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Eye on Extremism
April 13, 2021
The Associated Press: Norway Charges Man Over Thwarted Attacks In London, Denmark
“A man has been charged in Norway for his alleged role in plans to carry out three extremist attacks in Denmark and in London, and for purportedly spreading Islamic State group propaganda on the internet. Authorities believe the 24-year-old man, who wasn’t identified, was part of a group that sought to strike a church in England, possibly St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, but British police thwarted the plot, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported Monday. The man was also allegedly involved in plans for one or more attacks in Denmark in March and April 2019 with help from at least one Danish citizen, prosecutor Geir Evanger told NRK. Those attacks are believed to have been prevented as well. The man has maintained his innocence. If found guilty, the man who claims to be innocent, faces up to 21 years in jail, NRK said. The trial starts in Oslo on May 18. Evanger was quoted as saying by NRK that as to his involvement in IS, the man spread “extremist material, violent material and material with religious content” online. He was an administrator for several groups on social media, including some he had created, the prosecutor said, adding they consider him to be “a relatively central participant in many of these groups.”
Africanews: International Aid Group Offices Set Ablaze In Northeast Nigeria
“Offices of several international aid groups in northeast Nigeria were attacked and set on fire on Saturday. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for these weekend attacks in Damasak, a faction of Islamist extremists aligned with the Islamic State group is suspected to be behind the assaults. These most recent attacks have renewed fears for the safety of humanitarian workers, who support 8,800 internally displaced people and 76,000 local residents. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said the attack has jeopardised its work and threatened the lives of many of the organisation’s aid workers. An NRC guesthouse was reported to have gone up in flames -- destroying aid supplies and a number of vehicles. Nevertheless, a representative of the aid group said the five staff members staying in Damasak escaped unharmed. This attack is the fourth in Damasak and its surrounding area this year and the second on humanitarians in the past two months in northeast Nigeria. The region of the country sees a now over decade-long insurgency by militants from Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) aimed at establishing an Islamic state.”
United States
The Washington Post: The Rise Of Domestic Extremism In America
“Domestic terrorism incidents have soared to new highs in the United States, driven chiefly by white-supremacist, anti-Muslim and anti-government extremists on the far right, according to a Washington Post analysis of data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The surge reflects a growing threat from homegrown terrorism not seen in a quarter-century, with right-wing extremist attacks and plots greatly eclipsing those from the far left and causing more deaths, the analysis shows. The number of all domestic terrorism incidents in the data peaked in 2020. Since 2015, right-wing extremists have been involved in 267 plots or attacks and 91 fatalities, the data shows. At the same time, attacks and plots ascribed to far-left views accounted for 66 incidents leading to 19 deaths. “What is most concerning is that the number of domestic terror plots and attacks are at the highest they have been in decades,” said Seth Jones, director of the database project at CSIS, a nonpartisan Washington-based nonprofit that specializes in national security issues. “It’s so important for Americans to understand the gravity of the threat before it gets worse.”
The New York Times: Former Pentagon Official Chosen To Run The National Counterterrorism Center.
“President Biden plans to nominate a former Pentagon official as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, he announced on Monday, giving her the task of adapting the agency to a world in which domestic threats loom as large as foreign ones. Mr. Biden’s selection, Christine S. Abizaid, served as a deputy assistant secretary of defense during the Obama administration, focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as working on counterterrorism on the National Security Council. If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Abizaid would be the first woman to hold the post on a permanent basis. Lora Shiao, a career official, served as an acting director of the center last year. Avril B. Haines, the director of national intelligence, who oversees the counterterrorism center, praised the choice. “Christy brings a command of counterterrorism issues, leadership acumen and enterprising approach that will enable her to effectively steer N.C.T.C.,” Ms. Haines said in a statement. Ms. Abizaid, who works for Dell Technologies, is the daughter of the retired Gen. John P. Abizaid, who oversaw the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command and also served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Trump administration.”
The Baltimore Sun: Fort Meade Units Undergo Mandatory Extremism Training
“After a career in the Army, little surprises Col. Christopher Nyland, garrison commander at Fort George G. Meade. He knows that there are members of the Army and the military as a whole that express extremist behaviors. That was only reinforced by the training he underwent and led regarding extremism in the military. “I would challenge you to find any group of 3 million people that didn’t have some members in their ranks that didn’t have some of those beliefs… So that was about overcoming the ‘we don’t have a problem,’” Nyland said. “And I think no one in the room was surprised, at least in the group that I led or the group that I participated in, that that kind of behavior was unacceptable.” In February, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin authorized every Department of Defense unit to take a one-day stand down in order to train on extremism. The stand-down was in response to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. An NPR report found that at least 20% of those charged had or were currently serving in the military. All units needed to complete the stand down by April 6, and those at Fort Meade were no different.”
Iraq
Voice Of America: Iraqi Kurds Say Major IS Attack On Capital Was Foiled
“Iraqi Kurdish officials announced Monday that their counterterrorism unit arrested five Islamic State (IS) suspects who had penetrated the autonomous Kurdistan Region from war-torn Syria to carry out explosions and assassinations in the region's capital, Irbil. The announcement included a televised confession with five suspects and a statement from Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Barzani said all the suspects had come from Syria's al-Hol camp, which houses more than 60,000 refugees, internally displaced Syrians, and family members of former and current IS terrorists. “I am deeply concerned that our intelligence points to (IS) operating from the al-Hol camp, indicating the group is still capable of crossing borders illegally,” Barzani said in a statement published on KRG's website. “I urge the global coalition and our partners to recognize the seriousness of this threat, both here and abroad, to peace and stability,” he added. U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) recently conducted a major security operation against IS cells inside al-Hol. Dozens of IS operatives were detained in the multiday campaign. In the confession video, all five suspects said they were Iraqi nationals who had joined IS before the group's caliphate was declared defeated in 2017.”
Voice Of America: Iraqi Military Launches Operation Against IS Remnants
“Iraq's military and allied militias have launched a new security operation against remnants of the Islamic State (IS) terror group in a northeastern province. The military campaign, supported by airpower from the Iraqi air force, is focused on eliminating active IS cells in the restive province of Diyala, Iraqi military officials said. “The security units have begun the mission of searching and purging the mountain range surrounding Hamrin Lake and adjacent areas … in Diyala,” Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool said on Twitter Sunday. At least five IS terrorists have been killed and four of their hideouts were destroyed in the multiday campaign, Rasool said. The Iraqi official added that pro-government Shiite militias, known as Popular Mobilization Forces, also destroyed several vehicles belonging to IS militants in Diyala. Despite its territorial defeat, IS remains active in several provinces of Iraqi's north, particularly in areas that are considered “disputed” between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. Last month, IS militants carried out multiple attacks against security forces and civilians in the area, including an attack in the province of Salahuddin that killed seven members of a family.”
Turkey
Daily Sabah: Turkish Security Forces Nab 6 Suspects With Daesh Links
“Turkish security forces arrested six suspects for their suspected links to the Daesh terror group, security sources said on Monday. The southeastern Kahramanmaraş-based operation was carried out simultaneously in central Kayseri and southeastern Gaziantep provinces, in which gendarmerie teams arrested the suspects who operated on behalf of Daesh in conflict zones in Syria. They were identified by the initials S.A, A.S, H.H, E.K. H.E.H. and A.S. Authorities discovered that A.S. had received training on bomb mechanisms and that the suspect was involved in many attacks in Syria's Aleppo between 2013 and 2015. S.A., meanwhile, acted as one of the so-called leaders in the organization and engaged in armed activities. In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group. The country has since been attacked by the terror group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed assaults. In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.”
Afghanistan
“International efforts to broker a peace settlement in Afghanistan suffered a setback on Monday after the Taliban backed out of participating in a U.S.-backed summit that was slated to start later this week in Turkey, officials said. A Taliban spokesman said the group wouldn’t attend the conference because “our consultations have not ended on this topic.” Facing a May 1 deadline to withdraw U.S. troops from the country, the Biden administration has spent weeks laying the groundwork for the conference in the hope it would accelerate the slow-moving peace process that began last year. The conference has now been postponed until a later date. The administration had hoped the Turkey talks would yield a cease-fire agreement and an interim government that included the Taliban, enabling U.S. and NATO allies to withdraw their troops after 20 years. The talks were designed to replicate the format of the conference held in Bonn, Germany, where senior Afghans selected a leader for Afghanistan after the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001. In an article posted to its English-language Voice of Jihad website, which often reflects the thinking among the group’s members, the Taliban denounced the U.S. proposal for an interim government and said similar efforts had failed.”
Africa
The New York Times: Pentagon Chief Orders New Review Of Attack That Killed 3 Americans In Kenya
“Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered a high-level review of an initial military investigation into an attack on a Kenyan base by Islamic extremists in January 2020 that left three Americans dead, the Pentagon said on Monday. The brazen assault by about a dozen Shabab fighters at Manda Bay, a sleepy seaside base near the Somali border, marked the largest number of U.S. military-related fatalities in Africa since four soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger in October 2017. The attack by the Shabab, Al Qaeda’s East Africa affiliate, revealed several glaring security shortfalls, an examination by The New York Times found soon after the assault, and underscored the American military’s limits on the continent, where a lack of intelligence, along with Manda Bay’s reputation as a quiet and unchallenged locale, allowed a lethal strike. American commandos took about an hour to respond. Many of the local Kenyan forces, assigned to defend the base, hid in the grass while other American troops and support staff members were corralled into tents, with little protection, to wait out the battle. It would require hours to evacuate one of the wounded to a military hospital in Djibouti, roughly 1,000 miles away.”
Bloomberg: Mozambique Terror Threat Level Undergoes Regional Bloc Probe
“A Southern African Development Community technical team will assess the threat that Islamist militants pose to Mozambique to determine how to respond to the insurgency, the nation’s foreign minister said. The bloc agreed to deploy the team after regional leaders met April 8 to discuss the escalating violence in the northeast of the country. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the meeting also agreed to revive a so-called SADC brigade to intervene in the conflict. Foreign Minister Veronica Macamo didn’t directly answer a question on whether Mozambique had agreed that SADC forces will help the government fight the Islamic State-linked insurgency, only highlighting that the technical team would make a determination on what’s needed. Under SADC rules, a member state must make an official request for the group to deploy the brigade. SADC leaders are scheduled to meet again on April 29 to discuss the issue. The organization has already held a series of meetings on the conflict and is yet to announce any definitive response other than condemning the violence and expressing solidarity to those it impacts.”
Reuters: Rebels Attacked Chad Border Post On Election Day - Govt
“A group of Libya-based rebels attacked a Chadian border post in the north of the country as polling stations began counting votes from the weekend presidential election, the Chad government said late on Monday. President Idriss Deby, an ally of western powers in the fight against Islamist militants in West and Central Africa, sought to extend his 30-year-rule over the central African country in an election boycotted by several opposition groups. Results have not yet been announced. A group of heavily armed vehicles crossed the border from Libya and attacked the border post at Zouarké at around 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Sunday, government spokesman Chérif Mahamat Zene said in a statement. The rebels were on the run and being pursued by the air force, Mahamat said, without providing further details of the clashes. The Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a political-military group founded by dissident army officers in 2016, claimed responsibility for the attack and disputed the government’s portrayal. FACT, like opposition politicians and rights groups in Chad, accuse President Deby of repression surrounding the election. The militia claimed to have seized several army garrisons including in Wour and Zouarké, and called Sunday’s election a masquerade.”
The Africa Report: Mozambique: Following The Rise Of Islamist Group Al-Shabab In Cabo Delgado
“The seizure of Mozambique's key port of Palma by jihadist militants has marked an unprecedented turning point in this conflict impacting southern Africa. Our infographics explain how it all began. Even with reinforcements in the form of Russian and South African mercenaries, the Mozambican armed forces seems powerless and incapable of holding back the advance of jihadist fighters from al-Shabab, an insurgent group that has an unclear affiliation with the Islamic State (IS) and is not related to Al-Shabab in Somalia. On 24 March, its militants seized the key port of Palma in the province of Cabo Delgado, near Tanzania, in north-eastern Mozambique. The latest dramatic offensive has cast a harsh light on al-Shabab’s ultra-violent modus operandi and led the Mozambican government to call on the international community for assistance as it continues to confront the militant group’s insurgency, which has been on the rise since 2017. Portugal pledged to send a team of military personnel to help train Mozambican forces, while the United States said it is “determined” to cooperate with the government of Mozambique. On 1 April, the African Union (AU) called for an “urgent and coordinated regional and international action.”
United Kingdom
“A senior police officer has urged the UK to be on alert as terrorists could have a 'greater opportunity to operate' as coronavirus lockdown restrictions are eased. Deputy assistant commissioner Matt Twist, one of Counter Terrorism Policing's senior national coordinators, warned the public and businesses to 'be alert' to more than just the dangers of Covid-19 this summer. According to a police statement, he believes the easing of lockdown restrictions could provide a 'greater opportunity for terrorists to operate'. The terrorism threat level is currently listed as 'substantial', meaning an attack is likely. Counter Terrorism Policing has launched a campaign to encourage people to report anything suspicious to security guards and police. Deputy assistant commissioner Twist said: 'Following a year of restrictions impacting all our lives, we recognise people will be keen to get out and about as the lockdown begins to ease, and the importance of businesses being able to return to more regular trading patterns. 'But we must continue to follow public health guidance and remain vigilant, not just against the threat of the virus but against the threat of terrorism as well. 'Terrorism will understandably not have been high on anyone's mind in recent months, and I would describe the threat as temporarily suppressed during lockdown, because it was difficult to go out in public and actually do anything.’”
Germany
The Associated Press: Syrian On Trial In Germany For Killing Man, Injuring Another
“A Syrian man went on trial Monday accused of killing a German man and seriously injuring another in an attack last year that prosecutors said was motivated by Islamic extremist ideology. The trial of Abdullah A.H.H., whose full name wasn’t released due to German privacy laws, began in the eastern city of Dresden, where the attack took place on Oct. 4. Federal prosecutors allege that the defendant used kitchen knives to attack the two men in their 50s from behind because they were holding hands and he believed they were a gay couple, which he considered to be a “grave sin.” The 21-year-old was arrested almost three weeks after the crime and has been in custody since then. The defendant is charged with murder in the killing of the 55-year-old victim and the attempted murder and serious bodily harm of the 53-year-old man. A forensic psychiatrist testified in court that the defendant had told him after the attack that he regretted not killing both men, German news agency dpa reported. The defendant’s lawyer acknowledged that his client had admitted to carrying out the attack and that the requirements for a murder conviction had been met, but suggested that juvenile law should be applied in the case as he was still immature, dpa reported.”
BBC News: Gruppe S: German Far-Right Group On Trial For 'Terror Plot'
“The trial of 11 suspected members of a far-right “terror” group opens in the German city of Stuttgart on Tuesday. The suspects, aged between 32 and 61, were arrested in February last year. Prosecutors say the 11 men - all Germans - were members of Gruppe S (Group S), which planned attacks on migrants, Muslims and politicians, with the aim of sparking a civil war. A twelfth man, a former police officer, is accused of offering material support to the group. He is also on trial. One of the group is still at large and is being tried in absentia. Has Germany done enough to tackle far-right violence? What are the men accused of? The men in Gruppe S intended to “shake and ultimately topple the state and social order” in Germany, the indictment says. Werner S, the group's alleged ringleader, organised an initial meeting in September 2019. Over the next few months others joined and kept in touch by phone and internet chat. According to investigation files seen by German public broadcaster ZDF and the Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper, Werner S planned to acquire a Kalashnikov assault rifle with 2,000 rounds of ammunition, an Uzi submachine gun and hand grenades. The group already had 27 unlicensed weapons, mostly pistols, it is alleged.”
New Zealand
Yahoo News: NZ Terror Laws To Include Fear Incitement
“The New Zealand government is broadening its terror laws following recommendations from the Royal Commission into the Christchurch Mosques attack. However it cannot say whether the intimidatory act of a bomb scare or placing a pig's head outside a Mosque would fall under a new definition of terror, which includes inciting fear. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Kris Faafoi introduced changes to suppression, search and surveillance powers to parliament, which he says will give authorities broader ability to fight terror. “The nature of terrorism is changing,” he said. “We need to ensure New Zealand has laws that can respond to those changes. “The Royal Commission highlighted the need for offences to cover the preparatory steps a terrorist might take before attempt a terrorist act ... this bill contains offences to close that gap.” Those offences include criminalising terrorism preparations, terrorist weapons and combat training, international travel linked to terrorism and supporting or financing terrorism. The changes allow for the detention of anyone who has completed jail time for a terror offence if authorities believe they present a risk of further terror offences. Mr Faafoi said the new laws would not have stopped the 2019 attack, when Australian man Brenton Tarrant stormed two mosques and killed 51 worshippers.”
Southeast Asia
The Christian Post: US Embassy Warns Of 'High' Terror Threat In Indonesia After Church Bombing
“The U.S. Embassy in Indonesia has issued a security alert for American citizens, asking them to maintain increased security awareness and heightened vigilance at places of worship following a slew of terrorist attacks, including a church bombing on Palm Sunday. “The U.S. Embassy encourages American citizens in Indonesia to maintain increased security awareness,” reads the notice issued last Wednesday. “Indonesian authorities warn that the terrorism threat level remains high.” The warning comes after two suspected terrorists attacked a church in Makassar, Sulawesi, on March 28 and after an assailant with an Airsoft gun attacked the Indonesian National Police headquarters in South Jakarta on March 31. According to the alert, national police may visibly increase its presence at Indonesian government buildings, tourist sites, churches, malls and other venues. The U.S. Embassy advises heightened personal security awareness, particularly in public areas. The embassy also asks American citizens to exercise additional vigilance, especially in places of worship, crowded streets, shopping areas and locations with large crowds. People are also advised to avoid demonstrations and large gatherings. People should also refrain from displaying “signs of wealth, such as wearing expensive jewelry or watches.”
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