WASHINGTON: The US Department of Homeland Security issued a new terrorism threat advisory on Friday ahead of the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks and amid a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic.
The National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin said the United States faces a “heightened threat environment” from both domestic terrorists “and those inspired or motivated by foreign terrorists and other malign foreign influences.”
It cited increased use of “online forums to influence and spread violent extremist narratives and promote violent activity.”
The new advisory updated a January alert following the attack on the US Congress by supporters of then-president Donald Trump, when DHS said the country faced “increasingly complex and volatile” threats from anti-government and racially motivated extremists, often stirred up by online influence from abroad.
The bulletin had already been amended in May, with DHS warning violent extremists could exploit the easing of Covid-19 restrictions to conduct attacks.
“Extremists may seek to exploit the emergence of Covid-19 variants by viewing the potential re-establishment of public health restrictions across the United States as a rationale to conduct attacks,” the DHS advisory said, adding that “pandemic-related stressors... may contribute to more violence this year.”
Despite a rapid vaccination program, coronavirus case numbers have increased sharply in recent months in the United States due to the spread of the Delta variant, prompting new health measures.
The advisory, which expires on November 11, also noted that in the lead-up to the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), had put out an English-language version of its propaganda “Inspire” magazine for the first time in over four years.
This “demonstrates that foreign terrorist organizations continue efforts to inspire US-based individuals susceptible to violent extremist influences,” DHS said.
The United States, which considers AQAP the terror group’s most dangerous branch, has carried out a campaign of drone strikes against its fighters in Yemen since soon after the 9/11 attacks.
DHS was established after 9/11 and regularly issues terrorism threat adviseries.
US issues new terrorism threat warning ahead of 9/11 anniversary
https://arab.news/2tu4m
US issues new terrorism threat warning ahead of 9/11 anniversary
- The National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin said the US faces a “heightened threat environment”
- It cited increased use of “online forums to influence and spread violent extremist narratives and promote violent activity”
Danish general says there are no Chinese or Russian ships near Greenland
- “There are Chinese and Russian vessels in the Arctic Ocean, but not near Greenland,” Major General Soren Andersen said
- He had extended an invitation for the US to join exercises planned on the island this year
NUUK: The head of Denmark’s military Joint Arctic Command said on Friday that there were no Chinese or Russian ships observed near Greenland, despite repeated claims by US President Donald Trump to the contrary.
Trump says Greenland is vital to US security and has not ruled out the use of force to take it. European nations this week sent small numbers of military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.
“We don’t see any Russian or Chinese vessels around Greenland... there are Chinese and Russian vessels in the Arctic Ocean, but not near Greenland,” Major General Soren Andersen told Reuters.
Speaking on board a Danish warship in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, Andersen said that he had extended an invitation for the United States to join exercises planned on the island this year.
“We had a meeting today with a lot of NATO partners including the US and invited them to participate in this exercise,” said Andersen. When asked if the Americans will join, the general replied “I don’t know that yet.”
Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command enforces sovereignty and conducts surveillance, fisheries inspection and search-and-rescue across Greenland and the Faroe Islands, drawing on patrol vessels, aircraft, helicopters and satellite-based monitoring.
Headquartered in Nuuk, it also fields Greenland’s Sirius dog-sled patrol for long-range land operations and maintains about 150 staff across command, logistics and fixed Arctic stations.
Responding to Trump’s criticism that Denmark does too little to defend Greenland, Copenhagen last year announced a 42 billion Danish crowns ($6.54 billion) Arctic defense package.
