Germany banned all Hezbollah activity on its soil on Thursday and designated
the Iran-backed group a terrorist organisation, a much-anticipated step l

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


April 30, 2020

 

Reuters: After U.S., Israeli Pressure, Germany Bans Hezbollah Activity, Raids
Mosques
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“Germany banned all Hezbollah activity on its soil on Thursday and designated
the Iran-backed group a terrorist organisation, a much-anticipated step long
urged by Israel and the United States. Police also conducted early morning
raids on mosque associations in cities across Germany which officials believe
are close to the heavily armed Shi’ite Islamist group. “The activities of
Hezbollah violate criminal law and the organization opposes the concept of
international understanding,” said the interior ministry in a statement. The
move means that Hezbollah symbols are banned at gatherings and in publications
or in the media and Hezbollah assets can be confiscated, said the ministry,
adding as it is a foreign organisation, it is not possible to ban and dissolve
it. Security officials believe up to 1,050 people in Germany are part of what
they describe as Hezbollah’s extremist wing. Israel, which with the United
States had been pushing Germany to ban the group, praised the move. “It is a
very important decision and a valuable and significant step in the global fight
against terrorism,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.”

 

Voice Of America: Somalia’s Al-Shabab Publicly Executes 3 For Spying
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“Somali militant group al-Shabab has executed three of its own members for
alleged spying on behalf of Western intelligence agencies, local residents and
regional officials said. El Bur district commissioner Colonel Nur Hassan Gutale
says the three men were executed by a firing squad late Tuesday in the center
of the town as dozens of people watched. “According to our sources, the men are
not from the town. The militants brought them there to execute and they
executed them in public late Tuesday,” Gutale told VOA over the phone.
According to local residents speaking on condition of anonymity, an al-Shabab
judge at the scene of the execution said the men had admitted to working for
Western intelligence agencies and collaborating with the federal government of
Somalia. Al-Shabab has been trying to overthrow Somalia's government and turn
the country into a strict Islamic state. El Bur was once the commercial hub of
Central Somalia and now is one of the main strongholds of al-Shabab in the
Galgudud region. They lost the control of the town late 2014 to Ethiopian
troops backing Somali government forces but retook it in April 2017 when the
Ethiopians withdrew from the town, forcing its administrators including Colonel
Gutale to flee to nearby towns.”

 

Associated Press: Prosecutors Charge Neo-Nazi With German Politician's Murder
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“German prosecutors have charged a far-right extremist with the killing of a
regional politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party last year, and a
near-fatal attack on an Iraqi asylum-seeker in 2016. Federal prosecutors said
Wednesday that Stephan Ernst, 46, who has previous convictions for a string
violent anti-migrant crimes, is accused of murder, attempted murder, serious
bodily harm and firearms offenses. A second man, identified only as Markus H.
due to privacy rules, was charged with accessory to murder and breaking
firearms laws for allegedly helping Ernst improve his marksmanship while
suspecting that he was considering a politically motivated attack, prosecutors
said. Walter Luebcke, who led the regional administration in Germany's central
region of Kassel, was shot on his porch on June 1, 2019, and died later that
night. His killing sparked widespread outrage in Germany and warnings about the
growing danger of violent far-right extremism. Prosecutors said in a statement
that Ernst and Markus H. both attended an October 2015 town hall event where
Luebcke defended the German government's decision to allow hundreds of
thousands of refugees into the country.”

 

United States

 

CNBC: Here’s Why Coronavirus Is Being Classified As A Biological Agent
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“Bad actors have defied stay-at-home orders and are threatening to spread the
coronavirus by coughing or spitting on essential workers. Under new direction
from Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, these actions could be punishable
by law under terrorism charges. In a March 24 memo, Rosen wrote that “Because
coronavirus appears to meet the statutory definition of a “biological agent”
under 18 U.S.C § 178(1), such acts could implicate the Nation’s
terrorism-related statues.”  After charging similar offenders with lesser
crimes, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewall charged a man named George
Falcone with making terroristic threats after he allegedly coughed on a Wegmans
employee and claimed he had coronavirus. If convicted, Falcone could face 10
years in prison and a $150,000 fine. Since bringing up charges against Falcone,
Grewall’s office has charged more than 30 others with making terroristic
threats. “You need to use whatever levers you have to make sure people abide by
those orders from your governors and that they don’t, in this midst of this
crisis, take advantage of their fellow citizens by engaging in criminal
conduct,” Grewall said in an interview.”

 

Syria

 

Al Monitor: Intel: Pompeo Condemns Terrorist Attack In Syria’s Afrin
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“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned on Tuesday a terrorist bomb attack
that killed at least 40 people in the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin. “The
United States condemns the act of terror carried out today in Afrin, Syria,
claiming the lives of dozens of people shopping in the central market as they
prepared to break the Ramadan fast,” Pompeo said in a statement. “Initial
reports indicate many victims were civilians, including children. Such cowardly
acts of evil are unacceptable from any side in this conflict.” Pompeo
reiterated UN calls to implement a country-wide cease-fire throughout the
war-torn country. Why it matters:  Turkish forces and their Arab rebel allies
from the Free Syrian Army have controlled Afrin since 2018 after ousting the
Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the area. Turkey immediately
blamed the attack on the YPG, which has yet to comment. The United States has
not attributed blame for the attack. What’s next:  As tensions continue between
Turkey and the Syrian Kurds, Ankara is also operating in Idlib province — the
last rebel bastion — to conduct joint patrols with Russia, which backs Damascus
in the conflict. While the patrols have tamped down conflict between the
government of President Bashar al-Assad and the Turkish-backed rebels,
activists have also accused Turkey of shooting dead protesters demonstrating
against the patrols.”

 

Iraq

 

The Jerusalem Post: A Rift Emerges Among Pro-Iranian Militias In Iraq
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“Iraq’s politics may be getting even more divided after the acting Prime
Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, sought to affirm his office’s control over key
Iraqi paramilitary groups. The powerful Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization
Units have been maneuvering to dominate Iraq since the ISIS war, but they are
increasingly divided between those who want to play a role in Iran’s regional
strategy and those who want to be a more local Iraqi force. A letter from the
Prime Minister’s office emerged last week in which four brigades of the PMU,
some 15,000 men, could be moved from the control of the PMU to the Prime
Minister’s office. This would effectively remove them from control by key
pro-Iranian influence such as a man named Abu Fadak, who replaced Abu Mahdi
al-Muhandis after the US killed MUhandis and IRGC Quds Force leader Qasem
Soleimani in January. The real story is more complex. The PMU were formed in
2014 after a fatwa by Iraq’s most well known cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
They were intended to be a popular mobilization of young men to fight ISIS.
Some of the units that joined were historic Iraqi militias that are aligned
with Iran. These included Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Asaib
Ahl al-Haq (AAH) and the Badr Organization.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Associated Press: SEALs Tried To Locate US Citizen Taken By Afghan Militants
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“In the days following the capture of an American contractor in Afghanistan
earlier this year, Navy commandos raided a village and detained suspected
members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network while the U.S. intelligence
community tried to track the cellphones of the man and his captors, The
Associated Press has learned. While the circumstances surrounding the abduction
remain unclear, the previously unreported operation described by multiple
American officials over the past month shed new light on early efforts to
locate Mark R. Frerichs, a contractor from Illinois whose disappearance has
been shrouded in mystery and whose case has been the subject of minimal public
discussion by the U.S. government. The new details emerge as violence and
political infighting in Kabul threaten to scuttle a Taliban peace deal with the
U.S. Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced frustrations after a
failed attempt to mediate a power struggle between Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani and political rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. The Trump administration said
it would cut $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan. Washington has urged Kabul to
release Taliban prisoners, which is part of the peace agreement, arguing the
detainees were at risk of spreading the coronavirus.”

 

Radio Free Europe: Afghans Claim Foreign Combatants Fighting Alongside Taliban
In Violation Of Peace Deal
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“Afghan officials say hundreds of foreign combatants are fighting alongside
Taliban militants in a strategic northern province, a move that if proven true
would violate the terms of the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement. Zakaria Sawda, the
governor of the northeastern province of Badakhshan, said around 400 foreign
militants, mostly from neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, had joined the
Taliban and were fighting Afghan security forces in the province. Sawda told
RFE/RL that the Taliban and foreign fighters were attempting to create a large
terrorist “hub” in Badakhshan, adding that it was a “serious concern.” Sawda's
claims could not be independently verified. But if confirmed, the Taliban's
actions would constitute a violation of the agreement the militant group signed
with Washington in February. Under that deal, the Taliban committed to severing
ties with terrorist groups and preventing terrorists from using territory under
its control to launch attacks against the United States and its allies,
including the Afghan government. In exchange for the Taliban's counterterrorism
guarantees, the United States agreed to withdraw all of its around 12,000
troops from Afghanistan by July 2021. There was no immediate comment from the
Taliban, which controls and contests large parts of Badakhshan, a remote,
mountainous province bordering Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan.”

 

Bloomberg: MTN Seeks To Dismiss U.S. Anti-Terrorism Case In Afghanistan
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“MTN Group Ltd. filed court papers to dismiss a U.S. claim that Africa’s
largest wireless carrier paid Taliban officials not to attack its operations in
Afghanistan. “We have filed a motion to dismiss the case,” Chief Executive
Officer Rob Shuter said by phone. “We believe that they have sued the wrong
defendants, in the wrong courts, on insufficient allegations.” Families of
almost 150 U.S. service members and civilians who were killed or wounded in
attacks in Afghanistan opened a case against Johannesburg-based MTN late last
year, accusing the company of making payments to avoid damage to its
mobile-phone towers. MTN was also accused of providing support to the Taliban
by deactivating cell towers at the group’s request. The South African
mobile-phone company operates in 21 countries across Africa and the Middle
East, including parts of the world seen as too risky by many other carriers,
countries such as Syria, Iran, and South Sudan. In some instances that has left
it vulnerable to legal entanglements, unpredictable politics and regulatory
crackdowns. The company has been entangled in a legal battle over the granting
of its Iranian license for years, though no claims have proven to be successful
to date.”

 

Lebanon

 

Atlantic Council: Hezbollah Considers The United States, Not Israel, Its
Greatest Enemy
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“April 18, 1996 is an infamous date in Lebanese history, particularly, among
south Lebanon’s Shia Muslims. Israeli forces, engaged in operation Grapes of
Wrath against Hezbollah, struck a UN compound in Qana, killing 106 Lebanese
civilians sheltering there. The group, however, placed ultimate blame for the
strike on the United States, not Israel. In the same vein, while eulogizing
Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani earlier this year, Hezbollah’s
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah indirectly explained his group’s rationale,
stating that America’s right place is that of “the primary enemy, the Greatest
Satan.” Hezbollah’s antipathy towards Israel is more uncompromising than its
anti-Americanism. The group rejects Israel’s very existence due to
anti-Judaism, which is exacerbated by the Jewish state’s presence on what
Hezbollah considers sacred Islamic and historically Arab land. Nevertheless, as
Hezbollah’s 1985 Open Letter—the group’s binding manifesto—indicates, the
group’s rivalry with Israel is secondary. The Open Letter reserves its highest
level of opprobrium for America, labeling it the main root of evil and
declaring the “confrontation with America” as the yardstick for all of
Hezbollah’s other activities.”

 

Africa

 

The Washington Times: U.S. Counterterrorism Operations Hit Record Levels In
Unstable Corner Of Africa
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“The COVID-19 pandemic has upended U.S. military operations around the world,
stalled some training at home and troop movements abroad, and halted a host of
exercises with key allies from Asia to Europe. But one major American military
operation has forged ahead with seemingly little impact from COVID-19:
counterterrorism operations in Somalia, which have hit record levels over the
past two months. Pentagon officials are racing to keep pressure on the
al-Shabab terrorist network and are not allowing a global outbreak to offer
even a small reprieve for U.S. enemies. So far this year, American forces have
conducted at least 39 airstrikes against terrorist targets in Somalia. That
figure has the U.S. on pace to set a record again this year in its war against
terrorists in Africa. Last year, the U.S. carried out 63 strikes against
al-Shabab and Islamic State targets in Somalia, according to numbers provided
by U.S. Africa Command, which oversees military operations on the continent.
The pace of America’s air assault in Somalia is rising for a number of reasons,
analysts say. Broadly speaking, the U.S. in recent months has slowly and
gradually reduced its direct military engagements in other corners of the
continent, including in the Sahel region where French forces are now taking the
leading role in counterterrorism operations.”

 

Europe

 

WTOP: The Hunt: Expert Believes A Terror Attack Is Coming
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“Could a significant attack be imminent? On this week’s edition of The Hunt
with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green, Hans Jakob Schindler,
senior director of The Counter Extremism Project, said there are clear signs in
Europe and beyond.”

 

Radio Free Europe: Man In North Caucasus Faces New Terrorism Charge After
Serving 16 Years
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“A man from Russia's North Caucasus region of Karachai-Cherkessia has been
charged with masterminding the financial support of a terrorist organization
just as he was to be released from prison after serving a 16-year term for the
attempted killing of a law enforcement officer. Aslan Sanashokov's lawyer,
Ramazan Uzuyev, told RFE/RL on April 28 that his client was charged with
organizing a cash transfer in 2014 while in custody to a man allegedly linked
to a terrorist group in Syria. According to Uzuyev, Sanashokov was charged on
April 22, the day he was supposed to be released from a correctional
institution in the Stavropol Krai region after finishing his 16-year term.
Instead of being released, Sanashokov was sent to a pretrial detention center
until June 22. Sanashokov rejects the charge, saying it wasn't possible to
organize cash transfers to anyone while behind bars. He says officers of the
Federal Security Service (FSB) fabricated the case against him after they
interrogated his wife last year and planted a flashcard in his belongings, the
contents of which were later used against him. In many former Soviet republics,
the practice of filing new charges against inmates to keep them incarcerated
right before their expected release has been common for years.”



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