February 21, 2020

Foreign Policy: Terrorist Rehab <[link removed]>

“You’re not scared of me?” Yusuf sked half-jokingly as he tossed his burnt pizza crust on the plate. “No,” I told him, but I probably should have been. Yusuf was convicted on terrorism charges for his connection to the 2002 Bali bombing that killed more than 200 people. He spent 10 years in an Indonesian prison, fought with al Qaeda, and personally knew Osama bin Laden. In his crowded restaurant in Surakarta, Indonesia, all that seemed very far away. But to him, perhaps it did not. “I built my business the same way I built my teams in Afghanistan,” he explained. “I fundraise, recruit people, track spending, monitor competition—it’s the same game.” In the United States, someone like Yusuf might never walk free once in prison due to fears that he might return to militancy. The November 2019 terrorist attack in London, in which two people were stabbed to death by a man released from jail after serving half of his 16-year sentence for terrorism offenses, catapulted fears about recidivism into the public eye. Those concerns were deepened in February after another stabbing in which two people were killed by a man who had recently been released from prison for terrorism offenses.”

The Guardian: Britain First Leader Paul Golding Charged By Anti-Terror Police <[link removed]>

“Paul Golding, the leader of the fringe far-right group Britain First, has been charged with an offence under the Terrorism Act after refusing to give police access to his phone. He was stopped at Heathrow airport in October while returning from a trip to the Russian parliament in Moscow by officers from the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism command. He refused to give the Pin codes for a number of his electronic devices. Golding, 38, is charged with refusing to comply with a duty under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. A Met spokesman said Golding, of Bexley in south-east London, was charged by postal requisition on Wednesday. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 27 February. In a statement Golding said he was not a terrorist and described the charges as “an abuse of legislation”. Schedule 7 allows police to interrogate, search and detain anyone for up to six hours at UK ports. It is designed to determine whether an individual is involved in the “commission, preparation or instigation” of acts of terrorism. Britain First achieved brief notoriety in late 2017 after Donald Trump retweeted anti-Muslim messages sent by the party’s then deputy leader, Jayda Fransen, prompting international condemnation.”

Washington Examiner: Terror In South America: Iran And Hezbollah Threaten The Region, Insiders Say <[link removed]>

“The phrasing and emphasis were deliberate. Colombian Defense Minister Carlos Trujillo stood at a podium at the Pentagon reading a prepared statement in English when he turned to U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper to pause and enunciate one word at the end of a list of shared threats: “Hezbollah.” The Iranian-sponsored terrorist organization has long had a presence in Latin America, but recent United States-Iran tensions and the potential for a proxy strike on U.S. interests from a staging point in not-so-friendly Venezuela have brought concerns to the forefront. “We also reaffirmed our joint commitment to counterattack the illegitimate Maduro regime's harboring of terrorist groups such as the ELN, the FARC, and others, such as Hezbollah,” Trujillo said of his Feb. 7 meeting with Esper. Colombia took the opportunity to highlight its most important bilateral defense partnership at a time when U.S. Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM, is undergoing a budget review that could scale back U.S. military operations in the region. The South American nation, with U.S. support, has in recent years made great strides against domestic terrorist groups ELN and FARC. Battlefield successes have led to a peace agreement with FARC leaders and paved the way for commercial and tourist growth.”

United States

U.S. News & World Report: Utah Man Convicted Of Hate Crimes For Attack At Tire Shop <[link removed]>

“A jury found a Utah man guilty of three hate crimes for shouting that he wanted to “kill Mexicans” before attacking three Latinos at a tire shop. Alan Dale Covington, 51, was convicted of attacking Jose Lopez and his 18-year-old son Luis with a 3-foot (0.9-meter) metal pole in November 2018, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday. He faces life in prison. “This defendant attacked this family because of who they are,” said Rose Gibson, representing the federal government in this case. “He came armed.” Jose Lopez's brother Angel Lopez joined them outside after Covington refused to leave the property, prosecutors said. Covington then swung a metal pole twice, hitting the 18-year-old in the face the second time before Angel Lopez eventually scared him away, prosecutors said. Evidence was presented against Covington that showed he went to another auto shop two days earlier allegedly screaming similar slurs before eventually leaving when he found out the man was from Venezuela, according to court documents. Jose Lopez testified that Covington shouted, “Go ahead and call the police, but I’m going to kill you guys. You’re part of the Mexican mafia. You killed my daughter.”

The Washington Post: This Renowned German Professor Was Headed To U-Va. To Teach About The Rise Of Far-Right Extremism. The State Department Held Up His Visa. <[link removed]>

“When German academic Hajo Funke received word he was selected to be a visiting professor at the University of Virginia, he hastily began preparing. He arranged documentation to apply for a visa and delivered it to the U.S. Consulate in Berlin on Nov. 18, his 75th birthday. After an interview at the consulate in December, Funke rented an apartment in Charlottesville and arranged health insurance. When the consulate returned his passport, it was accompanied not by a visa but by a letter that said a decision about his visa had been delayed for three to six months. The two classes he was set to teach — one on far-right populism and another on political memory in Germany — were in jeopardy. On Thursday morning, after spending weeks teaching the course over video conferencing from his home and after an appeal from U-Va. officials, Funke got an email from the consulate saying his visa had been granted. The news comes just in time for Funke to finish the academic term with his students. But questions have been raised about what prompted the delay, which was first reported by the Cavalier Daily, the independent student newspaper. A State Department official declined to answer questions about Funke’s case, saying she is barred by law from commenting on individual visa cases.”

Syria

The Hill: The Missing ISIS Victims And The Families They Left Behind <[link removed]>

“In 2013, Ismail al-Hamed, a Syrian doctor and resistance leader, was kidnapped by a group of armed men in Raqqa, the city in northeast Syria that soon would become the headquarters of the so-called caliphate of the Islamic State (ISIS). Al-Hamed’s kidnapping was one of thousands that the armed group carried out to crush resistance during its rule over large swaths of Iraq and Syria. When a U.S.-led international coalition and its local partner, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), routed ISIS from its last holdout in Syria last March, the families of ISIS victims were filled with hope that the local authorities and coalition countries would help them find their missing loved ones. But the coalition and the SDF, as well as other authorities that now control areas formerly under ISIS, reportedly have been doing little to help. “Qasd (the SDF), the coalition, they’re refusing to have a mechanism to find our children,” Faten Ajjan, the mother of a young journalist who was kidnapped by ISIS in 2013, told us. “There is total absence internationally. I’m a mother and I was never afraid of ISIS. You are nations, why are you afraid?” The situation in Northeast Syria has only become more complex, and post-ISIS recovery efforts are stalling.”

Turkey

Reuters: Russia Accuses Turkey Of Shelling Syrian Army To Help Militants <[link removed]>

“Russia accused Turkey on Thursday of providing artillery support to militants fighting the Syrian army and said militants briefly broke through Syrian military positions in Idlib, Russian news agencies reported. Russia’s air force carried out strikes on pro-Turkish militants who burst through Syrian government positions in two areas of Idlib province, allowing the Syrian army to repel the attacks, the ministry was cited as saying. “The actions of the militants were supported by artillery fire from the Turkish armed forces, which allowed the terrorists to break through the defense of the Syrian army,” the Russian defense ministry was quoted as saying. The Turkish artillery fire wounded four Syrian soldiers, it said. The accusations add to mounting tensions between Turkey, Syria and its ally Russia over the conflict in Idlib province, the last remaining rebel bastion in Syria’s nine-year-civil war where government forces are mounting an offensive. The offensive has prompted thousands of civilians to flee and Turkey has demanded a ceasefire and told Syrian government forces to pull back.”

Afghanistan

Los Angeles Times: Fighting Could Disrupt U.S.-Taliban Truce In Afghan Hinterlands <[link removed]>

“The road to Zabul province is specked with craters. Army outposts line a raw landscape of mountains and open steppe. Winds snap hard; signs warn of minefields. The Taliban has blown up most of the bridges. Children stand by the roadside, making money shoveling dirt into the craters, evening out the road, which is shared by tanks and trucks, soldiers and civilians. Men on crutches with missing legs beg through endless hours. Even if the war ends — it has been going on so long, many have lost hope — their suffering will last a lifetime. Peace is far from Zabul. But there is a glimmer. The yearlong negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban ended last week, and the two sides agreed to a “reduction in violence” followed by a formal peace deal that could come as early as the end of this month. Ahead of the easing of hostilities — the U.S. could not secure a full ceasefire — the reelection of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was confirmed on Tuesday following a dispute over voting that lasted five months. The U.S.-Taliban deal is seen as a pathway to peace and will likely reduce the number of U.S. troops in the war-torn country from about 12,000 to 8,600. It would then lead to further withdrawals. But in the precarious terrain of the southern Afghan province of Zabul, the chance of ending America’s longest war could be spoiled.”

Reuters: Taliban, Afghan Officials Say Reach Pact To Reduce Violence <[link removed]>

“Afghan, international and Taliban forces will observe a seven-day period of reduced violence in Afghanistan beginning at midnight (1930 GMT), an Afghan official and Taliban leaders said on Friday. The agreement was struck during protracted negotiations between U.S. and Taliban representatives that began in Qatar in 2018, and could lead to a withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, they said. “Based on the plan, the reduction in violence (RIV) will start between the Taliban and international and Afghan security forces for one week,” Javid Faisal, spokesperson for the Afghan National Security Advisor, told Reuters. “We hope it is extended for a longer time and opens the way for a ceasefire and intra-Afghan talks,” he added. Three senior Taliban leaders - two in Doha and one in Afghanistan - also confirmed to Reuters that they had agreed on reduction of violence in Afghanistan for seven days starting Friday night. All three spoke on condition of anonymity. The Taliban is expected to make a formal announcement of the RIV later on Friday. One Taliban leader based in Doha told Reuters that the period could not be called a “ceasefire.”

Pakistan

The Washington Post: Pakistan Hopes Its Steps To ‘Eradicate’ Terrorism Will Keep It Off A Global Blacklist <[link removed]>

“Over the past year, Pakistan says it has “fought and eradicated the menace of terrorism from its soil” by carrying out arrests, seizing property and freezing bank accounts of groups designated as terrorists by the United States and the United Nations. Analysts and current and former U.S. officials predict these moves will be enough to keep Pakistan off a global blacklist for financing terrorism and money laundering. But they caution they will do little to address Pakistan’s history of supporting militants, a key U.S. foreign policy priority. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an obscure international watchdog, is meeting in Paris this week and is expected to announce whether Pakistan will remain on the watch list Friday, according to the organization’s spokesman. If Pakistan were to be blacklisted, the country’s financial transactions would be subject to greater scrutiny, a move that could discourage investment and further isolate its struggling economy. The blacklisting could also complicate Pakistan’s relationship with the United States. The Trump administration has pressured Pakistan to crack down on terrorism within its borders as U.S. negotiators work to finalize a peace deal with the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan that would pave the way for the withdrawal of thousands of American troops.”

Yemen

Al Monitor: Is The Time Ripe For Ultimate Eclipse Of Al-Qaeda In Yemen? <[link removed]>

“It has been two weeks since the United States announced the killing of the chief of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). This severe blow has hit al-Qaeda hard, adding to the list of its losses over the last 10 years. The most recent loss is the death of Qassim al-Rimi, who was targeted in Wadi Abedah in Yemen's Marib province. On Feb. 6, the White House confirmed the death of Rimi in an airstrike, saying that this man’s death “degrades al-Qaeda” and “brings us close to eliminating the threats these groups pose.” Apparently, it is a big victory but it is not a cure-all for potential al-Qaeda threats. Multiple American drone strikes have been conducted to kill al-Qaeda leaders, but this has not sufficed to wipe out the entire existence of al-Qaeda in Yemen. The killing strategy has been effective in uprooting the heads, but the roots of the problem persist. Rimi was a founding member of AQAP and his influence grew in 2015 when he was declared as the new head of the group after the killing of his predecessor. Since then, Rimi has been the mastermind of al-Qaeda operations in war-ravaged Yemen. Al-Qaeda’s malign activities have just added to the ordeal Yemen has been witnessing over the last five years.”

Somalia

Military Times: Record Breaking US Airstrikes Pushing Al-Shabab Fighters Into Urban Areas <[link removed]>

“A recent UN report said that record breaking airstrikes targeting al-Shabab militants in Somalia is forcing the group to move from rural areas to urban centers to mitigate American air power. The report also detailed that improvised explosive attacks carried out by the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic extremist group are up. From May 1, 2019 to Oct. 12, 3019, Shabab fighters carried out 99 IED attacks —which is an increase from the 83 carried out by the group during the same period in 2018, according to the UN. The U.S. kicked off 2020 with a bang in Somalia launching nearly 14 airstrikes since the start of the new year putting the U.S. on pace for another record breaking year for airstrikes against militants in the country, according to figures provided by U.S. Africa Command. In 2019, American warplanes launched 63 airstrikes. Air Force Maj. Karl Wiest, a spokesman for AFRICOM, told Military Times the airstrike totals in 2019 was a record for the command. The punishing blows by American aircraft appear to have Shabab fighters attempting to alter tactics. The urban environment will offer some degree of protection to the militant group, Michael Rubin, a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, told Military Times.”

Africa

Voice Of America: Boko Haram Raids Displace Thousands More In Cameroon <[link removed]>

“New Boko Haram attacks have displaced more than 3,000 people along Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria in the past three months. Authorities say the Nigerian Islamist militants torched houses, abducted, raped and looted, creating panic among villagers. Twenty-seven-year-old Cameroonian Alidda Mannodi is getting help from the Association of Muslim Women in the northern town of Mora, on Nigeria’s border, after escaping from Boko Haram. Last week, she managed to flee the border village of Touski, where the Islamist militants were holding her captive as a sex slave. She said at the first opportunity she fled a hut in the bush, where she was repeatedly raped by several men. Mannodi said she told one of the men that she was menstruating, but the man still raped her. Mannodi said she trekked for three hours before getting help from a Nigerian fuel vendor, who brought her to Mora. She said she was among 12 people Boko Haram abducted from her village - some for a second time. The Association of Muslim Women is treating her and 16 other women who escaped Boko Haram in recent months. “ 

France

RFI: Trial Opens Of French Jihadist Linked To Bataclan Killer <[link removed]>

“The trial has opened before a special criminal court of Reda Hame, the French jihadist known to have associated in Syria with one of the masterminds of the Bataclan killings. Thirty-four-year-old Hame is accused of “taking part in a criminal group with a view to perpetrating a crime which would endanger the lives of others”. The accused spent little more than a week in Syria in June 2015. During that time, he claims he was approached by Abdelhamid Abaaoud, one of the killers who opened fire with a machine gun on the crowd attending a concert at the Bataclan venue in central Paris in November, 2015. One hundred and thirty people lost their lives at several venues on the same night, victims of three coordinated attacks. Hame claims that Abaaoud asked him if he would be prepared to open fire on a crowd of people, if someone else could provide the necessary weapons. Hame says that he accepted the mission, and training in the use of the kalachnikov automatic rifle, only so that he would be allowed return to France. He says he never had any intention of committing such a crime. Hame was arrested in August, 2015, shortly after his return to France from Syria. He has spent the past five years in police custody.”

Germany

The New York Times: Far-Right Shooting Shatters An Already Fragile Sense Of Security In Germany <[link removed]>

“Hanau, a small city in western Germany, considered itself a melting pot, an island of tolerance. That was before a racist extremist opened fire at a hookah bar Wednesday night, killing nine mostly young people in Germany’s worst attack in recent memory. A working-class community just outside Frankfurt, Hanau was ethnically diverse long before the issue of immigration began tearing apart German politics with the arrival of nearly a million asylum seekers five years ago. “We have lived very peacefully together,” said Metin Kan, a 43-year-old of Turkish descent, who said he was a friend of one of the victims, the owner of the Midnight bar. The attack Wednesday did more than shock Germany. It drove home a fear that no part of the country is immune to the potential for violence that has been unleashed with the rise of a far right angered by Germany’s changing society. The attack, the authorities said, was carried out by a 43-year-old German who had posted a racist video and screed on the internet. He was later found dead from a gunshot, along with his mother, at his home, the authorities said, without identifying them. His rampage took place in the heart of a region that prides itself on diversity and tolerance.”

The Wall Street Journal: German Killings Spark Debate Over Far-Right Terror Threat <[link removed]>

“A gunman killed at least nine people in an immigrant neighborhood near Frankfurt after writing a screed calling for the extermination of entire ethnic groups, authorities said, fueling a tense political debate over the rise of far-right extremism in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a televised address that racism was a poison that was likely behind the assault and other recent crimes in Germany. “There are many indications that the perpetrator acted out of far-right and racist motives, driven by hatred of people of different origin, different faith or different appearance,” Ms. Merkel said. The attack, which authorities said was committed by a mentally ill man, has raised fresh concern about a rising far-right terrorist threat in Germany after a string of attacks and foiled conspiracies in the past year, including an attack on a synagogue on Yom Kippur last year. Members of Ms. Merkel’s conservative party have connected a rise in hate crimes to a rival political party, the Alternative for Germany, and its anti-immigrant and anti-Islam rhetoric. The AfD has risen in popularity since the 2015 refugee crisis to become the largest opposition group in Parliament, although recent polls have showed its popularity has plateaued.”

BBC News: Hanau Shooting: Has Germany Done Enough To Tackle Far-Right Terror Threat? <[link removed]>

“The shooting dead of nine people in shisha bars in Hanau is being treated by German investigators as an act of far-right terrorism. The attack has shocked Germany and added to fears that police may still be missing vital clues about violent racists and their networks, despite previous far-right outrages. The ability of violent racists to remain for long periods below the police radar was exposed in the National Socialist Underground (NSU) case. A neo-Nazi cell murdered 10 people, nine of them immigrants, between 2000 and 2007, while police failed to connect the attacks. The NSU case was a wake-up call for the authorities, whose anti-terrorism efforts had been focused on the threat from violent Islamists. But some now accuse the authorities of still underestimating the far-right terror threat. The Hanau suspect has been named as Tobias R. The 43-year-old has been described as a lone gunman, and was found dead later at home next to his dead mother. He was a licensed gun owner and had not been under investigation previously. The attack has reignited a debate in Germany about the extent to which far-right rhetoric may be encouraging racist violence.”

Australia

The Australian: First Arrest Warrants For Australian Islamic State Brides <[link removed]>

“The Australian Federal Police has issued the first arrest warrants for Australian women suspected of fighting with Islamic State, who are now trapped in northern Syria. Investigators working within the AFP’s Returning Terrorist Suspect team have obtained briefs of evidence against a number of the roughly 20 women held in the al-Hawl refugee camp. The Australian understands the women will be charged with an array of ­offences, including travelling to a declared zone as well as supporting or joining a terrorist group. The warrants will not change the women’s immediate situation and will be served only should they return home. The AFP declined to say how many of the women were subject to warrants but said all told it had obtained 42 arrest warrants for suspected terrorists. “All of the women who are suspected to have travelled to the conflict zone are under investi­gation for a range of offences,” the spokesman said. A counter-terrorism source close to the investigation said the number of warrants against ­Islamic State brides was expected to rise. In January and early February, officers from the Joint Counter Terrorism Team conducted raids of properties across Sydney and Melbourne in connection with Islamic State brides.”

Technology

University Of York: Hate Speech Dominates Social Media Platform When Users Want Answers On Terrorism <[link removed]>

“Community question answering sites (CQAs) are social media platforms where users ask questions, answer those submitted by others, and have the option to evaluate responses. Previous studies have mainly looked at terrorism-related data drawn from Facebook and Twitter, this was the first to examine trends on the CQA site, Yahoo! Answers. Terrorism: The University of York study explored the use of Yahoo! Answers on the topic of terrorism and looked at a dataset of 300 questions that attracted more than 2,000 answers. The questions reflected the community’s information needs, ranging from the life of extremists to counter-terrorism policies. Sensitive questions outnumbered innocuous ones. A typical innocuous question was: Who exactly created ISIS?, while a more sensitive question was: Do you agree with Donald Trump that we should ban Muslims coming from countries seized by ISIS, Al Qaeda and other terrorists?”



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The Counter Extremism Project - United States
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