We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
An Islamic State cell broken up last week planned to attack Casablanca and its port while a Syrian militant who assisted the group is at large, the head of Morocco’s BCIJ security agency said.
The group targeted economically sensitive sites in Casablanca and offshore, said Abdelhak Khiame, adding the jihadists, aged between 19 and 27, were radicalised online.
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Source: defenceweb.co.za
Along with Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan – who is said to be the leader of the Islamic State in the Philippines – a female named Almaida Marani Salvin is also included on the United States’ blacklist
MANILA, Philippines – The United States has added Abu Sayyaff sub-leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who is said to be the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Philippines, to its list of global terrorists.
Along with Sawadjaan, a female named Almaida Marani Salvin was also included in the US Treasury’s sanctions blacklist. Salvin was said to have “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support ” to ISIS-Philippines.
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Source: rappler.com
COLOMBO, June 11 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka’s leading tour operators said on Tuesday that luxury cruise ships have begun calling at Sri Lanka’s ports following the improved security situation in the island country after the Easter terror attacks on April 21 which killed over 250 people.
Aitken Spence Maritime, agents for Hapag-Lloyd, was quoted by local media as saying that the shipping groups MS Europa 2 cruise ship called at Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port in the capital and Hambantota port in the south recently with 309 passengers and 356 crew onboard.
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By Meghan Curran
On the morning of January 27, 2019, two bombs exploded inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Jolo on the Sulu Province in the southern Philippines. Tearing a hole through the cathedral during a Sunday service, the bombs claimed 20 lives, injured dozens more, and propelled Islamist extremism in the Philippines back into international headlines. In the aftermath of the blast, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte promised to “pursue to the ends of the Earth the ruthless perpetrators behind [the] dastardly crime,”as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), the country’s notoriously violent Islamic separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack. While President Duterte may not need to go to the “ends of the Earth” to put an end to the ASG-fueled terror, his government will certainly need to act beyond its own shores. Illicit maritime activities are at the root of ASG funding and operations, and ensuring the group’s defeat will require focused government efforts to improve maritime security in its area of operations.
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Source: cimsec.org
KOTA KINABALU: Thirteen people have been arrested by police for alleged involvement in militant activities in Semporna.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said the suspects, comprising 12 Filipinos and one local, were arrested by Sabah Police Special Branch and Vat 69 Commandos during several operations in Semporna between January and March this year.
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Source: theborneopost.com
MANILA, Philippines — Three members of the Abu Sayyaf Group were believed to be killed in an encounter with the Philippine Marines in Sulu, the military said Monday.
Troops from the Marine Battalion Landing Team-3 clashed with undetermined number of bandits under sub-leader Najir Arik in Simisa Island in Banguigui on Sunday, the Western Mindanao Command said.
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Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net
Maritime Security News 