Critical Observer

SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTER PRAISED ISIS BEFORE ATTACK

<div class="article__summary summary " style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Gill Sans Light', Helvetica; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcIWAljF_WBkqnx1_uMWCLxKi-94qUUnYiYBd8wrdBYXpgP9h1bEuBGRvMiTjVdHUCFHuwPGon2u8ga84jxZycsmvCh8gtcstFhwUm550szUGCyutE7fw_4XYyDc9pGxiteddxLzuXdw/s1600/00000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcIWAljF_WBkqnx1_uMWCLxKi-94qUUnYiYBd8wrdBYXpgP9h1bEuBGRvMiTjVdHUCFHuwPGon2u8ga84jxZycsmvCh8gtcstFhwUm550szUGCyutE7fw_4XYyDc9pGxiteddxLzuXdw/s640/00000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The female shooter in the San Bernardino, California massacre, Tashfeen Malik, pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a Facebook post immediately before the attack, officials have told several news organizations.</div>
<div class="article__text text " style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Gill Sans Light', Helvetica; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Malik posted under a different name, a US official familiar with the investigation told CNN.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
The post was later removed, apparently by Malik herself, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing law enforcement officials. However, FBI technicians were able to recover it.  <span style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
The post appeared <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"just before the attack,"</em> a law enforcement source told NBC News.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
If confirmed, the finding could be a<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> "game changer"</em> in the investigation, two officials told Reuters.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Malik, 27, and her husband, 28-year-old Syed Rizwan Farook, <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/324501-san-bernardino-suspects-dead-identified/" style="background: 0px 0px; color: #044faa; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">are suspected</a> in the Wednesday attack that killed 14 people and injured 21 more at a holiday party for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, where Farook worked as an environmental specialist.</div>
<div class="arcticle__read-more read-more" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); clear: both; float: left; font-size: 0.666667em; margin: 1em 1em 0.6em 0px; padding: 0.6em 0.7em 0.4em; position: relative; width: 325.292px;">
<a class="read-more__link" href="https://www.rt.com/usa/324598-bernardino-guns-bought-legally/" style="background: 0px 0px; border: none !important; color: #044faa; display: block; font-size: 1.6em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="© Jeff Mitchell" class="read-more__cover" src="https://cdn.rt.com/files/2015.12/thumbnail/566045c7c36188c5218b4585.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 325.292px;" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Malik was a Pakistani native who was living in Saudi Arabia when <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/324583-bernardino-shooting-accounts-suspects/" style="background: 0px 0px; color: #044faa; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">she met Farook</a>, who was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in California. She entered the United States on a K-1, or <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"fiancée,"</em> visa, meaning the couple had to marry within 90 days of her arrival.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Investigators are trying to determine whether Malik radicalized her husband. He had been different ever since he returned from meeting her in Saudi Arabia, Christian Nwadike, who worked with Farook for five years, told CBS.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"I think he married a terrorist,"</em> Nwadike said.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Investigators are also looking into an argument between Farook and a coworker who is reported to have denounced the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"inherent dangers of Islam,"</em> a US government source told Reuters.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
The couple destroyed computer hard drives and other electronic devices before the shooting, the source added. Investigators are still hoping to recover information from the couple's computers and cellphones that will reveal whether they had browsed jihadist websites, or had contact with militant groups, before the attack at the Inland Regional Center on Wednesday.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Farook had several profiles on Muslim-oriented dating sites, ABC News reported. In one, he described himself as part of a<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“religios [sic] but modern family of 4”</em> who enjoyed <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“doing target practice with younger sister and friends”</em> in his backyard.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“I try to live as a good Muslim,” </em>Farook wrote in another.<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> “Looking for a girl who has the same outlook, wear hijab, but live the life to the fullest."</em></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Both devout Muslims, Farook and Malik met online in 2014. The couple married on August 16 in Riverside, according to a marriage certificate obtained by ABC News. They had a six-month-old daughter, police said. The baby was staying with Farook’s mother during the shooting.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Farook's brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, told NBC News he had begun legal proceedings to adopt the girl and was "<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">very upset and angry"</em> at Farook for the massacre.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"You left your 6-month-old daughter,"</em> Khan said.<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> "In this life, some people cannot have kids. God gave you a gift of a daughter. And you left that kid behind... What did you achieve?"</em></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Malik was from the Layyah district in Pakistan’s southern Punjab province, but her family moved to Saudi Arabia about 25 years ago, two Pakistani officials told Reuters. She returned home <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“five or six years ago”</em> to complete a degree in pharmacy from Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
Her father had become considerably more conservative since moving to Saudi Arabia, Malik’s uncle Javed Rabbani told Reuters, adding that Pakistani intelligence officials had contacted him as part of the investigation.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"I only found out about this tragedy today when some intelligence officials contacted me to ask me about my links with Tashfeen,"</em> Rabbani said. <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"I had heard in the news that this tragedy had taken place but I could never even imagine that it would be someone from my family. Of course, we are in shock."</em></div>
</div>

SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTER PRAISED ISIS BEFORE ATTACK

The female shooter in the San Bernardino, California massacre, Tashfeen Malik, pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Ba...

Read Article »

TALIBAN ATTACK ON JAIL FREES HUNDREDS OF INSURGENTS

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyacA2HsmXeUp8sIBABGnLHBWBfui_Zdz5oECmxfJnQAVycTecLl64C9Whyphenhyphen-OEpzVyDtAcQzYgIMgZ-wj82knxKahYxl4QSZUEsZipNBQGA1KuLFW7TJO-53qe0w558XUOY0K8yBsy2Ts/s1600/00000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyacA2HsmXeUp8sIBABGnLHBWBfui_Zdz5oECmxfJnQAVycTecLl64C9Whyphenhyphen-OEpzVyDtAcQzYgIMgZ-wj82knxKahYxl4QSZUEsZipNBQGA1KuLFW7TJO-53qe0w558XUOY0K8yBsy2Ts/s640/00000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Taliban insurgents stormed a prison in Afghanistan on Monday, killing police and releasing more than 350 inmates, including nearly 150 deemed a threat to national security, and then attacked troops rushing to help, officials said.<br />
<br />
The latest Taliban prison raid, on the outskirts of the central city of Ghazni, comes after setbacks for the government in different parts of the country and deadly attacks in Kabul which have dashed hopes for peace talks.<br />
<br />
A Reuters reporter outside the mud fort prison in Ghazni, 120 km (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Kabul, saw the bodies of two men who appeared to be suicide bombers and a blown-up car that had apparently been used to destroy the main entrance.<br />
<br />
Clusters of bullet casings were scattered across the road.<br />
<br />
The interior ministry said that 355 of the 436 prisoners had escaped.<br />
<br />
Of those who got away, 148 were a "threat to national security and 207 were criminals", the ministry said in a statement.<br />
<br />
Four Taliban and four members of the security forces were killed in the attack, the ministry said. Seven police were injured.<br />
<br />
Mohammed Ali Ahmadi, deputy city governor, said the prison's security was well below recommended standards because it was so close to Ghazni - only seven km (4.3 miles) from the city centre - and it was believed that reinforcements would get there quickly in the event of trouble.<br />
<br />
On Sunday, officials concerned about a breakout had transferred 18 "dangerous" Taliban to a jail operated by the Afghan intelligence agency, he said. Seventeen were left behind.<br />
<br />
Ahmadi said he believed they helped co-ordinate the attack.<br />
<br />
"Roads to the prison were covered with land mines in advance to avoid reinforcement," Ahmadi told reporters. "An army vehicle coming for reinforcements was blown up by a roadside bomb while trying to reach the prison."<br />
<br />
One security official said the attackers, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, were wearing security force uniforms.<br />
<br />
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said gunmen and three suicide bombers attacked the prison at 2 a.m. Three bombers were killed, he said.<br />
<br />
"Important military mujahideen officials have been freed," he said.<br />
<br />
The Taliban are fighting to overthrow the foreign-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, expel foreign forces and impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law.<br />
<br />
The insurgents have attacked jails to free hundreds of prisoners including their comrades on several occasions, in both Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan.<br />
<br />
Security at Afghan prisons is often poor, with untrained, poorly equipped police guarding crumbling facilities.<br />
<br />
by MUSTAFA ANDALIB, REUTERS

TALIBAN ATTACK ON JAIL FREES HUNDREDS OF INSURGENTS

Taliban insurgents stormed a prison in Afghanistan on Monday, killing police and releasing more than 350 inmates, including nearly 150 de...

Read Article »

Bomb Blast reported near mosque in Uzbekistan’s capital

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxInV5xSJRwEm_jFkTPmLe7z5v0zhqMFA6uGEdspIOzdZ2jw4S2lzsr5_2c-7GoxBR3Ziz9uBESVczNcgjK7FjiG8m_5soQK42EWoFKBIiMuR0QS9ihjkRDtd0gCnd23BN8CBpITS7YU/s1600/00000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxInV5xSJRwEm_jFkTPmLe7z5v0zhqMFA6uGEdspIOzdZ2jw4S2lzsr5_2c-7GoxBR3Ziz9uBESVczNcgjK7FjiG8m_5soQK42EWoFKBIiMuR0QS9ihjkRDtd0gCnd23BN8CBpITS7YU/s640/00000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
A bomb has exploded near the Tokhtaboy Mosque in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, where a controversial imam was once the chief cleric. The explosion happened just after Friday Prayers on September 4. Police confirmed the explosion to RFE/RL and said it was caused by an improvised explosive device left at a bus stop. Police said no one was injured by the blast and added they were searching for a suspect who witnesses said left the bomb and ran away.<br />
<br />
Obidkhon Qori Nazarov was the imam at the Tokhtaboy Mosque in the 1990s but fled the country in 1998 as the authorities prepared to detain him on charges of involvement with Islamic militants, charges Nazarov denied. Nazarov eventually received asylum in Sweden in 2006, where in 2012 he was the target of an assassination attempt. Swedish prosecutor Krister Petersson told RFE/RL on September 2 that there was abundant evidence suggesting that Uzbek authorities were behind the assassination attempt.

Bomb Blast reported near mosque in Uzbekistan’s capital

A bomb has exploded near the Tokhtaboy Mosque in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, where a controversial imam was once the chief cleric. The e...

Read Article »