Eye on Extremism

July 7, 2021

 

Voice Of America: Nigerian State Closes Schools After 140 Students Kidnapped

 

“Nigerian authorities in northwest Kaduna state have closed 13 schools after more than 140 students were kidnapped Monday from a Baptist high school. The closures follow a string of armed attacks on schools that authorities say threaten to permanently damage Nigerian children's education. Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority officials say a risk assessment shows the 13 schools are the most vulnerable to attacks. The attack on Bethel Baptist High school Monday is the latest in a spate of school kidnappings for ransom and the fourth such mass kidnapping in the state in five months. Kaduna authorities said 26 people, including a woman teacher, have been rescued and that troops are searching for missing kidnap victims. But a local clergyman said an initial verification showed only 20 out of 180 students boarding at the school before the attack had been accounted for. Amnesty International's Seun Bakare says attacks and school closures signal severe threats to education in Nigeria. “We risk the loss of a generation if these attacks on schools and attacks on education continue,” Bakare said.”

 

The National: UK Aircraft Carrier To Challenge ISIS In Middle East

 

“The British Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier will carry out operations against ISIS when it enters the Middle East, the head of the UK's armed forces has told a meeting of Gulf military leaders. Gen Sir Nick Carter committed HMS Queen Elizabeth to live operations against the terrorists when he hosted the Dragon Group of generals in London. The group, made up of military chiefs from the six GCC countries plus Egypt, Jordan and Iraq was holding its fourth annual meeting since it was set up in 2018 to assist security planning. During discussions on defence co-operation and other issues at Lancaster House yesterday, the Chief of the Defence Staff told the assembled senior ranks that Britain would demonstrate its commitment to maintain security in the Middle East. Part of that will come from the Navy’s 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier, the most modern in the world, that is anchored off Sicily after conducting strike missions against ISIS by F35 jets launched in the Eastern Mediterranean. HMS Queen Elizabeth will soon head through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, placing its aircraft within range of targets in the region. It will also send a message to Iran on the extent of Britain’s naval strength.”

 

United States

 

The New York Times: Self-Described Virginia Militiaman Is Arrested In Capitol Breach

 

“In mid-June, a self-described Virginia militiaman drove with a new acquaintance from his home in Alexandria to a former prison in the nearby town of Lorton, about 15 miles away. His mission was a secret one, prosecutors say: He was scouting a location where he could test a batch of Molotov cocktails he was planning to make. The man, Fi Duong, apparently liked the prison and, according to court papers, he told his friend — and another man who joined them — that it was “the perfect place” to do the job. “Technically,” the papers quote him as saying before the group departed, “you’re engaging in war or conflict. But again, what is the price we ultimately pay for peace?” What Mr. Duong did not know, however, was that the other men were not like-minded activists who shared his beliefs in a pending civil war and the need for Virginia to secede from the union. They were instead federal agents who had been spying on him and some of his associates since shortly after the riot at the Capitol six months ago. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors unsealed a complaint against Mr. Duong, charging him not with making bombs but with illegally breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6. In the complaint, they did not accuse Mr. Duong of committing any violence, but rather accused him of repeatedly using violent rhetoric and conducting surveillance at the Capitol in the weeks after the attack by the pro-Trump mob.”

 

Syria

 

Arab News: Killings Spark Fear Of Daesh Resurgence

 

“Fears are growing of a resurgence of Daesh after a spate of killings at a camp in northeast Syria that houses extremist fighters’ families. At least eight people were shot dead last month in the sprawling tent city of Al-Hol in Hasakeh province. They included a 16-year-old Iraqi refugee and two Syrian sisters aged 17 and 23. Daesh cells inside Al-Hol were carrying out “killings of residents who distance themselves from the extremist ideas of the group,” the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said. The SDF said in April there had been 47 killings in Al-Hol in the first three months of the year, and they had captured 125 Daesh members in a security sweep in the camp. The UN has warned of radicalization inside the camp, which houses about 50,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees, mostly women and children, and has a separate annex holding about 10,000 other women and children linked to Daesh members. Syria’s Kurds hold thousands of Daesh fighters in jails, and their relatives in camps, after expelling the militants in 2019 from the last patch of the territory they controlled. The Kurdish authorities have repeatedly urged the international community to repatriate their nationals, but most countries have so far taken back only some of the children.”

 

Iraq

 

The Jerusalem Post: ISIS Targets Electricity Lines In Iraq To Spread Mayhem

 

“Iraqi security forces have a new problem to deal with, as ISIS terrorists have been attacking electric power lines, usually the kind that travel long distances on large pylons. The worldwide jihadist group has attacked dozens in recent weeks. Now Iraq says that it ambushed some of the terrorists near the city of Hit. It has succeeded in thwarting attacks in Diyala province.  For Iraq, this is only a minor respite in a hot summer where it appears that not enough electricity is being generated. Blackouts are normal. Iran is also not transferring electricity to Iraq because it has a crisis. ISIS has started attacking this infrastructure as a way to send a message that it still controls the countryside. Many Iraqis use generators or are forced to go without electricity when this happens. “About 44 to 45 electricity towers in Iraq have been targeted by terrorists in recent days, most of which have been repaired,” say local reports.  Meanwhile, in other parts of Iraq, there have been increasing attacks on US forces by pro-Iran militias. ISIS is also attacking Iraqi checkpoints in some parts of the country. This means that Iraq faces numerous challenges to its basic security. Iran is trying to grab parts of Iraq and pressure the US to leave; ISIS is trying to grab another part.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: Turkey Arrests Daesh Terrorist Plotting Bomb Attack

 

“Turkish security forces on Tuesday apprehended a Daesh terrorist planning to carry out an attack in the country's southern province of Adana. The counterterrorism units carried out a raid upon receiving intelligence from the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Ihlas News Agency (IHA) reported. The 41-year-old terrorist, identified as Irfan Ç. and codenamed “Abu Ahmed,” had been planning to carry out a bomb attack, sources said. He was detained in the Kabasakal Cemetery in the Çukurova district. He had been trying to unify the terrorist group in Turkey after ringleader Mahmut Özden was apprehended in 2020. He also held talks with the Syria-based Daesh figure responsible for the terrorist group’s operations in Turkey and had been plotting a coordinated attack. Police also raided the terrorist’s home and confiscated digital materials and found correspondence with senior Daesh terrorists. He was transferred to court after completing his procedures at the police station and was arrested and sent to prison. The terrorist had been imprisoned in 2015 for recruiting terrorists for Daesh but he was released in 2019. Although the terrorist group has been largely defeated in Iraq and Syria, its presence still poses a threat as individuals following its ideology encourage others to carry out violence.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Wall Street Journal: In Afghan Peace Talks, The Taliban Gain Legitimacy While Pursuing War

 

“Taliban representatives and Afghan government delegates meet every few days at a beachfront Ritz-Carlton resort and spa here, the unhurried pace of their peace talks sharply contrasting with the raging war back home. In recent weeks, the insurgents have seized nearly a third of Afghanistan’s rural districts and besieged several provincial capitals, taking advantage of the withdrawal of American forces that is nearing completion. The Doha negotiations, launched last September, were meant to find a peaceful settlement to the four-decades long Afghan war. Now, they risk becoming a mechanism through which the Taliban could legitimize their recent military victories, gaining international approval for an eventual takeover, Afghan government representatives warn. “The delays that we see from the other side in the progress of talks are not corresponding to the sense of urgency that we have. The violence needs to end, the war needs to end, and we need to reach a political settlement,” said senior government negotiator Nader Nadery, who heads Afghanistan’s civil service commission. “Are they hoping to take over militarily, and then to give it some sort of cover, to say ‘Oh, we are talking in Doha?’ We are aware of these traps.”

 

BBC News: Afghanistan Withdrawal Stokes Fears Of Al-Qaeda Comeback

 

“Western intelligence chiefs are worried. They have good reason to be. The hurried departure this month of the remaining Western forces from Afghanistan, decreed by US President Joe Biden, has emboldened Taliban insurgents. In recent days they have seized one district after another, overrunning bases where demoralised government troops have often surrendered or fled. Now, say observers, the spectre of international terrorism is making an unwelcome return. “The Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan makes a Taliban takeover inevitable and gives al-Qaeda the opportunity to rebuild its network, to the point where it could once again plot attacks around the world,” Dr Sajjan Gohel, a security and terrorism analyst, told the BBC. That is certainly at the more pessimistic end of the spectrum but two things are certain here. Firstly, the Taliban - the hardline Islamists who ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001 with a rod of iron - are coming back in some form. For now, they say they have no ambition to take Kabul, the capital, by force. But in large parts of the country they are already the dominant force and they have never dropped their demand to make the country an Islamic Emirate according to their own strict guidelines.”

 

NBC News: Taliban Parade New Weapons Seized From Afghan Military As U.S. Withdraws

 

“The Taliban have showed off containers full of weapons and military hardware seized from the Afghan military as American forces withdraw from the country and the militants march across the country. The weaponry includes 900 guns, 30 light tactical vehicles and 20 army pickup trucks, according to NBC News' U.K. partner Sky News, which was granted access to the Sultan Khil military base in the Wardak province close to the Afghan capital, Kabul. District after district has fallen to the Taliban. The militants have seized 120 districts since May 1, according to an ongoing assessment by the Long War Journal. The map is a moving patchwork, but at last count the Taliban controlled 193 districts and contested 130, while 75 were under the control of the government or are undetermined, according to the publication, which reports on the global war on terror and is a project of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank. At the same time, many military outposts have been surrendered without a fight, allowing the Taliban to seize weapons, according to multiple Afghan military and government sources. Sky News filmed fighters carrying new weapons seized from the base, where a white flag signifying the Taliban takeover was flying.”

 

Middle East

 

Gulf News: UAE Seeks To Tighten Anti-Money Laundering And Terror Financing Measures

 

“The UAE’s National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organisations (NAMLCFTC) has urged financial sector regulators and law enforcement agencies to tighten their procedures to combat money laundering and terror financing. A meeting of the NAMLCFTC chaired by Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and Chairman of the NAMLCFTC urged regulators update their internal procedures and systems, based on a guidance paper introduced by the NAMLCFTC to strengthen public institutions’ roles in checking money laundering and terror financing. “Effectively responding to the threat of financial crime, notably money laundering and terrorist financing, requires a concerted effort and the mobilisation of the public and private sectors’ collective resources and expertise. As such, the UAE is strengthening its cooperation with local and international financial institutions to swiftly monitor and report any and all activities deemed suspicious,” said Balama. The guidance paper clarifies the implementation of Cabinet Resolution No. (74) of 2020 concerning the list of terrorists and implementation of UN Security Council decisions relating to preventing and countering financing terrorism and leveraging non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the relevant resolutions.”

 

Nigeria

 

The Nation: Nigerian Forces Neutralize 11 Boko Haram Militants In Offensive

 

“The Nigerian military said Tuesday that troops neutralized 11 Boko Haram militants in two separate battles in volatile northeast Borno State. Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement that special forces on patrol and clearance operations during the weekend encountered terrorists at Ngoshe-Ashigashiya, a flashpoint of terror activities. “The troops, who fiercely engaged and sustained heavy gun fire on the terrorists during the encounter neutralised five terrorists,” he said. Nwachukwu said militants were also intercepted while crossing a supply route along Auno - Jakana, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the state capital. He said militants were moving with trucks laden with petroleum, oil and lubricant. Six died in an exchange of gunfire that followed the interception, he said. Nwachukwu said an assault rifle, a magazine containing 13 rounds of fabricated 7.62mm, a bando XYlier of 44 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) and a bag containing 52 rounds of 7.62mm were recovered from at the scene. Boko Haram, which seeks to carve a territory for itself in the vast northeast region, has claimed responsibility for terror attacks in the area.”

 

Somalia

 

SOFREP: Somalis Push Back Al-Shabaab As Us Considers Returning To The Country

 

“The Somali National Army (SNA) recently recaptured the key town of Ba’adweyn from al-Shabaab terrorists. The SNA has been conducting offensive operations for the past several months. Four months ago, al-Shabaab terrorists had captured the important supply town, located in the Mudug region. They had been using it as a base wherefrom to attack government facilities and officials, military bases, and the population. Al-Shabaab is aligned with al-Qaeda. Somali state media announced that early on Tuesday, Somali troops pushed al-Shabaab out of Ba’adweyn and several neighboring towns including Haradhere and Imaamd, forcing many of the al-Shabaab terrorists to escape after their positions became untenable. “Somali National Army along with Galmudug regional Darwish forces took over control of Ba’adweyn town and surrounding areas in the early hours of Tuesday, military officials confirmed,” the state media reported. “Troops from the 21st Division of the Somali National Army have captured Haradhere and Imaamd, al-Shabaab stronghold villages in the Mudug region. Terrorists fled before the Army arrived. This comes as the SNA took over full control of the Ba’adweyn town on Tuesday morning,” the media added.”

 

Africa

 

France 24: The Murky Link Between DR Congo's ADF And Islamic State

 

“Its hallmark: Attack a remote village, massacre its inhabitants and abduct survivors. Not for nothing has the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) become a name that inspires widespread dread in eastern DR Congo. Suspicions are growing that this historically Ugandan Muslim group has linked up with the so-called Islamic State, also called ISIS, although experts say the depth of the involvement remains unclear. According to the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a respected monitor, the ADF is one of an estimated 122 armed organisations that roam eastern DRC -- the legacy of two regional wars that ran almost back-to-back from 1996 to 2003 and claimed millions of lives. The DRC's Catholic church says the ADF is suspected of killing 6,000 people since 2013, while the KST blames it for more than 1,200 deaths in North Kivu province's Beni area since 2017. On the weekend of June 27-28, Beni was hit by three bomb attacks, including a blast at a Catholic church, that came just hours after a suicide bombing outside a bar -- the region's first such attack. The IS, monitored by the US-based SITE intelligence Group, identified the suicide bomber as “Abu Khadijah” who targeted “Christian disbelievers at a liquor bar.”

 

The National: Mozambique City At Breaking Point As Thousands Flee Conflict In Cabo Delgado

 

“Sufo Salimo arrived in the city of Pemba on June 27 after fleeing extremist violence in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. He had escaped the town of Palma on a boat with 24 others, making the treacherous journey south along the Indian Ocean with his wife and his 10-year-old nephew. “Many people are being killed,” said Mr Salimo, 26. “My brother was killed, and my sister and nephews were kidnapped by the armed groups.” Islamic extremism has plagued Cabo Delgado since October 2017, with Palma being targeted because of its proximity to the province’s natural gas and oil reserves. The city has experienced increasing attacks against civilians, with gunfire reported almost every week. Some of these attacks have been linked to ISIS. The violence has uprooted about 800,000 people and killed more than 2,500 civilians, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled). Some of those killed have been beheaded, including children. Most of the internally displaced are women and minors. More than 70,000 people fled Palma after ISIS-linked militants attacked the town in March, many of them to Pemba, the provincial capital about 300 kilometres down the coast.”

 

Voice Of America: Government-Backed Militias In Burkina Faso Accused Of Abuses

 

“The attack in Burkina Faso last month that killed 160 civilians was in retaliation for activity by pro-government civilian militias in the area, according to Human Rights Watch. In the daytime, Daouda Diallo is a scientist. By night, he is one of Burkina Faso’s most prominent human rights campaigners. He runs the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities, a campaigning group set up in the wake of the Yirgou massacre, an attack that saw around 200 people killed, mostly from the Fulani ethnic group, in early 2019. In Burkina Faso’s conflict with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, the number of civilians killed by security forces has often come close to the numbers killed by the terror groups. Diallo has been deeply affected by this. “I’m a very sensitive person — I like to help the widow and the orphan, the vulnerable. … I’ve devoted my time to this, but it's not an easy job, and I go unpaid. I do it for humanitarian reasons,”  Diallo told VOA. Diallo also points out that one of the government’s most controversial policies is a law that allows preexisting civilian militias, known as koglweogos, to be armed and trained by the government. The new force is called the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland, or VDPs.”

 

United Kingdom

 

BBC News: Sales Consultant Guilty Of Bitcoin Islamic State Terrorism Funding

 

“A sales consultant has been found guilty of using Bitcoin to fund the Islamic State (IS) group. Hisham Chaudhary had denied using the cryptocurrency to back the organisation's terrorism, and spreading propaganda online. The 28-year-old, of Chestnut Drive, Oadby, Leicestershire, was found guilty of seven offences under the Terrorism Act by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday. He will be sentenced on 3 September. During the trial, the court heard Chaudhary produced a “jihad” video - described as a sinister “call to arms” - that was then spread through the internet. Chaudhary posted some videos online using the name “John Smith”, the court was told. Counter Terrorism Policing North East said he raised thousands of pounds and converted it to Bitcoin, which he used to send IS money to free supporters of the group from detention camps in Syria. Choudhary's claims his funding had a “humanitarian purpose” were described as “a smokescreen”. The jury convicted him of four counts of disseminating a terrorist publication, two counts of funding terrorism and one count of membership of a proscribed organisation.”

 

China

 

Asia Times: The Terror Group China Fears The Most

 

“As the US accelerates its withdrawal from Afghanistan, China is worried about the instability to come. In May, after a series of explosions in Kabul that killed 60 people including several schoolgirls, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said America’s “abrupt” withdrawal was a factor in the violence. Hua said the US needed to withdraw its troops “in a responsible manner” that avoids “inflicting more turmoil and suffering on the Afghan people.” What she didn’t say, however, is what China fears the most about America’s troop withdrawal from Afghanistan: a revival of the fundamentalist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and its cross-border agitation and terrorism in China’s volatile Xinjiang region. The ETIM, also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement, is an ethnic Uighur militant group active in Afghanistan that has long sought to achieve independence for Xinjiang, which it envisions as a future “East Turkestan.” The ETIM is also active in Syria’s civil war, where battle-hardened fighters have largely been grouped in Idlib and other northern regions. The United Nations has categorized the group as a “terror organization” since 2002. Curiously, the former Donald Trump administration removed ETIM from America’s terror list in November 2020, saying at the time there was “no credible evidence” that ETIM still exists.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

BBC News: Hong Kong Arrests Group Including Teenagers Over Alleged Terror Plot

 

“Hong Kong police have arrested nine people including six high school children over an alleged terrorist plot. Members of the group are aged between 15 and 39 years old. Police said they had rented a room in a hotel to build bombs and planned to attack the city's courts, transport networks and streets. The arrests come as Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam warned against “illegal ideas” spreading through the city. The group is being held under the national security law, which has been used to crush dissent after years of pro-democracy protests lead by mostly young activists. Police said they seized the highly explosive chemical triacetone triperoxide (TATP) in a hotel room that was used as a laboratory for bomb-making equipment. Some HK$600,000 ($77,000; £56,000) linked to the group was also traced and frozen. Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah told reporters the group had planned “to attack some of the public facilities in Hong Kong, including the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, railways, court rooms and they even wanted to lay bombs in the rubbish bin on the street, with a view to maximise the damage caused to the society.”

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