Senior members US President Barack Obama’s administration want to put the mastermind of last month’s attack on an Algerian natural-gas facility on a secret “kill” list, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
Adding Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar to a US list for targeted killing would entail a significant US military expansion into northwestern Africa, the newspaper said, citing unnamed US officials.
It would mean extending drone strikes and other lethal counterterrorism operations to the region, the paper added.
Thirty-seven foreign hostages, including three US citizens, were killed when gunmen last month stormed the In Amenas gas plant and the Algerian army launched a military assault in response. One Algerian and 29 of the insurgents were also killed.
The push to target Belmokhtar is being led by US military and intelligence officials, the Journal reported.
Some were also pressing for a more direct involvement in the hunt for Belmokhtar, whether with drones, other aircraft or US forces, the paper added.
Such an effort could rely on the military’s special-operations units, with help from the CIA, the report said.
Last month, a US official said that Washington planned to set up a base for drones in northwest Africa to improve surveillance of Islamist groups in the region. The base would probably be in either Niger or Burkina Faso, the official said.
The US government has maintained secret “capture-or-kill lists” since after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Journal said.
Separate lists are maintained by the Pentagon and by the CIA, and contain the names of terrorist leaders such as Ayman al-Zawahiri, Yemen-based al-Qaeda bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri and, before his death, Osama bin Laden, the paper said.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia on Saturday killed 14 people and injured at least 38, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month’s presidential election. Authorities blamed the attack in the Cauca department — a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region — on dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, who have been sowing violence across the country. “Those who carried out this attack ... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media. “I want our very best soldiers to confront them,” he added. The leftist leader blamed the bombing
From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s vending machines are ubiquitous, but with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business. Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines — about 7 percent of their stock nationwide — by January next year, to “reconstruct a profitable network.” Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said last month it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co. “The strength of the vending machine
RSS