Eye on Extremism
February 25, 2020
The
National: Britain Sanctions African ISIS Affiliate
Groups
“The UK on Monday moved to add IS in the Greater Sahara and Boko
Haram to its list of terrorist organisations. Boko Haram, led by
Abubakar Shekau, was was formed in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf and has
committed many terrorist attacks in Nigeria. The Greater Sahara group
was formed in May 2015 by Adnan Abu Walid Al Sahraoui and has launched
terror attacks in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The financial
sanctions, announced by the British Treasury, mean the two groups will
have their assets being frozen, and are subject to travel bans and
arms embargoes. The assets freeze will apply from 11.59pm GMT on March
24, the Treasury said. On Sunday, the UN added the two groups to its
sanctions list. On Monday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered
his troops to pursue Boko Haram militants for attacks in the country.
On February 11, militants killed 30 people and abducted women and
children in Nigeria’s north-east Borno state. The decade-long
insurgency has killed 36,000 people and displaced about 2 million from
their homes in north-east Nigeria. The violence has spread to
neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, leading to the creation of a
regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.”
Reuters:
To Preserve Shi'ite Power In Iraq, Iran-Backed Groups Turn To Renegade
Cleric
“When the grip of Iraq’s Tehran-backed Shi’ite Muslim parties and
militias threatened to slip following the killing of Iranian general
Qassem Soleimani, they turned to an unpredictable rival. At meetings
in the Iranian holy city of Qom, they struck a deal with populist
Shi’ite cleric Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr, who commands a following of
millions of Iraqis. According to senior Iraqi officials and militia
insiders, they promised Sadr a greater say forming a new Iraqi
government and an augmented spiritual leadership role among Shi’ite
paramilitary groups. In return, he would draw on his mass following to
weaken the anti-government and anti-Iran dissent that has erupted on
Iraqi streets, and redirect the unrest toward demands for the
withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, the sources said. The agreement,
sponsored by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group, sought to preserve
Shi’ite power in Iraq by uniting the factions of the Iran-backed
groups with their rival Sadr. The militias were in disarray after a
U.S. air strike killed Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu
Mahdi al-Muhandis on Jan. 3. Sadr was also off-balance.”
The
Washington Post: As Yemen's War Intensifies, An Opening For Al-Qaeda
To Resurrect Its Fortunes
“The death last month of the leader of al-Qaeda's Yemen branch in a
U.S. drone strike has dealt a blow to the group's ambitions, but
Western officials and analysts warn that a recent escalation in
Yemen's conflict could allow it to regroup to some extent. “An
ideological hardcore of AQAP will always remain,” said Elisabeth
Kendall, a Yemen scholar at Oxford University, using the acronym for
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Yemen affiliate is called.
“AQAP has made strong comebacks before, reuniting its scattered
fragments into an ideological whole again. This is no time for
complacency.” In a 16-minute audio message over the weekend, AQAP
confirmed of the death of its leader Qasim al-Rimi. The group also
announced its new leader, Khalid Batarfi, a poetry-reciting veteran
al-Qaeda operative often shown in videos offering religious guidance
on good parenting and other subjects. Over the past decade, al-Qaeda
has bounced back a few times, regaining territory and recruits by
taking advantage of security vacuums arising from the conflicts among
Yemen’s myriad warring factions. Now, after a relative lull in the
war, fighting is intensifying in at least four provinces, including in
or near areas where both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have a
presence or support from local tribes.”
United States
NBC
News: White Supremacist Propaganda Produced By U.S. Hate Groups Is
Spreading — And Working
“White supremacists and their ilk have long used propaganda as a
tool to spread their message. Long before the internet, men stood on
corners with paper bags of hateful flyers or drove from town to town,
leaving their racist or anti-Semitic photocopies on front steps and in
driveways. This tried-and-true tactic is now back with a vengeance. In
2019, U.S. white supremacists employed paper canvassing of
neighborhoods and college campuses more than at any time in recent
memory, with an unprecedented number of flyers, banners, stickers and
posters appearing across the country. In 2019, U.S. white supremacists
employed paper canvassing of neighborhoods and college campuses more
than at any time in recent memory. But the age-old scourge is being
accompanied by some innovations, including a technological upgrade.
The propaganda is used to lure potential haters online, where these
new recruits are gradually indoctrinated more and more. And given the
negative publicity surrounding violent rallies like Unite the Right in
Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, white supremacists have chosen to
temper their rhetoric.”
The
Atlantic: White-Supremacist Violence Is Terrorism
“I combatted the threat of foreign terrorism for much of my career,
fighting organizations that are grounded in virulent, hateful
ideologies, and in many cases operate in a network of independent,
loosely connected cells. Violent white-supremacist organizations
operate in a similar fashion. Our failure to address these domestic
groups and their networks, or to take them as seriously as their
foreign counterparts, is costing us lives, diminishing our shared and
cherished values, and compromising our credibility and unity as a
people. This is happening now, not in some bygone era, and we have to
act immediately if we’re to safeguard our republic. Last month, I
testified before the House Subcommittee on Intelligence and
Counterterrorism about one element of the threat that
white-supremacists pose: the risks of anti-Semitic violence and the
ongoing threats facing our faith-based communities. Yet as we
celebrate Black History Month and reflect on all that it represents,
we should recognize the deep roots of racism and prejudice in America.
Slavery is America’s original sin, and this “genetic birth defect,” as
Representative Hakeem Jeffries recently called it, did not resolve
itself with the end of the Civil War, nor with the heroic efforts of
the civil-rights movement.”
Syria
Vox:
Syria’s Worst Humanitarian Catastrophe In Its 9-Year Civil War Is Now
Unfolding
“Maher Daboul tries to collect money to help, however he can, the
people who have fled, who camp under trees or live in makeshift tents.
He writes, too. He does this because he wants to complete his novel
before something bad happens. The fear that something bad will happen
is ever-present in Idlib, now the last opposition-held province in
Syria. The Syrian regime led by Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia in
the air and pro-Iranian militias on the ground, is laying siege to the
province in an attempt to take it back. This is creating an
unfathomable humanitarian catastrophe. Idlib is the center of one of
the worst refugee crises in the entire nine-year Syrian civil war.
Daboul, 25, spoke to me via WhatsApp from Aqrabat, Syria, a small
village in Idlib province (or governorate) close to the Turkish border
in northwestern Syria. (There is also a city of Idlib, which is the
province’s capital.) Daboul and his family used to live in Aleppo, but
now he is one of about 3 million people in Idlib. About half of Idlib
province’s current population came there from other parts of Syria,
displaced and uprooted by the civil war.”
France
24: Russia Strikes Kill 5 Civilians As Syria Regime
Advances
“Five civilians were killed in Russian air strikes backing Syrian
regime forces as they chipped away at the country's last major rebel
bastion in fighting that cost dozens of lives Monday, a war monitor
said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air raids hit
the Jabal al-Zawiya area on the edge of the jihadist-dominated
northwestern province of Idlib. In fighting on the ground, regime
forces gained ground in the southern part of Idlib, the Britain-based
monitor said. They seized 10 towns and villages south of the M4
highway linking the coastal regime stronghold of Latakia to
government-held second city Aleppo since Sunday, it said. Nearly 50
fighters were killed on several fronts in the Idlib region, according
to the Observatory, including 21 pro-regime fighters, as well as 27
jihadists and allied Turkey-backed rebels. State news agency SANA, for
its part, said “units of the Syrian army continued to progress in the
south of Idlib” province. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the
regime's aim was to wrest back control of stretches of the M4 still
under the control of jihadists and allied rebels. That would require
operations against the towns of Ariha and Jisr al-Shughur, both along
the M4.”
Afghanistan
Radio
Free Europe: At Least Six Killed In Afghanistan Despite 'Reduction Of
Violence' Deal
“Afghan officials say at least six people have been killed in a
Taliban attack in the northern Balkh Province, amid a weeklong
“reduction of violence” agreed between the United States and the
Taliban. Five people were also wounded in the attack on February 24
that targeted a checkpoint of pro-government forces in Balkh's Chahar
Kint district, local governor Salima Mazari said. In Samangan
Province, the militants abducted a district governor along with two
other government employees while they were on the way to work on
February 24, the provincial governor's spokesman, Mohammad Sediq Azizi
said. Earlier this month, the United States and the Taliban separately
announced the “reduction in violence” that took effect on February 22.
If the truce holds, it will be followed by the signing of a peace
accord that would see the Pentagon pull thousands of troops from
Afghanistan. Afghan media, however, reported that the Taliban carried
out several small-scale attacks on checkpoints manned by Afghan
security forces. Earlier, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was
quoted by the dpa news agency as saying that during the seven-day
reduction in violence there would be no attacks on major cities,
military corps, garrisons, or bases belonging to international
forces.”
Newsweek:
Afghanistan Will Need U.S. Support Long After Any Taliban Peace Deal,
Experts Say: 'Peace Is Not An Event, It's A Process'
“Tentative truce is underway in Afghanistan that may pave the way
to ending 18 years of war between the Taliban, the western coalition
and the Afghan government. The week-long “reduction in violence” began
Friday and as of Monday appears to be holding up. International and
Afghan forces agreed to pause all major offensive operations and the
Taliban said it will not engage in roadside bombings, suicide attacks
or rocket strikes. If successful, the period of reduced violence will
give way to a full truce agreement between international forces and
the Taliban on February 29 and peace talks between the Taliban and
Afghan government as soon as March 10. U.S., NATO and Afghan officials
have all expressed hope that this can end a war that has claimed
157,000 lives since 2001, but have also warned that the fragile
detente could collapse without Taliban adherence. But whatever
happens, Afghanistan will require international support for years to
come, two experts told Newsweek, meaning there is no easy way out for
President Donald Trump or the other Western powers. “The Afghan state
is still an experiment in many ways, and a project that requires
assistance and support,” The International Crisis Group's Andrew
Watkins explained from Kabul on Monday.”
Pakistan
Eurasia
Review: Pakistan: Terror And Impunity –
Analysis
“Backed by ‘all weather friend’ China, Pakistan again escaped the
ignominy of being put into the ‘club’ of High-Risk Jurisdictions,
commonly referred to as the ‘black list’, by the Financial Action Task
Force (FATF). The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and
Iran are the two present members of the ‘club’. Despite Islamabad’s
continued attempts to deceive FATF by taking superficial action and
come out of the Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring, the ‘grey
list’, however, FATF decided to keep Pakistan in this listing, along
with 17 other countries. Pakistan has been on the ‘grey list’ since
June 2018. FATF President Xiangmin Liu of China, chaired the FATF
Plenary held on February 19-21, 2020, at Paris, France. In a release
dated February 21, 2020, FATF noted that “all deadlines in the action
plan have expired” and the FATF “again expresses concerns given
Pakistan’s failure to complete its action plan in line with the agreed
timelines and in light of the TF [terrorist financing] risks emanating
from the jurisdiction”. The FATF warned, “To date, Pakistan has
largely addressed 14 of 27 action items, with varying levels of
progress made on the rest of the action plan.”
Lebanon
Arab
News: Lebanese Activists And Critics Of Hezbollah Face Attacks, Arrest
And Threats
“Activists in Lebanon, in particular those who speak out against
Hezbollah, continue to face physical attacks, arrest, psychological
pressure and threats to their families. The individuals being targeted
include lawyers, journalists, media personalities and writers. On
Monday, Asrar Shebaro, a correspondent for An-Nahar newspaper, was
attacked in a public place. It happened while she was working at Rafic
Hariri International Airport in Beirut covering the arrival of a
flight from Iran as part of a story about the response of Lebanese
authorities to the coronavirus threat. A video she filmed showed an
unidentified young man attacking her and taking her phone by force. He
told her she was not allowed to film in the airport because these were
“families” there, which is a term Hezbollah uses to describe its
supporters. The man deleted a number of videos Shebaro had filmed of
passengers arriving from Iran. When she asked him under whose
authority he was acting and who he represented, he said that he
belonged to a political party. In a message posted on the An-Nahar
website, the newspaper said: “The bullying of the media and the truth
will not dissuade this newspaper from completing its message by
accurately conveying information and holding those responsible for
their fragile measures taken to combat the
Coronavirus.”
Middle East
BBC
News: Israel-Gaza Sees Surge Of Cross-Border Violence
“The Israeli military has carried out air strikes against the
militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza and Syria in
response to rocket fire. On Sunday, more than 20 rockets were fired
from Gaza into southern Israel, causing some damage. Overnight, the
Israeli military struck what it called PIJ “terror targets”, including
weapons development and training facilities near Damascus. PIJ said
two fighters were killed in Syria and vowed to avenge their deaths.
Gaza's health ministry reported that four Palestinians were wounded in
the territory. On Monday, the Israeli military carried out further air
strikes on PIJ targets in Gaza, after at least 14 rockets were
launched from the territory into southern Israel. The hostilities
escalated on Sunday morning, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said
it had killed a PIJ militant near Israel's border fence with the Gaza
Strip. The IDF said troops identified two men attempting to plant an
explosive device on the fence and opened fire at them. A video shared
widely on social media showed an Israeli bulldozer scooping up the
body of the man, provoking anger among Palestinians.”
Libya
The
New York Times: UN: Libya's Warring Sides Agree To Cement Cease-Fire
Deal
“The U.N. mission in Libya said Monday that the country’s warring
sides had agreed to turn a shaky cease-fire into a formal deal,
stirring modest hopes after weeks of sporadic violence that derailed
negotiations. As the latest round of U.N.-mediated talks between rival
military leaders wrapped up in Geneva, both sides reached a draft deal
“to facilitate the safe return of civilians to their areas,” according
to a U.N. statement. The return of thousands of displaced civilians
will be monitored by military representatives in Geneva with support
from the U.N. mission in Libya. The delegates negotiating on behalf of
Libya’s rival administrations must now send the draft for approval to
their respective leaders who have the power to halt the fighting, a
prospect that faces further obstacles. The representatives promised to
reconvene in Geneva next month to hammer out details of the deal’s
implementation. Monday's apparent breakthrough came days after
eastern-based forces under the command of Khalifa Hifter escalated
their attacks on the capital, Tripoli, which is held by a rival
U.N.-backed government. The attacks hit Tripoli's civilian seaport,
narrowly missing a highly explosive liquefied petroleum gas tanker and
prompting the Tripoli administration to pull out of talks.”
Nigeria
Sahara
Reporters: My Government Has Weakened Boko Haram’s Capacity
—Buhari
“President Muhammadu Buhari has claimed that his government has
weakened the capacity and strength of Boko Haram sect. Speaking
through his special adviser, Garba Shehu, Buhari said the sect was now
restricted to attacking soft spots. There has been an increase in Boko
Haram attacks in the Northern part of the country in recent times. On
Friday, the insurgents reportedly broke into a town in Adamawa State
around 7pm, shooting sporadically. The insurgents succeeded in burning
down several houses during the raid. President Buhari said, “These
attacks on soft targets by terrorists are obvious signs of frustration
because my administration has significantly weakened Boko Haram’s
military capability to invade and hold Nigerian territory
unchallenged. “Our gallant forces deserve our appreciation for
repelling the attackers but they must go beyond this point. “They have
our full support to go after the terrorists and have them pay a huge
price. I want to assure the country that terrorists will continue to
face the combined power of our military until they give up their
mistaken ways.”
Africa
Foreign
Policy: In West Africa, U.S. Military Struggles For Scarce Resources
As Terrorism Threat Grows
“Every February, hundreds of special operations forces from around
the world gather in West Africa for Flintlock, a unique U.S.-led
exercise that provides critical training for regional militaries
struggling to counter growing terrorist activity in the Sahel. This
year, the threat is more urgent than ever. Despite the presence of
4,500 French troops and a 13,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force,
violent extremist attacks in the region have skyrocketed in the last
18 months. The Sahel saw the most rapid increase of such events of any
African region in 2019, with roughly 2,600 fatalities from 800
attacks—a number which has nearly doubled every year since 2015.
Burkina Faso bore the brunt of the new violence, primarily from groups
linked to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Islamic State in the
Greater Sahara, as the locus of terrorist activity shifted from Mali
across the border. But even as terrorist activity explodes in the
Sahel, the United States is considering withdrawing some or all of its
roughly 5,000 troops across the continent—including approximately
1,000 in West Africa—in order to move resources toward preparing for a
potential future conflict with China or Russia, a concept the Pentagon
calls “great power competition.”
Washington
Examiner: More Than 100 'Terrorists' Killed In Africa During Military
Operation
“French and African forces announced that more than 100
“terrorists” were killed during a recent operation that also resulted
in the seizure of bomb-making equipment. Niger’s defense ministry said
in a statement last week that “120 terrorists have been neutralized”
during the operation that took place in the country’s Tillaberi
region, which borders Burkina Faso and Mali and has experienced
multiple attacks by jihadist groups over the past few years. No French
or Nigerien forces were reportedly killed in the operation. Issoufou
Katambe, Niger’s defense minister, praised the cooperation with French
forces “in the battle against terrorism.” Groups affiliated with the
Islamic State and al Qaeda operate in that part of the country, and
violence there has displaced some 78,000 people. France boosted its
military presence in the area earlier this year, and Niger has
increased restrictions by closing markets and banning motorbike usage
after attacks by the terrorist groups killed 174 Nigerien troops in
December and January. In neighboring Burkina Faso, Islamic jihadist
groups have targeted churches, with one attack this month killing two
dozen people and injuring 18 more. Last May, a group of about 20 to 30
militants entered a Catholic church in Burkina Faso and killed six
people, including the priest.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: 3 Terrorist Camps Discovered In Tunisia’s Kasserine
Mountains
“Tunisia’s interior ministry confirmed that security units had
discovered, between February 10 and 22, three terrorist camps in the
Kasserine Mountains in western Tunisia. The Ministry of Interior
confirmed that these camps were uncovered during combing operations
across mountainous highlands, and through intelligence provided to
security services. In the three camps, equipment used in the
manufacture of conventional mines, which terrorists had previously
used to hinder army and security units that were chasing them, was
found. Also found were cooking utensils, medicinal residues, water
sterilization material and drilling tools. Tunisian extremist groups
experts emphasized that the recent use of these camps confirms that
the battle with terrorism has not ended yet and that hostility against
the civilian state is still harbored. Specialized security studies
have indicated that recruitment operations to attract new terrorists
for ISIS and al-Qaeda have mostly taken place online, making it
difficult for security units to monitor newly joined terrorists. Many
of the new recruits are not found in records of security services and
they act as lone wolves.”
Reuters:
U.S. Supreme Court Open To More Damages Against Sudan Over Embassy
Bombings
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared open to reinstating $4.3
billion in punitive damages against Sudan in lawsuits accusing it of
complicity in the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of two U.S. embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Eight justices heard about
an hour of arguments in an appeal - filed by people injured and
relatives of people killed in the attacks - of a 2017 lower court
ruling that blocked the plaintiffs from collecting the punitive
damages imposed against Sudan alongside about $6 billion in
compensatory damages. Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate in
the case. The justices directed the bulk of their questioning toward
an attorney representing Sudan as opposed to the plaintiffs.
Conservative and liberal justices raised doubts over Sudan’s argument
that it could not be hit with punitive damages. Sudan, riven by civil
war and unrest, has been trying to reduce its exposure in the
litigation. Twelve Americans were among the dead in the Aug. 7, 1998,
attacks, with thousands of other people wounded. The lawsuits involve
567 people, most of whom are non-U.S. citizens who were employees of
the U.S. government and their relatives.”
United Kingdom
BBC
News: Extremist Neo-Nazi Group To Be Banned Under Terror
Laws
“Joining the far-right group Sonnenkrieg Divison is set to become
illegal, under a proscription order to be put to MPs. The order would
also label two other groups aliases of another proscribed organisation
- the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Laws due to come into effect on
Tuesday will also recognise System Resistance Network as an alias of
the already banned neo-Nazi group National Action. Membership of the
groups could result in a 10 year prison sentence. Home Secretary Priti
Patel said: “Recent attacks here and in Germany have highlighted the
threat we continue to face from violent extremism. “By proscribing
these groups we are making it much harder for them to spread their
hateful rhetoric.” In June 2019, two members of the Sonnenkrieg
Division - Michal Szewczuk and Oskar Dunn-Koczorowski - were jailed
after encouraging an attack on Prince Harry for marrying a woman of
mixed race. Sonnenkrieg Division emerged from a split in the System
Resistance Network, which itself will be proscribed on Tuesday as an
alias of National Action. Both the groups were small when at their
height and have been severely disrupted since - to the extent that
some may question whether this move is now necessary.”
BBC
News: Emergency Terror Law Clears Parliamentary
Hurdles
“Emergency legislation to block the automatic release of people
convicted of terror offences is set to become law after being approved
by the Lords. The Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release)
Bill - which was passed by MPs earlier this month - was drawn up
following an attack in south London. The attacker, Sudesh Amman, had
recently been freed from prison. The government had wanted to pass the
bill before 28 February when the next terror offender is due for
release. The government's emergency measures, which required backing
from Parliament, would postpone his release until the Parole Board has
given its approval. Offenders are told they are being sentenced for a
fixed period and will be automatically released at the half-way point,
to serve the remainder of their sentence on licence in the community.
Some offenders will have pleaded guilty on the basis that they would
be given a sentence with automatic early release at the half-way
point. Their release is an automatic process and does not involve
oversight of the Parole Board.”
The
National: Britain Tightens Curbs Against Kurdish Terror Groups In
Round Of New Measures Against Extremists
“Britain has tightens curbs against Kurdish terror groups in a new
round of measures against extremists. It comes as the UK faced
mounting pressure from Turkey to recognise Kurdish terror groups.
Partiya Karkeren Kurdistani (the Kurdistan Worker’s Party or PKK) has
already been banned but now its aliases Teyre Azadiye Kurdistan (TAK)
and Hêzên Parastina Gel (HPG) have also been proscribed. Home
Secretary Priti Patel said: “The PKK has long been considered to be
involved in terrorism and these orders will prevent individuals
circumventing efforts to counter its activity.” In addition the UK has
banned two far right groups and has announced a tightening up of its
terror laws to afford more protection to people in public places. It
comes after far right extremist Tobias Rathjen killed 10 people in
Hanau, Germany, last week. The move to ban the Kurdish groups comes
after Turkey refused to back a Nato plan to protect Poland, Lithuania,
Latvia and Estonia in the event of a Russian attack unless the group
recognised the Kurdish YPG militia as terrorists.”
France
Foreign
Policy: Emmanuel Macron’s War On Islamism Is Europe’s
Future
“We must never accept that the laws of religion can be superior to
those of the Republic.” With these words, delivered in a landmark
speech in the eastern city of Mulhouse on Feb. 18, French President
Emmanuel Macron launched his government’s strategy against political
Islam. “Islamist separatism is incompatible with freedom and
equality,” he stated, “incompatible with the indivisibility of the
Republic and the necessary unity of the nation.” The Mulhouse speech,
and its harsh language, came as no surprise to anybody who has
followed the French debate on Islamism over the last few years. Terms
such as “Islamist separatism,” “communitarianism,” and “Islamist
supremacism”—which in previous years constituted the vocabulary almost
exclusively of the National Front (now National Rally, Marine Le Pen’s
far-right party)—have become ubiquitous. The term “fréro-salafiste”
has also become mainstream. It covers the two Islamist trends critics
accuse of promoting separatism in the country: the Muslim Brotherhood
(Fréres musulmans in French), with its moderate façade but divisive
agenda, and the Salafists, with their firm rejection of French
society.”
Germany
The
New York Times: Driver Slams Car Into German Carnival
Crowd
“A 29-year-old man drove his car into a carnival parade in a German
town on Monday, according to the police and prosecutors, injuring
about 30 people, including children, and shaking a country already on
edge after a racist shooting that killed several people last week. The
state prosecutor in Frankfurt said the authorities suspect that the
driver, a German from the region where the crash took place, had
deliberately steered his vehicle into the crowd of families with young
children who had packed the streets for an annual Shrove Monday
parade. Germany’s top security official, Horst Seehofer, last week
declared far-right extremism to be “the biggest threat to our
democracy right now” and ordered an increased police presence at large
public events. Regional law-enforcement officials said, however, that
they had no indication of a political motivation for the crash on
Monday in the small town of Volkmarsen. “At this time we cannot give
any further information about what led to the act, especially
regarding a motive,” Alexander Badle, a spokesman for prosecutors said
in a statement. “We are investigating in all possible directions.”
Australia
The
Guardian: Asio Boss Warns Of Rising Foreign Interference And Far-Right
Extremism In Australia
“Foreign interference in Australia is higher than it has ever been,
and “sleeper agents” for foreign powers have lain undetected for years
in Australia before being uncovered, the head of Australia’s domestic
spy agency has warned. In wide-ranging annual threat assessment
address delivered in Canberra on Monday night, the director general of
the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) Mike Burgess
reiterated earlier security agency warnings that a terror attack in
Australia is “probable”, and said that rightwing extremism, brought
into “sharp terrible focus” by last year’s Christchurch massacre, was
manifesting in “small cells” of adherents gathering to salute Nazi
flags, inspect weapons and disseminate “hateful ideology”. The
intelligence chief said the threat of rightwing extremism was real and
growing, and that the number of overall terrorism leads under
investigation had doubled over the past year. “Our view is that the
threat of terrorism will remain a constant feature of the global
security environment in 2020 and the threat to Australia and
Australian interests will remain.” Australia’s terrorism threat level
remains at “probable” and would remain unacceptably high for the
foreseeable future, Burgess said.”
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