The United States launched at least one airstrike against Islamic State militants near Baghdad on Monday, marking the expansion of the US military campaign against the extremist group. The airstrike was reportedly requested by Iraqi forces under attack.
According to US officials cited by the Associated Press, the airstrike was authorized after Iraqi security forces requested air power support as they engaged Islamic State (IS) fighters south of Baghdad.
An unnamed defense official, meanwhile, told NBC News that the most recent air attack near Baghdad was an “offensive” strike, and there was no suggestion that militants were making headway towards the country’s capital.
US Central Command confirmed the air strike and affirmed that it was part of a new phase in the battle against IS.
Previous airstrikes in Iraq were characterized by the US as “defensive” in nature, as they were used to protect American diplomatic sites as well as crucial Iraqi facilities like the Mosul Dam.
By directly supporting Iraqi forces from the air as they participated in what ABC News described as a “firefight,” officials say the US is beginning to act on President Barack Obama’s strategy to actively engage the Islamic State (IS). As Obama announced last week, his plan is to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the group through expanded airstrikes and by forming a coalition against it.
An image grab taken from a handout video released by the United States Central Command (Centcom) on August 8, 2014, shows a US military F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet strike on what the US army says is an Islamic State (IS) target at an undisclosed location in northern Iraq. (AFP PHOTO / HO / CENTCOM)
Additionally, the US also launched at least one airstrike near Sinjar Mountain in northwestern Iraq, where ethnic minorities like the Yazidis were previously cornered by militants and faced starvation.
The offensive strike comes as the US attempts to cobble together an international coalition in order to fight the militants in Iraq and Syria. Countries including France and Australia have committed themselves to taking part in the aerial campaign, according to CNN. France is currently carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq, while Australia is sending aircraft to the United Arab Emirates for potential deployment.
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, has said it would arm the Kurds in northern Iraq and continue offering humanitarian aid.
So far, most US allies, including those in the region – Jordan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia – have ruled out deploying ground forces to fight IS militants. Saudi Arabia has said it would train Syrian rebels on its soil in light of Washington’s proposal to arm factions that will fight against the extremists.
US Secretary of State John Kerry told CBS that some countries have offered to deploy ground troops in the fight, but it was unclear exactly which nations he was referring to. State Department officials noted that Kerry’s statement did not refer to Western or Arab forces.
Meanwhile, Iran – considered a critical player in the Middle East’s latest conflict – has turned down an American offer to join an international effort to fight IS, according to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The American ambassador in Iraq asked our ambassador [to Iraq] for a session to discuss coordinating a fight against Daesh [Islamic State],” he said.
“Our ambassador in Iraq reflected this to us, which was welcomed by some [Iranian] officials, but I was opposed. I saw no point in cooperating with a country whose hands are dirty and intentions murky."
As the US considers launching airstrikes in Syria as well, a senior White House official stated on Monday that any attempt by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government to interfere with American efforts to fight IS would be met with retaliation against his air defenses. The US has ruled out cooperating with Assad – whose government it opposes – in order to target militants inside of Syria.
Tagged with
Air Force,
al-Qaeda,
Conflict,
Iraq,
Military,
Security,
Terrorism,
USA,
Violence
An attack by suspected Shia militiamen on a Sunni mosque in Iraq’s Diyala province has killed at least 68 people.
Officials say a bomber blew himself up in the mosque during Friday prayers and gunmen fired on fleeing worshippers.
Diyala province has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks between IS and Iraqi troops backed by Shia militiamen.
The attack is seen as a blow to government efforts to secure backing from Sunni groups in its battle against Islamic State (IS) jihadists.
Prime Minister designate Haider al-Abadi, a moderate Shia, is trying to form a more inclusive government – following international criticism of outgoing PM Nouri Maliki, who was widely seen as a divisive figure.
But two influential Sunni politicians, Parliamentary Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, have suspended participation in talks on a new cabinet in protest at Friday’s massacre.
It took place in a village mosque south of the city of Baquba, about 120km (75 miles) from Baghdad.
A security official told AFP news agency that Shia fighters allied with the government had carried out the assault as a reprisal for a bombing that had targeted their fighters.
Tagged with
Diyala province,
Haider al-Abadi,
Iraq,
PM Nouri Maliki,
Shia militiamen,
Sunni,
World News
.jpg)
In an unprecedented, three-year cyber espionage campaign, Iranian hackers created false social networking accounts and a fake news website to spy on military and political leaders in the United States, Israel and other countries, a cyber intelligence firm said on Thursday.
ISight Partners, which uncovered the operation, said the hackers' targets include a four-star U.S. Navy admiral, U.S. lawmakers and ambassadors, members of the U.S.-Israeli lobby, and personnel from Britain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The firm declined to identify the victims and said it could not say what data had been stolen by the hackers, who were seeking credentials to access government and corporate networks, as well as infect machines with malicious software.
"If it's been going on for so long, clearly they have had success," iSight Executive Vice President Tiffany Jones told Reuters. The privately held company is based in Dallas, Texas and provides intelligence on cyber threats.
ISight dubbed the operation "Newscaster" because it said the Iranian hackers created six "personas" who appeared to work for a fake news site, NewsOnAir.org, which used content from the Associated Press, BBC, Reuters and other media outlets. The hackers created another eight personas who purported to work for defense contractors and other organizations, iSight said.
The hackers set up false accounts on Facebook and other online social networks for these 14 personas, populated their profiles with fictitious personal content, and then tried to befriend target victims, according to iSight.
The operation has been active since at least 2011, iSight said, noting that it was the most elaborate cyber espionage campaign using "social engineering" that has been uncovered to date from any nation.
To build credibility, the hackers would approach high-value targets by first establishing ties with the victims' friends, classmates, colleagues, relatives and other connections over social networks run by Facebook Inc, Google Inc and its YouTube, LinkedIn Corp and Twitter Inc.
The hackers would initially send the targets content that was not malicious, such as links to news articles on NewsOnAir.org, in a bid to establish trust. Then they would send links that infected PCs with malicious software, or direct targets to web portals that ask for network log-in credentials, iSight said.
The hackers used the 14 personas to make connections with more than 2,000 people, the firm said, adding that it believed the group ultimately targeted several hundred individuals.
"This campaign is not loud. It is low and slow," said Jones. "They want to be stealth. They want to be under the radar."
ISight said it had alerted some victims and social networking sites as well as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and overseas authorities. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.
Facebook Inc spokesman Jay Nancarrow said his company had discovered the hacking group while investigating suspicious friend requests and other activity on its website.
"We removed all of the offending profiles we found to be associated with the fake NewsOnAir organization and we have used this case to further refine our systems that catch fake accounts at various points of interaction on the site and block malware from spreading," Nancarrow said.
LinkedIn spokesman Doug Madey said the site was investigating the report, though none of the 14 fake profiles uncovered by iSight were currently active.
Twitter declined to comment and Google could not immediately be reached for comment.
POST-STUXNET ERA
ISight disclosed its findings as evidence emerges that Iranian hacking groups are becoming increasingly aggressive.
Cybersecurity company FireEye Inc reported earlier this month that a group known as the Ajax Security Team has become the first Iranian hacking group to use custom-built malicious software for espionage.
Iranian hackers stepped up their activity in the wake of the Stuxnet attack on Tehran's nuclear program in 2010. The Stuxnet computer virus is widely believed to have been launched by the United States and Israel.
ISight said it could not ascertain whether the hackers were tied to the government in Tehran, though it believed they were supported by a nation state because of the complexity of the operation.
The firm said NewsOnAir.org was registered in Tehran and likely hosted by an Iranian provider. The Persian term "Parastoo" was used as a password for malware associated with the group, which appeared to work during business hours in Tehran, according to iSight.
Among the 14 false personas were reporters for NewsOnAir, including one with the same name as a Reuters journalist in Washington; six employees who purportedly worked for defense contractors; a systems administrator with the U.S. Navy; and an accountant working for a payment processor.
A spokesman for Thomson Reuters Corp, which owns Reuters, declined to comment.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Tiffany Wu)
Tagged with
Britain,
cyber espionage campaign,
Facebook,
Hack,
hackers,
iran,
iranian,
Iranian hackers,
Iraq,
Israel,
Newscaster,
Saudi Arabia,
Syria,
United States,
US,
USA,
World News
