Almost nine months after the death of Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi by U.S. Special Forces, it was rumored Tuesday morning that his

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


June 25, 2020

 

Fox News: Pompeo Increases Bounty On New, Shadowy ISIS Leader To $10M As
Rumors Of His Death In Syria Swirl
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“Almost nine months after the death of Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi by U.S. Special Forces, it was rumored Tuesday morning that his
successor -- the shadowy Abu Ibrahim al-Quraishi -- had also been taken out,
this time in an American-led drone strike in the northern pocket of war-torn
Syria at some point earlier this week. According to Hassan Hassan, director of
the Non-State Actors Program at the Center for Global Policy, the terrorist
leader was traveling under a false name and identity -- "Ahmed El Darwish" --
in areas controlled by the Turkish-backed rebels. While reports remain subject
to speculation -- and U.S. government officials have yet to confirm or deny the
mounting murmurs -- at the same time Tuesday morning, Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo announced that the financial reward for information of the "new ISIS
leader" had been increased from $5 million to $10 million. While a far cry from
the $25 million once offered for Baghdadi, the bounty bump is seemingly
indicative of an increased push to squash the brutal insurgency, which has been
slowly regaining a foothold in swaths of Iraq and Syria in recent months. So
who is al-Quraishi? "Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi was a former officer in
Saddam Hussein's army and was considered one of the most prominent ISIS members
in Baghdadi's circle," David Ibsen, executive director of the Counter Extremism
Project (CEP), told Fox News. "After the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq and the
capture of Hussein in 2003, Quraishi eventually became a general Sharia jurist
for al-Qaeda."

 

The National: US Accuses Iran Of Sheltering Al Qaeda Members
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“The US accused the Iranian government of sheltering members of Al Qaeda. In
its annual terrorism report issued on Wednesday, the US State Department said
Iran remained unwilling to convict Al Qaeda members living in the country and
refused to publicly identify members in its custody. Without revealing names of
the members allegedly hosted by Iran, the report said the government in Tehran
“has allowed [Al Qaeda] facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline
through Iran since at least 2009, enabling [the group] to move funds and
fighters to South Asia and Syria”. The report labelled Iran as the worst state
sponsor of terrorism for its support of “Hezbollah, Palestinian terrorist
groups in Gaza and various terrorist groups in Syria, Iraq and throughout the
Middle East” and deploying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force
throughout the region. Speaking from the State Department, US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo praised the Trump administration for taking steps in the past
year that, he said, his predecessors avoided. He said this included designating
the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organisation and the killing of ISIS leader Abu
Bakr Al Baghdadi. Moving on to another extremist group, the report said that
despite the fall of the physical caliphate, ISIS had grown in Africa and
Afghanistan.”

 

United States

 

Associated Press: US Cites Rise In Iran-Backed And White Supremacist Attacks
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“The Trump administration is claiming significant victories against global
terrorism but says Iran continues to increase its support for extremists and
that white supremacist attacks are on the rise. The State Department said
Wednesday in its annual report on terrorism that “dangerous terrorist threats
persisted” throughout 2019 even as the Islamic State group suffered losses in
Iraq and Syria, and the United States imposed sanctions and took other steps
against Iran and its proxies in the Middle East. The report cited a surge in
extremist groups affiliating themselves with IS in Africa and Southeast Asia
and said Iran continued to foment terrorism. In addition, it noted a rise
deadly racially motivated attacks claimed by or attributed to white
supremacists as well as the threat from the remnants of Osama bin Laden's
al-Qaida network. Despite losing territory and its leader, IS “adapted to
continue the fight from its affiliates across the globe and by inspiring
followers to commit attacks,” the report said. “The Iranian regime and its
proxies continued to plot and commit terrorist attacks on a global scale.”

 

NBC News: U.S. Soldier's Alleged Connection To Satanic Nazi Extremist Group
Renews Calls To Ban It
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“Charges laid against a U.S. Army soldier linked to a satanic neo-Nazi group
founded in Britain have led to renewed calls among anti-racism campaigners to
ban the far-right extremist organization. A federal grand jury handed up Army
Pvt. Ethan Phelan Melzer, 22, of Louisville, Kentucky, federal attempted murder
charges Monday for allegedly passing along information about his unit's planned
deployment overseas with the intention to get extremist groups to attack it.
The group Melzer reportedly delivered the information to is the Order of Nine
Angles (O9A), a fringe far-right extremist group that incites violence by
spreading its ideology, particularly online. The case “should be a wake-up call
to the authorities,” said a spokesman for Hope Not Hate, a British anti-racism
and anti-fascism advocacy group that has been calling to have the Order of Nine
Angles proscribed under terrorism laws in the United Kingdom. “It's incumbent
on the authorities to act before a terrorist act happens,” Matthew McGregor,
campaign director for Hope Not Hate, said. “We can't wait until one of these
people slips through the net.” The Home Office, the British government
department that handles domestic policy, currently does not name the O9A in its
list of banned terrorist organizations.”

 

Vice: Neo-Nazi Memoir Describes Terror Group’s Acid-Soaked Ram Sacrifice
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“A nationwide FBI crackdown dismantled the neo-Nazi terror group, resulting in
multiple arrests of its members for things as sinister as assassination plots
and plans to shoot up a protest and as peculiar as animal sacrifice and the
production of DMT. Then its leader was exposed by the Guardian as a 46-year-old
New Jersey native and former private school kid named Rinaldo Nazzarro, who
lives in Russia and is a possible Kremlin asset. The shocking flurry of events
catapulted The Base into the pages of the New York Times. Here was a white
supremacist terror group that looked more like ISIS than the Klan, operating
all over America. After the arrests, Nazzarro went dark and the organization
seemed to all but disappear. While many of its members await trial on charges
that could see them serving lengthy prison sentences, or deal with having been
outed by the BBC, others have covertly slipped back into society without a
trace. Tipped by U.S. based terrorism watchdog the Counter Extremism Project,
VICE News has obtained a strange, illuminating memoir seeking to explain the
appeal of the organization, written in the aftermath of the FBI raids by
someone who claims to be a former member. It details some of the very crimes
that led to mass arrests. It also describes a bizarre ritual involving
slaughtering a ram, drinking its blood, and then dropping acid after a day of
paramilitary training.”

 

The Guardian: How The US Military Has Failed To Address White Supremacy In Its
Ranks
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“An alleged plot by a young solider to coordinate with a neo-Nazi group to
attack and kill members of his own army unit has put new scrutiny on the US
military’s failure to address violent white supremacy within its own ranks.
Federal prosecutors have announced charges against current or former US
military service members for plots linked to violent extremism nearly once a
week this month. A 2019 survey of readers of Military Times, an independent
news outlet, found that more that 36% of active-duty troops surveyed said they
had personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideological-driven
racism within the ranks in recent months – a 14% increase from a similar survey
the year before. But in a congressional hearing in February, military officials
testified that “mere membership” in white supremacist groups is still “not
prohibited” for American service members. The US Department of Defense
prohibited members of the military from “active participation” in white
supremacist and other extremist groups since 1996, when decorated Gulf war
veteran and white supremacist Timothy McVeigh carried out the Oklahoma City
bombing.”

 

The Jerusalem Post: Far-Right Obsession With Bioterror Could Lead To Work With
Al-Qaeda, Iran
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“The obsession of the radical Right in the US and Europe with bioterrorism
could lead it to partner with Iran and jihadists like al-Qaeda and Iran, says a
new report exclusively obtained by The Jerusalem Post. The report by IDC’s
International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) also notes that the
coronavirus wave has spiked the far right and other terrorists’ interest in
bioweapons, as well as assisted them with their recruitment. ICT report lead
author Ely Karmon writes that, “Biological weapons [BW] could be considered the
second threat among CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear]
weapons in order of priorities, after the threat of chemical terrorism.” Karmon
explains that a biological weapon has components “produced from pathogenic
microorganisms or toxic substances of biological origins,” and they “can be a
hundred to thousands of times more potent than chemical agents and provide a
much cheaper route to CBRN capability, considering an equal quantity of
chemical agents.” According to the report, “As international controls are
strengthened on nuclear and chemical weapons materials, biological weapons
become more attractive,” since until now governments have viewed them as a less
likely or frequent threat.”

 

Syria

 

The New York Times: U.S. Used Missile With Long Blades To Kill Qaeda Leader In
Syria
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“American Special Operations forces used a specially designed secret missile
to kill the head of a Qaeda affiliate in Syria this month, dealing the
terrorist group a serious blow with a weapon that combines medieval brutality
with cutting-edge technology. American and Qaeda officials said on Wednesday
that Khaled al-Aruri, the de facto leader of the Qaeda branch, called Hurras
al-Din, perished in a drone strike in Idlib in northwest Syria on June 14. He
was a Qaeda veteran whose jihadist career dates to the 1990s. How he died was
even more striking. The modified Hellfire missile carried an inert warhead.
Instead of exploding, it hurled about 100 pounds of metal through the top of
Mr. al-Aruri’s car. If the high-velocity projectile did not kill him, the
missile’s other feature almost certainly did: six long blades tucked inside,
which deployed seconds before impact to slice up anything in its path. The
Hellfire variant, known as the R9X, was initially developed nearly a decade ago
under pressure from President Barack Obama to reduce civilian casualties and
property damage in America’s long-running wars on terrorism in far-flung hot
spots such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Yemen.”

 

Reuters: U.S. Says ISIS Evolved To Become A Global Network That Inspires
Attacks Worldwide
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“The United States is seeing the Islamic State evolving into a global network
that inspires extremist ideology and attacks elsewhere from being a group
holding territory, Nathan Sales, the U.S. Coordinator for Counterterrorism at
State Department said on Wednesday. “And this network not only plans and
commits attacks...it also continues to inspire individuals to commit attacks on
their own devices,” Sales told a news conference announcing the State
Department’s 2019 country reports on terrorism.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: Turkey Arrests 12 Daesh Terrorists In Samsun
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“Turkish police arrested at least 12 Iraqi nationals for their links to the
Daesh terror group, a security source said Wednesday. The anti-terror and
intelligence squads of police in the northern Samsun province launched an
operation — supported by special operations forces — to nab 13 Iraqi national
suspects in various addresses of the city, said the source, who asked not to be
named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. The operation in Ilkadım,
Atakum and Canik districts led to the arrest of 12, who were active in the
terror group when they were in Iraq, the source added. Digital materials were
also seized in their addresses. An operation is underway to arrest one
remaining suspect. Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Daesh as
a terror group in 2013. The country has since been attacked by Daesh terrorists
numerous times, including in 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed
attacks which killed 315 people and injured hundreds.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Reuters: Concern Over Intensifying Taliban Attacks May Hurt Start Of Afghan
Peace Talks: Abdullah
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“Public concern over an escalation in Taliban violence has made it harder to
open peace negotiations with the Islamist insurgents, the head of Kabul’s
negotiating team, Abdullah Abdullah, said on Wednesday. The comments by the
country’s former chief executive followed a week during which the government
said hundreds of security force personnel had been killed in Taliban attacks.
Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said the
rising violence had made “the political environment very difficult” in which to
begin talks with the Taliban. “It makes the people extremely concerned,” he
said in an online discussion sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace. “That
puts our seriousness in pursuit of the peace process to the test.” The Taliban
deny intensifying attacks. The insurgents, fighting to reintroduce strict
Islamic law after their 2001 ouster from power, signed a troop withdrawal
agreement with the United States in February designed to lead to peace
negotiations with the Afghan government. Violence fell sharply following the
Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr last month, triggering hopes the talks could
begin.”

 

Al Jazeera: Taliban Kill Seven Afghan Military Personnel In Raid On Army Post
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“Taliban fighters killed as many as seven Afghan commandos in an hours-long
attack on an army outpost in northwest Badghis province, a lawmaker and the
defence ministry said on Wednesday. The assault comes as Kabul authorities
accuse the armed group of stepping up attacks against security forces in recent
weeks, after violence descended on much of the country following a three-day
ceasefire announced in May. Badghis lawmaker Ziauddin Akazi said the fighters
attacked the Bala Murghab district outpost late on Tuesday, triggering fierce
fighting that lasted for about four hours. “Most of those killed were members
of commando and special forces,” Akazi said. He said the attack came when a
group of commandos and special forces travelled to the outpost from their base
nearby. The ministry of defence said seven security personnel were killed and
five were wounded in the attack. It said security forces later repelled the
Taliban attack. The Taliban have not commented. In a separate incident in the
northern Jawzjan province on Tuesday evening, a roadside bomb ripped through a
rickshaw and killed six civilians, the interior ministry said. Interior
Ministry Spokesman Tariq Arian said the Taliban had placed the bomb on the
road.”

 

Voice Of America: Afghan Official Open To Discussing Interim Government With
Taliban
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“A top Afghan official leading peacemaking efforts with the Taliban said
Wednesday that he would be open to discussing formation of an interim
government with the Islamist insurgent group when the two sides begin
long-awaited peace negotiations. Abdullah Abdullah, head of Afghanistan’s High
Council for National Reconciliation, said the proposed dialogue has created a
rare opportunity and both sides must be ready to make compromises to help end
decades of hostilities. “Let’s get to the negotiating table. Let’s talk there,”
Abdullah told an online discussion arranged by the U.S Institute of Peace when
asked whether the Afghan government would accept a Taliban proposal for an
interim government made up of officials from both sides. “We have to be
flexible in our thoughts. Nothing should derail us from getting to a durable,
lasting and acceptable peace for all Afghans, including [the] Taliban,”
Abdullah said. His remarks, however, ran contrary to Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani’s recent statement in which he rejected the possibility of stepping down
from his office in favor of an interim government in the event of a potential
peace deal with the Taliban. Earlier this month, Ghani told a seminar organized
by Washington’s Atlantic Council that “any discussion of an interim government
is premature. I serve at the will of the Afghan people, not at the will of the
Taliban.”

 

Middle East

 

The Times Of Israel: Palestinian Given 4 Life Sentences For Deadly 2018 Terror
Attacks
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“A Palestinian man was sentenced Wednesday by a military court to four life
sentences over a pair of December 2018 terror attacks in which two soldiers and
an unborn baby were killed. The Ofer Military Court also ordered Asem Barghouti
to pay millions of shekels in compensation to the injured and the families of
those killed. Barghouti was convicted in November by the court on three counts
of murder for his role in the shootings. He was also convicted of 12 counts of
attempted murder, obstruction of justice and belonging to a banned
organization. Following his arrest last January, Barghouti was accused of
carrying out a shooting attack on a bus stop near the Givat Assaf outpost and
of helping his brother Salih in a shooting at a bus stop outside the Ofra
settlement days earlier. Two soldiers, Sgt. Yosef Cohen and Staff Sgt. Yovel
Mor Yosef, were killed in the Givat Assaf attack. Another soldier was seriously
injured as was a woman. The subsequent shooting at Ofra left seven people
injured, among them a woman who was seven months pregnant. Doctors delivered
her baby in an emergency operation, but he died days later despite efforts to
save him.”

 

Nigeria

 

Sahara Reports: 240 Persons Killed By Boko Haram, Bandits Within Six Days In
Northern Nigeria, Group Says
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“At least 240 people were killed by armed bandits and Boko Haram insurgents in
various attacks on some communities in the Northern part of Nigeria between
June 8 and 13, 2020, Coalition of Northern Groups has claimed. Abdul-Azeez
Suleiman, CNG spokesperson in a statement on Wednesday, said Nigerians have
steadily lost confidence in the ability of authorities to reverse the
uncertainties arising from the cyclical violence, which has continued to ravage
the country. The statement reads, “Within just six days – between Monday, June
8, and Saturday, June 13, 2020, the North lost over 240 lives in several
attacks representing the highest number of deaths in such a short period in
recent times. “The Nigeria Security Tracker, which compiles violent incidents
around the nation, stated that 114 persons lost their lives in Borno State
alone within this period with Katsina State following on the list of fatalities
as 75 people were killed. “In the previous week, deaths caused by violent
events stood at 183, while between Monday, May 25, and Sunday, May 31, the
number of violent deaths reported by the tracker stood at 149. Alarmed by the
regularity of these incidences and the audacity with which the killers roam and
operate freely, the Coalition of Northern Groups organised a series of
region-wide protests against the killing of innocent people starting from
Katsina and Niger states on 16th June, 2020.”

 

Africa

 

Agence France-Presse: Pompeo Eyes Resolution In Coming Weeks On Sudan Terror
Listing
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“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope Wednesday for a resolution in
the coming weeks with Sudan, which said it expects soon to be delisted as a
state sponsor of terrorism. Pompeo said he spoke Wednesday by telephone with
Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hambok, a civilian whose near year-old
government has been pushing to remove the designation by Washington that
severely impedes foreign investment. “We're working very closely with him to
try and come to a solution so that we get the right outcome for their new
leadership and for the Sudanese people,” Pompeo told reporters. “I'm hopeful
that that will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead,” said Pompeo, who was asked
about the terrorism designation. Sudan's Foreign Minister Asma Abdalla told AFP
on Tuesday that the government was finishing a deal to compensate victims of
the simultaneous 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Once
the deal is complete, she said she expected the United States to move ahead
with the delisting of Sudan “as soon as possible.” Washington first blacklisted
Sudan in 1993 as strongman Omar al-Bashir turned toward Islamism.”

 

Europe

 

The Irish Times: Rise In Far-Right And Islamic Extremism Activity In Ireland
Last Year, Says Europol
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“Ireland saw a sharp increase in the activities of far-right and Islamic
extremists last year, according to the EU’s joint police agency. In the past
Ireland usually only featured in the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report in
the context of dissident republican terrorism. However, for the first time
Europol, which compiles the report based on data from member states’ police
forces, has warned of increasing far-right activity in the State including the
presence of “known criminal elements” and attacks on direct provision centres.
The report also states that gardaí arrested five people people suspected of
“jihadi terrorism” last year. One of these was Lisa Smith, the Dundalk woman
who returned from Syria with her daughter in December. She is currently before
the courts charged with membership of the Islamist terrorist organisation. Four
others were arrested on suspicion of financing Islamist terrorist activities.
The four - three women and one man - who were members of the same family, were
arrested by the Special Detective Unit in January of last year. They have not
yet faced any charges. The report states there were no arrests of
“ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorists” in Ireland, a category which
usually includes dissident republicans.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Al Jazeera: The Philippines' Anti-Terror Bill Is Poised To Cause More Terror
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“As the world is plagued by COVID-19, an impending anti-terrorism bill is
creating more fear in the Philippines. Recently passed by Congress, the bill is
set to be signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte. If this happens, the
bill will not only suppress the fundamental rights and freedoms of Filipinos,
it will also terrorise the same conflict-affected communities it seeks to
protect, as it undoes decades of peacebuilding work. Despite protests against
the bill and mounting calls to provide more time for deliberations, Congress
has quietly fast-tracked its passage while the rest of the country braced for
the impact of COVID-19. The bill will allow for a lengthened period of
warrantless detention and expanded surveillance of those law enforcement deems
suspicious. It will also remove stiff penalties for wrongful detention. Most
importantly, the bill carries a vague definition of “terrorism” that offers
little distinction between organisations that commit acts of terror and
revolutionary armed movements, which is important for those doing mediation
among warring parties. The bill will provide law enforcers with broad powers to
determine what constitutes a “terrorist”, shifting the burden of proof to
suspected individuals and organisations. This is not only a threat to dissent
and democracy, but also to peace.”

 

Technology

 

Haaretz: TikTok Users Target Young People With Antisemitism And Holocaust
Denial, Study Finds
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“The popular TikTok video-sharing service is being used for more than just
awkward dances by users, according to a new study in Israel. Antisemites,
Holocaust deniers and other far-right extremists are going on the social media
platform to reach young people, researchers from the University of Haifa and
Israel’s Institute for Counter Terrorism found in a report titled “Spreading
Hate on TikTok.” From February through May, it said, there were 196 postings
related to far-right extremism, with one-fifth of them related to antisemitism
and Holocaust denial. In the same time frame, the study also found 14 postings
of Adolf Hitler’s speeches; 11 postings of the Sieg Heil victory salute used by
Nazis; 17 videos encouraging violence that featured Nazi or neo-Nazi symbols
such as the swastika and sonnenrad, or black sun; and 26 accounts featuring the
numbers “88” in their username, the white supremacist numerical code for “Heil
Hitler.” TikTok, based in China, has gained popularity with its short videos of
users dancing and lip syncing, among other talents. Although the platform’s
Terms of Service prohibits users under age 13, many who appear in videos are
clearly younger.”



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