Slovenia has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The Slovenian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs now considers the Lebanese military and

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


December 8, 2020

 

Al Monitor: Slovenia Designates Hezbollah As Terrorist Organization
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“Slovenia has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The Slovenian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs now considers the Lebanese military and political
organization in its entirety a “criminal and terrorist organization posing a
global threat to peace and security,” the US State Department said in a Friday
press release. The United States praised the Balkan state for making the
designation. Hezbollah has both military and political wings. Its military
fights Israel near the Lebanon-Israel border and in Syria with the government
against rebel groups. Hezbollah is heavily backed by Iran and an ally of
pro-Iran militias in Iraq. Domestically, Hezbollah participates in Lebanese
politics and has been a part of coalition governments in the country. Many
European states have traditionally designated only Hezbollah’s military wing as
a terrorist organization. However, in the last two years, the United Kingdom,
the Netherlands and several others have decided to designate all of Hezbollah
as a terrorist group. Most recently, Germany made the designation in April.
Several Latin American states have done the same in recent years. The
administration of US President Donald Trump made it a priority to pressure
countries into labeling all of Hezbollah as a terror group.”

 

The New York Times: Christchurch Inquiry Says New Zealand Couldn’t Have
Prevented Mosque Attacks
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“He was a socially anxious loner who was radicalized partly by extremist
content on YouTube. But even as he traveled abroad extensively to places linked
to far-right violence; amassed weapons, ammunition, tactical gear and
unprescribed steroids; and was treated in a hospital after a firearms accident
in his living room, he never came to the attention of the New Zealand
authorities. The result was catastrophic. With the inheritance left by his
father — his only income — running out, Brenton Tarrant, an Australian white
supremacist, carried out the terrorist attack he had planned for two years,
murdering 51 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch in March 2019. Ever since,
the country has grappled with the question of whether the massacre, New
Zealand’s worst peacetime attack, could have been prevented. On Tuesday came an
official answer: There was “no plausible way” the terrorist’s plans could have
been detected by New Zealand’s government agencies “except by chance,”
according to a major independent inquiry into the attacks. An email that the
gunman sent to Parliament and the news media eight minutes before the slaughter
was the only direct information the authorities had about the attacks, the
inquiry found.”

 

Voice Of America: 35 Hurt In Car Bomb Blast In Kandahar, Afghanistan
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“A car bomb attack wounded at least 35 people, including women and children,
in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province early Monday. Provincial officials said the
attack near the headquarters of Daman district police was carried out using a
Mazda mini truck. The bombing damaged parts of the building along with several
nearby houses. Fifteen civilians became victims of the attack along with
several police officers, operatives of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency the
National Directorate of Security, and the district police chief, Abdul Wadoud.
Shadi Khan, the chief of the district, said local officials were in a meeting
inside when the bomb detonated. “The walls of the district police headquarters
and district center were destroyed. There is not a single window or door that
was not damaged,” Khan said, describing the extent of the destruction. The
Kabul-Kandahar highway was closed for some time after Monday’s attack. Baheer
Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, said “all except one
victim were only slightly wounded.”  He added that the one person in critical
condition has been moved to the Mirwais regional hospital. Daman district is
located east of the Kandahar city. No group has claimed responsibility so far.”

 

Iraq

 

Kurdistan 24: Coalition Airstrike Kills Five ISIS Terrorists, Destroys
Hideouts In Iraq’s Samara: Military
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“Airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition forces in Iraq on Sunday
resulted in the killing of five terrorists from the so-called Islamic State
group and the destruction of their hideouts in Iraq’s Salahuddin province,
Iraq’s military announced. The airstrikes assisted by “accurate” information
provided by Iraq’s National Intelligence Service to the coalition forces,
Iraq’s military media department said on Twitter, to conduct the air raid,
targeted Tal Thahab area in Salahuddin’s Samara province, located north of
capital Baghdad. The terror group’s hideouts were destroyed as well, the
military wrote. The Iraqi military along with other state security apparatuses
regularly conduct military operations in remote areas where they serve as the
terror group’s hotbed. The Islamic State’s terrorist activity has been on the
rise, particularly as the country grapples with a dire economic crisis caused
by a global pandemic. The desert areas in Iraq are well-known havens for
terrorist groups since the fall of Iraq’s former regime of Saddam Hussein in
2003. The so-called Islamic State’s rise also began in those areas, which were
exploited as training and depot grounds. The Islamic State was territorially
defeated in 2017 by the successful campaigns of the Peshmerga forces and Iraqi
army, and airstrikes from the coalition forces.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Los Angeles Times: The U.S. Is Rushing To The Exit In Afghanistan. The Taliban
Is Filling The Gaps
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“When Taliban insurgents attacked Sangsar village in late October, they were
fighting for lost ground again within their reach. Fighters besieged the
mud-walled town, ringed by corn and cannabis fields. They gunned down six
police officers who had run out of ammunition after three days of fighting. “It
was the first time in many years they were that strong,” said Raqya Aslam, a
30-year-old villager. It was in Sangsar, 25 miles outside the southern city of
Kandahar, that the Taliban movement was founded in 1994 by a one-eyed local
cleric. A decade ago, Taliban fighters waged a hit-and-run insurgency against
U.S. and Afghan troops on the town’s unpaved streets and winding paths. The
Americans are gone. So is the cleric, Mullah Omar, who died of natural causes
in hiding in 2013. But the Taliban is back in force — and not just in Sangsar.
People gather around a grave. Friends and classmates visit a gravesite of a
student who was killed in the Nov. 3 attack on Kabul University. Despite the
Islamic State’s claiming responsibility for the assault, Afghan government
officials have accused the Taliban.”

 

Long War Journal: U.S. And Afghan Forces Target Al Qaeda In The South
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“The U.S. military and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS)
have launched two raids against Al Qaeda’s network in Helmand and Nimroz
province over the past several days, killing at least eight operatives and
capturing three more. The Taliban continues to maintain that Al Qaeda does not
have a presence in Afghanistan, despite multiple raids against the terror
group. The U.S. military launched an airstrike on Dec. 3 that targeted a
Taliban meeting in Nad Ali district in Helmand province. At least 40 jihadists
are reported to have been killed or wounded during the strike, including
Abdullah Baloch, the Taliban’s purported shadow governor of Farah province.
Eight members of Al Qaeda are also said to have been killed in the Nad Ali
airstrike, however their names were not disclosed. U.S. intelligence officials
have told FDD’s Long War Journal that Baloch is what is known as a “dual
hatted” commander: he leads members of both the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security captured three Al Qaeda leaders
on Dec. 6 during a raid in the southwestern province of Nimroz. The NDS
identified the Al Qaeda leaders as Mustafa, the leader of Al Qaeda’s “Amar Bil
Marof Affairs,” or its prevention of virtue and vice committee, Hafiz Abdul
Aziz, and Hayatullah. All three are Afghan citizens.”

 

Pakistan

 

The Nation: Pakistan Welcomes Muslim Countries Efforts For Elimination Of
Extremism, Terrorism
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“Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Inter-Religious Harmony and Pakistan
Ulema Council Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Monday lauded
the efforts of Muslim Ummah for eradication of extremism, terrorism and
sectarian violence. Talking to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, he said
“Pakistan welcomes role and efforts of Muslim countries for elimination of the
menace of extremism, terrorism and sectarian violence. Pakistan expects support
of Muslim Ummah to resolve the issues of Kashmir and Palestine.” Ashrafi
thanked the speaker for assuring his support and cooperation to Ulema and
Mashaykh. He said Saudi foreign minister in his recent meeting of the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) supported Pakistan's stance and a
unanimous resolution on Kashmir is a great success of Prime Minister Imran
khan's vision and foreign policy of Pakistan. He also announced to resolve the
issues of minorities in Pakistan, saying he is in constant coordination with
leadership of all religious organizations and it is priority of the government
to address issues of all the communities. He maintained that minorities will
not be left at the mercy of any cruelty.”

 

Yemen

 

Agence France-Presse: Suspected Al-Qaida Gunmen Kill 5 Yemeni Separatists In
Abyan Province
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“Suspected al-Qaida gunmen killed five south Yemen separatists in Abyan
province Monday, in the terror group's biggest attack in the region for months,
a secessionist security official said. The five members of the Security Belt
Forces, which is dominated by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), were
killed at dawn on the outskirts of Lawdar city, the official told Agence
France-Press (AFP). “It was gunmen believed to be from al-Qaida who launched
the attack and managed to escape,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A medic in Lawdar confirmed the death toll, while al-Qaida has yet to issue any
statements on the attack. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has thrived
in the chaos of Yemen's civil war between an internationally recognized
government that is supported by a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed
Shiite Houthi rebels. The U.S., which considers AQAP the terror group's most
dangerous branch, has carried out a campaign of drone strikes against its
leaders for the past two decades. Monday's attack was the biggest in southern
Yemen since August, when al-Qaida killed a dentist in Al-Bayda accused of
guiding U.S. drone strikes against its militants and later that month blew up
the medical center where he worked.”

 

Lebanon

 

Arab News: Hezbollah Loyalists Blamed For Violent Assaults On Party Opponents
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“Lebanese journalist Maryam Seif Eddine, known for being a strong critic of
Hezbollah, on Monday claimed she and her family had been violently attacked and
issued with death threats. The 29-year-old writer told Arab News that Hezbollah
loyalists had targeted her family home in Burj El-Barajneh, in the southern
suburbs of Beirut, two days ago. During their ordeal, Eddine alleged her
brother’s nose was broken, her mother was physically assaulted, and she
received death threats. The reporter said it was the second time her family had
been the target of an attack within a month after one of her other brothers
received blows to his head from sharp implements during an assault by three
people, one of whom she claimed was a member of Hezbollah. Eddine added that
despite promises made weeks ago by a Hezbollah official to investigate the
matter nothing had been done and said that an unresolved local family dispute
with Hezbollah could have compounded the situation. “The matter later turned
into incitement against us in our area and among our relatives as I was writing
more actively against Hezbollah in the newspaper I work for and on social
media. I have been receiving threats and insults to oppress me and my family,”
she added.”

 

Nigeria

 

Premium Times: Nigeria: Boko Haram - Group Wants State Of Emergency In Borno
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“The group says the FG should declare a state of emergency in Borno. The
Advocacy for Advancement of Peace and Harmony in Africa Initiative (ADAPHAI)
has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in Borno
State over the continuous killing of innocent souls in North East States by
Boko Haram. The group also said it was worried with the approach of the
National Assembly to the lingering act of insurgency and brutal criminality in
the North-east. Speaking at a press conference at NUJ Press Centre, Iyaganku,
Ibadan, Sulaimon Suberu, national coordinator of ADAPHAI, said the Senate
should have proffered a more intelligence-induced solution to the insurgency.
“The call for removal of service chiefs, on the heels of the massacre of over
40 famers in Zabarmari village, Borno state is not only reactionary, but a
reflection of paucity of tactics and strategy”, part of his statement read.
“The lawmakers should know that insurgency of that nature in the North East is
strictly asymmetrical war, that is rooted in crude ideology, therefore, it
requires experienced commanding height of the military, with satisfactory
knowledge of the terrain and psychology of the insurgents acquired over time.”

 

Africa

 

Agence France-Presse: Algeria PM Slams Reported Ransoms To 'Terror Groups'
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“Algeria's Prime Minister has sounded the alarm over reported ransoms paid to
“terrorist groups” for the freeing of hostages, weeks after the liberation of a
French aid worker in Mali. “Algeria notes, with great concern, continued
transfers to terrorist groups of huge sums of money as ransoms to free
hostages,” Mr Abdelaziz Djerad told African leaders at a summit of African
Union heads of government late on Sunday. This approach “undermines our
counter-terrorism efforts”, he said, quoted by Algerian media. His comments
came after neighbouring Mali released some 200 prisoners in October ahead of
the release of four hostages, including French aid worker Sophie Petronin. One
of the released prisoners, an Islamist later arrested in Algeria, said in a
video broadcast on Algerian TV that France had been involved in talks with
Bamako and a key Malian militant leader linked with Al-Qaeda. Mustapha Derrar
said he had heard that 207 prisoners would be released along with the payment
of a ransom, adding that he had heard the figures 10 million euros (S$16.20
million) and 30 million euros. It was not possible to verify his claims or the
conditions under which he made the statement.”

 

Mozambique News Agency: Defence Minister Calls For Plans To Fight Terrorism
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“Mozambican Defence Minister Jaime Neto on Friday urged the staff of his
Ministry to draw up plans to fight against terrorism in the northern province
of Cabo Delgado, and against the self-styled Renamo Military Junta in Manica
and Sofala, in the centre of the country, over the next 12 months. He was
speaking at the closing session of a meeting of his Ministry's Coordinating
Council. He expressed his concern at the armed violence in the three provinces
- hence his instruction to Ministry officials to draw up plans to respond to
the problem. The 12 month time frame seems to indicate that Neto does not
believe that either of the conflicts can be solved in the immediate future. No
other details were made public at the end of the meeting, where the armed
forces (FADM) reiterated their commitment to defend the country's sovereignty
and to fight against both the terrorists in Cabo Delgado, and the Renamo
Military Junta. Meanwhile, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis,
has donated about 100,000 euros (121,000 US dollars) to support the victims of
terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado. The Bishop of Pemba, the provincial capital,
Luis Fernando Lisboa, told reporters the money would be used to build health
facilities in the centres where displaced people are being resettled.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Daily Mail: Islamic State In 'Nazi Doodlebug' Bomb Plot: Jihadi Used British
Company As Cover To Buy Parts For Flying Explosives, Report Reveals
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“An Islamic State jihadi used a British company as a front to buy parts for
Nazi-style 'doodlebug' flying bombs, it can be revealed. An 18-month
investigation has uncovered an international Islamic State procurement network
which exploited lax rules in the UK to set up fake companies and buy weapons
from abroad. Cardiff-based businessman Siful Haque Sujan was among those who
set up fake companies, a report by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) revealed.
The UK resident registered Advance Technology Global Ltd in Britain and posed
as a fictitious man named David Soren, the report said.  He then bought weapon
parts and shipped them to Turkey before getting them smuggled into IS territory
in Syria and in some cases on to Iraq. One online purchase was a large
'pulse-jet' engine from a US company which was later found at a hospital
complex in Mosul, northern Iraq. Sujan asked the company's owner whether the
engine could be used to power a 40kg (88lb) model plane. Pulse-jet engines were
originally developed for Hitler's V-1 flying bombs, known as 'doodlebugs'.
Experts feared Sujan planned to use the engine to power an armed drone but the
weapon was still in experimental stage when IS began to lose ground.”

 

Sky News: Manchester Arena Attack: Jailed Terrorist Hashem Abedi Has Admitted
Involvement In Planning Bombing, Inquiry Told
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“Hashem Abedi has admitted for the first time his involvement in planning the
Manchester Arena bombing, an inquiry has been told. The terror attack at an
Ariana Grande concert killed 22 people and injured hundreds more on 22 May
2017. Abedi, 23, made the admission in prison in October while he was visited
by two members of the inquiry's legal team. The brother of the 22-year-old
suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, had pleaded not guilty earlier this year to 22
counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to
endanger life. He did not give evidence at the Old Bailey, but provided a
pre-prepared defence statement in which he denied involvement. He claimed to
have been “shocked” by what his brother had done and did not hold extremist
views. He was convicted by a jury of all the offences and was handed 24 life
sentences in August with a minimum term of 55 years before he can be considered
for parole. The inquiry, which is being held in Manchester, was told Abedi was
interviewed in prison on 22 October where he admitted he played “a full and
knowing part”. His admission was confirmed by Detective Chief Superintendent
Simon Barraclough, of Greater Manchester Police, who was the senior
investigating officer in the attack probe.”

 

France

 

Agence France-Presse: Tunisian Suspect Charged Over Terrorist Attack At Nice
Church
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“Brahim Aouissaoui was shot and seriously injured by police after the October
29 attack. He was charged after his condition in hospital improved, allowing
him to be questioned. France last month raised its attack alert to the highest
level after the Nice killings, which came two weeks after the beheading of
history teacher Samuel Paty by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee for having shown
his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a lesson on freedom of speech.
Aouissaoui had arrived in Europe from Tunisia in September, first crossing the
Mediterranean to Italy and then crossing into France overland. On the morning
of October 29, Aouissaoui entered the Basilica of Notre-Dame in the heart of
the southern French city of Nice, carrying a copy of the Koran, three knives
and two mobile phones, according to France's anti-terror prosecutor
Jean-Francois Ricard. In a near half-hour frenzy, he used a 17-centimetre
(six-and-a-half inch) knife to cut the throat of a 60-year-old woman, who died
inside the church. The body of a man, a 54-year-old church employee, was found
nearby inside the basilica -- his throat had also been slit. Another woman, a
44-year-old who fled the church to a nearby restaurant, died shortly afterwards
from multiple knife wounds.”

 

Australia

 

The Sydney Morning Herald: Labor Pushes For Inquiry Into Right-Wing Extremism
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“Federal Parliament’s peak security committee will be asked to open an
immediate inquiry into right-wing extremism amid fears the coronavirus crisis
is fuelling conditions that intensify the threat. Labor will seek the inquiry
in Parliament on Wednesday in an appeal to government and crossbench MPs to act
on warnings from security agencies following attacks that killed 51 and wounded
40 in Christchurch last year. Labor home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally
said the pandemic increased the risk of right-wing extremism due to factors
such as rising unemployment, an increase in time spent on screens and an
outbreak of racist rhetoric about the source of COVID-19. The move comes after
Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw told a Senate hearing last
Friday he was “alive to the growing threat” and had teams acting to stop
individuals who had been planning terrorist acts. Mr Kershaw said right-wing
extremism made up “around the 15 per cent mark” of the AFP’s counter-terrorism
matters and said these individuals could have easier access to firearms than
Islamist extremists. Labor is citing the warning to seek government support for
an inquiry by the intelligence and security committee that could lead to
dangerous right-wing groups being proscribed in the same way as Islamist
terrorist groups.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Voice Of America: Indonesian Police Kill Supporters Of Hardline Cleric In
Jakarta Highway Clash
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“Authorities in Indonesia say six supporters of a hardline Muslim cleric were
killed Monday during a clash with police officers on a Jakarta highway.
According to police officials, the officers were following a motorcade carrying
followers of Rizieq Shihab shortly after midnight when the followers stopped
the police car and attacked it with guns, sickles and a sword, prompting the
officers to open fire in self-defense. A spokesman for Rizieq denied the
allegations, calling the six followers victims of an “extrajudicial killing” at
the hands of police. Munarman said the convoy was carrying the cleric and his
family to an early morning prayer event when the clash occurred. Rizieq heads
the Islamic Defenders Front, which has gained attention for its extremism.  He
returned to Indonesia last month from Saudi Arabia, where he spent three years
in self-exile after he was charged with pornography. Police officials say they
have been investigating Rizieq for violating coronavirus restrictions since his
return, including holding mass gatherings with his supporters and refusing to
undergo mandated coronavirus testing.  He has been summoned by police for
questioning over his events.”



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