Eye on Extremism
March 27, 2020
The
Washington Post: U.S. Indicts Venezuela’s Maduro On Narcoterrorism
Charges, Offers $15 Million Reward For His
Capture
“The Trump administration unsealed sweeping indictments against
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and members of his inner circle on
narcoterrorism charges Thursday, a dramatic escalation in the U.S.
campaign to force the authoritarian socialist from power. The
administration also announced a $15 million reward for information
leading to Maduro’s capture or conviction, an extraordinary bounty on
a man still recognized by the Russians, Chinese and others as
Venezuela’s rightful leader. The move effectively turns the
57-year-old former union leader into an internationally wanted man,
giving Venezuelans new motivation to act against him and adding a new
level of risk to any travel he might attempt beyond the confines of
his power center in Caracas. Attorney General William P. Barr
announced the indictments of Maduro and other current and former
Venezuelan officials on charges including money laundering, drug
trafficking and narcoterrorism. Barr and other U.S. officials alleged
a detailed conspiracy headed by Maduro that worked with Colombian
guerrillas to transform Venezuela into a transshipment point for
moving massive amounts of cocaine to the United States. The action,
rumored for years, comes as the U.S.-backed opposition movement to
oust Maduro has struggled to maintain momentum.”
Mic:
The FBI Warns That Nazis Might Use Coronavirus For Biological
Terrorism
“Extreme right-wing accelerationist and neo-Nazi Telegram chats and
channels have increased their frequency of calling for violence
related to the coronavirus since the president’s declaration of a
national emergency on March 13,” Counter Extremism Project analyst
Joshua Fisher-Birch told Vice earlier this month. “The violent
rhetoric also increased on March 16 as economic damage from the
coronavirus has increased." Extremists have additionally used the
pandemic to advance racist conspiracy theories about COVID-19's
origins, according to the Anti-Defamation League. "Extremists hope the
virus kills Jews, but they are also using its emergence to advance
their anti-Semitic theories that Jews are responsible for creating the
virus, are spreading it to increase their control over a decimated
population, or they are profiting off it," the ADL stated in a report
on extremist reactions to the pandemic. "Some extremists have tied
reports documenting Chinese efforts to safely dispose of victims’
bodies to cast doubt on the number of Jews who died during the
Holocaust."
The
Washington Free Beacon: Trump Admin Sanctions Vast Iranian Terror
Network In Iraq
“The Trump administration on Thursday designated a vast network of
front companies and entities tied to Iran's terrorism operations in
Iraq, where U.S. personnel have been under near-constant attack by
militia groups armed and funded by Tehran. The new designations target
“Iraq-based front companies, senior officials, and business associates
that provide support to, or act for or on behalf of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), in addition to
transferring lethal aid to Iranian-backed terrorist militias in Iraq,
such as Kata'ib Hizballah (KH) and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH),” according
to the Treasury Department. The companies and terror groups have
organized a series of rocket attacks and bombing on U.S. positions in
Iraq, including one earlier this month that killed two American troops
and one British soldier. At least two rockets struck inside Baghdad's
Green Zone early Thursday, with no casualties reported at the time of
this writing. The Trump administration has been engaged in a growing
conflict with Iran in Iraq since its killing of top Iranian general
Qassem Soleimani. The new terror designations are meant to disrupt
Iran's financial networks and deal a blow to these militia groups'
capabilities.”
The
New York Times: Mali Opposition Leader Taken Hostage With Six Others:
Party
“Mali's main opposition leader Soumaila Cisse is being held hostage
with six members of his delegation, his party said on Thursday, after
they were attacked on the campaign trail in a region where jihadists
often strike. Cisse's bodyguard was killed and two others wounded when
unidentified gunmen ambushed the group on Wednesday afternoon between
villages in the northern region of Timbuktu, the Union for the
Republic and Democracy (URD) said. “Cisse and the six others are in
their hands,” party spokesman Demba Traore said at a briefing, citing
four witnesses to the incident who were released by the assailants.
“We have not received any request for ransom.” Militants with links to
al Qaeda and Islamic State launch frequent attacks on civilian and
military targets in the area, but there was no immediate claim of
responsibility. The incident came before long-delayed legislative
elections, which authorities say will take place on Sunday despite the
coronavirus epidemic. Mali was one of the last countries in West
Africa to confirm a case, with four reported by Thursday. The
parliamentary vote was originally scheduled for 2018 but has been
pushed back several times because of insecurity.”
United States
Politico:
Coronavirus Outbreak Is Reshaping Terrorist Plots, DOJ
Says
“As the novel coronavirus reshapes virtually every facet of
American life, it’s also coloring how aspiring terrorists plot
attacks. And that shift has caught the attention of American national
security officials. Law enforcement and intelligence officials are
watching the virus’s impact on potential terrorist threats — how it is
accelerating the plans of some would-be attackers, while presenting
macabre new targets of opportunity to others. It isn’t hypothetical.
Earlier this week, the FBI stopped a man named Timothy Wilson who was
planning to bomb a Missouri hospital treating COVID-19 patients.
Wilson had been planning an attack for months, according to a
statement from the FBI’s Kansas City Division, which said he “decided
to accelerate his plan” and to target the hospital because of the
pandemic. The Bureau also said he was “motivated by racial, religious,
and anti-government animus.” When law enforcement officials tried to
arrest Wilson, he sustained injuries that proved lethal, according to
the release. Homegrown violent extremists are a particular worry. In
an interview, John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national
security at the Justice Department, said the department and the FBI
are closely monitoring how the virus is shaping their plans.”
Al
Jazeera: As World Struggles To Stop Deaths, Far Right Celebrates
COVID-19
“And it was on Telegram, the online messaging application that has
been the target of much criticism for allowing openly violent content
on its platform, where the most ardent far-right fans of COVID-19 can
be found. “Neo-Nazi accelerationist Telegram channels have increased
their calls for destabilisation and violence related to COVID-19,”
Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher from the United States-based Counter
Extremism Project, which monitors international “extremist” movements,
told Al Jazeera. “These channels are treating the current situation …
as an opportunity to try to increase tension and advocate for
violence.” Much of this content is available to anyone online, even
those without a Telegram user account. One popular neo-Nazi channel
urged its members to cough on doorknobs at synagogues. Another urged
followers infected with COVID-19 to spray their saliva on police
officers. And a further channel praised a man arrested in New Jersey
in the US for coughing on a grocery store employee and claiming he had
COVID-19. “Exalted to sainthood,” the channel wrote in a now-deleted
comment on a news story about the incident. The term saint or
sainthood is common praise for perpetrators of violence on neo-Nazi
Telegram channels.”
Iraq
The
Wall Street Journal: Militants In Iraq Take Covert Approach To
Anti-U.S. Campaign
“The Iran-backed groups trying to drive U.S. troops out of Iraq
have moved to a more clandestine approach that further complicates the
Trump administration’s response to attacks against American forces.
Marking a shift in a campaign the U.S. has blamed on established
Iran-backed militias, an unknown group calling itself the League of
Revolutionaries claimed responsibility for the most recent deadly
attack, when rockets fired at an Iraqi base on March 11 killed two
American troops and a British soldier. “The incentive now is to create
new groups that can carry out the dirty work,” said Ramzy Mardini, a
scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Congress-funded think tank
in Washington. “You can’t do coercion effectively if the U.S. can
locate you and retaliate.” As tensions have escalated between the U.S.
and Iran, Iraq has emerged as the primary battleground, with more than
two dozen rocket attacks targeting American troops in the past six
months. Hostilities in Iraq between the U.S. and Iran intensified in
January, after the U.S. killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and
Iran responded with a barrage of ballistic missiles fired at two bases
housing U.S. troops.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Bomb Disrupts Funeral For 25 Sikhs Killed In Afghan
Capital
“An explosive device disrupted Thursday's funeral service for 25
members of Afghanistan's Sikh minority community who had been killed
by the Islamic State group. No one was hurt in the blast, the Afghan
Interior Ministry said. The explosion went off Thursday near the gate
of a crematorium in Kabul, as the frightened mourners struggled to
continue with the funeral prayers and cremation. A 6-year-old child
was among the victims of Wednesday's attack by a lone IS gunman, who
rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in the heart of Kabul's old
city. After holding some 80 worshippers hostage for several hours and
wounding eight people, the gunman was killed by Afghan Special Forces
aided by international troops. The Islamic State affiliate in
Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack on the group's Amaq
media arm, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks militant
postings and groups. The gunmen was identified as Indian national Abu
Khalid al-Hindi. Maroon-colored cloth covered the many coffins
surrounded by more than 100 family members who came to say their final
farewell. The coffins were taken from their house of worship, known as
a Gurdwara, to the crematorium for burial.”
The
New York Times: Afghan Government Selects Negotiators For Talks With
Taliban
“Afghanistan's government late on Thursday announced a 21-member
team to negotiate with the Taliban in a tentative sign of progress for
the United States-brokered peace deal. The list announced by the
country's State Ministry of Peace would be led by Masoom Stanekzai, a
former National Directorate of Security chief, and included
politicians, former officials and representatives of civil society.
Five members of the team are women. It was not immediately clear
whether President Ashraf Ghani's political rival Abdullah Abdullah
would endorse the team selected, which diplomats have said would be
vital given his camp's strong influence in much of the country's North
and West. Following the selection of the government's negotiators, the
next step should be to convene talks with the Taliban as part of a
process aimed at ending America's longest war and bringing peace to
Afghanistan. Abdullah's spokesman did not immediately reply to request
for comment. The United States signed a troop withdrawal deal with the
Taliban in February, but progress on moving to negotiations between
the militant group and the Afghan government has been delayed, in part
by the political feud between Ghani and Abdullah with both men
claiming to be Afghanistan's rightful leader following September's
election.”
The
Washington Post: Afghan Peace Effort Inches Forward After U.S.
Threatens To Cut $1 Billion In Aid
“Just days after the United States threatened to withdraw $1
billion in aid over a political crisis that risks upending the
U.S.-Taliban peace deal signed last month, the Afghan government and
the Taliban took steps that could move the two sides closer to
beginning formal talks. The Taliban and the Afghan government on
Wednesday agreed to a partial prisoner exchange at the end of the
month, and the government announced that it would meet with Taliban
representatives in Afghanistan in the coming days for “further
discussions.” “This is a positive development,” U.S. envoy Zalmay
Khalilzad posted on Twitter, shortly after the Taliban and the Afghan
government released statements announcing the move. The signs of
progress suggest the threat of reduced U.S. aid nudged the Afghan
government and the Taliban to move talks forward. Afghanistan relies
on about $8.5 billion in foreign aid each year, according to a recent
World Bank report that projected the country will remain heavily
dependent on international aid for years regardless of changes in the
security situation. The Afghan government said 100 Taliban prisoners
would be released “on humanitarian grounds — including health, age and
vulnerability to #COVID19 — by March 31 after guarantees by Taliban
and the prisoners that they will not reenter the fight.”
Pakistan
The
New York Times: Gunmen Kill 2 Pakistani Troops, Wound 4 Near Iran
Border
“Gunmen gunmen opened fire on Pakistani security forces patrolling
a remote border region near Iran on Thursday, killing two troops, a
provincial minister said. Four other troops were also wounded in the
attack in the town of Turbat in impoverished Baluchistan province,
said provincial interior minister Ziaullah Longove. The troops were
patrolling the region where smugglers have a strong presence. Pakistan
has also stepped up security along the Iran border in recent weeks to
check on movement of people in order to contain the spread of the new
coronavirus. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Such attacks have been blamed on militants and small separatist
groups. Baluchistan has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency
by armed groups demanding more autonomy for the region and a greater
share in the gas and mineral resources there. The government claims it
has quelled the insurgency but violence has continued.”
Yemen
The
Times Of Israel: Iran-Backed Houthis Offer To Free Saudis In Exchange
For Hamas Members
“The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday declared his
willingness to free several Saudi captives in exchange for the release
of Hamas members recently detained in the kingdom, an unprecedented
statement that signaled Iran’s regional reach. In a lengthy televised
speech to mark the five-year anniversary of Yemen’s devastating war,
Abdel-Malek al-Houthi announced the rebels’ “complete readiness” to
release a pilot abducted in the downing of a Saudi warplane last
month, along with four other soldiers and officers. “Unfortunately,
the regimes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have
generally presented as worse than Israel,” he said, demanding the
release of dozens of Palestinian Hamas members and supporters on trial
in Saudi Arabia. They had been arrested on charges of fundraising for
Hamas, according to an official in the militant group. The regional
proxy war in impoverished Yemen pits the Iran-backed Houthis against a
US-supported coalition led by Saudi Arabia. After the Houthis seized
the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north in 2014, the
coalition intervened to restore the internationally recognized
government and remove what Saudi Arabia considers to be an Iranian
threat on its southern border.”
Saudi Arabia
Gulf
News: Saudi Arabia Destroys Houthi Drones Launched From
Yemen
“Saudi-Led coalition intercepted and destroyed drones launched by
Iran-aligned Yemen’s Houthis towards “civilian targets” in Saudi
cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait, state news agency SPA said early
Friday, citing the coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al Malki. The
attack comes after Yemen’s warring parties had welcomed a UN call for
an immediate truce on Thursday to fight the coronavirus outbreak.”
Middle East
The
Washington Times: 'Manifestation Of The Wrath Of God': Jihadists See
Coronavirus As Call To Duty
“Jihadists and other militant extremists are seeing a world health
crisis as a window of opportunity. Leading terror organizations such
as Islamic State have been calling on followers to increase attacks in
recent days as world governments and militaries shift their focus to
combating the COVID-19 pandemic. While it may be premature to draw a
direct correlation to a recent wave of attacks from Africa to
Afghanistan in recent days, counterterrorism experts point to a spike
in extremist propaganda describing the coronavirus outbreak as being
sent by God to assist the jihadist cause. Islamic State leaders
quickly claimed credit for a deadly attack on Sikh worshippers in
Kabul this week, and radical Islamist movements in Africa have stepped
up their activity in countries such as Nigeria and Chad. “Jihadis see
the current crisis as a manifestation of the wrath of God, both upon
the non-believers for their rejection of God’s law and crimes against
Muslims, and upon those Muslims who have forsaken the duty of jihad,”
said Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, director of research at The George
Washington University’s Program on Extremism. “They argue that
fighting jihad is the surest way to guarantee protection from the
virus.”
Nigeria
Daily
Post Nigeria: Boko Haram: Troops Destroy Terrorists’ Hideout In
Borno
“The Defence Headquarters on Thursday said Nigerian troops of
Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD), destroyed the hideout of the Islamic
State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists in an air strike at
Muktu in Northern Borno. The Acting Director, Defence Media
Operations, Brig.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, who disclosed this in a
statement to NAN on Thursday, explained that the mission was executed
by the Air Component of OPLD, on Wednesday, March 25, as part of the
ongoing subsidiary Operation Decisive Edge. Onyeuko stated that the
success was recorded after Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance (ISR) flights indicated that the ISWAP elements were
using some compounds in two locations within the settlement to store
their logistics and train their fighters. “Accordingly, the theatre
command of OPLD, dispatched its fighter jets to engage the identified
compounds, scoring accurate hits leading to the destruction of the
structures as well as the neutralization of their occupants. “The
Armed Forces of Nigeria, in furtherance of the objective of restoring
peace and security in the North East, will continue to sustain the
offensive against the enemies of our Nation,” he added.”
United Kingdom
NBC
News: U.K. Broke Law By Sending Evidence On ISIS 'Beatles' To U.S.,
Court Rules
“The British government broke the law by sending key evidence about
two alleged ISIS operatives suspected of involvement in the kidnapping
and murder of Americans in Syria to U.S. authorities, the U.K. Supreme
Court ruled Wednesday. The ruling will likely delay an international
effort to bring members of the execution squad known as “the Beatles”
to justice. The group, named by their hostages because of their
British accents, are alleged to have been involved in the kidnapping
of American aid worker Kayla Mueller and the murder of American
journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, among others. El Shafee
Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, who have been stripped of their British
citizenship and banned from returning to the U.K., are alleged to be
two of the four Beatles members involved in beheading Western hostages
on camera for the Islamic State terrorist group. They are in U.S.
custody in Iraq. The U.K. Supreme Court said the British Home Office
caved in to political pressure from the U.S. and breached a data
protection law by not ensuring that the men would be spared from the
death penalty in the U.S.”
Germany
France
24: Tunisian Handed Ten Years For Ricin Bomb Plot In
Germany
“A German court sentenced a 31-year-old Tunisian to ten years in
prison Thursday for planning a foiled biological bomb attack with the
deadly poison ricin. Islamic State sympathiser Sief Allah H., 31, was
found guilty of producing a biological weapon and of planning a
serious act of violent subversion, German news agency DPA reported,
citing the higher regional court in Duesseldorf. His German wife
Yasmin, 43, stands accused of helping him build the bomb, but is now
being tried separately after the court accused her defence lawyers of
attempting to protract the case with a 140-page statement on Thursday.
The couple “wanted to create a climate of fear and uncertainty among
the German population,” judge Jan van Lessen was quoted by DPA as
saying on Thursday. He added that they had procured enough ricin to
potentially kill up to 13,500 people. The couple have been on trial
since June last year, following their arrest in 2018 by an
anti-terrorist squad that found 84 milligrammes of the toxin in their
Cologne apartment. The arrests likely prevented what would have been
Germany's first biological attack, said Holger Muench, head of the BKA
Federal Criminal Police Office, at the time.”
Asia
The
Diplomat: New Indonesia Terrorism Raid Nets Islamic State-Linked
Suspects
“Indonesia’s police anti-terrorism squad shot and killed one
suspect and arrested two others in a raid on the main island of Java,
seizing weapons and chemicals allegedly used for bomb making,
officials said Thursday in a development that once again spotlighted
the Southeast Asian state’s ongoing terrorism challenge. The man
fatally shot by police resisted arrest by wielding a long sword, said
National Police spokesman Argo Yuwono. The suspects were linked to a
banned militant organization responsible for recent attacks on police,
a local affiliate of the Islamic State group known as the Jama’ah
Anshorut Daulah, Yuwono said. The group is among those that has been
in the spotlight in previous terrorist attacks conducted in Indonesia
in recent years. The raid took place in Subah village of Batang
district in Central Java province late Wednesday. Yuwono said police
seized two machetes, a sword, a bayonet blade, and materials often
used by militants to make bombs, and were interrogating the two
suspects. Indonesia has been battling militants previously as well,
with the last wave coming in the 2000s in a post-September 11
environment. Most famously, the 2002 bombings on the resort island of
Bali killed 202 people, mostly foreign
tourists.”
Reuters:
Kazakhstan Says Foils Islamic State Bomb Attack
“Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee has detained a man
suspected of planning a bomb attack in the capital, Nur-Sultan, on
behalf of Islamic State, the security body said on Thursday. The man
had an improvised explosive device, it said in a statement without
providing any other details. Hundreds of Kazakhs joined the radical
Islamist group at the time when it controlled large parts of Syria and
Iraq.”
Technology
Foreign
Policy: Self-Isolation Might Stop Coronavirus, But It Will Speed The
Spread Of Extremism
“The COVID-19 crisis has ravaged many countries across the
globe—and it has also presented an opportunity for extremist groups
across the ideological spectrum to spread hate. As is often the case
in times of uncertainty, extremists and terrorists have jumped at the
chance to exploit confusion and fear, reach new audiences, and serve
their own interests. This is worrying for several reasons. In 2014,
when the academic community was studying the effects of Islamic State
propaganda on people’s willingness to travel abroad and join the
conflict in Iraq and Syria, it was clear that the appeal of recruiters
lay in a target audience’s need to understand their place in the
world. As more information became available on those who joined
terrorist organizations, or even those who committed terrorist attacks
in their own countries, a common theme was the need to belong to an
“insider” community and commit violence or destroy the ways of life of
those who were part of the “outsider” community. Those who hold such
views are seen as intolerant by the majority, but often, they are able
to appeal to a minority because they are charismatic or because, in
times of uncertainty, their outlandish claims seem to make sense.”
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