Attackers bomb Iran parliament and mausoleum, at least 12 dead: Iranian media

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked Iran's parliament and the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran on Wednesday morning, killing at least 12 people in a twin assault at the heart of the Islamic Republic, Iranian officials and media said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility and released a video purporting to show gunmen inside the parliament building and one body, apparently dead, on the floor.

The rare attacks were the first claimed by the hardline Sunni Muslim militant group inside in the tightly controlled Shi'ite Muslim country. Islamic State has regularly threatened Iran, one of the powers leading the fight against the militants’ forces in neighboring Iraq and, beyond that, Syria.

The raids took place at a particularly charged time, after Iran's main regional rival Saudi Arabia and other Sunni powers cut ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of backing Tehran and militant groups.

Attackers dressed as women burst through parliament's main entrance in central Tehran, deputy interior minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

One of them detonated a suicide vest in the parliament, he said. About five hours after the first reports, Iranian news agencies said four people who had attacked parliament were dead and the incident was over.

At least 12 people were killed by the attackers, the head of Iran's emergency department, Pir-Hossein Kolivand, was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB.

"I was inside the parliament when shooting happened. Everyone was shocked and scared. I saw two men shooting randomly," said one journalist at the scene, who asked not to be named.

Soon after the assault on parliament, another bomber detonated a suicide vest near the shrine of the Republic's revered founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, a few kilometers south of the city, Zolfaghari said, according to Tasnim.

A second attacker was shot dead, he said.

The Intelligence Ministry said security forces had arrested another "terrorist team" planning a third attack, without giving further details.

"I was shopping and suddenly heard shooting," said housewife Maryam Saghari, 36, who lives near parliament.

"People started to run away from the area. I was very scared. I don't want to live in fear," she told Reuters by telephone.

Source: Reuters

Manchester bomber was part of a network: police

The Manchester suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a concert venue packed with children was part of a network, the city's chief of police said on Wednesday as troops were deployed across Britain to help prevent further attacks.

Police made three new arrests and searched an address in central Manchester in what police chief Ian Hopkins described as a fast-moving investigation.

"I think it's very clear that this is a network that we are investigating," Hopkins told reporters outside Manchester police headquarters.

"And as I've said, it continues at a pace. There's extensive investigations going on and activity taking place across Greater Manchester as we speak."

Earlier, interior minister Amber Rudd said the bomber, Salman Abedi, had recently returned from Libya. Her French counterpart Gerard Collomb said he had links with Islamic State and had probably visited Syria as well.

Rudd scolded U.S. officials for leaking details about the investigation into the Manchester attack before British authorities were prepared to go public.

The Manchester bombing has raised concern across Europe. Cities including Paris, Nice, Brussels, St Petersburg, Berlin and London have suffered militant attacks in the last two years.

British-born Abedi, 22, blew himself up on Monday night at the Manchester Arena indoor venue at the end of a concert by U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande attended by thousands of children and teenagers.

His 22 victims included an eight-year-old girl, several teenage girls, a 28-year-old man and a Polish couple who had come to collect their daughters.

Britain's official terror threat level was raised to "critical", the highest level, late on Tuesday, meaning an attack could be imminent.

Source: Reuters

Blast in St. Petersburg metro station kills 9: authorities

Photo: Reuters

At least nine people were killed and 20 were injured when an explosion tore through a train carriage in the St. Petersburg metro system on Monday, the Russian National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.

Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying the blast, which occurred when the train was between two stations, was caused by a bomb filled with shrapnel.

President Vladimir Putin, who was in the city for a meeting with Belarus's leader, said he was considering all possible causes for the blast, including terrorism and was consulting with security services.

Ambulances and fire engines descended on the concrete-and-glass Sennaya Ploshchad metro station. A helicopter hovered overhead as crowds gathered to observe rescue operations.

"I appeal to you citizens of St. Petersburg and guests of our city to be alert, attentive and cautious and to behave in a responsible matter in light of events," St Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko said in an address.

An attack on St Petersburg, Russia's old imperial capital, would have some symbolic force for any militant group, especially Islamic State or Chechen secessionist rebels. Attacks in the past have largely concentrated on Moscow, including an attack on an airport, a theater and in 2010 a metro train.

Video showed injured people lying bleeding on a platform, some being treated by emergency services and fellow passengers. Others ran away from the platform amid clouds of smoke, some screaming or holding their hands to their faces.

A huge hole was blown open in the side of a carriage with metal wreckage strewn across the platform. Passengers were seen hammering at the windows of one closed carriage. Russian TV said many had suffered lacerations from glass shards and metal.

Russia has been the target of attacks by separatist Islamist Chechen militants in past years. Islamic State, which has drawn recruits from the ranks of Chechen rebels, has also threatened attacks across Russia in retaliation for Russian military intervention in Syria.

The Russian air force and special forces have been supporting President Bashar al-Assad in fighting rebel groups and Islamic State fighters now being driven out of their Syrian strongholds.

ALL STATIONS CLOSED

St. Petersburg emergency services at first said that there had been two explosions. But a source in the emergency services later said that there had been only one but that the explosion had occurred in a tunnel between stations.

The blast occurred at 2.40 p.m., well shy of the evening rush hour.

Authorities closed all St. Petersburg metro stations. The Moscow metro said it was taking unspecified additional security measures in case of an attack there.

Russia has been on particular alert against Chechen rebels returning from Syria and wary of any attempts to resume attacks that dogged the country several years ago.

At least 38 people were killed in 2010 when two female suicide bombers detonated bombs on packed Moscow metro trains.

Over 330 people, half of them children, were killed in 2004 when police stormed a school in southern Russia after a hostage taking by Islamist militants. In 2002, 120 hostages were killed when police stormed a Moscow theater to end another hostage-taking.

Putin, as prime minister, launched a 1999 campaign to crush a separatist government in the Muslim southern region of Chechnya, and as president continued a hard line in suppressing rebellion.

Source: Reuters

UK police: 2 new arrests in relation to Westminster attack, 9 in custody

Two more people have been arrested during police raids in relation to a terror attack on Westminster that left five dead, including the assailant, London Metropolitan Police said Friday.

Some nine people remained in police custody amid an ongoing security operation across the United Kingdom.

Speaking to the press outside New Scotland Yard, the Met's acting Deputy Commissioner and counter-terror chief, Mark Rowley said: "we have made two further significant arrests overnight_ one in the West Midlands and one in North West."

"We have searches at five addresses that are ongoing_ 16 searches have concluded. So far we have seized 2,700 items from our searches including massive amounts of computer data," Rowley continued.

He also named the 75-year-old man who died overnight in hospital from injuries sustained in the terror attack as Leslie Rhodes, from Streatham, south London.

Two people remained in a critical condition, including one person with life threatening injuries, he said.

Rowley said at least 50 people were injured in the attack, with 31 requiring hospital treatment.

He said those affected were of all ages and at least 12 nationalities, and added: "It is a poignant reminder that the impact of this attack on the Capital will reach around the world."

Rowley appealed to all members of the public to contact the police if they had any information regarding the attacker.

Over 3,500 witness had been contacted, he said.

Rowley also revealed that the birth name of the UK-born attacker was Adrian Russell Ajao, although he had later gone by the name Khalid Masood and other aliases.

"We remain keen to hear from anyone who knew Khalid Masood well; understands who his associates were; and can provide information about places he has recently visited," said Rowley.

In a speech to the lower house of Parliament on Thursday, British Prime Minister Theresa May said the attacker was believed to have acted alone and had some years ago been investigated by the interior security service, MI5.

"He was once investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism. He was a peripheral figure. The case is historic_ he was not part of the current intelligence picture," said May.

On Wednesday, Masood drove a car through crowds of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge killing three: Aysha Frade, a 43-year-old British national of Spanish origin, Kurt Cochran, an American tourist whose wife was injured in the attack, and Leslie Rhodes.

Masood then attacked police with a knife, killing Police Constable Keith Palmer before being shot dead by armed officers outside Parliament.

Rowley told the press on Friday that the number of armed police officers in London was at near double strength, while across the UK police numbers had been boosted by around a third.

Speaking about the commemorations that took place in central London late on Thursday, Rowley said the cross section of people who had gathered to remember sent a strong message.

"A strong message_ to those inspired by hate and extremism of all persuasions that we will not give in to those who seek to breed discord and fear," he said.

Source: EFE

French police arrest 4 people suspected of plotting suicide attack

Four people arrested in a southern French city on Friday were allegedly plotting a suicide terror attack, judicial sources told EFE.

Among those detained were a 16-year-old female and three men.

The counter-terror operation, which took place in the early hours of the morning in the outskirts of the southern coastal city of Montpellier, uncovered evidence of explosive materials in the residence of the four detainees.

Police said they discovered 70 grams (2.5 ounces) of acetone peroxide (TATP) as well as chemical solutions which can be combined to manufacture improvised explosives.

Initial investigative lines suggested that one of the male detainees had been preparing to carry out a suicide terror attack, although it is too early in the operation to establish when or where that could have occurred, investigators said.

The girlfriend of the suspected would-be terrorist was a 16-year-old who police said had previously attempted to enter Syria.

French police are, by law, allowed to hold the suspects in custody for up to 96 days before they must be presented to a judge.

Since the fatal terror attacks in Paris, Nov. 2015, and Nice, Jul. 2016, France has been on high terror alert across the nation.

The number of counter-terror police on patrol across French cities has substantially increased following those events.

Source: EFE

Machete-wielding attacker shot, immobilized by French soldier at the Louvre

A machete-wielding attacker who was shot and immobilized by a French soldier at Paris' world-renowned Louvre museum on Friday was a suspected terrorist, France's prime minister said.

The alleged attacker approached a group of security agents near the glass pyramid at the center of the Louvre's courtyard square and managed to lightly injure one soldier before being shot five times in the stomach.

A message published by the French Presidency on Twitter said Francois Hollande, who was in Malta for an informal EU summit, "saluted the courage and determination shown by the military this morning at the Carrousel du Louvre."

Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the attack on the soldier was apparently "terrorist in nature."

"The incident occurred around 10:00 am when a man, carrying two bags on his back, went down to the Carousel square, heading to the Louvre," a police spokesman told journalists at a press conference. "The attacker rushed at the police and the soldiers shouting Allahu Akbar (in Arabic: Allah is the greatest)," he said.

One soldier sustained light wounds to his head.

There was no evidence of explosives found in the bags the alleged assailant was carrying.

The suspect survived the gunfire that immobilized him but sustained serious injuries and was in a Paris hospital undergoing surgery, broadcaster BFMTV reported.

The perimeter of the Louvre was cordoned off and visitors, numbering some 1,000 at the time of the incident, were kept inside the Louvre until the area was fully secured.

They are due to be evacuated in small groups, said interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henri Brandet.

An epa photographer on the scene captured images showing security agents standing guard at the glass pyramid_ the Carousel.

The central square at the Louvre, which is normally flowing with tourists, was almost completely empty as the police undertook security operations.

A second person had also been detained at the scene and investigators were working to establish whether there was a connection with the attempted assault, said Brandet.

The prosecutor's office for counter-terror in Paris said it had opened an investigation into the attack in which it would pursue charges of aggravated attempted murder linked to terrorism.

France's Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said in a statement that he saluted the security agents' quick response and wished a speedy recovery to the injured soldier.

A large-scale security operation was underway in the vicinity of the Louvre, the Orsay Museum and metro lines in the vicinity of both cultural attractions.

France has been on high terror alert following the fatal attacks Paris in Nov. 2015 and in Nice in July 2016.

Source: EFE

Man arrested in Germany over terror plot wanted in Tunisia over Bardo attack

The Tunisian suspect detained early on Wednesday by police in Germany was wanted in Tunisia for his alleged participation in the 2015 terror attack on the Bardo National Museum that killed 22 people, the German prosecutor said.

The suspect was also sought in his home country in relation to another attack in March 2016 in the southeast Tunisian border town of Ben Guerdan, according to the prosecutor.

German police earlier raided more than 50 buildings in an anti-terror operation in the western federal state of Hesse where they arrested the man who was suspected of plotting a terror attack on German soil.

According to police, plans to carry out an attack were still in the preliminary stages, and there was no concrete threat.

"With these measures, we're sending a clear message to radical Islamists in Hesse," Hesse Interior Minister, Peter Beuth said.

Such groups were under observation by the authorities, he added.

The 36-year-old Tunisian suspect was accused of recruiting for the Islamic State terror group and of having created a network of sympathizers with the aim of carrying out an attack on German soil, according to Frankfurt's prosecutor.

The man was reportedly arrested in Frankfurt at about 4:00 am local time (03:00 GMT) in an operation involving about 1,100 agents.

Source: EFE

German police arrest suspected Syrian terrorist

A Syrian refugee who was detained after a two-day manhunt in Germany on suspicion following terrorist activities had probable links to the Islamic State, German police said Monday.

The president of the criminal investigation office in Saxony Jörg Michaelis said in a press conference in Dresden, east Germany, that indications suggested that Jaber al-Bakr had links to the IS terrorist group.

"The methods and behavior of the suspect suggest an IS context," said the official.

The declarations run in accordance with the findings of the Federal Prosecutor in charge of the case, who on Sunday accused Jaber al-Bakr of planning to carry out an "Islamist inspired" attack.

Al-Bakr had been evading arrest since Saturday, after special forces broke into his flat in Chemnitz, where they found a cache of explosives.

The agents attempted to impede his escape by firing live rounds, but failed according to official accounts.

Michaelis confirmed media reports that the explosives found in al-Bakr's house were identified as triacetone triperoxide (TATP), an explosive used by the IS in the Paris and Brussels terror attacks.

He eventually was found by police who posted a statement on their Twitter account on Monday stating that al-Bakr had been arrested in Leipzig, and was considered "dangerous."

German security forces said they were "tired but happy" after nearly 48 hours in search of the alleged terrorist.

TATP is a highly explosive crystalline compound that can be assembled with readily available components such as sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide and acetone, and is highly unstable and very sensitive to temperature changes, friction and impacts.

The weekly newspaper "Der Spiegel" published on Sunday that the suspect entered Germany through Bavaria on Feb. 18, 2015, during a peak in migrant arrivals to the European Union.

Two weeks later he applied for refugee status with Syrian passport, a request that was approved by mid-July.

The Saxony police arrested three other people on Saturday and at least one more on Sunday, during a search in Chemnitz, all linked to the main suspect, but released no further information.

During the search for the suspect, security measures protecting critical infrastructures were reinforced across Germany, including railway stations and airports, as in the case of Berlin, some 250 km away from Chemnitz.

Germany suffered two jihadist attacks in July 2016, committed by asylum seekers; both terrorists died and twenty people were reported wounded.

Interior minister for Saxony Markus Ulbig said the latest arrest had been a "great success" and Germany had once again prevented a possible explosive attack on its territory.

Both Ulbig and Michaelis thanked the public for their cooperation in the matter.

Source: EFE

New York bombing suspect could face hearing in hospital bed

A lawyer for an Afghan-born U.S. citizen charged with bombings in New York and New Jersey over the weekend asked a federal judge to schedule his first court appearance for Wednesday, possibly in his hospital bed.

Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested on Monday after a gunfight with police in Linden, New Jersey. He is now receiving treatment for his wounds at a Newark hospital, where he could formally face his charges if he cannot travel to the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, his lawyer said.

"He has been held and questioned by federal law enforcement agents since his arrest," David Patton, head of the New York city federal public defenders office said in a court filing. "The Sixth Amendment requires that he be given access to counsel on the federal charges, and that he be presented without delay."

Patton also asked to meet with Rahami, 28, on Wednesday. Police also say they have not yet been able to interview Rahami.

Federal prosecutors said Rahami injured 31 people in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood with a homemade bomb on Saturday night in a case that investigators now regard as terrorism.

He is also charged with planting bombs that went off in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and his hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, but did not injure anyone. He faces charges from federal prosecutors in both states.

"Inshallah (God willing), the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets," Rahami, who came to the United States at age 7, wrote in a journal he was carrying when arrested. "Gun shots to your police. Death to your oppression."

The journal also praised slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, prosecutors said.

The attacks were the latest in a series in the United States inspired by militant groups including al Qaeda and Islamic State. A pair of ethnic Chechen brothers killed three people and injured more than 260 at the 2013 Boston Marathon with homemade pressure-cooker bombs similar to those used in this weekend's attacks.

In the past year, an Orlando gunman and a married couple in San Bernardino killed dozens in mass shootings inspired by Islamic State.

The incidents inflamed the U.S. debate about security and immigration.

Federal investigators were probing Rahami's history of travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and looking for any evidence that he may have been radicalized or trained in bomb-making on those trips. They still are trying to find out whether he received any help in planning his attack or building the bombs.

His father, Mohammad Rahami, told reporters outside his family's chicken restaurant on Tuesday that he had called the Federal Bureau of Investigation about two years ago to report concerns about his son's involvement with militants.

The FBI confirmed that it had looked into the younger Rahami after what it called a "domestic dispute" but found no evidence tying him to terrorism.

The charging documents lay out a wide swath of evidence pointing to Rahami as the bomber. Surveillance video places him in the area, and his fingerprints were on unexploded devices including a pressure-cooker bomb found blocks away from the blast.

If Rahami's first court appearance occurs in the hospital bed, he would not be the first U.S. terrorism suspect to be charged in such a venue.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted last year for his role in the Boston Marathon attacks and sentenced to death, also first faced charges in his hospital bed while he was still recovering from injuries sustained in a gunfight with police.

Source: Reuters

Pope Francis says hospitality is greatest security against terrorism

Pope Francis said on Saturday that the "authentic hospitality" is the "greatest security against hateful acts of terrorism" referring to the crisis of immigration in Europe and around the world.

"Remember that authentic hospitality is a profound gospel value that nurtures love and is our greatest security against hateful acts of terrorism," Pope Francis said.

Source: EFE

Investigation reveals terrorism links in Orlando shooting massacre

The first investigation into the mass murderer of 50 victims in a gay club in Orlando, Florida, USA, today revealed possible ties between the perpetrator and terrorist groups.

Less than 24 hours after the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub, frequented by the LGBT community, the FBI released some information about Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, a 29 year-old US citizen, who was shot dead at the scene by the police.

At the same time, identities of seven of the 50 fatalities from this "an act of terror and an act of hate," according to US President Barack Obama, were revealed.

The families of these first identified were already notified. Their names are Sotomayor Edward Jr., Stanley Almodovar III, Omar Luis Ocasio-Capo, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz and Luis S. Vielma.

The Pulse nightclub had organized a 'Latin Night' this Saturday so it is very likely that a high percentage of the victims are Hispanic, a community that represents some 29 percent of the population in Orlando, famous worldwide for its theme and amusement parks.

Before the attack, New York-born Siddique Mateen, who is of Afghan descent, called the emergency number 911 and pledged his allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), according to a newspaper report.

The Islamic State-linked Amaq News Agency said in a statement that "the attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida, and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter."

This information was not yet confirmed by official U.S. sources.

FBI Agent Ron Hopper said at a press conference that it is early to conclude that the massacre is linked to terrorism but said the alleged gunman drew the attention of the authorities for the first time in 2013.

According to Hopper, back then Siddique Mateen "made inflammatory remarks to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties" and was investigated on two occasions.

Later, in 2014, he was investigated for his alleged connection with Moner Mohammad Abusalha, a US citizen terrorist who died in a suicide attack in Syria but it was resolved that "the contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or a threat at that time."

The security firm G4S today confirmed in a statement that Siddique Mateen was one of its employees since 2007 and said that it is "shocked" by what happened.

According to G4S, the man was not on duty when he committed the mass shooting and the company is cooperating with authorities.

The family of the alleged perpetrator of the massacre also spoke. According to the father, Mir Siddique, his son was angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami about two months ago.

That may be the cause of the killings, which, in his opinion, "has nothing to do with religion".

Siddique Mateen's ex wife, who asked not to be identified, told the Washington Post today that he was not a "stable person" and abusive.

"He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that," said the woman who married him in March 2009 but got divorced a few months afterwards.

According to his ex-wife, the alleged murderer never showed signs of being radicalized, owned a small-caliber pistol and worked as a guard at a center for juvenile offenders.

A group of policemen today inspected and removed several objects from a house owned by Omar Siddique Mateen in the town of Fort St. Lucie, about 180 kilometers from Orlando, and also found three cars parked there, according to what Efe could verify at the scene.

Efe could see several boxes and an Apple computer being placed in police cars.

In addition to the fifty dead, the massacre also left 53 injured, some of which are in "critical condition", according to medical authorities of Orlando, who appealed to citizens to donate blood.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dye said today that 39 of the 50 people were killed on the premises, including Siddique Mateen, and the other 11 were pronounced dead at the hospital.

John W. Mina, City of Orlando Chief of Police, explained how it happened.

At approximately 02.00 am (0600 GMT), a police officer responded to shots fired at him by the suspect.

"The suspect at some point went back inside the club where more shots were fired. This did turn into a hostage situation," said Mina.

He added that officials from various security agencies came to the scene and at about 05.00 am local time (09.00 GMT) the decision to rescue the hostages was taken, and SWAT agents entered the nightclub and that the suspect died after being shot.

According to Mayor Dyer, an explosive device was placed on one of the walls of the nightclub and an armored vehicle then tore down the wall.

Mateen Siddique was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a pistol when he was killed.

Mina said that there were eleven special police officers and three deputies engaged in the gun battle with the gunman and that only one suffered an eye injury.

Source: EFE

Apple opposes order to help FBI unlock phone belonging to San Bernardino shooter

Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook says his company will resist a federal judge's order to access encrypted data hidden on a cellphone that belonged to the terrorist couple who killed 14 people in San Bernardino last year.

In a statement released early Wednesday, Cook said that such a move would undermine encryption by creating a backdoor that could potentially be used on other future devices.

"In the wrong hands, this software -- which does not exist today -- would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession," the statement said.


The judge's order is aimed at removing what had become a barrier in the investigation of the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

Authorities are trying to determine the couple's movements between the time of the attack at the Inland Regional Center the morning of Dec. 2 and their deaths in a wild firefight with police hours later. Last month, the FBI asked for the public's help in filling in an 18-minute gap in the narrative of the couple’s whereabouts.

The FBI is also probing whether the couple received any help in plotting or carrying out the attacks.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym in Riverside directed Apple on Tuesday to help the FBI get around the phone’s passcode protection and any auto-erase functions the device might employ.

“The government has been unable to complete the search because it cannot access the iPhone's encrypted content,” U.S. Atty. Eileen Decker wrote in a 40-page motion to the judge. “Apple has the exclusive technical means which would assist the government in completing its search, but has declined to provide that assistance voluntarily.”

The device, an iPhone5, was given to Syed Rizwan Farook by the San Bernardino County Health Department and was used in his job as an inspector, according to the motion.

It is the tech giant’s policy to require law enforcement to obtain search warrants or subpoenas before aiding in investigations.

But the company sees the order as an "overreach by the U.S. government," according to the statement.

The health department gave the FBI consent to search the phone, according to the motion, but authorities have been unable to bypass the phone's passcode lock for fear its operating system would destroy all data on the phone after 10 failed attempts.

In its motion, the FBI said Apple should be able to turn off the device’s auto-erase functions, allowing the government to submit “test passcodes” to the phone without the risk of destroying the data it seeks. The motion said that Apple routinely complies with law enforcement when presented with a search warrant or judicial order.

The phone stopped sending backup information to the iCloud server on Oct. 19, 2015, according to the government’s motion, and the FBI believes that Farook may have disabled that function in order to hide evidence. Any communications or data linked to the shooting after Oct. 19 would be accessible only through the device, according to the motion.

Farook also used the phone to talk with Malik after that date, court records show.

Investigators are hoping the data on the phone will help answer several questions that have persisted since the shooting. It remains unclear why Farook left a bag with several pipe bombs in the conference room where he and his wife opened fire, why the bombs were not detonated, of if the couple were plotting other attacks.

Enrique Marquez Jr., a friend of Farook’s, is accused of buying two rifles used in the shootings. Marquez has been arrested and charged with providing material support for terrorists and other crimes. He has pleaded not guilty.

Location data on the phone, among other pieces of information, could also help investigators answer questions about the couple’s movements during an 18-minute gap in the FBI’s timeline of their actions following the shooting.

FBI Director James B. Comey first revealed the agency's struggles to access the phone data while speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week.

Several cellphone models, including Apple's iPhone 6 and Samsung's Galaxy S6, use advanced encryption algorithms that scramble all the data on the device when a pin code is set.

Encrypted cellphones and text-messaging apps have made it harder for investigators and intelligence services to track suspected plots in real time, or trace locations and connections once they acquire a suspect's device, Comey said.

Apple changed the way it manages phone encryption in September 2014, a move that makes it more difficult for law enforcement to access encrypted data on cellphones, according to Clifford Neuman, director of USC’s Center for Computer System Security. Previously, forensic investigators could tap into a device’s hardware port and gain access to a phone’s data “independent of needing to try passcodes,” he said.

“That path into the device is no longer possible,” Neuman said.

The change in the encryption method means Apple may not be able to decrypt the data, according to Neuman. The company could, however, bypass the access code system that would cause the data to be erased, and then grant the FBI access to the encrypted data. Federal investigators would then have to decrypt the data themselves, Neuman said.

The tech industry and the government have long been at odds over how much access law enforcement and national security agencies should be given to private phone data. Recently, Comey, Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch and other national security leaders met with representatives from Google, Apple and Facebook in San Jose to try and find common ground that would help investigators gain crucial information about possible terror plots without compromising the privacy of the companies’ customers.

In the wake of the San Bernardino attack, President Obama addressed the nation, urging high-tech and law enforcement leaders "to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice."

Although the tech industry says it wants to help, it's reluctant to give away private information and data to government agencies, arguing that doing so fosters user distrust and raises the risk of hacker attacks.

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday said he agreed Apple should help the FBI.

“To think that Apple won’t allow us to get into her cellphone — who do they think they are?” Trump told Fox News. “No, we have to open it up.”

Staff writers Joel Rubin, Andrea Chang and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
Source: LAtimes