The Trump administration is preparing to remove Sudan from a list of states
that sponsor terrorism, seeking another foreign policy victory before the

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


September 25, 2020

 

**NOTE: CEP's Eye on Extremism will be suspended on Monday, September 28 in
observance of Yom Kippur. It will resume Tuesday, September 29.**

 

The New York Times: U.S. Prepares To Take Sudan Off List Of States That
Support Terrorism
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“The Trump administration is preparing to remove Sudan from a list of states
that sponsor terrorism, seeking another foreign policy victory before the
election but putting at risk the compensation for victims of terrorist attacks
that American courts have concluded were carried out with Khartoum’s support.
Sudan has been on the terrorism list since 1993 and, as a result, has been
restricted from receiving the global assistance that would help stabilize its
new government and foment democracy. Its delisting is widely expected in the
next few weeks, according to four people with direct knowledge of the plan by
the State Department. That would also clear the way for Sudan to normalize
diplomatic relations with Israel in an accord similar to those the Trump
administration helped the Jewish state cement this month with the United Arab
Emirates and Bahrain and that President Trump celebrated at the White House
last week with a promise that other nations would soon join them. A full
diplomatic accord between Israel and Sudan would be difficult, if not
impossible, while Sudan remains on the American terrorism list.”

 

The New York Times: U.S. Commandos Use Secretive Missiles To Kill Qaeda
Leaders In Syria
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“U.S. Special Operations forces, with no fanfare, killed a top Qaeda leader in
northwest Syria in an unusual drone strike nearly two weeks ago. They used a
secretive weapon — a so-called Ninja Hellfire missile on which the explosive
warhead is replaced by long blades to crush or slice its victim while
minimizing risks to any civilians nearby. It was the second time in three
months that American commandos have killed a senior Qaeda leader in northwest
Syria with these specially designed missiles. The strike illustrated the
complexities of carrying out operations against terrorist groups in a part of
the world where the United States and Russia have been warily pursuing their
own objectives and occasionally coming into conflict. The recent ramming of an
American ground patrol by a Russian armored vehicle escalated tensions between
the two rival powers in northeast Syria. The clash prompted the Pentagon last
week to dispatch Bradley fighting vehicles and more fighter jet patrols to
reinforce the more than 500 American troops helping stamp out remnants of the
Islamic State there.”

 

United States

 

Motherboard: Neo-Nazi Terror Leader Said To Have Worked With U.S. Special
Forces
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“The leader of one of the most violent neo-Nazi terror groups in decades was
paid by the Pentagon and worked with U.S. Special Forces on targeting and
counterterrorism, according to new information. VICE News has learned that the
leader of The Base, 47-year-old New Jersey native Rinaldo Nazzaro, was a
Pentagon contractor who in 2014 worked with Special Operations Command (SOCOM),
one of the most secretive elements of the U.S. military and the tip of the
spear in the war against jihadist terror groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. A
person familiar with the matter said Nazzaro, who had at least a top secret
security clearance for a time, was among a group that briefed special forces
officers on military targeting and counterterrorism efforts in the Middle East
in 2014. (Previously, the BBC reported that Nazzaro was an FBI analyst and a
Pentagon contractor.) This information matches up with details of his service
that Nazzaro shared with other members of The Base in encrypted chats obtained
by VICE News.”

 

Iran

 

The Washington Free Beacon: Saudi King Slams Iran’s Funding Of Terrorism In
U.N. Speech
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“The 84-year-old King Salman of Saudi Arabia blasted Iran for its production
of “chaos, extremism, and sectarianism” on Wednesday in his first speech to the
United Nations since taking the throne in 2015. “[Saudi Arabia]’s hands were
extended to Iran in peace with a positive and open attitude over the past
decades, but to no avail,” Salman told his fellow U.N. members.  “Time and
again, the entire world witnessed how the Iranian regime exploited these
efforts in order to intensify its expansionist activities, create its terrorist
networks, and use terrorism, and in the process squandering the resources and
wealth of the Iranian people for the purpose of its expansionist projects which
produced nothing but chaos, extremism, and sectarianism.” Salman cited Iran’s
efforts to destabilize Yemen, Lebanon, and its launching of over 700 drone and
missile strikes through proxies on Saudi Arabia to date. In Yemen and Lebanon,
Iran uses proxy forces such as Houthi militias and the terrorist group
Hezbollah to inflict violence. Salman blamed Hezbollah for the massive
explosion in Beirut in August that killed nearly 200 people. The Saudi king
also briefly touched on coalition efforts to root out ISIS and al Qaeda
groupings in Yemen as a part of the larger efforts Riyadh has made in combating
extremism in the region.”

 

Iraq

 

The National: Israel Admits ISIS Fighter In Iraqi Prison Is Its Own And
Permits His Return
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“Israel has acknowledged the existence of an Arab Israeli ISIS fighter who has
languished in solitary confinement at a northern Iraqi prison without trial for
more than two years, according to a letter obtained by The National. It says he
would be allowed to return home if he can reach Israel’s borders from Iraq,
despite a lack of formal ties between the two countries. When US forces
captured Mohammed Khalid in a December 2017 raid in eastern Syria following
four years spent fighting for ISIS across the group's self-proclaimed state,
Israel kept the case of the Palestinian from Israel's Arab-majority Northern
Triangle area, and his whereabouts, in the dark. But after The National
interviewed him at an Iraqi Kurdish counter-terrorism facility and tracked down
his family in northern Israel, the Israeli government finally acknowledged his
existence in the state’s first comments on his case, one fraught with legal
implications and that counter-terror experts said was the first they had
witnessed of a state refusing to even recognise a foreign fighter as its own –
let alone allow his repatriation. All evidence pointed to Israeli knowledge
about his case despite its denials. Before Khalid’s capture, the family say
they were questioned about him on numerous occasions at Israel’s Ben Gurion
Airport.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: Turkey Foiled 152 Daesh Terrorist Attacks In 2020, Interior
Minister Soylu Says
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“Turkish security forces have foiled 152 terrorist attacks by Daesh terrorists
in the past year, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said Wednesday. “We
prevented 152 terrorist attacks by Daesh in 2020, and confiscated 26.8 tons of
explosives ... We also foiled terrorist attacks by the PKK and DHKP-C,” Soylu
said in a live broadcast on TGRT Haber, adding that Turkish security forces
work around the clock to ensure security. In 2013, Turkey became one of the
first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group. The country has since been
attacked by Daesh terrorists multiple times with at least 10 suicide bombings,
seven bomb attacks and four armed attacks killing 315 people and injuring
hundreds more. In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and
abroad to prevent further attacks. In the fight against the PKK terror group,
Soylu said 162 PKK terrorists have laid down their arms so far this year as a
result of persuasion efforts by police and gendarmerie forces. The number of
terrorists who surrendered through persuasion efforts in the last three years
exceeded 700, he said.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Agence France-Presse: 65 Taliban Insurgents Killed In Eastern Afghanistan
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“Afghan security forces have killed 65 Taliban militants during an intense
battle in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, as fighting rages
between the two sides despite ongoing peace talks. The latest bloodshed came
late Wednesday after the Taliban stormed a military headquarters building in
the Wazi Khwa district of Paktika province. “The fighting lasted several hours
and in a retaliatory attack by the Afghan forces, the Taliban suffered heavy
casualties,” Paktika police spokesman Shah Mohammad Arian told AFP. “In the
clash, 65 Taliban fighters were killed and 35 others were wounded.
Unfortunately, three police forces were martyred and six others wounded.”
Bakhtiar Gul Zadran, the head of Paktika provincial council, confirmed the
information. The Taliban did not immediately comment. The violence came a day
after the Taliban said they had killed 28 Afghan paramilitary policemen in
Uruzgan in southern Afghanistan. The violence comes as Taliban and Afghan
government negotiators are meeting in Doha, where they are trying to find a way
to end 19 years of war. A hopeful start to the peace talks September 12 was
immediately marred by fresh violence across Afghanistan.”

 

Foreign Policy: Feeling Abandoned By Kabul, Many Rural Afghans Flock To Join
The Taliban
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“Arman Omari grew up among guns, drugs, and airstrikes, with control of his
village changing hands several times throughout his teenage years and with
women largely absent from public life. He learned to shoot before learning to
write his name. Sitting in an unfinished building in Momand Dara district in
the eastern province of Nangarhar, not far from the village in Achin district
where he grew up, Omari, 25, explained that he didn’t see a future for his
family the way Afghanistan is currently run. The gap between relatively
well-off urban areas and rural areas like his—bereft of clinics, schools, or
jobs—has only grown after nearly two decades of fitful efforts at governance
from leaders in Kabul. That’s why last month he made a fateful decision—like so
many others, especially from rural Afghanistan. “I joined the Taliban because
the government is corrupt,” said Omari, a slender man with greasy,
shoulder-length hair, a trimmed beard, and kohl-rimmed eyes. “There are two
overriding laws—one for the rich and one for the poor. People like me have no
opportunities, and I’m hoping this will change with an Islamic system in
place,” Omari said.”

 

Middle East

 

The Jerusalem Post: Visa, Mastercard Called Upon To Cut Ties With Palestinian
Terror Funding
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“Mastercard and Visa have been warned to immediately cut ties with banks
operating in the West Bank or risk legal liability for funding terror. They
have also been advised not to provide services for a new bank being set up by
the Palestinian Authority, as it is being created explicitly for the purpose of
continued terror funding. Since its creation in 1994, the PA has paid monthly
salaries to terrorists and the families of killed terrorists in so called 'pay
for slay' payments. These payments to date have been processed through banks
operating in the PA controlled territory. However, recent Israeli anti-terror
legislation which applies to the PA-controlled areas in the West Bank
prohibits, inter alia, any bank transaction that funds, promotes, assists, or
rewards the performance of an act of terror. Following the law change in May,
banks in the West Bank initially moved to close terrorists' accounts to avoid
vulnerability to criminal and civil proceedings, but have since been leaned on
by the PA to keep them open until a new bank owned by the Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO) can be created to handle the payments. This
option was chosen over an alternative solution of transferring the accounts to
the PA Postal Bank, as that bank cannot provide credit.”

 

Nigeria

 

Deutsche Welle: The Nigerian University That Defies Boko Haram
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“The University of Maiduguri, commonly known by its acronym UNIMAID, is the
largest institute of higher learning in northeastern Borno State. Its alumni
include the state Governor Babagana Umara Zulum and some of his counterparts
elsewhere, Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff Tukur Yusuf Burati and Senate
President Ahmed Lawan. UNIMAID dates back to the 1970s. The university has
admitted thousands of students each year since. The emergence in Maiduguri of
the radical Islamist Boko Haram in the early 2000s has left a mark but never
forced the institution off track.  The outlawed group wants to create an
Islamic caliphate around the Lake Chad region. In 2009, security forces
captured and killed Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of Boko Haram. But the group's
ideology and violence have continued to spread, even beyond Nigeria. The
militants frequently rampage through the region and specifically targets the
education system — infrastructure, learners, and teachers. Women pursuing an
education it deems inappropriate are at high risk. A long deep trench shields
the university from militants. German musicology researcher Dr. Nepomuk Riva
has never been to Maiduguri — its too dangerous.”

 

Africa

 

Voice Of America: Millions Newly Displaced By Escalating Conflict, Violence
This Year
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“Mid-year stocktaking by the Switzerland-based Internal Displacement
Monitoring Centre finds escalating conflict and violence in the first half of
this year have triggered an upsurge in the numbers of people fleeing their
homes and becoming newly displaced within their own countries.   Around 14.6
million people in 127 countries have been newly displaced between January and
July because of natural and man-made disasters.  This is about one million more
than in the first half of last year.  The Internal Displacement Monitoring
Centre report finds conflict and violence have sparked around one third or 4.8
million new displacements, mainly in Africa and the Middle East. IDMC director
Alexandra Bilak says Syria tops the rank of countries with the highest increase
in newly displaced.  She says the military offensive in the country’s northwest
province of Idlib has prompted more than 1.4  million civilians to flee their
homes.  “DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo that also has seen a sharp
increase in violence and armed violence and insecurity, particularly in its
northeastern province of Ituri, which has also led to, as Syria 1.4 million new
displacements,” she said.”

 

The Republic: Suspected Extremists Abduct 3 Non-Muslims In Kenya’s North
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“Officials in Kenya say three non-Muslim bus passengers were abducted by
suspected Islamic extremists in Kenya’s northern Mandera county that borders
Somalia. Armed gunmen, believed to be Somalia’s al-Shabab rebels, stopped a bus
about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Lafey town and ordered everyone out. The
attackers picked three passengers from 54 on the bus and ordered the rest to
leave, regional police chief Rono Bunei told The Associated Press Thursday. “We
are still pursuing them in an effort to rescue them alive. We are wondering how
they (the attackers) knew the three were on board the bus,” he said. He said
it’s not clear why the bus did not have a police escort, a requirement for
commercial transport traveling in Mandera county which has been hard hit by
violence from Somalia’s extremists. Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya
for sending troops to Somalia to fight the rebels. Since 2011 Somalia’s rebels,
who are linked to al-Qaida, have launched scores of deadly attacks in Kenya.
The government repeatedly said since 2014 that it is mandatory for public buses
traveling through Mandera county to have armed police escorts. Al-Shabab rebels
have often attacked buses and have singled out and killed non-Muslim
passengers.”

 

France

 

The Jerusalem Post: French Trial Of 2015 Terror Attacks In Paris: Testimonies
Of Survivors
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“As the French trial of the January 2015 terror attack in Paris continues, the
testimonies of the kosher supermarket victims' families and hostages were heard
this week. One after the other, those affected by the terrible killings of the
kosher supermarket in Paris were recounting their part of the story, their
feelings as well as how the last few years were impacted by this tragic attack
that either robbed them of a loved one, or left an unerasable trauma on their
memory.  During Tuesday's and Wednesday’s proceedings, witnesses and relatives
of the four Hyper Cacher victims — Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, Michel Saada and
Philippe Braham — spoke before the court. The father of Yohan Cohen, one of the
four victims murdered by the Islamist gunman Coulibaly, broke down during court
testimony on Tuesday as he recalled the virulent antisemitism behind the
atrocity. “Why this gratuitous wickedness, why this hatred of the Jew?”
screamed Eric Cohen before the Paris courtroom where 14 suspects in the three
days of terrorist attacks that gripped the French capital are currently on
trial. Cohen remembered that on the day of the attack, while terribly worried
for Yohan, he was given the incorrect news that there had been no fatalities
during the siege at the market.”

 

Germany

 

The New York Times: Germany Dismisses Military Intelligence Official After
Neo-Nazi Scandals
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“After a series of scandals involving far-right extremists in the German
military, the government on Thursday dismissed the head of its military
counterintelligence service, the body tasked with monitoring extremism inside
the armed forces. Christof Gramm, who has led the agency since 2015, will take
early retirement next month, according to a statement by the defense ministry.
A successor has yet to be named. It is the latest sign that after years of
neglect, political leaders are moving to confront an issue that has become too
dangerous to ignore. During Mr. Gramm’s five years at the helm of the service,
the number of cases of far-right extremists inside the military, some hoarding
weapons and explosives, has multiplied alarmingly. Thursday’s announcement came
three months after Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer disbanded one of
four fighting companies in Germany’s elite special forces, the KSK, because it
was considered to be riddled with extremists. Investigators had discovered a
trove of Nazi memorabilia and an extensive arsenal of stolen ammunition and
explosives on the property of a sergeant major who had served in the KSK since
2001. Several soldiers in his company had flashed Hitler salutes and sang Nazi
rock at a party, according to a witness statement.”

 

Europe

 

The National: New IRA Links Confirm Hezbollah’s Growing Terror Threat In Europe

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“The latest allegations that senior representatives of Lebanon’s Hezbollah
militia met with members of a breakaway Irish terrorist group have highlighted
the growing extent of the Iranian-backed organisation’s operations in Europe.
For decades, Hezbollah's primary focus has been the Middle East, where the
terrorist organisation – working in conjunction with Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – has been responsible for conducting attacks
designed to create political instability and discord. In recent years, however,
it has gradually expanded its operations farther afield, with its terror cells
operating from locations in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Now there is fresh
evidence that it is investing in its terrorist network in Europe by
establishing arms caches in several countries and building links with terrorist
and criminal organisations on the continent. The most recent proof of this has
emerged after members of an Irish dissident group were arrested on terrorism
charges last month following claims they met with Hezbollah officials at Iran’s
embassy in Dublin.”



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