The goal of this column is to present news from around the world that is not often – if ever – covered by more mainstream entities, using local sources wherever possible, but occasionally using news aggregators not used, again, by the mainstream media. Also, please note that we do use links to Wikipedia; while Wikipedia is well-known as a largely-useless site for any kind of serious research, it does serve as a launch-pad for further inquiry, in addition to being generally free of malicious ads. As with anything from Wikipedia, always verify their sources before making any conclusions based on their pages.
This column will cover the preceding week of news.
Additionally, we are implementing a new way to make it easier for readers to follow story source links: anytime you see a bracketed number marked in green – [1] – those are the source links relating to that story.
North America
Robocall bomb threats caused police in the Louisiana Parishes of Bossier, Caddo and DeSoto to close four separate schools this week. Police noted that the calls were automated voice threats, coming from a VOIP IP address from “outside the United States“, and indicated that they may be related to last week’s robocall threats in North Carolina. [1][2] Similarly, school districts in Minnesota were also evacuated, and local police there related that the threats were “a recording and repetitious“, the schools were evacuated “out of an abundance of caution.” [3][4] In Elyria, Ohio‘s Lorain County Community College (LCCC), meanwhile, the college dealt with yet another bomb threat, after being hit by three bomb threats in the week between March 24 and March 29.[5] Additional threats were made against schools in Florida and Maryland.[6][7][8]
The purpose of these recurring waves of robo-threats – now in at least their 7th year – remain unclear, but they remain an issue throughout the country, as well as various parts of the world.
[Source 1] – [Source 2] – [Source 3] – [Source 4] – [Source 5] – [Source 6] – [Source 7] – [Source 8]
Turning to the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, US Secret Service officers responding to an emergency call of a “burglary in progress” shot and killed 19-year old Gordon Casey, of Germantown, MD after Casey broke into the Residence of the Ambassador of Peru, career diplomat Oswaldo de Rivero on April 20th. After Casey refused to comply with orders to drop his weapon, described as “a metal stake“, the responding agents attempted to subdue Casey with “less-than-lethal” Taser weapons; when those devices failed, the agents engaged Casey with their conventional sidearms, killing him. Although some members of the ambassador’s family and staff were present at the time of the attack, no injuries were reported. The responding agents were checked for injuries at local hospitals, and released.
The reason behind the attack remains unclear, but the possibility does exist that it may be connected to the ongoing protests in Peru.
Europe
Turning to Europe, shopping centers in Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia all received bomb threats via email this week, forcing the commercial centers to close. [1][2][3]
This comes as the “Islamic State” terror group called for revenge attacks in Europe, following the death of 45 year-old Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi in a raid conducted by US Special Forces in February. Al-Qurashi – believed to have been instrumental in the Sinjar massacre of minority Yazidi’s in 2014, was announced as the group’s new leader on October 31, 2019, after his predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also killed by US Special Forces on the night of October 26-27, 2019. According to IS press releases, he has been succeeded by Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.
Here’s to hoping for a short career, as well. [4][5][6][7]
[Source 1] – [Source 2] – [Source 3] – [Source 4] – [Source 5] – [Source 6] – [Source 7]
Africa
In the nation of Mali, a “Russian advisor” to the Malian Army from the Russian “Wagner Group” died from his injuries after being mortally wounded by an IED near the town of Hombori, near the border with neighboring Burkina Faso.
This comes as the military junta that has been ruling Mali since taking power in a coup d’état in 2020 announced that it was closing its borders and recalling several of its ambassadors to ECOWAS after those states imposed sanctions on the country following the junta’s announcement that it was “postponing” transitional elections for four years; France – the former European colonial power, withdrew its military forces from the country in February, following the expulsion of the French Ambassador. Mali has been seen as moving closer to Russia as a result.
Earlier in March of this year, Malian forces and Russian “advisors” were accused of massacring an estimated 300 civilians. Mali has been battling various radical Islamist groups, including Al Qaeda, IS-GS, and Boko Haram in a grueling, 10-year long war.
[Source]
To the southeast, Nigeria continues to burn, as continual attacks, arson, raids, kidnappings and assassinations continue, as ISWAP and Boko Haram forces continue their relentless terror campaign across the face of the beleaguered nation.
One bright spark, however, was the rescue of six women who had been kidnapped by ISWAP in an operation conducted by the Multinational Joint Task Force near Lake Chad, killing five terrorist from both groups, while losing one soldier killed and several wounded.
[Source 1] – [Source 2] – [Source 3] – [Source 4] – [Source 5] – [Source 6] – [Source 7] – [Source 8] – [Source 9] – [Source 10]
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenyan troops supporting MONUSCO killed five reported terrorists of the Islamic State–Central Africa Province (ISCAP) near the town of Beni.
[Source]
In Somalia, at least six people are dead and seven more wounded, following a bomb attack on a popular seaside restaurant in the capital of Mogadishu frequented by security and government personnel. The Al Qaeda-aligned Al Shabaab terror group claimed responsibility for the attack, part of its ongoing war in an attempt to seize control of the Horn of Africa region. [1]
In related news, Ethiopian authorities announced the arrest of some 34 accused members of Al Shabaab, saying that the suspects were plotting a terror offensive in the country to coincide with both the Islamic Ramadan and Orthodox Christian Easter observances. The Ethiopian NISS intelligence service also said that it had seized weapons and “bank account documents” during the raids. [2]
The Middle East
In Israel, multiple rocket attacks were launched from Palestinian Gaza this week, but either caused no damage, or were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Aside from scattered minor skirmishes in Syria and Iraq, the Levant was otherwise quiet, this week.
[Source 1] – [Source 2] – [Source 3]
Proving that there is no honor among thieves, fighting appears to be increasing in Afghanistan, as the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP) terror group claimed responsibility for a rocket attack into neighboring Uzbekistan – the first of its kind known – and two bombings of mosques in as many days, in the cities of Mazir-i-Sharif and Kunduz, killing over 40 and wounding nearly 100. The radical Sunni/Salafist ISKP targeted the mosques, as they are frequented by members of the Shi’ite and Sufi religious minorities in the country.
[Source 1] – [Source 2] – [Source 3] – [Source 4] – [Source 5]
Turning to India’s Jammu & Kashmir, scattered attacks by and shootouts with various militant groups left four reported militants dead, with no reported casualties among security forces, although several arrests were made this week in the long-running conflict. [1][2][3][4][5][6]
In Central India’s Chhattisgarh State – part of the Red Corridor, center of the long-running Maoist insurgency – Maoist guerilla’s reportedly murdered a 30-year-old man, fired at a security camp in Bijapur (wounding four troops) and torched four road construction vehicles at a village in the Bijapur-Dantewada, while five more alleged-Maoists were arrested with explosives and detonators stolen from a construction site, in separate incidents this week. [7][8][9]
[Source 1] – [Source 2] – [Source 3] – [Source 4] – [Source 5] – [Source 6] – [Source 7] – [Source 8] – [Source 9]
Finally, Government forces reported killing a total of six New People’s Army (NPA) Communist guerilla’s, including a purported “medical officer”, in three separate incidents on the islands of Luzon and Mindanao. Security forces reported recovering assorted military arms and munitions, including hand grenades.
The NPA has been fighting the Philippine government in an insurgency that began in 1969. Although the NPA’s numbers have reportedly fallen to less than 4,000 fighters, the die-hard core hangs on, continuing to hope against hope that shooting at people will eventually make them agree with you.
