Pierluigi Paganini November 14, 2016

On November 7, Southern Ohio’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) arrested Aaron Travis Daniels, of Ohio, on terror-related charges as he was attempting to travel to Libya to become an ISIS fighter.

Daniels, age 20, who goes by the aliases Harun Muhammad and Abu Yusef, had allegedly “communicated his commitment to violent overseas jihad” in addition to having wired money to an ISIS recruiter and “external attack planner,” according to the Department of Justice.

Daniels is being held without bond. The arrest comes just days after it was reported that ISIS was planning an onslaught of attacks around the world, including quite possibly Chardon, Ohio. Chardon is a town in which BLACKOPS Cyber, a private intelligence company, caught ISIS communications regarding hacking internet surveillance cameras which can assist terrorists not only in carrying out attacks, but in doing so undetected.

Though it is uncertain as to whether the arrest was related to that ISIS plot, Daniels had also allegedly wired money to an intermediary of now-deceased Abu Isa Al-Amriki, who was an ISIS recruiter and attack strategist.

Also in Ohio, the Islamic State instructed Munir Abdulkader to kill a U.S. service member and attack a police station.

“‘Abdulkader was specifically tasked by Hussein and ISIL with killing an individual in the United States,’ Court Documents provided to The DCNF from the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University reveal. Abdulkader’s director Junaid Hussian a British teenager was reportedly killed by a U.S. drone strike outside of ISIS’s capital city of Raqqa.

Abdulkader was reportedly an Eritrean immigrant to the U.S. and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006. University records show he was once enrolled at Xavier University, and the University of Cincinnati.”
On July 7, Abdulkader pled guilty “to attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and providing material support to ISIS. The sentencing memorandum states that, “the Defendant placed himself under the direction and control of a pernicious foreign terrorist organization and plotted with that organization to conduct multiple murderous attacks in the Cincinnati area.”

Abdulkader was reportedly cautioned by Hussain that traveling to Syria was too much of a risk, so he should “consider a violent attack within the United States” instead.

The terror-linked arrests in Ohio may be indicative of calls ISIS has made on numerous occasions in regard to the U.S.:

• In the May 2015 issue of Dabiq, the official magazine of the ISIS, warns that the “the Islamic State… have every intention of attacking America on its home soil… looking to do…something that would make any past operation look like a squirrel shoot…something truly epic.”

• In a recent court case, several Minnesota men were nabbed while plotting to join ISIS and bring fighters into the U.S., through the southern border.

• According to a report by Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA), at least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught trying to enter the U.S. through the southern border (and, that was in 2014).

• Following a Brussels attack earlier in the year, threats of future attacks, such as the following, were posted on social media: “What will be coming is worse.” And, “With the permission of God, the lions came to take revenge for the killing of Muslims in Syria and Iraq.” Many of the messages contained graphic images from the attacks.

• In April, the number of terrorists in the U.S. Surged to an unprecedented level – up 180%, with fewer leaving to fight jihad elsewhere.

• Terrorist migration and a fresh wave of terror attacks is forecast for the U.S. According to FBI Director James Comey, an unprecedented surge of ISIS fighters will advance into Western nations as the terror group has been losing ground in Iraq and Syria.

• Around a year ago, Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, who has since been killed, disclosed the terrorist group’s plans for Christians, Jews & The U.S.

• “And Tomorrow in Britain and America” — ISIS-Affiliated Media Sends Chilling Warnings

These threats are made even more chilling by the fact that the FBI has repeatedly stated the bureau is overwhelmed by the number of terror-related cases in the U.S.  The FBI has said it has over 1,000 active cases related to ISIS open. You can help by reporting suspicious activity related to terrorism. Your attentiveness can save lives.

Written by: CandiceLanier

Author Bio:

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – ISIS, Terrorism)