Fighting between Islamic extremist rebels and Mozambique’s army over a key port
is threatening to disrupt the East African nation’s burgeoning natural

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


August 21, 2020

 

The Wall Street Journal: Islamist Attacks In Mozambique Threaten To Disrupt
Total-Led Natural-Gas Project
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“Fighting between Islamic extremist rebels and Mozambique’s army over a key
port is threatening to disrupt the East African nation’s burgeoning natural-gas
developments, including a multibillion-dollar project led by French energy
giant Total SA. The insurgent group, which is affiliated with Islamic State,
seized control of the Mocimboa da Praia port this month and government troops
have moved into the area on Mozambique’s northern coast on the Indian Ocean to
mount an effort to regain control of the site. The seizure of the port has
interrupted the transit of oil and gas equipment through the port, a person
close to the Mozambican government said. Much of Mocimboa’s infrastructure has
been vandalized, he said. This person said the rebels had sunk a security
forces reconnaissance vessel and that as of Thursday, the Islamic State
franchise was fighting the Mozambican military from within the port. The rebel
group, which stepped up attacks in the northern part of the country last year,
infiltrated several neighborhoods in Mocimboa da Praia, with the help of local
accomplices, he said. The rising threat to Mozambique’s gas fields underscores
the expansion of the radical Islamic State in new territories following the
loss of its strongholds in Syria and Iraq two years ago.”

 

Foreign Policy: Why India Is Considering A Probe Into Facebook
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“India’s opposition Congress Party has called for a probe into Facebook after
revelations in a Wall Street Journal article that the social media platform
chose not to apply its hate speech rules to a ruling party politician who
called Muslims traitors. The story, published last Friday by the reporters
Newley Purnell and Jeff Horwitz, outlined how T. Raja Singh, a member of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), used his personal
Facebook page to call for Rohingya immigrants to be shot and for mosques to be
razed. In March, Facebook’s internal watchdogs flagged the account as dangerous
and recommended that Singh be banned from Facebook’s platforms. But according
to the Journal, the company’s top public policy executive in India, Ankhi Das,
argued against applying the company’s hate speech rules because it would impact
Facebook’s business in India. Singh’s accounts remain on Facebook and
Instagram. Political impact. The issue has since exploded in India. The
Congress Party has written a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking him
to look into the allegations in the report and to consider changing its India
management team, while the BJP’s chief of information and technology wrote in
an Indian newspaper that it was “ludicrous to suggest that Facebook is amenable
to the BJP.” Facebook’s own employees are now speaking out.”

 

United States

 

5280 Magazine: 5 Drivers Have Hit Colorado Protesters With Vehicles This Summer

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“Using a car or truck as a weapon isn’t unique to 2020. A 2018 report from San
Jose State University’s Mineta Transportation Institute identified vehicle
ramming as an increasingly common terrorism tactic. ISIS and Al Qaeda, in
particular, encourage followers to drive into unsuspecting pedestrians. The
rationale is as simple as it is ruthless: Obtaining a car is easier (and less
likely to raise suspicion) than buying guns or explosives, and radicalized
acolytes need little-to-no training or planning to carry out the attack.
Tragically, these attacks have been successful. A 19-ton cargo truck driven by
an ISIS follower killed 86 in Nice, France, in 2016, and eight people died in
New York City’s Hudson River Park when a driver barreled down a pedestrian and
bike path in 2017. The United Kingdom, Sweden, and Spain, among other
countries, have also experienced similar violence. Determining motive for these
attacks in the past had typically been relatively easy. The driver in New York
City had an ISIS flag in his truck, and the Islamic State took responsibility
for the rampage in France. But according to Brian Michael Jenkins, director of
Mineta’s Transportation Security Center and co-author of the 2018 report, the
incidents during the Black Lives Matter protests are different. “These people
aren’t following direct exhortations,” Jenkins says. “It’s tricky to determine
motive. We don’t have access to a person’s soul.”

 

Iran

 

Fox News: Trump Right To Back Arms Embargo On Iran, A Dangerous State Sponsor
Of Terrorism
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“President Trump’s move to reimpose full United Nations sanctions on Iran in
order to extend an arms embargo on the Islamic Republic scheduled to expire in
October is a wise move, despite the opposition of European nations, Russia and
China. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Thursday at the United
Nations: “The United States will never allow the world's largest state sponsor
of terrorism to freely buy and sell planes, tanks, missiles and other kinds of
conventional weapons. … These U.N. sanctions will continue the arms embargo.”
However, foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany issued a joint
statement Thursday saying they don’t support the move by the U.S. to snapback
sanctions on Iran under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal agreed to by their countries
and then-President Barack Obama. President Trump withdrew from the deal in
2018, denouncing it as ineffective in stopping Iran from developing nuclear
weapons and continuing to be a state sponsor of terrorism. The three European
foreign ministers said their nations remain committed to the Iran nuclear deal,
despite the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, officially called the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). Iran stopped complying with the agreement
after the U.S. withdrew.”

 

Iraq

 

The New York Times: Trump Meets With Iraqi Leader Amid Negotiations Over U.S.
Troop Levels
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“President Trump met with Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the Iraqi prime minister, at the
White House on Thursday, continuing months of negotiations between the two
governments over the presence of American troops in the country. Mr. Trump’s
meeting with Mr. al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief, culminated two days
of high-level gatherings between senior American and Iraqi officials that
covered a range of security, energy, economic and health issues. But a central
focus of the prime minister’s visit is the negotiations, which started in May,
on resetting the United States military mission in Iraq. “We will be discussing
military,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re also involved in many oil projects and oil
development within their country. And I think we’ve had a very, very good
relationship since we started. We’re down to a very small number of soldiers in
Iraq now.” There are about 5,200 American troops in Iraq, whose main missions
are counterterrorism and training Iraqi forces. Some of these forces also
support about 500 U.S. troops in neighboring Syria. Both leaders have
emphasized their desire for troop reductions, but the details of how that would
happen are murky. The Iraqis have said they want assistance from the Americans
without a sizable military presence, while the Trump administration, fixated on
the threat of Iranian influence, has been advised to keep a small number of
troops on the ground.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Reuters: Trump Says U.S. Would Retaliate If Bounties On U.S. Troops Were True
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“President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to retaliate if other countries were
found to have offered bounties for attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but
he gave no indication whether his stance toward U.S. intelligence reports
outlining the bounties had changed. Reports about U.S. intelligence findings
that Moscow paid the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan emerged in
late June. Russia denied the reports, and Trump has made clear that he did not
believe them. CNN this month reported that U.S. intelligence had also indicated
that Iran paid the Taliban bounties to target U.S. troops in Afghanistan as
well. Reuters could not verify that story or vouch for its accuracy. Tehran on
Tuesday said the report was false. Trump, speaking at a White House event
alongside the Iraqi prime minister, told reporters that if the reports were
determined to be a fact, then “we would hit them so hard, your head would
spin.” Democrats and other critics have accused Trump, a Republican who is
seeking re-election in November who has long pushed warmer U.S. ties with
Russia, of not taking intelligence information concerning soldiers' deaths
seriously enough.”

 

Voice Of America: Fresh Afghan Violence Kills 34 Combatants, Civilians
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“Officials in Afghanistan say clashes between security forces and the Taliban
insurgency, and a roadside bomb blast have killed about three dozen people,
including civilians. Thursday’s deadly violence raged as U.S.-led efforts to
push Afghan rivals to negotiate a political settlement to the country’s long
war have slowed, if not halted, over the release of Taliban prisoners by Kabul.
A local government spokesman in northeastern Takhar province told VOA
insurgents staged a pre-dawn assault on security outposts in Khwaja Bahauddin
district, killing14 Afghan forces and injuring four others. Separately, the
Taliban stormed several checkpoints in eastern Nangarhar province late
Wednesday and killed at least six security personnel. A provincial government
spokesman said the fighting in Khogyani district also inflicted “heavy
casualties” on the assailants but he did not give further details. The Taliban
in a statement claimed credit for the attack in Khogyani but did not discuss
insurgent losses. Elsewhere in Logar and Wardak provinces, army operations
killed at least six Taliban rebels and injured many others, reported an Afghan
group monitoring the ongoing violence in the country.”

 

Yemen

 

Arab News: Hundreds Of Houthis Killed In Fighting In Central Yemen, Officials
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“Almost 1,000 Houthi fighters have been killed over the past four days in
fierce clashes with government forces, which include allied tribesmen, in
various contested areas of the central province of Marib, with hundreds more
wounded or captured, local media and government officials said on Thursday. The
Iran-backed Houthis have stepped up their attacks on Marib’s Serwah and Helan
areas in an attempt to capture the oil- and gas-rich city of Marib. “We have
counted 966 Houthis, including senior officers, killed in the fighting in Marib
over the last four days. Their bodies are still scattered on the battlefields,”
an army officer in Marib, who asked to remain anonymous, told Arab News by
telephone. Dozens of government troops and their tribal allies have also
reportedly died in the fighting. On Wednesday, at least 35 Houthi fighters
surrendered when government forces attacked their location in Marib’s Serwah,
local army commanders said. On the same day, senior army commanders in Marib
attended the funeral of Brig. Mohammed Ali Alroken, the commander of 122
Infantry Brigade, who was killed in action in the northern province of Jawf.”

 

Nigeria

 

Al Jazeera: Nigerian Army Says 'In Full Control' Of Town Where Hostages Taken
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“The Nigerian army on Thursday said it was in “full control” of a northeastern
town where sources say hundreds of people had been taken hostage by rebels. The
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters stormed the town Kukawa on
Tuesday and seized hundreds of residents who had just returned after fleeing
their homes about two years ago, according to local residents and militia
sources. “The terrorists on 18 August 2020 attacked troops' location in Kukawa
town in Borno state where the attack was vehemently thwarted,” defence
spokesman John Enenche said in a statement. “The situation in Kukawa is now
calm with troops in full control,” he said. Kukawa's residents had returned to
their homes on August 2 under military escort on the orders of the state
government. They had been living in camps in the regional capital Maiduguri,
180km (120 miles) away, where they fled following a bloody attack in November
2018. “The attack by the terrorists was ... a deliberate attempt to reverse the
milestone achievements recorded regarding IDPs [internally displaced people] in
the areas of peacebuilding, reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement
efforts by the government,” Enenche said.”

 

Sahara Reporters: Boko Haram Terrorists Overrun Military Base In Borno, Kill
Five Soldiers, Injure Others
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“Five Nigerian soldiers were killed on Tuesday following a gun battle in
Gajibo area of Borno State with Boko Haram insurgents, security sources have
told SaharaReporters. The insurgents believed to be from the Islamic State West
Africa Province attacked the military base in the town in about 15 gun trucks.
“Boko Haram during the week sacked the military base here in Gajibo, about five
soldiers were killed and many injured. We saw the military evacuating their
people both killed and wounded,” a resident told SaharaReporters. The sources
said several weapons and ammunition were stolen by the terrorists during the
attack that lasted for three hours. Boko Haram and its offshoot, ISWAP, have
killed thousands and displaced millions in North-Eastern Nigeria. The Nigerian
Army has repeatedly claimed that the insurgency has been largely defeated and
frequently underplays any losses. In the past months, soldiers have been
targeted by the insurgents, who lay ambush on their path.”

 

Somalia

 

American Military Times: US Airstrike Takes Out Terrorist Bomb-Maker In Somalia

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“The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has taken out a high-value member of the Al
Shabaab terror group in Somalia on Thursday. AFRICOM confirmed the successful
airstrike in an emailed statement to American Military News. The Al Shabaab
member, who was not named, had a history of making explosives and was
reportedly working to place Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on a public
road at the time of the strike near the vicinity of Kurtun Warey, Somalia. The
AFRICOM statement assessed they successfully killed the Al Shabaab bomber and
destroyed a nearby motorcycle. No civilians were assessed to have been injured
or killed as a result of this airstrike. “Al-Shabaab continues to put Somali
people in danger by ruthlessly attempting to place explosive devices in public
areas,” U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joel Tyler, AFRICOM director of operations said of
Al Shabaab. “These extremists continue to terrorize Somali citizens without
regard for their safety.” Al Shabaab has been affiliated with Al Qaeda and the
Islamic State (ISIS) throughout its history. “In support of the Federal
Government of Somalia, U.S. forces use a range of effective and appropriate
methods to assist in the protection of the Somali people,” the AFRICOM
statement continues.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Al Jazeera: Bomber's Brother Jailed For Life For Manchester Concert Attack
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“The brother of a suicide bomber who killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande
concert in Manchester, northwest England, in 2017 was on Thursday jailed for
life. Judge Jeremy Baker said Hashem Abedi, who was convicted in March of
murder, attempted murder and conspiring to cause explosions, would spend a
minimum of 55 years in prison. Abedi, 23, refused to attend the two-day hearing
at the Central Criminal Court in London, which saw emotional statements from
families of victims of the May 22, 2017 attack. Judge Baker said even though
Abedi's 22-year-old brother Salman carried out the bombing at the Manchester
Arena, he was an “integral part” of its preparation. He condemned the ISIL
(ISIS) armed group-inspired attack - one of the worst on British soil in which
hundreds of people were injured - as “abhorrent” to most followers of Islam.
“The defendant and his brother were equally culpable for the deaths and
injuries caused,” he told the court. “The stark reality is that these were
atrocious crimes, large in their scale, deadly in their intent, and appalling
in their consequences. “The despair and desolation of the bereaved families has
been palpable,” he said, paying tribute to the “tremendous dignity and courage”
of the victims and their families.”

 

Germany

 

Associated Press: Islamic State Bride Sold Her Wedding Present: An AK47
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“A German woman who joined the Islamic State group fell on such hard times
that she had to sell her wedding present, an AK47 rifle, according to
prosecutors in Germany. In a statement Thursday, German federal prosecutors
said they have indicted Zeynep G. on three counts of participating in the
activities of a “foreign terrorist organization,” breaching arms control laws
and committing a war crime. G., a German citizen whose last name wasn't
released due to privacy reasons, is alleged to have traveled to Syria in
September or October of 2014 to join the extremist group. After marrying a
Chechen fighter she ran his household and used social media to urge a friend in
Germany to join IS. Following the first husband's death she married a fellow
German IS member in October or November of 2015 and moved to the group's
stronghold of Raqqa. German prosecutors say the couple occupied the home of
someone who had fled from IS, which would amount to looting or pillaging under
international law and is considered a war crime. Prosecutors said the woman
requested a Kalashnikov rifle as a wedding present and training in how to use
it, but after several weeks “it had to be sold due to a shortage of money.”

 

Technology

 

Cal Alumni Association: In The Age Of Information, Can We Weed Out The Fake
News?
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“In mid-April, the United Nations Secretary-General formally identified a
parallel “pandemic” to COVID-19: a “misinfo-demic” or false news about the
virus. Conspiracy theories, dangerous fake health advice, and discrimination
and stigma related to the virus—from its origin to how it can be prevented or
cured—have all spread like wildfire. The World Health Organization even added a
“mythbusters” section to its website. Various actors have been responsible for
the spread of this misinformation, from conservative news to massive text
message campaigns. But social media is particularly conducive to the spread of
conspiracies and false information, and more advanced technology has brought
even more advanced deception. For months, resident deepfake expert and
professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Information, Dr. Hany Farid, had been
analyzing pictures, videos, and text to understand the spread of misinformation
as it pertained to the 2020 election. Now, with pandemic news dominating the
media, he’s leading a new survey to assess the COVID-related mis- and
disinformation, in order to advise digital platforms on how to stem this flood.
With the survey ongoing and the results yet to be published, Farid spoke to
California about what he’s seen so far, the stakes of the issue, and how he
thinks social media needs to move forward.”



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