More than 300 schoolboys kidnapped by gunmen from their boarding school in
northwest Nigeria last week were handed over to security agencies late

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


December 18, 2020

 

The Wall Street Journal: Nigerian Boys Taken In Kidnapping Claimed By Boko
Haram Are Freed
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“More than 300 schoolboys kidnapped by gunmen from their boarding school in
northwest Nigeria last week were handed over to security agencies late
Thursday, Nigeria’s government said, prompting outpourings of relief and joy
across Africa’s most populous nation after fears they would become long-term
hostages of jihadist militants. Shortly after 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aminu Bello
Masari, the governor of Katsina state, announced in a televised interview that
344 of the boys had been handed over in the forest of neighboring Zamfara state
and would be immediately driven to Katsina for medical treatment. The release
comes six days after the students were seized from their dormitories at the
Kankara Government Science Secondary School in Katsina and driven into the
nearby forest, marking one of the largest mass school kidnappings in history.
President Muhammadu Buhari praised the military and security agencies in a
statement that offered prayers for the full recovery of the victims. They
“endured significant hardships in the course of their ordeal,” the statement
said. Local newspaper The Katsina Post tweeted images of dozens of schoolboys
jammed onto the back of trucks, some looking dazed, but others sporting wide
smiles for the camera as they headed toward home.”

 

The New York Times: Gunman Sentenced To Life In Prison For 2015 Attack On
Paris-Bound Train
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“Four men involved in a terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train in 2015 that
was foiled only by the courageous action of other passengers were convicted of
attempting murder, complicity and criminal terrorist association, and sentenced
to prison terms ranging from seven years to life. Ayoub El Khazzani, who is
accused of being the main attacker on the train, was sentenced to life in
prison. His presence in the courtroom provided a rare opportunity for
prosecutors to delve into the operations of the Islamic State in Europe. At the
time of the attack, the European authorities were struggling to keep track of
several thousand people in Europe who had circulated to and from Iraq and
Syria, trying to join jihadist groups. Just a few months earlier, in January,
terrorists killed 17 people, including 10 at the offices of the satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The trial of 14 people accused of aiding the terrorists in that attack ended on
Wednesday with all found guilty. But the actual assailants in that case were
all dead. The attack on the train took place on Aug. 21, 2015, and was thwarted
by several passengers — including three Americans and a man with dual French
and American citizenship — who tackled the assailant and overpowered him after
an intense hand-to-hand fight. Only one person was wounded. Mr. El Khazzani was
captured and arrested.”

 

Turkey

 

Associated Press: Turkey, Iraq Agree To Cooperate Against Extremist Groups
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“Turkey and Iraq have agreed to continue their cooperation in fighting
extremist organizations, including the Islamic State group and Kurdish rebels,
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday. Speaking to reporters
following meetings with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi,
Erdogan also said he hoped that an Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline that was damaged
by the IS during the conflict against the militant group would soon be repaired
and would resume oil transfers to world markets. Turkey has carried out
numerous ground and aerial cross-border offensives into neighboring northern
Iraq to attack militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, who maintain
bases in the region. The latest offensive in June, dubbed Operation Claw Tiger,
saw Turkish commandos being airlifted into Iraqi territory. The PKK, which has
been fighting the Turkish state since 1984, is considered to be a terror
organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. “We have
agreed to continue our struggle against our common enemies IS, PKK and FETO,”
Erdogan said — the latter a reference to a network led by U.S.-based Turkish
cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey blames for a failed coup in 2016.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Washington Post: Pentagon’s Top General Meets With Taliban Ahead Of
Presidential Transition In U.S.
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“The Pentagon’s top general met with the Taliban as senior U.S. and Afghan
officials press for a reduction in violence, defense officials said Thursday,
while talks with the militant group drag on with few signs of progress. Army
Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met Tuesday with
Taliban officials in Doha, Qatar, and Wednesday with senior Afghan officials in
Kabul. The meeting with the Taliban was “part of the military channel
established in the U.S.-Taliban agreement” that was reached in February, said
Navy Cmdr. Sarah Flaherty, a military spokeswoman. That deal called for the
United States to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by spring and for
the Taliban to begin meeting with Afghan officials, break with al-Qaeda and not
allow the country to be used as a safe haven for terrorists. U.S. officials
said then that the military withdrawal would depend on conditions on the
ground, but the Taliban has maintained ties to al-Qaeda and launched waves of
bloody attacks against Afghan security forces and civilians. “The Chairman
discussed the need for an immediate reduction of violence and accelerate
progress towards a negotiated political solution which contributes to regional
stability and safeguards U.S. national interests,” Flaherty said in a
statement.”

 

Yemen

 

Arab News: Time For International Community To Get Tough On Houthis
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“Houthi terrorist attacks continue to target international shipping lanes and
commercial ships, as well as civilian airports and residential areas. Another
attack took place on Monday, when a mined boat caused an explosion on board an
oil tanker off the Saudi port of Jeddah. With this latest attack on the Saudi
energy sector, the Houthi militia intensified its terrorist acts, with Iranian
support and planning, on the Kingdom’s land, seas and oil installations. These
attacks confirm Iran’s insistence on destabilizing the security and stability
of the region, as it is the real actor responsible. The attacks follow its
hostile policy in the region and the spread of its terrorist revolution and its
malicious ideology. However, the responsibility today also goes beyond Iran and
now includes the international community that turns a blind eye to Tehran’s
terrorism and its support for terrorist militias that occupy four Arab
capitals. These militias carry weapons outside the framework of the state, as
can be seen in Lebanon and Iraq, while in Yemen the Houthis have gone even
further, as they carried out a coup against the legitimate government. Tehran
also poses an intercontinental threat. It has several projects that threaten
global security and stability, including using its militias, which carry
advanced weapons from Tehran such as drones and ballistic missiles.”

 

Lebanon

 

Gulf News: Lebanese Pop Singer Fadel Chaker Charged For Terrorism, Gets
22-Year Jail Sentence
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“A Lebanese military court has sentenced pop singer Fadel Chaker on terrorism
charges to 22 years in prison in absentia, Lebanese media reported Thursday.
The verdict was delivered on two counts, including sentencing Chaker to 15
years in jail on charges of involvement in terrorist acts committed by
terrorists by providing logistical services to them. He was also handed down
seven years in prison and a fine of 5 million Lebanese pounds on charges of
funding the militant Al Assir group. The court has ordered the 51-year-old
singer be stripped of his civil rights. The fugitive singer had been earlier
convicted in a different case. In September 2017, a Lebanese military court
sentenced Chaker to 15 years in prison in absentia after convicting him in
connection with a 2013 attack on the Lebanese army that left 18 soldiers dead
in the southern city of Sidon. Chaker started his career in mid-1990s. He was
catapulted to fame in 1999 when he released his album “The Seller of Hearts”
that earned him the nickname “King of Romance”. In 2012, he quit his music
career on religious grounds and became a follower of Lebanon’s radical cleric
Ahmad Al Asir. He appeared on a local TV station sporting a beard typical of
ultra-conservative Salafists. In 2018, Chaker announced his comeback to the
music arena.”

 

The Jerusalem Post: Gantz: Latin American Jews Could Be Hezbollah Terror Target

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“Latin American Jews could be targeted by the Iranian-backed terror group
Hezbollah as they have been in the past, Alternate Prime Minister and Defense
Minister Benny Gantz said on Thursday night. “The possibility that there could
be a terror attack, like what to my sorrow we saw in Argentina [in the early
1990s] is something that could certainly happen,” the Blue and White leader
said. “I do not know of a specific threat that could happen now, but the danger
exists,” Gantz said. He spoke at a special virtual Zoom gathering for Jews who
live in Latin America to mark the eighth day of Hanukkah, which was sponsored
by both the Jewish Agency and the Strategic Affairs Ministry. One of the
participants, a leader of the São Paulo Jewish community, asked Gantz about the
danger of a terror attack, particularly from Hezbollah, in light of the large
Lebanese community that lives in Latin America. In 1994, 87 people were killed
in a bombing attack in Argentina on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina
(AMIA), which was linked to Hezbollah and Iran. Hezbollah has tentacles
globally and in Latin America in particular, Gantz said. It is therefore
important to work with the local authorities to ensure both personal and
institutional safety, he added.”

 

Nigeria

 

CNN: Why Can't Nigeria Protect Its Children From Boko Haram?
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“It was a kidnapping as brazen as it was unexpected. While the numbers are
murky, more than 300 schoolboys are still missing after an attack on a boys'
school in northwest Nigeria nearly a week ago. A large number of attackers
riding motorbikes ambushed the children at the school. “They said they were not
here to rob us, that we shouldn't run. 'We are going to help you,'“ said
13-year-old Khalid Yargobe, who escaped over a wall with scores of his
classmates as attackers breached the wall of his school. Rosetta Stone has
deals on three-month and one-year subscriptions so you can pick up a new
language or two. While kidnapping for ransom by criminal elements in Katsina
state have seen a disturbing increase, an abduction of this scale is unheard
of. It is a reminder of the brutal kidnapping of 276 girls from Chibok in 2014
by terror group Boko Haram. More than 100 of those girls never returned home.
On Tuesday, an audio message surfaced claiming responsibility for the
kidnapping, purportedly from Abubakar Shekau, the leader of a faction of terror
group Boko Haram. Katsina State governor Aminu Bello Masari told CNN that
officials have yet to see any concrete evidence that the boys were taken by the
group. But if the claim is true, it is a deeply disturbing shift of the
influence of Boko Haram.”

 

Mali

 

Agence France-Presse: Bomb Kills Malian Soldier And Wounds Five
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“A Malian soldier was killed and five others were wounded when their vehicle
hit an improvised explosive device on a highway in the troubled west African
country, the army said Wednesday. Mali is struggling with an Islamist
insurgency that first erupted in the north but has since spread to the center
of the country, as well as spilling over into neighboring Burkina Faso and
Niger. The patrol was traveling between the cities of Gao and Mopti on one of
the country’s only tarred highways when the explosion occurred early Tuesday,
the army said. Jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have
frequently attacked military camps and planted improvised explosive devices
along highways, resulting in civilian and military casualties. In addition to
its own armed forces, the fragile country hosts France’s mission in the Sahel,
UN peacekeeping troops, and contingents from a five-nation anti-jihadist group.”

 

United Kingdom

 

BBC News: Woman Jailed For Sharing Terrorist Material
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“A woman who shared terrorist and extremist material has been jailed for three
years. Khadidja Benboukhemis pleaded guilty to two charges of dissemination of
terrorist publications. Evidence of discussions about the Islamic State group
was found on devices in her house along with proof files had been sent to other
people. The 41-year-old of Damerel Close, Plymouth, Devon, was sentenced at
Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday. Benboukhemis was arrested following an
investigation led by Counter Terrorism Police South East (CTPSE) and supported
by Counter Terrorism Police South West and Devon and Cornwall Police, She
received an extended sentence of three years comprising two years imprisonment
and a one-year extended licence. Det Ch Supt Kath Barnes, head of CTPSE said:
“The team of investigators on this case left Benboukhemis with little option
other than to plead guilty, due to the weight of evidence they collected and
the diligent work carried out in this case.”

 

Express: In British Polite Society Even Uttering The Words Islamist Or
Islamism Is Taboo - ANALYSIS
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“Austria has founded an observatory to better understand and monitor domestic
Islamist movements. Germany has cut off public funding to major Islamist linked
charities. European governments are increasingly aware of the social cohesion
challenge and the link between ‘non-violent’ Islamists and jihadist violence.
Meanwhile, Britain is conspicuous in its absence from the debate and falling
badly behind. In fact, in British polite society, even uttering the words
Islamist or Islamism is taboo, while those sincerely concerned by the growth of
this political ideology in Britain must constantly fight off baseless racism
accusations and Muslim activists are accused of being Uncle Toms. Authorities
seem only able to discuss Islamism if they speak in equal terms about the
far-right. At this stage of the fight and at this threat level, this is an
unforgivable blind spot. We have made very little effort to understand Islamism
as distinct political theory and intellectual tradition. But this is exactly
what it is: a political theory and not a matter of race or religion.”

 

Europe

 

The Portugal News: Portuguese “Jihadists” Sentenced To Prison Terms
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“Lisbon Criminal Court has sentenced Rómulo Costa and Cassimo Turé to prison
terms of nine years and eight years and six months respectively, for crimes in
support of terrorist organisations linked to Islamic radicalism. Both
defendants were convicted of supporting, assisting and collaborating with
Islamic terrorism, “in apparent competition with the crime of financing
terrorism”. The court absolved them, however, of the crimes of membership and
recruiting militants for terrorist organisations. The judgment proved that
Cassimo Turé and Rómulo Costa “were aware of the political-military situation
experienced in Syria, while also being aware of the extremist
political-religious conventions of Nero Saraiva, Sadjo Turé (Cassimo’s
brother), Edgar Costa and Celso Costa (brothers of Rómulo), Fábio Poças and
Sandro Marques, as well as their intention, in an organised way, through a
group they formed in the United Kingdom (London), to join terrorist
organisations”. Such organisations - advances the collective court chaired by
Francisco Coimbra - were namely ISIL and ISIS, Brigade of Emigrants and later
Islamic State (IS), with these friends and brothers of the defendants “becoming
members” of these movements “recognised internationally by the United Nations
(UN) and European Union (EU) as terrorists.”

 

Australia

 

The Australian: Police Say Brisbane Double Murder A Terrorist Attack From Man
Shot By Cops On Highway
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“A man shot dead by police along a Brisbane motorway is being treated as a
suspected solo terrorist and a double murderer. Raghe Abdi, 22, was killed
after he allegedly lunged at police and was shot on Thursday morning along
Logan Motorway. Deputy Commissioner Tracy Linford said the incident was being
treated as a terrorist act but stressed he acted alone. Nine hours after Mr
Abdi was shot dead, police discovered the bodies of two elderly people in a
home at nearby Parkinson that they said he was linked to. “We are now treating
this matter as act of terror,” Ms Linford said. “Examinations of the scene have
led us to determine that this is a double homicide. “I want to stress that
nothing else has been uncovered at this point at this that would indicate that
any other pe rsons are involved in this terrorism event. “Our focus sill be to
continue to investigate the activities of Mr Abdi leading to yesterday’s
shooting and what connection he may have had with the couple.” Ms Linford said
after examining the shooting scene and the dead couple’s residence, “there was
a direct link between the two matters.” She said an item of Mr Abdi’s was found
at the elderly couple’s house.”

 

The Sydney Morning Herald: Killer’s Brother Gets More Jail Time For New Year
Terror Attack Plan
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“An aspiring terrorist who planned to kill New Year’s revellers at Melbourne’s
Federation Square has had his prison term increased by six years on appeal. Ali
Khalif Shire Ali, younger brother of Bourke Street attacker Hassan Khalif Shire
Ali, intended to use an AK-47 assault rifle to kill as many people as he could
in the name of Islamic State as the clock ticked down to midnight on December
31, 2017.  Ali Khalif Shire Ali was arrested in November 2017. Anti-terrorism
police thwarted his plan when they arrested him five weeks before the intended
attack. Ali Khalif Shire Ali, 23, was in May jailed for 10 years and told to
serve 7½ years before he became eligible for parole, however the Court of
Appeal on Friday re-sentenced him to 16 years and ordered he complete a minimum
12 years locked up. The new sentence follows an appeal by federal prosecutors
that the original sentence imposed by Supreme Court Justice John Champion was
manifestly inadequate. Shire Ali, who pleaded guilty to intentionally doing an
act in preparation for or planning a terrorist act, has served more than three
years since his arrest in late November 2017. He was in prison when his older
brother killed much-loved restaurant owner Sisto Malaspina in the Bourke Street
terror attack on November 9, 2018.”



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