“Anne Smedinghoff, a Foreign Service officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, was
escorting Afghan journalists on an outing when a roadside bomb killed h

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


August 6, 2021 

 

The New York Times: Gold Star Families Accuse Major Banks Of Aiding Terrorists
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“Anne Smedinghoff, a Foreign Service officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, was
escorting Afghan journalists on an outing when a roadside bomb killed her in
2013. The bomb’s design relied on fertilizer made in Pakistan, at two factories
that regularly supplied a nearby Taliban bomb-making operation — a fact that
U.S. authorities had publicized. The factories, Fatima Fertilizer and Pakarab
Fertilizers, were not fly-by-night organizations. Both did business in U.S.
dollars through accounts at the London-based bank Standard Chartered. Now Ms.
Smedinghoff’s family and a group of nearly 500 others — including soldiers and
civilians who were severely wounded in Afghanistan and their families, along
with the families of victims who were killed — are accusing some of the world’s
largest banks of helping terrorists carry out their attacks. Among the
defendants are Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered and Danske Bank. Plaintiffs in
the lawsuit, filed on Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn, include 115 Gold
Star families — relatives of American military service members killed in the
war — as well as relatives of noncombatants like Ms. Smedinghoff, who was
killed while taking the journalists to watch U.S. officials donate books to a
school.”

 

Associated Press: Jihadi Rebels Kill 30 In North Burkina Faso, Says Official
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“At least 30 people, including members of the military, were killed by jihadi
rebels in northern Burkina Faso, the government said Thursday. Eleven
civilians, 15 soldiers, and four volunteer defense fighters, were killed by
“terrorists” in several villages outside the town of Markoye in Oudalan
province near the border with Niger on Wednesday, Aime Barthelemy Simpore,
assistant to the minister of defense, said in a statement. The civilians were
killed at midday and the military and volunteers were ambushed four hours later
after being detached to secure the area, the government said. At least 10
jihadi rebels were killed and the area has been secured by the army, with air
and ground patrols conducting sweeps. The town of Gorom Gorom, approximately 40
kilometers (25 miles) from Markoye, has been inundated with people fleeing the
attack amid fear that the violence was going to spread, an aid worker in the
area told The Associated Press. He insisted on anonymity for his safety.
Violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State is increasing in Burkina
Faso, killing thousands and displacing 1.3 million people. In June, at least 11
police officers were killed when their patrol was ambushed in the north and
earlier that month at least 160 civilians were killed in the Sahel region, the
deadliest violence in years.”

 

United States

 

The Hill: Democratic Senators Increase Pressure To Declassify 9/11 Documents
Related To Saudi Role In Attacks
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“Democratic senators and families of victims of the 9/11 attacks called on
Thursday for the Biden administration to declassify and make available key
documents related to Saudi Arabia’s role in the terrorist attacks, ahead of the
20th anniversary commemorating the tragedy. Standing outside the Capitol, Sen.
Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) rejected reasoning that
has been invoked by both Democratic and Republican White House administrations
to withhold information related to Riyadh’s role in the attacks under the guise
of national security. “Let's get real here: We're talking about the
declassification of evidence relating to an attack that took place 20 years ago
— and not just any attack, an attack that claimed nearly 3,000 American lives,”
said Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “If the
United States government is sitting on any documents that may implicate Saudi
Arabia or any individual or any country in the events of Sept. 11, these
families, and the American people, have a right to know.” Menendez and
Blumenthal are co-sponsors of the September 11th Transparency Act of 2021. The
bill, introduced Thursday, would require the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence (ODNI) to oversee a full declassification review of the
government’s investigation of the 9/11 attacks.”

 

Syria

 

Al Monitor: Violence Down In Syria’s Al-Hol Camp But Conditions Remain
'Horrifying'
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“A five-day raid that targeted Islamic State members inside northeast Syria’s
sprawling al-Hol detention camp in March appears to have led to a reduction in
killings there, the US military reported. The raid led to the arrest of 125
people in the camp, including what security forces there say was a five-member
assassination squad of Iraqi men believed to have been involved in a series of
grisly murders in the camp. Yet US CENTCOM assessed that the lull in violence
may only be temporary, as an uptick of eight murders were recorded in the camp
in June alone, according to a new report released by the Pentagon’s inspector
general. CENTCOM assesses that the Islamic State retains a “strong” presence in
the camp, which houses more than 50,000 family members of IS fighters captured
or killed during the war against the jihadist group. Conditions in the
underserved camp, which is run by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces, have been described as “horrifying” by Fabrizio Carboni, the
Middle East regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Another 10,000 captured IS fighters remain in prisons that dot northeast Syria.
That swath of the war-torn country is controlled by Kurdish-led militias backed
by the US-led international coalition to destroy the jihadist group.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The New York Times: As Taliban Advance, Biden Officials Cling To Hope For
Afghan Peace
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“As Taliban fighters make startlingly swift advances across Afghanistan, Biden
administration officials continue to pin their hopes on a peace deal that would
halt the country’s relentless violence with a power-sharing agreement. They
have stressed, at least in their public statements, that the peace process
could succeed, even as the U.S. military withdraws from the country and as
critics say the talks should be declared a charade and scrapped. But now even
the most encouraging U.S. officials increasingly concede in public what they
have previously said in private: that prospects of a negotiated outcome, which
could partially salvage the 20-year American project in Afghanistan, appear to
be fading fast. President Biden’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay
Khalilzad, offered a downbeat assessment of what he called the “difficult
situation” in the country and the wide gaps between Taliban and Afghan
government negotiators. “They are far apart,” Mr. Khalilzad said during an
appearance at the annual Aspen Security Forum on Tuesday. Privately, U.S.
officials are even more pessimistic. On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony J.
Blinken spoke with Afghanistan’s second-ranking government official, Abdullah
Abdullah, and “discussed ways to accelerate peace negotiations and achieve a
political settlement,” the State Department said in a statement.”

 

The Wall Street Journal: Afghan Air Force Struggles To Stay Aloft As U.S.
Leaves And Taliban Advances
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“First Lt. Ali Rezaie stood by a gutted Black Hawk helicopter in a hangar at
the Afghan Air Force headquarters, explaining why the aircraft is broken and
can’t be flown. The Black Hawk was damaged in June in combat against the
Taliban in Kandahar, its fuel bladder shot up with holes. Afghan aircraft
mechanics known as maintainers patched the leaks well enough to fly it back to
Kabul, where it has sat for weeks in need of more serious repair. Soon,
American contractors will replace the fuel cell and the helicopter will be off
and running again. But Lt. Rezaie, who leads a small unit of Afghan Black Hawk
helicopter mechanics, says when the American contractors depart as expected in
coming weeks, a helicopter in need of this level of repair may not get fixed.
The contractors’ know-how will disappear, and the morale boost they brought to
the hangar each day will be gone, too. “Right now, they are here, it’s OK,
everything is cool,” Lt. Rezaie said of the U.S. contractors. “The aircraft is
getting repaired and getting fixed. But once they leave, when we are confronted
with major issues that are above our knowledge, that’s a problem.” President
Biden said in April that the U.S. was removing not only all its combat forces
but also the thousands of contractors who have quietly supported American
troops for years.”

 

Saudi Arabia

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: UN Praises Saudi Arabia’s Role In Countering Terrorism
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“Jehangir Khan, Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force
(CTITF) and the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), said the Arab region has
borne many of the burdens of extremism and terrorism, adding that the
international community and the United Nations were required to help resolve
conflicts that constitute a fertile environment for the growth of extremist
ideas. Khan described terrorism as a global pandemic, affecting countries and
societies alike, stressing that it was not linked to any specific religion or
culture. His comments came during a joint news conference on Wednesday in
Riyadh with the Secretary-General of the Global Center for Combating Extremist
Ideology (Etidal), Dr. Mansour Al-Shammari. The UN official stressed that Saudi
Arabia provided an important model for countering terrorism, underlining the
continuous efforts backed by the Kingdom to achieve peace in both Syria and
Iraq. He added that the United Nations was looking forward to establishing
justice and achieving a settlement that would end the suffering of the two
countries, which have been severely affected by extremism for years.”

 

Nigeria

 

All Africa: Nigeria: Millions Of Children Hungry In Northeast Due To Boko
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“As millions of children are going hungry in the North East of Nigeria due to
attacks devastating lives through malnutrition hunger, abuse and trauma, Save
the Children said it remains committed to working with the authorities in the
northeast of Nigeria to deliver urgent, life-saving humanitarian assistance for
children and their families who are in dire need. Save the Children also said
it was deeply concerned to find that an estimated 2.3 million children and
youth, including some 700,000 children under five [1], were going hungry in the
Northeast of Nigeria. A recent UN report found that 4.4 million people in the
area are on the brink of acute hunger as attacks by militants are forcing
farmers from their lands. Save the Children strongly condemns the reported
attacks and displacement of farmers and other civilians in the North East,
Nigeria. A statement issued by Kunle Olawoyin, Media and Communication Manager,
said around 2.2 million people have fled their homes because of the violence,
leaving families and children wanting food, a safe place to live and, for many
children, and education. “Shannon Ward, Acting Country Director, Save the
Children International Nigeria, said: “The situation in the northeast is
extremely dire.”

 

Africa

 

BBC News: Mozambique Insurgency: Rwanda Leads The Fightback
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“A 1,000-strong Rwandan force has hit the ground running since its deployment
in Mozambique to fight poor insurgents who have carried out devastating attacks
in the far north of the country. In two weeks, the troops - the first foreign
force to be deployed against the insurgents - have taken a key road junction,
held by the militants for the past year, and have reached the port town of
Mocímboa da Praia. In four years the insurgents have taken control of most of
five districts in Cabo Delgado province in the north east of Mozambique. So far
3,100 people have been killed and 820,000 displaced - more than the entire
population of the five districts. When in March the insurgents captured Palma,
the gas boom town adjoining Total's $20bn (£14bn) development of the second
largest gas field in Africa, the French oil giant abandoned the massive
construction site. Mozambique's defence forces are widely regarded as corrupt,
poorly trained and ill-equipped and were no match for a growing but still
rag-tag band of insurgents. Despite opposition within his own party, President
Filipe Nyusi called for foreign help. There is broad agreement that the
uprising was begun by young people without jobs protesting about growing
poverty and inequality, as well as the lack of any gains from mineral resources
including rubies and gas.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Guardian: What Do Many Terrorists Have In Common? They Abuse Women
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“Five years ago, I began to notice that the perpetrators of some of the worst
terrorist attacks had something in common. A high proportion shared a history
of assaulting wives, girlfriends and other female relatives, sometimes
involving a whole series of victims, long before they attacked total strangers.
In the summer of 2016, for example, when just two terrorist attacks in Florida
and the south of France left 135 people dead and hundreds injured, both
perpetrators claimed to be Islamists. But I was struck by the fact that each
had a horrific record of domestic violence. A year later, there were four fatal
attacks in the UK and all six perpetrators turned out either to have abused
women or, in one case, to have witnessed his father abusing his mother and
sister. There were striking similarities between the histories of Darren
Osborne, the rightwing extremist who drove a van into worshippers leaving a
mosque in north London, and Khalid Masood, the Islamist who staged an attack on
Westminster Bridge. Both men had criminal records for violent offences – and
both had abused women. I thought these cases challenged conventional wisdom
about terrorism, which holds that it is all about ideology. Many fatal
terrorist attacks actually appeared to be an escalation of violence that had
been going on, sometimes for years, against members of the perpetrator’s
family.”

 

Europe

 

Associated Press: Spain Arrests Algerian Man On Trafficking, Terror Charges
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“Spain’s Guardia Civil said Thursday it has arrested an Algerian man suspected
of leading a gang that trafficked people from North Africa to Europe and sent
fighters to jihadist groups in Libya. The Guardia Civil’s intelligence service
detained the man on the night of July 31 on the Mediterranean island of
Mallorca. He faces terror charges, a Guardia Civil statement said. It did not
identify him by name. The man is believed to have led, from Europe, a human
trafficking gang in North Africa, according to the statement. He is also
suspected of facilitating the movement of jihadist fighters to Libya from
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, using the revenue from the group’s human
trafficking activities. Authorities also suspect the trafficking organization
has sent terrorists from Algeria to Spain, and some of them have been arrested,
the statement said, without providing further details. Interpol and Algeria
cooperated in the Algerian man’s arrest. He had several identity documents and
moved around frequently, it said. The investigation is continuing and more
arrests may be made, police said.”



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