Eye on Extremism
August 26, 2019
The
Wall Street Journal: Israel Strikes Iranian Targets In Syria To
Prevent ‘Killer Drone’ Attack
“Israel said it struck a military site in Syria to prevent planned
attacks from Iranian forces, raising the risk of a clash with Tehran
amid a broader Israeli campaign to counter the military activities of
the Islamic Republic. Israel’s military went on high alert following
the strike in Syria and was preparing for possible responses,
officials said. The shift coincided with signs of mounting hostility
toward the country elsewhere in the region, as Lebanese officials
blamed Israel for two drones that fell over Beirut Sunday. Meanwhile,
a drone attack in Iraq later in the day killed two members of an
Iranian-aligned militia, according to a member of the militia called
45th Brigade, an Iraqi organization loosely tied to Lebanon’s
Hezbollah paramilitary and political group. It wasn’t immediately
clear who was behind the drone attack in Iraq.”
The
Guardian: Three Million Caught In Crossfire As Assad Vows To Capture
Every Inch Of Syria
“Syrian government forces have made fresh military advances towards
President Bashar al-Assad’s goal of reclaiming “every inch” of the
country in an offensive that has intensified fears of a humanitarian
disaster in the northern Idlib province. Opposition fighters withdrew
last week from the key town of Khan Sheikhoun, another strategic
concession to Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers, who have torn
up a ceasefire deal protecting the rebels’ last major pocket of
territory. As the country’s bloody civil war grinds into its ninth
year, Assad is widely acknowledged to have emerged triumphant. But the
fighting is far from over, with the terms of victory and the shape of
Syria’s future still very much in play on the battlefield. Armed
groups are dug in across much of the north, including extremist
opposition fighters in Idlib, and beyond them foreign-backed fighters
including Turkish proxy militias and US-backed Kurds along sections of
the border with Turkey and Iraq.”
CNN:
2 Women Plead Guilty In Plot To Commit Terror Attack In
US
“Two New York women who plotted to build a bomb for a terrorist
attack in the United States face 20 years in prison after pleading
guilty to federal charges, authorities say. Asia Siddiqui, 35, and
Noelle Velentzas, 31, are US citizens and residents of the New York
borough of Queens. In federal court in Brooklyn on Friday, both
pleaded guilty to “teaching and distributing information pertaining to
the making and use of an explosive, destructive device, and weapon of
mass destruction, intending that it be used to commit a federal crime
of violence,” according to a press release from the US Attorney's
Office of the Eastern District of New York. “In an effort to implement
their violent, radical ideology, the defendants studied some of the
most deadly terrorist attacks in U.S. history, and used them as a
blueprint for their own plans to kill American law enforcement and
military personnel,” said US Attorney Richard Donoghue in the release.
The women pleaded not guilty in 2015. In the release Friday,
authorities said the pair discussed making a bomb between 2013 and
2015; taught each other chemistry and electrical skills; researched
how to make a car bomb; and bought materials to make an explosive
device, the statement said.”
The
Jerusalem Post: U.S., Taliban Deal Will Not Stop Attacks On Afghan
Forces, Taliban Say
“As US and Taliban negotiators push to wrap up talks aimed at
securing the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, Taliban
sources say a pact will not mean an end to fighting with the US-backed
Afghan government. US and Taliban officials have been negotiating in
Qatar since last year on an agreement centered on the withdrawal of US
forces, and an end to their longest-ever war, in exchange for a
Taliban guarantee that international militant groups will not plot
from Afghan soil. US negotiators have been pressing the Taliban to
agree to so-called intra-Afghan talks, meaning with the Kabul
government and a ceasefire, but a senior Taliban official said that
would not happen. "We will continue our fight against the Afghan
government and seize power by force," said the Taliban commander on
condition of anonymity. US President Donald Trump is impatient to get
US forces out of Afghanistan and end the 18-year war that was launched
after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. But there are
fears among Afghan officials and US national security aides that a US
troop withdrawal could see Afghanistan plunged into a new round of
civil war that could herald a return of Taliban rule and international
militants, including Islamic State, finding a refuge.”
Al
Jazeera: Turkey-US Ops Centre On Syria Safe Zone 'Fully
Operational'
“A Turkey-US operations centre aimed at establishing and managing a
safe zone in northeastern Syria is fully operational, according to the
Turkish defence minister. Hulusi Akar announced the move in an
interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency on Saturday. Ankara
and Washington agreed to set up the joint facility earlier this month
after difficult negotiations. The centre will help coordinate the
establishment of a buffer between the Turkish border and Syrian areas
controlled by the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
"The joint operation centre has started working at full capacity. The
command of the centre is by one US general and one Turkish general,"
Akar was quoted as saying.”
Bloomberg:
Australia To Block Websites Hosting Live-Streamed Terror
Attacks
“Australia will establish a mechanism for internet providers to
quickly and effectively block websites hosting terror attacks in the
wake of the Christchurch shooting, according to an emailed statement.
The government is also creating a center to rapidly detect and shut
down the sharing and live-streaming of the violent material as an
attack takes place, according to the statement. They are
recommendations from an industry and government body established after
a man in March live-streamed the killing of more than 40 people in two
Christchurch mosques. “The shocking events that took place in
Christchurch demonstrated how digital platforms and websites can be
exploited to host extreme violent and terrorist content,” Prime
Minister Scott Morrison said in the statement. “That type of abhorrent
material has no place in Australia and we are doing everything we can
to deny terrorists the opportunity to glorify their crimes, including
taking action locally and globally.”
United States
The
Independent: How 'Red Flag' Laws Could Help Stop American Mass
Shootings
“Last December, 20-year-old Dakota Reed drew the attention of
American law enforcement after he posted troubling threats on the
internet, claiming a plan for mass slaughter. Just two weeks after a
shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue left 11 people dead, Reed appeared
to promise to carry on in the dark American tradition of violence, in
a post on one of seven Facebook accounts he apparently kept, and used
to spread hateful messages. “I’m shooting for 30 Jews,” he wrote.
But Reed never had the chance to make good on those threats in the way
that the Pittsburgh shooter and others who have carried out mass
violence in recent years have. Instead, when police were notified by
worried observers of the posts, they simply took his guns from him
using an extreme risk protection order (also known as “red flag”
orders) – a measure that a team of researchers at the University of
California Davis School of Medicine has announcedcould be one of the
most effective tools to stop mass shootings, and one Donald Trump is
reportedly considering at the national level in the wake of the
shootings in El Paso and Dayton. According to the new report, that
instance in Washington is among at least two cases where the so-called
red flag laws have stopped a credible threat of a mass shooting.”
The
Hill: Why A Domestic Terrorism Law Is A Terrible Idea
“There is nothing more powerful in Washington, it seems, than a bad
idea whose time has come. So welcome to the big push for the federal
criminalization of domestic terrorism. The impulse, of course, is
understandable. We have had a spate of mass-shooting attacks. In one
of them, a white racist murdered 22 innocent people at a Walmart in El
Paso, Texas. He is said to have been animated by what he allegedly
called the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” To date, the assassin has not
been tied to any terrorist organization. Nevertheless, the attack fits
the federal-law definition of domestic terrorism: a violent act
intended to (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii)
influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction,
assassination or kidnapping. This brings into sharp relief the seeming
anomaly that, although federal law defines domestic terrorism, it does
not criminalize it — at least, as such. Thus, there is growing
bipartisan momentum to fix this non-problem. To begin with, the fact
that we do not have a federal crime called “domestic terrorism” does
not mean the behavior is legal. Federal law simply criminalizes it
under other labels.”
USA
Today: Stakes Raised In US, Iran Tensions: Drone War Takes
Flight
“From the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia to the crowded neighborhoods
of Beirut, a drone war has taken flight across the wider Middle East,
raising the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
In the year since President Donald Trump withdrew America from Iran’s
nuclear deal, there’s been an increasing tempo of attacks and alleged
threats from unmanned aircraft flown by Tehran’s and Washington’s
allies in the region. The appeal of the aircraft – they risk no pilots
and can be small enough to evade air-defense systems – fueled their
rapid use amid the maximum pressure campaigns of Iran and the U.S. As
these strikes become more frequent, the risk of unwanted escalation
becomes greater.”
The
New York Times: This U.S. Warship Threatens Iran (From 600 Miles
Away)
“Aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, in the North Arabian Sea — Out
here, deterring Iran means avoiding Iran. The 5,600 men and women
aboard this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier do not venture near
Iranian waters, despite a warning from President Trump’s national
security adviser that the warship is in the Middle East “to send a
clear and unmistakable message” to Iran to steer clear of American
interests in the region. Instead, it is the Abraham Lincoln that has
steered clear of Iran. In the past four months, the ship has entered
neither the Persian Gulf nor the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial
oil-tanker highways it is supposed to protect.”
Syria
Reuters:
War Monitor Says Two Hezbollah Members, One Iranian Killed In Damascus
Strikes Overnight
“War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two
members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and one Iranian were killed in
Israeli strikes around the Syrian capital Damascus overnight. An
Israeli military spokesman on Saturday said Israeli aircraft struck
Iranian forces near Damascus that had been planning to launch “killer
drones” at targets in Israel. An Iranian Revolutionary Guards
commander on Sunday denied that Iranian targets had been hit in the
strikes.”
The
National: Syrian Regime Forces Prepare To Advance Idlib
Offensive
“Syrian forces are massing north of Khan Sheikhoun in the
rebel-held province of Idlib, days after the regime took control of
the town. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said loyalist
fighters were preparing to advance an offensive against rebels in the
area amid heightened tensions with neighbouring Turkey. Idlib province
on the Turkish border is one of the last to escape the control of the
Damascus government. President Bashar Al Assad's forces, backed by
Russia, launched a deadly bombardment on the area in April, which has
killed around 900 civilians, according to the Observatory. On Friday,
they reclaimed a cluster of towns lost early in the eight-year-old
war, driving out the last rebel fighters from the Hama countryside.
They also took the strategic town of Khan Sheikhoun. The Syrian army
are now "preparing to continue their advance towards the area of
Maaret Al Noman", a town some 25 kilometres (15 miles) to the north,
Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based monitoring group, told
AFP.That area has been under intense Russian and regime aerial
bombardment and been depleted of almost all of its residents in the
past two weeks in apparent preparation for the maneuver, the
Observatory has said.”
Iraq
The
Washington Post: Iraqi Militia Says New Drone Attack Kills
2
“Two unidentified drones killed two Iraqi members of an Iran-backed
paramilitary force on Sunday, the group said in a statement, saying
the attack took place in Iraq near the border with Syria. The
statement issued by the force known as the Popular Mobilization Forces
said the attack occurred in Anbar province near the Qaim border
crossing with Syria. It said the attack targeted vehicles belonging to
the Hezbollah Brigades faction, also known as Brigade 45. Two
officials from the Hezbollah Brigades, which is separate from the
Lebanese group of the same name, confirmed the attack and said the
vehicles were being used to transport weapons. The officials spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to
journalists about the matter. Iraq’s Hezbollah Brigades operate under
the umbrella of the state-sanctioned militias known collectively as
the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF. Many of them are supported by
Iran. If confirmed, it would be the latest in a series of attacks that
have targeted PMF bases and weapons depot in Iraq. U.S. officials have
said that Israel was behind at least one of them. No one claimed
responsibility, and the PMF statement did not assign blame.”
Iraqi
News: Iraqi Intelligence Arrest Two Islamic State Jihadists In
Kirkuk
“Iraqi military intelligence forces announced on Saturday that two
Islamic State terrorists were arrested in the oil-rich province of
Kirkuk. “Acting on intelligence information, troops of the Iraqi
Military Intelligence Directorate caught two Islamic State terrorists
in al-Qassem and June First districts in Kirkuk,” Iraqi TV channel
Alsumaria TV quoted the directorate as saying in a press release. “The
pair were tasked with equipping hotbeds of the Islamic State terrorist
group on the outskirts of Kirkuk,” the statement read. Iraq declared
the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in November 2017
with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with
Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq. IS declared a
self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in
2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international
coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake
IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city
of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Iraqi Army Launches New Security Campaign In Anbar
Desert
“The Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced on Saturday the start
of the fourth phase of the Will of Victory Operation to hunt down
remnants of ISIS militants in the desert of Iraq's western province of
Anbar. A statement issued by the JOC media office said: “the fourth
phase of this operation was launched at dawn on Saturday, to search
and clear the entire desert and the regions in Anbar province from the
ISIS remnants.” It said the operation was under the direction of the
commander in chief of the armed forces and the supervision of the
joint operations command and came after the third phase of the Will of
Victory Operation achieved its objectives accurately and successfully.
The troops concluded the third phase of the major offensive in the
provinces of Nineveh and Diyala on Aug. 5. In this regard, Army Chief
of Staff Othman Al-Ghanmi praised the command and high coordination
unit between the army and the PMF in the process of the will
victory. Ghanmi said elements from the Army and PMF are now positioned
in the desert of Wadi Houran, advancing together to chase down the
ISIS remnants. The Chief of Staff’s comments signal the presence of a
dispute between the Army and Hashd al-Shaabi about the explosions that
lately targeted PMF positions and not the Army.”
Stars
And Stripes: ISIS Mortar Attack On Soccer Field Kills Six In
Iraq
“Police in Iraq say Islamic State militants have fired mortar
rounds at a soccer field near a Shiite shrine, killing six civilians
and wounding nine others. The attack occurred late Saturday in the
village of Daquq, in Iraq's northern Kirkuk province, as people were
exercising. Police officials confirmed the attack, speaking on
condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The area of the
attack, southeast of the city of Kirkuk, is controlled by
Iran-supported militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.
ISIS, which once ruled a self-styled Islamic caliphate sprawling
across Iraq and Syria, no longer controls territory in either country
but has continued to stage sporadic attacks.”
Turkey
Arab
News: 3 Turkish Soldiers Killed In Clash With Kurdish Militants In
Iraq
“Three Turkish soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in a
clash with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, the Turkish Defense
Ministry said on Sunday. The statement came after Turkey on Friday
launched the third phase of an operation begun in May to root out
fighters of the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK (PKK), in the region. It
did not specify the location of the clashes. Turkey launched the
“Claw” operation in May into mountainous northern Iraq against the
PKK. The operation involved conducting a ground offensive and bombing
campaign against the PKK in the region. The offensive entered its
third phase on Friday, in which troops aim to destroy PKK caves and
shelters in the Sinat-Haftanin region. The conflict has claimed more
than 40,000 lives since the PKK took up arms in 1984. The PKK began an
insurgency against Turkey in the country’s mainly Kurdish southeast in
1984, and the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people. Turkey,
the US and the EU consider the group, based in the Qandil mountains of
northern Iraq, a terror organization. Separately, Daesh militants have
fired mortar rounds at a soccer field near a religious site, killing
six civilians and wounding nine others, according to police in
Iraq.”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Post: As U.S.-Taliban Deal Nears, Afghanistan’s Ghani
Hardens Resolve To Hold Elections On Time
“As 10 months of U.S.-Taliban peace talks enter their final stage,
President Ashraf Ghani is doubling down on his determination to hold a
presidential election in five weeks, as scheduled, while aides are
hurriedly prepping negotiators to meet with Taliban leaders even
sooner if a deal is reached with U.S. officials. Ghani, who is
seeking a second five-year term, has rejected concerns raised by
critics, who say peace is a higher priority than elections, and
politics cannot be allowed to interfere in the country’s first real
chance to end an 18-year war that has cost hundreds of thousands of
lives. Ghani’s government is not a party to the U.S.-Taliban talks.
The negotiations entered their ninth round Friday in Qatar, and both
sides said they hope to work out the final issues soon. Under a draft
agreement, the United States would withdraw 5,000 troops in coming
months and could pull out 9,000 more by next year. The Taliban, in
return, would cut ties with al-Qaeda. Still unclear is whether the
insurgents would agree to a permanent cease-fire and to talks with the
government. A Taliban spokesman said Saturday the agreement would be
completed after discussions on implementation and ”some technical
points.” Both sides rejected reports Saturday that they had agreed to
form an interim government in Kabul.”
Fox
News: Graham Warns Withdrawing From Afghanistan Will Lead To ‘Another
9/11’
“Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned in an interview with Fox News
Saturday that withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan would lead to
“another 9/11,” saying that America can’t “outsource” U.S. national
security to the Taliban. “If we left tomorrow, the Taliban cannot be
trusted to take care of ISIS and Al Qaeda,” Graham told chief
intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge. “They don't have the
capability. So when you ask our intelligence community…what would
happen to America if we withdrew all of our forces. They tell us
without any hesitation it would lead to another 9/11 in a matter of
time.” When asked what the timeframe for such a situation would be,
Graham said it would be “years not decades.” The U.S. invaded
Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, beginning an
18-year involvement – the longest in U.S. history. The conflict has
killed more than 2,000 American troops, injured more than 20,000 and
cost nearly a trillion dollars since 2001. President Trump announced a
4,000-troop increase in August 2017 as part of an effort to break the
stalemate in the country. But he has been moving toward agreeing to a
phased withdrawal of troops.”
ABC
News: Young Afghan Women Barely Remember Taliban But Fear A
Return
“Two yellow burqas are on display at a television station in Kabul,
bright versions of the blue ghostlike garments some women in the
capital still wear. For the young women at Zan TV they are relics, a
reminder of a Taliban-ruled past that few of them can recall. Their
generation is the most vulnerable, and perhaps the most defiant, as
the United States and the Taliban near a deal on ending America's
longest war. Worried about losing what they've gained over nearly two
decades, they are demanding a voice in high-level talks to determine
their country's future. "For me, I will not submit myself to the
Taliban," said Shogofa Sadiqi, Zan TV's 25-year-old chief director,
who believes the insurgent group will have less impact as it faces a
new generation. She described the burqas as a symbol of the challenges
women have faced over the years and practically shuddered when asked
if she'd worn one herself. Never, ever. "I don't like it," she said,
switching to English to make her feelings clear. About two-thirds of
Afghanistan's population is 25 or younger, with little or no memory of
life before 2001. That's when a U.S.-led invasion pushed out the
Taliban, who had sheltered al-Qaida and its leader Osama bin Laden
before the 9/11 attacks and imposed a harsh form of Islamic law that
kept women out of public view.”
Pakistan
The
Washington Post: Gunmen On Motorcycles Attack Police In NW Pakistan, 2
Killed
“Pakistani police say gunmen on motorcycles attacked a security
post overnight in the northwestern Daraban Kalan area, killing two
employees at a nearby gas station. Police officer Tariq Khan said
Saturday that the eight militants also wounded two people in a bus
getting gas when the shooting started at around midnight Friday. A
faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the
attack, which took place close to the former Taliban stronghold in
South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan claims to have driven
out the Taliban, al-Qaida and other militant groups in a series of
military operations in recent years, but the region still sees
occasional attacks.”
Yemen
Reuters:
Yemen Houthis Say They Attacked Military Target In Saudi
Capital
“Yemen's Houthi movement said on Monday it had attacked a "military
target" in the Saudi capital Riyadh with armed drones. The Saudi-led
coalition fighting in Yemen did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.”
Saudi Arabia
Reuters:
Coalition Destroys Missiles Fired By Houthis At Saudi Arabia:
Spokesman
“A Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis intercepted and
destroyed six ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-aligned group
targeting civilians in Jizan, southwest of the kingdom, Saudi state
news agency SPA said on Sunday. Earlier, the military spokesman for
the Iran-aligned Houthi movement said the group fired 10 Badr-1
ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jizan airport,
adding that the attack had killed and wounded dozens. The attack is
part of an escalation of cross-border assaults in the four-year-old
conflict between the Houthis and coalition forces. The Houthis, who
control the capital Sanaa, have in the past few months stepped up
their attacks against targets in the kingdom. In response, the
coalition has targeted military sites belonging to the group,
especially around Sanaa. “The Houthi militias continued targeting of
civilians through drones and ballistic missiles ...is an act of
aggression and terrorism and a war crime according to international
human law,” the coalition spokesman, Colonel Turki al-Malki, said in a
statement. The Western-backed Sunni Muslim coalition led by Saudi
Arabia and the UAE intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the
internationally recognised Yemeni government that was ousted from
power in Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014.”
Lebanon
Reuters:
Two Israeli Drones Fall In Beirut Suburbs, One Explodes: Army,
Hezbollah
“An Israeli drone fell in the Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs
of Beirut and a second one exploded near the ground early on Sunday,
the Lebanese army and Hezbollah said, in the first such incident in
more than a decade. The Israeli military declined to comment. The
second drone caused some damage when it crashed before dawn close to
Hezbollah’s media center in the Dahiyeh suburbs of Lebanon’s capital
Beirut, a Hezbollah official told Reuters. The incident took place
hours after the Israeli military said its aircraft had struck Iranian
forces and Shi’ite militias near Syria’s capital Damascus which it
said had been planning to launch “killer drones” into
Israel. Residents in Dahiyeh said they heard the sound of a blast. A
witness said the army closed off the streets where a fire had
started. A Hezbollah spokesman told Lebanon’s state news agency NNA
the second drone was rigged with explosives causing serious damage to
the media center. Hezbollah is now examining the first drone, he
said. The Lebanese army said that one Israeli drone fell and another
exploded at 02:30 am local time (2330 GMT), causing only material
damage. ”The army arrived immediately and cordoned off the area where
the two drones fell,” it said.”
Al
Jazeera: Hezbollah Chief: 'We Will Down Israeli Drones In Lebanon
Skies'
“The leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah,
has said two Israeli drones that fell over the southern suburbs of
Beirut were on a "suicide mission" and said Hezbollah will do what it
takes to prevent Israel from sending more drones to Beirut. "Hezbollah
will not allow such an aggression," he said in a televised address on
Sunday. "The time when Israeli aircraft come and bombard parts of
Lebanon is over." Nasrallah's speech came hours after a drone crashed
in the Lebanese capital. A second drone exploded in the air, Lebanese
authorities said. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the drones
amounted to an open attack on the country's sovereignty. "The new
aggression ... constitutes a threat to regional stability and an
attempt to push the situation towards further tension," Hariri said on
Sunday in a statement from his office. Israel's security cabinet met
on Sunday morning to discuss recent security developments, as Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened further attacks. ''If someone
rises up to kill you, kill him first," he said. "I would like to
emphasise: This was an initiative of Iran and we prevented serious
attacks. Henceforth we will expose any attempt by Iran to attack us
and any Iranian effort to hide behind excuses."
The
New York Times: Hezbollah Says Drones That Crashed In Beirut Suburbs
Came From Israel
“Two drones crashed in the southern suburbs of Beirut early Sunday,
an area that is home to many supporters of the Iran-backed militia
Hezbollah, which said the aircraft came from neighboring Israel. The
crashes came a day after Israeli warplanes struck targets in
Syria where, according to the Israeli military, Iran had been
preparing to attack Israel using explosive-laden “killer drones.”
Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of forces to Syria to fight in
support of President Bashar al-Assad, said two of its fighters were
killed in that strike. The weekend events further heightened tensions
between the United States and its regional allies on one side and Iran
and the local forces it backs on the other. So far, the struggle has
played out mostly through the diversion of oil tankers, drone attacks,
covert support to militant groups and strikes on military bases said
to be used by the Iranians. But the frequency of such incidents and
the heated rhetoric on both sides has raised fears that a wider
conflict could be on the way. With Iran’s economy reeling from
sanctions imposed by the United States, Tehran is less able to fund
its allies than it was in the past.”
Haaretz:
Israel Strikes Palestinian Base On Lebanese-Syrian Border, State News
Claims
“Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says Israeli warplanes
have attacked a Palestinian base in the country's east, near the
border with Syria early Monday. The report says there were three
strikes early on Monday, minutes apart, that struck a base for a
Syrian-backed group known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine — General Command. The strikes came a day after two drones,
which the Lebanese army and Hezbollah said were Israeli, crashed in
the Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut, with one
exploding. Reuters quotes Lebanon's An-Nahar news, which said that
"Three Israeli air strikes target the Lebanese-Syria border east of
Zahle."
CNN:
Hezbollah Vows Retaliation After Israel Claims Responsibility For
Airstrikes Near Damascus
“The leader of Hezbollah has vowed to shoot down any Israeli drones
that enter into Lebanese airspace, after two drones reportedly crashed
in Beirut, Sunday. Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Iran-backed
Lebanese militant group, said that two Israeli drones crashed in the
Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut, with one exploding.
Making reference to the same alleged incident, Lebanese Prime Minister
Saad al-Hariri had earlier accused Israel of an attack on Lebanese
sovereignty. The Israeli army has refused to comment on reports of the
two drones. In his address to supporters Sunday evening, Nasrallah
also spoke about Israel's airstrikes on a target near the Syrian
capital Damascus on Saturday, vowing retaliation. The Israeli military
said those strikes foiled an imminent attack by Iran and a Shiite
militia on north Israel. Nasrallah said the building targeted by
Israel was used to house Hezbollah members, two of whom had been
killed in the strike.”
BBC
News: Israel Says It Struck Iranian 'Killer Drone' Sites In
Syria
“Israel has struck Iranian military sites in Syria to prevent what
it said was a pending drone strike by Iran. Israel's military rarely
acknowledges operations in Syria, but it claimed on Saturday its
strikes had prevented an attack on Israel "using killer drones". PM
Benjamin Netanyahu hailed his military's "major operational effort".
Israel is believed to have carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria
since civil war broke out there in 2011, to try to prevent Iran
gaining a foothold. An Israeli military spokesman said the strikes on
Saturday targeted the Quds Force of the Iran's Islamic Revolution
Guard Corps (IRGC) in Aqraba, south-east of the capital,
Damascus.”
Middle East
Gulf
News: The Fight Against Terrorism Is Far From Over
“Last month, US President Donald Trump said the following about the
threat from the Daesh: “We did a great job ... We have 100 per cent of
the caliphate, and we’re rapidly pulling out of Syria. We’ll be out of
there pretty soon. And let them handle their own problems. Syria can
handle their own problems — along with Iran, along with Russia, along
with Iraq, along with Turkey. We’re 7,000 miles away.” In other words,
the Daesh has been largely defeated and no longer represents a direct
threat to our country. Let other, closer countries handle the faraway
problem. That has always been the false promise of isolationism — that
distance can shield us from the threats in the world. It did not work
for those who argued in the 1930s that the oceans could protect us
from Nazi Germany. And it will not work in the 21st century in
confronting the global threat of terrorism. According to US and Iraqi
military and intelligence officers and a Defence Department inspector
general report, the Daesh is gathering new strength, conducting
guerrilla attacks across Iraq and Syria, retooling its financial
networks and targeting new recruits. The terrorist group has mobilised
as many as 18,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.”
Nigeria
Punch
Nigeria: Boko Haram Burnt 73 Houses, 28 Shops In Konduga —Borno
Govt
“Boko Haram insurgents have set ablaze 73 houses and 28 shops in
Thursday’s attack on three Borno State villages, the state government
revealed on Saturday. The Governor of Borno State, Prof Babagana Umara
Zulum, had on Friday complained to President Muhammadu Buhari about
the increased attacks by insurgents in the state, noting that three
local government areas; Gubio, Magumeri and Konduga, were attacked in
the last one week. The governor, who arrived the state capital,
Maiduguri, on Friday evening after meeting with Buhari, revealed he
was informed of the loss by the Chairperson of the State Emergency
Management Agency, Hajiya Yabawa Kolo. Kolo said that a total of 73
houses and 28 shops were torched in the attack by Boko Haram in three
villages of the Konduga LGA on Thursday night. In Borri, one of the
three villages torched by the insurgents, Kolo told Zulum that around
8:00pm of August 22, the insurgents attacked and set ablaze 17 houses
and four shops in the village. Kolo also told the governor that in
Wanori Village, 34 houses and 18 shops were set ablaze and in
Kaleri-Abdule Village, 22 houses and six shops were torched.”
Africa
Al
Jazeera: Twelve Dead In Boko Haram Niger Attack:
Official
“A night raid blamed on Boko Haram has left a dozen villagers dead
in southeast Niger on the frontier with Nigeria, according to a local
official. The attack on Friday night in the border district of
Gueskerou is the latest to hit the Diffa region near Lake Chad, which
is crisscrossed by fighter groups and traffickers. ”Twelve villagers
were killed on Friday at around 8:00pm (19:00 GMT) by Boko Haram
elements,” a local elected official told AFP on Saturday.He said 11 of
those killed had been shot but did not give further details. The
Gueskerou area, abutting the Komadougou Yobe river that provides a
natural frontier between Niger and Nigeria, has been exposed to years
of killings and kidnappings at the hands of the Boko Haram. In March,
two attacks in the area left eight civilians and seven police dead.
Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates to “Western education is
forbidden”, has waged an armed campaign in northeast Nigeria since
2009. The group wants to establish an Islamic state which will follow
a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Some 30,000 people have been
killed and more than two million displaced since Boko Haram launched
its armed campaign. The fighting has since spilled over to
neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: New PM Seeks To Remove Sudan From US List Of Terror
Sponsors
“Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said Sunday that ending his
country's international pariah status and drastically cutting military
spending are prerequisites for rescuing a faltering economy. Hamdok, a
well-known economist, told The Associated Press in an interview that
he has already talked to US officials about removing Sudan from
Washington's list of countries sponsoring terrorism and portrayed
their reaction as positive. He said that “a democratic Sudan is not a
threat to anybody in the world.” Hamdok was sworn in last week as the
leader of Sudan's transitional government. His appointment came four
months after the overthrow of president Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the
country for nearly three decades. An 11-member Sovereign Council was
also sworn in last week. The civilian-majority Council replaces the
Transitional Military Council (TMC) that took charge after months of
deadly street protests brought down Bashir in April. Sudan was
designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 under former US
President Bill Clinton, cutting it off from financial markets and
strangling its economy.”
United Kingdom
BBC
News: Terrorism: Two Arrested In Bomb Investigation
Released
“Two men arrested by detectives investigating the attempted murder
of police officers have been released unconditionally. A 39-year-old
and 35-year-old had been arrested under the Terrorism Act following
searches in the Lurgan and Craigavon areas. It is part of the
investigation into the attempted murder of officers in County Armagh
and County Fermanagh. The men had been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime
Suite for questioning. The first incident happened in the Tullygally
Road are of Craigavon on Friday 26 July. Officers attending the scene
found a “booby-trap device” which was designed to go off when moved.
Police said an eyewitness had seen a man running away form the scene
of the attack. The attack in County Fermanagh near Wattlebridge, close
to the border, saw officers and soldiers lured to the scene with a
hoax device. No one was injured in the attack. The PSNI said it
believed the Continuity IRA was behind the “deliberate attempt” to
kill police officers. The attack at Wattlebridge was the fifth attempt
to murder police officers so far this year.”
The
Independent: Government Putting Britons At Risk By Stripping ISIS
Members’ Citizenship, Former Defence Minister
Warns
“The government is putting Britons at risk by
depriving Isis members of their British citizenship, a former defence
minister has said. Tobias Ellwood told The Independent the detention
of thousands of jihadis and their families in Syria was creating
conditions for an Isis resurgence. “We’ll see Daesh 2.0,” he warned.
“We’ll see a repeat of al-Qaeda regrouping and becoming a very real
threat, and that threat won’t just pose itself in the Middle East, but
also to Britain.” The former soldier, whose brother was killed in the
2002 Bali bombings, said more British victims had been killed in
terror attacks abroad than in the UK. “We’ve still got attacks taking
place, we’ve still got the ideology alive,” said Mr Ellwood, who
was sacked as defence minister by Boris Johnson. “We’ve done well to
stand up as a lead nation on the battlefield in defeating Daesh and
the caliphate, but the last piece of the jigsaw is 20,000 or so
fighters that nobody really wants. “They will regroup to fight another
day – we’re already seeing it.” Mr Ellwood said the UK had not
“concluded our mission” to defeat Isis, adding: “We need to complete
it rather than allowing it to haunt us in the future. “We stepped
forward because we had a sense of duty, of values and standards, and
if we just give up on that we’ve forgotten what we were fighting
for.”
The
Jerusalem Post: British Gov’t Probes Qatari-Owned Bank Due To Hamas
Terrorism Links
“Qatari regime-owned bank, Al Rayan, operating in the United
Kingdom with ties to the US- and EU-classified terrorist entity Hamas,
has been placed under investigation for financial crimes, including
money laundering. The British newspaper The Times, which first
reported on the probe into Al Rayan on Thursday, wrote Al Rayan
notified its shareholders this year that its “anti-money laundering
[AML] processes and controls have been placed under formal review by
the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA], which has led to ongoing
investment in enhanced AML processes.” The Jerusalem Post reported in
early August that Al Rayan’s account with the Hamas-connected NGO
Interpal revealed pro-BDS notices targeting Israel on its website. The
Times wrote in its early August report that Interpal is “A Palestinian
aid charity identified in a 2015 government review as part of the
British infrastructure of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. It was
designated as a terrorist entity by the US Treasury over alleged Hamas
funding links, a charge it strongly denies.” The Times’ second report
on Thursday said “Restrictions have been placed on the operation of Al
Rayan, the UK’s oldest and largest Islamic bank, pending the outcome
of the [FCA] investigation.”
Germany
Deutsche
Welle: German State Fights Islamist Extremism With YouTube
Satire
“The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has launched a
satirical YouTube channel in the hope of stopping young people from
becoming radicalized via the video sharing platform. The project
launched by the NRW Office for the Protection of the Constitution has
two parts: a satirical YouTube channel and an accompanying factual
channel. The comical "Jihadi Fool" channel, launched on Thursday
(22.08.2019) at the Gamescom computer games trade fair in Cologne, is
a sketch comedy format that in NRW Interior Ministry words
"satirically addresses the absurdity of radicalization, terrorism and
Islamism," while the educational channel refers to the satirical
videos and counters Salafist propaganda with facts. It will be
launched on Tuesday. The name is a reference to the subculture "Jihad
Cool," used by extremists to rebrand jihadism as a fashionable
lifestyle. Over the course of a year, 32 satirical videos and 16
factual videos will be released through the €500,000 ($557,000)
project. One satire shows a right-wing populist and an Islamic
extremist bonding over sexism and homophobia while trying to convert
passersby; another shows a fictional TV show titled "Goodbye Syria,"
in which a former extremist adapts to the mundane struggles of life
back in Germany.”
Europe
The
Arab Weekly: Europe Grapples With ISIS Returnees And Their
Families
“With the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate off the map, European
countries are struggling to deal with hundreds of foreign fighter
recruits and their families who are seeking to return to their home
countries. Since 2011, some 13,000 European nationals have joined the
Islamic State (ISIS), posing unique legal and security challenges for
their home countries. Today, with many held in overcrowded
Kurdish-controlled prisons, European governments must decide how to
proceed: Should they strip the terror suspects of their nationality,
repatriate and prosecute them at home or leave them at the mercy of
their captors? Even more thorny is the status of their children and
other family members who were taken to ISIS territory against their
will. While governments bear some responsibility for ensuring their
safe return, this often requires the expenditure of significant
resources and comes at a high political cost. So far, various
governments have taken different approaches. In Central Asia,
countries such as Kosovo, Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan have been the most proactive in returning fighters and
their families home.”
Technology
Yahoo
Finance: Telegram’s Upcoming Blockchain Network: A Safe Haven For
Terrorists?
“A 253-page report detailing how terrorists use cryptocurrencies
concludes that the imminent release of Telegram's TON (Telegram Open
Network) blockchain network and associated Gram cryptocurrency is a
major security threat to the U.S. government. The report, released
this week by the Washington, DC-based Middle Eastern Media Research
Institute (MEMRI), produces new evidence that shows how terrorist
groups including ISIS, Al-Qaida, Hamas, and Muslim Brotherhood rely on
Telegram to raise cryptocurrency and coordinate attacks. “Telegram is
the number one source for terrorist organizations online,” Steven
Stalinsky, executive director of MEMRI told Decrypt. TON, the
encrypted messaging app's new blockchain network, raised almost $1.7
billion in a private ICO sale last year and is expected to be released
in the next few months. Gram will thus launch as one of the most
valuable cryptocurrencies ever, and every user—estimates suggest
there’s more than 365 million of them—will automatically receive their
own wallet. But that means terrorists will, too. “Every different
group that is already using [Telegram]—which is every main terrorist
organization—will all have access,” said Stalinsky.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Google Puts Curbs On Political Debate By
Employees
“Google issued new guidelines limiting employee discussion of
politics and other topics not related to work, in a major shift for a
company that has long prided itself on open debate and a freewheeling
internal culture. The Alphabet Inc. unit said in a public memo on
Friday that staffers should avoid spending time hotly debating matters
unrelated to their jobs and refrain from name-calling, among other
discouraged behavior. Google also said it would appoint employees to
moderate the company’s famously raucous internal message boards,
rather than allowing volunteers to do so—in effect acknowledging that
the discussions have spiraled out of control. “This follows a year of
increased incivility on our internal platforms, and we’ve heard that
employees want clearer rules of the road on what’s OK to say and
what’s not,” a Google spokeswoman said.”
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