On May 14, thirty-one residents of an East Oakland neighborhood joined a
videoconference call to meet with their neighborhood services coordinator to

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


June 1, 2020

 

Salon: “Virtual Terrorism”: Far-Right Trolls Are Targeting Marginalized Groups
On Zoom Calls
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“On May 14, thirty-one residents of an East Oakland neighborhood joined a
videoconference call to meet with their neighborhood services coordinator to
hear updates about upcoming community events and resources available to
residents; the meetings, which took place regularly in person prior to the
pandemic, recently transitioned to virtual videoconferencing app Zoom. Then,
five minutes into the call, the number of attendees jumped up to 72. The newly
uninvited guests quickly overtook the meeting — first, by chanting the n-word;
then by taking control of the screen. The trolls drew swastikas and displayed
pornography images for all to see. “Then we restarted and it happened again —
and it was just within less than 10 seconds that we'd hung up,” Marla Williams,
who is the chairperson of Oakland Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council's
Havenscourt neighborhood, told Salon. “I ended up with about 14 or 15
attendees, once we got it all under control.” This wasn't the first time
Williams witnessed this kind of virtual attack. “It happened while I was on a
call with the mayor before,” Williams said. “It's very unfortunate, and it's
very important that there's still this type of this type of mentality out
there.”

 

Fox News: Barr: Violence From Antifa, Other Groups 'Is Domestic Terrorism And
Will Be Treated Accordingly'
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“Attorney General William Barr said Sunday that the Department of Justice will
treat violence by individuals associated with Antifa as domestic terrorism in a
statement that condemned the far-left group and asserted that protests against
police brutality and racial inequality following George Floyd's death have
“been hijacked.”Such demonstrations in cities nationwide have turned into
violent riots complete with looting, attacks against police and arson. Barr's
statement came after President Trump earlier Sunday said he would designate
Antifa as a terrorist organization. Antifa -- short for “anti-fascist” -- has
very little central organization but violent left-wing protesters, particularly
in places like Portland, Ore., often act under the Antifa banner. “With the
rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices
of peaceful and legitimate protests have been hijacked by violent radical
elements. Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation
to pursue their own separate, violent, and extremist agenda,” Barr said.”

 

Foreign Policy: Extremism Is On The Rise In West Africa. Education Is
Suffering.
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“In Burkina Faso, militant groups aligned with al Qaeda and the Islamic State
have stepped up attacks on schools, forcing some 350,000 children to stay home
over the past three years. According to a Human Rights Watch report released on
Tuesday, 107 schools have been burned, looted, and destroyed by militants
opposed to secular education since 2017. Half of the documented attacks took
place last year. “It’s their war against education,” a teacher told Human
Rights Watch. Fifteen teachers and other school employees have been killed in
the attacks. The attacks have not been confined to Burkina Faso. A UNICEF
report issued last summer found that 1.9 million children across Central and
West Africa had missed school as militant groups opposed to secular education
have stepped up their attacks. Once out of school, children are at greater risk
of being recruited by the armed groups or forced into child marriage, Al
Jazeera reports. Uphill battle. Clashes between security forces and armed
groups in Burkina Faso forced over 700,000 people to flee their homes last
year, as part of a broader regional trend: In the last year alone, there was a
fivefold increase in terrorist activity in the Sahel.”

 

United States

 

NBC News: Videos, Threats, But Few Signs Protests Have Been Stoked By
'Outsider' Extremist Groups
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“Unrest, violence and property destruction in cities across the U.S. on
Saturday showed few signs of having been stoked by organized extremists despite
a growing narrative from several political figures that outside groups are to
blame for some of the worst scenes of recent protests. Some fringe groups, most
notably anti-government “Boogaloo” members with guns, were seen in numerous
cities, stoking fear that more severe violence could be ahead. Law enforcement
officials have also said they are looking into anarchist groups that have
previously shown up at civil rights protests. And anecdotal reports of white
supremacists and other extremist groups fomenting violence have been amplified
by similar claims from authorities, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who
tweeted on Saturday that the city is “now confronting white supremacists,
members of organized crime, out of state instigators, and possibly even foreign
actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region.” That claim was
later boosted by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who claimed outside protesters, white
supremacists and drug cartels were part of the protest groups in Minneapolis.”

 

NBC New York: NYPD’s Terrorism Official Says Unnamed Groups Planned Protest
Violence In Advance
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“New York's top terrorism official says there's evidence that members of
anarchist groups from outside the city intentionally planned to incite violence
at protests calling for justice in the death of George Floyd. Deputy
Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said there is a
high level of confidence within the NYPD that these unnamed groups had
organized scouts, medics, and supply routes of rocks, bottles and accelerants
for breakaway groups to commit vandalism and violence. There are strong
indicators they planned for violence in advance using at times encrypted
communications, he said. One out of every seven arrests, of 686 so far since
May 28, has been people from out of state, according to Miller. He said those
arrested came from Massachusettes, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Iowa,
Nevada, Virginia, Maryland, Texas and St. Paul, Minnesota. A long day of
protests Sunday stayed peaceful until the last hours of the night when reports
of thrown projectiles turned tensions between police and protesters. Adam
Harding, Myles Miller and Checkey Beckford report. On Saturday, Commissioner
Shea had estimated at least 20 percent of protesters arrested Friday night were
from out of town.”

 

Washington Examiner: Police Fatally Shoot Woman Who Tried To Attack Officer
After Brother Was Charged With Assisting ISIS
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“A woman was fatally shot by police after charging an officer with a butcher
knife just days after her brother was charged with attempting to help the
Islamic State. Temple Terrace Police were called to talk to a woman, identified
as Heba Momtaz Al-Azhari, on Friday. She did not show any signs of distress
while talking to the officer but later began brandishing a knife and tried to
attack him with it, according to police. The officer then fatally shot the
woman, who later died at a hospital. Part of the incident was caught on a
surveillance camera and comes as the country faces mass protests over the death
of George Floyd. “We want it to be clear that this was an unprovoked, very
unfortunate situation, but that the officer really had no other choice, when
the knife wasn't dropped and the assault continued, but to defend themselves,”
Police Chief Kenneth Albano said. 'American astronauts on American rockets from
American soil': NASA returns to space with help from SpaceX The Florida
Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the situation. Heba Momtaz
Al-Azhari has been identified as the sister of Muhammed Momtaz Al-Azhari, 23,
who was arrested on May 24 by FBI agents.”

 

Syria

 

The New York Times: Western Countries Leave Children Of ISIS In Syrian Camps
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“As about 900 children languish in fetid, disease-ridden detainment camps in
northeastern Syria, the Western states their parents hail from have insisted
they cannot take them back. But last month, when a 7-year-old French girl was
on the verge of dying if she did not receive urgent medical care, France sent a
medical jet and flew her to Paris for treatment, leaving behind her mother, two
brothers and twin sister. The repatriation of the girl, Taymia, was the rare
exception, but proof, rights advocates said, that countries can take their
children back when they want to. “We have seen incredible hardheartedness when
it comes to the responses of governments such as France that talk the talk
about human rights,” said Letta Tayler, a senior counterterrorism researcher at
Human Rights Watch. “If France could take one child out, why couldn’t it take
the entire family?” Human rights groups say leaving the children in Syria
threatens their mental and physical health and risks their indoctrination with
Islamic State ideology, which is widely followed in the camps and could create
a new generation of violent jihadists.”

 

Iraq

 

Associated Press: IS Blasts Iraq PM As American Agent, Calls For More Attacks
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“The Islamic State group in an audio message blasted Iraq’s new prime
minister, calling him an “American agent,” and criticized the closure of
Islam’s holiest shrine in the Saudi holy city of Mecca to limit the spread of
coronavirus. In the message allegedly read by the group’s chief spokesman Abu
Hamza al-Qurayshi, released late Thursday, al-Qurayshi asked why mosques are
being closed and people being prevented from praying at the Grand Mosque in
Mecca, hinting that Muslims are immune to the coronavirus. The virus outbreak
disrupted Islamic worship in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia in late March
banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing the
minor pilgrimage to Mecca. In other countries in the Middle East, Friday
prayers were also suspended to limit the spread of the virus. Iraq’s new Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief backed by Washington,
took office earlier this month after he played a part for years in the war
against IS. The group was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017. Al-Kadhimi remains
the “intelligence’s pointed sword” on the heads of Muslims, al-Qurayshi said,
urging IS fighters to launch daily attacks in Syria, Iraq and other countries.”

 

BBC News: Islamic State: RAF Carries Out Four Air Strikes In May
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“Royal Air Force drones and Typhoons carried out four sets of air strikes
against the Islamic State group (IS) in May, the Ministry of Defence has said.
It said the strikes in northern Iraq all hit their targets. Two similar
operations in April were the UK's first strikes against the militant group in
seven months. But the MoD said the RAF had flown daily armed patrols since
March 2019, when IS lost its last strongholds in Iraq and Syria. The operations
come as IS stepped up attacks on security forces in northern Iraq, reportedly
while authorities were preoccupied with responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the actions showed UK Armed Forces were
continuing to protect the country and its allies from “all those who seek to do
us harm”. The first strike took place on 8 May, when a remotely piloted RAF
Reaper destroyed a bunker, which the MoD said contained a group of IS fighters,
at a location west of Tuz Khurmatu in northern Iraq. On 10 May, two Typhoons
struck a cave system identified by surveillance aircraft as occupied by IS. Two
Reapers struck another two bunkers on 13 May, while on 23 May, the MoD said a
patrolling Reaper struck IS fighters hiding in woods.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: Turkey Deports 12 Foreign Terrorist Fighters With Suspected
Daesh-Links To Finland
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“Twelve foreign terrorist fighters have been deported to Finland with an
evacuation flight as part of Turkey’s efforts to repatriate former Daesh-linked
persons to their country of origin, the Interior Ministry announced Sunday. In
a statement on Twitter, the ministry further pointed out that the repatriation
process was continuing. Prior to the global coronavirus pandemic, Turkey had
repatriated a large number of foreign terrorist fighters but had to halt its
efforts after countries closed their borders to curb the spread of the virus.
According to the ministry’s figures in February, Turkey had deported 229
foreign terrorists, 75 of whom are European Union citizens, since its
anti-terror operation Peace Spring in Syria.The issue of handling Daesh members
and their families detained in Syria – including foreign members of the terror
group – has been controversial, with Turkey arguing that foreign-born
terrorists should be repatriated to their countries of origin, while several
European countries have refused, saying the terrorists are denationalized.
Turkey has also criticized Western countries for stripping some of the foreign
terrorist fighters of their citizenship.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Washington Post: Clashing Assessments Of Links Between Taliban And Islamic
State Point To Problems For Afghanistan’s Peace Process
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“Afghan officials at some of the highest echelons of power in Kabul are
reviving claims that the Taliban and the Islamic State in Afghanistan are
aiding each other in carrying out attacks and sharing training pipelines —
boosting a long-held theory that threatens progress toward formal peace talks.
This month, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani linked a brutal attack on a maternity
ward in the capital with a rise in Taliban violence elsewhere in the country.
And Ghani’s national security adviser blamed the massacre on Taliban “sponsors”
who “have now subcontracted their terror to other entities.” The evidence for
such links is flimsy and has been repeatedly disputed by U.S. officials and
Taliban leaders. But Afghan leaders’ persistence in making the claim highlights
the depth of mistrust between the government and Taliban at a critical point in
the peace process. The accusations touch on one of the few public conditions in
the U.S.-Taliban peace deal: that the Taliban prevent groups like the Islamic
State from operating on Afghan soil. No group publicly claimed responsibility
for the maternity ward attack, but U.S. officials issued an emphatic, public
rejection of the Afghan government claims. U.S. special representative Zalmay
Khalilzad tweeted the United States blamed the Islamic State for the bloodshed.”

 

Associated Press: IS Claims Afghan Bus Attack; Civilians Killed In New Clashes
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“The Islamic State group took responsibility Sunday for a deadly roadside
bombing against a bus belonging to a local TV station in the Afghan capital,
while renewed fighting in nearby provinces killed at least seven civilians,
including a woman and several children. In a statement on an IS-affiliated
website, the group said Saturday's attack in Kabul targeted a bus carrying
employees of Khurshid TV, a station it described as “loyal to the Afghan
apostate government.” Two employees were killed and four wounded, said Marwa
Amini, the Interior Ministry deputy spokeswoman. Two of the wounded were in
critical condition Sunday, said Mohammad Rafi Sediqi, an official at the
station. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State are active in Kabul. IS has
claimed recent attacks on civilian targets, while the Taliban has taken
responsibility for attacking military targets. IS has been increasingly active
in Afghanistan after suffering battlefield losses in recent months to
government and U.S. forces, as well as its Taliban rivals. Another roadside
bomb exploded in Kabul on Sunday as a police patrol was passing by, wounding
three civilians, said Tariq Arian, the Interior Ministry spokesman. No one
immediately claimed responsibly for the blast.”

 

Associated Press: Afghan Government Says Taliban Attack On Checkpoint Kills 14
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“Taliban fighters attacked an army checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan, killing
14 military personnel, the Defense Ministry said Friday. The Taliban took
responsibility for Thursday's attack in Paktia province, calling it a
“defensive action,” without elaborating. Javid Faisal, spokesman for the
Afghanistan national security adviser’s office, said despite sporadic clashes,
a truce in effect during the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which
ended Tuesday, would continue. The Taliban accused the Afghan government of
carrying out an airstrike Wednesday killing several civilians. The government
said the target was Taliban fighters. Neither side appeared ready to return to
all out fighting, however. “The détente that started during Eid al-Fitr
continues despite reports of scattered incidents to the contrary,” Faisal said.
Meanwhile, a team of five Taliban members were in Kabul discussing the release
of Taliban and Afghan government prisoners from. The Afghan government has
released 2,000 Taliban prisoners since the signing of a peace deal between the
United States and the Taliban on Feb. 29 and the insurgents have freed 347
captives. Under the peace deal, the Afghan government is to release up to 5,000
insurgents, while 1,000 Afghan soldiers and police will be freed by the
Taliban.”

 

Foreign Policy: Taliban Leadership In Disarray On Verge Of Peace Talks
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“Control of the Afghan Taliban is in disarray as the coronavirus has swept
through the leadership, forcing a number of senior officials to seek treatment
and leaving the way open for the son of the group’s founder, Mullah Mohammad
Omar, to take over as interim leader, according to sources in the Taliban and
officials with the Afghan government and Western intelligence. The illness of
senior Taliban leaders and their absence from decision-making come at a
critical time for Afghanistan, as the United States is drawing down its troops
in accordance with a bilateral deal struck with the Taliban in February. Any
hint of disunity at the top of the Taliban—and the possibility that it could
spill into a violent rivalry—could affect the next phase of the so-called peace
process: direct talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government aimed at
ending the nearly two-decade-old war. The Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah
Akhundzada, has been absent from meetings for some weeks, his place taken by
Sirajuddin Haqqani, his deputy and scion of the brutal jihadi Haqqani network,
which has links with al Qaeda, said Antonio Giustozzi, a leading expert on the
Taliban at the Royal United Services Institute in London.”

 

Al Jazeera: Afghanistan's Abdullah Says Ready For Taliban Talks 'At Any Time'
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“A top Afghan official appointed to lead Kabul's delegation in the
much-awaited peace talks with the Taliban has said his team is ready to start
discussions with the armed group “at any moment”. Abdullah Abdullah, head of
the High Council for National Reconciliation, said on Saturday an ongoing lull
in violence triggered by a surprise three-day truce offered by the Taliban on
the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday had set the tone for launching the peace talks.
“The announcement of the ceasefire, a reduction in violence and the exchange of
prisoners have all paved the way for a good beginning,” Abdullah said at his
first press conference since taking on the role. “The negotiating team is ready
to begin the talks at any moment,” he said, adding, however, that there must be
a fresh ceasefire during the talks. The government in Kabul had welcomed the
ceasefire and ordered its forces to comply with it. It also accelerated the
release of hundreds of Taliban prisoners.  Officials have blamed the Taliban
for carrying out some deadly attacks against security forces since the
ceasefire ended on Tuesday, but also acknowledged that the temporary truce has
led to an overall fall in violence across much of the country.”

 

Middle East

 

The National: Extremists Could Fill Gap If World Fails Covid-19 Test, Study
Finds
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“Extremists may fill the vacuum if governments around the world fail to get to
grips with the coronavirus pandemic, a UK government-funded study has warned.
Lockdowns and other restrictions may provide a “captive audience ripe for
radicalisation”, according to the paper which looks at the potential links
between Covid-19 and violent extremist recruitment. The paper is the latest to
warn of links between increasing extremism and the pandemic as governments
struggle with the impact of the crisis. The paper warns those at risk or
radicalisation are filling more time online and in chat rooms where they are
susceptible to misinformation and targeting by terrorist recruiters. With
government attention focused on dealing with the crisis, the paper warned that
the pandemic may allow for terrorists to plan opportunistic attacks. The
limiting of personal freedoms have been seized on by radical ideologues to
validate their world views, the paper says. The closure of mosques in Nigeria
“have been framed as evidence of anti-Islam sentiments in government”, it said.
“The failure or inability of government to reach certain areas or groups may
lead to a void in which violent extremists may step,” it said.”

 

The Arab Weekly: Under Assault, ISIS Gasps For Air Through Propaganda
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“As it struggles to rear its head again, ISIS issued an audio recording
Thursday threatening governments it accused of supporting the international
coalition fighting against it. The terror group’s threat against Iraq, whose
incoming Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has close ties with the US, was
expected. But their anger at Qatar, which has itself been accused of supporting
extremism, raised questions. According to the audio broadcast on Telegram, a
person identifying themselves as ISIS spokesman Abu Hamzah al-Quraishi vowed
more attacks in Arab states. Quraishi urged ISIS fighters “everywhere to
prepare whatever strength they could and be as hard as they could on the
enemies of God and to raid their places,” according to the tape. The ISIS
spokesman gave no specific targets but mentioned countries where the group is
active, such as Syria and Iraq. He also took aim at Qatar for its hosting the
US’s al-Udeid air base. “We have never forgotten that the base the tyrants
built to host the American army was and still is the center of command of the
crusade against Muslims in Khorasan, Iraq, the Levant, and Yemen,” he said,
referring to the international coalition against ISIS led by the US. Al Udeid
air base is the largest American air base in the region, hosting some 11,000
soldiers.”

 

Egypt

 

Associated Press: Egypt Officials Say 19 Militants, 5 Troops Killed In Sinai
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“The Egyptian military said it has killed at least 19 militants in raids and
airstrikes against an Islamic insurgency in the northern part of the Sinai
Peninsula, in clashes that also left at least five casualties among its troops.
Col. Tamer el-Rifai said in his statement late Saturday that the raids and
airstrikes took place last week in the towns of Bir al-Abed, Rafah and Sheikh
Zuweid. He said forces dismantled at least five explosive devices and destroyed
two four-wheel drive vehicles and a storehouse. The military statement did not
specify the number of soldiers killed. Other officials however said two
officers, including a colonel and a lieutenant, and three conscript soldiers
were killed when an explosive device hit their vehicle Saturday while taking
part in a campaign against the militants in central Sinai. The officials spoke
in condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.
Other details about the incident could not be independently corroborated as
Egyptian authorities heavily restrict access to that part of Sinai. The Sinai
affiliate of the Islamic State group on Sunday claimed responsibility for the
attack. For over a decade, Egypt has been fighting the Islamic militants and
struggling to re-establish control over the restive border region.”

 

Somalia

 

Associated Press: Roadside Bomb Near Somalia's Capital Kills 8 Civilians
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“A Somali police officer says at least eight civilians were killed when a
minibus hit a roadside bomb outside the capital on Sunday morning. Abdullahi
Ahmed says the minibus hit the bomb in the Hawa Abdi area near Mogadishu. The
death toll may rise because many of the surviving passengers were seriously
wounded, Ahmed said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the
blast. However Somalia's extremist group al-Shabab, which is allied to
al-Qaida, has carried out a series of bomb attacks in the area in recent
months.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Militants In Burkina Faso Kill 35 In Separate Attacks, Government Says

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“Militants in Burkina Faso attacked a cattle market and a humanitarian convoy,
killing at least 35 people, the government said on Sunday. Saturday’s violence
underscores deep instability in parts of Burkina Faso, which has been battling
armed groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State since 2017. Twenty-five
people were killed and more wounded in the attack on the market in the eastern
village of Kompienga, while five civilians and five military police were killed
near the northern village of Foube, the government said in a statement. Armed
groups “targeted a humanitarian convoy returning from Foube after delivering
supplies”, it said. A further 20 people were wounded in the convoy attack, it
said. No group has claimed responsibility. Hundreds have been killed in the
past year in the Sahel nation, and moer than half a million people have fled
their homes due to the violence, which has also fuelled ethnic and religious
tensions. The bloodshed follows the death of at least 15 people on Friday in an
attack on a convoy transporting traders in northern Burkina Faso.”

 

Reuters: Mozambique Forces In Major Fighting With Insurgents, Says President
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“Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi said government forces had engaged in
extensive fighting against insurgents after they attacked the town of Macomia
in the gas-rich northern region on Thursday. Nyusi’s comments on Saturday were
the first time the government has acknowledged the attack on the town, which
comes amid an Islamist insurgency in the province of Cabo Delgado that started
in 2017 but has been gathering pace in recent months. Macomia, 230 km (145
miles) from the provincial capital of Pemba, is the latest significant town to
be attacked since the start of the year as militias with suspected links to
Islamic State have stepped up attacks, briefly seizing the strategically
important town of Mocimboa da Praia. Analysts say heavy fighting followed the
attack on Macomia, which began in the early hours of Thursday, when insurgents
destroyed homes and infrastructure while residents fled. “The latest battles
fought by the Defence and Security Forces were huge, they were very
productive,” Nyusi was quoted as saying by Radio Mozambique and state
broadcaster TVM. “We have information that top cadres of this force have been
killed,” he said, referring to the insurgents.”

 

Al Jazeera: Niger Adopts New Wire-Tapping Legislation On Curbing 'Terrorism'
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“Niger's parliament has passed legislation authorising wiretapping as a means
of curbing “terrorism and transnational criminality” despite criticism from the
opposition. The law adopted on Friday allows “research of information” which
notably may “threaten state security” or “prevent the fight against terrorism
and organised transnational crime”. It was passed despite an opposition protest
walkout over concerns that it undermines the country's constitution which holds
that “secrecy of correspondence and of communications is inviolable”. An
opposition statement decried “the will of those in power to deprive Nigeriens
... of all privacy in their communications”. It added “this law will allow
surveillance of all Nigeriens, as well as all those who live in Niger under the
false pretexts” of maintaining security and fighting “terrorism”. Barkai
Issouf, the minister overseeing relations with institutions, insisted that
“this law is not a threat to liberty. It is indispensable and emanates from the
government's wish to secure our people”.  The AFP news agency quoted Justice
Minister Marou Amadou playing down the move: “You feared being listened in on?
Well, you were before and you still are - only now it will be organised.”



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