President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to keep French troops in the Sahel
region of western Africa, to help “decapitate” Al-Qaeda-linked

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


February 18, 2021

 

Agence France-Presse: France Maintains Sahel Force To ‘Decapitate’ Al-Qaeda
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“President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to keep French troops in the
Sahel region of western Africa, to help “decapitate” Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent
groups that local governments are struggling to hold back. But while Macron
said there would be no “immediate” drawdown of the 5,100-member Barkhane force,
he made clear that France expected to have a far lighter presence over
time. “Changes that are likely to be significant will be made to our military
deployment in the Sahel when the time comes, but they will not be made
immediately,” Macron told reporters after a video summit with the leaders of
Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. The so-called G5 countries
were urged to step up their anti-terror fight and work on restoring government
control in areas where Islamist fighters have closed schools and driven
millions from their homes. Just hours before the summit opened, Malian sources
said two soldiers had been killed by a roadside bomb in central Mali. “We are
re-engaging our forces in order to decapitate these organizations,” Macron said
after the two-day meeting in Chad’s capital N’Djamena. The aim is to strengthen
actions against terrorism while delivering a “political jolt” to give the
people something to hope for, he said.”

 

Associated Press: Taliban Tweet Threatens Malala; Twitter Removes Account
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“A Pakistani Taliban militant who nine years ago is alleged to have shot and
badly wounded Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai has threatened a second attempt
on her life, tweeting that next time, “there would be no mistake.” Twitter on
Wednesday permanently suspend the account with the menacing post. The threat
prompted Yousafzai to tweet herself, asking both the Pakistan military and
Prime Minister Imran Khan to explain how her alleged shooter, Ehsanullah Ehsan,
had escaped from government custody. Ehsan was arrested in 2017, but escaped in
January 2020 from a so-called safe house where he was being held by Pakistan’s
intelligence agency. The circumstances of both his arrest and escape have been
shrouded in mystery and controversy. Since his escape, Ehsan has been
interviewed and has communicated with Pakistani journalists via the same
Twitter account that carried the Urdu-language threat. He has had more than one
Twitter account, all of which have been suspended. The government is
investigating the threat and had immediately asked Twitter to shut down the
account, said Raoof Hasan, an adviser to the prime minister.”

 

United States

   

Vice: Department Of Homeland Security Confirms Neo-Nazi Leader Used To Work
For It
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“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it once employed an
American neo-Nazi terror leader now based in Russia after he posted what he
said were letters of appreciation that DHS and the Pentagon sent him thanking
him for his service. Earlier this month, Rinaldo Nazzaro, 47, founder and
leader of the Base, one of the most violent American domestic terror groups in
years, posted three undated letters from U.S. agencies lauding him for his
service. One was from DHS—an agency tasked with thwarting terrorism in the
U.S.—and two were on Marine Corps letterhead. All spoke glowingly of Nazzaro.
Since late 2019, nine members of the Base, the group he founded, have been
arrested in the U.S. for alleged crimes as wide-ranging as an assassination
plot, ghost-gun making, plans for train derailments, and a mass shooting. The
Canadian government has designated it as a terrorist group. While it wouldn’t
authenticate the letter addressed to Nazzaro, DHS verified he had worked with
the department in the past. “I can confirm that Rinaldo Nazzaro worked at DHS
from 2004 to 2006,” said a DHS spokesperson.”

 

Syria

 

Arab News: What Next For The Children Of Daesh Detainees?
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“The attempt by Daesh to create the so-called Islamic state in Syria and Iraq
attracted volunteers from many nations. The children of these volunteers, many
of whom were born in Syria, now pose a unique dilemma for those nations. It is
estimated that about 70,000 women and children are detained in the refugee
camps in Northern Syria. Of that number, at least 12,000 are foreign nationals.
Two-thirds of the children held there are under the age of 12, with the
majority under five years old, according to a report by the UNHCR. More than
500 people died in the camps in 2019 and researchers found that 371 of them
were children.These youngsters are, first and foremost, a vulnerable group in
need of urgent assistance in a volatile and war-torn region. The urgency of
resolving the question of how to manage their cases cannot be overstated, given
the instability in the region and the ongoing threat posed by the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19). If not dealt with, the challenge these children present
runs a serious risk of developing from an easily solved welfare issue into a
possible security and counterterrorism issue. It is in the short and long-term
interests of all nations to take action over the children left behind in areas
once held by the now-vanquished Daesh.”

 

Iraq

 

Brookings: To Save Iraq From Economic Collapse And Fight ISIS,
Contain Iran’s Proxies
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“The day after President Biden was inaugurated, Baghdad was hit by two suicide
bombers who, in macabre fashion, killed at least 32 people and wounded at least
100. The attack was a stark reminder that the Iraq theater is still a critical
one for combatting ISIS and preventing it from mounting a resurgence. With this
in mind, U.S.-Iraq ties are worth salvaging after their deterioration over the
past four years. ISIS is strongly positioned to carry out more routine
mass-casualty attacks. While the January bombing was its first major terrorist
attack in Baghdad in over three years, ISIS carries out near-daily attacks in
the rest of the country and could develop a momentum similar to that which
preceded its declaration of a caliphate in 2014. There are two underlying
challenges that makes ISIS capable of carnage and launching a resurgence:
Iraq’s desperate need for an economic revival and the threat from Shiite
militia groups. Addressing both requires that Washington adopt a set of guiding
principles for its engagement with Iraq — an approach premised on the fact that
Iraq’s economic crisis and the threat from Iran-aligned Shiite militia groups
are two sides of the same coin. Iraq’s economic crisis will produce untold
poverty levels if it is not addressed.”

 

Nigeria

 

The Washington Post: Gunmen Kidnap At Least 20 Boys From Nigerian Boarding
School
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“Gunmen stormed a north-central Nigerian boarding school early Wednesday,
kidnapping at least 20 teenage boys, the local governor said — the second mass
abduction of children to shake the country in three months. The attackers
raided the Government Science Secondary School in the town of Kagara before
sunrise and dragged the classmates into the dense woods. Police initially said
they suspected “hundreds” could have been taken. Three teachers and 12 family
members also vanished into the night, Abubakar Sani Bello, the governor of
Niger state, said on television.Schools in the region have been shuttered.
Helicopters hovered over the treetops as security forces continued their search
and, by midmorning, authorities were still counting the missing. No one has
asserted responsibility for the ambush, but the region is regularly afflicted
by criminal gangs — authorities call them “bandits” — that take hostages for
ransom. That threat recently collided with Boko Haram, the extremist group that
gained global notoriety after abducting hundreds of schoolgirls in 2014. Those
radical fighters normally operate hundreds of miles away in the nation’s
northeast. Then the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, shocked Nigerians when he
claimed responsibility for kidnapping 300 boys from a northwestern school in
December. Security forces freed the boys days later.”

 

Africa

 

The Wall Street Journal: ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero Paul Rusesabagina’s Terrorism
Trial Begins
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“The trial of a U.S. resident hailed as a hero and immortalized by Hollywood
for saving more than 1,200 people during the Rwandan genocide began Wednesday
in the country’s capital, in a case seen as spotlighting President Paul
Kagame’s efforts to quell political dissent across the globe. Paul
Rusesabagina, a 66-year-old recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom who
was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda,” appeared with 20
other suspects to face terrorism charges, including forming a rebel group and
seeking to launch an armed insurrection. Mr. Rusesabagina, a critic of Mr.
Kagame’s government who has lived between the U.S. and Belgium for more than a
decade, says the charges are politically motivated. He was arrested last year
after disappearing during a visit to Dubai airport, before being paraded in
Kigali, the Rwandan capital, in handcuffs. Mr. Kagame, who says Mr.
Rusesabagina is a fugitive responsible for funding terrorism, denied he had
been kidnapped but called the operation flawless. The trial—which has been
widely condemned by human-rights groups, members of U.S. Congress and the
European Parliament, among others—is being seen as a signal that Rwanda’s
government is prepared to reach far beyond its borders to quash dissent.”

  

Daily Nation: Kenya: Concern As Al-Shabaab Militants Spread Across Mandera
County <[link removed]>

 

“A wave of attacks by the Al-Shabaab that has left death and destruction in
its wake in Mandera County, has raised questions about preparedness to fight
terror even as the government warned of a local and ominous angle to the
problem. Within the county, the militants operate in Mandera East, Lafey, Elwak
and Kutolo and recently spread their activities to the interior parts of
Banisa, Rhamu and Takaba. The latest attack was last Monday, after al-Shabaab
militants raided Jabibar village and killed a police reservist and a civilian
at 2am. And now North Eastern Regional Coordinator Nicodemus Ndalana has
admitted the militants have moved to the interior of the county, after
dismissing earlier warnings by Mandera Governor Ali Roba that a security crisis
was unfolding in the county. The governor claimed the militants control more
than half of the county and man the county's roads. Mr Ndalana revealed that
the State saw the Al-Shabaab crossing into Mandera but waited to see their
actions inland. “I know there is a problem because they have reached where they
have never been before. I agree with everyone on that; we never used to have
Al-Shabaab in Banisa and Takaba. They were only along the border, but
currently, they have spread all over,” Mr Ndalana said at a peace meeting in
Mandera town.”

  

The North Africa Post: Morocco Adopted Comprehensive Strategy Becoming Pioneer
In Counterterrorism, Violent Extremism
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“Morocco has adopted a comprehensive and integrated strategy in its fight
against terrorism and violent extremism, which enabled it to become a pioneer
in this field and enjoy wide international recognition, said officials and
experts taking part in the annual international conference on “Combating
Violent Extremism: New Responses to New Challenges” that opened on Tuesday in
Rabat. The three-day conference debates focus on evolving terrorist threats,
ways of combating extremist & hate propaganda, de-radicalization and
rehabilitation programs as well as women and violent extremism: for a new
approach that transcends stereotypes. According to security experts, the
general landscape of terrorist threats in the world has changed during the last
three years at the operational level and geographical redeployment of terrorist
organizations especially during the current global health crisis generated by
covid-19 pandemic. The terrorists have changed their tactics, their modus
operandi, communication tools and priorities of the targeted objectives and
countries. The continuing instability in some zones like the Sahel, Libya, and
Yemen and the proliferation of weapons constitute a fertile ground for
terrorism expansion.”

 

Europe

 

Reuters: Russia Detains 19 Militants Planning Attacks: Security Service
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“Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday it had detained 19
suspected Islamist militants planning attacks in the North Caucasus. The FSB
said it had seized a suicide belt, homemade bombs and automatic weapons from
the suspects this month. The 19 detainees, suspected members of the Takfir
wal-Hijra Islamist group, were spread across the Rostov, Krasnodar and
Karachay-Cherkessia regions, as well as Crimea, the peninsula Moscow annexed
from Ukraine in 2014. Footage from the detentions published by Russian news
agency RIA showed FSB operatives scaling an apartment building and entering
through a window to detain a suspect. Russia has repeatedly been targeted by
Islamist militant groups, including in an attack on a train carriage in a St
Petersburg metro tunnel in 2017. In recent years, some parts of the North
Caucasus have been plagued with militant attacks on security officials.”

 

Agence France-Presse: Judges Mull Verdict In Barcelona Terror Attacks Trial
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“Spanish judges on Wednesday February 17th began deliberating a verdict in the
trial of three men accused of helping the jihadists behind the 2017 attacks in
Barcelona and a nearby town that killed 16. The Islamic State (IS) group took
responsibility for the bloodshed of August 17th-18th, when pedestrians were
mown down by a van in Barcelona and others were attacked at a nearby seaside
town as Europe reeled from a string of jihadist attacks. Since the trial began
more than three months ago at a branch of the National Court near Madrid, more
than 200 witnesses have testified, with the judges now meeting to weigh their
sentence in a process which could take weeks. Although the six perpetrators
were shot dead by police, many questions remained, with investigators and
victims hoping the trial would shed light on how the violence unfolded, which
also left 140 people wounded. While none of the trio are charged with carrying
out the attacks, they are accused of helping the jihadists, one of whom ran
down pedestrians on Barcelona's Las Ramblas on a busy Thursday, killing 14. The
driver then killed another person before being shot dead days later.”

 

Technology

  

Vice: Two Infamous White Nationalists Still Have A Platform For Their Podcast
Somehow
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“…He has attempted to replicate Nikitin’s model of politics in the U.S.,
starting a far-right apparel line and using slick videos to attempt to rebrand
white nationalism as part of a healthy, masculine and aspirational
lifestyle.“Robert Rundo and Denis ‘Nikitin’ Kapustin both promote a white
nationalist movement rooted in an extreme right-wing hyper-masculinity that
focuses on using physical fitness, street combat, and MMA to proselytise,” said
Joshua Fisher-Birch, a senior analyst at the New York-headquartered Counter
Extremism Project, which issued warnings about the podcast this month. Joanna
Mendelson, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on
Extremism, said the podcast represented an attempt by the pair to expand their
base, and increase their standing and influence as white supremacist
leaders. “Rundo and Nikitin seek to create a movement of adherents who embrace
physical force and violence as a necessary response to defend their
future,” she told VICE World News. “They peddle this notion of an existential
threat … that they, as vigilante soldiers, can help to defend against.”



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