No ‘specific, credible’ terror threat to US, says Obama

“At this moment, our intelligence and counter-terrorism professionals do not have any specific and credible information about an attack on the homeland,” he said on Thursday after meeting top US security officials at the National Counter-terrorism Center in Virginia. “That said, the country needs to be vigilant,” he added. “We’re sending a message; if you target America, you will have no safe haven,” he said. “We will find you, and we will defend our nation.”

Obama’s comments came in the wake of a deadly shooting incident in California in which a Pakistani-origin couple shot dead 14 people. Obama said the threat of terrorism has evolved to include smaller groups or individuals, which made it difficult to prevent attacks, but added that they were evolving to face the threat. The administration will continue to do everything in its power to prevent terrorists from getting into the US, he said, adding they were working on protecting the country on three fronts.

 Obama said, “We’re hitting ISIL harder than ever in Syria and Iraq. We are taking out their leaders. Our partners on the ground are fighting to push ISIL back. We’re doing more with countries around the world, including our European partners, to prevent the flow of foreign terrorist fighters — both to places like Syria and Iraq, and back into our countries,” he said. “We’re implementing additional layers of security for visitors who come here under the Visa Waiver Program,” Obama said. Any refugee coming to the US will continue to get the most intensive scrutiny of any arrival, the US president said, adding that they go through up to two years of vetting, including biometric screening. “And the review that I ordered into the fiance visa program, is ongoing,” he added. 

Mosul: Kurdish forces backed by coalition air strikes have repulsed the most serious attack by Islamic State group in Iraq in five months, US officials say. About 180 IS fighters were killed in the strikes that continued until Thursday morning, the US officials said. IS militants mounted a co-ordinated assault on several locations near the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday. Mosul has been under the control of IS since last year.

Meanwhile, UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution to cut off all sources of funding to ISIS and Al-Qaeda. At the first-ever meeting of finance ministers, the 15-member body called for enhanced actions, from closing financial system loopholes to stopping the abuse of charitable causes, as well as updating the existing ISIS and Al-Qaeda sanctions list.