Israeli agents acting at the behest of American officials assassinated
al-Qaeda’s second-in-command in August, in a brazen drive-by shooting in Iran’s

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


November 16, 2020

 

The Washington Post: Israel, At Behest Of U.S., Killed Al-Qaeda’s Deputy In A
Drive-By Attack In Iran
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“Israeli agents acting at the behest of American officials assassinated
al-Qaeda’s second-in-command in August, in a brazen drive-by shooting in Iran’s
capital, according to a senior U.S. official. Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, whose
nom de guerre was Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was killed along with his daughter,
Maryam, as they were driving in an upscale Tehran neighborhood, according to
the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s
sensitivity. The operation, first reported Friday by the New York Times,
further slims the leadership ranks of al-Qaeda and removes the accused
mastermind of the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that
killed more than 200 people. Al-Qaeda has not officially acknowledged Masri’s
death, and no country has claimed responsibility. The United States located
Masri, and Israel coordinated the operation with the CIA, according to the
official. The CIA, FBI and Pentagon declined to comment, and the White House
did not respond to a request for comment. The Israeli prime minister’s office
and intelligence ministry also declined to comment. Iran’s Foreign Ministry
issued a statement Saturday denying the report and the presence of any al-Qaeda
members in Iran, accusing the United States and Israel of trying “to draw a
link between Iran and such groups through falsification and the leakage of
fabricated information to the media.”

 

Deutsche Welle: Vienna Terror Attack: Police Investigating 21 Potential
Accomplices
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“Austrian investigators have identified 21 suspected accomplices of an
Islamist gunman who went on a deadly rampage in Vienna last week, officials
said Friday. On November 2, the assailant, named as dual Austrian-Macedonian
national Kujtim Fejzulai, shot dead four people and injured more than 20 others
in the city center before he was killed by police. Michael Lohnegger, the
police official leading the investigation, told a press conference that the
20-year-old was the sole perpetrator of the shooting spree. But he added that
it was not yet possible to say “to what extent accomplices provided support
before the act.” A spokeswoman for the Vienna prosecutor's office, Nina Bussek,
told reporters that 21 people between the ages of 16 and 28 were under
investigation, with 10 of them in custody. “They are essentially suspected of
having contributed to the crime before the terrorist attack, and of being
members of a terrorist group and a criminal organization,” Bussek said.
Fejzulai carried out the attack with a Serbian assault rifle, a Soviet-type
handgun, a machete, as well as ammunition made in Serbia and China. But
Lohnegger said police were still investigating how the weapons reached Austria,
and how Fejzulai managed to travel with them into the city center on the night
of the attack.”

 

Detroit Free Press: Michigan AG Details Extremist Plot To Kidnap Gov. Whitmer,
Including Plan To Burn Capitol Building
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“No one would get out of the Michigan State Capitol alive under the initial
plan devised by the accused ringleader in a Michigan terrorist plot, according
to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. Adam Fox’s “Plan A” wasn’t just
storming the building and taking hostages, as officials have already said
publicly – it was to get in there and televise the execution of tyrants over
the course of a week, with no one coming out alive. Or, alternatively, lock the
doors and set the building on fire. That’s according to a brief filed by the
Michigan Attorney General’s Office in Jackson County’s 12th District Court
against the pretrial release of Pete Musico, 42, of Munith, who is charged at
the state level in connection with a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Adam
Fox, left and Pete Musico, both face charges related to what the FBI says was a
plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The brief was filed ahead of
Musico’s Oct. 23 bond hearing, where his bond was reduced from $10 million to
$100,000. The AG’s office released the brief to the Detroit Free Press of the
USA TODAY Network after it confirmed the document did not fall under a
protective order in the case. Musico was released on bond Oct. 30 with a GPS
tether, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.”

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United States

 

Associated Press: 2 Men Testify Against Alleged Ringleader Of Mosque Bombing
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“Two Illinois men who pleaded guilty to a 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque
testified that the group’s alleged ringleader recruited them for an unspecified
job and didn’t fill them in on his plan until they neared their target. Michael
McWhorter, 31, and Joe Morris, 25, testified that Michael Hari hated Muslims,
and they said they participated in the attack at Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center
at Hari’s instruction. But Hari’s trial was stopped abruptly Friday after a
juror’s spouse tested positive for COVID-19. The Star Tribune reported that the
trial will be in recess while tests are done to determine if the jury was
exposed. It will resume late next week at the earliest. Hari, 49, of Clarence,
Illinois, has pleaded not guilty to five federal charges, including civil
rights and hate crimes, stemming from the Aug. 5, 2017, attack on the Islamic
center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. No one was injured in the
blast, but the building was damaged. McWhorter and Morris pleaded guilty to
their roles in the bombing. Hari’s attorney, James Becker, told jurors that
McWhorter and Morris have changed their stories and were testifying to try to
get reduced sentences. They both face mandatory minimum sentences of 35 years
in prison. McWhorter testified Thursday that he was in financial trouble in the
summer of 2017 when Hari offered him work in “security” for his company,
Minnesota Public Radio News reported.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Al Jazeera: Afghanistan: Suicide Car Bomb Blast In Kabul Kills Many Soldiers
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“A suicide car bomb exploded at the western entry gate of the Afghan capital
Kabul, killing at least three soldiers and wounding four others, an Afghan
official said. The explosion on Friday targeted a government forces’ checkpoint
near the gate of the capital Kabul, according to Interior Ministry spokesman
Tariq Arian. The attack on the army checkpoint follows weeks of violence,
including an attack by gunmen earlier this month that killed 22 people, mostly
students of the Kabul University. The assault was claimed by the ISIL (ISIS)
armed group. On Thursday, Taliban fighters attacked a government security
forces’ checkpoint in northern Kunduz province, killing five soldiers and
wounding two others, said Esmatullah Muradi, the provincial governor’s
spokesman. Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry claims 10 Taliban fighters were
killed in the fighting. On the same day, radio journalist Elyas Dayee was
killed in the southern Afghan province of Helmand in a targeted bomb blast,
officials said. Dayee was the second journalist to be killed in less than a
week in what Human Rights Watch decried as an alarming pattern of “increased
threats and attacks on the media by the Taliban”. However, no one claimed
responsibility for the attack.”

 

Asian News International: 5 Afghan Soldiers Killed In Taliban Attack In
Northern Takhar Province
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“Five soldiers have been confirmed dead as the Taliban terrorists attacked
army posts in Khawaja Ghar district of Afghanistan's northern Takhar province
on Saturday, district governor Mohammad Omar Omar said. The armed terrorists
stormed security checkpoints in Hawa Shinasi area outside district headquarters
in the wee hours of Saturday, triggering a gun battle, the official said,
adding that five soldiers were killed and five others injured in the fighting.
He said the Taliban have suffered casualties but did not give an exact figure.
The Taliban outfit has yet to make comment.”

 

Pakistan

 

Reuters: Pakistan To Provide 'Irrefutable Evidence' India Sponsors Militant
Groups
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“Pakistan will present evidence to the United Nations and other international
bodies that India, its neighbour and arch rival, is involved with militant
organisations on its soil, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
Pakistani officials have long claimed that India sponsors violent groups in
Pakistan -- claims India has always denied -- but Saturday’s announcement at a
press conference in the capital Islamabad provided a heightened level of detail
and specific accusations. “We are now presenting irrefutable evidence to the
world to demonstrate the Indian state’s direct sponsorship of terrorism in
Pakistan that has resulted in the deaths of innocent Pakistanis,” Foreign
Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told media alongside the spokesperson for the
country’s military. A dossier of evidence would be shared with the United
Nations and other international agencies, he added. Reuters sent India’s
foreign ministry a statement from the media wing of Pakistan’s military
detailing the allegations but it did not respond to request for comment. India
not only denies interfering in Pakistan but accuses Islamabad itself of
supporting militants who launch attacks in India and fight in Indian-controlled
portion of the disputed territory Kashmir, a claim Pakistan denies.”

 

Nigeria

 

The Guardian: Nigeria Cracks Down On 'End Sars' Protesters, Alleging Terrorism
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“Nigerian authorities have cracked down on “end Sars” protesters, charging
prominent supporters of financing terrorism and sanctioning coverage of recent
abuses by security forces. Authorities have suspended the bank accounts of
prominent supporters, fined media agencies accused of “exaggerated reporting”
of police abuses – including broadcasting graphic footage of soldiers gunning
down protesters in Lagos last month – and conducted arrests of demonstrators.
Nigerian authorities appear to have used coercive financial measures to
suppress protests against police brutality and independent media reporting,
Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Friday. Twenty individuals and
entities, judged as prominent supporters of “end Sars” protests against the
since-disbanded, infamously brutal special anti-robbery squad, have had their
accounts suspended by Nigerian banks, preventing them from receiving funds. On
4 November, the Central Bank of Nigeria obtained a court order authorising it
to block the accounts for 90 days. Those targeted had been raising or received
money in support of protests that had erupted across Nigeria last month,
providing medical and legal aid for injured and arrested demonstrators, grants
for journalists to cover police and army abuses at the protests, and help to
families of those killed during the demonstrations.”

 

Africa

 

The Washington Post: An Islamist Insurgency In Mozambique Is Gaining Ground —
And Showing A Strong Allegiance To The Islamic State
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“In the densely forested, oil-and-gas-rich northeast corner of Mozambique, a
local Islamic insurgency has steadily escalated with a growing allegiance to
the Islamic State and the arrival of foreign fighters using operational
techniques similar to those from conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Insurgents decapitated as many as 50 people in attacks on several villages
earlier this month in Cabo Delgado province, according to Police Commander
Bernardino Rafael. The attacks in the mainly Christian area of Muidumbe were
condemned by the United Nations, which this week called for an investigation
into the reports that militants had massacred villagers and beheaded women and
children. The beheadings reflected the continuing expansion of the insurgency
that began in earnest in October 2017 along the northern coastal area of Cabo
Delgado but has moved to the interior into the heartland of the Makonde tribe
of Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi. Nyusi and Mozambican Defense Minister
Jaime Neto have accused the insurgents of being armed from outside the country.
“In this terror threat, we have signs of involvement of foreigners who are
recruiting and training local youth, and also equipping them, because we don’t
know how they get their equipment,” Nyusi said on Aug 10.”

 

Bloomberg: Ethiopia Arrests Al-Shabaab And ISIS Suspects Planning Attacks
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“Ethiopian security officials have arrested 14 suspected members of al-Shabaab
and ISIS accused of planning terrorist attacks in the capital Addis Ababa and
other parts of the country, the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing a
statement from the National Intelligence and Security Service. The terrorist
groups tried to exploit the security situation in the country, it said,
referring to the federal government’s military action on the Northern Tigray
regional government. Earlier, two airports in Ethiopia’s Amhara region were
targeted in a rocket attack carried out by forces in the neighboring Tigray
region as violence in the north of the country spreads. Al-Qaeda-linked
militants have waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2006 in a bid to impose
their version of Islamic law. The group continues to carry out suicide bombings
and other attacks in the Horn of Africa country despite being the target of
frequent U.S. drone strikes, and the Somali government retains a weak grip on
power.”

 

Agence France-Presse: IS Claims Burkina Attack That Left 14 Soldiers Dead
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“The Islamic State on Saturday said it had staged a midweek ambush of soldiers
in Burkina Faso ahead of elections this month. The Islamic State in the Greater
Sahara, in a message carried on its Amaq news outlet and on social media, said
it killed 20 soldiers traveling in a convoy Wednesday in Tin-Akoff in Oudalan
province. A rival group, the Jihadist Group to Support Islam and Muslims
(GSIM), had claimed responsibility Friday in social media posts. A government
spokesman Thursday put the death toll at 14 while blaming “armed terrorist
groups.” The attack took place in the country's north, near the border with
Mali and Niger, and came ahead of presidential and legislative elections
scheduled for November 22. The latest bout of violence has seen several
candidates, including incumbent President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, suspend
campaigning for two days. The unrest will prevent residents of almost 1,500
villages out of 8,000 in the country from taking part in the vote. But in
September, parliament passed a law allowing the results to be validated even if
polling did not take place everywhere. The Burkinabe armed forces have suffered
a spate of attacks. In the worst, 24 soldiers were killed at a military base in
Koutougou in the north in August 2019.”

 

Al Jazeera: Dozens Killed In ‘Gruesome’ Bus Attack In Western Ethiopia
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“Gunmen have killed dozens of people in a “gruesome” attack on a bus carrying
civilians in western Ethiopia, according to the country’s human rights body.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said in a statement on Sunday that
“the estimated number of casualties, currently at 34, is likely to rise” from
the attack which occurred on Saturday night in the Debate administrative area
of the Benishangul-Gumuz region. It said there were reports of “similar”
attacks, and of people fleeing the violence in other parts of the region, as
well as “of persons who have fled to seek shelter”. There was no immediate
information about the perpetrators. The attack came amid an escalating conflict
between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray region in the country’s north
that has reportedly killed hundreds of people and sent more than 20,000 people
fleeing over the border in Sudan. There is no known link between the violence
in Benishangul-Gumuz and military operations in Tigray. The attack on the
passenger bus, which was heading from Wonbera to Chagni, took place in a part
of the country that has recently seen a spate of deadly assaults on civilians.”

 

France

 

Sky News: Nice Church Attack Suspect Had Images On Mobile Phone Of Paris
Terrorist
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“The suspect in an Islamic extremist knife attack that killed three people in
a French church had a photograph on one of his mobile phones of the perpetrator
of another deadly incident. French prosecutors said the Tunisian man had images
of Abdoullakh Anzorov, the Chechen refugee identified as the killer of teacher
Samuel Paty who was beheaded on 16 October outside his school near Paris. An
audio message that described France as a “country of unbelievers” and photos
relating to the Islamic State group were also discovered on the phone of the
21-year-old arrested after the 29 October church attack in Nice. However,
investigators have as yet been unable to interview the suspected church
attacker, previously identified as Brahim Aouissaoui, because he remains in
serious condition in hospital. He suffered life-threatening wounds during his
arrest and has since tested positive for coronavirus. An armed police officer
stands guard near Notre Dame church where the attack took place. The
prosecutors' office said it opened a formal investigation on terrorism charges
that will enable investigators to keep looking at whether the suspected
attacker had any accomplices in France, Tunisia or Italy.”

 

Europe

 

The Guardian: Violent Extremism Linked To Failure Of Migrants To Integrate, EU
Says
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“The rise of violent extremism in Europe has been linked to the failure of
migrants to integrate, in a hard-debated joint declaration by EU governments on
the recent terror attacks. The statement by EU home affairs ministers was
described by Horst Seehofer, Germany’s interior minister, as a “great sign of
solidarity” when delivered on Friday but it had been heavily watered down from
a controversial initial draft. After a week of disagreements over the contents
of the proposed declaration pushed by France, Austria and Germany, references
to Islam were removed along with demands for newcomers to learn the languages
of their new home and “earn a living for oneself”. The EU capitals nevertheless
highlighted the need to improve social cohesion in Europe as part of its
reaction to a spate of terrorist murders in Paris, Dresden,
Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, Nice and Vienna. “Integration is a two-way street,”
the declaration said. “This means that migrants are expected to make an active
effort to become integrated, while help in this regard is important.” The
statement issued on the fifth anniversary of the attacks in Paris, in the
Bataclan theatre and outside the Stade de France offered few new policy
initiatives.”

 

Deutsche Welle: EU Mulls New Anti-Terror Measures
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“EU interior ministers met Friday to decide how to tackle attacks following a
series of killings in Austria and France in recent weeks by lone-wolf attackers
with links to Islamist groups. Ministers from the 27 EU governments held talks
by video call on the fifth anniversary of the Paris attacks, when gunmen went
on the rampage in the French capital killing 130 people. “That's not so much
about having more police officers, or sniffer dogs on the ground. It is about
having more sniffer dogs on the internet, because that is where we can send the
alarms, and where we can prevent attacks,” said European Commissioner for Home
Affairs Ylva Johansson.  The ministers will discuss gaining access to encrypted
information from messenger services such as WhatsApp and Signal. “I also know
of the constraints related to data protection and fundamental rights, but this
cannot lead to a situation in which we don't even think about how to get on the
tracks of very dangerous people,” said German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
Another proposal includes creating an EU training center for imams in Europe.
“The training given to imams practicing in Europe does not sufficiently take
into account our fundamental values, in particular freedom of thought and
gender equality,” European Council President Charles Michel (below), who chairs
EU summits, wrote in a newsletter Monday.”

 

Euractiv: The Coming Spike In European Terror
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“…Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of think-tank the Counter Extremism Project,
expanded on what the security risk involved with the Al-Hol release would look
like. “There is a significant [number] of Syrians in Al-Hol who did not
de-radicalize — if anything they re-radicalized and will come out with a new
furor in their ideological thinking,” he said. Al-Hol is far from an isolated
example. As overcrowded boats travel from war-torn nations, like Syria and
Libya, en route to Europe, terrorists are disguising themselves as legitimate
migrants, exploiting this vulnerability. This technique is not new, but only
the resurgence of a well-known tactic used by terrorists in recent years. A
case in point is that of Salah Abdeslam, one of the perpetrators of the Paris
terror atrocities in 2015 which killed 130 people and left more than 350
injured. Abdeslam is believed to have made four trips to Hungary during which
he picked up other terrorists linked to attacks in both Brussels and Paris.
Following the Paris attacks and similar incidents in neighbouring countries,
the security threat of migrant routes became a central focus of the European
establishment. Authorities were shocked that although some of these extremists’
names were on European counter-terrorism databases, many of them posed as
refugees and carried fake Syrian passports to evade detection.”

 

Technology

 

Vice: Telegram Is Leaving A Terrorist Bomb-Making Channel Online
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“Telegram, an encrypted messaging app known for being a safe haven for
neo-Nazi terror groups, allowed a bomb making tutorial channel to continue
broadcasting on its platform despite being notified by a terrorism watchdog of
the channel’s existence. The U.S.-based Counter Extremism Project (CEP),
reported to Telegram what it described in a release as a channel “made for
sharing videos and written instructions for the homemade manufacture of
explosives.” The channel was created on October 29—since then, it has published
posts featuring how-tos on cooking up explosives that garnered over 2000 views.
The channel itself is linked to the broader neo-Nazi extremist ecosystem known
as “Terrorgram.” The channel, which is in English and Russian and counts more
than 300 subscribers, featured videos and texts that promote recipes for
explosives known to be used by jihadist organizations for suicide bombings.
Some posts have a disclaimer downplaying the channel’s clearly more terroristic
qualities: “The channel and materials on it were created exclusively for
scientific purposes, we do not promote or encourage extremist activity.” (Since
the publication of this article, the channel is no longer online.)”

 

Politico: Post-Election, Extremists Use Fringe Social Networks To Push Fraud
Claims, Violence
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“Efforts by Facebook and Twitter to squash claims from President Donald Trump
and others of electoral fraud are hitting a big obstacle: The messages are
running wild on smaller fringe networks popular among the far right — then
boomeranging back onto the mainstream platforms. Extremist groups, white
nationalists and conspiracy theorists — some claiming ties to QAnon, which
alleges a so-called deep-state plot to undermine Trump — have taken to
encrypted messaging apps and online message boards. There, they promote viral
videos of unproven voter fraud, urge supporters to ready their guns in support
of Trump and push anti-Semitic and racist claims about election officials,
according to POLITICO’s review of multiple Telegram channels, 4Chan discussions
and conversations on Parler, a social network favored by more mainstream
conservatives. Such discussions have skyrocketed on these alternative platforms
since the Nov. 3 election, creating a safe harbor for those pushing claims of
fraud and a venue to push for real-world action. The fringe forums also have
acted as staging grounds for coordinated misinformation campaigns targeting the
major social networks, as well as repositories for extreme content, initially
posted on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, that was later removed from those
platforms, based on POLITICO’s review.”

 

Euronews: EU Interior Ministers Pledge To Take Down Terrorist Content, Boost
Border Security
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“European interior ministers have pushed the fight against terrorism to the
top of their agenda following last month’s attacks in Paris, Nice and Vienna.
In a joint statement issued on the fifth anniversary of the November 13 attacks
in France, the interior ministers pledged to work towards the faster removal of
terrorist content from social media networks. They agreed to finalise
negotiations on regulations for removing terrorist content by the end of the
year. “The aim is to enable issuing removal orders with cross-border effect to
create a new and rapid and effective instrument to counter terrorist content
online within an hour or less of its being reported, while maintaining
effective safeguards for the protection of fundamental rights,” the ministers
said in the statement. They also agreed to reinforce external borders, stating:
“We want to strengthen and further develop options for security measures within
the Schengen area as well as instruments for cross-border law enforcement
cooperation.” There have already been a number of operational reinforcements to
Schengen including the creation of European border guards, Yves Pascouau, from
the think tank Res Publica, told Euronews earlier this week.”



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