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Eye on Extremism
November 23, 2020
Al Jazeera: Al-Qaeda In North Africa Appoints New Leader After Killing
“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
“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.”
United States
Associated Press: Florida Bomber’s Sentence Reduced In Terror Attack On Black College
“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
“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
“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.”
“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 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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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.”
“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
“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
“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
“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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