Somali security forces have killed a commander of the al Shabaab militant group
in a military operation, state radio reported on Thursday. Ahsraf Azmi

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


June 26, 2020

 

Reuters: Commander In Somali Al Shabaab Militant Group Killed - State Media
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“Somali security forces have killed a commander of the al Shabaab militant
group in a military operation, state radio reported on Thursday. Ahsraf Azmi
Abu Hamdan, who was from Nepal, was a senior trainer in the Islamist group. He
was killed in an operation in the Middle Juba region in southern Somalia, state
radio said. Three other fighers were also killed. Al Shabaab has been fighting
to topple Somalia’s central government since 2008 to establish its own rule
based on a strict interpretation of Islam’s sharia law.”

 

Al Monitor: Intel: Al-Qaeda Branch Confirms US Drone Killed Zarqawi Relative
In Syria
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“An al-Qaeda branch in northwest Syria has confirmed that a US drone strike
earlier this month killed one of the group’s most senior leaders, a veteran
Jordanian jihadi who had been the brother-in-law of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Huras
al-Din, an al-Qaeda branch in northwest Syria, released a statement Wednesday
saying that Khaled al-Aruri, also known as Abul Qassam al-Urduni, was killed as
a result of a US strike on a vehicle he was in earlier this month in Idlib
province. Aruri was headed to a meeting of local militant leaders in order to
form a military cooperation body, the statement read. Video of the vehicle
appeared to show it had been struck with a non-explosive missile bearing long
metal blades, possibly the RX9 Hellfire missile, which the US military and CIA
have used in prior strikes to limit collateral damage. The United States took
credit for the strike last week. Why it matters: The strike is one of
Washington’s latest assassinations of senior jihadi leaders hiding out in an
area of Syria controlled by Islamist rebels, some of whom are backed by Turkey.
Huras al-Din’s statement said Aruri was the group’s deputy emir for martyrdom,
though others have suggested he may have been the group’s de facto leader.”

 

United States

 

The Washington Post: Soldiers’ Cases Highlight Reach Of White Supremacy In
U.S. Military
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“As Ohio National Guard soldiers were dispatched to help quell unrest in
Washington, D.C., one was keeping a secret from his commanders: He had
frequently espoused neo-Nazi views among like-minded friends. Pfc. Shandon
Simpson had participated in a white supremacist channel on the Telegram
messaging app called RapeWaffen Division, according to the SITE Intelligence
Group. The channel’s members have touted the rape of female police officers,
posted images with Confederate battle flags and swastikas and called white
women who have children with men of other races “traitors.” On Twitter, Simpson
tried to recruit fascists to join him in a new group, used an image of Nazi
Party leader Richard Walther Darré as his profile picture and marked the 75th
anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s death on April 30. “I pay respects to him as a
martyr who died in Berlin completely unwilling to capitulate,” Simpson tweeted,
according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors extremism
online. “In loving memory of a great leader of the German people. Rest in
peace, führer.” Simpson is one of several service members whose actions have
come under scrutiny in recent months as the U.S. military grapples with white
extremism in its ranks.”

 

Iraq

 

Reuters: Iraqi Forces Raid Iran-Backed Militia Base In Baghdad
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“Iraqi security forces raided a headquarters belonging to a powerful
Iran-backed militia in southern Baghdad late on Thursday and detained more than
a dozen members of the group, government officials and paramilitary sources
said. The raid was the most brazen action by Iraqi forces against a major
Iran-backed militia group in years and targeted the Kataib Hezbollah faction,
which U.S. officials have accused of firing rockets at bases hosting U.S.
troops and other facilities in Iraq. Iraqi government officials and
paramilitary sources then gave contradicting versions of what followed. The
paramilitary sources and one government official said those detained were
transferred shortly afterwards to the security branch of Iraq’s paramilitary
umbrella grouping, the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF). A second government
official denied any such transfer and said the militiamen were still in the
custody of other security services. The sources gave different numbers for
those detained. A PMF official said it was 19. A government official said it
was 23. The raid was the first sign that the government of Iraq’s new prime
minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, intends to make good on pledges to take tough
action against militia groups that have targeted U.S. installations.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Associated Press: US Watchdog: Afghan Gov’t Weakened Ahead Of Taliban Talks
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“A U.S. watchdog warned that “systemic” corruption within the Afghan
government is weakening its bargaining position in upcoming peace negotiations
with the Taliban, even as the insurgents said Thursday they were ready and had
compiled their agenda for the long-awaited talks. John Sopko, Special Inspector
General for Afghan Reconstruction, said the Taliban and other militants
underscored the government’s corruption, using it to “undermine public support
for the government, garner recruits to their cause, and weaken the government’s
bargaining position during future peace negotiations.” “It is the most
insidious threat the Afghan government faces because it saps the support of
citizens who are trying to go about their daily work, feed their families, and
live free of fear and intimidation,” Sopko told a monitoring group known as
Integrity Watch Afghanistan on Wednesday. Meanwhile, about 50 civil society
activists in Kabul rallied on Thursday against corruption, urging the
International Monetary Fund to rescind a $220 million loan given last month to
the Afghan government to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Afghanistan has reported over 30,000 cases, including 675 deaths, but testing
is severely limited, and experts say the number of infected is likely much
higher.”

 

The Guardian: 'There Hasn't Been Rehabilitation': Afghanistan Struggles With
Fate Of 'Daesh Wives'
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“The “Daesh wives” from the Afghan branch of Islamic State look very young.
Most are already mothers. Hundreds of them have fled combat, airstrikes and
near-starvation in eastern Afghanistan where the faction of Isis known as
Islamic State in Khorasan (ISK) has been under fierce bombardment from Afghan
and US special forces, as well as involved in violent clashes with rival
militants the Taliban. Last November, after a military operation, President
Ashraf Ghani declared Isis “obliterated” in the region where it first gained a
foothold in 2014, and more than 225 militants, 190 women and 208 children
surrendered. In Jalalabad city, separated from the male fighters who were taken
to other detention centres or prisons, the women were first housed by local
authorities in a makeshift accommodation centre, awaiting transfer to Kabul or
back to the remote Afghan and Pakistani tribal areas where most originated. In
the centre, children were everywhere– – running, laughing, playing with
colourful toys. On the walls they’d drawn drones, explosions, men shooting
AK-47s from pickup trucks– – memories of their time spent in hell near the
Pakistani border in Nangarhar province, ISK’s former stronghold.”

 

Middle East

 

Agence France-Presse: UN Envoy Warns Israeli Annexation May Fuel Extremism
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“The UN's Middle East envoy warned Thursday that Israel's aim to annex parts
of the occupied West Bank may fuel extremism and ignite a regional conflict.
Just days before Israel intends to kick-start plans to annex its West Bank
settlements and the Jordan Valley, the United Nations has been urging Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon the proposal. Such a move could do
irrevocable damage to Israeli-Palestinian relations, and also turn Palestinians
towards extremism, according to UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov. If Palestinians
“feel that there is no prospect of a peaceful resolution to the conflict, that
only creates opportunities for radicals,” he told journalists in Jerusalem.
Mladenov pointed to a “long litany of such developments” in the Middle East,
referring to the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. “You leave
a vacuum, you take away a political prospect, you take away a positive agenda,
and very quickly somebody comes and fills it with a negative and very
destructive agenda,” he said. Mladenov was speaking a day after a UN Security
Council session in which Secretary General Antonio Guterres, as well as
European and Arab powers, called on Netanyahu to end his annexation ambitions.”

 

Somalia

 

Long War Journal: Shabaab Hits Somali, Turkish Bases With Suicide Bombings
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“Since the beginning of the week, Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa,
has launched two suicide bombings on two military bases across Somalia. One of
the bases targeted was Turkey’s military base in Mogadishu. On Sunday, Shabaab
launched a suicide assault on a Somali military base in the town of Bacaadweyn
in the north-central Mudug region. Local media reported that a suicide car bomb
was detonated at the base’s perimeter before an assault team entered the fray.
As many as six people were killed in that assault, including two soldiers.
Shabaab’s claim of responsibility, released through its Shahada News Agency,
confirmed the use of a suicide car bombing while offering little additional
detail compared to local news reports. The suicide assault comes as Somali
forces have launched an offensive earlier this month against Shabaab in the
Galmudug region (comprised of the Somali regions of Galgaduud and Mudug). This
came after Shabaab assassinated the governor of Mudug in another suicide
bombing in the region last month. Much of Somalia’s efforts have been directed
around securing the areas near the cities of Galkayo and El-Buur.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Ivory Coast Says Burkina Faso National Led Deadly Attack Against Army
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“Ivory Coast's army said on Thursday it had identified a detained Burkina Faso
national as the coordinator of a suspected jihadist attack that killed at least
13 soldiers this month. The ambush on the night of June 10 on a military
outpost in Kafolo was the deadliest since gunmen from al Qaeda’s North African
branch stormed the beach resort of Grand Bassam in March 2016, killing 19
people. In the wake of the latest attack, the army rounded up 30 suspected
militants believed to have been involved, as well as weapons, motorcycles and
telephones, the statement said. “Among the combatants arrested was the Kafolo
attack coordinator. He is called Sidibe Ali ... of Burkinabé nationality,” it
added. On Monday, the defence minister had said those arrested included the
suspected head of a jihadist group. Last month, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso
launched a joint military operation called Operation Comoe to tackle the
expanding threat from Islamist jihadists linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State
in the Sahel region. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have been worst hit by the
militant violence, but there are concerns that the attacks could spread to
coastal nations.”

 

Al Jazeera: Armed Group Abducts 10 Aid Workers In Southwestern Niger
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“Unidentified gunmen have abducted 10 humanitarian aid workers as they were
distributing food in a village in southwestern Niger, their NGO said in a
statement. Kadidiatou Harouna, of the Action and Impact Progress (APIS), said
on Thursday the assailants drove into the village in the Tillaberi region on
Wednesday afternoon on a motorbike and told the victims to follow them. She
told the AFP news agency APIS, a partner of the UN World Food Programme, had
worked in the volatile region near the borders with Burkina Faso and Mali
“without problems” in the past year.   A German aid worker and an Italian
priest were abducted in the region in 2018. Gunmen in the area have previously
stolen several vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
and Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) in the region.
One of the MSF vehicles was used in May 2019 in a failed attack on a
high-security prison near the Niger capital, Niamey, where fighters were being
held, according to the authorities. Fighters with links to al-Qaeda and the
ISIL (ISIS) group have increasingly mounted attacks across the Sahel in recent
years despite the presence of thousands of regional and foreign troops in the
region.”

 

France

 

France 24: French Jihadist Goes On Trial Over IS Group Executions In Syria
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“A French jihadist went on trial Thursday on terror charges amid accusations
that he oversaw executions in Syria as a senior figure in the Islamic State
(IS) extremist group. Tyler Vilus, 30, is facing charges of belonging to a
terrorist group, heading a unit of IS group fighters and “aggravated murder”
between 2013 and 2015. He faces a life sentence if convicted. Investigators
suspect him of being part of the “Al-Muhajireen” (the immigrants) brigade, a
squadron that tortured and carried out summary executions, which he denies.
Vilus is also accused of supervising executions as a member of the religious
police in the north-eastern Syrian town of Ash Shaddadi, close to the Iraqi
border. In a 2015 video published by the IS group's media department, a man
alleged to be Vilus is two metres away as two kneeling and blindfolded
prisoners – one belonging to the Free Syrian Army rebel fighters and the other
a member of Bashar al-Assad's army – are executed with a bullet to the head. In
an interview with FRANCE 24, sociologist Farhad Khosrokhavar, an expert in
radicalisation, described Vilus as a “charismatic personality” who became an
“emir”, or general, of the IS group and was heavily involved in propaganda
efforts to attract people to Syria.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

The Straits Times: Jakarta Jails ISIS-Linked Couple Who Tried To Assassinate
Minister
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“An Indonesian couple with links to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
group who tried to assassinate the country's chief security minister were
jailed yesterday. A Jakarta court handed a 12-year sentence to Syahrial
Alamsyah, 51, and nine years to his wife Fitria Diana, 21, after convicting
them on terrorism charges for trying to kill then Security Minister Wiranto in
October last year. The sentences were below prosecutors' demands for a 16-year
and 12-year term, respectively. The court rejected the couple's defence that
they were solely motivated by anti-government sentiment, ruling that Alamsyah
belonged to a local extremist group allied to ISIS. “We rule that the defendant
is guilty of terrorism together with his wife,” presiding judge Masrizal, who
like many Indonesians goes by one name, told the West Jakarta District Court. A
third defendant was also sentenced to five years on terror charges linked to a
separate attack planned with Alamsyah last year. The hearing was held by
videoconference due to coronavirus concerns, with lawyers and judges wearing
face masks and the defendants listening via video link. The trial had heard
that Alamsyah stabbed Mr Wiranto, 73, as he exited a car during a visit to
Pandeglang regency on Java island.”

 

Human Rights Watch: Maldives: Extremist Groups Threaten Rights Activists
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“Groups that endorse violent ultra-nationalist or Islamist ideology have tried
to shut down a leading women’s rights organization in the Maldives since
mid-June 2020, and have threatened other activist groups, Human Rights Watch
said today. But the Maldives government has failed to act against these groups.
The government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih should investigate and
appropriately prosecute those responsible for harassment, intimidation, or
assault, instead of appeasing these groups. “Islamist extremist groups that are
a relic of the previous abusive government persist in their threats and
violence against pro-democracy activists,” said Patricia Gossman, associate
Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Solih administration should
demonstrate a firm commitment to free expression by taking action against those
attacking it.”  Recently, extremist groups – called “gangs” in the Maldives –
opened a social media campaign demanding the government ban Uthema, the
country’s main women’s rights organization. The women’s rights group had
published a report assessing the Maldives government’s adherence to its
obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women.”

 

Technology

 

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook Looks To Contain Advertising Boycott Over
Hate Speech
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“Facebook Inc. is working to persuade its top advertisers not to pause
spending on the social network, as it tries to keep a boycott from a handful of
marketers from turning into a widespread revolt. Facebook executives in emails
and calls with advertisers and ad agencies over the past week have conveyed
that they are taking seriously the concerns of civil-rights groups about the
proliferation of hate speech and misinformation on its platform. But they are
also maintaining that business interests won’t dictate their policies,
according to people familiar with the discussions. “We do not make policy
changes tied to revenue pressure,” Carolyn Everson, vice president of Global
Business Group at Facebook, said in an email to advertisers last weekend that
was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “We set our policies based on
principles rather than business interests.” Facebook executives are also vowing
to invest more to tackle hate on the platform including continuing the
development of artificial-intelligence technology that can detect hate speech,
according to the email.”

 

CNN: White Supremacists Openly Organize Racist Violence On Telegram, Report
Finds
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“On June 5, a car full of White supremacists drove through the streets of
Knoxville, Tennessee, harassing and abusing people attending a Black Lives
Matter protest. One of those in the car shouted to a group of protesters: "You
wanna die? Come on in. 9mm with your name on it." The occupants of the car
recorded several videos as they went -- videos that were later uploaded to the
encrypted messaging app Telegram. One of the channels they used was The Fascist
Group Esoteric Anti Root Collective -- one of more than 200 White supremacist
Telegram groups that have become much more active in the midst of protests
across the United States, according to CNN analysis. According to a new report
by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) -- shared exclusively with CNN --
these channels have thousands of members. The ISD, a London-based think tank
studying extremism, says they include frequent and explicit threats of violence
against minority communities and BLM protesters -- threats that in some cases
have translated into violence. In May, the White supremacist group Rise Above
Movement launched its own Telegram channel, which, according to the Countering
Extremism Project, features anti-Semitism and anti-migration themes. White
supremacists have migrated to Telegram because it's less active in moderating
content than other social media networks, according to ISD and other
researchers. The channels share everything from manuals on how to manufacture
3D guns to praise for mass killers.”

 

The Sociable: ‘Facebook’s Business Model Is Poison & Its Algorithms Amplify
Misinformation’: Digital Forensics Expert Testifies
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“Facebook’s business model is poison and its divisive algorithms are a driving
force behind online misinformation, according to a digital forensic expert’s
testimony during a House hearing on Wednesday. Who’s to blame for the spread of
misinformation online? How does it spread and what can be done about it? The
answers are not all black and white, and that was the subject of yesterday’s
congressional hearing titled, “A COUNTRY IN CRISIS: HOW DISINFORMATION ONLINE
IS DIVIDING THE NATION.” Appearing virtually before the House Committee on
Energy and Commerce UC Berkeley professor and expert in digital forensics Dr.
Hany Farid testified that Facebook has a toxic business model that puts profit
over the good of society and that its algorithms have been trained to encourage
divisiveness and the amplification of misinformation.”



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