Eye on Extremism

July 7, 2020

 

Sahara Reporters: Boko Haram Terrorists Attack UN Helicopter, Kill Five-Year-Old Child, Others

 

“Boko Haram insurgents have attacked a United Nations aid helicopter in Nigeria's North-East region. The terrorists, according to the UN, launched the attack on Thursday in Damasak, Borno State, killing two civilians including a five-year-old child in the process. Edward Kallon, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, on Saturday said both fatalities and several others injured in the attack were on the ground. “A UN Humanitarian Air Service helicopter was hit by bullets during the attack. No aid workers were on board at the time and crew members are all safe,” Kallon said in a statement. A UN communication said the aircraft was shot as it approached Damasak and the pilots managed to fly back to Maiduguri, AFP reports.”

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: Iraq Finds Underground ISIS Training Camp

 

“The Iraqi authorities announced Friday finding an underground ISIS training camp during the second day of the Tarmiyah operations north of Baghdad against the remnants of the terrorist organization. “The Tarmiyah operation has achieved enormous results that would reflect positively on the security of the region in the coming days,” said Ali Jabouri, a commanding officer. “The underground ISIS hideout included eight rooms and was used to hide terrorists and to train them on targeting Iraqi forces,” Jabouri explained. Tarmiyah operation was launched on Thursday with the participation of brigades 42, 43 and 12, a joint force from the Baghdad Operations Command, the rapid reaction forces and federal police with Iraqi air force support. It aims to target the remnants of ISIS, arrest wanted individuals, enhance security and stability, end security breaches, and protect the interests of citizens. Since the operation started, Iraqi forces have found five ISIS hideouts, and arrested a number of wanted individuals and handed them over to the Baghdad Operations Command. The Iraqi forces thwarted an ISIS attack south of Samarra. The Popular Mobilization Forces said in a statement that a force from the 41st Brigade responded on Thursday evening to the attack of ISIS elements in the Tal al-Dhahab area.”

 

United States

 

Al Jazeera: US Army Soldier Pleads Not Guilty In Neo-Nazi Attack Plot

 

“A United States Army private - who, according to federal prosecutors, confessed to his role in plotting a deadly attack on his own military unit - pleaded not guilty to charges he shared secret information about the unit with a neo-Nazi group. Ethan Melzer, 22, entered his plea on Monday before US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in New York City, at a hearing conducted electronically. The US Department of Justice accused Melzer of using an encrypted app to send his unit's planned movements to members of the Order of Nine Angles (O9A), which it described as “an occult-based neo-Nazi and white supremacist group”, and a related group called the “RapeWaffen Division”. Calling Melzer “the enemy within,” prosecutors said the Louisville, Kentucky resident hoped to cause mass casualties through what he and coconspirators labelled a “jihadi attack”. Melzer enlisted in the Army in 2018, joined O9A in 2019, and began planning the attack in April after learning of a new foreign deployment for his unit, prosecutors said. The plot was foiled in late May, and Melzer was arrested on June 10, they added.”

 

Associated Press: Judge Extends Hospitalization Of Truck Attack Plot Suspect

 

“A federal judge has extended the court-ordered hospitalization of a Maryland man deemed mentally unfit for trial on charges he allegedly planned an Islamic State-inspired attack at a shopping and entertainment complex near Washington, D.C. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said in a court filing Tuesday that the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered the ability of federal Bureau of Prisons medical staff to evaluate the defendant, Rondell Henry. Henry, 29, of Germantown, Maryland, is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State group. Police arrested Henry in March 2019 after seeing him exit a stolen U-Haul van and jump over a security fence at the National Harbor, a popular waterfront destination just outside the nation’s capital. Henry told investigators he planned to carry out an attack like one in which a driver ran over and killed dozens of people in Nice, France, in 2016, authorities said. In February, Xinis ruled there was ample evidence that Henry isn’t mentally competent to stand trial. She ordered him to be held in a “suitable” federal Bureau of Prisons facility for up to four months so experts can determine whether he could be competent to be tried in the future.”

 

Financial Times: Trump Takes Aim At ‘Radical Left’ In July 4

 

“Donald Trump vowed to defeat “the radical left”, “Marxists” and “anarchists” in an electioneering Independence Day speech at the White House, a day after striking a similarly combative tone at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. “We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who in many instances, have absolutely no clue what they are doing,” the US president said at the “Salute to America” event on the White House south lawn on Saturday evening. The Washington gathering was ostensibly to mark the July 4 holiday, which commemorates the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence. But the president used his speech to emphasise his campaign theme ahead of November’s election: that an intolerant form of “leftwing fascism” was attempting to silence free speech, indoctrinate Americans and rewrite history. The event was held despite the objections of public health officials and Muriel Bowser, the Democratic mayor of Washington, DC, who raised concerns about the possible spread of coronavirus. Most attendees at the White House celebration did not appear to be wearing face masks.”

 

Syria

 

Agence France-Presse: Dozens Killed In ISIS And Regime Clashes In Syria, Monitor Says

 

“Clashes between Russia-backed Syrian regime forces and the Islamic State group have killed more than 50 fighters on both sides in two days, a Britain-based war monitor said on Saturday. Fighting and Russian air strikes in the central desert province of Homs since late Thursday have claimed the lives of 20 pro-government fighters and 31 militants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “The fighting started in the night of Thursday to Friday with a jihadist assault on regime positions” near the town of Al-Sukhna, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. ISIS militants have retained a roving presence in Syria's vast Badia desert, despite losing their last shred of territory last year. They regularly carry out attacks there.ISIS declared a cross-border “caliphate” in large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, but several military campaigns against it chipped away at that proto-state and eventually led to its territorial demise. Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests, before evolving into a complex conflict involving world powers and militants. Diplomatically, Iran, Russia and Turkey, which support opposing sides in Syria's war, held talks on Wednesday to harmonise efforts to bring peace to the country, whose conflict has entered its 10th year.”

 

Iraq

 

Voice Of America: Rocket Attack Targets Baghdad's Green Zone

 

“A rocket attack Sunday targeted Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to a number of embassies, including that of the United States. The rocket fell short of its target and instead damaged a nearby house, injuring a child, according to the Iraqi military. The military said it was also able “to thwart another attack and seize a Katyusha rocket and launcher that were targeting the Taji base north of Baghdad.”  U.S.-led coalition troops are stationed at Taji. No further details were given. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Sunday’s attack came just hours after the U.S. embassy tested an anti-rocket defense system. In recent months, U.S. diplomats and troops have been the target of dozens of missile attacks in Iraq which the U.S. blames on Iran-backed militia. In late June Iraqi forces arrested more than a dozen members of an Iranian-backed militia on charges of being involved in the attacks.”

 

Al Monitor: Counter-Terrorism Forces Take Greater Role In Iraq

 

“Since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was sworn in on May 7, the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Services (CTS) have taken part in several high-profile operations and seem ever more in the foreground of the country’s security efforts. Their June 26 arrests of over a dozen Kataib Hezbollah (KH) fighters in a Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) headquarters in southern Baghdad sparked concern that the CTS might, however, end up targeted by Iran-linked factions. This has not yet happened. The CTS have been widely praised as “heroes” since their key role in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) starting in 2014 and — though some Iran-linked factions say they are too close to the United States — for now the blame was placed squarely on the prime minister as well as the United States for its rumored involvement. In a recent operation by the CTS in the Qarachogh mountains near the Makhmour district, over 50 supporting airstrikes were reportedly carried out, attesting to the confidence in the forces by both the international coalition and the Iraqi military. The June 24 operation reportedly resulted in the killing of 12 IS operatives in Iraq’s notoriously difficult areas disputed between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the central government.”

 

The Guardian: Iraqi Expert On Islamic State Shot Dead In Baghdad

 

“A leading Iraqi expert on Islamic State and other militant groups has been shot dead in Baghdad after receiving threats from Iran-backed militias, security officials have said. Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Hisham al-Hashimi, 47, on Monday outside his home in the Zeyouneh area of Baghdad, a family member said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The family member heard five shots fired. Al-Hashimi was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Al-Hashimi was a respected security analyst who appeared regularly on Iraqi television and whose expertise was sought out by government officials, journalists and researchers. Weeks before his death, Al-Hashimi had told confidantes he feared Iran-backed militia groups were targeting him. Friends had advised him to flee to the northern city of Irbil, in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. He rose to prominence as an expert on the inner workings of Isis and even advised the US-led coalition during its years-long battle with the extremist group. After Iraq declared victory over Isis in December 2017, he increasingly turned his attention to the Iran-backed militias that helped to defeat Isis and now wield considerable power in the country.”

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: Iraq's Army Chases ISIS In North Baghdad

 

“The Iraqi Ministry of Interior said it has arrested five ISIS members, including a high ranking official, while the Iraqi army announced that it carried out a military operation to search vast areas in north Baghdad and clear out ISIS cells there. The ministry revealed in a statement it released on Thursday that it had arrested four terrorists who were providing logistical support to ISIS groups and had confessed their terrorist crimes during preliminary interrogations. The military press said that “under the direction of the Prime Minister and the supervision of the joint operations command”, a large-scale security operation was carried out in North Baghdad. The Ministry of Interior said that the First Division and its intelligence service took over a missile launching platform in the al-Anbar governorate. A statement released by the Ministry announced that “Based on accurate information . . . [they] were able to reach a missile platform” and confiscated various types of missiles. This operation came days after the al-Dora operation that had been carried out by the anti-terror agency and in which 14 members of the Iraqi “Hezbollah Brigades” were arrested for firing missiles on the green area and Baghdad international airport.”

 

Turkey

 

CNN: Turkey Convicts Human Rights Activists On Terror Charges

 

“A Turkish court sentenced four Amnesty International activists to between two and six years in prison on terrorism charges in a high-profile trial Friday, which the human rights group described as a “travesty of justice of spectacular proportions.” The honorary chair of Amnesty International Turkey, Taner Kilic, was sentenced to six years and three months in jail for being a member of terror organization, while the group's former director İdil Eser was sentenced to two years and one month for aiding a terror organization. Amnesty members Günal Kursun and Özlem Dalgiran were also given two years and one month sentences for aiding a terror group. The human rights group denies all the charges and said that every allegation against its members has been “comprehensively exposed as a baseless slur.” If you're desperately missing your local coffee shop, or just want to treat yourself, these coffee subscription services deliver gourmet brews right to your door. Another seven defendants were acquitted. The 11 human rights activists were arrested and charged in the summer of 2017 on terrorism charges. The defendants have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal, which Amnesty Turkey tweeted that they will use.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Wall Street Journal: How Kremlin’s View Of U.S.’S War In Afghanistan Has Shifted

 

“For years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. and Russia shared a goal of deposing the Taliban government and hunting down its remnants in the countryside. But that common purpose crumbled in recent years amid mutual suspicion and U.S. plans to leave Afghanistan with the Taliban undefeated. Today, amid a furor in Washington over intelligence assessments that Russia allegedly paid bounties to the Taliban to attack U.S. soldiers, it may have seen an epitaph. In Moscow, officials have vehemently denied that any bounty program existed. Russia has also denied involvement in a spate of political assassinations in Europe in recent years that U.S. officials have said were the work of Russian security services. The Trump administration has likewise cast doubts on the existence of a bounty program, saying that intelligence about it was unverified and leaked for political purposes. Mr. Trump has called reports of the intelligence a “hoax.” Democrats on Capitol Hill have signaled that the alleged bounty program will be an issue going into presidential elections, when Mr. Trump is expected to be attacked for his friendly relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

 

Associated Press: US Envoy Forges Ahead With Troubled Taliban Peace Deal

 

“Washington's envoy to Afghanistan on Saturday emphasized the economic benefits of the peace deal with the Taliban, forging ahead with an agreement that has run into new political obstacles in the U.S. and the region. Zalmay Khalilzad was wrapping up a weeklong trip that included stops in Uzbekistan, Pakistan and the Gulf state of Qatar, where Taliban negotiators are headquartered. Accompanying Khalilzad for the first time was an economic development team led by U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler. Khalilzad offered no details about the kinds of economic projects being envisioned to jump-start an economy battered by widespread corruption and currently 75% funded by international donations. However, he did suggest joint economic projects involving Qatar and Pakistan, possibly on infrastructure and trade. The U.S. signed a peace deal with the Taliban in February to end 19 years of war in Afghanistan. Khalilzad has sought to stress the economic benefits of the peace deal throughout his tour. In a series of tweets early Saturday, the U.S. envoy said he met with the Qatar Investment Authority and the Taliban's chief negotiator, Mullah Abdul Ghani, in the tiny Gulf state's capital of Doha.”

 

Middle East

 

Associated Press: UN Chief Warns COVID-19 Provides Opportunity For Terrorists

 

“U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic provides new opportunities for the Islamic State extremist group, al-Qaida and their affiliates as well as neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate groups. The U.N. chief said it’s too early to fully assess the implications of the coronavirus pandemic on terrorism, but all these groups seek to exploit divisions, local conflicts, failures in governing, and other grievances to advance their aims. Guterres told the launch of United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week that the Islamic State group, which once controlled a vast swath of Syria and Iraq, is trying to reassert itself in both countries, “while thousands of foreign terrorist fighters battle in the region.” “The pandemic has also highlighted vulnerabilities to new and emerging forms of terrorism, such as misuse of digital technology, cyber attacks and bio-terrorism,” he said. Josep Borrell, the European Union’s top diplomat, told the virtual meeting that a global understanding of the pandemic’s implications on counter-terrorism efforts across the world is needed. “It is true that, in some places, the crisis has led to a reduction of terrorist activity, mainly due to the mobilization of state security services,” he said.”

 

Somalia

 

BBC News: Somalia Restaurant Attack: Six Killed By Al-Shabab

 

“A bomb explosion at a restaurant in the southern Somali town of Baidoa has killed six people, officials have told the BBC. There has also been a suicide bomb attack close to the port of the capital, Mogadishu, which injured at least seven. Militant group al-Shabab said it was behind both incidents. The UN-backed government has been battling against al-Shabab for control of the country for more than a decade. The militants, who are allied to al-Qaeda, said that in Baidoa they were targeting tax collectors, who were holding a meeting at the restaurant, and soldiers. They added that two soldiers died in the attack but officials said the victims were all civilians. Al-Shabab said it was behind both the attack in Mogadishu (pictured) and in Baidoa. Police told the BBC that in Mogadishu officers opened fire on a vehicle after it failed to stop at a checkpoint. The suicide bomber driving the car is said to have tried to hit a police post in front of the port but the security forces shot him and the vehicle exploded. Two police officers and five passers-by were wounded. “Metal debris fell all over us inside the port and we heard gunfire,” a port worker told Reuters.”

 

Reuters: Suicide Car Bomber Blasts Checkpoint At Port In Somalia's Capital Mogadishu

 

“An explosion shook parts of Somalia's capital of Mogadishu early on Saturday as a suicide car bomber drove into a checkpoint just outside the port, witnesses said. Police made no immediate comment on casualties. “Metal debris fell all over us inside the port and we heard gunfire,” said a port worker who sought anonymity for security reasons. “Security forces have surrounded the area.” The blast shoook the ground, said Mohammed Ali, a shopkeeper in the area. At the city's Madina hospital, a nurse, Halima Nur, said it had received five people injured in the blast for treatment. Somalia has been mired in conflict since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Since 2008, the Islamist militant group al Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow the central government and establish its rule based on its own harsh interpretation of Islam's sharia law.”

 

Voice Of America: Al-Shabab Militants Abduct, Kill Somali Lawmaker

 

“A regional Somali lawmaker has been abducted and killed by al-Shabab militants near the town of Bal’ad, 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu. Mohamed Mohamud Siyad was travelling in a vehicle from Jowhar town to the capital Mogadishu when he was abducted on Sunday, a security source told VOA Somali. The vehicle Siyad was travelling in was stopped near the village of Gololey, north of Bal’ad. The militants drove the vehicle off the road. Officials say they believe the lawmaker was killed soon after he was removed from the vehicle. The militant group claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of the lawmaker. Al-Shabab has been attacking the road between Jowhar and Mogadishu frequently over the last three years. In September last year, five regional officials including a former trade minister, a finance official and a humanitarian worker were killed in an explosion from an improvised explosive device. In June of 2018, two regional lawmakers were among 11 people killed in an al-Shabab ambush while traveling on the same road.”

 

Africa

 

Associated Press: 33 Villagers Killed In Attacks In Central Mali This Week

 

“Armed men who identified themselves as jihadists attacked farming villages in Mali’s central Mopti region this week, killing at least 33 people and wounding at least five, local officials said Friday. The attackers arrived on motorcycles Wednesday, killing men who were returning from their fields in the villages of Gouari, Djimdo, Pangadougou and Dialaikanda, according to Moulaye Guindo, the mayor of Bankass, the capital of the area. He said 15 were killed in Djimdo, 16 in Gouari and two in Pangadougou. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they bear the mark of the Fulani armed groups who have been targeting Dogon farmers they accuse of being allied with militias close to the government. The Dogon farmers have been responsible for attacks on Fulani villages in the same area. “This attack will cause a psychosis and I am afraid that the villagers of this whole area will not go farming this year,” Guindo warned. Intercommunal violence in central Mali has been complicated by the presence of jihadist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Many accuse the Fulani of being close to the al-Qaida-linked militants, which Fulani leaders have denied, while Dogon community members are considered to be supportive of the Malian army.”

 

Reuters: U.N. Says Attacks By Islamist Militia In Congo May Be War Crimes

 

“Systematic and brutal attacks by Islamist militants in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the last 18 months may amount to war crimes, the United Nations said on Monday. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group operating in eastern Congo, have killed more than 1,000 civilians since the start of 2019, according to a report by the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO). “In the majority of cases, the means and the modus operandi of the attacks indicate a clear intention to leave no survivors. Entire families have been hacked to death,” it said. The attacks “may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes”, it said. The ADF has operated in Beni territory, North Kivu province, for more than three decades, but the level of violence increased sharply last year following military campaigns against them, the report said. Even by the standards of eastern Congo, where militias routinely attack civilians as they vie for territory and natural resources, the repeated massacres by the ADF of defenseless villagers have been particularly vicious.Several have been claimed by Islamic State, although researchers and analysts say there is a lack of hard evidence linking the two groups.”

 

Defense One: Mozambique Is Emerging As The Next Islamic Extremist Hotspot

 

“An Islamist terror group in Mozambique is staging increasingly sophisticated and destructive attacks on oil facilities and government targets this year. Its connections with Islamic State may be growing tighter, according to a report published Monday by data analytics company Babel Street. The attacks are part of a three-year uprising in the country that has turned markedly more violent this year. Already, 447 people have died in attacks in 2020, a faster pace than last year, which saw 660 deaths in 309 attacks, the Babel Street report said, citing the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project. Tactics recently used by the terror group, called Al Sunnah wa Jama’ah, suggest a growing relationship with the Islamic State and other terror groups. These include launching small drones for position scouting, displaying Islamic State flags during attacks, beheading victims, and kidnapping girls in the model of Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the Babel Street report said. As well, Islamic State representatives have taken credit for some attacks in the country, as on April 10, when the private security company Dyck Advisor Group lost a helicopter. In May, Al Sunnah wa Jama’ah captured a Yanjing armored vehicle from Mozambican security forces.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Al Jazeera: UK Jails ISIL Supporter For Life For Plotting Attack In London

 

“A London court has sentenced a 37-year-old supporter of the ISIL (ISIS) armed group to life in prison for plotting a bomb attack at London's St Paul's Cathedral, a nearby hotel and an underground train station. Muslim convert Safiyya Shaikh pleaded guilty in February at London's Central Criminal Court to charges of “preparation of terrorist acts” and dissemination of “terrorist publications”. She was sentenced on Friday. Shaikh, who was born Michelle Ramsden, was arrested in October last year after discussing the preparation and planting of explosives with two undercover police officers. “She engaged with others, who she believed to be of a similar mindset, to instigate and plan a terrorist attack involving the use of improvised explosives to attack St Paul's Cathedral and a hotel nearby,” prosecutor Alison Morgan said. “She visited the cathedral to assess its security arrangements and the best place to detonate a bomb. She stated that her intention was to kill herself and as many other people as possible.” Police said Shaikh was also heavily involved in violence propaganda posts online and inspiring others to fight. Shaikh handed an undercover officer two bags that she wanted to be fitted with explosives, and she “prepared the words of a pledge of allegiance to Daesh [Arabic for ISIL]”, the police said.”

 

BBC News: Father And Son 'Left In Limbo' By Failed Terror Case

 

“One morning, in December last year, Paul Newey awoke to find armed counter-terrorism police in the bedroom of his Solihull home. He describes the moment as “horrendous”. The 49-year-old was arrested, taken for questioning, and eventually charged with funding terrorism. The offence related to £150 he had lent to his son Daniel, who had joined the Kurdish YPG militia to fight the Islamic State group. Paul spent months on bail awaiting trial but the case has now been dropped without detailed explanation. “What's changed between when they arrested and charged me, and now?” he asks. “My evidence hasn't changed, so how have they let it go on for seven months and let it ruin my life?” The father-of-four, who works in the automotive industry, says the experience has been “surreal, like being in a movie”. “My life's been on hold. In limbo.” Two co-defendants, including his 19-year-old son Sam, have also had terror charges against them dropped, bringing to five the total number of Britons charged and then acquitted of terrorism offences relating to the YPG in the past two years. An older son, Daniel Newey, had come back to the UK after fighting with the YPG against IS in 2017-18. Describing his original decision to travel, Daniel says: “If it's within your power to help people and to help people fight back, then it's our duty to do so.”

 

The Telegraph: 'Alt-Tech' Attracts Growing Number Of Extremists In Britain

 

“Websites and apps designed to facilitate discussions among right-wing groups are drawing in a growing number of extremists in Britain, it has been warned. The popularity of so-called “alt-tech” has surged as mainstream social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube increasingly force extremist groups off their platforms. In some cases sites have been “co-opted” by alt-right groups, according to campaign group Hope Not Hate. There has also been a marked rise in the development of “bespoke” sites, specifically set up to facilitate extremist and terrorist organisation and discussion. Senior researcher at Hope Not Hate Joe Mulhall said that there had been a “huge increase” in such sites in recent years...”

 

France

 

Agence France-Presse: French Jihadist Sentenced To 30 Years For IS Group Executions In Syria

 

“A French court on Friday handed a 30-year prison sentence to a jihadist for crimes committed in Syria between 2013-15 including overseeing the execution of two prisoners while a senior figure in the Islamic State extremist group. Tyler Vilus, 30, who was found guilty on all charges, was also accused of belonging to a terrorist group, heading a group of Islamic State fighters and “aggravated murder”. Public prosecutor Guillaume Michelin earlier asked the court for a life sentence, with no possibility of parole for 22 years. Michelin said Vilus “hasn't changed one bit” since his time with the Islamic State. “All the steps in the accused's journey are interlocked with the construction of the caliphate,” said the prosecutor, referring to the Islamist-ruled area that IS had at the time carved out in Syria and Iraq. “It is your responsibility to put a definite end to the bloodshed,” he told the court. But the presiding judge said he wanted to give him “a glimmer of hope” so that he could “evolve,” even though he could have been sentenced to life on being convicted of all charges. Investigators believed Vilus was part of the “Al-Muhajireen” (the immigrants) brigade, a squad that tortured and carried out summary executions, which he had denied.”

 

Germany

 

Al Jazeera: Germany Puts Syrian Woman On Trial Over ISIL Marriages

 

“Germany has put a 30-year-old German-Syrian woman on trial for allegedly arranging marriages for the ISIL (ISIS) group. The defendant, identified as Lorin I due to Germany's privacy law, on Friday admitted to the court in Celle, northern Germany, that she had travelled to Syria with her husband in 2014. She said she regretted the trip and sought to distance herself from the armed group. Her lawyer argued that there was no evidence to support the charge that her client had recruited women from Germany to marry ISIL fighters, adding that a rumoured “sister network” had not existed. The woman faces charges of membership of a “terrorist organisation” and violating Germany's war weapons control act, because she allegedly owned two assault rifles and a hand grenade while in Syria. Prosecutors allege that her goal in travelling to Syria was to support ISIL and that she belonged to a network of women that sought to bring other women from Germany to the group's self-proclaimed caliphate. The prosecution read out WhatsApp messages on the first day of the trial, which allegedly show the woman encouraging others to join her and praising life under ISIL. She is also said to have praised those who died for the group as martyrs. The woman faces up to 10 years in prison.”

 

Deutsche Welle: German Politician Receives Death Threats From Neo-Nazi Group

 

“Parties in the German state parliament of Hesse issued a joint statement Saturday to denounce “heinous and disgusting” threatening hate mail sent to the parliamentary leader of the socialist Left Party. Janine Wissler said she received two threatening letters containing personal information that is not publicly known which were signed “NSU 2.0.” The NSU (National Socialist Underground) was a neo-Nazi terrorist group in Germany uncovered in 2011 that has been associated with a number of murders and terrorist actions against non-Germans and prominent left-wing figures. The signature “NSU 2.0” indicates a resurgence of the group and echoes anonymous death threats received by Frankfurt lawyer Seda Basay-Yildiz two years ago. Basay-Yildiz represented the family of the first murder victim of the NSU. The police never discovered the author of those letters. Wissler thanked her fellow party chiefs for their message of solidarity on Twitter. “The democratic parties in the state parliament of Hesse are appalled by the apparent right-wing extremist threats,” the statement said, signed by local leaders of the center-right CDU, the center-left SPD, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business FDP. The state parliament is led by a coalition of the CDU and the Greens.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Bloomberg: Duterte Approves Anti-Terror Law Giving Authorities More Powers

 

“Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has approved a law giving authorities broader powers to wiretap and detain suspected terrorists that human rights officials say may result in abuses. Under the new law, police and military can arrest suspected terrorists without warrant and detain them for up to 24 days, so long as a court is notified. The nation’s Anti-Money Laundering Council can also freeze assets of persons and groups designated as terrorists by a government council and said the law is needed to boost its ability to fight dirty money and terrorism financing. “This piece of legislation is against terrorists and terrorism and not against a particular regional or ethnic group,” spokesman Harry Roque said Friday, responding to concerns of lawmakers from the autonomous Muslim region in southern Philippines. The Commission on Human Rights earlier warned the broad definition of terrorism in the law -- which expressly excludes protest and dissent as terrorist acts -- may result in abuses.”

 

Technology

 

Nikkei Asian Review: Tech Companies Continue Evading Accountability For Violent Content

 

“On March 15, 2019, a white supremacist went on a shooting rampage at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and killed 51 people. He live streamed 17 minutes of terror on Facebook and 4,000 people watched. Following that attack, governments around the world gathered to discuss how to prevent such viral displays of violence from happening again. Tech companies sat at the table and promised to do more. The 12 months following the Christchurch shooting saw two terror attacks in Asia, yet little has changed. In early February, another shooting in Thailand claimed 29 lives. The attacker posted on Facebook throughout the attack and even uploaded a video complaining he felt tired from all the shooting. It is unclear how long it took Facebook to shut down the attacker's account and whether they did so only after a request from the Thai government. The problem is not limited to livestreaming: the internet has become a repository for violent content of all kinds, which remains accessible despite tech platforms' claims that they are removing nearly all of it. Now governments need to act.”

 

Gulf News: Why The Facebook Boycott Campaign Is Important To Arabs

 

“Another study, this time by the US-based Counter Extremism Project, released in 2018, noted that Facebook has helped Daesh grow fast by connecting its members with others with similar extremist views. The study, which analysed the online behaviour of a thousand users in 96 countries, found out that “users with radical Islamist sympathies were routinely introduced to one another” through the popular ‘suggested friends’ feature. Millions of Arabs may enjoy Facebook. But we also suffered the most because of the facility Facebook extended to Daesh and other extremist groups. Most of the violence in this region in the past 15 years was partially ignited by unchecked hateful posts created by anonymous Facebook users. Some posted fake videos that went viral and provoked violence. In some cases, they led to massacres. Amid America’s anti-racism protests, the western world all of a sudden have begun to see and acknowledge the great damage Facebook and other social media platforms have been doing by not only tolerating the propagation of hate on their platforms but also making billions of dollars from it.”

 

Wired: Congress Needs To Make Silicon Valley Earn It

 

“Expressing excitement for his soon-to-arrive “new material,” a man shared with his online network of child sexual abusers an in-utero picture of his unborn child. This is just one of far too many horror stories I have heard from investigators at the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Children as young as 8, 4, and 2, and, increasingly more often, pre-verbal infants, are subject to horrific, unspeakable, and gut-wrenching sexual abuse that is then broadcast to a global audience. Last year alone, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received nearly 17 million reports to their CyberTipline. This haul exceeded 27 million images and 41 million videos. The average victim is 8 years old. Sadly, these reports constitute only a fraction of the global child sexual abuse trade. For the past decade, a dynamic group of researchers, child-safety advocates, legislators, and technology sector experts have been working ardently to develop and deploy technology to protect children online. Among our many efforts includes the widely implemented and effective photoDNA program that was launched in 2008 and is today used globally to find and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This program extracts a distinct signature from uploaded images and compares it against the signatures of known harmful or illegal content. Flagged content can then be instantaneously removed and reported.”

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