Latest Counterterrorism News
There's a new police superintendent in Chicago. The city council chose the ex-counterterrorism head
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago's City Council unanimously confirmed Larry Snelling as the city's police superintendent Wednesday, elevating the department's counterterrorism chief to lead a department coping with a mixed bag of crime. After the council approved Snelling by a 48-0 vote,...
France's withdrawal from Niger could jeopardize counterterrorism operations in the Sahel
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The French troops withdrawing from Niger were seen as a key line of defense for about a decade in Western efforts against jihadi violence in Africa's Sahel region, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert. As the U.S. keeps pushing for a diplomatic...
US military captures key Islamic State militant during helicopter raid in Syria
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Monday it had captured an operator for the Islamic State extremist group during a helicopter raid in northern Syria. The operator, Abu Halil al-Fad’ani, “was assessed to have relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region,”...
An airstrike on a military airport in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region kills 3 people
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — An airstrike on a military airport in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region killed three people Monday, local officials said. The region’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement that the attack on the Arbat Airport, 28 kilometers southeast of...
Pentagon says surveillance flights, not counterterrorism ops, have restarted in Niger
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Thursday that it has not restarted counterterrorism operations in Niger, a day after the head of U.S. airpower for Europe and Africa said those flights had resumed. Gen. James Hecker, responding to a question from The Associated Press at a...
US military resumes drone flights and manned counterterrorism missions out of Niger bases
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — The U.S. military has resumed flying drones and manned aircraft out of air bases in the Niger more than a month after a coup temporarily halted all those activities there, the head of U.S. Air Forces for Europe and Africa said Wednesday. Since the July...
Chicago mayor names the police department’s counterterrorism head as new police superintendent
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Sunday stayed within the ranks and named Larry Snelling, the police department's counterterrorism head, as his choice for police superintendent of the nation's third-largest city. The announcement comes after a monthslong search led...
UK police shouldn't have stopped French publisher under anti-terror laws, an independent review says
LONDON (AP) — London police should not have used counter-terrorism powers to question and detain a French publisher at a train station in April on suspicion he might have been involved in violent protests, a report released Friday concluded. Ernest Moret was on his way to the...
Turkey's Erdogan says lawmakers will take up ratification of Sweden's NATO membership in October
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Sweden’s NATO membership bid would not be ratified by Turkey’s parliament before October, but that he hopes for a swift ratification once lawmakers return from a break. Turkey on Monday...
