Eye on Extremism
March 25, 2020
The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Congress Seeks Answers As Extremists
Plot To Exploit Pandemic
“Experts who monitor extremist groups say it’s difficult to know
how seriously to take the threat. “On one hand, it could possibly be
looked at possibly as an attempt on humor,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch,
a researcher with the Counter Extremism Project, which monitors
extremist groups in America and internationally. Fisher-Birch said the
posts that attracted the attention of the FBI and Homeland Security
are similar to others that predated the pandemic. They encourage
action but without a specific plan. However, he said it is impossible
to say if an individual extremist might attempt to carry out the
suggestion. This is particularly true among “accelerationist” groups,
so called because they look for ways to accelerate the downfall of
society in the belief that whites would rebuild a racially pure
replacement. “These are people who have violent intent, especially
with accelerationists who are looking at this as an opportunity,”
Fisher-Birch said.”
Politico:
Those Who Intentionally Spread Coronavirus Could Be Charged As
Terrorists
“People who intentionally spread the coronavirus could face
criminal charges under federal terrorism laws, the Justice
Department’s No. 2 official said Tuesday. In a memo to top Justice
Department leaders, law enforcement agency chiefs and U.S. Attorneys
across the country, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said
prosecutors and investigators could come across cases of “purposeful
exposure and infection of others with COVID-19.” “Because Coronavirus
appears to meet the statutory definition of a ‘biological agent’… such
acts potentially could implicate the Nation’s terrorism-related
statutes,” Rosen wrote. “Threats or attempts to use COVID-19 as a
weapon against Americans will not be tolerated.” Rosen did not say
whether any such threats or intentional exposures had been reported or
whether his warning was simply precautionary. The Justice Department
has also set up a task force to address hoarding and price gouging
related to supplies urgently needed for the fight against the virus.
Attorney General Bill Barr said during a briefing at the White House
on Monday that hoarding of supplies like masks would be prosecuted.
However, memos issued by Barr and Rosen on Tuesday said the Department
of Health and Human Services has yet to formally designate the
health-related items the administration wants covered by the Defense
Production Act.”
All
Africa: Somalia: Govt Says Senior Al-Shabaab Operative Captured In
Operation
“Somalia's elite forces captured a senior al-Shabaab militant in
the Lower Shabelle region, the Information Ministry said Tuesday. “The
elite 1st Danab Advanced Infantry Battalion conducted an operation
that resulted in the capture of a high-profile senior al-Shabaab
member in the vicinity of Wanlaweyn. This operation was a massive win
for the Federal Government of Somalia, the Federal Member States, and
the Somali Security Force,” according to a statement. The militant was
identified as Ibrahim Mohamed Roble who operated in the region. U.S.
African Command also confirmed the operation and said: “This
successful operation, led by our Somali partners, demonstrates
progress.” Wanlaweyn, is located 90 kilometers (55 miles) southwest of
the capital of Mogadishu. The Somali military on Sunday arrested
Somali-based the al-Qaeda affiliated group intelligence chief in Lower
Shabelle. Meanwhile, on Monday, at least seven soldiers were killed in
a roadside bomb blast that targeted a military vehicle near the newly
liberated town of Janaale, according to a local official who spoke to
Anadolu Agency. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.”
United States
ABC
News: Homeland Security Warns Terrorists May Exploit COVID-19
Pandemic
“A Department of Homeland Security memo sent to law enforcement
officials around the country warns that violent extremists could seek
to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by carrying out attacks
against the U.S. “Violent extremists probably are seeking to exploit
public fears associated with the spread of COVID-19 to incite
violence, intimidate targets and promote their ideologies, and we
assess these efforts will intensify in the coming months,” according
to the intelligence bulletin, compiled by the agency's
Counterterrorism Mission Center and Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction Office. At this time, DHS said it has “no information
indicating any active plotting is underway,” but that it has observed
certain extremist groups, both foreign and domestic, looking to spread
misinformation about the coronavirus. The memo, which was circulated
on Monday, comes after assurances from FBI Director Chris Wray in a
video message that agents would be even more vigilant in monitoring
threats to the U.S. as the virus spreads. “With all the worry and
uncertainty out there, we want the public to know that there are still
things they can count on: We're here, and we're going to stay here, to
protect them, no matter what,” Wray said.”
U.S.
News & World Report: New Jersey Slaps Terror Charge On Man Over
Alleged Supermarket Cough Threat
“A New Jersey man has been charged with making terroristic threats
after he was accused of coughing on a supermarket employee and saying
he was infected with the coronavirus behind the ongoing pandemic,
authorities said Tuesday. George Falcone, 50, was issued a summons for
terroristic threats in the third degree and other charges over the
incident, according to the office of New Jersey Attorney General
Gurbir Grewal. In a Facebook message to Reuters on Tuesday, Falcone
denied the accusations, saying, “Didn't cough on anyone and never
mentioned corona.” According to Grewal, Falcone was in a Wegman's
supermarket in Manalapan, New Jersey on Sunday evening when an
employee asked him to step back from prepared foods while she covered
them. Instead, prosecutors said, he leaned toward her and purposely
coughed, laughing and saying he was infected with the coronavirus,
which causes a respiratory illness known as COVID-19 that can be
severe or fatal. Falcone went on to tell two other employees that they
were lucky to have jobs, and initially refused to identify himself
when approached by a police officer.”
Syria
The
Washington Post: How This Closing Chapter Of Syria’s War Has Become
Its Most Brutal
“Maher Shardan and his neighbors spent a recent afternoon perched
on a ridge, at a popular spot that looked out on lush farms, towns on
the city's outskirts — and in the distance, the armies of several
nations locked in a furious battle. With tea and cigarettes, they were
watching a pivotal clash over the fate of Idlib, a province engulfed
by some of the most destructive violence of Syria’s nine-year war. The
battlefield on the horizon was around Saraqeb, a town with the
misfortune to be situated near the junction of strategic highways.
Like many places in Idlib, it had been emptied of people, and the
combatants — loyal to Syria, Turkey or Russia — were pounding a town’s
bones. Warplanes carried out airstrikes, raising a row of towering
gray plumes on the horizon. “This is every day,” Shardan said, as the
sound of shelling grew louder. “I sleep with bombing. I wake to
bombing.” In a war with too many terrible chapters to count, the
fighting in Idlib and surrounding areas has been singularly brutal,
spreading destruction over a large swath of Syria while uprooting
nearly a million of its citizens. The violence has been drawn out by
seesaw clashes that left towns like Saraqeb wasted and empty. The
nature of the standoff in the province, between emboldened Syrian
government forces and die-hard opposition fighters, has made Idlib an
especially daunting and tragic riddle to solve.”
Al
Monitor: Does Turkey Have The Will To Take On Jihadis In
Idlib?
“The coronavirus pandemic is dominating the news in Turkey today,
steering public attention away from Idlib, Syria, where Ankara is
increasingly caught between a rock and a hard place. The situation in
the northwestern Syrian province continues to be volatile, despite the
fragile cease-fire reached between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir
Putin in Moscow on March 5. The jihadi groups that Ankara has
maintained some degree of contact with in the region remain Turkey’s
Achilles’ heel in its dealings with Russia over Idlib. These groups
also pose an obstacle to Ankara as it tries to achieve its immediate
goals in the province. Turkey’s principal aim is to establish safe
zones there to house the millions of Syrian refugees it hosts. The
refugee issue has become a heavy burden for the country, which now
faces additional problems and financial uncertainties due to the
COVID-19 crisis. Russia’s position has not changed. It insists that
jihadi groups in Idlib have to be eliminated before military
operations can be finally terminated. The main group in Russia’s
crosshairs is Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which Moscow continues to
refer to by its original name, Jabhat al-Nusra. The Moscow Summit on
March 5 once again tasked Ankara with removing HTS and related groups
from Idlib.”
Al
Monitor: SDF Calls For Humanitarian Truce In Syria Amid Coronavirus
Crisis
“The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which partnered with the
US-led coalition in the fight against the Islamic State, has called
for a humanitarian truce and committed to suspending most military
operations in northeast Syria so that warring parties can deal with
the coronavirus. “The Syrian Democratic Forces calls on all parties of
the Syrian conflict to refrain from any military initiatives or
actions,” the SDF said in a statement late today. “We hope that this
humanitarian truce will help to open the door for dialogue and
political solution and to put an end to the war in the world and
Syria,” the US-backed group said, while adding that its members would
defend themselves in the event of an attack. On Monday, UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate global
cease-fire “to focus together on the true fight of our lives” and
allow humanitarians to reach populations most vulnerable to COVID-19.
The SDF announcement came a day after the Kurdish-led group marked the
one-year anniversary of its territorial defeat of the Islamic State in
the group’s final stronghold of Baghouz in March. In the time since,
the SDF has been stretched thin, fending off attacks from Islamic
States sleeper cells and Turkish forces.”
Iraq
Kurdistan
24: Coalition Tallies Airstrikes Against ISIS In Iraq And
Syria
“The Coalition against the so-called Islamic State released, on
Tuesday, a statement providing statistics on its airstrikes targeting
the terrorist group during January and February. The Coalition,
formally known as Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve
(CJTF-OIR), “conducted a total of 18 strikes consisting of 48
engagements in Iraq and Syria” during February, the statement said.
“In Iraq, CJTF-OIR carried out 10 strikes against Da’esh targets,” the
Coalition statement noted, using the Arabic acronym for the terrorist
group. Those 10 strikes consisted of 38 engagements. CJTF-OIR
explained that a strike is “one or more kinetic engagements” in the
same location “to produce a single, sometimes cumulative effect in
that location.” “For example,” the CJTF-OIR statement continued, “a
single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone Da’esh
vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens
of weapons against a group of Da’esh-held buildings and weapon systems
in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility
harder or impossible to use.”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Post: Gunmen Attack Sikh Religious Gathering In Kabul,
Killing 4
“Gunmen stormed a religious gathering of Afghanistan’s minority
Sikhs in their place of worship in the heart of Kabul’s old city on
Wednesday, killing at least four people, a Sikh lawmaker said. Within
hours, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Those killed included a child whose body was brought to a Kabul
hospital, the emergency services and the hospital said. At least 15
people were wounded. Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said police
responded promptly to the attack on the Sikh place of worship, known
as a Gurdwara, with shooting was still underway. The lawmaker,
Narindra Singh Khalsa, said he rushed over to help after receiving a
call from a worshipper inside the Gurdwara telling him of the attack.
There were about 150 worshippers inside the Gurdwara at the time of
the attack, he added. Several of the worshippers were being held
hostage by the gunmen who were lobbing grenades at the Afghan special
forces, Khalsa said, but added he couldn’t say how many were being
held. The Interior Ministry said the first floor of the Gurdwara had
been cleared but that Afghan special forces, aided by international
troops, were moving slowly throughout the remainder of the building.
The SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks militant postings and
groups, said IS claimed responsibility for the attack on the group’s
Aamaq media arm.”
Voice
Of America: US General Seeks Reduced Violence To Limit Spread Of
Coronavirus In Afghanistan
“The U.S. commander of a NATO-led military coalition in Afghanistan
warned Tuesday that continued hostilities would make it “impossible”
to counter the spread of COVID-19 in the country, where four foreign
troops are among dozens of people who tested positive for the
disease. In a video conference with senior Afghan security leaders,
Gen. Scott Miller of the Resolute Support Mission stressed the virus
has affected the entire world and threatens both foreign and Afghan
forces battling the Taliban. “The focus on this particular virus has
to be on preventing the spread, which is difficult under even normal
circumstances, but almost impossible if we have violence,” Miller
said. The general emphasized that for a focused counter-coronavirus
campaign, all parties to the Afghan conflict need to reduce
violence. Afghan authorities Tuesday confirmed 32 new coronavirus
cases, bringing the national tally of infections to at least 74,
including one death. The public health ministry said most of the cases
happened in western Herat province on the border with Iran, and those
affected are returnees from the neighboring country, where the virus
has already killed around 2,000 people and infected 25,000.”
Pakistan
Voice
Of America: Coronavirus Likely To Delay Pakistan Exit From Terror
Financing Watchdog List
“As Pakistan faces a spike in reported cases of COVID-19, experts
on the South Asian country say the government of Prime Minister Imran
Khan will likely fall short of meeting Financial Action Task Force
demands in time to be delisted from the FATF’s “gray list.” Pakistani
officials say the spread of the global pandemic is beginning to take
its toll on their resources. Sen. A. Rehman Malik, former interior
minister of Pakistan and chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on
Interior, wrote a plea to the FATF Monday, asking for Pakistan's
removal from the list in order to devote all its resources and
attention to the coronavirus. In September of 2011, Pakistan's
Interior Minister Rehman Malik is interviewed by Reuters in Islamabad.
“I, therefore, solicit your review of the circumstances, particularly
in the light of (the) COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing humanitarian
concerns, to remove the name of Pakistan from the FATF’s Grey List,
enabling us to exercise our full potential in collaborating in the
global fight against the pandemic,’’ Rehman said in a letter to FATF
president Xiangmin Liu. The so-called gray list limits access to the
global financial system for countries that fail to meet their
responsibilities to stop terror-funding and money laundering.”
Libya
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Casualties In Renewed Tripoli Clashes Amid Coronavirus
Threat
“Clashes in the Libyan capital Tripoli renewed for a third straight
day between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and forces loyal to the
Government of National Accord (GNA). Spokesman for the GNA forces said
six were killed and six wounded in Tripoli shelling in 48 hours,
accusing the LNA of lying about respecting the UN-brokered ceasefire.
He accused the LNA of violating the ceasefire and amassing its forces
south of Tripoli. “We consequently ordered our forces on the
frontlines to repel them,” he added. An official at the GNA’s health
ministry said six civilians were killed and six wounded in arbitrary
shelling of the town of Ain Zara and the al-Khila and Souk al-Jomaa
areas. He predicted the figures to rise in coming days. The fighting
erupted even as Libya reported its first coronavirus case and as the
rival governments in the east and west imposed curfews to prevent the
spread of the disease. Differences emerged on Tuesday between the
GNA’s interior ministry and the Tajoura municipality over the curfew.
The town insisted on imposing a 24-hour curfew, while the GNA only
sought a partial one. In the east, authorities eased the 24-hour
curfew and instead opted to impose one from 3pm to 7am.”
Africa
The
New York Times: Islamic State Claims Mozambique Attack Close To Gas
Projects
“Militant group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an
attack in northern Mozambique just south of the site of gas projects
worth $60 billion being developed by the likes of Exxon Mobil and
Total. Insurgents attacked the town of Mocimboa da Praia on Monday,
briefly occupying some areas and its army barracks before being pushed
out on Tuesday, Mozambique authorities and security analysts said.
Islamic State claimed the attack through its Amaq news agency, which
said dozens of soldiers and police officers had been killed or
injured. The government has not provided a figure of dead or injured.
“Military sources told Amaq that Islamic State fighters attacked five
army and police barracks in the town,” the agency said in Tuesday's
report, adding that weapons, ammunition and other equipment had also
been seized. Government spokesman Filimao Suaze said the retreating
attackers had left a “trail of destruction and dead bodies”, and that
security had been beefed up in the area. While Islamic State has
claimed a spate of recent attacks in the northernmost province of Cabo
Delgado, home to the gas developments following one of the biggest gas
finds in a decade off its coast, Tuesday's claim of responsibility is
the first matched by rare official confirmation of an attack.”
Germany
The
Guardian: Eight German Neo-Nazis Jailed Over Planned
Attacks
“Eight members of a German neo-Nazi cell have been jailed after a
court found them guilty of forming a “terrorist organisation” that was
planning a campaign of violence. The higher regional court in Dresden
sentenced the accused, aged between 22 and 32, to prison terms ranging
from two years and three months to five and a half years for the
ringleader of the group that called itself “Revolution Chemnitz”. The
trial, which lasted six months, was closely watched in Germany where
concern has been growing over an increasingly militant far-right
scene. A racist gunman shot dead nine people at a shisha bar and a
cafe in the western city of Hanau last month, stunning the country and
prompting the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, to urge citizens to
resist the “poison” of xenophobia and hatred. The eight jailed on
Tuesday were part of the hooligan, neo-Nazi and skinhead scene in and
around the city of Chemnitz in Saxony state, in Germany’s former
communist east. They banded together in an online chat group in
September 2018, shortly after the murder of a German man by a Syrian
sparked anti-migrant street riots in Chemnitz.”
Southeast Asia
Voice
Of America: More Violence Feared As Myanmar Names Arakan Army A
Terrorist Organization
“The Arakan Army (AA) militant group and its political arm, the
United League of Arakan (ULA), in Rakhine state has been officially
designated as a terrorist organization, the government of Myanmar
announced Monday, saying the group has “incited fear” and disrupted
stability of the country by attacking government and civilian targets.
According to the order, signed by Minister of Home Affairs and head of
the Central Committee for Counterterrorism Soe Htut, AA and ULA were
responsible for “serious losses of public security, lives and
property, important infrastructures of the public and private sector,
state-owned buildings, vehicles, equipment and materials.” The order
said President Win Myint blacklisted the group under Section 15 (2) of
the Unlawful Associations Act of the country because of its actions,
which posed “a danger to law and order, peace and stability of the
country and public peace.” Founded in 2009 by Rakhine Buddhists who
seek self-governance, AA has been fighting government forces in
sporadic skirmishes that began escalating in late 2018. The group says
it has recruited about 7,000 fighters and formed alliances with other
anti-government forces to “protect our Arakan people” from the grip of
the central government in Naypyidaw.”
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