Eye on Extremism
October 17, 2019
Bloomberg:
Pompeo Sees Cease-Fire As Key Goal Of Ankara Visit: Syria
Update
“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey’s military operation in
Syria could end after Kurdish fighters leave a strip of territory
along its border, laying out his key condition for ending an offensive
that has drawn American sanctions and roiled markets. The U.S.
decision to stand aside when Turkey advanced into Syria to push back
Kurdish groups controlling the northeast has reconfigured old
alliances and taken Syria’s eight-year-old civil war into uncharted
territory.”
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S., Saudis Heighten Security Defenses After
Attacks On Oil Industry
“The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have stepped up efforts to protect the
kingdom’s oil production, holding talks on connecting Saudi missile
defenses to U.S. systems and investigating new antidrone technologies,
after an attack last month knocked out half of the country’s crude
production. The U.S. military is deploying an additional 2,000 troops,
two squadrons of jet fighters, three new antimissile systems and other
equipment to Saudi Arabia in an effort to better prepare the kingdom
to counter Iran.”
Reuters:
Exclusive: Iran-Backed Militias Deployed Snipers In Iraq Protests -
Sources
“Iran-backed militias deployed snipers on Baghdad rooftops during
Iraq’s deadliest anti-government protests in years, two Iraqi security
officials told Reuters. The deployment of militia fighters, which has
not been previously reported, underscores the chaotic nature of Iraqi
politics amid mass protests that led to more than 100 deaths and 6,000
injuries during the week starting Oct. 1. Such militias have become a
fixture here with Iran’s rising influence. They sometimes operate in
conjunction with Iraqi security forces but they retain their own
command structures.”
The
Washington Post: Syria Is Lost. Let’s Save Lebanon.
“The aftershocks of President Trump’s abandonment of the Kurds in
Syria are rumbling through the region, and a string of Lebanese
officials told me last week that they fear they’re the next to be
discarded by the United States. Lebanese politicians and security
officials, in a series of off-the-record conversations, expressed
concern about Trump’s acquiescence to Turkey’s invasion of Syria, and
the seeming eclipse of U.S. power. “I feel sorry for America,” one
prominent member of parliament told me. “We feel pity,” said a senior
security official. “This America is not the America we used to
know."
Deutsche
Welle: Is Al-Shabab Looking To Ethiopia?
“The al-Shabab militant group has sown fear and terror in Eastern
Africa for more than a decade. The terrorist group is fighting to oust
the Somali government and establish a society based on a rigid
interpretation of Islamic Shariah law. Its original leadership was
affiliated with al-Qaeda. Although based in Somalia, al-Shabab
frequently launches terror attacks in other African countries,
mostnotably in neighboring Kenya. It has struck there more than 20
times in the past five years, killing at least 300 people. In January
2019, 21 people died when al-Shabab gunmen attacked a hotel and office
complex in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Most recently, Kenyan police
shot and killed three alleged al-Shabab members and arrested seven.
The men were suspected of planning attacks in the coastal city of
Mombasa earlier in October. Al-Shabab says its strikes on Kenya are in
retaliation for its troops crossing into Somalia: Kenya first sent
soldiers into Somalia in 2011 to target al-Shabab fighters and in 2012
it officially joined the African Union's peacekeeping mission in
Somalia, known as AMISON. Similarly to Kenya, al-Shabab also has an
antagonistic relationship with neighboring
Ethiopia.”
CNBC:
Livestreamed Shootings Have Advertisers Demanding Better Safety From
Sites Like Facebook And YouTube
“A shooting last week outside of a synagogue in Halle, Germany, was
amplified when a video of it appeared on video streaming site Twitch
and then found its way to other sites. The same thing happened in
March after the shooting of more than 50 people at mosques in
Christchurch, New Zealand. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and Google’s
YouTube rushed to remove the content, but users were still able to
find versions of the video hours after the companies had supposedly
taken it down. The apparent inability of the world’s biggest tech
companies (Twitch is owned by Amazon) to keep scenes of violent
rampages from spreading wildly is becoming a problem for brands that
are spending increasing amounts of their advertising budgets on those
very sites. A Twitch representative told CNBC in an email that there
were no ads on the shooter’s stream from Halle, and added that the
company provides controls for advertisers to block content categories.
But even if ads aren’t appearing in or alongside specific videos, the
video platforms are financed substantially by ad dollars. In other
words, ad-supported content helps subsidize all the ad-free
stuff.”
United States
U.S.
Department Of Defense: U.S. Will Continue Defeat-ISIS Campaign,
Official Says
“The United States will continue its campaign against the Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria from outside Syria, said a senior defense
official who wished to remain anonymous, yesterday in Washington. “The
Defeat-ISIS campaign will continue,” the official said in a background
interview with Pentagon reporters. “The enduring defeat of ISIS
remains one of our top security priorities. We have significant assets
and personnel as well as coalition capabilities throughout the region
that will continue to prosecute that campaign.” The Turkish invasion
of Northern Syria has complicated matters in the region. President
Donald J. Trump ordered the evacuation of American service members
from the region. U.S. personnel were in danger of getting between
Turkish and Kurdish forces. The situation is becoming even more
complex as Russian personnel and forces from the regime of Bashir
al-Assad have rushed to fill the vacuum in Northern Syria. It is
important to remember that ISIS is not just a Middle East/Central Asia
phenomenon. The terror group is attempting to foment extremism in many
other areas including Somalia, Niger, Southeast Asia, the Philippines
and elsewhere. The Defeat-ISIS coalition — now up to about 80 entities
— will continue to go after the group.”
The
Hill: Democratic Lawmakers Press For White Supremacist Groups To Be
Labeled Foreign Terrorist Organizations
“Dozens of Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday pressed the State
Department to designate three white supremacist groups as foreign
terrorist organizations, arguing that reclassification could help the
U.S. seriously confront the escalating crisis of white extremist
violence. In a letter led by Rep. Max Rose (N.Y.), the top Democrat on
the House Homeland Security Committee's counterterrorism subpanel, the
39 lawmakers asked the State Department why they have not placed
Ukraine's Azov Batalion, Finland's Nordic Resistance movement or the
United Kingdom's National Action on the U.S. list of “foreign
terrorist organizations” (FTOs). “Today, if an American citizen
swears allegiance to the Islamic State (or another Foreign Terrorist
Organization on the list) and spreads their message of terror, there
are several resources available to the federal government to counter
the threat,” their letter reads. “However, if that same American
citizen swears allegiance to a violent white supremacist extremist
group based overseas and spreads their message of terror, the Federal
government does not have access to the same tools,” it continues.”
The
Times Of Israel: US Researchers Develop Data Model To Predict Terror
Groups’ Future Lethality
“US researchers have developed a statistical model that they say
predicts a budding terror group’s future lethality based on its first
10 to 20 attacks. The model could help security forces to pick out and
focus on more deadly terror groups before they carry out more serious
attacks. It uses publicly available data from the Global Terror
Database and the RAND Worldwide Terrorism Incidents data compilation
site. The researchers from Northwestern University scoured data on
terror groups that were active from 1970 to 2014, the university said
in a statement. The model is based on systems that predict the success
of young businesses. “Essentially we said, ‘What if we think of terror
organizations like a business whose product is lethality? How do we
predict their success in producing that product?’” Brian Uzzi, one of
the study’s authors, said in a statement. Business investors look at
publicly available information to extrapolate a company’s future
success, but since such information on terror groups is not available,
the researchers looked for alternatives to use as proxies.”
Syria
The
New York Times: The U.S. Turned Syria’s North Into A Tinderbox. Then
Trump Lit A Match.
“To understand why President Trump’s withdrawal from Syria has
unleashed such violence, it helps to see this moment as the
culmination of a problem that has been building since the conflict
began. In the war’s first days, northern Syria’s large Kurdish
population effectively seceded and, later, came to control the area.
The war’s many actors, Kurds included, knew this was, in the long
term, not sustainable.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Pence Leads U.S. Efforts To Halt Turkey Offensive
In Syria
“Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
arrived in the Turkish capital Thursday to press President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan to halt a cross-border offensive in northeastern Syria
that has deepened a rift between the two NATO allies. Turkey launched
a military campaign last week to seize territory held by U.S.-backed
Kurdish forces in Syria after the withdrawal of American troops from
the region. Its forces have since captured more than 400 square miles
of territory using heavy artillery and aerial bombardments despite
global condemnation and threats of fresh U.S. sanctions.”
NBC
News: As Syrian Conflict Escalates, Kurds Guarding One ISIS Jail
Threaten To Leave
“Gaunt men in orange jumpsuits lay side-by-side like sardines on
the floor of an ISIS prison in northeast Syria. Crammed in dozens to a
cell, several inmates were missing limbs or covered in burns — the
scars of years of bitter fighting in the region. The Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who have been a crucial U.S. ally in
the fight against the Islamic State group, guard the prison, which
houses some 5,000 inmates. The SDF continue to guard the facility
despite President Donald Trump’s decision last week to pull troops out
of northeast Syria to make way for a Turkish operation in the region.
That operation is now a full-fledged invasion, as Turkish troops push
farther south into Kurdish territory and President Bashar al-Assad’s
Syrian regime forces push north to help Kurdish fighters repel Turkish
troops. But that might not be the case for much longer. Facing a
chaotic, fast-moving conflict, which has seen the balance of power
shift away from the U.S. to Assad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin and
forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, the guards are
now threatening to leave if the conflict deteriorates.”
Fox
News: US Jets Destroy Anti-ISIS Coalition Base In Syria After
Withdrawal, Official Says
“Two Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) F-15 jets destroyed a base
that was the headquarters of the anti-ISIS coalition in northern Syria
on Wednesday after it had been vacated, according to a military
official. OIR Spokesman Col. Myles Caggins III said the fighter jets
“successfully conducted a pre-planned precision airstrike at the
Lafarge Cement Factory to destroy an ammunition cache and reduce the
facility’s military usefulness.” All coalition forces and equipment
had been removed from the base, which was located between Kobanî and
Ain Issa, Caggins said. The move comes as nearly all U.S. troops
withdraw from Syria amid a Turkish military offensive into the region
that began last week. 'Dangerous evacuation' of US troops in Syria
underway, senior US defense officials sayVideo Most U.S. troops in
Syria have been removed and will be redeployed in the region in the
coming weeks. Caggins confirmed earlier Wednesday that the Coalition's
deliberate withdrawal continues, and the Lafarge Cement Factory in
northern Syria, as well as the cities of Raqqa and Tabqah, had been
vacated. Caggins told Fox News on Tuesday that the cement factory was
set on fire before it was vacated by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF).”
Foreign
Affairs: ISIS Is Already Rising From The Ashes
“U.S.-led military coalition succeeded in toppling the
self-declared caliphate of the Islamic State, known as ISIS, in Iraq
and Syria just this past March. Remarkably, only around 2,000 U.S.
troops took part in this effort, a tiny fraction of those deployed to
Iraq or Afghanistan at the heights of those wars. The key to success
in Syria was that the United States worked “by, with, and through”
local militia forces, namely the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose
backbone was the Kurdish militia known as the People’s Protection
Units (YPG). And yet, with a single call to Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly greenlit a
Turkish assault on those same Kurdish partners, whose close ties to
Kurdish militants in Turkey had long unnerved Ankara. Trump ordered
the withdrawal of U.S. troops that had been training and assisting the
SDF as part of an effort to preserve the coalition’s gains against
ISIS. Turkey then launched a bloody campaign to push the Kurds away
from the Turkish-Syrian border. With the SDF distracted, ISIS, ever
adaptive and resilient, appears poised to exploit the chaos. Reports
that ISIS militants have already escaped from Kurdish-run prisons have
sparked fears that extremism could rise from the ashes in Syria.”
The
Intercept: Nobody Has A Plan For Thousands Of ISIS Fighters Detained
By Kurds In Syria
“Despite all the disastrous consequences of Donald Trump’s Syria
policy, the U.S. president has in fact been right in one respect: The
world has done far too little to find a solution for the individuals
who once made up the Islamic State. In pulling U.S. troops out of
Syria, Trump has said that Turkey is now responsible for the fate of
thousands of ISIS fighters in the areas it is seizing, and he has
threatened to impose sanctions on Ankara for its incursion into Syria.
Turkish officials have said they are working on a plan to handle the
ISIS detainees — that fighters will not be allowed to walk free — but
based on Turkey’s past experience, it is unlikely that those fighters
will spend much time in prison. The Syrian Democratic Forces, backed
by the U.S. until a few days ago, have been holding more than 70,000
suspected ISIS members in camps scattered across northeastern Syria.
At least 10,000 are described by the Pentagon as fighters, including
2,000 or so who are not Iraqi or Syrian; 800 are from European
nations. Many of them have been in those camps — the largest of which
is just a collection of tents in squalid conditions that have led to
the deaths of hundreds of children — with no sign of being put through
any formal process that would weed out those who could be prosecuted
from those who could be rehabilitated.”
The
Daily Signal: US Must Prevent Rise Of New ISIS Caliphate In Syria
Following Our Troop Withdrawal
“The United States did not green-light the Turkish incursion into
Syria. The U.S. did, however, fail to deter the incursion, and it
failed to broker any kind of deal between Turkey and the YPG, the
armed Kurdish militia fighting the Islamic State in northern Syria.
All of that is now history, and—as we know—there are no do-overs in
history. All the U.S. can do today is focus on continuing to protect
its interests in the region for tomorrow. America has always had
limited capabilities, interests, and influence in Syria, and Syria’s
fate has never been vital U.S. interest. Syrian leader Bashar Assad,
the country’s weak strongman, has always been in the orbit of Iran and
Russia. If it weren’t for the outbreak of the civil war
there—resulting in horrific atrocities by his regime, a flood of
refugees and the rise of an ISIS “caliphate” bent on transnational
terrorism—the U.S. couldn’t care less. Yet because of the chaos
arising from Turkey’s actions, the U.S. now has good reasons to be
serious about Syria. We don’t want to see another caliphate. We don’t
want Iran to have a platform to attack Israel. We don’t want to see
waves of refugees destabilizing the region and overflowing into
Europe.”
Iran
Iran:
State Department Official Says Iran Has Been Transferring Missiles To
Terrorists
“The State Department on Wednesday revealed that Iran has been
transferring ballistic missiles to regional partners that the United
States views as terrorists. The revelation by the special envoy for
Iran policy, Brian Hook, came at the start of a contentious Senate
Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Hook argued that evidence of
Iran’s transfer of ballistic missile technology to regional extremist
groups justified the Trump administration’s 2018 decision to abandon
the Iran nuclear deal.”
The
Guardian: Iran To Limit Inspectors' Access To Its Nuclear
Facilities
“Iran will further reduce its commitment to the nuclear deal signed
with world powers by limiting international inspectors’ access to its
nuclear sites, senior Iranian MPs have said. The move, which is
expected to take place at the beginning of November, will be the
fourth Iranian step away from the deal, and puts pressure on France,
Germany and the UK to make some form of counter-move. The joint
comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA) was signed in 2015 but Donald
Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, placing
pressure on Europe to prove to Iran it was worth sticking with the
deal.”
Iraq
PBS
News: In Iraq, Concern That Syria Chaos Would Bring Back
ISIS
“Iraq’s defense minister on Wednesday expressed concerns that the
Islamic State group could take advantage of Turkey’s invasion of
northern Syria to destabilize Iraq, saying that a number of militants
have been able to escape detention in Syria amid the chaos and cross
into Iraq. Speaking to a group of journalists touring the Iraq-Syria
border with him, Najah al-Shammari urged the Iraqi government to work
quickly on sealing the border. “The Iraqi government should act
quickly to close illegal crossings between Iraq and Syria,”
al-Shammari said. He did not elaborate or say how many IS members have
crossed into Iraq. He said that some of them are still at large while
others have been detained. There have been concerns in Iraq that the
Turkish military operation against Kurdish fighters in neighboring
Syria might lead to the escape of Islamic State group prisoners from
detention centers run by Syrian Kurdish fighters. Some 10,000 IS
members are being held in prisons across territory in northern Syria.
Over the weekend, 780 supporters fled from a camp for the displaced in
the town of Ein Issa.”
Xinhua:
Iraqi Forces Capture IS Militants Fleeing Battles In
Syria
“Iraqi Defense Minister Najah al-Shammari said on Wednesday that
the security forces captured a number of Islamic State (IS) militants
who tried to infiltrate into Iraq to flee the battles in neighboring
Syria. Al-Shammari made his comments during his tour to the
Iraqi-Syrian border in western Iraq where he met with commanders of
the security forces, according to a statement by the Defense Ministry.
He highlighted the need to continue hunting down those who infiltrate
into Iraq and to prepare the defensive positions on the border to
prevent the infiltration of terrorists. Al-Shammari's tour on the
border with Syria came as Turkey is carrying out an operation against
the Kurdish forces in northern Syria, which has been met with
widespread international and Arab condemnation and warnings that the
war against terrorism could be undermined. Iraq fears that IS
extremist militants could flee into Iraq and pose a threat to its
security during the Turkish assault in Syria.”
Turkey
Al
Monitor: Is Turkey Able To Handle An Influx Of Islamic State
Prisoners?
“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might have agreed to take the
responsibility of Islamic State (IS) prisoners held in camps in
northeastern Syria to get a blessing for Operation Peace Spring, but
Ankara soon realized the trouble it got itself into as experts warned
that the incursion could lead IS fighters to escape prison camps and
reorganize. There are already unconfirmed reports that the operation
allowed some IS supporters to escape camps under the control of the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during Turkish bombardments against the
People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the region. The American decision
to leave the responsibility for IS prisoners to Turkey on Oct. 6
initially caused a shock in Turkish public opinion. Some Turkish
social media users even came up with analogies for the Korean War in
the 1950s, where Turkish troops fought alongside Americans in exchange
for little pay, reminding readers that American officials then
regarded Turkish troops as “cheap soldiers.” “The United States will
not hold them for what could be many years and great cost to the
United States taxpayer.”
Afghanistan
Xinhua: Key
Taliban Commander Killed In N. Afghanistan
“A local official in northern Afghanistan said Thursday that a key
commander of the Taliban militants has been killed following a special
operation late Wednesday night. “Qari Mohammadullah, known as Zaid the
commander of a 70-member Taliban fighters, was killed along with one
of his bodyguards in Sarai-e-Sang area outside the northern Takhar's
provincial capital Taluqan city on Wednesday night,” Mohammad Jawad
Hajari, the provincial governor's spokesman, told Xinhua. The killed
Taliban commander was involved in several subversive activities,
including planning to capture Taluqan city last month, the official
said, adding Zaid's death could prove a major setback to the Taliban
militants in Takhar and the neighboring Badakhshan and Kunduz
provinces. The Taliban group has not immediately commented on the
report.”
Pakistan
Reuters:
Deadly Day In Kashmir As Three Militants Killed, Migrant Worker Shot
Dead
“Indian security forces killed three separatist fighters, while
suspected militants shot dead a migrant worker on one of the bloodiest
days in Kashmir since New Delhi revoked the disputed region's autonomy
and special status more than two months ago. The killings on Wednesday
were the first since mobile telephone services were restored as part
of gradual relaxation of security measures taken to curb violent
unrest in Jammu and Kashmir state. The government had cut off
telephone and internet lines before it revoked Jammu and Kashmir's
special rights on Aug. 5, striking down long-standing constitutional
provisions for the Muslim-majority region that is also claimed by
neighbouring Pakistan. A security lockdown is still largely in place,
and broadband and mobile internet connections remain unavailable to
most Kashmiris. The militants killed on Wednesday died during a gun
battle after soldiers, acting on a tip-off, raided a village in south
Kashmir, two police sources told Reuters. “Three terrorists were
killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter,”
Kashmir police said in a statement. “Incriminating material, including
arms and ammunition, was recovered.”
Egypt
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Egypt: Army Thwarts Terrorist Attack In N.
Sinai
“Egyptian army thwarted a “terrorist attack” on a military post on
al-Arish-Qantara international road in North Sinai, during which three
recruits were injured. In details, a number of terrorists opened fire
on a military post, which prompted the army forces to respond to the
source of the attack, thwarting the terrorists from further advancing
into the area, security and tribal sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. The
units, on the outskirts of Musafaq village of Bir al-Abd, tracked the
perpetrators who fled deep in the mountainous region towards the
south. Hasan Salam, one of the villagers, reported that he heard
gunshots near the post, followed by heavy gunfire, after which
ambulances were seen rushing to the scene. In February 2018, Egyptian
army and police launched an operation against the militants in North
Sinai to cleanse the region from extremists affiliated with ISIS. A
security source, who declined to be named, told Asharq Al-Awsat that
the army forces stationed in Musafaq military post thwarted an armed
attack by the terrorists, wounding three recruits who were transferred
to Bir al-Abd hospital for treatment.”
Libya
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Fears, Warnings On ISIS Comeback In Libya
“Libyans in the country’s south and west have expressed fears that
ISIS militants would make a major comeback after scores of fighters
were seen in several areas. Spokesman of Sirte’s protection unit Salim
al-Amil said an ISIS militant, who had left town after its liberation
from ISIS in 2016, was recently arrested in an ambush after security
forces received a tip that he had returned to Sirte. Amil told Asharq
Al-Awsat that ISIS members are present in big numbers in mountainous
areas in southern Libya after they reorganized by taking advantage of
a lax security. “There are dozens of small groups. Their impact would
be disastrous if they were able to form large groupings,” he said. US
Africa Command has conducted several airstrikes in the past month on
ISIS militants in the south, leaving several of their commanders dead.
Ayas Abdul Moncef who hails from the southern town of Murzuq told
Asharq Al-Awsat that residents have monitored armed men in cars firing
in the air to terrorize them. Many militants have threatened the
residents to kidnap and kill them, he said.”
Nigeria
Daily
Trust: Nigeria: Boko Haram Substantially Defeated, Buhari
Insists
“President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said efforts of officers and
men of the Armed Forces had led to the return of normalcy in affected
parts of the nation. Buhari reiterated that the Boko Haram terrorists
had been "substantially defeated and degraded to the extent that they
were only daring soft targets." Speaking at the State House, Abuja,
during the formal launch of the 2020 Armed Forces Remembrance Day
Celebration Emblem and Appeal Fund, he said the nation was
appreciative of the gallantry and sacrifices of officers and men of
the Armed Forces in the campaign against insurgency and other internal
security operations.”
United Kingdom
BBC
News: Red Poppy To Mark Civilian Victims Of War And 'Acts Of
Terrorism'
“The red poppy will this year pay tribute to civilian victims of
war and "acts of terrorism", along with the UK's armed forces. The
Royal British Legion said it had updated its definition of the
remembrance symbol to be "more explicit" about its meaning. Red
poppies are traditionally worn to remember those who fought in war. It
means the symbol will now encompass victims of incidents such the
Manchester Arena attack in 2017. The move, first reported by the
Guardian, comes ahead of the launch of the charity's latest poppy
appeal on 24 October.”
The
Guardian: Alleged Isis Supporter Accused Of St Paul's Cathedral Bomb
Plot
“An alleged supporter of the Islamic State terror group has
appeared in court accused of a plot to bomb St Paul’s Cathedral and a
hotel. Safiyya Amira Shaikh, 36, from Hayes, Middlesex, is accused of
the preparation of terrorist acts and dissemination of terrorist
publications. It is alleged that Shaikh made contact with someone who
could prepare explosives and went on a reconnaissance trip to scope
out the historic site and a hotel as locations to plant bombs.
Prosecutors also claim that between 19 August and 10 October this
year, she prepared the words of a pledge of allegiance to the group,
also known as Isis or Daesh. It is alleged that she shared terrorist
documents via groups using the Telegram messaging app and other
channels. She appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court in London on
Wednesday and is next due to appear at the Old Bailey on 1
November.”
France
Express:
Notre-Dame Car Bombing: All-Female ISIS Cell Jailed For Botched Terror
Plot In France
“The five women, aged between 22 and 42, were arrested after police
found a car packed with gas cylinders and cans of diesel parked a
stone’s throw from the famous cathedral in the early hours of
September 4, 2016. Investigators concluded from cigarette butts and a
petrol-doused blanket left at the scene that there had been a failed
bid to set off an explosion. The only reason the car did not burst
into flames is because diesel is not easily flammable, they said.
Fingerprints led to two people: Ines Madani and Ornella Gilligmann.
They were sentenced to 30 years and 25 years in prison respectively.
Mrs Madani convinced the other defendants to join the plot by posing
online as a male jihadi who had returned from Syria and was seeking a
bride. Mrs Gilligmann, a married mother of three, told the court she
had acted out of love for a fictitious ISIS fighter named Abou Junayd,
for whom she left her husband. According to prosecutors, the two women
parked the car after sending a video claiming responsibility for the
attack to Rachid Kassim, a notorious French Islamic State (ISIS)
militant. The ISIS propagandist is said to have ordered the attack
from a base in Syria.”
Australia
Times
Of Israel: Australian Spy Agency Says Right-Wing Extremist Threat Is
Increasing
“Right-wing terrorists pose a growing threat in Australia, the
country’s spy agency has warned, describing the extremist networks as
“more cohesive and organized” than ever. The Australian Security and
Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) annual report released Wednesday
said extreme right-wing networks are not only better organized now,
but “more sophisticated” than in the past. “The threat from the
extreme right wing in Australia has increased in recent years,” it
said. “Extreme right-wing groups in Australia are more cohesive and
organized than they have been over previous years, and will remain an
enduring threat.” The Christchurch mosque attacks that claimed the
lives of 50 people “brought the right-wing extremist threat back into
focus,” ASIO said. Suspected white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, an
Australian citizen, is accused of carrying out the rampage in
neighboring New Zealand in March. The spy agency predicted that any
future right-wing attack in Australia would likely be “low capability”
and carried out by a lone wolf or small group, though it did not rule
out the possibility of a “sophisticated weapons attack.” Australia’s
strict gun laws have been widely credited with helping to avoid mass
shootings such as the Christchurch massacre.”
Southeast Asia
CNA:
First Singaporean Jailed For Financing Terrorism
“A 35-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 30 months' jail on
Thursday (Oct 17) for financing terrorism after he sent more than
S$1,000 to a hate preacher. Ahmed Hussein Abdul Kadir Sheik Uduman, a
former information technology engineer, is the first Singaporean to be
sentenced under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act.”
The
Times Of Israel: US Warns Chinese Against Using Untraceable Ships To
Hide Iran Oil Shipments
“The White House has been warning Chinese shipping companies not to
have their vessels turn off tracking transponders to conceal their
movements so they can ship oil from Iran, Reuters reported Wednesday.
US officials are concerned that Chinese ships are turning off their
automatic identification systems, used by vessels to transmit their
location, so that their movements to and from Iran remain hidden.”
South
China Morning Post: Indonesia Arrests 36 Terror Suspects Including
Policewomen Ahead Of Jokowi Inauguration
“At least 36 suspected militants, including two former policewomen,
have been arrested in recent weeks for plotting suicide bombings and
assembling explosive devices ahead of Indonesian President Joko
Widodo’s inauguration for his second term this Sunday, police have
said. Four of those detained were suspected suicide bombers aiming to
attack police stations and non-Muslim places of worship in the West
Java city of Cirebon, and the Central Java cities of Solo and
Yogyakarta, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said on Tuesday.
One of the four was a policewoman from Yogyakarta named Nesti Ide
Sami, an anti-terror police source told On Wednesday, another
national police spokesman, M. Iqbal, said the force had raised its
level of internal monitoring. Both policewomen had been fired for
violating the police code of ethics for deserting the police force.
They will now be dealt with by the judiciary for the alleged terror
activities, he said.”
The
Straits Times: First Singaporean To Be Convicted Of Terrorism
Financing Jailed For 30 Months
“A 35-year-old former information technology engineer was sentenced
on Thursday (Oct 17) to two years and six months' jail for funding
terrorism. Ahmed Hussein Abdul Kadir Sheik Uduman is the first
Singaporean national to be sentenced for terrorism financing. On
Thursday, Ahmed pleaded guilty in a district court to two charges in
connection with two payments he made amounting to about $1,145 in
total to an individual who was “facilitating terrorist acts” overseas.
The court heard that Ahmed had become radicalised sometime in 2013
after he came to know of the website and YouTube channel of a Sheikh
Abdullah al-Faisal, a radical preacher living in Jamaica. Deputy
Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Yonghui said that Ahmed was aware that
the radical preacher supported physical jihad, “including the use of
violence against “intruders” who were described as “non-Muslims
attacking a Muslim area or location'“. The preacher also said it was
an obligation for Muslims to set up a Muslim Caliphate, and commended
the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) for doing
this through violence.”
Technology
Axios:
Lawmakers Target Law Protecting Reddit, Google From Content
Liability
“Lawmakers mulling changes to the law that shields Facebook, Reddit
and other online platforms from liability over user-generated content
found some bipartisan common ground during a House Energy &
Commerce joint subcommittee hearing Wednesday. Why it matters:
Technology companies say changing the law that protects online
platforms — Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — is an
existential threat to their business models and the internet itself.
But both Republicans and Democrats agreed the platforms are not doing
enough to police themselves when it comes to removing harmful content
from their sites.”
The
Verge: Congress’s Focus On Content Moderation Has Distracted It From
The Larger Problem
“What stays up on the internet, and what comes down? It’s a
defining question of the age — and the subject of yesterday’s
newsletter — and on Wednesday, it came to Congress. The occasion was a
hearing of the House Energy and Committee Commerce and its
subcommittees on communications and technology and consumer protection
and commerce. The intent was to “explore whether online companies are
appropriately using the tools they have — including protections
Congress granted in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — to
foster a healthier Internet.”
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