The Justice Department is appealing a federal judge’s decision to grant an
early release to a Lebanese man labeled by U.S. authorities as a Hezbollah

 

 


<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Eye on Extremism


June 29, 2020

 

NBC News: DOJ Appeals Court's Decision To Release Hezbollah Money Man Early
<[link removed]>

 

“The Justice Department is appealing a federal judge’s decision to grant an
early release to a Lebanese man labeled by U.S. authorities as a Hezbollah
financier, arguing he does not qualify to be freed on “compassionate grounds”
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to court documents. Kassim Tajideen,
65, had pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges, forfeited $50 million and
was sentenced in 2019 to five years in prison. But U.S. District Judge Reggie
Walton last month ordered his release and reduced his sentence to time served
after Tajideen’s lawyers argued their client was “extremely vulnerable” to
contracting COVID-19 due to his age and health. With Tajideen due to fly back
to Lebanon next month, the Justice Department on Thursday filed an appeal of
the release order in the U.S. Court of Appeals…Josh Lipowsky, a senior research
analyst at the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit group that tracks
extremism, said releasing Tajideen could set a precedent with unknown
consequences. “This release risks setting a precedent for the early release of
designated terrorists. And we have to fully consider the risks that such early
releases pose and be concerned what happens to these people after their
release,” Lipowsky said.”

 

Al Monitor: Intel: Congress Pushes European Union To Fully Designate Hezbollah
As Terrorist Group
<[link removed]>

 

“A bipartisan group of 30 US lawmakers sent a blanket letter to all European
Union member states Thursday asking them to designate the entirety of Lebanon’s
militia-cum-political party Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
“Unfortunately, Hezbollah has increasingly used Europe as a launching pad for
its criminal and terrorist activities, including money laundering, drug
smuggling, recruitment and training,” the lawmakers wrote. “In particular,
Hezbollah’s fundraising and illicit business activities have generated
additional annual revenue which the organization uses to support its global
terrorism, including a 2012 Hezbollah terror attack in Bulgaria that killed
five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian citizen.” The letter, signed by
prominent pro-Israel lawmakers in both chambers, was spearheaded by Sens.
Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Jackie Rosen, D-Nev., as well as House Middle
East panel Chairman Ted Deutch, D-Fla., and Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. Why it
matters: Although the European Union distinguishes between Hezbollah’s
political and military wings, some of its member states have moved closer to
the US position in recent months, which makes no such delineation.”

 

The Wall Street Journal: Fratricidal Clash In West Africa Pits Al Qaeda
Against Islamic State
<[link removed]>

 

“Islamic State fighters, after a year killing soldiers and villagers along the
desert frontier between Mali and Burkina Faso, recently detonated a truck bomb
aimed at a new target: al Qaeda. The strike was part of a May attack that left
several al Qaeda fighters dead and prompted a series of al Qaeda reprisals
against Islamic State positions, say U.S. and West African security officials.
Clerics from each group broadcast sermons denouncing the others as “apostates”
and threatening more attacks. The border clashes in West Africa mark a new hot
war between the world’s most-deadly jihadist groups. The fighting has left
hundreds of militants dead as they battle for supremacy across the Sahel, the
semiarid belt running east-west along the southern edge of the Sahara. The
violence ends a yearlong truce between local militant franchises in a
3,000-mile expanse touching Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Chad.
The parent groups of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, or ISGS, and the al
Qaeda coalition, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin, or JNIM, were rivals or
even bitter enemies on battlefields elsewhere in the world. But in West Africa
they even swapped liaisons to de-conflict operations and settle on joint
targets, according to a United Nations report.”

 

United States

 

The Guardian: Violence By Far-Right Is Among US’s Most Dangerous Terrorist
Threats, Study Finds
<[link removed]>

 

“Violence by far-right groups and individuals has emerged as one of the most
dangerous terrorist threats faced by US law enforcement and triggered a wave of
warnings and arrests of people associated with those extremist movements. The
most recent in-depth analysis of far-right terrorism comes from the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In a report released last week, the
Escalating Terrorism Problem in the United States, CSIS analyzes 25 years of
domestic terrorism incidents and finds that the majority of attacks and plots
have come from the far right. The report says “the majority of all terrorist
incidents in the United States since 1994, and the total number of rightwing
attacks and plots has grown significantly during the past six years”, with the
far right launching two-thirds of attacks and plots in 2019, and 90% of those
in 2020. The report adds: “Far-right terrorism has significantly outpaced
terrorism from other types of perpetrators.” The second most significant source
of attacks and plots in the US has been “religious extremists”, almost all
“Salafi jihadists inspired by the Islamic State and al-Qaida”. The report shows
the far left has been an increasingly negligible source of attacks since the
mid 2000s.”

 

Reuters: Attorney General Barr Forms Panel On 'Anti-Government Extremism'
<[link removed]>

 

“Attorney General William Barr on Friday ordered the establishment of a task
force to counter what he called “anti-government extremists” committing
violence as protests against police brutality convulse the United States. In a
memo to law enforcement and prosecutors released by the Department of Justice,
Barr said alleged extremists had “engaged in indefensible acts of violence
designed to undermine public order,” including attacking police officers,
damaging property and threatening innocent people. Protests have spread
nationwide over George Floyd's death in police custody last month and the
deaths of other African Americans at the hands of police. Although largely
peaceful, some demonstrators have turned violent, which President Donald Trump
and his allies have blamed on left-wing extremists among the protesters. Barr
said the extremists “profess a variety of ideologies.” “Some pretend to profess
a message of freedom and progress, but they are in fact forces of anarchy,
destruction, and coercion,” Barr said. Barr named the militant anti-government
movement known as the “boogaloo,” as well as the left-wing antifa as among
those posing “continuing threats of lawlessness.” Antifa is an amorphous
movement whose adherents use confrontational tactics to oppose people or groups
they consider authoritarian or racist.”

 

Syria

 

The Washington Post: In Syrian Camp For Women And Children Who Left ISIS
Caliphate, A Struggle Even To Register Names
<[link removed]>

 

“The operation began without warning: Aid groups were barred from the Syrian
displacement camp, Internet signal disappeared, and soldiers fanned out along
the chain-linked fences as a scorching sun rose high in the sky. Inside, the
women grew distressed. Some cried, some shouted abuse, and all were wary. They
had once lived inside the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate. Now they
were guarded by the force that defeated it, and tensions between the two were
running high. The operation this month to count and register the inhabitants of
the al-Hol camp annex was described by aid workers, officials, researchers and
families in touch with the women affected. On June 10, the U.S.-backed
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria said that it had begun
registering the foreign inhabitants of what it called “the most dangerous camp
in the world,” almost a year and a half after they first arrived. The Islamic
State’s once-vast territory in Iraq and Syria is no more. But the question of
what will happen to tens of thousands of foreigners who left for the caliphate
and never returned home still lingers, with no clear answers. Abandoned by
their governments and under the care of a Kurdish-led force that does not want
them, the women and children inside the al-Hol camp annex are among nearly
14,000 foreigners from more than 60 countries being held in northeastern Syria
due to suspected Islamic State links.”

 

Voice Of America: Powerful Islamist Group Intensifies Crackdown On Jihadists
In Syria's Idlib
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“A powerful Islamist militant group in the northwestern Syrian province of
Idlib has launched a military campaign against rival jihadist groups, local
news reports and rights groups said Sunday. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the
dominant force in Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, on Sunday
began targeting villages in the western part of Idlib where jihadists have
significant presence, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The
Syrian Observatory, which monitors war developments in the country, said HTS
fighters raided the village of Arab Saeed in Idlib, arresting several jihadist
militants, including a leader with the Hurras al-Din group. Hurras al-Din is
one of several jihadist factions that have been operating in northwestern
Syria. The group is al-Qaida’s main affiliate in the war-torn country. Before
formally severing ties with the global jihadist group in 2016, HTS was regarded
as the Syrian branch of al-Qaida. At the time, it was known as the al-Nusra
Front. The crackdown comes nearly two weeks after several jihadist groups,
including Hurras al-Din, announced the formation of a joint operations room to
coordinate efforts in the fight against Syrian government troops and allied
forces.”

 

Iraq

 

The New York Times: Iraq Raids Iranian-Backed Militia Accused Of Attacking
U.S. Forces
<[link removed]>

 

“Iraqi forces raided an Iranian-backed militia suspected of carrying out a
spate of rocket attacks against American forces, making good on the new prime
minister’s promise to crack down on armed groups that have strained relations
with the United States. The raid overnight Thursday on a brigade headquarters
of the militia, Khataib Hezbollah, was intended to “to send a message that
there is no red line and no one is above the law and everyone must be subject
to it,” Gen. Yahya Rasool, the military spokesman for Prime Minister Mustafa
al-Kadhimi, said Friday. There have been at least four attacks on Iraqi
military bases and on Baghdad’s Green Zone in the past two weeks. The attacks
were thought to be aimed at American forces on the bases and the American
Embassy, which is in the fortified Green Zone. The United States blamed the
militia for a rocket attack in December that killed an American civilian
contractor, and one in March that killed three service members, including two
Americans and a Briton. Khataib Hezbollah denied responsibility for both
attacks. The United States carried out airstrikes against the group each time.”

 

The National: Iraqi Prime Minister 'Closely Following' Arrest Of Kataib
Hezbollah Militia Members
<[link removed]>

 

“Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi is “closely following” the situation
after security forces raided the base of a powerful Iranian-backed militia and
arrested several members, an Iraqi official said. The Counter Terrorism
Services raid on the Kataib Hezbollah group late on Thursday was the most
brazen action by Iraqi forces against a major Iran-backed militia in years.
“The detainees have been taken to prison and will be subjected to a legal
investigation. Rumours of their release are false,” an Iraqi official close to
Mr Al Kadhimi told The National on Friday. US officials have accused Kataib
Hezbollah, also known as Brigade 45 of Iraq's paramilitary umbrella grouping,
the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), of rocket attacks on bases hosting
American troops and other facilities in Iraq. “The security forces raided a
unit used by Brigade 45, they seized several rockets launchers and arrested at
least 13 fighters – including one foreigner – known as the 'Katyusha gang',”
said the official, who asked not be named as he was not authorised to speak to
the media. The CTS media office said 14 men were arrested in the raid and they
would remain in custody until the investigation was completed.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: Turkey Arrests 42 Over Links To Terror Group PKK, Including
Former HDP Mayors
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“Forty-two people, including former mayors of the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic
Party (HDP), were detained for their suspected links to the PKK, a designated
terrorist group that has waged a decadeslong insurgency against Turkey. The
arrests were made following security forces' raids in the provinces of
Diyarbakır, Istanbul, Izmir, Batman and Şanlıurfa after judicial authorities
issued arrest warrants for 64 suspects. The warrants were issued in line with
an investigation launched by prosecutors in the southeastern province of
Diyarbakır based on names listed in organizational documents of the Democratic
Society Congress (DTK), a group linked to the PKK terrorist organization. Among
those arrested are Mehmet Demir and Naside Toprak, suspended HDP mayors and
other HDP provincial and district officials. The HDP has also been accused by
Turkey's governments of having links to the PKK. Security forces are seeking
the remaining suspects. The HDP has drawn much ire from the public for
transferring taxpayer money and funds to the PKK. HDP mayors and local
officials have been found to have misused funds in support of the PKK terrorist
group and to provide jobs to PKK sympathizers.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The New York Times: Afghan Deaths Pile Up In Uncertainty Over U.S. Deal With
Taliban
<[link removed]>

 

“Two employees of Afghanistan’s human rights commission were killed in Kabul
on Saturday as a bomb attached to their vehicle exploded, the latest in a
rising number of targeted killings in the Afghan capital. From assassinations
of religious scholars and assaults against cultural figures to widespread
Taliban attacks across the country, the rise in violence is sapping the brief
optimism from an American agreement with the Taliban. Under that deal, the
United States would withdraw its troops, paving the way for direct negotiations
between the Afghan sides to end the war in a hoped-for political settlement.
The peace deal has hit a wall over a prisoner exchange that was supposed to
enable direct talks. Instead, the violence has intensified. In a statement,
Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights commission said one of its vehicles was
struck by a magnetic bomb on Saturday morning, killing two employees who were
on their way to work. The victims were identified as Fatima Natasha Khalil, 24,
a donor coordinator for the commission who had recently completed a degree from
the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, and Jawid Folad, a
longtime driver at the commission. “So far no group has claimed responsibility,
and the perpetrators of this brutal attack are not clear,” the statement said.”

 

The Wall Street Journal: Russian Spy Unit Paid Taliban To Attack Americans,
U.S. Intelligence Says
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“A Russian spy unit paid members of Afghanistan’s Taliban movement to conduct
lethal attacks on U.S. troops in that country, according to a classified
American intelligence assessment, people familiar with the report said. The
assessment of the role played by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the
GRU, in fostering attacks on American soldiers, comes as President Trump is
pushing the Pentagon to withdraw a significant portion of U.S. forces from
Afghanistan and as U.S. diplomats try to forge a peace accord involving the
Taliban and the U.S.-backed Afghan government. The intelligence assessment
regarding Russia’s actions in Afghanistan was delivered to the White House
earlier this spring, and until recently had been known only to a handful of
officials, a person familiar with it said. Its contents were reported earlier
Friday by the New York Times. It couldn’t be determined whether Russian
bounties paid to Taliban fighters resulted in any American combat deaths in
Afghanistan. The White House, without confirming the existence of the U.S.
intelligence assessment, said President Trump has never been briefed on the
Russian bounty payments, responding to Democratic and Republican critics who
charged that Mr. Trump knew of the activity and should have halted it.”

 

BBC News: Afghanistan War: Russia Denies Paying Militants To Kill US Troops
<[link removed]>

 

“Russia has denied reports that it offered Taliban-linked militants bounties
to kill US troops in Afghanistan. Citing US officials, The New York Times,
Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reported that a Russian military
intelligence unit offered the alleged bounties last year. The same unit has
been linked to assassination attempts in Europe. The Russian embassy in the US
said the claims had led to threats to diplomats. The Taliban also denied doing
any deal with Russian intelligence. The reports come as the US attempts to
negotiate a peace deal to end the 19-year war in Afghanistan. The unnamed
officials cited by the New York Times said US intelligence agencies had
concluded months ago that a unit of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency
had sought to destabilise its adversaries by covertly offering bounties for
successful attacks on coalition forces. Islamist militants, or armed criminal
elements closely associated with them, were believed to have collected some
money, the newspaper said. According to the Times, President Donald Trump was
briefed on the reports in March. Mr Trump denied having been briefed, writing
on Twitter on Sunday that neither he nor the vice president had been told
“about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians.”

 

Pakistan

 

The New York Times: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Suggests Osama Bin Laden Was A
Martyr
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“Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was criticized by opposition lawmakers
after making a speech to Parliament in which he said Osama bin Laden had been
“martyred” by the United States when it killed the mastermind of the Sept. 11
attacks in 2011. Mr. Khan was rebuked for his remarks, which included jibes at
the United States, and for the reverence he showed Bin Laden by  suggesting
that he was a martyr, a term of veneration in Islam used to describe those
killed defending the faith. “We sided with the U.S. in the war on terror but
they came here and killed him, martyred him,” Mr. Khan said in the speech on
Thursday. The prime minister at first said Bin Laden was merely “killed” by the
Americans, but quickly corrected himself to say the leader of Al Qaeda was
“martyred.” The Americans, he added, “used abusive language against us” and
further insulted Pakistan by not informing the country that they intended to
enter the country to kill Bin Laden. Pakistan, an antipathetic but important
ally of the United States, has insisted that it did not know Bin Laden was
hiding out in the northern city of Abbottabad, but American officials have long
accused the country’s powerful military of providing a safe haven for
militants.”

 

The National: Seven Dead In Attack On Pakistan Stock Exchange In Karachi
<[link removed]>

 

“At least seven people including four attackers are dead after gunmen attacked
Karachi's stock exchange building on Monday morning. Police said four militants
stormed the building in Pakistan's financial centre and were killed after
paramilitary rangers responded. Two guards and a policeman were killed in the
attack, which was later claimed by the Baluchistan Liberation Army, a
separatist militant group from a neighbouring province. The attackers launched
a grenade attack at the main gate before running into the building and firing
indiscriminately. A police officer and a security guard were among the wounded,
local channels said. The building is in a high-security zone and also houses
the head offices of many private banks. Rizwan Ahmend, a police official at the
scene, told AP that after the attack was over, food supplies were found on the
bodies of the gunmen, indicating they may have planned a long siege, but were
thwarted by police. Pakistani politicians praised the security forces and
guards at the building who appeared to have prevented what could have been a
far more deadly incident. The Balochistan Liberation Army released a photograph
of the four militants from its Majeed suicide brigade.”

 

Voice Of America: Pakistan Sentences 5 Men For Al-Qaida Links
<[link removed]>

 

“A court in Pakistan Friday convicted and sentenced five men for being members
of al-Qaida and supporting terrorism. A statement by the counter terrorism
department of Punjab province said the court in Gujranwala city found the men
guilty of terrorism financing, possessing explosives, membership in a
proscribed organization, and possessing literature of a proscribed
organization. Each of the men has been sentenced to 16 years imprisonment along
with financial penalties. Their personal property has also been confiscated
according to the statement issued by CTD Punjab. The men, Abdullah Umair,
Ahmadur Rehman, Asim Akbar Saeed, Muhammad Yaqoob, and Muhammad Yousaf, were
arrested in Gujranwala, around 75 km north of Lahore, in December of 2019. At
the time the statement said they were preparing to carry out a terrorist
attack. According to Pakistan’s English daily Dawn newspaper, the men were
running a media cell of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, the local chapter
of al-Qaida. While the conviction rate in terrorism linked cases in Pakistan
has increased since 2016, Muhammad Amir Rana, a security analyst and director
of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an Islamabad based think tank,
said the addition of terrorism financing charges in the case may have been due
to pressure from the Financial Action Task Force, an international body that
monitors terrorism funding.”

 

Egypt

 

Arab News: Egypt Executes Libyan Militant For Deadly Police Attack
<[link removed]>

 

“Egypt executed on Saturday Libyan militant Abdel Rahim Al-Mismari, who was
convicted for an attack south of Cairo in October 2017 that killed 16
policemen, the defense ministry said. The lethal attack took place in Al-Wahat,
about 200 kilometers south of the capital in the Western Desert, when a raid on
a militant hideout was ambushed and a firefight ensued. Mismari was captured
soon after. A military court found he had masterminded the attack and sentenced
him to death in 2019, while 32 co-defendants received life sentences. “He
deliberately killed in a pre-meditated manner 16 police personnel,” the defense
ministry said in a video outlining the charges against him. The seven-minute
clip, edited with a dramatic score, listed 11 charges against him. Mismari was
also charged with kidnapping Mohamed Alaa Al-Hayes, a policeman, who was later
freed by Egypt’s counter-terrorism forces. In a 2017 interview with prominent
talk show host Emad Adib, some of which was used in Saturday’s defense ministry
statement, a bearded Mismari appeared defiant and admitted to killing those he
deemed “infidels.” He was accused of forming and joining a “terrorist” group in
Libya, targeting security personnel, murder and carrying out hostile operations
against vital facilities, according to the defense ministry.”

 

Nigeria

 

Associated Press: In Nigeria, An Islamic State-Linked Group Steps Up Attacks
<[link removed]>

 

“An Islamic State-linked group appears to be regaining strength in
northeastern Nigeria and is now warning it will target civilians who help the
military or even humanitarian organizations. The Islamic State in West Africa
Province, which broke away from Boko Haram in 2016, had appeared weakened
earlier this year by internal feuding, said Nnamdi Obasi, the senior adviser
for Nigeria at the International Crisis Group. But earlier this month it killed
more than 120 people in a single week, including 40 in Monguno, a town housing
an estimated 150,000 displaced people and a U.N. humanitarian base that was
only able to repel the jihadists after hours of fighting. “The new attack now
suggests that there is a new flare to their violence,” Obasi said. The Islamic
State in West Africa Province broke away from Boko Haram following a dispute
over leadership and the strategy of attacking civilian targets such as mosques
and marketplaces. The splinter faction is now believed to have as many as 5,000
fighters, according to a International Crisis Group report last year. Boko
Haram has focused on attacking military units, targeting soldiers on guard or
patrol operations. The extremist group also has attacked civilians through
suicide bombings often carried out by young girls.”

 

Bloomberg: Nigerian Military Says ‘Scores’ Of Militants Killed In Air Raids
<[link removed]>

 

“Nigerian forces attacked Boko Haram bases in the Tongule and Bukar Meram
communities in the northeastern Borno State and killed “scores of their
fighters,” the West African nation’s military said. The air strikes went ahead
on June 25 after about 35 militants were spotted at a settlement shielding the
Islamist insurgency in Tongule, John Enenche, a military spokesman, said in
emailed statement on Saturday. Others were spotted at Bukar Meram, where
“several” insurgents were killed, he said. Boko Haram has waged a violent
campaign since 2009 to impose its version of Islamic law in Africa’s most
populous country. Nigeria is almost evenly split between a mainly Muslim north
and a predominantly Christian south.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Insurgents Stage 'Very Violent' Attack Close To Gas Projects In
Mozambique
<[link removed]>

 

“Suspected Islamist insurgents attacked a town in the north of Mozambique near
billion-dollar gas projects managed by Total and Exxon Mobil early on Saturday
morning, a police and a security source told Reuters. The police source said
the attack, the latest on the strategically important town of Mocimboa da
Praia, 60 km (40 miles) south of the gas projects, was “very violent” and the
country’s defence and security forces (DSF) had suffered a number of
casualties. “The DSF are fighting a fierce fight because they were met with
hefty firepower,” the source said, adding that communications were now down.
Spokespeople for the defence ministry and police did not immediately respond to
messages seeking comment. Mozambique’s northern-most province of Cabo Delgado
is home to the gas developments worth some $60 billion. Since 2017, it has also
seen an Islamist insurgency with links to Islamic State that has gathered pace
over the past year. A separate security source confirmed the attack on Saturday
and said helicopters operated by private security firm Dyck Advisory Group,
which has been acting alongside government forces since earlier this year, also
responded after initially being delayed by weather conditions and poor
visibility.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Reuters: Counter-Terrorism Police Charge Man With Three Murders After Knife
Attack In English Town
<[link removed]>

 

“A suspect has been charged with three counts of murder over a knife attack in
the English town of Reading described by police as a terrorist incident, the
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Saturday. A man wielding a five-inch
knife attacked people out enjoying the sun at Forbury Gardens, a Reading park,
on the evening of June 20, killing three people and injuring three others. “The
Crown Prosecution Service has today authorised Counter Terrorism Policing South
East to charge Khairi Saadallah, 25, with three counts of murder and three
counts of attempted murder,” the CPS said. A security source had previously
told Reuters that the suspect, a resident of Reading, was a Libyan national.
Police named the victims as Britons James Furlong, 36, and David Wails, 49, and
U.S. national Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39. Ritchie-Bennett’s family said in a
statement on Saturday: “We LOVED Joe so much and we are in such deep sorrow. We
need all the prayers for Joe and the Ritchie and Bennett families.” Local
authorities in Reading held a memorial on Saturday evening at which civic and
religious leaders and a police chief paid tribute to the victims and to members
of the public who tried to help, some by tearing their shirts to make bandages.”

 

Sky News: Schools, Offices And Hospitals Told To Rehearse Terrorism Response
<[link removed]>

 

“Schools, offices, hospitals and other public places should rehearse their
response to terrorist attacks, the government says. After last week's stabbings
in Reading, which killed three people, the Home Office has republished earlier
advice on preparing for “marauding terror attacks”. An advice booklet published
by the national counter-terrorism security office on the Gov.uk website says
the attacks are “fast-moving and violent” with attackers moving through a
location aiming to kill or injure as many people as possible before police can
reach the scene. It adds: “Defending your organisation against a marauding
terrorist attack is undoubtedly a challenging task... However, with
well-developed procedures, security systems, training and rehearsal, lives can
be saved.” The booklet was first drafted in 2017 and 2018 but was republished
after Home Secretary Priti Patel warned last week that the threat from
'lone-wolf' terrorists was increasing. It contains advice such as avoiding the
word “firearm” in public announcements as it could be misheard as “fire alarm”.
It recommends text messaging and smartphone apps to raise the alarm and says
warnings of a “security incident” can be ineffective. “Rehearsing the response
to a marauding terrorist attack is the only way to ensure that the procedures
and technical systems function as expected and to highlight areas for
improvement,” the advice says.”

 

Arab News: UK-Counter Terror Police Probe Activist Over Qassem Soleimani Eulogy
<[link removed]>

 

“Police in the UK are investigating whether the head  of a campaign group
broke terrorism laws when he gave a speech praising Iranian general Qassem
Soleimani. Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission
(IHRC), delivered his eulogy at a candlelit vigil held outside a London Islamic
center in January to mourn Soleimani’s death. The commander of Iran’s Quds
force, who was blacklisted for his terrorism links, was killed by a US drone
strike at Baghdad airport earlier that day. Shadjareh, an outspoken supporter
of the Iranian regime, told crowds at the event that “we aspire to be like him”
in reference to Soleimani. The Islamic Centre of England (ICE) was reprimanded
this month for hosting the commemoration and a second event honoring Soleimani.
The Charity Commission, the charity regulator for England and Wales, denounced
ICE’s trustees for failing to prevent one speaker from “praising and calling
for support for Major General Soleimani.” The incident, the Commission said,
“exposed the charity to the risk of being associated with the speaker, who may
have committed an offence under section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006, for
glorification of terrorism.” London’s Metropolitan police confirmed Sunday they
are assessing whether any terrorism offences took place.”

 

France

 

The National: Trial Of ISIS Fighter Linked To Paris Attackers Begins In France
<[link removed]>

 

“The trial of a French ISIS fighter accused of overseeing executions in Syria
and leading a squadron of foreign fighters whose members went on to commit the
2015 terror attacks in Paris has begun in the French capital. Tyler Vilus, who
has become known as one of the most senior French Islamist extremists for the
role he played in Syria from 2013 to 2015, is accused of associating with
terrorists, leading a terror organisation and of committing organised murder.
His trial is the first in France of a former ISIS fighter over crimes committed
in Syria. French authorities suspect the 30-year-old man of being a member of
the notorious ISIS morality police in Syria, for which he oversaw executions,
as well as directing the Katiba Al Mouhajirine, a foreign brigade of French and
Belgian fighters. The group, which comprised roughly 40 men, included in its
ranks three members of the ISIS cell that carried out the November 13 terror
attacks in Paris in 2015: Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Samy Amimour and Ismail Mostefai.
The Mouhajirine group is accused of torturing and executing members of Syrian
President Bashar Al Assad’s army as well as members of the Free Syrian Army. Mr
Vilus has admitted to being in touch with Abaaoud who masterminded the 2015
attacks.”

 

Germany

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: ISIS Militant Lands In UK Jail For Inciting Violence In
Germany
<[link removed]>

 

“An ISIS militant who encouraged mass murder in Germany has been sentenced to
at least nine years in prison in Britain. Fatah Abdullah, 35, had been charged
under Britain’s terrorism laws with encouraging another person to plow a car
into crowds, attack people with a meat cleaver and detonate bombs, “with the
aim of killing and/or causing serious injury.” The incitement took place
between April 9 and Dec. 11, 2018, The Associated Press reported. Abdullah, who
was born in Iran but was living in the northern English city of Newcastle after
receiving asylum, was arrested after a joint investigation by British and
German police. He pleaded guilty in March to inciting terrorism overseas and
engaging in conduct in preparation to assist others to commit terrorist acts.”

 

Europe

 

Al Monitor: Netherlands Isn’t Required To Repatriate Islamic State Families In
Syria, Court Rules
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“The Supreme Court in the Netherlands ruled Friday that the state is not
legally obliged to repatriate Dutch women and children of Islamic State (IS)
fighters held in Syria. The legal team representing the 23 women who left their
home country to join the terrorist group had asked the court to require the
state repatriate the women and their 56 children. In November 2019, an appeals
court judge in The Hague overturned a previous ruling that said the Netherlands
must make “all possible efforts” to repatriate the children, most of whom are
under 6 years old. In its ruling Friday, the country’s Supreme Court maintained
that because the women and children are outside Dutch territory, they can’t
invoke human rights treaties of which the Netherlands is a signatory. The court
also noted that the women traveled voluntarily to the conflict zone and that
they could present a national security risk should they return. When IS lost
its last shred of territory in the Syrian town of Baghouz in March 2019,
thousands of IS fighters and their families were transferred to Kurdish-run
detention centers and camps. Today, an estimated 68,000 suspected fighters and
their relatives remain in the custody of the US-allied Syrian Democratic
Forces.”

 

The Brussels Times: Belgium Strips Islamic State Returnee Of Belgian
Nationality
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“An Antwerp court has stripped an Islamic State supporter of her Belgian
nationality and sentenced her to five years in prison. The 32-year-old woman,
identified as Rahma B., was also fined €8,000 as part of her conviction for
participating in the activities of a terrorist organisation. In the aftermath
of Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria in November, Rahma B. fled
to Turkey where authorities handed her over to Belgium after she turned herself
in. She arrived in Zaventem airport in November 2019 and was immediately
transferred to a prison in Bruges. During her time in Syria, she reportedly
lost two husbands and three children in attacks and now has to use crutches to
move around, La Libre reports. The 32-year-old had already been sentenced in
absentia in June 2019 but appealed her conviction upon her arrival to Belgium,
arguing she now rejected the terror group’s radical ideologies. “I realise that
what I went through is my fault,” she told the court during her trial. “This
radical ideology, which caused nothing but problems, is now no longer in me.”
Her appeal was nevertheless rejected by the court, which ordered her immediate
arrest after public prosecutors described her profile as “worrying.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

The Straits Times: Four ISIS Militants Killed Near Philippine Capital
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“Philippine security officials killed four suspected Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria (ISIS)-linked militants on Friday (June 26) in a city just south of
Manila. They were killed during a raid at around midnight on a house where they
were staying inside a gated community in Don Bosco district in Paranaque city,
just an hour's drive from the capital. One of the men fired at the policemen
and tried to lob a grenade that went off prematurely. An officer was injured
when his legs were hit by shrapnel. Police reports identified those killed as
Bensaudi Sali, 37, Ramin Hussin, Jamal Kalimming, and a woman in her 40s,
Merhama Abdul Sawari. “The unwanted presence of (terrorists) in Metro Manila...
proves that terrorist groups know no pandemic,” said General Felimon Santos Jr,
the military chief. “Not even Covid-19 could deter or prevent (them) and their
cohorts from planning and looking for the opportune time to strike and kill.”
Intelligence sources cited by the online news site Rappler said all four were
likely a sleeper cell sent to Metro Manila by Abu Sayyaf chieftain Hatib
Sawadjaan, described in previous reports as the “acting emir” in the
Philippines of ISIS. Rappler said Sawari was a “group finance and logistics
facilitator.”

 

Technology

 

The Guardian: The UK Social Media Platform Where Neo-Nazis Can View Terror
Atrocities
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“A UK-registered technology company with British directors is behind a global
platform used by neo-Nazis to upload footage of racist killings. BitChute,
which was used in the dissemination of far-right propaganda during the protests
in London and elsewhere this month, has hosted films of terror attacks and
thousands of antisemitic videos which have been viewed over three million
times. The platform has also hosted several videos from the proscribed
far-right terrorist group National Action, now taken down. Concerns about
BitChute have been flagged in a new report, Hate Fuel: The hidden online world
fuelling far right terror, produced by the Community Security Trust (CST), a
charity set up to combat antisemitism. In response to the report, the company,
based in Newbury, Berkshire, said in a tweet that it blocks “any such videos,
including incitement to violence”. But the platform was still showing the full
footage of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings and an attack on a German
synagogue until the Observer brought the videos to its attention. The far-right
activist Tommy Robinson has a channel on BitChute with more than 25,000
subscribers.”



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