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Terrorist Attack in Istanbul Foiled by Authorities
A major attack on a shopping mall, planned to take place on Turkey Republic Day, October 29th, was foiled by the Istanbul police after two consecutive explosions in some nearby apartment buildings launched an anti-terrorism investigation. A car and motorcycle loaded with remote controlled explosives was discovered in the mall parking lot and the devices were removed by bomb disposal units. Although no one was at the apartments when they were searched, police detained four suspected ISIL militants later that day. Two of the four suspects have since been found to be Austrian citizens.
For more information, see:
"Istanbul police foil major ISIL bomb attack" (Hurriyet Daily News. Full story here: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/istanbul-police-foil-major-isil-bomb-attack-121532
"Two ISIL bomb attack plotters are Austrian citizens, police say" (Hurriyet Daily News. Full Story here: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/two-isil-bomb-attack-plotters-are-austrian-citizens-police-say-121597
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"This is why car bombs are a terrorist go-to."
This article looks at the results of the Oklahoma City car bombing in 1995, which killed 168 people and wounded 68 more, and the U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Beirut in 1983, which killed 241 soldiers, and examines why car bombs, in particular, are so often used as weapons of terror. The author's conclusion is stated in the final paragraph:"But the sowing of terror has as much to do with the conversion aspect as the deaths that result from the bombs. The psychological shock of a terrorist act is heightened in the imaginations of those left alive by the awareness that a common token of peaceful, everyday life - a yellow box truck, a commercial jet, some dude's underwear - has been turned, by fanatical human creativity, into a weapon of mass destruction. It's a move tailor-made to mess with the mind of comfortable society. And even though it's been happening with increasing frequency since the turn of the 20th century, the shock of the vehicle bomb never seems blunted or dulled, and the dread of it, never fully absorbed.
We can't get used to the horror of it. To the moral mind, it smacks of such desperation and depravity, we won't allow it to become normal. And in that, there's some small hope to be had."
From "We Are The Mighty". Full post here: http://www.wearethemighty.com/history/this-is-why-car-bombs-are-a-terrorist-go-to
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"How these playful pups train to become part of Elite Anti-Terror Unit in NYC"
This video takes a look inside the NYC Metro Transit Authority (MTA) canine training center in Stormville, New York. This 72-acre facility trains K9 teams (a handler and a K9) to help keep passengers on the NY transit system safe. In the video, we see K9s starting their day with an "obedience walk" (a walk with commands periodically given to the K9s), followed by training scenarios that happen in a metro train car on the training grounds. The handlers take the K9s home with them at night to help maintain the bond in their team.
In 2017, there has been a record number of suspicious packages on public transit, up to 4,000 occurrences in 2017, compared to the 3,200 packages in 2016. In this environment, the K9 teams are more important them ever in keeping Americans safe in their daily lives.
From NBC. Full story here: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Exclusive-Look-Inside-MTA-K9-Unit-Training_New-York-454171673.html