The al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group has chosen a new leader to
replace Abdelmalek Droukdel, who was killed in June by French forces

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


November 23, 2020

 

 

Al Jazeera: Al-Qaeda In North Africa Appoints New Leader After Killing
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“The al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group has chosen a new leader to
replace Abdelmalek Droukdel, who was killed in June by French forces, the SITE
monitoring group reported. Algerian Abu Obaida Yusuf al-Annabi, head of AQIM’s
“Council of Dignitaries”, was named as Droukdel’s successor, SITE said. AQIM
displayed the body of its former leader for the first time in a video, it added
on Saturday. Al-Annabi has been on the US’s “international terrorist” blacklist
since September 2015, according to the Counter Extremism Project. He has
regularly appeared in the group’s propaganda videos, and in 2013 demanded that
Muslims retaliate against France’s intervention in Mali. AQIM also confirmed
the death of Swiss national Beatrice Stoeckli, who was abducted in Timbuktu
while working as a missionary in 2016. It blamed her death on an attempt by
“French crusaders” to free her. AQIM emerged from a group started in the late
1990s by Algerian fighters who, in 2007, pledged allegiance to Osama bin
Laden’s al-Qaeda network. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous
attacks on troops and civilians across the Sahel region, including a 2016
attack on an upmarket hotel and restaurant in Burkina Faso that killed 30
people, mainly Westerners.”

 

The New York Times: As Pompeo Prepared To Meet Afghan Warring Parties, New
Attack Struck Kabul
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“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday visited the Gulf nation of Qatar,
where he met with Afghan and Taliban negotiators who are trying to break a
deadlock in their stalled peace negotiations. He landed hours after a deadly
rocket attack in Kabul, the latest evidence of the violence spiraling across
Afghanistan. The rocket barrage slammed into the heart of Kabul, killing at
least eight people and wounding more than two dozen. The attack early on
Saturday set off warning sirens that blared across the diplomatic quarters of
the Afghan capital, and residents on their morning commute took cover. The
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE
Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamic State announcements. The group is
seen by many experts as one of the primary spoilers for any future peace in
Afghanistan. Qatar is the latest stop on Mr. Pompeo’s whirlwind lap of
diplomacy in the waning hours of the Trump administration, looking to push
forward White House foreign policy objectives before President-elect Joseph R.
Biden Jr. takes office in January. The Pentagon said this week that it would
reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by nearly half — to 2,500, down
from 4,500 by mid-January.”

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United States

 

Associated Press: Florida Bomber’s Sentence Reduced In Terror Attack On Black
College
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“A man convicted two decades ago of setting off pipe bombs at a historically
Black college in Florida had his sentence reduced Thursday to 54 years, down
from life plus 39 years. Lawrence Lombardi, 62, has already served about 21
years, which mean the new sentence he received in Tallahassee federal court
could keep him locked up until he is 95. Lombardi was convicted in 2000 of
planting and detonating two pipe bombs on the campus of Florida A&M University
in August and September of 1999. “Lawrence Lombardi’s criminal acts terrorized
FAMU faculty, students, and their family members during the fall of 1999 and
generated fear in our community that lingered on well past his arrest,” U.S.
Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Lawrence Keefe said in a
statement. No one was injured in the bombings, but prosecutors at the time
argued that the bombings were motivated by racial prejudice. Jurors convicted
Lombardi, who is white, of six counts: two counts of maliciously damaging
property, two counts of using a destructive device during and in relation to a
crime of violence and two counts of interfering with federally protected
activities on the basis of race or color.”

 

Iraq

 

Al Jazeera: Deadly ISIL Attack North Of Baghdad Sparks Anger
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“Iraq’s Salahuddin province declared three days of mourning on Sunday after a
deadly attack blamed on the ISIL (ISIS) armed group, as some criticised the
authorities for failing to fight back. Late Saturday, a roadside bomb hit a
civilian car on an open road about 200km (120 miles) north of the capital
Baghdad, police and a local official said. When security forces arrived at the
scene, ISIL fighters opened fire on them. The attack killed at least six Iraqi
security officers and four civilians, including one who died of his wounds
overnight, according to medics. There was no claim of responsibility by ISIL
but both the mayor and police blamed the armed group, which Iraq’s government
said it defeated in late 2017. That victory came after three years of brutal
fighting to wrench back the one-third of Iraqi territory that was captured by
ISIL in 2014. Although the fighters no longer hold territory, sleeper cells
wage hit-and-run attacks on state infrastructure, particularly in desert areas
north of Baghdad. ISIL also launches attacks on the Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi
militias, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces. The Hashd al-Shaabi,
founded as a loose network of Shia-majority factions, played a crucial role in
defeating ISIL alongside the US-led coalition.”

 

Voice Of America: No Way Home: Former IS Detainees Doomed To Limbo In Iraq
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“The Hassan Sham Camp, like so many others in Iraq, was built in 2016, as
Iraqi and coalition forces retook territories held by the Islamic State terror
group. At least a million people fled their homes at the time and tens of
thousands of men were arrested as IS suspects in the chaos. In the years that
followed, many were found guilty. Many were not. But here in the Kurdistan
region of Iraq, hundreds of men who were acquitted or released after serving
sentences for minor crimes are stuck in camps, with no way home. Mahmoud, 25,
was arrested and accused of being involved with IS. After he had been detained
for two years, authorities found him not guilty and let him go. But his release
papers are not recognized outside the Kurdistan region, and if he tries to
return to his home, he could be arrested again. “I was released. I have a paper
from the court of [the Kurdistan regional capital, Irbil] that proves my
innocence,” he insisted, taking out the paper. Other young men joked that a
paper demonstrating acquittal in Irbil is worse than useless outside the
Kurdistan region, encouraging Iraqi forces to make a quick arrest. About 200
men are now living in Hassan Sham Camp under these circumstances, according to
the camp manager, Mivan Akey, and other camps across the region face the same
problem.”

 

Military.com: US Will Still Support ISIS Fight Despite Drawdowns From Iraq,
Afghanistan, General Says
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“The U.S. military will continue to have an active presence in the Middle East
despite recently announced troop drawdowns, the head of U.S. Central Command
said Friday. “Our presence in the region sends a clear and unambiguous signal
of our capabilities but, most importantly, the will to defend partners in the
national interest,” said Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the CENTCOM commander.
U.S. forces are still needed in the region to deter Iran and contain the
Islamic State, which continues to pose a threat in Iraq and Syria requiring
U.S. support for local forces, McKenzie said in virtual remarks to the National
Council on U.S. Arab Relations. An ISIS offshoot in Afghanistan has also been
targeted by U.S. forces and has often clashed with the Taliban. Several times
in 2019, both on Twitter and in statements, President Donald Trump said that
the Islamic State had been “100% defeated.” However, a day after the raid into
Syria by U.S. commandos that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, Trump in an address to Chicago law enforcement officers said that
“70%” of the so-called “caliphate” had been eliminated. “We're moving forward
with the president's decision to reduce our forces in Iraq to 2,500 [from about
3,000 by Jan. 15],” he said.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Washington Post: The Taliban Is On The Offensive. Keeping The Militants At
Bay: U.S. Airstrikes, Even As Bases Close And Troops Leave.
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“The Taliban's attacks outside this large provincial capital began this month
with little out of the ordinary: sporadic small-arms fire on military outposts.
Quickly, though, the gunfire morphed into a barrage of heavy artillery that
allowed thousands of Taliban fighters to pour into the district of Arghandab.
Within a matter of days, the district, which had been under government control
for a decade, was in Taliban hands. It was only after a series of punishing
U.S. airstrikes that Afghan ground forces were able to retake the territory,
Afghan officials said. U.S. air support played a similarly critical role last
month in pushing back the militant group in Helmand province, where the Taliban
came within yards of breaching the provincial capital’s limits. The battles
come as U.S. forces have begun to close Kandahar Air Field, according to two
Afghan officials, as part of an accelerated drawdown of U.S. forces in the
country. After the recent weeks of intense fighting, many here fear the reduced
troop numbers and base closures could mean less U.S. support for future battles
against an emboldened Taliban. The U.S. airstrikes were “the only reason the
Taliban was pushed back,” said Lt. Col. Niaz Mahmad Majahad, the national
police commander in Arghandab whose forces fought the Taliban until the
military arrived. “If it weren’t for the airstrikes, the Taliban would not have
fallen.”

 

Pakistan

 

Al Jazeera: Pakistan: Soldier, Four Fighters Killed In Afghan Border Attack
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“Pakistan’s military has said a soldier and four rebel fighters have been
killed in a shoot-out during a raid near the border with Afghanistan. The
military said two soldiers were also injured during the raid on Sunday in the
Spinwam area of North Waziristan, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. North
Waziristan served as a headquarters for local and foreign rebels until 2017,
when the army said it had cleared the mountainous region of fighters following
several operations. The region still sees sporadic attacks, mainly targeting
security forces. Such incidents have raised fears the Pakistani Taliban is
regrouping. Separately, in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a
Pakistani official said Indian cross-border firing killed a seven-year-old girl
and wounded 10 villagers. Umar Azam, the deputy commissioner of Kotli district
in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, said Pakistani troops returned fire across
the border. The fighting came amid increasing tensions between the
nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours. Earlier this month, Pakistani and Indian
troops exchanged fire across the frontier, leaving 12 people dead, including
three Indian and one Pakistani soldier, and wounding at least 36 on both sides.
The fatalities were some of the highest reported in recent years.”

 

Agence France-Presse: Death Of Firebrand Cleric In Pakistan Clouds Future Of
Extremist Movement
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“In life, Pakistani hardline cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi terrorised the
country's religious minorities and incited nationwide riots, all while issuing
pleas for the nuclear annihilation of European nations. But following his
sudden death Thursday, days after leading a paralysing anti-France rally in the
capital, Pakistan's military hailed him as a “great scholar” and Prime Minister
Imran Khan offered his heartfelt condolences -- both likely wary of the power
of his movement. Tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out for his
funeral in Lahore on Saturday and flout mask-wearing guidelines as the country
enters a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak. No cause of death has been
announced for 54-year-old Rizvi. An official at the hospital where he died told
AFP the longtime wheelchair user been suffering from a high fever and breathing
problems, but no Covid-19 test or autopsy were conducted. Rizvi had weaponised
the ultra-sensitive issue of blasphemy in the Muslim-majority nation and
radicalised large swathes of Punjab, opening a new chapter in Pakistan's
violent confrontation with extremism. In just a few short years, the cleric,
known for his profanity-laced speeches and theatrical gestures, gained mass
support and rose to become one of the country's most feared figures.”

 

Middle East

 

CNN: The Jihadist Threat Is Outliving Its Global Leaders
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“The killing of al Qaeda deputy leader Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, which multiple
current and former U.S. officials have attributed to a team of Israeli agents,
according to the Associated Press, was a big blow to the top tier of America's
decades-long terrorist enemy. A long-standing member of al Qaeda's senior
leadership who had been in Iran since 2003, his death was yet another victory
in a US-led counterterrorism campaign that in recent months has killed the
group's purported media chief in Afghanistan, according to an AP report, and a
string of senior leaders based in Syria. Meanwhile, rumors persist that al
Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri may also have recently died from natural causes.
“It is now possible to see the contours of how the war against al Qaeda ends.”
So said Christopher Miller on Sept. 10, while the director of the National
Counterterrorism Center. Fast forward two months and Miller is now acting
Secretary of Defense and signaling that the US is in a “critical phase” in
which “all wars must end.” These statements should be seen within the context
of the outgoing Trump administration seeking to drive a last-minute agenda, but
they reflect a wider American trend -- not just of pulling back from foreign
engagements, but of believing the threat posed by jihadist terrorism is at an
all-time low.”

 

Agence France-Presse: Al-Qaeda Chief Al-Zawahiri Is Dead
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“Al-Qaeda chief and Egyptian national Ayman Al-Zawahiri has died in
Afghanistan from natural causes, Arab media reported on Friday. The news
reports came a few days after social media carried speculation that the
Al-Qaeda chief had passed away. Zawahiri was last seen in a video message that
was released by the militant group on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
in the US. Arab News stated in its report that it spoke to at least four
security sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan — who spoke on condition of
anonymity — out of which two confirmed Zawahiri's death. An Al-Qaeda translator
said Zawahiri had died last week in Ghazni. "He died of asthma because he had
no formal treatment." … According to the US-based Counter Extremism Project
(CEP) think tank, he was arrested in Iran in 2003 and freed in 2015 in a
prisoner exchange. He was still believed to be in Iran in 2018 as one of
al-Zawahiri's key deputies. "Adel played a crucial role in building Al-Qaeda´s
operational capabilities and quickly ascended the hierarchy," the CEP said.”

 

Nigeria

 

Sahara Reporters: Again, Boko Haram Terrorists Attack Governor Zulum’s Convoy,
Kill Seven Soldiers, Two Others
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“Boko Haram terrorists on Saturday again ambushed an advance team of Borno
State governor, Babagana Zulum, at Ja'alta along Gajiram to Monguno Road,
killing seven soldiers and members of Civilian-JTF, security sources told
SaharaReporters. The insurgents attacked the convoy on their way to Baga in
Kukawa Local Government Area as a security detail to Zulum, who is is spending
two days with other government officials in the town to distribute food items
to newly resettled displaced persons. Sources said the governor had earlier
flown by helicopter to the town with some top government officials. “We were
attacked by the gunmen who came with about six trucks and seven motorcycles. We
engaged them but they have already destabilised. “We had no option than to
abort the trip and returned back to Maiduguri with corpses of the deceased.
About seven people died immediately but two of my colleagues (soldiers) died
from gunshot injuries when we got back to Maiduguri,” a soldier attached to the
governor told SaharaReporters. In all, nine security men in the advance team
were killed in a fierce battle with the terrorists. This is the third attack on
the governor in Baga in three months.”

 

Somalia

 

BBC News: Life After Al-Shabab: Driving A School Bus Instead Of An Armed
Pickup Truck <[link removed]>

 

“The Somali militant group al-Shabab recruits thousands of foot soldiers, but
also needs people to provide public services in the area it controls. Any
caught trying to leave are put to death. At the same time, the government tries
to encourage defectors, and runs rehab centres to help them re-enter society.
There are three of them sitting opposite me in the dark room. Ibrahim is on the
left. His gaze is confident, sunglasses tucked into his striped polo shirt, a
large watch around his wrist and big brown eyes shining beneath his baseball
cap. He says he is 35. Moulid is in the middle. He is thin and wears yellow
flip flops to match his yellow shirt. He is 28 years old. On the right is
Ahmed. He has a neat beard with a keffiyeh scarf wrapped around his head. He is
wearing a sky-blue shirt with a sky blue T-shirt underneath. He is 40. They
have a complaint. They do not like the breakfast on offer in this safe place,
behind the wire at Mogadishu's international airport. “It is not our normal
food, like pancakes and beans. We do not like bottled water. We like a simple
life and simple water,” says Ahmed. Unfortunately, the airport caters to
international tastes. There is pizza, steak and beer, not Somali fare."

 

Africa

 

Associated Press: Burkina Faso To Vote Amid Escalating Violence
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“Burkina Faso will vote in presidential and legislative elections on Sunday,
amid escalating extremist violence that’s killed more than 2,000 people this
year and displaced some one million people from their homes. Speaking at a
packed rally on his campaign tour in Bobo-Dioulasso town this month, President
Roch Marc Christian Kabore promised, if reelected, to keep fighting until the
country was secure. “We will not give up, we will keep fighting until we will
have peace and victory on our soil,” he said. But Kabore, who is seeking a
second five-year term, is being accused by the dozen opposition candidates
vying for his position, for failing to secure the once peaceful West African
nation, which has plunged into a humanitarian crisis and been overrun by
jihadist attacks linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State since taking office
in 2015. Leading the charge against him is Eddie Komboigo, head of the Congress
for Democracy and Progress (CDP), the party of former President Blaise Compaore
who was ousted by a popular uprising in 2014. Komboigo told the AP that Burkina
Faso was in a “catastrophe” and blamed Kabore for being unwilling to pursue a
more diplomatic approach with the jihadists.”

 

Al Jazeera: Mozambique Says Northern Village, Site Of ‘Beheadings’, Retaken
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“More than 1,000 Mozambique troops have recaptured the northern village of
Muidumbe from armed fighters, police general commander Bernardino Rafael said,
killing 16 and destroying some of their logistics. Mozambique’s northernmost
province of Cabo Delgado, home to gas developments worth some $60bn, is
grappling with an armed campaign linked to ISIL (ISIS) that has gathered pace
this year, with fighters regularly taking on the army and seizing entire towns.
Speaking to troops in a field in Muidumbe, an area where local media reported a
spate of beheadings by the fighters last week, Rafael on Thursday congratulated
the men for their victory but warned they had not won yet. “We marched and
arrived in Muidumbe district headquarters, we expelled those who had occupied
it,” he said in footage broadcast by state broadcaster TVM following the
operation. “Congratulations to our brave men … what we achieved up to now is
not a victory, we achieved one step of our work,” he said, adding that fighters
should stop the violence and speak with the government, which is open to
dialogue. The armed group, Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, staged their first attack in
2017. Known at first mainly for crude beheadings, they declared allegiance to
ISIL in June 2019 and since then have massively stepped up their attacks in
both scale and frequency.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Independent: Isis Supporter Who Said ‘Attack’ Video Was Just Dog Command
Jailed For Encouraging Terrorism
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“An Isis-supporting drug dealer has been jailed for encouraging terror
attacks, after claiming he was merely practicing dog commands. Shehroz Iqbal
posted a video of London landmarks in an extremist WhatsApp group on 11 March,
the Old Bailey heard. While the camera panned across Waterloo Bridge and the
Royal Festival Hall, he could be heard saying: “This is my spot akhi (brother)
central London. Attack, attack.” Judge Katz QC said he posted the video in an
Islamist WhatsApp group to urge “likeminded extremists” to carry out terror
attacks. Iqbal claimed that he was saying “attack, attack” because he wanted a
German Shepherd like his former pet dog, Rocky, and was practicing commands.
But the judge called his explanation “absurd” at a sentencing hearing on
Friday. “You had joined the ranks of radicalised extremists who support Isis in
the UK, some of whom are notorious,” Judge Katz said. “I am sure that when you
made and posted that short film, you intended members of the WhatsApp group to
be encouraged to commission acts of terrorism.” Iqbal did not give evidence at
his trial but also told police that he had gone for a cycle ride to the Hayward
Gallery and made the video to show off his bike.”

 

Daily Mail: At Least Four ISIS Jihadi Brides Are Queuing Up Behind Shamima
Begum To Return To UK By Launching Legal Action Challenging Government Decision
To Strip Them Of British Citizenship
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“At least four ISIS brides are following Shamima Begum's lead in challenging
the government's decision to strip them of their British citizenship in a bid
to return to the UK. Begum's future is set to be determined tomorrow as Judges
at the Supreme Court will rule whether the 21-year-old will be allowed to
return to the UK to appeal for her citizenship to be reinstated. Begum left the
UK for Syria in 2015 aged 15 as a school girl from Bethnal Green, east London,
she married a Dutch ISIS fighter Yago Riedijk and had three children who have
all died. Begum had her UK citizenship stripped in 2019. Similarly four other
women are believed to be seeking passage home to the UK from detention camps in
Syria by taking legal action against the UK government, The Times reports. The
women, who are all mothers, have been granted anonymity to maintain their human
rights and due to the risk of revenge attacks which could follow their attempts
to get back to the UK. They are expected to make the case for their British
Passports to be reinstated claiming that they had been trafficked to Syria by
their ISIS fighter husbands.  Begum's case became a major political controversy
in Britain, resulting in then-home secretary Sajid Javid revoking her British
citizenship on national security grounds.”

 

France

 

Voice Of America: Americans Who Foiled Attempted Attack On Train Are Back In
Paris To Testify
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“France will always remember 2015 as a deadly year with several terrorist
attacks, including one that targeted the Charlie Hebdo magazine headquarters
and another at the Bataclan concert hall. But one attack was foiled that year
on an Amsterdam-to-Paris train. On August 21, a gunman with an AK-47 and a bag
of nearly 300 rounds of ammunition boarded the high-speed train to allegedly
commit a massacre on behalf of the Islamic State terror group. The trial of
those charged in the incident is underway. Jean-Charles Brisard, a
counterterrorism expert who chairs the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism,
said the armed man, Ayoub El Khazzani, is directly linked to Adelhamid Abaaoud,
mastermind of the November 2015 Paris attacks, since the men traveled to Europe
from Syria together. Brisard said El Khazzani was a member of the Islamic State
and trained in its camps, where he learned how to shoot to stage an attack in
Europe. Thanks to the bravery of a few passengers, including three young
Americans backpacking through Europe that summer, the gunman was tackled and
subdued. They are now back in France to testify at the trial against El
Khazzani and his alleged accomplices.”

 

Europe

 

Al Jazeera: Far Right Seizing COVID-19 ‘Opportunity’ To Expand: Study
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“Far-right individuals in Europe and the United States are increasingly
forming global links and using the coronavirus pandemic to attract anti-vaccine
activists and conspiracy theorists to their cause, a study commissioned by the
German foreign ministry said. The study, released on Friday, was carried out in
Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the US, Sweden and Finland by the Counter
Extremism Project (CEP). It documents the emergence of a new far-right movement
since 2014 that is “leaderless, transnational, apocalyptic and oriented towards
violence”. The people involved believe in the nationalist theory of “great
replacement” being orchestrated to supplant Europe’s white population with
outsiders. The study said the movement was fuelled by “music, violent sport,
money, and violence”. “Music and violent sport events are a common feature of
many violent XRW [extreme right wing] scenes transnationally,” the study said.
“They aim to provide the movement with finances to sustain its existence and
attract previously unconnected individuals as potential recruits to its ranks.”
The CEP report said the movement was largely male-dominated but there had been
instances of “female terrorist plotters or attackers.”

 

Technology

 

The Guardian: Facebook Condemned For Hosting Neo-Nazi Network With UK Links
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“A white supremacist network with more than 80,000 followers and links to the
UK far right, including a student charged with terrorist offences, is being
hosted by Facebook and Instagram, putting the world’s largest social media
company under fresh pressure to tackle extremism. The network, which includes
more than 40 neo-Nazi sites, offers merchandise including NaziSS symbols and
stickers praising Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager under investigation for
shooting dead two Black Lives Matter protesters in Wisconsin in August.
According to the London-based Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), sales
of the products fund two neo-Nazi extremist movements operating from Ukraine:
Azov Battalion and Misanthropic Division. A number of UK far-right activists
are believed to have been recruited by Azov Battalion to fight in the conflict
in Ukraine. A British man is facing trial accused of 12 terror offences after
police found him in possession of extremist material, including clothing and
flags linked to Misanthropic Division. The student denies the charges. The
disclosure comes as Facebook, under scrutiny over its policing of abuses,
attempts to prove it is tackling hate speech and extremism.”



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