The U.S. military killed eight al-Shabab fighters and wounded two others in
airstrikes Thursday in Somalia, Lt. Cmdr. Christina Gibson, U.S. Africa

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


December 11, 2020

 

 

Voice Of America: US Kills 8 Al-Shabab Fighters In 2 Airstrikes Amid Troop
Reduction In Somalia
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“The U.S. military killed eight al-Shabab fighters and wounded two others in
airstrikes Thursday in Somalia, Lt. Cmdr. Christina Gibson, U.S. Africa Command
spokeswoman, told VOA. “We will continue to apply pressure to the al-Shabab
network. They continue to undermine Somali security, and need to be contained
and degraded,” Africa Command (AFRICOM) head Gen. Stephen Townsend added in a
statement announcing the strikes. The AFRICOM statement said two strikes in the
vicinity of Jilib targeted terrorists “who were known to play important roles
in producing explosives for al-Shabab, to include vehicle-borne improvised
explosive devices.” The al-Qaida-affiliated terror group conducts dozens of car
bombings across Somalia each year, including against citizens, government and
American targets.  According to AFRICOM, al-Shabab has conducted about 45
vehicle-borne bombings in the capital of Mogadishu alone since 2018,
collectively resulting in the death of more than 400 people. The Command
assessed that no civilians were injured or killed in the strikes. The strikes
come just days after President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to remove the
majority of the 700 U.S. military troops stationed in Somalia.”

 

Associated Press: EU Member States, MEPs Agree To Take Terror Content Down
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“European Union member states and lawmakers reached a provisional deal
Thursday to take down terror content online within an hour of its being posted.
The provisional agreement was announced as EU leaders gathered in Brussels for
a two-day summit where they are set to discuss cross-border police
coordination, following a series of recent extremist attacks in France and
Austria. “The EU is working to stop terrorists from using the internet to
radicalize, recruit and incite to violence,” the EU Council said in a
statement, adding that the proposed rules would apply to providers operating
across the bloc, “whether or not they have their main establishment in the
member states.” Under the agreement, national authorities will be entitled to
order platforms to remove content or to disable access to it in all 27 member
states. Providers will be forced to act but will remain free to decide how they
take down the forbidden material. “The proposed rules also ensure that the
rights of ordinary users and businesses will be respected, including freedom of
expression and information and freedom to conduct a business,” he council said.
“This includes effective remedies for both users whose content has been removed
and for service providers to submit a complaint.”

 

United States

 

CNN: Pentagon Planning To Withdraw Support For Most CIA Counter-Terror Missions

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“The US Department of Defense is planning to withdraw most support for CIA
counter-terror missions by the beginning of next year, in a move expected to
have a broad effect on the scope of the intelligence agency's paramilitary
operations, a senior defense official and former senior administration official
with direct knowledge of the move told CNN. Acting Defense Secretary
Christopher Miller informed CIA Director Gina Haspel of the decision in a
letter this week. The US military provides a wide range of support to CIA
paramilitary operations, including air transportation, logistics and medical
evacuation. The changes, which will take place by January 5, involve returning
DOD personnel detailed to the CIA and some military equipment, including
Predator drones. Winter’s all about getting all cozy inside while Mother Nature
turns everything into Popsicles outside, and it doesn’t get any cozier than
Bearaby. The move would be the latest major policy change since President
Donald Trump initiated a major personnel shakeup at the Pentagon following his
election loss to Joe Biden.”

 

Syria

 

Reuters: Car Bomb Kills At Least Four In Turkish-Controlled North Syria
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“At least four people were killed in a Turkish-controlled region of northern
Syria on Thursday when a car bomb detonated at a checkpoint in the border town
of Ras Al Ain, according to a Turkish official and a war monitor. The
governor’s office in the Turkish town of Sanliurfa identified the dead as two
Turkish police gendarmes and two members of local Syrian security forces. It
blamed the blast on the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which Ankara views as a terrorist
group. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, put the
total death toll at 12, including seven Syrian fighters, two Turkish security
personel, two civilians and one unidentified victim. Turkey, which is allied
with some Syrian rebel groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,
seized control of the town last year in an offensive to push back YPG fighters
from the border.”

 

Iraq

 

Reuters: Excluded, Abandoned: Children Born Under Islamic State Era Still
Paying Heavy Price
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“Excluded, vilified and sometimes simply abandoned: such is the price paid by
thousands of children in Iraq born to suspected Islamic State militants. At the
Hassan Sham camp for displaced people in northern Iraq, five-year-old Aisha,
whose father disappeared after joining Islamic State, is pestering her mother
because she wants to go to school. “She’s always crying, saying she wants to go
to school. But I tell her she can’t: she doesn’t have the nationality,” says
her mother, declining to give her name. Like thousands of other children born
to parents who lived in areas governed by Islamic State between 2014 and 2017,
Aisha has no official birth certificate, and no easy way to obtain one. Without
papers, basic services including education and health care are difficult to
access. In 2018, the Ministry of Education issued a directive allowing
undocumented children to register in schools, but humanitarian NGOs say this is
not consistently applied on the ground. “There are a lot of complexities about
registering children born during the years ISIS ruled. Many have not been
registered yet,” Karl Shembri, the regional media advisor of the Norwegian
Refugee Council (NRC), told Reuters.”

 

Turkey

 

Associated Press: Police Foil Attack By Kurdish Bomber In Southeast Turkey
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“Turkish police on Thursday shot and killed a suspected Kurdish militant who
was allegedly planning to detonate a bomb that was strapped to his body, the
state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Police, acting on information that the
militant was planning to carry out an attack, stopped a taxi he was riding in
at a checkpoint near the town of Viransehir in the southeastern province of
Sanliurfa, the agency reported. A police officer shot and killed the man before
he was able to detonate the explosives, it said. The agency said the militant
was a Syrian national and a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party,
known as the PKK, or the Syria-based Kurdish group that is affiliated with it.
The militant, who wasn’t identified, had allegedly sneaked into Sanliurfa from
Syria with explosives. The foiled attack came as a car bomb went off at a
checkpoint across the border in a Turkish-controlled area of northeastern
Syria, killing at least two Turkish soldiers and two local security officers,
Turkish officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear if the two incidents were
connected. The PKK has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish
southeast region and is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the United
States and the European Union.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Associated Press: Afghan Gov’t, Taliban Agree Islamic Law To Guide Peace Talks
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“Afghan government negotiators and the Taliban have agreed to have Islamic law
and teachings guide them in peace talks now underway in Qatar, according to a
document obtained Thursday. The document details a 21-point list of rules and
procedures for the negotiations and sheds light on what the talks, which are
taking place behind closed doors, actually look like. The warring sides signed
the document last week in Doha, Qatar, where the U.S.-brokered talks began in
September and where the Taliban have for years maintained a political office.
Soon after their ceremonious start — the only part that was public — the talks
hit an impasse until last week, when in a breakthrough, the two sides agreed on
rules and procedures for the negotiations. The Associated Press on Thursday
obtained a copy of that document. The breakthrough was significant as it meant
the sides could soon start to negotiate issues that could end decades of
fighting in Afghanistan and determine the country’s post-war future — such as a
cease-fire, what to do with armed Taliban fighters and militias loyal to
warlords allied with the Kabul government. Constitutional changes and the
rights of women and minorities are also expected to be on the agenda.”

 

Reuters: Islamic State Claims Killing Of Female TV Presenter In Afghanistan
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“Islamic State claimed responsibility for the shooting death of a female TV
presenter and women’s rights activist in Afghanistan on Thursday, an attack
that underscored an increasing trend of violence against journalists in the
country. Malalai Maiwand, a presenter at Enikas Radio and TV in the eastern
province of Nangarhar, was killed along with her driver in the attack on their
vehicle in the regional capital Jalalabad, taking the total number of
journalists and media workers killed this year in Afghanistan to 10. “She was
on the way to the office when the incident happened,” said Attaullah Khogyani,
spokesman for the provincial governor. Nangarhar has been a hotbed of militant
activity, most notably involving Islamic State, which issued its claim of
responsibility via its Telegram communications channel, calling her a
“pro-regime” journalist. Maiwand, who was 25, was not the first in her family
to be targeted. Five years ago, her mother, also an activist, was killed by
unknown gunmen. Enikas has been targeted before, with its owner, Engineer
Zalmay, kidnapped for ransom in 2018. “With the killing of Malalai, the working
field for female journalists is getting more smaller and the journalists may
not dare to continue their jobs the way they were doing before,” Nai, an Afghan
media advocacy group, said in a statement.”

 

Yemen

 

Reuters: Three Key Factors Driving U.S. Debate On Naming Yemen's Houthis
Terrorist Group - U.S. Diplomat
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“The targeting of civilians by Yemen’s Houthis, their “deepening” ties with
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and use of kidnappings are driving a Trump
administration debate on naming the movement a foreign terrorist organization,
a U.S. diplomat said on Thursday. “If those things weren’t happening, there
would be no debate,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Timothy Lenderking
told reporters in a teleconference on U.S. policy in the Gulf. His comments
were among the most extensive made publicly by a U.S. official on the
deliberations on blacklisting the Iran-backed Houthi movement, which has been
battling a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen since 2015. The United Nations
is working to restart talks on ending the deadlocked conflict – widely seen as
a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran – that has battered the region’s
poorest country, creating what aid groups call the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis. More than 80% of the population of 28.5 million requires help. Both
sides have caused civilian casualties. Riyadh’s role has helped stoke
bipartisan congressional anger with Saudi Arabia. U.S. President-elect Joe
Biden pledges to reassess relations with Riyadh, which has enjoyed a near free
pass from President Donald Trump.”

 

Saudi Arabia

 

Agence France-Presse: Jailed Saudi Activist In Terrorism Court On 'Spurious'
Charges: UN Experts
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“Jailed Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul appeared before a terrorism court
on Thursday, her family said, as she faces the prospect of a lengthy prison
sentence on what UN experts called “spurious” charges. Hathloul's hearing comes
two days after a prominent American-Saudi doctor, Walid Fitaihi, was sentenced
to six years in prison, highlighting what campaigners call growing state
repression, despite international pressure over the kingdom's human rights
record. Hathloul, 31, was arrested in May 2018 with about a dozen other women
activists just weeks before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on
female drivers, a reform they had long campaigned for. After being tried in
Riyadh's criminal court, her trial was transferred last month to the
Specialised Criminal Court (SCC), or the anti-terrorism court, which
campaigners say is notorious for issuing long jail terms and is used to silence
critical voices under the cover of fighting terrorism. “Loujain's spirits are
high, but her body is still weak,” her sister Alia al-Hathloul said after a
hearing in the SCC. Hathloul's siblings are based outside the kingdom, but some
of her other family members are allowed to attend court hearings, which are
off-limits to journalists and diplomats.”

 

Lebanon

 

The Times Of Israel: UN Court To Sentence Hezbollah Member Convicted Of
Killing Lebanon’s Ex-PM
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“A UN-backed tribunal will on Friday sentence a Hezbollah member convicted of
the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, with
prosecutors demanding a life term. Salim Ayyash, 57, was found guilty in
absentia of murder on August 18 by the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for
Lebanon over the suicide bombing that killed the Sunni billionaire politician
and 21 other people. Ayyash remains on the run, with Hassan Nasrallah, the head
of the Shiite terror group Hezbollah, refusing to hand him over, alongside
three other defendants who were eventually acquitted. Prosecutors in a hearing
in November said a life term was the “only just and proportionate sentence” for
Ayyash, given that it was the “most serious terrorist attack that has occurred
on Lebanese soil.” They have also demanded the seizure of Ayyash’s assets.
Hariri served as Lebanon’s prime minister until he resigned in October 2004. He
was killed in February 2005 when a suicide bomber detonated a van filled with
explosives as his armored convoy drove past. As well as those killed, another
226 were wounded in the blast.”

 

Middle East

 

The Christian Post: Set Up Court To Prosecute ISIS For Genocide, Human Rights
Advocates Urge
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“After the war against Islamic State, its members should be tried like the
Nazis at Nuremberg, human rights advocates of many nations urge. After the
defeat in battle of Islamic State (also known as ISIS), the Kurd-controlled
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria holds prisoner 10,400 foreign
ISIS fighters, said AANES senior official Bedran Ciya Kurd during a Universal
Rights virtual event Wednesday. Most nations won’t take them back. As of yet,
no international court exists in which to try them. “We partnered with the
U.S.-led local coalition to defeat ISIS, which cost us more than 11,000 martyrs
and thousands of agents,” Kurd said. “ISIS targeted Yazidis, Christians, Arabs
and Kurds and committed horrific atrocities, including the sexual enslavement
of women and children. We have long called for setting up international
tribunals or hybrid-domestic international tribunals, such as the Nuremberg
Tribunal in the regions of the AA of North and East Syria, to hold the
perpetrators accountable for the crimes they have committed and ensure the
victims receive justice.”

 

Egypt

 

The North Africa Journal: Egypt: How Both The Military And IS Terrorize The
People Of Sinai
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“Residents of Egypt’s restive North Sinai region ran for their lives when an
Islamic State group affiliate occupied their villages. Now, they are returning
to find their homes booby-trapped. “I lost my sister-in-law and her
nine-month-old baby when an explosive device planted in their home went off,”
said a young resident of Aqtiya village, who asked not to be named for fear of
repercussions. Around 15 people have been killed by improvised explosive
devices (IEDs) since mid-October in villages around Bir al-Abd, in the
northwest of the troubled province, say Egyptian security sources. The IED
attacks that have multiplied in the vast, remote and sparsely populated region
which authorities have declared off-limits to journalists recall those the IS
launched to sow terror in Iraq and Syria. The recent deaths have badly shaken
the 1,000 or so residents who returned in October after seeking refuge
elsewhere in Egypt for three months as the army continued its grinding battle
to crush IS. Another resident, speaking to AFP by phone, said locals found IS
had taken over their homes, used them as hideouts and then booby-trapped them.
“They even stole our livestock,” he added.”

 

Nigeria

 

The New York Times: Executed Nigerian Farmers Were Caught Between Boko Haram
And The Army
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“For years, the farmers had an agreement with Boko Haram militants: They could
tend their fields in peace, as long as they did not report the fighters’
presence to the Nigerian Army. But just over a week ago, that deal was broken.
The Islamist group killed more than 70 farmers from Zabarmari, a village in
northeastern Nigeria, residents say. The militants accused the farmers of
betraying them. “Everything is shattered now,” said Ibrahim Abubakar, 36. Four
of his friends were beheaded, he said. People in rural areas of northeast
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, have largely been left at the mercy of
Boko Haram by a government whose security forces have mainly retreated from the
countryside to protected garrison towns. Villagers are caught in a deadly
Catch-22. If they report the militants to the Nigerian authorities, they risk
gruesome reprisals by Boko Haram, a group known for abducting schoolgirls and
killing tens of thousands of people. If they stay silent, they risk the wrath
of the Nigerian military, which has been accused of routinely shooting
villagers dead and burning their houses down during raids, as well as detaining
people for years in inhumane conditions. In Zabarmari, villagers struggle to
eke out a living through subsistence farming and fishing.”

 

Africa

 

Yahoo News: Mozambique Troops Repel Islamists Attacking Village Near Gas Site
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“Mozambican soldiers on Thursday repelled Islamist militants that attacked and
occupied a northern village in their closest raid yet to a giant gas project,
military sources said. The jihadists launched the assault late Monday on the
village of Mute, located about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Afungi
peninsula. The peninsula is the centre of a multi-billion-dollar scheme to
build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Cabo Delgado province, where 2,400
people have been reported killed and a million displaced over the last three
years in an escalating jihadist insurgency. “Following two days of intense
fighting, we managed to retake” the village on Thursday, a military source in
the gas hub town of Palma told AFP. Mute lies in a buffer zone between the gas
project and the jihadist-controlled port of Mocimboa da Praia. The attack
allegedly prompted energy giant Total to temporarily suspend construction work
on the LNG support infrastructure. The French company did not respond to a
question about whether its activities were suspended, only saying it “is
closely monitoring the situation in Cabo Delgado”. “The security of Mozambique
LNG project workforce and activities is our absolute priority. Total remains in
permanent contact with Mozambican authorities on this subject,” it told AFP.”

 

Mozambique News Agency: US Prepared To Support Counter-Terrorism, But No Troops
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“The United States is not considering sending troops to Mozambique to combat
the terrorist threat in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, but it is
willing to boost “civilian counter-terrorism capabilities”, said the US
Coordinator for Counter-terrorism, Nathan Sales, on Tuesday. He was speaking in
a telephone press briefing, after visiting Mozambique and South Africa. Sales
described his trip as an “opportunity to engage with government officials in
both countries to garner support for increased cooperation on counterterrorism
issues”. The fact that he travelled to southern Africa, despite the Covid-19
pandemic “is an indication of how seriously the United States takes the terror
situation on that part of the continent”. Sales had no doubt that the terrorist
raids in Cabo Delgado are the work of the jihadi organization known variously
as Islamic State, ISIS or Daesh. “What we've seen is increased terrorist
attacks by ISIS affiliates in Mozambique over the last three years, resulting
in the deaths of more than 2,000 people”, he said. “We're also seeing a
humanitarian situation developing with the displacement of more than 400,000
residents of Cabo Delgado province.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Independent: Terror Arrests Fall To Lowest Level In Almost A Decade During
Coronavirus Pandemic
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“The number of suspected terrorists arrested in the UK has fallen to the
lowest level in almost a decade during the coronavirus pandemic, figures show.
Statistics published by the Home Office show that in the year to October, 215
arrests were made — 18 per cent down on the previous year. “This was the lowest
number of arrests for terrorist-related activity in the last nine years to
September and is below the annual average of 253 arrests over the entire time,”
said a document published on Thursday. “These reductions may reflect the
general reduction in crime during this period when there were restrictions on
normal activities to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus.” Figures showed
a sharp drop in terror arrests from April, when the UK’s first national
lockdown came into force. Between April and June, 31 arrests were made, and
there were 44 between July and September, below the previous quarterly average
of 61. In November, the UK’s terror threat level was raised to severe — meaning
attacks are “highly likely” — following a spate of attacks in mainland Europe.
Of the 215 arrests made, 39 per cent were still under investigation by 30
September, almost a third had led to charges, a fifth of suspects were released
without charge and 9 per cent faced alternative action such as a caution or
recall to prison.”

 

BBC News: Terror Trial Told Of 'Incels' Cyber-Culture Backing Attacks On Women
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“A terrorism trial in Edinburgh has told about an online subculture which
endorses violence towards attractive women. Dr Stephane Baele, of Exeter
University, gave evidence in the trial of Gabrielle Friel, who is accused of
researching mass killings linked to incels (involuntary celibate). Mr Friel,
22, denies charges of intending to commit acts of terrorism. He also denies
expressing a “desire to carry out a spree killing mass murder”. Dr Baele, a
senior lecturer in politics and adviser to the UK Parliament, is regarded as a
leading expert on incels and wrote a report for prosecution lawyers. He told
the High Court in Edinburgh that incels believe society is structured along
lines of sexual and physical attractiveness. The court heard that incel men
believe they are the bottom grouping of society and that physically attractive
women are at the top. It also heard how such men blame women for their
inability to have sex lives and endorse violent acts like rape and acid attacks
against women. Dr Baele told the court that the movement has also been linked
to acts of violence. In his report, Dr Baele wrote that incels post on websites
like Reddit and certain message boards with links to far right political views.”

 

Germany

 

NPR: With Far-Right Extremism On The Rise, Germany Investigates Its Police
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“Four years ago, Simon Neumeyer enrolled in the Saxony State Police Academy in
the eastern German city of Leipzig as a 19-year-old cadet. “At the time, I
naively thought the police were 100% committed to law and order,” he remembers.
His naiveté began to wear off on the academy's target-shooting grounds while he
and his fellow cadets, guns in hand, listened to a lecture from their
commander. “He told us we have to shoot well, because there are many refugees
coming to Germany,” Neumeyer recalls. “I thought to myself: 'Wow. This is very
racist.' “Later, my ethics teacher complained about foreigners celebrating
loudly in the city center on New Year's Eve and that this was his home. These
teachers were basically passing their racism on to us cadets.” Neumeyer tells
NPR he finally spoke up one day when an academy teacher used the N-word in
class. To his surprise, he remembers his classmates not defending him, but
loudly defending their teacher. “The entire class celebrated it,” he remembers.
“And when I spoke up and said, 'You can't use that word,' a fellow cadet banged
on his desk and said it's high time it was acceptable to use that word again.”
Over time, Neumeyer says his fellow cadets ostracized him.”

 

Australia

 

The Guardian: 'A Threat To Australia': Experts Welcome Inquiry's Focus On Rise
Of Rightwing Extremism
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“Counter-terrorism experts have welcomed a federal inquiry that will look into
the rise of extremism in Australia, amid concerns the pandemic has exacerbated
the mobilisation of extremist groups. Dr Kristy Campion, a lecturer in
terrorism studies at Charles Sturt University, told the Guardian she was
hopeful the inquiry would address the changing nature of terror threats. “There
is no silver bullet to counter terrorism: as threats evolve and change, we must
evolve and change to counter them,” she said. The parliamentary joint committee
on intelligence and security will run the inquiry, which will examine the the
nature, extent and threat of extremist movements in Australia. The announcement
of the inquiry came as Labor pushed for a motion in parliament to scrutinise
anti-terror laws in light of the rising threat of far-right extremism. The home
affairs minister, Peter Dutton, has included Islamic extremism in the terms of
reference, arguing the inquiry should focus on extremist ideologies no matter
where they come from. Dutton asked the inquiry to look at the motivations,
objectives and capacity for violence of extremists, as well as how they operate
and spread their messages online.”



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