Spain Arrests Man For Suppling Arms To Paris Gunman

April 13, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Spanish police have arrested a man suspected of supplying arms to Paris gunman Amedy Coulibaly, who murdered four people at a kosher supermarket in January 2015.

Antoine Denive, 27, was detained in a joint Franco-Spanish raid on a house in Malaga, Madrid authorities say. The Frenchman is suspected of fleeing France weeks after the 9 January supermarket siege.

Two Men Charged Over Brussels Bombings

April 12, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Two men have been charged by Belgian police investigating the 22 March Brussels bombings, after they were linked to a safe house said to have been used by two of the attackers.

Prosecutors identified the men as Smail F and Ibrahim F. Local reports said they were brothers. Three suicide bombers killed 32 people at Brussels international airport and Maelbeek metro station. Two other suspected bombers were arrested in a police raid last Friday.

Turkish Cargo Ship Attacked By Pirates

April 12, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Pirates have attacked a Turkish cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria kidnapping six of the crew, says the Nigerian navy.

The ship carrying chemicals was believed to be travelling from Gabon to Ivory Coast. The pirates attacked the ship late at night as it was sailing close to the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Analysts say winding down an amnesty to former Niger Delta militants has resulted in an increase in piracy. The Nigerian navy say the vessel's captain and the chief engineer were among those kidnapped. The ship's Turkish owners say none of the crew were injured in the attack but that they have no in…

Increase In Boko Haram Child Bombers

April 12, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Boko Haram's use of child bombers has increased over the last year with one in five suicide attacks done by children, the UN's child agency says.

Girls, who are often drugged, were behind three-quarters of such attacks committed by the militant Islamist group in Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad. It is an 11-fold increase with four attacks in 2014 compared to 40 the next year, including January 2016.

Suicide Bomb Attack In Mogadishu Kills Five

April 11, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

At least five people have been killed and seven wounded after a suicide bomb attack on a restaurant near a local government building in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The attacker drove a car packed with explosives outside the busy restaurant, a spokesman from the mayor's office told the BBC.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab has said it was behind the attack. The group, an al-Qaeda affiliate, is waging an armed insurgency in Somalia.

Who Are al-Shabab?

North Korean Military Officer Defects

April 11, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

A senior North Korean military officer who oversaw spying operations has defected, say South Korean officials.

The officer has not been named, but the defence ministry in Seoul said he was a senior colonel in the Reconnaissance General Bureau and left last year.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a source as saying the colonel was seen as elite by other defectors. More than 28,000 people have fled North Korea since the end of the Korean War, but high level defections are rare.

IS retakes Syrian Town Of al-Rai

April 11, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Islamic State (IS) militants have retaken a strategically important town in northern Syria from rebel forces, activists and the jihadist group say.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that al-Rai was overrun early on Monday after intense fighting.

Al-Rai is close to the border with Turkey and is a key supply route into IS-held territory in Aleppo province. IS had lost the town last week in an assault by rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Syrian Rebels Seize Control Of al-Rai From IS

April 8, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Syrian rebels have seized control of the strategically important northern town of al-Rai from so-called Islamic State (IS).

The fall of the town is a boost for the rebels as they battle to capture the divided city of Aleppo.

Al-Rai's capture after several days of heavy fighting secures an important supply line from Turkey for the rebels.

Outrage After TV Interview With Son Of Mafia Boss

April 8, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

There has been outrage after Italian state television aired an interview with the son of one of the country's most infamous Mafia bosses.

Giuseppe Salvatore Riina appeared on RAI to promote a book dedicated to his father, Toto Riina. He did not condemn his father, thought to have ordered more than 150 murders while boss of Sicily's Cosa Nostra.

Executives at RAI have been summoned to Italy's anti-Mafia parliamentary committee.

Massacre Plan Details At Burleigh College Revealed

April 8, 2016 / By Armoured Cars / In security

The target of a plot to murder students in a Columbine-style massacre in Loughborough can now be revealed.

Michael Piggin was detained indefinitely in 2014 after he was found with a weapons stash and detailed plans to attack Burleigh College. A judge banned the media from naming the college or identifying his friends Jacob Crouch and Ryan Towell, both now 20, who admitted possessing explosives.