Threat Matrix: June 2007

British Intelligence: Al-Qaida Expanding
-Full Story-

British intelligence officials said they believe that al-Qaida has a secure base in Pakistan's Waziristan region and is planning terrorist operations.

The group is reaching out to Muslims in North Africa, The Telegraph reported. Last year, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, an Algerian terrorist group, merged itself into al-Qaida, a move announced by Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a tape promising action against the "apostates" in the Algerian government and "the treacherous sons of France."

Al-Qaida is also believed to be planning expansion into Lebanon and Syria, the newspaper report said.

	U.S. Battles al-Qaida in Baghdad
	U.S. Terror Expert Says Nuclear Risk Low
	Is North African Militant New Face of al-Qaida?

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46578

Operation Arrowhead Ripper Makes Headway in Baqubah

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2007 – Iraqi and U.S. troops continue to clear out insurgents in Baqubah and distribute aid to its citizens as part of ongoing Operation Arrowhead Ripper, and recent terrorist bombings in Baghdad have killed 15 Iraqis and wounded 23 others, U.S. officials reported.

Iraqi security forces and U.S. soldiers operating in Baqubah yesterday continued to clear the city of insurgents while providing humanitarian aid to its citizens as Operation Arrowhead Ripper entered its ninth day.

Arrowhead Ripper is one of several operations that are part of an overall offensive against insurgents in Iraq dubbed Operation Phantom Thunder, which began June 15, once all “surge” troops were in place.

Iraqi and U.S. security forces have provided Baqubah’s citizens about 265,000 pounds of rice and flour, more than 10,000 vegetarian rations, and thousands of bottles of water since the operation began.

At least 60 al Qaeda operatives have been killed, 74 have been detained, 31 weapons caches have been discovered, 81 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed and 18 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed since the operation began.

U.S. helicopter crews returned ground fire and killed one insurgent and wounded another during an engagement south of Baghdad June 26.

Two AH-64 Apache helicopters assigned to the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade were fired on by insurgents inside a building. The helicopters returned fire with 30 mm rounds. Paratroopers from the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, were called to search the building and immediate area for insurgents. The wounded insurgent was taken to a local hospital for treatment and will be taken into custody by the Iraqi army.

In other news, Iraqi police from Khalis broke up a gunfight between Iraqi residents of two neighboring villages June 26. The police were dispatched in response to reports that al Koubat villagers were being attacked by members of the Tohoyla village.

The gunfire stopped upon the arrival of the Iraqi police, who discovered that four local Iraqis had been killed and 19 others were wounded. Two Iraqi police were wounded during the altercation. The police secured the scene, provided first aid and transported the wounded to Khalis’s local hospital for further treatment.

American soldiers with the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, also responded to the attack and assisted Iraqi police in securing the area.

Meanwhile, U.S. soldiers assigned to Troop A, 6-9 Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, killed two gunmen during an engagement near Thurah on June 26.

The U.S. soldiers were conducting security operations in the area when they were attacked by three gunmen armed with AK-47s. The Americans killed one of the gunmen, but his comrades then counter-attacked with rocket-propelled grenades. The U.S. soldiers then chased the remaining gunmen into a building.

The second gunman was killed in the ensuing firefight, while the third insurgent fled the area. There were no U.S. casualties. Small arms and ammunition, a grenade, and an improvised explosive device were found inside the building.

In other news, U.S. soldiers found 11 roadside bombs and defeated insurgent attacks while patrolling Baghdad’s Rashid district June 25 and 26.

“The continued discovery of roadside bombs before they can be used against innocent Iraqis or our forces is a strong indication that the people are growing tired of the violence in Rashid,” Army Col. Ricky D. Gibbs, commander of the 1st Infantry Division’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, said.

The U.S. troops defeated enemy forces in two separate engagements in East Rashid over a 24-hour period. Several extremists shot at a U.S. patrol on June 26. American helicopters fired on and killed two extremists. A third extremist was wounded and later detained. Troops detained four more suspects for further questioning.

(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46581

Phantom Thunder Operations Disrupt Terrorists in Iraq

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2007 – U.S. and Iraqi troops are disrupting terrorist activities from Baghdad and its environs to Anbar province as the result of surge-related operations being conducted across Iraq, a senior U.S. military officer serving in Iraq said yesterday.

Operation Phantom Thunder is an ongoing anti-insurgent operation that launched June 15, once all “surge” troops arrived in Iraq. The operation has shut down hideouts operated by al Qaeda and other extremist groups, bomb factories and execution rooms, Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner told online journalists yesterday.

Phantom Thunder has produced “a pattern of finding facilities, the operating bases, that al Qaeda and other extremists have been operating from in Iraq,” said Bergner, who serves as Multinational Force Iraq’s deputy chief of staff for strategic effects.

Bergner pointed to the recent discovery of safe houses in Baqubah, Iraq, that were used by insurgents for executions, as well as for prisons and weapons storage.

“We continued that same pattern,” Bergner said, noting an al Qaeda weapons cache, rocket-propelled grenades and other munitions turned up in more recent security sweeps in Baqubah. A recent coalition raid in Anbar province yielded an enemy improvised explosive device factory, the general said.

“So, what we’re seeing is an array of facilities that are established specifically to operate from, launch spectacular attacks from and solidify their control over the neighborhood in which they’re established,” Bergner said regarding insurgent facilities that have been shut down across Iraq in recent weeks.

Just days ago, coalition troops killed two senior al Qaeda agents who had operated a foreign-fighter cell out of northern Iraq, Bergner pointed out.

The purpose of the surge of operations “is really centered on improving population security, creating that linkage between the Iraqi forces and the people, the citizens in these neighborhoods, and connecting them with their government,” Bergner said.

It will likely “take a period of weeks and months” to measure the surge’s full effects against the enemy, he added.

Establishing security across Iraq is “one of those things that takes time to build, and it’s one of those things that takes time to solidify once you’ve got it in place, so that it becomes more resilient,” Bergner said.

UPDATE:

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1857976/posts

Ex-deputy cleared in shooting of airman
LA Times ^

Posted on 06/28/2007 4:25:54 PM PDT by CAWats

4:06 PM PDT, June 28, 2007

A San Bernardino County jury today acquitted a former sheriff’s deputy of attempted voluntary manslaughter for opening fire on an unarmed, off-duty Air Force police officer after a high-speed chase last year, a brutal shooting videotaped by a bystander and aired nationwide.

Ivory John Webb Jr., 46, the son of a former Compton police chief, was the first law enforcement officer ever to face criminal charges for an on-duty shooting in San Bernardino County. Webb, who also was also acquitted of assault with a deadly firearm, faced up to an 18-year prison sentence.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...

http://www.officer.com/article/photos/1182792614838_shooting3.jpg
http://www.officer.com/article/photos/1182793758814_utahshooting.jpg

http://www.officer.com/web/online/Officer-Down-News/Prisoner-Kills-Officer-at-Utah-Hospital/2$36631

“Prisoner Kills Officer at Utah Hospital”
Funeral information below

Updated: June 28th, 2007 11:26 AM EDT
By JENNIFER DOBNER
Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY —

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Authorities said a prison inmate out for a medical appointment wrested a gun from a corrections officer and killed him Monday, then led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen sport utility vehicle before his capture at a fast-food restaurant.

Curtis Allgier, whose wears a swastika and the words “skin head” on his heavily tattooed face, fired a shot in the Arby’s that hit no one before a customer at the restaurant grabbed the gun, Salt Lake City police Sgt. Rich Brede said.

“It sounds like he was heroic, even though he’s being humble about it,” he said of the 59-year-old customer.

Allgier, 27, was captured in an office and taken to jail to await charges.

Allgier got the gun from corrections officer Stephen Anderson while he was in an examination room at the University of Utah orthopedic center awaiting an MRI for back pain around 7:45 a.m., university Police Chief Scott Folsom said.

The procedure requires an officer to replace metal restraints with a plastic “flex cuff,” said Tom Patterson, director of the Utah Department of Corrections.

“There was some sort of altercation. The inmate got hold of the weapon and shot the officer,” Folsom said.

Anderson, 60, a 22-year-veteran, was shot in the head, authorities said.”

June 25, 2007

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://birmingham.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/bh062507.htm

ALABAMA FREE MILITIA MEMBER PLEADS GUILTYIN U.S. DISTRICT COURT

BIRMINGHAM, AL - BONNELL HUGHES, 57, of Crossville, Alabama, plead guilty to eight counts of a federal indictment. Hughes was one of six men indicted in May 2007 in connection with an explosives recovery in Northeast Alabama. U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin and James Cavanaugh, Special Agent in Charge, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, announced the guilty plea which occurred this morning before U.S. District Court Judge U.W. Clemon.

“Hughes, who held the rank of captain in the Free Militia, was involved in a conspiracy with other militia members to make hand grenades and self propelled grenades,” stated U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. “He now faces up to 70 years in prison and fines of up to $2,000,000.

“Hughes is the first member of the Alabama Free Militia to plead guilty in this investigation. He faces several decades in federal prison for his role in dealing with deadly grenades, improvised explosive devices, an illegal machine gun and silencer,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge James Cavanaugh of the Nashville Field Division. “Fortunately no one was injured in this case including Hughes, his neighbors and law enforcement.”

A joint federal-local investigation lead to the execution of a search warrant at Hughes’ residence on April 26, 2007. During the execution of the search warrant, agents recovered some eighty hand grenades, sixty-eight self propelled grenades, a machine gun, and a silencer adapted to fit a machine gun. Hughes plead guilty today to conspiracy to make destructive devices (grenades), conspiracy to make a silencer, making destructive devices (10 grenades), possession of a machine gun, possession of destructive devices (80 grenades), possession of destructive devices (68 improvised explosive projectiles) and possession of a silencer.

A sentencing date for Hughes will be scheduled by the Court for a future date. Plea hearings are scheduled for June 26, 2007, for Raymond Kirk Dillard, Adam Lynn Cunningham, James Ray McElroy, and Randall Garrett Cole. Michael Wayne Bobo, who is connected with the investigation, was indicted separately and is currently awaiting a trial date.

“Large quantities of explosive devices were taken off the street as a result of this case. People like Hughes show little regard for public safety,” stated Alabama State Fire Marshal Edward Paulk. “Today Hughes pled guilty to several crimes that will impact him for many years to come.”

“Hughes was living in Dekalb County, engaging in activities that were extremely dangerous for our citizens,” stated Sheriff Jimmy Harris. “I am glad that a guilty plea has been entered and that the will no longer have an opportunity to put our people at risk.”

This investigation involved numerous federal, state and local law enforcement. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office and Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office began a joint investigation into the group. As the case unfolded, other participating law enforcement partners included Bomb Squads from Huntsville Police Department, Jefferson County, and Gadsden County Sheriffs’ Departments and Alabama Department of Public Safety Bomb Squad who worked with ATF Bomb Techs in securing the IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). Other Agencies include, The U.S. Marshal Service, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Alabama Bureau of Investigation, and the Sheriff’s Offices and District Attorneys’ Offices of DeKalb, Etowah, Marshall, and Jefferson Counties.

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