U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that extremist groups are
taking advantage of COVID-19 lock downs to intensify social media effo

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


April 28, 2020

 

Associated Press: UN Chief: Extremists Using COVID-19 To Recruit Online Youths
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“U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that extremist groups
are taking advantage of COVID-19 lock downs to intensify social media efforts
to spread hatred and recruit young people who are spending more time online.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, he said, one of every five young people
was not getting an education, training or working, and one of every four was
affected by violence or conflict. And he lamented that every year, 12 million
girls become mothers when they are still children. Guterres told a U.N.
Security Council meeting on youth, peace and security that “these frustrations
and, frankly, failures to address them by those in power today, fuel declining
confidence in political establishments and institutions.” “When such a cycle
takes hold, it is all too easy for extremist groups to exploit the anger and
despair, and the risk of radicalization climbs,” he said. But despite these
challenges, the U.N. chief said young people “are still finding ways to engage,
support each other, and to demand and drive change” — including in the fight
against COVID-19. Guterres pointed to young people in Colombia, Ghana, Iraq and
several other countries joining humanitarian workers in delivering supplies to
front-line health workers and people in need, keeping communications open
within communities while maintaining social distancing.”

 

The Guardian: Convicted Terrorists Less Likely To Reoffend Than Other
Criminals – Study
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“Convicted terrorists are extremely unlikely to reoffend compared with other
prisoners, research by academics and security services in Europe has found. The
research shows that less than 5% of convicted terrorists commit a second
terrorist offence after leaving prison. In England and Wales, around 45% of all
prisoners will reoffend within a year of release. The research was conducted in
Belgium, which has faced Islamist terrorism since the early 1990s and became
one of the centres of the Islamic State campaign in Europe in 2015 and 2016.
The forthcoming release of thousands of extremists imprisoned for terrorist
offences has worried security services in the UK and elsewhere. Britain has
recently passed a law ensuring that people convicted of serious terrorist
offences will no longer automatically be released halfway through their
sentences, following two high-profile attacks by men who had recently left
prison. In November Usman Khan stabbed two people to death near London Bridge,
around a year after being released on licence. Khan had been been sentenced in
2012 for his part in an al-Qaida-inspired plot to bomb high-profile locations,
and was attending a conference on prisoner rehabilitation when he launched his
attack.”

 

Syria

 

Al Monitor: Israel Bombs Iran-Backed Forces Near Syrian Capital
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“Israeli jets hit Iran-backed targets outside the Syrian capital of Damascus
today, killing fighters and civilians, according to multiple reports. The
airstrikes hit militias supported by Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah south of
Damascus, killing at least four fighters and destroying some of their offices.
Three civilians also died, according to the pro-Syrian opposition Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights. The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that
Syrian air defense systems were activated during the attack and that Israeli
missiles were responsible for three deaths and four injuries. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights reported that the civilians died when missile
fragments hit their homes. It could not conclude whether the fragments came
from Israeli missiles or Syrian air defense systems. Both the observatory and
the Syrian state press said that Israeli jets fired the missiles while over
Lebanon. The airstrike is Israel’s fourth in Syria in April. Israel has
acknowledged airstrikes targeting Iranian forces and shipments to Hezbollah in
Syria in the past, but has not commented on this one. Israel has recently been
concerned that Hezbollah is trying to produce precision-guided missiles,
according to the Associated Press.”

 

Financial Times: Assassinations In Southern Syria Expose Limits Of Assad’s
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“Two senior army officers and a political official have been killed in
southern Syria this month, the highest-profile assassinations in a spate of
murders that have exposed President Bashar al-Assad’s struggle to maintain
control of the country’s war-torn south. A little under two years since
Russian-brokered peace deals were supposed to have pacified opposition to Mr
Assad’s regime, rebel groups have continued to take up arms in parts of the
southern province of Dera’a, considered the birthplace of Syria’s 2011
uprising. After nine years of civil war, Mr Assad nominally controls about 70
per cent of the country, thanks to military support from his allies Russia and
Iran. But the regime’s battlefield victories have been eroded by the
destruction of most of the country’s infrastructure and an economic collapse
made worse by coronavirus. Food prices have more than doubled in a year,
according to the UN. The Syrian military officers were gunned down in Dera’a in
mid-April, according to local media reports, as was an official from the ruling
Ba’ath party, who was reportedly shot dead as he left his house. Another man,
linked to Syrian intelligence, was assassinated in the province around the same
time.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Diplomat: The Islamic State Remains Alive In Afghanistan
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“Akhmad, 26, was exhausted and dizzy. Kandahar was hot and for the past six
days and nights his unit of 50 men had been working around the clock. The
National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s primary intelligence agency,
had been planning the operation for a while and Akhmad realized that the stakes
were high.  Intelligence sources suggested that in early April, the leadership
of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), the local branch of the
Salafist armed group, was gathering in Kandahar to discuss the movement’s
future. In the previous months, after a prolonged U.S. and Afghan military
operation, ISKP had lost its main stronghold in Nangarhar, close to the
Pakistani border. Much of the group’s leadership was killed or captured and
many of its members went underground. Others moved to neighboring Kunar
province or fled across the border to Pakistan. However, despite significant
loses, ISKP kept operating.  In March, the group organized two terrorist
attacks in Kabul against Shia and Sikh communities, killing more than 50
people. While significantly weakened, ISKP is far from defeated. Enjoying this
article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.”

 

Yemen

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: New Houthi Royalties Target Merchants, Second-Hand Markets In
Sanaa
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“The Houthi militias have imposed new royalties on a number of traders of
second-hand goods and commercial merchants in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The
Iran-backed group is looking to exploit the holy month of fasting, Ramadan, and
other religious events to maximize its profits while leaving the Yemeni public
poor. The Houthi robbery and extortion campaigns were accompanied by the
kidnapping of dozens of citizens and owners of shops in separate areas and
streets of Sanaa. The victims were taken to unknown locations after they
refused to submit to the demands of coupists. Local sources in Sanaa reported
to Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi gunmen stormed shops and imposed new royalties
on merchants in one of the city’s largest second-hand markets. The royalty
consisted of imposing an amount of 500 rials on the sale of any piece, with the
group threatening those who violate its orders with a financial fine and
confiscating the goods in the violator’s possession. According to sources, the
new Houthi royalties imposed two days before the start of Ramadan are an
extension of the same royalties that the group imposes on vendors and shop
owners, in an effort by the group to fill its treasury with money at the
expense of Yemenis.”

 

Nigeria

 

The Pulse Nigeria: Nigerian Military Kills More ISWAP Terrorists Around Lake
Chad
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“The Defence Headquarters says the Nigerian military has continued to sustain
its onslaught against the Boko Haram/Islamic States of West Africa Province
(ISWAP) terrorists elements in the North East. The Coordinator, Defence Media
Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, in a statement on Sunday, said that the
military had in recent times neutralised several terrorists in the region.
Enenche disclosed that the Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole had on
Saturday, executed air strikes killing several ISWAP fighters at Kollam on the
fringes of the Lake Chad in Borno. He said the operation was conducted based on
credible intelligence reports indicating that some of the ISWAP leaders and
fighters had converged in the settlement for a meeting. According to him, the
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and surveillance aircraft were scrambled
to attack the location. “Overhead the target area, the terrorists were seen
moving towards the edges of the settlement and were engaged, leading to
neutralisation of several of them. “The few survivors were taken out in
subsequent passes as the jets strafed the area. “The Armed Forces of Nigeria,
in furtherance of the objective of restoring peace and security in the North
East, will intensify offensive operations against the enemies of the nation,”
he said.”

 

All Africa: Nigeria: Depleted Boko Haram Embarks On Recruitment Drive
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“The Boko Haram terror group is reportedly embarking on a massive recruitment
exercise following the recent loss of personnel in battles with the military
and infighting. The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), comprising of armed
forces from the region, disclosed that the Islamist sect was targeting males
using money. "The backup plan is to kidnap unwilling targets," said Colonel
Timothy Antigha, spokesperson of the Chad-based MNJTF. Consequently, the task
force has urged youths in the northeastern states of Nigeria, Lake Province of
Chad, Diffa Region of Niger and Extreme North Region of Cameroon, to be
vigilant and shun all promises of opportunities for quick money and teachings
about jihad. Jihad is the fight against the so-called enemies of Islam. Boko
Haram has been leading the jihad in Nigeria and neighbouring countries for more
than ten years. Recent reports suggested that within the last few weeks,
offensive operations and internal squabbles for money and power had depleted
the Boko Haram. "The terrorist organisation, therefore, plans to use the
envisaged recruitment to cover the severe manpower shortage facing them,"
Antigha said. MNJTF appealed to Islamic and community leaders as well as
parents to make their congregations and family members aware of the reported
recruitment exercise by the militants.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The National: New Head Of Anti-Radicalisation Probe Sought In UK After
Campaign Of Complaint
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“Britain has launched a search for a new independent reviewer of its biggest
anti-radicalisation scheme after the appointment of a former reviewer of terror
laws caused a backlash and legal action. The Prevent programme has been the
main platform for monitoring possible terrorist activity in the UK but has
always been controversial. The investigation into its work was launched last
year after officials succumbed to pressure from campaign groups. The man
appointed to lead the review, Lord Carlile, QC, was stood down by the
government in December after a legal challenge to his appointment by campaign
group Rights Watch UK. Soon afterwards, the government’s legal advisers said
they had “full confidence” in Lord Carlile's work but confirmed that his role
with the programme “had been concluded”. Last year, Wes Streeting, the co-chair
of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, called his appointment
a “poorly judged decision”. Lord Carlile had previously been the Independent
Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation from 2001 until 2011. Yasmine Ahmed, the
executive director of Rights Watch UK, had called for an "open and transparent"
process to be carried out to find a new head for the initiative.”

 

France

 

The New York Times: Driver Rams 2 Police Motorcyclists In A Paris Suburb
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“A motorist deliberately drove his car into two police motorcyclists on patrol
in a Paris suburb on Monday, gravely injuring both, police unions said. One of
the officers sustained a fractured skull and has been placed in a medically
induced coma. The assault took place in Colombes, in the northwestern outskirts
of Paris. Video footage circulating on social media and on the website of a
newspaper, Le Parisien, showed one motorbike sandwiched between the crumpled
hoods of a police car and a black BMW. Debris from a second bike lay strewn on
the road. “Two police motorcyclists in a serious condition after being
deliberately hit in Colombes by an individual who also rammed a police car.
Thoughts with our colleagues,” the Synergie-Officiers union wrote on Twitter.
Police sources say the suspect, 30, was arrested at the scene and lived nearby
in a working-class area close to where unrest erupted last week. The French
interior minister, Christophe Castaner, hailed the response of officers who
gave first aid to their comrades at the scene. “My thoughts go out to the two
injured policemen who were committed to protecting us,” Mr. Castaner wrote on
Twitter. Police sources called the collision a deliberate act.”

 

Germany

 

Reuters: Germany's Far-Right Afd Suspends Spokesman Over 'Fascist' Remark
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“The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has suspended a spokesman after
he suggested in an email exchange that the term "fascist" was used too freely,
an AfD lawmaker said on Monday. The suspension of Christian Lueth is likely to
deepen a crisis in the AfD triggered by the domestic intelligence agency's
decision last month to step up monitoring of a radical wing within its ranks,
and suggestions by one of its co-leaders that a split is needed to purge the
party of extremists. "Lueth referred to himself as a 'fascist' in email
correspondence with a female (job) applicant," an AfD lawmaker said on
condition of anonymity, confirming allegations first reported by Die Zeit
magazine. The lawmaker said he had not seen the emails but had been briefed
about them by a colleague involved in reviewing the incident for the
parliamentary group, which has the final say on whether to fire Lueth. Lueth
did not respond to a request for comment. The email exchange had centred on
Lueth's grandfather Wolfgang, the German navy's most successful submarine
captain in World War Two, who was awarded Nazi Germany's highest military
honour by Hitler. "In one of the exchanges, Lueth wrote to the woman: 'If my
grandfather was a fascist then I would be a fascist too,'" the AfD lawmaker
said.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Eurasia Review: Maldives: Daesh Surge
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“On April 21, 2020, unidentified attackers set ablaze a sewerage pump station
operated by state owned utilities firm, Fenaka Corporation, on the Hithadhoo
Island of Addu City. Though the fire was extinguished and no one was hurt in
the incident, Mayor Abdulla Sodiq in a Tweet alleged that it was an attempt to
halt services on the island. Though no one has claimed responsibility for the
attack, the Islamic State, in an article published on April 21, 2020, in its
magazine Voice of Hind, stated, “We also congratulate the brothers from
Maldives for carrying out the blessed arson attack against the apostate
regime…” The article referred to a similar attack of arson on April 15. On
April 15, 2020, five speedboats, including a sea ambulance, a police vessel and
the atoll council’s speed boat, were damaged in a fire at Mahibadhoo Harbour on
the Alifu Dhaalu Atoll. Two other speed boats and two dinghies were also
affected by the fire. The same evening, Maldives Police Service (MPS)
classified the incident as a deliberate act of arson to retaliate against the
ongoing investigations against religious extremism and drug trafficking.”



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