British security service, MI5, had in 2015, uncovered a plot by the Iran backed terror group Hezbollah to lay the ground work for terror acts against Israeli targets in the UK, like reported by ynetnews.com.

According to the report MI5 and metropolitan police, acting on information provided by a foreign government’s intelligence agency, found a  stockpile of ammonium nitrate commonly used in bomb making, concealed in thousands of disposable ice packs, in a location in the North of London.

A man in his 40’s was arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorist acts on behalf of Hezbollah, but was released without charge.

According to the Telegraph, the incident was not made public because the United States had just signed the nuclear deal with Iran and the UK government may have been invested in the deal’s success and did not wish to risk relations with Iran, Hezbollah’s benefactor.

The paper quotes “well placed sources” as saying the suspect was released because the plot uncovered was foiled.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the London plot was part of a larger plan by Hezbollah to attack Israeli targets around the world. Similar plots were foiled in Thailand, Cyprus and New York.

The paper points out that the Cyprus case, also uncovered in 2015, where a confessed Hezbollah agent, Hussein Bassam Abdallah was found

with 8.2 tons of ammonia nitrate, also stored in disposable ice packs was similar to the one in London.

Sources told the Telegraph that the UK plot was at a very early stage and no targets had been selected. It said UK intelligence hoped to establish what Hezbollah was up to and did not disrupt it immidiately but the fact that the case was not revealed to the public, rased questions

Hezbollah is considered a terror organization by Israel, the US and the Arab League. Britain blacklisted Hezbollah’s military wing in 2008 but had until now made no move against its political wing.

Federal prosecutors say a 32-year-old German woman faces terrorism charges for joining the Islamic State group in Syria.

Carla-Josephine S., whose last name wasn’t released for privacy reasons, is also charged with child endangerment resulting in death and other offenses, prosecutors said Friday.

She’s accused of taking her three children to Syria in 2015.

Prosecutors say she joined the Islamic State group and lived in one of their facilities.

Her children underwent IS ideological indoctrination, and her son took paramilitary training before he was killed in 2018 when their compound was bombed.

Unable to convince her husband to join her, S. in 2016 married an IS fighter from Somalia and took paramilitary training herself.

She was arrested upon her return to Germany in April. Prosecutors wouldn’t give any details about her daughters.

German lawmakers are considering outlawing the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, JNSreported on Tuesday, according to inn.com.

According to a draft resolution sponsored by the AfD Party, the Bundestag will debate a non-binding resolution to “examine whether the conditions exist for a ban on Hezbollah as one organization, and, if necessary, to issue such a prohibition and implement it immediately.”

The resolution says that Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group, represents a “danger to [Germany’s] constitutional order.”

“Hezbollah’s goal is the destruction of Israel and the Jews, and we should not be offering a safe haven for them to hide in Germany and finance their armed struggle in Lebanon against Israel from our territory,” senior AfD MP Beatrix von Storch said in a statement quoted by JNS.

In 2013, the European Union of which Germany is a member, blacklisted Hezbollah’s “military wing” as a terrorist organization, while failing to blacklist the group’s political arm.

However, EU members the Netherlands and United Kingdom consider all of Hezbollah a terrorist entity, as do the United States, Canada, Israel and even the Arab League.

The British government formally announced in February that it intends to ban the political wing of the Hezbollah terror organization, after previously having banned its military wing.

Germany later stated that it will not follow Britain’s lead, with its Minister of State Niels Annen arguing that the Shiite Muslim organization remained a relevant factor in Lebanese society.

Last week, German Jewish leaders called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to fully outlaw Hezbollah.

“The Central Council of Jews in Germany calls for a ban of the Shi’ite militia Hezbollah,” said their leader, Josef Schuster, in the Germany daily Jewish paper Jüdische Allgemeine.

Similarly, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Germany to follow in Britain’s footsteps.

During his meeting in Berlin with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Pompeo said, “We’re also hoping to get Germany’s help – and we talked about this today – in recognizing Hezbollah as a unified entity and banning it from Germany as our ally, the United Kingdom, did this year.”

A French court has sentenced an imam to two years in prison for helping migrants try to cross the English Channel in inflatable boats, like reported by bbc.com.

The 39-year-old Iranian national was accused of arranging several crossings from northern France to England.

A 29-year-old Senegalese man who attended the mosque where the imam preaches also stood trial.

He was given nine months in jail and was banned from visiting Nord and Pas-de-Calais for three years.

The imam, who has not been named in French media, fainted upon hearing his sentence.

The men admitted providing six or seven dinghies after they were arrested in April, French newspaper Le Figaro reported.

The investigation started in late March when life jackets, wet pullovers and a rubber dinghy were discovered on a beach in northern France.

According to the prosecution, the imam was in contact with organised gangs of traffickers and took a commission on the sale of each boat.

Police found two boats, three outboard engines and life jackets in the imam’s house. The two men confessed to buying seven boats between December 2018 and April 2019.

The imam claimed he visited a shop in Deulemont, on the border with Belgium, to purchase dinghies for a person he identified only as Kamal.

Both defendants claimed they only realised later that the boats were being used for illegal Channel crossings.

“When I learnt that, I thought of the children on board and I told myself there could have been deaths,” the Senegalese man told the court. The imam said he was “ashamed”.

Prosecutors said their explanations “did not reflect reality” and that the Iranian national was often in the areas where the boats were discovered.

There has been a recent spike in the number of migrants trying to cross the Channel in boats, despite the risk of dangerous currents, cold waters and collisions.

A Baghdad court has sentenced a seventh French jihadist to death for joining the Islamic State group, like reported by ekurd.net.

Yassin Sakkam was among 12 French citizens transferred to Iraqi authorities in January by a US-backed Kurdish-led force fighting the jihadist group in neighbouring Syria.

The 29-year-old is now among seven French jihadists facing death row in Iraq for belonging to Islamic State.

Also facing death row are Salim Machou, Kevin Gonot, Leonard Lopez, Brahim Nejara and Mustapha Merzoughi.

In court Sakkam admitted to being paid $70 (62 euros) a month by the terrorist group and said: ‘I admit to having sworn allegiance’.

Sakkam, who was dressed in a yellow prison uniform and sported a closely cropped goatee, said he regretted his decision to join IS, and asked to be pardoned.

Iraq has taken custody of thousands of jihadists in recent months after they were captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces during the battle to destroy the IS ‘caliphate’.

They include hundreds of foreigners suspected of IS membership, raising the question of whether suspected IS jihadists should be tried in the region or repatriated.

France has long insisted its adult citizens captured in Iraq or Syria must face trial locally, while reiterating its opposition to capital punishment.

Iraqi law provides for the death penalty for anyone joining a ‘terrorist group’ – even those who did not take up arms.

Sakkam left France in late 2014 to fight for IS, posting pictures online of himself carrying arms and speaking to multiple media outlets about the group.

He became one of the most notorious jihadists from France, which has been seeking his arrest since 2016.

Kurdish authorities of Syrian Kurdistan detained him in Syria in 2017.

His brother Karim carried out a suicide attack at the Iraqi-Jordanian border in 2015, according to the French Center for the Analysis of Terrorism.

Also on Wednesday, an Iraqi court sentenced 24-year-old Tunisian Mohammed Berriri to death for joining IS, after a hearing lasting less than an hour.

Berriri, also dressed in a yellow prison uniform, admitted to joining IS, saying he thought it was ‘defending the weak’, but said he now regretted doing so.

Sakkam and the six other French citizens handed death sentences in recent days have 30 days to appeal.

The remaining five French suspects face trial in the coming days.

Iraqi courts have dealt with a steady flow of jihadists – with 500 foreign men and women already found guilty of having joined IS. None of those sentenced to death have so far been executed.

The trials have been criticised by human rights groups, which say they often rely on evidence obtained through torture.

In a statement sent to AFP, a group representing the families of French jihadists asked the government in Paris to ‘do everything possible to stop this fatal chain of death sentences’ and to try them ‘on our soil’.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France was stepping up efforts to stop Iraq executing those convicted.

France’s rights ombudsman on Wednesday said the country must stop the ‘inhumane treatment’ of children of jihadists stranded in Syria who are not being allowed to come to the country.

Meanwhile, Iraq repatriated to Turkey on Wednesday 188 children of Turks accused of belonging to the Islamic State group, a capital offence in Iraq, the judiciary said.

The move follows the repatriation to Tajikistan late last month of 84 children of nationals convicted by Iraqi courts of membership of IS or other jihadist groups.

Kurdish authorities in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) on Wednesday handed over 148 Uzbek women and children linked to the Islamic State group to diplomats from the Central Asian country for repatriation, officials said.

That came after dozens of children were flown to Russia and after France and Germany repatriated the children of women nationals detained in Iraq.

Baghdad declared victory over IS in 2017 but the group’s cross-border ‘caliphate’ was only eliminated when Syrian Kurdish fighters conquered its last scrap of territory in Syria in March.

U.S. has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). But U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced the pullout from Syria.

The Kurdish PYD and its powerful military wing YPG/YPJ considered the most effective fighting force against IS. The YPG, which make up the backbone of the SDF forces, has seized swathes of Syria from Islamic State.

Belgium has extradited wanted Russian citizen Immampashi Akhmadov charged with participating in terrorist activities in Syria, the Federal Security Service’s Public Relations Centre reports Wednesday.

According to the Russian security service, in 2014, Akhmadov espousing ideas of radical Islam joined the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization banned in Russia and took part in the warfare against Syrian governmental forces.

Russia put him on the international wanted list. The man was arrested in Belgium in June 2018 and placed in custody expecting extradition. Later, Belgian authorities granted Russia’s request for Akhmadov’s extradition, the statement reads.

Currently, the defendant is in Russian detention. Investigation is ongoing.

French authorities have arrested five people after a bomb exploded outside a bakery in Lyon city last week.

The man is a 24-year-old Algerian, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

Four other members of his family are among those arrested.

At least 13 people were injured, none critically, in the explosion.

French President Emmanuel Macron defined the explosion as an “attack” in a live broadcast, although the country’s authorities are yet to confirm the cause of explosion.

French police have arrested a man over an explosion in the heart of the southeastern city of Lyon last week which injured 13 people, like reported by rte.ie.

Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast who was wearing a green T-shirt and Bermuda shorts, and a carrying a dark rucksack.

France’s Interior Minister Christophe Castaner on Twitter said: “A suspect has been arrested.”

The Paris prosecutor’s office, which has jurisdiction over terrorist investigations in France, confirmed that a 24-year-old man who was arrested in Lyon, is the suspected bomber.

He had been the target of an extensive search operation since Friday night when an explosive device filled with screws and ball bearings was placed in front of a bakery near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in the historic centre of Lyon.

Police circulated photos of the suspect on social media, leading to “several dozen” calls from people with information.

Sources close to the investigation suspected the explosive was acetone peroxide, or APEX, a volatile compound used in the deadly Paris attacks on 13 November 2015.

Investigators recovered small screws, ball bearings and batteries along with a printed circuit and a remote-controlled trigger device. Officials later said the charge was relatively weak.

Thirteen people were wounded in the blast, eight women, four men and a 10-year-old girl.

None of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening, but authorities said some needed surgery to remove shrapnel.

France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people.

The so-called Islamic State group has been behind many of the attacks, though no one has claimed responsibility for the Lyon blast.

Swedish terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp has recommended that the Swedish government should not allow female Islamic State members to return, citing a lack of laws to prosecute them.

While he criticised the deficiency in the Swedish legal system, Ranstorp praised neighbouring Norway, saying, “As Norway has functioning terror legislation, the Norwegian women should be brought home and prosecuted. The child welfare service should take care of the children,” Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reports.

“The Norwegians should be retrieved and prosecuted. There are few individuals. They are citizens and have rights,” he suggested.

“But I do not think the Swedish women and the children will come back. We do not have a good system to take care of them and make sure they are not dangerous,” Ranstorp added.

The terror expert added that there has been a shift in opinion on the topic of Islamic State women and noted: “Previously, one had an attitude that the women were not so dangerous. Now we know that they are at least as active as men. Some are very radical and have shown malice by acting as morality police against other women. They should be considered dangerous, even though they may not be.”

Several Islamic State women including German national Jennifer W. and the former UK citizen Shamima Begum were revealed to have been members of the terror group’s so-called morality police.

According to Norwegian law, those who participate in the Islamic State can be brought to trial and face prison time, but according to Ranstorp that is not the case in Sweden. Of the 150 or so Islamic State members who have returned to Sweden, none have been prosecuted for participation, according to the terror expert.

Some of those who have returned from the Middle East have even been allegedly recruiting at underground mosques in the city of Malmö, according to reports from earlier this year.

Lawyer Jan Glent, who prosecutes returning fighters in Norway, agreed with Ranstorp saying: “Sweden does not have a completely developed terrorist law.”

The objective of Wednesday’s major raid on the Al-Salam-313 biker gang was to collect and prepare evidence, and its preparation took several months, said Herbert Reul, interior minister for the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The gang is suspected of having committed a variety of crimes ranging from illegal weapons trading, people smuggling, passport forgery, and drug distribution. Police have identified 34 suspects, who are mainly of Iraqi and Syrian descent. The minister said the raid dealt a “blow to organized crime”, like reported by dw.com

Prior to the raid, DW had independently researched the group in connection with claims of its criminal dealings and threats on fellow Iraqi emigres. DW spoke to one Iraqi national living in Germany, under condition of anonymity, who said that the group had sent her death threats for leading a Western lifestyle. The person said she knew of other exiled Iraqis in Europe who also report having been intimidated by Al-Salam-313.

On May 10, DW requested that the domestic intelligence agency of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany’s most populous state, reveal what it knows about the group. In response, the agency refused to share its intelligence, saying on a phone call that this information is classified.

‘Those that come to Europe must behave’

The Al-Salam-313 group has a Facebook page, called ALSALAM-Germany — though nobody appears to have posted there since May 2017. It also has published a seven-minute YouTube video featuring muscular gang members clad in leather vests and sunglasses. They show off luxury cars and motorbikes, driving in formation. Against the backdrop of dramatic music, gang members pose around their leader. Arms crossed, the leader looks into the camera and introduces himself. The video’s subtitles read: “Peace be upon you. I’m Abu Mehdi (Mohammad Bunia) from Salam crew 313.” He says the group was founded in 2016 and that it is active in several European countries, including Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. “We have no qualms with any human,” he states. And then, presumably in reference to Iraqis who fled to Europe, says: “Those that come to Europe must behave.”

The leader then says his group exists to “help people, not cause problems.” But he also claims that “some of you need a good beating, Arab style. And you know exactly what I mean by this.” A bit later, Abu Mehdi insists his group is not a mafia-like outfit. His alias, incidentally, has a specific meaning: In Shia Islam, “Mehdi” or “Mahdi” refers to the descendant of Prophet Mohammed, who rules before Judgment Day to rid the world of evil.

And the number “313,” as referenced in the group’s name, also has particular meaning in this context. Shiites believe that the redeemer will return to earth with 313 companions.

In the group’s propaganda video, a vehicle can be seen whose German number plate begins with letter “E,” indicating the car is registered in the German city of Essen. This is where Abu Mehdi lives. Already in December 2017, local German media reported on an attack on the gang leaders’ hangout in Essen. The incident reportedly involved a rival Lebanese gang and revolved around extortion.

In its 2018 report on clan-related crime, NRW’s Criminal Police Office does not mention Al-Salam-313 by name. Yet the agency explicitly notes that in recent months Turkish, Kurdish and Lebanese clans have apparently been overpowered by rival actors of Iraqi and Syrian descent. The report states that clans from these war-torn countries are “perceived as particularly assertive and violent” within this milieu.

Ties to Iraqi Mahdi Army?

The Al-Salam-313 group, though, is apparently not just a band of ordinary criminals, so to speak. NRW’s state interior ministry confirmed to DW that it suspects the gang may also be involved in politically- and religiously-motivated crimes. Authorities suspect the group of assisting militant extremists in Iraq.

The group is rumored to have very close ties to so-called Mahdi Army aligned with Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. That militia sports a white dove as its insignia — as does the Al-Salam-313 group.

According to US intelligence, the Mahdi Army comprises tens of thousands of fighters, and was formed after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. After the Iraqi national army was demobilized, and much of the country’s police force retired, numerous militias filled the subsequent security vacuum. Today, several armed Shiite militias are active alongside the Mahdi Army in Iraq.

Many of them are supported by Iran, which supplies funding, weapons and training. They played a major role in assisting the US fight against the so-called Islamic State (IS), an extremist Sunni militia.