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Eye on Extremism
November 5, 2020
Reuters: Vienna Gunman Rampaged Alone, Intelligence Was Fumbled, Minister Says
“Large quantities of mobile phone footage have confirmed that the jihadist who killed four people in a rampage in Vienna on Monday was the only gunman, but Austria fumbled intelligence on him, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said on Wednesday. Austria arrested 14 people aged 18 to 28 on Tuesday in connection with the attack and is investigating them on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organisation, he said. But it would also have to investigate its own actions, he added. “Before the terror attack began, according to the information currently available, some things also went wrong,” Nehammer told a news conference. In July, neighbouring Slovakia’s intelligence service had handed over information suggesting the attacker had tried and failed to buy ammunition there, Nehammer and a top ministry official, Director General for Public Security Franz Ruf, said. “In the next steps evidently something went wrong here with communications,” said Nehammer, who called for the formation of an independent commission to examine the errors made. After receiving the tip-off from Slovakia, Austria’s domestic intelligence agencies at the federal and provincial level made the necessary checks and sent questions back to Bratislava, Ruf said.”
Associated Press: At Least 40 Fleeing Extremist Violence Drown In Mozambique
“At least 40 people fleeing extremist violence in northern Mozambique drowned when their boat sank, according to officials and reports in local media. The boat had set off from Palma, a coastal town near the Tanzanian border, and picked up the majority of its 74 passengers near Namandingo, according to the Mozambican news services, Mediafax and Zitamar News. Follow the latest on Election 2020 The boat hit rocks and sank near Ibo island, said the reports. At least 32 people were saved, but about 40 people drowned, according to the Portuguese news agency, Lusa. The boat was overloaded as it ordinarily carries about 30 people, reported Lusa. The drownings occurred as thousands of people are fleeing the extremist violence in the northern part of Cabo Delgado province, many of them taking boats to get to safety. More than 12,000 refugees arrived on 250 boats that came to Pemba, Cabo Delgado’s provincial capital, in the last two weeks of October, reported Mediafax, citing a local government document which said more than half of the arrivals were children. More than 400,000 people have fled their homes in northern Mozambique because of the conflict with the extremists, Doctors Without Borders said this week.”
United States
Wired: The FBI Says ‘Boogaloo’ Extremists Bought 3d-Printed Machine Gun Parts
“Since the first 3D-printed gun was fired more than seven years ago, the technique has loomed as a potential tool to arm individuals with lethal weapons they couldn't otherwise legally obtain. Now criminal charges against one West Virginia man suggest that the digital gunsmithing method has been adopted by violent, anti-government domestic extremists: the Boogaloo movement. A criminal complaint filed last week accuses Timothy Watson, a resident of Ranson, West Virginia, of selling more than 600 3D-printed plastic components of automatic rifles through his website, Portablewallhanger.com. The FBI says Watson attempted to disguise the devices as wall hooks for keys or coats. Remove an extraneous bracket from the “wall hooks,” and the remaining small plastic piece functions perfectly as a “drop-in auto sear,” a simple but precisely shaped rifle part that can convert a legal AR-15 into an illegal, fully automatic machine gun. Those simple components have been banned in the US—aside from rare, grandfathered-in automatic rifle registration—for more than 20 years. According to the FBI, Watson's customers included multiple members of the Boogaloo movement, a heavily armed extremist anti-government group whose adherents have allegedly wounded and killed multiple law enforcement officials in incidents across the US."
Iraq
Al Monitor: Islamic State Resurfaces With Attacks In Iraq’s Diyala Province
“Another recent uptick in attacks attributed to the Islamic State (IS) in the long-problematic Diyala region northeast of Baghdad near the Iranian border has raised questions about security in the region, while many warn of worsening sectarian tension there and elsewhere. A Shiite sheikh from the Bani Kaab tribe who was reportedly active in the fight against IS near Khailaniyah in the Muqdadiyah area of Diyala was killed on Oct. 27 along with four of his relatives. The sheikh was said to have been beheaded, while his body was rigged with explosives that then killed those who had come to retrieve him. Initial reports had stated that a shepherd or buffalo herder had been kidnapped and killed but later it was discovered that the victim was the Bani Kaab tribal sheikh. First deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament Hassan Karim al-Kaabi, from the same tribe, issued a statement on the attack, mourning the tribal leader and calling him “one of the great sheikhs who fought terrorism.” IS later posted a photo of the “execution” in which three of its fighters are seen wearing scarves across their faces with guns pointed at the back of the head of a gagged, elderly man on a dusty, tree-flanked dirt road under the bright Iraqi sun.”
“An Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service raid in Fallujah that captured a suspected Islamic State child recruitment ringleader without firing a shot last week was one of many successful recent Iraqi operations, coalition officials said. The U.S.-trained and equipped CTS still frequently checks its intelligence with the coalition and conducts missions alongside foreign troops, said Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, its commander, on Monday. But he and U.S. officials said last week’s raid was one of scores the Iraqis mounted on their own in the past five months. “There was no coalition involvement in this operation,” said Army Capt. Erica Mitchell, a spokesperson for the Special Operations Advisory Group in Iraq, who provided data on CTS’ unilateral operations to Stars and Stripes. But while Iraqi forces have grown more capable, they still need international help to keep pressure on ISIS and prevent its resurgence, the Pentagon’s lead Inspector General said in its quarterly report to Congress on Tuesday, citing the coalition and U.S. Central Command. The Operation Inherent Resolve coalition has in recent months shifted largely to an advisory role. It has withdrawn thousands of foreign troops and handed eight bases back to the Iraqi government this year.”
Turkey
“The recent terrorist attack in Vienna that killed four people proved to the world that the threat of Daesh still haunts Europe. The surprising thing, however, was the fact that the attacker was handed to Austrian authorities by Turkey, only to be released shortly after, showing the incapability of European states to subdue foreign fighters. At least four people were killed and 22 more were wounded in a terrorist attack in the Austrian capital, an official said Tuesday. Speaking at a news conference in Vienna, Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said the assailant, who was killed in a police operation last night after the attack, was a sympathizer of the Daesh terrorist group. Daesh also declared later that it was responsible for the attack. “We have not yet found any evidence indicating a second attacker,” he said, adding that the investigation was still ongoing. The attack received widespread condemnation from all corners of the globe, including Turkey, which expressed that it stood in “solidarity” with the Austrian people and was waging its own campaign against terrorism. “We are saddened to receive the news that there are dead and wounded as a result of the terrorist attack that took place in Vienna,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.”
Afghanistan
Agence France-Presse: Militants Shot Students 'One By One' In Afghan University Attack: Survivor
“Students were gunned down “one by one” as they leapt from the windows of Kabul University classrooms when militants stormed the campus earlier this week, a survivor told AFP Wednesday. At least 22 people, mostly students, were killed and another 27 wounded when three gunmen stormed the university on Monday, spraying classrooms with bullets in an assault claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group. Mohammad Qasim Kohistani, 22, a student of public policy at Kabul University, one of Afghanistan's main educational institutions, described how the seven-hour attack unfolded. “We were waiting for our teacher to come... suddenly, we heard loud sounds coming from the first floor,” Kohistani, who was in a classroom on the second floor, told AFP. “We knew something was wrong, we started jumping from the windows.” Kohistani took refuge under a window ledge with his friends, a bloody scene unravelling above him as the attackers went room to room searching out victims. “After a gunman took over our class he started shooting fleeing students from the window,” he said. “The (other two) gunmen were shooting students one by one from a close range,” he added. Hundreds of students fled, some by scrambling over perimeter walls and onto the streets, others by barricading themselves inside rooms until they were rescued by Afghan special forces.”
Voice Of America: Despite Peace Efforts, Violence On The Rise In Afghanistan
“If U.S.-Taliban peace negotiators expected the Taliban to reduce violence in Afghanistan, the latest report from a key government watchdog is a rude awakening. Average daily enemy-initiated attacks in Afghanistan were up 50% from July 1 to Sept. 30 of this year, compared to between April 1 and June 30, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, also known as SIGAR. U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) has characterized overall enemy-initiated attacks this quarter as “above seasonal norms.” Anti-government forces accounted for at least 83% of civilian casualties this quarter, according to the SIGAR report released Thursday. The Taliban is responsible for 38% of those deaths and injuries. This was an overall increase in casualties since the last quarter. The Department of Defense told SIGAR in its report that Taliban violence “could undermine” the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement if it continues at this “unacceptably high” rate. It added that the longtime Afghan insurgent group was “calibrating” the amount of violence to remain at a level it determines is within the bounds of the U.S.-Taliban agreement while “harassing” the Afghan government and setting “favorable conditions for a post-(U.S.) withdrawal (from) Afghanistan."
Lebanon
The Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah Delays Formation Of Lebanese Government
“Lebanese President Michel Aoun tasked former prime minister Saad Hariri on October 22 with forming a government, but the powerful Hezbollah movement has been delaying the process. Hariri, whose previous government resigned a year ago in response to popular protests, obtained the support of a majority in parliament in a recent consultative session. If he succeeds in his mission, he will head his third government since 2009. Marc Saad, spokesman to the international press for the Christian Lebanese Forces party, told The Media Line that the process of forming a government had not changed in years. “Hezbollah not only has the biggest role and the biggest say, the organization is literally running the show while watching for the smallest details to ensure its interests are secured,” he said. The delay does not really matter to the decision-makers despite the fact that it is hurting the Lebanese people, who are suffering in their daily lives as Hezbollah pursues a different agenda, Saad explained. “Even after the apocalyptic bomb explosion of August 4 [in Beirut’s port], Hezbollah didn’t care about time or the goals of the awaited new government. Instead the organization imposed its own conditions and realigned the rules for formation with their expectations,” he said.”
Middle East
The Jerusalem Post: Terrorist Attack Neutralized Near Nablus In The West Bank, IDF Reports
“IDF troops thwarted an attempted terrorist attack on Wednesday near the city of Nablus in the West Bank, in the area under the responsibility of the IDF Samaria Regional Brigade, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit reported. Initial investigation by the IDF indicates that the terrorist approached an IDF barricade and started shooting towards IDF troops from within his vehicle. The soldiers positioned nearby quickly identified the threat and neutralized the terrorist. “The Barak Battalion from the Golani Brigade was recently deployed at the Samaria Regional Brigade. It did so successfully, which was reflected in this morning's encounter with the terrorist. The soldiers responded as expected of them; They made contact and neutralized the terrorist,” Zweig said, adding that “the IDF will continue to maintain security in the area and to prevent attempts to carry out terrorist attacks.” Commander of the Barak Battalion, whose soldiers thwarted the attack, Lt.-Col. Shahar Barkai, explained what happened. “The vehicle came from the direction of Nablus. He turned left in the roundabout and opened fire towards our post ... Two other soldiers who were positioned in a nearby bus stop, noticed the incident and joined the forces in neutralizing the terrorist,” adding that “the terrorist managed to shoot a few rounds” before being neutralized.”
Nigeria
“A Nigerian pastor is still being held captive by an Islamic State-affiliated terrorist group despite previous reports that claimed he'd been freed. “Rev. [Polycarp] Zongo [of the Church of Christ in Nations] has not yet been released by the abductors, contrary to the false information earlier asserted,” Nigerian Christian lawyer Dalyop Solomon told The Christian Post on Wednesday. Churchgoers had prematurely celebrated the pastor's rumored release as prayer vigils turned into celebratory worship gatherings amid the false reports. The jihadist terrorist group known as Islamic State West African Province, based in northeastern Nigeria, captured Zongo along with two Christian women who were traveling with him from Jos to attend a church conference in Nigeria’s state of Gombe on Oct. 19, said Nigerian Christian leader Gideon Para Mallam in an interview with CP. The group that released the proof of life video was the Islamic terrorist group Khalifah Army, Para Mallam said. It's unclear whether the Khalifah Army has ties to either ISWAP or Boko Haram, he added. Para Mallam, who also heads the Nigerian Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation, also confirmed that Zongo has not been released.”
Somalia
Dalsan Radio: Somalia: SNA Kills 11 Al-Shabaab Militants In Southern Somalia
“At least eleven Alshabab fighters including senior commander have been killed in an operation conducted by the Somali National Army in Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia. A statement from the army radio quoting senior military officials noted that the troops killed the senior commander alongside his ten bodyguards. The senior Alshabab commander was identified as Muad Dhere and was in charge of Jubba regions. “The special forces killed the senior Alshabab commander in charge of Jubba regions in the operation,” read part of the statement published on the army radio. Al-Qaida affiliated group al-Shabab did not comment on the latest incident. Alshabab remains a major impedance to Somalia's quest for peace and stability despite concerted effort to vanquish the team.”
Mali
Agence France-Presse: Gunmen Kill 8 In Central Mali Attack
“Gunmen have killed eight people in central Mali, a local official and security ministry staffer said Wednesday, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn Sahel state. Militants attacked a minibus Tuesday, the officials said, which was traveling between the towns of Bandiagara and Bankass in central Mali’s volatile Mopti region, which is prone to frequent jihadist attacks and ethnic killings. “Armed men opened fire on the minibus,” a local government official told AFP, adding that eight people died, four escaped and eight were seriously wounded, three of them children. An official from Mali’s security ministry, who also requested anonymity, confirmed the details of the attack and the death toll. The local government official, and a survivor interviewed by AFP, both blamed the attack on jihadists. Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist insurgency that emerged in the north in 2012 and prompted a military intervention by France. The extremists were routed in the French operation but regrouped. Today large stretches of the landlocked African state remain outside of government control. Fighting, which has sometimes taken on an ethnic dimension, has since spread to the center of the country and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.”
Agence France-Presse: Elite European Anti-Jihadist Force Takes First Steps In Sahel
“Inside a military base in northern Mali, a concrete bollard emblazoned with French, Estonian and Swedish flags marks a zone reserved for a new anti-jihadist unit of elite European troops. Dubbed Task Force Takuba, the new joint deployment marks a coup for France, which has sought partners in its long fight against Islamist militants in Africa's vast Sahel region. French troops first deployed to Mali in 2013 after a jihadist insurgency broke out in the country the previous year. But despite their presence, jihadist violence has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the conflict, and hundreds of thousands more have had to flee their homes. Anger at the seemingly endless insurgency in Mali also fuelled protests against president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, culminating in his ouster in a military coup on August 18. At the base in the city of Gao, about a dozen French and Estonian soldiers from Takuba sit under an awning, surrounded by storage containers and light military vehicles. They discuss their first mission: A sweep operation conducted in the lawless Mali-Burkina Faso border region last month, alongside local troops and French regulars.”
France
Deutsche Welle: France Bans Turkish Ultra-Nationalist Grey Wolves Group
“The French government on Wednesday banned the Grey Wolves, a far-right nationalist group accused of violent actions and inciting hate speech in France. The ban was approved during a weekly Cabinet meeting, according to government spokesperson Gabriel Attal. France accused the group of “extremely violent actions,” spreading “extremely violent threats'' and creating “incitement to hatred against authorities and Armenians,'' Attal said, citing an Armenian memorial near the eastern city of Lyon that was found defaced last weekend. The 1915 Armenian genocide memorial had “Grey wolf” and “RTE,” the initials of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, written on it, as well as pro-Turkish slogans. Armenians have long campaigned for the mass killings of their ancestors in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to be recognized as genocide. France backs their call. The Grey Wolves group is linked to a top ally of the Turkish president and is seen as a militant wing of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is allied with Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the Turkish parliament. The Grey Wolves was a nickname given to members of a fringe Turkish movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. The group used violence in the 1980s against leftist activists and ethnic minorities.”
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Islamist Terrorism: Germany Is Home To More Than 600 Agitators
“At least one of the assailants in the Vienna attackwas known to police. The 20-year-old, shot dead on Monday evening, had made several attempts to leave the country and join the so-called Islamic State (IS). It would appear, however, that the authorities did not see him as a potential terrorist. Similar miscalculations have happened in Germany too. As of September 1, 2020, German security forces counted 627 potential terrorists. One of them was the 20-year-old Syrian Abdullah al-H., who attacked a homosexual couple with a kitchen knife on October 4 in Dresden, although his movements were monitored by police. One of the victims was seriously wounded, the other even died of his wounds shortly afterwards. German authorities regard the threat level as “steadily high.” The 2019 report by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, BfV, issued in July 2020, refers to several foiled plans for attacks that testify to the potential for terrorism in Germany. The domestic intelligence service says a major threat comes from “individual assailants inspired by terrorist organizations,” who are especially difficult to pick out in advance.”
Europe
Metro: The Neo-Nazi ‘Resistance’ Group Fuelling A Rise In Hate
“A Swedish far-right group has emerged as one of the main players in an online realm where British fanatics have plotted to join a race war. The Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) has been identified as a ‘key actor’ using social media and encrypted communications, replacing other groups that have been banned or ‘de-platformed’ from web channels. Highlighted as one of the world’s most ‘networked’ hate groups, the NRM’s members are actively seeking to further their agenda in Scandinavia and beyond, according to the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), which is researching the growing transnational shape of the neo-Nazi movement … Links between social media content and real-world crimes and atrocities have been drawn by the CEP. Senior analyst Joshua Fisher-Birch told Metro.co.uk: ‘Individuals may become interested in violent right-wing extremist ideology and participate in radicalizing online communities, whether on communications apps or web forums. ‘As larger groups face difficulties such as infiltration by activists and monitoring and disruption from law enforcement, individuals may plan for attacks either on their own, or more likely with the assistance of other individuals either known to them through the online space, or based on personal connections.”
WTOP: The Hunt: Attack In Austria’s Vienna
“A lone gunman, allegedly connected to ISIS, killed four people in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 2, raising concerns of a new terror wave in Europe. On this week’s edition of “The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent J.J. Green,” Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, discusses the attack and the suspect’s connections.”
Al Jazeera: Questions Mount Over Vienna Gunman, A Convicted ISIL Sympathiser
“Questions were mounting in Austria on Wednesday about how a convicted ISIL (ISIS) sympathiser was able to carry out the deadly gun rampage in the heart of the capital Vienna. Investigators are trying to piece together more information about the gunman’s circle after detaining 14 people in the wake of Monday’s shooting, the first major attack in Austria for decades. The assailant, named as 20-year-old dual Austrian Macedonian national Kujtim Fejzulai, had been convicted and sentenced to prison in April last year for trying to travel to Syria to join ISIL. But he was released on probation in December, before the end of his 22-month sentence, and had been referred to organisations specialising in “de-radicalisation”. ISIL, which has claimed numerous attacks in Europe, said on Tuesday a “soldier of the caliphate” was responsible for the shooting, which killed four people and left more wounded. The gunman opened fire indiscriminately in the historic centre of the city just hours before Austria imposed a coronavirus lockdown when people were out in bars and restaurants enjoying a final night of relative freedom. The streets of Vienna were returning to normal on Wednesday – albeit under the virus restrictions – after schools and shops had largely stayed closed after the attack.”
Voice Of America: Albanian IS Repatriation From Syria Will Be Long Journey, Experts Say
“The recent repatriation of an Islamic State (IS) woman and four children from the Kurdish-controlled al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria is being applauded as an important step by Albania to deal with its citizens abroad who have been affiliated with the terror group. Some observers say they are expecting a long journey ahead for the country as it addresses the rehabilitation of IS families and their reentry into society. “Although modest in size, this transfer signals Albania’s shift toward a proactive approach for the repatriation of its citizens, especially children and women,” Adrian Shtuni, a Washington-based security and radicalization expert, told VOA. Roughly 13,500 foreign women and children are among about 70,000 IS families held by the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria, according to a report in April by the Crisis Group. Researchers in Albania say at least 70 members of the group hold Albanian citizenship. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said last week that he was in Beirut to bring home from Syria a 41-year-old woman, Floresha Rasha; her three children – Amar, Emel and Hatixhe Rasha; and another minor, Endri Dumani. The five Albanians were evacuated from the al-Hol camp in a process mediated by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.”
Australia
The Sydney Morning Herald: Arsalan Khawaja Jailed For 2.5 Years Over Fake Terror Claims
“The brother of Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has been jailed for at least two-and-a-half years after he attempted to frame two perceived love rivals as terrorists by writing fake threats in a notebook and making a lengthy phone call to a national security hotline. Arsalan Khawaja, 40, wrote a series of detailed threats in a book belonging to his colleague Mohamed Kamer Nizamdeen, then handed it to his project manager at UNSW in August 2018. When police became involved, he misled officers about the book's origins and claimed he simply found it. The threats in the notebook – spanning 20 pages – mentioned getting bomb and weapons training, launching attacks in Australia and overseas, and targeting former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, police stations, an Anzac Day service, the Boxing Day Test match, and St Mary's Cathedral. Mr Nizamdeen was arrested and held in Goulburn Supermax until police discovered the book was a hoax. On Thursday, NSW District Court Judge Robert Weber said Khawaja was friends with a woman known as F2, and had been on several dinner dates with her, but she was not romantically interested in him. Khawaja wrote the notebook because he believed Mr Nizamdeen was interested in the woman and wanted him “gone.”
Japan
The Japan Times: Buses Promoting Terrorism Prevention Launched In Tokyo
“The operation of buses bearing a slogan calling for the prevention of terror attacks started this month in Tokyo in preparation for the postponed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next summer. The 10 buses belonging to Toei Bus bear a character from the Japanese historical novel “Onihei Hankacho,” with the character, drawn by manga artist Takao Saito, saying, “Keep moving forward to prevent terror attacks.” The buses will be in operation until the end of December around Tokyo Station and the bay area, where many Game venues are situated. On Monday, an unveiling ceremony for the buses was held at the Metropolitan Police Department in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. “For a successful Olympics, we hope to enhance an atmosphere where people will not let a terror attack happen,” said an official of public security department of the MPD.”
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