Eye on Extremism
April 1, 2020
Bloomberg:
Al-Shabaab Says It Executed Six People In Somalia For
Spying
“Al-Shabaab executed six men it said were spying for Somali
intelligence agencies, the U.S. and Kenya, according to a broadcast on
Radio Andalus, which supports the Islamist group that’s linked to
al-Qaeda. The executions took place Tuesday in the town of Buale, an
al-Shabaab stronghold in the semi-autonomous region of Jubaland.
Mohamed Bare, a Jubaland army officer, said the military had received
news of the executions and would conduct an investigation.”
Reuters:
Taliban Team Arrives In Kabul To Begin Prisoner Exchange
Process
“A three-member Taliban team arrived in Kabul on Tuesday to begin a
prisoner exchange process pivotal to starting talks between the
insurgents and the government side to end Afghanistan’s 18-year-old
war. The peace talks, known as the intra-Afghan dialogue, were
envisaged in an agreement between the United States and the Taliban
signed in Doha, which also stipulated an exchange of 6,000 prisoners
held by the Afghan government and the Taliban. “Our three-member
technical team will help the process of prisoners’ release by
identification of the prisoners, (and) their transportation,” Taliban
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters. The prisoner release had
been a sticking point, with the Taliban and the Afghan government
differing over the process and timing of the exchange. However, after
weeks of back and forth, the process is set to begin with the arrival
of the Taliban team, which will set up camp at a luxury hotel in
Kabul. “They are here now and we will begin our discussion; the
prisoner release might go ahead in a few days if everything goes as
planned,” a senior Afghan government official told Reuters. Mujahid
said the Taliban team expected practical work to start in the next few
days on a deal with the U.S.-backed government, to which the Taliban
had previously refused to speak directly.”
United States
The
Wall Street Journal: Justice Department Watchdog Finds New Problems In
FBI Surveillance Applications
“More than two dozen Federal Bureau of Investigation applications
to monitor Americans suspected of having links to foreign intelligence
or terrorism had errors in their files, a Justice Department watchdog
said, representing 100% of the sampling of applications he examined.
The results point to widespread problems at the FBI, including sloppy
recordkeeping by case agents, and indicate the shortcomings aren’t
limited to those previously found in the highly scrutinized requests
to surveil for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. In a report
released Tuesday, the Justice Department’s inspector general said he
discovered “apparent errors or inadequately supported facts” in the
files meant to provide factual support for the information cited in
the 25 secret applications. Those requests sought wiretapping
authority from a special court under the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, or FISA, a law that is the subject of pointed debate
in Congress. The report said investigators found facts in all 25
applications that were either not supported, not clearly corroborated
or inconsistent with documentation in factual-support files, though it
didn’t look at the broader case file for such information.”
Syria
Voice
Of America: Kurdish Officials, Rights Groups Concerned Coronavirus
Will Spread Among IS Prisoners In
Syria
“As the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the world,
Kurdish officials and rights groups are warning of a catastrophe if
thousands of Islamic State (IS) militants held in northeast Syria
become infected with the deadly virus. The Syrian Democratic Forces
(SDF), a Kurdish-led military alliance that has been a major U.S.
partner in the fight against IS in Syria, said the possibility is
highly likely because local authorities lack adequate resources to
prevent the virus from spreading. “If the coronavirus reaches to these
prisons, it will be out of control,” Nuri Mahmud, a senior SDF
official, said. “If the world is struggling to contain the spread of
this virus, you can imagine how extremely difficult it is for us to
deal with this crisis with our limited capacity,” he told VOA. The SDF
is holding at least 10,000 IS fighters, including nearly 2,000 foreign
nationals, captured following the military defeat of the terror group
in March 2019. Rights groups fear that COVID-19 could spread quickly
in prisons and detention centers in Syria because of poor sanitation,
lack of access to clean water and severe overcrowding.”
Yahoo
News: Projectiles Fired Over Syrian Prison Amid Riot By Islamic State
Detainees
“Footage shared on March 30 showed projectiles coming from a plane
over a prison in al-Hasakah, Syria, as the US-led coalition said it
was assisting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following
disturbances by Islamic State (IS) detainees. That day, SDF spokesman
Mustafa Bali said some of the inmates had escaped and were being
searched for, and said IS prisoners had taken over the first floor of
the prison, having removed internal walls and doors. The following
morning, he tweeted that the situation had been brought under control,
with no escapees. The US-led coalition in Syria said it provided
“aerial surveillance” to help the SDF “quell an uprising” at the
prison. “The facility holds low-level ISIS members,” the coalition
added. This footage shows lines of smoke in the air after planes fly
overhead, and two ambulances entering the prison.”
Iran
The
Wall Street Journal: A Better Way To Deter Iran In
Iraq
“The fear that World War III would begin after the January killing
of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani always was overwrought. But a crisis
provoked by Iran is never far off, even during a pandemic. After a
series of rocket attacks against U.S. bases in Iraq, the Pentagon
reportedly is drawing up plans to eliminate Kataib Hezbollah, an
Iran-backed Shiite militia in the country. President Trump hasn’t
announced a policy change as his advisers debate whether the U.S.
should do more to deter Tehran’s proxies. Rockets fired by Kataib
Hezbollah killed two Americans and one Brit in Iraq on March 11.
Coalition forces hit five weapons depots near Baghdad in response, but
the group wasn’t deterred: A few days later, 33 Katyusha rockets were
launched at a U.S. base in Iraq, wounding three Americans and several
Iraqis. The Administration’s critics say that turning up the heat on
these militias could polarize Iraqi politics and risk the U.S.
presence in the country. Airstrikes can put innocent lives in danger,
and a robust response could produce a nationalist backlash that
threatens America’s standing in Iraq. But if U.S. troops can’t defend
themselves while assisting their Iraqi partners, Washington has
already lost.”
The
Washington Times: Lifting U.S. Sanctions Against Iran's Regime Won't
Stop The Terrorism Or Oppression
“The “echo chamber” is back. You know what I’m talking about,
right? Ben Rhodes was President Obama’s “deputy national security
adviser for strategic communications,” a hifalutin term for the White
House’s foreign policy spin-meister. Four springs ago, in The New York
Times Magazine, ace journalist David Samuels profiled Mr. Rhodes,
marveling at how he “skillfully shapes and ventriloquizes” the voices
of “columnists and reporters.” “We created an echo chamber,” Mr.
Rhodes boasted in answer to a question about all those “cheerleading”
for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, the deal Mr.
Obama cut with Iran’s rulers. Mr. Rhodes proudly noted that his
friends in the media “were saying things that validated what we had
given them to say.” Despite those efforts, more than 60 percent of
Congress did not, in the end, support the JCPOA, while polls showed
the public disapproving by a 2-1 margin. Nevertheless, Mr. Obama
sealed the deal on his own authority in 2015. That made it relatively
easy for his successor, on his own authority, to withdraw in 2018. The
chamber’s echoes never entirely faded away. Diehard deal supporters
and defenders of the Tehran regime continued to lament America’s
withdrawal from an agreement that enriched Iran’s rulers, funded
terrorism abroad and repression at home while, at best, delaying their
entry into the nuclear weapons club.”
Iraq
The
Hill: Service Member With Anti-ISIS Coalition In Iraq Dies In
Noncombat Incident
“A service member with the international coalition to defeat ISIS
was killed in a noncombat incident in northern Iraq Monday. Combined
Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve said in a statement
Wednesday that the coronavirus was not a suspected cause of the
troop’s death, which took place in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdistan
region. The coalition is withholding the identity and nationality of
the service member until notification of next of kin. The cause of
death is still under investigation. Eighty-two countries are currently
in the coalition to defeat ISIS. Coalition troops are largely based at
Irbil’s international airport.”
Afghanistan
Foreign
Policy: Waiting For Peace On The Front Lines
“In late November 2019 in Nahr-e-Saraj, a contested district in
Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Afghan Border Police (ABP) Col. Ahmad
Sagoori, 36, draped a heavy woolen blanket over his uniform. Helmand
is hot in the summer, but the evenings had turned crisp. Twenty days
earlier, Sagoori and his men, along with local police, retook the
sparsely populated agricultural district from a group of local Taliban
militants, who frequently reappeared to harass the outpost with
sporadic sniper fire. Despite the ABP forces being severely
undermanned, the Taliban concentrated recent attacks on the local
police, who have less training and equipment, making them easier
targets. “Now that we’ve pushed them out of the district center, we’re
able to hold the area much more effectively,” Sagoori said. Though it
seemed that the tide of the war was beginning to turn in favor of the
government forces, the colonel didn’t see a long-term military
solution. “Afghanistan is tired,” Sagoori said softly—a sentiment
echoed by many Afghans, soldiers, and civilians alike. He said only a
political solution could bring about lasting change for Afghanistan.
In September, peace talks between the United States and the Taliban to
end the 18-year war had broken down.”
Saudi Arabia
The
National: Saudi Arabia Invites Houthi Rebels For Talks In
Kingdom
“Saudi Arabia is enabling a diplomatic channel with Yemen’s Houthi
rebels to try to end the five-year war. Efforts to end the conflict
are being pushed by the UN special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths,
who led peace talks more than a year ago in Sweden. An agreement was
reached on a ceasefire in the port city of Hodeidah and a prisoner
exchange but hostilities and mistrust stalled the process. Saudi
Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al Jaber, told The Wall Street
Journal that Riyadh had been in direct talks with the rebels since
last September and invited them to the kingdom. The invitation for
talks in the country were “undertaken at the request” of the UN envoy,
Mr Al Jaber said. “This is part of Martin Griffiths's process,” a
western diplomat told The National. Yemen’s internationally recognised
government and the Houthi rebels welcomed an agreement to de-escalate
the conflict last Thursday to battle the spread of the coronavirus in
the region. Yemen has not officially recorded any cases of the virus.
The agreement follows a surge in violence at the weekend. Saudi Arabia
said it intercepted two ballistic missiles aimed at Riyadh and Jizan
at the weekend, part of a drone and missile attack by the Iran-backed
rebels.”
Lebanon
Foreign
Policy: Hezbollah Prepares For Its Next War: Against The
Coronavirus
“Dozens of journalists piled into a convoy of Hezbollah-arranged
vehicles on Tuesday to be transported to the movement’s newest front
line: the fight against the coronavirus. Nearby, a line of dozens of
paramedics stood ready but completely idle, posed in front of some of
the 70 ambulances Hezbollah says it has prepared for epidemic. Trucks
and men on foot from the Islamic Health Society sprayed the streets
with disinfectant, filling the neighborhood of Borj el-Barajneh with
the smell of chlorine. “Hezbollah is the only one doing anything. The
government isn’t doing anything,” said one bystander, Hussein Zaaiter,
sitting on a cement step watching the crowd of journalists next to the
long row of posed paramedics and ambulances. “You can see these
ambulances. You can see them disinfecting the streets.” Zaaiter sat
just a foot from his friend. Neither was wearing masks or gloves. Many
on the streets of Borj el-Barajneh lingered around without masks or
gloves, and pairs of young men zipped by on scooters, pressed up
against each other sharing the seat. Hezbollah has also launched a
large-scale awareness campaign. Others in the neighborhood seem split
on who is doing what.”
Nigeria
Foreign
Policy: As The World Is Distracted, Boko Haram Terrorists Strike A Key
Western Ally
“As the world’s attention turns almost completely to the
coronavirus pandemic, the battle against jihadi terrorism in Africa’s
vast Sahel region has taken one of its deadliest turns yet. On March
23, Boko Haram terrorists ambushed a military encampment of Chadian
soldiers on the Boma Peninsula, in the Lake Chad region. Over seven
hours, the militants—whose group’s name roughly means “non-Islamic
education is a sin”—killed at least 92 heavily armed troops with
machine guns and bombs and injured dozens of others. It is the
deadliest attack the Chadian military has ever suffered. Chad’s ruler
of 30 years—President Idriss Déby Itno—visited the site of the attack
the next day and picked through the burned-out wreckage. “I have taken
part in many operations,” he said in a televised address, “but never
in our history have we lost so many men at one time.” The massacre
will reverberate far beyond the region, for it highlights and
compounds a worrying trend. The Chadian regime—long thought of as the
West’s indispensable ally in the fight against terrorism in
Africa—could be nearing breaking point. It is hard to imagine a more
difficult nation to govern than Chad. The landlocked central African
country is more than five times larger than Britain.”
Africa
The
National: Thousands Flee Terrorist Attacks In Northern
Mozambique
“Thousands of people have arrived at Mozambique's northern city of
Pemba after extremist attacks on two towns in the restive region.
Terrorists attacked Mocimboa da Praia and the nearby town of Quissanga
last week, ransacking government buildings and hoisting their flag
before retreating. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through
its Amaq news agency. A video on social media last week showed men
dressed in Mozambican army uniforms addressing Quissanga from the
district governor's residence. The terrorist group has wreaked havoc
in northern Mozambique for more than two years, killing more than 900
people, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project says. The
attacks have displaced more than 200,000 people since the start of the
insurgency in October 2017, local Catholic archbishop Dom Luiz
Fernando said on Tuesday. The displaced have sought refuge in Pemba,
the capital of Cabo Delgado province, moving in with families and
friends. Many arrived in boats after the main bridge on the motorway
connecting Pemba to the north was damaged by floods. The government
has told officials in the impoverished Pemba neighbourhood of
Paquitequete, where boats dock, to record details of all the arrivals
and where they will seek shelter.”
Australia
The
Canberra Times: Qld Terrorism Suspect's COVID-19 Bail
Bid
“An alleged terrorism sympathiser is attempting to use the
coronavirus crisis to get out of jail in Queensland. Alaa Adam Atwani
is charged with attempting to provide support to a terrorist
organisation in 2014. Prosecutors say the 28-year-old sent
video-editing software to his ISIS-affiliated brother, Samir, in
Syria. Atwani denies the charge and says he should be released in bail
ahead of a likely trial in NSW, where he's accused of carrying out the
offence. The threat of illness from COVID-19 is much greater south of
the border, his lawyer Ruth O'Gorman told Brisbane Magistrates Court
on Wednesday. “NSW has been hit significantly harder,” she said. “If
Mr Atwani is transferred in the very near future ... there is going to
be significant and severe consequences for him.” He will have to be
quarantined and locked down when he crosses the border. It will also
leave the former engineer isolated from his family and legal team, who
would find it difficult to visit due to quarantine regulations. “The
circumstances confronting Mr Atwani are not only exceptional but quite
unique,” Ms O'Gorman said. Commonwealth prosecutor Sinead Butler
opposed bail, saying Atwani is accused of a serious terrorism offence
and remains a flight risk if released.”
Southeast Asia
Reuters:
Myanmar Charges Journalist Under Terrorism Law, Blocks News
Websites
“A Myanmar court charged a journalist who published an interview
with the Arakan Army rebel group under a terrorism law on Tuesday
while his website and others that cover conflict in the troubled
western Rakhine state were blocked in the country. Myanmar last week
declared the Arakan Army a terrorist group after more than a year of
intense fighting against the organization, which recruits from the
mostly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine majority and seeks greater autonomy for
the region. The court in the second largest city, Mandalay, charged
Nay Myo Lin, the editor-in-chief of Voice of Myanmar, under sections
of the Terrorism Act for conducting the March 27 interview with the
Arakan Army in which it responded to Myanmar’s decision to label it as
a terrorist group. Nay Myo Lin’s lawyer, Thein Than Oo, confirmed the
charges, which can carry a life sentence, but told Reuters he did not
have any more details. The journalist’s wife, Zarni Mann, also
confirmed to Reuters that her husband had been charged. The Myanmar
Times quoted Judge Kyaw Swa Lin as saying that Nay Myo Lin had been
arrested over last week’s interview. An Arakan Army spokesman did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.”
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