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Eye on Extremism
October 21, 2020
The New York Times: 1,300 Prisoners Escape From Congo Jail After An Attack Claimed By ISIS
“At least 1,300 prisoners escaped from a jail in the Democratic Republic of Congo early on Tuesday, the United Nations said, after an armed assault for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility. A local official attributed the operation to an Islamist rebel group. But Amaq, the Islamic State’s official news outlet, said that ISIS fighters had attacked a Congolese prison, citing a military source. The assault in Beni, in the country’s northeast, targeted the Kangbayi central prison and the military camp defending it, the city’s mayor, Modeste Bakwanamaha, told news agencies on Tuesday morning. The mayor said that just 100 of the prison’s inmates, who had numbered more than 1,400, remained, though 20 others later returned. “Unfortunately, the attackers, who came in large numbers, managed to break the door with electrical equipment,” the mayor said to Reuters. An estimated 1,335 prisoners escaped, and one inmate died in the confrontation, said Mathias Gillmann, a spokesman for a United Nations peacekeeping group in Congo, though local journalists, citing the police, reported that two inmates were fatally shot during the raid. According to the United Nations, the prison held 1,456 inmates.”
BBC News: France Teacher Attack: Macron Urges Russia To Boost Anti-Terror Fight
“French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Russia to boost co-operation in fighting terrorism after the beheading of a teacher by a Russian-born man. Mr Macron's comments came in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who described Friday's attack near Paris as a “barbarous murder”. Samuel Paty, 47, was killed after showing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils. The attacker was named as Abdullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old ethnic Chechen. Anzorov was shot dead by police shortly after the attack close to the teacher's school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north-west of the French capital. The brutal murder has shocked France. On Wednesday evening, Mr Macron will attend an official memorial at the Sorbonne University to award Mr Paty posthumously the Légion d'honneur - France's highest order of merit. Mr Macron said he wanted to see a “strengthening of Franco-Russian co-operation in the fight against terrorism and illegal immigration”, the French presidency said. It provided no further details about Tuesday's phone call with President Putin.”
Syria
Voice Of America: US Backs Release Of ‘Low-Level’ Islamic State Prisoners In Syria
“An effort to reduce growing strains on overcrowded prisons in Syria, some holding thousands of captured Islamic State fighters, is being met with cautious optimism in Washington, even though it involves letting hundreds of the terror group’s adherents walk free. The plan put into motion last week by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political arm of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), calls for the release of so-called “low-level” Islamic State members under a general amnesty. Already, 631 such Syrian nationals have been freed, allowed to return to their homes, while another 253 have seen their sentences cut in half, and Kurdish officials say more releases are expected in the coming months. So far, the United States is on board. “We see these return and reintegration initiatives as positive,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA, noting the release “focused on nonviolent offenders who are not assessed to pose a radicalization risk to their communities.” The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, also suggested aid could be available to help the process go smoothly.”
Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat: Security Forces Pursue ISIS Remnants In West Iraq
“The Iraqi security forces launched a military operation to pursue ISIS cells in various areas to the west of the country in Kirkuk, Saladin, and Nineveh, including Kanous Island, one of ISIS’ strongholds. The forces issued a statement announcing that Iraqi artillery violently bombed Kanous, in preparation for storming it and clearing it of the remnants of the terrorist organization. In addition, the Diyala Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Interior arrested ISIS commander Abu Taha al-Bakri, who is in charge of kidnap and assassination operations. The directorate said in a statement on Monday, that Bakri was arrested based on intelligence information and confessions of arrested terrorists. Bakri admitted his responsibility for several terrorist operations. Meanwhile, the Deputy Commander-Strategy of the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, Major General Kevin Copsey, said that the international coalition does not have military units on Iraqi territories. Copsey said during his meeting with Iraq's National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji that the coalition's tasks were limited to providing advice to the Iraqi military. Araji's media office issued a statement after the meeting indicating that the officials discussed joint cooperation in the field of combating terrorism, strengthening security, and intelligence coordination.”
Arab News: Pro-Iran Militias A Time Bomb Al-Kadhimi Must Defuse
“Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is facing a pressing challenge that threatens to once again push the country into a sectarian furnace. He needs the political will and the means to isolate and neutralize tens of renegade pro-Iran militias. Two events that took place on Saturday underlined the limited capabilities of the federal government and its military and security arms. The first was the burning of the central Baghdad offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party by loyalists of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). The second was the gruesome execution of at least eight citizens in Salahuddin province, allegedly by a pro-Iran militia. Four other victims remain unaccounted for. The kidnappings and executions in Salahuddin were said to be in retaliation for the killing a few days before of a member of a pro-Iran militia in an attack blamed on Daesh. The massacre has focused attention on the presence of pro-Iran militias in liberated Sunni provinces and their refusal to allow tens of thousands of displaced people, mostly Sunnis, to return to their homes. This case underlines the limitations of the federal government in Baghdad in terms of extending its authority over a number of provinces that the PMU entered to clear them of Daesh terrorists between 2014 and 2017.”
Afghanistan
BBC News: Taliban Conflict: Afghan Fears Rise As US Ends Its Longest War
“The Taliban are advancing while peace talks stall. What are the chances for peace once the last US-led Nato forces leave? Lyse Doucet looks at a critical time for Afghanistan. The simple monument is stark and sharp-edged, a pointed block of black-veined marble memorialising a dark chapter in northern Afghanistan during a momentous history. At this hour, as America edges closer to ending its longest war, it seemed fitting that a visiting delegation of senior American and Afghan military officers should pause at this spot to acknowledge a 32-year-old CIA officer - the first US casualty in the war to topple the Taliban in 2001. Chiselled in Persian script and in English, this marble marker honours Mike Spann, who was killed in a frenzied and bloody battle in November that year: “A hero who sacrificed his life: for freedom; for Afghanistan; for the United States of America.” Nineteen years on, after the deaths of more than 3,500 coalition forces and more than 110,000 Afghans killed, the overriding concern is averting a chaotic conclusion - at worst another descent into civil war - as the countdown gathers pace for the gradual removal of the last US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.”
Foreign Policy: The U.S. Once Surged Into Helmand Province. Now The Taliban Is, Too.
“In the last three weeks, Bibi Koh has lost at least three family members to renewed fighting between Taliban and Afghan forces in the southern province of Helmand. Three weeks ago, her oldest brother was killed in the crossfire between the warring sides. A few days later, her two sons, aged six and eight, went missing. “I don’t know where they went. I don’t know if someone took them,” Bibi said. The ongoing clashes between the Taliban and government troops made it impossible to search for them, but not to keep her three remaining children safe. Last weekend, she gathered the last money she had left—about $60—and brought her family to a makeshift refugee camp in Kabul by way of Helmand’s neighboring province, Kandahar. The travails of Bibi Koh and her children are common at Camp Shina, an informal settlement on the eastern outskirts of the capital that houses more than two dozen Helmandi families that have arrived in the last week. All the arrivals—mostly widows with children—have lost family members in recent fighting; the men who stayed behind are unreachable thanks to spotty telephone service.”
Pakistan
The Guardian: Pakistani Shias Live In Terror As Sectarian Violence Increases
“Syed Kareem has been in hiding for weeks. He fears if he is seen on the streets of Karachi, the Pakistan city he calls home, he will be a dead man walking. His ordeal began with a Facebook post in early September, where he condemned the killers of a Shia Muslim martyred centuries ago. Though Kareem had meant it as a post of religious devotion, it caught the attention of an extremist Sunni Muslim group, who called him a traitor to Muslims. Two days later, the 21-year-old student found himself the subject of a police report, accused of violating Pakistan’s draconian laws on blasphemy. He is one of over 50 Shia Muslims in Sunni-majority Pakistan, who have been booked under blasphemy and antiterrorist charges over the last month. The youngest was three years old. “I fear they will kill me,” said Kareem, his voice shaking as he spoke from his place of hiding. “I am being targeted because I am from a Shia religious minority. I fear for myself and my family.” With the police on their way to interrogate him, and fearing the violent fate that extremist Sunni groups in Pakistan inflict on those accused of blasphemy, last month Kareem and his family chose to disappear. Over the past month, Pakistan has seen an unprecedented rise in attacks and arrests of its Shia population, who make up between 15% and 20% of the Sunni-majority country, the largest Shia community outside Iran.”
Middle East
The Jerusalem Post: Terrorist Involved In Ramming Attack In 2019 Sentenced To 4 Years In Jail
“A terrorist involved in a ramming attack against an IDF officer in 2019 will serve four years in prison after reaching a plea bargain with the military prosecution, a military court ruled on Monday. The attack took place nearly two years ago near Kafr Ni'ma, a Palestinian village located 13 kilometers northwest of Ramallah in the West Bank. According to the indictment, on March 2019, three terrorists wearing Hamas affiliated clothing made their way to a military checkpoint near road 443 and threw seven Molotov cocktails towards it - eventually setting it on fire. They then escaped, making their way towards Ramallah, when noticing IDF troops positioned near Kafr Ni'ma. Taking advantage of the fact that the soldiers were standing near the road, the terrorists decided to run over them. The incident resulted in an IDF officer critically injured and a border police soldier lightly injured. Two of the involved terrorist were shot and killed by IDF forces on the spot, while the third one, a minor, was arrested and sentenced on Monday. Following the attack, the officer had to go through an intensive rehabilitation process, and has not yet fully recovered. The military court decided to reject the officer's objection to the plea bargain reached with the terrorist and on Monday sentenced him to 48 months in prison. He will also be required to pay the officer compensations in an unspecified amount.”
Nigeria
Daily Post Nigeria: Boko Haram: Terrorists Intercept Over 10 Vehicles, Abduct Travelers In Borno
“Over 10 vehicles including buses carrying passengers along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road were intercepted yesterday by the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists and ISWAP at about 3:00pm around Jakana village. Report says many passengers were reportedly abducted. DAILY POST reports that many families were thrown into confusion as many others rushed to Borno Express terminus as they could not connect with family members that travelled on Monday about the period the incident happened. An elderly man who spoke to DAILY POST and identified himself as Malam Usman said his daughter who travelled about the same time could not be reached on the phone and her belongings were not among those brought back to the station. “People have come and collected their family members’ bags and boxes, but I am yet to see my daughters. I am confused. I could not reach her on phone either. I hope she is not among those they were saying the terrorists abducted,” he said.”
Mali
Reuters: Mali Soldiers Air Drop Provisions To Village Besieged By Suspected Jihadists
“Mali’s military said on Tuesday it had air dropped food into a village in the centre of the country where more than 2,000 residents have been besieged by suspected Islamist militants for the past two weeks. The situation in Farabougou, most of whose population is ethnic Bambara, has again underscored the government’s difficulties imposing its authority in a part of the country where jihadists linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are gaining strength. The siege began two weeks ago when the militants, who have generally sided with Fulani herders in their conflicts with farming communities like the Bambara, kidnapped several villagers and clashed with local hunters. Malian troops have not been able to reach Farabougou by land because heavy rains have made the roads impassable, a local resident said. In a statement, Mali’s armed forces said a transport plane had “conducted a significant humanitarian action” on Monday and Tuesday by dropping a cargo of basic necessities in Farabougou. But a resident of a neighbouring village, who asked not to be named, said the supplies of grains and cooking oil were insufficient to meet the population’s needs. “It’s the status quo. The village is still under siege. No one goes in or out,” he said.”
Africa
Bloomberg: Sudan To Get U.S. Funding After Terror Delisting, Minister Says
“Sudan will receive U.S. financial assistance when the African nation’s long-standing designation as a state sponsor of terrorism is lifted, the finance minister said, hours after the Trump administration indicated the step is imminent. “We all know that Sudan is witnessing hardship and needs urgent assistance, so the U.S. would help with a package of aid and some money,” Heba Mohammed Ali said in a phone interview from Khartoum. She declined to give any details, including on the amount. President Donald Trump said in a tweet Monday that he intends to remove Sudan from the list after authorities agreed to pay $335 million in compensation to families of Americans killed in bombings in East Africa in the 1990s that Sudan’s previous government under dictator Omar al-Bashir was accused of supporting. The delisting, which requires U.S. congressional notification but not approval, has been keenly sought by the transitional government that took over after Bashir’s ouster last year. It has previously said the U.S. tried to link the discussions with potential Sudanese recognition of Israel. Ali didn’t comment on any agreements that might be connected to the removal of the 27-year designation.”
Al Jazeera: Donors Pledge $1.7bn In Humanitarian Aid To Conflict-Hit Sahel
“International donors have pledged $1.7bn in humanitarian aid for countries in the conflict-hit Sahel region, surpassing by $300m the fundraising target of a virtual conference, according to the United Nations. The announcement on Tuesday came as UN agencies reported that needs in the border region between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have reached record levels due to changing climates, rising insecurity and most recently the coronavirus pandemic. “The central Sahel region is at a breaking point,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the meeting hosted by the UN, Denmark, Germany and the European Union. In a statement on Tuesday, the World Food Program (WFP), which was recently awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, said violence and insecurity have already pushed some 7.4 million people across the three countries into acute hunger. The UN food relief agency said thousands in the volatile region will be “pushed into further destitution”, unless access is urgently granted to humanitarian organisations. Meanwhile, the number of internally displaced people has jumped to a staggering 1.6 million, up from 70,000 two years ago. That figure included more than 288,000 people in Mali, some 265,000 in Niger and one million in Burkina Faso, which is now home to the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis.”
Voice Of America: Victims Of Terror Attacks Reject US Deal To Delist Sudan
“One of the attorneys representing victims of the 1998 terror attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa and their families says the majority of his clients reject the deal that would result in President Donald Trump removing Sudan from the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Michael Miller says the deal, in which Sudan would pay $335 million to settle claims related to the bombings, discriminates between victims based on their nationality, paying American victims and their families far more that it will pay East African victims who worked for the American embassies. “I do not believe an American life is worth more than a fellow co-worker who is the in the next desk because one was born in Kenya and one was born in America,” Miller told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus in an interview Monday. The August 1998 truck bombings at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed a total of 224 people and injured thousands of others. Victims and their families sued Sudan in American courts, based on findings that Sudan harbored al-Qaida operatives who planned the attacks. Miller says his clients deserve over $3 billion compensation, as awarded by a federal district court in Washington.”
All Africa: Attack On Tanzanian Town By Mozambique-Based Militant Group
“Islamic State militants operating in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, have carried their attacks across the border into Tanzania, where they allegedly beheaded 20 people, according to a news report from Carta de Mocambique. The raid was in the village of Kitaya, in Mtwara province, near the border with the Cabo Delgado district of Palma. According to military sources, the insurgents entered Tanzania via the Rovuma River, a border between Mozambique and Tanzania. Houses were razed, an armoured vehicle was destroyed and cash and military equipment were stolen. The militants claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it also killed three Tanzanian soldiers. The Mozambique government and the UN have said that at least 300,000 people have been displaced due to conflict in Cabo Delgado and that between 1,000 and 2,000 people have been killed.”
United Kingdom
The Guardian: Second Witness Suspected Manchester Arena Bomber Was Planning Attack
“A second witness has told the inquiry into the Manchester Arena terror attack that he suspected that Salman Abedi might be a suicide bomber, and that he even challenged him over his presence at the concert. Christopher Wild said he spoke to Abedi, 22, in the foyer of the arena, while he waited with his partner to pick up her daughter and her daughter’s friend after the Ariana Grande concert taking place that night. Abedi’s appearance – dressed all in black with a large rucksack – and his apparent attempts to remain inconspicuous outside the event seemed strange, Wild told the public inquiry into the attack. Wild said: “I just thought it was strange. It’s a kids concert. It just all seemed very strange to me why he would be sat there. He was keeping out of view and that’s another reason why I thought it was strange. I started to think about things that happened in the world, I just thought it could be dangerous.” Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, which is taking place in Manchester, asked Wild: “What danger was it? What did you think he might do?” Wild said: “Let a bomb off.” On Monday the inquiry heard from Neil Hatfield, who also said he thought “suicide bomber” when he saw Abedi while waiting to collect his four daughters following the Grande concert.”
“An extremist who made a 'chilling' video of London's Royal Festival Hall with the message 'Attack, attack' has been found guilty of encouraging terrorism. Shehroz Iqbal, 29, posted the mobile phone footage to a group of like-minded friends on WhatsApp in March. Among them was high-profile extremist Abu Haleema, who has been linked to the ringleader of the London Bridge attack, Khuram Butt, and featured in the documentary The Jihadis Next Door. Iqbal, of Ilford, east London, had denied encouraging terrorism on WhatsApp and disseminating Islamic State propaganda on Facebook. A jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for three hours and 45 minutes to find him guilty of the charges. The defendant, who had declined to give evidence, was remanded into custody to be sentenced on November 20. Prosecutor Kate Wilkinson had described Iqbal as an extremist who is 'volatile and prone to act on his extremism'. On March 11, he visited the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank, near the Royal Festival Hall and Waterloo Bridge, the court heard. He spent about an hour-and-a-half at the popular art attraction and made a video on his phone, it is claimed. Ms Wilkinson said: 'It was a calm video, it was short and its message was clear.”
France
France 24: France To 'Intensify' Actions Against Islamist Extremism After Teacher Beheaded
“French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday the dissolution of a pro-Hamas group active in France, accused of being “directly implicated” in the murder of teacher Samuel Paty. Speaking days after Paty was beheaded last Friday, he said actions against Islamist extremism will be “intensified”. The decision to shut down the Cheikh Yassine Collective, which supports the Palestinian cause and is named after the Hamas founder, will be taken at a Wednesday's cabinet meeting, Macron told an audience during a speech after a meeting with a unit for the fight against Islamism, in the north-eastern Paris suburb of Bobigny. The French group was created by Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a radical Islamist activist who is now in police custody as part of the investigation into the attack. Sefrioui is the author of one of the videos in which the father of a girl in the school accused Paty of having insulted Islam and called him a “thug”. Samuel Paty had shown his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a civics class on freedom of expression earlier this month. Speaking four days after Paty’s beheading, which sparked police raids on people and institutions with alleged links to Islamist militants, Macron said that “actions will be stepped up” against Islamist extremism.”
Reuters: France's Macron, Iraq PM Highlight Importance Of Fight Against Terrorism
“French President Emmanuel Macron and Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi both highlighted the importance of the fight against terrorism following a meeting in Paris, a statement from Macron’s office said on Tuesday. Macron hosted the meeting on Monday, which followed the French leader’s own trip to Iraq in September, when he expressed his support for Iraq’s sovereignty and said Iraq’s main challenges were Islamic State militants and foreign interference in its affairs. The statement from the French president's office also said the two leaders had also welcomed French group Alstom's ALSO.PA plans to work on a Baghdad metro project.”
Technology
Gizmodo: U.S. Democrats Say Facebook Algorithms Cradle Violent Extremists
“The company said in June it had removed nearly 200 accounts with white supremacist ties. “Social media companies have been playing whack-a-mole trying to take down QAnon conspiracies and other extremist content, but they aren’t changing the designs of a social network that is built to amplify extremism,” Malinowski said. “Their algorithms are based on exploiting primal human emotions — fear, anger, and anxiety — to keep users glued to their screens, and thus regularly promote and recommend white supremacist, anti-Semitic, and other forms of conspiracy-oriented content.” UC Berkley professor Dr. Hany Farid, a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project, called the Eshoo-Malinowski bill “an important measure” that would “hold the technology sector accountable for irresponsibly deploying algorithms that amplify dangerous and extremist content.” “The titans of tech have long relied on these algorithms to maximise engagement and profit at the expense of users,” he added, “and this must change.”
The National: Revealed: Muslim Brotherhood 'Fatwa' App Ranks In Top 100 Downloads In Europe
"Google and Apple are under pressure to remove a Muslim Brotherhood-sponsored app that has consistently ranked in the top 100 download charts in their stores across multiple European countries. The Euro Fatwa app ranked strongly during the pandemic after the platforms failed to respond to government warnings that it had the potential to act as a gateway for extremism. Officials around Europe have warned about the threat posed by the product and the organisations promoting it. "The app is a building block in the process of radicalisation," Germany’s federal office for the protection of the constitution, the country's domestic intelligence agency, said earlier this year ... Hans-Jakob Schindler, director at the Counter Extremism Project, said tech companies were failing to tackle extremist content. “The CEP is very critical of the tech industry for its failings to adequately monitor and moderate its products so that they do not cause harm,” Mr Schindler told The National. “Self-regulation has clearly failed and existing regulations should be strengthened. "As long as there is not a more stringent regulatory framework, including fines that are significant, and far more transparency in the industry, issues such as the Euro Fatwa App will remain unresolved.”
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