“The leader of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia has vowed to retaliate against
America for the deaths of four of his men in a U.S. airstrike along the Ira

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


July 6, 2021

 

Associated Press: Iraqi Militia Commander Vows To Avenge Deaths In US Strike
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“The leader of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia has vowed to retaliate against
America for the deaths of four of his men in a U.S. airstrike along the
Iraq-Syria border last month, saying it will be a military operation everyone
will talk about. Abu Alaa al-Walae, commander of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, said
in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad that the
electoral victory of Iran’s hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as
president will strengthen Iran-backed militant groups throughout the Middle
East for the next four years. Al-Walae, who rarely gives interviews to foreign
media organizations, spoke to AP on Monday in an office in a Baghdad
neighborhood along the Tigris River. On June 27, U.S. Air Force planes carried
out airstrikes near the Iraq-Syria border against what the Pentagon said were
facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups to support drone strikes inside
Iraq. Four militiamen were killed. The Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi
state-sanctioned umbrella of mostly Shiite militias — including those targeted
by the U.S. strikes — said their men were on missions to prevent infiltration
by the Islamic State group and denied the presence of weapons warehouses.”

 

Reuters: Factbox: Kidnaps-For-Ransom Plague Schools Across Northwest Nigeria
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“Around 150 students are missing after armed men attacked a school in
northwest Nigeria's Kaduna state, a parent and an administrator told Reuters on
Monday. Armed groups who authorities say are after ransom payments have in
recent months targeted schoolchildren across the northwestern part of Africa's
biggest economy and most populous nation. Islamist groups Boko Haram first
carried out such kidnappings in 2014 in the northeast, but armed men, known
locally as bandits, have recently adopted similar tactics. They have taken
around 1,000 people from schools since December. Here are details of other
attacks: Gunmen kidnapped 94 students and eight staff in a daytime school raid
in northwestern Kebbi state on Jun. 17, police, residents and a teacher said.
Three children died while another eight, along with three teachers, were
rescued, but the others remain missing. One student was killed and at least 10
people were kidnapped in an armed attack on the main campus of the Nuhu Bamalli
Polytechnic in Zaria, Kaduna state, late on June 10 according to state
authorities.”

 

United States

 

ABC News: Feds Warned Last Spring Of Spike In Violence And Extremism During
Pandemic: Memo
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“While COVID-19's surge has ebbed, violence is on the rise across the United
States. There has been a rash of gun violence in what President Joe Biden
called an “epidemic,” including several public mass shootings, increases in
incidents in major metropolitan areas and an uptick in road rage clashes. While
dramatic declines in levels of coronavirus have engendered new hope and
optimism for some, the effects of the pandemic and the measures taken to combat
it linger, simmering tensions brought to a boil and manifesting themselves in
anger, and in some cases, violence, experts say.  Federal authorities saw that
swell in violence spurred on by COVID's hardships coming -- before the pandemic
even got into full swing. An internal Department of Homeland Security memo
obtained by ABC News from spring of 2020 warned that the emotional, mental and
financial strain exacerbated by the new coronavirus pandemic combined with
social isolation -- especially if prolonged -- may “increase the vulnerability
of some citizens to mobilize to violence.” “The outbreak of Covid-19, and
government's response to it, have intensified concerns that could accelerate
mobilization to violence with extended periods of social distancing,” the memo
reads, noting such isolation is a “known risk factor” in inciting violent
extremism, along with “financial stress and work disruptions, including
unexpected unemployment and layoffs” also “increasing.”

 

The Guardian: Capitol Attack: What Pelosi’s Select Committee Is Likely To
Investigate
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“Nancy Pelosi’s creation of a House select committee to investigate the 6
January insurrection reopens the possibility of a comprehensive inquiry into
myriad security failures and the causes of the deadly attack on Congress by a
pro-Trump mob. The committee will have subpoena power and a broad mandate to
examine the facts, circumstances and causes of the Capitol attack against the
seat of modern American democracy. The move comes after Senate Republicans
blocked the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol
attack, fearful of scrutiny that could tarnish their party ahead of the 2022
midterm elections. Now, six months after the attack, here are the key issues
that the committee may look at: What were Trump and members of his
administration doing during the attack? At some point after he delivered his
incendiary speech to thousands of supporters opposite the White House, the
former president watched TV coverage of the unfolding insurrection from the
Oval Office. Trump also knew that the rioters had breached the Capitol since he
was told in real time over the phone by Republican senator Tommy Tuberville
that his colleagues were being evacuated from the chamber.”

 

Syria

 

Al Jazeera: ‘Syrian Gov’t Shelling’ In Idlib Kills Eight, Including Children
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“At least eight civilians, including six children, were killed in shelling and
artillery fire by Russian-backed Syrian government forces in Idlib on Saturday,
a war monitor said and a rescue group said. The attacks also wounded 16 people
in several locations of the Jabal al-Zawiya area in the south of the
stronghold, the UK-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. It
killed five members of the same family in the village of Iblin, two children in
Balyun village and another child in Balshun village, it said. Syria’s Civil
Defence, a volunteer search and rescue group also known as the White Helmets
and operating in rebel-held parts of Syria, confirmed the deaths. “A horrific
massacre committed by Russia & regime forces this morning in #Idlib
countryside, where 8 civilians … were killed,” the group said on Twitter,
adding that search and rescue efforts were still under way. In Iblin, an AFP
news agency photographer saw the bodies of the family arrive at a health
dispensary, wrapped in woollen and cotton blankets. Nurses and other people
prepared the bodies for burial, cleaning the bloodied corpse of a young boy
before swaddling it in gauze, he said.”

 

Radio Free Europe: Syrian Kurds Transfer 20 Children To Russia For
Repatriation From Islamic State Camps
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“The Syrian Kurdish administration has handed over another 20 children
languishing in camps for the Islamic State group to a Russian delegation for
repatriation. The children born to Russian parents linked to the extremist
outfit were transferred to a Russian delegation on July 3, the de facto
autonomous administration in northeast Syria said. The latest repatriations
brings to 205 people sent home to Russia so far. “We will try to return all the
children,” Larisa Nikolaevna, the deputy head of Russian state children’s
rights commission, was quoted as saying by Kurdish media. Kurdish authorities
hold some 10,000 suspected Islamic State fighters in prisons, after
spearheading a U.S.-backed campaign against the Islamic State that ended with
the extremist group losing most of its territory in 2019. Tens of thousands of
foreign women and children with ties to the extremist group are held in
separate camps in northeast Syria under dire conditions. Kurdish authorities
and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have called on the 60
countries from which the Islamic State fighters and their relatives came to
repatriate foreign nationals. Some countries such as Germany and the
Netherlands have repatriated some citizens who fought with the jihadists.”

 

Iraq

 

The National: Iraq Accuses 'Terrorist Groups' Of Launching 45 Attacks On
Electricity Network
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“Iraq's army said that 45 electricity pylons have been targeted by “terrorist
groups” in recent months creating “security concerns” as the country’s power
grids hang by a thread amid a scorching heatwave. On Friday, a major power line
failure led to a power cut that angered millions of Iraqis as the government
struggles to deal with stretched public services and dilapidated
infrastructure. Four southern provinces have been without electricity since
June 29, including Basra, home to Iraq's main port, and rising temperatures are
compounded by high levels of humidity. “Nearly 45 transmission lines have been
targeted by terrorists in the past few days, which have been repaired,” the
representative of Iraq’s Joint Operation Command Maj Gen Tahsin Al Khafaji told
state media. Gen Al Khafaji blamed ISIS militant group and said it was seeking
to create panic throughout the country by targeting power lines during summer.
A joint operation between security forces and the electricity ministry was
formed to discuss ways to tackle the widespread power cuts, involving members
of the army, police and the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Units, Gen Al
Khafaji said. This comes as an electrical plant that feeds power to a water
supply line into Karkh neighbourhood in Baghdad was blown up on Monday, the
electricity ministry said, leaving thousands of people without electricity and
water.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Wall Street Journal: Taliban Find New Revenues As They Seize Afghanistan’s
U.S.-Built Border Gateway
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“The Taliban have gained a lucrative new source of income, taking over the
main trade gateway into Tajikistan, and beginning to collect customs revenues,
as some of Afghanistan’s neighbors tacitly cooperate with the insurgent group.
The American-built Sher Khan Bandar crossing, north of the city of Kunduz, fell
to the Taliban on June 22, with 134 border guards and other Afghan government
troops fleeing to neighboring Tajikistan. Since then, the insurgents have
seized most of the rest of Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan. Nearly 1,000
Afghan troops sought refuge in Tajikistan on Sunday and Monday, surrendering
the second principal crossing, Ishkashim. Instead of shutting down after the
insurgent takeover, the Sher Khan Bandar complex has remained operational, with
tacit understandings reached between the Taliban and Tajikistan, according to
local traders. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the group had reached out
to the governments of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan after taking over several
border areas in June. “We informed all these governments and assured them that
the routine work of the border, the customs, will be running as before,” Mr.
Shaheen said in an interview.”

 

Associated Press: Taliban Take Districts In NE Afghanistan From Fleeing Troops
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“The Taliban’s march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum overnight
with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces, several
hundred of whom fled across the border into Tajikistan, officials said Sunday.
More than 300 Afghan military personnel crossed from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan
province as Taliban fighters advanced toward the border, Tajikistan’s State
Committee for National Security said in a statement. The Afghan troops crossed
over at about 6:30 p.m. local time Saturday. “Guided by the principles of
humanism and good neighborliness,” the Tajik authorities allowed the retreating
Afghan National Defense and Security Forces to cross into Tajikistan, said the
statement/ Since mid-April, when U.S. President Joe Biden announced the end to
Afghanistan’s “forever war,” the Taliban have made strides throughout the
country. But their most significant gains have been in the northern half of the
country, a traditional stronghold of the U.S.-allied warlords who helped defeat
them in 2001. The Taliban now control roughly a third of all 421 districts and
district centers in Afghanistan.”

 

Pakistan

 

Associated Press: Pakistan: 5 Suspected Militants Killed In Raid On Hideout
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“Security forces shot five suspected militants to death Monday during a raid
on their hideout near Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta, a spokesman for a
counter-terrorism department said. In a brief statement, it said there was an
exchange of gunfire during the raid and officers seized weapons from the
militant hideout after the successful operation. Quetta is the capital of
Baluchistan province, which has been the scene of frequent militant attacks and
a long-running insurgency by small separatist groups that seek independence for
the mineral- and gas-rich province bordering borders Iran and Afghanistan. The
Pakistani Taliban also have a presence there.”

 

Middle East

 

Associated Press: Israel Sentences Palestinian Woman Over Hezbollah Contacts
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“An Israeli court on Sunday sentenced a Palestinian woman from east Jerusalem
to 30 months in prison, probation and a fine after she acknowledged aiding
Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group over several years. As part of a plea
bargain, Yasmine Jaber was convicted after she admitted to charges of
association with a foreign agent, membership in a terrorist organization and
other terror-related charges. The charge sheet said that she was in contact
with two Hezbollah agents on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. She was invited
by one of them to attend a conference on the Palestinian cause in Beirut. She
traveled there in 2015 and again in 2016 in violation of Israeli law, and
maintained contact with Hezbollah operatives over several years, it said. The
Jerusalem District Court judge said in her ruling that she was handing down a
relatively lenient sentence because Jaber acknowledged her actions, took
responsibility and has no prior record. The court sentenced Jaber to 30 months
in prison starting August 4, 12 months of probation and a 5,000-shekel ($1,500)
fine. In August 2020, the Shin Bet internal security service said Jaber was
recruited by Hezbollah operatives at a conference in 2015 and asked to recruit
others in east Jerusalem.”

 

Nigeria

 

Sahara Reporters: Boko Haram Terrorists Abduct Catholic Priest In Borno
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“Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists have kidnapped a Catholic Priest
with the Dioceses of Maiduguri, Reverend Fr. Elijah Juma Wada. SaharaReporters
gathered that Wada was abducted on Damboa-Maiduguri Road last Wednesday. He was
said to be travelling from Buma Parish in Shani to Damaturu for the 10th
anniversary thanksgiving Mass of his friend, Rev. Fr Yakubu Inda Philibus at
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Damaturu. A Facebook user, Manasseh Comfort
Dooshima also confirmed the incident. “Please, My dear Facebook friends let's
pray for the release of this Man of God by name Rev .Fr Elijah Juma Wada who
was kidnapped by Boko Haram in Borno State. He is a Catholic priest with the
diocese of Maiduguri. God have mercy on your servant,” she said. This is not
the first time Boko Haram terrorists will kidnap a cleric. In December 2020,
Bulus Yakura, a pastor of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) was kidnapped
after the insurgents attacked Pemi village, Chibok. Also, in January 2020,
Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), in
Michika LGA of Adamawa was kidnapped and killed by the insurgents.”

 

Somalia

 

The New York Times: Suicide Explosion Kills 10, Injures Dozens In Somalia
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“At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured in a suicide explosion in
the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Friday evening, the authorities said, the
second such attack to rock the city in weeks as the country enters a crucial
election season. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a
cafe close to the well-known Juba Hotel, which is in a strategic area that
houses government ministries and the intelligence headquarters. The cafe,
frequented by members of the Somali security forces, was crowded with patrons
when the attack took place, officials said. The Somali government blamed the
terrorist group Al Shabab, and the group itself took responsibility, saying
that it had targeted intelligence, police and military forces. Al Shabab
claimed the blast killed at least 15 people and wounded 22 others. Somali
security officials did not respond to multiple requests for information on
whether government officers might have been killed or injured in the attack.
“Once again Al Shabaab has proven that their violence has no bounds and will
kill indiscriminately,” Somalia’s Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism
said in a statement on Saturday. Al Shabab, the ministry added, strives “to
cause pain, destruction and chaos. These ideals have no place in a free
Somalia.”

 

Mali

 

Reuters: Mali Says Four Soldiers Killed In Ambush By Suspected Militants
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“Four soldiers were killed when their patrol was ambushed by suspected
militants in central Mali on Sunday, the army said in a statement. The region
is where Mali is battling Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic
State. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The army said in a
statement that the patrol was ambushed near the town of Lere on Sunday morning.
“The provisional toll is at four soldiers killed,” it said. The attack comes as
France, which has deployed over 5,000 counter-terrorism soldiers in Mali to
help combat militants, said on Friday that it has resumed jointed military
operations with Mali after they were suspended following a coup.”

 

Euronews: France Resumes Military Operations With Mali Amid Terror Threat
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“Just one month after Paris suspended bilateral cooperation with Mali
following a coup in the West African nation, France said on Friday that it
would resume joint military operations with Bamako after all. “Following
consultations with the Malian transitional authorities and the countries of the
region (...) France decided to resume joint military operations as well as
national advisory missions, which had been suspended since June 3,” the French
Defence Ministry said in a statement. The statement cited the terror threat as
the reason for the resumption of operations. “The objectives of terrorist
groups are the establishment, throughout West Africa, of radical Islamism as
well as the regression of freedoms and human rights. France remains fully
committed to opposing them with its European and American allies, alongside
Sahel countries and international missions,” the French Defence Ministry said.
Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the official end of
Operation Barkhane, a seven-year mission against jihadist groups linked to
al-Qaida and the so-called Islamic State group in the Sahel. The European
country is preparing to reduce its more than 5,000 troops in the coming months.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Independent: Associate Of London Bridge Attacker Jailed Over 9/11
Anniversary Video
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“A known extremist has been jailed for sharing a video glorifying terrorism on
the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities. Shakil Chapra, 43, who also goes
by the alias Abu Haleema, has links with London Bridge attacker Khuram Butt
and, Kingston Crown Court heard, joined the banned al-Muhajiroun (ALM) group,
led by notorious extremist Anjem Choudary, 54, in 2013. “You are to be
sentenced for a single count of distributing a terrorist publication - posting
a video agreed to give indirect glorification to and thus encouragement of
terrorism,” the judged told Chapra, who pleaded guilty to disseminating a
terrorist publication in March. On Friday, Judge Peter Lodder QC sentenced
Chapra, from Slough, to two-and-half years in jail, with an extra 12 months on
extended licence, Press Association has reported. “From at least 2013, when you
joined ALM, you have held extreme Islamic views,” the judge added. Last
November. Chapra was arrested for his link to Shehroz Iqbal, 29, who was jailed
for eight-and-a-half years at the Old Bailey last year, having been found
guilty of encouraging terrorism. The court found messages from Chapra on a
22-strong WhatsApp group for extremists, named From Dark to Light, on Iqbals
phone.”

 

The Independent: Three-Quarters Of Children Arrested On Suspicion Of Terror
Offences Are Far-Right Extremists
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“Three quarters of children arrested on suspicion of terror offences in
Britain are far-right extremists, police have said as parents are urged to be
aware of online radicalisation. New figures show that of the 21 under-18s
arrested in the year to April, 15 were linked to extreme right-wing terrorism.
Statistics show that 13 per cent of all terror suspects detained are now
children, up from 5 per cent in a year. A Counter Terrorism Policing
spokesperson said: “This worrying growth has been occurring since 2015, why
young people under the age of 24 accounted for less than 20 per cent of extreme
right-wing terrorism arrests – in 2020 they accounted for nearly 60 per cent.”
The remaining six teenagers are believed to include jihadists but a further
breakdown was not available. Several children have previously been prosecuted
over attack plots, including a 17-year-old boy who was jailed for preparing
acts of neo-Nazi terrorism in November. Paul Dunleavy had researched how to
convert a blank-firing gun into a live weapon, and provided “advice and
encouragement” to fellow extremists online.”

 

Europe

 

Reuters: Italy Arrests Four Suspected Of Sending Funds To Islamic State
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“Italian police said on Monday they had arrested four men accused of sending
funds to people across Europe and the Middle East who were collecting on behalf
of Islamic State, in an investigation that led to a larger suspected
terrorism-funding network. The four men were suspected of wiring 30,000 euros
in total from a money transfer agency in the southeastern Italian town of
Andria to 42 collectors of funds for militants, in countries including Serbia,
Germany, Turkey, Jordan, Thailand and Russia. Subsequent investigations showed
the same 42 collectors had received as much as 1 million euros in suspicious
transfers from other sources, said Luca Cioffi, a colonel in the Italian tax
police. The payments made by the men arrested on Monday included 5,000 euros
sent to two Russians, days before an attack on a church in southern Russia that
killed five women, Cioffi said. Investigators were still trying to determine
the source of the funds: “The people arrested today are unemployed and have no
income, so investigations are still ongoing to identify who was giving them
money to send abroad”, Cioffi told Reuters.”

 

Euronews: Belarus Says It Has Dismantled 'Terrorist Sleeper Cells' With Ties
To West
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“Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said “terrorist sleeper cells”
linked to the West and allegedly preparing a coup were dismantled on Friday.
“Terrorist sleeper cells were dismantled today,” Lukashenko said, cited by his
press office. The authoritarian leader claimed the cells had ties to Germany,
Ukraine, the United States, Poland and Lithuania, and plotted to “overthrow the
regime by violence.” According to Lukashenko, “a huge number of weapons were
pouring into Belarus from Ukraine,” which prompted him to order Belarusian
border guards to “permanently close the border with Ukraine”. He added that the
cells' activities were coordinated via a Telegram channel dubbed “Self-defence
regiments of Belarus” which had 2,500 subscribers and belonged to a German
citizen. The cells recently tried to detonate a Russian naval communication
centre located in the Belarusian town of Vileika, about 100 kilometres
northwest of Minsk, according to the Belarusian leader. “All the participants
in this terrorist act (...) were found within 48 hours and arrested,” he said.
The German government repeatedly refused to comment on Lukashenko's allegations
at a press conference.”

 

Technology

 

BBC News: Facebook Tests Extremist Content Warning Messages
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“Facebook is testing a feature in the US that asks users if they are worried
somebody they know is becoming an extremist. Other users may also receive an
alert saying they may have been exposed to extremist content. The trial
messages are part of Facebook’s Redirect Initiative which aims to combat
extremism. The pop-ups redirect users to a support page. “This test is part of
our larger work to assess ways to provide resources and support to people on
Facebook who may have engaged with or were exposed to extremist content or may
know someone who is at risk,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. The tech firm is
working with non-governmental organisations and academic experts on this
project, she added. Screenshots of the pop-ups were posted on social media. One
asked: “Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?” “You
may have been exposed to harmful extremist content recently,” another said.
“Violent groups try to manipulate your anger and disappointment. “You can take
action now to protect yourself and others.” Both prompts direct users to a page
with support related to extremism. Facebook said tests identified both users
who may have been exposed to rule-breaking extremist content, and users who had
previously been the subject of enforcement on the platform.”



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