Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned on Tuesday and dissolved
parliament hours after mutinying soldiers detained him at gunpoint, plunging a

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


August 19, 2020

 

Reuters: Mali President Resigns After Detention By Military, Deepening Crisis
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“Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned on Tuesday and dissolved
parliament hours after mutinying soldiers detained him at gunpoint, plunging a
country already facing a jihadist insurgency and mass protests deeper into
crisis. Looking tired and wearing a surgical mask, Keita resigned in a brief
address broadcast on state television after troops seized him along with Prime
Minister Boubou Cisse and other top officials. “If today, certain elements of
our armed forces want this to end through their intervention, do I really have
a choice?” he said from a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako
where he had been detained earlier in the day. It was not immediately clear who
was leading the revolt, who would govern in Keita’s absence or what the
mutineers wanted. Images posted earlier on social media said to be taken at the
Kati garrison showed Keita and Cisse surrounded by armed soldiers. Reuters
could not verify the authenticity of the videos. Mali has seen months of
protests against alleged corruption and worsening security in the West African
country where Islamist militants are active, and there have been calls for
Keita to resign.”

 

The Wall Street Journal: Tribunal Convicts Hezbollah Member In Hariri
Assassination, Acquits Three Others
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“An international tribunal convicted a member of Hezbollah of terrorism and
homicide over the assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
in 2005 but acquitted three others and found no evidence that the militia and
political group’s leadership was involved in the plot. Tuesday’s verdict comes
just two weeks after the deadly Beirut explosion and could heighten tensions in
Lebanon. For many, it raises painful memories of an attack that deeply divided
the country across political and sectarian lines. At the time, Mr. Hariri was
Lebanon’s most prominent Sunni politician, while Hezbollah is an Iran- and
Syria-allied Shiite group. The tribunal convicted Salim Jamil Ayyash, a
Lebanese national, of conspiracy to commit terrorism, committing an act of
terrorism, and homicide, among other crimes. The judges said there was
insufficient evidence to convict three other defendants in the case. All four
were tried in absentia as their whereabouts are unknown. The tribunal said that
Syria and Hezbollah, Lebanon’s most powerful political faction, may have had
motives to eliminate Mr. Hariri and some of his political allies, but that
“there was no evidence that Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Mr.
Hariri’s assassination and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement in
it.”

 

United States

 

Associated Press: Virginia Man Serving Life Sentence For Taliban-Related
Treason Freed, Partly Due To COVID
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“A judge has ordered that an Islamic scholar serving a life sentence for
soliciting treason after the Sept. 11 attacks be released from custody while he
pursues his appeal. The order Tuesday grants release to Ali Al-Timimi in part
because of concerns he is susceptible to the coronavirus and in part because of
a recent Supreme Court case that could invalidate several counts on which he
was convicted back in 2005. Al-Timimi has been imprisoned for the last 15
years, most recently at the federal Supermax facility in Colorado. He was
convicted after prosecutors say he used his influence to persuade a group of
young men in Virginia to try to join the Taliban.”

 

FOX 59: Indiana Woman To Be Sentenced For Helping ISIS
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“Prosecutors are recommending the maximum penalty for an Elkhart woman who
pleaded guilty to financially supporting ISIS. According to court documents,
federal prosecutors say Samantha Elhassani was aware of her actions and should
serve 10 years in prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says her husband and his
brother joined the terrorist group, ISIS. They also say Elhassani made three
trips to Hong Kong with thousands of dollars worth of gold and cash to help the
group. Elhassani’s husband ultimately died fighting for ISIS in 2017, and she
was held in a Kurdish detention camp with her four children after ISIS’s
collapse in Raqqa. She was transferred to U.S. custody and later flown back to
America. Elhassani said she was tricked into joining ISIS by her husband, but
federal officials disagree. They allege she filmed a video teaching one of her
children how to kill American soldiers. Her sentencing is next Thursday in
hammond.”

 

Syria

 

The Washington Times: U.S. Anti-ISIS Patrol Attacked In Northeast Syria
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“U.S. military forces and coalition troops came under attack Monday by
pro-Syrian forces in northeast Syria while conducting a routine anti-ISIS
patrol and returned fire in what Pentagon officials said was self-defense. In a
statement, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR)
officials said that American troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic
Forces did not suffer any casualties. Officials said the patrol approached a
checkpoint operated by Syrian-backed forces at approximately 9:20 a.m. local
time Monday when it came under small-arms fire “from individuals in the
vicinity of the checkpoint after they received approval to pass.” The coalition
forces then returned fire in self-defense and safely returned to base,
officials said. “The coalition did not conduct an airstrike. No coalition
casualties occurred,” CJTF-OIR said in the statement, adding that the incident
remains under investigation.”

 

Iran

 

Business Insider: How Iran Tried To Bribe Taliban Operatives With Bounties On
US Soldiers, According To A Former Taliban Commander
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“A former Taliban commander has described to Insider the details of an Iranian
program offering bounties for the killing of US troops, which he said he was
offered but ultimately rejected. The man, who led a unit in Zabul province
until 2014,  confirmed that Iran explicitly offered him payment for killing
Americans in two separate meetings. According to Insider's David Choi, such
arrangements were common knowledge, and Iranian proxy forces boasted of them in
a leaflet campaign across the country. The Taliban source is now living in
Greece as a refugee. He asked for anonymity, fearing that authorities could
reject his asylum claims over his past activity. He described being in meetings
in his province with representatives of Iran's Quds Force, part of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He said a meeting with the Quds official was
brokered by the Haqqani network, a guerilla group associated with both the
Taliban and al Qaeda who had previously tried to offer him a similar deal. The
source was especially valued as a commander, he said, because he had once
worked with US and UK forces in Helmand Province, where he received elite
military training.”

 

Yemen

 

The National: Outrage Over Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Alleged Shooting Of A Child
In Taez
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“The shooting of a Yemeni child in the city of Taez by an alleged Houthi
sniper has sparked nationwide outrage with activists urging rapid action
against the rebel movement. Taez, Yemen’s third-biggest city, has been a
frontline in the conflict that started after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels
ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital, Sanaa, in
2014. A UN-mediated deal reached in Stockholm in December 2018 aimed to set up
a committee to establish humanitarian corridors to the city, but little
progress has been made so far. The little girl, whose name is unknown, was
apparently going to get water for her family on Monday when she was targeted by
a sniper. Painful images showed the girl’s body in a pile of blood after she
was shot. They circulated on social media with the hashtag “Houthis are child
killers” going viral. Her brother attempted to pull her back into their house.
A human rights activist, Muna Luqman, said the child is another victim of the
rebel’s vicious acts in the city. “I have seen children and women killed and
injured by Houthi snipers in Taez as they invaded the city and positioned on
rooftops causing armed conflict with resistance forces,” Ms Luqman said.”

 

Lebanon

 

Reuters: 'Impossible' That Beirut Port Blast Was Caused By Hezbollah Arms,
Says President
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“Lebanese President Michel Aoun dismissed as “impossible” the chance that a
vast explosion in Beirut’s port this month was caused by a blast from a deposit
of Hezbollah arms, but said that all possibilities would be investigated.
Lebanese authorities are probing what caused massive amounts of ammonium
nitrate warehoused unsafely for years at the port to denotate in a mushroom
cloud on Aug. 4, killing 178 people, injuring 6,000 and destroying swathes of
the city. Aoun, an ally of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, told
Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Tuesday that the
group did not store weapons at the port, echoing comments by Hezbollah’s leader
earlier this month. “Impossible, but serious events like these light up spirits
and imagination,” Aoun said when asked about people advancing the hypothesis,
but added that “even this lead will be investigated”. Hezbollah leader Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah has denied accusations that his heavily armed movement had
weaponry warehoused at Beirut port. He has said that the group would wait for
results of the investigation but if it turns out to be an act of sabotage by
Israel then it would “pay an equal price.”

 

Libya

 

Arab News: Daesh Remains A Threat To Libya Despite Change In Strategy
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“As things stand, it might be tempting to declare Daesh all but defeated in
Libya. Daesh is most visible, and therefore most effective, when it controls
territory. It uses territory for building both military and financial might,
and for propaganda and recruitment purposes. Daesh has not controlled
significant territory in Libya since it was ejected from Sirte in 2016. Since
then, its bases have been small and transient, and largely only possible in the
southern desert area of Fezzan, while the number of militants steadily
dwindled, especially when the US was able to locate some of these bases and hit
them with airstrikes. But, despite four years of being hounded, Daesh remains a
steadfast, if currently reduced, actor in the Libyan theater. We have a very
detailed picture of its activities throughout 2018 and 2019 and, for those two
years alone, we have records of close to 100 noteworthy attacks on other
players in the field, including at least three high-profile ones in Tripoli in
2018: On the High National Election Commission (HNEC), the National Oil
Corporation, and the Foreign Ministry. The HNEC attack is particularly
relevant. Most attacks are limited in scope and serve to improve the tactical
position of the group in the areas where they are active."

 

Nigeria

 

This Day: Nigeria: Al Qaeda In Nigeria?
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“The security agencies must do more to contain the increasing threats. The
canvass of violence and insecurity in Nigeria is broadening. The Commander of
the United States Special Operations Command in Africa, Major General Dagvin
Anderson, recently raised the alarm that ISIS and Al-Quaeda are penetrating the
Northwest of the country, and on the verge of furthering their terrorist
campaigns to the south of Nigeria. Anderson particularly warned that these
threats should not be underestimated, that the terrorists could seize
“opportunities” and weaknesses as they emerge. Nigeria is exposed on several
fronts. For more than a decade, the country has been fighting an insurgency in
the North-east that seems unending. This has created so much lawlessness that
has been exploited by all sorts of criminals. However, the Army Defence
Headquarters has downplayed the threats posed by violent extremist
organisations in the Northwest, South of the country or wherever, arguing that
Anderson's alarm was stale. “Have we not captured foreigners among the people
that have been terrorising us in this country?” asked the spokesman, Major
General John Eneche. “So it is just like a call to keep doing what you are
doing.”

 

North Korea

 

New York Post: North Korea Reportedly Has Up To 60 Nuclear Bombs In Massive
Weapons Stockpile
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“Estimates for North Korean nuclear weapons range from 20-60 bombs, with the
capability to produce 6 new devices each year,” the US Army said, noting that
some reports state that the rogue regime could obtain as many as 100 by the end
of 2020. “North Korea sought nuclear weapons because its leaders thought the
threat of a nuclear attack would prevent other countries from contemplating a
regime change,” the US military said. The report also pointed out that North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un witnessed the case of Libya’s Moammar Gaddafi and
“does not want something similar to happen in North Korea.” “External powers
intervened in Libya when the domestic revolts began in 2011,” the report said.
It is “highly likely” that the Hermit Kingdom’s military would “use chemical
artillery shells,” it said. “North Korea possibly has weaponized anthrax or
smallpox that could be mounted on missiles for use” against South Korea, the US
and Japan, the report said. It added that a kilo of anthrax could kill up to
50,000 people in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, home to some 10 million people,
the Korea Herald reported. Meanwhile, Pyongyang oversees electronic warfare
operations under the Cyber Warfare Guidance Unit, more commonly known as Bureau
121, with over 6,000 computer hackers working internationally to gather
intelligence, disable enemy networks and commit financial crimes.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Sky News: Jihadist's Sister Who Practised Knife Fights With Brother As He
Plotted London Terror Attack Spared Jail
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“A woman who practised knife fights with her jihadist brother as he plotted a
terrorist attack has been spared jail after a judge said she acted out of
“misguided loyalty”. Sneha Chowdhury claimed that she did not believe her
brother when he told her he was “serious” about launching an attack in London.
The 26-year-old teaching student was given a two-year suspended sentence after
being found guilty of failing to inform police about an imminent attack, with
the judge accepting she had been the subject of controlling behaviour. Her
brother, former Uber driver Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, was jailed for life with a
minimum term of 25 years last month after planning a gun, knife and van
massacre in the capital. Undercover police officers were deployed and
discovered that he was planning a knife and gun attack on a Gay Pride march
from an open top bus, with the help of another prisoner who was soon to be
released. He also bragged about deceiving an Old Bailey jury which cleared him
of a sword attack on police outside Buckingham Palace in August 2017. Sneha
Chowdhury did not know what he was planning but MI5 had bugged the family home
in Luton, Bedfordshire, and picked up conversations in which her brother
practised knife fighting in front of her.”

 

Germany

 

The Guardian: Berlin Highway Crashes Investigated As Islamic Extremist Attack
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“A series of car crashes on a Berlin highway was an extremist attack, German
prosecutors have said. According to the current state of its investigation, it
was an Islamist-motivated attack, the regional office told DPA news agency. Six
people were injured, three severely, when the suspect, a 30-year-old Iraqi man,
allegedly deliberately drove into several vehicles on Tuesday evening along a
stretch of road in the German capital. The incident led to the closure of one
of Berlin’s main traffic arteries. There were indications the man had mental
health problems, DPA reported. Local media said the suspect later stopped on
the highway and put a box on the roof of his car, claiming it contained
explosives. Specialists opened the box and found only tools. The man was
detained by police. Several media outlets also reported the man shouted “Allahu
akbar” (God is great) as he got out of his car. The incident led to long
traffic jams on Tuesday evening. About 300 people were stuck on the highway for
hours and receiving support from the German Red Cross, the Berlin fire
department tweeted.”



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