Eye on Extremism
August 5, 2019
The
New York Times: El Paso Shooting: Massacre That Killed 20 Being
Investigated As Domestic Terrorism
“A federal official confirmed that an anti-immigrant manifesto was
written by the suspect. Federal investigators in El Paso said they
were treating the massacre at a Walmart that killed 20 and wounded
another 27 on Saturday morning as an act of domestic terrorism, and
prosecutors said they were considering federal hate crime charges.
They were also considering federal gun charges that would carry the
death penalty. “We are going to conduct a methodical and careful
investigation with a view toward those charges,” said John F. Bash,
the United States attorney for the Western District of Texas, who said
he had consulted with Attorney General William P. Barr. A federal law
enforcement official confirmed that a 2,300-word anti-immigrant
manifesto that was posted online minutes before the shootingwas
written by the suspect, whom the authorities identified as Patrick
Crusius, 21. Jaime Esparza, the El Paso district attorney, said his
office had charged Mr. Crusius with capital murder and that he would
seek the death penalty in any state prosecution. “We are a good and
loving community, but we will hold him accountable,” Mr. Esparza said.
The F.B.I.’s Domestic Terrorism-Hate Crimes Fusion Cell is
investigating the case as a possible hate crime and act of domestic
terrorism and has served three search warrants in the Dallas area,
said Emmerson Buie Jr., the special agent in charge in El Paso.”
The
Guardian: New Wave Of Terrorist Attacks Possible Before End Of Year,
UN Says
“The United Nations has warned that a recent pause in international
terrorist violence may soon end, with a new wave of attacks possible
before the end of the year. In a report, specialist monitors at the UN
security council paint a worrying picture of a global Islamist
extremist movement that continues to pose a significant threat despite
recent setbacks. The authors raise concerns about up to 30,000
foreigners who travelled to the “caliphate” to fight and who may still
be alive. “Their future prospects will be of international concern for
the foreseeable future,” the report says. “Some may join al-Qaida or
other terrorist brands that may emerge. Some will become leaders or
radicalisers.” The report is based on information supplied by
intelligence agencies of UN member states, and provides a glimpse of
collective thinking among security services around the world.”
The
Washington Post: U.S. Launches Last-Ditch Effort To Stop Turkish
Invasion Of Northeast Syria
“The Trump administration has launched a last-ditch effort to head
off a Turkish invasion of northeast Syria that it expects will come
within the next two weeks. With tens of thousands of Turkish troops
massed near the border, a high-level Defense Department delegation
plans to present what U.S. officials describe as a final offer to
address Turkey’s concerns at a meeting Monday in Ankara. The meeting
marks the climax of a years-long dispute between the two NATO allies
over U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish fighters who have led the ground
war against the Islamic State, but whom Turkey considers a terrorist
threat to its own security. Kurdish-led victories against the militant
group have effectively left them in control of much of the border
area. Failure of the U.S. effort could throw the war-devastated region
into even deeper turmoil, endangering efforts to rout Islamic State
remnants and President Trump’s goal of withdrawing U.S. troops from
Syria.”
CBS
News: The El Paso Shooting: CEP President Fran Townsend Discusses
Classifying The El Paso Shooting As A Case Of Domestic
Terrorism
“White terrorism may be on the rise: The shootings this weekend are
raising serious questions about a rise of what’s called white
terrorism. Former Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend is now a
senior national security analyst for CBS News. She discussed the
recent shootings in El Paso and Dayton.”
The
New York Times: Iran Says It Has Seized Another Oil Tanker In Persian
Gulf
“Iran seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, state
television reported on Sunday, the third time Tehran has reported
detaining a tanker in the last month as the United States applies its
campaign of “maximum pressure,” sanctions and diplomatic isolation
against the country. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
detained the tanker on Wednesday along with the seven members of the
ship’s foreign crew, according to official Iranian news agencies,
which cited a naval commander. Iran said the tanker was “smuggling”
fuel to some Arab states, without offering evidence. The oil tanker
was an Iraqi ship, the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting the
Revolutionary Guards Corps. The Trump administration has tried to
force Iran into submission by choking off its oil sales, the
cornerstone of the country’s economy. Iran has responded by lashing
out at the West through provocations small and large — including the
recent tanker seizures — raising fears that any miscalculation and
tit-for-tat responses would escalate into war. The Trump
administration’s stated goal is to extract a nuclear deal from Iran
that is more favorable to American interests than the 2015 agreement
that President Trump abandoned last year.”
The
Wall Street Journal: 8chan Message Forum Goes Offline After El Paso
Shooting
“The online message forum that posted several alleged mass
shooters’ manifestos, including one linked to the person detained in
Saturday’s killing of 20 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, went
dark after a technology provider said it would pull its support.
Matthew Prince, chief executive of Cloudflare, which provided some
internet infrastructure for fringe online forum 8chan, late Sunday
said it would terminate the site as a customer at midnight Pacific
Time. 8chan’s main website was offline even before that, though its
mobile site still had some content. Some links there told users, “This
is just a bump in the road. Expect some downtime as we update our
servers over the next few hours.” Jim Watkins, 8chan’s owner, couldn’t
immediately be reached for comment after the site went offline. Via
Twitter , 8chan said “there might be some downtime in the next 24-48
hours while we find a solution.” It warned its email could be
affected, possibly hampering its ability to respond to requests from
law-enforcement authorities.”
United States
The
New York Times: We Have A White Nationalist Terrorist
Problem
“If one of the perpetrators of this weekend’s two mass
shootings had adhered to the ideology of radical Islam, the resources
of the American government and its international allies would mobilize
without delay. The awesome power of the state would work tirelessly to
deny future terrorists access to weaponry, money and forums to spread
their ideology. The movement would be infiltrated by spies and
informants. Its financiers would face sanctions. Places of
congregation would be surveilled. Those who gave aid or comfort to
terrorists would be prosecuted. Programs would be established to
de-radicalize former adherents. No American would settle for “thoughts
and prayers” as a counterterrorism strategy. No American would accept
laying the blame for such an attack on video games, like the Texas
lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, did in an interview on Sunday when
discussing the mass shooting in El Paso that took 20 lives and left 27
people wounded. In predictable corners, moderate Muslims would be
excoriated for not speaking out more forcefully against the extremists
in their midst. Foreign nations would be hit with sanctions for not
doing enough to help the cause.”
The
Washington Post: A Weekend Of Mass Murder Reflects How American
Violence Goes Viral
“In El Paso, Dayton and Chicago, a weekend of horrific gun violence
seemed on the surface to be another spasm of disconnected mayhem,
people taking the lives of others almost at random. But on closer
examination, the attacks served to illustrate how America’s lone-wolf
shooters aren’t really alone. Whether the proximate cause was
political or personal, whether it grew out of ideological
indoctrination, mental illness or some toxic blend of factors that
left shooters isolated and damaged, each attack demonstrated a
troubling disorder festering in modern America. The 21-year-old man
who allegedly murdered 20 people doing their Saturday shopping in El
Paso appears to have taken pains to post a manifesto that leaned
heavily on the virulently anti-immigrant rhetoric that inspired recent
mass shootings in New Zealand and California, authorities said —
though they were still working to confirm its authenticity. The
suspect, Patrick Crusius, did not appear to be part of any organized
group, but the four-page screed posted minutes before he opened fire
parroted the extreme white supremacist ideology known as “the great
replacement” — the idea that newcomers are taking the jobs of white
Christians in the United States and other Western nations.”
The
Washington Post: Three Mass Shootings This Year Began With A Hateful
Screed On 8chan. Its Founder Calls It A Terrorist Refuge In Plain
Sight.
“The El Paso massacre began like the fatal attacks earlier this
year at mosques in New Zealand and a San Diego-area synagogue: with a
racist manifesto and announcement on the anonymous message board
8chan, one of the Web’s most venomous refuges for extremist hate. Like
after the shootings in Christchurch and the Chabad of Poway synagogue,
the El Paso attack was celebrated on 8chan as well: One of the most
active threads early Sunday urged people to create memes and original
content, or OC, that could make it easier to distribute and “celebrate
the [gunman’s] heroic action.” “You know what to do!!! Make OC, Spread
OC, Share OC, Inspire OC,” an anonymous poster wrote. “Make the world
a better place.” The message board’s ties to mass violence have fueled
worries over how to combat a Web-fueled wave of racist bloodshed. The
El Paso shooting also prompted the site’s founder to urge its owners
to “do the world a favor and shut it off.” “Once again, a terrorist
used 8chan to spread his message as he knew people would save it and
spread it,” Fredrick Brennan, who founded 8chan in 2013 but stopped
working with the site’s owners in December, told The Washington Post.
“The board is a receptive audience for domestic terrorists.”
The
Wall Street Journal: White Nationalists Pose Challenge To
Investigators
“The shootings in Texas and Ohio that killed at least 29 people
over the weekend left authorities searching for how to confront the
challenges posed by mass violence and domestic terrorism, especially
attacks driven by white-nationalist ideologies. Violence committed by
white men inspired by an extremist ideology make up a growing number
of domestic terrorism cases, according to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Of about 850 current domestic terrorism cases, 40%
involve racially motivated violent extremism and a majority of those
cases involve white supremacists, the FBI said. Saturday’s attack in
majority-Hispanic El Paso, Texas, which left at least 20 people dead,
was allegedly committed by a 21-year-old white man who was believed to
have posted a manifesto of sorts that espoused anti-immigrant and
white-nationalist ideology on a popular far-right website not long
before the shooting. Assailants in other recent attacks, including at
synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, Calif., also espoused
white-nationalist beliefs. “We are most concerned about lone
offenders, primarily using firearms, as these lone offenders represent
the dominant trend for lethal domestic terrorists,” Michael McGarrity,
the FBI’s top counterterrorism official, recently told lawmakers.”
NBC
News: Trump Warns U.S. Allies To Take Back Captured ISIS
Fighters
“President Donald Trump has warned that Islamic State fighters held
by U.S.-backed forces could be released to Europe if their home
countries fail to take them back. His comments raise the pressure on
European powers who have been reluctant to repatriate nationals
accused of fighting for ISIS due to security concerns and the
difficulty of obtaining sufficient evidence for prosecution. “We have
thousands of ISIS fighters that we want Europe to take, and let's see
if they take them. If they don't take them, we'll probably have to
release them to Europe,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. It is
unclear how many ISIS fighters of European origin are in detention and
how Trump would release them to Europe. Experts estimate U.S.-backed
Syrian Democratic Forces hold some 800 European ISIS fighters in
makeshift prisons, but the mostly Kurdish militia group is struggling
to maintain them more than four months after ISIS lost the last
significant part of its so-called caliphate. The SDF is also involved
in caring for thousands of the fighters’ family members stuck in
desert camps in Syria, prompting calls for a long term solution and
stoking tension between Washington and its European allies.”
USA
Today: FBI's Haunting Warning About 'Lone Offenders' Paints A Grim
Picture
“The week before three lone gunmen cut bloody swaths through three
American cities, FBI Director Christopher Wray sounded a prescient
alarm about the growing threat within. Wray described the risk posed
by domestic violent extremism, animated by racial tension,
anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other unrest, as nearly on par with
the once all-consuming threat posed by international terrorism. “The
FBI is most concerned about lone offender attacks, primarily
shootings, as they have served as the dominant lethal mode for
domestic violent extremist attacks,” Wray told a Senate panel July 23.
“We anticipate law enforcement, racial minorities and the U.S.
government will continue to be significant targets for many domestic
violent extremists.” The FBI director’s warning came on the heels of
an unusual appeal by the Secret Service, which requested the public’s
assistance last month in an effort to thwart attacks by lone
assailants. An agency review of mass attacks in 2018 found that in
more than three-quarters of the cases, the attackers engaged in
suspicious or alarming communication that posed potential safety
concerns to family members and others. “Because these acts are usually
planned over a period of time, and the attackers often elicit concern
for the people around them, there exists an opportunity to stop these
incidents before they occur,” the Secret Service concluded.”
The
Atlantic: How Many Attacks Will It Take Until The White-Supremacist
Threat Is Taken Seriously?
“There was, it seems, no time to avert the massacre. The
anti-immigrant, white-nationalist manifesto heralding an imminent
attack was uploaded to the online message board 8chan only minutes
before a shooter killed at least 20 people out shopping on a
late-summer Saturday in El Paso, Texas. But in another sense, if U.S.
authorities confirm that the document was written by the 21-year-old
white male suspected of committing the atrocity, then there was plenty
of time—numerous years in which violence by far-right,
white-supremacist extremists has emerged as arguably the premier
domestic-terrorist threat in the United States. The government may be
working to prevent these violent acts, but it’s devoted less attention
and fewer resources to the toxic ideology that knits them together.
The Anti-Defamation League recently reported that right-wing
extremists were linked to more murders in the United States (at least
50) in 2018 than in any other year since 1995, when Timothy McVeigh
bombed an Oklahoma City federal building. The organization also found
that in the past decade, roughly 73 percent of extremist-related
fatalities have been associated with domestic right-wing extremists,
relative to about 23 percent attributed to Islamist extremists.”
Associated
Press: Death Of Journalist Helps Reshape US Handling Of
Hostages
“Diane Foley learned her son's fate not from any government
official but from a sobbing journalist who asked if she'd been on
Twitter. Foley had not, but the ghastly images weren't hard to find.
President Barack Obama soon confirmed the news to the world: James
Foley, a 40-year-old American journalist kidnapped in Syria two years
earlier, was the American beheaded by Islamic State militants in a
video circulating online. For many in the United States, the August
2014 video brought home the extent of the Islamic State's violence and
brutality. For Diane Foley it was a galvanizing moment, emblematic of
the helplessness she felt during her son's captivity and the lack of
urgency she sensed from American officials tasked with helping her.
The New Hampshire woman channeled her grief into action, becoming an
unofficial ambassador for hostages and their loved ones and helping
reshape the U.S. government response when Americans are captured by
terrorists and kidnappers across the globe.”
Syria
The
New York Times: ISIS, Eyeing Europe, Could Launch Attacks This Year,
U.N. Warns
“Less than five months after the military defeat of the Islamic
State in Syria, a United Nations report is warning that the group’s
leaders could launch international terrorist attacks before the end of
the year, including those intended to “exacerbate existing dissent and
unrest” in European nations. In a bleak assessment of the global
spread of jihadist movements, a report by United Nations analysts on
the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee said that Islamic
State leaders, despite their military defeat in Syria and Iraq, are
“adapting, consolidating and creating conditions for an eventual
resurgence” in those countries. The group, though hobbled by a lack of
financing, is also exploring ways to “reinvest in the capacity to
direct and facilitate complex international attacks,” the July report
said. “The current abatement of such attacks, therefore, may not last
long, possibly not even until the end of 2019,” the analysts added.
Their report was based on the intelligence assessments of United
Nations member states. Islamic State leaders, the analysts found, were
monitoring political developments in Western European nations and
considering attacks that would inflame domestic divisions.”
Voice
Of America: Blast Kills 31 Regime Fighters At Syria Airbase:
Monitor
“A munitions blast killed 31 regime and allied fighters at a
military airport in central Syria on Saturday, a war monitor said. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain and
relies on a network of sources on the ground, said it was unclear what
had caused the deadly explosion at the Shayrat airbase in Homs
province. But state news agency SANA reported that a “technical fault
during the transport of expired ammunition” had killed an unspecified
number of victims. The Shayrat airbase is one of the regime's most
significant installations in the centre of the country. Iranian
fighters – who support the regime in Syria's ongoing civil war – are
based there, according to the Observatory. In 2017, US air strikes hit
the base in response to a suspected sarin gas attack on the rebel-held
town of Khan Sheikhun in northwest Syria that killed more than 80
people. According to the Pentagon, US intelligence had established
that the base was the launchpad for the alleged chemical attack.
Syria's war has killed more than 370,00 people since starting in 2011
with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.”
The
Defense Post: A Ticking Time Bomb: Meeting The ISIS Women Of
Al-Hol
“A pregnant woman was reportedly beaten to death this week in a
Syrian refugee camp housing tens of thousands of people displaced by
the war against Islamic State where they live among the militants’
wives and children in conditions described by international agencies
and reporters who have visited the camp as harsh, dire, and even
apocalyptic. The woman, identified as 30-year-old Sodermini by ANHA
news agency, was six months pregnant, and originally from Indonesia.
On July 28, her body was discovered in a tent and taken to a hospital
run by the Kurdish Red Crescent, where an autopsy determined she had
suffered tremendously before she died. The Indonesian government said
it is investigating the circumstances of her death, and the woman is
believed to be among about 50 Indonesian adherents to Islamic State
living among about 70,000 people in the camp. It’s not known yet who
killed her or why. Children have died in the camp, and the
International Committee of the Red Cross said recently that, despite
the efforts of international NGOs to treat people with war wounds,
infections, or who are suffering from malnutrition, the humanitarian
needs in al-Hol remain “tremendous.”
Reuters:
Ceasefire Gives Wary Syrians In Idlib Respite From
Strikes
“For three months, an army offensive backed by Russia has killed at
least 400 people in northwest Syria and uprooted more than 440,000,
the United Nations says. Since Damascus declared a ceasefire on
Thursday night, its warplanes have not mounted air strikes, though the
combatants are still shelling each other. Idlib lies in the last major
chunk of territory rebels hold after facing defeat across much of
Syria at the hands of Damascus with its allies Russia and Iran. At the
weekend, the streets of Idlib city buzzed with cars and people. Some
stopped by market stalls to look at clothes, while others lined up at
kiosks to buy juice. “Before, there was panic. Every time the warning
sirens rang, the market became empty right away,” Mhamad al-Omar, who
sells cold drinks, told Reuters. “Now that there’s a bit of calm,
there’s traffic today Praise God... People are tired.”
Iran
Haaretz:
Inside Hezbollah's American Sleeper Cells: Waiting For Iran's Signal
To Strike U.S. And Israeli Targets
“After Iran shot down an American drone in the Gulf last month,
U.S. forces were reportedly ten minutes away from firing missiles at
Iranian targets when the President suddenly called off the attack. The
missile strikes would have killed too many Iranians, he later said,
adding he was in no hurry to attack Iran but that "our military is
rebuilt, new, and ready to go." U.S. officials insist that a "full
range of options" remain on the table to deal with Iran’s malign
activities, including military options. But those military options
could have significant implications for the security of Washington’s
allies in the region, including Israel, especially as they relate to
the activities of Iran’s increasingly capable proxies. As tensions
spike between Iran and the West - especially over oil sanctions and
freedom of navigation in the Gulf - Iran has been able to draw upon
its network of militant proxies to carry out attacks on Iran’s behalf.
In the words of former IRGC commander Gen Mohammad Ali Jafari, "The
upside of the recent (conflicts) has been the mobilization of a force
of nearly 200,000 armed youths in different countries in the
region."
Reuters:
Iran's Zarif Says Tehran Will Leave Nuclear Deal If
Necessary
“Iran will leave its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday, if Tehran’s interests
were not protected by other parties to the pact. “Iran will leave its
2015 nuclear deal with powers if necessary,” Zarif told a news
conference broadcast live on state TV, “calling on Europeans to
accelerate their efforts to shield Iran’s economy from U.S.
sanctions.”
The
Daily Beast: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Is The Tip Of Tehran’s
Spear
“In the short run, at least, President Donald Trump’s beef with
Iran has more to do with its aggressive, destabilizing foreign policy
in the Middle East than with its nuclear program, which, experts
agree, is years away from producing even a single nuclear device. The
chief institution responsible for implementing the political warfare
and military aspects of that foreign policy is the Pasdaran—better
known in the West as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The
IRGC was forged on the anvil of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. It has
grown steadily in power and influence over the Republic’s turbulent
40-year history. Today the Guard is a unique, and uniquely powerful,
politico-military organization within Iran. It has no exact
counterpart in any Western nation.”
The
Arab Weekly: Simultaneous Attacks In Aden Reveal Coordination Between
Iran-Backed Houthis And Jihadist Groups
“Observers said there was strong coordination between the
Iran-backed Houthis and the jihadist groups of al-Qaeda and the
Islamic State in carrying out simultaneous attacks in Aden in which at
least 49 people were killed. The attacks August 1 also highlighted
Iran’s role in enabling the massacre by providing the Houthis with
advanced weapons, observers said. The militants attacked a military
camp in southern Abyan province with rocket-propelled grenades and
automatic rifles around midnight, setting off clashes that lasted
until early morning of August 2. The troops targeted were members of a
force trained by the United Arab Emirates, part of the Saudi-led
coalition fighting the Houthi rebels since 2015. The Yemeni Interior
Ministry said 13 people were killed in a “criminal attack” on a police
station in Sheikh Othman in Aden district. The Islamic State (ISIS)
affiliate in Yemen claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing. The
ministry said an attack on al-Jala Camp west of Brega, also in Aden
district, left 36 people dead, including the commander and some of his
lieutenants.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Bahrain Accuses Iran, Qatar Of Plotting To Target Its
Unity
“Bahrain accused on Sunday Iran and Qatar of plotting to target its
national unity and of promoting sedition and chaos. Interior Minister
General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa said the Qatari and
Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Bahrain aren’t new,
but come in different forms. He explained that Iran relies on fanning
the flames of sectarianism to interfere in Bahrain’s internal affairs
blatantly, while Qatar seeks to undermine social cohesion and damage
family bonds, which represents an affront to authentic Arab and
Islamic values and customs. “This is against Arabic and Islamic
values,” he said. The Interior Minister explained that the
conspiracies of Qatar and Iran and their attempts to divide the nation
and promote sedition will fail because of the national unity of
Bahrainis and their loyalty to the King, which would enable them to
meet challenges.”
Iraq
Iraqi
News: Iraqi Intelligence Arrest Islamic State Terrorist In
Anbar
“Iraqi military intelligence forces announced on Saturday the
capture of an Islamic State terrorist during a military operation in
Anbar province. In a press release carried by Iraqi website Mawazin
News, the Iraqi Military Intelligence Directorate said that its troops
arrested an Islamic State terrorist in Anah district in Anbar. The
arrest of the IS militant was based on intelligence information, added
the directorate. 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.”
Voice
Of America: Marking 5 Years Since IS Attack On
Yazidis
“Yazidi women and girls who were enslaved and raped by Islamic
State militants have few choices. They may have been freed, but they
can't bring home the children they had with the extremists. Five years
ago Saturday, IS militants launched attacks on Yazidi villages in
northern Iraq, kidnapping, enslaving and massacring thousands. The
attacks were labelled genocide by the United Nations. The attacks
traumatized the Yazidis, an ancient religious minority who are no
strangers to persecution throughout the ages. But the brutality of the
IS onslaught posed major challenges to the community. Although the
Yazidis are a monotheistic faith, IS viewed them as heretics and
sought to annihilate both the people and their religious sites. In
April, a month after the final military defeat of IS, Yazidi religious
leaders made an apparent bid to protect the insular and still-grieving
community by decreeing that they will embrace survivors of militant
attacks. It was a move aimed at erasing the social stigma associated
with rape. But in what appeared to be a response to backlash from
conservative community members, the spiritual council put out a
statement days later saying its decision had been distorted. The
council affirmed that children born to IS fathers would not be
accepted back into the community.”
Xinhua:
6 IS Militants Killed In Airstrike In Northern Iraq
“A total of six Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Sunday
in an airstrike by U.S.-led coalition in Iraq's northern province of
Nineveh, the Iraqi military said. Acting on intelligence reports
provided by Nineveh's Operations Command, an Iraqi army force tracked
a group of IS militants and surrounded them outside an abandoned
village near the town of Makhmour, some 70 km southeast of Mosul, the
media office of the Joint Operations Command said in a brief
statement. The troops coordinated with the international coalition
aircraft and conducted an airstrike on the spot, leaving six militant
killed, the statement said. Afterwards, the troops searched the bombed
site and found the six bodies with four assault rifles, the statement
added. The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after
Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across
the country late in 2017. IS remnants, however, have since melted in
urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens,
carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and
civilians.”
Turkey
Al
Jazeera: Turkey To Launch Offensive In Kurdish-Controlled Area In
Syria
“Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has renewed a pledge to
carry out a cross-border military operation into northeastern Syria to
dislodge Kurdish fighters close to its border. In a speech on Sunday
during a motorway-opening ceremony in Bursa, Erdogan said
both Russia and the United States have been informed of the planned
operation, but did not say when the offensive would begin. Turkey had
in the past warned of carrying out military operations east of the
Euphrates River, but put them on hold after agreeing with the US to
create a safe zone inside Syria's northeastern border with Turkey that
would be cleared of the Kurdish YPG militia. But Ankara has accused
Washington of stalling progress on setting up the safe zone and has
demanded it sever its relations with the YPG. The group was
Washington's main ally on the ground in Syria during the battle
against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), but
Turkey sees it as a “terrorist organisation” allied with the outlawed
Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). The planned operation would mark
Turkey's third incursion into Syria in as many years. Turkey conducted
two operations into northern Syria in 2016 and 2018 to clear the areas
of ISIL members and the YPG.”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Post: Violence In Afghanistan Takes High Toll On Civilians
Despite The Promise Of Peace Talks
“The long-distance bus, traveling on a remote stretch of highway in
western Afghanistan on Wednesday was crammed with families, students
and workers. They were headed cross-country on a regularly scheduled
300-mile trip from Herat city to Kandahar city when a sudden, violent
blast erupted beneath the bus. A shock wave and shrapnel hurtled
upward from a hidden mine, killing 34 passengers and leaving 17 more
burned and bloody. The nearest hospital was many miles away in Herat.
Hours later, news photos from there showed a small boy lying in bed,
his face pocked with cuts, and a young man sitting up, both arms
bandaged and his face badly swollen. “It was a shameful incident,”
said Sakina Hussaini, a member of the Herat provincial council and a
volunteer for a group that helps civilian victims of violence. She
said Friday that she had attended nine funerals in the past week,
including services for six members of one family. The Taliban denied
through a spokesman that it was responsible for Wednesday’s bus
bombing, but Afghan officials said the insurgents had planted mines
along the highway to target military convoys. The Farah bus massacre
was the worst attack during a week that left more than 200 civilians
dead across the country as the Taliban and its pro-government
adversaries fight to gain leverage in U.S.-Taliban peace talks that
began in September.”
Reuters:
At Least Two Killed In Afghan TV Bus Bombing In Kabul
“At least two people were killed and two injured when a private bus
carrying employees of an Afghan television station was bombed in Kabul
on Sunday, two government officials said. A bomb attached by magnets
to a bus used by Khurshid TV blew up during the evening rush hour. No
group claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the driver and a
passerby were killed, said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the interior
ministry. Samiullah Aminy, the news director with Khurshid TV,
confirmed the attack and said a cameraman and an audio presenter were
injured in the blast. The Taliban, which controls part of the
country, had warned in June that it would target Afghan media
organisations if they did not stop broadcasting anti-Taliban
advertisements. The hardline Islamist group gave Afghan radio
stations, TV channels, publications and others a week to cease airing
anti-Taliban announcements paid for by the government. “We don’t
broadcast anti-Taliban advertisements but it is clear that freedom of
expression is under constant threat in Afghanistan,” said Aminy.
President Ashraf Ghani condemned Sunday’s attack, saying in a Twitter
post, “Deliberately targeting media and civilians is a war crime and
those responsible will be held accountable.”
Al
Jazeera: US, Taliban Push For Peace Deal In New Round Of Doha
Talks
“The US and the Taliban will seek to iron out a peace agreement to
end Afghanistan's 18-year conflict during a fresh round of talks in
Qatar's capital, Doha. The negotiations, now in their eighth round,
began on Saturday and were due to resume on Sunday morning. A Taliban
source told AFP news agency that efforts were under way to organise a
direct meeting between US envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and
Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar, who heads the movement's political
wing. The US, which invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban in
2001, wants Taliban guarantees that Afghanistan will not become a
haven for “terrorists”, while the Taliban is focused on ensuring the
withdrawal of all US-led foreign forces from the country. Suhail
Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman for the organisation's political office
in Doha, said on Twitter on Saturday that if an agreement was
finalised, “it will allow all foreign forces to exit Afghanistan
within a certain time period and open the door for talks” with the
Afghan government. Taliban representatives have been holding peace
talks with US diplomats for nearly a year, but have so far refused to
speak to the government, which they call a “puppet regime” of the
West.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: US Military Calls ISIS In Afghanistan A Threat To The
West
“Senior United States military and intelligence officials are
sharply divided over how much of a threat ISIS in Afghanistan poses to
the West, a critical point in the Trump administration’s debate over
whether American troops stay or withdraw after nearly 18 years of war.
American military commanders in Afghanistan have described ISIS
affiliate there as a growing problem that is capable of inspiring and
directing attacks in Western countries, including the United States.
But intelligence officials in Washington disagree, arguing the group
is mostly incapable of exporting terrorism worldwide. The officials
believe that ISIS in Afghanistan, known as ISIS Khorasan, remains a
regional problem and is more of a threat to the Taliban than to the
West. Differences between the American military and Washington’s
intelligence community over Afghanistan are almost as enduring as the
war itself. The Pentagon and spy agencies have long differed over the
strength of the Taliban and the effectiveness of the military’s
campaign in Afghanistan. Whether to keep counterterrorism forces in
Afghanistan is at the heart of the Trump administration’s internal
debate over the future of the war. Ten current and former American and
European officials who are familiar with the military and intelligence
assessments of the strength of the ISIS in Afghanistan provided
details of the debate to The New York Times.”
Al
Jazeera: July Casualties In Afghanistan Highest Since May 2017:
UNAMA
“More than 1,500 civilians were killed or injured last month due to
the ongoing war in Afghanistan, according to the United Nations
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The figure is the highest
in a single month since May 2017, UNAMA said in a statement released
on Saturday. The main driver was a sharp rise in civilian casualties
from increased activity by the Taliban in urban areas against military
installations. The agency said that the use of improvised explosive
devices (IEDs) accounted for more than 50 percent of the casualties.
UNAMA said it remained "gravely concerned" by the harm done to
civilians. "I call on all parties not to ramp up military operations
thinking that doing so will give them a stronger position in talks
about peace," UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for
Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, said in the statement. The agency
also urged all parties to "put in place more effective procedures for
them to obtain accurate information about the harm their operations
cause to civilians and to be more open and honest with their public
statements concerning civilian casualties".
Pakistan
Reuters:
Thousands Flee Disputed Kashmir Region After Alert; India Says It
Killed Militants
“Thousands of Indian tourists, pilgrims and workers began leaving
the disputed region of Kashmir after a local government alert over
possible militant attacks, and India said it killed at least five
militants who were trying to attack its forces. Indian security
officials said on Friday they had found evidence of attacks planned by
what they said were Pakistani military-backed militants on a major
Hindu pilgrimage in Muslim-majority Kashmir. A local government order
effectively called off the pilgrimage, asking the pilgrims and
tourists to return home. Srinagar-based Indian defense spokesman
Colonel Rajesh Kalia said on Saturday that there had been a number of
attempts by Pakistan-based militants to disturb peace in the Kashmir
region and target the pilgrims. Around five to seven militants were
killed when they tried to attack Indian troops near an area known as
the Keran sector, Kalia said, adding that arms and ammunition were
recovered in the operation. ”Security forces will continue to respond
to all nefarious activities,” Kalia said. A Pakistani defense
spokesperson dismissed India’s assertions as “mere propaganda”,
calling them “blatant lies”. A senior local government official in
Kashmir said the local government advisory had caused panic and led to
the departure of “thousands” of tourists, pilgrims and laborers.”
BBC
News: India Orders Tourists To Leave Kashmir Over 'Terror
Threat'
“Thousands of people, including tourists and Hindu pilgrims, are
leaving Indian-administered Kashmir after local officials issued a
security alert. Indian authorities warned of a “terror threat”
against Hindu pilgrims heading to the Amarnath shrine. Militants
backed by Pakistan were planning an attack on the annual pilgrimage,
officials have said. India accuses Pakistan of backing militant groups
based in Kashmir, something denied by Pakistan. The 45-day pilgrimage
began on 1 July and about 300,000 pilgrims have visited the cave
shrine, located high in the Himalayan mountains, according to AP news
agency. Kashmir's government has advised them to leave the area
“immediately”, causing panic as visitors scramble to organise
transport. Around 20,000 Hindu pilgrims and Indian tourists, as well
as more than 200,000 labourers, were in the process of leaving the
region, a local government official told Reuters news agency. “In the
interest of safety and security of the tourists and Amarnath Yatris
[pilgrims], it is advised that they may curtail their stay in the
[Kashmir] valley immediately,” Kashmir's home secretary, Shaleen
Kabra, said in a statement.”
Yemen
The
Washington Post: Yemeni Officials: Forces Pursue Al-Qaida Militants, 8
Dead
“Yemeni officials and tribal leaders said security forces were
pursuing al-Qaida militants Saturday in the southern Abyan province,
leaving at least seven extremists and one soldier dead. The fighting
came a day after al-Qaida attacked and overran a military camp in the
same province, killing at least 20 soldiers. The troops chasing the
militants through the mountainous areas of al-Mahfad district are part
of a force trained by the United Arab Emirates, a member of the
Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels since 2015. The
officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to
talk to reporters. The tribal leaders asked to remain anonymous for
fear of retaliation. In a statement, the security forces confirmed the
soldier’s death and that the military camp was retaken Friday.”
Reuters:
Yemen's Houthis Launch Drone Attacks On Saudi Airports, Airbase:
TV
“Yemeni Houthi forces launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s King
Khalid airbase and Abha and Najran airports, the Houthis’ military
spokesman said on Monday. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition
fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen said later that Houthi
drones had been intercepted and downed heading in the direction of
civilian airports. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saria said the
attack on Abha airport “hit its targets” and air traffic was disrupted
at both Abha and Najran. All three locations are in southwest Saudi,
near the border with Yemen. The Houthis, who control the Yemeni
capital Sanaa, have in the past few months stepped up their attacks
against targets in Saudi Arabia. In response, the coalition has struck
military sites belonging to the group, especially around Sanaa.”
Egypt
Al
Monitor: Kuwait Extradites Accused Muslim Brotherhood Cell To
Egypt
“Deputy Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah
announced that Kuwait handed over to Egypt members of a Muslim
Brotherhood cell who were arrested July 12. Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
reported July 14 that Jarallah said, “In accordance with joint
agreements between the two countries, the Egyptian authorities were
handed over those wanted by the Egyptian judiciary.” He deplored their
presence in the Kuwaiti territories. On July 12, Kuwait's Interior
Ministry had announced the arrest of a Brotherhood-linked cell and the
sentencing of its members to up to 15 years of prison, saying that
they ”hid from the Egyptian security services by moving to Kuwait.”
The ministry’s statement went on, “After subjecting them to a
preliminary investigation, they confessed to having carried out
terrorist attacks and security breaches in Egyptian territory.” The
ministry underscored its zero tolerance for collaboration or
involvement with terror cells or other organizations that threaten
Egypt's security. Security sources revealed to Kuwait’s al-Rai
newspaper July 14 that the Egyptian authorities shared with their
Kuwaiti counterparts information about the presence of wanted
individuals in Kuwaiti territory and requested their extradition.”
Nigeria
Arab
News: Nigeria Has No Answer After 10 Years Of Boko
Haram
“It is 10 years since Boko Haram transformed from radical Islamist
sect to terrorist insurgency group, coinciding with the rise of its
current leader, Abubakar Shekau. He succeeded Mohammed Yusuf (Abu
Yusuf Al-Barnawi), a preacher fiercely critical of Nigeria’s wealth
inequality and corruption despite the country’s return to democracy in
1999, which many believed would quickly remedy these ills. In the
first decade, the group set about fulfilling its name — decrying
Western education and its influences while propagating radical
Islamist messages. Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden”
in the Hausa language spoken in parts of northern Nigeria. The group
fed on societal frustrations, poverty, illiteracy and widening
inequality. Within a few years, Boko Haram became popular and
increasingly antagonistic to non-Muslims and the Nigerian state. It
became apparent that its escalating confrontations with state security
forces were a threat to a young federal republic. The group was banned
in 2009, leading to widespread rioting and clashes with security
forces that left more than 300 people dead. Its leader and dozens of
its members also perished at the hands of Nigeria law enforcement, the
same sort of blood and violence that has become a part of Boko Haram’s
creed.”
Xinhua:
Multinational Force Denies Boko Haram Attack Killing 40 Troops In
Nigeria
“The multinational force fighting Boko Haram along the Lake Chad
region on Saturday debunked claims that militants attacked a military
base and killed up to 40 in Baga, a town in Nigeria's northeast
region. The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) described the media
reports which as “false”, saying it was a desperate attempt by certain
individuals to promote propaganda by the terror group. Col. Timothy
Antigha, a Nigerian army officer who is also the spokesman for the
MNJTF, said in a statement reaching Xinhua in Maiduguri, the capital
of Borno, that the very last engagement between the multinational
force and Boko Haram militants was on July 29. About 30 Boko Haram
militants had infested the Baga locality with the aim of carrying out
an audacious assault on troops at a military base, Antigha said. Four
suicide bombers were also identified among them. In that attack, he
said, 10 Boko Haram militants were killed as the multinational force
thwarted the onslaught. One soldier was also killed in a gunfight
which ensued between the militants and the troops. Several Boko Haram
fighters escaped with gunshot wounds as blood-stained tracks were
observed in the area as the MNJTF and national troops dealt a deadly
blow to the terrorists, the official said.”
France
24: Nigerian Crackdown On Shiite Group Sparks Security Déjà
Vu
“Using familiar tactics, Nigerian authorities are cracking down on
an influential Shiite group, turning themselves into pawns in a
regional battle for influence and threatening to repeat the mistakes
of the past. A decade ago, Nigerian security officials in the
northeastern city of Maiduguri gunned down a handcuffed Muslim cleric
just hours after a news crew had filmed his interrogation in a police
station. The cleric was Muhammed Yusuf, founder of a tiny group
advocating the adoption of Islamic law to fight the rampant corruption
in the oil-rich West African nation. Following Yusuf’s extrajudicial
killing, the group -- colloquially known as Boko Haram -- was taken
over by a hardliner who swore to avenge the murder, took the
organisation underground, and went on to forge links with al Qaeda and
other foreign jihadist groups. Today, the Boko Haram threat has spread
across the Lake Chad Basin into neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger,
attracting millions of dollars in counterterror funding and security
assistance from the US, the UK and France. The threat though has not
diminished -- nor has the international security funding and
assistance. Exactly a decade later, a sense of déjà vu lurks over the
case of another Nigerian cleric with no links to Boko Haram.”
Somalia
Bloomberg:
Somalia Executes Two Al-Shabaab Militants For Mogadishu
Attack
“Somalian authorities executed two al-Shabaab militants who were
convicted for a December attack that killed at least 13 people in the
capital, Mogadishu. The men “were executed by firing squad on Monday
morning,” Chairman of the Somali military court Hassan Ali Nur told
reporters. The al-Qaeda-linked militants have waged an insurgency in
Somalia since 2006 in a bid to impose its version of Islamic law.
While the group was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by Somali and
African Union forces, it continues to carry out deadly attacks in the
city.”
Africa
The
East African: Terrorists Turn To Female Suicide Bombers In New
Trend:
“On July 24, this year, a female suicide bomber walked into a
security meeting being held at the office of Mogadishu mayor
Abdirahman Omar Osman and blew herself up killing seven and injuring
several others. Al-Shabab terrorists claimed responsibility for the
attack, telling local media that UN envoy to Somalia James Swan, who
had left the building when the attack happened, was their target. Mr
Osman was critically injured in the blast and later died in Qatar
where he was receiving treatment. Coordination: This was the fourth
known time Al-Shabaab has used a woman in a suicide attack. Now the
frequency at which it is deploying women in their attack missions is
alarming regional security agencies. Not only are they concerned by
the high rate at which the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group is recruiting
young well- educated women, but are also wary about the high profile
positions it is giving them in the insurgency movement.”
United Kingdom
The
Times: Qatar Accused Of Using British Bank To ‘Promote’ Islamist
Causes
“A British bank controlled by the Qatari state is providing
financial services to multiple British organisations linked to
Islamists. Some of Al Rayan Bank’s clients have had their accounts
with western banks frozen or closed in a security clampdown. Al Rayan
counts among its customers a charity banned in the US as a terrorist
entity, groups that promote hardline preachers and a mosque whose
long-term trustee is a Hamas leader. Its chief executive until April,
Sultan Choudhury, was also an unpaid director for seven years until
2016 of the British arm of a global religious institute whose speakers
and instructors have included advocates of child marriage, female
circumcision and the death penalty for adultery and apostasy.”
Europe
Forbes:
Warning Over Terrorist Attacks Using Drones Given By Eu Security
Chief
“Drones are becoming more and more powerful and smarter,” EU
Security Commissioner Julian King warned this weekend, “which makes
them more and more attractive for legitimate use, but also for hostile
acts.” This is not new news—the threat from a drone attack on a
crowded space in the West has been focusing security minds for some
time now. And the real fear from a drone attack is that a chemical or
biological payload could be delivered into the midst of a crowded
space with relative ease. The challenge with such attacks has always
been delivery. A drone takes that challenge away. According to
Germany's de Welt—which published King's comments—in December last
year, France's Anti-Terrorism Unit (UCLAT) issued a “secret report”
for the country's Special Committee on Terrorism. The report warned of
“a possible terrorist attack on a football stadium by means of an
unmanned drone that could be equipped with biological warfare agents.”
I have reported before on terrorist use of drones in the Middle East
to mount attacks—countless Islamic State raids on the Iraqi frontline,
recent Houthi attacks on Saudi targets and the Iranian-backed Islamic
Jihad sharing video online of an attempted drone attack on Israeli
tanks on the Gaza border.”
Southeast Asia
The
Straits Times: ISIS Bride And A Fighter From Singapore Said To Have
Died In Syria
“A Singaporean woman who travelled to Syria with her Bosnia-born
husband to join terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is
reportedly dead, and three of their children are being sent back to
Australia. Fauziah Begum Khamal Bacha, who was living in Melbourne, is
one of four radicalised Singaporeans known to have taken part in the
Syrian conflict. Her husband, Yasin Rizvic, and their eldest son are
also said to be dead. The three surviving children - two girls and a
boy - are Australian citizens between the ages of six and 12. Home
Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and his ministry disclosed Fauziah's
involvement in the conflict last week while giving an update on the
terror threat to Singapore. No further details on her are available,
but Australian media reported the family left for Syria five years
ago. Radical ideology remains a key concern in the wake of the terror
attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March and in Sri Lanka in
April, and as foreign ISIS fighters return to their home regions and
regroup. Another Singaporean ISIS fighter, Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad,
has also reportedly been killed in the conflict zone, but the
authorities have yet to get confirmation of this.”
Technology
USA
Today: 'Enough Is Enough': Cloudfare Terminates 8chan, An Online
Meeting Place For 'Extremist Hate'
“The online message board 8chan, which has been linked to three
mass shootings in 2019, will be terminated, Cloudfare announced late
Sunday night, just hours after the site's founder called for its
end. Cloudfare will cut off services for 8chan at midnight PDT, CEO
Matthew Prince said in a statement, though he noted that another
network provider could bring 8chan back online. That's what happened
in 2017, when Cloudfare booted The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi message
board. “The rationale is simple: they have proven themselves to be
lawless and that lawlessness has caused multiple tragic deaths,”
Prince said. ”Even if 8chan may not have violated the letter of the
law in refusing to moderate their hate-filled community, they have
created an environment that revels in violating its spirit.” During
media interviews earlier Sunday, 8chan founder Fredrick Brennan called
for the imageboard 's end. “Shut the site down,” Brennan told the New
York Times on Sunday. “It’s not doing the world any good. It’s a
complete negative to everybody except the users that are there. And
you know what? It’s a negative to them, too. They just don’t realize
it.” Founded as an alternative to the more well-known 4chan message
board, 8chan, or “Infinite Chan,” has nearly 20,000 public
boards.”
The
Hill: US Company Will Stop Supporting 8chan After El Paso
Shooting
“The head of Cloudfare – the U.S. company that helps keep 8chan
online – on Sunday said his company will stop hosting the fringe
online platform known for supporting white supremacists. Cloudfare CEO
Matthew Prince's decision comes shortly after the gunman in El Paso,
Texas, allegedly posted an anti-immigrant manifesto to 8chan before
killing twenty people and injuring two dozen more. If investigators
conclude the manifesto did come from the gunman, it will be the third
incident this year in which a suspect is believed to have posted a
posted hateful, white extremist screed to 8chan – the anonymous
message board which dubs itself the "darkest reaches of the Internet"
– before committing a mass shooting. Prince laid out his plans to pull
his company's service from 8chan in a blog post on Sunday night. He
said they would cut ties by midnight on the West coast. As of Sunday
at 10 ET, the website was still up, but posters were anticipating the
imminent end.”
Buzzfeed
News: The Problem Isn't 8chan. It’s Young American
Men
“Less than an hour before killing at least 20 people and injuring
some 26 more in an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, the suspected shooter,
21-year-old Patrick Crusius, posted a hate-filled manifesto to the
anonymous messageboard 8chan. He is the third shooter this year to
post such a screed to the site before carrying out an act of horrific
violence. And as the nation reels from another in a string of mass
shootings this year, calls to shutdown 8chan have never been louder.
But they are unlikely to be accomplish much, because in 2019 8chan is
no longer a refuge for extremist hate — it is a window opening onto a
much broader landscape of racism, radicalization and terrorism.
Shutting down the site is unlikely to eradicate this new extremist
culture, because 8chan is anywhere. Pull the plug, it will appear
somewhere else, in whatever locale will host it. Because there's
nothing particularly special about 8chan, there are no content
algorithms, hosting technology immaterial. The only thing radicalizing
8chan users are other 8chan users.”
LA
Times: Another Mass Shooting Is Being Linked To An Online Forum Where
White Supremacy Thrives
“As officials are apparently still struggling to determine why
19-year-old Santino William Legan opened fire on a crowd in Gilroy,
California, last weekend—killing three people and then himself—two
more deadly mass shootings have taken place. On Saturday, August 3,
21-year-old Patrick Crusius, a while male from Allen, Texas, marched
into a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, carrying an assault rifle and
murdered at least 20 people, injuring at least two dozen more. Hours
later, at about 1 a.m. on Sunday, 24-year-old Connor Betts, a white
male reportedly armed with a long gun and a high-capacity magazine,
opened fire outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio, killing nine people,
injuring 27 more. Six of the nine victims were black. While details
regarding motive appear to be scarce as yet in the Dayton mass
shooting, a 2,300-word “manifesto” believed to have been posted online
by Crusius prior to the El Paso terrorist attack cites a “Hispanic
invasion of Texas” and suggests “getting rid” of immigrants in order
to make “our” way of life more sustainable.”
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