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Eye on Extremism
August 19, 2020
Reuters: Mali President Resigns After Detention By Military, Deepening Crisis
“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.”
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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?
“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
“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
“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
“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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