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Eye on Extremism
March 19, 2021
“Four countries including the U.S. called on the Afghan government and the Taliban to reduce violence and begin discussions on sharing power, in a fresh effort to end the two-decade war as a deadline for the full withdrawal of American troops draws closer. At a peace conference hosted by Moscow on Thursday, the U.S., Russia, China and Pakistan added that they would not support the restoration of an Islamic Emirate under the Taliban, and that any peace settlement must protect the rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities. Kabul’s chief peace envoy, Abdullah Abdullah, called for “an end to targeted killings and a comprehensive cease-fire to begin the next rounds of the talks in a peaceful environment.” The summit took place amid intensifying international efforts to end fighting ahead of a May 1 deadline for the full withdrawal of U.S. troops. U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad represented the Biden administration at the conference, which underlined foreign countries’ desire to have a hand in shaping Afghanistan’s future, from curbing the threat of Islamist militants to securing nearby borders against drug smuggling and human trafficking.”
Agence France-Presse: Suspected Jihadists Kill 12 In Yemen Attack: Official
“Suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen in Yemen killed four civilians and eight pro-government soldiers in a dawn attack Thursday, launching grenades and firing machine guns on a southern checkpoint, an official said. The suspected jihadists opened fire in the southern province of Abyan before escaping, the official told AFP, asking not to be named. “It was gunmen, believed to be from Al-Qaeda, who launched the attack with machine guns and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), killing eight soldiers and four civilians,” the official said. The checkpoint in the coastal district of Ahwar was manned by members of the Security Belt, a powerful southern Yemen separatist force. The militia is dominated by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which last year joined a power-sharing unity government, fighting the Iran-backed Huthi rebels in the country's north. Security Belt forces have played a decisive role in the fight against Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group forces, forcing them to retreat from towns into rural areas. An STC official and medic in Abyan confirmed the death toll, but Al-Qaeda has not yet issued any statements on the attack. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was born in 2009 between the network's offshoots in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, as they faced the onslaught of US and regional military campaigns.”
United States
“…According to the Counter Extremism Project, Muthana took part in vile ISIS propaganda and even urged jihadists in the US to go on deadly shooting sprees. After her first husband, an Australian jihadist, was killed in Kobani, she urged ISIS supporters to “go on drivebys, and spill all of their blood, or rent a big truck and drive all over them. “Veterans, Patriots, Memorial, etc day... Kill them,” she added. However, she insists she has now seen the light and described ISIS's murderous operations as “complete corruption(which) ruined many people's lives.” The runaway said things reached an all-time low when her son was forced to eat grass for dinner. She said: “I dropped everything and left. I walked out, I just walked despite there being (explosive devices) and not being the way out. “I walked out with the Syrians just to save my child and me from the starvations and the bombings and this horrible way. “I really regret it for the rest of my life and wish I could erase.” Muthana told the documentary makers she joined ISIS because she wanted to feel useful. She said: “I felt like I was useless my whole life. And every website I visited (said) the Syrians need help and the Syrians are starving and the Syrians are going through trouble.”
Syria
Al Monitor: Russia Launches Air Campaign Against Islamic State In Syrian Desert
“During the second week of March, Russian warplanes intensified airstrikes targeting the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria. There are several goals behind the Russian airstrikes. Chief among them is securing the roads in the Badia region (the Syrian desert), limiting IS operations and military capabilities and curbing the spread of the organization in the Badia, which extends over Raqqa, Hama, Homs, Deir Ez-Zor and Aleppo provinces. The Syrian regime forces and their allied militias have failed to achieve their goals during their ground operations against IS in recent months. In order to intensify air operations against IS in the desert, the Russian forces have beefed up their presence in two air bases belonging to the Syrian regime in the Badia in the eastern countryside of Homs in order to use these bases as a launching pad for the aircraft striking IS positions and sites in the area. A journalist and activist in the eastern countryside of Hama told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The ground military operations waged by the regime forces against IS in the Syrian Badia have failed to weaken the organization, as its militants are still roaming the region while attacking roads and launching almost daily attacks against the regime’s sites and oil and phosphate fields.”
Turkey
Daily Sabah: Turkey Stops 26 Terrorist Attacks So Far In 2021
“Turkey has foiled 26 attempted terrorist attacks since January, with the latest one thwarted today, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated on Thursday, adding that Turkey will continue its fight against terrorism on all platforms. Speaking at an event in the capital Ankara to mark Çanakkale Victory and Martyrs' Day, Soylu said that though the PKK is at a time when foreign support to the organization has peaked, the number of armed terrorists within Turkey has decreased to under 300, while those giving up arms and surrendering to security forces is five times higher than those joining the terrorist group. Soylu underlined that as part of a new security concept, Turkey carries out operations not after terrorist attacks take place, but beforehand. “In all of our counterterrorism operations, we have eliminated 121 PKK terrorists since January. Four joined the organization. Only two of these are from within Turkey, while two are from Germany. Despite this, 35 surrendered thanks to persuasion efforts,” he pointed out. Soylu further stated that Turkey not only targets terrorists themselves but also their financial means to weaken the organization.”
Afghanistan
Reuters: Four Killed In Bombing Of Government Bus In Kabul
“The blast hit a bus which was rented by the Afghan Ministry of Information and Technology to transport employees, said Abdul Samad Hamid Poya, a ministry adviser. No one claimed immediate responsibility for the blast, but the Afghan government has blamed Taliban insurgents for recent attacks targeting government employees, civil society figures and journalists. The Taliban has denied involvement in the campaign. INTERPRETER: I was sitting near these shops when the blast happened. As I walked towards the explosion site, I heard people shouting, save us. With the help of others, we pulled five people who were seriously injured out of the vehicle. I think there were about 20 people in the vehicle, five of whom were alive, and the rest were martyred.”
Lebanon
“Hezbollah possesses thousands of missiles and rockets located in the heart of the civilian population that are deliberately intended to target Israeli civilians, the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday. “The IDF will take all necessary steps to prevent that from happening,” Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi said during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Kochavi is accompanying Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on a visit to France.”
Nigeria
“For over a decade, the North-eastern region of Nigeria has been ravaged by insecurity, as the militant group Boko Haram has destabilised border communities. The damage ranges from loss of life to destruction of property and farmlands. We analysed the efforts of various state and non-state actors (both local and international) to address these security challenges, and found evidence of uncoordinated actions between government agencies and other stakeholders. This has forced international actors to withdraw their troops and support from the fight against Boko Haram, leaving the border communities in crisis. To win the confidence of communities under threat, the Nigerian government needs to demonstrate its resolution and sincerity of purpose. It must devise coordinated efforts with other stakeholders to end the insurgency. We conducted group discussions and individual interviews in six border communities in 2017 and 2018. A total of 276 participants were interviewed in the states of Borno, Adamama and Yobe. We also looked at the legal framework backing Nigeria's counterinsurgency and considered the state's military responses as well as the quality of support received from external actors.”
Mali
Africanews: Malians Express Doubt Over Army's Capacity To Counter Jihadist Fighters
“At least 33 soldiers were killed in an attack in northern Mali this week after one of two devastating attacks in the Sahel region since Monday. Concerns have been raised over the capability of the Malian army to deal with the frequent attacks that have claimed hundreds of the security forces. A number of civilians and high-ranking officials have expressed their discontent and concern after the deadliest attack. Some civilians expressed disappointment over the way the national army was handling the issue of security with some even calling for a more robust way to deal with incompetent soldiers. “If your enemies are among you, it will be difficult to deal with the enemy you are facing. So you have to investigate that, and if there are doubts about someone you have to replace that person,” Nouhoum Togo, former advisor to the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs of Mali said. Much of the central Sahel has been locked in a vicious conflict between state forces, jihadists and ethnic militias for years, in a battle that shows no sign of abating. Dozens of assailants on motorbikes and pickup trucks on Monday stormed a military post southwest of the town of Ansongo, near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger, the army said on social media.”
Australia
The Guardian: Melbourne Terrorism Accused Allegedly Bought Knife For Attack
“One of two brothers arrested in terror raids in Melbourne’s north allegedly purchased a knife this week in preparation for a terrorist attack, police say. Aran Sherani, 19, and his 20-year-old brother, Ari Sherani, faced Melbourne magistrates court on Thursday after being arrested by counter-terror officers on Wednesday. Both are facing charges of attempting to engage in a terrorist act over an incident at Humevale, north of Melbourne, on 21 February. Aran Sherani is facing three additional charges including intentionally causing injury to an unnamed person in Preston on 9 March. Court documents state Aran Sherani is also accused of knowingly being a member of the terrorist organisation Islamic State and allege he purchased a knife at Epping on Wednesday in preparation for a terrorist attack. The brothers were arrested in Wednesday’s raids alongside a 16-year-old boy from Pascoe Vale who was subsequently released without charge. The older men each faced court via video link on Thursday and did not apply for bail. Aran Sherani’s lawyer, Sarah Condon, said he had no prior convictions and this was his first time in custody. She said for those reasons and the nature of the charges he would be vulnerable behind bars.”
New Zealand
Australian Associated Press: New Charges From New Zealand Terror Threat
“New Zealand Police have charged a 27-year-old man, already in custody for allegedly threatening to bomb two Mosques, with distributing the Christchurch Mosques terrorist's manifesto. The man, who has been granted name suppression by the Christchurch District Court, has been on remand since early March. News outlet Stuff reports he has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of distributing the terror screed of Brenton Tarrant, the Australian terrorist who is serving life imprisonment for carrying out the 2019 shooting. Possession or distribution of the white supremacist's manifesto is a crime in New Zealand. He has also pleaded not guilty to one charge of threatening to kill, has elected a trial by jury and will next appear in court on April 22. The man's arrest came just before the two-year anniversary of the country's worst modern-day mass shooting. He is alleged to have threatened to car-bomb Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre - the same two houses of worship targeted by Tarrant - on the anniversary. The threat was made on a public and notorious right-wing forum. It was reported to police by a member of the public through Crime Stoppers - causing consternation that New Zealand's security agencies or police haven't sharpened up their act in the wake of the 2019 attack.”
Europe
The Brussels Times: Defence: About 30 Suspected Neo-Nazi Soldiers Are Under Surveillance
“The military intelligence service SGRS is keeping a group of around 30 serving soldiers under close surveillance, on suspicion they have extreme right-wing or neo-Nazi sympathies, the RTBF has revealed. The question of a presence of right wing extremists in the Belgian forces arose after it was revealed that the French army contains a sizeable number of extremists, who display their affiliations openly and apparently without any sanction. The problem of right-wing extremists is not new, although in recent years attention has concentrated more on an increase in Islamist extremism within the armed forces. As recently as last year, however, with the declining influence of IS, the intelligence services have turned their attention to right-wing extremism, which appears to be on the rise – at least partly as a reaction to Islamic extremism and to successive waves of refugees and migrants escaping that very problem. The RTBF contacted Tony Bargibant of the union that represents members of the armed forces, to find out if Belgium has the same problem as that revealed in France. “As far as I know, the SGRS carries out checks at this level. So there could be problematic cases but it is a tiny minority, they hardly represent anything. The problem is not the same as in France,” he said.”
Arab News: Italy Deports Tunisian Over Terror-Related Offences
“A Tunisian man who was living illegally in Italy has been charged with planning to incite terrorist acts and deported to his home country. Prosecutors said Nairi Nasir, 28, was expelled from Italy following a detailed investigation by Italian counter-terrorism police. Carlo Ambra, chief of the anti-terrorism branch in the northern city of Turin, told Italian news agency ANSA that Nasir had confided to other Tunisians in the country on several occasions that he wanted to carry out attacks in Italy, attempting to persuade some to carry out acts of terrorism as well. Prosecutors said Nairi Nasir, 28, was expelled from Italy following a detailed investigation by Italian counterterrorism police. The investigation was prompted last October when Nasir approached an imam at a mosque in the northern city of Turin at the end of a religious function. After praising the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty, Nasir openly and publicly criticized the preacher for having condemned the attack. He was later sent to a repatriation center, where he was reported to police by fellow migrants over exhibiting violent behavior, and after he reportedly threatened to “cut the throats” of health workers at a clinic after he tested positive for the coronavirus disease.”
Southeast Asia
Associated Press: 22 Suspected Extremists Are Transferred To Jakarta
“Indonesian authorities on Thursday transferred 22 suspected militants arrested in recent weeks to the capital. The suspects were linked to a banned militant organization, the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network, police said. The group is blamed for a string of bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. The men were flown under the guard of Indonesia's elite counterterrorism squad from Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, to a police detention center in Jakarta for further questioning. Television footage showed the suspects wearing orange uniforms and full face masks and their feet and hands cuffed as they were led off the plane. A dozen of them were arrested in raids in different cities in East Java province late last month. The counterterrorism police arrested another ten suspected militants in several raids in the province early this month. Among them was Usman bin Sef, also known as Fahim, a convicted leader of Jemaah Islamiyah in East Java province. Fahim, was a veteran fighter in Afghanistan and was sentenced to three and half years in jail in 2005 for harboring Malaysian terror fugitive Noordin Top and for a plot to attack police, said Aswin Siregar, the operation chief of police counterterrorism squad, known as Densus 88.”
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