Eye on Extremism
March 30, 2023
Associated Press: Greece: Terror Suspects Offered Money To Target Jewish Site
“Greek authorities said police were continuing searches in Athens and other parts of the country Wednesday following the arrest of two suspects accused of planning an attack at Jewish center in a busy downtown area of the Greek capital. The two men, described of being of Pakistani origin but not further identified, were charged Tuesday with terrorism offenses, while a third man believed to be in Iran was charged in absentia. Rabbi Mendel Hendel, who runs the Chabad Jewish center, said he learned about the planned attack on the news. ‘Thank God we are safe. We’re grateful that this act of terrorism was prevented,’ Hendel said in a statement with his wife Nechama e-mailed to the Associated Press. ‘We would like to publicly thank the Greek authorities.’ Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Tuesday said his country’s intelligence agency Mossad helped Greece prevent the terrorist attack. A statement from his office maintained the attackers were linked to Iran.”
Al Jazeera: EU Removes Pakistan From List Of High-Risk Countries
“The European Union has removed Pakistan from its ‘list of high-risk third countries’, a move that is expected to improve conditions for business activity. In a statement announcing the news on Wednesday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce said the listing of Pakistan in 2018 had resulted in creating a regulatory burden affecting Pakistani companies doing business with the 27-member bloc. ‘The new development would add to the comfort level of the European economic operators and is likely to ease the cost and time of legal and financial transactions by Pakistani entities and individuals in EU,’ the statement said. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said in a Twitter post that Pakistani businesses and individuals ‘would no longer be subjected to Enhanced Customer Due Diligence’ by European legal and economic operators.”
United States
ABC7 News: Maine Teenager To Plead Guilty In ISIS-Inspired Terror Plot To Attack Chicago Mosques
“A Maine teenager has signed a plea agreement admitting he had weapons and Isis inspired plans to attack Chicago area Shia mosques last March. As part of the plan, 19-year-old Xavier Pelkey would rendezvous with underage accomplices from Chicago and Canada to stage an armed invasion of mosques that would include separating and killing adult men worshipers. The new guilty plea documents obtained by the I-Team reveal Pelkey had already written a public statement to be released when the Chicago attack began. Pelkey now admits he had amassed and planned to use homemade explosives. Bombs and ISIS paraphernalia were part of a plot, according to Pelkey, targeting Shia Muslims in Chicago whom he and his unnamed terror accomplices considered non-believers in their more radical Sunni Islam world.”
Syria
WTOP News: The Hunt: ISIS Fighters Bribe Their Way Out Of Prison
“Months ago, when devastating earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, another major development took place. A number of ISIS fighters were able to bribe their way, using U.S. dollars, out of prisons in the region. On this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent JJ Green”, Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler says the money they used to escape likely came from a fund, via a refugee camp, left over from the now-defunct ISIS caliphate.”
Associated Press: Syria Says Israeli Strikes Near Damascus Wound 2 Soldiers
“Syrian state media said Israel staged airstrikes in the Damascus area early Thursday, wounding two soldiers and causing material damage. Loud explosions were heard over the Syrian capital around 1:30 a.m., and the SANA state news agency said Syrian air defenses were ‘confronting hostile targets.’ SANA, quoting an unidentifed military official, said some missiles were shot down by the air defenses. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges specific operations. Israel says it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.”
Kurdistan24: ISIS Cells Continue To Spread Terror In Northeast Syria
“The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor on Tuesday reported that ISIS cells in the Arab-majority Deir ez-Zor province are spreading fear among civilians by hanging posters on walls, mosques, and electricity poles. These posters reportedly contain threats of murder against men and women, including accusations of failing to pay ‘zakat’ (Islamic tax) and other charges in areas under control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Deir ez-Zor. The activity of these cells have increased recently in areas near Tayyeb al-Fal, Al-Hariji, Al-Harijiyah, and Al-Hajnah in the northern Deir ez-zor countryside, causing fear and panic among civilians. The east bank of the Euphrates river in Deir al-Zor is controlled by SDF-linked forces, while the west bank is controlled by Syrian government-backed forces and Iran-linked forces backed by Russia. According to sources from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), also on March 24, gunmen believed to be of ISIS cells stuck pieces of paper on the doors of mosques in the SDF-controlled town of Theban in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.”
Iraq
Reuters: Netherlands To Probe 2016 Anti-Islamic State Air Strike In Iraq
“The Dutch government on Thursday said it would investigate an air strike against an alleged Islamic State headquarters in northern Iraq in 2016, which might have killed seven civilians. A bomb dropped by a Dutch F-16 fighter jet taking part in U.S.-led counter-terrorism operations on March 22, 2016, destroyed a building in Mosul, which was believed to be the headquarters of the militant group. But the Dutch Defence Ministry said it suspected the raid had killed civilians instead, after Dutch broadcaster NOS and newspaper NRC said their research had shown that the building had only housed two families that had no ties to Islamic State militants. The ministry said it would publish a list with details of all the approximately 2,100 raids carried out over Iraq and Syria by Dutch F-16s as part of the anti-IS coalition between 2014 and 2018. It said the list would include the date, time, weather conditions, type of mission and possible collateral damage of each flight.”
Pakistan
Associated Press: Pakistan Militants Kill 4 Police Officers, Hurt 6 In Attacks
“Taliban militants in a pair of attacks killed four police officers by targeting a police vehicle with a roadside bomb and wounded six in an attack on a police station in northwest Pakistan early Thursday, police and the insurgents said. The bomb killed four officers in a police vehicle carrying reinforcements sent to respond to the attack on a police station in Lakki Marwat, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Six officers were wounded in the attack at the police station. Local police officer Ashfaq Khan said a search was underway for the militant suspects who attacked the police station in Lakki Marwat and later targeted the police vehicle with a bomb.”
Middle East
The Jerusalem Post: Otzma Yehudit Presents Bill To Send Terrorists Younger Than 14 To Normal Prison
“A bill to lower the age of imprisonment for terrorism to below the age of fourteen was submitted by Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kreuzer on Wednesday. The Youth Law, which holds that a minor below the age of 14 can't be imprisoned, would be amended to soften the restriction if the minor committed an act of terrorism. A prison sentence would be able to be imposed on an underage terrorist taking into consideration the outcome of the case, the effect on the minor, the age when the attack was committed, and the personality of the minor. A provision limiting the detention of minors if another less intrusive measure could be used to achieve the same ends would be similarly conditioned in terrorism cases. The bill's explanatory notes said that under the current Youth Law detention is shorted for minors under 14, and cannot be arrested until the end of legal proceedings.”
Somalia
AllAfrica: Somalia: Somali Army Repels Al-Shabaab Attack In Hiran Region
“A battle broke out early on Wednesday morning in the Bardhere area of Hiran region between the local forces supported by the SNA and Al-Shabaab. The skirmish came after Al-Shabaab fighters who crossed the Shabelle River on the west side attacked a base belonging to the allied forces, who managed to fend off the ambush. It remains sketchy the casualties caused by the fighting that locals said involved heavy weapons being used by both sides. The militants were overpowered and repulsed later. Al-Shabaab lost dozens of villages to Mawisley and Somali government forces in the eastern parts of Hiran region where the militant group has been active for over 10 years.”
Garowe Online: Somalia's Soldiers Take Control Of New Areas From Al-Shabaab
“The Somali National Army [SNA] regained control of several villages within Gal'ad district in Galmadug, with the presence of Ma'awisley clan militia boosting the military's quest to restore civilian rule in several towns across the country as the government prepares to officially launch the second phase of operations against the group. Some of the villages which were successfully retained by the military after minimal use of force include Tih, Barag Sheikh Amir, Alihele, and Ali Ahmed where the militants had been in charge. Gal'ad town has been the epicenter of operations against Al-Shabaab in the last seven months. But before losing turn villages, Al-Shabaab militants are said to have destroyed masts in an attempt to paralyze the military's operations in the region. The military, officials said, have since surrounded the villages and would soon install civilian administration as a routine practice.”
Garowe Online: Gaetz Introduces Resolution To Remove US Troops From Somalia, Challenging Biden's Policy In Africa
“Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., has introduced a war powers resolution that seeks to remove all United States armed forces from Somalia, except for those assigned to protect the U.S. Embassy. The resolution is a challenge to the Biden, administration's policy in the Horn of Africa. In a statement, Rep. Gaetz criticized the military leadership's inability to properly assess their own efficacy, saying, ‘How do they expect Americans to believe their justification of occupying Somalia when they can't even determine who in their own training programs will lead a violent coup afterwards?’ He also questioned the necessity of continuing the occupation of Somalia, stating, ‘While the Congressional War Machine has decided to rage on in Syria, they must explain how continuing the occupation of Somalia best serves the interests of the American people at home. If they cannot, it is incumbent upon the Congress to bring our troops home from Somalia.’”
Africa
The Guardian: Egyptian Army Has Turned Sinai Schools Into Military Bases, Says Rights Group
“Egyptian forces have taken over 37 schools and transformed them into military bases while dozens more have been destroyed during a 10-year war with militants in Sinai, a rights group has found in an initial assessment. In a months-long investigation shared with the Guardian before its official release, the UK-based Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR) accused the Egyptian armed forces of compromising the right to education of children during its campaign against militants in north Sinai. Using satellite images, video, photos and testimony from witnesses who live in the sparsely populated area, the group found the army had carried out the ‘unnecessary targeting of certain schools’, causing ‘community-wide shock’. Ahmed Salem, SFHR’s co-founder and executive director, said: ‘Schools are used as bases because they are often built two or three storeys high, whereas most of the buildings in the area are one story. It gives the military a place to position snipers.’”
Europe
Voice Of America News: Belgium Charges 7 People With Terrorism Offenses
“Belgian authorities have charged seven people over ‘possible terrorist attacks,’ federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. The announcement came the day after prosecutors said they had detained eight people following raids on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack in Belgium. In their latest statement, the prosecutors said four people had been charged with taking part in the activities of a terrorist group, preparing a terrorist offense, attempted assassination and intending to spread a message to incite the commission of a terrorist offense. The four — three Belgians and one Turk — were all linked to a case in the city of Antwerp, the prosecutors said. They would appear before a court there on April 3, the statement said.”
Technology
Mirror: ISIS Supporter Posted Photos Of Herself With Severed Heads Impaled On Spikes
“A 35-year-old ISIS supporter has been found guilty of war crimes after she posted photos from Syria of herself with severed heads on Facebook in 2014. The Goteborg District Court in Sweden sentenced Fatosh Ibrahim, who pleaded not guilty, to three months in prison. The court said on two occasions she published photographs of severed heads impaled on the fence that were placed there by so-called Islamic State militants in Raqqa. Ibrahim used her cell phone to take photos of herself in Raqqa's Naim Square where the militants had displayed hanged bodies or heads. ‘There [Raqqa] the women had no rights but had to do as the men said. I posted the pictures on Facebook, I don't know what I was thinking. I was war wounded. It was very common to see dead bodies in Raqqa,’ Ibrahim said in court.”
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