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Eye on Extremism
August 11, 2021
The New York Times: Taliban Overrun 3 More Provincial Capitals, Increasing Pressure On Kabul
“Afghan forces essentially collapsed in three more provincial capitals on Tuesday, adding to an already alarming drumbeat of Taliban victories around the country and effectively cutting off the main highway connecting the country’s capital with northern Afghan provinces. The three cities — Pul-i-Khumri, roughly 150 miles north of Kabul in Baghlan Province; Farah, the capital of the western province of the same name; and Faizabad, in remote and rugged Badakhshan Province — were the seventh, eighth and ninth to be overrun by the Taliban in less than a week. There, as in other fallen cities, witnesses and defenders described twinned crises of low morale and exhaustion in the face of unrelenting pressure by the insurgents. The rapid Taliban victories have been a devastating blow to President Ashraf Ghani’s government, and to the military and police forces that the United States and its Western allies spent years and billions of dollars training to stand against the Taliban. And the losses are coming just three weeks before American troops are to complete their final withdrawal from the country, leaving a modest force behind to defend the U.S. Embassy. The question of whether the Afghan forces can even successfully defend Kabul, the national capital, has become an urgent one, with heavy fighting now going on in or around every one of the country’s other most populous cities.”
Euronews: Is Europe Doing Enough To Prosecute ISIS Fighters For Yazidi Genocide?
“Seven years on from a genocide that killed an estimated 10,000 Yazidi people in northern Iraq, European countries are grappling with how to prosecute those responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the 21st century. In early August 2014 in Sinjar province, members of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group began murdering men who refused to convert to Islam and leaving their bodies in unmarked mass graves, according to the United Nations. “Thousands were killed pursuant to this ultimatum, either executed en masse, shot as they fled, or dying from exposure on Mount Sinjar as they tried to escape,” said Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, head of a UN team probing ISIS crimes. “Thousands more were enslaved, with women and children abducted from their families and subjected to the most brutal abuses, including serial rape and other forms of unendurable sexual violence. For many, this abuse lasted years, often leading to death.” An estimated 7,000 Yazidi women and girls, some as young as nine, were enslaved and forcibly transferred to locations in Iraq and eastern Syria. Held in sexual slavery, survivors reported being repeatedly sold, gifted, or passed around among ISIS fighters. Young Yazidi boys, meanwhile, were forced to join ISIS as child soldiers.”
United States
Fox News: House Republicans Urge DHS To Reveal How Many Migrants Are On Terror Watchlist
“Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to reveal how many migrants apprehended at the border have been identified within a terror watch list -- arguing that Americans should be informed of the number. “Although most of the information on this topic is rightfully classified, the number of known or suspected terrorists attempting to illegally cross into the United States is not kept secret in the interest of national security and the American people deserve to be informed of this number,” the letter from Reps. John Katko, R-NY, August Pfluger, R-Texas and Clay Higgins, R-La., to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. The concern about who is trying to enter the U.S. has grown as an increasing number of migrants, including from countries across the globe, try to enter the U.S. There were more than 188,000 migrant encounters in June, and that number is expected to rise to more than 210,000 for July. In March, Fox News reported that at least four migrants whose names match those on the terror watch list had been picked up by U.S. Border Patrol since the beginning of the fiscal year. The congressmen said that in a recent trip to El Paso, “it was brought to our attention that recently apprehended individuals had been registered on the terrorist watchlist.”
PBS: Are Federal Sting Operations In U.S. Counterterrorism Cases Legal?
“Sting operations — in which law enforcement either creates or exploits a targeted likely offender’s opportunity to commit a crime — have been used by U.S. agencies for decades. And they’ve been the subject of debate for nearly as long. Experts say federal stings increased after 9/11, in cases such as the one examined by the new FRONTLINE documentary In the Shadow of 9/11, directed by Dan Reed (Leaving Neverland). The film explores how an FBI sting led to the prosecution of the so-called Liberty City Seven, a group of Miami men charged in a 2006 Al Qaeda plot, despite having no connection to the terror group. Some critics say that, as the FBI’s role evolved in the wake of the September 11 attacks, so too did the nature of counterterrorism stings, with the line between investigator and instigator sometimes becoming blurred. Are stings legal? And who’s most affected by them, post-9/11? Here’s a look at the legality of sting operations and how they’ve been used in the 20 years since 2001. Stings are not governed by laws passed by Congress but by guidelines first mapped out by the U.S. Attorney General in 1976. Since then, those guidelines have been revised multiple times, with additional guidance added that can be updated further without notice.”
WLNS: Lansing Man Sentenced For Conspiring To Provide Materials To ISIS
“Muse Muse, 22, of Lansing has been convicted of conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. He faces 78 months in prison and then 10 years of supervised release. Muse Muse was arrested alongside several other men on January 21, 2019 at the Gerald R Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids. Muse was on his way to Mogadishu, Somalia, with the goal of joining ISIS. His brother, Mohamud Muse and cousin Mohamed Haji were also arrested. Muse immediately confessed after his arrest, saying “ [I] wanted to join ISIS in Somalia so I wouldn’t have to do an attack in the United States.” In December 2018 and January 2019, Muse had been in contact with an individual he believed to be an ISIS fighter. The fighter wired money to Muse to buy the plane tickets, where he would meet the representative in Mogadishu. In recorded videos, all three defendants pledge allegiance to ISIS. Muse and the other defendants celebrated a 2017 terrorist attack in New York, as well as saying in a separate text “I am a terrorist” and “I’m going to Somalia, God willing.”
Afghanistan
The Wall Street Journal: Afghanistan Calls For Taliban Sanctions As Militants Capture More Territory
“Afghanistan’s foreign minister called for international sanctions to be reimposed on Taliban leaders as the insurgent movement seized three more provinces, tightening their grip on the country and preparing for a push on Kabul. With Tuesday’s fall of the capitals of Farah, Baghlan and Badakshan provinces, the Taliban have conquered nine of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals, including important cities such as Kunduz, since Friday. They have also strengthened their circle around the country’s biggest regional hubs of Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. The offensive violates the commitments that the Taliban gave to the U.S. under the February 2020 Doha agreements that precipitated the U.S. military withdrawal, and warrants a stern international response, Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar said in an interview. He urged the U.S. and other countries to respond by reinstating United Nations sanctions that had banned Taliban leaders from travel, and by using military force against the group. “The world community should come together to stop Taliban attacks on cities. This is a threat to international peace and security, not just a threat to Afghanistan,” said Mr. Atmar.”
Mali
Arab News: OIC Condemns Terrorist Attack In Mali
“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned the terrorist attack launched by armed men on a number of villages in the Republic of Mali, which killed dozens of civilians. The OIC reiterated its stance against all forms of terrorism, stressing its full solidarity with the Malian authorities in their fight against terrorism and extremism. For his part, OIC Secretary-General Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen offered his condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured. Mali, a landlocked and impoverished state in the heart of the West Africa’s Sahel region, has been battling an insurgency since 2012. The crisis began with unrest in the north of the country that spread to Mali’s ethnically volatile center and then to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso. Armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Daesh are steering the terrorist campaign. Thousands of civilians and troops have died and hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. Mali has suffered two coups since August last year, and on July 20 military leader Colonel Assimi Goita survived an attempted assassination at a mosque in Bamako. Alioune Tine, an independent experts on human rights in the Sahel who reports to the UN, last week warned that a “critical threshold” had been breached in the country’s security situation.”
Africa
Reuters: Seven Sudanese Killed In An Attack On A Village In Darfur -Group
“Seven Sudanese people were killed and 16 others were wounded last week when armed men attacked a village in South Darfur, a group representing hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the Darfur conflict said on Tuesday. General Coordinating Committee for Refugee and Internally Displaced Camps, a non-government group, accused members of mainly Arab militias known as Janjaweed of attacking the Habouba village on Thursday. No official word on who is responsible for the attack that targeted one of the villages that voluntary started to receive returning citizens who fled their homes during the conflict which broke out in Darfur in 2003. Local officials in the South Darfur state said that about 200 armed men attacked the village, adding that a joint security force repelled the deadly attack, the state news agency SUNA reported. They gave different estimates of the number of victims. Conflict broke out in Darfur after mostly non-Arab rebels rose up against Khartoum. Up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million displaced, according to U.N. estimates. Government forces and the Janjaweed militias were accused of committing atrocities during the conflict, accusations that authorities at the time denied.”
Voice Of America: Cameroon Says Hundreds Of Boko Haram Militants From Nigeria And Chad Surrender
“Cameroonian officials say at least 82 former Boko Haram fighters from Nigeria and Chad, along with their families, have surrendered to authorities in the past week. Authorities say they’re the latest among hundreds of the militant Islamists who have been defecting since May, when the group's leader was killed. Cameroon plans to deport the former fighters as the influx has overwhelmed rehabilitation centers along the border. Cameroon’s government on August 10 said its National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration center in Meri, a northern town on the border with Nigeria, has 967 former jihadist militants. A week ago, there were about 700 former Boko Haram fighters and their families in the center. Among the over 260 who arrived within the past one week are 82 former Boko Haram male fighters. The others are women and children. Francis Fai Yengo is the director of DDR centers created by the government of Cameroon for former fighters. He says over 200 of ex-militants are Nigerians. He spoke on Monday after President Paul Biya sent him to meet the former militants and to evaluate their needs. “We came to see the fighters, those young women and men predominantly made of Nigerians flooding out from the Boko Haram camps into our country,” he said.”
Human Rights Watch: Mozambique Government Retakes Key Town From Militants
“Mozambican and Rwandan government forces have taken control of Mocimboa da Praia in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province. The town had been controlled by an armed group linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) since August 2020. Mozambican authorities should now quickly move to ensure humanitarian aid reaches local residents who have been trapped in the town for more than a year. Humanitarian agencies including the United Nations World Food Programme and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) were forced to abandon Mocímboa da Praia last year for security reasons, leaving residents without food and medical supplies. The government should immediately facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to Mocimboa da Praia, meeting obligations as a member state of the Kampala Convention, an African Union treaty on internal displacement, and under international humanitarian law. Most residents had abandoned the villages surrounding Mocimboa de Praia following previous attacks by the armed group, locally known as Al-Shabab or mashababos. Many others fled the coastal town last August, walking several days in the bush or spending days at sea without food or water until reaching the shores of the provincial capital, Pemba.”
Canada
CBC: Former ISIS Recruit Allowed To Finish 7-Year Sentence Living With Wife
“An Ottawa man convicted of attempting to leave Canada to join ISIS will now be able to live with his wife for the remainder of his seven-year sentence after having the residency requirement of his parole removed by the Parole Board of Canada. Carlos Larmond, 30, was released from prison in December 2019 while serving his sentence for attempting to leave Canada to participate in terrorist activity abroad and threatening to kill a corrections officer while in pretrial custody. He was most recently living in a Calgary halfway house. Larmond and his twin brother, Ashton, attended an Ottawa high school and conspired over a five-month period from August 2014 to January 2015, in both Ottawa and Gatineau, Que. Larmond was arrested later that month at a Montreal airport en route to Syria with a plan to join an ISIS terrorist training camp. Last fall, he was granted extra freedoms, such as being able to leave the halfway house to travel to the mountains for overnight trips with his then-fiancée. Those restrictions were further loosened last month, as first reported in the Ottawa Citizen. The parole board is now allowing him to live with his wife. “You benefit from the support of your wife and the relationship appears stable.”
Australia
The Sydney Morning Herald: Terrorism Concerns Keep Alameddine Crime Family Member In Prison
“A young member of Sydney’s notorious Alameddine family will remain in prison for gun and drug supply offences after terrorism concerns stymied his bid for parole. The State Parole Authority (SPA) rejected the application by Bilal Alameddine, 22, based on findings about his attitudes to violence, extremist ties and a suspected attempt to travel to Syria six years ago to fight for Islamic State when the group was at the height of its powers in Iraq and Syria. In the early hours of July 7, 2015, Bilal Alameddine, then aged 16, packed two bags and set off for Sydney Airport with a seat booked on Emirates flight EK415 to Dubai. About 5.30am, as the flight’s scheduled departure time approached, Alameddine’s mother and father appeared at Wentworthville police station in western Sydney to report “serious concerns” about their son’s intentions to join the caliphate. For months, according to a record of the exchange entered in the NSW Police internal database, the parents had observed Alameddine watching Islamic State videos online every day “to the point that he has become obsessed with them”. The evening before the attempted flight, Alameddine’s mother had a short conversation with him about his plans to travel, but his parents did not know how he could have the money.”
Technology
“Users are sharing a fabricated screenshot claiming that Apple will scan U.S. iPhones for extremist content, far-right propaganda, and firearm ownership. The screenshot has been digitally altered and Apple denied the assertions. Examples can be seen here and here. The description in one post reads: “Oh-oh. That’s great! Guess they will have fun with my pictures! Anyone know how to bypass this? Asking for myself and other iPhone users.” The text in the screenshot reads: “Apple plans to scan US iPhones for extremist content and firearms. Security researchers fear neuralMatch system could be misused to spy on citizens. Apple will scan photo libraries stored on IPhones in the US for known far-right propaganda as well as firearm ownership, the company says, drawing praise from the ADL and mothers demand action. The company will also extend examination of end-to-end encrypted messages.” The article contains editing mistakes and odd font variation. It lists “Alex Hern and agencies” as the author of the article. The original article, published by The Guardian on Aug. 6, 2021, can be seen here and actually features the headline, “Apple plans to scan US iPhones for child sexual abuse images.” The headline and first paragraph have been altered.”
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