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Eye on Extremism
October 1, 2020
The Guardian: Manchester Arena Bomber Linked To Six MI5 'Subjects Of Interest', Inquiry Hears
“The Manchester Arena suicide bomber was identified associating with six separate MI5 “subjects of interest”, visited a terrorist twice in jails and regularly travelled to war-torn Libya, a public inquiry heard. Intelligence on Salman Abedi came in to MI5 for six years and right up to the months before he blew himself up with a homemade bomb packed with shrapnel, murdering 22 bystanders and injuring hundreds more in the foyer of the arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017. On one occasion, Abedi had himself been made a “subject of interest”, but his file was closed five months later in July 2014. The most complete details yet given about the security services’ knowledge of Abedi before he carried out the attack was given by Cathryn McGahey QC, representing the Home Office, at the public inquiry in Manchester. The inquiry, scheduled to last into next spring, is looking at events before, during and after the attack – including the radicalisation of Abedi and what the security services knew about him. McGahey said some of the exact detail could not be made public and will be heard only by inquiry chairman, the retired high court judge Sir John Saunders, his legal team and government lawyers during closed hearings of the inquiry. But the QC said: “There is no question of secrecy being used to conceal failure.”
The New York Times: U.S. Repatriates Last Of Islamic State Suspects Believed Captured In Syria
“The United States has repatriated and charged the last Americans believed to be detained in Syria and accused of supporting the Islamic State, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. The move could give the Trump administration a stronger hand in its efforts to persuade other nations to repatriate and, when appropriate, prosecute citizens who traveled to the Middle East to support the group. The Justice Department said that the four repatriated Americans were among about 2,000 men from dozens of countries who were imprisoned in northern Syria and caught for years in legal and political limbo. The four were captured and detained last spring by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. “This is a significant moment in what has been a yearslong effort to bring back the individuals who left the U.S. to fight with ISIS,” John C. Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in an interview. “Each country should take responsibility for the people who left their countries.” Two of the suspects, Emraan Ali and Jihad Ali, a father and son, made their initial appearance in federal court in Miami on Wednesday. Emraan Ali traveled to Syria in March 2015 with his family, including his son, and received military and religious training from the Islamic State, the government said in court documents.”
United States
Associated Press: Father, Son From U.S. Charged With Joining Islamic State
“A father and son accused of traveling from the U.S. to Syria and joining the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham are facing terrorism charges in South Florida, prosecutors said. Emraan Ali, 53, a U.S. citizen born in Trinidad & Tobago, and Jihad Ali, 19, a U.S. citizen born in New York, made their initial court appearances Wednesday in Miami federal court, according to records. The father is charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, and the son is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS. According to criminal complaints, Emraan Ali took his family to Syria to join the Islamic State group in March 2015. Both Emraan Ali and Jihad Ali received military and religious training and served as fighters in support of the terrorist organization, prosecutors said. The father and son surrendered to Syrian Democratic Forces near Baghuz in March 2019, during the last sustained Islamic State battles to maintain territory in Syria, officials said. They were recently transferred to FBI custody and returned to the U.S. Online court records didn't list attorneys for the men.”
Turkey
“A suspect who faces 15 years behind bars in Turkey for being a member of Daesh confessed Wednesday that the terrorist group's masterminds ordered their militants to carry out an attack each month in Turkey. The suspect, identified by his initials I.K., confessed that the terrorist masterminds used to send so-called “official” letters stamped with the Daesh symbols, which informed them of their duties, and carrying out a terror attack each month was one of them. I.K. said in the testimony that these orders were sent to Mahmut Özden, who was recently arrested for being responsible for Daesh’s Turkey operations. “Özden was sent these letters in April and May of 2019, from directors of the organization living abroad. In line with the orders, an attack against the police and on touristic hotels was planned,” he said. The suspect added that the targeted hotel was in southern Adana province and that the terrorist group planned to take tourists hostage. I.K. also said that the Daesh terrorist group was not able to continue with the plans after its members were arrested by Turkish security forces. “Even though Daesh members were supposed to never cut their beards due to internal policies, they were allowed to do so for stealth,” he said.”
Afghanistan
“The Taliban negotiating team that will determine the future of Afghanistan in talks with the Afghan government comprises 21 men, most with graying beards and biographies that date back to the fight against the Soviet Union. Nearly all of the negotiators are pulled from the organization’s old guard, and many served in the militant group’s shadow government, which expanded as the Taliban’s territorial control and influence grew. Several are known for links to deadly attacks, including on civilians; others are essentially unknown outside the group. The talks, which began this month in Doha but have stalled as the two sides wrangle over ground rules, are expected to be wide-ranging: Whether the country remains a democracy, who controls security and whose rights are protected are all up for negotiation. For a notoriously secretive movement, the Taliban’s political office and negotiators in Doha have taken on a rare public role. The Taliban’s leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, has not appeared in public for years, and little is known about the group’s demands, beyond that Afghanistan be ruled by Islamic law. Still, the Taliban’s choice of negotiators provides a glimpse into the movement’s vision for Afghanistan’s future.”
Middle East
The Jerusalem Post: Top Defense Official: It Would Take IDF Months To Clean Out Hezbollah
“In order to truly clean out Hezbollah from its strongholds in any future conflict, it would take the IDF months, Defense Ministry director-general Amir Eshel said Tuesday night. He spoke as part of Tel Aviv University’s Yuval Neeman workshop for Science, Technology and Security videoconference on a new book about the future of war by Dr. Haim Asa, former adviser to prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, and TAU emeritus Prof. Joseph Agassi. Eshel, who was formerly chief of the Israel Air Force, said that if Israel fought like it had in past wars, it would take “not days or weeks, but it could be months” before Israel was able to establish order in core Hezbollah areas. The Defense Ministry director-general stated that, “while we would be doing it, they would be shooting rockets at us.” Imagining what he said was a best-case scenario, Israel might successfully strike around 80% of Hezbollah’s 150,000 rockets. This would mean a potential 30,000 rockets raining down on Israel, causing untold physical and economic damage as well as a much greater loss of life than the country has been accustomed to even during wars.”
Libya
The Libya Observer: Joint Force Arrests Alleged ISIS Members, Fuel Smugglers And Migrants
“The Joint Force of the Military of Defence has arrested five individuals suspected of belonging to the ISIS group. The force clarified that the detainees include two Tunisians, an African, and two Libyans. Sources said that four of the cell members were arrested in a security operation south of the city of Aljmail, near the Tunisian border, while the fifth was caught in an ambush on the highway. In a separate operation, the joint force has managed to seize 6 trucks used to smuggle fuel to Tunisia, after clashes with the armed group in charge of the fuel smuggling operations. One gunman was injured during the operation and the others were arrested and referred to the Public Prosecution, according to the Joint Force. It also confirmed the detention of 350 African immigrants who were arrested while attempting to migrate to Europe through Ajilat and Aljmail cities west of Libya, indicating that this comes within the framework of the force's efforts to combat human trafficking, fuel, and drugs smuggling, as well as terrorist organizations in the western region.”
Africa
The Washington Post: A Closer Look At Congo’s Islamist Rebels
“Since the start of 2019, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in and around eastern Congo’s Beni region. These atrocities — which U.N. monitors have said may be war crimes — are the latest in periodic waves of massacres in the area since late 2014. This violence followed the start of a large-scale Congolese army offensive against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist rebel group originally from Uganda that has been active in Congo since 1995. As the Congolese army overran rebel camps and killed and captured dozens of combatants late last year, attacks on civilians rose in nearby areas. The Congolese government, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, and national and international media have placed the blame almost entirely on ADF. Indeed, the rebel group seems to have carried out a substantial proportion of the attacks for strategic or retaliatory reasons. However, research institutes, journalists and other close observers of the situation in Beni suggest that other armed groups and government forces are also involved in the violence. Here’s what you need to know. The narrative that ADF, Congo’s only Islamist rebel group, is the sole perpetrator of violence in Beni has evolved alongside a related story — that ADF is linked to or part of the Islamic State (ISIS).”
Fox News: ISIS Militants Wreak Havoc In Mozambique, Killing More Than 1,000 In Insurgency
“Islamic State-affiliated terrorists have reportedly formed a base hub of operations in Northern Mozambique, killing more than 1,500 people, and displacing more than 250,000, according to the European Union. The militants intend to spread out from Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province throughout Southern Africa unless stopped, according to analyst Jasmine Opperman of the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. “It is Islamic State, seeking a footprint in Southern Africa,” she told Fox News. “Islamic State needs a platform in the region to operate, and Cabo Delgado presents that opportunity, and hence I am saying there is a regional threat.” Opperman believes South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia are all at risk from ISIS, which started the insurgency three years ago. More than 1,000 homes have been torched by the militants, and entire villages are empty after residents fled. A top research analyst told Fox News villagers are given a choice: join ISIS or else. Some villagers have been tortured, raped, and murdered. Young girls have been kidnapped. “To put it bluntly, it’s spiraling out of control,” claims Opperman. The militants have fashioned several names for themselves – including Al Shabaab. But there’s no evidence of any direct link with the Somalia-centred group with the same name.”
United Kingdom
“A public inquiry into a 2017 terrorist attack in Britain is the last opportunity to track down the people who helped two brothers carry out a deadly suicide attack at a crowded concert venue, a police lawyer said. Salman Abedi triggered a shrapnel-filled rucksack bomb in the foyer at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, killing 22 people including children. His younger brother Hashem was jailed for life in August. At the time of the attack, Hashem was in Libya, where their parents were born, but helped Salman to prepare the bomb. Hashem is believed to have been one of the last people to speak to his sibling before the May 22 explosion. A police lawyer told the inquiry on Tuesday that the Abedis must have had technical and financial help with planning the attack. The dead man’s family have declined to help the inquiry, which started last month in Manchester. “What of the other potential murderers?” said Patrick Gibbs, a lawyer representing the British Transport Police, which is responsible for the security of the UK’s transport network. “We don’t yet know their names but … it will have been obvious, I suggest to all of us, that those brothers did not act alone.”
Europe
“Swedish police have been drafted in to question the daughter-in-law of a woman known as the Black Widow as European authorities ramp up efforts to track down and detain her and her ISIS accomplices. The 25-year-old woman, who has not been named, was captured last year by the Kurdish-led SDF after the battle for the last ISIS stronghold in Baghuz, north-eastern Syria. A Swedish national, the mother-of-three was married to Ilyas Mejjati, son of Karim Mejjati, one of the main plotters behind the 2004 Madrid terror attacks in which 191 people were killed in co-ordinated attacks on rush-hour trains, and a 2003 attack in Casablanca, Morocco. His mother, Fatiha Mejjati, gained her Black Widow nickname in the wake of Karim's death as she emerged as a member of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi’s inner circle, and as an Al Qaeda and then ISIS operative. She is known to have been close to the ISIS leadership around Baghdadi since 2014 and ran the group’s infamous Al Khansaa brigade, an all-female detachment that polices the group's strictures against wearing make-up or showing bare skin, and inflicts harsh punishments. Her daughter-in-law is currently being held in a prison camp on the Turkish-Syrian border.”
The Local: Swiss Police Concerned About 'Extremism' Among Corona Sceptics
“Coronavirus scepticism is on the rise in Switzerland, with ever more frequent rallies being held across the country. Besides the problematic scientific and health implications of the movement, experts are concerned that it may lead to radicalisation. Marko Kovic, social scientist and expert on conspiracy theories, told 20 Minutes that as the movement grows and frustrations increase, the chance of violence grows. “For individuals, there may be no other way out of this conspiracy swamp than to defend themselves against it with violence,” Kovic said. “The pressure increases - and at some point it pops.” Dirk Baier, professor for crime prevention and delinquency at Zurich University of Applied Sciences, said the coronavirus skeptic movement was a “breeding ground for radicalisation”. Baier said however that “only a small percentage would be willing to use violence”. The office for extremism and violence prevention in Winterthur, Zurich, received four times as many inquiries as usual in August. Urs Allemann, director of the office, told Swiss news outlet 20 Minutes “some of the coronavirus-sceptical groups are likely to be susceptible to radicalisation.”
Canada
CNN: His Confession About Being An ISIS Executioner Enraged Canadians. Now Police Say He Made It Up
“The details were gory and vivid, the emotion was raw, but Canadian police say 25-year-old Shehroze Chaudhry lied about being a foreign fighter for ISIS and in so doing, perpetrated a terrorist “hoax.” Last week, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged Chaudhry, a Toronto-area man, with “Hoax-Terrorist activity” in relation to interviews that were published by “multiple media outlets,” according to a police news release. The RCMP did not provide further details about their allegations, noting only in the news release that Chaudhry “claimed he travelled to Syria in 2016 to join the terrorist group ISIS and committed acts of terrorism.” Chaudhry declined to comment to CNN. “Hoaxes can generate fear within our communities and create the illusion there is a potential threat to Canadians, while we have determined otherwise. As a result, the RCMP takes these allegations very seriously, particularly when individuals, by their actions, cause the police to enter into investigations in which human and financial resources are invested and diverted from other ongoing priorities,” said Superintendent Christopher deGale, of the RCMP's Ontario Division of the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.”
Technology
Axios: Expert Says Detecting Deepfakes Almost Impossible
“The technology to produce fake video and audio has become sophisticated enough to make doctored or wholly fabricated images and sound impossible for the public to detect, Hany Farid, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences & School of Information, said Wednesday at an Axios virtual event. The big picture: Deepfakes, or computer-synthesized images, audio or video, have caused experts to worry about Silicon Valley's ability to meet the challenge of tracking and stopping these AI-generated clips once they become widespread. What he's saying: "[I]f we do not start thinking about this on many levels, I fear that these are existential threats to democracies and societies," he said. "We’ve seen misinformation lead to horrific violence in Myanmar, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Brazil. We have seen misinformation disrupt global democratic elections around the world. These aren’t hypothetical threats of what will happen if we do not get a handle on mis- and disinformation online," Farid told Axios' Ina Fried.”
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