FBI Counterterrorism Division
Encyclopedia
The FBI Counterterrorism Division (CTD) is the division of the United States
Federal Bureau of Investigation
that deals with terrorist
threats inside the United States. It also provides information on terrorists outside the country and tracks known terrorists worldwide. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks
, the FBI Counterterrorism Division has received huge amounts of funding and manpower. The Division is headed by Assistant Director James McJunkin.
The Counterterrorism Division has four branches:
Operations I is composed of two sections: International Terrorism Operations Section I (ITOS I) and ITOS II. The former covers al Qaeda terrorist activity on a regional basis in the United States and abroad. The latter focuses on four non-al Qaeda groups: Palestinian
rejectionist groups, Iran
and Hezbollah, Iraq
/Syria
/Libya
, and other global terrorist groups. The ITOS II has a CIA manager serving as Deputy Section Chief, and an FBI manager is detailed to the CIA's CTC as a Deputy Director.
Operations II includes three more disparate sections: Weapons of Mass Destruction
and Domestic Terrorism (WMD/DT), Communications Exploitation Section
(CXS), and Terrorist Financing Operations Section (TFOS). Operational oversight for WMD
is housed with domestic terrorism, despite its international scope.
The Terrorism Financing Operations Section, housed in Operations II, 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, and Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.
The Counterterrorism Division's Analytical branch includes two sections, Counterterrorism Analysis, 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 Joint Terrorism Task Force
falls under the domain of this branch.
Counterterrorism field operations are organized into squads, the number of which varies according to the amount and diversity of activity in a 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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
that deals with terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
threats inside the United States. It also provides information on terrorists outside the country and tracks known terrorists worldwide. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, the FBI Counterterrorism Division has received huge amounts of funding and manpower. The Division is headed by Assistant Director James McJunkin.
The Counterterrorism Division has four branches:
- Operations I (OPS I);
- Operations II (OPS II);
- Analytical; and
- Operational Support.
Operations I is composed of two sections: International Terrorism Operations Section I (ITOS I) and ITOS II. The former covers al Qaeda terrorist activity on a regional basis in the United States and abroad. The latter focuses on four non-al Qaeda groups: Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
rejectionist groups, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Hezbollah, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
/Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
/Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, and other global terrorist groups. The ITOS II has a CIA manager serving as Deputy Section Chief, and an FBI manager is detailed to the CIA's CTC as a Deputy Director.
Operations II includes three more disparate sections: Weapons of Mass Destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
and Domestic Terrorism (WMD/DT), Communications Exploitation Section
Communications Exploitation Section
The Communications Exploitation Section , established in December 2002, is an office of the Operations II branch of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, which is tasked with analyzing captured communications data to identify and monitor "terrorist" networks.From 2003 to 2005, CXS sent out 739...
(CXS), and Terrorist Financing Operations Section (TFOS). Operational oversight for WMD
WMD
WMD may refer to:* Weapon of mass destruction, a term used to describe munitions with the capacity to kill large numbers of human beings indiscriminately* Weighted mean difference, a measure in statistical meta-analysis...
is housed with domestic terrorism, despite its international scope.
The Terrorism Financing Operations Section, housed in Operations II, 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, and Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.
The Counterterrorism Division's Analytical branch includes two sections, Counterterrorism Analysis, 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 Joint Terrorism Task Force
Joint Terrorism Task Force
A Joint Terrorism Task Force is a partnership between various U.S. law enforcement agencies that is charged with taking action against terrorism, which includes the investigation of crimes such as wire fraud and identity theft...
falls under the domain of this branch.
Counterterrorism field operations are organized into squads, the number of which varies according to the amount and diversity of activity in a field office's jurisdiction. Larger field offices, such as Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, 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.
See also
- Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
- MI5MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
- Counter Terrorism CommandCounter Terrorism CommandCounter Terrorism Command or SO15 is a Specialist Operations branch within London's Metropolitan Police Service. Counter Terrorism Command was established as a result of the merging of the Anti-Terrorist Branch , and the Special Branch in 2006, to form a single counter-terrorism investigative unit...
(SO15) - Direction de la surveillance du territoireDirection de la surveillance du territoireThe Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire was a directorate of the French National Police operating as a domestic intelligence agency. It was responsible for counterespionage, counterterrorism and more generally the security of France against foreign threats and interference...
(DST) - InterpolInterpolInterpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
External links
- Counterterrorism website
- Counterterrorism Division organizational chartOrganizational chartAn organizational chart is a diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/jobs...
- Counterterrorism Division organizational chart