Checklist: Terrorist Preoperational Surveillance Tactics

18,000 known or suspected terrorists are in America. That’s the current estimate from Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, in his testimony before the Congressional House Committee On Homeland Security. (Watch his testimony on YouTube.)

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Kent says most of these military-aged fighters are from the Middle East, Africa, and Indonesia, from war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Mali, and Somalia, according to this Law Enforcement Today (LET) article.

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“Former CIA analyst Sarah Adams says over 8,000 are Al Qaeda trained. ISIS fighters, along with other various Islamic terror groups, make up the other 10,000 killer-force estimate. A video smuggled from a Taliban training camp, shows combat drills with skill sets comparable to US Tier 1 operators, such as Navy Seals, Green Beret, and Delta force.”

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The LET article says, “18,000 men is….an Army of Insurgents here to kill us. If you divide this army into small five-man teams, it makes 3,600 teams. Distributed equally across the US, that would be at least 72 five-man terror teams per state.”

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“[T]his attack would be multi-faceted on several levels…multiple swarm attacks using firearms, IEDs, vehicles, and possible bio-weapons, targeting soft and hard installations, large events, transportation, communication, military installations, government offices, public safety, power, and infrastructure. They will also be using camouflaged tactics, such as impersonating first-responders like police, fire, and paramedics, possibly even military. Expect mass shootings, kidnappings, suicide bombers, political assassinations, drone swarm attacks, commercial aircraft bombings, deliberate aircraft targeted crashes (think of it as a missile), arsons (cities and forests), infrastructure attacks, using the same tactics deployed against Israel. According to Europe Intel experts, AQ boasts the Israel massacre two years ago was a dress rehearsal for this homeland attack against the US, striving for 50 to 60 thousand American casualties. They are going to hit where we live, work, and play….The question is not if, but when will they strike?”

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According to the SOFX website, “US officials say Iran may have sent out an “operational trigger” to activate sleeper agents around the world. The warning comes after encrypted communications, believed to originate from Iran, were intercepted following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli strike on February 28….While officials emphasized that there is no operational threat tied to a specific location, they urged heightened situational awareness.”

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And in her speech at a Turning Point USA event, director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, said, “There is a threat to our freedom that is not often talked about enough, and it is the greatest near and long-term threat to both our freedom and our security, and that is the threat of Islamist ideology….[which] fuels terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS and Al-Shabaab and Hamas and Boko Haram and others….As they continue to actively plot and try to attack us, they are a threat to our security and our safety.”

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“In places like Dearborn, Michigan, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, clerics are openly pushing this Islamist ideology, trying to recruit and radicalize young people. This is already underway in places like Houston. This is not something that may possibly happen. It is already happening here within our borders,” Gabbard said.

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As part of its First Responder’s Toolbox, and with the above warnings in place, the Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team (JCAT) has created the checklist/factsheet PDF, Awareness of Preoperational Surveillance Tactics Associated With Terrorism Offers Opportunities.

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This resource assists first responders, church security teams, and self-defenders in sharpening their situational awareness. It highlights both prevalent and novel tactics that violent extremists use to conduct preoperational surveillance as part of their attack planning. Based on observed tactics, the one-pager provides a list of potential indicators for awareness, along with considerations and possible mitigation measures for public safety and private-sector security partners.

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Be on the lookout for possible suspicious behavior of people doing the following:

• Asking probing questions
• Intentionally avoiding surveillance and detection systems
• Attempting or gaining access to unauthorized or sensitive areas
• Using smart glasses or similar wearable recording device
• Note-taking or sketching of a location
• Unusual observation of the security response to an incident, hoax call, or exercise/drill
• Loitering and observing
• Use of traditional recording devices

Also see the article, Preoperational Surveillance Tactics Associated With Terrorism, on the Christian Warrior Training website.

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