ISIS operative,Abdulnasser al-Qirdash, Isis operative and part of ISIS's
Delegated Committee was handed over to Iraqi security forces by Syrian and US

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


May 21, 2020

 

The Jerusalem Post: Iraqi Security Services Arrest ISIS Leader - Report
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“ISIS operative,Abdulnasser al-Qirdash, Isis operative and part of ISIS's
Delegated Committee was handed over to Iraqi security forces by Syrian and US
officials on Wednesday. Over the course of the past few months, various reports
have been published with regard to the identity of the ISIS leader. In January,
the Guardian reported that his name was Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman
al-Mawla. The report relied on sources from two foreign intelligence agencies,
where it was discovered that he is one of the founders of the organization. In
March 2020, the US National Archives and Federal Register released a statement
signed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listing Malwa's many other pseudonyms,
in which they reported that he is the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria. According to the British intelligence agencies, he was appointed leader
hours after al-Baghdadi's assassination during a special operation held by US
special forces.”

 

The Guardian: Britain First Leader Paul Golding Convicted Under Terrorism Law
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“The leader of the far-right political group Britain First has been found
guilty of an offence under the Terrorism Act after refusing to give police
access to his mobile phone on his return from a political trip to Russia. Paul
Golding, 38, was stopped at Heathrow by Metropolitan police officers on 23
October last year on his way back from Moscow. He refused to give the pin codes
for an iPhone and Apple computer and was later charged with wilfully refusing
to comply with a duty under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. Golding denied the
charge but was found guilty following a trial at Westminster magistrates court
in London on Wednesday. Chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ruled there was “no
doubt” that Golding had failed to comply with requests for information, despite
his obligations being explained to him and being warned “over and over” that he
risked arrest. She handed Golding a conditional discharge for nine months and
ordered him to pay a £21 surcharge and £750 in costs. Arbuthnot said Golding
had been lawfully questioned and that under Schedule 7 there had been no
requirement for “reasonable suspicion” for the stop.”

 

United States

 

Al Jazeera: September 11 Convict Renounces Terrorism, Al-Qaeda
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“The only man ever convicted in a United States court for a role in the
September 11 attacks now says he is renouncing terrorism, al-Qaeda and the ISIL
(ISIS) group. Zacarias Moussaoui is serving a life sentence at a federal prison
in Colorado after narrowly escaping the death penalty at his 2006 trial. He was
sometimes referred to as the missing 20th hijacker, and while he was clearly a
member of al-Qaeda, there is scant evidence to suggest he was slated to hijack
a plane on September 11, 2001. Instead, prosecutors pinned responsibility on
Moussaoui because they said he could have prevented the attacks if he had not
lied to the FBI about his knowledge of al-Qaeda and its efforts to attack the
US when he was arrested in August 2001. In a handwritten court motion Moussaoui
filed with the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia last month, Moussaoui
wrote, “I denounce, repudiate Usama bin Laden as a useful idiot of the
CIA/Saudi. I also proclaim unequivocally my opposition to any terrorist action,
attack, propaganda against the US.” He also said he wants “to warn young Muslim
against the deception and the manipulation of these fake jihadis.”

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: Man Pleads Guilty In US To Conspiracy To Hezbollah Drone
Parts Export
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“A Lebanese man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Minnesota to conspiring
to export drone parts and technology from the US to Lebanon’s Hezbollah. US
Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said this week that Usama Hamade, 55, pleaded
guilty to conspiring to illegally export goods and technology. His brother,
Issam Hamade, pleaded guilty in March in federal court in Minnesota.
Prosecutors said the brothers acquired sophisticated technology for drones from
2009 to 2013 and illegally exported them to Hezbollah, which the US considers a
terrorist organization. The Hamades were arrested in February 2018 in South
Africa and were extradited to the US last fall. According to an indictment, the
parts included inertial measurement units, which can be used to track an
aircraft’s position, and digital compasses, which can be paired with the
inertial measurement units for drone guidance systems. The parts also included
a jet engine and 20 piston engines. Issam Hamade has admitted that his brother
arranged to purchase parts and technology from various countries, including the
US, from 2009 to 2011. He also admitted that he transferred money from Lebanon
to accounts in South Africa at his brother’s request, knowing the money was
being used to buy these parts.”

 

Dhaka Tribune: An American Nightmare
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“The spread of conspiracy theories is central to the extreme right’s
activities. Some have vocally claimed that the virus is a hoax. Others have
blamed the Chinese, the Jews, or even Bill Gates. Extremists also spread more
familiar conspiracy theories, decrying 5G networks and vaccinations, which help
introduce the uninitiated to their ideology. Lockdowns fit this recruitment
agenda. Stuck at home with money running short, people might become “more
receptive to these movements,” warns Joshua Fisher-Birch, of the
Counter-Extremism Project, an NGO. The far-right is making use of online
platforms such as Facebook, Gab, and Telegram to spread its message to this
captive audience. They use an ever-changing litany of memes, ranging from
George Washington dressed as one of their ranks to Ronald McDonald with a
machine gun on his lap. Also, they have a significant presence in the online
gaming world, which helps them attract young recruits.”

 

Syria

 

Fox News: How ISIS Is Exploiting The Coronavirus Pandemic
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“Given that much of the world has been beleaguered by the coronavirus pandemic
-- and the subsequent lockdowns, bending of health care systems, economic
downturns and political divide -- concerns have risen that the Islamic State
group, or ISIS, has and will continue to exploit the distraction to sustain its
global reign of terror. “ISIS views the global pandemic as an opportunity to
weaken its enemies further. Governments are trying to maintain their focus on
international security issues at the same time they are addressing a global
health crisis that is also sparking an economic crisis,” Counter Extremism
Project (CEP) Senior Researcher Josh Lipowsky told Fox News. “ISIS recognizes
that and sees opportunities to take advantage of increased fears among civilian
populations, as well as governments that are refocusing and stretching their
resources.” In March, just as stay-at-home orders were taking hold across the
United States, ISIS -- via its weekly publication al-Naba -- called on its
operatives to strike against the West. “ISIS sees the entirety of the West as
an enemy of Islam guilty of destroying its physical caliphate. ISIS has
incorporated the COVID-19 pandemic into its propaganda, praising it as divine
punishment for the West,” Lipowsky explained.”

 

Iraq

 

The Washington Post: Investigators Build A Case For IS Crimes Against Yazidis
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“He was burly, with piercing blue eyes, and it was clear he was in charge when
he entered the Galaxy, a wedding hall-turned-slave pen in the Iraqi city of
Mosul. Dozens of Yazidi women and girls huddled on the floor, newly abducted by
Islamic State group militants. He walked among them, beating them at the
slightest sign of resistance. At one point, he dragged a girl out of the hall
by her hair, clearly picking her for himself, a Yazidi woman — who was 14 when
the incident occurred in 2014 — recounted to The Associated Press. This was
Hajji Abdullah, a religious judge at the time and labeled one of the architects
of the militant group’s enslavement of Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority, who
rose to become deputy to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He’s believed to be
the late al-Baghdadi’s successor, identified only by the pseudonym Abu Ibrahim
al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. A group of investigators with the Commission for
International Justice and Accountability is amassing evidence, hoping to
prosecute IS figures for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide --
including Hajji Abdullah. Hajji Abdullah was previously accused of involvement
in the slave trade, most notably in a wanted poster circulated by the U.S.
setting a $5 million bounty on his head.”

 

Kurdistan 24: US-Led Coalition Airstrikes Destroy ISIS Tunnels Southwest Of
Erbil: Source
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“The US-led coalition against the Islamic State, in coordination with Kurdish
Peshmerga forces, carried out airstrikes on Wednesday against the terrorist
group's fighters in the area known as Qarachukh Mountain, located outside the
disputed district of Makhmour, a security source told Kurdistan 24. According
to the source, the strikes targeted tunnels used by militants as a launching
pad to burn down nearby crops fields of the citizens living in the area.
Casualties among the Islamic State extremists remain unknown as small sleeper
cells are spread throughout hideouts in Mount Qarachukh. “The Islamic State
took full advantage of the security void in disputed Makhmour to regroup and
exploit the weak security in remote territories and villages under Iraqi
security forces' jurisdiction to launch nighttime insurgent attacks against
Kurdish civilians living there,” the security source added. Peshmerga
commanders stationed at the Gwer frontline outside Makhmour have continuously
warned the federal government of a mounting Islamic State presence in the area
and of the threat it posed to residents. Last week with the beginning of
harvest season, Islamic State burned down hundreds of acres of crop fields in
the disputed Makhmour district.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Voice Of America: Taliban Chief Urges US To Implement Afghan Peace Deal
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“The leader of the Taliban said Wednesday that implementation of his group’s
“historic” agreement with the United States was key to ending the war in
Afghanistan and paving the way for U.S. troops to exit the country. “The
Islamic Emirate [the Taliban] is committed to the agreement signed with America
and urges the other side to honor its own commitments and to not allow this
critical opportunity to go to waste,” said Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada. The
reclusive Taliban chief made the remarks in a message released in connection
with the coming annual festival of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the
Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. “Let us move forward with the implementation
phase so that a path is paved for the withdrawal of your [U.S.] forces and for
peace and security to take hold in Afghanistan and the region,” Akhundzada
said. His message coincided with a fresh trip to the region by U.S. peace envoy
Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated and signed the deal with the Taliban on
February 29. The American envoy visited Qatar for talks with insurgent leaders
based there prior to meeting Wednesday in Kabul with Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani. A pre-visit U.S. announcement said that during Khalilzad's trip, his
talks would focus on implementation of the agreement and press Afghan parties
to the conflict to open internal negotiations as soon as possible.”

 

The Guardian: Afghanistan Attacks Underscore Scale Of Challenge Facing Peace
Negotiators
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“At least 14 people have been killed in attacks on a mosque in northern
Afghanistan and on worshippers returning from prayers in the east, as the US
peace envoy arrived in Kabul to push Afghanistan’s newly united government to
start peace talks with the Taliban. The Taliban rapidly denied involvement in
either shooting, but said it had carried out an attack on a checkpoint that
killed nine militia fighters. The violence on the eve of the planned talks
underscored the scale of the challenge facing the US-brokered efforts to
negotiate an end to the war. In a rare message to mark the upcoming celebration
of Eid, the Taliban leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, said the group was
committed to the deal reached with the US earlier this year. He urged
Washington “not to waste” the opportunity offered by the agreement, which
provided for the safe departure of US troops from Afghanistan and was also
meant to pave the way for serious peace talks between Afghan parties. This part
of the process has stalled. After the February signing ceremony the Taliban
rejected government calls for a ceasefire, continuing attacks inside
Afghanistan and prompting the Afghan government to accuse it of bad faith.”

 

Saudi Arabia

 

The National: Saudi Arabia: Co-Ordination With US Is Vital To Curb Terrorism
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“Saudi Arabia-US co-ordination on terrorism is the best way to keep both
nations safe, the kingdom said this week, after an FBI investigation found an
Al Qaeda link to a naval base shooting in Florida. A trainee of the Royal Saudi
Air Force killed three American sailors in the December attack. The shooter’s
phone revealed his links to the terror group, the FBI and Department of Justice
said. “The US-Saudi partnership is one of the primary pillars of the global
effort to dismantle and defeat terrorist networks such as AQAP,” a statement by
the kingdom's embassy in Washington DC said. “Our two countries will maintain
our unbreakable commitment to combat the forces of evil, wherever they exist,”
it said. US authorities killed the gunman, Second Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Al
Shamrani, after jhe shot 11 people. Prior to the shooting, Al Shamrani posted
criticism of US interventions abroad and quoted Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
on social media. The FBI believes that he was radicalised before arriving to
Florida for a three-year aviation course the US navy hosts for foreign
servicemen. The embassy said that 28,000 Saudis have undergone military
training in the US during the last few decades.”

 

Lebanon

 

Associated Press: 20 Years After Withdrawal, Israel, Hezbollah Brace For War
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“Twenty years after Hezbollah guerrillas pushed Israel’s last troops from
southern Lebanon, both sides are gearing up for a possible war that neither
seems to want. Israeli troops are striking Hezbollah targets in neighboring
Syria and drilling for what could be an invasion of Lebanon. The militant
Hezbollah group is beefing up its own forces and threatening to invade Israel
if provoked. The bitter enemies routinely exchange warnings and threats. “We
are preparing seriously for the next war. We’re not taking any shortcuts
because we understand we have to be extremely strong to defeat the enemy,” said
Col. Israel Friedler, an Israeli commander who has been overseeing a weeks-long
exercise simulating war with Hezbollah at a base in northern Israel. Hezbollah
emerged as a ragtag guerrilla group in the 1980s, funded by Iran to battle
Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon. A protracted guerrilla war,
characterized by roadside bombs and sniper attacks, eventually forced Israel to
withdraw in May 2000. With the exception of an inconclusive, monthlong war in
2006, the volatile frontier has largely remained calm. Since then, Hezbollah
has evolved into the most powerful military and political entity in Lebanon.”

 

Africa

 

Voice Of America: Analyst: Sudan Has No Cash To Pay Damages For 1998 Embassy
Bombings
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“A Sudanese political analyst says Sudan will have a hard time finding the
cash to pay the punitive damages imposed by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in
connection with the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
“It's extremely difficult to pay this amount, so the other methods of solution
must be followed, including an appeal to the international community to
accelerate the lifting of sanctions from the Sudan,” Abdulmuniem Himmat told
VOA's South Sudan in Focus. In a unanimous decision Monday, the Supreme Court
reinstated a lower court ruling that ordered Sudan to pay $4.3 billion in
punitive damages to some of the victims of the 1998 embassy bombings in Nairobi
and Dar el Salaam carried out by al-Qaida. The attacks killed 224 people and
injured thousands more. Al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden lived in Khartoum for
much of the 1990s before moving to Afghanistan. Sudan's transitional government
is pressing the Trump administration to remove the country from the U.S. list
of state sponsors of terrorism. The state sponsors of terrorism designation
prevents Sudan from accessing loans and debt relief from the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund, as well as investment opportunities with
U.S.-based institutions.”

 

Council On Foreign Relations: Preventing The Next Boko Haram In Northern
Mozambique
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“As the world’s attention is fixed on the global COVID-19 pandemic, a brewing
conflict in northern Mozambique is threatening to plunge the region into chaos.
The conflict, which broke out in Cabo Delgado province in the fall of 2017, has
since resulted in more than 1,000 deaths and forced 100,000 people to flee
their homes. The details remain murky—not least because the government has
banned researchers and journalists from covering it—but it is becoming clear
that the so-called Islamic State is trying to capitalize on the insurgency.
Along with the rising death toll, growing humanitarian needs, and brutal human
rights abuses, there is concern among analysts that the conflict could spread
into neighboring countries across southern and eastern Africa, not unlike the
spread of jihadi violence in the Sahel. Northern Mozambique has long suffered
from high levels of illiteracy, poverty, child malnutrition, and alleged
government discrimination. The region is primarily Muslim and features multiple
languages, while the rest of the country is predominantly Christian. Cabo
Delgado province in particular has long practiced Sufism, a mystical form of
Islam. In recent years, new forms of Islam have been introduced to the region.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Al Jazeera: Latest UK 'Terrorism' Legislation Criticised By Rights Groups
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“Civil liberties groups have criticised the British government's latest
overhaul of the United Kingdom's “terrorism” legislation, highlighting the
potential for indefinite restrictions placed against those suspected - but not
convicted - of terrorism. The burden of proof would be lowered for officials
considering placing “terrorism prevention and investigation measures” (TPIMs)
against suspects, while the current two-year limit on their use would be
removed, under legislation unveiled on Wednesday. Under the proposed law,
courts would be able to limit a suspect's movements, enforcing curfews and
electronic tagging for an indefinite period, subject to review. Minimum
sentences would rise and the most serious offenders, if released, would remain
on licence for the rest of their lives and could be taken back into custody.
“We promised to act and today we are delivering on that promise,” Home
Secretary Priti Patel said in announcing the plan. “It was never right to
drastically curtail people's liberty on the basis of secret, untested evidence
using control orders or TPIMs - and we seem to be diving headlong into that
territory, where the standard of proof is extremely flimsy and people's
liberties can be curtailed on an indefinite basis,” said Rachel Logan, Amnesty
International UK's legal expert.”

 

Germany

 

Daily Sabah: Daesh Terrorist Charged For Attacking Turkish Shops, Mosque In
Germany
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“German federal prosecutors said Wednesday they were investigating an alleged
member of the Daesh terrorist group suspected of a series of acid and arson
attacks on Turkish-owned shops and a mosque and of planning killings with a gun
and explosives. The suspect, named only as Muharrem D., faces charges of
attempted murder against 27 people by arson, and of grievous bodily harm
against six, as well as planning “a serious violent act endangering the state.”
Beginning in mid-April, Muharrem is believed to have committed a series of
violent crimes against Turkish-owned businesses and a mosque in Waldkraiburg, a
small town near Germany's border with Austria. Investigators say he also
secured a pistol with ammunition as well as “significant amounts” of
bomb-making equipment for planned attacks on nearby mosques, the Turkish
consulate in Munich and a major mosque in the western city of Cologne. He
manufactured 23 pipe bombs and 34 kilograms (75 pounds) of explosives.
Investigators said in a statement that German citizen Muharrem “underwent a
radicalization process from 2017 onward” and then he grasped the ideology of
the Daesh while becoming a member of the terrorist group.”

 

Europe

 

Associated Press: Norway Mosque Attack Trial Wraps Up, Verdict Next Week
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“A Norwegian man charged with murder and terrorism in the killing of his
stepsister and the storming of an Oslo mosque should get the maximum 21 years
in prison, a prosecutor said Wednesday on the final day of the trial. Philip
Manshaus, 22, is accused of first killing his 17-year-old stepsister by
shooting her with a hunting rifle at their home in the Oslo suburb of Baerum on
Aug. 10. Authorities say Manshaus then drove to a nearby mosque where three men
were preparing for Eid al-Adha celebrations. He wore a helmet with a video
camera attached and a bulletproof vest, police said. Manshaus was armed with a
hunting rifle and a shotgun and fired four shots with the rifle at a glass door
before he was overpowered by one of the men in the mosque at the time. One
person was slightly injured when they jumped on Manshaus inside the mosque.
“These actions upset the feeling of security we have in Norway, regardless of
faith and ethnicity,” prosecutor Johan Oeverberg said Wednesday according to
the Norwegian News Agency as the trial wrapped up after starting on May 7.
Authorities say Manshaus was inspired by the shootings in March 2019 in New
Zealand, where a gunman targeted two mosques, killing 51 people, and in August
2019 in El Paso, Texas, where an assailant targeted Hispanics and left at least
22 dead.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Council On Foreign Relations: Countering The Female ISIS Threat In Indonesia
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“In 2017, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) arrested three female citizens,
disrupting a series of separate and highly organized potential suicide
operations. In 2018, Indonesia suffered multiple and simultaneous suicide
bombings perpetrated by entire families (parents and children) that targeted
churches in Surabaya killing 28 and injuring more than 50. In a January 2019
suicide operation, an Indonesian couple killed approximately twenty-three and
wounded over a hundred people in Jolo, Philippines. In October 2019, Indonesia
arrested a couple for a near fatal knife attack against its Coordinating
Minister for Politics, Law and Security and other officials. A GOI
counterterrorism sweep thereafter included the arrest of thirty-six suspects of
which two were policewomen. On November 13, 2019, a suicide bomber detonated a
bomb in the Medan police headquarters. The bomber’s wife, who frequently
visited a female terrorist in prison, was arrested with several others. Based
on the couple’s digital trail, they were laying the groundwork for a
significant terrorist attack in Bali. This list of extremist activities by
Indonesian women is by no means exhaustive.”



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