“Jihadists have killed 35 people, including five troops and 15 militiamen, in
two attacks in Nigeria’s troubled northern Borno state, sources told AFP

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


May 6, 2021

 

The Defense Post: 35 Killed In ISWAP Jihadist Attacks In Nigeria’s Borno
State: Sources
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“Jihadists have killed 35 people, including five troops and 15 militiamen, in
two attacks in Nigeria’s troubled northern Borno state, sources told AFP
Tuesday. Islamic State-aligned militants have intensified attacks on army camps
in recent weeks as part of a decade-long insurgency that has killed 36,000
people and forced more than two million to flee their homes. Fighters from
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) came in several trucks fitted with
machine guns and stormed Ajiri town late on Monday. They attacked a military
base, leading to intense fighting in which five soldiers and 15 anti-jihadist
militia were killed, two military sources said. ISWAP had raided the same base
on Sunday, killing the base commander along with six civilians and carting away
weapons, military sources said. Troops returned to the base on Sunday. “We lost
five troops and 15 Civilian JTF (militia) in the fight,” a military officer
told AFP. The source said 10 civilians were killed in the crossfire. “The
terrorists came in large numbers around 8:45 pm (1945 GMT) and engaged troops
in a fight which lasted hours,” added the officer. Residents fled to nearby
Mafa to escape the fighting. “The casualty toll stands at 30,” said a second
military source.”

 

Arab News: Iran Diplomat’s 20-Year Sentence For France Bomb Plot Confirmed
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“An Iranian diplomat convicted of masterminding a thwarted bomb attack against
an exiled Iranian opposition group in France has decided against appealing the
verdict, his lawyer and a Belgian court said Wednesday. Assadollah Assadi was
sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this year for attempted terrorist
murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group after the
Antwerp court rejected his claim of diplomatic immunity. Assadi previously
worked at the Iranian Embassy in Vienna, Austria. Three other defendants whom
the court ruled belonged to the same spy network also were found guilty and
received lengthy prison sentences. Assadi's lawyer, Dimitri de Beco, told The
Associated Press that he informed the appeals court during a preliminary
hearing Wednesday that his client did not intend to challenge his conviction.
Assadi's sentence is now final, while proceedings continue for the three other
defendants who did appeal, Press Magistrate Els De Brauwer said. Assadi. who
refused to attend his trial and contested all the charges, does not recognize
the standing of the appeals court because he believes he should have been
granted diplomatic immunity, lawyer de Beco said.”

 

United States

 

CBS Minnesota: Minnesota Man Becomes 2nd Boogaloo Bois Member To Plead Guilty
To Federal Terrorism Charges
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“A Minnesota man is the second member a far-right extremist group to plead
guilty to federal terrorism charges in the wake an investigation that began
during the days of unrest following George Floyd’s death. Michael Solomon, 31,
of New Brighton, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to provide material
support and weapons to a terrorist group, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Solomon faces up to 20 years in prison. His sentencing date has yet to be
announced. Authorities say that the FBI initiated an investigation into Solomon
and 22-year-old Benjamin Ryan Teeter, of North Carolina, after they appeared at
the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis carrying guns and discussing violence
against police and other public officials. Both Solomon and Teeter are members
of the Boogaloo Bois, an anti-government extremist group. Some members of the
group, which started as an online meme, use the term Boogaloo in reference for
a second civil war, which they hope to help start. Members of the group
frequently show up at protests carrying rifles and wearing Hawaiian shirts.
Investigators say that Solomon and Teeter were in Minneapolis last May as
unrest gripped the city. Not long after, the two men met with an informant whom
they believed to be a member of Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic party that the
U.S. designates as a terrorist organization.”

 

Iraq

 

Reuters: Militants Attack Oil Wells In Iraq's North, Production Unaffected -
Sources
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“Militants using bombs attacked two oil wells at an oilfield close to the
northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, killing at least one policeman and
setting off fires, the oil ministry said. Industry sources said the attack had
not affected production. A statement from the oil ministry did not comment on
production. The statement said one of the fires, at Well 177 at the Bai Hassan
oilfield, had been put out and emergency teams were working to halt a second at
Well 183. The militants attacked a nearby security post during the assault,
killing one policeman and wounding three others, security officials said. One
of the security officials said the attack on the post was meant to distract
police and allow other militants to plant the bombs. The last attack on Bai
Hassan oilfield, which was claimed by Islamic State, was on April 17, when
militants used explosives to attack two oil wells without causing significant
damage.”

 

Reuters: Kurdish Leader Says He Fears Islamic State Comeback In Iraq
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“A senior Kurdish official has said there are growing indications that Islamic
State is trying to make a comeback after an uptick in attacks in Iraq. At least
19 members of Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish security forces have been killed in
recent days across the country, according to military statements and security
officials, prompting calls from Iraq’s president to remain vigilant to the
threat of a resurgent Islamic State. The attacks come after Baghdad’s deadliest
suicide bombing in three years, claimed in January by the ultra hardline Sunni
Islamist group, and amid fears that a reduction of U.S.-led forces could upset
stability. “It seems like (Islamic State) have re-organized,” Lahur Talabany,
co-president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party and a former
intelligence chief told Reuters in an interview. Originally an offshoot of al
Qaeda, Islamic State took large swathes of Iraq and Syria from 2014, imposing a
reign of terror with public beheadings and attacks by supporters abroad.
Islamic State was declared militarily defeated in 2017 but has since waged a
steady insurgency across parts of northern Iraq and a porous border with
neigbouring Syria. Recent months have witnessed more than 25 deadly attacks
that Iraqi officials attribute to Islamic State militants.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Associated Press: Amid US Pullout, Taliban Issue Threat To Afghan Journalists
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“The Taliban on Wednesday issued a threat to Afghan journalists they accuse of
siding with Afghanistan’s intelligence agency in Kabul, a warning that came
amid a U.S. troop pullout and rising fears of more violence in the war-wrecked
country. In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid warned those
Afghan journalists who give “one-sided news in support of Afghanistan’s
intelligence” service to stop or “face the consequences.” The U.S. and Britain
responded, with their embassies in Kabul quickly condemning the Taliban threat
just two days after World Press Freedom Day. “We strongly support Afghanistan’s
independent media,” tweeted Ross Wilson, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Kabul.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the on-going violence and threats
against the media, and the Taliban’s attempts to silence journalists.”
Afghanistan is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world to
be a journalist. Since 2006, as many as 76 journalists have been killed in
Afghanistan, according to UNESCO. Last year alone at least 15 were killed, and
earlier this year, three women employed by media outlets were killed in eastern
Afghanistan. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for some of the
killings, including that of the three women. The majority of the targeted
journalists have been women.”

 

Voice Of America: US Airstrikes Target Taliban As Fighting Intensifies
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“The United States is making good on its pledge to support Afghanistan's
security forces with military force even as U.S. and coalition troops continue
to leave the country. A U.S. official confirmed to VOA late Wednesday that U.S.
forces were actively carrying out airstrikes against Taliban fighters in
southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, where fierce fighting has raged for
days. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, declined to share
additional details, citing the need for operational security. The Pentagon also
declined to offer specifics, though a spokesman said that “there's still quite
a bit of robust capability” at the disposal of U.S. commanders on the ground.
“To the degree we can, as we transition out, we're going to continue to try to
support Afghan national security forces in the field,” Pentagon press secretary
John Kirby told reporters. The U.S. airstrikes come as Afghan security forces
have come under intense pressure from the Taliban, especially around Lashkar
Gah in Helmand province, where aid groups have reported a significant increase
in fighting in just the past few days. One group, Doctors Without Borders, said
on social media that civilians fleeing the fighting describe bullets pouring
into their homes, forcing them to flee, sometimes without shoes or clothing.”

 

France 24: Taliban Captures District In Northern Afghanistan; Attacks
Increasing As US Pulls Out
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“Taliban insurgents captured a district in northern Afghanistan, forcing
government troops to retreat to the provincial capital amid a recent surge in
violence, officials said on Wednesday. Fighting has escalated sharply in recent
weeks, with Afghan officials saying the Taliban have stepped up their attacks
since Washington announced plans last month to pull out all U.S. troops by
Sept. 11. The militants seized the district of Barka in the northern province
of Baghlan after hours of fighting with Afghan forces, who retreated to the
main city, said Jawed Basharat, a spokesman for the provincial police. The
Taliban suffered heavy losses in the fighting, he added, but a senior security
official who sought anonymity said at least 10 security forces were killed and
16 others captured by the Taliban. The district fell a day after Afghan
security forces fought back a major Taliban offensive in the southern province
of Helmand. The Afghan government says it has recorded more than 100 Taliban
attacks on security forces and other government installations in 26 of the 34
provinces over the last 24 hours. The Taliban overran a small outpost on a
highway in Baghlan, killing nine Afghan soldiers and wounding several, regional
officials said on Tuesday.”

 

Pakistan

 

Reuters: Pakistan Says 4 Soldiers Killed In Ambush By Afghan Militants
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“Four Pakistani soldiers were killed and six wounded in an ambush by militants
from Afghanistan along the border between the two countrieson Wednesday,
Pakistan's military said. The soldiers were working on fencing along the border
in the Zhob district, an area of Pakistan's Balochistan province, the military
said in a statement. Zhob sits across from Afghanistan's eastern Paktika
province. Late on Wednesday the Tehrik-e-Taliban, a banned militant outfit
operating along the border, claimed responsibility for the attack in a
statement shared with Reuters. Security officials in Paktika province said they
had no knowledge of the incident. Pakistan's Foreign Office said it had asked
Afghanistan to take action against the militants. A statement said the Afghan
embassy in Islamabad had been asked “to convey Pakistan’s concerns to the
relevant Afghan authorities to undertake effective measures against organised
groups of terrorists operating from the Afghan soil”. Pakistan says it is
constructing a fence along its 2,500 km (1,500 mile) frontier with Afghanistan
to secure the area, despite Kabul’s protests that the barrier would divide
families and friends along the Pashtun tribal belt straddling the colonial-era
Durand Line drawn up by the British in 1893.”

 

Middle East

 

The Jerusalem Post: IDF Carries Out Attacks On Hezbollah Outposts - Syrian
Reports
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“The IDF carried out attacks against Hezbollah outposts near Quneitra on the
Syrian border Wednesday night, according to Syrian reports cited by Israeli
media.  This is the second consecutive night that Syrian media reported an
attack by the IDF in Syria. On Tuesday, an alleged Israeli airstrike targeted a
site near Latakia and Tartus along Syria’s Mediterranean coast, according to
the Syrian state news agency SANA. A civilian was killed and six were injured,
including a child, according to Syrian media. The last alleged Israeli
airstrikes in Syria were reported late last month after a surface-to-air
missile was fired from Syria and exploded near the nuclear reactor in Dimona in
southern Israel. The missile was reportedly fired in response to an alleged
Israeli strike in Syria.”

 

Mali

 

The Washington Post: French Journalist Kidnapped By Radical Islamists In Mali
Appears In Video Pleading For His Life
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“A French journalist who was abducted by Islamist militants in Mali last month
has appeared in a video pleading for his release. Olivier Dubois was kidnapped
in the northeastern city of Gao on April 8 by an al-Qaeda-linked affiliate
known as Jamaa Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), or the Support Group for
Islam and Muslims, according to the video and Paris-based press freedom
watchdog Reporters Without Borders. “I’m Olivier Dubois. I’m French. I’m a
journalist. I was kidnapped in Gao on April 8 by the JNIM,” he said in the
21-second clip released Wednesday. The footage could not be immediately
verified, and it was unclear when it was recorded. In it, he sits cross-legged
on the floor of what appears to be a canvas tent while birds can be heard
chirping in the background. “I’m speaking to my family, my friends and the
French authorities for them to do everything in their power to free me,” he
said. The abduction of Dubois was not previously made public as authorities
worked quietly to secure his release, Christophe Deloire, secretary general of
Reporters Without Borders, said Wednesday on Twitter. Deloire said he was
notified of Dubois’s disappearance two days after he did not return to his
hotel in Gao after going out for lunch.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Gunmen Kill 15 Soldiers In Attack In Southwest Niger
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“Unidentified gunmen killed 15 soldiers and wounded four more on Tuesday in an
attack on an army post in southwest Niger, the ministry of defence said on
Wednesday. The attack in north Tillabery region, which borders Mali and Burkina
Faso, came two days after gunmen killed 16 soldiers in the nearby Tahoua region
of the West African country. The soldiers were part of a special anti-jihadist
force called Operation Almahaou, said Niger's defence minister in a statement.
They were attacked on Tuesday afternoon by heavily armed men on motorcycles,
whom he described as “terrorists”. Several of the assailants were also killed
in combat, while others retreated toward the north and are being pursued, said
the statement. The area is overrun by jihadist groups with links to al Qaeda
and Islamic State, who have killed hundreds of soldiers and civilians since
2018 when they began broadening their reach beyond bases in Mali. The scale of
the violence this year has called into question claims of progress in the fight
against Islamist militants by governments in West Africa's Sahel region and
former colonial power France, which has 5,000 troops there to support them.”

 

France 24: Six Western Hostages Now Held In Africa’s Troubled Sahel Region
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“A French journalist kidnapped by an Al-Qaeda linked group brings to six the
number of Western hostages known to be held in the troubled Sahel region on the
southern fringes of the Sahara. Romanian mineworker Iulian Ghergut was grabbed
by armed men in Burkina Faso on April 4, 2015. He had been working in a
manganese mine near the border with Mali and Niger. His kidnapping was claimed
by Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group Al-Mourabitoun prominent in the Sahel. The
82-year-old Australian surgeon was kidnapped in Burkina Faso on January 15,
2016 with his wife Jocelyn by the jihadist group Ansar Dine. Jocelyn Elliott
was freed a month later. On the third anniversary of her husband's captivity
she sent a message to his captors asking for his release, which she repeated in
May 2020. American aid worker Jeffery Woodke was kidnapped in the central Niger
town of Abalak on October 14, 2016 where he had been working for an NGO. He is
now believed to be in Mali. Niger's then-president Mahamadou Issoufou said in
September 2019 that Woodke was alive and in good health. The Colombian nun was
kidnapped on February 7, 2017 by armed men who had entered her congregation in
the village of Karangasso, southern Mali.”

 

France

 

Associated Press: Italians Convicted Of Left-Wing Terrorism Face French Court
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“After living in freedom for decades in France, nine Italians convicted of
left-wing terrorism for attacks in the 1970s and 1980s appeared in a Paris
court Wednesday for an extradition hearing. The hearing is a first step in what
could be a two- or three-year process to determine whether to send them to
Italy. But their arrest last week was seen as an important move toward
resolving a long-festering political and judicial dispute between Rome and
Paris. Seven were arrested at their homes in France on Wednesday, and two
others surrendered to police the next day. They were questioned and then
released under judicial supervision. Police are still seeking one other person.
All 10 were convicted in Italy of crimes dating to the 1970s and 1980s, but had
fled Italy and sought refuge abroad before they could be imprisoned to serve
their sentences. The Paris court now must decide whether to approve the
extradition of each person. “I feel pain, I am in shock. ... I am not able to
answer your questions,” said one of the Italians, Marina Petrella, former
member of the Red Brigades, which during the 1970s and 1980s carried out
killings, kidnappings and “kneecappings,” in which targets were shot in the
legs. Four other Italians who appeared in court Wednesday were also from the
Red Brigades.”

 

Germany

 

Associated Press: Germany Bans Muslim Group Over Alleged Terror Donations
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“The German government on Wednesday banned a Muslim organization that it
accused of supporting “terrorism globally with its donations.” Police raided
buildings associated with Ansaar International in 10 German states, the German
Interior Ministry said in a statement. The ministry alleged the money the
organization collected ostensibly went into welfare projects as a ruse to help
finance groups such as the Syrian al-Qaida affiliate known as the Nusra Front,
the Palestinian group Hamas and al-Shabab in Somalia. “The organization Ansaar
International and its suborganizations were banned. The network finances
terrorism globally with its donations,” an Interior Ministry spokesperson
tweeted. More than 1,000 police officers raided buildings and office spaces
across Germany and confiscated about 150,000 euros ($180,000). “When wanting to
fight terrorism, one needs to dry out its money sources,” German Interior
Ministry Horst Seehofer said. He alleged that Ansaar International “spreads a
Salafist view of the world and is financing terror around the globe under the
disguise of humanitarian help.” A man who answered a phone call to the
organization’s headquarters in the western German city of Duesseldorf
immediately hung up when The Associated Press called seeking comment.”

 

Europe

 

The National: Norway Convicts ISIS Woman As Terrorist Enabler In Legal First
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“A Norwegian woman who lived in ISIS-controlled Syria as a housewife to three
fighters was sentenced to jail despite not being involved in violence. The case
made legal history in Norway because the woman was essentially convicted of
being a housewife, the prosecution said. The Norwegian-Pakistani woman, who
admitted to having “radical ideas”, enabled her three husbands to take part in
fighting by staying at home with their children, the court said. As a housewife
to three successive husbands she could not claim to be a passive bystander,
Judge Ingmar Nilsen said. “By travelling to an area controlled by ISIS in Syria
... by moving in and living with her husbands, taking care of the children and
various tasks at home, the defendant enabled her three husbands to actively
participate in ISIS fighting,” the judge said. “She was a supporter who …
looked after her three husbands at home and raised the new generation of ISIS
recruits.” The trial was the first prosecution in Norway of someone who had
returned after joining ISIS-controlled areas. “This is a special case. This is
the first time that, to put it bluntly, someone has been charged for being a
wife and mother,” prosecutor Geir Evanger said.”

 

European Eye On Radicalization: There Is No “Good” Violence In A Democracy
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“Last summer, Right-wing mobs took to the streets of London to attack public
property and symbols they associated with progressive politics. At the same
time across the Atlantic, Right-wing protestors sealed off several blocks of a
major city in the American South, declaring it sovereign territory. To the
horror of the press, the city’s Republican Mayor recognised the “legitimate
grievances” of the demonstrators. In response, the countering extremism field
kicked into gear. New funding was announced, conferences, roundtables and
counter-narrative campaigns ensued. Except, that’s not what happened. Of course
we’ve had plenty of Right-wing political violence, but the protestors,
activists and rioters described above were not Right-wing, instead falling on
the Left of the political spectrum, broadly conceived. It was not Mandela
attacked, but Churchill, the Cenotaph and Whitehall police officers. The
autonomous zone carved out of a downtown was not a Right-wing militia in the
American interior, nor a fawning Republican Mayor, but self-proclaimed
anti-fascists, indulged by city authorities in the progressive, enlightened
coastal tech hub of Seattle.”



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