Daily Intel Brief
South Korea claims to have ability to intercept DPRK missiles, Mexico claims Russian space agreement won't be used for espionage, and the Taliban names GITMO detainee to leadership...
Counterterrorism
The Taliban has named Mohammad Nabi Omari, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who is also a senior leader in the Haqqani Network and maintains close ties to Al Qaeda, to serve as its “first deputy” to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Minister of the Interior. Omari was one of the…
Al-Shabaab last night launched a mortar attack on a Burundi military base that is part of the AU's ATMIS mission in Bal'ad district of the Middle Shabelle region. The shelling took place in Hawa Takako, especially near the old Bal'ad garment factory with locals saying the…
Military & Defense
South Korea's military said Tuesday it’s capable of detecting and intercepting the variety of missiles North Korea launched in a barrage of recent simulated nuclear attacks on its rivals, though it maintains the North’s advancing nuclear program poses a grave security threat…
NATO head Jens Stoltenberg says the Western military alliance will go ahead as planned with its annual routine nuclear deterrent exercises, scheduled to be held next week amid rising tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine. The drills, dubbed “Steadfast Noon”, are held…
Cybersecurity
Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service, has added Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, to its list of terrorists and extremists. Meta was officially designated as a terrorist organization for the first time in Russia in March 2022…
The White House National Security Council will announce plans Tuesday for a consumer products cybersecurity labeling program intended to improve digital safeguards on internet-connected devices, a senior White House official told CyberScoop. About 50 representatives…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reiterated Monday that his administration has entered into a space agreement with Russia. But he recalled that it was signed in September 2021, several months before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and denied that it will…
Britain's GCHQ spy agency chief will warn Western countries Tuesday of the "huge threat" from China seeking to exploit its tech dominance to control its own citizens and gain influence abroad. Jeremy Fleming, the director of the cybersecurity agency, is set to tell…
Transnational Organized Crime
In 2017, Drug Enforcement Administration agents following the money from cocaine deals in Memphis, Tennessee, identified a mysterious figure in Mexico entrusted by drug lords with their millions: a Chinese American gangster named Xizhi Li. As the agents tracked Li’s…
The Mexican government filed another U.S. gun lawsuit Monday, this time against five U.S. gun shops and distributors it claims are responsible for the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico. Mexico’s first lawsuit, which was recently dismissed, targeted U.S. gun…