Russian Cyber Attacks on America

Posted on December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 by Denise Simon

Russian cybersecurity intelligence targets critical U.S. infrastructure

U.S. intelligence agencies recently identified a Russian cybersecurity firm, which has expertise in testing the network vulnerabilities of the electrical grid, financial markets and other critical infrastructure, as having close ties to Moscow’s Federal Security Service, the civilian intelligence service.

The relationship between the company and the FSB, as the spy agency is known, has heightened fears among U.S. cyberintelligence officials that Moscow is stepping up covert efforts to infiltrate computer networks that control critical U.S. infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines and transportation.

The effort appears to be part of FSB and Russian military cyberwarfare reconnaissance targeting, something the Pentagon calls preparation of the battlefield for future cyberattacks. The Russian company is taking steps to open a U.S. branch office as part of the intelligence-gathering, said officials familiar with reports of the effort who spoke on background.

Officials familiar with reports about the company did not identify it by name. However, security officials are quietly alerting government security officials and industry cybersecurity chiefs about the Russian firm and its covert plans for operations in the United States.

The Russian firm is said to have extensive technical experience in security vulnerabilities of supervisory control and data acquisition systems that are used to remotely control critical infrastructure.

These systems are employed by both government and private-sector system controllers for equipment running water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, oil and gas pipelines, electrical power grids, wind farms and large communication systems.
In September, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper told Congress that Russian hackers have penetrated U.S. industrial control networks operating critical infrastructure. The objective of the hackers is to develop the capability to remotely access the control systems that “might be quickly exploited for disruption if an adversary’s intent became hostile,” Mr. Clapper said.

“Unknown Russian actors successfully compromised the product-supply chains of at least three [industrial control system] vendors so that customers downloaded malicious software designed to facilitate exploitation directly from the vendors’ websites along with legitimate software updates,” Mr. Clapper stated in Sept. 10 testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Russian hackers also were linked to cyberpenetrations of U.S. industrial control networks used for water and energy systems in 2014.

The Russian connection was identified through the use of malware called BlackEnergy that has been linked to Russian government cyberoperations dubbed Sandworm by security researchers.

Mr. Clapper also testified that the Russian Defense Ministry has created a military cybercommand for offensive attacks. Additionally, the Russian military is setting up a specialized branch for computer network attacks.
RUSSIAN GENERAL ISSUES THREAT

Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, told foreign military attaches in Moscow on Monday that increased military activities by NATO and the development of global missile defenses were “creating a threat of new conflicts and escalation of existent conflicts,” the official Interfax news agency reported.

“The NATO military policy unfriendly towards Russia is a source of concern,” Gen. Gerasimov said. “The alliance continues to expand its military presence and is stepping up the activity of the bloc’s armed forces along the perimeter of borders of the Russian Federation.”

Because of the deployment of a global missile defense network and the development of new means of armed struggle, including hypersonic weapons, “the problem of upsetting the existent strategic balance of force has been growing,” said the general, referring to high-speed strike weapons.
The Pentagon is developing a conventional rapid-attack capability called “prompt global strike,” which can target any spot on Earth in 30 minutes.

Russia has stepped up nuclear threats against the United States and NATO in response to deployment of missile defenses in Europe.

In recent months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued an unprecedented number of threats to use nuclear weapons, most notably after the Russian military annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea last year. On Dec. 11, Mr. Putin said he hoped nuclear weapons would not be needed during operations in Syria.

“Particular attention must be paid to the consolidation of the combat potential of the strategic nuclear forces and the execution of space-based defense programs,” Mr. Putin was quoted as saying at the meeting with his defense chiefs. “We need, as our plans specify, to equip all components of the nuclear triad with new arms.”

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, told reporters last week that Russian nuclear threats are troubling in the current security environment.

“The way that senior Russian officials have talked about Denmark as a nuclear target, Sweden as a nuclear target, Romania as a nuclear target, sort of an irresponsible use of the nuclear word, if you will, you can understand why our allies on the eastern flank of NATO — particularly in the Baltic region — are nervous, are uneasy,” Gen. Hodges said.

Additionally, the Russian military has conducted “large snap exercises without announcement,” which also has increased fears of a Moscow threat, he said.

***

Since the FSB (KGB) company is un-named could it be: (RecordedFuture)

What is SORM?

Russia’s SORM (Система Оперативно-Розыскных Мероприятий, literally “System for Operative Investigative Activities”) is a lawful intercept system operated by the Federal Security Service (or FSB – the Russian successor to the KGB).

SORM came to light recently during the Sochi Olympic Games where reports claimed that “all communications” were monitored. SORM differs from the US lawful intercept system, as once the FSB receives approval for access to a target’s communications they are able to unilaterally tap into the system without provider awareness.

Further, SORM is also lawfully used to target opposition parties within Russia. According to the World Policy Institute, on November 12, 2012, Russia’s Supreme Court upheld the right of authorities to eavesdrop on the opposition.

SORM-1 intercepts telephone traffic (including both landline (analog) and mobile networks).

SORM-2 targets internet traffic (including VoIP calls).

SORM-3 has the ability to target all forms of communication providing long-term storage of all information and data on subscribers, including actual recordings and locations.

Former Soviet States (Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Ukraine) have installed SORM-standard equipment. According to research by Wired Magazine, Ukraine’s SORM is more advanced as the SBU (Ukraine’s Security Service) has the ability to interrupt a target’s communications.

In April 2011, Iskratel – which provides Ukraine’s sole telephone company Ukrtelekom with broadband equipment – announced its SORM device was tested successfully under the new requirements and had been approved by the SBU.

Analyzing SORM manufacturers within Recorded Future identified equipment suppliers including Juniper Networks (US), Cisco Systems (US), Huawei (China) and Alcatel-Lucent (France).

Paris Attack Weapon Came From Florida

Posted on December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 by Denise Simon

Gun linked to Paris Attack came through South Florida dealer

One of the guns linked to Islamic militants in the Paris attacks that killed 130 people was exported to the United States in 2013, the head of a Serbian arms factory said Thursday.

Milojko Brzakovic of the Zastava arms factory told The Associated Press that the M92 semi-automatic pistol’s serial number matched one his company delivered to an American online arms dealer in May 2013. It was not clear how the gun got back to Europe.

At least seven of the weapons used or discovered after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris have been identified as being produced by the Serbian factory located in Kragujevac, in central Serbia. Most were manufactured before Yugoslavia broke up in a civil war in the 1990s and most of those are modified versions of the Soviet AK-47, or Kalashnikov.

Brzakovic said all the guns were delivered legally but could have later found their way into illegal channels.

“One was delivered to Bosnia in 1983, one to Skopje, Macedonia in December 1987, one to Golubici, near Knin (Croatia) in 1988, one to Zagreb (Croatia) 1987,” he said.

He said the M92 pistol “is a semi-automatic weapon, a hunting and sporting weapon … it cannot fire barrage fire, only single shots … which are legal in America.”

He said it was exported to an online arms seller in the United States, the Florida-based Century Arms, to which his factory exports up to 25,000 hunting and sports guns every year. He said the gun was delivered as a semi-automatic, but he did not know whether someone turned it into an automatic after delivery. The so-called “shortened Kalashnikov” is listed by U.S. arms dealers as selling for about $460 apiece.

In a video posted online in December 2013, Century Arms advertised they were selling the AK-style pistol PAP M92, “a brand new firearm from the Zastava factory in Serbia” and demonstrated its attributes.

The AP left messages seeking comment on the gun with Century Arms, the FBI and another U.S. government agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Brzakovic insisted that all arms exports from Serbia are under strict government control.

“We submit a request to our government to give consent and authorize the export. Until we receive that, we make no contract. Once we get a permission to export, we make a contract and arrange the dynamics,” he said.

A web of rules and a large U.S. bureaucracy oversee the legal import and export of weapons like the Serbian M92 semi-automatic pistol.

American government approval is required to import firearms into the U.S.

To legally ship firearms back out, the individual or company would have to be registered with the State Department, which controls items covered by the U.S. Munitions List. An export request is submitted to State and a decision to grant the request is based on a variety of factors, including the type of weapon and its eventual destination.

Individual weapons are not tracked by serial numbers unless a single weapon is being exported, according to the State Department. The U.S. does not make publicly available the names of licensed weapons exporters as that information is considered proprietary.

Brzakovic said it would be wrong to accuse Zastava of selling weapons to terrorists.

“Here’s where the weapons ended, there’s the data. Zastava cannot be blamed for where it went afterward,” Brzakovic said.

But he agreed that an illicit gun deal could have taken place even after arms were delivered legally.

“Wherever there are wars, there are bigger possibilities for abuse and to hide the channels for guns. They end up where they shouldn’t,” he said, adding: “We have a data base in the factory for the last 50 years, we know where a gun has been delivered.”

***

Zastava Arms (Serbian Cyrillic: Застава oружје) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannons. It is the leading producer of firearms in Serbia and is a large contributor to the local defense industry. Zastava Arms produces and exports a wide variety of products to over forty countries.

Zastava Arms was heavily damaged during World War II. When Kragujevac was liberated in October 21, 1944, the weapons factory was put back into working order within months and production began shortly after, with the 9mm M 1944 B2 submachine gun developed during the same year. The next postwar production rifle was the 7.92×57mm Mauser Model 1948 on the basis of Model 24. The production of air rifles and sporting rifles on the basis of rifle M48 started in 1953. In 1954 the Zastava started the production of shotguns and small bore rifles, as well as machine gun 7,9 mm M42 ¨Sarac¨. Batch production of semi-automatic rifle PAP M59 7.62×39mm started in 1964. In the 1964, the factory started the development of automatic rifle, of Kalashnikov system, which was named M67 in 1967. On the basis of rifle M67, the factory developed automatic rifle in caliber 7.62×39mm, which was named Zastava M70 in the following year. Yugoslav People’s Army included assault rifle M70 in calibre 7.62 x 39 mm into its armament in 1970. Small arms derivatives of the M70 produced rifles chambered in Western bloc ammunition such as 7.62×51mm NATO and 5.56×45mm NATO. In 1988, the factory developed a compact design pistol in 9 mm Parabellum model M88.

PAP M59/66 (Yugo SKS) with a rifle grenade launcher and folding bayonet.

In the 1980s, the plant for action of machine guns M84, M86 in 7.62×54mmR and heavy machine gun in 12.7 NSV M87 was set to operation as well. In July 1989 Zastava started the development of the double-action pistol in calibre 9mm PARA CZ 99. In 1992, the factory finished the development and testing and started batch production of 7.62 mm submachine gun M92, based on submachine gun M85. Using the Mauser mechanism, the factory developed 12.7 mm long range rifle Black Arrow M93. During the Yugoslav Wars of 1991 to 1995, the United Nations placed economic sanctions on the import and export of weapons from Yugoslavia, production slowed as a result. In 1999 the factory was damaged by NATO bombing. In 2005 Zastava Arms underwent restructuring. The same year, a memorandum of understanding was signed with Remington Arms to export hunting and sporting guns to the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Kerry and Kremlin Decide Assad’s (terror) Future

Posted on December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 by Denise Simon

AlArabiya: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will use talks in Moscow on Tuesday to try to narrow differences with Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in any political transition, a senior State Department official said on Monday.

He will seek to prepare the ground for a third round of talks of world powers on Syria amid doubts over whether a meeting pencilled in for Friday in New York will go ahead.

Russia’s foreign ministry said late on Monday that Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had agreed in a phone call on the need for specific preconditions to be met before any new meeting, throwing its timing into doubt.

Russia is one of Assad’s staunchest allies and launched a campaign of air strikes to support his forces against insurgents on Sept. 30. It says only the Syrian people and not external powers should decide his political fate.

So, John Kerry is cool with Assad staying in power for a long while it seems but this like Iran, does he care about the terror history of Bashir al Assad at all? Seems not.

In part from D. Greenfield at CounterJihadReport: Before the Islamic State’s current incarnation, it was Al Qaeda in Iraq and its pipeline of suicide bombers ran through Syria with the cooperation of Assad’s government.

Assad and Al Qaeda in Iraq had a common enemy; the United States. Assad had a plan to kill two birds with one stone. Syrian Islamists, who might cause trouble at home, were instead pointed at Iraq. Al Qaeda got manpower and Assad disposed of Sunni Jihadists who might cause him trouble.

Meanwhile Al Qaeda openly operated out of Syria in alliance with the Baathists. While Syria’s regime was Shiite and Iraq’s Sunni, both governments were headed by Baathists.

The Al Nusrah Front, the current incarnation of Al Qaeda in the area ever since the terror group began feuding with ISIS, named one of its training camps, the ‘Abu Ghadiya Camp”. Abu Ghadiya had been chosen by Zarqawi, the former leader of the organization today known as ISIS, to move terroriststhrough Syria. This highway of terror killed more American soldiers than Saddam Hussein had.

The Al Qaeda presence in Syria was backed by Assad’s brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, who had served as Director of Military Intelligence and Deputy Defense Minister. His real job though was coordinating Islamic terrorist organizations. During the Iraq War, he added Al Qaeda to his portfolio.

Handling terrorists without being burned is a tricky business though and the blowback kicked in.

In 2008, a US raid into Syria finally took out Abu Ghadiya and some of his top people. A year later, General Petraeus warned that, “In time, these fighters will turn on their Syrian hosts and begin conducting attacks against Bashar al-Asad’s regime itself.”

Shawkat was killed by a suicide bomber three years later. Assad’s support for terrorists had hit home. Those Sunni Islamists he had sent on to Iraq who survived returned with training and skills that made them a grave danger to his regime.

Exactly as Petraeus had predicted.

Anti-American Leftists who claim that the US created ISIS were cheering on its early terror attacks as the work of a Baathist “Resistance”. ISIS these days is accompanied by top Baathists including General al-Douri, a close Saddam ally. The same outlets claiming that we created ISIS celebrated the “Resistance” campaign against NATO “neo-colonialism” when what they were really celebrating was ISIS.

Putin’s regime has claimed that it is fighting ISIS, but it was supporting Assad back when Syria was a conduit for ISIS to attack Americans. The Baathists in Syria and Iraq had both been Soviet clients and it was the USSR which turned international terrorism into a high art.

So how big is the Islamic State mess? Well it is active in several countries including Malaysia, China and Afghanistan. But to see the list of terror cockroaches:

So far 43 jihadi groups around the world pledged support/allegiance to Islamic State

IntelCenter: Following the creation of the Islamic State (IS), Emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called for jihadi groups around the world to pledge allegiance to IS. Below is the list of jihadi groups that have pledged allegiance/support as of 15 Dec. 2015.

SUPPORT/PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO IS
• al-I’tisam of the Koran and Sunnah [Sudan] – 1 Aug. 2014 – Support
• Abu Sayyaf Group [Philippines] – 25 Jun. 2014 – Support
• Ansar al-Khilafah [Philippines] – 14 Aug. 2014 – Allegiance
• Ansar al-Tawhid in India [India] – 4 Oct. 2014 – Allegiance
• Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) [Phillippines] – 13 Aug. 2014 – Support
• Bangsmoro Justice Movement (BJM) [Phillippines] – 11 Sep. 2014 – Support
• Jemaah Islamiyah [Philippines] 27 Apr. 2015 – Allegiance
• al-Huda Battalion in Maghreb of Islam [Algeria] – 30 Jun. 2014 – Allegiance
• The Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria [Algeria] – 30 Sep. 2014 – Allegiance
• al-Ghurabaa [Algeria] – 7 Jul. 2015 – Allegiance
• Djamaat Houmat ad-Da’wa as-Salafiya (DHDS) [Algeria] 19 Sep. 2015 – Allegiance
• al-Ansar Battalion [Algeria] 4 Sep. 2015 – Allegiance
• Jundullah [Pakistan] – 17 Nov. 2014 – Support
• Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) [Pakistan/Uzbekistan] Video – 31 Jul. 2015 – Allegiance
• Tehreek-e-Khilafat [Pakistan] – 9 Jul. 2014 – Allegiance
• Leaders of the Mujahid in Khorasan (ten former TTP commanders) [Pakistan] – 10 Jan. 2015 – Allegiance
• Islamic Youth Shura Council [Libya] – 22 Jun. 2014 – Support
• Jaish al-Sahabah in the Levant [Syria] – 1 Jul. 2014 – Allegiance
• Martyrs of al-Yarmouk Brigade [Syria] – Dec. 2014 – Part of IS – Allegiance
• Faction of Katibat al-Imam Bukhari [Syria] – 29 Oct. 2014 – Allegiance
• Jamaat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis [Egypt] – 30 Jun. 2014 – Allegiance
• Jund al-Khilafah in Egypt [Egypt] – 23 Sep. 2014 – Allegiance
• Liwa Ahrar al-Sunna in Baalbek [Lebanon] – 30 Jun. 2014 – Allegiance
• Islamic State Libya (Darnah) [Libya] – 9 Nov. 2014 – Allegiance
• Lions of Libya [Libya] (Unconfirmed) – 24 Sep. 2014 – [Support/Allegiance]
• Shura Council of Shabab al-Islam Darnah [Libya] – 6 Oct. 2014 – Allegiance
• Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT) [Indonesia] – Aug. 2014 – Allegiance
• Mujahideen Indonesia Timor (MIT) [Indonesia] – 1 Jul. 2014 – Allegiance
• Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSCJ) [Egypt] – 1 Oct. 2014 – Support
• Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion [Tunisia] – 20 Sep. 2014 – Support
• Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia [Tunisia] – 31 Mar. 2015 – Allegiance
• Central Sector of Kabardino-Balakria of the Caucasus Emirate (CE) [Russia] – 26 Apr. 2015 – Allegiance
• Mujahideen of Tunisia of Kairouan [Tunisia] 18 May 2015 – Allegiance
• Mujahideen of Yemen [Yemen] – 10 Nov. 2014 – Allegiance
• Supporters for the Islamic State in Yemen [Yemen] – 4 Sep. 2014 – Allegiance
• al-Tawheed Brigade in Khorasan [Afghanistan] – 23 Sep. 2014 – Allegiance
• Heroes of Islam Brigade in Khorasan [Afghanistan] – 30 Sep. 2014 – Allegiance
• Supporters of the Islamic State in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques [Saudi Arabia] – 2 Dec. 2014 – Support
• Ansar al-Islam [Iraq] – 8 Jan. 2015 – Allegiance
• Boko Haram [Nigeria] – 7 Mar. 2015 – Allegiance
• The Nokhchico Wilayat of the Caucasus Emirate (CE) [Russia] – 15 Jun. 2015 – Allegiance
• al-Ansar Battalion [Algeria] – 4 Sep. 2015 – Allegiance
• al-Shabaab Jubba Region Cell Bashir Abu Numan [Somalia]- 7 Dec. 2015 – Allegiance

Russia has it’s Own Jihadi John

Posted on December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 by Denise Simon

ISIS member Anatoly Zemlyanka dubbed the Russian Jihadi John revealed

Anatoly Zemlyanka, 28, beheaded countryman Magomed Khasiev in Syria

Born in Noyabrsk, Zemlyanka brought up Christian and converted to Islam

Ex-teacher described him as very ordinary, adding ‘He wasn’t a hooligan’

Zemlyanka, on Russia’s federal wanted list, went to Syria with a girlfriend

GeorgiaNewsday: The ISIS executioner who beheaded a suspected Russian spy in Syria was ‘a bad student’, his former school teacher said today.Anatoly ‘Tolya’ Zemlyanka is being dubbed ‘Jihad Vlad’ after he murdered countryman Magomed Khasiev – and declared war on Moscow.Zemlyanka, 28, told Russia president Vladimir Putin: ‘Here today, on this blessed land, the battle [against Russia] begins. We shall kill your children for every child you’ve killed here.’

School days: The ISIS executioner who beheaded a fellow Russian has been named as Anatoly Zemlyanka, pictured here at school. His former teacher described him as ‘bad pupil’

Unmasked: The Russian jihadi, 28-year-old Zemlyanka, features in a gruesome video of the beheading of Magomed Khasiev, who was accused of being a spy

Born in Noyabrsk, 230 miles south of the Arctic Circle, Zemlyanka is the son of an Orthodox Christian mother who ran a kitchenware shop while he was growing up.

Svetlana Zemlyanka, 53, who had at least one other son, closed the store selling cutlery, crockery, glassware and ceramics, three years ago.

A former teacher at Noyabrsk’s school number three described Zemlyanka as an unremarkable pupil whose exam results were ‘satisfactory at very best’.

‘He was a bad student. His average score was, let’s say, unsatisfactory or, at the very best, satisfactory,’ they said.

‘He wasn’t a hooligan, quite the opposite, demure, and very ordinary.’

Zemlyanka, who is on Russia’s federal wanted list, is said to have become a Muslim and founded a local Islamic organisation called Iskhan, which was banned by a court order.

He attended Thai boxing classes for two years before he left for Syria, reportedly with a girlfriend.

Local coach Oleg Zinner at Baylun sports club, said: ‘He wasn’t a regular. He came from to time. He is a handsome tall guy, very muscular, but as a sportsman he turned out to be quite weak, rotten.

‘Other guys would pull themselves together after a defeat, and rush to fight back. But he wasn’t that kind. Not a fighter’s character. He would come time to time, sometimes he wouldn’t be seen for a while.’

Zemlyanka became Russia’s most wanted this week when he murdered Chechen loyalist Khasiev as he knelt next to a lake near what is thought to be the ISIS de-facto capital, Raqqa.

Khasiev was born in Chelyabinsk, in the Russian Urals mountains but orphaned aged nine and raised by adoptive parents in Chechnya.

The following year he became a Muslim and went on to study law at Maykop Polytechnic college, in the small Russian region of Adygea.

Khasiev – born Yevgeny Yudin before taking the name of his adoptive mother – is said to have ended up in Syria after being recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB.

In February last year he was caught in possession of prescription medication, lyrica pills, and was known to have links to drug dealers. Khasiev is said to have done a deal with the FSB to avoid prosecution, it is claimed.

He was then sent to ISIS via Turkey and given the intelligence services information from behind enemy lines.

Khasiev’s adoptive mother has told how she rescued him from an orphanage and gave him a new life in Chechnya – but also how he defied her opposition to him travelling to Syria.

Fighter: Russia now its own version of Jihadi John, the British executioner who featured in several sickening films and who was believed to have been killed recently in an American strike in Syria

Family: Mother of Zemlyanka, Svetlana, who is an orthodox Christian and used to run a kitchenware shop

‘Bad student’: A former teacher of Zemlyanka (circled) described him as ‘unsatisfactory’ as well as ‘demure, and very ordinary’

The FSB has not given details on whether Khasiev was spying on terrorists and reporting back to Moscow.

Sources have played down the claims without issuing an outright denial.

It was also revealed Khasiev – who posted pictures of grenades on his social site – had a half brother called Alexey who serves in the Russian military potentially fighting the terrorist threat.

Khasiev’s mother Markha Khasiyeva said: ‘He lost his parents when he was a child, and was put in an orphanage, Gvardeysky orphanage where we took him from.’

She was childless and raised the Chelyabinsk-born orphan with her elderly father.

‘We really liked him: he was an honest, good, kind, thoughtful boy,’ she said.

‘In school he had a lot of good friends.’

‘Today we found out about his feats. We’re shocked, I even have nothing to say.’

She said: ‘I lived with my old father, and he decided that there should be someone to look after me when I get old, as I was looking after him.

‘He made a decision to adopt him and even gave him his name. My father loved him a lot.

‘My older family and I always stood up for him.

‘We never betrayed him.

‘He was honest, very honest. I trusted him.’

Undercover: Magomed Khasiev, pictured, was rescued by his adoptive mother from an orphanage and given a new life in Chechnya

Orphan: Khasiev’s (pictured) adoptive mother Markha Khasiyeva said that she knew nothing of her son being with ISIS, or whether or not he was working as a spy

She revealed that he had been in contact less with her the past year or so, saying he deliberately did not tell her about going to Syria, knowing she would not approve.

‘We stayed in touch while he was studying,’ she said.

‘The last time I saw him in summer… autumn, when he came to see us.’

Asked if she knew he had travelled to join terrorists fighters – whether or not he was working for the FSB in doing so – she said: ‘No, of course we didn’t know.

‘He was afraid even to talk about it, he never ever said anything about it. Of course, how would he say that? He knows I am against all such things so he hasn’t told me. He always said, ‘You will never be ashamed of me. Whatever you hear, I’ll never blacken your family’.

‘I just found out about it. I couldn’t believe it.

‘My neighbour told me.’

She watched the video but not the hideous footage showing the execution.

‘He introduced himself there – name, family name, who was he working as, I saw this but I didn’t see how he was killed,’ she said.

‘We stayed in touch as long as we could.

‘Until he made us understand that it shouldn’t be done.’

‘Spy’: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov admitted today that Khasiev could indeed have been an informer for Russian secret services

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said today Khasiev could have been an informer for Russian secret services – while laying blame for his capture and murder with the West – claiming: ‘We can say with some certainty that in this case there is a trace of the CIA.’

The ally of Vladimir Putin claimed that ‘Western intelligence agencies’ share with the leadership of the Islamic State ‘data on persons who can perform certain tasks’ for the Moscow secret services.

‘The murder of Magomed Khasiev is a propaganda campaign by Ibliss gang (ISIS) and their patrons among Western intelligence agencies,’ he said.

The Black Flag of ISIS Bound for Rome

Posted on December 12, 2015December 12, 2015 by Denise Simon

WATCH: Islamic State presents its version of the apocalypse

Video shows jihadist group’s fighters preparing to conquer Rome, destroy St. Peter’s Basilica

ToI: A recently released video by the Islamic State presents the jihadist group’s version of the apocalypse, with its fighters preparing to conquer Rome.

As is now the norm with the group’s videos, the clip is slick and professionally produced. It shows jihadists making final preparations for battle alternating with shots of “Rome” – a symbolic representation of the powerhouse of Christianity — in images of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican and the ruins of the Roman Colosseum. Tanks supposed to be advancing to the Italian capital are seen flying IS flags as they leave tracks in the desert.

Curiously, the end of times-obsessed terror organization’s clip shows the apocalypse not as it is described in the writings of Islam, but rather more in keeping with western, Christian fantasies.

At one point, the video shows flags of some 60 countries with which Islamic State sees itself as being at war, among them Britain, France, Australia and the US. Other sections of the video depict fighters wearing suicide vests or marching toward Europe.

The video was released several weeks after the deadly Paris terror attacks in which 130 people were killed, and for which IS claimed responsibility. A more recent shooting in San Bernardino, California was carried out by a couple who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State but were not directly following a command from the group’s top echelon in Syria.

While viewing this video, what terrifying conditions do you see?