Eye on Extremism
April 15, 2020
The
National: Hezbollah Steps Up Campaign For Control Of Lebanon’s
Financial System
“Hezbollah is stepping up a campaign to place allies at the heart
of Lebanon's financial authorities as the US seeks to disrupt the
armed group's financial networks, four senior Arab financiers said on
Thursday. The outcome of the political battle could extend Hezbollah's
reach to the nerve centre of Lebanon's banking sector – once the most
important in the region – and could hamper any chance the country has
of emerging from the worst financial crisis in its modern history,
they said. One of the four sources said Hezbollah “is delving into
uncharted territory” by trying to install allies into the – until now
– largely independent monetary authorities to help it circumvent
intensified US sanctions. The US has been stepping up its financial
pressure on Hezbollah – sanctioning dozens of its members business
associates, as well as institutions tied to the group. The US has also
placed crippling sanctions on Hezbollah's benefactor – Iran. “For
almost three decades the monetary authorities have been forced into an
accommodation with Hezbollah while maintaining their relative
independence,” the Lebanese financier said. “It is something else for
Hezbollah to put its hand on the system.”
The
New York Times: Germany Arrests Four Men From Tajikistan Suspected Of
Planning Attack
“German police arrested on Wednesday four suspected members of
Islamic State, all from Tajikistan, believed to have been planning
deadly attacks in Germany, prosecutors said. Special forces in the
western state of North Rhine-Westphalia made the arrests near the
cities of Essen and Duesseldorf and raided properties in the area.
Prosecutors suspect the four men, with a fifth who has been in
detention for the last year, of being in contact with leading members
of Islamic State in Afghanistan and Syria and of receiving
instructions from them. “Targets for the attacks were supposed to be
institutions of U.S forces in Germany or even individual people,” said
prosecutors in their statement. “In particular, they planned a murder
attack on one person who had made public comments that they viewed as
being critical of Islam,” the prosecutors added. The prosecutors said
they believed the suspects had already carried out surveillance of the
targeted individual and were procuring weapons, ammunition and
components for a bomb. Prosecutors identified the suspects as Azizjon
B., Muhammadali G., Farhodshoh K. and Sunatullokh K., in line with
German privacy rules. The fifth man who is already in detention was
identified as Ravsan B.”
Iraq
Reuters:
Swiss Prosecutors Charge Iraqi As Islamic State
Recruiter
“Swiss federal prosecutors have filed charges against an Iraqi man
accused of operating as a recruiter and trafficker for Islamic State,
who has been held pending trial since May 2017, the Office of the
Attorney General (OAG) said on Tuesday. “The suspect held a position
of authority in relation to other IS members, some also high-ranking,
and functioned as a recruiter, trafficker, cash-provider and as the
recipient of instructions from leading IS members,” an OAG statement
said. Its investigation uncovered an extensive network involving the
suspect and more than 20 other alleged IS members in Switzerland,
Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Finland and another location as yet
unidentified, it said. The man, who was not identified, is alleged to
have agreed to prepare attacks in Switzerland, the OAG said, adding it
had no indication an actual attack had been imminent. Switzerland has
not experienced deadly militant attacks that have hit neighbouring
countries such as Germany and France, but has identified hundreds of
residents deemed a threat and cases of jihadi travellers who have left
the country for war zones.”
The
Tribune: 23 IS Militants Killed In Clashes In Northern
Iraq
“Iraqi security forces killed up to 23 Islamic State (IS) militants
in clashes in a rural area in the northern province of Kirkuk, the
Iraqi military said. During the operation, the troops found a cave in
the rugged area used as a hideout for IS militants, sparking fierce
clashes between the two sides and interference of the aircraft, the
media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said
in a statement. The operation resulted in the destruction of the
hideout and the killing of 23 IS militants, while an Iraqi security
member was killed and four others wounded, according to the statement.
Earlier, a statement by the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces said they
participated in the clashes in Kirkuk and put the death toll of IS
militants at seven.”
Kurdistan
24: 2 Yezidi Fighters Killed In Blast During ISIS Operation Near
Sinjar Mountain
“The Iraqi army announced on Tuesday that two fighters from the
Yezidi (Ezidi) Protection Units (YBS) militia group were killed and
another five injured when an improvised explosive device (IED)
detonated during a joint security operation outside Sinjar (Shingal)
earlier that day. According to a statement released by the Security
Media Cell, the Iraqi military's communications center, YBS soldiers
and army forces were conducting a sweep for remnants of the Islamic
State within the village of Aziz, located in Qahtania district in a
rural area surrounding Shingal Mountain. Shingal, near the Syrian
border in Iraq's Nineveh province, is disputed by the federal
government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. It also mentioned
that local residents' property had been damaged and livestock had been
killed or wounded. The YBS is compromised of members of Shingal's
Ezidi religious minority, against which the Islamic State carried out
a campaign of mass-murder and brutal persecution beginning in 2014
that has since been widely recognized as an act of genocide. The Iraqi
army launched simultaneous operations backed by areal strikes in
different parts of Iraq to hunt down Islamic State fighters, after
escalating attacks by members of the organization in Kirkuk, Diyala,
and Anbar provinces.”
Afghanistan
The
Telegraph: Protection Or Propaganda? Taliban Swaps Weapons For
Disinfectant In Coronavirus Public Health
Video
“The Taliban figures in the video are as carefully choreographed as
in the militants' more usual propaganda films, but this time wear
surgical masks and carry public health equipment rather than weapons.
Instead of fighters performing synchronised battlefield drills or
target practice in balaclavas and fatigues, the figures in pristine
white appear to screen local villagers and disinfect buildings. An
English voiceover gives assurances the militant movement is working
house by house and village by village to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic
in areas under its control. The recent video from the Taliban health
commission in Kunduz province says the insurgent group is spreading
health information and enforcing quarantine for residents returning
from abroad. Arrival of the pneumonia-causing new coronavirus has been
seized on by the insurgent movement as part of a long-running campaign
against the government where it competes not only on the battlefield,
but also in governance. The success of the Taliban insurgency has
always been partly due to an extensive shadow regime promising fairer
and quicker services than the corrupt government, and it is now also
touting its response to the pandemic.”
Military.com:
Taliban Say US Bombing Insurgents At Home Contrary To
Deal
“Washington peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Pakistan’s
military chief Tuesday, a day after discussing the lagging
U.S.-Taliban peace deal in Afghanistan with the chief negotiator for
the insurgent movement. The meetings included Gen. Scott Miller, head
of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Statements from the U.S. Embassy in
Islamabad and the U.S. military in Kabul said Washington was engaged
in “ongoing efforts” to find a sustainable peace after decades of
relentless war but the U.S. officials released no details. Taliban
political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the insurgent group's chief
negotiator, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, used Monday's meeting at the
Taliban's political office in Qatar to protest attacks against Taliban
fighters in their homes, contrary to provisions of the Feb. 29
agreement. “Our men have been targeted in their residential areas
while there is no room for such attacks in the agreement, either by
the U.S. or their internal (Afghan) supporters,” he said, a reference
to Afghan National Security Forces. The U.S. military has refused to
address the Taliban's specific complaint but has said that it is
abiding by the agreement and will continue to come to the aid of the
Afghan military.”
France
24: Kabul Bans Motorbikes To Stem Taliban Killings And
Crime
“Authorities in Kabul will ban motorcycles and scooters in the
Afghan capital in a bid to control rampant crime and stop assailants
on two-wheelers from conducting targeted killings, officials said
Tuesday. The ban, which takes effect Wednesday, comes after a string
of assaults by armed men on motorbikes. Delivery riders, who are
seeing heavy demand amid Kabul's coronavirus lockdown, will be
exempted. “Most of the crimes in the city, including targeted killings
and other crimes, are carried out using motorbikes,” interior ministry
spokesman Tariq Arian told AFP. “We have therefore decided to ban the
use of the motorbikes in Kabul city and its districts.” Speaking on
condition of anonymity, a security official told AFP that the Taliban
are conducting an increasing number of targeted killings of government
officials. “They all use motorbikes to do hit and runs,” the official
said, noting that street robberies by theives on motorcycles and
scooters were also on the rise. Earlier this month,two of President
Ashraf Ghani's bodyguards were shot dead in separate attacks by armed
men on motorbikes, according to the official.”
Pakistan
Voice
Of America: Pakistani Journalist Freed, But Anti-Terror Laws Still
Threaten Media
“A Pakistani journalist was freed from prison last week after an
appeals court overturned his five-year sentence and conviction under
Pakistan's anti-terrorism law. Nasrullah Chaudhry, a journalist for
the daily Urdu-language newspaper Nai Baat, was convicted in December
of possessing banned literature and helping a terrorist organization.
Pakistan's journalism community described the Karachi court ruling on
April 8 as a breath of fresh air, but said cyber and anti-terrorism
laws are still being used to intimidate the media. The laws were
enacted amid a surge in terror attacks during the U.S. war in
Afghanistan. Rights groups criticized sweeping powers that allowed
security agencies to detain and question suspects without court
approval and warned that the laws could be used to silence those who
criticize security and military agencies. More than 60 journalists
were charged under anti-terror laws last year, including 50 from Sindh
province, according to the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors'
media freedom report. The headquarters of many Pakistani news outlets
are based in Sindh province's capital, Karachi. Journalists said the
charges were connected to their reporting that offended ruling
officials and security agencies, the report found.”
Egypt
France
24: Egyptian Policeman Killed In Cairo Gun Battle With Suspected
Militants
“An Egyptian policeman and seven suspected militants were killed on
Tuesday in an exchange of gunfire, the ministry of interior said in a
statement late on Tuesday. It said three other policemen had also been
wounded. The exchange took place in the al-Amiyira district, the
public prosecutor said in a statement. The ministry received
information “that there is a terrorist cell, whose elements embrace
Takfiri ideology, using several areas as a shelter in eastern and
southern Cairo as a starting point to carry out terrorist operations,”
the statement said. Egypt uses the term takfiri to refer to Islamist
militants who often accuse their victims of being infidels. Two
private television stations broadcast what they called footage of the
shooting, which Reuters was not immediately able to verify, and asked
residents to stay indoors. Weapons and ammunition were found with the
suspects, the ministry said. The public prosecutor said a team of
investigators has been despatched to the scene of the attack. Egypt
has been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the northern part of the
Sinai Peninsula since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim
Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Egypt Police Neutralize Terrorist Cell In Cairo
Suburb
“While Egyptians on Tuesday were waiting in front of their TV
screens for the daily COVID-19 report issued by the Health Ministry,
they were surprised by news reporting a security attack on a terrorist
cell in Al Amiriya neighborhood, east of Cairo. Egypt’s Interior
Ministry said its security forces killed seven suspected militants in
a shootout eastern Cairo following intelligence provided by the
country’s security agency. It said clashes erupted as the forces
raided a 10-story apartment in the neighborhood, where members of the
cell were hiding. The ministry, which oversees police, said the forces
seized weapons and ammunition in the raid, including six machine guns
and four birdshot rifles. During the raid, Lieutenant officer Mohammed
Fawzy Al Hofi and seven terrorists were killed while three others were
wounded. The cell was reportedly planning attacks on the country´s
Coptic Christians during the Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Egypt´s
Coptic Orthodox Christians, one the world´s oldest Christian
communities, would celebrate Easter on April 19. Local television
channels showed images of the gun battle between Egyptian
counter-terrorism forces and the terrorist elements while security
officers were appealing to people, through speakers, to stay away from
the area.”
Nigeria
The
Wall Street Journal: Six Years After #BringBackOurGirls, Freed Chibok
Captives Face Fresh Danger
“Shortly before sundown, two of the young women infamously
kidnapped from their high school in Chibok, Nigeria, by terrorist
group Boko Haram and held for three years before being released were
again running for their lives. Rakiya and Salomi were with their
families outside their village when gunshots began strafing their
homes. They fled with hundreds of villagers in different directions,
stumbling through thorny scrubland and then cowering in long grasses
beneath acacia trees. Rakiya was carrying her 5-year-old boy, who was
born in captivity. Behind them, insurgents overran the village,
killing five residents and looting the grain stores. They also
kidnapped 10 young women including a recent high-school graduate,
Patience Ishaku, who was set to begin college in Maiduguri city. “My
only thought was to escape,” said Rakiya, whose family has since
relocated to a nearby village in Nigeria’s northeast. “I just wanted
to run and never see them again.” Six years after the Islamist
militants kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from Chibok Government Secondary
School for Girls on April 14, 2014, during their senior-year exams,
the rising tempo of attacks nearby are raising a grim prospect: The
young women whose ordeal spurred the world-wide #BringBackOurGirls
campaign could easily become victims once more.”
Somalia
Brookings
Institute: The Problem With Militias In Somalia: Almost Everyone Wants
Them Despite Their Dangers
“Militia groups have historically been a defining feature of
Somalia’s conflict landscape, especially since the ongoing civil war
began three decades ago. Communities create or join such groups as a
primary response to conditions of insecurity, vulnerability and
contestation. Somali powerbrokers, subfederal authorities, the
national Government and external interveners have all turned to armed
groups as a primary tool for prosecuting their interests.
State-aligned militias help to offset the weakness of Somalia’s
official security forces, produce greater motivation and better
intelligence and enhance bonds with local communities, perhaps even
suppressing crime and intraclan violence. However, Somalia’s
State-aligned militia groups are also an underlying source of
insecurity, violent contestation, abusive rule, impunity and
pernicious outside manipulation. They give rise to and allow the
entrenchment of powerful militant groups such as the Al-Qaida-
supporting, jihadist Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, commonly
referred to as al-Shabaab. As such, their increasingly central role in
the fight against al-Shabaab is a double-edged sword: short-term
military gains must be balanced against the militias’ longer-term,
destabilizing impact.”
Africa
Yahoo
News: Mozambique Police Dismiss Jihadist Threat In North After
Attacks
“Mozambican police on Tuesday dismissed the threat of Islamist
militants controlling any territory in the north of country after a
spate of jihadist attacks in the gas-rich region. Mozambique's
northern region has been hit by jihadist assaults on remote villages
since October 2017, but in recent weeks militants have stepped up
attacks as part of a campaign for an Islamist caliphate in the region.
Militants have temporarily seized government buildings, robbed banks,
blocked roads and briefly hoisted a black and white jihadist flag over
towns and villages across Cabo Delgado province. “There are no areas
that can be said to be in the hands of insurgents, what exists are
areas prone to incursions by criminals,” National Police commander
Bernadino Rafael said at press briefing in neighbouring Nampula
province. “The situation prevails and we are working to restore
order.” Despite the promises of President Filipe Nyusi, neither the
police nor the army, recently supported by private security companies
in the region, have succeeded in preventing attacks.”
Europe
Foreign
Policy: Coronavirus Has Paralyzed Europe’s Far Right
“For the populist far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), getting
near-constant attention and turning it into political momentum is not
usually a problem. Through its politicians’ innate talent for
provocation, their relentless focus on refugee and immigration issues,
and their countless frustration-filled social media posts about
government failures, the party has managed to consistently dominate
headlines and hold disproportionate sway over the direction of
political debate in Germany. AfD politicians are still tweeting
anti-refugee messages and still criticizing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
government. But in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, with more
than 125,000 confirmed cases of the virus in Germany and citizens
largely sequestered at home, people don’t seem to be listening the way
they used to. Far-right parties that are in power, to be sure, have
already used the coronavirus as an opportunity to push through further
authoritarian measures: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has
passed legislation that significantly expands his emergency powers
without an end date, and Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party is
pushing ahead with a May presidential election despite the fact that
its lockdown effectively prevents an actual campaign from taking
place.”
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