A June-to-June review of violent episodes involving militant Islamist groups in
Africa over the past decade underscores the growing and shifting threa

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


July 22, 2020

 

Africa Center For Strategic Studies: African Militant Islamist Groups Set
Record For Violent Activity
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“A June-to-June review of violent episodes involving militant Islamist groups
in Africa over the past decade underscores the growing and shifting threat
posed by these groups. Key findings include: A 31-percent jump in violent
events involving militant Islamist groups in Africa in the 12 months ending
June 30, 2020, represents a record for violent activity by these groups. With
4,161 violent events, this period marks the first time this total has exceeded
4,000 and reflects a sixfold increase from 2011 (693). The rise in militant
Islamist group activity in Africa can be attributed to increases in four of the
five main theaters of violent extremist activity in Africa: Somalia, the Lake
Chad Basin, the western Sahel, and Mozambique. North Africa is the only theater
that has seen a decline, continuing a trend since 2015. The Sahel has seen the
most dramatic escalation of violence since mid-2017. Events linked to the
groups that formed the coalition of Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM)
and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) collectively grew nearly
sevenfold since that time (from 147 events to 999 events for the 12 months
ending June 30, 2020). The majority of violent attacks in the Sahel in 2020
were in Burkina Faso (516 vs. 361 in Mali and 118 in Niger).”

 

The National: Foreign Fighters Key To ISIS Resurgence As Thousands Join New
Militias
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“Legions of ISIS foreign fighters have fanned out across the globe to pose the
threat of a resurgence by the group in territories from Syria into Asia.
Researchers at King's College London said more emphasis needed to be placed on
the movement of veteran fighters to conflict zones in South-East Asia and
Africa rather than their return to Europe. Latest figures from the university
showed that 53,000 people travelled to Syria to join ISIS between 2013 to 2018.
The report by researchers in the defence studies department at King’s, in
collaboration with Institute for Strategic Studies, said that career foreign
fighters increased the risk of an ISIS resurgence as thousands joined new
militia groups. “Despite governments’ concerns, numbers of ISIS foreign
fighters returning home and engaging with violent extremism remains relatively
low,” said Francesco Milan of the defence studies department, the report's
author. “Of far greater risk is the growing threat from ISIS in both its former
stronghold in Iraq and Syria and in terrorist zones around the world. “These
relocators enable ISIS to evade direct confrontation and to strengthen their
operations.”

 

United States

 

NPR: Ex-Counterterrorism Chief: Cutbacks Raise Risk Of New Attacks
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“A recently ousted counterterrorism chief says the country is risking the
gains made against terrorist threats by cutting back resources with little or
no public debate. In an interview with NPR, Russ Travers also expressed
frustration at the poor state of relations between the intelligence community
and the Trump administration. “If people believe that conditions have so
changed and the threat is so diminished that we can go back to the way things
were [before the 9/11 attacks], so be it,” said Russ Travers, who served as
acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center. “I just personally
don't believe that's the right answer. And I don't like the quality of the
discussion that has gotten us to this point,” Travers told NPR's Mary Louise
Kelly, co-host of All Things Considered, in his first broadcast interview since
leaving his government post. Travers, who joined the intelligence community in
the late 1970s, said he's never seen such bad relations between intelligence
professionals and a presidential administration. “I've been doing this for 42
years. I have never seen longtime civil servants removed because they had
opinions that were different than the administration,” he said.”

 

Voice Of America: Hezbollah-Linked Operative Extradited From Cyprus To US
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“A Lebanese man accused of laundering drug money for the militant group
Hezbollah has been extradited from Cyprus to the United States. Ghassan Diab,
37, arrived in Miami last week to face charges dating back to 2016 in the U.S.
state of Florida, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement Saturday. 
Diab has been charged with two counts of money laundering over $100,000, two
counts of conspiracy to launder over $100,000, two counts of unlicensed
transmission of currency over $100,000, and two counts of unlawful use of a
two-way communications device to further the commission of money laundering,
all of which are felonies under Florida law, according to a statement released
by the department. In 2016, a state attorney in Florida identified Diab as an
alleged Hezbollah associate, announcing charges against him as a part of an
operation on money laundering by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
in Miami, according to the Justice Department. Diab was arrested in Cyprus in
March 2019 upon his arrival from Beirut, Lebanon. U.S. law enforcement agencies
in recent months have stepped up crackdowns on the Iranian-backed group and its
financial networks.”

 

Fox News: Oklahoma DA Slaps Teens With Terrorism Charges, Accuses BLM Of
Intimidating Officers, Protecting Criminals
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“Two teenagers are the latest to face terrorism charges after allegedly
helping to break in the windows of an Oklahoma City bail bonds business in late
May during the civil unrest that swept the nation in the wake of the death of
George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Several dozen protesters
conducted a sit-in at the office of Oklahoma County District Attorney David
Prater on Monday to demand that he drop the terrorism charges and resign. But
Prater maintained last week that those who incite violence in the streets are
“criminals” who “have subverted peaceful protests and impaired the open
discussion regarding race in our country.” “When you employ these tactics for a
political purpose, you are a terrorist,” he said. Prater also accused Black
Lives Matter protestors of trying to intimidate him and law enforcement and of
defending “criminals who are violent, exploitive and unscrupulous.” The
district attorney said: “It is my job to protect innocent citizens and their
property and I will continue to do it to the best of my ability.” The local
chapter of Black Lives Matter criticized Prater for bringing the terrorism
charges against “protesters,” especially in Oklahoma City, where a “white
supremacist terrorist attack” killed at least 168 people and injured hundreds
more on April 19, 1995.”

 

Syria

 

The Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah Terrorist Killed In Alleged Israeli Airstrikes
In Syria
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“The Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist movement announced on Tuesday that Ali Kamel
Mohsen Jawad, a member of Hezbollah, was killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes
in Damascus on Monday night. Israel is concerned about a possible response from
Hezbollah, according to KAN news. Five pro-Iranian militants were killed and
four others were wounded in the strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights (SOHR). While the identities of most of the dead are unknown,
it is known that they were not of Syrian nationality, according to SOHR. A
military source told Syria’s state news agency SANA on Monday night that seven
Syrian soldiers were injured in the strikes. According to SOHR, the soldiers
are from the Syrian Air Force’s Air Defense Force and two of the soldiers are
in serious condition. Syrian air defense systems were activated on Monday
evening after Israeli aircraft launched missiles towards sites south of
Damascus from over the Majdal Shams area of the Golan Heights, according to
SANA. Syrian air defenses responded to Israeli missiles in As-Suwayda, Izraa
and Quneitra in southern Syria as well, according to SOHR.”

 

The Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah Threatens Israel After Member Of Terror Group
Killed In Syria
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“Hezbollah-linked social media accounts are mourning a member killed in Syria.
On Tuesday night hundreds of accounts shared images of the dead “martyr” and
also vowed revenge against Israel. One account showed Hezbollah driving a car
toward the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, a common style iconography,
suggesting the liberation of Jerusalem from Israel, among pro-Iran and
Hezbollah accounts. Many accounts quoted various religious texts to mourn the
death of a man whose name was given as Ali Kamel Mohsin. Al-Mayadeen media,
which is pro-Hezbollah, said Israel was in fear of reprisal. Statements
attributed to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah also suggested Israelis keep an
eye open in case of an attack. Hezbollah monitored Israeli media for responses,
suggesting Israel was concerned. “There is fear and alertness in Israel,”
Al-Mayadeen noted. Social media accounts put up hashtags indicating it was a
“sincere promise” to retaliate. Images of Mohsin showed him in fatigues with a
rifle. He was allegedly killed during airstrikes in or near Damascus in the
early morning hours of Tuesday. “If the blood of the martyrs awaken us wherever
we fall asleep, hope ignites us that the possibility of responding is an
opportunity to come,” one social media user noted.”

 

Iraq

 

Al Monitor: Mosul Sowing Seeds Post-Islamic State
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“Following years of neglect and environmental abuse, the new governor of
Ninevah province, Najm al-Jabouri, announced last June, a project to plant 1
million trees in an effort to revive Mosul, a city that is also known as
al-Khaḍrah, which translates to “The Green.” Subsequently, many projects were
launched and some have been finalized already. For instance, on July 15, a tree
planting project at Mosul’s central transportation hub was completed by a group
of youth volunteers. Mosul is known for being one of the most fertile cities in
Iraq, and many scholars believe the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon were
built near the city. However, many years of neglect, Turkish dams on the Tigris
River and environmental damage by the Islamic State (IS) has contributed to its
deforestation, turning it into a semi-arid city. IS not only unraveled the
social fabric in Mosul, but it ravaged its fertile lands and systematically
burnt the Yazidi's olive tree farms and Mosul’s palm trees, causing sandstorms
in Iraq. Hence, the idea to plant trees in the city was born. On June 7,
Jabouri officially launched the “Green Mosul” project proposed by Mosul Eye to
plant 1 million trees in the city this year. Al-Monitor spoke to Omar Mohammed,
founder of the internationally known blog Mosul Eye, an organization he created
in 2014 to document the atrocities committed in Mosul during its occupation
under IS.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Guardian: Afghan Girl Shot Dead Taliban Fighters Who Killed Her Parents,
Say Officials
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“An Afghan girl shot dead three Taliban fighters after they killed her parents
because they supported the government, local officials have said. The incident
happened last week when a group of 40 insurgents stormed the village of
Geriveh, in central Ghor province, where 16-year-old Qamar Gul was living with
her parents and brother. Officials said the fighters, who were looking for
Gul’s father, knocked on the door at 1am on 17 July. “The insurgents came to
their doorstep and her mother went to see who was knocking,” said Mohamed Aref
Aber, a spokesman for the provincial governor. “When she saw that they were
armed, she refused to open the door.” Aber said Gul’s mother was immediately
shot dead by the attackers, who then entered the house and shot at her father.
According to Aber, Qamar Gul witnessed the death of her parents, picked up her
father’s rifle and shot and killed three insurgents. She then started a
one-hour battle with the Taliban alongside her 12-year-old brother, Habibullah,
he added. Several other Taliban fighters reportedly joined the attack, but some
villagers and pro-government militia men expelled them after a gunfight. Afghan
officials have taken Qamar Gul and her younger brother to a safe place in the
provincial capital.”

 

Middle East

 

The National: Are There Extremists That Qatar Does Not Fund?
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“Qatar’s funding of extremists, in the Arab world and beyond, is no secret to
most residents of the Middle East. Yet, in the past week, new details of Doha’s
murky dealings abroad have emerged. According to German newspaper Die Zeit,
Doha has been funding Hezbollah and its activities. The Lebanese militant group
was created by Iran in the 1980s as a proxy and it is allied with the Syrian
regime. The information was leaked by a whistleblower only identified as
“Jason”, who worked as a contractor for Doha. He said he had been promised
€750,000 (Dh3.1 million) from Qatar for the sole purpose of hiding evidence he
had gathered of the country’s support for Hezbollah. The deal fell through and
the contractor went public with the dossier. This revelation proves that Qatar
continues to pursue a strategy of destabilising the region, funding extremists
who undermine peace in their own countries and beyond. This scheme seems to
have, in fact, expanded. Last year, The Qatar Papers, a book authored by two
French journalists, uncovered Qatar’s financing of the Muslim Brotherhood in
Europe.”

 

Egypt

 

France 24: Egyptian Armys Says It Killed 18 Islamist Militants In North Sinai
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“Egypt's military said it killed 18 suspected Islamist militants in aerial and
ground operations in the restive North Sinai region on Tuesday, as part of its
battle to quell a long-running insurgency. The army said in a statement that
its forces succeeded in foiling “an attack by takfiri terrorist elements on one
of the security complexes” in the town of Bir al-Abd. Egyptian security
officials use the term “takfiri” to designate extremist Islamist militants. “In
cooperation with the air force, security forces managed to chase the takfiri
elements across a farm and in abandoned houses killing 18, including one
wearing an explosive belt,” the statement said. Two military personnel were
killed and four others wounded in Tuesday's operations in Bir al-Abd. Troops
also destroyed four cars including three that were packed with explosives. The
town, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of North Sinai's capital al-Arish,
has been the site of several terror attacks claimed by the Islamic State group
including the deadliest attack in modern Egyptian history, in which more than
300 worshippers were gunned down in a mosque in 2017.”

 

Libya

 

The North Africa Post: Moroccan ISIS-Affiliates Leave Syria, Iraq For Libya –
European Security Reports
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“Two European counterterrorism reports have reported the movement of Islamic
state group fighters, including Moroccan nationals, leaving Syria and Iraq to
lawless Libya. Published by the European Center for Counterterrorism and
France’s Center of Terrorism Analysis, the reports stress that fighters of the
global terror group are fleeing Syria and Iraq, two hubs of the criminal group.
The fleeing affiliates include dozens of Moroccans, local Moroccan Arabic media
Al Ahdath Al Maghribia reports. At least 1,000 Moroccans have left the kingdom
for hotbed conflict zones, mainly in Syria and Iraq. Libya is currently
witnessing a rivalry between the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA)
supported by Turkey and Qatar and an eastern administration backed by Egypt,
UAE, Russia and France. The European Union (UE) has called for the end of
rivalries between the Libyan sides arguing that the conflict situation in the
oil-rich country endangers countries around the Mediterranean. European
countries continue to receive hundreds of migrants who depart from Libyan
coasts. More than 650,000 people wait to leave Libyan shores for Europe, Malta
warned.”

 

Africa

 

The North Africa Post: Tunisia: Terror Attack Targeting Military Patrol Foiled
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“Tunisian security forces foiled Monday a terror attack after they nabbed a
terrorist on verge of attacking a security patrol in one governorate in the
south of the country. The ministry of the interior in a statement said the
attack involved an improvised bomb device. The alleged terrorist, an affiliate
of the Islamic state group (ISIS), is unknown to authorities, it added. This is
the second incident this month. Last week, the interior ministry indicated that
a terrorist linked to ISIS was rounded. The suspect was nabbed following
coordination between several security forces entities including the
intelligence service. This ISIS member had undergone training in the making of
explosives and was plotting terror attacks against security personnel. Tunisia
has been under security emergency since November 2015 after a string of bloody
terror attacks hit capital Tunis and resort city of Sousse leaving over 70
people dead, mostly foreign holidaymakers. The North African country has
stepped up prevention strategy but it has witnessed sporadic attacks involving
ambushes.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Independent: MPs Back New Terror Laws As Government Warned It Can't 'Lock
Terrorists Away For Longer And Hope For The Best'
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“The government must not jail terrorists for longer and “hope for the best”,
it has been warned as MPs passed a controversial suite of terror laws. The
Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill contains a range of powers to keep
extremists in jail for longer, despite concerns about radicalisation inside
prisons. Three attacks, in Fishmongers’ Hall, Streatham and Reading, have been
carried out since last November by released inmates while a fourth alleged
attack happened inside a high-security prison. David Lammy, the shadow justice
secretary, called for greater focus on deradicalisation and rehabilitation
efforts, and funding for the stretched probation service that supervises freed
terrorists. He said: “It is simply not good enough to lock terrorists away for
longer, put them out of our minds and hope for the best. As we’ve seen from the
devastating attacks at Streatham and Fishmongers’ Hall, this approach does not
work.” Mr Lammy argued that longer prison sentences alone “cannot protect the
public from ever-present threat of radicalisation and serious terrorist
atrocities”. “Even offenders convicted of the most serious terror offences will
at some point be released back into society - that is the reality,” he told
MPs.”

 

Germany

 

Associated Press: Tajik Man Faces IS-Related Terrorism Charges In Germany
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“Authorities have charged a Tajik man with membership in a terrorist
organization on allegations he led a group plotting attacks in Germany in
coordination with Islamic State leaders in Syria and Afghanistan, prosecutors
said Tuesday. Ravsan B., whose last name wasn’t released in line with German
privacy laws, also faces charges of weapons violations, preparing an act of
violence, and other counts. The 30-year-old, who has been in custody since
March 2019, is accused of forming a cell of the Islamic State in Germany with
other Tajik nationals no later than January 2019 to carry out attacks and raise
money for the extremist organization. For the latter goal, they allegedly took
a contract for $40,000 to kill an Albanian businessman and traveled to the
country at the end of February, 2019. There they procured weapons from contacts
and observed the target over several days but eventually experienced misgivings
as to whether they were focused on the right man and returned to Germany
without killing him, prosecutors said. They also allegedly brought the weapons
with them, and when back in Germany also procured explosives and detonators to
use in an unspecified attack. Acting on orders from an Islamic State member in
Afghanistan, they decided to kill a man who had made critical comments about
Islam, and take photographs to use as propaganda to raise support for the fight
against “infidels,” prosecutors said.”

 

Deutsche Welle: Germany: Anti-Semitic Attack Suspect Shows No Remorse In Court
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“Stephan B. remained impassive as he was led into the large, low-ceilinged
Magdeburg courtroom on Tuesday morning. As in the video that he live-streamed
on the internet during last October's deadly attack in Halle, he was
shaven-headed and dressed in a thick black jacket, only this time he was also
handcuffed and shackled, wearing a disposable coronavirus protection mask, and
with at least six masked guards around him. The trial itself was only able to
begin after a two-hour delay, apparently because the rigorous security checks
took much longer than predicted. But by midday, the courtroom was packed.
Spectators and journalists observed proceedings from behind a glass screen,
while the ranks of seats in front were filled with some of the 43 co-plaintiffs
— many of them the people who had been in the synagogue last October — and
their lawyers. The 28-year-old defendant  has been charged with two cases of
murder in the killings of 40-year-old Jana L. and 20-year-old Kevin S., as well
as 68 cases of attempted murder. The latter figure comprises the 52 people who
were observing Yom Kippur inside the Halle synagogue plus a number of other
passers-by and police officers that he shot at during the attack and his
two-hour attempted escape.”

 

Technology

 

CBS News: Twitter Unveils Plan To Limit QAnon Activity In New Crackdown
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“Twitter unveiled a series of actions to limit the impact of QAnon-related
content on its platform on Tuesday. The company said in a statement that it is
taking action in an effort to “protect the public conversation in the face of
evolving threats.” The company said it will “no longer serve content and
accounts associated with QAnon in Trends and recommendations” and is going to
block URLs associated with QAnon from being shared on the platform. They will
also no longer highlight QAnon activity in search, conversations, or trends.
Those who believe in the QAnon conspiracy theory claim that President Trump
will soon expose a group of globalists and celebrities that has been covertly
running America. They say they learned this information from “Q,” an anonymous,
high-ranking official in the Trump administration. QAnon believers say many of
the world's issues are tied back to the “deep-state,” including JFK's
assassination and and ISIS, and that many presidents, excluding Mr. Trump, are
part of the alleged collusion. The FBI designated the group as a potential
domestic extremist group last year. The action steps will be “rolled out
comprehensively this week,” the company tweeted.”

 

Medium: Nazis And Cryptocurrency: The Evolution Of Telegram
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“Telegram’s open door policy for extremists has long been known to law
enforcement, journalists and academics. But Telegram may now be on the way to
becoming a cryptocurrency trading platform, which could open up new avenues of
financing for those very same hate groups. And that’s something new and
potentially troubling. “Telegram has become a petri dish for extremism,” said
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at
California State University-San Bernardino. “The introduction of crypto
currency can create a whole lot of networking that wasn’t previously there,”
Levin said. “If propaganda is the motor oil of extremism, financing will be the
gasoline”… “It’s worth noting that there are several other channels still up
that are part of the ‘Terrorgram’ network, which raises questions about why
those were not removed,” Joshua Fisher-Birch, a research analyst with the
Counter Extremism Project, wrote in an email. “In short, this is a first step,
but it’s unclear what happens from here.”



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