Latest news with #IED
The Guardian
3 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Eight Mexican soldiers killed by improvised explosive device
Eight Mexican soldiers have died after triggering an improvised explosive device (IED) in the state of Michoacán, underlining the rising use of mines by organised crime factions. The soldiers were on patrol in an armoured vehicle in the municipality of Los Reyes, near the border with the state of Jalisco, when the mine detonated on Wednesday. Six soldiers were killed instantly, while two more later died from their wounds, according to El Universal. Jalisco's state attorney general has taken charge of the investigation, while a special military taskforce searches the area for more explosive devices. Shortly before the explosion, the army had reported finding and destroying 621 IEDs in Michoacán during operations so far. The border region between Michoacán and Jalisco is the site of a violent struggle between Mexico's most powerful criminal group, the Jalisco New Generation cartel, and local groups that are resisting its incursion into their territory. Various criminal groups have reportedly recruited ex-military personnel from Colombia who are experts in explosives, leading to a proliferation of improvised mines to control territory throughout the region. This incident marks the highest military death toll from an IED since their use took off – but it is not the only one. In December 2024, four soldiers were killed by mines in two incidents in nearby municipalities of Michoacán. And in January that year, four more were killed when an army convoy entered a town in Jalisco. The mines have also claimed civilian lives in Michoacán, from a teacher whose vehicle set off a mine in January, to several lime farmers – including a 15-year-old in February. Aside from using them as mines, criminal groups have also taken to attaching IEDs to drones and dropping them on opponents from above. Overall, according to Mexican military data obtained by Insight Crime, IED seizures have soared from almost none in 2021 to well over 1,000 every year since. Though their use has spread across Mexico, it remains concentrated in the border area between Michoacán and Jalisco, which accounts for roughly 40% of all seizures. The mines have sown terror in the region, contributing to the forced displacement of some communities.
Deccan Herald
6 days ago
- Deccan Herald
Police lodge FIR after e-mail threatens to blow up Taj Mahal with RDX
The e-mail received on Saturday claimed that RDX and IED were planted inside the Taj Mahal, prompting a thorough search of the 17th-century marble mausoleum, cops said.
Glasgow Times
24-05-2025
- Glasgow Times
Barber becomes fourth man from pro-Islamic State WhatsApp group to be jailed
Mohammed Hamad, 30, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, to two counts of disseminating terrorist publications from the so-called Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh. At his sentencing hearing on Friday, the court heard Hamad was in a WhatsApp group with people who shared his beliefs and support for IS, described as a 'terrorist organisation that encourages and glorifies religious and political violence'. Also in the group was Roshman Saaed, 30, who was jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty following a trial in Birmingham last year of six counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication – three of which were shared to the same messaging group – and one count of entering into a terrorist funding arrangement. Tshko Mohamad, 33, from West Bromwich, was jailed for seven years after he was convicted of entering into a terrorist funding arrangement and Omar Ahmadi, 24, from Sheffield, was jailed for five years and seven months after pleading guilty to the same offence. Their convictions could not be reported until restrictions were lifted on Friday. David Earl, prosecuting, said Hamad had come to the UK illegally from Iraqi Kurdistan in 2016. He told authorities his life would be in danger and he would be arrested if he returned to his home country, the court heard. Hamad said he had been a student of preacher Mullah Shwan, who he said used to teach him the Koran but had recently 'joined Daesh'. He told interviewers: 'Because I was his student, police called me to attend a meeting so I've run away for my life.' The court heard in June 2022 Mohamad sent a voicenote to Saaed telling him to set up the group with 'trusted brothers of the same belief and agenda'. The group, which included Hamad, was set up later that day with the introductory message: 'Swearing by the almighty Allah, we have given a pledge of allegiance to almighty Allah that we will come to you under the flag of the Islamic State caliphate in whatever hole you are in this world. 'Otherwise we will, by Allah, separate your head from your body.' Hamad shared a 'pro-Islamic State mindset' with others in the group, the court heard. One video shared by another user showed a shackled soldier on fire with the caption: 'It contains roasting. It is very tasty.' The court heard Hamad sent two videos in the group. Mr Earl said the first, sent on December 9 2022, showed someone who claimed to be a student of Mullah Shwan, who appeared in numerous IS videos before he was killed, alongside other IS fighters, in 2015. The video referred to soldiers of the so-called Islamic State and to 'brothers' being skilled in 'IED', meaning improvised explosive devices, Mr Earl said. A second video was sent by Hamad on January 18 and showed three prisoners being beheaded in the street. In a speech before the beheading, the man in the video said he was acting in revenge for an attack on Muslim people and promised: 'We will slaughter you one by one.' Mr Earl said: 'The videos were sent intending them to be a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.' The group was discovered in March 2023 when Ahmadi was arrested at Stansted Airport on his way to Turkey, with £7,000 hidden in baby milk powder tins. When Hamad, who had a Kurdish Sorani interpreter in the dock, was arrested at his home in Wavertree, Liverpool, in March last year, he told officers: 'I lost my phone a long time ago. I want a solicitor.' Kate O'Raghallaigh, defending Hamad, said: 'The court has seen evidence which is entirely consistent with this man being, in his real life, consistently a hard-working local barber in Liverpool who is not religious, not devout, leads a typical western lifestyle, attends nightclubs and so forth.' Judge Neil Flewitt KC asked: 'Doesn't it rather beg the question, which is the real life?' Photographs of Hamad at social events, including his own wedding, were submitted to the court along with a letter from his wife, who sat in the public gallery. Sentencing, Judge Flewitt said: 'It is said that you live a characteristic western lifestyle, with many gay and lesbian friends, respecting everyone equally. 'On that basis, it is submitted that these offences represent an aberration in your life and undermine any suggestion that you are a committed ideologue. 'I have some difficulty with that submission because another interpretation of that material is that it demonstrates the hypocrisy of a person who is willing publicly to embrace a western lifestyle while privately supporting a terrorist organisation whose objective is to destroy it.' Detective Superintendent Annie Miller, from Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands, said: 'It's clear all these men were involved in supporting Islamic State. 'The group chat was used to promote propaganda and arrange to raise money in the UK to then send to IS to support their activities. 'It is entirely unacceptable to promote terrorism and we will not hesitate to investigate online behaviour or content which breaches terrorism or other criminal legislation.'
South Wales Guardian
24-05-2025
- South Wales Guardian
Barber becomes fourth man from pro-Islamic State WhatsApp group to be jailed
Mohammed Hamad, 30, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, to two counts of disseminating terrorist publications from the so-called Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh. At his sentencing hearing on Friday, the court heard Hamad was in a WhatsApp group with people who shared his beliefs and support for IS, described as a 'terrorist organisation that encourages and glorifies religious and political violence'. Also in the group was Roshman Saaed, 30, who was jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty following a trial in Birmingham last year of six counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication – three of which were shared to the same messaging group – and one count of entering into a terrorist funding arrangement. Tshko Mohamad, 33, from West Bromwich, was jailed for seven years after he was convicted of entering into a terrorist funding arrangement and Omar Ahmadi, 24, from Sheffield, was jailed for five years and seven months after pleading guilty to the same offence. Their convictions could not be reported until restrictions were lifted on Friday. David Earl, prosecuting, said Hamad had come to the UK illegally from Iraqi Kurdistan in 2016. He told authorities his life would be in danger and he would be arrested if he returned to his home country, the court heard. Hamad said he had been a student of preacher Mullah Shwan, who he said used to teach him the Koran but had recently 'joined Daesh'. He told interviewers: 'Because I was his student, police called me to attend a meeting so I've run away for my life.' The court heard in June 2022 Mohamad sent a voicenote to Saaed telling him to set up the group with 'trusted brothers of the same belief and agenda'. The group, which included Hamad, was set up later that day with the introductory message: 'Swearing by the almighty Allah, we have given a pledge of allegiance to almighty Allah that we will come to you under the flag of the Islamic State caliphate in whatever hole you are in this world. 'Otherwise we will, by Allah, separate your head from your body.' Hamad shared a 'pro-Islamic State mindset' with others in the group, the court heard. One video shared by another user showed a shackled soldier on fire with the caption: 'It contains roasting. It is very tasty.' The court heard Hamad sent two videos in the group. Mr Earl said the first, sent on December 9 2022, showed someone who claimed to be a student of Mullah Shwan, who appeared in numerous IS videos before he was killed, alongside other IS fighters, in 2015. The video referred to soldiers of the so-called Islamic State and to 'brothers' being skilled in 'IED', meaning improvised explosive devices, Mr Earl said. A second video was sent by Hamad on January 18 and showed three prisoners being beheaded in the street. In a speech before the beheading, the man in the video said he was acting in revenge for an attack on Muslim people and promised: 'We will slaughter you one by one.' Mr Earl said: 'The videos were sent intending them to be a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.' The group was discovered in March 2023 when Ahmadi was arrested at Stansted Airport on his way to Turkey, with £7,000 hidden in baby milk powder tins. When Hamad, who had a Kurdish Sorani interpreter in the dock, was arrested at his home in Wavertree, Liverpool, in March last year, he told officers: 'I lost my phone a long time ago. I want a solicitor.' Kate O'Raghallaigh, defending Hamad, said: 'The court has seen evidence which is entirely consistent with this man being, in his real life, consistently a hard-working local barber in Liverpool who is not religious, not devout, leads a typical western lifestyle, attends nightclubs and so forth.' Judge Neil Flewitt KC asked: 'Doesn't it rather beg the question, which is the real life?' Photographs of Hamad at social events, including his own wedding, were submitted to the court along with a letter from his wife, who sat in the public gallery. Sentencing, Judge Flewitt said: 'It is said that you live a characteristic western lifestyle, with many gay and lesbian friends, respecting everyone equally. 'On that basis, it is submitted that these offences represent an aberration in your life and undermine any suggestion that you are a committed ideologue. 'I have some difficulty with that submission because another interpretation of that material is that it demonstrates the hypocrisy of a person who is willing publicly to embrace a western lifestyle while privately supporting a terrorist organisation whose objective is to destroy it.' Detective Superintendent Annie Miller, from Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands, said: 'It's clear all these men were involved in supporting Islamic State. 'The group chat was used to promote propaganda and arrange to raise money in the UK to then send to IS to support their activities. 'It is entirely unacceptable to promote terrorism and we will not hesitate to investigate online behaviour or content which breaches terrorism or other criminal legislation.'
Leader Live
24-05-2025
- Leader Live
Barber jailed for four years for sharing Islamic State videos
Mohammed Hamad, 30, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, to two counts of disseminating terrorist publications from the so-called Islamic State (IS), also known as Daesh. At his sentencing hearing on Friday, David Earl, prosecuting, said Hamad had come to the UK illegally from Iraqi Kurdistan in 2016. He told authorities his life would be in danger and he would be arrested if he returned to his home country, the court heard. Hamad said he had been a student of preacher Mulla Shwan, who he said used to teach him the Koran but had recently 'joined Daesh'. He told interviewers: 'Because I was his student, police called me to attend a meeting so I've run away for my life.' The court heard in June 2022, a WhatsApp group was set up, including Hamad, with the introductory message: 'Swearing by the almighty Allah, we have given a pledge of allegiance to almighty Allah that we will come to you under the flag of the Islamic State caliphate in whatever hole you are in this world. 'Otherwise we will, by Allah, separate your head from your body.' Hamad shared a 'pro-Islamic State mindset' with others in the group, the court heard. One video shared by another user showed a shackled soldier on fire with the caption: 'It contains roasting. It is very tasty.' The court heard Hamad sent two videos in the group. Mr Earl said the first, sent on December 9 2022, showed someone who claimed to be a student of Mulla Shwan, who appeared in numerous IS videos before he was killed, alongside other IS fighters, in 2015. The video referred soldiers of the so-called Islamic State and to 'brothers' being skilled in 'IED', meaning improvised explosive devices, Mr Earl said. A second video was sent by Hamad on January 18 and showed three prisoners being beheaded in the street. In a speech before the beheading, the man in the video said he was acting in revenge for an attack on Muslim people and promised: 'We will slaughter you one by one.' Mr Earl said: 'The videos were sent intending them to be a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.' When Hamad, who had a Kurdish Sorani interpreter in the dock, was arrested at his home in Wavertree, Liverpool, in March last year, he told officers: 'I lost my phone a long time ago. I want a solicitor.' Kate O'Raghallaigh, defending, said: 'The court has seen evidence which is entirely consistent with this man being, in his real life, consistently a hard-working local barber in Liverpool who is not religious, not devout, leads a typical western lifestyle, attends nightclubs and so forth.' Judge Neil Flewitt KC asked: 'Doesn't it rather beg the question, which is the real life?' Photographs of Hamad at social events, including his own wedding, were submitted to the court along with a letter from his wife, who sat in the public gallery. Sentencing, Judge Flewitt said: 'It is said that you live a characteristic western lifestyle, with many gay and lesbian friends, respecting everyone equally. 'On that basis, it is submitted that these offences represent an aberration in your life and undermine any suggestion that you are a committed ideologue. 'I have some difficulty with that submission because another interpretation of that material is that it demonstrates the hypocrisy of a person who is willing publicly to embrace a western lifestyle while privately supporting a terrorist organisation whose objective is to destroy it.' The judge also made Hamad subject to notification provisions of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 for 10 years.
