Eye on Extremism
August 1, 2019
The
Wall Street Journal: Son Of Osama Bin Laden Believed
Dead
“Hamza bin Laden, the son of al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and a
rising figure in his late father’s violent Islamist group, is believed
to have died, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The date, location and
other circumstances surrounding the death weren’t immediately clear,
but communication among militants suggests he had been killed, the
officials said. President Trump and top administration officials
didn’t immediately confirm the reports of the death. “I don’t want to
comment on it,” Mr. Trump told reporters earlier in the day at the
White House when asked about the reports. One U.S. official said that
there had not been any public statements attributed to Hamza bin Laden
since 2018. His death appears to have taken place some time
ago—details are uncertain—but only confirmed by U.S. intelligence
agencies in recent weeks. His death was first reported by NBC News.
U.S. officials had become increasingly concerned in recent years about
Hamza bin Laden’s repeated threats and calls for attacks on Americans
at home and abroad as well as against U.S. allies.”
VOA:
Taliban Expects Peace Deal With US In Next Meeting
“The Taliban says it is hopeful an agreement will be reached with
the United States to end the 18-year-old war in Afghanistan when the
two adversaries meet later this week in Qatar for a crucial round of
peace negotiations. The two sides have worked hard for nearly one year
and almost drafted a text in which “we have addressed all major
issues,” Suhail Shaheen, who speaks for the Taliban negotiating team,
told VOA. Taliban negotiators have done their part and it is now up to
the American side whether they have "made up their mind” and take the
next step of winding up the dialogue process, he asserted. “We hope to
reach an agreement on the troops’ withdrawal,” Shaheen said when asked
for his exceptions from the upcoming meeting, though he declined to
say when exactly the talks will take place. U.S chief negotiator
Zalamay Khalilzad, who has been in Afghanistan for more than a week,
tweeted Wednesday that he is heading to Qatar for talks with the
Taliban. "In Doha, if the Taliban do their part, we will do ours and
conclude the agreement we have been working on."
The
New York Times: At Least 32 Killed In Attacks On Yemen Military Parade
And Police Station
“Two separate attacks in Yemen on Thursday, including a missile
assault by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement, killed at least 32
people, including police officers and a military commander, officials
said. The Houthi movement said it had mounted drone and missile
attacks on a military parade in Aden, the seat of the Saudi-backed
government, killing the commander and dozens of others. In another
attack in the Omar al-Mokhtar neighborhood of Aden, an
explosives-laden car blew up at a police station, killing at least
three officers, a security official said, and wounding dozens of
others, including civilians. It was not clear if the attacks were
related. Previous car attacks in Yemen have been carried out by
Islamist militant groups like Al Qaeda. The bomber drove into the
police station’s gates shortly before the morning police lineup at the
start of the workday, the official said. Aden is the seat of Yemen’s
internationally recognized government, which has been at war with the
rebel Houthis who control the capital, Sana. There was no immediate
comment from the Yemeni government or the coalition about the
attacks.”
Reuters:
Islamic State Attacks Kill Seven Security Forces In Iraq
-Police
“At least seven members of Iraq's security forces were killed and
16 wounded overnight in two separate attacks by Islamic State
militants, police said on Thursday. Three members of the paramilitary
Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and two policemen were killed in an
attack in the Sayed Gharib area north of Salahuddin province's Dujail
district, 50 km (30 miles) north of Baghdad, late on Wednesday, police
said. The PMF is an umbrella grouping of mostly Iran-backed Shi'ite
militias that formally report to Iraq's prime minister. Separately, a
mortar attack against Kurdish forces in Kola Jawi village of
Sulaimaniya province's Kalar district at midnight killed two members
of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government's Asayish
internal security forces and wounded 14, an Asayish source said.
Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for either attack. Iraq
declared victory over Islamic State, which once held large swathes of
the country, in December 2017, but the hardline Sunni militants have
since switched to hit-and-run attacks aimed at undermining the Baghdad
government. They have regrouped in the Hamrin mountain range in the
northeast, which extends from Diyala province, on the border with
Iran, crossing northern Salahuddin and southern Kirkuk province, an
area security officials call a “triangle of death.”
Bloomberg:
What Iran Will Do Next, And How To Stop It
“Predictably, Iran is reacting badly to the announcement that
Europe is planning to send a multinational naval force to protect
merchant shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz. "We heard that
they intend to send a European fleet to the Persian Gulf which
naturally carries a hostile message, is provocative and will increase
tensions," said an Iranian government spokesman this week. In
combination, the Europeans’ welcome decision to increase the warship
count and the Iranian response – only verbal thus far, thankfully –
are likely to increase the chances of a military miscalculation that
provokes a shooting war. The strategic backdrop, of course, is the
U.S.-Iranian conflict that is being played out in the aftermath of the
American pullout from the 2015 agreement to circumscribe the Iranian
nuclear program. Disappointed with the somewhat limited scope of that
agreement, the Trump administration withdrew, much to the dismay of
our European allies, and proceeded to levy harsh economic sanctions on
Iran. In response, the Iranians are trying to show the world that they
control the Strait of Hormuz and can close it if they choose, thus
causing significant disruption to the global economy.”
The
Washington Post: Australia Proposes New Laws To Keep Extremists In
Prison
“The Australian government introduced legislation to Parliament on
Thursday that would give authorities more power to keep extremists
behind bars after they have served prison sentences if they are still
considered dangerous. The move is a response to a 2017 siege in which
a gunman who once trained with Muslim extremists, Yacqub Khayre,
killed a Melbourne apartment building receptionist and wounded three
police officers months after being released early from prison. The
bill has been introduced as the government is accused of trampling
human rights and press freedom by ratcheting up it national security
laws in response to the evolving threat posed by Muslim extremists
such as the Islamic State group. The federal and state governments
agreed in late 2015 to create nationally consistent so-called
continuing detention orders to keep convicted terrorists in custody
after they have served their sentences. Attorney General Christian
Porter said the proposed new law would close a loophole that prevented
some extremists from being kept in custody. The law would create a
presumption against parole for convicted terrorists and terrorist
supporters. Khayre, a Somali-born refugee, took a woman hostage during
a two-hour siege that ended with him being killed by police. The
hostage escaped harm.”
United States
CNN:
Extremist Material Was Found In A Home Used By The Gilroy Festival
Shooter, Source Says
“Police found extremist material during a search of a Nevada home
they believe the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooter once rented, according
to law enforcement source familiar with the investigation. The seized
material pertained to different -- and at times, competing --
political ideologies, and authorities have yet to nail down a clear
ideology to which Santino Legan subscribed, the source said. The news
came two days after police searched the same home in Walker Lake,
about 100 miles southeast of Reno, and seized several weapons
accessories and computer hardware. The home is about a six-hour drive
from Gilroy. As authorities continue to investigate what led Legan to
kill a 6-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s while
injuring a dozen others, ranging in age from 12 to 69, a mixed picture
of the gunman has emerged. While Legan's social media activity
suggests he had xenophobic or racist tendencies, a neighbor said he
and his family seemed like nice people. And while former classmates
said he didn't stand out, a Gilroy High School employee described him
as a troublemaker who was “difficult to manage” when he actually
showed up for class.”
The
Washington Post: The U.S. Said A California Cherry-Picker Went To
Pakistan For Terrorist Training. Now The Case Has
Collapsed.
“It was a month after 9/11, and Osama bin Laden’s face flashed
across the news on Naseem Khan’s TV screen. The FBI was sitting in his
living room in Bend, Ore., and Khan sensed an opportunity. The agents
had come for an entirely different purpose and were ready to leave —
until Khan pointed at the screen and said he thought he could help
with something else. A few years ago, he said, he saw bin Laden’s
second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the most wanted
terrorists in the world, at a mosque in the wine-country town of Lodi,
Calif. The agents perked up, intrigued by the possibility. Had they
really just stumbled into a hot tip on al-Qaeda while speaking to a
28-year-old McDonald’s worker and convenience store clerk? The FBI
thought Khan was onto something — a possible “sleeper cell” of
terrorism hidden in Lodi ― and decided to dispatch him there as a
confidential informant. Khan wouldn’t find any associates of Zawahiri
at the mosque in Lodi, and U.S. officials and terrorism experts now
doubt his initial claim about Zawahiri was ever true. But Khan would
find 19-year-old Hamid Hayat — who would soon become the face of
homegrown terrorism in post-9/11 America. They met at the mosque, and
Khan learned Hayat was taking a trip to Pakistan with family.”
Arizona
Daily Star: Judges Orders Detention Of 2 Tucson Men Accused Of Trying
To Join Islamic State
“Two Tucson men suspected of trying to join the Islamic State will
remain in custody while their court proceedings unfold, a federal
magistrate judge ordered this week. Ahmed Mahad Mohamed, 21, and Abdi
Yemani Hussein, 20, were arrested Friday at Tucson International
Airport after a series of communications with an undercover FBI agent
about flying to Egypt and joining the Islamic State, U.S. District
Court records show. The two face charges of conspiracy to provide
material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Both Mohamed and
Hussein came to Tucson as refugees from Somalia. Mohamed is a
permanent resident of the United States and Hussein is a refugee. The
FBI began investigating Mohamed in August 2018, when Mohamed started a
conversation online with an FBI agent pretending to be someone
overseas. Mohamed told the agent he was a Somali supporter of the IS
who wanted to join and fight in Syria and achieve martyrdom. Mohamed
told the agent he wanted to make it to Syria and said, “if I go to
Syria I want to be the beheading person ... I want to kill them so
many I am thirsty for their blood,” using Arabic phrases to refer to
disbelievers. Mohamed told the undercover agent many times that he
wanted to be the “beheading guy,” according to court records.”
Associated
Press: Warrants Say New Zealand Attack Inspired Synagogue
Shooting
“Four days after a man killed 51 people at two mosques in New
Zealand, court documents show a San Diego college student expressed
regret in a text message that he missed watching the livestream video
of the attack and praised the shooter’s writings as “spot on with
everything,” and something everyone should read. Five days later,
authorities say John T. Earnest set a mosque on fire in Escondido,
north of San Diego, where seven people on a retreat were sleeping
inside and escaped safely. A month later, they say Earnest opened fire
during a Passover service on April 27, killing one woman and injuring
three people, including the rabbi. The details in search warrants
released Wednesday give the clearest indication yet that Earnest was
inspired by shooter Brenton Tarrant and acted on that hatred within
days of the New Zealand killings. A California state judge ordered the
338 pages unsealed at the request of five news organizations,
including The Associated Press. Earnest, 19, has been charged in state
and federal courts that make him eligible for the death penalty if
convicted. He has pleaded not guilty. Federal authorities had
previously released excerpts of Earnest’s online writings
demonstrating his affection for Tarrant, but the search warrants give
a detailed timeline showing how quickly the New Zealand attack turned
his violent thoughts into action.”
Syria
The
National: 386 Children In Have Died In Syria's Al Hol Camp Since
January, Says Monitor
“Poor healthcare provisions and lack of food have contributed to
the deaths of 386 children in northern Syria’s Al Hol camp for
families of suspected ISIS supporters since January, according to a
monitor. The overcrowded camp, run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a
Kurdish-Arab alliance, was established for those who either fled the
group's final stretch of territory in Syria or who were captured in
the final weeks of the military campaign against the group that
concluded in March. The British based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights reported the toll on Wednesday, saying that poor conditions at
the camp were largely responsible. The site currently holds nearly
80,000 women, children and elderly people. In April, US-backed
Kurdish-led forces in Syria announced the fall of ISIS’s last stretch
of their once-sprawling state project. However, tens of thousands of
people surrendered during the final push and while military-aged men
were taken to Kurdish prisons, the women, children and elderly were
moved to camps like Al Hol. Aid agencies have warned of dire
conditions and the Kurdish forces have said they cannot cope with the
scale of the issue. They have called on countries to repatriate their
nationals to ease the burden. Insecurity is also a pressing
issue.”
Iran
Foreign
Policy: Iran-Backed Militias Are In Iraq To Stay
“On July 1, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued
a decree directing that militias known as the Popular Mobilization
Forces (PMF) take a series of steps to subjugate themselves to the
Iraqi state. According to the order, those groups failing to comply by
July 31 will be treated as outlaws. Don’t hold your breath. The odds
are high that the deadline will come and go with no meaningful
curtailment in the power of the PMF—at least not those Shiite elements
allied with Iran, its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and
Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, the IRGC’s deadly
expeditionary arm. Iran’s proxies in Iraq may pretend to comply with
the decree. The Iraqi government may pretend to enforce it. But U.S.
officials should be under no illusions. Rather than enhancing the
government’s control over the PMF, the order is more likely to have
the opposite effect, further entrenching Iran’s chokehold on the Iraqi
state.”
The
Washington Post: U.S. Sanctions Iran’s Foreign Minister Amid
Escalating Tensions
“The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday in a dramatic step bound to
further escalate tensions with Tehran. A senior administration
official said Zarif had acted more as a “propaganda minister” than a
diplomat. “Today, President Trump decided enough is enough,” the
official said. The announcement came as Trump’s national security
adviser said that nuclear-related sanctions on Iran would again be
waived, despite the opposition of some of the administration’s most
hard-line officials. “This is a short, 90-day extension,” John Bolton
said in an interview with “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Fox Business Network.
Bolton, an Iran hawk, said Tehran would be “under constant
observation” to ensure that nothing that contributes to a nuclear
weapons capability in Iran would be permitted. Bolton and Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo had advocated ending the waiver, which allows
Russia, China and Europe to participate in Iran’s civil nuclear
program, as permitted under the 2015 agreement from which the
administration withdrew last year.”
CNN:
US Extends Waivers For Countries To Continue Civil Nuclear Work With
Iran
“The State Department announced late Wednesday it would extend
waivers for countries in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to continue their
participation in civil nuclear projects with Tehran. "The action today
will help preserve oversight of Iran's civil nuclear program, reduce
proliferation risks, constrain Iran's ability to shorten its 'breakout
time' to a nuclear weapon, and prevent the regime from reconstituting
sites for proliferation-sensitive purposes," State Department
spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. The announcement came
the same day that the US announced sanctions on Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. National security adviser John Bolton
said in an interview on Fox Business Wednesday that the waiver renewal
would be for 90 days. "I think the idea here is we are watching those
nuclear activities very, very closely," Bolton said. Two
administration officials said Tuesday that the waivers were expected
to be renewed, and one of the officials said that Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin argued the waivers should be extended during a recent
White House meeting on the issue. The Washington Post first reported
that the waivers extension was expected.”
Iraq
U.S.
News & World Report: UN Experts: Islamic State Aims For Resurgence
In Iraq, Syria
“Leaders of the Islamic State extremist group are aiming to
consolidate and create conditions for an “eventual resurgence in its
Iraqi and Syrian heartlands,” U.N. experts said in a new report. The
panel of experts said in a report to the Security Council this week
that the process is more advanced in Iraq, where IS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi and most of the militant group's leadership are now based
following the fall of the so-called “caliphate” that he declared in
the two neighboring countries. In Syria, where the last IS stronghold
was toppled in March, the IS covert network is spreading and sleeper
cells are being established at the provincial level, mirroring what
has been happening in Iraq since 2017, the report said. As for
al-Qaida, the panel said the extremist group “remains resilient”
though its immediate global threat is not clear, with its leader,
Ayman al-Zawahiri, “reported to be in poor health and doubts as to how
the group will manage the succession.” The report said “the most
striking international developments” during the first six months of
2019 include “the growing ambition and reach of terrorist groups in
the Sahel and West Africa,” where fighters from IS and al-Qaida are
collaborating to undermine fragile countries.”
The
Washington Post: My People Were Massacred Five Years Ago. The Genocide
Continues.
“Five years ago, Islamic State fighters invaded my ancestral
homeland of Sinjar, Iraq, and waged a systematic ethnic-cleansing
campaign against the Yazidi community. Their campaign included mass
executions, forced religious conversions and widespread sexual
violence. These attacks resulted in the massacre of Yazidi men, women
and children; the enslavement of nearly 7,000 Yazidis; and
displacement of more than 400,000 Yazidis to camps in northern Iraq.
But that was not the end of our suffering. As Sheri P. Rosenberg
observed in a 2012 article, genocide is a process, not an event. The
continued suffering, fear and uncertainty in the Yazidi community show
that the genocide process is ongoing. About 350,000 Yazidis remain
trapped in camps in northern Iraq. Yazidis in these camps live in
weather-worn tents without adequate access to food, water,
electricity, education or opportunities to work. They also lack basic
health care, including psychological support to aid in trauma
recovery. An estimated 3,000 abducted Yazidi women and children are
still missing, with fears that some might have been sold to al-Qaeda
affiliates — women and girls to be sex slaves, boys to be trained as
fighters. Others may have been forcibly relocated to cities in other
countries or have become collateral damage in military offensives in
the region.”
Iraqi
News: Iraqi Security Forces Shell 3 Islamic State Outposts In
Diyala
“Iraqi security forces bombarded on Wednesday three terrorist
hotbeds of the Islamic State militant group in Diyala province, a
security source said. Speaking to the privately-owned Baghdad Today
news website, the source said that the mortar attack came after
monitoring suspicious activities by Islamic State militants in
al-Mutaibeeja, located on the border between Diyala and Salahuddin
provinces. The source warned that IS cells remain active in some parts
of the province, urging an immediate action to eliminate remaining IS
militants as soon as possible. Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic
State’s territorial influence in November 2017 with the recapture of
Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the
group’s last bastion in Iraq. IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in
a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign,
backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces,
was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all
havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously
proclaimed capital.”
Iraqi
News: Iraqi Police Apprehend 4 IS Members East Of
Mosul
“Iraqi Ministry of Interior Affairs announced apprehending four
members of the so-called Islamic State group, east of the city of
Mosul. Ministry’s Spokesperson, General Saad Maan, said in a press
statement, “Police forces in Abi Tamam area, based on accurate
information and arrest warrant, apprehended four members of the
Islamic State group.” “One of the apprehended terrorists was working
in the so-called IS security, southeast of Mosul, while the others
were fighters in IS Diwan al-Jund,” Maan added. He further explained
that the IS members were arrested at the areas of al-Kahera and
al-Rashideyah, east of the city of Mosul. In 2014, the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria seized control of the city of Mosul and an estimated
500,000 refugees fled the area. The Iraqi government managed to
recapture the city in the “Battle of Mosul” three years later, during
which the city sustained heavy damage. Nineveh suffered attacks by the
Islamic State group, with Mosul being captured in June 2014 and an
estimated 500,000 refugees to flee the area, and many places of
worship and historic ruins and monuments destroyed. A large-scale
offensive to retake the city, dubbed Operation “We Are Coming,
Nineveh” in October 2016.”
Afghanistan
Reuters:
Afghanistan Names Team To Talk To Taliban, Expecting Swift U.S. Deal
To Leave
“The Afghan government named a team on Wednesday to negotiate
directly with the Taliban, in the expectation that Washington was on
the cusp of agreeing to withdraw troops after 18 years of war, meeting
the insurgents’ precondition for talks with Kabul. The U.S. special
representative for Afghanistan peace talks, Zalmay Khalilzad, tweeted
that he was on his way to negotiation venue Qatar, ready to close a
deal to end the war that began in 2001 after the September 11 attacks
on the United States. ”I’m off to Doha, with a stop in Islamabad. In
Doha, if the Taliban do their part, we will do ours, and conclude the
agreement we have been working on,” Khalilzad said. Suhail Shaheen, a
spokesman for Taliban’s political office in Doha said: “We have
completed consultations with our leaders regarding the talks with the
U.S, now we are ready and waiting for him (Khalilzad) to restart the
talks.” Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran American diplomat, was
appointed last year to negotiate a political settlement with the
Taliban, who now control more territory than at any point since the
United States bombed them out of power in 2001. They have said they
will not talk with the Afghan government about the future of the
country until Washington agrees to withdraw its troops.”
ABC
News: US, Taliban Set To Finalize 'Agreement' Ahead Of Intra-Afghan
Peace Talks
“The chief U.S. negotiator for Taliban talks said he is heading to
Doha, Qatar, for his eighth round of negotiations with the militant
group, and it could be the final one before a deal is reached. “If the
Taliban do their part, we will do ours, and conclude the agreement we
have been working on,” tweeted U.S. Special Representative
for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad from Kabul, Afghanistan. Finalizing a
deal could mean the beginning of the end for the United States' nearly
18-year old military involvement in the country, even as it continues
to face violence from the Taliban and high civilian casualties from
U.S. and Afghan forces. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday
that he expected “significant progress” in the “next handful of
weeks,” but that the U.S. is committed to a “conditions-based
withdrawal from Afghanistan as quickly as we can execute it.” Those
comments to reporters traveling with him to Asia came one day after he
said Trump had directed him to begin drawing down U.S. troops before
the 2020 presidential election: “That's my directive from the
President of the United States... So yes, it's not only my
expectation, it would be job-enhancing,” he said Monday in
Washington.”
Yemen
Al
Jazeera: Yemen: Dozens 'Killed' In Houthi Attack On Aden Military
Parade
“An explosion in Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally
recognised government, has killed dozens of people and wounded many
others, according to reports. The Houthi rebel movement, which
controls the capital, Sanaa, claimed responsibility for the attack on
Thursday which targeted a military parade at a camp in the southern
city. Reuters news agency quoted a medical and a security source as
saying at least 32 people were killed in the blast at al-Jalaa
military camp, in Aden's Buraiqa district. A health official told The
Associates Press news agency the death toll stood at more than 40. A
senior commander of the so-called Security Belt's First Support
Brigade was reported to be among the casualties. The Security Belt is
a force trained and supported by the United Arab Emirates, a key
partner in a military alliance assembled by Saudi Arabia to fight
against the Houthis. International medical charity Doctors Without
Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, wrote on Twitter that that
tens of wounded people were brought to hospital for treatment. The
Houthi-linked al-Masirah TV said the group launched a medium-range
ballistic missile and armed drone at the parade. The parade "was
being used to prepare for an advance on Taiz and Dalea", al-Masirah
cited a Houthi military spokesman as saying. The blast occured "behind
the stand where the ceremony was taking place", a witness told
Reuters.”
Saudi Arabia
The
New York Times: Hamza Bin Laden, Son Of Qaeda Founder, Is
Dead
“Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza bin Laden, who was viewed as an
eventual heir to the leadership of Al Qaeda and had repeatedly
threatened to attack the United States, is dead, according to two
American officials. Details of the strike that killed him were scarce,
including when and where. The United States government played a role
in the operation, but it was not clear how, according to the
officials, who discussed his death on the condition of anonymity
because it involved sensitive operations and intelligence gathering.
Mr. bin Laden was killed sometime during the first two years of the
Trump administration, officials said. He was killed before the State
Department announced a $1 million reward for information about his
whereabouts in February, but American military and intelligence
agencies had not confirmed his death by then. Though Mr. bin Laden
carried a prominent name and lineage, the news of his death
represented more of a symbolic victory for the American government
than the removal of a threat. Al Qaeda has not carried out a
large-scale attack in years, and though Mr. bin Laden was being
groomed to eventually take over the group, that time appeared to be
well into the future. A spotlight on the people reshaping our
politics. A conversation with voters across the country.”
Middle East
Long
War Journal: UN Security Council Continues To Report On Al
Qaeda-Taliban Alliance
“Since July 2018, the UN Security Council has published at least
four reports highlighting the ongoing and close relationship between
the Taliban and al Qaeda. The Trump administration is currently
seeking an accord with the Taliban, under which the US will set a
withdrawal schedule in exchange for unspecified “counterterrorism
assurances.” But the UN’s reports illustrate why the Taliban is not a
credible counterterrorism partner. The latest report was submitted in
mid-July by the monitoring team responsible for tracking al Qaeda and
the Islamic State. Al Qaeda “considers Afghanistan a continuing safe
haven for its leadership, relying on its long-standing and strong
relationship with the Taliban leadership,” the monitoring group’s
analysts reported. Al Qaeda “members continue to function routinely as
military and religious instructors for the Taliban.” As FDD’s Long
War Journal has assessed for years, al Qaeda has been able to
regenerate its capabilities and extend its influence by partnering
with other jihadist groups rooted in the region. To give just one
example, chosen from many, we assessed in 2009 that al Qaeda’s
influential allies included Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Haqqani
Network. The latter is a powerful subgroup within the Taliban.”
WTOP:
The Hunt: ISIS Now More Deadly Than Ever Before
“New research indicates that the terror group ISIS — even after its
defeat in Iraq and Syria — is even more lethal than it was before. In
this week’s edition of The Hunt with WTOP National Security
Correspondent J.J. Green, Jennifer Cafarella, research director at the
Institute for the Study of War explains why.”
Washington
Report On Middle East Affairs: U.S. Sanctions On Hezbollah To Carry
Long-Term Impact In Lebanon, Middle East
“Apart from it’s symbolism, the sanctioning of three top Hezbollah
officials by the United States carries no immediate or short-term
substantial effect, given that none of the blacklisted names travels
to the United States or owns property across the Atlantic. This is
just the beginning, however, of where the Trump administration seems
to be heading with Iran and its various proxies in the Middle East. If
expanded horizontally across the Lebanese political spectrum or
vertically within the party itself, it can become quite dangerous—and
painful—for all of Lebanon. For now, the sanctions only limit the
financial transactions and travel abilities of Members of Parliament
Muhammad Raad and Amin Sherri, as well as Wafiq Safa, who oversees
Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit. U.S. citizens will be
unable to meet with them, hire them or do business with them. Raad,
64, is the most well-known among the three, having held a
parliamentary seat since Hezbollah decided to take part in local
politics, in parallel with its military program, in 1992.”
Nigeria
Reuters:
Islamic State Says Killed Or Wounded More Than 40 Nigerian Soldiers:
Amaq
“Islamic State said via its Amaq news agency that it killed or
wounded more than 40 soldiers in the northeast Nigerian state of Borno
in two separate attacks on Tuesday. The group said militants attacked
a military post in Baga and killed at least 15 soldiers before
carrying out a second attack on an army barracks in the town of
Benisheik, where they killed or wounded around 25 more. Locals and
military sources told Reuters there were clashes between insurgents
and soldiers in the state on Monday and Tuesday. Reuters was unable to
immediately verify the number of people killed or injured in those
clashes. An army spokesman did not immediately respond to phone calls
requesting comment. More than 30,000 people have been killed in
northeast Nigeria since 2009 in an Islamist insurgency. At the
weekend at least 65 people were killed in Borno, the birthplace of the
insurgency, when militants targeted civilians traveling from a
funeral.”
News
24: Nigeria Insists Boko Haram 'Defeated' After 10-Year
Insurgency
“Nigeria's presidency claimed Boko Haram's 10-year-old insurgency
had been “defeated” but admitted that international jihadists posed a
growing threat. ”The position of the Nigerian government is that the
Boko Haram terrorism has been degraded and defeated. The real Boko
Haram we know is defeated,” the presidency said in a statement late on
Tuesday. It said the country was now facing “a mixture” of Boko Haram
remnants, criminal groups and jihadists from the Maghreb and West
Africa fuelled by turmoil in Libya and the collapse of the Islamic
State caliphate in the Middle East. “As a consequence of these
international gangs, we have seen an increase of trans-border crimes
and the proliferation of small arms in the Lake Chad Basin area,” the
statement said. Videographic presenting the Boko Haram islamist
insurgents in northern Nigeria. Thirty people were killed late Sunday
in a triple suicide bombing in northeast Nigeria, emergency services
reported, in an attack bearing the hallmarks of the Boko Har...
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, a former general who vowed to
crush Boko Haram when he became president in 2015 for his first term
in office, has previously said the group were “beaten.”
Somalia
All
Africa: Somalia: Kenya Wants UN To Designate The Al-Shabaab As A
Terrorist Group
“The Kenya government says it will seek the United Arab Emirates
support in its efforts to push the UN in designating the Somalia-based
militant group Al-Shabaab as a terrorist group in order to help focus
international attention towards combating their violent extremism
campaign, local media reported on Wednesday. Speaking after meeting
with UAE delegation in Nairobi, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Foreign Affair Macharia Kamau said Kenya will submit a proposal to
have the UN Security Council list Al-Shabaab as terrorist
organization. “We will formally be submitting a requesting seeking
UAE's support in listing Al-Shabaab under UN Resolution 1276. This is
important to bring the global efforts in tackling the group,” Kamau
was quoted by the East African newspaper as saying after signing
bilateral security agreements with the UAE delegation. “It has caused
serious havoc, not just in Kenya but the region and the world in
general,” he added. Al-Shabaab, which is a local franchise of Al-Qaeda
in Somalia is not recognized as a terrorist group by the UN. Under
Resolution 1276 of 1999, the UN Security Council targeted the Taliban,
Al-Qaeda and ISIS and their leaders, sanctioning the groups and those
associated with it.”
Africa
France
24: Mozambique Leader Vows To Hunt Down Jihadist
Attackers
“Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi vowed Wednesday to hunt down and
unmask attackers involved in a string of deadly assaults that have
battered the country's northern region and killed least 250 people.
For nearly two years, suspected Islamists have staged raids on remote
communities in the gas-rich, Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado province,
torching homes and sometimes even beheading civilians. The identity of
the militants remains unclear and their motives unknown. “We will
fight and hunt them,” Nyusi told lawmakers during an address. “So far
they have never showed their faces, but the security forces are
hunting and fighting them relentlessly,” Nyusi said. “We hope that the
arrests in recent weeks will help us discover who they are,” he said
without specifying when the arrests occurred or the numbers of
suspects detained. A senior police source in the northern province
confirmed there had been recent arrests but refused to give details.
The attorney general late last year said at least 400 suspects had
been arrested since the attacks began in October 2017. But only a few
dozen have been tried and convicted. The Islamic State claimed
involvement in three recent insurgent attacks, according to SITE
Intelligence, an organisation that monitors extremist activity.”
Journal
Du Cameroun: Cameroon: Boko Haram Fighters Chop Off Women’s Ears In
Overnight Attack In FN Region
“Boko Haram fighters are reported to have chopped off the ears of
some unfortunate women in an overnight attack that happened in the
locality of Kalagari, Far North region of Cameroon. Reports from the
locally based media Oeil du Sahel indicates that Boko Haram fighters
stormed the locality of Kalagari Monday evening, chasing away members
of the village vigilant committee. In their brutal move, they took
some women hostage before later on cutting off their ears. Reports
hold that some days before, the same Boko Haram fighters attacked
Kalagari and Doublé villages, slaughtering three members of the
vigilant committee in the process.”
North Korea
Associated
Press: North Korea Says It Tested Crucial New Rocket Launch
System
“North Korea said Thursday leader Kim Jong Un supervised the first
test firing of a new multiple rocket launcher system that could
potentially enhance its ability to strike targets in South Korea and
U.S. military bases there. The report by North Korea’s official Korean
Central News Agency differed from the assessment by South Korea’s
military, which had concluded Wednesday’s launches were of two
short-range ballistic missiles. The launches from the eastern coastal
town of Wonsan were North Korea’s second weapons test in less than a
week and were seen as a move to keep up pressure on Washington and
Seoul amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations. Pyongyang has also
expressed anger over planned U.S.-South Korea military drills. KCNA
said Kim expressed satisfaction over the test firing and said the
newly developed rocket system would soon serve a “main role” in his
military’s land combat operations and create an “inescapable distress
to the forces becoming a fat target of the weapon.”
United Kingdom
Al
Jazeera: Activists Warn UK Against Risking Death Penalty For ISIL
Suspects
“The United Kingdom's decision to share evidence with the United
States about two suspected British ISIL members without seeking
assurances they would not face the death penalty if extradited sets a
dangerous precedent, international human rightslawyers and groups have
said. A letter leaked to the media in July last year, revealed that
the UK's former Home Secretary Sajid Javid told US Attorney General
Jeff Sessions, in consultation with the then-foreign secretary Boris
Johnson, that the UK had “strong reasons for not requiring a death
penalty assurance in this specific case”. Maha Elgizouli, the mother
of one of the two suspects, El-Shafee Elsheikh, has challenged the
UK's decision to share 600 witness statements gathered about her son
and the other suspected member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group, Alexanda Kotey, with US authorities under
a mutual legal assistance (MLA) agreement. Elgizouli lodged a claim
against the decision at the High Court, but two judges ruled in
January it was not unlawful. She now hopes that after hearings
which opened in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, judges will rule to
review the decision.”
France
Arab
News: Three Charged In France For Plotting ‘Terrorist’
Killing
“Three men, including two already serving jail sentences, were
charged for alleged involvement in a “terrorist criminal conspiracy”
over a failed plot to kill a person, a source close to the case said
Wednesday. The three men — including one man who had been jailed for
spending six months in Syria in 2014 with a group affiliated to
Al-Qaeda — had not yet decided on a specific target, the source told
AFP. But they had considered attacking a prison guard, the source
said, confirming a report in the newspaper Le Parisien. “It was a
project, we were not on a particularly high level of risk,” said
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, adding that “intelligence has
worked well.” The three suspects — aged 27, 31 and 42 — were charged
on Friday and deny the claims, the source said. According to Le
Parisien, the mastermind of the group was the 27-year-old who had been
jailed for being an “apologist for terrorism.” He had been transferred
to at least three different prisons and it was during those transfers
that he met the other two suspects, the newspaper reported. In recent
months, two guards have been assaulted in prisons in the northwest of
France, one by a prisoner convicted of terrorism and the other by a
radicalized detainee.”
Southeast Asia
Eurasia:
Terror Threat In Malaysia: Warning Signs – Analysis
“Since the beginning of 2019, Malaysian Police had arrested several
individuals, both Malaysian citizens and foreigners residing in the
country, for suspected links with Islamic State (or “Daesh”).
Effective and efficient as they are, Police will continue to face
significant challenges in counter-terrorism efforts due to
wide-ranging developments in domestic politics, as well as regional
and international settings. Since the beginning of 2019, the Royal
Malaysian Police (RMP) has made vital arrests to foil planned attacks
by individuals, both local and foreign, some of whom have pledged
loyalty to Islamic State (IS, also known by its Arabic tag Daesh). The
individuals caught were affiliated with the Arakan Rohingya Salvation
Army (ARSA), Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Maute Group, Royal Sulu Force
(RSF), Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) and the Muslim Brotherhood Al
Ikhwanul Muslimin. Domestic, regional and international conditions
appear to have heightened the challenge of terrorism in Malaysia.
Domestically, in the face of increasing Islamic conservatism at home,
the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in Malaysia faces challenges
of navigating a complex political, social and security terrain when it
comes to Islam.”
The
New York Times: Bin Laden Family ‘Henchman’ Is Arrested In
Philippines
“A Jordanian man once considered a financier for Al Qaeda and a
“henchman” of Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law was arrested in the
Philippines in July, officials said on Thursday, reinforcing concerns
that Islamic militants are making a base in the country. Mahmoud Afif
Abdeljalil, 51, was arrested on July 4 in Zamboanga, a coastal city at
the southwestern tip of Mindanao, the nation’s second-largest island.
Mr. Abdeljalil had false documents under an assumed name, Jaime
Morente, the chief of the Bureau of Immigration, said in a statement.
Mr. Abdeljalil, whom the authorities called “a former henchman”
connected to the bin Laden family, has been in government custody
since the arrest. “We are going to deport him for being an illegal
entrant as he has no record of arrival, after he was arrested and
deported in 2003 for being an undesirable alien,” Mr. Morente
said.”
|
