Eye on Extremism
March 9, 2020
The
New York Times: Report: Iran Revolutionary Guard Commander Killed In
Syria
“An official with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who took part in
battles around war-torn Syria was killed near the Syrian capital, an
Iranian semiofficial news agency and an opposition war monitor
reported Saturday. Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency identified the
commander as Farhad Dabirian and said he was killed in the south
Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab. The area is home to a holy shrine
for Shiite Muslims. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for
the killing and Fars reported no additional details on how Dabirian
was killed. Iran is an ally of Syria and has offered military advisers
and sent militiamen and material support to help President Bashar
Assad's government forces in the nine-year civil war. Fars said
Dabirian was a commander of the battle to retake the historic town of
Palmyra from the Islamic State group. The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, also reported
that Dabirian was killed Friday night without saying how. It added
that the late commander was close to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the
leader of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group.”
Reuters:
U.S. Creates New Envoy Position To Counter Rising Terrorism In
Sahel
“The United States has created a special envoy for Africa’s Sahel
region, a State Department spokesman said on Friday, to counter rising
violence from groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State which are
expanding their foothold. Envoy Peter Pham, started his new role
earlier this week, the spokesman said. He has been serving as U.S.
Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa since November
2018. “Sahel is one of the places where the situation is getting worse
in the continent,” the spokesman said. Security has progressively
worsened in the Sahel, an arid region of West Africa, just below the
Sahara desert, with militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State
strengthening their foothold across the region, making large swathes
of territory ungovernable and stoking ethnic violence. Former colonial
power France intervened in 2013 to drive back militants who had seized
northern Mali the previous year. Fighters have since regrouped and
spread. Over the past year, militants have stepped up attacks in Mali,
Burkina Faso and Niger. Particularly worrying for Europeans has been
possible U.S. troop cuts. The Pentagon is considering withdrawing the
personnel as part of a global troop review meant to free up more
resources to address challenges from China’s military, after nearly
two decades of prioritizing counter-terrorism operations around the
world.”
International
Business Times: Germany Protests: Thousands Demonstrate In Munich
Against Rise Of Far-Right Terrorism
“At least 7,500 people demonstrated Friday in Munich against
far-right terrorism and anti-semitism, as Germany grapples with the
aftermath of far-right attacks in the town of Hanau in February. The
demonstrators held signs such as “grandmas against right-wingers” and
“Munich is colorful,” a reference to Germany’s multiracial society.
Bavarian Minister President Markus Soder also gave a speech at the
rally. “All democratic forces must stand together during this time,”
Soder said. He added that it is important to send a “clear signal
against right-wing terror.” “Hate, agitation, and anti-Semitism have
no place here,” Soder later tweeted. On Feb. 19, nine people were
killed and five were wounded after a far-right extremist attacked two
Shisha bars in Hanau, near Frankfurt. The bars are frequent hangout
spots for Turkish residents of the town, with two Turks among the
victims killed in the attack. The attack was carried out by
43-year-old Tobias Rathjen, who expressed a hatred for migrants in
Germany. After the attack, he shot his mother before shooting
himself.”
United States
The
Washington Post: Stopping Domestic Terrorism Is Not Easy. But The FBI
Must Do Better
“The Justice Department’s inspector general released a report
Wednesday exposing problems in how the FBI has handled homegrown
violent extremists — people such as Nidal Malik Hasan, who went on a
shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex., in 2009, and the Tsarnaev
brothers, who bombed the Boston Marathon in 2013. Many of the
inspector general’s findings concern problems from years ago, and the
FBI said in a response that it is on its way to fixing them. It had
better be. It’s important to note that the FBI is stopping many
attacks. Between 2015 and 2018, the agency arrested 65 people “who
expressed intent to conduct an ideologically motivated attack in the
United States and who identified a generalized attack method or
target,” the inspector general reported. The number of special agents
the FBI has assigned to battle homegrown violent extremism rose 63
percent between 2013 and 2017. But the inspector general warns that
the FBI’s recent past is hardly spotless. After several attacks
committed by people who had been on the FBI’s radar screen, the agency
recommended changes to how it assessed potential homegrown terrorist
threats. Yet it failed to ensure that all of those changes
happened.”
National
Review: Republicans Are Blocking Renewal Of Commonsense Anti-Terrorism
Tools
“I wonder if Congressman Andy Biggs (R., Ariz.) has ever heard of
Sayyid Nosair. There was a time not that long ago when Nosair was
something of a household name, the kind that the Arizona Republican, a
strong conservative who cares a great deal about our national
security, would know. Time flies, though, and memories fade. It’s been
30 years since Nosair, a naturalized American citizen and a hardened
jihadist, murdered Jewish Defense League founder Meir Kahane in one of
New York City’s most notorious late-20th-century homicides. It has
been 25 years since I led a team of prosecutors who convicted Nosair
of conducting a terrorist war against the United States — a war waged
by a foreign terrorist organization that included the 1993 World Trade
Center bombing, which was plotted in his upstate New York prison cell.
The question of Representative Biggs’s familiarity with Nosair — to
say nothing of many other historical instances of Americans
collaborating with foreign powers against American interests —
suggested itself when I watched him get interviewed on Fox News
Thursday morning (see here, about three minutes
in).”
Iraq
Foreign
Policy: Big Ideas For NATO’s New Mission In
Iraq
“Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls for America’s allies
to “get more involved in the Middle East,” NATO defense ministers last
month agreed to “enhance” the Atlantic alliance’s training mission in
Iraq. Although the parameters of NATO’s new role are still to be
defined, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has indicated it may
include taking on some of the tasks currently being performed by U.S.
forces in support of Iraqi military units focused on preventing a
resurgence of the Islamic State. In principle, having America’s NATO
allies—as well as other coalition partners from around the
world—assume greater responsibility for preventing the resurgence of
Islamist extremist groups in Iraq makes sense. Why, after all, should
the United States shoulder the lion’s share of the burden for keeping
terrorism at bay when the rest of the trans-Atlantic community is
equally, if not more, threatened by it?”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Post: ISIS Attack In Kabul Leaves 32 Dead, More Than 80
Wounded
“The first shots were heard before noon Friday and were quickly
followed by explosions at the site of a gathering of hundreds in
western Kabul. Within hours, 32 people were dead and dozens wounded,
according to a government spokesman. The Islamic State in Afghanistan
asserted responsibility for the attack, posting a statement Friday on
social media accounts that are linked to the group. It was the first
attack in the Afghan capital claimed by the extremists in months.
Afghan opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah was at the rally when the
attack began but escaped unhurt, according to his spokesman. The
attack comes just days after the signing of a peace deal between the
United States and the Taliban and highlights the likelihood of
continued violence in Afghanistan despite peace talks. The Islamic
State is just one of many armed groups in the country that oppose the
current peace efforts. The Islamic State is neither allied with the
Afghan government nor the Taliban, and it endorses attacks on
civilians who do not adhere to the group's fundamentalist
interpretation of Islam. The Taliban quickly issued a statement Friday
saying it was not behind the attack.”
The
New York Times: A Secret Accord With The Taliban: When And How The
U.S. Would Leave Afghanistan
“In a secure facility underneath the Capitol, members of Congress
stopped by all last week to review two classified annexes to the
Afghan peace accord with the Taliban that set the criteria for a
critical element of the agreement: What constitutes enough “peace” for
the United States to withdraw its forces? The Taliban have read the
annexes. Nonetheless, the Trump administration insists that the secret
documents must remain secret, though officials have struggled to
explain why to skeptical lawmakers. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper,
in congressional testimony, appeared unaware of — or seemed unwilling
to discuss — the secret annexes just days before the agreement was
signed. And lawmakers who have paid the most attention to the peace
plan also openly express frustration with the lack of a mechanism for
verifying compliance that they believe Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
had promised. At the core of the two documents, according to people
familiar with their contents, is a timeline for what should happen
over the next 18 months, what kinds of attacks are prohibited by both
sides and, most important, how the United States will share
information about its troop locations with the Taliban.”
Reuters:
Kabul Says It Will Attack Taliban If Violence Does Not Stop This
Week
“Afghanistan’s minister of defense said on Sunday that if the
Islamist Taliban did not stop attacks by the end of the week, it would
switch from ‘defense mode’ to attacking the militant group. “Afghan
forces will remain in defense mode until the end of this week under
the guidance of President Ashraf Ghani because of the peace agreement,
but if the Taliban do not stop their attacks by the end of the week,
our troops will target the enemy everywhere,” Asadullah Khalid said in
a statement. The Taliban this month announced they were resuming
operations against Afghan forces - though continuing to hold back on
attacks on international troops - after an agreement on reduction in
violence, which had followed the signing of a peace deal with the
United States in Doha, formally came to an end.”
NBC
News: Unknown Gunmen Kill Three In Broad Daylight In Afghan Capital,
Kabul
“Unknown gunmen shot and killed three people Sunday in Kabul,
including a member of eastern Logar province's provincial council,
underscoring the ongoing risk of violence despite U.S.-led efforts to
negotiate peace with the insurgent Taliban. “Logar provincial council
member Naser Ghairat and two of his bodyguards were killed and another
wounded,” Kabul police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz said. No group has
claimed responsibility for the killing in the capital, which has
already had a violent few days. On Friday, at least 32 civilians were
killed and about 180 others were wounded when two gunmen opened fire
on a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali
Mazari, a slain Shiite leader. The Islamic State terrorist group
claimed responsibility. President Ashraf Ghani appointed a delegation
on to investigate what he described as a “terrorist attack” on the
ceremony in Kabul, Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the presidential
palace said in a tweet. Targeted killings, assassinations and violent
crime have become a growing problem in Afghanistan in recent years,
compounded by the country's economic struggles. Noor Ahmad, 37, a taxi
driver in Kabul, told Reuters: “Kabul has become a city with no law
and order, whoever can do whatever they want to do, and this is very
scary.”
Long
War Journal: Islamic State Claims Two Recent Attacks In
Kabul
“The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s
assault on a memorial ceremony held in honor of Abdul Ali Mazari, an
ethnic Hazara political leader who was killed by the Taliban in 1995.
Dozens were killed or wounded when terrorists struck the proceedings
with rockets and other small arms. In statements and a photo, the
Islamic State identified the two jihadists who were purportedly
responsible as Ahmad al-Tajiki and Abdul Rahman al-Muhajir. Obviously,
the first nom de guerre indicates that he is an ethnic Tajik, while
the second means that the terrorist is a foreign fighter. In addition
to the photo seen above, which was disseminated by the Islamic State’s
media team, the group also produced a statement and a report by its
Amaq News Agency. Abdullah Abdullah, a political opposition leader,
was in attendance when the raid started. He escaped, but at least 32
others perished, while more than 80 people were wounded. The Islamic
State attacked the same ceremony last year, killing at least three
people and wounding approximately 19 more. The jihadists relied on
mortars and rockets in that operation, claiming afterwards that their
targets were “Rafidi mushirkin,” meaning Shiite polytheists. Abdullah
Abdullah was speaking to the crowd when mortars fell during that
barrage as well.”
Yemen
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Arab Coalition Carries Out Operation Against Terrorist
Houthi Targets In Salif
“The Saudi-led Arab coalition carried out a sophisticated operation
against military targets of the Iran-backed Houthi militias in the
al-Salif region in Yemen, reported the Saudi Press Agency. Coalition
spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said the operation targeted six
locations for the assembly, booby-trapping and launch of
explosives-laden vessels. These locations were used to prepare for
hostile attacks and terrorist operations that threaten global trade
and marine routes in the Mandeb Strait and southern Red Sea, he
continued. He stressed that the terrorist Houthis have taken up
Hodeidah as a platform for the launch of ballistic missiles, drones,
booby-trapped vessels and the planting of naval mines in flagrant
violation of international humanitarian law and the Stockholm
Agreement on Hodeidah. Malki vowed that the joint coalition command
will continue to take necessary measures against such legitimate
military targets in line with international law. It also supports of
all political efforts aimed at the implementation of the Stockholm
deal and ending the Houthi coup.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Yemeni Tribal Sheikhs Systematically Targeted By
Houthis
“Since the Houthi militias launched their coup against Yemen’s
legitimate government five years ago, they have been using tribal
chiefs whether by recruiting them or by humiliating and repressing
them and eliminating their social role. Tribal sources in the capital,
Sanaa, have reported that the group has returned to targeting tribal
chiefs in the capital and other Houthi-run areas, after accusing them
of not recruiting militants from their tribes to fight in insurgent
ranks and falling short in collecting financial donations. The sources
confirmed that the group conducted several arrests against tribal men,
especially in the vicinity of Sanaa, by raiding their homes. People
from the area told Asharq Al-Awsat that the raids and arrests aim to
humiliate tribes and their chiefs and subject them to the rule of
Houthis, in addition to forcing them to attend workshops intended to
incite sectarian tension. Since their coup, the militias have been
practicing all sorts of humiliation against Yemenis. Houthi abuse of
civilians are not limited to civilians in Yemen. The Iran-backed
militias have conducted all sorts of violations such as assaults,
arrests, murders and abductions against dozens of elders in Sanaa and
other areas under their control.”
Middle East
The
Washington Post: Gaza Militants Target Israel With Party Balloons
Bearing Bombs
“The moment Merav Hania's daughter stopped loving kindergarten came
when a cluster of colorful orbs floated toward her playground during
recess. “Balloons!” said a pleased young Emma, her mother recalled.
But another child, one who had heard the warnings from local police,
knew better: “That’s a bomb!” In recent months, hundreds of
booby-trapped balloons — sometimes bearing the messages “I Love You”
and “Happy Birthday” along with small improvised explosives dangling
by a string — have descended on this and other communities downwind of
the nearby Gaza Strip, according to Israeli police. Most land in open
countryside, and none has yet caused injury or death, something a
local police commander described as a miracle bound to give way to a
tragedy. Residents know the balloons are not as dangerous as the
rockets long fired by militant groups in Gaza that send whole
neighborhoods scrambling for bomb shelters. Israel’s military
regularly unleashes powerful bombardments on Gaza in reprisal for
those rockets. Still, the escalation of this drifting menace — one of
the ways in which militants in Gaza keep up a low-intensity armed
resistance to Israel’s 14-year blockade of the Palestinian enclave —
has taxed police departments, disrupted daily life and taken a
psychological toll on those who live within reach of the Gaza
breeze.”
Somalia
Reuters:
Senior Figure In Somalia's Al Shabaab Killed In Air Strike: State
Media
“A senior commander in Somalia’s al Shabaab group with a $5 million
bounty on his head was killed in an American air strike last month,
according to Somalia state media, a blow to the militants’ Islamist
insurgency. According to a Somalia state radio report late on
Saturday, Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud was the head of al Shabaab’s
operations and was killed in an American air strike on Feb. 22 in the
Sakow district of the Jubba region in Somalia’s south. Mahamoud
sometimes used the alias Bashir Qoorgaab. “AFRICOM forces killed in an
air strike Bashir Mohamed (qoorgaab), the operation head as well
executive member of al Shabaab,” the state radio reported, using an
acronym for the U.S. military’s Africa Command. The radio report said
Mahamoud had been responsible for a series of attacks on Somalia
national army military bases among other attacks. Somalia’s
information minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye did not respond to a
Reuters’ call for comment. Al Shabaab could not be reached for
comment. Since 2008, al Shabaab has been fighting to topple Somalia’s
central government and establish its own rule based on a strict
interpretation of Islam’s sharia law.”
Africa
The
New York Times: In Uganda, A Peace Festival Seeks End To Violence In
Africa
“Young people played tug of war and others shook their bodies to
crowd-pleasing music as a scorching African sun set near the Ugandan
capital. A tipsy poet drew loud cheers by repeatedly reciting “One
day. Someday. Could be this day.” Others painted their faces, ate
barbecued goat, played chess and practiced yoga. The good-natured
gathering attracted scores of people in support of the day when all of
Africa would be free of armed violence. The Mara Mara peace festival
drew inspiration from the African Union's declaration of 2020 as the
year for “silencing the guns” on a continent that has long faced
violence ranging from civil war to ethnic rivalries and rebel
insurgencies. In an effort to reduce the number of illegal weapons in
circulation across the continent, the AU has said there will be an
amnesty during the month of September when illegally-owned guns can be
turned over to local authorities. Leaders of the African Union, a
continent-wide bloc that is often accused of not doing enough to end
armed violence, have said it will reach out to youths to discourage
them from taking up arms.”
The
Telegraph: Echoes Of Isil As Armed Groups Loot Priceless Artefacts
Across Sahel
“Armed groups operating across Africa’s Sahel region are looting
hundreds of cultural and archaeological sites in the same way as Isil
did in Syria, experts have warned. Over the last few years, government
forces have retreated from vast areas of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger
in the face of an onslaught of jihadist attacks. As lawlessness has
spread, armed groups — many of them allied to Al Qaeda and Islamic
State — have gained influence in an area the UN describes as
“potentially one of the richest [cultural] regions in the world.” The
Sahel boasts archaeological remains dating back to the Neolithic
period. In mediaeval times, West African civilisation blossomed along
the banks of the Niger River into a myriad of kingdoms and empires.
During the 13th century, the cities of Gao and Timbuktu rose as great
centres of trade and learning. Kings grew fabulously wealthy from the
gold and salt trade routes which crisscrossed the Sahara. At a time
when Europe was burning heretics at the stake, books become status
symbols in the Malian Empire. Islamic scholars collected hundreds of
thousands of manuscripts in libraries spread across the region, most
famously in Timbuktu. But experts say the region’s extraordinary
heritage is under attack.”
Military
Times: Airstrike Takes Out A Top Terrorist Suspected Of Involvement In
Attack On US Personnel In Kenya
“Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud, a senior al-Shabab leader suspected of
involvement in the attack on U.S. and Kenyan forces in Manda Bay,
Kenya, was killed in a late February airstrike in Somalia, U.S. Africa
Command officials said Sunday. Mahamoud, also known as Bashir
Qoorgaab, was a member of al-Shabab for more than a decade and had
coordinated al-Qaida activity within Somalia, according to the U.S.
State Department, which had offered up to a $5 million reward for
information leading to his capture. AFRICOM officials believe he was
involved in terrorist plots within Somalia and neighboring Kenya.
“This terrorist was responsible for the pain and suffering of many
innocent people,” Air Force Col. Christopher Karns, AFRICOM’s director
of public affairs, told Military Times. “He can no longer inflict
physical pain on others, nor export his hate and violence more
broadly. What we are doing in Somalia is meaningful basic security
insurance for Africa and the long term security of America, the
continent and our international partners.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: US Treasury: Removing Sudan From Terror List A Matter Of
Time
“The US Treasury Department has said that removing Sudan from a
list of state sponsors of terrorism is only a matter of time, a
statement from Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s office said
Sunday. Hamdok held talks with a delegation from the US Treasury in
Khartoum. The statement said the PM stressed that the US is a
strategic partner, and reiterated the keenness of Sudan’s transitional
authorities to achieve comprehensive peace and improve the country’s
economic situation. Marshall Billingslea, the US Treasury’s Assistant
Secretary for Terrorist Financing, told Hamdok that removing Sudan
from the terrorism list is a matter of time, said the statement.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Asma Abdalla also urged the US delegation to
remove Sudan from the list to enable it to deal with funding
institutions and help it make financial transfers. The Treasury
delegation's visit came as foreign affairs committee leaders at the US
Congress introduced legislation to support Sudan’s democratic
transition.”
United Kingdom
Daily
Mail: Counter-Terror Police Probe Threat Of Violent
'Incels'
“Britain's counter-terror police are conducting their first
investigation into the activities of a violent 'incel' after the
suspect posted 'threatening' messages online. A 'disruption'
operation was carried out last year after an unidentified man, from
outside of London, was accused of posting a series of 'worrying'
statements. Officers were drafted in amid fears that the suspect, who
was arrested but not charged, would turn to - or inspire - violence if
left unchecked. He is now being investigated on suspicion of
non-terrorism-related offences. The Daily Telegraph reported that
counter-terror police believe the man is a member of Britain's incel,
or 'involuntary celibate', movement. Incels belong to an online
subculture of misogyny, self-hatred, racism, and self-pity which
defines its adherents as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner.
They are often young, straight, and friendless - primarily white -
men, some of whom suffer from psychological disorders including
depression and autism. On the Reddit forum /r/incels subreddit, the
incel community became known as a place where men blamed women for
their celibacy.”
The
National: Terrorist Cash Tracking Operations Fail To Keep
Pace
“The campaign to cut off funds to extremist groups has failed to
keep pace with changing tactics employed by terrorists, a new report
says Monday. Counter-terror tactics remain embedded in the era of
struggle against Al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the
United States and has failed to adequately address the rise in
lone-wolf attacks, according to the report by the Royal United
Services Institute (Rusi), a London-based think tank. Since 2001,
terrorist groups have tapped into the technological advances of
crowd-funding, social media and encrypted messaging systems to
industrialise their fund-raising efforts to launch attacks. “The
global response to terrorist financing remains one-dimensional,
despite the multi-faceted risk picture,” according to the Rusi report,
A Sharper Image: Advancing a risk-based response to terrorist
financing. “It is time to develop a more nuanced and risk-specific
response to terrorist financing that is not merely rooted in the
post-9/11 response to Al Qaeda.” US President George W. Bush announced
a programme to tackle the financial framework of extremist groups in
the immediate aftermath of the 2001 attacks that was designed to
“starve the terrorists of funding.”
Germany
Deutsche
Welle: Germany: Alleged IS Terrorist Goes On
Trial
“A court in the western city of Düsseldorf court was scheduled
Friday to hear a set of charges filed by federal prosecutors against a
32-year-old mother, accused of joining the Islamic State ('IS')
terrorist group. The woman, originally from Oberhausen in North
Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) of which Düsseldorf is the regional capital, is
said to have traveled to Syria in 2015 with her three small children.
The six-item charge sheet includes alleged revocation of parential
duties. It describes the accused handing over her son, Hamza, then
aged 7, at a Islamic State (IS) military training camp as a war crime.
Prosecutors also allege she forced the three children to witness a
public execution and to be indoctrinated by so-called religious
police. Her joining a women's unit “Katiba Nusaiba” in Syria amounted
to becoming an IS terrorist, prosecutors assert. 15 years if convicted
If convicted, the accused, named as only Carla-Josephine S. under
German law restraints on reporting, faces up to 15 years in jail. The
trial in the Düsseldorf Regional Court is scheduled to proceed over 11
hearing days, spread through to April 24. The mother is thought to be
the first suspected IS affiliate returned from the Middle East under
consular rules applied cautiously by Germany's Foreign Office.”
Southeast Asia
Yahoo
News: Philippine Clashes Leave 14 Militants, 4 Soldiers
Dead
“Philippine troops have killed at least 14 Muslim militants aligned
with the Islamic State group in a weeklong offensive in a southern
province that also left four soldiers dead, a regional military
commander said Saturday. Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said an
unspecified number of militants, including gunmen belonging to the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, were wounded in clashes in the
towns of Ampatuan and Datu Hoffer Ampatuan in Maguindanao province.
The bodies of five of the slain militants were recovered by government
forces, he said, adding that 10 soldiers were wounded in the fighting.
The Islamic State group claimed that militants killed 43 soldiers
using explosives while repulsing the recent military assaults in two
Maguindanao villages, but Sobejana said the claim was “untrue.”
Government forces launched air strikes and artillery fire on an
encampment of the militants in Salman village in Ampatuan on Monday
after receiving intelligence that the gunmen were plotting attacks,
the military said. Troops later assaulted the encampment and another
group of armed militants in Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, seizing firearms,
ammunition and homemade bombs, the military said.”
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