Eye on Extremism
September 23, 2019
The
New York Times: Bus Bomb Kills 12 Iraqis Near Major Pilgrimage
Site
“The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for the
bombing of a minibus that killed 12 people near the entrance to a
major Iraqi pilgrimage center. The attack was one of the most lethal
since the fall of the Islamic State’s de facto capital at the end of
2017, according to the Iraqi Security Forces. It was also one of the
few Islamic State attacks south of Baghdad since the group’s
self-declared caliphate collapsed. It brought back memories of the
period after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, when Shiite pilgrims
were routinely targeted south of the capital as they traveled to
shrines in the cities of Karbala and Najaf. The bomb, left on the
minibus by a passenger, exploded at a checkpoint at one entrance to
Karbala near midnight on Friday. It killed 12 people, wounded five and
demolished the bus. The security forces said they had arrested a cell
of three young men who were responsible. The three had lived in Jurf
al-Sakhar, an area heavily used by the Islamic State during the period
when it took over much of Iraq. When the group lost that territory,
Sunnis were expelled, and most have not been allowed to return. Many
have had a marginal existence since then, living in areas for
displaced people. The three suspects were construction workers,
officials said.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Yemeni Rebels Warn Iran Plans Another Strike
Soon
“Houthi militants in Yemen have warned foreign diplomats that Iran
is preparing a follow-up strike to the missile and drone attack
that crippled Saudi Arabia’s oil industry a week ago, people familiar
with the matter said. Leaders of the group said they were raising the
alarm about the possible new attack after they were pressed by Iran to
play a role in it, these people said. It couldn’t be determined how
serious the threat was and Houthi claims have long been met with
skepticism by Western officials. But Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have
both received the information, according to people briefed on the
warnings. Saudi Arabia has beefed up its security in response,
according to people familiar with the moves. Saudi Arabian officials
are concerned about an another attack on the oil industry or a strike
on civilian airports, including the one in Riyadh, the capital.
Mohammed Abdul Salam, the Houthi spokesman, denied Saturday that the
group had delivered any warning to foreign diplomats about potential
Iranian attacks. A spokesman for Iran’s U.N. mission in New York
didn’t respond Saturday to requests for comment. The U.S. and Saudi
Arabia have accused the Houthi forces of falsely claiming to have
carried out the Saudi attack to cover up the role Tehran allegedly
played in orchestrating the sophisticated airstrike, an accusation
that Iran and the Houthis have denied.”
Voice
Of America: Al-Shabab Attack Kills 20 Somali Soldiers
“At least 20 Somali government soldiers were killed and 18 others
were wounded when al-Shabab raided a military base south of Mogadishu,
security sources told VOA Somali. The sources said militants detonated
a suicide car bomb at the El-Salin military base followed by an
infantry attack in the early hours of Sunday. The militants briefly
took over the base, a regional official told VOA Somali. A spokesman
for Somali special forces said the militants attacked the base “in
large numbers.” Mowlid Ahmed Hassan said the fighting lasted about 40
minutes, insisting the troops ‘defended” the base. He said
reinforcements have been sent to the base. Hassan said the troops
killed 13 militants, but declined to comment on the number of
government soldiers killed in the attack. Somali troops seized the
El-Salin base from al-Shabab on August 6. It was one of four bases in
Lower Shabelle region recaptured following an offensive by the Somali
military.”
The
New York Times: A Year Later, Iran Finds Evaporating Sympathy At The
U.N.
“When Iran’s president and foreign minister arrived in New York a
year ago for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, they
were riding high. At news conferences and in television appearances,
they cast President Trump as an untrustworthy deal-breaker, and
European leaders largely sided with the pair in a desperate effort to
preserve the 2015 nuclear agreement after the United States renounced
it. This year could not be more different. Suddenly, President Hassan
Rouhani and his witty, often biting American-educated foreign
minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, are on the defensive. They are denying
any Iranian involvement in the destruction of two major Saudi oil
facilities, an assertion that even former Secretary of State John
Kerry, who negotiated the nuclear accord four years ago and has become
its biggest defender, finds far-fetched. Iran, he said, was behind the
attack “one way or the other.”
The
Washington Post: DHS: Domestic Terrorism, Particularly
White-Supremacist Violence, As Big A Threat As ISIS,
Al-Qaeda
“Domestic terrorism and mass attacks are as great a threat to the
United States today as foreign terrorism, the Department of Homeland
Security said in a new strategy report unveiled Friday. The strategy
recognizes that foreign terrorist groups continue to plot against the
United States but notes there has been a disturbing rise in attacks
motivated by domestic terrorist ideologies — and that white supremacy
is one of the most potent drivers. “In our modern age, the
continuation of racially based violent extremism, particularly violent
white supremacy, is an abhorrent affront to the nation,” acting
homeland security secretary Kevin McAleenan said in a speech Friday in
Washington, saying the trend “has no place in the United States of
America, and it never will.” The report’s framework builds on a 2018
White House national counterterrorism strategy, describing the
evolving threat and fleshing out DHS’s role in preventing terrorism
and “targeted violence” — attacks that lack a clear political or
ideological motivation.”
The
Telegraph: Facebook Tech Chief Admits He Remains ‘Deeply Unsatisfied’
With Progress On Tackling Terror
“Facebook’s top engineer has admitted he remains “deeply
unsatisfied” with the company’s progress on tackling terror and racist
abuse. Mike Schroepfer, the dominant social network’s chief technology
officer, admitted Facebook’s had failed to sufficiently turn the tide
of online hate and said he wanted the online terror, racism and child
abuse to be “crushed into the ground”. The comments come as Facebook
comes under increased scrutiny over online safety. The company faces
new laws targeting online harm the UK, while in the US senators
grilled executives last week on online radicalisation. Founder Mark
Zuckerberg also met President Donald Trump on Thursday to discuss
progress.”
United States
The
Washington Post: Charge Against Airline Mechanic Highlights ‘Insider
Threat’
“The arrest of an airline mechanic suspected of being sympathetic
with terrorists and charged with sabotaging a jetliner has renewed
fear about the “insider threat” to aviation security. Despite security
upgrades since the hijacking terror attacks of 2001, breaches
including a gun-running operation at the nation’s biggest airport
illustrate the possibility that a well-placed airline or airport
employee could bring down a plane. “Should people be worried? Hell,
yeah,” says Doron Pely, a former aviation security consultant in
Israel. “This doesn’t require a suicide bomber. It requires access to
an airframe, an aircraft and motivation.” Several experts interviewed
for this story said it would be difficult if not impossible to stop
every determined criminal or terrorist. They said steps that might
beef up defenses against an insider attack — such as requiring
aviation workers to go through security checkpoints just like
passengers — could add costs and slow down work that goes on at
airports. While there have been several cases in recent years of
insiders using their special access to board planes without going
through security — in one case, even steal a plane — they haven’t
harmed passengers, and there hasn’t been clamoring for tougher
security.”
The
Washington Times: White Extremists Tap ISIS Playbook, Terror Experts
Tell Congress
“Violent white supremacists’ tactics, narratives and radicalization
process bear a striking similarity to those used by extremist jihadi
groups, including the Islamic State, experts told Congress. While the
sides are far apart ideologically, they both are using social media
and online platforms to disseminate propaganda, radicalize vulnerable
individuals and spur them to violence. Violent white supremacists
“have used the same modern technologies ISIS has exploited to create
their own global community, and they have down so with deadly
consequences,” said Joshua Geltzer, who served as senior director for
counterterrorism at the National Security Council, testifying Friday
before two House panels. Mr. Geltzer said both the Islamic State,
better known by the acronym ISIS, and violent white nationalist groups
are targeting vulnerable individuals with the false promise of joining
something bigger than themselves. Now the Department of Homeland
Security will study what both groups have in common as part of its
strategy to prevent attacks from domestic and foreign terrorists. DHS
on Friday announced its counterterrorism strategy, which includes
evaluating a common baseline among threats to the country.”
Huff
Post: DHS Warns Against Growing Threat Of White Supremacist Extremism
Online
“The Department of Homeland Security is sounding the alarm on the
growing danger of white supremacy across the country, warning of the
internet’s ability to serve as a meeting space and a breeding ground
for nationalist extremism. In a 37-page report called the Strategic
Framework for Countering Terrorism and Targeted Violence released
Friday, the department emphasized the ease at which potential domestic
terrorists can network, drawing a parallel to foreign threats.
“Similar to how ISIS inspired and connected with potential radical
Islamist terrorists, white supremacist violent extremists connect with
like-minded individuals online,” the report read. “In addition to
mainstream social media platforms, white supremacist violent
extremists use lesser-known sites like Gab, 8chan, and EndChan, as
well as encrypted channels. Celebration of violence and conspiracy
theories about the ‘ethnic replacement’ of whites as the majority
ethnicity in various Western countries are prominent in their online
circles.” The report comes less than two months after a gunman killed
22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. The suspect later admitted
to having targeted Mexicans, and is believed to have acted on a white
supremacist manifesto shared on 8chan minutes before his rampage
began.”
The
Blaze: Minnesota Man Who Joined ISIS Says He Is Sorry, Wants To Come
Home
“A Minnesota man who joined ISIS and was captured fighting in Syria
says he is sorry for his actions and wants to come home, even if it
means facing federal charges. Abdelhamid Al-Madioum grew up in St.
Louis Park, Minnesota, and graduated from high school in suburban
Minneapolis. According to WCCO-TV reporter Holly Williams, who found
him in a prison in Northeastern Syria. According to United States
authorities, Al-Madioum slipped away from his family while he was on
vacation in Morocco and took a solo flight to Istanbul, where he then
traveled to Iraq, where he joined up with ISIS. Al-Madioum says he was
shown ISIS propaganda films via an ISIS twitter recruitment program
where they promised to help refugees fleeing Syria. He claims,
implausibly, that he joined ISIS for humanitarian reasons. “I will be
very honest with you, I thought I was going to come and help people,”
Al-Madioum told Williams. Since joining ISIS, Al-Madioum lost his arm
and his wife in a U.S. drone strike, and his children have vanished.
He was captured by Syrian forces and is currently being held in a
Northeastern Syrian prison. Al-Madioum's disappearance was first
reported by local Minnesota media in 2017, and no one in the U.S. had
heard from him until Williams' chance encounter.”
NBC
News: Department Of Homeland Security Strategy Adds White Supremacy To
List Of Threats
“For the first time since it was formed after the 9/11 attacks, the
Department of Homeland Security is adding white supremacist violence
to its list of priority threats in a revised counterterrorism strategy
issued Friday. "The continuing menace of racially based violent
extremism, particularly white supremacist extremism, is an abhorrent
affront to our nation, the struggle and unity of its diverse
population, and the core values of both our society and our
department," said Kevin McAleenan, the acting Homeland secretary, in a
speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington. DHS is stepping up
its focus on what McAleenan called "targeted violence," in which an
attacker selects the target in advance, driven by hate. Racism and
anti-Semitism have fueled recent attacks on African-American churches,
synagogues, and public places in California and Texas, he said. The
shooting at the Walmart in El Paso hit DHS particularly hard. Six of
the victims were family members of DHS employees. "The majority of our
El Paso team, working to protect our nation, uphold the rule of law,
and care for vulnerable migrants arriving at our border is Hispanic,"
he said.”
Syria
The
Washington Post: From IS Camp, Syrian Family Returns
Home To A Hostile City
“After two years on the run with the Islamic State group, Um
Mahmoud just wanted to return home. When she finally made it to Raqqa
with her daughters and grandchildren, she found her home partially
burned but livable. She also found a hostile city reluctant to take
her back. The 53-year-old seamstress had returned from al-Hol camp,
where 73,000 people, most of them families of IS militants, have been
kept since the territorial defeat of the group in March. But there is
little trust in the returnees in Raqqa, which IS ruled with a brutal
hand for years and which suffered massive devastation in the fight to
drive it out. Um Mahmoud’s neighbors and relatives in Raqqa have
shunned her. “No one asks about us,” said the mother of six.
“Relatives are ... afraid of us.” Her return, in June, is part of an
experiment by the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led administration that runs
northeastern Syria — an attempt to bring reconciliation to Raqqa after
the upheaval that tore apart its social fabric. City administrators
have allowed the return of nearly 700 families from al-Hol. The camp
includes some 30,000 Syrians, mostly women and children, along with
tens of thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of foreigners. Most of those
foreigners’ home countries have refused to take them back.”
The
Jerusalem Post: U.S. Hoping Its Security Gamble With Turkey In Syria
Will Pay Off
“Two months after Ankara threatened to launch an operation into
northern Syria, where US forces are present, the US and Turkey seem to
be working closely on a “security mechanism” that supposedly seeks to
fulfill Turkey’s concerns about Syria. On Saturday, the sixth aerial
overflight by the US and Turkey took place in eastern Syria. Under the
“security mechanism” that was announced in August, the US and Turkey
work together with military to military teams in Turkey that
coordinate these flights and other issues in northern Syria. US
Maj.-Gen. Eric T. Hill, commander of the anti-ISIS campaign, said
these overflights were important for “all involved.” The problem for
the US is that it has limited forces on the ground in eastern Syria,
and is trying to simultaneously balance several challenges. First, it
wants to continue the mission to defeat ISIS. This has been successful
because of the partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group
that includes Kurds and others in eastern Syria that the US has helped
train, assist and advise during the war on ISIS. The SDF liberated
Raqqa in 2017, and in the spring of 2019 ISIS was finally defeated in
its last stronghold near the Euphrates River. But ISIS sleeper cells
remain a threat.”
Haaretz:
Israel Blames Iran For Explosives-Laden Drone Captured By Syria Near
Israeli Border
“An explosives-laden drone captured by Syrian authorities was not
Israeli and was likely Iranian, the Israeli military's Arabic-language
spokesman said Saturday. "Today we see proof that [the Revolutionary
Guards' Quds Force leader] Qassem Soleimani does whatever he wants in
Syria and certainly doesn't tell the Assad regime," said the Israel
Defense Forces' Avichay Adraee. According to Adraee, the drone's
location was in the area from which the Quds Force attempted to launch
a drone attack on Israeli targets last month. Syria's state news
agency said earlier Saturday that authorities had captured and
dismantled a drone rigged with cluster bombs near the border with the
Golan Heights. The drone, SANA said, was intercepted by Syria's aerial
defense system in the Hermon region, in northern Quneitra.”
Iran
The
Wall Street Journal: Why Trump Is Winning On Iran
“Delicacy forbids resorting to the suggestion that comes to mind in
response to an Arab academic declaiming in the pages of the New York
Times against Donald Trump ’s restraint with respect to Iran’s
military provocations. “Trump, in his response to Iran, is even worse
than Obama,’’ Abdulkhaleq Abdulla told the paper, which described him
as “a prominent political scientist in the United Arab Emirates.” He
went on: “Now an Arab Gulf strategic partner has been massively
attacked by Iran—which was provoked by Trump, not by us—and we hear
Americans saying to us, you need to defend yourselves! It is an utter
failure and utter disappointment in this administration.” The Trump
sanctions are having their desired effect, weakening the Iranian
regime and indicating why its regional machinations are ultimately
leading toward a dead end. This is already serving Arab interests
incidentally. If there is some regional blowback, such as the drone
and cruise-missile attack on a Saudi oil facility, in the spirit of
burden-sharing let the Saudis take the steps necessary to repay or
repel such attacks if they wish.”
Associated
Press: UK Says Iran Responsible For Attack On Saudi Oil
Facilities
“Britain has concluded that Iran was responsible for attacks on oil
facilities in Saudi Arabia, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said
Sunday. He said the U.K. would consider taking part in a U.S.-led
military effort to bolster the Gulf kingdom’s defenses, while Iran’s
president announced plans for a rival Iranian-led security coalition.
The U.K. Conservative prime minister also said the he would work with
allies to “de-escalate” Middle East tensions that have soared since
the Sept. 14 attack on the world’s largest oil processor and an oil
field. Britain had previously held back from attributing blame for the
drone and missile attack. Saudi Arabia and the United States say Iran
was responsible, something Tehran denies. Johnson told reporters
flying with him late Sunday to New York for the U.N. General Assembly
that now “the U.K. is attributing responsibility with a very high
degree of probability to Iran” for the attack by drones and cruise
missiles.”
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S., Saudis Look For Iran Link In Weapon
Systems
“Weapons experts are inspecting GPS systems recovered from the
Sept. 14 missile and drone strike on Saudi Arabian oil facilities for
evidence that could reveal their origin and flight path, people
familiar with the investigation said. Officials in Riyadh and
Washington have blamed Iran for the attacks and are searching for
“smoking gun” evidence. They say they can’t galvanize world support
for their view unless they can draw a clear link back to Tehran, which
has denied any role in the attacks. The GPS systems could allow
investigators to trace the drones and missiles back to their runways
and launchers, which Saudi and American officials believe were in
Iran. Inspectors from around the world—including the U.S., France and
the United Nations—are scrutinizing pieces of the weapons from the
attacks, which temporarily knocked out half of Saudi oil production
and rattled the global economy.”
The
Times Of Israel: Nasrallah Warns Iran Will ‘Destroy’ Saudi Arabia If
It Attacks
“Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Saudi Arabia Friday that
Iran would destroy it if it started a war in the region. “Don’t gamble
on a war with Iran,” the terror group’s leader said in a speech
broadcast on Lebanon’s Al-Manar television. “It will destroy you. Your
house is made of glass as is your economy.” Iran’s foreign minister
warned Thursday that any attack on his country over a drone and
missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry would result in “all-out
war,” further pushing up tensions across the Persian Gulf. Nasrallah
also said that a decision to “confront” Israeli drones in Lebanon has
“led to a decrease in the number of violations of Lebanese airspace.”
He said Hezbollah rejected any attempt by Israel to create “new rules
of engagement, and we have the right to continue to address the
drones.”
The
New York Times: The Urgent Search For A Cyber Silver Bullet Against
Iran
“After spending billions of dollars to assemble the world’s most
potent arsenal of cyberweapons and plant them in networks around the
world, United States Cyber Command — and the new era of warfighting it
has come to represent — may face a critical test in the coming weeks.
President Trump is considering a range of options to punish Iran for
this month’s attack on Saudi oil facilities, and has toughened
sanctions on Iran and ordered the deployment of additional troops to
the region. But a second cyberstrike — after one launched against Iran
just three months ago — has emerged as the most appealing course of
action for Mr. Trump, who is reluctant to widen the conflict in a
region he has said the United States should leave, according to senior
American officials. But even as the Pentagon considers specific
targets — an attempt to shut down Iran’s oil fields and refineries has
been one of the “proportionate responses” under review — a broader
debate is taking place inside and outside the administration over
whether a cyberattack alone will be enough to alter Iran’s
calculations, and what kind of retaliation a particularly damaging
cyberstrike might provoke.”
Al
Jazeera: US Sanctions Iran's Central Bank In Wake Of Aramco
Attacks
“The United States Department of the Treasury on Friday slapped
sanctions on Iran's central bank and its sovereign wealth fund,
ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran nearly a week after attacks on
Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure that Riyadh and Washington have
blamed on Iran. Speaking at a White House press conference alongside
visiting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, US President Donald
Trump described Friday's action as the "highest level of sanctions".
Trump has said he wants a peaceful solution to the conflict following
the weekend oil attacks, which the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo,
has described as an "act of war". Iran has denied any involvement in
the September 14 attacks on Saudi state oil giant Saudi Aramco, which
shook global oil markets and ratcheted up tensions between Washington
and Tehran. On Friday, Saudi officials took reporters to inspect the
damaged facilities.”
The
New York Times: Iran Says British Tanker Is Free To Go After 2 Months
Of Detention
“A British-flagged tanker that Iran seized in July is now free to
leave, Tehran said on Monday, more than a month after the British
authorities released an Iranian tanker that had been detained off
Gibraltar. The news offered a rare hint of easing tensions for Iran,
at a time when the country has been in an escalating cycle of
confrontation with its Persian Gulf neighbors and with the United
States, including the shooting down of drones, the seizure of tankers
and, most recently, an attack on major oil installations in Saudi
Arabia. Officials of the United States and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s chief
rival in the region, have blamed Tehran for the Sept. 14 attack on oil
facilities in the kingdom, raising the prospect of retaliatory strikes
and even war. But so far, the only apparent action they have taken
against Tehran is a tightening of economic sanctions.”
Iraq
Iraqi
News: Iraqi Security Forces Kill Islamic State Suicide Bomber In
Baghdad
“Iraqi security forces have killed an Islamic State suicide bomber
in al-Tarmia district, north of Baghdad. According to a statement by
the Baghdad Operations Command, the suicide bomber was wearing an
explosive belt and carrying grenades. He was gunned down in al
Ghozailia district in Baghdad, the statement read. Violence in the
country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State
extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and
Syria in 2014. The surge in violence between armed groups and
government forces has resulted in over five million internally
displaced persons across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of
humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.”
Xinhua:
3 IS Militants Killed In Anti-IS Operation In Central
Iraq
“The Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), backed by the U.S.-led
coalition aircraft, on Saturday carried out a large-scale operation in
the central Salahudin province, killing three Islamic State (IS)
militants and destroying several hideouts. The CTS operation was
conducted in the mountains of Makhoul and Khanouga and the areas
between the towns of Baiji and al-Shirqat in the northern part of the
province, Mohammed al-Bazi from the provincial police told Xinhua.
During the operation, the CTS troops killed three IS militants and
destroyed dozens of IS tunnels and hideouts, as well as seizing
different weapons and ammunition, al-Bazi said. Iraqi security forces
repeatedly carried out operations to clear rugged and mountainous
areas in eastern and northern parts of Salahudin province, but the
vast areas and hard terrain have made it difficult for them to
completely clear the area of the extremist militants. The security
situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security
forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country
late in 2017. IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas
or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out
frequent hit-and-run attacks against security forces and
civilians.”
Kurdistan24:
Military Announces Discovery Of ISIS Drone On An Island In An Iraqi
Lake
“Iraqi security forces announced on Friday that they had discovered
and confiscated an Islamic State drone on an island in a lake in
Diyala province. According to a statement released by the Iraqi
Security Media Cell, joint forces from Iraqi intelligence services,
local security, and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) "found a drone
belonging to the ISIS terrorist gangs hidden on an island in Hamrin
Lake during a raid on hideouts of the terrorist organization." Iraq's
military provided no additional details. The accuracy of the statement
could not be confirmed, nor do the photographs released with it
conclusively show a working unmanned aerial vehicle that is connected
to Islamic State militants. On Sept. 10, the US-led coalition dropped
over 36,000 kilograms of bombs on Islamic State positions on an island
in an Iraqi river, the US-led coalition spokesperson said on Tuesday,
adding that it was done “to disrupt Daesh [Islamic State] the ability
to hide in the thick vegetation.”
Turkey
The
New York Post: Why Isn’t The Media Covering Turkish President
Erdogan’s Ties To ISIS
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pitched his tent at New
York’s glitzy Peninsula Hotel this week, where he will be dining (but
not wining) American Muslim leaders on the sidelines of UN meetings.
During his 2017 New York visit, Erdogan met with then-freshman U.S.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). This past July, state-run media chiefs called
on Turks around the world to donate to her re-election campaign, which
is illegal if they are not U.S. citizens or green-card holders. But
what should disturb Americans most about Erdogan is not his efforts to
influence Congress, his abysmal record as a jailer of journalists, his
genocidal war against the Kurds, or even the $100 million mosque he
has constructed in Lanham, Maryland. It’s Erdogan’s commitment to
global jihad, and specifically, to ISIS terrorists. Since 2012, the
Turkish intelligence service, MIT, under Erdogan’s direction, has been
providing resources and material assistance to ISIS, while Turkish
Customs officials turned a blind eye to ISIS recruits flowing across
Turkey’s borders into Syria and Iraq. Scores of ISIS fighters captured
by pro-U.S. Kurdish forces in northern Syria showed Turkish exit
stamps on their passports, and otherwise boasted of the direct
assistance they had received from Turkish authorities. “Turkish
intelligence knows everything,” one captured ISIS fighter told his
Kurdish captors recently.”
Afghanistan
Al
Jazeera: Afghanistan Hospital Attack Death Toll Soars To
39
“The death toll in a Taliban suicide attack near a hospital in
southern Zabul province has gone up to 39, Afghan officials said on
Friday. At least 95 others have been wounded in the car bomb explosion
that the armed group said targeted a nearby government intelligence
department building in Qalat, the capital of Zabul province. A senior
defence ministry official in Kabul said the fighters wanted to target
a training base for the country's powerful security agency the
National Directorate of Security (NDS), but parked the
explosives-laden vehicle outside a hospital gate nearby. Residents,
many of whom had come to see their sick family members, used shawls
and blankets to carry the wounded inside the destroyed hospital
building, while authorities scrambled to take the worst of the wounded
to hospitals in nearby Kandahar. Haji Atta Jan Haqbayan, a member of
the provincial council in Qalat, said 20 bodies and 95 wounded had
been evacuated from the blast site. Haqbayan said the wall of the NDS
building was damaged. He couldn't say whether any personnel were among
the casualties. “The number of casualties may rise as rescue teams and
people are still searching the bodies under the rubble,” he said.”
Reuters:
Afghanistan's Taliban Meets Chinese Government In
Beijing
“A Taliban delegation met China’s special representative for
Afghanistan in Beijing on Sunday to discuss the group’s peace talks
with the United States, a spokesman for the Islamist insurgency said.
The meeting comes after U.S. President Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour
cancellation earlier this month of the negotiations between his
country and the Taliban, which many had hoped would pave the way to a
broader peace deal with the Afghan government and ending a 17-year
war. The Taliban’s nine-member delegation traveled to Beijing and met
Deng Xijun, China’s special representative for Afghanistan, said
Suhail Shaheen, the Afghan group’s spokesman in Qatar, on his official
Twitter account. Qatar was where the Taliban and the United States
held peace talks over the past year. “The Chinese special
representative said the U.S.-Taliban deal is a good framework for the
peaceful solution of the Afghan issue and they support it,” Shaheen
wrote. Mullah Baradar, the Taliban delegation’s leader, said they had
held a dialogue and reached a “comprehensive deal”, Shaheen
tweeted.”
The
New York Times: A Young Life Ends After 4 Steps On Video, And Afghans
Can’t Stop Watching
“At first, the man was just walking across the street. Then he was
running for his life. He managed four steps before the blast from the
car bomb caught him. Since then, the last few seconds of Akbar
Fazelyar’s life, captured on video during a Taliban attack on Sept. 5,
have become one of the most scrutinized moments in Afghanistan, slowed
down and watched frame by frame on countless mobile phones and
computer screens. Though violent deaths are appallingly common in this
country, Afghans have been seized with fascination and dread by the
clip’s reminder of how little separates life from death. In the United
States, the Taliban attack in Kabul, the Afghan capital, was noted
because President Trump cited it, along with the death of American and
NATO soldiers in the blast, as the reason for calling off negotiations
with the insurgents. In Kabul, it was another painful example of how
any corner of the capital — wedding halls, mosques, tuition centers —
could suddenly become a battlefield, and of how seemingly everyday
decisions could have momentous consequences, bringing disparate lives
together at their end. Alongside the 11 others who lost their lives in
the attack that day, what had brought Mr. Fazelyar to his death?”
Radio
Free Europe: Afghan Officials: Taliban Suffers Heavy Casualties In
Several Provinces
“Afghan authorities say Taliban militants have suffered heavy
casualties in the latest security operations in several provinces
across the country. A Taliban commander and six other militants were
killed in clashes in Parwan Province north of the capital, Kabul,
provincial police chief Muhammad Mahfooz Walizada said on September
22. Walizada identified the Taliban commander as Mullah Qudus. He said
the militants were killed in an operation near the provincial capital,
Charikar, late on September 21. Military officials in Ghazni Province
said at least 16 Taliban fighters were killed and more than 25 others
wounded in overnight operations in Muqur, Rashidan, and Waghaz
districts. A Taliban shadow district chief was killed in the northern
district of Zari in Balkh Province, Afghan officials said in a
statement. Mawlawi Gul Ahmad and other eight other Taliban militants
were killed in clashes late on September 21, the statement added. It
said the clashes began after a group of militants led by Gul Ahmad
attacked security forces deployed in the area. The troops, backed by
air strikes, repelled the assault, the statement said. Two
pro-government militia fighters were also killed and four soldiers
were wounded in the clashes.”
The
Guardian: ‘Voting Means You’re Crazy’: Violence And Fraud Overshadow
Afghanistan Poll
“Afghanistan must choose a new president this week, but every
election over the last decade has been riddled with fraud and marred
by violence, and fears are growing that the poll on may be the worst
yet. It comes as the war is raging with unprecedented intensity. Last
week alone, dozens were killed when the Taliban flattened a hospital
in an attack in the south, and a US drone strike hit a group
harvesting pine nuts in the east. And looming over the poll is the
future of controversial US efforts to negotiate a troop withdrawal
with the Taliban, suspended after a tweet by President Donald Trump
but not entirely dead. Whoever wins the presidential poll will be in
charge of trying to extend any deal to cover Afghan security forces,
and negotiate first a ceasefire and then some form of shared
government that does not sign away all the gains in democracy and
women’s rights of the last two decades.The insurgents have vowed to
target the election, and there have already been attacks on a campaign
rally and one of the vice-presidential candidates.The tempo of their
assaults means many people have already decided to stay away from
polling stations in fear for their lives. “Voting when there is such a
bad situation means you are crazy. And I am not crazy,” said Qasim
Walizada, a 29-year-old taxi driver from western Kabul.”
Task&Purpose:
US Official Claims ISIS Fighters Were Hiding Among Afghan Civilians
During Deadly Drone Strike
“A senior U.S. defense official in Afghanistan's capital city Kabul
on Friday said Islamic State fighters were hiding among pine nut
harvesters when a U.S. drone strike in eastern Afghanistan killed at
least 32 people. The attack occurred in early hours of Thursday in
Wazir Tangi area of Nangarhar province, causing high civilian
casualties. Provincial Afghan officials on Friday said 32 men and
children were killed and more than 40 were injured in the strike. U.S.
officials said the drone strike was conducted solely to target IS
fighters in a densely forested area that is not inhabited by locals
but offers a high yield of pine nuts to villagers residing on the edge
of the forest. "There were IS (fighters) there, but it appears during
harvest season the locals cut deals with the IS fighters to act as
harvesters," said a senior U.S. official who is privy to the
counter-terrorism operations conducted by American forces in
Afghanistan.”
Saudi Arabia
The
Washington Post: UN Welcomes Houthi Move To Halt Attacks On Saudi
Arabia
“The U.N. envoy for Yemen says the Houthi rebels’ initiative to
halt attacks on Saudi Arabia “could send a powerful message of the
will to end the war” in Yemen. Martin Griffiths’ comments Saturday
came hours after the Houthi announcement, and a week after the rebels
claimed a strike that crippled a key oil facility in Saudi Arabia.
Griffiths called for “taking advantage of this opportunity and moving
forward with all necessary steps to reduce violence, military
escalation and unhelpful rhetoric.” Saudi Arabia has led a military
coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen since 2015. That conflict has
killed tens of thousands of people. The U.S. and the Saudis blamed the
Sept. 14 attack on Iran, which backs the Houthi rebels. Tehran denies
any responsibility.”
Middle East
The
National: UAE Urges Qatar To Stop Rhetoric Of Hatred
“The United Arab Emirates, UAE, has urged Qatar to stop programmes
that promote hate rhetoric and incitement of hatred in its local
media, saying the trend threatens the security of countries in the
region, including Qatar itself. While delivering the UAE statement
before the forty-second regular session of the Human Rights Council
held in Geneva to discuss the Universal Periodic Review, UPR, of
Qatar, Amira Al Amri of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation, said the UAE had taken note of conclusions
made by the UPR team of experts and urged Qatar once again to pay
proper attention and care to 92 recommendations, including those
presented by the UAE, regarding unlawful practices by Qatar in
harbouring and supporting terrorist groups. The UAE considers these
acts as a violation of human rights, she added.”
Egypt
ABC
News: Egyptian Officials Say Police Kill 15 Militants In
Sinai
“Egyptian security forces say police have killed 15 suspected
militants in a shootout in the restive northern part of the Sinai
Peninsula. They say the shootout took place on Sunday when police
raided the militants' hideout west of the Mediterranean city of
el-Arish. Security officials say they found weapons and explosive
materials in the hideout, and the bodies were taken to a nearby
hospital for identification. Separately, they say six security forces
were wounded when an explosive device hit their vehicle in the nearby
town Sheikh Zuweid. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to brief the media. Egypt has battled an
insurgency led by an Islamic State affiliate for years in the Sinai
Peninsula that has occasionally spilled over to the mainland.”
Egypt
Today: Security Forces Raid A Terrorist Hideout
“Egyptian security forces successfully raided a terrorist hideout
at Matariya neighborhood in eastern Cairo, said Interior Ministry’s
statement on Saturday. Security troops linked to the National Security
sector carried out on Saturday a daring raid on a terrorist hideout
where weapons and arm fires intended to be used against the public
were kept. What were found to be elements of the terrorist Hasm group,
exchanged fire with the raiding security troops. A terrorist suspect
named Amr Ahmed Mahmoud Abu al Hassan was killed on the exchange of
fire, and two National Security officers wounded, according to the
Interior Ministry statement. The confiscated weapons included several
firearms with their clips and bullets, RPG with several explosive
warheads, explosives, electrical circuits used for bombs, and multiple
bullet-proof jackets. State Security Prosecution is carrying out
investigation on the matter.”
Nigeria
Reuters:
Targeting Militants, Nigeria To Require ID Cards In The
Northeast
“Nigeria will require anyone moving through three northeastern
states to carry identification cards in an effort to root out members
of Boko Haram and Islamic State, the army said on Sunday. The new
requirement follows credible information that members of the two
militant groups were hiding among civilians in the towns and villages
of the states, an army statement said. The army said it would
“strictly check” the identification cards of those moving or passing
through the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Those found without
identification would “attract further scrutiny and comprehensive
investigation to determine his or her activities with the insurgents
or otherwise”, it said. Last week, the army forced non-profit Action
Against Hunger to close its office in the region, accusing it of
aiding groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State by providing
members with food and medicine. The decade-long insurgency led by
Islamist militant group Boko Haram has killed some 30,000 people and
forced more than 2 million to flee their homes. Islamic State in West
Africa (ISWA) split from Boko Haram in 2016.”
Daily
Post Nigeria: Boko Haram: Govt Hires 200 Special Hunters To Fight
Terrorists In Borno
“Worried by the increasing Boko Haram attacks on Gubio town and its
environs, the Caretaker Chairman of Gubio Local Government Area of
Borno State, Hon Zanna Modu, has hired the services of 200 special
hunters from some parts of Adamawa, Gombe, Katsina and other states in
Northern Nigeria to complement effort of the military and other
security agencies and nip the crisis in the bud. Modu also said five
patrol Hilux vehicles were newly procured and would be handed over to
these special set of hunters who are to work hand in hand with the
security agencies and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).
This was disclosed on Sunday by the Chairman while interacting with
some journalists on the modalities put in place to end incessant
attacks. Gubio is about 100km drive and North from Maiduguri, the
state capital which has been witnessing series of attacks and
destruction of properties in the last one month. Modu said, the
measure to hire these special squad of hunters who are to be deployed
for three months period is to ensure peace and resilience of fleeing
residents return back to their communities. Recall that the renewed
attacks by insurgents, which led to the abduction of one member of
Civilian Joint Task Force and killing of one of its Commanders, have
rendered hundreds displaced, with some taking refuge in Maiduguri
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp.”
Somalia
Reuters:
Somalia’s Al Shabaab Raid Military Base, Loot Weapons
“Fighters belonging to Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab
stormed an army base near the capital Mogadishu on Sunday, looted it
for weapons and then withdrew, a military source, residents and the
group told Reuters. The assault began when a suicide bomber rammed
his explosive-laden car into the base in El Salini, 60 kilometres (37
miles) southwest of Mogadishu, at around 5:30 am local time, al
Shabaab said. A local elder, Ahmed Cali, told Reuters he had been
woken by the sound of a huge blast followed by gunfire. He said that
later al Shabaab fighters were seen leaving the base, some in trucks
loaded with ammunition. A major in the Somali military who didn’t
want to be named said the military has sustained some casualties,
without giving details. He said the army had received reinforcements
and was back in control of the base. Al Shabaab claimed
responsibility for the assault and said they had killed 23 soldiers.
“A mujahid driving a suicide car bomb first hit the base and then
armed mujahideen stormed the base, we killed 23 military soldiers,”
said Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman.
He added the fighters had taken military vehicles and weapons from the
base, including anti-aircraft guns.”
Africa
Reuters:
Ethiopia Says It Detains Suspected Islamist Militants Planning
Attacks
“Ethiopia said on Saturday it had arrested an unspecified number of
Islamist militant members of the Somali group al Shabaab and Islamic
State who were planning to carry out attacks in the country on various
targets including hotels. Some of those arrested were carrying out
intelligence work including photographing potential targets, the
National Intelligence Security Services (NISS) said in a statement
read out on state-affiliated broadcaster Fana. “The group was ...
preparing to attack hotels, religious festivities gathering places and
public areas in Addis Ababa,” NISS said. Ethiopian intelligence
coordinated with neighboring Djibouti to detain the suspects including
their leader, Muhammed Abdulahi, NISS said. Those detained, NISS
said, were arrested in the capital Addis Ababa, Oromia and Ethiopia’s
Somali region. Al Shabaab has been fighting for years to topple
Somalia’s central government, which the African Union-mandated
peacekeeping force AMISOM helps to defend. The militants have carried
out numerous attacks in Somalia on military and civilian targets, and
it has also conducted attacks abroad including in Kenya.”
Technology
The
Wall Street Journal: Snap Detailed Facebook’s Aggressive Tactics In
‘Project Voldemort’ Dossier
“Facebook Inc. for most of the past decade was Silicon Valley’s
800-pound gorilla, squashing rivals, ripping off their best ideas or
buying them outright as it cemented its dominance of social media. Now
the knives are coming out. A number of Facebook’s current and former
competitors are talking about the company’s hardball tactics to
investigators from the Federal Trade Commission, as part of its
broader antitrust investigation into the social-media giant’s business
practices, according to people familiar with the matter. One of them
is Snap Inc.,where the legal team for years kept a dossier of the ways
Facebook was trying to thwart competition from the buzzy upstart,
according to people familiar with the matter. The title of the
documents: Project Voldemort.”
The
New York Times: Facebook’s Suspension Of ‘Tens Of Thousands’ Of Apps
Reveals Wider Privacy Issues
“Facebook said on Friday that it had suspended tens of thousands of
apps for improperly sucking up users’ personal information and other
transgressions, a tacit admission that the scale of its data privacy
issues was far larger than it had previously acknowledged. The social
network said in a blog post that an investigation it began in March
2018 — following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a British
consultancy, had retrieved and used people’s Facebook information
without their permission — had resulted in the suspension of “tens of
thousands” of apps that were associated with about 400 developers.
That was far bigger than the last number that Facebook had disclosed
of 400 app suspensions in August 2018. The extent of how many apps
Facebook had cut off was revealed in court filings that were unsealed
later on Friday by a state court in Boston, as part of an
investigation by the Massachusetts attorney general into the
technology company. The documents showed that Facebook had suspended
69,000 apps. Of those, the majority were terminated because the
developers did not cooperate with Facebook’s investigation; 10,000
were flagged for potentially misappropriating personal data from
Facebook users.”
TechCrunch:
Meet Facebook's Latest Fake
“Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a 35-year-old billionaire who keeps
refusing to sit in front of international parliamentarians to answer
questions about his ad business’ impact on democracy and human rights
around the world, has a new piece of accountability theatre to sell
you: An “Oversight Board“. Not of Facebook’s business itself. Though
you’d be forgiven for thinking that’s what Facebook’s blog post is
trumpeting, with the grand claim that it’s “Establishing Structure and
Governance for an Independent Oversight Board”. Referred to during the
seeding stage last year, when Zuckerberg gave select face-time to
podcast and TV hosts he felt comfortable would spread his conceptual
gospel with a straight face, as a sort of ‘Supreme Court of Facebook’,
this supplementary content decision-making body has since been
outfitted in the company’s customary (for difficult topics) bloodless
‘Facebookese’ (see also “inauthentic behavior”; its choice euphemism
for fake activity on its platform).”
NBC
News: Six Months After Christchurch Shootings, Videos Of Attack Are
Still On Facebook
“Facebook is still hosting video footage of the New Zealand mosque
shootings six months after the tragedy despite the social network’s
repeated pledges to clamp down on terrorist content. NBC News has seen
more than a dozen videos on Facebook that were taken from the
livestream recorded by the accused gunman, Brenton Tarrant, 28, and
broadcast on the social network as the attack was carried out at two
mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15. They show a
first-person view of Tarrant using an assault weapon to mow down
dozens of worshippers in two mosques. The attacks left 51 people dead.
Many of the clips, which include edited sections and screen recordings
of the original footage, have been on the platform since the week of
the incident. Some of the videos have been automatically covered by
Facebook with a warning saying they feature “violent or graphic
content,” but they have not been deleted. “It’s literally the same
footage,” said Eric Feinberg, an internet security researcher and
founder of Gipec, a cyberintelligence company that discovered the
videos. “The guy walks in with the music, the gun, the angle of the
gun, the same shots. What are they doing with their technology?”
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