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U.S. Army Soldier Arrested For Attempting To Assist ISIS

U.S. Army Soldier Arrested For Attempting To Assist ISIS To Conduct Deadly Ambush On U.S. Troops U.S. Army Private First Class Cole James Bridges Provided Tactical Guidance in Attempt to Help ISIS to Attack U.S. Forces in the Middle East (STL.News) Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, John C. Demers, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Dermot Shea, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), and Roy T. Cochran, Director, U.S. Army Counterintelligence Coordinating Authority, announced today the arrest of COLE JAMES BRIDGES, a/k/a “Cole Gonzales,” a Private First Class in the U.S. Army, o...

General

Foreign Nationals Charged – Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS

The men were allegedly members of a group of ISIS supporters that carried out terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Day in 2019, killing 268 people (STL.News) The Justice Department announced today that three Sri Lankan citizens have been charged with terrorism offenses, including conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS). The men were part of a group of ISIS supporters which called itself “ISIS in Sri Lanka.” That group is responsible for the 2019 Easter attacks in the South Asian nation of Sri Lanka, which killed 268 people, including five U.S. citizens, and injured over 500 others, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed today. The complaint outlines the defendants’ roles in the conspiracy and the events that led to ...

General

South Carolina Man, Kristopher Sean Matthews Pleads Guilty

South Carolina Man, Kristopher Sean Matthews Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to ISIS (STL.News) In San Antonio Tuesday, 34-year-old Kristopher Sean Matthews (aka Ali Jibreel) admitted to conspiring to provide material support to the designated foreign terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham/Syria (aka ISIS), announced Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Gregg N. Sofer for the Western District of Texas, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division. Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth S. Chestney, Matthews pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge to provide material support to ISIS. By pleading guilty, Matthews admitted that since May 2019, he conspired with 22-year-ol...

Politics

US Department of State: Ambassador A. Sales Designated Special Envoy

Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ambassador Nathan A. Sales Designated Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Washington, DC (STL.News) Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary Of State released the following statement: I am pleased to announce that I have designated Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, the Department’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism, to assume the additional role of the Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS following the retirement of Special Envoy James Jeffrey. With this additional responsibility, Ambassador Sales will lead and coordinate U.S. Department of State relations with the Global Coalition and efforts to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS. Ambassador Sales’ current responsibilities include leading the Bureau of Counterterrorism and serving as my pri...

Politics

The United States Designates Two ISIS Facilitators

Washington, DC (STL.News) The US Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo released the following statement: Today, the United States continued its efforts to disrupt the financial and logistical support networks that sustain ISIS operations in the Middle East and around the world by designating two ISIS facilitators. As co-lead of the Counter ISIS Finance Group, a working group of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, the United States has worked closely with our partners to restrict ISIS’s ability to generate and transfer funds and other material to conduct its operations. Faruq Hamud operated the Tawasul hawala in Syria that served ISIS members and transferred payments for ISIS from outside Syria. The United States designated Hamud pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, fo...

Politics

US Department of State: Belgium National Day

Washington, DC (STL.News) The Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo released the following statement: On behalf of the Government of the United States and the American people, I send my congratulations to the citizens of Belgium on your national day. The United States and Belgium share a deep and longstanding friendship, which continues to thrive based on close people-to-people ties and shared values of freedom and democracy. Belgium’s scientific contributions to counter the global COVID-19 pandemic have supported our shared goals of health and economic prosperity. We commend the Belgian people for their resolve and resilience during this challenging time. We also appreciate Belgium’s support for international security operations, including your participation in the NATO Resolute Supp...

Politics

US & Six Member States of TFTC Target ISIS-Linked Financial Network

Washington, DC (STL.News) The Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo released the following statement: The United States works closely with its allies in the Middle East and around the world to combat the scourge of terrorism. Today, the seven member states of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) announced the designation of six individuals and entities affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as part of our efforts to disrupt ISIS’s ability to finance its global operations. Today’s actions target money services businesses and a charity that operated under false pretenses, all of which played a vital role in transferring funds to support ISIS operations, including by funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to ISIS leaders in Syria and Iraq. These sanctions...

Politics

U.S. State Department Issues Country Reports on Terrorism 2019

Washington, DC (STL.News) The State Department today released its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, detailing key developments in 2019 in the global fight against ISIS, al-Qa’ida, Iranian proxies, and other international terrorist groups. The report notes that the United States and its partners made major strides to defeat and degrade international terrorist organizations in 2019. Along with the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, the United States completed the destruction of the so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria in March. In October, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi died following a U.S. military raid on his compound in Syria. In April, the Secretary of State designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its Qods Force, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization – the f...

Politics

Secretary Pompeo’s Call With Nigerian Foreign Minister Onyeama

Wasington, DC (STL.News) The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:? Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke today with Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama. Secretary Pompeo expressed condolences for the loss of life in recent ISIS West Africa attacks in the northeast, and the two discussed Nigeria’s ongoing civilian protection and counter-terrorism efforts. Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Onyeama reviewed Nigeria’s progress in fighting COVID-19 and the $30 million in recent U.S. assistance that has helped to strengthen Nigeria’s public health and humanitarian response. They also discussed the African Development Bank and the constructive role of multilateral initiatives in accelerating economic recovery and regional security, and they agreed that transpar...

Politics

Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS’s Small Group

Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS’s Small Group Washington, DC (STL.News) – The US Department of State released the following statement: U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo looks forward to co-hosting, with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, a virtual meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS on June 4 to review next steps in the campaign to achieve a lasting defeat of ISIS. The D-ISIS Coalition remains critically important to our efforts and united in its determination to see this enemy destroyed. Ministers will discuss ways to keep continuous pressure on ISIS’s remnants in Iraq and Syria and strengthen our collective approach to defeat ISIS’s global ambitions, while managing the challenges the Coalition faces due to the...

Politics

State Department: Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS’s Small Group

Washington, DC (STL.News) The US Department of State released the following statement: U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo looks forward to hosting the Foreign Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS for an extraordinary meeting on November 14 in Washington, D.C. to review next steps in the joint campaign to achieve the enduring defeat of ISIS. The D-ISIS Coalition remains vitally important to our efforts and our commitment, as a Coalition, to this effort remains unwavering. Ministers will meet for strategy discussions on the continued fight against ISIS in the post-liberation era and following the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, with a particular focus on recent developments in northeast Syria and their relationship to stability and security of the region. The United Sta...