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Eye on Extremism
June 24, 2021
Reuters: African Nations To Send Troops To Tackle Mozambique Insurgency
“Southern African nations approved on Wednesday the deployment of troops to Mozambique to help it combat an escalating Islamic State-linked insurgency that threatens stability in the relatively peaceful region. The 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been grappling with how to respond to the conflict, which is concentrated in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado. It began in October 2017 and thousands have died on all sides. Almost 800,000 people have been displaced and the fighting has bought a $20 billion natural gas project led by oil giant Total to a grinding halt. SADC has approved the deployment of its standby force to help “Mozambique to combat terrorism”, SADC executive secretary Stergomena Lawrence Tax said, reading out a communique following a meeting of the bloc’s leaders in Mozambique’s capital Maputo. The standby force is part of a regional defence pact that allows military intervention to prevent the spread of conflict. The communique provided no details on how many troops would be involved, when they would be deployed or what their role would be, adding only that humanitarian aid must be channelled to those most in need.”
Daily Sabah: Turkey Detains 34 Daesh-Linked Terrorist Suspects In Operations
“Turkish security forces have detained at least 34 Daesh terrorist suspects in Istanbul-based counterterrorism operations across Turkey, sources said early Wednesday. Simultaneous operations were carried out by teams of the Istanbul Police Department Counterterrorism Branch at 39 addresses in Aydın and Sivas provinces. Special operations police also took part, according to sources, who did not want to be named due to media restrictions. Some of the suspects are foreign nationals, but their identities have not been released, Ihlas News Agency (IHA) reported. The suspects had been planning to bring spouses and relatives of Daesh terrorists held in refugee camps by the YPG terrorists in Syria to Turkey and they had also been providing necessities for those already brought to the country. Some of the suspects have also been providing financial assistance to imprisoned Daesh terrorists and their families. Turkish security forces nabbed at least 850 suspects with links to Daesh in the first three months of 2021. In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group. The country has since been attacked by the terrorist 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.”
United States
Associated Press: Pentagon Leaders Testily Defend Efforts On Racism, Extremism
“Top Pentagon leaders on Wednesday passionately defended the military's approach to addressing racism and extremism, pushing back against accusations by Republican lawmakers that the effort is creating division and hurting morale. The testy exchanges showed that the political dimension of a national debate over racism and extremism weighs on the military even as it attempts to address social problems within its own ranks. At a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Rep. Michael Waltz, a Florida Republican, said the U.S. Military Academy at West Point offers instruction in critical race theory and on “understanding whiteness and white rage.” Critical race theory centers on the idea that racism is systemic in U.S. institutions and that they function to maintain white dominance in society. Waltz called these offerings at West Point destructive, and he demanded that Pentagon leaders “get to the bottom of what is going on.” In an extraordinary response, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took direct aim at the accusations by Waltz and similar, separate comments earlier in the hearing by Rep. Matt Gaetz, another Florida Republican. Milley said the military need not apologize for fostering open-mindedness.”
“A linguist for a U.S. Special Operations task force in Iraq was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years in prison in a rare terrorism espionage case, after she admitted she turned over names of informants and other classified data to a Lebanese man with ties to the militant group Hezbollah. Mariam Taha Thompson, 63, formerly of Rochester, Minn., pleaded guilty on March 26 to delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government. Prosecutors alleged that she passed the information to a man with whom she fell in love, believing it would assist Lebanese Hezbollah, designated by the United States as a terrorist group. Prosecutors said Thompson, who was born in Lebanon and became a U.S. citizen in 1993, risked the lives of U.S. sources and troops because she hoped the man would marry her. “Thompson’s sentence should stand as a clear warning to all clearance holders that violations of their oath to this country will not be taken lightly, especially when they put lives at risk,” John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s national security division, said in a statement. In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Cummings Jr. argued that turning over terrorist targeting information “posed real threats to U.S. troops and allies, and for those reasons she deserves a 30-year sentence.”
“Sometimes Paul Miller dressed as Batman’s nemesis, the Joker — face paint and all. Other times he wore army-green tactical gear with a red armband adorned with a swastika. But in each video, Miller toggled between chats on Omegle, a website that randomly pairs users, waving a gun and making hateful statements. “Do you think we should gas the Jews?” he asked a group of young teenage boys. “Ship them all back to Africa … make them slaves again,” he said to another man, referring to Black people as the n-word. “White power,” he said emphatically, raising his right arm in the Nazi salute. Miller, a 32-year-old who went by “GypsyCrusader” online, was open about his extremist beliefs in videos reviewed by The Washington Post that remain active on BitChute, a posting site popular with the far right. In March, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force took his threats seriously. During a raid of his Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home, investigators discovered a rifle and almost 850 rounds of ammunition. On Tuesday, Miller pleaded guilty to three felony counts for possession of an unregistered firearm and ammunition and possession of a weapon as a felon. He faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison. Miller’s lawyer had no comment.”
Iraq
The National: ISIS Issues Warning To Iraqi Sunnis But Struggles To Regroup
“ISIS renewed its threats against Sunni tribal fighters aligned with the Iraqi government as the extremist group increased its attacks, mainly in remote areas. In an audio message broadcast late on Tuesday attributed to the group’s spokesman, Abu Hamza Al Qurashi, ISIS said Sunni fighters should “not deceive yourselves that you are safe and that our swords can’t reach you, but we are delaying raiding your houses in the hope you repent”. The message was issued a day after a failed assassination attempt against a prominent Sunni tribal leader who is chief of a group of fighters in southern Baghdad, police said. Kamal Shafiq Al Jabouri was seriously wounded, but his condition is stable, police said. In a separate attack in a remote village in the province of Diyala, east of Baghdad, at least 10 ISIS militants killed a tribal leader and his wife before demolishing their house, police said. Clashes with Sunni tribal fighters lasted for about two hours and civilians were wounded or killed in the violence, police said. In the audio message, Al Qurashi hailed militants in central and northern Iraq, areas from where they launch almost daily lethal attacks against security forces and government-sanctioned paramilitary troops.”
Afghanistan
“The U.S. intelligence community concluded last week that the government of Afghanistan could collapse as soon as six months after the American military withdrawal from the country is completed, according to officials with knowledge of the new assessment. American intelligence agencies revised their previously more optimistic estimates as the Taliban swept through northern Afghanistan last week, seizing dozens of districts and surrounding major cities. Afghan security forces frequently surrendered without a fight, leaving their Humvees and other American-supplied equipment to the insurgents. The new assessment of the overall U.S. intelligence community, which hasn’t been previously reported, has now aligned more closely with the analysis that had been generated by the U.S. military. The military has already withdrawn more than half of its 3,500 troops and its equipment, with the rest due to be out by Sept. 11. On Wednesday, Taliban fighters were battling government troops inside the northern city of Kunduz after occupying the main border crossing with Tajikistan the previous day and reaching the outskirts of northern Afghanistan’s main hub, Mazar-e-Sharif.”
CNN: Afghanistan Is Disintegrating Fast As Biden's Troop Withdrawal Continues
“Earlier this week, a lone Taliban gunman with a red skull cap and a rifle sauntered up to the gates of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan's fourth largest city, and snapped a selfie. The last time the Taliban controlled the city was 20 years ago, when they left hundreds of captives in steel trucking containers to suffocate and die in the scorching desert heat. Now, the militants are back at the city gates once again, as part of a lightning offensive against Afghan government forces that has set alarm bells ringing from Kabul to Washington. One by one, the Taliban has been taking over areas in a number of provinces in northern Afghanistan in recent weeks, local officials told CNN. The Taliban says it has taken control of 90 districts across the country since the middle of May. Some were seized without a single shot fired. The UN's special envoy on Afghanistan, Deborah Lyon put the figure lower, at 50 out of the nation's 370 districts, but told the Security Council on Tuesday she feared the worst was yet to come. “Most districts that have been taken surround provincial capitals, suggesting that the Taliban are positioning themselves to try and take these capitals once foreign forces are fully withdrawn,” Lyon said.”
Nigeria
The Nation: UN Envoy Asks Nigeria To Determine Boko Haram’s Funding Sources
“UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria Edward Kallon has asked the country to determine the Boko Haram terrorist group’s sponsors and sources of funds to find a pathway to end the violence and terror activities in the northeast region. “Nigeria needs to find out who are those funding the insurgency, where do they get the resources, and also how can the people hold them accountable,” Kallon said Wednesday in an address in Maiduguri, the heartland of Boko Haram violence, at the launch of a report on assessing the impact of conflict on development in northeastern Nigeria. He said the questions needed to be answered by the authorities in Nigeria to find a pathway to a durable solution to the prolonged attacks in the region. Kallon said country donors have supported the humanitarian challenge in Nigeria with about US$3.3 billion between 2017 and 2020. He said Nigerians in the northeast have endured hardships and displacement, with many forced off their farmlands in over a decade of terrorist attacks. He called for the development of strategies to get the affected population out of the impact of the violence.”
Mali
The Defense Post: Five Catholics Kidnapped In Central Mali
“Armed men in central Mali have abducted five Catholics, including an abbot, Church officials said Tuesday, in the latest kidnapping in the war-torn Sahel state. The group disappeared on Monday while traveling from the mostly Catholic area of Segue in the center of the country, to the funeral of an abbot in the town of San, according to Church members. “We have confirmation that it was a kidnapping by armed men,” said Father Alexis Dembele, a Church leader. “This is a great concern for the Catholic community in Mali,” he added. Colonel Major Abass Dembele, the governor of central Mali’s Mopti region, confirmed the abduction but did not offer further details. Mali has been struggling to quell a brutal jihadist insurgency that first emerged in the country in 2012 and has since spilled over into Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died in the conflict to date, and hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. The former French colony of 19 million people is predominantly Muslim. According to the archdiocese of Mopti, Catholics make up only about four percent of the population. The motivation behind the abduction of Catholic mourners is unclear, and militants have rarely targeted the community for kidnappings.”
Africa
Reuters: Police Death Toll From Militant Attack In Burkina Faso Rises To 15
“Four police officers who had gone missing after a militant attack in Burkina Faso on Monday have been found dead, raising the police death toll to 15, police sources said on Wednesday. The ambush occurred while the unit was on a relief mission to the town of Yirgou, which has been hit by recent violence, Security Minister Ousseini Compaore said in a statement. Initially 11 police officers were reported killed and four missing. Five police sources told Reuters that the four missing were now confirmed dead. Attacks by militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are surging across Africa's Sahel region, killing thousands and displacing millions across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. About 1.2 million people have been displaced by the violence in Burkina Faso. At least 132 people were killed by insurgents last month in the worst single attack yet.”
“Conditions in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, have “seriously deteriorated” over the past year, affecting children “disproportionately” as nearly 3,000 people have been killed and over 800,000 displaced since the violent insurgency that began in October 2017, according to a report. Violent attacks by Islamic rebels in the Cabo Delgado province have led to the deaths of more than 2,838 people, including over 1,400 civilians, though the actual number is expected to be higher. A report released this month by Save the Children, Plan International and World Vision showed how the extent of the conflict in Cabo Delgado has worsened in the last 12 months and how children are suffering disproportionately. The last 12 months of Mozambique’s Islamic insurgency has escalated due to increased armed conflict on villages and district capital towns, leading to casualties and “grave violations” against children. Amy Lamb, director of communications for Open Doors, told The Christian Post that the “fresh wave of violence” in Mozambique has had a “devastating” toll.”
All Africa: Kenya: Police Kill Suspected Al-Shabaab Militant In Kwale, Two Escape
“Police say they killed a suspected Al Shabaab fighter in Bombo, Kwale County Wednesday following a raid on a hideout in the area. His accomplices are said to have escaped with gunshot wounds. Weapons, including an AK47 and rounds of ammunition, were recovered. According to a police report seen by Nation.Africa, the Wednesday morning incident happened after an elite team of officers acted on an intelligence report and raided the hideout in Matuga Sub-County where suspected Al Shabaab militants from Somalia were. “They were planning to attack a security establishment within Kwale County with an intention of acquiring firearms,” reads the report. At the same time, police say they are searching for two other suspects that escaped with gunshot wounds. Among the weapons recovered is an AK47 rifle serial number 7126, hundreds of ammunition, one laptop, along with a 16GB flash disk and nine mobile phones. Police also recovered materials used for making explosives such as magnesium metal powder, rubber water bottles, three electric bulbs and a note listing targeted areas. The body of the unidentified suspect was taken to Kwale Sub-County Hospital awaiting an autopsy as DCI officers continue with investigations.”
United Kingdom
“A white supremacist who ran online channels encouraging terror attacks from his parents’ house has been jailed. Michael Nugent, 38, admitted five counts of disseminating terrorist publications and 11 of possessing information useful to a terrorist. He ran several far-right channels on the encrypted Telegram messaging app, where material including terrorist manifestos and explosives manuals were posted. Judge Peter Lodder QC told Nugent he had “knowingly encouraged right-wing terrorism” at a sentencing hearing on Wednesday. Jailing him at Kingston Crown Court, he added: “You did not work but spent all of your time at home in your parents’ house, where from your bedroom, you developed your online extremist persona. “You posted toxic offensive material to websites and administered groups which were dedicated to violent racist, antisemitic, and neo-Nazi ideology.” Judge Lodder said Nugent sought to spread content targeting Jews, black people, and including Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories, widely. “Whatever your mental health at the time, no-one concludes that you weren’t aware of what you were doing,” he added, after the court heard that Nugent suffered from psychosis.”
“An Iraqi refugee who ran an Al Qaeda social media account from the UK has won the right to appeal against her deportation. The woman, who was not named in court, posted more than 45,000 tweets in Arabic to more than 8,000 followers. Her posts encouraged beheadings and urged people to travel abroad to join Al Qaeda and ISIS. The woman, 29, served a three-and-half-year jail sentence for terrorism offences, after which the Home Office attempted to deport her. In sentencing, Judge Charles Wide said her conduct had “affected international peace and security”. She arrived in the UK with her mother aged 15 when she was granted discretionary leave to remain. But after her conviction, the Home Office removed those rights and refused her application for asylum. Since Iraq had been designated a dangerous place, she was granted restricted leave to remain, but without the protection of refugee status. The woman challenged the Home Office's decision in London's High Court where Lord Justice Warby granted her the right to appeal. “It was suggested that she is a danger to the UK community, but the First-Tier Tribunal held that she is not,” he said. The court heard she was a “prolific poster” on Twitter and Instagram, putting up “50-60 items a day”, many of which were in support of ISIS.”
Southeast Asia
France 24: Alms For Terror: Indonesian Extremists Finance Jihad With Charity
“Generous Indonesians donating their spare change to the poor and needy are unwittingly helping finance deadly terror attacks and jihadist training camps, in a scam that has netted big money for extremist groups. Former radical Khairul Ghazali once spent his days visiting restaurants, convenience stores and supermarkets to drop off charity boxes, wearing an official-looking uniform to avoid suspicion. Passers-by would slot in coins and crumpled banknotes in the belief that they were helping the impoverished, orphaned children or maybe a Palestinian aid organisation. But Ghazali's boxes secretly belonged to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) -- the notorious network behind Indonesia's deadliest terror attack, the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. “People can't tell the difference between these and other charity boxes,” said Ghazali, 56, who now runs an Islamic boarding school and tries to de-radicalise former extremists. “The money collected is usually used to pay for terrorism.” With little outside funding, hardline Islamist groups depend on the charity box scam to pay for operations across Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, which has suffered a series of hotel bombings and other attacks over the years.”
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