“An Islamic leader in Congo's eastern town of Beni was killed during evening
prayers by unidentified gunmen after days of violent attacks by rebels le

 

 


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


May 3, 2021

 

Associated Press: Islamic Leader Slain In East Congo After Attacks Killing 19
<[link removed]>

 

“An Islamic leader in Congo's eastern town of Beni was killed during evening
prayers by unidentified gunmen after days of violent attacks by rebels left at
least 19 people dead, officials said. Gunmen came into Beni's central mosque
Saturday, shooting dead Sheikh Ali Amin Uthman, the representative of the
Islamic community of Beni, according to the head of the mosque, Sheikh
Moustapha Matsongani. The identity of the attackers was not yet known.
Matsongani told The Associated Press that Amin had been receiving threats from
the Allied Democratic Forces for more than a year, and had been questioned by
security services days earlier about those threats. “We asked him to leave Beni
if possible to flee the death threats,” said the governor of the North Kivu
province, Nzanzu Carly Kasivita. “Investigations are underway.” Amin had often
gone on the radio to denounce extremism. His attack came on the heels of
attacks in villages for days that left 19 dead, according to civil society
groups. The ADF originated in neighboring Uganda and has long been a threat in
eastern Congo. The Islamic State group has claimed some attacks carried out by
ADF rebels, but the exact relationship between the groups is not clear.”

 

The National: 18 Iraqis Killed In Spree Of Night Attacks Blamed On ISIS
<[link removed]>

 

“At least 18 people were killed in a string of overnight attacks in Iraq
allegedly carried out by ISIS on Friday and Saturday. In the deadliest attack
in the town of Tarmiyah, a roadside bomb detonated next to a passing military
convoy, killing two officers and two soldiers, the Joint Operation Command
said. Iraqi military reinforcements rushing to respond to the blast were then
ambushed by militants, who killed another officer and two more soldiers, it
said. Security sources said a tribal fighter and a civilian also died as
fighting raged for hours through to the early morning. Tarmiyah, about 20
kilometres north of the capital Baghdad, is known for its orchards. Iraqi
security forces have been battling ISIS militants in the area for weeks. The
militant group has launched a series of attacks against security forces and
local tribal troops using bombs and light weapons. Near the northern city of
Kirkuk, militants assaulted positions held by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces,
killing six soldiers and wounding several others, the president of the
Kurdistan Regional Government said. The attack took place in disputed territory
claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurdish region. Kurdish President Nechervan
Barzani blamed ISIS militants for the attacks, saying they were taking
advantage of “security voids in the disputed areas.”

 

United States

 

The Washington Post: From Memes To Race War: How Extremists Use Popular
Culture To Lure Recruits
<[link removed]>

 

“The first images of “The Last Battle” seem designed to rile people on the
conservative side of the culture wars: public nudity, strippers, children
dressed in drag — symbols of a society supposedly in a moral free fall. Then
the online video pivots to more extreme material: quick-cut scenes of attacks
on White people, bogus allegations of election fraud and a parade of pictures
purporting to show “the Jewish Communist takeover.” The six-minute video,
distributed on gaming platforms and social media, rapidly reveals itself as a
visually arresting propaganda piece — a recruiting tool for far-right
extremists that draws viewers in with “They’re coming for your guns” and
“They’re opening your borders” and then hits them with “They’re humiliating
your race” and “Defend your race.” The far-right groups that blossomed during
Donald Trump’s presidency — including white supremacists, self-styled militias
and purveyors of anti-government conspiracy theories — have created enduring
communities by soft-pedaling their political goals and focusing on entertaining
potential recruits with the tools of pop culture, according to current and
former members of the groups and those who study the new extremism.”

 

The Washington Post: Sheriff’s Deputy Boasted To Extremists About Beating
Black Man, Called It ‘Sweet Stress Relief,' Feds Say
<[link removed]>

 

“As federal investigators searched the phone records of a violent extremist in
California last August, they discovered an unexpected voice of authority
joining in a group chat with racist slurs and threats. In texts with a group
that called itself “Shadow Moses,” a Georgia sheriff’s deputy boasted about
beating a Black man during an arrest, threatened to falsely charge Black people
with felonies so that they could not vote and advocated for killing politicians
and others he viewed as political enemies, the FBI said in court documents.
This week, Cody Richard Griggers pleaded guilty to a weapons charge after
federal agents uncovered his ties to a violent extremist group and found 11
unregistered firearms at his home and in his police car, the Department of
Justice said in a statement on Wednesday. Griggers, 28, who was fired by the
Wilkinson County Sheriff’s Office last November, faces up to 10 years in
prison, a $250,000 fine and will never work as a police officer again. “This
former law enforcement officer knew that he was breaking the law when he chose
to possess a cache of unregistered weapons, silencers and a machine gun,
keeping many of them in his duty vehicle,” acting U.S. attorney Peter D. Leary
said in a statement.”

 

CNN: Biden Administration Releases Trump-Era Deadly Force Rules For Terrorist
Suspects Abroad
<[link removed]>

 

“The Biden administration disclosed Trump-era rules on Friday regulating the
use of deadly force against terrorism suspects abroad, releasing them with
several redacted lines to the American Civil Liberties Union and the New York
Times as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit after the Trump
administration refused to make them public. The rules, which President Joe
Biden suspended on his first day in office while his administration began
reviewing them, according to the Times, have come under criticism for making
exceptions to standards about how and where “direct action” attacks were
allowed outside war zones. “We appreciate this release, which confirms our fear
that President Trump stripped down even the minimal safeguards President Obama
established in his rules for lethal strikes outside recognized conflicts,”
Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney for the ACLU, said in a statement
Saturday. The rules, titled “Principles, Standards, and Procedures for U.S.
Direct Action Against Terrorist Targets,” allow for US direct action against
lawfully targeted terrorists “whose removal, either independently or as part of
a broader campaign, is determined to be reasonably necessary to U.S. efforts to
address the threat posed by the terrorist group.”

 

Syria

 

The National: Briton Arrested In France Over Links To Terrorism In Syria
<[link removed]>

 

“Counterterrorist police arrested a Briton at the Channel Tunnel terminal in
France who was thought to be returning from fighting in Syria. The man, 37, was
detained at the port of Coquelles in a zone where British officials have the
right to question people planning to travel to the UK. He was held on suspicion
of preparing for terrorist acts and membership of a proscribed organisation. A
further warrant for his detention was obtained on Thursday that could keep him
in custody without charge until Tuesday. London's Metropolitan Police declined
to give further details about the man or the group to which he was said to be
linked. Women walk inside the Kurdish-run Al Hol camp in north-eastern Syria,
where families of ISIS foreign fighters are held.  Police said he was arrested
on Wednesday “as part of a pre-planned operation. The arrest relates to alleged
activity in Syria”. Figures last year showed that Britain has prosecuted only
10 per cent of foreign terrorist fighters who returned from Iraq and Syria. The
British government estimates that a fifth of the 900 people who travelled from
the UK to join the ranks of ISIS in Syria were killed, while another two fifths
are still in the region.”

 

Turkey

 

Al Jazeera: Turkish Police Say Top ISIL Figure Captured In Operation
<[link removed]>

 

“A close aide of killed ISIL (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been
caught in Istanbul. The Afghan national, only identified by the codename ASIM,
was detained in the Atasehir district on the city’s Asian side on Wednesday, an
Istanbul police statement said on Sunday. News reports of the joint operation
carried out by Istanbul police and Turkey’s intelligence agency said the
suspect had been involved in helping hide al-Baghdadi in Syria’s Idlib province
after the fall of the group in 2019. Al-Baghdadi was killed in a raid on his
Syrian hideout by American special forces in October 2019. Turkish media
published a photograph of a balding, bearded man in a light coat following the
arrest and an earlier image, purportedly of the same person, showing a
long-haired, heavily bearded man in military fatigues wielding a curved sword.
State-run Anadolu news agency said ASIM was suspected of organising training
for ISIL while in Syria and Iraq, as well as serving on its decision-making
council. He arrived in Turkey with a false passport and identity card, Turkish
media said. Turkey sporadically carries out raids and detains suspected ISIL
members within its borders.”

 

Associated Press: Turkey Adds Cryptocurrency Exchanges To Terror Funding Rules
<[link removed]>

 

“A presidential decree published Saturday added cryptocurrency exchanges to a
list of firms covered by Turkey’s terror financing and money laundering. The
move came after a ban on using cryptocurrencies for making payments, which was
introduced in response to claims that such transactions are too risky, took
effect in Turkey on Friday. The presidential decree makes “crypto asset service
providers” responsible for seeing their assets are not used illegally. The
decree immediately went into force with its publication in Turkey’s Official
Gazette. Turkish authorities last month launched fraud investigations into two
cryptocurrency exchanges, Thodex and Vebitcoin. Six suspects linked to the
Thodex probe were jailed Friday pending trial. The investigation into Thodex,
which handled daily trades of hundreds of millions of dollars, initially led to
the arrests of 83 people after customers complained of not being able to access
their funds. Interpol issued a detention warrant for the firm’s CEO on Turkey’s
behalf. Turks have been increasingly attracted by cryptocurrencies as
protection against the decline of the lira and double-digit inflation.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The New York Times: Afghan Blast On Eve Of U.S. Pullout Deadline Kills At
Least 27
<[link removed]>

 

“On the eve of a symbolic date for America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, a
truck laden with explosives blew up outside a guesthouse south of the capital
on Friday night, killing at least 27 people. If the blast was the work of the
Taliban — there was no immediate claim of responsibility, though the Afghan
government quickly blamed the insurgents — it would be the most overt signal
yet that the deal the Americans reached with the group at Doha in February 2020
is off. A secret annex to that deal bars the Taliban from conducting suicide
attacks, and they had been in sharp decline until Friday. Instead, the Taliban
has maneuvered over the past year to test gray areas of the agreement, by
carrying out, for example, targeted assassinations of journalists, officials
and intellectuals. There has been a steady drumbeat of these; on Saturday
morning, a Kabul University professor was fatally shot in Kabul. And there has
been no letup in attacks on Afghan security forces; dozens have been killed in
recent weeks. But Friday night’s attack in Logar province, with its heavy toll,
appeared to represent a deliberate shift in tactics.”

 

Voice Of America: Taliban Overrun Afghan Base, Capture Troops As US, NATO
Forces Exit
<[link removed]>

 

“Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan attacked and overran a key army base in
southeastern Ghazni province Saturday, capturing dozens of soldiers and killing
several others. The latest attack came on a day when the United States and NATO
partners formally began withdrawing their militaries from the country after
almost 20 years of war. Two senior provincial council members told VOA the
Afghan army had stationed dozens of its forces at the base outside the
provincial capital, also named Ghazni, before the pre-dawn insurgent attack.
Local media reports said the ensuing clashes had lasted several hours and
killed at least 17 soldiers. Afghan army chief, Gen. Mohammad Yasin Zia, who is
also the acting defense minister, confirmed to reporters in Kabul the fall of
the security installation to insurgents, but he shared no further details.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said its fighters had also seized heavy
and light weaponry besides capturing 25 army personnel and killing “a number of
others.” Separately, Afghan officials Saturday raised the death toll to at
least 30 from an overnight truck bombing in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of eastern
Logar province.”

 

Middle East

 

Arab News: Al-Qaeda Vows ‘War On All Fronts’ Against US
<[link removed]>

 

“Bin Laden is dead and Al-Qaeda is degraded in Afghanistan. And it’s time to
end the forever war,” he said. As part of the withdrawal, the Taliban and the
US have agreed in talks that the group will cut ties with Al-Qaeda. While its
direct physical presence has declined since the death of Bin Laden on May 2,
2011, Zawahiri has overseen a diversification of its role in global jihadism.
“Under Zawahiri’s stewardship, Al-Qaeda has become increasingly decentralised,
with authority resting primarily in the hands of Al-Qaeda’s affiliate leaders,”
according to a recent report from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) think
tank. The US has placed a $25 million bounty for Zawahiri, who features on its
most-wanted-terrorist list.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Attackers Kill 16 Soldiers In Southwest Niger
<[link removed]>

 

“Unidentified gunmen have killed 16 soldiers and wounded six others in an
ambush in southwest Niger, two security sources said on Sunday. The attack on
an army patrol occurred on Saturday afternoon in the Tahoua region of the West
African country, near where raids killed 137 civilians in March. It is unclear
who carried out the attack, but the area is overrun by jihadist groups with
links to al Qaeda and Islamic State. Those groups have killed hundreds of
soldiers and civilians since 2018 when they began broadening their reach beyond
bases in Mali. Now, large areas of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have fallen
under their control.”

 

All Africa: Kenya: Govt Endorses Calls To Punish Militants Targeting Civilians
<[link removed]>

 

“Kenya has endorsed calls to impose heavier punishments on militant groups
that target civilian infrastructure as world powers debated the impact of
cutting off supplies in times of conflict. At a session of the UN Security
Council on Tuesday night, Martin Kimani, Kenya's Permanent Representative to
the UN, challenges the Council to act and deter what he called misuse of
humanitarian access by terror groups. Kenya sees provision of humanitarian
services in areas where militants operate as a slap on the wrist of the terror
merchants who have damaged crucial infrastructure to punish the very people the
groups live with. “Kenya condemned the exploitation of humanitarian presence by
terrorists,” Mr Kimani stated on his Twitter page, referring to an Open Debate
on 'Protection of Objects Indispensable to the Survival of Civilian
Population', a motion called by Vietnam, the current chair of the Council.
Nairobi called for tougher sanctions on individuals and groups and “to enable
peacekeeping mandates to deter such exploitation” besides countering militant
propaganda, according to the Kenyan diplomat. “Kenya condemned the deliberate
targeting of such objects as a method of warfare, including the increasing
exploitation of the humanitarian space by Al Qaeda and ISIS.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Guardian: Far-Right Terror Suspects Arrested In Yorkshire, Wiltshire And
Wales
<[link removed]>

 

“Police have arrested five people in areas across West Yorkshire, Wiltshire
and north Wales as part of a counter-terrorism operation. The “pre-planned”
arrests were part of an investigation into far-right terrorism led by Counter
Terrorism Policing North East, police said. Two men, aged 29 and 30, and a
28-year-old woman were arrested at an address in Keighley on suspicion of being
involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism
under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. A 16-year-old boy in Swindon and a
28-year-old man in Anglesey were also arrested on suspicion of the same
offence. An ordnance-disposal unit was alerted after officers discovered
suspicious material at one of the addresses in Keighley, West Yorkshire police
said in a statement. The unit will provide specialist advice and organise the
safe removal of the items if required. Some residents have been evacuated while
the material is examined and a cordon has been put in place around the site.
Multiple properties are being searched in connection with the arrests. The five
suspects are being questioned at a police station in West Yorkshire.”

 

Metro: Neo-Nazi Terror Group Still Spreading Race Hate Despite Ban
<[link removed]>

 

“A neo-Nazi group is still openly peddling racial hatred online despite being
outlawed as a terror organisation in the UK last week. The Atomwaffen Division
(AWD) has been proscribed by the UK Government but is still active on the
social media platform Telegram. Propaganda material including a video showing
firearms training and flyers calling for an armed race war are still present on
the messaging app despite members and supporters of the group facing jail terms
of up to 10 years. Announcing the ban, the Government said the move would
‘support the police in their work to disrupt the threat that these white
supremacist groups continue to pose to the UK’s national security’. Home
Secretary Priti Patel said: ‘Vile and racist white supremacist groups like this
exist to spread hate, sow division and advocate the use of violence to further
their sick ideologies. ‘I will do all I can to protect young and vulnerable
people from being radicalised which is why I am taking action to proscribe this
dangerous group.’ In one video, a person is shown firing a gun in target
practice, while propaganda material declares war on ‘race traitors’ and calls
for an armed struggle. The failure to remove the harmful content can be
revealed as sports bodies and athletes unite to boycott social media over
racist abuse and trolling.”

 

France

 

The National: Spain Arrests ISIS Terror Cell Suspected Of Encouraging Attacks
Against France
<[link removed]>

 

“Spanish police infiltrated an ISIS terror cell that was allegedly encouraging
attacks against France. The cell was discovered in Granada and is accused of
using social media accounts to encourage almost 20,000 people to carry out
atrocities. Dozens of armed officers from the Spanish National Police conducted
raids on properties after a six-month investigation. Three people were arrested
on suspicion of inciting violent attacks against French people. Footage of the
raids showed armed officers entering the building, arresting the suspects and
removing boxes of evidence. “The three detainees are imprisoned for encouraging
terrorist actions against French citizens and interests,” Policia Nacionale
tweeted. “After the French magazine Charlie Hebdo republished caricatures of
the Prophet Mohammed in September of last year, the arrestees posted numerous
videos on their social media accounts threatening to carry out violent actions
against France, its citizens and interests abroad to avenge the
said-publication,” Europol said. “The Spanish National Police used its
specialist capabilities to identify the individuals behind these social media
profiles, which had a total of 19,000 followers.”

 

Europe

 

The Daily Beast: Pro-Kremlin Propaganda Says FSB Busted Neo-Nazi Terror Plot
In 9 Cities
<[link removed]>

 

“On Thursday, Russia woke up to news of alleged terrorists preparing to carry
out violent attacks in nine of the country’s southern and northern cities. The
Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that 16 suspects from a Ukrainian
far-right neo-Nazi group known as “Maniacs. Cult of Killers” (M.K.U.) were
arrested in connection with the plot. A video of the Thursday arrest released
by the FSB—the successor to the KGB—features armed special unit officers
breaking into an apartment. One of the officers is heard yelling: “Down on the
ground, on the ground!” With their hands behind their heads, several half-naked
young men—some sporting Nazi tattoos—are shown spread out on the floor of a
messy flat. In the clip, one of them admits to plotting a violent shooting
spree against “non-white people and Arab nationals” on the orders of M.K.U.’s
leader. Little is known about the group and its origins. Its leader, Yegor
Krasnov, is currently under arrest and on trial for five violent attacks in the
Ukrainian city of Dnipro. A Ukrainian newspaper reported last year that the
“maniac” leader and his three friends had published a video of himself on
Telegram stabbing pedestrians.”



Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>