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Eye on Extremism
February 2, 2021
The Independent: British Troops Begin Missions In Mali Amid Islamist Insurgency
“British troops sent to Mali as part of an international force facing an Islamist insurgency have started carrying out missions in an area which has seen extensive jihadist violence and had come under attack recent attacks. Around 200 troops and 60 armoured cars took part in their first reconnaissance and intelligence gathering patrol in a conflict which has drawn in al-Qaeda and Isis against a background of political turbulence in the country following a military coup. The 300 British troops, part of a UN peacekeeping force, are operating under a Chinese senior officer in the local chain of command at Gao, in the east of the country. Beijing started sending troops to Mali two years ago to join the UN Minusma mission : it currently has a contingent of around 430 include combat troops guarding the multinational force and also staffing a hospital at the headquarters. The UK force, from the Light Dragoons and the Royal Anglian Regiment are using armoured cars including Jackals, Foxhounds and Mastiffs for their patrols. The Army’s 77th Brigade, which specialises in information and cyber warfare, are part of the deployment, and medical support includes a mobile operating theatre and battlefield ambulances.”
Al Monitor: Islamic State Relies On Money Transfers From Sympathizers In Turkey, Iraq: Report
“The Islamic State terror group was largely crushed by coordinated international effort in 2019, but its networks appear to still have access to an estimated $100 million in cash reserves stashed across the Middle East, the US Treasury Department said. IS’ monetary reserves are at a historic low since it took over swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014, having since lost all of its tax- and oil-producing territory. But the group’s remnants in Syria continue to receive streams of cash from associates based in neighboring Turkey and from smugglers in Iraq, according to an unclassified Treasury Department memo released earlier this month. Some of those transfers have gone via local hawalas (money services businesses) in the notorious al-Hol internment camp, which houses some 50,000 family members of IS fighters. Other cash shipments have been delivered by courier across the flat, open desert border between Iraq and Syria. Inside Syria, the group continues to raise funds “through extortion of oil smuggling networks in eastern Syria, kidnaping for ransom targeting civilian businesses and populations, looting and possibly the operation of front companies,” the memo from the Treasury’s chief auditor read.”
United States
Voice Of America: US Man Charged With Attempting To Provide Support To IS
“A U.S. citizen has been charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State (IS) terror group, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday. Mohamed Fathy Suliman, 33, was recently expelled from Turkey and is now back in the United States. A former resident of Gainesville in the U.S. state of Florida, Suliman reportedly traveled to Turkey in 2014 and attempted to enter Syria illegally to join IS, U.S. officials said during the announcement of his arrest. According to a criminal complaint, Suliman had a one-way flight reservation from Florida to Egypt in June 2014. However, during his layover in Turkey, instead of traveling to Egypt, he paid cash for a one-way ticket to the Turkish city of Gaziantep, near the border with Syria. He was arrested by Turkish authorities while attempting to illegally cross into Syria. In a 2018 interview with the FBI, Suliman admitted to purchasing a ticket to Egypt to disguise his travel plans from family and friends, the Justice Department said in a statement. “Terrorists and would-be terrorists need to understand that no resource will be spared when it comes to protecting U.S. citizens and prosecuting those who seek to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations,” U.S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe of the Northern District of Florida said in a statement Monday.”
Syria
Reuters: Deadly Car Bombs Rock Syria’s Northern Aleppo
“A car bomb exploded leaving at least five people dead and more than 25 injured in Northern Aleppo, Syria’s al-Watan newspaper reported on Sunday. State news agency SANA reported the bombing in the city of Azaz but did not say how many people had been killed or injured. Turkey, which is allied with some rebel groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is in control of the area where the explosion occurred. A separate suicide car bombing at a checkpoint manned by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the Bezaa area, also in Northern Aleppo, killed six FSA members and injured four, FSA sources said. Turkish forces and their Syrian insurgent allies seized territory in the region in an offensive in 2019 against the Kurdish YPG militia which holds swathes of north and east Syria. Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group tied to the PKK inside its own borders. Turkish state-owned Anadolu agency said 10 people had died and 24 were injured in two attacks in Northern Syria on Sunday, adding that a car bomb had exploded in the centre of Azaz.”
Kurdistan 24: SDF Arrests 2 ISIS Suspects In Deir Al-Zor Countryside
“The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sunday arrested two suspected members of the so-called Islamic State who were allegedly planning an attack in the rural Deir al-Zor province. The SDF’s media center said its forces, with air surveillance support from the US-led Coalition, raided the “hideouts of a terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS” in the Dhiban village, located in Deir al-Zor’s countryside. According to the media center, “the terrorist cell was planning to launch terrorist operations in the region.” “During the operation, two terrorists were arrested and a quantity of explosives and equipment was seized,” it added. Although the SDF and the US-led Coalition announced the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in Syria in March 2019, sleeper cell attacks persist, especially in liberated territories, in what appears to be a deliberate campaign to destabilize the area. Deir al-Zor has consistently been one of the most unstable regions in areas under SDF control, facing regular attacks and assassinations. Among the main targets of Islamic State remnants have been Arabs from Deir al-Zor working with SDF-affiliated civilian and military institutions in the province. In response, the SDF has continued to carry out operations to arrest sleeper cells.”
Iraq
Arab News: UK Jets Destroy Daesh Cells In Iraq
“British Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets have destroyed two groups of Daesh fighters in northern Iraq, as military operations against the terrorist group intensify in retaliation for a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that two RAF Typhoon FGR4s used laser-guided bombs to strike the Daesh militants, who had taken refuge in caves near Bayji, a city 200 km north of the Iraqi capital. The MoD said the bombing — the first by British aircraft against Daesh cells since October — is part of efforts to hinder the terror group’s efforts at regrouping in its former heartlands of Iraq and Syria. The ministry did not provide details of casualties. An airstrike by the US-led military coalition last week killed Abu Yasir, Daesh’s most senior leader in Iraq. The recent rise in bombing activity comes after Baghdad endured its worst suicide bombing for several years, with at least 32 people killed and over 110 wounded on Jan. 21. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said the “cowardly” attack was a security breach and sacked several senior officials. The presence of Western troops in Iraq has begun to dwindle in recent years despite the enduring threat from Daesh.”
“Iraqi sovereignty and the war against extremism are fights the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is committed to winning, according to a top GCC official on Monday. GCC Secretary-General Nayef Falah al-Hajraf arrived in Baghdad on Monday and met with President Barham Salih at al-Salam Palace, where the leaders and an accompanying GCC delegation discussed political, economic and security concerns. Hajraf also met with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Foreign Affairs Minister Fuad Hussein and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Halbusi. Discussions focused on terrorism challenges and “mutually beneficial opportunities for trade and development,” according to a statement by Salih’s office. Kadhimi also stressed revisiting pledges made during the Iraqi reconstruction conference held in Kuwait in 2018 following the territorial defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq a year earlier. Among promises was a nearly $30 billion vow of international support, well short of the $88 billion Baghdad said it needed for full recovery, as well as an additional roughly $480 million pledge by the EU for humanitarian aid, stabilization, reconstruction and longer-term sustainable development. Iraq and the GCC have discussed strengthening relations for years.”
Afghanistan
Voice Of America: Hopes Dim That Intra-Afghan Talks Will Be Successful
“A U.S. government watchdog is expressing increased skepticism about the prospects for peace in Afghanistan, warning the United States-led push to reconcile Afghanistan’s Western-backed government with the Taliban are failing short. In a blunt assessment Monday, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) warned that despite the fanfare that surrounded last year’s withdrawal agreement between Washington and the Taliban, follow-on talks between the Taliban and the government in Kabul “have so far yielded few substantive results.” “There has been no cease-fire agreement and high levels of insurgent and extremist violence continued in Afghanistan this quarter despite repeated pleas from senior U.S. and international officials,” Special Inspector General John Sopko wrote in his latest quarterly report, the 50th such assessment sent to U.S. lawmakers. “Nor is it evident … that the Taliban has broken ties with the al-Qaida terrorists who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on the United States,” he added. The U.S.-Taliban agreement requires all American and NATO troops to leave the country by May in return for the insurgents’ counterterrorism guarantees and pledges they will negotiate with Afghan rivals a political deal to permanently end two decades of Afghan war.”
Lebanon
Reuters: Lebanon Army Arrests 18 Lebanese, Syrians Linked To Islamic State: Statement
“Lebanon’s army said on Monday it had arrested 18 people, some Lebanese and others Syrian, with links to Islamic State. The arrests came in “field operations” that took place over the past two weeks in the border town of Arsal in the north, an army statement said. The individuals arrested confessed to belonging to the Islamic State jihadist group and supporting it, and several weapons were also confiscated, it said. Juroud Arsal, a barren area in the mountains between Syria and Lebanon, was previously a base of operations for insurgents fighting in the Syrian civil war, including militants from Islamic State and the group formerly known as the Nusra Front.”
Al Jazeera: Hezbollah Claims Downing Israeli Drone Over Southern Lebanon
“Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement has said it shot down an Israeli drone that flew over the United Nations-demarcated Blue Line border. In a statement carried by the movement’s Al Manar TV, Hezbollah said it “downed a drone belonging to the Israeli enemy that had entered Lebanese airspace outside Blida” in southern Lebanon on Monday. The Israeli army said, during an operational activity along the Blue Line, a drone had fallen in the Lebanese territory. “There is no risk of breach of information,” it said. Hezbollah has in the past claimed downing Israeli drones. The incident comes 10 days after the Israeli army shot down an unmanned aircraft it said had entered its airspace from Lebanon. Israel and Lebanon are still technically at war, and UN forces UNIFIL patrols the border. Tensions in the region have been rising over the past months amid Israeli air attacks on Iran-backed fighters in neighbouring Syria. Last year, Hezbollah pledged to respond to the killing of one of its fighters in an Israeli raid in Syria. Israeli warplanes and drones violate Lebanon’s airspace almost daily.”
Nigeria
Reuters: 'I Was Crying': Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirl Phones Home After Seven Years
“Nearly seven years since Islamist militants kidnapped two of his daughters from their school in northeastern Nigeria, a hurried phone call let Ali Maiyanga know that his family’s ordeal might soon be over. The call on Thursday evening was from Maiyanga’s daughter Halima, who - along with her sister Maryam - was among more than 200 schoolgirls snatched by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok in April 2014, sparking a global #BringBackOurGirls campaign. “I was crying, she was crying,” said Maiyanga, who was preparing to get married to his fourth wife when he heard Halima’s voice down the line. “We couldn’t talk long because I was surrounded by so many people and the place was noisy. Everybody started jumping up and down when I told them,” said Maiyanga, father of 18 children, who was reunited with his other kidnapped daughter in 2016. Halima, 23, told him she had been rescued by the Nigerian army, but Maiyanga said he did not know her exact whereabouts or if she was alone or with more of her kidnapped former classmates. An army spokesman said on Monday it did not have any Chibok kidnap victims in its custody and the government has not issued a statement about any of the missing women being found in recent days.”
Sahara Reporters: Nigeria Offers To Help Mozambique Fight Terrorism
“Nigeria has offered to support Mozambique in its fight against Islamist insurgents in the gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado. More than 2,000 people have been killed and more than 500,000 others displaced in the violence, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, visited Mozambique over the weekend and met Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário, the BBC reported on Monday. Mr Onyeama said Nigeria was ready to share its experience of fighting Islamist militants and provide support to Mozambique. But observers will question whether it's best placed to offer advice, given the continued insecurity in Nigeria. Ironically, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2020, Nigeria is one of the ten countries most impacted by terrorism. Indeed, Nigeria is the third country most impacted by terrorism. Boko Haram, Nigeria’s deadliest terrorist group, has been responsible for the killing of thousands of Nigerians and the displacement of many others. At least 36,000 people have been said to have been killed and 2 million displaced since Boko Haram launched its jihadi insurgency in northeast Nigeria in 2009.”
Somalia
Voice Of America: Mogadishu Hotel Attack Death Toll Rises To 15
“The death toll from Sunday’s assault on a hotel in Somalia’s capital has risen to 15, with at least 20 others injured, according to a police spokesman and medical officials in Mogadishu. The dead include four assailants in addition to 11 victims, say security officials. The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack. A well-known top retired general, Mohamed Nur Galal, and young couples on their honeymoon were among those killed. “The newly married young couples came from abroad and they were having their honeymoon time at the hotel. We were told around 3:00 am local time on Monday that their dead bodies were found inside their hotel room,” said Farah Abdirahman, the uncle of one of the women killed. The attack at one of Mogadishu’s popular hotels, the Afrik Hotel, began with a car bomb explosion and then al-Shabab gunmen dressed in Somali military uniforms stormed the building. The four al-Shabab assailants died during an operation in which the security forces tried to flush the militants out of the building, police spokesman Sadiq Aden Ali told reporters.”
Africa
Financial Times: Macron Signals Military Pullback From Sahel Terrorist Fight
“Emmanuel Macron has signalled he intends to reduce within months the 5,100-strong French military force fighting jihadis in the Sahel states of sub-Saharan Africa after years of military operations. The French president said at the Elysée Palace that he would wait a couple of months after the mid-February summit between France and regional governments in the Chadian capital N’Djamena to see results from France’s African allies in fighting terrorism and helping to restore order in their own countries. “If not, I will in any case be forced to pivot our French contingent,” he said on Friday. “Because if you want to make a useful impact, you have to think that if there are still terrorist groups after seven years, that means they are embedded and your problem is not simply one of security. It’s a political, ethnic and development problem. So at that point, I will adjust our contingent.” The French have justified their presence as a way of helping to prevent Islamist terrorist attacks in Europe. But with an eye on his re-election chances next year amid growing French disenchantment with the toll taken by the country’s Operation Barkhane, Mr Macron has repeatedly expressed frustration with the ambivalent attitude towards Paris of some Sahelian governments.”
United Kingdom
The Guardian: Teenage Leader Of Neo-Nazi Group Is UK's Youngest Terror Offender
“The teenage leader of a neo-Nazi group has been convicted over offending that began at the age of 13, making him the youngest person in the UK known to have committed a terrorist offence. The boy, from Cornwall, who cannot be identified, appeared before the Old Bailey in London via video link on Monday and admitted 12 offences – two of dissemination of terrorist documents and 10 of possession of terrorist material. At 13 he downloaded a bombmaking manual and began gathering terrorist material. Later in the same year he joined the neo-Nazi cult Fascist Forge, and at 14 he went on to share far-right extremist ideology in online chatrooms. The court heard that the youth, now 16, led the British branch of the now banned neo-Nazi terrorist organisation Feuerkrieg Division (FKD). The group idolises mass murderers such as those who carried out far-right terrorist attacks in Norway, the US and New Zealand in recent years. FKD encourages so-called “lone wolf” attacks. Between October 2018 and July 2019, the boy collected a significant amount of far-right material and was active on online platforms, expressing racist, homophobic and antisemitic views.”
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