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Eye on Extremism
February 19, 2021
Reuters: At Least 18 Killed In Attacks In Burkina Faso And Mali
“Suspected Islamists killed at least 18 people in attacks in northern Burkina Faso and central Mali on Wednesday and Thursday, government and security sources said. Attacks by militants with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State are common in the two West African countries, where Islamists have expanded their reach in recent years despite the presence of 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers and 5,100 French troops. This week Chad announced it would deploy 1,200 troops to the area to complement France’s Barkhane counter-terrorism force, as leaders of the five Sahel countries and their allies met to assess the security situation. The attack in Burkina Faso happened on Thursday morning between the towns of Markoye and Tokabangou, where residents were ambushed on their way to a market across the nearby border in Dolbel, Niger, government spokesman Ousseni Tamboura said in a statement. Eight people died and nine were wounded, he said. A security source said that one more person later died of injuries. In Mali, at least nine people were killed and others were missing or wounded in a spate of attacks near Bandiagara in the central Mopti region, local government sources said.”
Associated Press: US Reporter Held By Al-Qaida-Linked Group In Syria Released
“An American journalist, living in northwestern Syria for nearly a decade, has been released, six months after he was captured by an al-Qaida-linked militant group, Syrian opposition media reported. Bilal Abdul Kareem, a native of Mount Vernon, N.Y., has been living in the rebel-held Syrian northwest since 2012, reporting on the Syrian government military campaigns against areas in opposition hands. He had been detained last August, following a report he did about torture in the prisons of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the al-Qaida-linked group that dominates the area. Local prominent figures had appealed to the militants to release him. Abdul Kareem had reported and collaborated with Western news outlets, which had largely stayed out of the war-torn country after a spate of kidnapping. He later set up his own news network, On The Ground News. The U.S. State Department designated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham a terrorist groups in 2018 despite its move to publicly disassociate itself from al-Qaida the previous year. Rights groups and the U.N.-backed Commission of Inquiry have accused the group of detaining and torturing civilians and those who documented the group’s abuse of Syrian protesters, journalists and women.”
United States
The Hill: Defeating Domestic Terror Requires Confronting White Supremacy Across The Globe
“The Biden administration has vowed to review and revamp America’s approach to combatting domestic terrorism. Succeeding in this endeavor will require bringing the full range of domestic counterterrorism tools to the fight. But tackling the scourge of the white supremacist, anti-Semitic terrorist threat facing the country today will also require combatting its sources of strength beyond America’s shores. The new administration’s move is the right one: the United States has experienced an unprecedented and sustained wave of terrorist attacks motivated by an ethno-supremacist ideology starting in 2015 and showing no signs of abating. 2020 alone saw 15 such terrorist plots either attempted or executed. The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol brought renewed focus on the threat. The spike in racially or ethnically motivated terrorism, or “REMT” in official government parlance, in the United States over the past half-decade represents one slice of a larger threat that emerged globally during that same period. REMT attacks around the world increased by over 300 percent from 2014-2018. Attacks have often targeted religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Jews, including a 2019 attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand that killed more than 50, a 2017 attack on a mosque in Quebec City that killed six, and a 2019 attack near a synagogue in Halle, Germany that killed two.”
Syria
Associated Press: Killings Surge In Syria Camp Housing Islamic State Families
“The deaths stacked up: a policeman shot dead with a pistol equipped with a silencer, a local official gunned down, his son wounded, an Iraqi man beheaded. In total, 20 men and women were killed last month in the sprawling camp in northeastern Syria housing families of the Islamic State group. The slayings in al-Hol camp — nearly triple the deaths in previous months — are largely believed to have been carried out by ISIS militants punishing perceived enemies and intimidating anyone who wavers from their extremist line, say Syrian Kurdish officials who run the camp but say they struggle to keep it under control. The jump in violence has heightened calls for countries to repatriate their citizens languishing in the camp, home to some 62,000 people. Those repatriations have slowed dramatically because of the coronavirus epidemic, officials say. If left there, the thousands of children in the camp risk being radicalized, local and U.N. officials warn. “Al-Hol will be the womb that will give birth to new generations of extremists,” said Abdullah Suleiman Ali, a Syrian researcher who focuses on jihadi groups.”
Iran
Foreign Policy: The Increasingly Violent Conflict Between Shiites And Iran’s Proxies
“Lokman Slim, a political analyst, activist, filmmaker, and prominent critic of Hezbollah, was killed in cold blood by unknown assailants on the night of Feb. 3. His bullet-ridden body, shot multiple times in the head and the neck, was found in his car in Hezbollah-dominated South Lebanon. “The truth, I know the truth of who killed him in my heart,” Slim’s sister Rasha al-Ameer told Foreign Policy. Her implication was clear: It was Hezbollah. Slim had been receiving threats for a while, and he had warned in a letter he wrote last year that the Iran-backed Hezbollah should be blamed for any attempt on his life. (Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has denied any role in the killing.) But aside from being a personal tragedy, Slim’s killing is part of an important geopolitical trend. Analysts and activists have pointed to a parallel between his death and a spike in killings of activists in Iraq, also allegedly by Iran-backed militias. They say that Slim was a target because he was Shiite and seen as a traitor by Hezbollah for weakening its sway in the religious community the group depends on as a political base and as foot soldiers in regional conflicts.”
Afghanistan
Associated Press: Afghan Official: Bombing Kills 2 Kabul University Lecturers
“An explosion in the Afghan capital on Thursday killed two lecturers at the Kabul University, after a bomb attached to the car they were traveling in went off, a police spokesman said. The attack took place around noon near the university, said Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. The two lecturers, Mubasher Muslimyar and Marouf Rasikh, taught at the university's Islamic studies faculty, according to an Afghan official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Two years ago, Muslimyar had been briefly arrested by the Afghan intelligence agency over allegations of promoting militant propaganda by the Islamic State group among university students. No charges were raised and he was later released. Kabul police said an investigation team had arrived at the scene of the explosion. This was the second explosion on Thursday in Kabul. An earlier one had targeted police in the District 10 area of Kabul but caused no casualties. Afghanistan has seen a nationwide spike in bombings, targeted killings, and violence on the battlefield as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled.”
Voice Of America: NATO Defers On Afghanistan Pullout, Calls On Taliban To Negotiate In 'Good Faith'
“NATO defense ministers wrapped up a two-day, virtual meeting Thursday, refusing to commit to a deadline to withdraw forces from Afghanistan by May 1, as required by last year’s agreement between the United States and the Taliban. Instead, the alliance called upon the Taliban to negotiate in “good faith” and said NATO members would continue to consult about possible next steps, holding out hope talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government may be able to produce a lasting peace. “We are faced with the many dilemmas and there are no easy options,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, saying no decision has been made. “If we stay beyond the first of May, we risk more violence, we risk more attacks against our own troops, and we risk, of course, also to be part of a continued presence in Afghanistan that will be difficult,” he said. “But if we leave, then we also risk that the gains we have made are lost and that Afghanistan again could become a safe haven for international terrorists.” Stoltenberg also warned the Taliban against launching their traditional spring offensive, which usually begins sometime in March, after the top U.S. general in Afghanistan indicated preparations for the military campaign may be under way.”
Pakistan
Eurasia Review: Pakistan And Terror Financing
“If international terror watchdog Financial Action Task Force [FATF] had thought that the tweet in which it “strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by Feb 2021,” would galvanize a reticent Islamabad into action, then it’s sadly mistaken. Similarly, if the people of Pakistan really share Foreign Minister [FM] Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s optimism that the FATF, would in its February 2021 plenary meeting, give a decision “in favour of Pakistan,” then they are in for a really rude shock. Because despite exuding confidence on exiting FATF’s grey list, Islamabad has subtly conceded that this may not happen soon. Readers may recall that after New Delhi abrogated Article 370, Pakistan’s UN envoy Ms Maleeha Lodhi had during the 2018 United Nations General Assembly [UNGA] session argued that this move was “in flagrant violation of multiple Security Council resolutions.” Coming from a person with impressive qualifications and vast experience, many of her countrymen and the pro-Pakistan lobby in Kashmir took Ms Lodhi’s assertion as gospel truth. However, there were others who weren’t at all convinced since she gave no logical or robust reasons in support of her contention.”
Nigeria
Pulse Nigeria: Troops Kill More Terrorists, Destroy Meeting Point In Yobe
“The Nigerian Army says its troops of Operation Tura Takaibango have eliminated more Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists at their meeting point in Baiomari town in Yobe. The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammad Yerima in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole, had continued to degrade the terrorists in the North-East. Yerima said the troops of 159 and 233 Battalions in conjunction with Civilian Joint Task Force, had on Tuesday, engaged the terrorists following credible information on the movement of the terrorists to Baiomari. He said that the troops engaged the terrorists with fierce volume of fire and neutralised two of them in the process while some escaped with gunshots wounds. He said that the troops captured one AK 47 rifle and one AK 47 rifle top cover from the encounter. Yerima said the troops were currently in pursuit of the enemies, adding that they had continued to dominate the general area. He also said that the continuous successes recorded by the troops against the Boko Haram/ISWAP main hideouts was an indication of their capitulation in the North-East.”
Somalia
Dalsan Radio: Somalia: Forces Foil Al-Shabaab Attack In Bosaso
“Security forces in Puntland state have foiled an Al-Shabaab attack in Bosaso in an operation. In a statement, the security forces said that had seized explosives fixed by Al-Shabaab militants in Al-Madow mountains. “Puntland security forces in Bossaso has succeeded in thwarting Al Shabaab improvised explosive devices in Bossaso,” the statement read in part. The forces captured naked wires metals, cable reel, powder in a container according to the statement. Al-Shabaab fighters and ISIS operate in Galgala mountain ranges to topple UN-backed central government. Puntland security forces have often thwarted attacks from both groups.”
Africa
Al Jazeera: Algeria Trial Opens Over Kidnapping And Murder Of French Tourist
“The trial in the 2014 kidnapping and beheading of a French tourist claimed by an armed faction affiliated to the Islamic State group has opened before an Algiers court on Thursday. Just one of the alleged kidnappers of 55-year-old mountain guide instructor Herve Gourdel was in court for the trial – the other seven are being tried in absentia. Members of Gourdel’s family, including his partner Francoise Grandclaude, were in the public gallery. The main defendant Abdelmalek Hamzaoui was brought to court by ambulance in a wheelchair accompanied by a medical team and watched over by police special forces. At the request of defence lawyers, the trial opening had been delayed for two weeks because of his ill health. Six other defendants in court are accused of failing to inform authorities promptly of Gourdel’s abduction. Five were Gourdel’s climbing companions and spent 14 hours in captivity along with him. The sixth is accused of failing to promptly report the theft of his car by the kidnappers to transport the captive Frenchman. All six face up to five years in prison if they are found guilty. Gourdel’s murder sparked outrage in both France and Algeria.”
United Kingdom
BBC News: Teen, 16, Arrested On Suspicion Of Terrorism Offences In Derbyshire
“A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences. Derbyshire Police said the teenager was detained by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands at a property in the north west area of the county at 07:20 GMT on Thursday. The boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - is being held on suspicion of possession of information relating to terrorism. He remains in custody while inquiries continue, the force added.”
“An alleged terrorist planning a sword attack during lockdown filmed himself in a combat hat and balaclava he had bought for the mission, rapping that he was a “bad man”, a court has heard. Sahayb Abu, 27, sent a message in which he called Khalid Masood, the killer of PC Keith Palmer a “lion” and mocked the “infidel kuffar”, a reference to non-believers, his trial was told. He met with an undercover officer called Rachid in Surrey Quays in East London to discuss getting a firearm smuggled into the country from North Africa, it was alleged. The next day the drill rap fan from Dagenham, east London bought an 18in (47cm) gladiator-style sword, a combat vest, two balaclavas, fingerless gloves and a combat-style hat as he allegedly prepared his attack, the Old Bailey heard. He allegedly talked of assassinating a rival imam and researched the US, Israeli, Indian, Russian and Saudi embassies in London. Sahayb's older brother, Muhamed Abu, 32, from South Norwood, London, is accused of failing to inform police of his brother's plans after the pair were caught on CCTV looking at swords on an iPad at a takeaway in east London.”
Germany
“Wielding a large kitchen knife, Abdullah al-H H, a 20-year-old Syrian, allegedly stabbed the couple, who were visiting Dresden on 4 October. Prosecutors claim al-H H, based in Aleppo, targeted the couple because they were gay and was motivated by radical Islamist ideology, being a recruiter for the Islamic State (ISIS). He was charged last Thursday (11 February) with murder and attempted murder, according to Deutsche Welle. The victims, one aged 53 and another 55, had visited Dresden for a vacation from the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The 55-year-old died of his injuries while the 53-year-old survived being badly wounded.Dresden knife attack ‘draws attention to the dangers of Islamist violence’, says minister. It was an attack that rippled through Germany and deeply alarmed government ministers, reportedly being the first known Islamist-motivated killing of a gay person in the country, Deutsche Welle stated. “Investigations have shown that the dreadful killing in Dresden had an Islamist background,” justice minister Christine Lambrecht said of the incident at the time. “Islamist terror is a major, enduring threat to our society that we have to tackle determinedly."
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