“Islamist extremist social media lit up with celebratory messages as the
Taliban cemented its control over Afghanistan this weekend, raising concerns

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


August 18, 2021 

 

 

The Wall Street Journal: Taliban Takeover Of Afghanistan Celebrated By
Extremists On Social Media
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“Islamist extremist social media lit up with celebratory messages as the
Taliban cemented its control over Afghanistan this weekend, raising concerns
that a weakened al Qaeda and other terrorist groups could stage a comeback in
the wake of the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal. U.S. officials, meanwhile,
said they are likely to reassess their timeline for how rapidly al Qaeda’s core
group, ravaged by years of U.S. counterterrorism operations, could reconstitute
itself. The longstanding intelligence assessment had been 18 months to two
years after an American military withdrawal, current and former U.S. officials
said. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks conducted by al Qaeda, a counterterrorism mission that President Biden
said was completed long ago. But jihadist groups saw the stunningly rapid sweep
to power of the Taliban—which harbored al Qaeda before 2001 and hasn’t publicly
broken with it—as validating their strategy of patience, analysts who follow
their online postings said. “This is without a doubt the most significant day
for al Qaeda since 9/11,” Charles Lister, of the nonpartisan Middle East
Institute, wrote in a post on Medium.com, saying the extremist group was in
dire straits just weeks ago.”

 

Reuters: Gunmen Kill 37, Including Children, In Niger Village
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“Unidentified armed men have killed 37 civilians, including 14 children, in an
attack on a village in southwest Niger, according to internal security service
memos and a local official. The attack occurred on Monday in the commune of
Banibangou, in the Tillabery region near the Malian border, where Islamist
militants have massacred hundreds of civilians this year. The government did
not respond to requests for comment on the information shared by two security
sources and confirmed by a local official who attended a mass funeral in the
village. Armed groups in the Tillabery and Tahoua regions have killed over 420
civilians and driven tens of thousands of others from their homes in 2021, New
York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said in an Aug. 11 report. The
attacks are part of a wider conflict spanning the borderlands of Mali, Burkina
Faso and Niger in Africa's Sahel region where jihadists linked to al Qaeda and
Islamic State are seeking to take control. Niger alone has seen a sharp rise in
attacks on civilians this year, including some of the worst routs in living
memory. In March, attackers killed 137 in coordinated raids in the Tahoua
region and in January over 100 people were killed in the same region as
Monday's attack.”

 

United States

 

The Guardian: Biden’s ‘Over The Horizon’ Counter-Terrorism Strategy Comes With
New Risks
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“Joe Biden has said the US will maintain an “over the horizon”
counter-terrorism capability to neutralise the threat posed by Islamist
extremist groups in Afghanistan. With no troops on the ground, no
intelligence-gathering operation in the country and no ally with shared
borders, this kind of long-range effort to stop plots targeting the west will
not be easy – and is made significantly harder by the range of the
organisations based in territory now nominally under Taliban control. What any
violent extremist group needs more than anything else is a secure location
where it can plan, organise, recruit, strategise and gather resources. Without
this, few insurgents and terrorists survive, let alone succeed. Pakistan
provided this to the Taliban, greatly aiding their 20-year campaign that ended
in victory this week. Al-Qaida had one from 1996-2001 – and it was the prospect
of losing the haven that Afghanistan offered that led many of its most senior
leaders to oppose Osama bin Laden’s plan to launch the 9/11 attack on the US.
Al-Qaida was forced to flee Afghanistan after the war of 2001 but has slowly
returned. It does not have anywhere near the extensive infrastructure of 20
years ago when it ran a dozen training camps.”

 

AZ Central: Midwestern University Student Arrested On Terrorism Charges After
Threats To Shoot School
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“Glendale police arrested a Midwestern University student Monday morning after
he allegedly made threats to shoot the school.  Police arrested 30-year-old
Tony Tran, a Tempe resident, Monday morning before he arrived at the medical
university’s Glendale campus, located near 59th Avenue and Union Hills Drive.
Tran faces three felony counts, including engaging in acts of terrorism. At
approximately 1:30 a.m., a family member notified police that Tran told them of
his intent to commit violence at 10 a.m. during a meeting with a university
dean. Tran sent the family member a video message, in which he stated that he
hoped to be arrested before the incident to get assistance for an unspecified
mental illness, according to court documents. In response, university officials
closed most access points to the university, increased law enforcement presence
and canceled exams, said a police statement. Police did not indicate if a
specific person was targeted in the planned shooting or additional motives.
However, court documents mentioned that Tran was a student of the university
but that he had recently been suspended for unknown reasons. Tran left his home
in Tempe at approximately 9 a.m. for the university but was stopped and
detained by police shortly afterward.”

 

Turkey

 

Al Monitor: Islamic State Suspects Use Turkey’s Remorse Law To Get Off The Hook

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“Back in February, Turkish police posing as buyers rescued a 7-year-old Yazidi
girl — one of the many Yazidi victims the Islamic State (IS) abducted and
enslaved — after her captives advertised her for sale on what is known as the
“deep web” of criminal activities. Less than half a year on, the three Iraqi
suspects nabbed in the operation in Ankara have all walked free. That IS
militants could easily find safe harbor in Turkey is not a secret, but the fact
that suspects supposed to stand trial for grave crimes such as abduction,
enslavement and maltreatment could walk free under judicial control is not
merely a legal scandal but a sign that the suspects are shown leniency and
favor. Moreover, the trials of IS suspects in Turkey show the penal code’s
Article 221 on “effective remorse” — designed to encourage confessions about
terrorist groups in return for sentence reductions — is becoming a means for
suspects to evade due punishment. The police raid in which the Yazidi girl was
rescued led to the detention of Sabah Ali Hussein Oruc, who, according to the
initial official account of the raid, was a ranking IS member in Mosul and had
brought the girl along from Iraq, as well as two other Iraqis identified as
Anas V. and Nasser H.R. Turkish journalist Hale Gonultas…”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Hill: Afghanistan's Fall Renews Terrorism Fears For US
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“The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban has raised fears that terrorist groups
capable of threatening the U.S. homeland will thrive anew amid the chaos. U.S.
military officials are reassessing their previous estimate that al Qaeda could
reconstitute as a threat in two years after the Taliban completed its
stunningly rapid rise back to power this weekend. Since first announcing the
U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in April, the Biden administration has said it
will keep terrorism threats in check using forces based elsewhere in the
region. But the debacle of the withdrawal has raised questions about whether
the United States has adequately prepared to face threats emanating from
Afghanistan. “There's no question that the return of the Taliban opens up space
in this new Islamic emirate for al Qaeda to return, rebuild a base, and for
other groups associated or previously associated with al Qaeda, like ISIS, to
return to the region,” said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the
National Security Institute at George Mason University. “Jihadi fighters of all
stripes will now once again make Afghanistan their home, as they did in the
lead-up to 9/11,” added Jaffer, who previously served as senior counsel to
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.”

 

The Daily Express: How Taliban Have Learnt From Al-Qaeda 'Strategic Error' As
Concerns Mount Over Comeback
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“…Sir Ivor Roberts, a former UK counter-terrorism chief and senior adviser to
the Counter Extremism Project, a Washington-based think tank, told Metro: “This
is a moment of extreme danger for the West. “Quite apart from disaster being
visited on Afghan people, the West faces a renewal of the same terrorist threat
which led to 9/11 and the rise of ISIS. “Some reports have spoken of up to 20
terrorist groups providing foreign fighters to support the Taliban sweep
through Afghanistan. “Alongside the power the Taliban has demonstrated over the
last few days and the potential extremism potentially brewing beneath the
surface, the UK and the West will bear the consequences. “This international
catastrophe is coming straight to our door, in the form of an international
terrorist threat.”

 

Deutsche Welle: Afghanistan: Taliban To Reap $1 Trillion Mineral Wealth
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“…Some analysts, however, question whether the Taliban have the competence and
willingness to exploit the country's natural resources given the income they
generate from the drug trade. "These resources were in the ground in the 90s
too and they [The Taliban] weren't able to extract them," Hans-Jakob Schindler,
Senior Director at the Counter Extremism Project, told DW. "One has to remain
very skeptical of their ability to grow the Afghan economy or even their
interest in doing so." Even so, senior Taliban officials last month met Chinese
Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tianjin, where Taliban Political Commission Mullah
Abdul Ghani Baradar said he hoped China would "play a bigger role in
[Afghanistan's] future reconstruction and economic development." On Monday, as
the Taliban prepared to revert to the country's old name — the Islamic Emirate
of Afghanistan — China said it was ready for "friendly and cooperative
relations" with the new rulers.”

 

Lebanon

 

Newsweek: UN Peacekeepers Let Hezbollah Call The Shots
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“Each year, at the end of August, the UN Security Council holds a vote on
whether to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
(UNIFIL) for another 12 months. Now in its 43rd year, this “interim”
peacekeeping force numbers more than 10,000 soldiers and has an annual budget
of more than $500 million—roughly $145 million of which comes from the United
States. In theory, UNIFIL's mission is to prevent Hezbollah from launching
attacks against Israel from southern Lebanon, and to ensure the area is free of
weapons. In practice, UNIFIL is an expensive charade. Hezbollah holds absolute
sway in southern Lebanon. And now, just in time for the Security Council's
annual vote, the Lebanese terrorist organization has shown once again that it
determines what is permissible for UNIFIL, including whether and how the
peacekeepers can monitor the Lebanese-Israeli border, known as the Blue Line.
Each year, as part of the ritual of renewing UNIFIL's mandate, Hezbollah puts
out barely veiled threats, mainly targeting France and other European countries
that contribute troops to UNIFIL, warning against any attempt to alter the
status quo. Last month, through its usual channels in the Lebanese press,
Hezbollah once again leveled its customary threats.”

 

Middle East

 

The National: UAE Reinforces Commitment To Combat Money Laundering And
Terrorist Financing
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“The UAE’s Ministry of Economy on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to
fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism and illegal
organisations, in line with its aim of fully complying with the International
Financial Action Task Force obligations. The private sector is a strategic
partner in achieving the country's goals including compliance with regulation
and supervision of the Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, the
ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. DNFBPs include professions outside the
financial services sector that have higher anti-money laundering and combating
the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) exposure. “We count on the partnership and
cooperation of the DNFBPs to achieve the highest levels of oversight and
compliance and contribute towards protecting these sectors’ investments from
money laundering risks,” Mohamed Al Janahi, head of AML Supervision at the
Ministry of Economy, said. The UAE has introduced strict measures to combat
money laundering, setting up a dedicated agency earlier this year to identify
money launderers and those suspected of financing terrorists and organised
crime. The Central Bank of the UAE also regularly issues guidelines on how
companies can assess money-laundering risks.”

 

Egypt

 

France 24: Families Of Egypt Death Row Islamists Face Agonising Wait
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“After surviving the bloodshed when Egyptian security forces killed some 800
people in a sprawling Islamist protest camp in 2013, 12 Muslim Brotherhood
members are on death row waiting to be hanged. For their families, it is an
agonising wait, knowing their loved ones could be executed at any moment,
without warning, having exhausted all avenues of appeal. Brothers Mahmud and
Adam, who spoke to AFP on condition their real names not be used for fear of
repercussions, said their inability to do any more to exonerate their father
was a constant source of anxiety. “The pain of his absence has grown worse now
he's been condemned to death in a final verdict and he's going to die no matter
what. It really is a disastrous situation,” Adam told AFP. The 12 prisoners
facing imminent execution were among 739 defendants prosecuted in a mass trial
that the United Nations condemned as a travesty of justice. London-based human
rights group Amnesty International accused Egypt of seeking to divert attention
from the culpability of the security forces for the August 2013 mass shooting
in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. “It has become increasingly clear that the
Egyptian authorities are intent on shielding security forces from any
accountability for their role in the Rabaa massacre,” the group's Middle East
and North Africa deputy director, Lynn Maalouf, said.”

 

Nigeria

 

Voice Of America: Nigeria Says Taliban Victory Puts Africa In Terror Spotlight
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“With the Taliban's swift takeover in Afghanistan, Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari this week warned that the “war on terror” is not over but is
shifting to Africa.  Writing in the Financial Times newspaper, Buhari said
Africa needs more than U.S. military assistance to defeat terrorism – it needs
investment. The Nigerian president warned in his opinion piece that the U.S.
departure from Afghanistan did not mean the so-called war on terror was winding
down.  He said said the threat is merely shifting to a new frontline - in
Africa. He cited the rising threat of terrorist groups in Africa, from Boko
Haram in Nigeria and the Sahel region to al-Shabab in Somalia and a rising
insurgency in Mozambique. But Buhari lamented that Western allies, “bruised by
their Middle East and Afghan experiences,” were not prioritizing Africa. The
president's spokespeople could not be immediately reached for comment. But
expert Kabiru Adamu of Beacon Security agrees with the president's opinion. “It
is very likely that the developments in Afghanistan could definitely spur
terrorist groups within Africa.  It will embolden them, it will make them look
at the bigger picture, which is the fact that resilience and a continuation of
their efforts could lead to victory,” Adamu said.”

 

Europe

 

France 24: Spain Marks 4th Anniversary Of Deadly Catalonia Attacks
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“Barcelona staged a low-key ceremony on Tuesday in memory of the 16 people who
died during attacks in the Spanish city and a nearby resort four years ago.
Wearing face masks and maintaining social distance because of the pandemic,
dozens of people observed a minute's silence on the tree-lined Las Ramblas
boulevard where on August 17, 2017 a van mowed down pedestrians leaving behind
a trail of bodies. Relatives of the victims laid white carnations in front of a
memorial plaque which marks the spot where the van came to a stop. Among those
in attendance was the president of the regional government of Catalonia, Pere
Aragones, and Barcelona mayor Ada Colau. “Four years after the death of my son,
it's still hard. I think every year it gets harder,” Javier Martinez, father of
three year old who died in the attack, told reporters. The attacks, which also
injured 140 people, were carried out by a cell made up mostly of young people
of Moroccan descent who grew up in Catalonia. They were claimed by the Islamic
State group. A 22-year-old drove the van down Las Ramblas at high speed before
fleeing in a car he stole after killing the driver. He was shot dead by police
four days later. Several hours after the attack, five of his accomplices drove
into more pedestrians and stabbed a woman who later died of her injuries in
Cambrils, a seaside resort 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the south.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Reuters: Hong Kong Police Arrest Four Students For 'Advocating Terrorism'
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“Hong Kong police said on Wednesday four students were arrested for
“advocating terrorism” after their student union passed a motion last month
mourning the death of a 50-year-old who stabbed a policeman before killing
himself. Police have said an officer was stabbed from behind on July 1, while
on duty with other policemen preventing protest gatherings on the anniversary
of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997. The man then
stabbed himself in the chest with the knife and died later in the hospital. The
policeman, 28, suffered a punctured lung, but survived what Secretary for
Security Chris Tang described as a terrorist act by a “lone wolf.” Shortly
after the attack, a few dozen members of the Hong Kong University student union
passed a motion, since withdrawn, to commemorate the 50-year-old's death and
“appreciate” his “sacrifice.” The union leaders have resigned and apologised
for the “inappropriate” motion. The union's campus office has since been raided
by national security police and the university has severed ties with the union
and banned about 30 students who signed the motion from entering its premises.
“The motion is very shocking,” Senior Superintendent Steve Li told reporters.”

 

Technology

 

CNN: How Social Media Is Dealing With The Taliban Takeover
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“It's been two days since Kabul fell to the Taliban and social media giants
are scrambling to figure out how to deal with the takeover of Afghanistan by
the militants. On Tuesday, Facebook (FB) reiterated its ban on accounts
praising, supporting, or representing the Taliban from its platforms, including
WhatsApp and Instagram, and said that it would remove “accounts maintained by
or on behalf of the Taliban.” “The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist
organization under US law and we have banned them from our services under our
Dangerous Organization policies,” a company spokesperson said. Facebook
designates “dangerous organizations” into three tiers, with the first one being
subjected to “the most extensive enforcement.” Entities in tier 1 include
terrorist, hate, and criminal organizations. While the Taliban have been banned
from Facebook's platforms for “years,” the company did not reveal when exactly
the restrictions were placed. The company said it employs a “dedicated team of
Afghanistan experts, who are native Dari and Pashto speakers and have knowledge
of local context” tasked with identifying “emerging issues.” “Regardless of who
holds power, we will take the appropriate action against accounts and content
that breaks our rules,” Facebook stated.”



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