here's our security correspondent frank gardner.ondent frank gardner. remote valley in a re dentists. a remote valley in a remote country. dentists. 11 tonnes of high explosive. on an ice is complex in afghanistan. the blast was felt 30 miles away. the weapon used is called a massive ordnance airburst, also known as the mother of all bombs. this was its first time used in combat. this was the right weapon against the right target. we will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our afghan comrades. to eliminate this threat to the afg ha n to eliminate this threat to the afghan people, especially the people of this region and indeed the people around the world. local villagers confirmed that isis fighters had set up confirmed that isis fighters had set up bases in the mountains behind them, and said the bomb had hit its target. but the strike was condemned by both so—called islamic state and afg hanistan‘s former by both so—called islamic state and afghanistan's former president. how could the united states use afghanistan is a gr

frank gardner just saying cording to unconfirmed reports. ust saying that cording to unconfirmed reports. frank gardner just saying that the swedish media are saying that the truck used in today's attack was hijacked from a brewery company. a manjumped into hijacked from a brewery company. a man jumped into the hijacked from a brewery company. a manjumped into the cab and drove off with it. it does seem a very swiftly developing situation, but the latest we have is the truck used in the attack that took place around ipm this afternoon our time, 2pm in central sweden, the truck had been hijacked from a brewery company. a manjumped into hijacked from a brewery company. a man jumped into the hijacked from a brewery company. a manjumped into the cab and drove off with it. you are seeing pictures now from said. home where the attack took place. it took place just outside a busy department store and we have heard since the subway system in stockholm has been closed to traffic. the area there has been cordoned off. the parliament has been put into l

frank gardner reports. a remote valley in a remote country.his. 11 tonnes of high explosives, dropped an an isis tunnel complex in afghanistan. the blast was felt 30 miles away. the weapon used is called moab, or massive ordnance air burst, also known as the mother of all bombs. this was its first time used in combat. this was the right weapon against the right target. we will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our afghan comrades. to eliminate this threat to the afghan people, especially the people of this region, and indeed the people around the world. local villagers confirmed that isis fighters had set up bases in the mountains behind them, and said the bomb had hit its target. but the strike was condemned by both so—called islamic state and afghanistan's former president. how could the united states use afghanistan as a ground for experiments, for testing weapons of mass destruction? president trump's targets now include three major problem areas for the us — afghanistan, syria and north korea. the massive weapon that the pentagon

our security correspondent, frank gardner, is with me is now.d regime. to consider that chemical attack and on goal, essentially? i think it will certainly think twice before doing it again. it got away, according to chemical experts, with three chlorine strikes on civilian areas last year with no action. and remember that there was no action, punitive action, after the 2013 chemical strike, the sarin gas attack on the outskirts of damascus. so clearly president assad is determined to reclaim the hall of syria. and he wants to punish those areas outside his control, and basically drive them back into the syrian government or by —— the whole of syria. this was an extraordinary on goal really. there is a similarity here with the so—called islamic state. back in 2014 they we re islamic state. back in 2014 they were carrying out atrocities and nobody was really paying any attention. then they went and ca ptu red attention. then they went and captured that yazidi people, the sex slaves and western hostages and beheaded them on camera, that brought th

our security correspondent frank gardner reports.his is the us navy's carl vinson carrier battle group, equipped with 90 strike aircraft and other weapons and diverted to the seas off north korea. mr trump is hoping it will intimidate that country's isolated regime into abandoning any further nuclear tests or long—range missile launches. china has warned of the imminent danger of a war being triggered on the korean peninsula, and north korea remains defiant, saying it's ready to respond to any attack with nuclear weapons. meanwhile, in afghanistan, the us has dropped an immense bomb — 11 tonnes of high explosive dropped on an isis tunnel complex in the mountains of eastern afghanistan. the blast was felt 30 miles away. the weapon used is called a moab, a massive ordnance airburst, also known as the mother of all bombs. this was its first time used in combat. this was the right weapon against the right target. we will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our afghan comrades to eliminate this threat to the afghan people, especial

frank gardner, bbc news. downloading the bbc news app. the national union of teachers says it's prepared to take legal action against the government, over plans which it believes are being used to expand selective education in england. the union believes it's identified comprehensive schools which are bending the rules by introducing some selection based on the results of a test. the move comes as ministers seek to lift the ban on new grammar schools. our education editor, bran—wen jeffreys reports from the union's annual conference in cardiff. grammar schools have a long history. in altrincham, 100 years of tradition. then, almost 20 years ago, new grammar schools were banned. now, some comprehensives offera grammarstream — for many, a way of stretching the brightest. but could this also be used to get around the law? so today, a warning of legal action. they fear ministers could encourage more of this. the schools where we'd have an issue around this is a school that's advertising a grammar stream, that is

frank gardner, bbc news.how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages atio:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the journalist helen croydon and the independent‘s business editor, josie cox. north korea has vowed to mount a "merciless" response to any us provocation following comments from president donald trump that the isolated regime's nuclear weapons programme "will be dealt with." meanwhile, pyongyang is thought to be preparing for a massive military parade tomorrow at which its latest missile technology may be on display. our reporterjohn sudworth is with a group of foreign journalists invited to witness the event — his movements are being monitored and tightly controlled. they sing in north korea, the spectre of war looms large over daily life. these girls are singing about being soldiers... while, not far away, real ones crowd into a shrine to the country's founding president, general kim il—sung. these are scenes akin to a religious pilgrim

frank gardner, bbc news.'s bombing in dortmund cast doubt on whether the attack was the work of radical islamists. the three identical letters claim the borussia dortmund team bus was attacked "in the name of allah". but experts say they have "significa nt doubts" about their authenticity. computer hackers in the united states have released files indicating that the country's intelligence services have been monitoring global bank transfers. the files suggest that the national security agency was able to penetrate the international bank messaging system known as swift, allowing it to trace the flow of billions of dollars to and from banks, particularly in the middle east. the trump administration will not make public the white house visitor logs, the records that detail who has visited the president and his staff. the white house said the records would be kept secret for at least five years after president trump leaves office, citing national security risks and privacy concerns. barack obama voluntarily disclo

frank gardner, security correspondent. villagers and fighters from four rebel held villages in syria, two of them close to the capital damascus. it follows a deal struck between president assad's government and rebel forces. but the opposition says it amounts to deliberate displacement of the president's opponents further from the capital. our correspondent ben james, who's in beirut in neighbouring lebanon, has been following the story for us. i asked him why both sides have come to this agreement. well, certainly the government of president assad has talked about these sorts of deals as in their field being has talked about these sorts of deals as in theirfield being key has talked about these sorts of deals as in their field being key to promoting some kind of peace, to defusing some of these opposition enclaves that still exist in predominantly government—held areas, the last one we were talking about before this was in an area of homs, once the capital of the revolution but only one opposition held area was remaining

frank gardner, security correspondent.een stabbed to death on a tram injerusalem. the woman, in her early 20s, was rushed to a hospital but died soon after. police say two other people were also injured during the attack. a 57—year—old palestinian man has been arrested. earlier i spoke to our respondent in jerusalem, tom bateman. he gave me the latest. police and security agency shin bet say this is a man of 57 who lived in a palestinian neighbours of eastjerusalem. they said he had been recently released from a psychiatric hospital and suggested he had previous criminal convictions so that may shed some light at the early stage of this investigation into what went on. in terms of the attack we know that this woman was attacked on the city's light rail, the tram network, just outside the old city of jerusalem when this woman was repeatedly stabbed this morning. she was taken to hospital, there was an attempt to resuscitate her that was not successful and she died. two others were not seriously hurt, a 30—year—old woman was

with me is our security correspondent, frank gardner. we know the wish and the hope of much of the international community, thatis much of the international community, that is that russia somehow decides it will dump its role in syria. the likelihood of that does not seem likely, but what if that did happen? the international community does not include china and iran who are allies, along with russia, president assad and iran has a major chip in the game. let's just suppose that russia said to rex tillerson, you are absolutely right, assad is a monster, let's drop him. i can tell you what would happen. within weeks, you what would happen. within weeks, you would have isis and al-qaeda fighting it out on the streets of damascus and the entire country would implode. the trick here is to have a negotiated and order to the pa rt have a negotiated and order to the part show of assad, possibly months away, but with russian agreement, albeit through gritted teeth, but to do it in an ordered and structured way while preserving a majority of the

with me is frank gardner, our security correspondent. so far, what does this look like tu?he fact that it was a pedestrian precinct, and this truck was driven deliberately into that, shows that this was not an accident. it does not mean it is definitely a terrorist attack. i know the prime minister is saying it has the indications are that, but it may be someone indications are that, but it may be someone who is mentally disturbed, who had a row with his wife that morning, who knows? everyonejumped to the conclusion that the westminster attack a few weeks ago was jihadists, westminster attack a few weeks ago wasjihadists, and westminster attack a few weeks ago was jihadists, and even westminster attack a few weeks ago wasjihadists, and even though isis claimed it, there is no evidence to link it. so we don't know what is behind this. it could be someone who has been fired from his job and was severely depressed, suicidally. sweden is in absolute shock right now. i just got sweden is in absolute shock right now. ijust got back from there yesterday, and i was on that street t

our security correspondent, frank gardner, is here. re there any more indications tonight can you shed more light on the picture? there are two macro groups. terrorism from the caucasus or international terrorism from syria. one report has put the number of russian nationals who have gone to fight in syria up to 7000. some have been killed, some have stayed and some have come home. russia has already been fighting two wars in the north caucasus. it has reduced that to a simmering status. people are angry. a lot of the fear fiercest fighters who have joined so—called islamic state have come from the north caucasus bout with the latter is where the focus of the fx—— the latter is where the focus of the f x -- fsb's the latter is where the focus of the f x —— fsb's attentions have been focused. they are the successes of the kgb for that they had been looking at the evidence and parental residue, examining the bomb and questioning suspects and looking at cctv. they have been commendably reticent, and name the suspect that those are the area

frank gardner, thank you very much. in court in relation to an alleged attack on an asylum seeker in croydon. the teenager — who is of kurdish iranian descent — was set upon after telling a group of people that he was an asylum seeker. he is said to be in a serious but stable condition in hospital. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. police are still looking for these two people. one man appearing slightly younger, the other older. they may have been part of the mob which attacked the 17 year code which attacked the 17 year old student and his friends. detectives today said come to us before we come to you. this morning the officer in charge said that in total 11 people had been arrested in connection with what she said was a horrendous assault. this is powered by numbers so there there's been an incident outside a pub, they have obviously picked on three young men. there was no reason for this attack and i believe because of the numbers involved, people have just jumped on the back of it and this has tu

frank gardner, security correspondent.n stabbed to death on a train injerusalem. the woman, in her early 20s, was rushed to a hospital but died soon after. police say two other people were also injured during the attack. a 57—year—old palestinian man has been arrested. let's get more on this now with our middle east correspondent, tom bateman, who is injerusalem. tom, since we last spoke we have learned more about the attack, his identity and background. that's right. the police and the security agency says this was a 57—year—old man who lived in a palestinian neighbourhoods of jerusalem. man who lived in a palestinian neighbourhoods ofjerusalem. they said he had been recently released from a psychiatric hospital and had previous convictions which may shed light into what went wrong. in terms of the attack we know that this woman was attacked and the tram network, the light rail, running just outsidejerusalem's old city when this woman was repeatedly stabbed this morning. there was an attempt to resuscitate her which was n

our security correspondent frank gardner

here's our security correspondent frank gardner.ey in a remote country. 11 tonnes of high explosive. on an isis tunnel complex in afghanistan. the blast was felt 30 miles away. the weapon used is called a massive ordnance airburst, also known as the mother of all bombs. this was its first time used in combat. this was the right weapon against the right target. we will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our afghan comrades. to eliminate this threat to the afghan people, especially the people of this region, and indeed the people around the world. local villagers confirmed that isis fighters had set up bases in the mountains behind them, and said the bomb had hit its target. but the strike was condemned by both so—called islamic state and afghanistan's former president. how could the united states use afghanistan is a ground for experiments, for testing weapons of mass destruction? president trump's targets now include three major problem areas for the us: afghanistan, syria and north korea. the massive weapon that the pentago

frank gardner, bbc news. so what we know about trump's strategies?very powerful armada, a naval strikeforce to the korean peninsula, they are there and standing by, just in case. that north korea intends to carry out a sixth nuclear test, donald trump in the past has used language like "it won't happen", and in the last few hours, he said that north korea is "doing the wrong thing, making a big mistake." remember this is a president that within the last week alone has shown that not only is he willing to act, he is willing to act without warning. consider that syrian strike just last week, he casually turned to the president of china over dinner, while remarking about how nice the chocolate cake is, he then turns around and says he sent 59 cruise missiles to syria. that is a strong message that not only is he sending to china but he is sending to china's neighbours in north korea. he is trying to tell the world that there is a new sheriff in town, that there is a man in the white house who unlike his predecessor is willing to act and cross, when he s

the truck is still at large and police have issued an image of him. 0ur security correspondent frank gardneris happening... a moment of panic in a peaceful city. this was stockholm this afternoon, as people fled in terror from a truck which appeared to drive deliberately into crowds of shoppers on a pedestrian street. translation: i saw exactly where the lorry went in, just there. there wasn't much of a reaction, then the police arrived. the police just said, you have to run. initial reports said two people were killed, then at least three, and several injured. stockholm has seen nothing like this for years. the truck crashed into a department store and caught fire. the brewery company that owned it said a man hijacked it earlier during a delivery. this person is a localjournalist. you could actually see bodies lying on the street and i could see the police covering the body with an orange blanket. there were lots of police around, lots of people standing around and filming, taking photos. there was a lady laying with a severed foot, there was blood everywhere, there were bodies on the groun

frank gardner, thank you very much indeed. we can bring in our correspondent at the scene.ell us where you are in relation to what has been happening. iam in relation to what has been happening. i am in the centre of the government area of london on whitehall, looking down about 200 yards from the houses of parliament and in the other direction about 200 yards away from downing street. if i step out of the way you can see what is going on at the moment. they have been working on the traffic island. they have been picking up various objects. we have seen a brown backpack that has been picked up and at least two knives. we know from police this operation started about 220 bm today. it was a stop and search operation, part of an ongoing operation, part of an ongoing operation, the police tell us. armed officers stopped a man. they were firearms officers of specialist command. they stopped the man on the traffic island outside westminster station. we do not know why he was stopped. we do know that he was known to the police. he was stopped, he was handcuffed. it appears one of

with me is our security correspondent frank gardner — the russian prime minister says it's an act of who will the russians be looking at? well, this is what the fsb, the su ccesso i’s well, this is what the fsb, the successors to the soviet era kgb have been looking out all afternoon, they have gone through cctv footage, looked at the friends at residue. essentially suspicions fall on two areas, one inspired by so—called islamic state, remember that around 7000 russian marginals, most from the north caucasus, have gone to join extremist groups in syria. some have been killed, some have stayed, some comeback. the second group ones who have had form in attacking russia before, which is the chechen and north caucus they killed over 30 people in an attack in moscow in 2010 on the underground. it could even be a combination of both. no one has yet claimed responsibility, the russians say they are keeping an open mind on it but that is a suspicions life. thank you. theresa may has laughed off suggestions of a military conflict between the uk and spain over gibraltar. yesterday the former t

our security correspondent frank gardner recaps now on what we know. the people are scared.s happening... a moment of panic in a peaceful city. this was stockholm this afternoon, as people fled in terror from a truck which appeared to drive deliberately into crowds of shoppers on a pedestrian street. translation: i saw exactly where the lorry went in, just there. there wasn‘t much of a reaction, then the police arrived. the police just said, you have to run. initial reports said two people were killed, then at least three, and several injured. stockholm has seen nothing like this for years. the truck crashed into a department store and caught fire. the brewery company that owned it said a man hijacked it earlier during a delivery. this person is a localjournalist. you could actually see bodies lying on the street and i could see the police covering the body with an orange blanket. there were lots of police around, lots of people standing around and filming, taking photos. there was a lady laying with a severed foot, there was blood everywhere, there were bodies on the ground

if the russians stepped aside and let the war play out. 0ur security correspondent frank gardner is hereone where you would have islamic state, al-qaeda state and the other proxies fighting it out for damascus. that is the risk. russia has a huge amount of self interest in staying in syria, used to have all sort of client states over the middle east, libya, yemen, egypt, but it has lost bows and now only has syria, but it would like to stay there. —— it has lost those. it looks at what happened in libya, russia signed up to the un security council resolution that applied a no—fly zone to stop aids massacre by —— to stop a massacre by colonel gaddafi. libya now, is an basic set story question not know, it is a com plete story question not know, it is a complete basket case. —— is it a success complete basket case. —— is it a success story? assad is a monster and he has murdered so many people in that country's dreadful civil war, but to vladimir putin he symbolises stability. if you have a rushed and forced departure of assad you risk the collapse of the regime and the worry is that you h

frank gardner, thank you. he sometimes texts in to radio one presenters under a different name: william, someone from around here told me that you were a bit nervous about being on radio one today?” don't know what you are talking about, scott! this is a face of calm! is it true that you listen? occasionally. do you texting?” calm! is it true that you listen? occasionally. do you texting? i have done. and a different name? obviously, i would done. and a different name? obviously, iwould not done. and a different name? obviously, i would not tell you who iwas, i obviously, i would not tell you who i was, i texted adel recently, i was driving to work on the air ambulance shift and she was the only one up at that time. what are you doing texting in your car? i have not texted while driving, it is illegal! i don‘t need to know the name, but did you get a shout out? yes, from adele on the day. i also got a shout out ages ago from sara cox.” adele on the day. i also got a shout out ages ago from sara cox. i don't th

a note praising islamic state was found near his body. 0ur security correspondent frank gardner is here of many. pretty much every terrorist attack that we see in europe these days, the assailant, the perpetrator, is nearly always on some kind of a watch list, or known to the authorities. it begs exactly your question, what is the point of that if they cannot be stopped? the reason is that it all comes down to quite a complex balance between resources and priorities. this particular guy was convicted in 2001 of attempting to kill a policeman. he clearly had a thing against policeman. he was planning a gun attack, and tried to carry it out, to wound them. he spent more than ten yea rs to wound them. he spent more than ten years in prison. he was released inafew ten years in prison. he was released in a few years ago. he was arrested earlier this year, again, for attempting to plan the murder of policeman. but for lack of sufficient evidence, he was released. clearly, here is somebody who is an issue, and probably should have been watched more closely. in britain, there are in excess of 3

with me now to tell us more is our security correspondent frank gardner.re told it was a stop and search but this was not random. it was someone in the police and m15 were aware for some time. it was an intelligence led operation and i think they had been following him and knew where he was going and probably suspected what he had in his rucksack. although it was, drafted at the time, he was arrested and wrestled to the ground, right outside the door of the treasury, really yards, metres from the entrance to downing street. the prime minister is not in london but away campaigning. he didn't seemed off any great resistance and you see the pictures, he almost appears to be smiling. he is very calm and he wasn't shouting or anything like that. this could potentially have been very different given the fact he was carrying offensive weapons. the investigation carried out, he is being held at a south london police station and investigated. inevitably, because this is happening five weeks after the serious terrorist attack in whitehall in which five people plus t

with me is our security correspondent, frank gardner.lated.|j don't saying this is terror related.” don't think there was ever really any doubt that this was terrorism. some hours ago the prosecutor general said it was terrorism then he retracted it because it was a little premature officially, but yes, there was no warning given, the target was civilians, packed like are intoa target was civilians, packed like are into a cramped, confined space. it was a time for maximum carnage, although if it happened at a commuter town, it could have been even worse. the fsb, the successor to the soviet era kgb, they are having an investigation. they are very good at it. they have their own frantic bomb experts. they will have been examining the cctv, the testimony of witnesses and also looking at forensic clues, the explosive residue which brings us to the question who is likely to have done this? no one has claimed responsibility so far, but the two main areas of suspicion are going to fall on so—called islamic state, or groups inspired by them, ji

our security correspondent, frank gardner, is here.ntelligence service. there have been questions about the french intelligence services and whether they are sufficiently joined services and whether they are sufficientlyjoined up services and whether they are sufficiently joined up not services and whether they are sufficientlyjoined up not in the wa ke sufficientlyjoined up not in the wake of previous. have they improved? they are improving but they have a way to go. no country has a perfect intelligence service. in britain, they learned the lessons of the mistakes of seven slash seven —— tevye. there used to be a rivalry between the police and m15. now, they work side—by—side. they have counterterrorism units scattered all over the country including northern ireland. they work together in joint planning meetings. they havejoint prioritisation. that close working cooperation does not exist to the same cooperation does not exist to the sa m e exte nt cooperation does not exist to the same extent on the continent. particularly in belgiu

our security correspondent, frank gardner is here in the studio. on terror watch list, one figure i saw quoted was more than 10,000. britain has over 3000. they cannot go around arresting all of these people because there is not the evidence, they are aware they have shown an interest in ices and so—called islamic state, in extremist propaganda, but until they start plotting a crime and cross that line into criminal activity, it is very hard for them to do something about it. what tabs can they keep on that number of people? it is very resource intensive, they can spend two months throwing everything at someone, tap their phones, put watches on them, different people changing identities and stop. it is enormously intensive and stop. it is enormously intensive and if nothing is shown in that time they simply cannot afford to keep those resources on that target, they will switch to somebody else. it may well be that person simply has not shown their hand, that is what happened with 7/7, the london bombings, mohammad sidique khan, the ringleader, had n

frank gardner is at the bbc.10, there was an horrific attack in moscow that was blamed on jihadists in the north caucasus. even though the russian authorities have been cautious about where they apportion blame, suspicion will fall on the north caucuses because there isa on the north caucuses because there is a track record there. is this domestic terrorism, the beef being from chechen border pakistani nationalist militants against russia, or is this something inspired or possibly directed by so—called islamic state in response to russian air strikes in syria?” was surprised how quickly they came out —— the prime minister came out calling it a terrorist attack. how difficult will it be for them to try and pinpoint what group may be behind it? it won't be too difficult because they have one device intact. their word two devices. even from the first romper went off, the explosive ordinance people will be able to scrape the residue of explosive residue that didn't com pletely explosive residue that didn't completely