US intelligence agencies using ‘wide range’ of spy tools to monitor coronavirus
February 28, 2020 Leave a comment
United States intelligence agencies are using “a wide range” of tools, ranging from open-source collection to communications interception and human intelligence, to collect desperately needed data about the spread of the coronavirus, according to sources. As of late last week, some of the most dependable data on the spread of the virus, known as COVID-19, came from military channels of information, according to Yahoo News’ National Security and Investigations Reporter Jenna McLaughlin.
Writing last Friday, McLaughlin cited “two sources familiar with the matter”, who said that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency’s Global Issues Mission Center were collecting and analyzing real-time data on the coronavirus. The spread of the disease was also being monitored by the National Center for Medical Intelligence, which assesses the impact of disease outbreaks on American and foreign military personnel, said McLaughlin. She added that the intelligence generated by these agencies was being channeled to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services, which lead the White House’s Task Force on COVID-19.
A major concern of the US Intelligence Community is that the Chinese, Iranian and other governments around the world may not be sharing comprehensive data on the spread of the virus and its impact. “No data means spying”, one unnamed source told McLaughlin. According to Reuters’ Mark Hosenball, US intelligence agencies have been using “a wide range of intelligence tools”, including human intelligence and electronic communications interception to track the spread of COVID-19. A major question that US intelligence agencies are trying to answer is whether governments like China’s or Iran’s have effective “continuity operations” plans in place, which relate to preserving the main functions of government during a major national disaster.
According to Hosenball, there is pessimism among US intelligence experts about the ability of developing countries around the world to respond to a massive COVID-19 outbreak. One example is India, whose dense population and rudimentary public-health infrastructure raises serious concerns about the government’s ability to protect the country’s population from a major pandemic. The report adds that there “deep concern” in US government circles about the possibility that Iran may be covering up the details about the spread of COVID-19.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 28 February 2020 | Permalink
An imminent peace agreement between the United States government and the Taliban will inadvertently empower the Islamic State in Afghanistan, according to a number of insiders, who warn that the soon-to-be-announced deal may have grave unintended consequences for the war-ravaged country.
A Russian intelligence officer, who was allegedly involved in an attempt to kill a Bulgarian arms dealer in Sofia in 2015, is now a diplomat, according to report published on Tuesday by the investigative website Bellingcat. The website also claimed that there is a possible connection between the intelligence officer and the 
There are more foreign spies and their proxies operating today in Australia than during the height of the Cold War, according to the director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). This claim was made on Monday by Mike Burgess, who in 2019 was appointed director of the ASIO —Australia’s primary domestic security agency. Burgess added that the level of threat Australia faces from foreign espionage and other foreign interference activities is “currently unprecedented”.
The United States government is unable to account for nearly $716 million in weapons it gave to various Syrian groups during the war against the Islamic State, according to a Department of Defense audit. The weapons were procured under the Counter Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Train and Equip Funds (CTEF) program, which was administered by the US Pentagon in 2017 and 2018. The CTEF program cost the US taxpayer a total of $930 million.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Mexican man, who is accused of spying in the city of Miami on behalf of the Russian government. Local media reports suggest that the target of the man’s spying was a Russian defector who gave American authorities information about Russian espionage activities on US soil.
The Russian government sent a team of spies to Ireland to monitor undersea fiber-optic cables, which enable communications traffic between North America and Western Europe, according to a new report. The spies were allegedly sent to Ireland by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, which is known in Russia as GU, and formerly as GRU.
Switzerland is reeling from the shock caused by revelations last week that Crypto AG, the world’s leading manufacturer or cryptologic equipment during the Cold War, whose clients included over 120 governments around the world, was a front company owned by the United States Central Intelligence Agency.
Two senior members of the Pakistani Taliban, who were carrying fake identification documents, were reportedly assassinated earlier this month in the vicinity of a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul. The culprits remain unknown, although the leadership of the Pakistani Taliban has blamed the United States for their death.
The United States has threatened to pull its funding for an Africa-wide disease control program if the African Union decides to accept an offer from China to build the program’s new headquarters. The dispute accentuates a growing competition between Washington and Beijing to exert political control in Africa and places the African Union at the center of a difficult dilemma.
The United States has indefinitely suspended a longstanding military intelligence-sharing program with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally Turkey. The program, which targets a Kurdish separatist group, is believed to have been in place since 2007. According to the Reuters news agency, which published the story on Wednesday, it has never before been reported on by news media.
Authorities in Denmark have announced the arrests of three Iranian Arab separatists, who are charged with carrying out espionage on behalf of the intelligence services of Saudi Arabia. The arrests were announced on Monday by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as PET.
The Islamic State remains committed to its goals and continues to utilize ample funding sources, according to a new report by the United Nations. The report warns that the militant Sunni group, which was previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is quickly reasserting itself in the Middle East.
The Czech intelligence services foiled a secret plan by North Korea to smuggle weapons parts and surveillance drones, leading to the expulsion of a North Korean diplomat from the country, according to a report. The report, 
intelNews.org 
DR Congo military intelligence chief found dead hours before court appearance
March 2, 2020 by Joseph Fitsanakis Leave a comment
Tshisekedi took over from Joseph Kabila in January of 2019, in what was hailed at the time as the first peaceful transition of power in the DRC since the 1960s. Kabila, who headed the country from 2001 until 2019, has remained a powerful figure in Congolese politics, and participates in a governing coalition with Tshisekedi. But many of Kabila’s supporters want to see Tshisekedi removed from power, and accuse him of assuming the presidency after a fraudulent election. General Kahimbi was among Kabila’s supporters who voiced disagreements against Tshisekedi’s presidency.
Kahimbi rose through the ranks of the military in the 1990s and became a popular military figure after leading a bloody counterinsurgency campaign against secessionist rebels in the eastern DRC. But many accused him of carrying out human rights violations and subverting democratic politics in Africa’s second-largest country. Earlier this year, the European Union placed General Kahimbi in its sanctions list for alleged violations of human rights. Around the same time the United States began pressuring the Tshisekedi government to bring Kahimbi to justice for his role in alleged human rights abuses under the Kabila regime.
On Wednesday, General Kahimbi was briefly arrested by police and was subsequently released on bail. He was summarily suspended from duty and was due to appear before the DRC’s National Security Council on Friday morning. But local reports said he was found dead at his home in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, just hours before he was due to appear before the Council. His wife, Brenda Kahimbi, told the Reuters news agency that he had suffered a heart attack and was pronounced dead in hospital. There are rumors in Kinshasa that he committed suicide, but this is disputed by his family and supporters.
The DRC Armed Forces Council confirmed General Kahimbi’s death, but refused to comment on the cause of his death, or on the precise accusations that he was facing. Late on Friday, the Council released a statement praising General Kahimbi’s contribution to the national security of the DRC. It also announced the launch of an investigation into the general’s death.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 02 March 2020 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, Delphin Kahimbi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, human rights, Joseph Kabila, News, suspicious deaths