Three French soldiers were killed in Mali on Monday when their vehicle hit a
bomb during operations under France’s counterterrorism mission in the Wes

 

 


<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Eye on Extremism


December 29, 2020

 

**NOTE: CEP’s Eye on Extremism will be suspended on Wednesday, December 30,
Thursday, December 31 & Friday, January 1 in observance of the New Year’s
holiday. It will resume Monday, January 4.**

 

The Wall Street Journal: Three French Soldiers Killed In Mali During
Counterterrorism Mission
<[link removed]>

 

“Three French soldiers were killed in Mali on Monday when their vehicle hit a
bomb during operations under France’s counterterrorism mission in the West
African nation, the French government said. France has more than 5,000 soldiers
deployed in an area spanning thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean in the
west to Chad in the east. Over the past seven years, the forces have fought
branches of Islamic State, al Qaeda and other militant groups, which roam the
region’s isolated villages and threaten government forces in Mali, Niger,
Burkina Faso and elsewhere. The soldiers killed Monday were conducting
operations around Hombori, a small town in Mali’s central Mopti province, as
part of the French military’s Operation Barkhane campaign against Islamist
militants across the Sahel region of Africa, authorities said. They identified
the soldiers as Tanerii Mauri, Dorian Issakhanian and Quentin Pauchet. The
three soldiers were from a military regiment based in the town of
Thierville-sur-Meuse in the east of France, they said. Their deaths bring
French fatalities to at least 47 soldiers during the current operation and the
short operation before it, which began in 2013. That includes an accident in
November 2019, when two French helicopters collided during a mission in
northern Mali, killing 13 soldiers.”

 

Daily Sabah: Taliban Abduct 20 Civilians In Southeastern Afghanistan
<[link removed]>

 

“Members of the Taliban have abducted at least 20 civilians in Afghanistan's
southeastern province of Ghazni, local officials confirmed Monday. The people,
who were taken from the province's Qara Bagh district Sunday, were transferred
to an undisclosed location afterward, provincial councilors Nasir Ahmad Faqiri
and Esmatullah Jamrodwal told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa). The area where the
abduction took place is fully controlled by the Taliban, according to
officials. A Taliban spokesperson told dpa that the group was working on the
issue, without giving further details. Ghazni is among Afghanistan's most
volatile provinces, where the insurgents control half of its districts and
contest with government forces for the remaining ones. Two government employees
were killed by gunmen in the capital of the province early in the morning,
Ghazni police said. The surge in violence comes as the Afghan government and
the Taliban have been holding peace talks for more than three months in a bid
to find a political solution for decades of war, without any breakthrough. The
government and Taliban negotiators are now on a three-week break. The Afghan
government announced Sunday that talks will resume on Jan. 5 in Doha, Qatar.”

 

United States

 

The Washington Post: Nashville Bombing Is A Potent Reminder That
Communications Systems Remain At Risk From Attack
<[link removed]>

 

“The bombing outside an AT&T facility in downtown Nashville on Christmas
triggered a cascade of technological failures that disrupted daily life and
imperiled emergency services, offering a sobering reminder of the fragility of
the nation’s critical communications systems, according to national security
experts. AT&T’s building on Second Avenue is a connection point for regional
Internet services as well as local wireless, Internet and video. Battery power
kept local service running in the hours that followed the bombing, but
subsequent damage from water and fire overwhelmed backup power generators,
leading to service disruptions across Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, the
company said in a statement. Local 911 service was impaired, and flights were
halted temporarily at Nashville International Airport. Some phone systems at
Vanderbilt University remained down Monday afternoon, including the on-call
line for the Student Health Center, the university said in a statement. Experts
applauded the telecommunications giant for responding quickly to the explosion
by deploying portable cellular sites to help restore some service. But they
were alarmed by the widespread nature of the outages, both in terms of
geography as well as the variety of services affected. Key to constructing
systems that can withstand attacks and natural disasters — and recover quickly
— is avoiding a single point of failure, they said.”

 

CBS News: Nashville Bombing Raises Fears Of “Lone Wolf” Terror Threats
<[link removed]>

 

“The Nashville bombing is prompting new concerns about “lone wolf” terror
threats in the United States. Investigators believe the Nashville bomber acted
alone in carrying out the explosion that rocked the city's downtown on
Christmas. Three people were injured and dozens of buildings were damaged in
the area. “Lone wolf” attackers have proven to be some of the most difficult
for law enforcement to stop. Studies show they are often “more educated and
socially isolated than group-based actors.” said Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO
of the Anti-Defamation League. “'Lone wolf'-style subjects sometimes choose to
commit their crimes not over a period of months,” he said, “but in a matter of
minutes.” While the Nashville bombing has not been characterized as an act of
domestic terrorism, the number of domestic terror cases under FBI investigation
has been rising in recent years. These types of attacks can be motivated by any
number of grievances. “I think all fit in the category of anti-government,
anti-authority. Which covers everything from anarchists violent extremists to
militia types,” FBI Director Christopher Wray has said. While the militia that 
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer earlier this year had a clear motive — 
ending the state's COVID-19 lockdowns — it's often more difficult for
investigators to determine what's motivated “lone wolves,” as is the case in
Nashville. “It becomes very difficult to sort of pinpoint the nature of this
individual and the crime he was trying to effectuate,” Greenblatt said.”

 

The Wall Street Journal: Money Laundering Watchdog Turns Focus To Digital
Tools, Extremism
<[link removed]>

 

“The coronavirus halted a wide range of economic activities, but it hasn’t
stopped criminals from using the global financial system to commit fraud and
engage in other types of illicit behavior. Yet the pandemic has forced some
countries to divert resources away from fighting money laundering and made it
harder for compliance officers in the private sector to detect it, according to
the Financial Action Task Force. The organization, which sets international
standards and assesses countries’ anti-money-laundering and
counterterrorism-financing policies, has been closely monitoring the impact of
the pandemic on its global network, says Marcus Pleyer, FATF’s president. Mr.
Pleyer began a two-year term as FATF’s head in July, about two months after the
organization released its first report on the AML and CTF risks posed by the
pandemic. In an interview with Risk & Compliance Journal, Mr. Pleyer discussed
FATF’s priorities under his presidency. Edited excerpts follow. WSJ: Has the
coronavirus pandemic increased the risk of money laundering? MR. PLEYER: We see
an increase in certain crimes and money laundering patterns. For example, fraud
connected with government aid. We see fundraising for fake charities. We see
counterfeiting of medical goods. Also, cybercrime.”

 

Iraq

 

The Arab Weekly: Arrest Warrant Issued For Iraqi Kata’ib Hezbollah Leader,
Outcome Uncertain
<[link removed]>

 

“Iraq’s judiciary issued an arrest warrant for Abu Ali al-Askari, a senior
leader of the Iraqi Kata’ib Hezbollah militia, on Sunday, hours after he made
threats against Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. The judiciary moved to
act against Askari in accordance with Iraq’s anti-terrorism law, amid news he
could be outside Iraq. The move is expected to escalate tensions with
pro-Iranian militias. Judicial authorities reportedly issued arrest warrants
for two other leaders of Kata’ib Hezbollah, which has links to armed groups
that launched rockets at diplomatic missions and military buildings in Baghdad
and other governorates. Askari has made public threats against the prime
minister, which opened the door to the possibility of an open confrontation
between Kadhimi’s government and Iran’s militias. Iraqi activists shared a
memorandum issued by the presidency of the Baghdad-Al-Karkh Federal Court of
Appeal, which has the authority to look into terrorism cases, to arrest Hussein
Mounes, aka Abu Ali al-Askari. Observers believe that a confrontation between
the Iraqi government and the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) that represent
Iranian interests in the country is possible at any moment.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Al Jazeera: At Least Four Killed, Many Wounded In Afghanistan Attacks
<[link removed]>

 

“At least four people have been killed in separate attacks across Afghanistan,
officials said on Monday, raising further concerns about the fate of peace
talks that have been suspended until at least next month. No one claimed
responsibility for the attacks, but a local ISIL (ISIS) affiliate opposed to
the peace process has continued to regularly target civilians and Afghan
security forces. The Taliban has halted its attacks on the United States and
international forces, but continue to target Afghan security forces even as the
group held talks this year with the Washington-backed government. The Taliban
attacked a police district headquarters in the western Farah province early on
Monday, killing one policeman and wounding three others, according to
Mohibullah Mohib, a spokesman for the provincial police chief. He said the
attack began when a suicide bomber was shot by police. His vehicle exploded,
however, and then gunmen opened fire. He said at least four attackers were
killed and eight others wounded. In the eastern Ghazni province, two employees
of the provincial revenue agency were shot and killed, according to Ahmad Khan
Serat, a spokesman for the provincial police chief.”

 

Nigeria

 

Associated Press: Rebels Attack Villages In Northern Nigeria, Killing 10
<[link removed]>

 

“Attacks by gunmen suspected to be from Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist rebels
have killed at least 10 people in Borno state in northern Nigeria, according to
local residents. The attackers hit four villages, according to the Borno state
government which confirmed the attacks but put the casualty figure at three
dead. However, residents said at least 10 people were killed. The first attack
was on the town of Azare, where insurgents hit government offices and burned
down a police station. Heavy gunfire was heard as soldiers fought the
attackers. A soldier, officer and a local self-defense fighter were killed in
Azare, residents said. Another attack was on Shaffa, said resident Ibrahim
Buba, who said he spent the night hiding in the nearby bush area. He said his
uncle, a friend, and five others were killed in the attack. The governor of
Borno state, Babagana Zulum visited Shaffa and other villages on Sunday. The
attackers targeted schools, shops and places of worship in four villages,
according to a statement by the governor’s spokesman, Isa Gusau. “Thousands of
bags of farm products recently harvested by farmers were looted by the
insurgents who also emptied shops and market stalls,” the statement said.”

 

Africa

 

Voice Of America: Cameroon Government Orders Investigation After Bus Crashes
Kill 39
<[link removed]>

 

“Scores of Cameroonians have been visiting mortuaries to identify and collect
the bodies of relatives who perished in two bus crashes Sunday that left 39
people dead between the capital Yaoundé and the western commercial city of
Bafoussam. Flavien Awanou, a social worker in the western commercial town of
Bafoussam said he has been in search of his two children since he was informed
of Sunday’s accidents. He said a phone call from the police informed him that
his son and daughter were involved in a deadly accident in Nemale village in
the Ndikinimiki administrative unit. Awanou said after a fruitless search at
Ndikinimiki and Makenene hospitals, he has come to Yaoundé to find out if his
children are in any hospital or their bodies are in any mortuary. Awanou said
his children were returning from Bafoussam where they had spent Christmas with
him to celebrate the change from 2020 to 2021 with their mother in the capital
Yaoundé. Paul Atanga Nji, Cameron minister of territorial administration who
was sent to the scene by President Paul Biya, described what he found. Nji said
the first accident occurred at 3 a.m. Sunday when a 70-seat bus from the
western towns of Foumban and Bafoussam crashed on the Nemale bridge near the
town of Makenene.”

 

Shabelle Media Network: Kenya: KDF Special Forces Kill 4 Militants In Forest
Raid <[link removed]>

 

“Officers from the Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) Special Forces gunned down four
suspected Al Shabaab militants in a raid conducted in Boni Forest, Lamu County.
The soldiers on the morning of December 27, 2020, stormed the Al Shabaab
hideout in what has been an increase in security enforcement in the region
following a series of terror scares experienced in the region. One suspect was
arrested by the soldiers and will remain in custody for interrogation. The
officers further recovered communication equipment and loads of ammunition
belonging to the militia during the morning raid. The operation by the KDF
soldiers is reported to have been a counter mission after the militia on
December 21, 2020, abducted and beheaded a chief from Wajir. Omar Adan Buul,
who was the Assistant Chief for Gumarey Sub Location in Wajir County, was
brutally murdered and his head placed on the side of a road. The scene was
photographed and the chief's head taken to Khorof Harar police station and
later to Wajir county Referral Hospital Mortuary, Insecurity in Kenya's North
Eastern and the North of Lamu, bordering Somalia has in the recent past been
plagued by terror scares. On December 15, suspected Al Shabaab insurgents
attacked security installations in Borehole 11, bombing a newly constructed
police station to the ground.”

 

Germany

 

The New York Times: A Far-Right Terrorism Suspect With A Refugee Disguise: The
Tale Of Franco A.
<[link removed]>

 

“At the height of Europe’s migrant crisis, a bearded man in sweatpants walked
into a police station. His pockets were empty except for an old cellphone and a
few foreign coins. In broken English, he presented himself as a Syrian refugee.
He said he had crossed half the continent by foot and lost his papers along the
way. The officers photographed and fingerprinted him. Over the next year, he
would get shelter and an asylum hearing, and would qualify for monthly
benefits. His name, he offered, was David Benjamin. In reality, he was a
lieutenant in the German Army. He had darkened his face and hands with his
mother’s makeup and applied shoe shine to his beard. Instead of walking across
Europe, he had walked 10 minutes from his childhood home in the western city of
Offenbach. The ruse, prosecutors say, was part of a far-right plot to carry out
one or several assassinations that could be blamed on his refugee alter ego and
set off enough civil unrest to bring down the Federal Republic of Germany. The
officer, Franco A., as his name is rendered in court documents in keeping with
German privacy laws, denies this. He says he was trying to expose flaws in the
asylum system. But his elaborate double life, which lasted 16 months, unraveled
only after the police caught him trying to collect a loaded handgun he had
hidden in an airport bathroom in Vienna.”

 

Europe

 

Radio Free Europe: At Least Three Killed, Including Two Police Officers, In
Chechnya Attack <[link removed]>

 

“At least three people are dead, including two law enforcement officers, after
a shoot-out in the capital of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya.
Unknown assailants initiated the assault on police on December 28, local media
quoted sources as saying. Interfax and TASS said the attackers opened fire on
police, while other media said they attacked the officers with knives as they
tried to disarm the law enforcement officials. Interfax reported that two
attackers were killed when police fired on them, while TASS said one was
killed. A search operation is now under way in the area as police investigate
the attack. Chechnya and Russia's other mostly Muslim-populated North Caucasus
regions are the site of frequent fighting between government forces and
militants whose insurgency stems from two post-Soviet separatist wars in
Chechnya. The volatile North Caucasus in recent years has also been at the
epicenter of organized criminal gang violence linked to business turf wars,
political disputes, clan rivalries, and the spread of militant Islam.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

The Straits Times: Indonesia Uncovers Training Site For Jemaah Islamiah
Terrorist Network In Central Java
<[link removed]>

 

“A two-storey house in Central Java used by the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist
network to train recruits in handling weapons and assembling bombs for seven
years until 2018 has been uncovered by Indonesian authorities. Recruits at the
fenced-in villa in Gintungan village in Semarang regency were inducted by
senior militant Joko Priyono, alias Karso, under the instructions of Para
Wijayanto, the leader of JI, the group behind the Bali bombings in 2002 that
killed 202 people. Both Karso and Para are currently behind bars after being
convicted of terrorist activities. At least 96 young militants underwent
six-month training at the Gintungan house, with many of them sent to Syria to
fight alongside terror group Jabhat al-Nusra, or Al Nusra Front. The group was
known as an Al-Qaeda offshoot behind decapitations and murders in Syria and
Lebanon. The discovery of the house and its dark history between 2011 and 2018
was made by Indonesia’s anti-terrorism squad, Densus 88, amid ongoing
operations against terrorists since the shocking Bali bombings. Densus 88
intensified its efforts against terrorism recently after an attack that killed
four members of a Christian family in a remote village in Central Sulawesi in
late November.”



Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>