Eye on Extremism
March 5, 2020
ABC
News: Pentagon Linguist Faces Espionage Charges After Allegedly
Sharing Secrets With Hezbollah
“A linguist who worked for the Pentagon is facing espionage charges
for allegedly sharing highly sensitive classified information with a
foreign national who has apparent connections to the terror group
Hezbollah, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. The information
allegedly shared by Mariam Thompson, 61, included details regarding
secret human assets working for the U.S. and military personnel,
prosecutors said. “If true, this conduct is a disgrace, especially for
someone serving as a contractor with the United States military. This
betrayal of country and colleagues will be punished,” Assistant
Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a
statement. Thompson was stationed in the Special Operations Task Force
facility in Erbil, Iraq, for roughly two weeks before she began
accessing the DoD's systems storing secret information, according to a
court filing, and accessed “57 files concerning eight human
intelligence sources.” Thompson began to access the system,
prosecutors say, one day after the U.S. carried out a series of
airstrikes against Iran-backed forces in Iraq and on the same day that
anti-U.S. protesters stormed the American Embassy in Baghdad. After
investigators were flagged to the uptick in Thompson's alleged
activity on the network, she was arrested last week and her living
area was searched.”
The
New York Times: Airstrike In Northwest Syria Kills 15 Ahead Of Moscow
Summit
“An airstrike on a rebel-held village in northwestern Syria hit a
poultry farm where several displaced families were taking shelter
early Thursday, killing at least 15 people including children and
wounding several others, opposition activists said. The activists
blamed Russian warplanes for the strike on Maaret Musreen village,
which is home to thousands of internally displaced people. The strike
came hours ahead of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the escalation
in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, which comes amid a monthslong
Russian-backed Syrian government offensive there. The fighting in
Idlib — Syria's last remaining rebel stronghold — has killed hundreds
and displaced nearly a million people, many of whom have fled north
toward the border with Turkey. Turkey and Russia are the two main
power brokers in Syria and each supports rival sides in the nine-year
conflict. Violence worsened in Idlib in recent weeks, with Turkey
sending thousands of troops into the area to support Syrian insurgents
holed up there. But Erdogan hasn’t been able to stop Syrian President
Bashar Assad's offensive, which began in early
December.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Arab Coalition Foils Terrorist Attack On Oil Tanker Off
Yemen Coast
“The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced Wednesday that it had
foiled a terrorist attack against an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea off
the coast of Yemen, reported the Saudi Press Agency. Coalition
spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said the incident took place some 90
nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s Nishtun port on Tuesday, while the
tanker was sailing towards the Gulf of Aden. Four explosives-laden
vessels then approached the tanker in an attempt attack it. He
explained that the vessels were being controlled remotely. Malki
condemned the attack, saying it posed a threat to global energy and
trade and marine routes. He sounded the alarm on the terrorist threats
in straits stretching from the southern Red Sea, through Bab
al-Mandeb, the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Hormuz Strait. He
stressed that the joint coalition command will continue to implement
the necessary measures to neutralize and destroy any marine threat in
its area of operations, calling on international partners to unite
efforts to confront them.”
United States
NBC
News: The FBI Has Failed To Identify And Track Homegrown Extremists,
Justice Department Watchdog Says
“The FBI has not done enough to identify and fight homegrown
extremists, the Department of Justice’s internal watchdog said
Wednesday. The agency also failed to follow up on some cases that had
been flagged as potential threats to the country, Justice Department
Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote in his report. “The FBI has
not taken a comprehensive approach to resolving deficiencies in its
counterterrorism assessment process,” Horowitz concluded. The FBI
defines homegrown violent extremists as “global jihad-inspired”
individuals who were radicalized in the United States and are not
taking marching orders directly from “foreign terrorist organization”
like Al Qaeda or the Islamic State militant group. Since the Sept. 11,
2001, terror attacks, homegrown American jihadis have carried out over
20 attacks in the U.S., Horowitz wrote. The best-known example of this
was the married couple Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who in 2015
massacred 14 people and wounded 22 more in San Bernardino, California,
before they were killed in a police shootout. While Malik pledged
allegiance to ISIS before embarking on the shooting spree, the FBI
concluded that neither he nor Malik were directed by a foreign
terrorism outfit.”
Fox
News: Missouri Man Gets 19 Years In Prison For Role In ISIS Attack
Planning
“A Missouri man accused of plotting a terrorist attack with who he
believed to be members of the Islamic State but who were in reality
undercover FBI agents was sentenced Wednesday to 19 years in prison.
Robert Lorenzo Hester Jr., 28, of Columbia, pleaded guilty in
September to attempting to provide material support to the terror
group from October 2016 to February 2017, the Justice Department said.
Prosecutors said Hester advocated violence on social media and was
contacted by the undercover agents who posed as ISIS operatives. He
said he was willing to assist ina jihadist attack. He posted on social
media that he had converted to Islam and posted photos of weapons and
the ISIS flag. According to a criminal complaint, Hester was told the
attack would target “buses, trains and a train station in Kansas City”
on the Presidents Day holiday. According to the affidavit, Hester
“expressed approval” of the attack plan and told an undercover agent
that it would be “good to strike back at the true terrorist.” Hester,
a U.S. citizen, joined the Army in 2012 and received a general
discharge less than a year after enlisting after violating multiple
Army regulations. In his communications with the undercover agents, he
cited his military training and claimed “proficiency with 'assault
weapons.'“
Afghanistan
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S.-Taliban Deal Comes Under Pressure Amid
Military Action
“The Trump administration is facing an uphill battle to keep a
landmark agreement with the Taliban on track after a resurgence of
violence and growing diplomatic strain between Washington and Kabul.
President Ashraf Ghani declined Wednesday to meet with President
Trump’s special envoy, who arrived in Kabul in an effort to salvage a
four-day old agreement calling for the U.S. military to withdraw from
Afghanistan by next fall, an Afghan government official said. The U.S.
envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, is expected to instead meet Mr. Ghani’s vice
president, Amrullah Saleh. Mr. Ghani’s difficulties with the U.S. have
been increasing in recent months. The U.S. hasn’t recognized his
re-election following a disputed presidential contest against Mr.
Ghani’s rival, Abdullah Abdullah, last year. And Mr. Ghani has refused
to cooperate with the Trump administration on its pledge to the
Taliban to secure release of up to 5,000 insurgents held by the Afghan
government. Under the deal, the prisoner release must precede any
talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Those talks are
set to start Tuesday, but a delay is likely. On Wednesday the U.S.
military conducted an airstrike against the Taliban in defense of
Afghan forces, the first since the U.S. signed a deal with the
militant group to map out an end to 18 years of war, America’s
longest.”
The
Washington Post: Pompeo Under Pressure To Release Taliban Deal ‘Secret
Annexes’
“The Trump administration has signed and publicized its peace deal
with the Taliban. But even now, big questions remain. Chief among them
is why the State Department has insisted on classifying two secret
annexes to the deal, which could make it harder for the American
people to know if the Taliban is holding up its end. Before the deal’s
signing, rumors spread about four “secret annexes” and their content.
Some of that speculation turned out to be incorrect. But three sources
who have seen the annexes tell me there are two documents that have
been classified by the administration. Members of Congress and cleared
staff can view them, but they are not available to the general public.
These secret annexes include specifics of the Taliban’s commitments on
counterterrorism and details about how the United States will verify
Taliban compliance with those commitments. The State Department
declined to comment on the annexes. But the chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), told me he wants
them declassified and publicly released. “After 18 years of fighting
the Taliban, the American people deserve to see all aspects of the
Trump-Taliban deal,” Engel said.”
Pakistan
Voice
Of America: Pakistani Military Vulnerable To Extremist Infiltration,
Experts Warn
“A recent publication by an al-Qaida militant group about a retired
Pakistani three-star general joining its ranks has renewed debate
about the influence of Islamist militants in the country’s military.
Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad, the al-Qaida Indian subcontinent branch, in its
mid-February Urdu language magazine announced that retired Lieutenant
General Shahid Aziz had entered “the righteous path” by joining the
group. It claimed Aziz had pledged allegiance to the group as early as
2015 after being contacted by the group’s leader, Hafiz Tayab Nawaz.
“You understood the invitation of truth, proclaimed your service to
God and joined us in the cause of jihad,” the group said. Husain
Haqqani, the director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson
Institute and the former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., told VOA
that Aziz was likely radicalized because of his increased discontent
with the Pakistani army and his anti-American sentiments. Haqqani said
the general’s mysterious disappearance in 2016 after disclosing
sensitive information in a book about the Pakistani military was a
clear indication of his affiliation with al-Qaida.”
Egypt
Reuters:
Egypt Executes Top Militant Extradited From Libya
“Top Egyptian militant suspect Hisham al-Ashmawy was executed on
Wednesday following his conviction over several high-profile attacks,
the country’s military spokesman said. Ashmawy, a former Egyptian
special forces officer, led the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis,
Egypt’s most active militant group, before it pledged allegiance to
Islamic State in 2014. He then moved with a group of followers to
Egypt’s Western Desert, later crossing the border to Libya to join the
al Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia, according to Egyptian officials. He
was captured in the east Libyan city of Derna in late 2018 and
transferred to Egypt in May 2019. Ashmawy was convicted on several
charges including plotting a 2014 attack that killed 22 military
guards, and the attempted assassination of a former interior minister
in 2013. Military and civilian courts had sentenced him to death
before and after his extradition. Egypt’s military spokesman posted a
picture of Ashmawy with a thick beard dressed in orange prison
overalls on Twitter. “This morning the death penalty was carried out
on the terrorist Hisham al-Ashmawy,” he wrote. Local media including
the state newspaper al-Ahram as well as security sources had said last
week that Ashmawy had been executed, though the news websites later
took down their reports.”
Nigeria
Al
Jazeera: Six Killed In Attack On Nigeria Military
Base
“Armed assailants killed four police officers and two civilian
militiamen in an attack on a military base in northeast Nigeria's
Borno state on Wednesday. Suspected Boko Haram fighters in trucks
fitted with machine guns launched the dawn raid on the army base in
the town of Damboa, sparking intense fighting. “We lost four mobile
policemen and two civilian militia fighting alongside soldiers during
the fight with the terrorists,” said a military officer, who spoke on
condition of anonymity. Anti-armed group leader Ibrahim Liman
confirmed the death toll, after supporting soldiers during the attack.
Local resident Modu Malari said the assailants attacked with assault
weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, but were forced out from the
town by troops after a fierce two-hour battle. More than 50 residents
were wounded by shrapnel from grenades fired by the rebels, he said.
Damboa lies on the fringe of Boko Haram's Sambisa Forest stronghold,
from where the group has launched repeated attacks on villages and
military posts. In November last year, at least 10 Nigerian soldiers
were killed and nine injured in a Boko Haram ambush in Muchima
village, outside Damboa.”
All
Africa: Nigeria: Insurgency - Nigerian Army Releases 223 Children
Cleared Of Ties With Boko Haram
“About 223 children, including 10 girls, have been released from
Nigerian Army administrative custody and Maiduguri Maximum Security
Prison after being cleared of suspected ties with armed groups, the
United Nations Children's Fund has said. Descriptiohe United Nations
Children's Fund has revealed. The children were released to Borno
State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, UNICEF and
Borno State authorities in Maiduguri, north-east Nigeria on Tuesday
night. In a statement Wednesday evening, Borno state Communication
Officer UNICEF, Samuel Kaalu, said the children will immediately be
enrolled in a reintegration programme to enable them to re-engage with
their families. Mr Kaalu said some of the children are reported to
have been missing for up to four and five years, with many presumed
dead by their families. UNICEF Country Representative, Peter Hawkins,
described the release of the children as a huge step forward towards
ensuring the well-being of children in conflict areas. “These children
deserve to have a normal childhood - and now require our full care and
support to re-enter the lives that were so brutally interrupted by
this devastating conflict,” he said.”
United Kingdom
BBC
News: Manchester Arena Attack: Brother's Fingerprints Linked To Arena
Bomb
“The fingerprints of Hashem Abedi were discovered on a tin can that
has been linked to the Manchester Arena bomb, a court has heard. The
discovery was made after police found various crushed-up metal tins in
the garden of the Abedi family home, jurors were told. Hashem Abedi,
22, is on trial at the Old Bailey, accused of helping his brother
Salman plan the bomb attack. He denies 22 murders, attempted murder
and conspiring to cause explosions. The court heard how a piece of
metal found at the scene was linked to a vegetable oil tin with the
alleged plotter's fingerprints on it. Police found the crushed up tins
in the garden of the Elsmore Road home in Manchester with prints from
both brothers on them, the court heard. A piece of a Consumer's Pride
cooking oil tin was found to have 10 finger and palm prints belonging
to Hashem on it, jurors were told. Six parts of the same tin were
recovered from an address in Granby Row, Manchester, where Salman
allegedly assembled the bomb. Fingerprint expert Philip Balduini told
jurors he had identified four of Hashem's prints on the scraps, which
had been rolled up and left in a blue plastic bag. Hashem had hoarded
assorted metal cans in his garden, taken from a takeaway restaurant
where he worked, jurors were previously told.”
BBC
News: Man Who 'Experimented' With Explosives Cleared Of Terror
Charges
“A man with autism who set off experimental explosions in his
garden has been cleared of terrorism offences. Chez Copeland, 22, has
spent almost two years on remand in maximum security prisons after an
explosion in Coventry. Homes had to be evacuated after unstable
explosives were found at Copeland's family home in Brookside Avenue on
24 April 2018. At Birmingham Crown Court, he admitted owning a stun
gun and acquiring an explosive without a certificate. Judge Mark Wall
sentenced Copeland to 22 months' imprisonment - time which he has
already spent on remand - and he was released. The court heard
Copeland had an “obsessive interest” in the military and had dreamed
of joining the armed forces but his ambition was thwarted by his
autism. Judge Wall accepted he had “not intended to use HMTD [the
explosive] in a criminal way” but had acquired it “because he had a
curiosity to see what he could do with it”. He formally found Copeland
not guilty of the terrorism and Explosive Substances Act offences
after prosecutors offered no evidence following a Supreme Court ruling
that “experimentation” was capable of being a lawful defence.”
Germany
Deutsche
Welle: Germany Underestimated Far-Right Terror For 'Too
Long'
“Germany must admit that it underestimated the threat of far-right
terror for too long, the president of the Bundestag told lawmakers on
Thursday. The country must do more to smash far-right networks, while
also addressing the problem of Islamophobia in society, Wolfgang
Schäuble told Germany's lower legislature. Schäuble, addressing a
parliamentary debate on the Hanau attacks, called for “sincerity from
the state, which must admit to having underestimated the extreme
right-wing danger for too long.” “The decisive answer to this must be
to uncover radical networks with all constitutional means and to smash
right-wing extremist associations,” said Schäuble, adding that the
state must “finally get better at consistently enforcing the law”. The
perpetrator of the Hanau attack killed nine people with foreign roots
at both a cafe and a shisha bar in the city. Authorities judged the
murders to have been racially-motivated. Schäuble said that such
crimes “do not happen in a vacuum” but in a “poisoned social climate
in which resentment towards 'otherness' — and the most absurd
conspiracy theories — are stoked.”
The
Daily Beast: As Small German Towns Become Neo-Nazi Stomping Grounds,
Some Are Fighting Back
“Martina Angermann was a popular mayor in Arnsdorf, a picturesque
little town of about 5,000 people east of Dresden. She’d been in
office since 2001. But when a conservative carpenter named Detlef
Oelsner, whom she’d bested in past elections, and a businessman who
blamed her for sabotaging his real estate development plans launched a
hate-filled campaign to take her down, no one in her town stood up to
defend her. It’s a pattern that’s being repeated in other parts of
Germany, but mostly in the east, as neo-Nazis, their sympathizers
among the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, and
cynical fellow travelers have built their bases of support and
political influence. No longer are they content with their
not-so-quiet campaigns of fear and intimidation along racial and other
discriminatory lines. (Since 1990, the murders of 208 people have been
attributed to right-wing extremist or racist motives. Last month, a
man shot and killed nine people of foreign heritage at two shisha bars
near Frankfurt.) Now they are targeting local politicians like
Angermann (pictured above), a woman who spent 18 years building roads
and renovating spaces for an indebted community, but who dared to
speak out against the right-wing extremists.”
Southeast Asia
The
Straits Times: 2 Years' Jail For Maid Who Contributed $130 To Support
Terrorist Acts
“A domestic helper who earned just $600 a month contributed $130 in
total last year to support terrorist acts. Indonesian Anindia
Afiyantari also uploaded videos supporting the Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group onto her Facebook accounts. Whenever
her accounts were blocked, she would create another one using a
different e-mail address. Her multiple accounts were eventually banned
from Facebook. Anindia, 32, was sentenced on Thursday (March 5) to two
years' jail after pleading guilty to three terrorism financing charges
under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act involving $90. Two
other similar charges linked to the remaining $40 were taken into
consideration during sentencing. She was the third Indonesian maid in
recent weeks to be dealt with in Singapore courts over similar
offences. On Feb 12, Turmini, 31, who goes by only one name, was
sentenced to three years and nine months in jail, while Retno
Hernayani, 37, was ordered to spend 1½ years behind bars. Around 2010,
Anindia learnt about Indonesia-based terrorist group Jemaah Ansharut
Daulah (JAD) after watching a news programme about the arrest of
radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.”
Technology
Yahoo
News: ISIS More Advanced In Using Social Media Than US, UK : Army
Chief
“Army Chief General MM Naravane on Wednesday said that the
terrorist organisation ISIS was far more advanced in using social
media than forces like the US and the UK. “In Iraq and Syria, it is
the ISIS an organisation steeped in the 17th century, was far more
advanced in using social media than the 21st-century forces like the
US and the UK,” said General Naravane while speaking at the Indian
Army's internal seminar with the theme 'changing characteristics of
land warfare and its impact on the military'. Emphasising on China's
military might, he said: “China has not been involved in real hardcore
combat for a few decades now, yet its regular showcasing of its
military might has created this aura of China being the undisputed
military leader in key technology domain.” “The Balakot airstrike
demonstrated that if you play an escalatory game with skill, military
ascendence can be established in cycles that do not necessarily lead
to war,” he said. Last year, the Indian Air Force had carried out an
airstrike in Pakistan's Balakot, targetting Jaish-e-Muhammed's (JeM)
terror training camps in response to a terror attack on a CRPF convoy
in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in which at least 40 personnel were
killed.”
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