The Taliban have denied they are deliberately targeting journalists in attacks
amid the surge in violence throughout Afghanistan. The US watchdog

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


December 4, 2020

 

The Guardian: Taliban Denies Targeting Media After 50th Journalist Dies In
Afghanistan
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“The Taliban have denied they are deliberately targeting journalists in
attacks amid the surge in violence throughout Afghanistan. The US watchdog
Sigar (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) says Taliban
violence has risen by 50% since September, with media workers saying they don’t
feel safe doing their jobs. A spokesman for the Taliban told the Guardian they
maintain a positive interaction with the media. “By our policy, we give great
importance to the work of journalists,” Muhammad Naeem said, adding that the
Taliban have given access to journalists in areas under their control.
“Targeting civilians is not the policy of the Islamic emirate,” he said. But as
talks between the militants and the Afghan government slowly progress, Afghan
media are worried for their future. Last week reporter Elyas Dayee became the
50th journalist killed in the country since 2001, according to the Committee to
Protect Journalists, when he was hit by a car bomb in Helmand province. Just
days before Dayee’s death, Yama Siawash of Tolo TV, Afghanistan’s biggest news
channel, died in a similar attack in Kabul. No group has claimed either attack.
“A series of targeted killings of civilians has recently begun in Kabul,
including attacks on mosque imams, university professors and educational
institutions,” Naeem acknowledged, though denying Taliban involvement.”

 

Arab News: US Could Designate Houthi Militia As ‘Terrorist’ Organization
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“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could designate the Houthi militia as a
terrorist organization this week, Al-Arabiya TV reported, citing the Washington
Post. US National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien said earlier that the US
had options to deal with the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. O’Brien added
that Washington has been constantly studying this decision, calling on the
militia to stay away from Iran and stop attacking neighboring countries. He
further criticized the Houthis for their failure in engaging in negotiations
and showing good intentions to end the conflict in Yemen, adding that
Washington has been monitoring the situation closely over the past period. The
decision to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization is on President
Donald Trump’s agenda during the remaining months of his administration,
O’Brien said.”

 

United States

 

Reuters: Sen. Cruz Reintroduces Act To Designate Muslim Brotherhood A
Terrorist Group
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“Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) reintroduced the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist
Designation Act this week, his office announced on Wednesday. The act urges the
US State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization (FTO). “I am proud to reintroduce this bill and to advance
America’s fight against radical Islamic terrorism,” said Cruz. “I commend the
current administration’s work calling terrorism by its name and combating the
spread of this potent threat, and I look forward to receiving the additional
information this new bill requests from the Department of State. “Many of our
closest allies in the Arab world have long ago concluded that the Muslim
Brotherhood is a terrorist group that seeks to sow chaos across the Middle
East,” he said. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) co-sponsored the bill, saying that,
“since the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Brotherhood-affiliated
groups have consistently preached and incited hatred against Christians, Jews,
and other Muslims while supporting designated radical terrorists. “I am proud
that under the Trump administration, we continue to call out and combat radical
terrorism, and I am glad to join my colleagues today in reintroducing this
legislation,” he said. “We must continue to condemn foreign terrorist
organizations and hold them accountable for the evil they perpetrate.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: Turkish Security Forces Detain Daesh Suspects, Including 1 With
Links To Vienna Attacks
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“Turkish security forces continue to nab Daesh terrorists across the country,
with the latest operations on Thursday taking place in metropolises such as
Istanbul and western Izmir, where one of the detained suspects confessed having
links to the Vienna attack. In Izmir, a suspect and 10 others with links to the
terrorist group, were detained during a counterterrorism operation. The
operation was conducted within the scope of Izmir's office of the chief
prosecutor's investigation on the Salafi groups' actions within the province.
In this respect, it was determined that the suspect Ramazan O., code-named “Ebu
Haris,” who is already being sued in an ongoing trial, was carrying out
terrorist activities from a bookshop in Izmir. Reportedly, the suspect had been
conducting meetings in the bookshop to recruit terrorists for Daesh and
influence youth through live events on his social media account while engaging
in fundraising activities at the same time. He is also revealed to have links
with one of the detained suspects in the Vienna attacks. Upon this evidence,
simultaneous counterterrorism operations were conducted at 14 different spots.
During the operation, a shotgun and various banned publishing were seized.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Washington Post: Legendary Afghan Pilot In Hiding After U.S. Reverses
Decision To Help Him Flee Taliban
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“Maj. Naiem Asadi was already in his attack helicopter over Kabul when the
call blared over the radio: Militants were raining down mortars near the
presidential compound, and someone needed to find them. Asadi, one of the most
experienced pilots in the Afghan air force, whirled his MD-530 aircraft to scan
the horizon and spotted the telltale plume of white smoke. He raked the area
with a burst of rockets, killing the fighters during the 2018 mission, he said
in an interview. His actions were featured in a video by the U.S.-led coalition
eager to highlight skilled Afghan troops. But the exposure helped the Taliban
mark him for death threats. U.S. officials granted his request to flee to the
United States but reversed their decision hours before he was to depart —
leaving Asadi wondering who will track him down first. “I found a house to hide
from the Afghan government and the Taliban,” Asadi, 32, said by phone from an
undisclosed location, where he has been sheltering with his 4-year-old daughter
and wife after weeks of refuge at a U.S. base came to an end. The episode,
first reported by Stars and Stripes, has rallied a dozen former U.S. pilots who
worked with Asadi. They said U.S. officials turned their back on him after a
career that includes saving the lives of American pilots and have urged
lawmakers in their states to focus on the issue.”

 

Saudi Arabia

 

Gulf News: Saudi Arabia And Egypt Islamic Bodies In Sync Against Militants
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“Saudi Arabia’s Islamic institutions and Al Azhar, Egypt’s influential Islamic
centre, are united in exposing “misleading ideologies’ of radical groups
including the Muslim Brotherhood, according to a senior Saudi official.”There
is consensus between Al Azhar and the religious authorities in the kingdom in
warning against the misleading ideologies of the Brotherhood and the militant
groups,” Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs and Call Abdulatif Al Sheikh added.
He cited a recent statement issued by the Saudi Senior Scholars Council, Saudi
Arabia’s top Islamic body, which condemned the Brotherhood and designated it as
a terrorist group. “The statement came to consolidate the kingdom’s efforts in
confronting the misleading Brotherhood,” Al Sheikh told the Sout of Al Azhar
magazine. “This consensus will bear fruit for Muslims and spare them the
misleading parties and their sedition,” he added. “It is necessary to stand
firm against calls launched by the extremist groups underestimating the
religious institutions and established scholars with the pernicious aim of
monopolising the scene for spreading their radical ideas,” the official added.
“We and Al Azhar represent the top of Islamic call, exchange visits and ideas
as well as discuss all issues.”

 

Lebanon

 

The Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah In Nowhere Land
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“The title of Prof. Hilal Khashan’s book – Hizbullah: A Mission to Nowhere –
neatly encapsulates its invaluable contribution to our understanding of the
Lebanese terrorist movement. Khashan accomplishes his declared goal, “to show
readers that the emergence of Hizbullah was unnecessary – detrimental even –
for the political evolution of Lebanese Shi’ites.” Equally important, the
professor, who teaches at the American University of Beirut, covers in nine
chapters the enormous damage Hezbollah has inflicted on the Middle East and
across the international community. Khashan, a US-trained expert on Middle
Eastern security, does yeoman’s service in analyzing how the Islamic Republic
of Iran gave birth to Hezbollah and seeks to expand its radical jihadi
ideology. “Directly created by Iran, its [Hezbollah’s] strategic mission goes
beyond resisting Israeli occupation and controlling the joints of the Lebanese
political system to exporting Khomeini’s Islamic revolution and wilayat
al-faqih [Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist]. There is endless evidence to
support the claim that Hizbullah is an Iranian Trojan Horse in the Middle East
and possibly beyond,” he writes.”

 

Somalia

 

Dalsan Radio: Somalia: SNA Says 51 Shabaabs Killed In 'Botched' Raid On Somali
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“The government confirmed that on Tuesday Somali troops killed 51 Al-Shabaab
fighters during the latter's botched attack on the Somali National Army (SNA)
base in the southern region on Monday. Osman Dubbe, Minister for Information
said six al-Shabab terrorists were also arrested including the mastermind of
the attack. The attack also left 15 other people, including soldiers dead. The
government also lauded the civilians who teamed up with the soldiers to defeat
the terrorists who had planned to overrun the military base in the southern
town of Baladweyne in Mudug region. “Al-Shabab defeat in yesterday's (Monday)
attack in Baladweyne is a clear example of how the people who stand by the army
can easily stop the attacks and plots of the enemy against the Somali nation,”
Dubbe said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. The minister said both the
soldiers and the residents fought bravely to defeat the al-Qaida allied
terrorist group which Dubbe termed as the “enemy of the Somali people.”
However, the militant group said its fighters killed 53 government troops and
seized six military vehicles including anti-aircraft guns during the Monday
morning assault. The extremist group which is fighting to overthrow the
government frequently exaggerates the number of troops/civilians they kill.”

 

Africa

 

BBC News: Is Africa Overtaking The Middle East As The New Jihadist
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“About 300 British troops have arrived in the troubled West African state of
Mali at a time when the epicentre of the Islamic State group (IS) appears to
have moved from the Middle East to Africa. In a three-year mission named
Operation Newcombe they are joining a force of around 15,000 UN multinational
troops, spearheaded by the French, in efforts to help stabilise a part of the
continent known as the Sahel. Mali is one of several Sahel nations currently
fighting jihadist insurgencies and the violence is getting worse. According to
the Global Terrorism Index published on 25 November, the “centre of gravity”
for the Islamic State group IS has moved away from the Middle East to Africa
and to some extent South Asia, with total deaths by IS in sub-Saharan Africa up
by 67% over last year. “The expansion of ISIS affiliates into sub-Saharan
Africa led to a surge in terrorism in many countries in the region,” reports
the Global Terrorism Index. “Seven of the 10 countries with the largest
increase in terrorism were in sub-Saharan Africa: Burkina Faso, Mozambique,
DRC, Mali, Niger, Cameroon and Ethiopia”. The report points out that in 2019
“sub-Saharan Africa recorded the largest number of ISIS-related terrorism
deaths at 982, or 41 per cent of the total”. Jihadists have long been active in
Africa.”

 

Voice Of America: Displaced Nearing 400,000 In Mozambique's Islamist Insurgency

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“Aid groups in northern Mozambique say attacks on civilians have displaced
close to 400,000 people during three years of Islamist terrorism.
Fifty-year-old Matumba Mussa said armed men showed up at his house in the port
town of Mocímboa da Praia one October night and demanded he call his relatives.
After his three brothers arrived, the men set fire to his house and three
others, then took his brothers into the forest, according to Mussa. Three days
later, he said, dismembered bodies were found in the forest. Insurgents linked
to Islamic State took over Mocímboa da Praia in August – one of a series of
brazen attacks this year in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado province. Mussa
fled south to the provincial capital's Metuge refugee camp, becoming one of
close to 400,000 people displaced by the violence since 2017. The United
Nations World Food Program's representative in Cabo Delgado, Cristina Graziani,
said they are working to assist those in need. “The latest, official count is a
bit above 366,000 people displaced in Cabo Delgado, in the province,” she said.
“And that has obviously been an increase in the past six months.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Daily Mail: Islamic State 'Is Plotting Christmas Terror Attacks In UK And
Europe' For Publication Of Prophet Mohammed Cartoons In France, Ex-MI6 Spy
Warns As Macron Announces Plans To Close 80 'Extremist' Mosques
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“The so-called Islamic State is plotting Christmas terror attacks in Britain
and European countries in revenge for the publication of cartoons of the
Prophet Mohammed in France, a former MI6 spy has warned. Aimen Dean, who spent
eight years spying on al-Qaeda before his cover was blown by a US intelligence
leak, claimed plots were being hatched in jihadi-held areas of northern Syria
and Libya to terrorise Europeans this winter. He told a security conference in
London that Abu Omar al-Shishani, an Isis commander who is thought to have
survived a US strike in 2016, is planning to send extremists to the West via
Turkey and across the Mediterranean from North Africa. They will then carry out
a series of terror atrocities in Britain, France and Germany as their
governments lift coronavirus restrictions ahead of Christmas, Dean said. Home
Secretary Priti Patel moved Britain to its second-highest terror threat level
of 'severe' after a series of horrifying attacks in France and Austria, where
an Isis sympathiser killed four people during a gun rampage in Vienna. In
France, schoolteacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in October for showing a
classroom Mohammed cartoons in a lesson on free speech. Three Christians were
killed in a mass stabbing by a Tunisian migrant in Nice just two weeks later.”

 

France

 

Axios: France And Austria Target “Islamist Separatism” After Terror Attacks
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“In the wake of terror attacks by Islamic extremists, French President
Emmanuel Macron has launched a campaign against “Islamist separatism,” while
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz plans to outlaw “political Islam.” Why it
matters: Both leaders argue that they're targeting not Islam, but Islamic
extremism. Both are being accused of fueling Islamophobia. Driving the news:
Gérald Darmanin, Macron's conservative interior minister, ordered inspections
of 78 mosques on Thursday and said those found to promote extremism would be
shut down. Darmanin said these were isolated cases and that France was “far
from a situation of widespread radicalization.” But he echoed the warnings
about “separatism,” or the rejection of French laws and society. Macron has
labeled separatism a threat to France's secular values and national unity.
Macron's fiery rhetoric after the beheading of Samuel Paty — a teacher targeted
for showing a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad in class — led to protests from
Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan and Turkey, and accusations at home
that he was enabling discrimination or playing politics to fend off the
far-right. What to watch: Kurz's proposal could be far more sweeping, though it
remains fairly vague.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Deutsche Welle: Philippines: Islamist Militants Attack Army Camp
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“A group of around 50 Islamist militants attacked an army battalion camp and
set fire to a police car, officials said on Friday. The attack took place in
the town of Datu Piang, 960 kilometres (597 miles) south of Manila, on Thursday
evening, said Lieutenant Colonel Alaric Delos Santos, a regional military
spokesman. But soldiers repelled the attackers, who were believed to be members
of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway faction of a Muslim
rebel group that signed a peace agreement with the government in 2014. “On
their retreat, they saw a parked police car and burned it,” Delos Santos said.
“There was no firefight but the public was alarmed because video of the burning
car went viral on social media.” There were no civilians or troops hurt in the
incident, he said. Social media posts overnight showed residents fearing that
the attack would be similar to the seige on Marawi City in May 2017, when
hundreds of Islamic State-allied guerrillas swooped down and took over the
city. The siege triggered a five-month battle that left more than 1,200 dead
and displaced over half a million residents in Marawi City, which was left in
ruins. Top leaders of the militants, including the reported emir of the Islamic
State in Southeast Asia, were killed at the end of the siege, while other
militants were captured.”



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