess in 2006, will make it politically difficult for the government bureaucracy to keep the project on a back burner. In the 2006 war, Haifa—a mixed Jewish-Arab city—was hit by a number of Hezbollah rockets.
Nasrallah, in his speech, was in fact warning more than threatening. “We do not seek war nor do we want war,” he said. “We must be prepared for war in order to deter against it. The residents of Haifa are worried (about the ammonia plant) with or without a war.” Addressing Israel’s chief of staff, Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, the Shiite cleric said “it’s simple mathematics. You have the strongest air force, you have missiles and you have other means. You can destroy Lebanon. But we can do the same thing. A few missiles aimed at ammonia plants equals the same amount of deaths as an atomic bomb.”
Eizenkot, in a speech of his own yesterday, mentioned Nasrallah’s talk. The Israeli military, said the general, has “effective deterrence” against Hezbollah.
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At least five people died and 10 others were injured in a large explosion in the Turkish capital on Wednesday, believed to have been caused by a car bomb, Ankara's governor said.
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At least five people have been killed and at least 10 others injured in a suspected car bomb attack in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
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