Eye on Extremism

April 28, 2020

Associated Press: UN Chief: Extremists Using COVID-19 To Recruit Online Youths

“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

“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

“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 Control

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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.”