Eye on Extremism
August 8, 2019
The
New York Times: U.S. And Turkey Agree On Peace Corridor In
Northeastern Syria
“The United States and Turkey agreed on Wednesday to create a safe
zone in northeastern Syria that would allow Turkey to protect its
borders from Syrian-Kurdish forces that it regards as a terrorist
threat and provide Syrian refugees in Turkey a safe space to return
home. Defense officials from both countries issued separate but
similar statements after three days of talks in Ankara, the Turkish
capital. The statements gave no details on the size of the zone or how
it will be policed, which may still be undecided, but the agreement
was presented by Turkey as a meeting of its demands. Turkey’s defense
minister, Hulusi Akar, told Turkish media outlets on Wednesday morning
that the discussions were “fairly positive.” “We gladly observed our
interlocutors coming closer to our views,” the NTV television channel
quoted him as saying.”
Time:
Over 100,000 People Have Been Detained Or Gone Missing In Syria, U.N.
Estimates
“Reports suggest more than 100,000 people in Syria have been
detained, abducted or gone missing during the eight-year conflict,
with the government mainly responsible, the U.N. political chief said
Wednesday. Rosemary DiCarlo urged all parties to heed the Security
Council’s call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained and
to provide information to families about their loved ones as required
by international law. She told the council that the U.N. can’t verify
the figure of more than 100,000 because it has been unable to gain
access to places of detention and detainees in Syria. She said its
information comes from accounts corroborated by the Commission of
Inquiry on Syria authorized by the U.N. Human Rights Council and human
rights organizations since the conflict started in 2011. DiCarlo also
reiterated U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for the Syria
conflict to be referred to the International Criminal Court, saying
accountability for serious violations of international human rights
and humanitarian law “is central to achieving and maintaining durable
peace in Syria.”
Deutsche
Welle: Iraq: Caught Between Militias And 'Islamic
State'
“Yes, there have been murder incidents,” admits Hussein Zainal, a
member of Bashiqa's local council, when asked about the behavior of
the 30th Brigade of the Iraqi Shiite militias in this mixed town on
the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq. “They are not a trained army. The
boys have no ethics or knowledge of human rights.” The 30th brigade is
part of the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU),
which consists of some 150,000 volunteers divided between some 40
Shiite militias. The PMU was formed to fight the Islamic terror group
“Islamic State” (IS) after a fatwa issued by the religious leader of
the Iraqi Shiites, Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani. Eighteen months after
IS was defeated in Iraq, the militias still guard checkpoints in
cities that were liberated from the group, but reports about their
misbehavior are everywhere. Militias in Nineveh have been accused of
violence and murder, abuse of power, illegal enrichment, and
corruption. There is even talk of a mass grave containing the bodies
of 80 people killed by militia members. Recently, the 30th Brigade
blocked the motor way to Mosul and clashed with the Iraqi army to
prevent it from taking over its checkpoints. In the villages around
Bashiqa, the militia has taken over the role of the police.”
The
Telegraph: Removal Of British ISIL Fighters Citizenship Backed In
First High Court Judgement
“British Isil fighters can be legally stripped of their
citizenship, the High Court has ruled in the first case of its kind.
Abdullah Islam challenged the decision by former home secretary Amber
Rudd to deprive his son, 22-year-old Ashraf Mahmud Islam, of his
British nationality. Mr Islam had wanted is son, who joined Isil aged
18 and is now being held in a Kurdish-run military prison in Syria,
brought back to the UK to face justice and to be protected from facing
the death penalty. However, his case was rejected on Wednesday by a
High Court judge as having “no merit,” a judgement which could set a
precedent for other British Isil fighters and their brides who face or
have had their British citizenship...”
WTOP:
The Hunt: Impact Of Hamza Bin Laden’s Death On Terrorists Around The
World
“CEP Senior Director Hans Jakob Schindler discusses the
significance of Hamza bin Laden's alleged death with host J.J. Green.
Hamza bin Laden was widely expected to be the next leader of
al-Qaeda.”
Motherboard:
Cloudflare Is Protecting A Site Linked To A Neo-Nazi Terror
Group
“Internet infrastructure company Cloudflare, known for protecting
websites against attacks aimed at knocking them offline, is shielding
a website linked to a known neo-Nazi terror group connected to several
murders, Motherboard has learned. The latest site found to be
protected by the Silicon Valley giant is linked to Atomwaffen
Division, a neo-Nazi terrorist organization connected to racially
motivated killings in the U.S. The website provides (in audiobook and
PDF formats) a white supremacist handbook on an armed insurgency
against society popular among extremists. The book advocates for the
assassination of politicians, bombings, and general guerilla war
against the state. The Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit formed
to combat the growing threat from extremist ideologies, has previously
pointed to the book as a serious contributor to the radiclalization of
white nationalists and as a general guide for neo-Nazi terrorism.“
United States
The
New York Times: What Could A Domestic Terrorism Law
Do?
“The mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso on Saturday and arrest
of a man whose white supremacist manifesto railed against a “Hispanic
invasion of Texas” have heightened calls for Congress to enact a
federal domestic terrorism law. In a statement on Tuesday, the
president of the F.B.I. Agents Association, Brian O’Hare, urged
Congress “to make domestic terrorism a federal crime. This would
ensure that F.B.I. agents and prosecutors have the best tools to fight
domestic terrorism.” It is not clear, however, whether such a statute
would make a practical difference in what the government can already
do under existing law. Some civil libertarians have argued that any
legislation that could survive a constitutional challenge would be
more about sending a symbolic message than creating major and
substantive new government powers. “These proposals tend either to be
duplicative of laws that already exist or expansive in ways that
violate First Amendment rights of speech and association,” said David
Cole, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Here
is a breakdown of the legal policy issues surrounding domestic
terrorism. What is the legal difference between domestic and
international terrorism?”
CNN:
After Weekend Of Violence, White House To Hold Online Extremism
Summit
“The White House will host internet and technology companies Friday
for a summit focused on violent extremism online, the first public
engagement meetings convened following last weekend's deadly
shootings. The summit comes just a few months after the Trump
administration refused to sign the Christchurch Call, a push by the
governments of New Zealand and France to encourage tech companies and
countries to work together to end the use of social media in acts of
terrorism. “The White House has invited internet and technology
companies for a discussion on violent extremism online,” White House
spokesman Judd Deere said Wednesday. “The staff-led meeting will take
place Friday and include senior administration officials along with
representatives of a range of companies.” President Donald Trump is
not expected to attend the session. A list of participants wasn't
available at time of publishing Wednesday. A source familiar with the
invite sent to companies said they expect it to be partly a
conversation about tech companies polices and any initiatives planned
or underway in combating online violent extremism. Facebook and
Twitter declined to comment and referred CNN to the White House.
Google did not respond to CNN's request for comment.”
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel: Second Man Sentenced In Plot To Join Islamic
State
“Federal prosecutors couldn't get a 20-year sentence for a man who
really wanted to join the Islamic State, but that didn't stop them
from seeking the same sanction for the man's less-culpable follower.
Again, the judge imposed a far less severe sentence — five and a half
years.Yosvany Padilla-Conde, 32, pleaded guilty in April to helping
Jason Ludke travel to Texas in 2016, with plans to then enter Mexico
and ultimately go to Syria. Their journey was at the direction of FBI
agents posing online as IS recruiters, who arrested the pair near San
Angelo. Padilla-Conde made videos in which he swore allegiance to the
Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and said he planned to travel to
the Middle East. “In 2015 and 2016, ISIS perpetrated hellish levels
of violence. To this, Padilla-Conde was drawn and sought to
contribute,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Ben Taibleson told U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman that
foreign travelers are still essential personnel to ISIS campaigns of
rape and slaughter. “It's not theater,” Taibleson said. Taibleson
noted that Padilla-Conde disappeared without telling the mother of his
child, slept in the car on the way to Texas and made videos pledging
his allegiance to ISIS.”
The
Hill: A Look At One Way ISIS Is Trying To Incite Attacks Inside The
US
“In a little over a month, we will mark the 18th anniversary of the
9/11 attacks. There are ongoing debates about the current strength of
al Qaeda, and last week media reported that the organization's up and
coming leader, Osama bin Laden's son Hamza, had gotten his wish for
martyrdom. This will surely hurt the organization. Still, al Qaeda
continues to fester all over the world, with a strong presence in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, India, Yemen, and many other places,
as its leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri remains at large, releasing videos
every few months — most recently on July 10. Al Qaeda's rival ISIS
enjoys far more media attention, far more support from the younger
generation of jihadis, and far more foreign fighters joining its
ranks. While its official caliphate has crumbled, it remains strong in
the cyber caliphate and on social media and continues to successfully
spread its brand and ideology worldwide. It gears its propaganda
towards young jihadis who are uninspired by the previous jihadi
generation's al Qaeda and a septuagenarian Zawahiri hiding in a
cave but are inspired instead by ISIS's HD videos — and by its
sharable graphic images known as “posters” aimed at inciting violence
and attacks. These graphics visually depict attacks on widely
recognizable U.S. and Western locations or landmarks, paired with text
intended to incite lone-wolf terrorism.”
Washington
Examiner: US Brings ISIS Fighters Home For Trial, But Extremists Could
Benefit From Other Nations' Inaction
“The U.S. is bringing home citizens who joined the Islamic State to
stand trial, but some Western European and other nations refuse to —
and a new watchdog analysis says ISIS could benefit from their
inaction. This decision to let ISIS-joining citizens avoid justice
leaves approximately 800 Europeans among the 2,000 foreign ISIS
fighters from 50 countries in legal limbo in northeast Syrian
detention camps run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-allied
coalition of mostly Kurdish militias, where 10,000 ISIS fighters are
believed to be held. The Pentagon’s inspector general report, released
Tuesday, warned that the SDF does not have the capability to
“indefinitely detain” thousands of ISIS fighters in what are described
as “pop-up prisons.” Only seven countries — the U.S., Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, and North Macedonia —
announced they will bring back fighters to face charges. Italy is the
only Western European country to do so. France complained about death
sentences handed down in Iraq against a dozen French ISIS members, and
the U.K. is stripping citizenship from fighters. Outside of Europe,
the rest are mainly from former Soviet republics, the Middle East and
North Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.”
The
Daily Beast: Post-9/11 Intel Center Now Going After Domestic
Terror
“As white supremacist violence surges, a major hub for American
intelligence has quietly expanded its focus on domestic terrorism,
according to a senior U.S. counterterrorism official who spoke with
The Daily Beast. It’s a small shift that draws accolades from veteran
national-security officials. The shift also concerns civil-liberties
advocates, who say it may point to an erosion of the boundary between
law enforcement and America’s spies. The Bush administration stood up
the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks as a clearinghouse for all intelligence except, as
the Center has put it, that “pertaining exclusively to domestic
terrorism.” The NCTC employs approximately 1,000 people and federal
law requires that it act as the government’s “knowledge bank” on known
or suspected terrorists. For example, it keeps a massive database that
serves as the basis of the TSA’s “no-fly” terrorist watchlist. In
early 2018, the official said, the head of the NCTC directed lawyers
from the intelligence community to revisit its understanding of the
law that governs it. A Democratic official on the House Intelligence
Committee said Congress urged the Center to conduct the analysis—and
fast.”
Syria
NBC
News: U.S.-Backed Forces Struggling To Quell ISIS Insurgency In Syria,
Iraq: Pentagon Report
“U.S.-backed forces in Iraq and Syria are struggling to contain the
ISIS insurgency, according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday.
Between April and June 2019, the Islamic State terror group
“solidified its insurgent capabilities in Iraq and was resurging in
Syria,” the Department of Defense Inspector General Quarterly Report
says. The report references significant changes in the region. In
addition to the president’s sudden announcement of a drawdown of U.S.
troops in Syria -– against the counsel of military advisers -– the
report raises concerns that ISIS is gaining a renewed foothold in Iraq
because U.S. personnel there were evacuated from diplomatic posts due
to rising tensions with Iran. Experts told NBC News that as a result,
that also has led to less surveillance of ISIS activity in Iraq. The
State Department said that the departure of diplomatic staff from
Baghdad and Erbil ”hindered U.S. stabilization efforts in Iraq,”
according to the report. It also notes that the troop withdrawal from
Syria came “at a time when U.S. commanders said the [Syrian Defense
Forces] needed more training and equipping for counterinsurgency
operations.” The report noted that the withdrawal also reduced the
ability of U.S. forces to maintain a presence at a sprawling refugee
camp where tens of thousands of displaced people from former ISIS
territory are living.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Car Bomb Kills Five In Syria's
Northeast
“A car bombing claimed by the ISIS group killed five people,
including three children, in a Kurdish-held town in northeast Syria
Wednesday, an activist group said. The explosive-rigged vehicle
detonated in Al-Qahtaniya, a town in Hasakeh province, said the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based observatory. Hoker
Arafat, a security official, said the bomb was detonated remotely in
front of the town post office. “Three children were killed in the
bombing because it was very close to a primary school,” he said. A
member of the local security forces was wounded in the attack, he
added. State news agency SANA also reported the bombing, saying it
killed several people, including children. ISIS claimed the attack on
its Telegram channel. The militant group routinely claims attacks in
northeast Syria, despite its territorial defeat earlier this year.
Such attacks have included arson against wheat fields and deadly car
bombs. ISIS maintains a presence in the country's vast Badia desert,
as well as in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic
Forces in the country's northeast and east. The SDF, backed by the
warplanes of a US-led coalition, announced the end of ISIS'
self-proclaimed “caliphate” in March in the village of Baghouz, in
Syria's far east.”
The
National: Qatar Bank Accused Of Allowing Terror Financing In
Syria
“Funds transferred from accounts in the Qatari-state controlled
Doha Bank were transferred to extremist groups perpetrating atrocities
in Syria, a claim issued at the UK High Court has said. The case has
been brought by eight Syrians, now living in Europe, who say in the
claim that they were tortured and displaced by Al Qaeda affiliate
Jahbat Al Nusra, a key player in the Syrian civil war that was
supplied with arms and resources by the gas rich gulf state. They
accuse Doha Bank, whose largest shareholder is the Qatar Investment
Authority, the state’s sovereign wealth vehicle, of failing to stop
the transfers of money to extremists by two wealthy brothers. One
analyst said it “put some meat on the bones” of claims that the Qatari
establishment had funded militant groups in Syria. The eight Syrians
involved in the unprecedented legal action have been granted anonymity
after lodging the claim in the UK High Court that seeks damages from
Doha Bank. The claimants say they were inflicted with “severe
physical and psychiatric injuries” by the extremists, were forcibly
displaced from their homes and had their businesses taken from them
“as a result of the unlawful actions of the al-Nusra Front” according
to documents seen by The Times.”
Iran
CNN:
US Government Warns Of Iranian Threats To Commercial Shipping,
Including GPS Interference
“The US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration has
issued a new warning to commercial shipping about Iranian threats in
the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf, saying that some ships have
reported having their GPS interfered with. Additionally, the
administration warned that there have been reports of “unknown
entities falsely claiming to be US or coalition warships.” The
warning, which was issued Wednesday, listed a series of incidents
involving Iran since May, including Iran's seizure of the United
Kingdom-flagged M/V STENA IMPERO and the detention and subsequent
release of the Liberian-flagged M/V MESDAR. It said that during “at
least two” recent encounters involving Iranian military forces,
“vessels reported GPS interference. One vessel reportedly shut off its
Automatic Identification System (AIS) before it was seized,
complicating response efforts.” “Vessels have also reported spoofed
bridge-to-bridge communications from unknown entities falsely claiming
to be US or coalition warships,” the warning added.”
The
Hill: US Should Sanction Iran's Incendiary Kingmaker
“He has called for death to America and Israel. He has described
non-Muslims as “animals who roam the earth and engage in corruption.”
He has dubbed U.S. troops in Iraq “bloodthirsty wolves” and expressed
support for Shiite militias seeking their demise. He has hosted Nation
of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan as an honored guest. He has demanded
the execution of Iranian protestors, urging the judiciary in 2009 to
show them no “compassion and leniency.” He has described the latest
nationwide demonstrations, which began in late 2017, as a Western plot
to subvert Tehran. And he plays a major role, behind closed doors, in
selecting the leadership of Iran’s clerical regime. Meet Ayatollah
Ahmad Jannati, 92, who heads two powerful committees responsible for
appointing Iran’s supreme leader, vetting candidates for key elected
offices, and screening legislation passed by Iran’s parliament — all
to ensure fidelity to the regime’s theocratic constitution and
Islamist creed. In effect, Jannati constitutes the Islamic Republic’s
unelected kingmaker, the power behind the throne who helps preserve
the structure and character of the repressive political system.”
The
Wall Street Journal: In Gulf Tanker Crisis, Iran Tries To Avoid
Alienating Allies
“Iran’s disruptions of Persian Gulf oil shipments are putting the
country’s leaders in a difficult position as they retaliate against
foes while trying not to irritate their few remaining allies. Tehran
captured two U.K.-connected vessels in the Persian Gulf on July 19,
two weeks after Britain seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar it
accused of exporting oil to Syria in breach of European Union
sanctions. Iran, which had threatened to respond to its vessel’s
seizure, also detained an Emirati-based ship it accused of smuggling.
The seizures were in keeping with Iran’s vow to disrupt maritime
traffic in the Strait of Hormuz as a retaliatory show of force to the
U.S., after it banned Iranian oil exports, the lifeblood of its
economy. The U.K., though it is working with other European countries
to salvage the international nuclear deal with Iran, was singled out
by Tehran as a target after the Gibraltar incident and now faces the
same threat as adversaries like the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates.”
Iraq
Iraqi
News: Iraqi Troops Destroy Five Islamic State Hideouts In
Diyala
“An Iraqi police chief announced on Wednesday the destruction of
five hideouts of the Islamic State terrorist group in Diyala province.
“Five Islamic State hotbeds were destroyed Wednesday on the outskirts
of Khanaqin and in Jalawla districts in Diyala as part of the third
phase of the Victory Will operation,” Diyala police chief Maj. Gen.
Faisal Kazem al-Abadi told the privately-owned Alghad Press website.
Abadi pointed out that Iraqi troops will step up their efforts to
arrest Islamic State terrorists and destroy their terrorist hotbeds
across Iraq. The Islamic State group appeared on the international
scene in 2014 when it seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and
Syria, declaring the establishment of an Islamic “caliphate” from
Mosul city. Later on, the group has become notorious for its
brutality, including mass killings, abductions and beheadings,
prompting the U.S. to lead an international coalition to destroy it.
Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq,
Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with
security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat
against stability in the country.”
Turkey
Daily
Sabah: 7 Syrian Daesh Militants Captured In
Konya
“Counterterrorism police in the central Turkish province of Konya
captured seven Syrian nationals accused of membership in the Daesh
terrorist group Wednesday. Suspects were among 12 wanted for links to
the terrorist group, and operations were underway when Daily Sabah
went to print to capture the other suspects. Police raided several
locations in Konya and its districts to capture the suspects who were
once active in the Daesh network in Syria according to investigators.
Elsewhere, a suspected member of Daesh was arrested in Kilis, a
Turkish province bordering Syria. The suspect, identified as
32-year-old R.A., was a foreign national but authorities did not
disclose his nationality. He was a resident of Kilis and had “links to
conflict zones in Syria,” officials said, referring to areas where the
terrorist group has been active in war-torn Syria. The terrorist group
is blamed for a string of attacks in Turkey that killed at least 319
people over the past three years in Istanbul and Ankara, as well as
cities in the southeast. Foreigners looking to join Daesh in Syria
have mostly attempted to use Turkey as their crossing point. Turkey
has taken significant measures against foreign Daesh members and has
urged Western countries on intelligence cooperation.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Violence In Afghanistan Worsens As U.S.-Taliban Peace
Talks Plod On
“Violence has intensified in recent months across Afghanistan as
the opposing sides in the war try to turn battlefield blows into gains
in negotiations over the country’s political future. An agreement
between the Taliban and the United States is expected to be finalized
soon and provide a schedule for the conditional withdrawal of the
remaining 14,000 American troops and their NATO partners. In return,
the Taliban have pledged to prevent terrorist attacks against the
United States and its allies from Afghan soil. But as the talks
continue, the violence worsens. On Wednesday, a powerful Taliban truck
bomb exploded outside a police station in Kabul, the Afghan capital,
killing 14 people and injuring at least 145 others as peace
negotiations between the militants and American diplomats were
underway. The United Nations said July was the deadliest month in
Afghanistan in the last couple of years, with 1,500 civilians killed
or wounded. While the United Nations blamed last month’s increase on
large Taliban explosions, it said in an earlier report that Afghan
forces and their American allies were responsible for more civilian
deaths than the Taliban during the first six months of the year.
Often, even heavily populated urban centers like Kabul feel like
battlegrounds in a war that lost clear front lines long ago.”
Pakistan
The
Washington Post: Pakistan Downgrades Diplomatic Ties, Suspends Trade
With India Over Kashmir Move
“Pakistan announced Wednesday that it will downgrade diplomatic
ties and suspend trade with nuclear-armed neighbor India
over its sudden move to retract the semiautonomous status of the
disputed Kashmir region. The office of Prime Minister Imran Khan said
that after a meeting with him, the government’s national security
council decided to take those measures immediately, file a formal
protest with the U.N. Security Council and review all bilateral
arrangements with India. On Monday, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind
issued a decree revoking the protected political status enjoyed by
Kashmir for the past six decades under the Indian constitution. Kovind
acted at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kashmir has long
been a flash point between the two countries, and it has been roiled
for years by terrorist attacks, protests by the region’s majority
Muslims, and accusations of repression by Indian forces stationed
there. The Himalayan region, claimed by both countries, is divided by
a militarized Line of Control. India and Pakistan have fought three
limited wars since Pakistan was created in 1947 in the violent
partition of India. Relations between them have been especially tense
since Modi, a Hindu nationalist, was first elected in 2014.”
Associated
Press: India Arrests Over 500 In Kashmir As Pakistan Cuts
Railway
“Indian security forces have arrested more than 500 people since
New Delhi imposed a communications blackout and security clampdown in
divided Kashmir, where people remained holed up in their homes for a
fourth day. Pakistan, which claims the divided Himalayan region
together with India, on Thursday suspended a key train service with
India over change in Kashmir’s special status by New Delhi, as
tensions between the rivals soared. India’s government this week
revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and downgraded the
region from statehood to a territory. Rebels in Muslim-majority
Kashmir have been fighting Indian rule in the portion it administers
for decades. State-run All India Radio, which reported on the arrests
without details, also said that cross-border firing by Indian and
Pakistani troops hit the Rajouri sector of the Indian-controlled
Kashmir late Wednesday.”
India
Today: Pakistan's Counter-Terrorism Department Declares Hafiz Saeed
Guilty Of Terror Financing
“Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jammat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz
Saeed was declared guilty of "terror financing" by the Counter
Terrorism Department (CTD) in a Pakistani court on Wednesday. Saeed, a
UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a $10 million bounty
on, was presented before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Gujranwala,
some 80-km from Lahore, in high security where he was charge-sheeted
of terror financing by the CTD of Punjab police. A CTD official told
PTI that it submitted challan in the ATC declaring Saeed guilty of
terror financing. "Since the case is related to Mandi Bhauddin
district of Punjab therefore the prosecution requested the court to
shift it to Gujrat ATC court (some 200-km from Lahore)," he said.”
Yemen
Voice
Of America: Yemen’s Civilians Suffer As Myriad Of Armed Groups
Intensify Attacks
“The United Nations human rights office is reporting that
intensified attacks by a myriad of armed groups in Yemen are having a
devastating impact on civilians throughout the war-torn country.
Dozens of armed groups, including those affiliated with the al-Qaida
and Islamic State terror groups, reportedly are escalating attacks in
Yemen, adding to the misery of civilians who have suffered through
more than four years of civil war. Since July 27, the U.N. human
rights office has verified 19 civilian deaths and 42 civilians injured
in Taiz, Sa’ada and Aden. In addition, the agency says civilian
infrastructure, including medical and educational facilities, have
been hit and damaged during attacks. U.N. human rights spokeswoman
Ravina Shamdasani says groups affiliated with the Houthi rebels
allegedly have launched indiscriminate attacks in Taiz. She says IS
militants and al-Qaida, in separate assaults, have attacked police
stations and military camps in Aden and Abyan in the south. She says
these actions have triggered retaliation by the “security-belt”
forces, a paramilitary force supported by the Saudi-led coalition. “We
have received information from multiple sources about arbitrary
arrests and detention, forced displacement, physical assaults and
harassment as well as looting and vandalism by the security forces
against hundreds of northerners.”
Middle East
The
Jerusalem Post: In Response To West Bank Terror, Netanyahu Hints At
Annexation Of Area C
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday hinted at the
possibility of applying sovereignty to the West Bank settlements hours
after the body of terror victim Dvir Sorek, 19, was found with stab
wounds in the Gush Etzion region of Judea and Samaria. “We promised to
build hundreds of housing units - today we are doing it, both because
we promised and because our mission is to establish the nation of
Israel in our country, to secure our sovereignty over our historic
homeland,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the Beit El settlement.
He spoke as he participated in a corner laying ceremony for a new
650-housing unit neighborhood in the community. “We know that the Land
of Israel is bought in agony,” the PM continued. “Today another one of
our sons fell. He was from a family that has already made a heavy
sacrifice for the Land of Israel. These vicious terrorists, they come
to uproot - we come to plant. They come to destroy - we come to build.
Our hands will reach out and we will deepen our roots in our homeland,
in all parts of it.” Earlier in the day, several right-wing
politicians and settler leaders called out that the PM should annex
Area C of the West Bank settlements in response to the attack.”
Egypt
The
Washington Post: Egypt President Urges Nation To Back Push Against
Militants
“Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is urging the nation to
back his government’s efforts to defeat Islamic militants, saying it’s
the mission of every Egyptian. Wednesday’s appeal came after a car
packed with explosives detonated earlier this week outside Egypt’s
main cancer hospital in Cairo, killing at least 20 people. It was the
deadliest in the Egyptian capital in over two years. El-Sissi said in
a televised speech that it’s “not only the mission of the state to
defeat (militants), but also, we as a society have to make our sons
understand, enlighten and protect them against this” extremist
ideology. The government has accused a militant group known as Hasm,
linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, for Sunday’s attack, saying
it was moving the car to carry out an attack elsewhere.”
Nigeria
The
Defense Post: Nigeria: Female Boko Haram Suicide Bombers Kill 3 In
Mafa
“Two female suicide bombers killed three civilians and wounded
eight in a suspected Boko Haram attack in northeast Nigeria, emergency
services said Wednesday. The twin blasts tore through a crowd late
Tuesday, August 6 in the town of Mafa, some 50 km (30 miles) east of
regional capital Maiduguri. “The female bombers killed three people
and wounded eight others,” Bello Danbatta, head of security for
theState Emergency Management Agency in Borno state, told AFP. The
assailants entered the town among a group of local women who had gone
to fetch firewood for cooking, Danbatta said. Local district
spokesperson Adamu Mohammed, who gave the same toll, said the bombers
waited until around 8:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) before launching their
attack. The jihadist group known as Boko Haram began its bloody
insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, but it has since spread
into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional
military response. More than 27,000 people have been killed and two
million others displaced, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis in the
region. The U.S. assesses that Boko Haram and ISWAP have been
responsible for over 35,000 deaths since 2011. Boko Haram split into
two factions in mid-2016.”
All
Africa: Nigeria: Five Civilians Killed As Troops, Boko Haram Clash In
Borno
“Five civilians were killed on Monday night as troops of the
Nigerian Army clashed with fighters of terrorist organisation, Boko
Haram in Monguno, Borno State. The clash was coming as the Chief of
Army Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai, boasted that the military had
dealt decisively with the insurgents which he said were already
“pushed away” from the North-east. Residents of Monguno Local
Government Area of the state said that attack by Boko Haram, occurred
Monday night at about 10:25 p.m. Eyewitness accounts said the attack
left five civilians dead with several others injured following
exchange of gunfire between troops and the insurgents. “There have
been several attempts by Boko Haram to take over Monguno since the
beginning of this year. But last night's attack was deadly. We do not
know the number of soldiers or Boko Haram killed but stray bullets
killed five civilians and injured many others. It was too bad. Most of
us are just returning from hiding”, a Monguno resident said. A
military source within the theatre of war said the clash lasted
throughout Monday night, saying the likely high casualty figure on
both sides could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this
report.”
Somalia
All
Africa: Somalia, U.S. To Launch Massive Assault On
Al-Shabaab
“Somalia and the United States have agreed to intensify security
operations to flush out al-Shabab militants in the Horn of Africa
nation. U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale, who met
with Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire in Mogadishu on Monday,
also resolved to prepare Somali forces to take over from the African
Union mission to Somalia. “They agreed on the value of security
operations to liberate areas from al-Shabab and preparing Somali
forces to take over from the African Union Mission to Somalia,” the
U.S. said in a statement issued after the meeting on Monday night. On
his part, Khaire briefed the U.S. official on recent political and
security developments and Somalia's progress towards meeting the
conditions for debt relief that would allow Somalia to resume
borrowing from international financial institutions. Washington and
other international partner forces have intensified incursions into
territory formerly controlled by al-Shabab after driving the
insurgents out of Mogadishu in 2011. Since 2017, the U.S. military has
stepped up air raids against al-Shabab which is trying to overthrow
the internationally-backed Somali government.”
Africa
Reuters:
U.S. Not Ready To Remove Sudan From Sponsors Of Terrorism
List
“The United States still needs to resolve longstanding issues with
Sudan before it can consider removing it from its list of state
sponsors of terrorism, a senior State Department official said on
Wednesday. Earlier this week, Sudan’s military rulers and the main
opposition coalition initialed a constitutional declaration paving the
way for a transitional government, leading to calls from international
mediators for the country to be removed from the U.S. list. The
designation as a state sponsor of terrorism makes Sudan ineligible for
desperately needed debt relief and financing from lenders like the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Removal from the list
potentially opens the door for foreign investment. “There’s a number
things we’re looking forward to engaging with a civilian-led
government,” Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale said
when asked about the issue at a news conference in Khartoum. These
included human rights, religious freedom and counter-terrorism
efforts, as well as “promoting internal peace, political stability and
economic recovery in Sudan”, he said. The U.S. government suspended
discussions on normalizing relations with Sudan in April after the
overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir, and Hale said that suspension
remained in place.”
The
Independent: Kidnappings Soar In Niger Amid Boko Haram
Insurgency
“In the desert landscape of southeastern Niger, a radical Islamist
insurgency has claimed hundreds of lives, fractured families and
ravaged communities, fearful of the next Boko Haram attack.
Strategically located in the Lake Chad basin in the middle of the
Sahel, the Diffa region’s borders are crisscrossed by militant groups
and traffickers competing for money and influence. The threat of
sexual violence and killings has prompted tens of thousands to leave
their homes. And hostage taking by armed groups — often targeting
girls for rape, enslavement or ransom — has soared. On average, nearly
one person a day has been kidnapped this year, according to the UN,
often by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. A total of 179
people have been captured so far in 2019, many of them young women and
girls. “Whether you’re a farmer or trader, no one is safe from
kidnapping,” said Diffa city resident Lawan Boukar.”
United Kingdom
The
Jerusalem Post: UAE And UK Papers Urge Qatar To Stop Funding
Terrorism
“Two stinging editorials this week in the United Arab Emirates’ The
National and The Times of Britain demanded that the Gulf monarchy in
Qatar pull the plug on its international financing of Islamic
terrorism. The UAE titled its Tuesday editorial “Stop Qatar’s funding
of global terrorism,” noting that, “from Syria to France and now the
UK, Qatar has repeatedly funded terror groups that have wreaked havoc
across the Middle East and beyond.” What prompted the editorials
against Qatar was an August investigation by The Times into the
Qatar-owned bank Al Rayan’s business with terrorist entities.
According to the London-based paper, “Al Rayan counts among its
customers a charity banned in the US as a terrorist entity, groups
that promote hardline preachers and a mosque whose long-term trustee
is a Hamas leader.” The paper’s eye-popping article added that the
banks former “executive until April, Sultan Choudhury, was also an
unpaid director, for seven years until 2016, of the British arm of a
global religious institute whose speakers and instructors have
included advocates of child marriage, female circumcision and the
death penalty for adultery and apostasy.”
France
France
24: Two Young French Women Sentenced To Prison On Terror
Charges
“A young woman has been found guilty of planning a terrorist attack
on French soil in 2016. Her accomplice, another young woman, has been
found guilty of planning to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State
group. The Paris Criminal Court sentenced a radicalised young woman –
identified only as Janna C. – to seven years in prison on Wednesday.
She was arrested in 2016, suspected of planning to carry out an attack
in France on behalf of the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group. Her
lawyer, Léa Dordilly, argued that the punishment was too severe. “We
have been given a sentence of seven years in prison, which is
extremely severe given the age of this girl, who was 18 when she
started these activities online,” Dordilly told FRANCE 24 after the
sentencing. “And it was only for such a short period, two months –
July and August, 2016 – during which she was having these
conversations on social media.” On July 12, the prosecutor’s office
had requested the maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment for Janna
C., who is now 21. She was arrested on August 10, 2016, in a public
garden in Clermont-Ferrand after having mentioned plans for an attack
in online messages and with her family.”
Germany
The
Washington Post: German Woman Arrested On Islamic State Membership
Charges
“Federal prosecutors have arrested a German woman on charges of
membership in a terrorist organization and for allegedly joining the
Islamic State group in Syria. Prosecutors said Wednesday that Sibel
H., whose last name wasn’t given in line with privacy laws, also faces
war crimes and weapons charges. They allege she traveled to Syria with
her husband in 2016 to join IS, and ended up in Mosul, Iraq.
Prosecutors say they lived in homes seized by IS, and she ran the
household to support her husband’s work as a nurse in an IS hospital.
As the Islamic State group began to collapse, they fled through
Kurdish-controlled areas in the north and were captured by a militia
in 2017. Prosecutors refused to provide further information on her or
her husband.”
Europe
Reuters:
Blast Hits Tax Office In Copenhagen In Attack, One Person Hurt -
Police
“One person was lightly injured in an explosion outside the Danish
Tax Agency's office in Copenhagen late on Tuesday in what police said
was a deliberate attack, although it was too early to know who was
behind it. The blast, which occurred at around 22.15 p.m. (2015 GMT),
shattered glass doors and windows and scorched metal cladding at the
main entrance of the building in Nordhavn, just north of the city
centre. Police had closed off the surrounding streets on Wednesday
morning and staff had been told to stay away. “Someone did this on
purpose. It was not an accident,” Chief Police Inspector Jorgen Bergen
Skov said at a news conference. It was too early to say who was
responsible for the explosion, he said. “We take this very seriously
and already last night established a broad and comprehensive
investigation. We cannot and will not accept an attack like this,” he
said. The tax agency was hit by an explosion 16 years ago to the day
in what police at the time described as “vandalism”, but on Wednesday
Skov said their investigation had shown the two events were not
connected. Denmark has some of the highest taxes in the world to
underpin its generous welfare system. Danes are generally happy to pay
high taxes, surveys show.”
Southeast Asia
Asia
Times: Indonesia’s Military Tightens Its Anti-Terror
Grip
“Under consideration for over four years, the Indonesian Armed
Forces (TNI) is finally moving ahead with the formation of an
American-style Special Operations Command (KOOPSSUS) tasked with
mounting operations against terrorist networks at home and abroad.
Mandated under the revised 2018 Anti-Terrorism Law, the move has
predictably alarmed civil society activists, who see any perceived
military encroachment into the arena of internal security as a
retrograde step for the country’s still nascent democracy. The police
Detachment 88 counterterrorist unit has so far done a capable job in
capturing and decapitating more than 1,600 Islamic militants since it
was formed in the wake of the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, which
claimed 202 lives, most of them foreign tourists. Handing the military
a new role in fighting terrorism, while long in the making, comes amid
rising threats from Islamic State and other regional terror outfits in
the world’s largest Muslim nation. Reforms introduced at the birth of
the nation’s democratic era in 1999 separated the police from the
military chain of command and left the 400,000-strong civilian force
in sole charge of internal security, though with the army’s pervasive
territorial structure still intact.”
Technology
The
Washington Post: White House Invites Tech Companies To Discussion Of
Violent Online Extremism
“The White House will host top tech companies to discuss the rise
of violent online extremism on Friday, marking the Trump
administration’s first major engagement on the issue days after a mass
shooting in Texas left 22 people dead. The gathering will include
“senior administration officials along with representatives of a range
of companies,” deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere said in a
statement. He did not name which companies would attend. The White
House effort follows an attack this weekend in El Paso that was
announced on the anonymous message board 8chan in a manifesto decrying
the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” It was the third mass shooting this
year that began with the posting of a gunman’s hateful screed on the
site, which is currently offline following moves by two
Internet-services firms. In response, Trump on Monday took aim at
social media broadly, tasking the Justice Department to “work in
partnership with local state and federal agencies, as well as social
media companies, to develop tools that can detect mass shooters before
they strike,” he said in a speech. On Wednesday, Trump pledged again
to “do something about” online hate, telling reporters he is
“concerned for any group of hate, I don’t like it … whether it’s white
supremacy or any other kind of supremacy.”
Huff
Post: 8chan Owner Heads To U.S. As Lawmakers Seek Answers On Online
Extremism
“The owner of the online message board 8chan says he’s headed
shortly to the United States, where lawmakers want to question him on
his site’s use as a megaphone by violent white supremacists. Jim
Watkins, who lives in the Philippines, did not specifically say he
would testify, but he tweeted portions of an email he said he had sent
Tuesday to House Homeland Security Committee leaders expressing
willingness to speak by phone. The committee wants him to testify on
what he has done to prevent the site from being used by extremists.
8chan was effectively knocked offline Monday after two companies cut
off vital technical services in response to word that the gunman who
killed 22 people at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart on Saturday posted a
racist anti-Latino “manifesto” to 8chan just before the murders. 8chan
was already well-known for trafficking in anonymous hate speech and
incitement of hate crimes. Gunmen who committed similar massacres
earlier this year at two New Zealand mosques and a Poway, California,
synagogue also posted there. In a video he released on Tuesday,
Watkins said 8chan was fully cooperating with law enforcement. He also
said that the El Paso shooter had first posted his hate-filled
manifesto to Instagram and that someone else had re-posted it to
8chan.”
Brookings:
How Big Tech And Policymakers Miss The Mark When Fighting Online
Extremism
“Why is it still so easy to find violent white supremacist content
online, even though social media companies keep claiming that they are
working overtime to delete it? Last weekend, the El Paso shooter—just
like the San Diego and Christchurch shooters back in April—posted his
manifesto to the same extremist website and claimed to take
inspiration from what he had read there. Mainstream social media
companies say they are trying to stop the spread of this kind of
violent content, but today’s domestic terrorists are highly motivated
to stay online, and they are using every trick in the book to stay
that way. Fighting a motivated, evolving adversary is a classic
challenge of cybersecurity, but the difference here is that lives—not
dollars or passwords—hang in the balance. “We need to strike hard,
and strike fast. We need complete elimination of the enemy.” On July
24, three neo-Nazi podcasters introduced their latest show without
mincing words. Men of the white race, they said, should adopt an
accelerationist and exterminationist mindset, openly embracing
violence against people of color, Jews, LGBT people. “We’re going to
need our soldiers in the field, not only murdering our enemies…and
also being killed in return. There’s going to be martyrs.”
The
New York Times: How To Force 8Chan, Reddit And Others To Clean
Up
“In the hours after the El Paso shooting last weekend, Fredrick
Brennan, the founder of the online message board 8chan — the site that
had hosted the racist manifestoes of the men responsible for the El
Paso, Christchurch and Poway synagogue shootings — called for the site
to be shut down. In an interview with The Times, he said, “It’s a
complete negative to everybody except the users that are there. And
you know what? It’s a negative to them, too. They just don’t realize
it.” After the El Paso massacre, the 8chan website briefly went
offline when Cloudflare, the network provider, banned it. But it was
only a matter of time before someone else agreed to support the site:
By Tuesday morning, 8chan was back online, spewing a toxic mix of
hatred, violence and QAnon conspiracies. Message boards like 8chan
aren’t the only place where these things are spread: In March, when
there were two mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand,
the shootings were live-streamed on Facebook and then viewed millions
of times on YouTube. Though it may seem that there is little that
platforms and politicians can do to stop the spread of online hatred,
a great deal could be accomplished with one simple tweak to the
existing Communications Decency Act: revise the safe harbor provisions
of the law.”
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