Iraq and its Western allies appear to be accelerating a crackdown on elements
of Islamic State, taking more key terror group leaders off the

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


February 4, 2021

 

Voice Of America: Iraq, US-Led Coalition Ramp Up Pressure On IS
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“Iraq and its Western allies appear to be accelerating a crackdown on elements
of Islamic State, taking more key terror group leaders off the battlefield. The
U.S.-led anti-IS coalition Wednesday confirmed the death of Abu Hassan
al-Gharibawi and three other fighters in what it described as a “dynamic
airstrike” west of Baghdad on Tuesday. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi
first announced the results of the airstrike in a series of tweets Tuesday,
calling al-Gharibawi the leader of IS in southern Iraq. Al-Kadhimi also said
the strike killed Ghanem Sabah Jawad, an IS facilitator “responsible for
transporting suicide bombers.” Tuesday’s airstrike follows last week’s
Iraqi-led operation that killed 39-year-old Abu Yasar al-Issawi, an IS deputy
commander and the terror group’s most senior leader in Iraq. Iraq’s elite
Counter-Terrorism Service killed al-Issawi following a firefight January 27,
west of the city of Kirkuk, in area thought to be an IS stronghold. The
operations come as pressure mounts on the Iraqi government to retaliate against
IS for the double suicide bombing last month of an open-air market in Baghdad.
At least 32 people were killed, and more than 100 others wounded.”

 

Wall Street Journal: Iranian Diplomat Sentenced To 20 Years For Foiled Bomb
Plot In France
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"A Belgian court sentenced an Iranian diplomat to 20 years in prison for
plotting a bomb attack against a gathering of Iranian dissidents outside Paris
in 2018, in a case that has strained Tehran’s ties with Europe. Assadollah
Assadi, a counselor at Iran’s embassy in Vienna, was Thursday convicted of
organizing the foiled attack that targeted a rally held by the National Council
of Resistance of Iran, an umbrella opposition group dominated by the People’s
Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, or MEK. The court in Antwerp sentenced three
other Iranians to 15, 17 and 18 years in prison for collusion, concluding that
Iranian state intelligence had ordered the plot. “The attack plan was conceived
in the name of Iran and under its leadership,” the Belgian state security
service VSSE said in a letter to the public prosecutor last year. Mr. Assadi,
in prison in Antwerp since 2018, claimed protection by diplomatic immunity and
refused to appear at the court hearings. The three others maintained their
innocence Mr. Assadi’s lawyer said before the verdict that he would appeal a
guilty sentence."

 

The New York Times: Canada Formally Declares Proud Boys A Terrorist Group
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“Canada formally designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist group under its
criminal law on Wednesday, a move that could lead to financial seizures and
allow police to treat any crimes committed by members as terrorist activity.
Government officials said they believe Canada is the first nation to label the
Proud Boys a terrorist entity. The events last month in Washington, they added,
contributed to the move, which was already under consideration. “Since 2018, we
have seen an escalation, an escalation toward violence in this group,” Bill
Blair, the public safety minister, told a news conference, adding that the
Proud Boys and 12 other groups added to the list on Wednesday are “all hateful,
intolerant and, as we’ve seen, they can be highly dangerous.” An official, who
spoke on the condition that he not be identified, said that while information
gleaned after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington was a
“contributing factor, it certainly wasn’t the driving force.” Members of the
Proud Boys, a far-right, all-male organization that lauded street brawling as
part of its founding idea, played a prominent role in storming the United
States Capitol.”

 

United States

 

CNN: FBI Raids Homes Of 2 Men Who Held Rally On Eve Of Capitol Attack
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“The FBI recently raided the homes of two men who sponsored an invective-laced
rally near the US Capitol a day before the deadly insurrection, the first known
search warrants involving people who organized and spoke at rallies preceding
the attack. CNN learned of the raids through an eyewitness account, public
records, a lawyer representing one of the rally organizers and an FBI
spokeswoman who confirmed details of the searches. FBI spokeswoman Laura
Eimiller confirmed that federal agents executed search warrants last week at
two properties in Orange County, California, which public records indicate
belong to Russell Taylor and Alan Hostetter. The two men run the American
Phoenix Project, which co-sponsored a pro-Donald Trump rally near the Supreme
Court on January 5, one day before the attack. Neither man has been charged
with any crimes. Footage of the rally shows the men spewing militant vitriol:
Hostetter told the crowd to prepare for “war tomorrow” against “vipers” in
Congress who refused to nullify President Joe Biden's win. Taylor said, “We
will not return to our peaceful way of life until this election is made right.”

 

Insider: Right-Wing Extremism Is On The Rise, But Ideological Killings Dropped
Significantly Last Year
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“Right-wing extremism is on the rise in the US, and was linked to at least 16
killings last year, the Anti-Defamation League found. Every year the ADL tracks
murders associated with ideological extremism, and for the last three decades,
extremist killings in the US have been overwhelmingly associated with
right-wing movements, according to the ADL. In 2020 an overlapping pandemic,
far-reaching anti-racism protests and contested election contributed to
political tension and division in the US. The beliefs and organization of
extremist groups and conspiracy movements like the Proud Boys, Boogaloo Bois,
Oath Keepers, and QAnon became widely known. While right-wing extremism was
spreading rapidly, and documented through the dissemination of
white-supremacist propaganda, the overall number of extremism-related killings
dropped significantly from previous years, the ADL found. In total, there were
17 victims of fatal extremism last year - 16 associated with right-wing
movements and one, the killing of Patriot Prayer's Aaron Danielson, was
associated with a left-wing movement. It's the lowest number of ideological
killings since 2004, the ADL reported.”

 

Syria

 

Kurdistan 24: Kurdish-Led SDF Arrests 4 ISIS Suspects In Eastern Syria With
Coalition Support
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“The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Tuesday that it
had arrested four suspected members of the so-called Islamic State in Syria’s
Deir al-Zor and Hasakah provinces in separate operations this week. The SDF
Media Centre said in an online posting that its forces had arrested three of
the militants “in al-Fidyn village, south of Al-Swar town, Deir Ezzor (Deir
al-Zor) countryside.” During the operation, an unspecified quantity of weapons
and documents were also reported confiscated. “The captured terrorists are
responsible for supplying and transporting weapons and money,” the SDF said.
Moreover, the SDF’s Coordination and Military Operations Centre on Twitter
announced on Wednesday that another Islamic State member had been arrested,
also with Coalition support, in al-Shaddadi, located in Hasakah province. The
suspect was accused of “facilitating transporting money to active cells in
#NE_Syria (Northeast Syria), equipments and documents were confiscated.”
Although the SDF and US-led anti-Islamic State 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.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Associated Press: Taliban On Diplomatic Blitz After Afghan Peace Talks Stall
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“The Taliban have been on a diplomatic blitz since peace talks with the Afghan
government stalled in Qatar last month and the Biden administration said it
plans to review a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed last February. The flurry of
activity — including Taliban visits to Iran and Moscow, and a planned trip to
Turkey — comes as the Afghan government’s negotiating team warned this week
that if the Taliban fail to resume the talks, the government could recall its
team from Doha. The peace talks resumed in early January in Qatar, where the
Taliban have a political office, but quickly halted, marred by a spike in
violence across Afghanistan, with the warring sides blaming one another. A
Taliban official said the talks stalled after the Taliban demanded the
government side accept a new “inclusive Islamic system” that includes all
“tribes and groups” in Afghanistan — language that indicates the Taliban seek
guarantees that Islamic rule would be in place in post-war Afghanistan. The
government instead demanded the Taliban first join the current political system
and declare a cease-fire, said the official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.”

 

NBC News: Bipartisan Report Urges Postponing Planned U.S Troop Exit From
Afghanistan To Shore Up Peace Process
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“A bipartisan report released Tuesday urged the Biden administration to
postpone a May deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan,
warning an early exit would allow terrorist groups to reemerge and undercut a
tenuous peace process. A U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in Doha last year calls
for the United States to fully withdraw its remaining 2,500-strong force by
May. But the report from the Afghanistan Study Group, commissioned by Congress
in 2019, recommended an “immediate diplomatic effort to extend the current May
2021 withdrawal date in order to give the peace process sufficient time to
produce an acceptable result.” Although the authors of the report supported
efforts by the former Trump administration that had created a “pathway” for
peace, they wrote that a “significant revision of U.S. policy” was required to
safeguard U.S. interests and ensure peace was secured. The report was issued
against the backdrop of an urgent policy review by the Biden administration,
which has already said it is weighing options on Afghanistan and suggested it
may delay the scheduled May troop withdrawal.”

 

Pakistan

 

Al Jazeera: Father Of Pakistani Rights Activist Arrested On ‘Terror’ Charges
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“A Pakistani court has granted police custody of Muhammad Ismail, the father
of a prominent Pakistani human rights activist, on “terrorism” charges that
rights groups say are part of a sustained campaign of harassment. The court in
the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar granted police custody of Muhammad for
three days during proceedings on Wednesday, his daughter, Gulalai Ismail, told
Al Jazeera. The 66-year-old had been arrested a day earlier at a bail
confirmation hearing. Gulalai, a prominent and award-winning women’s rights
activist, is a leading member of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) rights
group that calls for accountability for Pakistan’s powerful military for
alleged rights abuses committed during its war against the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan and its allies. The PTM and other rights groups have documented
hundreds of cases of enforced disappearances and alleged extrajudicial killings
during the campaign in the country’s northwest. Its leaders, including members
of Parliament, have faced a widespread campaign of arrests and legal cases
against them across Pakistan since the group’s formation in 2018.”

 

Lebanon

 

The Times Of Israel: Hezbollah Fires Anti-Aircraft Missiles At Israeli Drone
Over South Lebanon
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“The Hezbollah terror group fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli drone
over southern Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon in a major escalation of conflict,
amid lingering tensions along the border. “Anti-aircraft missiles were just
fired toward an IDF remote-piloted aerial vehicle during routine activity over
Lebanese territory,” the military said in a statement. According to the IDF,
the aircraft was not damaged in the attack and continued on its mission as
planned. A Hezbollah-affiliated journalist, Ali Choeib, said the terror group
was behind the attack, part of an apparent new policy by Hezbollah to repel all
Israeli incursions into Lebanese airspace. “What is certain is that
[Hezbollah’s] decision to try to prevent the enemy from continuing to violate
its airspace has been made permanent,” Choeib, who works for multiple outlets
linked to the terror group, wrote in a tweet. The missiles fired at the UAV
represented a significant increase in the level of violence along the border.
Unlike in a case on Monday in which a small, off-the-shelf IDF drone was
allegedly downed by Hezbollah as it performed a reconnaissance mission along
the Lebanese border, the drone that was fired upon on Wednesday was a much
larger and more advanced military model.”

 

Somalia

 

Shabelle Media Network: Somalia: Al-Shabaab Militants Killed After Mortar
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“Somalia on Tuesday killed three Al-Shabaab members who carried out a mortar
attack aimed at targeting a high-level government delegation in the central
city of Dhusamareb, local media reported. A barrage of mortar shells fired by
the militants on Monday injured a police officer and civilians in Dhusamareb,
where the Somali president and prime minister arrived to attend a conference on
the country's next elections. According to the Somali state-run broadcaster,
security forces shot dead three attackers, including a senior al-Shabaab
member, and injured another. They also arrested two attackers. The state
television showed pictures of the arrested militants. It also displayed heavy
machines guns and other weapons seized from the al-Qaeda-affiliated terror
group. The attack came a day after al-Shabaab terrorists killed at least 10
people, including a retired army general and former Defense Minister Mohamed
Nuur Galal in the capital Mogadishu. Earlier this week following pressure from
the international community, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed called on
regional leaders to attend a three-day consultative summit in the city to
resolve outstanding issues over the holding of timely and credible elections in
the country.”

 

Mali

 

Africanews: At Least Nine Malian Soldiers Killed In Suspected Militant Attack
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“Nine troops were killed in Mali's troubled central region early Wednesday
when their camp came under attack from jihadists, security sources said. Their
position at Boni, located between Douentza and Hombori in the Mopti region, was
attacked by “heavily armed individuals in armoured vehicles,” one source said,
speaking on condition of anonymity. Several soldiers were injured, the source
said, an account confirmed by another security official and a local government
official. An initial toll gave four dead and 10 injured, two of them seriously.
The source said the camp had been seriously damaged and the assailants had made
off with lots of equipment. The attack is the latest in a brutal conflict that
has been raging in Mali since 2012, when militants overtook a rebellion by
mostly ethnic Tuareg separatists in the north. The conflict, which has killed
thousands of soldiers and civilians, then spread to central Mali, an ethnic
powderkeg, and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Jihadist attacks in central
Mali typically involve roadside bombs or hit-and-run raids on motorbikes or
pickups, and the use of armoured vehicles, if confirmed, is extremely rare.
Heni Nsaibia, a researcher with an NGO project called the Armed Conflict
Location and Event Data (ACLED), said jihadists had seized armoured vehicles
from the armed forces in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: IED Kills Four Tunisian Soldiers In Mountain Region
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“An improvised explosive device killed four Tunisian soldiers patrolling in a
mountain region near the Algerian border, Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed
Zekri said on Wednesday. The mountainous Moghila area, near the impoverished
city of Kasserine, is home to an Islamist militant group that the Tunisian army
has been fighting for years. Tunisia faces a small but persistent militant
threat, foreign diplomats focused on security say. As well as jihadist cells
holed up in remote mountain regions, who have not made successful forays beyond
their strongholds in recent years, there is also a threat from militants
radicalised online. Last year militants tried to attack the U.S. embassy in
Tunis, killing a policeman at a security point with a suicide vest, and months
later stabbed two security officers in a knife attack in the city of Sousse. In
October, a young Tunisian migrant arrived in France and immediately killed
three people in a church.”

 

RFI: Sahel Jihadists Eye Expansion Into Cote d’Ivoire And Benin Says French
Spy Boss
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“France’s top spy chief warned this week that militant jihadist groups in the
Sahel are pursuing expansion into the Golf of Guinea, with a focus on Cote
d’Ivoire and Benin. In a rare public appearance, Bernard Emié, head of the
General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) revealed intelligence
purportedly showing a meeting between top al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
commanders. “The agenda of this meeting was the preparation of a series of
large scale attacks against military bases,” said Emié during a speech on
Monday alongside Defence Minister Florence Parly at the d’Orléans-Bricy
airbase. “This is where leaders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
devised their expansion plans for the countries of the Gulf of Guinea,” he
added. Cote d’Ivoire suffered an attack in 2016 when three gunmen opened fire
at a beach resort in Grand-Bassam killing 19 people. Benin was the scene of an
attack against a police station in February 2020, and the kidnapping of two
French tourists and a local guide from Pendjari National Park in May 2019.
Emié’s appearance in public, as well as presentation involving intelligence the
spy agency had gathered, was somewhat rare.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Daily Mail: Man In His 20s Is Arrested At Heathrow Airport On Suspicion Of
Terrorism Offences After Arriving In The UK On A Flight From Turkey
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“A man in his 20s has been arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of
terrorism offences. The British man, who had arrived on a flight from Turkey,
was apprehended by counter terrorism detectives in a 'pre-planned operation' at
around 6.10pm today, said the Met Police. He was arrested on suspicion of the
preparation of terrorist acts - in relation to alleged offending in Syria -
encouragement of terrorism and dissemination of terrorist publications. The
suspect remains in custody at a police station in south London. 'Officers from
the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command arrested the man, aged in his 20s, at
Heathrow Airport at approximately 18.11hrs today, Wednesday, 3 February.'  The
Met Police added: 'The Section 5 arrest relates to suspected offending in
Syria. 'The man - a British national - had arrived on a flight from Turkey. 'He
was arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and taken into custody
at a south-London police station, where he currently remains.'“

 

Technology

 

The National: Dropbox And Microsoft Exploited By ISIS For Propaganda Campaigns
Launched On RocketChat
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“ISIS has been using RocketChat and online services from companies such as
Dropbox and Microsoft to host its propaganda, according to a monitoring group.
Videos purportedly showing bomb attacks by the terrorist group were posted on
the sites. The first, on January 24, showed the Egyptian military transporting
two bulldozers, which ISIS claimed it had damaged in Sinai. The Counter
Extremism Project (CEP) think tank has been monitoring ISIS and far-right
propaganda across social media sites. The report said that the video was spread
more widely through a number of file-sharing sites. “Links to the video were
spread via RocketChat,” the latest CEP report said. The researchers found "at
least eight websites" – File.Fm, Streamable, PixelDrain, Top4top, Dropbox, the
Microsoft One Drive, the Internet Archive, and Mega.Nz – had then been used as
platforms to distribute the materials. It has also identified ISIS propaganda
on podcasting platform Spreaker. However, the specific material tracked by the
CEP only appeared to remain hosted on some of the services for a limited amount
of time. “Four days later, the video was only available on two websites:
Top4top and the Internet Archive.”



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