The Islamic State's "Hacking Division" has posted personal information about more than 100 US military personnel online, and is encouraging supporters in America to use the info to kill the military members. Doxing is the latest digital weapon in ISIS's tech-savvy arsenal.
ISIS claims that it hacked military servers and emails for the information, but the FBI and Defense Department are still investigating, according to the New York Times.
It's possible that the Hacking Division simply scoured public records,
social media, and address look-up sites to find the information and is
claiming a breach occurred as a scare tactic.
However, some of the people on the hit list haven't been publicly linked to campaigns against ISIS, the Times explains. All that's clear so far is that no matter how the group got ahold of the information, ISIS is now deliberately leaking personal details with the express intention to hurt and scare soldiers.
The balaclava clad, black-robed militant who came to be known as ‘Jihadi John’ appeared in several Isis videos with hostages from the US, the UK and Japan.
The militant, who speaks with a British accent in the videos, first
appeared in footage released by the militant group in which he
threatened the life of American photojournalist James Foley.
It is
widely thought he has since featured in videos showing the deaths
Steven Sotloff, David Haines, Alan Henning, Abdul-Rahman Kassig (also
known as Peter Kassig), Haruna Yakawa and Kenji Goto.
Information about identity and background of Jihadi John was seemingly sparse until he was named today as Mohammed Emwazi by the Washington Post.
Here are nine things we now know about Mohammed Emwazi:
1. He is believed to be from west London and graduated from the University of Westminster with a degree in computer programming.
2. He was known by his friends as polite and as having “a penchant for wearing stylish clothes”.
3. He was born in Kuwait and moved to the UK aged six. He later returned to work for a computer company.
He had been due to marry a woman there, before he was allegedly
prevented from returning by British security services during a trip to
London.
4. A former hostage said he was part of a
team in charge of guarding Western hostages at a prison in Idlib in
Syria nicknamed ‘the box’. One hostage said he was there with two other
men with British accents. They described him as quiet, intelligent and
“the most deliberate”, according to The Post.
5.
The trio later moved to Raqqa, Isis’s defacto capital in Syria, with
hostages. Captives said they appeared to have taken on more powerful
roles within Isis.
Emwazi studied computer programming at the University of Westmister in Lonon
6. He was reportedly known to MI5 as far back as 2009, when he was deported from Tanzania during a trip with two other people.7. His friends say he spoke of wanting to teach English in Saudi Arabia shortly before he disappeared in 2012.
8. The Guardian reports that he began to get noticed in London jihadi circles about six years ago.
9. A
former hostage said he was obsessed withthe Islamist militant group
al-Shabaab and made his captives watch videos of the extremists.
The UK Government remains tight-lipped over the naming of Jihadi
John (pictured, who was revealed today as Mohammed Emwazi, 26, from
west London
Questions were being asked today about why it was left to the U.S. Government to reveal the identity of Jihadi John instead of British authorities.
The UK Government remains tight-lipped over the naming of the terror suspect who was revealed today as 26-year-old Mohammed Emwazi, from Queen's Park in west London.
Emwazi, who studied computer programming at the University of Westminster before
travelling to the Middle East three years ago, was confirmed as the
prominent ISIS figure by two U.S. Government sources.
However, while Whitehall sources confirmed Emwazi had been known to security
services for several weeks, the Home Office would not release any
confirmation of his identity.
Government sources said his name had not been made public because the priority was to try and locate him.
The Home Office said it was 'unable to comment' when contacted by
MailOnline today, while Metropolitan Police has yet to respond to
requests for comment.
Downing Street also refused to comment on Emwazi, including claims that he had contacts with MI5.
A Number 10 spokesman said: 'Our long-standing position on Jihadi John's identity is that we are neither confirming nor denying.
'There is an ongoing police investigation, we are not going to give a running commentary on that.'
Pressed on the claims Emwazi had contact with MI5, the spokesman said: 'You are asking me to speculate about speculation.
'What's
right is we let the police and security services do their work in an
ongoing investigation to bring these murderers to justice.'
Police could be seen attending Emwazi's home in Queen's Park earlier today, but no officers spoke to the media.
Despite
official sources failing to confirm his identity, it is understood Paul
Henning - the brother of British aid worker Alan who was beheaded by
Jihadi John - was aware of the ISIS militant's identity.
It is also believed that he was made aware by Government officials that the name would released to the public today.
Jihadi
John's identity was first published by the Washington Post, who
reported that friends and family of Emwazi had confirmed he was the ISIS
frontman.
The revelation was swiftly picked up by the British
media, but despite being broadcast around the world, British authorities
continue to remain tight-lipped.
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The UK Government remains tight-lipped over the naming of Jihadi
John, who was revealed today to be 26-year-old Mohammed Emwazi, from
Queen's Park in west London. Police attended his home today (pictured)
Raffaello Pantucci, a senior research fellow at defence think tank
the Royal United Services Institute, said it was no surprise that Jihadi
John's outing was revealed by America.
He said: 'It will elevate him, and even add to the mythology around him in some minds.
'He has been on the radar for a long time now, and we finally know who he is.
'There is a reason the British security services would not have wanted his
name to be made public, because they will have been watching his
associates covertly as part of their intelligence gathering.
'The FBI said last year they knew who Jihadi John was, but my understanding
is he had actually been narrowed down to one of three people, and the
British and Americans were not sure which.
'That is an example of the different attitude when it comes to revealing information.'
Jihadi John has featured in the execution videos of British aid workers Alan
Henning and David Haines, U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven
Sotloff, Japanese reporter Kenji Goto and Syrian soldiers.
Both UK and U.S authorities have maintained that they have been running a joint investigation to unmask the ISIS militant.
However, while the British Government has largely remained tight-lipped about the probe, U.S. officials have been more vocal.
The U.S. Senate has also previously offered a £6million reward to anyone
providing information that could lead to the capture of Jihadi John.
Last September, U.S. sources revealed that American spy planes had flown
above Britain to monitor telephone and computer signals in a bid to
track down the British terrorist and those communicating with him.
The aircraft, manned by British pilots and carrying FBI agents, were
equipped with advanced technology to detect heat coming off a keyboard
when a button was pressed.
At the time, the U.S. claimed that Jihadi John was from a suburb within 10 miles of south London,
but Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said that UK officials were only 'getting warm' as to confirming his identity.
However, in the same month - perhaps reinstating the fact it was a joint investigation
between the two countries - it emerged that family members of Jihadi
John had been interviewed by both Met officers and an FBI agent.
Screengrab from Islamic State video that showed killing of US-Israeli hostage Steven Sotloff Photograph: Isis video grab
A British man has been identified as the knife-wielding militant who
appears in Islamic State videos claiming responsibility for the
beheadings of US, British and other hostages.
The Guardian has confirmed that Mohammad Emwazi, a 26-year-old west
Londoner and university graduate, is the militant. He had been given the
moniker “Jihadi John” by a group of his hostages, who described him as
part of an Isis cell they named “the Beatles”.
Emwazi guarded western hostages and handled negotiations with their
families. By all accounts he is a ruthless killer who has shown little
compunction about his gory, on-screen murders.
Emwazi arrived in Britain as a young boy, aged six, after being born
in Kuwait. He grew up in west London and was known as a polite,
mild-mannered young man.
Those who knew him say he had a penchant for wearing stylish clothes
but remained an observant Muslim. The Post describes him as bearded and
careful not to make eye contact with women.
He graduated in 2009 in information technology and is also fluent in
Arabic. However, instead of building a computing career, Emwazi ended up
on MI5’s radar.
Over the course of a year he claimed to have been harassed and
intimidated by the security services. In 2010, he went as far as to file
a complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Commission over his
treatment.
A US government official confirmed Emwazi’s identity to the Guardian,
after the British security services declined to confirm or deny that he
was the knife-wielding killer. Downing Street also refused to comment
on the reports.
David Cameron’s deputy spokeswoman said: “We cannot confirm or deny
anything in relation to intelligence. The point the prime minister would
make, which we have said since we have seen the awful actions of these
Isil [Isis] terrorists, is that we are absolutely determined to bring
the perpetrators to justice. The police and security agencies have been
working hard to do that.”
Questioned about whether Emwazi was known to the security services,
she said: “I’m not going to get into the details of an ongoing police
and security investigation.”
Asked if Downing Street had any concerns about Emwazi being named,
she said: “The point I would make is that there is an ongoing
investigation. It is absolutely right that we allow the police and
security agencies to do all they can to bring those responsible to
justice and help keep British people safe.”
As early as September last year, MI5 and the FBI had identified
Emwazi as the masked killer. They did not make his name public mainly
because of fears about the impact his identification might have on
hostages being held by Islamic State. A secondary reason was concern
over the safety of Emwazi’s family in the UK, in case of retaliation.
The intelligence agencies are unable to comment on the claim that it
tried to recruit Emwazi, in part because the killings of the hostages by
his grouping are still a matter of police investigation. But the
parliamentary intelligence and security committee report into the Lee
Rigby murder sets out the agency’s position.
The intelligence committee wrote: “Agents are one of MI5’s most
important sources of intelligence. MI5 often approaches subjects of
interest (SoIs) in order to try to recruit them as agents.”
According to people who have moved in jihadi circles in west London,
Emwazi began to be noticed about five or six years ago. “That’s when he
emerged, so to speak,” said one. Among his associates at that time was
Bilal el-Berjawi, a Londoner of Lebanese origin who was killed by a
drone strike in Somalia three years ago.
In August 2009, Emwazi went on a supposed safari holiday to Tanzania,
but on landing in the capital he said he was detained by police and
held overnight.
In a series of statements to Cage, which campaigns on behalf of
communities affected by the “war on terror”, Emwazi alleged he was
threatened with beatings by gun-toting members of Tanzania’s security
forces.
After being refused entry to Tanzania he was put on a plane to the
Netherlands, where he said he was questioned by an MI5 agent named
“Nick” who accused him of wanting to fight in Somalia, where the
militant group al-Shabaab operates in the southern part of the country.
In emails seen by the Guardian, Emwazi said the British agent knew
“everything about me; where I lived, what I did, and the people I hang
around with”. He is then claimed to have tried to “turn” Emwazi, asking:
“Why don’t you work for us?” When he refused, MI5 said “life would be
harder for you”.
Emwazi remained entangled with MI5. Over the next few months, he was again detained and interrogated.
Emwazi decided to move to Kuwait, where he landed a job working for a
computer company, according to the emails he wrote to Cage. He came
back to London twice, the second time to finalise his wedding plans to a
woman in Kuwait.
In June 2010, however, counter-terrorism officials in Britain
detained him again – this time fingerprinting him and searching his
belongings. When he tried to fly back to Kuwait the next day, he was
prevented from doing so. In his final interrogation he claimed to have
been strangled by a police officer.
Emwazi is thought to have been incensed by the decision to bar him
from Kuwait, the land of his birth, and where he had worked and planned
to marry.
“I had a job waiting for me and marriage to get started,” he wrote in
a June 2010 email to Cage. But now “I feel like a prisoner, only not in
a cage, in London. A person imprisoned & controlled by security
service men, stopping me from living my new life in my birthplace &
country, Kuwait.”
The west London home where Mohammed Emwazi reportedly lived.
Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
Cage said that it spent two years communicating with Emwazi, in which
he highlighted interference by the UK security agencies as he sought to
find redress within the system.
He told the organisation: “I have been trying to find out the reason
for my refused visa issue from my home country Kuwait, and a way to
solve the issue. So through my friends in Kuwait, it has been said to me
that Kuwait has no problem with me entering, and the reason for my
refusal is simply because the UK agents have told them to not let me
in!!”
Asim Qureshi, research director of Cage, said there were parallels with the killer of Lee Rigby, Michael Adebolajo.
“Suffocating domestic policies aimed at turning a person into an
informant but which prevent a person from fulfilling their basic life
needs would have left a lasting impression on Emwazi. He desperately
wanted to use the system to change his situation, but the system
ultimately rejected him.”
But a leading researcher into counter-terrorism and intelligence,
Shashank Joshi of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said
it was MI5’s job to recruit informers.
He rejected the Cage narrative of radicalisation by the British state
as simplistic. “It seems to me MI5 did a reasonable job,” Joshi said.
MI5 had enough evidence to show Emwazi was associated with radical
elements early on and had good reason to watch him, he said.
Close friends of Emwazi told the Post that his situation in London
had made him desperate to leave the country. It is unclear exactly when
he reached Syria or how.
One friend said he believed Emwazi wanted to travel to Saudi Arabia
to teach English in 2012 but was unsuccessful. He left soon afterwards,
the friend said.
“He was upset and wanted to start a life elsewhere,” one of the
friends said. “He at some stage reached the point where he was really
just trying to find another way to get out.”
By 2012 he told friends he wanted to go to Syria. Almost all advised him against it.
Before he was named publicly, web searches for his name brought up
only results from the electoral roll, listing various west London
addresses where he lived with his family.
Similarly, his brother’s Facebook account has been deleted, as have
various social media, and UK LinkedIn profiles connected to his sister,
though she now appears to have a new, Kuwait-based LinkedIn page.
Emwazi and Berjawi were members of a loose-knit group of young
Muslims from the North Kensington area of west London who attended the
same mosques and played five-a-side football together.
Another member of the group, Mohamed Sakr, was killed in a drone
strike in Somalia a few weeks after Berjawi. Although born in the UK, he
was a dual UK-Egyptian national; the UK government had stripped him of
his British citizenship shortly before he was killed.
Some members of this group were investigated by MI5 because of their
links with the men who attempted to carry out a wave of bombings on
London’s underground train network on 21 July 2005.
Others came to the attention of the authorities in other ways.
Mohammed Ezzouek, for example, who attended North Westminster Community
school with Berjawi, was interrogated by British intelligence officers
after a trip to Somalia in 2006; another schoolmate, Tariq al-Daour, has
been released from jail after serving a sentence for inciting
terrorism.
A screenshot taken from an Islamic State video shows militants smashing ancient statues in a museum in Mosul, Iraq.
By The Associated Press
The Islamic State group has released a video purportedly showing
militants using sledgehammers to smash ancient artifacts in at a museum
in Iraq's northern city of Mosul.
The five-minute video shows a group of bearded men in a museum using
hammers and drills to destroy several large statues, including one
depicting a winged-bull Assyrian protective deity that dates back to the
9th century B.C. and another artifact dating back to 7th century B.C.
The video bore the logo of the IS group's media arm and was posted on
a Twitter account used by the group. The extremist group has destroyed a
number of shrines — including Muslim holy sites — in order to eliminate
what it views as heresy. In January, the group reportedly burned
thousands of ancient manuscripts and rare books.
The militants are also believed to have sold
ancient artifacts on the black market in order to finance their bloody
campaign across the region.
Last week, the BBC reported
that the trade in antiquities is one of the militant group's main
sources of funding. An investigation revealed that the ISIS is looting
artifacts from Syria and transporting them through Turkey and Lebanon to
Europe. The U.N. Security Council has since banned the trade of Syrian
artifacts.
An activist opposed to both ISIS and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assads says he "verified 100 executions" of foreign ISIS fighters trying to leave the jihadist group's de facto capital
An image grab taken from a propaganda video released on March 17, 2014 by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)'s al-Furqan Media allegedly shows ISIS fighters raising their weapons as they stand on a vehicle mounted with the trademark Jihadists flag at an undisclosed location in the Anbar province. File Photo by Al-Furqan Media/AFP
LONDON, United Kingdom – The Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group has executed 100 of its own foreign fighters who tried to flee their headquarters in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the Financial Times newspaper said Saturday,December 20.
An activist opposed to both ISIS and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is well-known to the British business broadsheet, said he had "verified 100 executions" of foreign ISIS fighters trying to leave the jihadist group's de facto capital.
ISIS fighters in Raqqa said the group has created a military police to clamp down on foreign fighters who do not report for duty. Dozens of homes have been raided and many jihadists have been arrested, the FT reported.
Some jihadists have become disillusioned with the realities of fighting in Syria, reports have said.
According to the British press in October, five Britons, three French, two Germans and two Belgians wanted to return home after complaining that they ended up fighting against other rebel groups rather than Assad's regime. They were being held prisoner by ISIS.
In total, between 30 and 50 Britons want to return but fear they face jail, according to researchers at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London, which had been contacted by one of the jihadists speaking on their behalf.
Since a US-led coalition began a campaign of air strikes against IS in August, the extremist group has lost ground to local forces and seen the number of its fighters killed rise significantly.
There have been a string of apparent setbacks for ISIS in recent weeks.
Iraqi Kurds claimed Thursday to have broken a siege on a mountain where Yazidi civilians and fighters have long been trapped.
The Kurdish advances came during a two-day blitz in the Sinjar region involving 8,000 peshmerga fighters and some of the heaviest air strikes since a US-led coalition started an air campaign four months ago.
Meanwhile Thursday, the Pentagon said several IS leaders had been killed in US air strikes.
In 40 days across October and November, some 2,000 air raids killed more than 500 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, which relies on a network of sources on the ground. –Rappler.com
The gruesome video, first reported by the SITE Intelligence Group,
is nearly identical to those showing Foley and Sotloff's executions.
The clip begins with Haines reading a statement blaming British Prime
Minister David Cameron for his death. From the video's transcript:
My name is David Cawthorne Haines. I would like to declare that I
hold you, David Cameron, entirely responsible for my execution. You
entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the
Islamic State, just as you're predecessor, Tony Blair, did. Following a
trend amongst our British Prime Ministers who can't find the courage to
say no to the Americans. Unfortunately, it is we, the British public,
that will in the end pay the price for our Parliaments selfish
decisions.
The executioner, apparently the same man
who killed Sotloff and Foley, then reads a statement, calling Cameron an
"obedient lapdog" who "will only drag you and your people into another
bloody and unwinnable war," and pulls a knife to Haines' throat. The
video then fades to black, before returning to show Haines' severed head
on top of his body.
The video ends with the executioner
threatening to kill a second British hostage, identified as Alen
Henning: "If you, Cameron, persist in fighting the Islamic State, then
you, like your master Obama, will have the blood of your people on your
hands."
Cameron appeared to confirm the beheading later Saturday, calling it an "act of pure evil" in a statement.
Haines
was captured in a small Syrian village in March 2013 while working with
a French group to deliver humanitarian aid. His abduction had been a
secret until the publication of Sotloff's execution video earlier this
month.
Haines is survived by his wife, Dragana, and two
daughters. On Friday, his family released a statement directed at ISIS.
"We are the family of David Haines," the message said. "We have sent
messages to you to which we have not received a reply. We are asking
those holding David to make contact with us."
Sickening footage appears to show Islamic State militants parading
250 captured soldiers through the desert in their underwear before they
are killed and their bodies piled on the bare earth.
An Islamic
State fighter said the men were from the Syrian government's Tabqa air
base which extremists seized on Sunday - handing them warplanes,
helicopters, tanks, artillery and ammunition.
The video, too
graphic to be published in full, first shows dozens of men being marched
through the desert and made to chant in Arabic wearing only their
underwear.
It then fades to black and resumes on an image of a pile of bloodied bodies stacked on top of one another.
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WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
'Another ISIS war crime': Footage and photographs have
emerged of Islamic State fighters marching more than 200 soldiers across
the desert to their deaths in only their underwear after capturing
Syria's Tabqa air base
Horror: The video, too graphic to be published in full, fades to black before revealing a chain of men's bodies
As
the horrific footage progresses it pans slowly across a vast line of
men who appear to be dead, and whose bodies have been laid out one by
one.
The line forms a slow crescent across the desert, seemingly
stretching to the horizon as militants stand beside it. Eventually,
after more than a minute, the cameraman reaches the end of the line.
At
least 150 bodies are visible in the shaky video. Its description on
Youtube said it showed the execution of Army officers and Nusayri
people, a significant minority of Shia Muslims in Syria.
A
caption to another version of the video said: 'The 250 shabeeha taken
captive by the Islamic State from Tabqa in Raqqa have been executed,'
referring to the Islamist name for soldiers loyal to President Bashar
al-Assad.
Talking to Reuters via the Internet, an Islamic State fighter in Raqqa added: 'Yes we have executed them all.'
Marched: Earlier stills from the video showed men being paraded in their underwear and ordered to chant
Nadim Houry, deputy director of Human Rights Watch for the Middle East, described the video as 'another ISIS war crime'.
The
photos and reported mass killing underscored how the group uses images
of violence as much as violence itself to terrorise its opponents, as
it sweeps further into Syria and Iraq.
The captured men were escorted closely by Islamic State militants dressed in black and waving flags
Yesterday a UN commission accused the extremist group of committing crimes against humanity in Syria.
Previous
video footage has suggested the Islamic State fighters are widening
their arsenal, with a promotional film showing reconnaissance footage of
an army base which appears to have been shot from a drone.
The extremists have also released glossy magazines in English featuring mutilated bodies to promote their cause in the West.
The
Home Secretary has sounded fresh warnings over the radicalisation of
young Brits, with authorities fearing around 500 have joined an array of
jihadi groups in Iraq and Syria.
Islamic State won a week-long
battle on Sunday to capture the Taqba base, which is 25 miles from their
Syrian stronghold in Raqqa.
There they have declared a
self-styled caliphate, a Sunni regime ordering its subjects to operate
under an extreme interpretation of Sharia law.
It has opened up
three fronts in the fighting in Syria, which is already home to a bloody
and long-running civil war between President Assad's forces and
anti-government rebels.
Today CNN claimed the militants in Iraq
have also been burning oil wells near the town of Zummar, which is
crucial because it is near a road which links Mosul to the Syrian
border.
The network suggested fighters are attempting to 'cover their tracks' as Kurdish Peshmerga fighters draw closer.
Captured: A resident of Taqba waves the Islamic State flag on Sunday after militants seized the nearby air base
Sprawling: An image of what is believed to be the air base, just south of the city of Tabqa, shows its long fence
Arsenal: Campaigners say the base contained weapons and jets which may now be used by the militants
It's not a good time to be called ISIS. A Florida condo project, a line of adult lingerie in the U.K. and others with similar names are rethinking their names.
ISIS Downtown, a development in West Palm Beach, Fla., is changing its name to 3 Thirty Three Downtown. No reason was given, but the change was noted on the project's Facebook page, which now has an updated image with the new name.
Tim Harris, past president of the Realtor Association of the Palm Beaches, tells The Palm Beach Post that the old name is "scarily negative."
"There are so many unknowns when you're doing a building, so many things can change. ... It's good planning to cut and run with the name change now because it doesn't sound like (the fight with ISIS) is going to get resolved anytime soon,"Harris told the Post.
ISIS — the group that has been in the headlines, that is — refers to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It's also sometimes called ISIL, for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Last week, the Islamic State released a video in which it beheaded James Foley, the American journalist who had been missing for more than a year.
Earlier this week, the U.K. adult retailer Ann Summer apologized for its new line of lingerie named Isis, for the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility. A spokeswoman told Agence France-Presse that the timing of the launch was "unfortunate," but that "we in no way support or condone any act of terrorism or violence."
The company said it did not plan to pull the Isis line from its stores.
But a mobile-payment system called Isis went the opposite route.
"However coincidental, we have no interest in sharing a name with a group whose
name has become synonymous with violence and our hearts go out to those
who are suffering," CEO Michael Abbott wrote in a blog post on his company's website. "As a company, we have made the decision to rebrand."
