A group of masked terrorists have killed at least 70 people and taken hostages after attacking Garissa University in Kenya.
The Islamic extremist group Al-Shabaab claimed the assault and said they were targeting the Christians at the school.
“We sorted people out and released the Muslims,” said terrorist spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab. “There are many dead bodies of Christians inside the building. We are also holding many Christians alive. Fighting still goes on inside the college.”
Witnesses say that the terrorists had snipers on top of buildings to shoot those who were fleeing the dormitories during the attack. Soldiers reportedly ordered the students to dive for cover as they escaped the building.
The terrorists say they are also holding a number of female Christians alive as hostages.
The vice chariman of the student union told Fox News that the gunmen were asking people about their faith.
“If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot,” he said. “With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die.”
The terrorist group has targeted Kenya after that nation contributed forces to the African Union that drove Al-Shabaab from major cities in Somalia.
Two female roommates in Queens, New York are charged with plotting a terrorist attack on American soil.
Noelle Velentzas, 28 and Asia Siddiqui, 31, are both U.S. citizens. The complaint against them was unsealed Thursday at Federal District Court in Brooklyn.
“The investigation has revealed that Velentzas espouses violent jihadist beliefs and has repeatedly expressed an interest in terrorist attacks committed within the United States,” the complaint stated.
A source told Fox News the women were plotting to use pressure cooker bombs similar to the ones used in the Boston Marathon bombings. They were also in possession of propane tanks along with instructions on how to turn them into bombs.
Both of the women had “repeated contact with members of the foreign terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.” One of the women said that Osama Bin Laden was her “hero”.
In communications with terrorists, Velentzas asked why they would need to come to the middle east when there were plenty of opportunities for “pleasing Allah” in the U.S.
The women face life in prison if convicted on all charges.
The Iraqi army has declared victory in their battle to retake the city of Tikrit from the Islamic extremist group ISIS.
Troops are working to clear out the last pockets of terrorist support within the city but Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi went to the city and raised an Iraqi flag over the city’s center.
“Most of Tikrit today is liberated, only small parts remain [outside our control],” Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban told reporters.
The Prime Minister attributed their success to taking the terrorist group by surprise.
“We managed to take (ISIS) by surprise,” the Prime Minister said. “And our air force … in addition to coalition air force, helping Iraqi forces, managed to deal severe blows to ISIS and the enemies of Iraq. And our ground forces with the blood of Iraqis, Iraqis alone with their own blood, were able to liberate this land.”
The battle for the hometown of Saddam Hussein has taken a month and been the biggest offensive against the terrorist outfit. The attack had been stalled until the United States launched an air offensive against terrorist headquarters and weapons storage centers in the city.
The army now plans to focus on recapturing Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq.
ISIS has recruited at least 400 children since the start of the year and has given them military training and indoctrination into their extremist brand of Islam.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the children were recruited near schools and mosques where ISIS has carried out killings and punishments on people who do not live up to their extremist ideology. In many cases, the children go with the terrorists over their objections of their parents.
One boy is believed to be the half-brother of Mohamed Merah, who killed three soldiers, a Rabbi and three Jewish children in France in 2012.
“They use children because it is easy to brainwash them. They can build these children into what they want, they stop them from going to school and send them to IS schools instead,” said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Observatory.
The group said that ISIS has had children carry out beheadings and executions as a way to show them the “power” of ISIS. The children are also being used as informants after being returned to their families. They report on actions within their communities to the ISIS leadership.
Federal investigators are looking to a list published by ISIS that calls for jihadists in America to kill 100 U.S. soldiers.
The “kill list” was posted by the “hacking division” of the terrorist group. The list gave the names, addresses and photographs of the soldiers with instructions for “brothers in America” to “deal with them.”
The terrorists say the 100 troops listed were part of efforts to defeat the terrorists in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
“With the huge amount of data we have from various different servers and databases, we have decided to leak 100 addresses so that our brothers in America can deal with you,” the threatening message accompanying the list read. “And now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses. All you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for?”
U.S. officials say many of the soldiers on the list had never taken any actions against ISIS.
However, the situation is causing concern among military families who have been contacted by NCIS and other federal law enforcement agencies about being on the “list.” Parents are concerned that moving onto a base would be a victory for the terrorists in making them move out of fear.
Investigators say the names and addresses are of soldiers who are on social media or who have spoken to the press and that the information was not obtained through hacking.
A new report says that ISIS is training terrorists in Britain via video conference to carry out chemical weapons attacks on trains and other public transportation systems.
“I am convinced that IS (another name for ISIS) fighters are all being given training in chemical weapons and the British ones, who are likely to be more educated, will all be targeted in the hope they may return home,” said Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the retired head of chemical and biological weapons for the British Army, according to the Mail Online.
The Colonel said that because of British laws, people can obtain large amounts of chlorine without a license, so the bomb could be a chlorine weapon.
“They will have a reasonable idea on how to use chlorine and other toxic chemicals as a terror weapon,” he added.
“This could happen on a train or tube or even at a big football match. Acquiring weapons and ammunition is very difficult in the UK but you can get up to 90 tonnes of chlorine without any license.”
Chlorine can burn the lungs when present in the air in a concentrated amount.
“Chlorine is not very toxic and the green and yellow clouds are easy to see and avoid. It is very non-persistent only lasting for a few minutes. It was used in the First World War but dropped because it did not work very well,” he continued.
“It is key that ISIS don’t get the advantage of an unexpected chemical attack in the UK. If you can hold your breath for 30 seconds and run in the opposite direction you will be okay. If outside you should aim to climb or reach higher ground.”
Residents of the Nigerian border town of Gamboru had just returned after the village was liberated by Cameroon military forces when Boko Haram staged a surprise attack.
The attack left 11 residents dead before the troops could re-cross the border and drive out the terrorists.
“We were terrified when we started hearing gunshots echoing … but everywhere became calm about an hour later. The soldiers informed us that it was the Boko Haram terrorists that came back”, resident Aji Kaumi told the Associated Press.
It was the first offensive attack by the terrorists since they have been driven out of 38 cities and two entire states by the multinational forces helping the Nigerian military.
France has also sent military advisors into the region and French aircraft based in Chad are making scouting missions to find terrorist encampments.
French officials told reporters the goal is to make Boko Haram what it was once was: a fringe extremist group without any control of land within Nigeria.
ISIS terrorists are starting a campaign to destabilize Yemen and overtake the government by launching twin mosque attacks that killed 46 during Friday prayers.
Witnesses say that at least four terrorists blew themselves up in the mosques used by the Shia Muslim Houthis. The attacks also left hundreds injured.
The terrorists also attacked the residents where the country’s former president has been living since the Houthis ousted him.
Local officials confirmed 46 dead but said that they also have many unaccounted for in the attacks. Rebel TV stations say that hospitals have reported 137 dead and 345 people have been injured.
Police reportedly stopped a fifth bomber attack on another mosque.
The attack is the first major terrorist action by ISIS in Yemen.
A U.S. Air Force veteran is jailed on charges of attempting to join the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh is facing charges of attempting to provide material support to terrorists and providing resources to a terrorist organization. He also was charged with obstruction of justice for destroying thumb drives containing evidence of his online interaction with the terrorist group.
Pugh had lost his job as an airplane mechanic, which was based in the middle east. After the job loss, he traveled from Egypt to Turkey with the intent of sneaking into Syria.
“Pugh, an American citizen and former member of our military, allegedly abandoned his allegiance to the United States and sought to provide material support to ISI[S],” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin said. “Identifying and bringing to justice individuals who provide or attempt to provide material support to terrorists is a key priority of the National Security Division.”
U.S. intelligence officials say that at least 150 Americans are fighting with the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.
The Pakistani air force conducted a series of airstrikes against terrorist positions in the mountain region near the Afghani border.
“The local population had fled their homes and villages when the operation was launched against the terrorists,” an official told Reuters.
The air force says that 34 terrorists were killed in the strikes.
The attack focused on the Pakistani version of the Taliban which while not officially connected to the Afghani Taliban, share a similar philosophy.
While they could not confirm death or injury, the military was able to confirm that the head of the Pakistani Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah, was in the area at the time of the strikes.
Local witnesses say the terrorists say there were fewer deaths.
“My elder brother said he had seen militants shifting bodies of the slain fighters to upper Tirah from Sandasa and nearby villages,” he said by telephone from the Landi Kotal subdivision of Khyber.
“Local militants of Lashkar-e-Islam told them 20 people were killed.”
