An allegedly neo-Nazi group called Nordadler (roughly: the Northern Eagles) was
banned by Germany's Interior Ministry on Tuesday. Police made four ra

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


June 23, 2020

 

Deutsche Welle: Germany Bans Neo-Nazi Group Nordadler
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“An allegedly neo-Nazi group called Nordadler (roughly: the Northern Eagles)
was banned by Germany's Interior Ministry on Tuesday. Police made four raids
targeting the group in the German federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia,
Saxony, Brandenburg and Lower Saxony. Interior Ministry spokesman Steve Alter
announced the ban on Twitter, saying the group operated mainly online.
“Right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism have no place on the internet either,”
he said. The ministry said the group pursued a national socialist ideology and
also operated under four other names, which all make NSDAP-style references to
the German Volk, or people/ethnicity: “Völkische Revolution” (People's
Revolution), “Völkische Jugend” (People's Youth), “Völkische Gemeinschaft”
(People's Community) and “Völkische Renaissance” (People's Renaissance). The
ministry said members of the right-wing extremist group professed their
allegiance to Adolf Hitler and other important representatives of the Nazi
regime and used the symbols and language of the Nazi regime. It said Nordadler
was planning a national socialist settlement project with like-minded people in
rural areas.”

 

The New York Times: U.S. Soldier Admits Plotting With Neo-Nazi Cult To Kill
Fellow Troops
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“An Army private confessed to sharing secret information with a satanic
neo-Nazi-group in a plot to attack his own unit while it was overseas and cause
“the deaths of as many of his fellow service members as possible,” federal
prosecutors in Manhattan said on Monday. The private, Ethan Phelan Melzer, was
charged in an indictment unsealed this week with collaborating with the Order
of the Nine Angles, or O9A, a group that prosecutors described as “an
occult-based neo-Nazi and racially motivated violent extremist group.” “Ethan
Melzer, a private in the U.S. Army, was the enemy within,” said Audrey Strauss,
the acting United States attorney in Manhattan, a job she moved into over the
weekend after her predecessor, Geoffrey S. Berman, resigned under pressure from
Attorney General William P. Barr. Private Melzer, Ms. Strauss added, had tried
“to orchestrate a murderous ambush on his own unit by unlawfully revealing its
location, strength and armaments to a neo-Nazi, anarchist, white supremacist
group.” The F.B.I. and the Army foiled the plot in late May before it could be
carried out, prosecutors said, and Private Melzer, 22, of Louisville, Ky., was
arrested on June 10.”

 

France 24: Afghanistan Reports 'Deadliest' Week In Its 19 Years Of Conflict
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“The Taliban killed at least 291 Afghan security personnel over the past week,
a top government official said Monday, accusing the insurgents of unleashing a
wave of violence ahead of potential talks. The previous week was the
“deadliest” in the country's 19 years of conflict, said Javid Faisal, spokesman
for the National Security Council, even as the insurgents dismissed the latest
figures. The Taliban carried out 422 attacks in 32 provinces during that time,
killing 291 security force personnel and wounding 550 others, Faisal said on
Twitter. “Taliban's commitment to reduce violence is meaningless, and their
actions inconsistent with their rhetoric on peace,” he said. The Taliban
rejected the latest government figures. “The enemy aims to hurt the peace
process and intra-Afghan talks by releasing such false reports,” Zabihullah
Mujahid, the Taliban's spokesman in Afghanistan, told AFP. “We did have some
attacks last week, but they were mostly in defence.” In a cabinet meeting
Monday, President Ashraf Ghani condemned the violence, which he blamed on the
Taliban. The government sees the violence “as running against the spirit of
commitment for peace”, Ghani said. In an attack on Monday, gunmen shot dead two
prosecutors and three other employees of the attorney general's office.”

 

Syria

 

Associated Press: Al-Qaeda-Linked Group In Syria Detains Former Commander Who
Defected
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“The main al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria on Monday detained one of its own
former commanders who had defected and set up his own hardline outfit earlier
this year after coming out against a cease-fire, opposition activists said. The
activists said a big force from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, raided the house
of Jamal Zeina, better known as Abu Malek al-Tali, on the outskirts of the
northwestern city of Idlib and detained him. Al-Tali was behind major
operations for the group that used to be known as Nusra Front, including the
December 2013 kidnapping of 12 Orthodox nuns from Maaloula, a Christian village
in Syria that insurgents controlled for a few months during the country’s
nine-year conflict. Nusra Front exchanged the nuns four months later for women
held in Syrian government prisons. In 2014, militants under al-Tali’s command
briefly stormed the Lebanese border town of Arsal and captured more than two
dozen Lebanese soldiers and policemen. Nusra Front exchanged the troops it was
holding with prisoners held in Lebanon. Al-Tali, a Syrian citizen, is known to
be a hardliner who is opposed to a truce reached in March between Russia and
Turkey that stopped a Syrian government offensive on Idlib province, the last
remaining rebel stronghold in the country.”

 

Forbes: Uncertain Future For European Kids Detained In Syria’s Terror Prison
Camps
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“In the sprawling prison camps of northeastern Syria, home to
hundreds-of-thousands of Islamic State (IS) detainees, coronavirus is far from
the only chronic health concern. Malnutrition, hypothermia, and preventable
disease stalk the fetid, overflowing terrorist penitentiaries, whilst another
contagion, religious fundamentalism, proliferates unchecked. Every year,
hundreds of children, many of European lineage, are born into this abject
deprivation. They are the sons and daughters of some 12,000 foreign prisoners
swept up by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces as the ill-fated caliphate crumbled. The
plight of these youngsters is well documented. Facing severe overcrowding,
al-Hol and al-Roj (Syria’s largest detention-cum-refugee camps) are squalid and
unsanitary, with little provision for health care or safe drinking water. 
Lacking basic medication, curable illnesses like tuberculosis are widespread,
and, in many cases, prove fatal. Last year, three-quarters of detainee
deaths—371 in total—were children. Those left untouched by physical illness are
victim to psychological abuse. IS’s perverse interpretation of Islam is forced
upon juveniles, observers report.”

 

Iraq

 

The National: Iraq Launches Third Phase Of Anti-ISIS Operations As Coalition
Withdraws
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“Iraq on Monday launched the third phase of a military operation in the north
to combat ISIS sleeper cells as US-led coalition forces begin to withdraw. The
military announced victory over the terrorist group in 2017, but in recent
months ISIS militias have increased attacks across the north, killing and
wounding Iraqi and foreign security personnel. “We announce the start of the
third phase of the Heroes of Iraq military operation to clear and inspect areas
of Saladin, Diyala, Samarra, and Kirkuk from ISIS remnants,” Yehia Rasool,
spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, said. The operation will be
conducted by the Iraqi army, members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, the
Iraqi federal police and will be supported by Iraqi air forces and coalition
warplanes, Mr Rasool said. The operation will “target 4,853 square kilometres
to search and chase terrorist elements, to raise our military presence and to
ensure stability in those areas”, he said. The terrorist group has bases in
rural areas of Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Saladin and Mosul provinces. ISIS has
about 3,000 to 4,000 active fighters and 8,000 other personnel in Iraq,
according to the Centre for Global Policy, a Washington-based think tank. Since
2014, the main mission of US troops deployed in Iraq was to defeat ISIS.”

 

Arab News: Iraqis Flee Border Areas As Turkey Strikes Kurdish Militants
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“Dozens of civilians fled villages in northern Iraq on Monday as Turkey
stepped up a military campaign targeting Kurdish rebels that has drawn
condemnation from Iraqi officials. Residents loaded trucks with their
belongings and shepherds led livestock out of the Iraqi border village of
Keshani as Turkish forces bombarded suspected positions of the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against
Turkey. Turkey launched an air and ground offensive into the border region last
week in a campaign to root out the PKK, which Ankara maintains has bases in
northern Iraq. Those fleeing said they were afraid of airstrikes and Turkish
troops entering their homes. “We are scared because of the Turks. We don’t want
our kids to be killed, so we have to leave, but we don’t have any place to go,”
a woman fleeing Keshani said. “Nothing is left and our government didn’t do
anything,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security
concerns. Around 15 families reside in Keshani, where most tend to farmland and
livestock, according to Delsher Abdulsatatr, the mayor of a nearby town. The
Turkish military announced late Sunday that a soldier died in a hospital in
Turkey of wounds sustained in fighting.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Associated Press: Gunmen Kill 5, Including 2 Prosecutors, In Afghan Capital
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“Gunmen opened fire at a car belonging to the Afghan attorney general’s office
on Monday, killing all five people inside, including two prosecutors, an
official said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the
capital, Kabul, but the country has seen a recent spike in violence, with most
attacks claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate. The much larger Taliban
insurgent group has scaled back its attacks since signing a peace agreement
with the United States earlier this year. It denied any involvement in the
shooting and said it would “investigate.” Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws
Faramarz said the two prosecutors, two other employees and the driver were
killed. Jamshed Rasooli, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said
the prosecutors were members of the team supervising the release of Taliban
prisoners as part of the agreement with the U.S. He blamed the attack on the
“enemies of peace.” Since the Feb. 29 peace deal, the government has released
over 3,000 Taliban prisoners and the insurgent group has freed 631 Afghan
national police and army personnel from captivity. A total of 5,000 Taliban
members and 1,000 Afghan forces are to be released under the deal.”

 

Saudi Arabia

 

Al Jazeera: Saudi Coalition Shoots Down Houthi Ballistic Missiles And Drones
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“The Saudi-led military coalition said on Tuesday it intercepted and destroyed
drones and missiles launched against the kingdom by Houthi rebels in Yemen,
including one fired towards the capital Riyadh. The Iran-aligned Houthis said
they would announce details of a “major attack” on Saudi Arabia on their Al
Masirah TV, amid ongoing fighting in Yemen where the rebels took control of the
northern province of Al-Jawf earlier this year. “The joint coalition forces
managed ... to intercept and destroy a ballistic missile launched by the
terrorist Houthi militia from Sanaa towards Riyadh in a deliberate hostile
operation,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said on state media. The Saudi
military said it also brought down “eight booby-trapped unmanned aircraft to
target civilian objects and civilians in the kingdom”, as well as “three
ballistic missiles from Saada governorate towards the kingdom”.  The attack
came after Saudi Arabia announced on Monday that Yemen's southern separatists -
backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the country’s internationally
recognised government - agreed to a ceasefire after months of infighting. The
agreement aims to close the rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, nominal
allies in the war against the Houthis.”

 

Lebanon

 

The National: US State Department Insists No ‘Back-Room Deal’ Behind Release
Of Hezbollah’s Tajideen
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“The US State Department is denying any deal-making or “good-will diplomacy”
was behind the impending release of Kassim Tajideen, a Lebanese-Belgian
businessman and convicted financier of the militant organisation Hezbollah.
Tajideen, 64, was designated a “global terrorist” by the US Treasury Department
in 2009 for supporting Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist group by the
US. He was arrested in Morocco in 2017, extradited to the US and sentenced to
five years in prison in August 2019. But after a judge's order on May 28,
Tajideen was granted “compassionate release” because of “serious health
conditions” and coronavirus. He is in the custody of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement and is expected to be deported to Lebanon in the next two weeks.
With no evidence that Tajideen’s health is suffering, or that there is
coronavirus in his prison, his release is fuelling talk of a prisoner swap
between Washington and Beirut, or with Hezbollah’s main backer, Iran. But on
Monday, a US official told The National that there was no such deal and
Tajideen’s release was a matter of judicial process. “The US government opposed
Tajideen's motion for compassionate release but in the end the court ruled in
his favour,” the US State Department spokesperson said.”

 

Somalia

 

Associated Press: Suicide Bomber Kills 2 At Turkish Military Base In Somalia
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“A suicide bomber detonated inside a Turkish military training base in
Somalia’s capital and killed two people, police said Tuesday. It was the first
time the Turkish base in Mogadishu, Turkey’s largest overseas military base,
has been attacked by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group. The
Somalia-based group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, according to
Radio al-Furqan, one of the group’s radio affiliates. Police Capt. Mohamed
Hussein said the attack occurred as new military cadets were doing their
morning drills. It was not immediately clear if any Turkish officers were
killed. Col. Ahmednor Abdulle, a Somali military officer, said an investigation
had been launched into how the bomber managed to sneak into the base. Turkey
has a significant presence in Somalia and operates one of a number of foreign
military training operations in the Horn of Africa nation long destabilized by
conflict. The Turkish-run Anadolu Agency quoted the Turkish ambassador to
Somalia, Mehmet Yilmaz, as saying the attack was foiled at the last minute by
guards who noticed the assailant and shot him. The incident occurred during an
event to recruit students to the base’s training program.”

 

Africa

 

The Conversation: Why South Africa Has A Keen Interest In Extremist Violence
In Northern Mozambique
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“A growing insurgency in the northern parts of Mozambique has caught the
attention of conflict analysts and observers worldwide. There is now even a
possibility that the South African National Defence Force might become involved
in the most northern Cabo Delgado province, with a view to ending the deadly
violence and litany of atrocities, abductions and destruction of
infrastructure. Should the South African government decide to send in its
military, the main aim would be to focus on the violent activities of an
extremist and militant Islamic group, Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jammah. It is also
locally known as Al Shabaab, even though it has no connections with the Somali
movement of the same name. The group aims to establish its own mosques and
madrassas to enhance the spread of its radical dogma. Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jammah
started as a religious sect which turned into a guerrilla group. Initially its
goal was to impose Sharia law (Islamic law) in Cabo Delgado. It rejected the
state’s schooling, health system and laws, which resulted in much tension in
the province. Some analysts argue that the movement is motivated more by greed
than by dogma or grievance: that it is making millions of dollars a week
through criminal activities relating to mining, logging, poaching and
contraband.”

 

Al Jazeera: Ivory Coast Arrests Armed Group Leader Behind Border Post Attack
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“Ivory Coast says it has arrested the leader of an armed group that last week
carried out a deadly attack on a military post near the border with Burkina
Faso. “The commander of the team who led the action was taken yesterday,”
Minister of Defence Hamed Bakayoko said on Monday at a military camp in the
main city of Abidjan. “We will go further as the investigation progresses. We
will know who he was in contact with, who is behind it,” said Bakayoko without
identifying the individual or giving further details about the capture. His
comments came during a speech honouring the victims of the pre-dawn June 11
attack, when at least 10 soldiers were killed and six others wounded after
dozens of fighters assaulted the post at Kafolo, on the northeastern border
with Burkina Faso. Other sources put the death toll at 12, comprising 11
soldiers and a gendarme, and described the raid as a reprisal for a crackdown
on armed groups. Bakayoko said the authorities had carried out a “very large
(number) of arrests of people directly involved” in the attack, adding that
these arrests came thanks to photos retrieved from mobile phones.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Guardian: St Paul's Bomb Plotter Encouraged Attacks By Others, Court Told
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“A Muslim convert and supporter of Islamic State who plotted to bomb St Paul’s
Cathedral and a nearby hotel also encouraged others to launch similar attacks,
a court has been told. Safiyya Amira Shaikh, 37, from Hayes, west London, has
admitted preparing terrorist acts and disseminating terrorist publications. At
a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey, Alison Morgan QC, prosecuting, said
Shaikh was a violent extremist who had pledged her support to Isis. She had not
just planned an attack but also encouraged others to commit attacks of a
similar kind, Morgan said. Shaikh’s online propaganda postings were
sophisticated and prolific, the court was told, including pictures of
executions, glorification of past atrocities and spreading threats to carry out
mass murder. Shaikh visited St Paul’s to scout out security and the best place
to leave a bomb, Morgan said. She initially intended to carry out the attack at
Christmas but later put it back to Easter. She gave undercover intelligence
officers, who were posing as co-conspirators, measurements for the size of the
improvised explosive device she would require. In one exchange, Shaikh said:
“Killing one kufar [non-believer] is not enough for me.”

 

Sky News: 25 Terror Plots Have Been Foiled Since 2017 Westminster Attack,
Minister Reveals
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“Twenty-five terror plots have been foiled in the UK since the Westminster
attack in 2017, a minister has told Sky News. Security services are currently
working on 800 live investigations into potential terrorists, security minister
James Brokenshire revealed today. It comes after three people died and another
three were seriously injured in a terror attack in a park in Reading on
Saturday evening. The attacker, Khairi Saadallah - a 25-year-old Libyan refugee
who was living in the Berkshire town, was known to MI5 last year, Sky News
understands. Speaking to Kay Burley@Breakfast, Mr Brokenshire said
counter-terrorism police have successfully prevented 25 attacks on UK soil
since extremist Khalid Masood killed five in Westminster in March 2017. He
described the UK's counter-terror approach as “world-leading”, adding that the
government had increased Britain's counter-terror budget by £90m this year to
£900m annually. The minister refused to be drawn on the identity of the Reading
suspect, which has not been officially confirmed by police. But he said: “We
will be looking towards a prosecution, so I don't want to say anything to cut
across that.”

 

The National: Judge Warned Reading Stabbing Suspect Khairi Saadallah Was
Falling Through The Cracks
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“The latest killings follow warnings from experts that an attack was highly
likely. “While those monitored by the authorities are less likely to present a
threat during this period, the police must remain vigilant to those who are off
the radar or may be using distractions to smuggle into Europe,” Ms Malik said.
“It is therefore imperative that intelligence is shared between countries to
ensure that current gaps are not exploited by terrorists.” One of the most
wanted ISIS terrorists, Abdel Majed Abdel Bary, was found hiding in Spain using
coronavirus face masks as a disguise. Director of the Counter Extremism Project
think tank, Hans-Jakob Schindler, said there was still a significant terror
threat in Europe. “Only a few weeks into the pandemic, ISIS began calling again
on its members to conduct attacks again,” Mr Schindler said. “In April, a first
ISIS cell was arrested in Germany that had continued to plan attacks on US
installations. “Therefore, currently, the pandemic does not result in a reduced
terrorism threat. “It remains to be seen how much the increased screen time
that Europeans have experienced during the lockdowns have influenced online
radicalisation numbers. “But my guess is that we will see a spike of
radicalised individuals in the near future.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

CNN Philippines: Anti-Terrorism Bill Still Under Review By Legal Team, Says
Duterte
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“The controversial anti-terrorism bill is now being reviewed by his legal
team, President Rodrigo Duterte has said. “My legal [team] is still reviewing
it, my legal team in Malacanang,” he said in a late night address on Monday.
The enrolled bill, which will repeal Human Security Act of 2007 by giving more
surveillance powers to the government forces, is now in the President’s desk
and only his signature is needed before it becomes a law. “It’s always
automatic, kapag nasa akin (if it’s already with me), I endorse it to legal,
even without reading it. It’s legal who will return it to me with a
recommendation, whether I will approve it or not,” added Duterte. Presidential
Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier told in a press briefing that Duterte is
expected to receive the legal opinions on the bill this week. “So, sa tingin ko
po by now, by this week eh mai-piprisinta na ang Bill itself at ang mga
rekomendasyon ng iba’t ibang ahensiya kay Presidente,” said Roque.
[Translation: I think the bill itself will be presented this week along with
the recommendations of other agencies to the President.] He noted that the
Department of Justice has already submitted its recommendations. Roque said
before in an interview with CNN Philippines that the President is “inclined” to
sign the bill.”



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