Almost 120 terror plots were uncovered across Europe last year, resulting in
more than 1,000 arrests. ISIS was responsible for all but one of the 10 p

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


June 24, 2020

 

The National: More Than 1,000 Terrorists Arrested Across Europe As 119 Plots
Uncovered
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“Almost 120 terror plots were uncovered across Europe last year, resulting in
more than 1,000 arrests. ISIS was responsible for all but one of the 10 people
killed. The latest figures covering terror incidents in 2019 have been revealed
in Europol's EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report. In total, 119 terrorist
attacks were foiled, failed or completed last year in 13 EU countries, also
resulting in 27 people being wounded, 26 of them by ISIS. The 27th was hurt in
a far-right terrorist attack. The attacks led to 1,004 people being arrested on
suspicion of terrorism-related offences in 19 EU member states, with Belgium,
France, Italy, Spain and the UK reporting the highest numbers. They include the
London Bridge attack last November, in which convicted terrorist Usman Khan
stabbed five people, killing two. Khan had been released from prison early
after serving a sentence for plotting to blow up the London Stock Exchange.
Margaritis Schinas, vice president for Promoting our European Way of Life and
head of the European Commission’s work on developing a European Security Union
Strategy, said the EU needed to strengthen its counter-terrorism measures.
“Terrorism continues to be a threat for the world, Europe, our citizens, our
security and our way of life,” Mr Schinas said.”

 

Military Times: Far-Right Groups Like The “Boogaloo” And “O9A” Continue To
Attract Troops And Veterans
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“As protesters have taken to the streets this month to call for racial justice
and police reform, in the wake of the alleged murder of George Floyd by
Minneapolis police, another movement has made headlines for all the wrong
reasons. Its name is Boogaloo. Two weeks after the FBI arrested an Army
reservist and two veterans, one of the Navy and the other the Air Force, for
planning to incite violence at a Las Vegas protest, an active-duty airman shot
and killed a federal security officer in Oakland, California. All four,
according to their online activity, identified with the far-right group, which
is loosely tied to anti-government and white-supremacist beliefs, but mostly
advocates for an armed insurrection― of whatever kind― in general. More than
half of minority service members have seen links to the hate groups among
fellow troops. Though largely brushed off by veterans and service members as a
group of has-beens and wannabes, the Boogaloo archetype that emerged in memes
in the past decade has taken hold in the violent-extremist corners of the
internet. In both the white-power and anti-government “communities, ‘boogaloo’
was frequently associated with racist violence and, in many cases, was an
explicit call for race war,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.”

 

United States

 

The Washington Post: U.S. Soldier Plotted With A Satanic Neo-Nazi Cult To
Stage ‘Murderous Ambush’ On His Unit, Feds Say
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“As Ethan Melzer’s Army unit prepared to deploy in April, the young private
recognized that he could be killed while overseas and expressed an apparent
willingness to die. “I would’ve died successfully,” he allegedly wrote in a
message. But federal authorities now say that Melzer’s life was actually at
risk because of a murderous plot he had hatched against his own unit. Melzer, a
22-year-old from Louisville, is accused of leaking sensitive information about
his unit to a satanic neo-Nazi cult as part of a plot to launch a “mass
casualty” attack intended to cause “the deaths of as many of his fellow service
members as possible,” according to an indictment unsealed Monday. In electronic
messages, Melzer allegedly shared details about his unit’s location, movements
and security with members of the Order of Nine Angles, or O9A, an organization
based in the United Kingdom and described by prosecutors as “an occult-based
neo-Nazi and racially motivated violent extremist group.” “Melzer allegedly
provided this potentially deadly information intending that it be conveyed to
jihadist terrorists,” Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern
District of New York, said in a news release. Describing the planned attack as
a “murderous ambush,” Strauss called Melzer “the enemy within,” adding that he
was “motivated by racism and hatred as he attempted to carry out this ultimate
act of betrayal.”

 

Foreign Affairs: The Growing White Supremacist Menace
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“Late in the evening on April 11, the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department
started receiving 911 calls about an imminent attack on one of their own. A man
in a black Chevy truck was crisscrossing the area looking for a lone police
officer to “ambush and execute” and streaming his search to Facebook Live.
Using the video, police were able to quickly locate the truck. After a
high-speed chase, 36-year-old Aaron Swenson surrendered to police, a search of
his truck turning up several loaded firearms.The ensuing investigation revealed
that Swenson had been deeply immersed in the online culture of the so-called
boogaloo bois: heavily armed men, often clad in armored vests and incongruously
festive Hawaiian shirts, who in recent months have appeared at protests around
the country against both COVID-19 lockdowns and police brutality. Swenson isn’t
the only member to have embraced violence: on May 30, in Las Vegas, three
boogaloo bois on their way to a Black Lives Matter protest were arrested with
numerous firearms and Molotov cocktail ingredients—the trio have military
backgrounds, and according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, two had
plotted to firebomb a power substation.”

 

The Conversation: Islamic State Militants Incite Attacks, Gloat At US Protests
And Pandemic Deaths
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“An Islamic State follower posted the hashtag “#AmericaBurning” in a
discussion on the Telegram chat system in early June, and another posted a
message that read “You are waking up this morning to news of the destruction of
America, the dismantling of its States, and civil war.” Another Islamic State
website proclaimed “Destruction, fragmentation. America is burning,” while an
Islamic State supporter posted photos in the same Telegram forum of the riots,
writing “O Allah, burn them like they burned the lands of the Muslims.” IS
supporters are rejoicing at tensions from both peaceful protests and occasional
violence in U.S. streets in the wake of George Floyd’s May 25 death. As a
scholar who tracks the Islamic State group and its affiliates, I have followed
how the Islamic State has been exploiting the effects of the coronavirus on its
enemies and celebrating the effects of racial tensions and the pandemic in
America. Islamic State followers are excited at the prospect of a massive
Western death toll from the coronavirus, which they defined as “God’s smallest
soldier.” They also see the virus at work in U.S. military pullbacks related to
the coronavirus – such as the March announcement from the Pentagon that it
would stop sending troops to Iraq for at least two months.”

 

Syria

 

Al Jazeera: Two Syrian Soldiers Killed In Israeli Aerial Attacks: State Media
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“At least two Syrian soldiers have been killed and four others wounded in
Israeli missile attacks on southern and eastern Syria, according to state
media. State news agency SANA cited a military source as saying on Tuesday
“several hostile missiles were fired at our military positions in Kababej”,
near Deir Az Zor, and in the al-Sukhna region. “At the same time, one of our
military positions was targeted near the town of Salkhad in the southern city
of Sweida, resulting in the death of two martyrs and the wounding of four other
soldiers,” the source added. The attacks, which hit at approximately 9:17pm
local time, also caused material damages, SANA reported. No further details
were provided and there was no comment by the Israeli army. Israel has in the
past acknowledged carrying out dozens of air raids in war-torn Syria over the
years, most of them aimed at alleged Iranian weapons shipments believed to be
bound for Hezbollah, which fights alongside Syrian government forces. In recent
months, Israeli officials have expressed concerns that Hezbollah is trying to
establish production facilities to make precision-guided missiles. Last month,
an Israeli air attack on a military position near Masyaf wounded six soldiers
and destroyed several buildings, SANA reported.”

 

The Telegraph: British Aid Worker 'Captured By Islamic Militants' In Idlib
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“A British aid worker who was stripped of his UK citizenship was arrested in
northwest Syria on Monday by a jihadist group. Tauqir Sharif was captured in
Atmeh, a town north of Idlib province on Monday night and taken to an “unknown
location,” activists in the area said. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was formerly
linked to al-Qaeda, and controls parts of the northwest, the last rebel-held
area still at war with Damascus. The reason for his seizure remains unclear.
The 32-year-old from Walthamstow travelled to Syria in 2012 with his British
wife and founded the organisation Live Updates from Syria, which works with
orphans and widows and raises awareness of the humanitarian catastrophe.”

 

Iraq

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: Iraq Collaborates With NATO To Fight ISIS
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“Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein assured Monday that dialogue will
continue with NATO on the mechanism of joint action in combating ISIS. In a
phone call with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Hussein praised the
important role of France in combating ISIS and the support provided to the
Iraqi security forces through training and other logistical assistance, calling
for the need to continue working together to defeat its threats. On regional
tensions and interventions, the Minister emphasized the responsibility of other
countries in respecting the sovereignty of Iraq and following the principle of
non-intervention, with the need for a new Iraqi policy that creates balanced
relations with all neighboring countries. For his part, Le Drian confirmed his
country's support for the sovereignty of Iraq, praising the first round of
strategic dialogue that took place between Baghdad and Washington and the
agreement that included preserving the sovereignty of Iraq and the independence
of the Iraqi decision, stressing the need to distance Iraq from tensions in the
area. Commenting on Iraqi-NATO coordination to fight ISIS, national security
professor at Nahrain University Dr. Hussein Allawi described the relationship
between the two sides as “strong.”

 

The Jerusalem Post: Pro-Iranian Militia 'Blesses' Bombing Of Liquor Stores In
Baghdad - Report
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“An explosion reportedly targeted a liquor store in Baghdad and was praised by
the Iranian-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah. The explosion took place near the
National Theatre and not far from the French embassy. According to a social
media post ascribed to Kata’ib Hezbollah, the group blessed the explosion and
sabotage of places that sell alcohol. Karrada District, where the incident took
place, is a central and well-known area, and there are many checkpoints at
either end of the area, which leads to questions about how the operation was
carried out. Iranian-backed militias have infiltrated Iraq over the years and
play a key role in the security forces. The US has carried out airstrikes on
Kata’ib Hezbollah after it carried out rocket attacks on bases where US forces
are located. A bank employee was reportedly assassinated on June 16 in the same
area. Many people tweeted about the bombing that apparently occurred in the
morning hours of June 23. The social media blessing of the incident was
attributed to Abu Ali Al-Askari, the Kata’ib Hezbollah senior official and
security official.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Associated Press: Roadside Bombing Kills 6 Civilians In Northern Afghanistan
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“A roadside bombing killed at least six Afghan civilians traveling in a
rickshaw in a northern province, an official said Wednesday. No one immediately
claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the interior ministry
spokesman, Tariq Arian, the bombing in Jawzjan province took place the previous
evening when the rickshaw struck the roadside bomb in Mardyan district. One
civilian was also wounded in the explosion. Arian blamed Taliban insurgents for
the attack. Afghanistan has seen a recent spike in violence, with most attacks
claimed by the local affiliate of the Islamic State group. In early June, IS
claimed responsibility for a bombing at a mosque in Kabul that killed two
people, including the prayer leader. Eight worshipers were wounded in that
attack. A week later, another prayer leader and three worshipers were killed in
a bomb blast inside another mosque in Kabul. Eight other worshippers were
wounded. The Taliban condemned the mosque attacks. Also, the United States
blamed IS for a horrific attack last month on a maternity hospital in the
capital that killed 24 people, including two infants and several new mothers.
The Islamic State group, which reviles Shiites as heretics, has declared war on
Afghanistan's minority Shiite Muslims, but has also attacked Sunni Muslims and
mosques.”

 

Voice Of America: US Demands Investigation Into Killing Of Afghan Prosecutors
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“The United States has strongly condemned Monday’s assassination of a team of
five Afghan government employees, including two prosecutors, and demanded that
authorities investigate the attack. The slain men were said to be part of a
team working to facilitate the release of Taliban prisoners from government
custody as part of a landmark U.S. agreement with the Islamist insurgent group
aimed at ending nearly two decades of Afghan war. “This attack, carried out by
enemies of peace, took the lives of five civilians. We offer our condolences,”
Zalmay Khalilzad, the American special envoy for Afghan reconciliation, said in
a series of tweets. “We call for a full investigation to find the perpetrators
and bring them to justice.” Afghan officials said the victims were traveling to
the Bagram prison, north of the capital, Kabul, when gunmen sprayed their car
with bullets during an ambush. The prison facility hosts a large number of
insurgent prisoners. While the Taliban has denied its involvement in Monday’s
attack, the government has pointed the finger at the insurgents. The attack is
the latest in a series of high-profile assassinations in and round Kabul in
recent weeks that remain unclaimed.”

 

Pakistan

 

Associated Press: Pakistani Police Kill 4 In Raid On Militant Hideout
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“Pakistani police said Tuesday their counter-terrorism forces, acting on
intelligence, raided a suspected militant hideout in the country’s northwest,
triggering an intense shootout in which four suspects were killed. Police also
seized assault rifles and other weapons in the overnight operation. The
suspects had gathered at a home in the city of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province, to plan attacks, said Sannaullah Abbasi, the province's
police chief. The operation was successful and “saved many innocent people from
possible attacks,” he said. Abbasi provided no further details, but other
officials said the slain militants apparently belonged to a banned group.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province borders Afghanistan and has witnessed dozens of
militant attacks in recent years, most of them claimed by the Pakistani
Taliban.”

 

Middle East

 

The Jerusalem Post: Hamas Hints Terror Attacks Would Stop Annexation
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“One day after the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction held a rally
in Jericho to protest Israel’s intention to extend its sovereignty to parts of
the West Bank, Hamas on Monday called on Palestinians to “activate all the
tools of the resistance” to thwart the annexation plan. Hamas’s appeal is seen
by some Palestinians as a call for carrying out terrorist attacks against
Israel. While Fatah and the PA have called for “peaceful resistance” against
the planned annexation, Hamas and other extremist groups insist that the
Palestinians must resort to all forms of “resistance,” including terrorist
attacks. Addressing the Palestinians, Hamas said: “Let’s rise. Let’s launch a
popular revolution everywhere so that the enemy would know that there are men
in Palestine and heroes in our nation who will protect the land, the people and
the holy shrines and repel this enemy.” A “massive popular revolution and
activating all the tools of the resistance are sufficient to end the Zionist
aggression and stop the international conspiracy” against the Palestinians,
Hamas said in a statement issued in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli plan is a
“conspiracy woven by the Zionist occupation, the American administration and
some Arab conspirators against the Palestinian people,” it said.”

 

Libya

 

Al Jazeera: Libya's GNA, US Africa Command To Jointly 'Fight Terrorism'
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“Libya's internationally recognised government says plans were discussed with
the head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) to jointly “fight terrorism” in the
war-torn country during a meeting with Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. The
Libyan-American discussions were held as foreign ministers from the Arab League
on Tuesday were to hold an emergency meeting to try and find a diplomatic
solution in Libya amid increasing foreign intervention and heightened fighting.
“Under the framework of consultations on the evolution of the situation in
Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj on Monday met with [American] General Stephen Townsend
and the US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland,” the Government of National
Accord (GNA) said in a statement. The two US officials arrived at Zuwara
Airport, about 120km (100 miles) west of the capital Tripoli for the meeting.
They held talks on “joint coordination between the GNA and AFRICOM for the
fight against terrorism in the framework of the strategic cooperation between
Tripoli and Washington”, the GNA said.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Guardian: Reading Attack: Suspect Ruled Out As Possible Terrorist Twice In
Two Years
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“The suspect in the Reading stabbings was twice assessed by security services
but was deemed to pose no danger of staging an attack, it has emerged. Khairi
Saadallah, 25, was referred to Prevent, the government’s anti-radicalisation
strategy, and then to MI5 in the past two years. He was arrested on Saturday
following the stabbing to death of three men in a park in Reading, Berkshire.
Investigators are picking through his life as they search for evidence of the
motivation for the stabbings. Saadallah was arrested shortly after 7pm on
Saturday. The next morning, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, senior
national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism, determined it should be treated as
a terrorist attack, but with investigators keeping an open mind as to
motivation. Saadallah’s record of extensive mental health problems is
understood to be considered a significant factor. Community concerns have been
raised after it emerged that his three victims – James Furlong, Joe
Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails – were friends and members of the LGBT
community. In 2018, he is understood to have been assessed by Prevent and found
to have no clear ideology. He was deemed to need additional mental health
support. In the same year, the Libyan national was granted asylum in the UK.”

 

BBC News: West Sussex Man Admits Islamist-Related Terror Offences
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“A 20-year-old man from West Sussex has admitted Islamist-related terror
offences. Zakaria Yanaouri of Congreve Road, Worthing, was arrested in dawn
raids on 24 February. He was charged with five counts of possessing documents
containing information useful to terrorism. He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey
earlier and will be sentenced on 10 August.”

 

Daily Mail: Shamima Begum And Other Jihadis Jailed In The Middle East 'Should
Be Allowed BACK To Their Homelands In A Bid To Break The Cycle Of Extremism',
Says Report
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“Shamima Begum and other UK jihadists jailed in the Middle East should be
allowed back into Britain in order 'to break the cycle of extremism', a report
says. A paper backed by ex-FBI agent Ali Soufan is urging Western governments
to 'reconsider their stance on repatriation and bring home their citizens'. The
Soufan Centre claims homegrown extremists pose a greater threat to national
security than terrorists jailed in Syria and Iraq would if repatriated. Its
latest report argues leaving imprisoned ISIS fighters and children born into
the caliphate ''stateless' almost guarantees that these individuals will have
no other options but to consider themselves citizens of the Islamic State'. At
least 20 UK former fighters are being held in Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Children
and women, including ISIS bride Shamima Begum, are held in detention camps.
Prisoners being held in Kurdish camps include El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda
Kotey, who are accused of belonging to a brutal four-man cell of executioners
in Syria responsible for killing a number of Western captives. They have all
stated that they want to return to live in the UK. Soufan's intervention comes
as Home Office statistics show that around 90 per cent of 43,000 extremists on
MI5's watchlist are Islamist terror suspects.”

 

France

 

Associated Press: Trial Requested For 9 Suspects In France's 2016 Truck Attack
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“France's counter-terrorism prosecutors made a formal request Tuesday for nine
suspects to face trial in connection with the 2016 Bastille Day truck attack in
Nice that left 86 people dead. In a statement following the end of a judicial
investigation, the Paris-based prosecutors' office did not disclose the
identity of the suspects. Four suspects have been charged with terrorist
conspiracy for alleged links to the attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who
plowed a 19-ton truck down Nice’s Promenade des Anglais and into a crowd
assembled for the July 14 fireworks display. Five other suspects have been
charged with other criminal charges, including for allegedly providing arms to
the assailant. The prosecutor's office said they likely did not have knowledge
of what Bouhlel intended to do with them. One of these five suspects remains at
large and is being searched for under a criminal arrest warrant. The trial,
which is set to take place at a special court for terrorist cases in Paris, is
not expected before the end of next year. The Islamic State group had claimed
responsibility for the July 14, 2016 attack. French authorities said Bouhlel, a
Tunisian with French residency, was inspired by the extremist group’s
propaganda, but they say no evidence has been found that IS orchestrated the
attack.”

 

Germany

 

Associated Press: German Police Raid Banned Far-Right Group In 4 States
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“German police conducted raids Tuesday on sites linked to a far-right group
after the country’s top security official deemed it extremist. Interior
Minister Horst Seehofer banned the group Nordadler, which means ‘Northern
Eagle,’ early Tuesday. His office said the police raids were carried out in
four German states. It said the group acted mainly online, spreading far-right
extremist ideology and anti-Semitism. Authorities say Northern Eagle members
see themselves as adherents of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and had planned to
establish a rural community with people who shared their views. The group uses
social media channels such as Telegram, Instagram and Discord to promote its
ideology, win new members and condone attacks such as the anti-Semitic shooting
at a synagogue in Halle last year. “Far-right extremism and anti-Semitism have
no place here, neither in the real nor in the virtual world,” Seehofer said.
Earlier this year, he banned the neo-Nazi groups Combat 18 and United German
Peoples and Tribes. Following the attack in Halle and the killing of a regional
lawmaker from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party last year, Seehofer warned that
far-right extremism poses a growing security threat to Germany.”



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