Eye on Extremism

June 8, 2023 

Associated Press: UN Investigators Compiling Evidence On Chemical Weapons Use By Islamic State Extremists In Iraq

“U.N. investigators are compiling evidence on the development and use of chemical weapons by Islamic State extremists in Iraq after they seized about a third of the country in 2014, and are advancing work on the militant group’s gender-based violence and crimes against children, Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Christians and Yazidis, the head of the investigative team said Wednesday. Christian Ritscher told the U.N. Security Council that survivors of a March 2016 chemical attack against Taza Khurmatu, a mainly Shia Turkmen town south of Kirkuk in northeast Iraq, were still deeply impacted when he visited earlier this year. He said he has prioritized the investigation of chemical weapons used by the Islamic State, also known as ISIL. ‘ISIL weaponized several chemical agents and deployed these as chemical rockets and mortars, as well as improvised explosive devices, in the vicinity of Taza Khurmatu’ which hit residential neighborhoods and agricultural fields, Ritscher said.”

France24: At Least 21 People Killed In Suspected Terrorist Attacks In Burkina Faso

“Fourteen members of the VDP volunteer militia and four soldiers died on Monday in Sawenga in central-eastern Burkina, while five were wounded, a source said. Another security source confirmed the toll, saying that the clash occurred during an operation to secure the area, and that ‘more than 50 terrorists were neutralised’ in an airborne counter-attack. Separately, a police source said a policeman and two civilians were killed on Monday night in an attack on a police border post at Yendere, on the southwestern frontier with Ivory Coast. A trucker in the area confirmed the attack, adding that many local people had already fled into Ivory Coast because of jihadist incursions.”

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United States

Voice Of America News: American Extremists Serving As ‘Sources Of Inspiration,’ Says Counterterror Official

“…More recently, former State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator Nathan Sales warned U.S. lawmakers that American white supremacists in particular are altering the threat landscape. “What happens in the United States influences what happens overseas and what happens overseas influences attacks in the United States," Sales said. "These extremist networks are talking to one another."”

Syria

Prensa Latina: Daesh Terrorists Kill Farmers In Syria

“According to activists quoted by Al-Watan newspaper, several workers harvesting wheat and barley were attacked with automatic weapons and machine guns resulting in the immediate death of four of them while others were wounded. This incident coincides with ongoing army combing operations in several areas of the vast Al-Badieh desert, where radicals carry out surprise attacks and then hide in caves in the mountains. Dozens of civilians and military personnel were killed during the last months by attacks or mines laid by the extremists of this grouping, registered on the list of international terrorism. In the vast desert of Al-Badieh, the aggressions of the Islamic State are increasing, whose members, according to denunciations from Damascus, receive logistical support, protection and intelligence information from the US armed forces in the area of Tanef, in the east of the country.”

Iraq

AFP News: UN To Launch Central Archives Of IS Crimes In Iraq

“The United Nations will soon launch central archives containing millions of digitized documents that it says provide proof of crimes committed by the Islamic State group in Iraq, an official said Wednesday. UNITAD, the UN body set up to investigate IS crimes in the country, began its field work five years ago in an effort to bring the jihadists to justice. ‘For us, it is absolutely clear that only if we work side by side with Iraqi authorities, in particular with our counterparts in the Iraqi judiciary, UNITAD can be successful,’ said the UN's chief investigator Christian Ritscher. The German former prosecutor has been looking into a slew of IS atrocities, from murder, torture and mass rape to slavery and genocide.”

Iraqi News: 4 ISIS Terrorists Including Prominent Leader Killed In Northern Baghdad

“The Baghdad Operations Command and the Iraqi Security Media Cell (ISMC) announced on Wednesday that four ISIS terrorists, including a prominent leader, were killed in a security operation north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The Iraqi authorities reported that a force from the Iraqi army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) managed to kill Adnan Al-Luhaibi, who was the ‘governor of northern Baghdad’ in the ISIS group. The commander of Baghdad Operations Command, Ahmed Salim, mentioned in a statement that the security operation where ISIS terrorists were killed was based on accurate intelligence information. The Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency (FIIA) also announced the arrest of four suspects, one of whom was working as a sniper in Nineveh governorate.”

Daily Sabah: Turkish Intelligence Eliminates PKK Targets In Iraq

“National Intelligence Organization (MIT) ‘neutralized’ a senior member of the PKK terrorist group and two other terrorists in Iraq, media outlets reported Thursday. It is the first disclosed cross-border operation by the intelligence agency since former Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın took over from Hakan Fidan as its new director. The official jargon for the outcome of counterterrorism operations by Türkiye is ‘neutralizing,’ which means either said targets were killed or captured alive. Most cross-border operations involve precision strikes, on the ground or by drones. One of the targets of the latest operation was identified as Fehmi Öğmen, also known by the code name ‘Sinan Dijvar,’ a high-ranking member of the terrorist group in Iraq who was on the wanted list of the Interior Ministry. Other terrorists are identified as Mehmet Salih Çakal, head of one of the so-called ‘battalions’ of the PKK and Ahmed Muhammed Ali, who was the driver of two men.”

Afghanistan

The National: Blast Tears Through Mosque In Afghanistan At Funeral Of Deputy Governor

“An explosion rocked a mosque in northern Afghanistan on Thursday during the funeral of the provincial deputy governor who was killed in an attack this week. Mahzudeen Ahmadi, head of the information office of northern Badakhshan province, confirmed that the explosion had caused casualties but did not clarify how many. ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing on Tuesday that killed Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the acting governor of Badakhshan. The head of the province's police force was killed in a suicide blast in December last year that was also claimed by ISIS, while in April last year a bomb attack killed the head of the mining department. ISIS has killed and wounded hundreds of people in attacks since the Taliban returned to power. The attacks, some aimed at foreigners, are an attempt to undermine the Taliban government.”

Middle East

Associated Press: Blinken Announces $150M In Aid For Syria, Iraq At Saudi Conference On Combatting Islamic State Group

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the U.S. would provide nearly $150 million in aid for areas in Syria and Iraq that were liberated from the Isamic State extremist group. He spoke at a ministerial conference hosted by Saudi Arabia on combatting the group, which no longer controls any territory — but whose affiliates still carry out attacks across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS includes more than 80 countries and continues to coordinate action against the extremist group, which at its height controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq. Blinken said the U.S. pledge is part of new funding amounting to more than $600 million. ‘Poor security and humanitarian conditions. Lack of economic opportunity. These are the fuel for the kind of desperation on which ISIS feeds and recruits,’ he said, using a common acronym for the extremist group. ‘So we have to stay committed to our stabilization goals.’”

Nigeria

Daily Post: Troops Repel ISWAP Attack In Borno

“At least one civilian was killed and another injured as troops of Operation Hadin Kai repelled attacks by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Gajiganna, the northern part of Borno State. ISWAP fighters in four Hilux trucks attacked the town with heavy weapons at 9:30 pm on Tuesday in an attempt to wreak havoc. DAILY POST learnt that the troops swiftly engaged them in a gun battle that lasted for about an hour before the terrorists retreated in the direction of Damakulli. A teenage girl who sustained a bullet wound was transferred to the hospital in Maiduguri for treatment, while the victim who died from a stray bullet was buried according to Islamic rites at 9 am.”

Somalia

Al Jazeera: Ethiopia Says It Foiled Al-Shabab Attack Near Border With Somalia

“Ethiopia says it foiled a suicide attack by the armed group al-Shabab at a border town with Somalia. The Ethiopian army ‘stopped the attackers in their tracks before they could wreak havoc’ in the Ethiopia-Somalia border town of Dollo, the foreign ministry said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. ‘The Ethiopian National Defense Forces neutralised suicide bombers and destroyed weapons to be used by the terrorist group,’ it added. Al-Shabab, which has been linked to al-Qaeda, has been waging an armed rebellion against Somalia’s central government for about 15 years.”

China

Reuters: China, Pakistan, Iran Hold Counter-Terrorism Talks In Beijing - Chinese Foreign Ministry

“China, Pakistan and Iran held their first trilateral meeting on counter-terrorism in Beijing on Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement. The three countries had ‘in-depth’ exchanges on the regional counter-terrorism situation, and decided to hold the meeting on a regular basis, the ministry said.”

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