Eye on Extremism
March 12, 2024
Bloomberg: Islamic State Is Increasingly Using Crypto To Fund Africa Militant Goals
“Islamic State is increasingly using cryptocurrencies such as Tether to raise and move money around the world, including in Africa, according to a group of nations formed to combat financing for the militant group. While IS still mostly relies on informal money services such as cash couriers, affiliates including in West Africa are making payments using virtual assets, the Counter ISIS Finance Group said in a fact sheet posted on the US Treasury’s website.”
New York Times: Al Qaeda’s Yemen Branch Says Its Leader Has Died
“The Yemen-based branch of Al Qaeda said on Sunday that its leader, Khaled Batarfi, had died. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as A.Q.A.P., released a video announcing Mr. Batarfi’s death, showing images of him wrapped in a white funeral shroud overlaid with a black Al Qaeda flag. It did not explain how he had died. The United States government once considered Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations. The group tried and failed at least three times to blow up American airliners, and has been targeted by American drone strikes for two decades. But in that time, its power and ability to carry out attacks outside of Yemen have both diminished, according to scholars who study the group.”
CEP Mentions
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Israel Says It's 'Assessing' Air Strike On Hamas' Deputy Military Commander Marwan Issa. Here's What We Know
"... Mr Issa is the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, according to the nonprofit and non-partisan international policy organisation Counter Extremism Project (CEP). It says he reports to Hamas leader Mohammad Deif, and serves as a representative in Hamas' political bureau. CEP, which works to combat the growing threat of extremist ideologies, says Mr Issa is about 59 years old and was born in a refugee camp in central Gaza. But little else is known about the secretive deputy commander — also known as the "shadow man" for his ability to stay out of sight. His facial features were unknown to the public until 2011 when he appeared in a group photo taken during a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, which he helped to organize."
United States
New York Post: FBI Director ‘Very Concerned’ About ‘ISIS Ties’ To Human Smuggling Network That Uses Southern Border
“FBI Director Christopher Wray warned Monday the bureau is “very concerned” about a human smuggling network with ties to ISIS terrorists that utilizes the southern border to gain entry into the US. Wray confirmed the potential threat during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing and said the FBI, along with other federal authorities, have been actively investigating the human trafficking cell. “So, I want to be a little bit careful how far I can go in open session, but there is a particular network that, where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have ISIS ties that we’re very concerned about and that we’ve been spending enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating,” the FBI director said in response to a question from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)”
VOA: US Sanctions Money Launderers Connected To Al-Shabab
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned 16 entities and individuals Monday for their role in fundraising and money laundering for the terrorist group al-Shabab. Al-Shabab, which operates in Somalia, is an Islamist insurgency group with connections to al-Qaida. Those sanctioned in connection with them were operating throughout the Horn of Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, according to a Treasury statement. Those sanctioned will have all U.S. assets frozen, and Americans will be barred from working with them.”
Syria
Associated Press: UN-Backed Commission Says 30,000 Children Are Suffering Rights Abuses In Northeastern Syria
“Five years after the Islamic State group lost the last sliver of land it controlled in Syria, nearly 30,000 children of militants and their supporters of various nationalities are suffering abuse in camps, prisons and rehabilitation centers in the war-torn country’s northwest, a U.N.-backed commission said Monday. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said most of the children were brought by their parents to parts of Syria and Iraq after the extremists declared a caliphate there in 2014, and it urged all countries with children in Syria to repatriate them and integrate them into their societies.”
Lebanon
Reuters: Lebanon's Hezbollah Fires More Than 100 Rockets Into Israel
“Lebanon's Hezbollah group said on Tuesday it had fired more than 100 Katyusha rockets at several Israeli military posts in response to Israeli shelling of the Bekaa region the previous night. At least one civilian was killed and several others were injured after Israel launched four strikes on the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, two security sources and the Baalbek governor, Bashir Khader, told Reuters.”
Middle East
Reuters: Aid Ship Leaves Cyprus Bound For Gaza As Palestinians On Brink Of Famine
“A ship carrying almost 200 tonnes of food for Gaza left Cyprus on Tuesday in a pilot project to open a new sea route to deliver aid to Palestinians on the brink of famine, as prospects faded for a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The charity ship Open Arms was seen sailing out of Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing flour, rice and protein. The journey to Gaza takes about 15 hours but a heavy tow barge could make the trip considerably longer, possibly up to 2 days. Cyprus is just over 200 miles (320 km) north-west of Gaza.”
Germany
DW: Germany's AfD To Be Classified A Right-Wing Extremist Group?
“For years now, the political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), have been meeting in court on a regular basis. At issue is whether the BfV can legally investigate the party on suspicion of anti-constitutional activities. Their next face-off will take place at the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster on March 12th and 13th. The AfD is challenging a 2021 ruling that placed it under investigation as a suspected right-wing extremist party. That designation came after the BfV, which previously deemed the AfD a so-called "case of interest," found the party had become increasingly radicalized. The prior label had meant that only publicly available information could be evaluated in determining the AfD's potential threat to democracy.”
Europe
Reuters: Italian Police Arrest Three Palestinians On Terrorism Charges
“Italian police have arrested three Palestinians based in central Italy who they said were planning attacks in an unspecified country, a police statement said on Monday. The three men living in l'Aquila, about 120 km (75 miles)northeast of Rome, had set up a cell linked to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, it said. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is an armed group that is linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the European Union and the United States.”
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