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Eye on Extremism
April 14, 2021
Arab News: Germany Opens Trial Of Far-Right ‘Terrorist’ Group
“Twelve alleged far-right conspirators went on trial in Germany on Tuesday, suspected of planning attacks on politicians, asylum seekers and Muslims as part of a plot to overthrow the country’s democracy. Eleven of the men, arrested in February last year, stand accused of membership of a terrorist organization and weapons law violations. The 12th has been charged with supporting a terrorist group. The suspects, known as Gruppe S (Group S) after one of the founders, planned to spark “a civil-war-like situation” by carrying out “attacks on politicians, asylum seekers and people of Muslim faith,” according to federal prosecutors. The group’s eight founding members had the goal of “destabilising and ultimately overthrowing” Germany’s democratic order, they said. Those on trial, aged 33 to 62 and all German citizens, had an “openly National Socialist attitude,” referring to the Nazi party, and made no secret of their hatred of foreigners, Muslims and Jews, according to prosecutors. One of them is accused of using an offensive slur against black people and calling them “subhumans, so up for a massacre” in a Telegram chat group. When talking on the phone, they are said to have used code words for weapons such as “battery” and “bicycle.”
The Times Of India: Sri Lanka Bans 11 Extremist Groups, Including ISIS And Al-Qaida
“Sri Lanka has banned 11 hardline Islamist organisations, including the Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaida, for their links to extremist activities in the country, according to an official announcement. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa under a special gazette notification issued on Tuesday proscribed the radical groups under the Prevention of Terrorism (temporary) Provisions Act. The notification specifies that any person who acts in contravention or conspires to act would be sentenced to prison terms between 20 and 10 years. Among the banned organisations are local Muslim groups, including the Sri Lanka Islamic Students Movement. In the immediate aftermath of the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks, Sri Lanka had banned the local Jihadi group National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) and two other outfits. The NTJ suicide bomb attacks on churches and luxury hotels here had killed 270 people while injuring 500 others. A special probe panel appointed in 2019 by former President Maithripala Sirisena had recommended the banning of Muslim extremist organisations who advocate radicalism in the Buddhist-majority country. The report also asked for the banning of an extremist Buddhist group, BBS or the Forces of Buddhist Power.”
United States
“For decades, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have quietly kicked out some of the worst white supremacists in their ranks, offering them administrative discharges that leave no public record of their hateful activity, a USA TODAY review of Navy documents found. The documents, obtained via a public-records request by the open-government advocacy group American Oversight, detail 13 major investigations into white supremacist activity in the Navy and Marine Corps over more than 20 years. They show a pattern in which military leaders chose to deal with personnel involved in extremism by dismissing them in ways that would not attract public attention. Take what happened to Edward Fix and Jacob Laskey. In the early hours of Dec. 10, 2000, three white men left a neo-Nazi rally and headed to downtown Jacksonville, Florida. They were looking for a Black person to beat up, according to the Navy records. On Main Street, they found John Joseph Newsome, 44. They beat him severely with their fists, boots and a broken bottle, all the while shouting “Kill the n-----,” according to the documents. Then they went looking for another victim. The trio was soon arrested and charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and committing a hate crime.”
NBC News: China, Other Countries Now Top U.S. Intel's Global Threat List, Not Terrorist Groups
“China is working to challenge the U.S. by doubling its nuclear capacity, besting American capabilities in space and expanding its influence abroad, according to a threat assessment by the U.S. intelligence community published Tuesday that highlights the dangers posed by rogue countries ahead of the non-state terrorism threat that once dominated national security thinking. The authors of the threat assessment, released ahead of testimony by top intelligence officials before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, note that the order in which topics are presented “does not necessarily indicate their relative importance,” but those editorial judgments are not made in a vacuum. For years, the dangers of an al Qaeda attack led the threats assessment, and in more recent years the problem of cyber intrusions was featured first. Last year, there was no public threats assessment and no open congressional hearing, because intelligence officials worried about offending then-President Donald Trump by presenting judgments that conflicted with his worldview. In 2019, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel starkly contradicted Trump on the Islamic State militant group, Iran and North Korea.”
Turkey
Daily Sabah: Turkish Security Forces Nab Over 850 Daesh Suspects In 2021
“Turkish security forces have nabbed at least 850 suspects with links to Daesh in the first three months of 2021, dealing a heavy blow to the terrorist group's presence in the country and its activities in the region. Being one of the first countries that recognized Daesh as a terrorist group in 2013, Turkey has been frequently conducting domestic and cross-border operations against the group for years in order to eliminate a major global terrorism threat. In 2021's domestic operations, 145 of those 850 – including some senior figures – have been imprisoned and some of them have been also repatriated. Also, documents and ammunition belonging to the terrorist group were seized during these operations. One of the senior figures nabbed in Turkey's northwestern Sakarya province revealed in February that Daesh terrorists in Turkey have been disguising themselves as nonreligious, alcohol-consuming individuals to evade police scrutiny. Turkish security forces nabbed Jordanian national A.Z.A.A.D., a suspected high-ranking Daesh member, in Sakarya. He was the so-called “deputy minister of education,” responsible for all of the terrorist group’s educational institutions in regional Daesh strongholds in Iraq and Syria from 2014-2017.”
Afghanistan
The New York Times: Will Afghanistan Become A Terrorism Safe Haven Once Again?
“The Sept. 11 attacks led American troops into Afghanistan in 2001 for what became a two-decade war. Now President Biden’s decision to withdraw military forces has prompted a central question: Will the threat of terrorism against America re-emerge from Afghanistan? The answer is no, at least not right away. But over the longer term, the question is far more difficult to answer. The United States could find itself pulled back into Afghanistan much as it was in Iraq, some current and former officials warned. Intelligence officials have offered the Biden administration an overall grim portrait of the future of Afghanistan itself, predicting that the Taliban will make battlefield gains, Afghan government forces will struggle to hold territory and a peace deal between them is unlikely. The broad outlines of that assessment were made public in an intelligence report released on Tuesday. Still, on the critical question of whether direct threats to the United States still exist in Afghanistan, U.S. spy agencies have privately offered a rosier picture. The agencies do not believe Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups pose an immediate threat to strike the United States from Afghanistan, an assessment that the Biden administration considered pivotal as it weighed continuing the war or pulling out forces this year.”
The Wall Street Journal: Biden’s Afghan Exit
“The White House announced Tuesday that President Biden plans to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11. The symbolic but arbitrary date shows the decision is driven less by facts on the ground than a political desire that is also a strategic gamble. History suggests U.S. interests will suffer. The target date 20 years to the day after the 9/11 attacks is meant to underscore that at long last the Afghan war will end. But of course it won’t. The country will see its civil war escalate, as the Taliban seek to retake Kabul and reestablish the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. If the country again becomes a sanctuary for al Qaeda and Islamic State, don’t be surprised if U.S. troops have to return as they did in Iraq after Barack Obama’s 2011 withdrawal led to the rise of ISIS. Mr. Biden inherited a bad situation as President Trump had negotiated a May 1 withdrawal date. As the U.S. drew down its forces, the Taliban failed to cut ties with al Qaeda and have captured military bases around the country. Today some 10,000 foreign forces remain, including as many as 3,500 Americans. A U.S. departure means NATO and other partner troops will leave too. The U.S. says it will stay diplomatically engaged, but the withdrawal almost surely means the peace talks between the Taliban and Kabul will fail.”
Voice Of America: Taliban Shun Afghanistan Talks Until Foreign Forces Go
“The Taliban said on Tuesday they would not attend a summit on Afghanistan's future in Turkey this month until all foreign forces leave their country. “Until all foreign forces completely withdraw from our homeland, (we) will not participate in any conference that shall make decisions about Afghanistan,” tweeted Mohammad Naeem, spokesman for the Taliban office in Qatar. His intervention came just hours after it emerged that the U.S. would withdraw its forces from Afghanistan about five months later than Washington had originally agreed with the insurgents. U.S. officials said President Joe Biden would withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan before this year's 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The drawdown, finally ending America's longest war despite mounting fears of a Taliban victory, delays by around five months an agreement with the Taliban inked by former President Donald Trump to pull troops. There is a growing consensus in Washington that little more can be achieved in the conflict-torn nation. The decision came as Turkey announced an international peace conference on Afghanistan that the hosts hope could pave the way to a power-sharing arrangement. The conference, due to be held in Istanbul from April 24 to May 4, will seek to revive long-stalled peace talks that are being hosted in the Qatari capital Doha.”
Nigeria
Voice Of America: Trade Picks Up On Cameroon-Nigeria Border, Despite Boko Haram
“Officials in Cameroon and Nigeria say economic activity has gradually resumed along their border, despite the continued presence of the terrorist group Boko Haram. Markets have re-opened and border merchants say traveling near the border is safer thanks to a heavy presence of troops. Gasoline seller Oumarou Fouman, 40, said life is gradually returning to the town of Amchide on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria. He said many merchants have been crossing into Cameroon from Nigeria with electronic appliances, auto parts and food to sell. Fouman said he is one of eight men who have resumed buying gasoline from Nigeria and selling it in Cameroon. He said before he crosses over from Cameroon, he calls his suppliers in the Nigerian town of Banki to find out if it is safe to travel. Seini Lamin Boukar is the traditional ruler and mayor of Kolofata, a Cameroonian town on the border with Nigeria. Boukar and five of his family members were abducted by Boko Haram fighters in 2014 and released after a week. Boukar said business is picking up in Kolofata and cattle ranchers from African countries have begun visiting the cattle market. He notes there is still a security problem. On April 7, Boko Haram fighters attacked merchants in Kolofata for food and money, just five days after the cattle market reopened.”
Africa
The Washington Post: How An Insurgency Threatens Mozambique’s Gas Bonanza
“One of the world’s poorest countries could be transformed by Africa’s biggest-ever private investment splurge, but there’s a problem. Increasingly brazen attacks by Islamist insurgents are threatening plans to tap huge natural gas deposits found off Mozambique’s northern coast a decade ago. More than 2,600 people have died and over 700,000 have been displaced since the violence began in 2017. The country’s export ambitions are linked to giant projects by France’s Total SE and Italy’s Eni SpA, and others being considered by companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., but investments are being held up by the fighting. 1. What’s at stake? As much as $120 billion in investment, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s largest lender. It’s unlikely all that money will materialize, especially if the violence continues to ratchet up. But the completion of even some of the projects would be a game-changer for the southern African country and its 32 million people, almost two-thirds of whom live on less than $1.90 a day, the World Bank’s definition of extreme poverty. 2. How much money could this generate? The government expects to pocket $96 billion over the next quarter-century from three liquefied natural gas plants that would turn Mozambique into a leading exporter.”
France 24: NGO Coalition Says New Tack Needed To Fight Sahel Insurgency
“Some 50 NGOs on Tuesday called for a fresh approach to fighting jihadism in Africa's vast Sahel region, including dialogue with insurgents and protecting civilians from soldiers. The insurgency is linked to the Islamic State group (IS) which, like Al-Qaeda, is vying for influence on the continent as both recover from defeats and growing pressure in their original bastions of the Middle East and South Asia. The People's Coalition for the Sahel, created last year, is backed by bodies such as Oxfam and Human Rights Watch and includes women's rights groups and legal associations from mainly three countries -- Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. “Across the Central Sahel, more civilians were killed by soldiers supposed to protect them than by non-state armed groups. Yet no Burkinabe, Malian, Nigerien soldier or militia leader implicated in human rights violations has yet been brought to justice,” it said in a report. The coalition called for fair and impartial trials into cases of killings, rape and torture committed by both sides and “a zero tolerance policy on offences committed by the defence and security forces and the militia”. “The current approach clearly failed to stem attacks by so-called jihadist groups, which have almost doubled each year since 2016,” it said.”
The North Africa Post: Tunisia, USA Ink Anti-Terrorism Cooperation Deal
“Tunisia’s interior ministry and the US embassy in the North African signed Monday a memorandum of understanding, MoU, aiming at cooperation between the two countries in the area of the fight against terrorism, reports say. Tunisian Prime Minister, Hichem Mechichi who also doubles as the country’s interior minister noted that the deal is in line with the security assistance strategy between Tunisia and the USA and seeks to promote security cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism and in the field of training and border protection, Webdo Tunis reports. Per the deal, both countries pledged to install electronic surveillance systems and exchange information and expertise. It also provides for the supply of equipment to Tunisia. Tunisia is a key ally of the US in security matters, and their cooperation has recently increased after the North African country witnessed a rise in violence and militancy. Tunisia suffered three major attacks in 2015 that killed dozens of people mostly foreign tourists. Last year in March, two subside bombers blew themselves, killing one policeman near the US embassy in the capital Tunis.”
United Kingdom
BBC News: Sahayb Abu: Would-Be Rap Star Jailed For IS-Inspired Terror Plot
“An east London man who called himself the Masked Menace has been jailed for life for plotting a terror attack during the coronavirus pandemic. Islamic State (IS) supporter Sahayb Abu bought an 18-inch sword, a knife, balaclavas and body armour online. The 27-year-old from Dagenham was arrested on 9 July after discussing guns with an undercover police officer. He will serve a minimum of 19 years after being found guilty in March of preparing an act of terrorism. He had told jurors at the Old Bailey that he bought the items to make a parody video because he had wanted to “create a rap character” that would make people “cry with laughter”. Abu said he wanted to become a successful rapper like Stormzy and posted videos online of himself rapping about bombs and eliminating opponents. He said the name of his “persona” was the Masked Menace and that he hoped to get famous through his music and that his videos would get noticed and lead to sponsorship. But a jury found Abu guilty after deliberating for more than 21 hours. Abu was previously convicted of a commercial burglary in June 2018 and served his sentence at Wandsworth and High Down jails alongside inmates convicted of terrorism offences.”
The Guardian: London Bridge Inquest: Terrorist Told Conference He Had Turned From ‘Wrong Path’
“A convicted terrorist told a prisoner rehabilitation conference that he was a reformed character who had turned away from the “wrong path” just minutes before killing two people in a knife attack, an inquest has heard. Usman Khan, 28, took part in a breakout session on individual “turning points” at London’s Fishmongers’ Hall in the hour before his deadly attack in November 2019, the barrister Catherine Jaquiss told the inquest jury. Jaquiss sat next to Khan after inviting him to join her group at a table in the building’s banqueting hall at an event to mark the fifth anniversary of Learning Together, an educational rehabilitation initiative run by the University of Cambridge. She told the inquest: “I turned behind me to a person who I now know to be Usman Khan and asked him to join our table. We were asked to contemplate occasions upon which we made a choice which led us in one direction or another.” She said Khan looked “a little shy” and added: “I remember him saying … that he had been involved with a group of people who had been leading him down the wrong path. He had now seen that way was wrong. And he was now essentially turning the other way, or going a different way.”
Germany
“The streets of Dresden, Germany, were seized by fear and violence after 21-year-old Abdullah AHH, wielding a large kitchen knife, stabbed two tourists who visited the eastern town on 4 October 2020. AHH, a Syrian refugee, is facing one count of murder for fatally stabbing Thomas L, 55, and one count of attempted murder for wounding Thomas’s partner Oliver L, 53, according to the MailOnline. His only regret, AHH told court psychologists, was not killing Oliver. He said the couple “committed a grave sin” by holding hands in public, Dresden Higher Regional Court heard. Arrested two weeks after the Dresden knife attack, federal prosecutors say that AHH worked for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, a sprawling terrorist and ultra-radical Islamist group. It was a vacation that slipped into disarray after the couple journeyed from the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia to Dresden to unwind and relax. Out and about on a mild Autumn day in Saxony’s capital, Thomas and Oliver were both punctured with a 21-centimetre kitchen knife by AHH. Thomas died of his injuries while Oliver survived, being badly wounded. The attack deeply alarmed government officials, with it reportedly being the first known Islamist-motivated killing of a gay person in the country.”
Europe
Reuters: Swiss Government Defends Anti-Terrorism Law Against Criticism Over Child Rights
“The Swiss government on Tuesday defended a new anti-terrorism law that will be put to a nationwide referendum in June and that includes restrictive measures on child suspects. Under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, a committee collected signatures to force a referendum to overturn the law that was adopted by parliament in September. The referendum will take place on June 13. The new law allows the police to intervene with preventative measures if they have concrete and current indications of terrorist activity, the government said in a statement. However, it contains some controversial points, such as preventive house detention for potential offenders from the age of 15 as well as electronic surveillance and restraining orders for people from the age of 12 who are considered a threat. It can also stop people leaving the country. “Experience shows that there are under-age persons to whom these measures could be applied,” Justice and Police Minister Karin Keller-Sutter told a briefing, citing the example of two convicted jihadists who went to Syria at the ages of 15 and 16 to support Islamic State militants. The “No to Preventative Punishment” committee said the new law infringed the convention on children’s rights and was also contrary to the presumption of innocence.”
Technology
Vice: The Crusade Against Pornhub Is Going To Get Someone Killed
“In early February, a post by an extremist Christian group on the far-right social media platform Gab called for the death of a specific Pornhub executive…”Visually, [these] groups use neo-Nazi imagery, including swastikas, black sun (sonnenrad) symbols, and skull masks which neo-Nazi accelerationist groups have adopted,” Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher and content review specialist at the Counter Extremism Project, said. “Most of this propaganda is pretty ordinary visually in terms of online white supremacists, except that the individuals in the propaganda photos are women, and the text is explicitly anti-porn. Masked individuals posing with firearms also fits the pattern of propaganda released by neo-Nazi groups that have endorsed committing acts of violence.” Each of the groups posting these messages have low follower counts, in the single and double digits. “Both groups are absolutely troubling, but also extremely small in their online presence,” Fisher-Birch said. “It’s not entirely uncommon for small groups to surface in the online extreme right, and then become dormant after a few months. Of course, this doesn’t mean that these groups don’t pose risks, as these two certainly do, with their rhetoric and promotion of violence.”
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