“China offered a high-profile public stage to the Taliban on Wednesday,
declaring that the group rapidly retaking large parts of Afghanistan would pla

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


July 29, 2021 

 

The New York Times: China Offers The Taliban A Warm Welcome While Urging Peace
Talks
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“China offered a high-profile public stage to the Taliban on Wednesday,
declaring that the group rapidly retaking large parts of Afghanistan would play
“an important role in the process of peaceful reconciliation and
reconstruction” of the country. Chinese officials began two days of talks with
a delegation of Taliban leaders in Tianjin, a coastal city in northeastern
China, significantly raising the group’s international stature after steady
military gains that have taken advantage of the withdrawal of American and NATO
combat forces from Afghanistan. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, called the
Taliban “a pivotal military and political force,” but urged their leaders “to
hold high the banner of peace talks,” according to a statement by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. He pressed the group to work to burnish its diplomatic
image and extracted a public pledge that the group would not allow fighters to
use Afghan territory as a base to carry out attacks inside China, according to
the statement. The Taliban have been on a regional diplomatic blitz over the
last month, visiting Tehran, Moscow and the Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat for
talks with officials, as their military ascendancy in Afghanistan has grown.”

 

The Boston Globe: Battling ISIS, Seeking Converts, Imagining Armageddon,
Singing Together
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“Though scarcely remembered now, the 2014 massacre of thousands of members of
the Yazidi religion by ISIS, on Mount Sinjar, in Iraq, remains one of the most
barbarous acts of genocide of recent years. In addition to these killings, ISIS
abducted thousands of women and children and forced them to become sex slaves.
As seen in Hogir Hirori’s “Sabaya” (the title is the ISIS term for these
victims) many of them are still unaccounted for. Volunteers from the Yazidi
Home Center — including freed sabayas, who infiltrate the dens of suspected
ISIS cells — are determined to track them down and return them to their
families. They focus their search on Al-Hol, in Syria, one of the most
dangerous refugee camps in the Middle East. Hirori follows these determined men
and women as they trace leads and search the camp’s labyrinth of tents and
shacks, inhabited by 73,000 ISIS diehards. At first the rescuers seem in over
their heads, equipped only with cellphones, flashlights, handguns, a few
AK-47s, a battered van, and piles of photographs of the missing. But they are
fearless, organized, and relentless in their pursuit. When they succeed they
bring the freed women and children back to the center, where they are treated
with kindness until they can be restored to their families.”

 

United States

 

The Sacramento Bee: FBI Says At Deportation Hearing That Iraqi Refugee Omar
Ameen Has Ties To Terror Groups
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“The federal government’s effort to deport Sacramento resident and Iraqi
refugee Omar Ameen kicked into gear Wednesday, with a former FBI agent
testifying that Ameen and his family members had been involved in terrorist
activities with the group that evolved into the Islamic State. William Denton,
who had served as the lead FBI agent on the Ameen investigation, said during an
immigration hearing in Van Nuys that information from the U.S. Department of
Defense and from Iraqi government officials tied Ameen and his family members
to al Qaeda in Iraq, which ultimately became the Islamic State. “We were
concerned, in particular, because the information from the Department of
Defense indicated to us that his family members were actively engaged in
terrorism, which was corroborated through our information that we obtained when
we reached out to our partners within the government of Iraq,” the former agent
testified. “In particular, the government of Iraq provided us with official
documentation from their counter-terrorism service which indicated and
corroborated the Department of Defense information that Mr. Ameen, as well as
members of his immediate family and paternal cousins, were actively involved in
terrorist activity from the inception of al Qaeda in Iraq to the present day.”

 

Syria

 

Arab News: Daesh Attack Kills Seven Syrian Troops: Monitor
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“Daesh group militants killed at least seven soldiers and militiamen in
eastern Syria on Wednesday, the latest in a series of deadly attacks, a
Britain-based war monitor said. Several government positions came under attack
in a desert area of Deir Ezzor province, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said. Several troops were also wounded, some of them critically, while
five militants were also killed. A Kurdish-led offensive overran the last patch
of Daesh-held territory in Syria in March 2019 but sleeper cells continue to
launch attacks in the vast desert that stretches from central Syria east to the
Iraqi border.”

 

Iraq

 

Voice Of America: Will Winding Down The US Combat Mission In Iraq Affect
Anti-IS Efforts In Syria?
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“Middle East experts and analysts are questioning whether ending the U.S.
combat role in Iraq, announced earlier this week, will negatively affect
America’s counterterrorism operations against remnants of the Islamic State
extremist group in neighboring Syria. U.S. officials have not announced any
change to their mission in northeast Syria, where about 900 troops are
providing support to the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led military
alliance which has been a major partner in the fight against IS. But, “It is
hard to separate the U.S. military mission in Syria from the one in Iraq,” said
Sadradeen Kinno, a Syrian researcher who closely follows military developments
in the country. “Unlike Iraq, U.S. military presence in Syria hasn’t been at
the invitation of the Syrian government,” he told VOA. “This fact makes Iraq
such an important place for the U.S. in order to successfully carry on its
mission in Syria. “The SDF is a non-state actor and therefore the U.S. has to
rely on an allied government in Iraq to make sure its operation in Syria
remains solid in terms of logistics and other matters related to supply
transportation.” U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Monday that American
forces will end their combat responsibilities in Iraq by the end of this year.”

 

Turkey

 

Long War Journal: U.S. Designates Al Qaeda Financial Facilitator Based In
Turkey
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“The U.S. Treasury Department announced today that two money men working for
al Qaeda and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS) have been designated. The designations
are part of a broader U.S. effort to sanction individuals and entities taking
part in the Syrian war. Other extremists and parts of Bashar al-Assad’s regime
were also designated and sanctioned as part of the campaign. Hasan al-Shaban is
one of the two bag men targeted by Treasury. He is described as a “Turkey-based
al Qaeda financial facilitator” who “materially” assists the worldwide
insurgency and terrorist network. Treasury says that an al Qaeda “fundraiser”
provided al-Shaban’s “banking information…to prospective donors as a way for
them to send money to support al Qaeda military efforts and the so-called
mujahideen fighting in Syria.” Treasury’s brief announcement indicates that
al-Shaban is part of a global illicit financing scheme that utilizes the
“formal financial system” for nefarious purposes. Al-Shaban’s bank accounts are
used by al Qaeda members “to coordinate the movement of money from associates
across North Africa, Western Europe, and North America.” In addition, al Qaeda
works with al-Shaban to “coordinate the transfer of funds to Turkey.”

 

Afghanistan

 

NBC News: Civilian Deaths, Taliban Attacks Rising As Full U.S. Withdrawal From
Afghanistan Looms, Report Says
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“Civilian casualties and Taliban attacks in Afghanistan are mounting as the
U.S. withdrawal nears completion and the Afghan military continues its
collapse, according to a new quarterly report from a U.S. government watchdog
that describes a country ravaged by Covid-19 and violence. The report by the
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, found a
“dramatic increase in enemy-initiated attacks” from January through March of
this year compared to the same time in previous years. There were 10,431
attacks this year, up from 7,620 last year and 6,358 in 2019. Attacks have been
increasing since the U.S.-Taliban agreement on Feb. 29, 2020, with more attacks
in each three-month period since the agreement than in the same quarters in the
previous year. The number of attacks against the Afghan military and civilians
has increased significantly this year, the report says, with many attacks
coming during the Taliban offensive now sweeping across the country. The
Taliban launched an offensive in May after U.S. and coalition military forces
began withdrawing. The offensive accelerated in June and July. However, the
report notes that Afghan forces have stopped reporting attacks as their
situation deteriorates, and it says the U.S. stopped collecting attack data
effective May 31 with the end of the U.S. training and advisory mission.”

 

Nigeria

 

All Africa: Nigeria: U.S. Offers To Support Nigeria End Killings, Extremism
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“As Nigeria continues to grapple worsening insecurity occasioned by terrorism,
insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes, the government of
the United States of America has stated its intention to help the country stop
the killings and other forms of extremist violence in the country. Chargé
d'Affaires of the United States Embassy in Abuja, Kathleen FitzGibbon, said
this when she joined the chief of air staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, and his
leadership team to inspect the first batch of six A-29 “Super Tucano” Light
Attack aircraft that newly arrived in Nigeria. According to a statement issued
yesterday by the public affairs division of the United States Embassy, the
aircraft represent a historic level of cooperation between the U.S. and
Nigerian militaries. FitzGibbon said that “beyond the new hardware that you see
on this runway, this programme has brought our two militaries closer in formal
training, professional development, air base construction, logistics planning,
and negotiations. “We are proud to partner with Nigeria in its 'whole of
government' approach to end violent extremism and ensure a more stable,
prosperous country for all Nigerians.” The Super Tucano platform for Nigeria is
the United States' largest Foreign Military Sales programme in Sub-Saharan
Africa, valued at almost $500 million.”

 

Africa

 

The National: Extremist Threat Expected To Spread Across Africa As Terrorists
Consolidate Power
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“Terrorist groups in Africa are consolidating their power before potentially
launching a global campaign, according to leading security analysts. ISIS and
Al Qaeda have a world view that could lead them to “knit together” other groups
in order to launch a continent-wide offensive and establish hardline policies,
the US Combating Terrorism Centre heard. The warnings come as French forces
reduce numbers in the Sahel region of West Africa and international forces
withdraw from Libya, giving terrorists greater freedom to operate. Various
extremist groups have grown in recent years and could be readying to commence a
co-ordinated campaign, the online seminar, Scoping the Threat: do African
Salafi-jihadi groups threaten the West? was told. “It seems that these groups
are really consolidating their positions across the continent from the west to
the east with new beltways to the southern region to Mozambique,” said Idriss
Lallali, of the African Centre for the Research on Terrorism, based in Algeria.
He highlighted the extremist motorway going from the Atlantic coast in
Mauritania across to Djibouti, allowing terrorists to travel around the
continent. Previously, security analysts told The National that ISIS attacks in
Mozambique are probably being co-ordinated with the terrorist group's core
leadership as part of an expanding campaign across Africa.”

 

Germany

 

Arab News: German Woman Indicted Over Her Time With Daesh In Syria
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“A German woman who traveled to Syria to join the Daesh group and whose
husband bought a Yazidi woman as a slave has been charged with membership in a
terror group and being an accessory to a crime against humanity, German
prosecutors said Wednesday. The indictment of Leonora M., whose full name
wasn’t released because of local privacy rules, is the latest in a string of
cases in Germany involving women who went to the area held by Daesh and were
involved in holding women captured by the extremist group as slaves. Federal
prosecutors said the suspect went to Syria and joined Daesh in 2015 and became
the “third wife” of a member of the group. She is accused of enabling her
husband’s activities for Daesh by running their household in Raqqa and writing
his application for a job in the group’s intelligence service. The suspect
herself allegedly worked at an Daesh-controlled hospital and snooped on wives
of Daesh fighters for the group’s intelligence service. Prosecutors said her
husband bought a 33-year-old Yazidi woman as a slave in 2015 with the aim of
selling her with her two small children. Leonora M., they said, cared for the
woman so that she could be sold on at a profit — which she subsequently was.”

 

Europe

 

Associated Press: Moroccan Arrested In Greece On Suspicion Of Being IS Member
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“A 28-year-old Moroccan man appeared in a court in the Greek city of
Thessaloniki on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing after being arrested on
suspicion of being a member of the Islamic State group. The man, who was not
identified publicly, was detained by anti-terrorism police in the northern city
on Tuesday on an international arrest warrant issued by Morocco, which is
seeking his extradition. According to a court official, the international
arrest warrant was issued in 2017 and alleges the man was a member of IS since
2014. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized
to speak on the record. Appearing in court Wednesday, the suspect said he did
not want to be extradited to Morocco. The court ordered him to stay in custody
pending an extradition hearing.”



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