Eye on Extremism
February 4, 2020
Financial
Times: Brazil Criticised For Backtracking On Terror Funding
Fight
“Brazil is facing a backlash from global anti-money laundering
authorities after lawmakers stripped a key financial crimes unit of
the power to report on terrorist financing. The decision to curb the
activities of the Council for Financial Activities Control, which
reports on financial crimes, was sparked by opposition lawmakers’
fears that Jair Bolsonaro’s administration could turn its powers
against social activists who the rightwing president has equated with
terrorists. But the move by legislators has infuriated US officials
while experts said it was likely to prompt a rebuke from the
international Financial Action Task Force, which over the past decade
has repeatedly warned Brazil over its compliance with global
anti-money laundering standards. Some said Brazil was at risk of being
placed on a “grey list” of countries with problematic anti-money
laundering and anti-terror funding standards. Jorge Lasmar, a money
laundering expert at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas
Gerais, said the decision by lawmakers will create a “serious problem”
for Brazil ahead of a new evaluation report by the FATF.”
NBC
News: Britain's Boris Johnson Vows To End Early Release Of Terrorism
Offenders
“Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that the automatic early
release of convicted terrorism offenders from prison must end after an
Islamist attacker recently released from prison injured two people in
a stabbing rampage in a busy south London street, before he was shot
dead by police. “What we want to do is to make sure that people
convicted of terrorist offenses are not let out without some process
of parole or scrutiny by real experts,” Johnson told an event in
London on Monday. Johnson said his government was already bringing
forward legislation to stop the system of automatic early release but
the difficulty was how to apply this requirement retrospectively to
the cohort of prisoners who already qualify for early release. The
prime minister, who had just delivered a speech on Britain’s prospects
after it officially left the European Union on Friday, said Justice
Secretary Robert Buckland would go into detail about how the
government planned to move forward later Monday. “It's time to take
action to ensure that, irrespective of the law we’re bringing in,
people in the current stream to not qualify automatically for early
release,” he said. Johnson's remarks follow a string of terror attacks
in the United Kingdom in recent months.”
Voice
Of America: Pentagon: US Forces Destroy 2 Terrorist Camps In Southern
Somalia
“U.S. forces destroyed two al-Shabab compounds and killed at least
one terrorist in a military operation in southern Somalia last month,
the Pentagon announced Monday. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) carried
out the attacks in coordination with Somali forces. The two compounds
— one in Jamaame and the other in Jilib — were destroyed. AFRICOM said
it took “significant measures” to ensure no civilians were killed or
wounded. “We assess these compounds were used by al-Shabab militants
to organize and plan violent terrorist actions against innocent Somali
civilians,” said Brig. Gen. Gregory Hadfield, AFRICOM deputy director
of intelligence. “Operations to disrupt al-Shabab are needed to deny
their ability to expand terrorism outside of Somalia, as we've
recently seen in Kenya.” Al-Shabab terrorists attacked a military base
in Kenya last month, killing a U.S. soldier and two civilian
contractors. Al-Shabab has been fighting for more than 10 years to set
up a strict Islamic state in Somalia. It frequently carries out
attacks in neighboring Kenya to retaliate for Kenyan forces entering
Somalia in response to cross-border attacks.”
United States
The
Washington Post: Feds Arrested Phoenix Man For
Allegedly Killing Two Iraqi Cops In Al-Qaeda-Linked
Attacks
“When members of the large Iraqi immigrant community in Phoenix
heard federal agents arrested a local driving instructor for allegedly
killing two Iraqi police officers in al-Qaeda-linked attacks in the
Iraqi city of Fallujah nearly 14 years ago, they could not believe the
accusation. “There is like no way,” 18-year-old Eva Kabejan, who had
taken classes at the man’s driving school, told the Arizona Republic.
“He’s a hard-working guy. He’s really good guy.” Several people who
had come to know Ali Ahmed since he came to the United States as a
refugee in 2008 struggled to understand the serious allegations
leveled against the 42-year-old, the Republic reported. Ahmed, who
became a U.S. citizen about two years ago, had embraced an exciting
bachelor’s life before recently getting married and having his first
child this year, his friends said. He loved animals and planned to
build a little farm on property near Phoenix, the Republic reported.
But Ahmed had a darker past that no one in Arizona knew about, federal
officials allege. On Friday, the Justice Department announced that
federal officials last week arrested Ahmed, whose full name is Ali
Yousif Ahmed al-Nouri, for the deaths of two Iraqi police officers and
planned to extradite him for murder.”
Syria
The
New York Times: UN Experts: Islamic State Steps Up Attacks In Syria
And Iraq
“Islamic State extremists are mounting increasingly bold attacks in
Syria and Iraq following their loss of territory in both countries and
are planning for the breakout of their fighters in detention
facilities, U.N. experts said in a new report. The panel of experts
said in the report to the U.N. Security Council that the militant
group — known as IS and ISIL — is also exploiting weaknesses in
security in both countries. The experts monitoring sanctions against
the Islamic State and al-Qaida said it is unclear whether the Islamic
States’ new leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi Al-Qurayshi, can
effectively lead the extremist group’s diverse and far-flung
supporters and affiliates. But the panel said unidentified U.N. member
nations have made a provisional assessment that the strategic
direction of the extremist group is unchanged when it comes to
administration, propaganda and recruitment — and that command and
control between its “core in the conflict zone and affiliates abroad
will be maintained.” Al-Qurayshi's predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
was killed in a U.S. raid last October in Syria’s last rebel
stronghold in Idlib province. The experts said the issue of foreigners
who came to fight for the Islamic State and were part of its so-called
“caliphate” in Syria and Iraq “remains acute.”
France
24: NW Syria Violence Displaces 500,000 In Two Months
“A Russian-backed Syrian government offensive against the country's
last rebel enclave has caused one of the biggest waves of displacement
in the nine-year-old war. Weeks of intensive aerial bombardment and a
bruising ground offensive have emptied entire towns in the
northwestern region of Idlib and sent huge numbers fleeing northwards,
closer to the Turkish border. “Since 1 December, some 520,000 people
have been displaced from their homes, the vast majority –- 80 percent
-- of them women and children,” David Swanson, spokesman for the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said. The exodus,
which coincides with a biting winter, is one of the largest since the
start in 2011 of a conflict during which more than half of the
country's pre-war population of 20 million has been displaced. “This
latest displacement compounds an already dire humanitarian situation
on the ground, when over 400,000 people were displaced from the end of
April through the end of August, many of them multiple times,” Swanson
said. He said the UN was alarmed by the plight of more than three
million people -- half of them displaced from their homes -- who live
in Idlib province and surrounding areas.”
Iraq
The
New York Times: Iraq Says It Resumes Anti-Islamic State Operations
With U.S. Coalition
“Iraq's military said on Thursday it was resuming operations with
the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, which it had halted
after the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani by U.S. forces
and Iran's retaliatory attacks on bases hosting those forces. The
coalition battling IS militants in Iraq and Syria suspended most of
its operations on Jan. 5 to focus on protecting coalition forces and
bases, as tensions with Iran grew. Iraq’s parliament also passed a
resolution telling the government to end the presence of foreign
troops in the country and ensure they not use its territory for any
reason. “In order to exploit the time that remains for the
international coalition before the new relationship is set up... It
was decided to carry out joint actions ... “ an Iraqi military
statement said. The joint operations include aerial backing for the
Iraqi forces depending on their needs, the statement said. Baghdad
condemned both the killing of Soleimani and Iran's missile attacks on
two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops as acts of aggression on Iraq and
a breach of its sovereignty. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has asked
Washington to prepare for a U.S. troop withdrawal in line with the
request by Iraq’s parliament. So far, the U.S. government has rebuffed
the call to withdraw.”
Afghanistan
Bloomberg:
Taliban Killed, Maimed Thousands Of Afghans In 2019 Amid
Talks
“Taliban killed or maimed thousands of Afghan civilians in 2019,
against the backdrop of the ongoing peace talks aimed at ending the 18
year conflict in the war-torn country. The insurgent group was
responsible for 71% of the 7,955 killed and 2,817 wounded last year,
according to a report by Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission
released on Tuesday. The Afghan and U.S.-led forces were responsible
for 14% of the casualties, it said. The U.S. and Taliban negotiators
are holding talks in Qatar to end the conflict that will allow
President Donald Trumpto withdraw troops from Afghanistan and possibly
end the widespread violence. The insurgents control or contest half of
the country, more territory than any time since they were toppled in
2001.”
The
Hill: Pompeo: US Wants 'Demonstrable Evidence' Taliban Will Reduce
Violence
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the U.S. will not
agree to a cease-fire with Taliban forces in Afghanistan without
“demonstrable evidence” that it is committed to reducing violence.
“We’re working on a peace and reconciliation plan, putting the commas
in the right place, getting the sentences right,” Pompeo said at a
press conference in Uzbekistan, The Associated Press reported. “We got
close once before to having an agreement: a piece of paper that we
mutually executed and the Taliban were unable to demonstrate either
their will or capacity or both to deliver on a reduction in violence.”
“So, what we are demanding now is demonstrable evidence of their will
and capacity to reduce violence, to take down the threat, so the
inter-Afghan talks ... will have a less violent context,” he added.
“We’re hopeful we can achieve that but we’re not there yet, and work
certainly remains.” Last week, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani he had seen “no notable progress” in ending the
nearly 19-year war. The Taliban previously said they had offered him a
10-day cease-fire window to sign a peace agreement.”
Yemen
Foreign
Policy: Leader Of Al Qaeda In Yemen Believed Dead In U.S.
Airstrike
“U.S. officials believe the leader of the al Qaeda branch in Yemen
was killed in a CIA airstrike, a former administration official tells
Foreign Policy, confirming a New York Times report out Friday. U.S.
President Donald Trump appeared to confirm the reports on Friday with
a series of retweets. Significant blow. If confirmed, the death of
Qasim al-Raymi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who
has a long history of terrorist activities dating back to the 1990s,
would represent a significant blow to the group, which on Sunday
claimed responsibility for the last year’s deadly shooting at Naval
Air Station Pensacola by a Saudi National. Raymi was sentenced to five
years in prison in 2005 for plotting to assassinate the U.S.
ambassador to Yemen, but he escaped in 2006. He has been linked to
numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2008 attack on the U.S.
Embassy in Sanaa and the 2009 “underwear bomber.” He rose to become
emir of al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate in 2015. The State Department had
offered a $10 million reward for information on his whereabouts. U.S.
officials had been tracking Raymi since November 2019, when they first
learned of his location from an informer in Yemen, according to the
Times.”
Saudi Arabia
The
Washington Post: Saudi Arabia And Yemen’s Rebels Were Making Rare
Progress In Peace Talks. Then New Violence
Flared.
“Months of talks between Saudi Arabia and an Iranian-allied rebel
group in Yemen have led to rare goodwill gestures between the bitter
battlefield adversaries and presented what Western diplomats hope
might be a long-awaited opportunity to resolve Yemen's nearly
five-year war. But a fresh outbreak of violence over the past few
weeks in Yemen has imperiled those talks, underscoring the challenge
of defusing long-standing battlefield enmities in a war fueled by
outside powers. The dialogue began in earnest after an attack on Saudi
oil facilities in September, according to people briefed on the talks.
The rebels, known as the Houthis, claimed responsibility for missile
and drone strikes on the oil facilities, even as U.S. and Saudi
officials insisted Iran was responsible. After the strikes, the
Houthis said they would halt attacks on Saudi Arabia, and in the
months that followed, violence in Yemen fell to some of its lowest
levels in years. Since then, the Houthis and the Saudi-led military
coalition have taken several confidence-building measures, including
prisoner exchanges and a Saudi decision to allow medical evacuation
flights from the Houthi-controlled airport in Yemen’s
capital.”
Lebanon
The
New York Times: For Lebanon’s Shiites, A Dilemma: Stay Loyal To
Hezbollah Or Keep Protesting?
“There is a Lebanese phrase that translates, roughly, to “a
slapping.” That seems to be what happened to several antigovernment
protesters who were caught on TV denouncing Hassan Nasrallah, the
leader of the Islamist militia and political party Hezbollah, in the
early days of the now monthslong Lebanese uprising. The smacking they
received from a party that brooks little pushback, and wields
tremendous influence in Lebanon’s government, might have been physical
or it might have been verbal. Either way, the protesters appeared
again on TV a few days later, looking subdued — this time, to
apologize. “Sayyid means a lot to me. There are thousands who admire
him, but I’m like No. 100 on the list,” one man said, his voice meek,
using a respectful honorific for Mr. Nasrallah, whom the protester had
previously accused of letting his community starve. The on-camera
apology was a prelude to more violent retributions against protesters
from the Shiite Muslim community, the largest of Lebanon’s 18
recognized religious sects, which for decades has drawn on Hezbollah
for protection, jobs, social services and, for many, a sense of shared
struggle against Israel and other enemies.”
Egypt
The
Times Of Israel: Islamic State Claims Purported Attack On Egypt-Israel
Gas Pipeline In Sinai
“The Islamic State extremist group said on Monday that it blew up a
gas pipeline in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, claiming it was
connected to Israel. Security sources earlier said the pipeline hit
was a domestic one that connects to a power station in el-Arish,
powering homes and factories in central Sinai. No casualties were
reported. Masked gunmen drove a four-wheel drive before detonating
explosives in the attack, carried out around 80 kilometers west of the
provincial capital El-Arish, the sources told AFP. Some media reports
in Egypt and Israel said, however, that the section of pipeline hit
was part of Israel’s Leviathan offshore field that connects the two
countries — claims denied to AFP by the Leviathan consortium. But in a
statement posted on its Telegram chat groups, IS said “caliphate
soldiers targeted… the natural gas line linking the Jews and the
apostate Egyptian government.” It claimed that the section of the
pipeline hit was in the Sinai village of Al Teloul and that several
explosive devices were used to blow it up, causing “material
damage.”
Nigeria
Sahara
Reporters: 199 Nigerians Killed By Bandits, Boko Haram, Herdsmen In
Nigeria In January
“Not less than 199 Nigerians have been killed in the month of
January 2020. The deaths were caused by insurgent groups, herdsmen
including Lassa Fever. In the research carried out by the Civic Media
Lab, 24 persons were kidnapped by bandits in the month. Also, scores
of people were left injured in the attacks that took place in
different parts of the country. According to the research by the CML,
24 terrorists were killed by the Nigerian military in the
North-Eastern part of the country. Three soldiers, two health workers
were killed by the ISWAP, as the CML gave a breakdown of the killings.
The report also documented how a journalist, Alex Ogbu, was killed by
police while covering a protest in Abuja. Rampaging herdsmen also
accounted for some of the killings as they killed 13 people in Plateau
State. Director of CML, Mr Seun Akinfolarin, said it was obvious
government does not place a premium on the lives of people. He noted
that while the country was still battling insurgency, President
Muhammadu Buhari announced Visa free entry to all Africans even when
the government itself had admitted foreign influence in the current
insecurity crises.”
Africa
Gulf
News: Militants Kill 18 Civilians In Burkina Faso
“Suspected militants have killed 18 civilians in an attack in
northern Burkina Faso, the governor of Sahel region said. Several
similar attacks were carried out a week ago in the country’s north,
with one on January 25 leaving 39 civilians dead in the neighbouring
province of Soum, northwest of Seno. A security source said during the
massacre, which took place in Lamdamol village in Seno province
Saturday, “the attackers, heavily armed and on motorbikes, literally
executed the local inhabitants”. A local health official, speaking
from the town of Dori in the north, said the chief nurse at the nearby
village of Lamdamol was among the victims. “The defence and security
forces brought back the body of the nurse to give it to her family in
Yalgo and secure the area to allow the burial of other victims,”
Colonel Salfo Kabore said on Sunday. “There is panic in the village
and the surrounding area,” the official added, saying local people
were fleeing the area towards the centre-north of the country. Another
security source said that the attack had come as a reprisal after
militants had told local people to leave the area a few days earlier.
The security forces worked day and night to make the zone safe, “but
it is difficult to be everywhere at once”, said the source.”
The
Irish Times: Mozambique Insurgency Drives Fears Of Islamist Jihad In S
Africa
“A brutal insurgency under way in Mozambique’s northernmost
province that escalated in 2019 has raised fears that an Islamist
jihad movement is seeking to establish itself in southern Africa.
South Africa-based terrorism expert Jasmine Opperman says the Islamic
State terror group has claimed responsibility for nearly two dozen of
the 189 attacks perpetrated by a shadowy extremist group this year in
Cabo Delgado, a rural resource-rich area of Mozambique bordering
Tanzania. Since it first attacked police stations in the port town
Mocímboa da Praia on October 5th, 2017, the group has left a trail of
mutilated bodies and burned-out villages behind it, forcing at least
65,000 Mozambicans to become internal refugees. Opperman, who is the
Africa associate at the Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism, a
UK-based think tank, estimates up to 500 civilians, insurgents and
security personnel have died in the group’s attacks so far. “Isis
[Islamic State] has claimed responsibility for 23 attacks in Cabo
Delgado and I have been able to link 18 of these to verified
incidents,” says Opperman, who added it was still unclear if the
group, also known as Isis, played a role in the attacks, or if the
local extremist group was now its regional proxy.”
United Kingdom
CNN:
London Stabbing Attacker Recently Released From Prison Over Extremist
Material
“London police have named a man they say was responsible for
stabbing two people in south London on Sunday in what was described as
a terror-related incident. The Metropolitan police said the attacker
was 20-year-old Sudesh Amman, who had recently been released from
prison for Islamist-related offenses. He was being followed by
surveillance officers who shot him dead at the scene, police said.
“Although the suspect has not been formally identified, given the
circumstances of the incident, we are confident that he was Sudesh
Amman,” Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D'Orsi
announced. Police earlier called the attack a terrorist incident and
said it was believed to be “Islamist-related.” Amman stabbed two
people on Streatham High Road at about 2 p.m. before the surveillance
officers caught up with him and shot him dead, D'Orsi said. She said
he was wearing what was quickly established to be a hoax device. Three
people were taken to nearby hospitals -- two with stab wounds and
another who police believe was hit by glass when Amman was shot. One
of the victims who was initially described as having life-threatening
injuries was out of danger on Monday, police said.”
New
York Post: ISIS Claims Responsibility For London Stabbing
Attack
“ISIS on Monday claimed responsibility for a 20-year-old ex-con’s
stabbing attack that injured three people in London, according to a
report. “The perpetrator of the attack in Streatham district in south
London yesterday is a fighter of Islamic State, and carried out the
attack in response to calls to attack the citizens of coalition
countries,” according to a statement carried by the terror group’s
Amaq news agency, Reuters reported. Sudesh Amman, who was shot dead by
police Sunday, had previously praised ISIS, shared an online al Qaeda
magazine and encouraged his girlfriend to behead her parents. He was
jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December
2018 and was released from prison after serving half of his 40-month
sentence. The Islamist, who remained under police surveillance, had
been staying at a bail hostel for the past two weeks, the UK’s
Standard reported. During the attack, he had what appeared to be an
explosive device strapped to his body, but it was later discovered to
be a fake, according to the BBC.”
Yahoo
News: Suicide By Cop: How Isis-Inspired Terrorists ‘Emulate Each
Other’ To Generate Maximum Fear
“The Streatham attack was the second lone Islamist-related terror
attack in London in the past three months. Sudesh Amman, 20, was shot
dead by police on Streatham High Road after stabbing three people in
what police have called a terrorist incident. It follows a similar
attack in November when five people were stabbed, two fatally, near
London Bridge. The two incidents are notable because both attackers
had fake explosives strapped to their bodies. Experts told Yahoo News
UK the attacks could be examples of “suicide by cop”, in which
terrorists deliberately behave in a threatening manner to force police
officers to shoot them dead. Dr Steve Hewitt, a senior lecturer at
Birmingham University and expert on lone wolf terror attacks, says the
idea of suicide by cop is an interesting one as London has now seen at
least three Islamist attacks with fake suicide vests – including the
previous London Bridge terror attack in June 2017. The killers
responsible for the 2017 attack all wore the vests, and their tactics
seem to have influenced the later incidents. Islam does not condone
suicide, so the method is one way for Islamist attackers such as
Sudesh Amman to seek “martyrdom.”
France
Reuters:
French Police Shoot Barracks Intruder Following Attack
Warning
“Police shot and wounded a man armed with a knife after he attacked
officers inside a police barracks in eastern France on Monday. Shortly
before the knifeman struck the police facility in Dieuze, near Metz,
the local police operations center received warning that an atrocity
was to be committed in the name of Islamic State, French news agency
AFP quoted the local prosecutor as saying. “We must relate the facts
to a call received by the operational center of the gendarmerie
shortly before, in which an individual declared that he was a soldier,
that there was going to be carnage in Dieuze and that he was a member
of Islamic State,” prosecutor Christian Mercuri was quoted as telling
a news conference in the area. Several hours after the attack, there
had been no claims of responsibility. A judicial source said the
national antiterrorist prosecutor was not investigating the case at
this stage. The knifeman wounded one officer in the hand before he was
shot and later taken to hospital, a spokesman for the gendarmerie
said. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner praised the cool response
of the officers who accosted the attacker. The incident in Dieuze will
raise further questions over security at police facilities.”
Technology
Global
News: Kicked Off Facebook, Canadian Far-Right Groups Resurface On The
Internet’s Fringes
“On the social networking service VK, the Canadian Nationalist
Front calls for a ban on “third world immigration,” Blood & Honour
envisions “white victory” and photos show the Soldiers of Odin meeting
in Calgary. Canadian far-right groups purged from mainstream social
media sites last year have found a new home on less discerning online
platforms willing to host them and their racist views. Although a
crackdown that followed the March 15 attack on New Zealand mosques saw
them purged from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, they have resurfaced
on Russia’s VK, Gab and Canund. But while their online presence hasn’t
been stamped out, it has been significantly diminished, according to
experts. “In some ways, this approach has worked,” said Canadian
right-wing extremism expert Prof. Ryan Scrivens of the Michigan State
University School of Criminal Justice. “It’s minimized their online
presence and reach, and it’s disrupted their online networks and
ability to attract the level of attention they once had on mainstream
platforms.” But it has also pushed them into “darker spaces of the
internet,” where they can still attract followers, said Scrivens,
whose research focuses on extremists’ use of the internet.”
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