FBI Counterterrorism Division
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The Counterterrorism Division (CTD) is a division of the National Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. CTD investigates terrorist threats inside the United States, provides information on terrorists outside the country, and tracks known terrorists worldwide. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, CTD's funding and manpower have significantly increased.
The Division employs counterterrorism field operations organized into squads, the number of which varies according to the amount and diversity of activity in the local field office's jurisdiction. Larger field offices, such as Los Angeles, maintain counterterrorism squads for each major terrorist group, as well as for domestic terrorism and terrorist financing, while smaller field offices combined such responsibilities across two to three squads.
Leadership
The Counterterrorism Division is headed by Assistant Director, who reports to the Executive Assistant Director of the FBI National Security Branch. The current Assistant Director is Andrew McCabe, who was appointed by former FBI Director Robert Mueller on May 9, 2012.[2]
Organization
The Counterterrorism Division has four branches:
- Operations Branch I
- Operations Branch II
- Analytical Branch
- Operational Support Branch
Operations Branch I is composed of two sections: International Terrorism Operations Section I (ITOS-I) and International Terrorism Operations Section II (ITOS-II). The ITOS-I covers al Qaeda terrorist activity on a regional basis in the United States and abroad. ITOS-II focuses on four non-al Qaeda groups: Palestinian rejectionist groups, Iran and Hezbollah, Iraq/Syria/Libya, and other global terrorist groups. ITOS II has a Central Intelligence Agency officer serving as Deputy Section Chief, and an FBI agent is detailed to the CIA's Counterterrorism Center as that unit's Deputy Director.
Operations Branch II includes three more disparate sections: the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Domestic Terrorism Section (WMD/DT), Communications Exploitation Section (CXS), and Terrorist Financing Operations Section (TFOS).
- The WMD/DT Section, despite its presence within the domestically focused Operations Branch II, is international in scope and function.
- The TFOS is an operational and coordinating entity. It directs terrorism financing investigations and works jointly with partners to block and freeze assets. However, its primary role is to coordinate and support the financial components of terrorism investigations conducted by ITOS I and II. The TFOS mission is to identify, investigate, prosecute, disrupt, and incrementally dismantle all terrorist-related financial and fund-raising activities. The section is composed of four units:
- Radical Fundamentalist Financial Investigative Unit
- Domestic WMD and Global Financial Investigations Unit
- Global Extremist Financial Investigations Unit
- Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.
The Analytical Branch includes two sections: the Counterterrorism Analysis Section (which supports Operations I and II) and the Terrorism Reports and Requirements Section (TRRS). The Branch also includes a Strategic Assessment and Analysis Unit, Production and Publications Unit.
The Operational Support Branch manages the CTD's administrative and resource functions, FBI detailees to other agencies, and the Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force. The various local Joint Terrorism Task Forces falls under the domain of this branch.
See also
- Central Intelligence Agency
- MI5
- Counter Terrorism Command (SO15)
- Direction de la surveillance du territoire (DST)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Bureau
- Interpol
References
- 1 2 3 "Frequently Asked Questions". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
- ↑ Andrew McCabe Named Assistant Director of Counterterrorism Division, FBI National Press Office, 2012-05-09