At least 33 Malian soldiers have been killed and 14 wounded in an attack on a
military post in the country’s violence-hit northeastern region of Gao,

 

 


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


March 18, 2021

 

Al Jazeera: Attackers On Trucks And Motorbikes Raid Mali Base, Kill 33 Troops
<[link removed]>

 

“At least 33 Malian soldiers have been killed and 14 wounded in an attack on a
military post in the country’s violence-hit northeastern region of Gao,
according to the army. Some 100 assailants on pick-up trucks and motorbikes
launched the attack on Monday at about 13:00 GMT in the town of Tessit, located
60km (37 miles) southeast of Ansongo, near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso and
Niger. The army said in a statement on Wednesday that 20 attackers were killed.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. While offering its condolences
to the soldiers’ families, the army underlined “the necessity of strengthening
the fight against terrorism”. Mali has been plagued by a brutal conflict that
began as a separatist movement in the north but devolved into a multitude of
armed groups jockeying for control in the country’s central and northern
regions. The violence has spread into Burkina Faso and Niger, with fighters
linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda exploiting the poverty of marginalised
communities and inflaming tensions between ethnic groups. The “tri-border”
region – the three-country point joining Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – has
seen the most intense fighting in a worsening conflict that has sparked a major
humanitarian crisis.”

 

Forbes: Domestic Extremism Is Most ‘Lethal And Persistent’ Terrorism Threat To
U.S., Says Mayorkas
<[link removed]>

 

“The most “lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat” to the United
States is domestic, ideologically motivated extremism, Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in his opening remarks at a hearing
before the House Homeland Security Committee. Mayorkas said that since the
September 11 attacks, the threat landscape against the U.S. has substantially
“evolved” to the point that foreign terrorism is no longer the chief concern of
DHS. Mayorkas said the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was a “searing example” of
the threat the country faces. DHS announced in February that it would provide
$77 million to state and local governments to combat domestic violent
extremism. At the time Mayorkas wrote in a statement that “the most significant
terrorist threat facing the nation comes from lone offenders and small groups”
whose violent acts are motivated by “extremist ideological beliefs.” President
Joe Biden directed intelligence officials to study domestic violent extremism
shortly after his inauguration. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the
assessment would clarify if new methods are needed to combat domestic
extremism. FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Homeland Security
Committee in September that “racially motivated violent extremism” accounted
for the largest number of domestic terrorism cases the FBI handled in the last
year.”

 

United States

 

CBS News: Man Charged With Terrorism After Several Devices Go Off In North
Carolina And Another Is Found In A Church
<[link removed]>

 

“Authorities here charged a man with terrorism and possessing a weapon of mass
destruction after “incendiary” devices were found at several buildings,
including a church, on Sunday morning, reports CBS Spartanburg, South Carolina
affiliate WSPA-TV. The one at the church was intact but the others had gone
off, causing light damage, Brevard police said. Officers were called to the
First Baptist Church of Brevard around 10:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of an
incendiary device on church grounds. Officers searched the area and found
multiple devices, which had detonated, at the Transylvania County Community
Services Building and the American Legion Lodge. Terry Lee Barham, 64, was
arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with three counts of terrorism,
possession of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of a weapon of mass
destruction, manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction, malicious damage to a
government building, attempted malicious damage to a government building,
attempted malicious damage to a church, and attempted malicious damage to an
occupied building.”

 

USA Today: White Supremacist Propaganda Hit An All-Time High In 2020, New
Report Says
<[link removed]>

 

“Incidents of white supremacist propaganda hit an all-time high in 2020,
according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League's Center on
Extremism, which has tracked racist propaganda for decades. anti-Semitic,
racist and anti-LGBTQ+ posters, flyers and graffiti were recorded 5,125 times
in 2020, according to the report, almost twice the number of incidents recorded
in 2019. The report, released today, details incidents in every state excluding
Hawaii. It includes 130 incidents of white supremacists putting up banners, 56
in-person white supremacist events and 283 incidents of anti-Semitc language or
propaganda that specifically targeted Jewish institutions, a 68% increase from
2019. Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism, said the increased
propaganda is another indication of how divided America has become. “As if a
pandemic, social justice protests and a polarizing election were not enough,
one of the other things we've been dealing with is a significant increase in
efforts by white supremacists to spread their messages around the country,”
Segal said. “What the numbers suggest is a doubling down on what they view as a
successful tactic.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Stars And Stripes: US Airstrikes Target Taliban In Kandahar Province
<[link removed]>

 

“The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan
in the past 48 hours following multiple attacks by the insurgents on Afghan
government forces, a military spokesman said Wednesday. The airstrikes, the
latest in Kandahar province, underscore the reliance of Afghanistan’s military
on U.S. airpower, even as the Biden administration mulls whether to pull all
U.S. troops out of the country by May. The strikes targeted Taliban fighters in
the Zharay, Spin Boldak and Kandahar districts of the province as they were
“actively attacking and maneuvering on” Afghan troops, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan
spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said on Twitter. “The U.S. continues to defend
[Afghan forces] in accordance w/ the US-TB agreement,” Leggett tweeted,
referring to a deal struck between Washington and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar
last year that paves the way for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces by
May. An undisclosed number of strikes were carried out, he said. Leggett’s
tweet came after the Taliban earlier Wednesday accused the U.S. of unlawfully
targeting Taliban fighters in Kandahar who were not involved in the fighting.”

 

Yemen

 

Arab News: Yemeni Army Kills 18 Houthi Militants In An Ambush Near Taiz
<[link removed]>

 

“Over 18 Houthi militants have been killed in an ambush in the Maqbanah
district, west of Taiz, the Yemeni army said Wednesday. Yemeni army troops have
been advancing in Taiz and taking control of many locations in the area as
Houthi militants retreated, the army said earlier.   Meanwhile, a civilian was
killed and eight others were wounded by shells of a rocket fired by Houthi
militia on local market in Marib City, Yemeni state news agency Saba reported
on Tuesday. A medical source said that among those killed and injured was an
African refugee, according to the report. The militia continued firing
ballistic rockets on neighbourhoods and markets in the city, the source added.”

 

Nigeria

 

Sahara Reporters: Nigerian Soldiers Flee As Boko Haram Takes Over Military
Base In Borno
<[link removed]>

 

“Militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic
State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah
lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, have taken over a military base in Damasak town, Mobbar
Local Government Area of Borno State. Sources told SaharaReporters that the
insurgents stormed the community, shooting in all directions before ramming a
pick-up truck loaded with explosives into the military base. A resident said
the gunmen came in different groups and could not be counted. He added that
some Nigerian soldiers were killed while others fled into the bush. “They came,
hundreds of them, with guns, trucks, and grenades and started firing from
different directions. The soldiers ran away and left us on our own. They didn’t
shoot at them (insurgents) at all. Though some soldiers were killed I can’t say
how many,” he told SaharaReporters. It was learnt that the insurgents also
burnt a Nigerian army tanker and some buildings in the military base. The
attack on the base took place just days after Boko Haram fighters ambushed a
military convoy in Gudumbali, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno state,
killing over 15 soldiers, including the commanding officer, 123 Special Forces
Battalion, Major U.I. Urang.”

 

Germany

 

Lawfare: The German Far Right Doesn’t Need To Win Elections To Be Dangerous
<[link removed]>

 

“…According to the Counter Extremism Project, events such as these have played
a key role in the development of “a leaderless, transnational and apocalyptic
violent extreme right-wing movement,” and German far-right extremists count as
some of the most internationally networked. President Trump’s one-time adviser
Steve Bannon attempted to create a coordinated far-right internationalism that
failed. But the creation of a leaderless movement dedicated to the protection
of white European culture and operating in similar fashion to Islamist
terrorist groups might be more dangerous still. The past years have served as a
disturbing wake-up call about the allure that hate and illiberalism still hold
in German society. While the AfD has not been able to expand its base of
support, two years of increasing pressure by the BfV, combined with the party’s
infighting and clear radicalization have not dented it significantly either.
The actions of the BfV alone will not protect German democracy from the far
right. As in democracies everywhere, that remains the responsibility of the
voters.”

 

Technology

 

The Washington Post: Anti-Asian Attacks Rise Along With Online Vitriol
<[link removed]>

 

“The fatal shootings of six Asian women in Georgia on Tuesday have turned a
spotlight on a disturbing trend of the past year: Crimes against people of
Asian descent have risen sharply in the United States, along with online slurs
blaming them for the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities say they are not
certain, at this point, that the alleged shooter, Robert Aaron Long, 21, was
motivated by racial animus. But the broader trend of hateful words and deeds
against Asians and Asian Americans is clear, researchers say, and appears to
have spiked since the November presidential election and the contentious months
that followed. Terms including “China,” “Wuhan” and “flu” surged on far-right
forums on Telegram, 8kun and TheDonald.win as former president Donald Trump
pushed baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud, according to data
tracked by the Network Contagion Research Institute, which monitors
misinformation and online extremism. The terms were used on those platforms 44
percent more in January than in the average month last year. While the exact
relationship between these terms and allegations of election fraud is not
clear, the researchers theorize that rising political polarization fueled harsh
talk online, as did xenophobia and the quest for scapegoats, including people
of Asian descent.”



Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>