Eye on Extremism
March 11, 2020
ABC
News: 2 Americans Killed In Iraq During Anti-ISIS Mission Identified
As Marine Raiders
“The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the two U.S. Marine Raiders
killed in Iraq on Sunday during an anti-ISIS mission, a deadly
reminder of the terror group's ongoing presence there. According to
the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad, the two Marines were “killed by
enemy forces while advising and accompanying Iraqi Security Forces
during a mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a
mountainous area of north central Iraq,” officials said on Monday.
Another four service members were wounded during the mission, a U.S.
official told ABC News on Monday. The Pentagon identified the Marine
Raiders on Tuesday as Gunnery Sgt. Diego D. Pongo of Simi Valley,
California, and Capt. Moises A. Navas of Germantown, Maryland. Both
were 34 years old and assigned to 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, Marine
Forces Special Operations Command in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
U.S. MarinesCapt. Moises A. Navas, 34, of Germantown, Md., and Gunnery
Sgt. Diego D. Pongo, 34, of Simi Valley, Calif., right, were killed on
March 8, 2020 in Iraq.Capt. Moises A. Navas, 34, of Germantown, Md.,
and Gunnery Sgt. Diego D. Pongo, 34, of Simi Valley, Calif., right,
were killed on March 8, 2020 in Iraq.”
USA
Today: US Starts Pulling Troops From Afghanistan As Part Of Peace Deal
With Taliban
“The U.S. military said Tuesday it began withdrawing troops, taking
a step forward on a peace deal with the Taliban, and officials praised
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for promising to release Taliban
prisoners after he had delayed for more than a week. The U.S.-Taliban
deal signed Feb. 29 is part of Washington’s effort to end 18 years of
war in Afghanistan. The next crucial step would be intra-Afghan talks
in which all factions, including the Taliban, would negotiate a road
map for their country’s future. Ghani and his main political rival,
Abdullah Abdullah, were each sworn in as president in separate
ceremonies Monday. Abdullah and the elections complaints commission
charged fraud in last year’s vote. The dueling inaugurations threw
plans for talks with the Taliban into chaos, although Ghani said
Tuesday that he would put together a negotiating team. The United
States has about 8,000 troops helping to train Afghan forces. The
disarray in the Afghan government is indicative of the uphill task
facing Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad as he tries to get
Afghanistan’s bickering leadership to come together.”
United States
The
Daily Beast: Russia Stoking Black Extremist Violence Ahead Of U.S.
Election, Says Report
“The Russian government is trying to provoke racial violence in the
U.S. to create a feeling of chaos ahead of the presidential election,
according to a report from The New York Times. American officials
briefed on recent intelligence reportedly told the newspaper that the
Kremlin has adopted new techniques in its attempts to push
white-supremacist groups and black extremist groups toward violence.
Russia’s news networks are reportedly pushing stories emphasizing
racial tension, such as ones involving police abuse and racism against
black Americans in the military. Operatives are also reportedly using
private Facebook groups, 4chan posts, and closed chat rooms to make
their efforts more difficult to detect than during 2016’s election.
The officials said Russia’s main goal is to create a sense of chaos
ahead of the election, but some said that Russia believes acts of
racial violence could boost President Donald Trump’s re-election bid.
David Porter, an agent on the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force,
reportedly explained last month: “To put it simply, in this space,
Russia wants to watch us tear ourselves apart.”
Syria
Voice
Of America: Syria Cease-Fire Hangs By A Thread
“The cease-fire agreement that Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin reached for Syria’s
battered Idlib province was hanging by a thread Tuesday. All sides
claimed violations of the terms of the deal that legitimized Turkey's
extended military presence in Syria's northwest, while enshrining
territorial gains by President Bashar al-Assad's Russian-backed army.
“Despite the cease-fire, several towns in the southern Idlib
countryside and Aleppo's western outskirts are still being bombed
daily by artillery shelling,” said Sayeed Mousa Zaidan, spokesman for
the area's civilian defense force commonly known as the White Helmets.
“Our teams have documented the dropping of 91 artillery shells since
the agreement took effect.” On Sunday, the White Helmets rescue teams
pulled the body of a 38-year-old man and his teenage son from under
the rubble of their home in Sarmin. The town 15 kilometers southeast
of Idlib has become a flashpoint in the battle for control between the
Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and forces loyal to Assad.”
Iran
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Riyadh: Iran Supports Terrorism In Yemen,
Lebanon
“Saudi Arabia said Iran’s preoccupation with supporting terrorist
groups in Yemen and Lebanon has deprived its citizens of their right
to development and the rights of citizens of those countries to enjoy
security and stability. During a meeting of the UN’s Human Rights
Council on Tuesday in Geneva, third secretary of Saudi Arabia's
permanent delegation to the UN Mohammed bin Essam Khashan called on
Tehran to comply with the international treaties and covenants to
which it has signed up. He also urged it to focus on the development
of Iran and providing better lives to its citizens. Khashan said Iran
needs to halt its interventions that are leading to human rights
violations in neighboring countries. The Kingdom is concerned about
violations of the economic, social and cultural rights of minorities
in Iran, and the treatment of Kurds, Al-Ahwazi Arabs and Azerbaijani
Turks who are being subjected to discrimination in a number of ways
that have “a great impact on their basic rights. This includes the
right to education, the equitable distribution of national wealth and
environmental protection.”
Iraq
Kurdistan
24: ISIS Launches Attack On Iraqi Army, PMF Bases In Iraq’s Diyala:
Security
“Remnants of the so-called Islamic State on Sunday night launched
an insurgency attack in Iraq’s Diyala province, killing two members of
the Iraqi Army and one Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia, a local security
source said. The attack took place in the vicinity of Khanaqin, a
disputed Kurdish town, where the Iraqi Army soldiers and Shia militia,
known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), are stationed. “The
attack killed one member from the Iraqi army and another one from the
PMF, while injuring two more from both sides,” the security source
said on condition of anonymity. The activities of the terror group,
including insurgency attacks, ambushes, and kidnappings continue to
grow in different parts of Iraq, particularly in the provinces of
Diyala, Kirkuk, and Nineveh. Local officials in the Kurdistan Region
and Iraq have repeatedly expressed their concerns about the increasing
number of the group’s attacks in the country, calling for further
military and security cooperation with the international community.
The recent Islamic State attacks come at a time where Iraq and the
Kurdistan Region are trying to contain the spread of the coronavirus
epidemic in the country, officially known as
COVID-19.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Afghan President Orders Taliban Prisoner
Release
“President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan on Wednesday ordered the
phased release of thousands of imprisoned Taliban fighters, caving in
on an earlier refusal that was threatening to derail the next steps of
the American negotiated peace plan for the country. Mr. Ghani’s
government was furious when — as part of the deal signed last month
between the United States and the Taliban laying out the American
troop withdrawal from Afghanistan — the Americans had agreed to push
for the release of as many as 5,000 Taliban prisoners. Officials for
Mr. Ghani repeatedly said that the Afghan government had the sole
authority to release the prisoners, and that it would not agree to
such a risky move as a precondition for the next step in the peace
process: direct talks between the Taliban and Afghan leaders over the
political future of the country. In a series of tweets after midnight
on Wednesday, Sediq Sediqqi, Mr. Ghani’s spokesman, said 1,500 Taliban
prisoners would be released starting on Saturday, at a rate of 100 a
day. The remaining 3,500 will be released in batches of 500 every two
weeks after the start of direct talks between the Taliban and a
negotiating team appointed by the Afghan government. Those releases
would be conditioned on a concrete reduction in violence, he
said.”
Reuters:
U.S. Warns Taliban That Level Of Violence 'Not Conducive' For Peace
Process
“The United States warned the Taliban on Tuesday that the current
high level of violence by the insurgents was “not conducive to
advancing the peace process” as the United Nations Security Council
backed a U.S.-led push to end Afghanistan's 18-year war. The United
States signed an agreement with the Taliban last month. It calls for a
phased withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces if the Taliban keeps its
commitments and for the start of talks between the insurgents and an
Afghan government delegation on a political settlement to end decades
of conflict. “We acknowledge the Taliban have taken steps to stop
attacks in cities and against major bases,” Deputy U.S. Ambassador to
the U.N. Cherith Norman Chalet told the U.N. Security Council. “But
more needs to be done and we urge them to also reduce violence against
Afghan forces in the countryside to give intra-Afghan negotiations and
peace the opportunity to succeed,” she said after the 15-member
council unanimously adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution on Afghanistan.
The U.N. resolution welcomed “the significant steps towards ending the
war and opening the door to intra-Afghan negotiations” enabled by
separate U.S. agreements with the Taliban and the Afghan
government.”
ABC
News: US Commander Paints Grim Picture Of US-Taliban Peace
Accord
“The top U.S. commander for the Middle East painted a grim picture
Tuesday of the peace process with the Taliban in Afghanistan, saying
the current level of violence is higher than allowed in the plan and
that he will recommend against full withdrawal if that continues.
Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie told the House Armed Services Committee
that he has plans to cut the number of troops to 8,600 by the summer,
but so far the U.S. “has not developed military plans” for the full
withdrawal in 14 months that is called for in the peace plan signed
Feb. 29. “To date, Taliban attacks are higher than we believe are
consistent with an idea to actually carry out this plan,” McKenzie
said. “If they're unable to draw down the current level of attacks,
then the political leadership will be able to make decisions based on
that.” He added that he has no confidence the group will honor its
commitments, but said his optimism or pessimism about the future
doesn't matter because any decisions will be based on facts and what
happens on the ground. President Donald Trump last week touted what he
described as a “very good talk” with a Taliban leader, and insisted
the group wants to cease violence.”
The
Times: Taliban Overtake Isis As Most Deadly Terrorist
Group
“The Taliban have overtaken Islamic State as the world’s most
lethal terrorists, just as the United States begins its withdrawal
from Afghanistan, according to research. The shift is largely caused
by a fall in the numbers killed by Isis, despite dire warnings of a
resurgence by the group in Iraq and Syria. However, the findings by
Jane’s, the defence research group, will be an embarrassment to the
Trump administration, which has already come under criticism over its
peace deal with the Taliban. Frank McKenzie, head of US forces in the
Middle East, told a congressional committee on Monday night that he
had no confidence the Taliban would meet their commitments under the
deal.”
Egypt
Morning
Star: Egyptian Trade Unions Could Be Branded Terror Organisations
Under New Law
“Trade unions could be branded terrorist organisations in Egypt
following their inclusion in a draft law passed unanimously in the
country’s parliament claiming to combat “money-laundering and fighting
terrorism.” The regulations extended the definition of “terrorist
entity” to new categories including businesses and trade unions as
Egypt redefined “the crime of financing terrorism.” The law defines as
a terrorist entity any association, organisation, group or gang set up
“for the purpose of disturbing the public order, endangering the
safety, interests or security of the community or harming national
unity by any means.” Under the amendments, trade unions could see
their assets, finances and property seized and added to the terrorism
list “even if the use of any of the resources mentioned above in
financing any terrorist activity has not been proven.” Journalists,
opposition parties and public-sector workers are also threatened under
the draconian legislation. Egypt’s authoritarian President Abdel
Fattah el-Sisi has moved to crush all dissent in the country. His
regime sees independent trade unions as a threat to its grip on the
country.”
Nigeria
News
24: 8 Killed In Boko Haram Attack On Army Post In Southeastern
Niger
“An attack by Boko Haram jihadists on an army post in the
southeastern Niger region of Diffa left eight dead and three missing,
state radio said on Monday. Local sources had said on Sunday that a
“major” attack had killed soldiers who were hospitalised in Diffa, but
they did not give figures. Chetima Wangou came under attack by Boko
Haram by around 20 heavily armed vehicles, the radio report said. “On
the friends' side there were eight dead, eight wounded, three missing.
On the enemy side almost all the assailants were neutralised,” the
radio said. The killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
in a U.S. raid is a further blow to a jihadist group that once held a
swathe of territory in Iraq and Syria, experts said, but the
organization and its ideology remain dangerous. It said there were
three successive clashes and that vehicles that had managed to cross
the border into Nigeria were “almost all neutralised” by air strikes
by a joint multinational force of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon.
The region which abuts Nigeria and Chad has repeatedly suffered
attacks by the Boko Haram jihadist group since 2015, but they have
subsided since late last year.”
Somalia
The
Defense Post: Somalia: AFRICOM Says US Airstrike Kills 5 Militants
Near Janaale, Acknowledges Civilian Casualty Reports
“The U.S. conducted an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants near
Janaale, Somalia on Tuesday, March 10, U.S. Africa Command said in a
press release. AFRICOM assessed the strike killed five al-Shabaab
militants and that no civilians were injured as a result of the
strike, but said it was aware of reports on social media of civilian
casualties. A Somali Federal Government statement said a vehicle was
also destroyed in the strike in Janaale, which lies about 70 km (44
miles) southwest of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in the country’s
Lower Shabelle region – an al-Shabaab stronghold. “As with any
allegation of civilian casualties, U.S. Africa Command will review any
information it has about the incident, including any relevant
information provided by third parties, and take appropriate action
based on the outcome of this review,” the AFRICOM release read. U.S.
airstrikes against Shabaab increased precipitously after President
Donald Trump eased engagement restrictions in 2017 by declaring
southern Somalia an “area of active hostilities,” but AFRICOM has
admitted only one incident of civilian casualties in more than 150
airstrikes…”
Africa
ABC
News: Terrorist Groups 'On The March' In West Africa And The Sahel, US
General Warns
“Terrorist organizations are “on the march” in West Africa and the
Sahel with international efforts failing to curb the increase in
violence, a four-star American general in charge of U.S. troops in
Africa warned on Tuesday. The stark message came as the State
Department is ramping up its diplomatic efforts in the region by
appointing the first-ever U.S. special envoy. But that high-level
engagement may be undermined by a potential cut to the U.S. troop
levels on the continent, with the Pentagon still reassessing its force
presence there. Lawmakers of both parties and allies including France
have warned the Trump administration that a reduction in troops could
exacerbate problems and increase the threat of terrorism to the
American homeland. In a hearing on Tuesday, Gen. Stephen Townsend, the
head of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), said that in the last year
alone there's been a five-fold increase in terrorist activity in the
Sahel region -- the stretch of semi-arid land south of the Sahara
Desert from Mauritania and Senegal in the west to Sudan and Eritrea in
the east. The region has at least five major terrorist organizations,
whose members often flow between them and with weapons flowing south
from Libya, according to U.S. officials.”
Arab
News: Tunisia Arrests 5 Over Attack Near US
Embassy
“Five people have been arrested in Tunisia over a double suicide
attack that killed a police officer near the US embassy in Tunis last
week, the prosecution said Tuesday. Two suicide bombers struck outside
the embassy on Friday, wounding six other people and again shaking a
city repeatedly hit by extremist violence. The five detainees were
arrested on Saturday and are being held at a police station in the
capital’s El Gorjani district specializing in anti-terrorism
investigations, spokesman Sofiene Sliti told AFP. Tunisian media have
reported that the two suicide bombers were men from Tunis who had
served their sentences after being found guilty on terror charges in
2014. The attack on Friday at midday rocked the Berges du Lac district
hosting the highly fortified embassy, causing panic among pedestrians
and motorists. A video shared later on social media shows two men in
sports clothes and with caps on their heads riding a scooter up to a
police van then pausing for a few seconds before an explosion. There
was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack and
authorities have not announced any other advances in their
investigations.”
United Kingdom
Daily
Mail: Terrorist, 29, Who Admits Hoarding ISIS Propaganda Sent Almost
£2,700 To Help 'Fighter Brothers' In Iraq, Court
Hears
“A terrorist who admits hoarding pro-Islamic State propaganda
helped raise thousands of pounds for 'fighter brothers' in the Middle
East, a court heard. Ayub Nurhussein, 29, is charged with entering
into a funding arrangement - totalling £2,699.19 for the purposes of
terrorism between April 11 and July 11 last year. Jurors at the Old
Bailey were told that multiple communications had taken place between
the defendant and another man, Said Mohammed, 30, via the private
messaging app Telegram. It is claimed that Mohammed was in contact
with a third person in Iraq, known as Wassim. Prosecutor Alistair
Richardson said multiple messages had been exchanged in which Wassim
had asked Mohammed to help raise funds from 'brothers from abroad' to
support IS activities. 'The situation is bad, my brother. The
situation is bad at all levels in Iraq,' he said. 'If there are
brothers...that would still give support, tell them this is a time of
seriousness and this is a time when the Mujahedin (fighters) really
need you. 'This is a time of vulnerability and this is a time when we
need brothers from abroad to help.’”
France
Deutsche
Welle: Terrorism Survivor Eases The Pain With Her Pen
“Going back to the Bataclan concert hall is an act of resistance
for Catherine Bertrand. The 39-year-old Parisian is a survivor of one
of France's worst terror attacks: Three armed gunmen killed 90 people
during a performance by the rock band Eagles of Death Metal on
November 3, 2015. “I still have a knot in the stomach when I come
here,” she said as she stood in front of the venue in northeastern
Paris on a cloudy afternoon. “But it's important for me to do this. I
started to regularly return in front of the Bataclan a few weeks after
the attack as I didn't want to develop a phobia. I love going to
concerts and am determined not to give that up. And it's sort of a
pilgrimage: I am paying homage to the dead and reminding myself of how
lucky I am to have survived.” The massacre was one of several assaults
carried out by seven attackers in Paris that night which left 131
people dead. Shootings and suicide bombings also took place at several
bars and during a soccer match at the Stade de France national
stadium. France will be commemorating the victims of these and other
terror attacks on Wednesday, European Remembrance Day for Victims of
Terrorism. Over the past five years, more than 250 people have died in
terror attacks in France.”
Germany
Deutsche
Welle: Does Germany Do Too Little To Remember Victims Of Racist
Terror?
“On August 21, 1980, xenophobic terrorists threw three Molotov
cocktails through the window of a Hamburg refugee shelter.
Eighteen-year-old Do Anh Lan and Nguyen Ngoc Chau, both from Vietnam,
were sleeping inside. They suffered severe burns in the attack and
died several days later. The racist killers had spray-painted
“Foreigners out!” on the wall of the shelter. Do Anh Lan's mother, Do
Mui, grieves for her son's death to this day. She has called for an
official memorial site to be set up to commemorate his life. “Nobody
seems to care,” she told the German weekly Die Zeit. On February 19,
2020, a 43-year-old man killed nine people in the town of Hanau, near
Frankfurt, apparently motivated by what some officials and journalists
have described as the victims' “foreign roots.” The racist attack
shocked Germany. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor
Angela Merkel later attended the memorial service to pay their
respects. Relatives of the victims fear that life will soon return to
normal for much of German society — as if nothing had ever happened.
“Relatives are telling us they're scared to send their kids to
school,” said Robert Erkan, who counsels victims of such crimes.
Racist terror, after all, poses a constant danger in Germany, no
matter what politicians claim or promise.”
New Zealand
The
Guardian: Far-Right Extremists Still Threaten New Zealand, A Year On
From The Christchurch Attacks
“In the hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15
last year, I wrote that I hoped New Zealand would finally stop
believing it was immune to far-right extremist violence. A year on,
I’m not sure enough has changed. I’ve researched far-right extremism
for decades – and I would argue it remains a high-level threat in New
Zealand, not just overseas. My assessment is that there are about 60
to 70 groups and somewhere between 150 and 300 core, right-wing
activists in New Zealand. This sounds modest alongside the estimated
12,000 to 13,000 violent far-right activists in Germany. But
proportionate to population size, the numbers are similar for both
countries. And it only takes one activist to act out his extremism. In
the past year, there has certainly been greater investment by New
Zealand’s security agencies in monitoring extremist groups and
activists. There has been more media coverage. The government moved
quickly to ban assault weapons and further controls on the use and
possession of arms are underway. Other initiatives, including a royal
commission of inquiry, are pending. But I also feel there is a
tendency to see the Christchurch attacks, which killed 51 people, as a
one-off or an aberration – rather than something we still need to
guard against.”
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