Abu Ali al Askari, the security official for Iraq’s Hezbollah Brigades (or Kata’ib Hezbollah, KH), purportedly released a statement earlier today calling for volunteers for suicide bombings against US forces in Iraq.

On Askari’s Twitter account, which has been utilized in the past to distribute KH statements, the official says that “I call for the opening of the door of registration for the lovers of martyrdom, to conduct martyrdom operations [suicide bombings] against the foreign Crusader forces.”

This short statement was then republished by social media channels affiliated with KH on both Twitter and Telegram. In addition, a Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated Telegram account has also republished the statement.

Abu Ali al Askari’s Twitter statement calling for volunteers for suicide operations in Iraq.

No official word has been made on KH’s website as of the time of publishing, however.

The US-designated Hezbollah Brigades were led by Abu Mahdi al Muhandis until his death by a US drone strike yesterday alongside Iranian Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - At least 24 people were confirmed killed after a camp for internally displaced people was attacked in Sudan’s West Darfur, an international peacekeeping official said on Wednesday, as top officials arrived to try to calm the violence.

Krinding Camp, just east of state capital el-Geneina, was raided on Dec. 29-30 following a dispute between Arab and African ethnic groups, said Ashraf Eissa, a spokesman for the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur, UNAMID. [nL8N2943KC]

“The Arab tribesman’s people came to the IDP camp and started shooting and killing and burning,” he said.

“Then relatives went to the hospital and threatened hospital staff at gunpoint and destroyed the blood bank ... and when a government of Sudan policeman tried to intervene he was shot and killed.”

Brokering lasting peace in Darfur and other parts of Sudan is one of the main challenges facing military and civilian authorities sharing power following the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir last April.

Conflict broke out in Darfur in 2003 after mostly non-Arab rebels rose up against Khartoum. Up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced, including more than 180,000 displaced in West Darfur, according to U.N. estimates.

West Darfur has been generally calm since 2010 though tensions between the Masalit and Arab tribes resurfaced in 2017 leading to occasional, smaller scale skirmishes, Eissa said.

On Wednesday, senior officials including sovereign council member General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok arrived in el-Geneina and were briefed on the security situation, the council said in a statement.

At least 17 people were wounded in the violence around el-Geneina, though casualty figures were initial estimates and could rise, Eissa said. Many people from the camp fled to el-Geneina or nearby mountains.

After exchanges of fire across al-Geneina on Tuesday, he said the situation remained very tense.

A local journalist said the violence had spread to the surrounding area, at least 10 villages had been burned, and some people were trying to flee across the border into Chad. A statement from the non-Arab Masalit ethnic group put the number of dead at more than 50, but the figure could not be independently confirmed.

UNAMID, which has been gradually drawing down its presence in Darfur, withdrew from el-Geneina in May 2019. On the day it was meant to hand over its headquarters in the city to the government, the camp was raided and gutted by security forces and civilians.

UNAMID does not have a mandate to conduct peacekeeping operations in el-Geneina, though its mandate could be extended to the area “in extremis”, Eissa said.

On Dec. 27 hundreds of men in uniform and civilians raided and looted another former UNAMID camp in Nyala in South Darfur, which had been handed over to the government in November, UNAMID said in a statement.

A college teacher who is the son of a senior police officer has been found guilty of leading al-Shabab's operations in Mogadishu for several years.

A military court in Mogadishu sentenced Mohamed Haji Ahmed to death on Tuesday.  Prosecutors wanted to file charges connecting Ahmed to the death of more than 180 people.  But in the end, he was convicted for being behind the assassination of three generals, a police corporal and a deputy attorney general.

In a video recorded and released by the court, Ahmed confessed to working as head of operations for al-Shabab in Mogadishu.

"I was head of operation of the city, the region," he said in the video. "There was nothing more nerve-wracking than sending out someone to do something…what will happen to them? Have they been killed?"

He said after an operation, al-Shabab bosses would call him to learn details about how it went, who fired the shots, and how many bullets were fired.

He would also send information to al-Shabab's radio station, Radio Andalus, so the group could claim responsibility for attacks and use it as propaganda.

The court sentenced six other al-Shabab members to death, four of them in absentia.  An eighth Shabab member was given life imprisonment.

A woman who worked at the Somali Women's Headquarters was also convicted for passing information about the movement of government officials to al-Shabab. Fadumo Hussein Ali, also known as "Fadumo Colonel," was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The hunt

Ahmed, 27, from Bulomarer town in the Lower Shabelle region, has used multiple aliases over the years to evade authorities.

Somali security forces said they have been hearing his name since 2014, when al-Shabab suspects arrested for carrying pistols in Mogadishu's Hamarweyne district said a man they identified as "Hudeyfi" gave them the guns to carry out assassinations. The following year, more detained al-Shabab suspects mentioned the same name.

In January 2016, authorities arrested a man whose phone they had tracked because of contacts with known al-Shabab figures. He told the court he was a college teacher, which was verified, and he was released on bail.  At the time, the officials did not realize that the man they arrested, Ahmed, was indeed Hudeyfi.

Over the following years, Ahmed used several other aliases. On November 2, 2016, a traditional elder was killed in Mogadishu. Two men arrested by the police in connection with the killing named their supervisor as "Dahir."  

On December 2018, twin blasts near the National Theater in Mogadishu killed at least ten people including prominent television journalist Awil Dahir Salad. The two men captured in connection with the bombing named "Ilkacase" as co-conspirator.

Police have since established that Hudeyfi, Dahir, Ilkacase and Ahmed are the same person. On Tuesday, Ahmed confirmed this information to the court.

"I was originally known as Hudeyfi, but I worked with different groups and I gave a different name to each group," he said.

On Tuesday, Ahmed was convicted for the murder of police corporal Mohamed Omar Sheikh Osman, killed in a mosque on February 24 2017; the assassination of military General Abdullahi Mohamed Sheikh Qururuh, killed September 24, 2017; the assassination of Somali deputy attorney general Mohamed Abdirahman Mohamud on February 20, 2019; and the assassination of police General Mohamud Haji Alow on April 27, 2019.

He was also convicted for the assassination of police General Ismail Ahmed Osman on October 28, 2016. Ironically, Ahmed lived in Osman's house in the town of Marka when he was a high school student, after his father asked Osman to help his son, security officials say.

Military courts' prosecutor General Abdullahi Bule Kamey described Ahmed as a "merciless killer."

"His crimes are unmeasurable," General Kamey said. "He killed the man who raised him, the hand that fed him, General Ismail," Gen. Kamey said.

The prosecution said Ahmed spared his father's life only because he wanted to use him as a cover. "He let him live so that he bails him out when captured," Kamey said.

Ahmed's lawyers argued that their client should only be punished for the cases that can be proven before a court.

VOA Somali contacted an official at a Mogadishu college where Ahmed taught.  The official, who asked that the college not be identified for fear of reprisal, says Ahmed taught English for two years as a part-time teacher.  He left in March 2019, two months before he was arrested. The official says the college did not know about his connections with al-Shabab.

Update 18 May 2020

According to Federal investigators, without the assistance of Apple, they were able to bypass iPhone security features and uncover cell phone evidence linking Pensacola shooter, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani directly to al-Qaeda (AQAP). Although details of what communication platform Alshamrani used (Whatsapp, Telegram, etc.) was not released, officials state that he did communicate directly with an al-Qaeda operative who encouraged the attacks, but it was not clear whether the al-Qaeda operative specifically directed Alshamrani to carry out the December shooting, which killed three sailors and wounded eight people.

Update 02 February 2020

Al-Qaeda in the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for a December shooting at US naval base Pensacola in Florida in an audio message from Sheikh Qasim Raymi.  Raymi claims that the attack was retribution for US attacks on Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Burma, Mali, Eastern Turkistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Yemen.

• (Audio) al Malahem Media for Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Sheikh Qasim Raymi: Blessing and Claiming the [December 2019] Attack on the American Airbase in Pensacola, Florida , United States - 02 February 2020

TRAC Top Line

This is the second active shooter incident on a U.S. military base in two days. On 04 December 2019, a U.S. sailor fatally shot two civilian Defense Department employees and wounded a third at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii before killing himself. The shooting happened at approximately 2:30 pm, local time and the shooter was tentatively identified as being assigned to the USS Columbia, a submarine that was in dry dock for maintenance and repairs. 

• Active Duty US Sailor Turns Active Shooter Three Days before Anniversary of 1941 Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States - 04 December 2019

The event bares strong resemblance of 2009 Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Malik Hasan in Killeen, Texas.

The suspect, who has now been identified as Second Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani of the Royal Saudi Air Force, used a handgun (Glock 9 mm) that was legally purchased locally. Although non-citizens are normally prohibited from buying handguns, Alshamrani used a loophole to legally purchase his weapon from a dealer in Pensacola, through the use of a hunting license.

The shooting incident is now being primarily handled by the FBI and is being investigated as an act of transnational act of terror.

The assailant held a dinner party earlier in the week, where he and three other Saudi aviation students watched videos of mass shootings.  At least three Saudi students watched as the attack on Pensacola Naval Air Station unfolded, one of whom videotaped from outside while the shooting was taking place. Ten Saudi aviation students are being detained for questioning, several others are missing from the base.  

The shooter, one of one of 852 Saudi nationals in the U.S. training under the Pentagon’s security cooperation agreement, began his training in Pensacola in August 2017 as part of a three-year program. He was taking classes in basic aviation, initial pilot training and English. Sources report that he returned to Saudi Arabia during this three-year program and then, re-entered the U.S. in February 2019. Some state, that he did not report for his training program until 2 days prior to the shooting, begging the question as to what he had been doing for the previous 10 months between February and December.

Update 13 January 2020

Update 08 December 2019

The Saudi terrorist who attacked the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., is said to also have connections to Texas, as well as ties to Oklahoma and Louisiana through possible co-conspirators from Saudi Arabia.

US-based trainees participating in the Pentagon program have also gone AWOL from other terror hot spots, including 27 from Yemen, 22 from Iraq and 9 from Saudi Arabia.

Update 07 December 2019

Hours before the shooting, a virulent anti-American message was posted to a Twitter account attributed to the Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani under the user name "@M7MD_Shamrani". TRAC captured the message before the account was suspended by Twitter.

Although the tweet by the gunman suggests a terrorist motive, he does not claim allegiance to any group, but instead deliberately chooses words that echo the sentiments of Osama Bin Laden and American al-Qaeda terrorist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, suggesting the shooter was may have been deeply familiar with the statements of al -Qaeda leaders and may have been inspired by them to some degree.

Update at 4:15 pm EST - 

A law enforcement source close to the investigation, stated that the FBI's probe into the Pensacola shooting is now being treated as a global investigation and that the agency has now tasked its agents posted full-time in Riyadh with liasing with the Saudi Arabian government to obtain background information on the shooter. 

 Additionally, former Florida Governor Rick Scott has called for a full review of U.S. Military programs that allow foreign nationals to train on American soil.

Update at 2:11 pm EST -

At approximately 1:50 pm, a second press conference was held, this time including Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis. All authorities confirmed that the FBI will now be leading the investigation and that the shooter, still unnamed, was a Saudi national who was partaking in military aviation training, although Captain Kinsella did not comment on how long the shooter has been training at the base or what type of aviation training he was undergoing.  Additionally, Governor DeSantis, speaking of the gunman, stated that Saudi Arabia “needs to make things better for these victims” and that "they're gonna owe a debt here given that this is one of their individuals."

Response from Saudi Arabia, as per the White House:

Update at 11:00 am EST - 

At approximately 10:40 am, a press conference was held with Captain Tim Kinsella, NAS Pensacola Base Commander; Grover Robinson, Mayor of Pensacola and David Morgan, the Escambia County Sheriff. Reports now have the number of deceased at 4, including the gunman.  Of the 8 injured, two were Escambia Sheriff's deputies who exchanged fire with the suspect; both deputies are expected to live. It is confirmed that is was one of Escambia's Sheriff's deputies who shot and killed the gunman.

Captain Tim Kinsella at NAS Pensacola said the shooting happened in a classroom building, but reiterated that the base is a training base and consists of multiple classroom buildings. He did not specify which building the shooting took place in, pending notifications to family members. 

Both Captain Kinsella and Sheriff Morgan indicated that the U.S. Navy, the Escambia Sheriff's office and the FBI would be working together in conducting the investigation into the shooting, but said it was far too early to classify this incident as terrorism.

Although the incident has been contained, there are plans to evacuate the base building by building to allow personnel to go home to their families and Captain Kinsella indicated that the base as well as the National Naval Aviation Museum will be closed until further notice.

Officials are scheduled to give another update at 1:00 pm EST.

The Incident

On 06 December 2019, gun shots were reported at approximately 6:30 am local time, as reported by Public Affairs officer, Jason Bortz. The Pensacola Naval Air Station employs more than 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel and is home to the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels as well as the National Naval Aviation Museum. This base is also home to major tenant commands: Naval Aviation Schools Command, Naval Air Technical Training Center, Marine Aviation Training Support Group, and the headquarters for Naval Education Training Command.

It is not yet known exactly where on the base the shooting took place, but both entrance gates were secured and the base went on lockdown shortly after, as the U.S. Navy and Escambia County Sheriff's deputies worked to contain the situation. A resident who lives in the neighborhood says she learned about the incident after receiving an "all-call," which is an advisory to everyone to get somewhere safe and that the base is under lockdown.

Two people are confirmed dead and and at last count, at least 11 others were taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries, 2 of which were deputies.  By 7:50 am, reports came stating that the shooter is confirmed dead; authorities say the shooter was shot and killed by deputies at the base. It is still unknown as to whether or not the gunman was a member of the U.S. Navy.

Main Gate into Naval Air Station

Videos

Video: 06 December 2019, 10:40 am Press Conference with NAS, ESCO and Mayor's Office

Morning commuter took a video of police responding to the shooting.

During an anti-Islam protest rally in Norway on 22 November 2019, Lars Thorsen, said to be the leader of "Stop Islamisation of Norway (SIAN)" began burning the Qu'ran, reportedly while other copies of the religious book were being thrown into the garbage. Shortly after setting the Qu'ran on fire, a Muslim man, Umer Ilyas man jumped the fence and began attacking Thorsen.

Muslims across the world have been praising Ilyas, who is now being heralded as the ‘Defender of Quran’. The incident happened in the city of Kristiansand despite apparent warnings from local police officials when the anti-Islam group said it planned to do so.

The police immediately took Thorsen and his attacker into custody after a scuffle broke out, according to local media reports. In one video clip, Thorsen is led away by police with his hands behind his back, while his initial attacker is wrestled to the ground by a group of cops. 

Video

A 13-year-old student and an adult family member have been arrested in connection with a serious threat against a South Los Angeles middle school, and an AR-15 assault rifle and a list of targeted students have been seized, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

The threat was made against Ánimo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School in Willowbrook, an independent charter school where Los Angeles School Police do not have a presence, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Rudy Perez said.

Students reported to school administrators that the teen threatened to shoot classmates and staff Friday, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Friday at a news conference.

Sheriff’s officials served a search warrant at the student’s home, where they found a semiautomatic assault rifle with a high-capacity magazine, 100 rounds of ammunition, a “rudimentary hand-drawn map” of the school and a list of names of students and staff members.

Officials did not elaborate on the role the student’s family member played in the threat, but both were arrested on suspicion of making a criminal threat. The adult may face myriad weapons-related charges.

Earlier reports that the AR-15 rifle was a “ghost gun” were inaccurate. The rifle was not registered but did have a serial number, law enforcement officials said.

“We want to thank everyone involved because they all did the right thing,” Villanueva said. “Because of that, we were able to prevent a possible tragedy today.”

In a separate incident, a student at Pete Knight High School in Palmdale was arrested after reports that student also threatened to shoot classmates Friday, Villanueva said. The teen had been involved in a fight on campus, resulting in the suspension of several students, including the suspect, who later posted threats and photos of a person holding a firearm, the sheriff said.

The two incidents are not connected, officials said, and the students who were arrested will not be identified because they are minors.

According to a statement from Green Dot Public Schools, which operates Ánimo Mae, students notified school staff Thursday about a threat and they “moved quickly to ensure that no harm came to our students.”

“Our students did everything right by raising concerns with adults,” the statement read.

The arrest comes a week after police and witnesses said a 16-year-old boy opened fire on his classmates at Saugus High School, spreading panic throughout the Santa Clarita campus and surrounding neighborhoods. Two students died hours after the shooting in a hospital. Three others were wounded. The gunman, Nathaniel Berhow, shot himself during the rampage and died the following day.

The South L.A. threat is one of 36 school threats reported in L.A. County since the Saugus shooting, sheriff’s officials said. On Friday morning, police increased patrols around Charter Oak High School in Covina after a threat to the school.

In Visalia, a Redwood High School student was arrested Thursday after he allegedly threatened to shoot a classmate, according to the Visalia Times-Delta. Police found the threat was not credible, and classes were held Friday.

YouTube has terminated a handful of prominent YouTube channels that featured content promoting white nationalism. The move came as a shock to the white nationalist community, and now racist content creators are panicking.

Yesterday, Right Wing Watch learned that a small group of prominent far-right channels were no longer available on YouTube after white nationalist James Allsup—once one of the loudest voicespeddling white supremacy on YouTube—was reported to have been permanently suspended.

(Screenshot / Twitter) 

Four of the recently banned channels were identified by the Anti-Defamation League earlier in August as notable examples of platforms that were spreading anti-Semitism and white supremacist ideology and rhetoric on YouTube despite the social media site’s crackdown on hate speech in June.

“As ADL documented, following YouTube’s June 2019 announcement of changes to their platform to reduce extremist content, significant anti-Semitic and white supremacist material continues to be accessible on the platform,” an ADL spokesperson told Right Wing Watch. “With the wave of bans yesterday, it appears YouTube is beginning to step up their efforts to clean up the site.”

“It’s a start that we hope they will continue in the days, weeks and months ahead,” the spokesperson added. “We will continue to work with tech companies, like YouTube, to aggressively counter hate and anti-Semitism on their platforms.”

James Allsup 

(Screenshot / Gab)

Allsup is a white nationalist activist who was documented attending the 2017 Unite the Right white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, and has been a featured speaker at white nationalist conferences hosted by American Renaissance and Identity Evropa, and has appeared on multiple white supremacist podcasts. With hundreds of thousands of subscribers on YouTube, Allsup encouraged people who shared his racist worldview to infiltrate local GOP organizations where they lived. In Washington state, Allsup had quietly obtained a position in his local GOP but was ousted after his worldview and white nationalist connections were exposed to an audience beyond his county Republican Party organization.

On Monday it was learned that Allsup’s YouTube account was suspended. Allsup was recently hit with permanent bans from Facebook and Instagram, and his YouTube account had been demonetized. Uber and Twitter have also reportedly banned Allsup.

Since Allsup is banned from Twitter, he posted a message on Gab, a social media platform that often serves as a refuge for right-wing extremists who have been banned from other social networking sites, that read: “my livelihood, my means to exercise my political voice, my business I’d built over almost three years, was taken away from me.” Allsup asked his viewers to contact YouTube to demand that his channel be reinstated.

VDARE TV

(Screenshot / Twitter)

Since Peter Brimelow launched VDARE in 1999, the outlet has been a publisher of racist, white nationalist and anti-immigrant screeds. Despite its well-known status as a clearinghouse for racist literature and ideas in America, VDARE has been welcomed into mainstream Republican circles with concerning frequency. Last week, BuzzFeed News reported that federal agencies had been sending links to VDARE articles to employees in news bulletins. Last year, a White House speechwriter was fired after it was revealed that he had spoken at a conference on a panel with Brimelow. White House advisor Larry Kudlow also hosted Brimelow as a guest at his birthday party, then went on to disavowBrimelow after his presence made headlines.

Although small, VDARE had a YouTube channel it called “VDARE TV” with a few thousand subscribers. In a tweet this morning, VDARE confirmed that its YouTube channel had been “purged from YouTube.”

American Identity Movement (Formerly Named ‘Identity Evropa’) 

(Screenshot / Telegram)

American Identity Movement, which was formerly called Identity Evropa, is the name of the white nationalist group led by activist Patrick Casey. The group rebranded after the organization’s chat logs were unearthed by the independent media outlet Unicorn Riot, leading researchers to identify several members and organizers within the group. Members of Identity Evropa attended the Unite the Right 2017 rally and have been convicted of criminal activity.

On YouTube, American Identity Movement uploaded and distributed propaganda videos advertising their group to thousands of subscribers. Identity Evropa was terminated from YouTube in 2018 for violating rules against hate speech but was later reinstated.

In a Telegram chat room, Casey confirmed yesterday that American Identity Movement’s YouTube channel had been deleted.

TRS Radio 

(Screenshot / Twitter)

The Right Stuff is a podcasting outlet home to several alt-right audio programs with names like “The Daily Shoah,” “Fash the Nation,” and “The Europa Report.” Founded by Michael “Enoch” Peinovich, The Right Stuff began publishing content in 2013 and eventually became a staple media product in the “alt-right” era of the white supremacist movement. The Right Stuff also sought to build an on-the-ground movement in the United States and attracted notables to the cause, including a U.S. Department of State employee and a former journalist for mainstream publications.

On YouTube, Peinovich and his peers uploaded clips from The Right Stuff shows in which producers replaced mentions of Jews with sound effects in an attempt to skirt YouTube’s rules against hate speech. Peinovich posted yesterday on Twitter that the YouTube channel used for The Right Stuff clips was “totally deleted.” He added, “YouTube is basically dead as far as political content goes.”

Tajik authorities say terrorism is a possible motive in the killing of four foreign cyclists who were attacked by at least one assailant with a gun and knife after being plowed down by a vehicle in southern Tajikistan.

Interior Minister Ramazon Rakhimov said in Dushanbe on July 30 that a governmental group has been formed to investigate the incident, in which two Americans, one Dutchman, and a Swiss citizen were killed.

At least three other foreigners -- including one French citizen -- were injured in the July 29 incident, in the Danghara district of the Khatlon region, about 150 kilometers south of the capital.

Authorities said at least one person has been detained in connection with the attack and one other was killed in a confrontation with security forces. That contradicted earlier reports suggesting two suspects had been killed and several more detained.

Three young men were named by police and are being sought in connection with the attack.

"The driver and passengers of a car that hit the foreign tourists, [then] got out of the car and attacked [the cyclists] with firearms and knives," said Rakhimov.

Officials are exploring "all possible" motives, he added, "including a terrorist act."

Three of the cyclists were pronounced dead at the scene, while a fourth died in the hospital.

Video

Video: 30 July 2018 - Amateur video shared with RFE/RL's Tajik Service is said to show an incident in which a car crashed into a group of foreign cyclists in the Khatlon region of southern Tajikistan. The origin of the video is not clear, but the images appeared to match numerous photos from other sources at the scene. Tajik officials say a driver hit the cyclists with a car before at least one assailant attacked them with firearms and a knife. Four cyclists were killed -- two Americans, one Dutchman, and a Swiss citizen -- and at least three others were injured. The Tajik officials say terrorism is being considered as a motive.

Khatlon health officials said the bodies of the dead tourists showed knife wounds.

Police said they believe a car found in the nearby village of Torbulok was the vehicle used to run down the cyclists.

Presidential Probe

Eyewitnesses told RFE/RL's Tajik Service that the incident did not appear to be an accident. One local resident who was at the scene of the incident shortly after it occurred said one of the injured cyclists told him that people jumped out of the car after hitting the cyclists and started stabbing them.

"We strongly condemn the cruelty of the attackers and recognize that they in no way represent the kindness and hospitality of the Tajik people," the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan said in a statement.

Jeff Ridenour, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan, told RFE/RL that "preliminary data indicate that this was an attack."

An ambulance arrives at the scene of the attack in south Tajikistan.

The dead and injured cyclists were reportedly spread out over a considerable area, indicating that some may have been chased.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry said the Dutchman who was killed was 56 years old and the other Dutch citizen injured in the attack was 58 years old.

Rakhimov said the investigation was being put under the personal control of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, whose country has recently sought to boost its foreign tourism.

Rahmon described the incident as a "cruel act" in a message of condolence to U.S. President Donald Trump.

'Very Worrisome'

Like several of its Central Asian neighbors, Tajikistan has battled extremism, and hundreds of Tajiks are believed to have left the country to join militant group Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East or elsewhere.

But there was no word of any claim of responsibility in the early hours after the tragedy.

Hidajet Biscevic, the EU ambassador to Tajikistan, told RFE/RL that he was "really shocked" by the incident, which he said was "very complex" and "very worrisome."

"People tend to believe that this is not an isolated attack done by these four, five, whatever number, young people in the Danghara region," he said. "[This incident] could also have a very strong psychological and social impact on the security of foreigners in the country at the time when Tajikistan is focusing its attention to attract foreign investment and foreign assistance for the development of the country, in particular in the area of tourism."

Biscevic said on July 30 that an extraordinary meeting of EU member state ambassadors in Tajikistan along with U.S. officials would be held later that day in Dushanbe, and he did not rule out that someone might propose sending security experts to Tajikistan to assist in the investigation.

The disappearance of a former special-forces commander to join IS in Syria in 2015 embarrassed Tajikistan, the poorest of the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia. The government has used appearances by returning former IS sympathizers and other public-relations efforts to discourage extremists' recruitment of Tajiks.

There are not known to have been any terrorist attacks on foreigners in Tajikistan.

A report by the Hague-based International Center for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) noted that Tajiks carried out the highest number of suicide operations by foreigners in Iraq and Syria during a stretch in 2016 among cases in which the attackers' country of origin was identified.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - al-Ṣamud Magazine Issue 141 - 29 November 2017.pdf

November 29, 2017

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan releases the 141st Issue of  al-Ṣamud Magazine

Click here for full PDF Version

Nawai Afghan Jihad Magazine – October 2017.pdf

al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent releases their newest issue of "Nawaī Afghān Jihād Magazine – October 2017"

SEE FULL MAGAZINE HERE