ISIS terrorist has killed a cop and wounded three others in AK47 Paris rampage

A policeman was shot dead while two other officers were seriously injured by a Kalashnikov-wielding gunman on the Champs Elysees in central Paris last night.

The alleged ISIS gunman, identified as 39-year-old father Karim Cheurfi - who was jailed for 20 years for trying to kill officers in 2001 - parked his Audi and opened fire after police stopped at a red light on the world famous avenue.

One traffic officer died instantly with a shot to the head, while the other two were hurt before Cheurfi himself was gunned down by nearby armed police.

A ricocheting bullet fired by the terrorist also wounded a female foreign tourist passing by. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Dramatic footage captured the moment French police chased and shot at the gunman, who later died. His ID was found in the Audi he was driving, which confirmed he was known to security services for a number of recent offences and had been flagged as 'an extremist'.

Officers have been searching the home of the alleged shooter in east Paris. He had been detained last month after it emerged he was trying to buy weapons 'to kill police', but was released due to lack of evidence.

A French government spokesman said the ISIS gunman began firing against police using 'a weapon of war'.

Police have now launched a desperate manhunt for a second suspect, who travelled by train to France from Belgium.

The fatal incident unfolded as presidential candidates, including National Front party leader Marine Le Pen, debated on a TV show nearby before Sunday's election.

The alleged ISIS gunman, identified as 39-year-old Karim Cheurfi - who was jailed for 20 years for trying to kill officers in 2001 - parked his Audi and opened fire after police stopped at a red light on the world famous avenue. Pictured is his arrest warrant from last month, when he was detained for trying to obtain weapons 'to kill police'

French police officers and forensic teams searched a vehicle which was close to the scene on the Champs Elysees in Paris

Armed police officers stood guard after they rushed to the scene in the centre of the capital following the incident which left frightened witnesses sprinting for their lives 

Karim Cheurfi used the alias 'Abu Yousuf the Belgian', and reportedly made threats to kill police using the social media app Telegram, an instant messaging service.

He was born in France and lived in Chelles, a commuter town close to Paris and was jailed for 20 years for shooting at police in 2001, after being caught in a stolen car. But it is believed that he was released early in 2016.

The gunman has been identified by police but they will not officially reveal his name until investigators determine whether he had accomplices, according to the Paris prosecutor.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said: 'The identity of the attacker is known and has been checked. I will not give it because investigations with raids are ongoing.

'The investigators want to be sure whether he had or did not have accomplices.'

The Interior Ministry spokesman said the officers were deliberately targeted and the police union added that the policeman was killed while sat in a car at a red light.

US President Donald Trump said: 'It looks like another terrorist attack. What can you say? It never ends.'

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and dramatic video footage showed the immediate aftermath of the incident which left one policeman dead.

In the video, posted on Twitter, several figures can be seen moving around next to a police van on the Champs Elysees.

One of the figures then appeared to fall to the ground and a silver car - believed to have been used by the suspects - can be seen parked next to the van.

Pierre-Henry Brandet, spokesman for the French Interior Ministry, confirmed that both injured officers in hospital were now 'out of danger' and 'stable', while the female tourist was far less badly hurt.

Mr Brandet did not name any of the victims, but praised the officers for 'helping to avoid a bloodbath' by 'neutralising' the attacker as quickly as possible.

French President Francois Hollande said the attack was 'terrorist related' and scheduled an emergency meeting following the shootings on Thursday evening. French prosecutors have opened a terrorism investigation. 

Mr Hollande said a national tribute will be paid to the policeman and added that a 'passerby was hit' before the 'assailant was neutralised'. 

Conservative contender Francois Fillon, who has campaigned against 'Islamic totalitarianism,' said on France 2 television that he was canceling his planned campaign stops Friday.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who campaigns against immigration and Islamic fundamentalism, took to Twitter to offer her sympathy for law enforcement officers 'once again targeted.' She canceled a minor campaign stop, but scheduled another.

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron offered his thoughts to the family of the dead officer.

Socialist Benoit Hamon tweeted his 'full support' to police against terrorism.

Presidential candidates Marine Le Pen and Francois Fillon announced that they have both cancelled their campaigning on Friday.

Mr Brandet, spokesman for France's Interior Ministry, confirmed that one police officer was dead and two were seriously wounded following the 'targeted attack'.

Shortly after the attack Brandet described what was believed to have happened. He said a 'car pulled up just after 9pm' next to a police patrol car which was parked up on the busy avenue.

A man jumped out with a Kalashnikov and started firing indiscriminately into the police vehicle and hit the unidentified officer who died.

The assailant then ran off, pursued by other officers in the vicinity. Two of them were wounded as they killed him.

Mr Brandet said 'all lines of investigation were being pursued', while intelligence sources said the dead assailant was a known radical on a so-called S-file, for 'State-security'.

This means he would have been under surveillance, because he was a known risk to the country.

An eyewitness, called Chelloug, said: 'It was a terrorist. He came out with a Kalashnikov and started shooting, but he could've shot us on the pavement and killed more people with a spray of shots.

'But he targeted the policemen and fortunately there were the policemen who killed him.'

Another witness said: 'I saw someone shoot at the police officers. They returned fire, they killed him, he fell on the floor. And then the emergency services came.

'It took place by Zara and there was a CRS (Republican Security Companies) van parked up and the man shot the police officers. He took out a weapon and shot them.

'I think the police officer was killed on the spot and his colleagues fired back and killed the individual.'  

The attack comes just three days before the first round of balloting in France's tense presidential election.

A witness, identified only as Ines, told BFM that she heard a shooting, saw a man's body on the ground and the area was quickly evacuated by police.

It comes just two days after police arrested two men in southern Marseille with weapons and explosives who were suspected of preparing an attack to disrupt the first-round of the presidential election on Sunday.

France is in a state of emergency and at its highest possible level of alert since a string of terror attacks that began in 2015, which have killed over 230 people.

Thousands of troops and armed police have been deployed to guard tourist hotspots such as the Champs Elysees or other potential targets like government buildings and religious sites.  

French soldiers secure the Champs Elysees Avenue after a police officer was killed when a gunman opened fire in Paris.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4429938/Major-road-Paris-closed-police.html 

More than 400 former jihadi fighters back in Britain, say security sources

Authorities believe there is a growing risk the UK could suffer mass gun and bomb attacks

UK authorities are facing an increased terror threat from battle-hardened fighters returning from Mosul and other conflict zones in Iraq and Syria.


Security sources have told Sky News more than 400 former fighters are now believed to be back in Britain.

The authorities believe there is a growing risk the UK could suffer the kind of mass gun and bomb attacks seen in France and Belgium recently, as many returning fighters will have been trained in the use of weapons and the construction of improvised explosive devices.

It is a serious, two-pronged challenge for the police and security services, who are already working flat-out to counter the threat from homegrown lone-wolf extremists, like Khalid Masood, who launched last week's deadly attack on Westminster.


Mosul snatch squads hunt IS suspects
 
Former Scotland Yard Specialist Firearms Officer and author Tony Long said combating an attack launched by a well-trained returning jihadist could be a tough prospect.

He said: "These are combat-hardened soldiers. They might not be trained in the way that NATO might train their soldiers but they've seen more close quarter conflict and more urban fighting than probably most members of the British Armed Forces and you have to respect that.

"Of course they're bringing that knowledge back with them to the UK and it's very very difficult because of the legal restrictions that are put on the security services and the police to actually monitor all of these people."


Imran Khawaja was jailed for 12 years after returning from Syria

To date, only a fraction of those returning from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq have been prosecuted, as authorities need enough evidence to put before the courts and often returning fighters go to great lengths to cover up their overseas activities.

Imran Khawaja, 29, from west London, is currently serving 12 years in prison after he faked his own death in Syria in an attempt to sneak back into the UK undetected.

Khawaja had joined a militant group with links to so-called Islamic State while overseas.
He was pictured posing with the severed heads of Syrian soldiers during his six months in the country.

He was arrested as he tried to re-enter the UK through the port of Dover and later admitted preparing for acts of terrorism, attending a camp, receiving training and possessing firearms.


The aftermath of the Paris attacks - some of the terrorists involved had fought in Syria  

Security sources said they could not be certain that Khawaja would have launched an attack back home, but the pattern of returning jihadists posing a major risk to national security is well established.

More than a decade ago, groups of al Qaeda trained terrorists were responsible for mass carnage in Europe and the United States.

Those who launched the devastating attack on the London transport system on 7 July 2005 had attended al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Some of the terrorists who launched a similar failed attack on London on 21 July 2005 had received weapons and explosives training, as had some of the plotters who planned to blow up airliners with liquid bombs in 2006.

Security expert Professor Tahir Abbas from the Royal United Services Institute said: "The police and security services are certainly preparing for all eventualities, because in Britain, we've had our lessons from the past.

"These returning fighters pose a number of threats in relation to security here.

"They've been through a lot of very traumatic conflict and engagement, often involved in street-to-street fighting.

"Now, having made their way back to Britain, they pose a particular threat because of their capacity - and perhaps they've been instructed to return, hold fire and wait for the go ahead to launch attacks.

"They are likely to be traumatised, but also extremely experienced and well trained individuals who pose a serious risk."

With the growing threat from returning fighters, emergency services have been increasing their training to respond to gun and bomb attacks.

On March 19, more than 200 police officers carried out a training exercise on the River Thames, where police firearms teams boarded a boat in a training scenario involving dozens of hostages.

The UK government has provided millions of pounds in extra funding to help Chief Constables across country to increase their firearms capability to respond to a terrorist attack.

http://news.sky.com/story/battle-hardened-returning-jihadists-pose-uk-terror-threat-10815737


 

Cubs of the caliphate: IS brainwashes boys to become deadly soldiers

Distressing propaganda video shows young boys running through a warehouse and killing handcuffed men begging for their lives.

There have been many horrendous propaganda videos produced by Islamic State, but the latest I have seen is genuinely the worst.

It shows young boys being trained to fight and let loose in a disused warehouse.

Dressed in black combat fatigues and masked, the boys run through military drills. It is standard propaganda stuff. Every terror organisation films this type of thing.

But there is a difference.

On the highly produced film, you see handcuffed men running from room to room. They are being hunted. It is utterly awful when you realise it is real. This looks like a Hollywood film. But it is actually happening.

As they hunt down the men, they kill them. The final moments of fear, screaming, begging and the pain are glorified. It is astoundingly barbaric.

The video is important because it explains why these are not just errant youths. They have been brainwashed, and they are deadly.

The question is whether or not they always will be - because in the chaos of the Mosul battle many of them are on the loose.

Sky News has been given extremely rare access to a detention centre in Erbil. Here, they hold the boys who have been caught - as well as suspects.

Some were identified in the sprawling refugee camps dotted across northern Iraq and turned in.

A dozen or so share a cell. They are well treated and spend their time praying and trying to learn to read. One boy studiously used an English dictionary as we filmed.

Their stories are very similar. Initially reluctant to join Islamic State, they are groomed by IS members to take up the challenge of Jihad and, ultimately, martyrdom.


 Mahmoud, 12, was frightened of IS and punished when he tried to leave the terror group

Mahmoud would talk to us. He is 12. He admits to being a member. His grooming took six to seven months.

"My friend came to me. He showed me photos, he told me: 'Come with me, we will give you a weapon, a car, a wife. Come with us, you will have virgins in paradise.'

"They brainwashed me and took me," Mahmoud told us in his cell.

"They were showing us on TV how a suicide bomber goes and explodes himself. How booby-traps were exploded. How weapons were dismantled. How you can hit an armoured vehicle. Where to shoot on the windshield of a hummer to hit it and break it, which angle to shoot. How you can sneak and attack them secretly. How you go and bring back injured ones. These things," he explained.

He says he was terrified at what he was seeing and hearing. He wanted to quit. So he was punished.

"They put me in prison with no food or water - the most dreadful punishment. From sunrise to sunset, you get one loaf and one bottle of water. Then another small bottle of water until the next day, and sometimes they don't bring you anything.

"On Friday is nothing. They bring dirty rice and sauce to punish you. And they bring a scholar. He will decide if you go back to them or quit.

"Next they whip you and torture you but I withstood all the torture and then I quit," Mahmoud said.
For the families of this lost generation, these are difficult times.

They come to meet their children aware that they could be sentenced to 15 years or longer in prison. The families themselves could be ostracised in the days after IS has gone.

Their meetings are short and not very private, but the Kurdish authorities holding them will take no chances with the terror threat.

Of the 236 inmates held here, 215 are suspected of terrorism and there are camps near by overflowing with young men whose intentions are unknown.

The curse of Islamic State's hate-filled messages and doctrine of pure evil could take at least a generation to pass.


To see the video go to link below.

http://news.sky.com/story/cubs-of-the-caliphate-is-brainwashes-boys-to-become-deadly-soldiers-10816057

Mack Maloney and Military X-Files joins the Paranormal UK Radio Network

Premiering on the Paranormal UK Radio Network this week Friday 24^th March Mack Maloney with his acclaimed show, Military X-Files.  Co-hosts along with Mack are as follows:- 

JUAN-JUAN —Due to sensitivity related to family members who work for the U.S. Government, certain aspects of his past military experience remain undisclosed. He has been cleared to reveal only that he is a U.S. Navy veteran, worked in anti-submarine warfare operations and was posted to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He is the show’s technical expert and reports on all aspects of the U.S. Government’s surveillance and domestic spying programs.

COMMANDER COBRA —A former Air Force and Coast Guard pilot, he flew tactical air support and special ops missions for all four U.S. military branches and now works as a military contractor and test pilot. He reports on secret military technology, black programs and the latest in government conspiracies. Since he remains active in the black ops world, he can be identified only as “Commander Cobra.”

THE CREW — Rob Beckhusen of WarIsBoring.com reports weekly on Weird Weapons. Switchblade Steve Ward provides retellings of classic UFO & paranormal cases. Agent X, presently employed by a U.S. intelligence agency, frequently joins the show to discern fact from fiction. Cindy Bailey Dove appears once a month with her “Drone Report.” Pistol Pete Falconi, UFO comedian Phil Yebba, UFO mechanic Al Renaldo, the mysterious No Belly Button Man and Dribbles the Clown are also regular guests.

Mack Maloney’s has authored more than 40 books, including “UFOs in Wartime – What They Didn’t Want You To Know” and “Beyond Area 51,” plus the best-selling “Wingman” military adventure series. He’s served as a consultant for a government-funded research firm working with U.S. intelligence agencies and is a member of the rock band, “Sky Club.”

To Listen to the Military X-Files with Mack Maloney TUNE into the Paranormal UK Radio Network at www.paukradio.com every Friday night at 10 PM EasternTime. 

A space laser could turn the Earth's atmosphere into a giant magnifying glass and be used to spy on enemies in future wars

BAE Systems believes technological advances in the future could enable military generals to use lasers and the Earth’s atmosphere to create a magnifying effect to observe the activities of enemies over huge distances.
The aerospace and security technology firm has created a concept called a Laser Developed Atmospheric Lens – which can also be used as a deflector shield for friendly aircraft, ships and other vehicles – and works by simulating naturally occurring phenomena and temporarily changes the Earth’s atmosphere into a lens-like structure to magnify or change the path of electromagnetic waves such as light and radio signals.

 

The result is that listeners are able to tune in to radio stations that are thousands of miles away.
Professor Nick Colosimo, BAE Systems’ Futurist and Technologist said: “Working with some of the best scientific minds in the UK, we’re able to incorporate emerging and disruptive technologies and evolve the landscape of potential military technologies in ways that, five or ten years ago, many would never have dreamed possible.”

(BAE Systems)

The technology, which uses high-powered lasers, could also be used to recreate mirrors and glass lenses using the atmosphere thanks to a physics effect it can replicate called the Kerr Effect where a powerful electric field causes the optical properties of the atmosphere to change.

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/a-space-laser-could-turn-the-earths-atmosphere-into-a-giant-magnifying-glass-and-be-used-to-spy-on-enemies-in-future-wars-11364137593839 

What is Taranis? Everything you need to know about Britain’s undetectable drone

Unmanned aerial vehicles, known as drones, are changing the face of combat.
Whether they’re being used for surveillance or undertaking military offensives, the  increased use of military drones means we’re heading towards a future where pilots keep their feet on the ground in mission control.
Britain is at the centre of the race to create the ultimate unmanned, undetectable aircraft. Here’s what you need to know about Taranis.

What is Taranis?

Named after the Celtic god of thunder, Taranis is an unmanned aerial combat vehicle drone with stealth capabilities, built by BAE Systems for the MoD. The delta-winged, finless craft was unveiled in 2010 and made a number secretive test flights between 2013 and 2015. The cost of the programme is now thought to be in excess of £200 million.

What is its purpose?

The Taranis stealth drone was designed to demonstrate multiple surveillance and combat tasks that help shape the future of drone design. Tests conducted in the Australian desert have included complete stealth flight and simulated weapons release tests.

A post on the BAE website explains: “The aircraft was designed to demonstrate the UK’s ability to create an unmanned air system which, under the control of a human operator, is capable of undertaking sustained surveillance, marking targets, gathering intelligence, deterring adversaries and carrying out strikes in hostile territory.”

Will Taranis see combat?

No. The Taranis drone was built for demonstration purposes only, but it will inspire a fleet of aircraft that will someday see battle. However, as a result of the test, BAE says “the UK has developed a significant lead in understanding unmanned aircraft which could strike with precision over a long range whilst remaining undetected”.

How fast can Taranis fly?

The Taranis stealth drone, which has a wingspan of 10 metres, can hit speeds of 700mph - exceptionally close to breaking the sound barrier. If a supersonic, pilotless plane, undetectable by radar and carrying payload of weapons sounds scary, that’s because it is.

How is Taranis flown?

Taranis is flown by a specially trained ‘pilot’ who can manually control the craft from a remote location. However, it does have an autonomous flight mode in which it is trusted to ‘think’ and carry out missions of its own accord.
“It can self-navigate within a boundary of set constraints,” Jon Wiggall, the lead flight engineer said of Taranis earlier this year.
“It does have limitations on what we give it in the mission plan – it can only fly in certain areas – but it does think for itself, it will navigate, and it will search for targets.”
There’s also an automatic mode where it is programmed to follow a flight path.

How does it fly under the radar?

There are a number of factors involved in the meeting of the stealth challenge, including the design and materials used in constructions.
The drone uses a secretive communication system that enables it to communicate with home base without giving away its position to would-be enemies.
BAE engineers were forced to redesign the engine inlet and exhaust in order to stop the engine’s thermal image betraying its presence to enemy radar. Conrad Banks, Rolls-Royce's chief engineer said in 2014 it was about “minimising any sign there is an engine there”.

But can Taranis achieve true stealth capability?

In May this year, Paddy Bourne, chief engineer for UCAVs at BAE refused to confirm whether Taranis had been able to completely avoid radar detection during tests. Referring to the Ministry of Defence, he said “the customer is very happy.”

What’s next for Taranis?

Right now it appears as though Taranis’s flying career is over. The data acquired from the trio of test flights is currently being analysed, and that knowledge will be fed into the development of new drones under the Anglo-French Future Combat Air System (AFFCAS). It’ll also inform how the RAF will use manned and unmanned jets in future combat situations.

So, what is the AFFCAS?

Britain and the EU may be breaking up, but we’re still playing nice with France when it comes to security. In March, following the completion of a feasibility study, the two countries announced a £1.5 billion bilateral agreement to build prototype combat drones. Full-scale development will begin in 2017.

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/future-tech/taranis-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-stealth-11364110510493

The MoD is spending £30 million on building a futuristic laser weapon

It sounds like something out of Star Wars, but the UK could soon be using its first laser weapons.

The British government has given a £30 million contract to the scary-sounding Dragonfire consortium to build the new weapon, which could be operational by the mid-2020s.

Several companies make up the consortium, including defence firm BAE Systems.

MBDA Missile Systems, which is part of Dragonfire, said the system could be ready to demonstrate by 2019 on both land and maritime targets.

Laser weapons appeal to the armed forces more than conventional weapons, not only because they sound cooler, but because they don’t need ammunition to fire. Instead, they only require a (pretty large) power source.

Dave Armstrong, the managing director of MBDA, said “UK Dragonfire will put the UK at the forefront of high energy laser systems” and would advance us “towards a future product with significant export potential”.

Peter Cooper, of the MoD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, said: “This is a significant demonstration programme aimed at maturing our understanding of what is still an immature technology.

“It draws on innovative research into high-power lasers so as to understand the potential of the technology to provide a more effective response to the emerging threats that could be faced by UK armed forces.”

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/future-tech/the-mod-is-spending-30-million-on-building-a-futuristic-laser-weapon-11364130769592