Israel: Shi'ite terror network targeting Israelis overseas
A global Shi’ite terrorism network made up of Iranian
Quds Force operatives and Hezbollah continues to target Israelis overseas, the
National Security Council’s counterterrorism bureau warned on Wednesday, ahead
of the Passover vacation season.
Twenty-seven countries have been designated by the bureau
as being under a travel alert of varying severity.
The Sinai Peninsula is designated as a place with a very
high, concrete threat level, and the bureau is urging Israelis to stay away
from the area due to a plethora of intelligence leads pointing to kidnapping
plots and terrorist threats.
Turkey, Kenya, Nigeria and Azerbaijan have been
classified under the “ongoing potential threat” category, which is the third
most severe warning type.
Dozens of terrorist attacks around the world have been
thwarted this year, a bureau source said on Wednesday, adding that Iran and
Hezbollah have clearly divided up attacks between them. In this way, Iranian
agents target Israeli embassies and official state symbols – as they did in New
Delhi in 2012 – while Hezbollah attempts to murder less protected Israeli
civilian tourists – as occurred in Burgas, Bulgaria, last year, when a
Hezbollah terrorist cell bombed a tour bus, killing five Israelis and a Bulgarian
bus driver.
The source stressed that the travel alerts are based on
information made available from Israel’s intelligence services, adding that
some terrorist attacks have been abandoned by the plotters after alerts have
been issued exposing the threat.
“Shi’ite terrorism is a threat to Israeli citizens and
Diaspora Jews. The threat is being sponsored by Iran and Hezbollah. Over the
past two years, there has been an increased effort to carry out attacks,” the
source said. “We are identifying a systematic campaign operating with the
greatest vigor... They are fully coordinated. It is one axis.”
Additionally, Israel has been in touch with foreign
government and local police officials in countries such as Cyprus (where a
Hezbollah operative is on trial for gathering intelligence ahead of an attack
on tourists), Greece, Turkey, Thailand and India.
The source said any country hosting a large amounts of
Israeli tourists has been contacted by Israel in order to request a stepped-up
security presence. One such meeting was held last month in India, where some
45,000 Israeli tourists head every year.
Overall, the threat level has remained static in recent
years, the source added.
He stressed that the bureau was not telling Israelis to
stay at home, but rather to be aware of safety tips as they enjoy their
vacations abroad.
In February, Nigeria’s domestic intelligence service
announced the arrest of an Iran-backed terrorist cell plotting to launch
attacks on Israeli and American targets in the African state.
The State Security Service named Abdullahi Mustapha
Berende and two other Nigerians as the suspects, after Berende made several
suspicious trips to Iran and interacted with Iranians in a “high-profile
terrorist network” there.
“His Iranian sponsors requested that he identify and
gather intelligence on public places and prominent hotels frequented by
Americans and Israelis to facilitate attacks,” SSS spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar
said in a statement.
“There is conclusive evidence that Berende, in
collaboration with his Iranian handlers, was involved in grievous crimes
against the national security of this country.”
In 2010, Nigerian security officials intercepted an
Iranian arms shipment containing 13 containers of weapons, including artillery
rockets and rifle rounds. An investigation found that the shipment had
originally come from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. Those arrested in
connection with the incident included an alleged Iranian Revolutionary Guards
Corps member and three Nigerian suspects.
In Syria, the source said, Sunni global jihadi groups
were becoming a stronger force, and have been placed under the watch of
intelligence services and the IDF.
“We’re not under the illusion that they won’t direct
their fire toward Israel in the future,” the source said.
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