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Eye on Extremism
October 26, 2020
“President Donald Trump announced Friday that Sudan has agreed to begin normalizing relations with Israel, just days after his administration said it would take the North African country off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. The details of the Sudan-Israel agreement, coming just days before the Nov. 3 election, were not immediately clear. Trump announced the news as he spoke with the leaders of Sudan and Israel on speaker phone in front of reporters, who had been called into the Oval Office. “The state of Israel and the Republic of Sudan have agreed to make peace,” Trump told reporters. A statement from the White House was less sweeping in its description of the deal. “The leaders agreed to the normalization of relations between Sudan and Israel and to end the state of belligerence between their nations,” the statement read. It comes days after Trump announced he would take Sudan off the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism – a pivotal move that will help end Sudan's financial isolation and bolster its transition from dictatorship to democracy. The White House agreed to lift that designation after Sudan's government agreed to pay more than $300 million dollars to American victims of the 2000 USS Cole attack and the 1998 embassy bombings, both of which were linked to al-Qaida, the militant group founded by Osama bin Laden.”
CNN: US Embassy In Turkey Warns Of Potential Terror Attack Threat In Istanbul
“The US Mission in Turkey issued a warning to American citizens Friday of a potential terror attack threat in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country. The US Mission “has received credible reports of potential terrorist attacks and kidnappings against US citizens and foreign nationals in Istanbul, including against the US Consulate General, as well as potentially other locations in Turkey,” according to a security alert issued Friday. The alert urged US citizens “to exercise heightened caution in locations where Americans or foreigners may gather, including large office buildings or shopping malls.” A State Department spokesperson declined to provide further details on the specific threat, noting that “the statement speaks for itself.” The internet really has opened up a whole new world. Literally. Anytime you open up your laptop, you have an entire globe’s worth of information at your fingertips. “The U.S. Mission to Turkey issued this notice as a result of ongoing assessment of security conditions,” the spokesperson said. “We are grateful for the support of the Turkish government in ensuring the safety of U.S. citizens living in Turkey as well as Turkish citizens who visit our Embassy and Consulates.”
United States
NBC News: White Teen Pleads Guilty To Plot To Attack Black Churchgoers In Georgia
“A 17-year-old white girl in Georgia pleaded guilty Thursday to planning a knife attack on Black churchgoers. Under a negotiated sentence, the unidentified teenager was sentenced to remain in juvenile detention until her 21st birthday, the maximum possible sentence. She will then begin 10 years probation during which she will be prohibited from coming close to the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Gainesville, which she had planned to attack, according to NBC Affiliate WXIA. The girl's plot against the church in Gainesville, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, came to light after a high school classmate heard about the plan and reported it to authorities last November, authorities said. According to WXIA, prosecutors said that the teenager had written out the plans in her notebook and that a search of her bag revealed two knives and T-shirts, one of which said “free Dylann Storm Roof” with swastikas drawn onto the arms. Roof was the gunman who massacred nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. The shirts also included several writings on their backs, including “I’m not crazy I had to do this,” and, “I do consider myself a white supremacist,” prosecutors said.”
NBC News: Man Who Supplied Weapons In San Bernardino Terror Attack Gets 20 Years
“Enrique Marquez Jr., who supplied San Bernardino terror attack shooter Syed Rizwan Farook with AR-15-style assault weapons, was sentenced Friday to 20 years behind bars for his involvement in the 2015 holiday party attack that killed 14 people and left 22 wounded. decision, handed down by U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal, comes after Marquez tried to withdraw his guilty plea. In 2017, Marquez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and making false statements regarding his involvement in the purchase of guns used by Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, at the Inland Regional Center. Marquez admitted to purchasing the weapons in 2011 and 2012. He also admitted to plotting separate attacks with Farook, with eyes set on the 91 Freeway and Riverside City College in Southern California. Neither ever materialized.”
Syria
Agence France-Presse: US Drone Strike Kills 17 Jihadists In NW Syria
“The US army said Thursday it carried out a drone strike against Al-Qaeda leaders in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border, killing 17 jihadists, according to a war monitor. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five civilians were also among those killed. “US Forces conducted a strike against a group of Al-Qaeda in Syria (AQ-S) senior leaders meeting near Idlib, Syria,” said Major Beth Riordan, the spokeswoman for United States Central Command (CENTCOM). “The removal of these AQ-S leaders will disrupt the terrorist organisation's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening US citizens, our partners and innocent civilians,” Riordan said in a statement. She did not specify the number of deaths from the strike. But the Britain-based Observatory said the operation, which targeted a dinner meeting of jihadists in the village of Jakara in the Salqin area, killed at least 17 jihadists including 11 leaders. The village lies in Syria's last major rebel bastion of Idlib, which is dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, led by a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and its rebel allies. But other jihadist groups, including the rival Al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Deen faction, are also present in the area.”
Voice Of America: US-Backed Forces Target IS Remnants In Eastern Syria
“U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue to carry out raids targeting militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) terror group in eastern Syria. “Last night, the Syrian Democratic Forces arrested members of a Daesh cell that was responsible for attacks in Deir al-Zour,” the Deir al-Zour Media Center said on Sunday, using an Arabic acronym for IS. Three IS members arrested in Saturday’s raid were from the Shuhail area of the eastern province, according to the media group. In a separate operation, SDF fighters carried out a “combing campaign” against remnants of IS in the neighboring province of Raqqa, SDF’s press office said in a video released on Sunday. The SDF, a military alliance that has been a major U.S. partner in the fight against IS in Syria, said more than two dozen IS militants were arrested in recent raids in October. Since its territorial defeat in March 2019, IS has carried out terror attacks against civilians and SDF forces in Deir al-Zour and other parts of eastern Syria. U.S. military officials said the U.S.-led coalition against IS remains committed to combating the terror group in Syria and Iraq.”
Iraq
“In a midsummer morning six years ago, Ziad Abdulqader Nasir’s short walk to Friday prayers at Mosul’s Great Mosque of al-Nuri, one of Iraq’s oldest shrines, was abruptly interrupted by the arrival of stern men carrying guns. Nasir and his neighbours were ushered inside, some of the newcomers set up cameras, and others sat the puzzled worshippers in neat lines on the carpet. “I said to my son Yousuf, someone important was coming,” Nasir recalled. “They were mostly foreigners. They told us to turn off any phones with cameras, and then all the signals jammed. Gunmen were lining the streets as far as 500 metres away. A guy announced that the caliph would give a sermon, and then Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared.” That day, 4 July 2014, marked the only public appearance of the self-declared leader of the Islamic State before his return to years in hiding, then death in exile last year. His appearance prompted tens of thousands of people to rally to the cause he proclaimed. It also accelerated the unravelling of much of Syria and Iraq, both which remain broken and unreconciled. Six years on, at least 400,000 Iraqis who fled from Isis, or who lived in areas where the extremists held sway, remain in internment camps across the north of the country, forbidden to return home, or unwilling to attempt it.”
Afghanistan
“The gruesome image showed two dozen corpses in military uniforms, dragged into a tangled line on a hard empty plain. Their clothes were smeared with dirt, their faces wrapped in bloody rags. The photo, circulating widely on social media here, was reportedly taken in far western Nimruz province, where military officials said Taliban attackers killed more than 20 soldiers Thursday evening. But it could have been almost anywhere in Afghanistan. In the past several weeks, Taliban fighters have staged ground attacks and bombings in 24 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, leaving scores dead. In northeastern Takhar they ambushed and killed at least 40 soldiers and police. In northwestern Ghowr, a car bomb killed 19 civilians. In southern Helmand, Taliban fighters are still clashing with Afghan forces after a two-week assault on the provincial capital region. The message of the surge is clear and coldblooded. Even as Taliban delegates continue to nominally participate in peace talks with Afghan leaders in Qatar, the insurgents have shown no intention of reducing violence. Instead, they appear out to prove they can wreak havoc everywhere. In the past week alone, Afghan security officials said Saturday that the Taliban had staged 356 attacks, two suicide bombings and 52 mine explosions across the country, killing 51 civilians and wounding 157.”
Associated Press: Afghanistan Claims Killing An Al-Qaida Leader Wanted By FBI
“Afghanistan claimed Sunday it killed a top al-Qaida propagandist on an FBI most-wanted list during an operation in the country’s east, showing the militant group’s continued presence there as U.S. forces work to withdraw from America’s longest-running war amid continued bloodshed. The reported death of Husam Abd al-Rauf, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Muhsin al-Masri, follows weeks of violence, including a suicide bombing by the Islamic State group Saturday at an education center near Kabul that killed 24 people. Meanwhile, the Afghan government continues to fight Taliban militants even as peace talks in Qatar between the two sides take place for the first time. The violence and al-Rauf’s reported killing threaten the face-to-face peace talks and risk plunging this nation beset by decades of war into further instability. They also complicate America’s efforts to withdraw, 19 years after it led an invasion targeting the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 attacks. Details over the raid that led to al-Rauf’s alleged death remained murky hours after Afghanistan’s intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, claimed on Twitter to have killed him in Ghazni province.”
Voice Of America: Islamic State-Claimed Bombing Hits Afghan Capital, Killing 18
“Authorities in Afghanistan say a suicide bomber who blew himself up outside a private Kabul education facility has killed at least 18 people and more than 57 others. Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said a man with explosives strapped to his body tried to storm the packed facility late Saturday but was intercepted by security guards and instead set off his explosives outside. Arian expected the casualty toll to increase. Islamic State terror group said its local IS Khorasan Province (ISKP) branch plotted the attack. ISKP has routinely carried out bombings at Shi’ite gatherings and places of worship in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan. The Taliban insurgent group denied its involvement in the violence. Saturday’s attack came after a roadside bomb hit a minivan in the central-eastern Afghan province of Ghazni earlier in the day. The ensuing blast killed at least nine passengers and injured several others. Women were among the victims, a provincial government spokesman told VOA. The uptick in Afghan violence comes as a month-long peace dialogue between the Kabul government and representatives of the Taliban in Qatar faces a stalemate over procedural matters.”
Al Jazeera: Nine Civilians Killed In Bomb Attack On Bus In Afghanistan
“A roadside bomb tore through a passenger bus east of the Afghan capital, killing nine civilians. The blast took place about 10:30am (05:30 GMT) on Saturday when the bus was going from Kabul to the eastern city of Ghazni, Waheedullah Jumazada, spokesman for Ghazni governor, told AFP news agency. “Nine civilians, including three women, were killed in the explosion,” he said. Four policemen were also wounded, Ghazni police spokesman Adam Khan Seerat said, blaming the Taliban for the attack. There was no comment from the Taliban on the incident. Violence on the ground has spiked in recent weeks despite the Taliban and the Afghan government holding peace talks in Qatar to end the country’s grinding war. The top US envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said earlier this week that fighting is threatening the peace process. On Friday, rights group Amnesty International said at least 50 people had been killed in attacks just in the preceding week, accusing the warring sides of failing to protect civilians. “The world must sit up and take notice. Afghan civilians are being slaughtered on a daily basis,” said the rights group’s Omar Waraich. “The international community must make the protection of civilians a core demand for their ongoing support of the peace process.”
Foreign Policy: The Taliban’s Highway Robbery
“Each year, as winter closes in on Afghanistan’s rugged mountainous region, Mohammad Bilal, a 45-year-old coal worker, readies himself for a busy few months. As temperatures drop, and without better sources for heat, the demand for coal will soar. This year, Bilal, who requested to go by a pseudonym for his safety, expects the winter months to be stressful for a different reason. Thanks to hikes in the payments that the Taliban extort from businesses as “taxes,” he expects the price of this essential winter commodity to rise significantly—straining markets and customers who depend on the fuel for warmth. While businesses in the region have grown accustomed to local insurgent groups demanding money, the recent spike in fighting has seen an increase in the amount they have had to pay to ensure secure passage of their goods through Taliban-controlled areas. “We pay the Afghan government taxes, but we also have to pay the Taliban to continue operating,” Bilal, who has been operating a coal distribution business in the northern provinces of Afghanistan for the last 18 years, said in September. “Earlier we used to pay Taliban 3,000-3,500 afghanis [$40-45] per truck, but now they charge 10,000 afghanis [$130] per truck. This is aside from what we pay the Afghan government.”
“It’s a fascinating and complicated case, which MTN hotly disputes, but the public relations fallout is forcing the company to rethink its operations in countries where angels fear to tread. The company is facing claims that its Afghanistan operations switched off the cellphone network at the behest of the Taliban and that it paid protection money for its operations not to be attacked. The company also faces enormous financial losses if the case is lost, but it has some seemingly strong legal arguments on its side too. The case illustrates how complicated its business has become and possibly explains its recent moves to restructure its operations, including the decision to sell its operations in the Middle East, including Syria, Yemen and eventually Iran, in the next three to five years. Meanwhile, the US case is a major headache. The Anti-Terrorism Act case is brought by 385 Americans “including veterans, their family members, and the survivors of US military and civilian personnel injured or killed in terrorist attacks in Afghanistan”… The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, is classified by the Counter Extremism Project as a military, terrorist, transnational and violent group.
Pakistan
Reuters: Global Watchdog Keeps Pakistan On Terrorism Financing “Grey List”
“A global dirty money watchdog decided on Friday to keep Pakistan on its “grey list,” despite progress by Islamabad on meeting international anti-terrorism financing norms. In a statement, the Financial Action Task Force urged Pakistan to complete an internationally agreed action plan by February 2021."
Saudi Arabia
Oil Price: Why ISIS Is Calling For Attacks On Saudi Arabia
“ISIS is calling on its supporters to attack Westerners and oil pipelines and economic infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, based on a recorded message carried by the media but otherwise not confirmed as authentic. In the message, alleged ISIS spokesman Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir urges the targeting of Westerners in Saudi Arabia and attacks against the Kingdom’s economic infrastructure because of its support for the normalization of relations between Gulf countries and Israel. This is an attempt by forces (likely beyond ISIS) to ensure that Saudi Arabia does not openly follow the UAE’s move to officially and publicly normalize with Israel. In relation to that, Israeli state-owned pipeline company Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC) has signed an MOU to store and transport oil and distillates from the UAE to Europe. Under the agreement between EAPC and MED-RED, a company with both Israeli and Emirati owners, a land bridge will be established between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, enabling a massive increase in the volume of oil that can be transported annually. The US has officially expanded sanctions on companies involved in building that last bit of the Russian-led NordStream2 pipeline.”
Africa
Reuters: At Least 6 Children Killed In Attack On School In Cameroon
“Gunmen killed at least six children and badly wounded about eight others when they opened fire in a school in the city of Kumba in Cameroon’s Southwest region on Saturday, officials told Reuters. The officials blamed the attack on secessionist insurgents who are seeking to form a breakaway state in Cameroon’s English-speaking west, though Reuters was unable to immediately confirm that. “They attacked around noon. They found the children in class and they opened fire on them,” Ali Anougou, an official from Kumba, told Reuters. Many of the injured students had jumped from second-story windows in an attempt to escape. Videos circulating on social media filmed by local journalists showed adults rushing from the school with children in their arms, surrounded by a crowd of wailing onlookers. A local education official, Ahhim Abanaw Obase, confirmed the death toll and said that eight children were taken to hospital. He said the dead children ranged in age from 12 to 14. Anglophone secessionists have imposed curfews and closed schools as part of their protest against the country’s French-speaking government and its perceived marginalization of the English-speaking minority. Last year, officials blamed separatists for kidnapping dozens of schoolchildren, charges the separatists denied.”
Reuters: Militants From Mozambique Staged Deadly Attack In Tanzania, Police Say
“About 300 militants from Mozambique attacked a village in southern Tanzania and killed an unknown number of people last week, Tanzania’s top police officer said, describing an attack claimed earlier by the Islamic State. Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro said militants attacked the village of Kitaya in Tanzania’s rural Mtwara region bordering Mozambique. “Terrorists numbering 300, coming from Mozambique, attacked our station and the village of Kitaya, and committed crimes and they killed,” Sirro said in an interview with Azam TV, a private Tanzanian chain, broadcast late Thursday. He did not specify the number of people killed, nor give a date for the attack. He said police had arrested and were interrogating some of the militants while others were believed to have returned to Mozambique. It was the first time authorities in Tanzania have acknowledged that an escalating Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique with links to Islamic State is also active in Tanzania. IS claimed the attack in a message on one of its Telegram channels on Oct. 15, which said its fighters had attacked an army barracks in the village a day earlier, killing a number of personnel and capturing weapons and ammunition.”
Reuters: Explosive Device Kills Two Gold Miners In Niger, Sources Say
“Two employees at an industrial gold mine in western Niger were killed on Friday when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, three security sources said. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the explosion. It took place at the Samira mine near Niger’s borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, a zone where Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State frequently carry out attacks. Samira’s owner, state mining company SOPAMIN, and Niger’s government could not be immediately reached for comment. Mines in West Africa’s Sahel region have been forced to contend in recent years with deteriorating security conditions, including a militant attack last year on employees of a Canadian-owned gold mine in Burkina Faso that killed 39 people.”
United Kingdom
BBC News: Man Charged With Right-Wing Terror Plot To Kill Immigration Solicitor
“A man has been charged with preparing for a right-wing terrorist attack on a major immigration law firm. Cavan Medlock, 28, of Harrow, north London, is charged with preparing an act of terrorism by researching Duncan Lewis Solicitors with the intention of killing an immigration solicitor. Prosecutors allege he equipped himself with a knife and handcuffs, as well as Nazi and Confederate flags before going to the offices in Harrow on 7 September. He faces a trial on 17 May. He is charged with preparation of terrorist acts under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. He is also charged with five further counts, including threatening with a bladed article in a public place, battery, two counts of causing racially aggravated alarm, harassment or distress, and making a threat to kill. He is accused of threatening a receptionist with a knife before threatening to kill a solicitor and abusing other members of staff because of their racial or religious background. Mr Medlock was not present during a hearing at the Old Bailey after he stripped to his waist as he briefly appeared by video-link from Wormwood Scrubs prison, before refusing to put his clothes back on. He is yet to enter pleas to any of the charges.”
BBC News: Luton Man In Court Over Islamic State Social Media Posts
“A man has appeared in court accused of posting violent films produced by the Islamic State group on social media. Ibrahim Anderson, 43, from Luton, has been charged with 10 counts of disseminating terrorist publications. He also faces one charge of failing to comply with a terrorism notification order by not telling police about an email address he used. Mr Anderson indicated not guilty pleas to all charges at Westminster Magistrates' Court. It is alleged he used a Facebook account under a fake name to post two IS videos and sent a further eight films to another person using an encrypted messaging application in July this year. He will next appear the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing on 6 November.”
France
New Europe: France’s Problem With Islamist Extremism Must Be Fought On The Ground And Online
"The tragic murder of schoolteacher Samuel Paty in a Parisian suburb last week, the latest in a slew of Islamist terror attacks in the French Republic, has left many questioning how such a crime can occur, and how such incidents could be prevented. France has long grappled with Islamist extremism and terrorism. In fact, more foreign terrorist fighters left France to join ISIS than any other European country and the country has suffered through some of the most devastating terror incidents on European soil in recent memory. Why has France been a key target for extremists? The paths to radicalisation are multifaceted. They are incredibly difficult to counter and even more difficult to predict. However, one common denominator has emerged in recent years: online radicalisation. With the advent of the internet, the face of Islamic terrorism and radicalisation fundamentally changed and evolved, adapting to the modern age. As France doubled down on combating Islamic extremism on the ground, extremists were forced to explore new ways to spread their ideology of hate."
“An alarming message posted online by the teenager who beheaded a French teacher last week was reported to counter-terrorism services six days before the killing, but no action was taken, French media have reported. A tweet by Abdoullakh Anzorov on October 10 was immediately reported to Pharos, the police service that monitors extremist discourse online. Pharos, which has only 30 staff to deal with hundreds of reports a day, did not follow up because Anzorov was not among 8,000 potentially dangerous suspects on France’s terrorism watch list. “It’s impossible to place all those who post worrying messages online under surveillance,” a security source said. “It’s extremely difficult to distinguish those likely to act and actually carry out attacks from those who are just giving vent to provocative views.” Anzorov, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, immediately deleted the message from one of his Twitter accounts under the name Al Ansâr, and later deactivated the account. French police have asked Twitter to retrieve the October 10 message but have yet to receive it, the public service broadcaster FranceInfo reported. Other posts by Anzorov were flagged up on Sept 11, the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, when he tweeted an Islamist fighter on a camel, an emblem often used by jihadists, and in June.”
Germany
“A Syrian ISIS terrorist who is accused of stabbing a tourist to death in Germany while under observation wanted to cut out Christians' tongues, it has been revealed. Abdullah AHH, 20, was arrested on Wednesday for the attack which saw Thomas L, 55, stabbed to death and another man, 53, seriously injured in Dresden on October 4. The terrorist had only been released from prison five days earlier after he was jailed for two years and nine months in 2018 as an 18-year-old. He arrived in Germany from Aleppo in 2015 as an unaccompanied minor and was granted refugee status in May 2016. AHH lost this status because of his criminal record in 2019, but could not be deported due to the civil war in his home country. While living in asylum, the terrorist began recruiting for ISIS and threatened Christians, reported BILD. Writing to a Christian, he said: 'I will slaughter you today. You have a big mouth and I'll cut off your tongue, you Christian.' He was arrested in 2017 and categorised as likely to pose a threat to public safety, said Saxony state's head of police, Petric Kleine. Some 600 suspected Islamists are in this category in Germany, according to authorities. In the 2018 trial, AHH was shown to have used ISIS symbols in his Facebook profile and also propagated jihad via social networks and called on like-minded people to fight as martyrs against so-called infidels.”
Australia
The Guardian: Terror Time Bomb: The Race To Defuse Australia's Far-Right Threat
“Australia watched in horror as an avowed white supremacist mowed down innocent worshippers at a Christchurch mosque in March 2019. That shock only heightened when it was discovered the terrorist was Australian, pointing to a previously unacknowledged potential for violent far-right extremism in the country. Suddenly, the threats were no longer empty. The toxicity of white supremacist and far-right groups that festered on social platforms had spilled out into violence. It was a moment that should have snapped authorities out of any delusions that white supremacists don’t pose a threat. Instead, Christchurch has only emboldened the movement, and some observers say Australian government agencies have been too slow to take steps that might prevent future violence. Matthew Quinn is the founder and chief executive of the far-right disengagement group Exit Australia. “I think they’re still stuck on the idea that extremism is an Islamic problem,” he says. “I think they’re going to be up for a surprise. “They seem to think white guys are just hooligans, they don’t feel like white guys are out there planning attacks.”
Technology
“A school teacher was recently beheaded in France after showing caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. On this week’s edition of “The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent JJ Green”, Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, explains what happened and says Americans should take heed as online election threats ramp up.”
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