Eye on Extremism
April 20, 2020
France
24: Dozens Dead In Fresh Wave Of Taliban Violence In
Afghanistan
“The Taliban have killed at least 23 Afghan troops and nine
civilians, officials said Monday, as a fresh wave of violence grips
Afghanistan despite a deal with the US and a worsening coronavirus
crisis. Under the terms of the US-Taliban deal, the Afghan government
and the insurgents were by now supposed to have concluded a prisoner
exchange and started talks aimed at bringing about a comprehensive
ceasefire. But the stalled prisoner swap has been beset with problems
-- with Kabul claiming the Taliban are demanding the release of some
of the group's most notorious warriors -- and peace talks seem as
elusive ever amid ongoing attacks. Late Sunday night in Takhar
province in northeast Afghanistan, the Taliban struck an Afghan army
base, killing 16 soldiers and two policemen, provincial police
spokesman Khalil Asir told AFP. The governor's spokesman, Mohammad
Jawad Hejri, confirmed the attack and also blamed the Taliban, putting
the death toll at 19. In the south, the Taliban attacked a police
checkpoint near Tarin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province. “Five
Afghan policemen were killed and three others were wounded,” Zilgai
Ebadi, the provincial governor's spokesman, told AFP. The toll was
confirmed by the head of Uruzgan provincial council, Amir
Mohammad.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Houthi Leader’s Nephew Killed In Yemen
Fighting
“The nephew of the leader of the Houthi militias in Yemen was
killed in fighting in the war-torn country, media affiliated with the
Iran-backed group reported Saturday. Houthi leaderships on social
media offered condolences over the death of Mohammed Ahmed Badreddine
al-Houthi, the nephew of Houthi leader Abdulmalek al-Houthi. The time
and location of his death was not disclosed. Houthi media said he was
killed in fighting between the militias and legitimate military in the
Sirwah region, west of the Marib province. The deceased is the son of
Ahmed Badreddine al-Houthi, also the brother of Hussein al-Houthi, the
founder of the militia movement. Both were killed during the first war
they waged against the state in 2004. The Houthis have in recent weeks
been suffering significant material and human losses in battles in
al-Jawf and Marib. The majority of the casualties are senior
figures.”
United States
The
New York Times: Oklahoma City Marks 25 Years Since America’s Deadliest
Homegrown Attack
“Timothy J. McVeigh slaughtered 168 people, including 19 children,
by gutting a federal office building with a massive truck bomb on
April 19, 1995, yet he features only fleetingly in the Oklahoma City
National Memorial & Museum. “We felt it was important to show his
face, not to give him any credit, but to show people how normal he
was,” said Kari F. Watkins, the museum’s executive director, “It could
be anybody. The terrorist among us.” Aside from his picture, there is
his rusty, yellow 1977 Mercury Marquis getaway car. The curators also
included a copy of “The Turner Diaries,” a bigoted novel popular on
the far right — he had a copy on the front seat of the Marquis — whose
white supremacist hero blows up the F.B.I. headquarters. The bombing
remains something of an anomaly. Between Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, Oklahoma City was the deadliest deliberate attack
on the United States, yet it has not been similarly woven into the
tapestry of American history. Sunday marked the bombing’s 25th
anniversary, with both historians and those who experienced the
attack directly worried that the memory is fading even as the violent
ideology that inspired Mr. McVeigh grows ever more prevalent.”
Syria
Asharq
Al-Awsat: 15 Regime, Hezbollah Fighters Killed In Syria’s Daraa In A
Week
“Fifteen fighters from the Syrian regime and the Lebanese Hezbollah
party were killed last week in the Daraa countryside, reported the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The rights monitor said the
regime and its collaborators were victim to ten attacks, ranging from
assassinations to armed assaults, in the eastern and western Daraa
countryside. On Saturday, unknown gunmen attacked a military vehicle
of the 52nd Brigade as it was passing through the eastern Daraa
countryside. Three regime fighters were killed. The unrest in Daraa,
which is held by the regime and allied militias, has been ongoing
since June. Not a day goes by without an assassination attempt that
often targets regime fighters or collaborators. Damascus has so far
failed to rein in the chaos in the southern province. The unrest has
claimed the lives of 133 regime fighters and armed gunmen loyal to
them, 17 members of Hezbollah and Iranian forces and six members of
the Russian-established “Fifth Brigade.”
Iran
Arab
News: Iranian Regime Will Not Stop Bankrolling Terror
“Iraq already hosts about 60 paramilitary groups, which together
consist of upwards of 160,000 fighters. Announcements concerning the
formation of yet more Iran-aligned factions thus come as little
surprise. In practice, these entities — like Usbat Al-Thaireen, Ashab
Al-Kahf and Qabdat Al-Hoda — are new names for old militants. Such
“resistance” factions have a specific mandate to attack American and
Western interests. In terms of tactics, munitions and their rhetoric
and attire, these radical elements are almost indistinguishable from
long-standing entities like Kata’ib Hezbollah. There has been no
serious attempt to dissociate these new factions from Iran. Tehran’s
National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani earlier this year
declared: “We will establish a new armed group of more than 2,000
people in the region. The main function of this group of mujahideen is
to remove US forces from the region.” Online propaganda by these
entities transparently seeks to provoke the Americans, while also
boasting of their responsibility for recent attacks. Video footage
shows drones surveilling US bases, with the message: “We are watching
your movements.” A masked man holding an assault rifle warns foreign
troops “to leave vertically before we force them to leave
horizontally.”
Iraq
Kurdistan
24: Four ISIS Attacks In Central Iraqi Province Of Diyala Injure
11
“Nine members of the Iraqi security forces and two civilians were
injured on Saturday in four separate attacks by the so-called Islamic
State in the central province of Diyala. According to a statement
released by the Iraqi army, an explosion at a residence led to the
injury of six soldiers in the Khaylania neighborhood of Miqdadiya,
located 110 kilometers (about 70 miles) northeast of Baghdad.
According to a local security source who spoke to Kurdistan 24, the
blast appeared to target troops engaged in a military operation to
search out remnants of the extremist group. A second explosion in
Diyala wounded a member of the federal police. Later in the day in the
provincial capital of Baquba, Islamic State gunmen opened fire at a
security checkpoint, wounding two more soldiers, and then an
improvised explosive device (IED) placed on a parked motorcycle in the
village of Kanaan village injured two civilians. Also on Saturday in
Iraqi federal police sources confirmed that their forces had repelled
an attack by Islamic State militants in the Baiji Desert, west of
Diyala in neighboring Salahuddin province.”
Kurdistan
24: Iraqi Warplanes Kill ‘Group Of’ Suspected ISIS Members In Rural
Salahuddin
“The Iraqi army on Sunday said its air force carried out a series
of strikes against positions held by the so-called Islamic State in
rural Salahuddin province, killing a 'group of' fighters. This marks
the latest air operation the Iraqi forces have carried out using
F-16s, targeting hideouts of the terrorist organization in Salahuddin
province, which contains sprawling near-uninhabitable areas that are
used by sleeper cells to plan and carry out attacks on nearby
territories witnessing security gaps. The Iraqi military
communications center, the Security Media Cell, said that the
warplanes directed “precise strikes against the hideouts of [ISIS]
terrorist gangs on the island of Abdul Aziz, located in the middle of
the Tigris River west of al-Dour district in Salahuddin province.” The
army statement said the shelling “killed a group of terrorist elements
and completely destroyed the hideouts,” from where the group launches
attacks on the Iraqi security forces and citizens. Iraqi forces have
carried out a series of sweeping operations in that area, as well as
other hotbeds of Islamic State militancy. Still, the terrorist
organization's insurgency continues, seeing a marked uptick in recent
weeks as other crises grip the country, including the coronavirus
outbreak.”
Afghanistan
The
Wall Street Journal: The Last Sikhs And Hindus In Afghanistan Plead
For U.S. Help
“The last community of Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan is seeking
asylum in the U.S. after suffering an attack by Islamic State
extremists, posing a test of the Trump administration’s pledge to
protect and support religious minorities world-wide. The Islamic State
attack targeting a Sikh temple in Kabul last month killed 25 people,
while dozens of others were taken hostage in a six-hour siege ending
in a gun battle with Afghanistan’s commandos, the elite army unit that
works closely with U.S. Special Forces. There are about 650 Sikhs and
Hindus left in Afghanistan. The fear in the community is a reminder of
the uncertainty facing the country after the U.S. reached a February
deal with the Taliban to withdraw all of its troops next year. “When
the U.S. leaves, life for us will become impossible. It’s only a
matter of time that all of us will be eliminated. We want refugee
status and protection in a U.S. Army base here. We want this soon,” a
Sikh community leader who lost three immediate relatives in the attack
told The Wall Street Journal. The Trump administration has made
religious freedom a focus of its foreign-policy efforts, hosting an
annual international conference to advance religious freedom and
speaking out on the plights of minorities, such as the Christians in
Iraq and the Uighurs in China.”
Pakistan
The
New York Times: Pakistan Says Militant Attack In Northwest Kills
Soldier
“Militants armed with assault rifles attacked a Pakistani army
security post in a former Taliban stronghold in the country's
northwest early on Monday, triggering a shootout that killed a
soldier, the military said. Five insurgents were also killed, it said.
The military says the attack took place near the town of Miran Shah,
the main urban center in the North Waziristan district that borders
Afghanistan. Three troops were also wounded in the shootout. North
Waziristan was a militant base until recent years when the Pakistani
military said its successive operations there had cleared the area of
the Taliban. However, violence has increased there in recent weeks,
spreading fear among residents that the military might carry out more
operations. “Troops effectively engaged the terrorists,” a military
statement said, adding that troops subsequently launched a search
operation in the area. The Pakistani army in recent weeks deployed
thousand of troops across the country to help the government enforce a
lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. But, it was unclear
whether troops engaged in that mission were relocated from the
northwestern region along the Afghan border. Pakistan on Monday said
17 more had died from the virus over the past 24 hours.”
The
New York Times: 3 Indian Soldiers Killed, 2 Wounded In Kashmir Rebel
Attack
“Rebels fighting against Indian rule in disputed Kashmir attacked a
paramilitary post on Saturday, killing three soldiers and wounding two
others, an Indian official said. At least two militants on a motorbike
opened gunfire at the post in the northwestern Sopore area on Saturday
evening, said Pankaj Singh, an Indian paramilitary spokesman. He said
three soldiers were killed on the spot and two others were wounded in
the attack. The attackers fled after spraying bullets at the post,
Singh said. Counterinsurgency police and soldiers launched search
operations in the area to try to nab the attackers. No rebel group
immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Despite a stringent
lockdown by authorities to combat the coronavirus, India has continued
its counterinsurgency operations across Kashmir. Militants also have
not ceased their attacks on government forces and alleged government
informants. Saturday's attack also comes amid near daily fighting
between Pakistani and Indian soldiers along the highly militarized
frontier that divides Kashmir between the two rivals. India and
Pakistan claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety.”
The
Nation: Four Al-Qaeda Terrorists Apprehended
“The Sindh police claimed on Sunday to have apprehended four
suspected Al-Qaeda militants during a raid in Karachi’s
Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighbourhood. The Special Investigation Unit (SIU)
personnel made these arrests with the help of a Federal Intelligence
Agency. The arrested militants were identified as Muhammad Umar,
Muhammad Bilal alias Fida, Muhammad Wasim and Muhammad Amir. The SIU
SSP Irfan Bahadur told the media that weapons and explosive material,
including 10 detonators, three grenades, and two Kalashnikovs, were
seized from their possession, which they had got to carry out
terrorist attacks in the port city. He claimed the militants had also
carried out reconnaissance for the purpose. The police officer said
they were trained in Afghanistan as the group’s ameer Muhammad Hanif
alias Zarar alias Ayoub is also residing in the neighbouring country.
He said the arrested militants wanted to target the Pakistan Stock
Exchange, the City Court, the Police Training Centre, and offices of
the law enforcement agencies.”
Lebanon
The
New York Times: Israel Accuses Hezbollah Of 'Provocative'
Activity
“Israel on Saturday accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah
of “provocative” activity along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier and said
it would complain to the U.N. Security Council. In a statement,
Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Hezbollah of multiple attempts to
breach the border Friday night. He said Israel “thoroughly condemns”
the incident and expects the Lebanese government to prevent such
threats. On Friday night, the Israeli military fired flares along the
volatile frontier after signs of a possible border breach. It said it
later found damage to its security fence, just inside Israeli
territory, in three locations. Israel and Hezbollah fought a
month-long war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate. Under a
U.N.-brokered truce, Hezbollah is barred from conducting military
activity along the frontier. There was no immediate comment from the
Iranian-backed militant group. But in recent days, both Hezbollah and
the Lebanese government have accused Israel of violating Lebanese
airspace. Earlier this week, Hezbollah said an Israeli drone destroyed
one of its vehicles in neighboring Syria, and Lebanon has reported
Israeli drones flying over the capital Beirut. Lebanese soldiers also
faced off with Israeli troops along the frontier.”
Egypt
Al
Jazeera: Egypt Puts 13 People Including Zyad Elelaimy On 'Terrorism'
List
“Egypt has added 13 people, including former legislator Zyad
Elelaimy, on the country's “terrorism list” for collaborating with the
outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Saturday's decision, published in the
official gazette, stated that their “placement on the terrorism list
will be for a period of five years”. Elelaimy, a key figure of Egypt's
2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak,
was arrested in June 2019. Also put on the list was Ramy Shaath, a
prominent activist who holds Egyptian citizenship and was arrested two
months after Elelaimy. Since their arrest, the pair have been charged
with joining a “terrorist group”, namely the Muslim Brotherhood, which
has been outlawed following the 2013 overthrow of Islamist President
Mohamed Morsi. In its ruling Saturday, the court said Brotherhood
members had tasked “other members of the group ... including Ramy
Shaath and Zyad al-Elaimy” with carrying out activities against the
state. Defence lawyer Khaled Ali told AFP news agency the decision was
taken in the absence of the lawyers and would be appealed. Hundreds of
people have been added to Egypt's terrorism list in recent years,
including fugitives and people arrested by authorities.”
Nigeria
Al
Jazeera: Dozens Of Suspected Boko Haram Fighters Found Dead In Chad
Prison
“At least 44 suspected members of Boko Haram who were arrested
during a recent operation against the group have been found dead in
their prison cell in Chad after apparently being poisoned, the
country's chief prosecutor has announced. The prisoners were found
dead on Thursday, Youssouf Tom said on television, and an autopsy
carried out on four of the dead prisoners revealed traces of a lethal
substance that had caused heart attacks in some of the victims and
severe asphyxiation in the others, he said. The dead men were among a
group of 58 suspects captured during a major army operation around
Lake Chad launched by President Idriss Deby at the end of March.
“Following the fighting around Lake Chad, 58 members of Boko Haram had
been taken prisoner and sent to Ndjamena for the purposes of the
investigation,” Tom said, referencing the central African country's
capital. “On Thursday morning, their jailers told us that 44 prisoners
had been found dead in their cell.” “We have buried 40 bodies and sent
four bodies to the medical examiner for autopsy,” he added. An
investigation was continuing to determine exactly how the prisoners
had died, he said.”
Premium
Times: Nigerian Soldiers Kill 105 Boko Haram Fighters In Battle –
Official
“The Nigerian Army on Sunday said its operatives killed 105 Boko
Haram insurgents during its operations in Yobe State. The acting
director of army public relations, Sagir Musa, in a statement
circulated to journalists in Damaturu, said the operations took place
at the outskirts of Buni Gari village in Yobe. He said the insurgents
were planning “a heavy onslaught on the village”. Buni Gari is less
that 7 km from the 27 Task Force Brigade in Buni Yadi which also
accommodates the Nigerian Army Special Forces School. Mr Musa, a
colonel, said the troops of Sector 2 of Operation Lafiya Dole, led by
a brigadier general, Lawrence Araba, “followed a credible lead that
led to the decimation of the Boko Haram/ISWAP Terrorists”. The
statement said the Chief of Army Staff, Yusuf Buratai, felt happy
after he was briefed by the commander during his visit to the Field
Abulance Logistic Base 3 and Special Forces’ School on Sunday. “The
Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Yusufu Buratai, applauded the troops
for their gallantry and resilience that led to the killing of the 105
terrorists at Buni Gari in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe state
on Saturday the 18th of April 2020.”
Africa
The
New York Times: U.S. Military Cutting Medevac Flights For Troops In
West Africa
“The United States military is sharply reducing its emergency
casualty evacuation services in West Africa, raising concerns that
American troops on missions there could be left vulnerable if they run
into trouble at a time when violence is surging in that corner of the
continent. The action by the Pentagon’s Africa Command comes shortly
after U.S. military advisers accompanied forces in Niger last month on
a major counterterrorism operation near Diffa, a small town on the
border with Nigeria that has been a hot spot for attacks by the
militant group Boko Haram. It was the first time American forces in
Niger had joined a combat mission alongside their local counterparts
since 2017, when U.S. commanders imposed strict guidelines on ground
forces. Those new restrictions were imposed after an ambush in October
that year near the border with Mali that left four American soldiers
dead. At issue now is the military’s decision to cancel a $23 million
annual contract with Erickson, an aviation services company that flies
logistics and casualty evacuation flights for Army Green Berets who
have been training and advising Nigerien troops for two years in
Arlit, a remote city in northern Niger.”
Al
Jazeera: Polls Close In Mali Election Held Despite Threats Of
Violence
“Polls have closed in Mali as voters cast their ballots in the
second round of legislative elections despite an armed conflict and
the threat of the coronavirus pandemic. Sunday's runoff vote for 147
seats in the National Assembly on Sunday was aimed at reviving
confidence in the embattled institutions of a country struggling with
deteriorating violence that has killed thousands of people and forced
hundreds of thousands from their homes. The long-delayed first round
of voting on March 29 was disrupted by attacks and intimidation,
including the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse. It was
unclear which group was behind the kidnapping. Acts of intimidated
were also reported in the runoff vote. “I am scared. I had to hide to
visit my own constituents,” Hamadoune Dicko, a parliamentary candidate
for the Democratic Alliance for Peace party, told Al Jazeera. “If they
can abduct our opposition leader for 21 days, they could abduct a
president, they can take anyone they want,” Dicko added. In central
Mali, where Dicko is campaigning, al-Qaeda affiliates reportedly asked
people not to vote, said Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque, who has reported
extensively on Mali.”
United Kingdom
BBC
News: Man, 20, Arrested Under Terrorism Act In
Cardiff
“Police have arrested a 20-year-old man in Cardiff under the
Terrorism Act. The arrest at a house in the Cyncoed area of the city
took place just after 07:00 BST on Sunday following concerns reported
by a resident. South Wales Police said the man was also being held on
suspicion of assaulting a police officer. He has been taken to Cardiff
Bay police station and the force said “a scene is being preserved” at
the house while investigations continue. No further details have been
released.”
Europe
Middle
East Eye: How Coronavirus Could Escalate Europe's Far-Right Terror
Threat
“If the influx of Syrian refugees into Europe in 2015 sparked a
right-wing-populist backlash, imagine what could be unleashed should
tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of Covid-19 infected
refugees turn up in European cities - a real possibility, given that
tens of thousands of displaced men, women and children are packed into
squalid camps in Greece, where social distancing, self-isolation and
even hand-washing are “fantasy concepts”. There are no good outcomes
here. If these refugees stay where they are, they will become one of
the groups hardest hit by the spread of the pandemic, given the
inadequate medical facilities in these camps. If they flee to northern
European cities, they will face hostility in the streets, as a number
of EU countries have experienced surging levels of hate crimes against
Muslims in recent years. “Neo-Nazi accelerationist Telegram channels
have increased their calls for destabilisation and violence related to
Covid-19,” Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher with the US-based Counter
Extremism Project, told Al Jazeera. “These channels are treating the
current situation … as an opportunity to try to increase tension and
advocate for violence.”
Southeast Asia
The
New York Times: 11 Filipino Soldiers Are Killed Trying To Track An
ISIS Leader
“Troops on the trail of the leader of the Islamic State in the
Philippines clashed Friday with his insurgents, setting off an
hourlong firefight that left 11 soldiers dead, the military said.
Philippine soldiers were on combat patrol in Patikul, a jungle-dense
island in the extreme southern province of Sulu, when they came upon
40 heavily armed militants and touched off a fierce gun battle, said
Marine Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, the armed forces spokesman. The
militants belonged to Abu Sayyaf, an extremist group that has pledged
allegiance to the Islamic State and that is notorious for kidnapping
and beheading foreign hostages. The Islamic State’s faction within Abu
Sayyaf is led by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who took over after the
killing of the larger group’s regional head. The military did not
state whether Mr. Sawadjaan was with his group of fighters in Friday’s
battle. “The entire armed forces of the Philippines mourns today,”
General Arevalo said Friday. “Our flags in all military camps around
the country will be flown at half-mast as 11 army heroes offered their
lives” to protect the people of Sulu. The former regional chief, the
Filipino Isnilon Hapilon, was killed three years ago after he led
fighters from Southeast Asia and the Middle East in taking over the
city of Marawi.”
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