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Eye on Extremism
August 27, 2021
The Wall Street Journal: Kabul Airport Attack Kills 13 U.S. Service Members, at Least 90 Afghans
“More than 100 people were killed, including at least 13 U.S. service members and 90 Afghans, at the Kabul airport Thursday when two blasts ripped through crowds trying to enter the American-controlled facility, disrupting the final push of the U.S.-led evacuation effort. A suicide bomb attack at the airport’s Abbey Gate was followed by an assault by gunmen, officials said. Another bomb attack took place nearby, at a hotel outside the airport, officials said. Eighteen U.S. service members were injured, the Pentagon said. The attack marked the deadliest day for the U.S. military in Afghanistan since 2011, and came just five days before the Biden administration’s deadline for the complete military withdrawal from the country. The military expects more attacks, Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters. President Biden on Thursday evening said he was heartbroken by the violence and vowed to retaliate for the attacks, while promising to continue evacuation efforts. “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Mr. Biden said in remarks at the White House. He said he had instructed his national security advisers to develop response plans to the attack.”
USA Today: Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump, Extremists, Alleging Conspiracy, Terrorism On Jan. 6
“Seven officers from the United States Capitol Police are suing former President Donald Trump, his longtime adviser Roger Stone and members of far-right extremist groups, alleging they conspired to use violence Jan. 6 to attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday morning, alleges that Trump and the other defendants conspired with one other through the use of force, threats and intimidation that culminated in the attack on the Capitol. Officer Jason DeRoche, an 18-year veteran of the Capitol Police and a Navy veteran, said the civil lawsuit isn't about winning a financial settlement. Rather, he said, the lawsuit aims to set the record straight about what happened Jan. 6 and make sure history doesn't repeat itself. “We don't want something like this happening ever again,” DeRoche said. He said he wants Trump and the other defendants to be held accountable for what they did, so that “if they were to do this ever again, there would be consequences.” Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Joining DeRoche in the lawsuit are six other veteran Capitol Police officers who have each served 13 to 35 years at the department.”
United States
“A man upset over state-ordered coronavirus restrictions was sentenced to just over six years in prison Wednesday for planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a significant break that reflected his quick decision to cooperate and help agents build cases against others. Ty Garbin admitted his role in the alleged scheme weeks after his arrest last fall. He is among six men charged in federal court but the only one to plead guilty so far. It was a key victory for prosecutors as they try to prove an astonishing plot against the rest. One of the other five defendants is Brian Higgins, 52, of Wisconsin Dells, who was charged in Michigan in October with one charge of providing material support to a terrorist act. Higgins is accused of participating in the plot to kidnap Whitmer by providing use of night-vision goggles and using a dash cam to surveil the governor’s vacation home. Garbin apologized to Whitmer, who was not in court, and her family. “I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of stress and fear her family felt because of my actions. And for that I am truly sorry,” the 25-year-old aviation mechanic told the judge. In his plea agreement, Garbin said the six men trained at his property near Luther, Michigan, constructing a “shoot house” to resemble Whitmer’s vacation home and “assaulting it with firearms.”
Syria
Al Monitor: Taliban Takeover May Push Syrian Jihadis Toward Afghanistan
“Jihadi factions in Syria are hailing the Taliban’s takeover of most of Afghanistan. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, congratulated the Taliban on their “conquest” in an Aug. 18 statement. Many other jihadi factions hostile to HTS followed suit, praising what they described as a “victory” by the Taliban. A group known as Al-Jihad Coordination, the Firqat al-Ghuraba battalion and Jund al-Sham issued separate statements congratulating the Taliban movement on their advance. The congratulatory statements came from groups many observers believed had been eliminated. Instead they had been quietly avoiding persecution by HTS, which has been cracking down on groups espousing ideologies similar to al-Qaeda's. Al-Jihad Coordination is led by Abu al-Abd Ashidaa, who was arrested in 2019 by HTS after having defected from it. He had opposed HTS’ approach and disassociation from al-Qaeda. In an Aug. 16 statement the group said, “To our people in beloved Afghanistan: You have reaped what you have sown. … On this glorious occasion, we call upon all vanguards of the Ummah, the patient mujahideen everywhere, to have patience and show steadfastness.”
Afghanistan
The New York Times: After Decades Of War, ISIS And Al Qaeda Can Still Wreak Havoc
“The nightmare that kept counterterrorism experts awake even before the Taliban returned to power is that Afghanistan would become fertile ground for terrorist groups, most notably Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Two explosions claimed by the Islamic State that killed dozens of people, including at least 13 American service members, in Kabul on Thursday bolstered fears that the nightmare was fast becoming a reality. “I can’t tell you how upsetting and depressing this is,” said Saad Mohseni, the owner of Tolo, one of Afghanistan’s most popular television channels. “It feels like it’s back to business as usual — more bombings, more attacks, except that now we’re going to have to deal with it all under a Taliban regime.” Twenty years of military action by the United States and its international partners aimed at stamping out terrorism have exacted major tolls on Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, killing many of their fighters and leaders and largely preventing them from holding territory. But both groups have proved able to adapt, terrorism experts say, evolving into more diffuse organizations that continually seek out new global trouble spots to take root and put their violent extremism into action.”
The Wall Street Journal: Inside The Hidden War Between The Taliban And ISIS
“Two days before he was shot dead by the Taliban, Abu Omar Khorasani, a onetime leader of Islamic State in Afghanistan, sat slumped in a dingy Afghan prison interview room, waiting for his soon-to-be executioners. Mr. Khorasani saw the Taliban’s advance as a harbinger for change. For years both organizations had sworn to rid Afghanistan of nonbelievers. “They will let me free if they are good Muslims,” he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. When Taliban fighters seized Kabul last week, they took control of the prison, freed hundreds of inmates, and killed Mr. Khorasani and eight other members of his terror group. Just as the Taliban has been fighting American coalition forces in Afghanistan, it has been waging a separate but parallel war against its rival Islamist group. On one side are the Taliban, who have co-opted remnants of al Qaeda. On the other is the Afghan arm of Islamic State, known as ISIS-K, which has sought to incorporate parts of Afghanistan into a broader caliphate emanating from the Middle East. The Taliban, assisted at times by other countries and U.S. coalition forces, were the winner in that effort, defense officials say. ISIS-K has been driven from its enclaves in Afghanistan and its fighters dispersed into hiding.”
NBC News: What Is ISIS-K? Islamic State Group's Affiliate Behind Kabul Airport Attack
“The terrorist group behind the Kabul suicide bombing Thursday that killed U.S. Marines and dozens of others and derailed the ongoing Afghan evacuation is a competitor of the Taliban — and even more extreme. The Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, is the Afghan offshoot of the Islamic State terror group, which publicly beheaded foreign journalists and inflicted brutalities on captured Kurds and others in Iraq and Syria. “They have a higher proclivity to target civilians they regard as infidels,” Seth G. Jones, a counterterrorism expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said of ISIS-K. And the ISIS-K attack wasn’t just aimed at the Americans, it was also meant to embarrass the Taliban, the experts said. “This attack will look bad to the West, but it makes the Taliban look as if they are not in control of their own environment,” said Raffaello Pantucci, senior fellow at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “It undermines the idea that they rule this place.” Based east of Kabul in the Kunar and the Nangarhar provinces near the Pakistani border, ISIS-K had anywhere from 1,500 to 2,200 fighters just three years ago, according to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2018.”
“…Retired senior British diplomat Ivor Roberts told VOA that assigning members of the Haqqani network to oversee the security of Kabul is akin to the ‘fox being put in charge of a chicken coop.’ Roberts, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit network that researches extremist groups, said he was surprised at the move. ‘I thought from the PR point of view, the Taliban was being a bit smarter than that,’ he said. ‘Instead, they’re putting forward the worst elements of their loose coalition, which sends a terrible signal to women, girls and civil society. And I think it increases the possibility of Afghanistan becoming a breeding ground for international terrorism again.’ He added: ‘I don’t think they will ever cut ties with al-Qaeda. They’re deeply embedded with al-Qaeda and always have been.’”
“…Retired senior British diplomat Ivor Roberts told VOA that assigning members of the Haqqani network to oversee the security of Kabul is akin to the 'fox being put in charge of a chicken coop.' Roberts, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit network that researches extremist groups, said he was surprised at the move. 'I thought from the PR point of view, the Taliban was being a bit smarter than that,' he said. 'Instead, they're putting forward the worst elements of their loose coalition, which sends a terrible signal to women, girls and civil society. And I think it increases the possibility of Afghanistan becoming a breeding ground for international terrorism again.' He added: 'I don't think they will ever cut ties with al-Qaeda. They're deeply embedded with al-Qaeda and always have been.'”
Nigeria
“Troops of Sector 2 Joint Task Force North East Operation Hadin Kai have foiled an attempted attack on Babangida town in Yobe State on Wednesday 25 August 2021 by Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province terrorists, prowling for logistics replenishment. The criminals made a futile effort to infiltrate the town but were met with a fierce counterattack from the vigilant troops, forcing them to retreat in disarray. In the counter-attack, the gallant troops captured one gun truck, one Dushka Anti Aircraft Gun, two AK 47 rifles and unprimed Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) from the fleeing terrorists. A statement by Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, Director, Army Public Relations said “Further exploitation by the troops is still ongoing”. “The dogged troops have been commended by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya for their vigilance and swiftness in countering the attack”. “He also encouraged them to remain focused and avoid any form of distraction from the terrorists, who are desperate to make face-saving moves, having suffered enormous depletion in their ranks. “Law-abiding people of Yobe State and North East in general, are assured of the Chief of Army Staff's determination to finally rout the Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province terrorists from their hideouts.”
Australia
“A guns-obsessed neo-Nazi who talked about carrying out a mass shooting will be kept behind bars when his weapons sentence expires. Radicalised white supremacist Michael Holt “poses an unacceptable risk of committing a serious terrorism offence if not either detained or supervised”, Justice Natalie Adams said in the supreme court on Thursday. She ordered the 31-year-old be subject to a 28-day interim detention order from 9 September, when his sentence for a string of NSW firearm offences expires. His term for commonwealth offences relating to child sexual abuse material expires one year later, while he is yet to be sentenced for producing child abuse material found in his cell in March. In making the interim order, Adams considered voluminous material on his background, crimes and an assessment of the risks he poses. “Mr Holt remains on the pathway toward an act of violent extremism, politically motivated violence or terrorism,” the assessment concluded. Holt, whose tattoos include an Iron Cross containing a swastika, “SS runes” and a death’s head, was found to have supported violent extremism, politically motivated violence or terrorism while in custody and in the community.”
Southeast Asia
“Security forces in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim majority nation, will step up an anti-terror crackdown after the deadly attacks in Kabul claimed by an Islamic State affiliate. There was strong condemnation from Muslim nations on Friday of the blasts that killed at least 85 people, including 13 US servicemen. Indonesia, home to 225 million Muslims, joined governments in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in denouncing the suicide bombings outside Kabul airport. Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had, in the hours before the explosions, been in Qatar, where she met with representatives of the Taliban in Doha. “I conveyed to the Taliban the importance of an inclusive government in Afghanistan; respecting women’s rights; and ensuring Afghanistan does not become a breeding ground for terrorist organisation and activities,” she said. “Indonesia strongly condemns the terrorist attacks near Kabul airport which killed dozens and injured many.” Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, branded the attacks as “incompatible with all religious principles and moral and human values”, Turkey slammed the “heinous attack in the strongest terms” and Egypt decried it as “gruesome terrorism”.
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