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Eye on Extremism
September 23, 2021
The Wall Street Journal: Islamic State Attacks In Eastern Afghanistan Challenge Taliban Rule
“A spate of attacks killed at least five people in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province on Wednesday, the latest outbreak of violence in an area where Islamic State’s regional affiliate is mounting a challenge to the Taliban’s control of the country. Militants carried out at least two bombings and a gun attack Wednesday in Jalalabad, Nangarhar’s provincial capital. In the shooting attack, at least two Taliban fighters and a civilian were killed, according to local residents. Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or ISKP, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Wednesday’s bloodshed in Jalalabad followed improvised-explosive-device attacks over the weekend on Taliban patrols that killed several fighters in the city. ISKP also claimed those strikes on what it described as “the apostate Taliban militia.” While both the Taliban and ISKP want to impose strict Islamic rule over Afghanistan, the two groups have profound political and religious differences, and have repeatedly fought each other since Islamic State’s regional franchise was established in 2015. The Taliban say they want to have friendly relations with all nations, including the U.S., and have just designated an ambassador to the United Nations. Islamic State doesn’t recognize the idea of a modern nation-state and seeks global conquest.”
The New York Times: Germany’s Far Right Is Nowhere In The Election. But It’s ‘Here To Stay.’
“They promised they would “hunt” the elites. They questioned the need for a Holocaust memorial in Berlin and described Muslim immigrants as “head scarf girls” and “knife men.” Four years ago the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, arrived in the German Parliament like a wrecking ball, the first far-right party to win a place at the heart of Germany’s democracy since World War II. It was a political earthquake in a country that had once seen Hitler’s Nazi party rise from the fringes to win power in free elections. As another election looms on Sunday, the worst fears of many Germans have not come true: Support for the party has dipped. But neither have the hopes that the AfD would disappear from the political scene as suddenly as it appeared. If Germany’s fate in this election will not be settled by the far right, political analysts say, Germany’s future will partly be shaped by it. “The AfD is here to stay,” said Matthias Quent, professor of sociology at Magdeburg University of Applied Sciences and an expert on the far right. “There was the widespread and naïve hope that this was a short-lived protest phenomenon. The reality is that the far right has become entrenched in the German political landscape.”
Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat: Anti-ISIS Coalition Reviews Its Role In Iraq
“The US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS announced that it was reorganizing “to an advisory and assist role” in Iraq by the end of the year. However, Coalition Spokesman Wayne Marotto stressed on Twitter commitment to security cooperation and partnership with the government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government in the war against ISIS. He also emphasized that the coalition supported “a secure and stable Iraq.” These statements come as the Joint Operations Command in Iraq announced the withdrawal of three new US units in accordance with the strategic agreement between Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and US President Joe Biden during the fourth round of consultations in Washington at the end of July. The spokesman for the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, Major General Tahsin al-Khafaji, said in a press statement on Tuesday that Iraq no longer needed foreign combat forces on its soil. “The strategic dialogue with the United States contributed to the agreement on the withdrawal of three American combat units from the Ain al-Assad base in Anbar, and the Harir base in Erbil, by the end of this month, to head outside Iraq,” he stated. He noted that the agreement at the same time provided for the continuation of training, equipment and advice.”
Turkey
Al Monitor: How An Islamic State Suspect Lived As A Shopkeeper In Turkey
“The first time that Turkey faced the deadly threat of the Islamic State (IS) on its soil was in March 2014, when three foreign IS militants opened fire at a checkpoint in the province of Nigde, killing two members of the security forces and a civilian. The culprits were sentenced to life but only after a controversial trial. Scores of other cases against IS suspects have been marked by judicial oddities and what many observers see as obtrusive leniency on the part of the Turkish judiciary. In a country where peaceful political dissidents could languish in jail for years without conviction, many IS defendants have walked free or benefited from sentence reductions under “effective remorse” provisions, as Al-Monitor reported last month. Yet, few cases have been as striking as Jamal Abdul Rahman Alwi, who allegedly ordered the burning to death of two Turkish soldiers that the radical group had captured in northern Syria. A video released by IS in December 2016 showed the pair being hauled from a cage before being bound and torched. Despite the huge outpouring of fury on social media at the time, the Turkish government kept mum on the incident.”
Afghanistan
The Wall Street Journal: U.S., Russian Military Officials Meet Amid Concerns About Terrorism Fight
“The Pentagon’s top officer met with his Russian counterpart in the Finnish capital Wednesday amid American and allied efforts to find ways to fight terrorism after the departure of U.S. and allied troops from Afghanistan last month. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley met here with Chief of Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, officials said. U.S. military officials declined to provide any details of the meeting, except to issue a brief statement saying the two discussed “risk reduction and operational deconfliction.” The U.S. and Russia have in the past discussed how to avoid conflict in Syria, where both countries maintain troops, and in the Black Sea, where both militaries conduct naval patrols. The two sides have also discussed Moscow’s incursion into Crimea and its massing of forces along Ukraine’s eastern and southern borders. But Gen. Milley, on a tour through Europe this week, has been focused on terrorism and countering violent extremism in the region. He met NATO chiefs of defense in Athens before meeting with a smaller group of his counterparts in Berlin on Monday. On Tuesday, he was in London meeting with the military chiefs of the other “Five Eyes” nations, including Canada, Australia, the U.K. and New Zealand.”
Voice Of America: ISIS-K Could Be First Afghan Terror Group To Put US In Its Sights
“The biggest danger to the United States and the West following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could well come from the Islamic State terror group’s Afghan affiliate, and not from al-Qaida, despite the latter’s long-standing relationship with the Taliban. The top U.S. counterterrorism official told lawmakers Wednesday that while both terror groups have been more heavily focused on expanding their regional networks, there are indications that when it comes to the IS affiliate, known as IS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, that might be changing. “My own concern is very specifically around ISIS-K and the degree to which ISIS-K [is] building off the notoriety it received after the attack on August 26,” National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid said during a hearing on threats to the United States. “Will it become more focused on the West? Will it become more focused on the homeland than it was?” Abizaid asked. The August 26 suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, during the waning days of the U.S. evacuation, killed 13 American service members and more than 160 Afghans. The attack, quickly claimed by IS-Khorasan, sparked a series of warnings about additional attacks targeting the airport.”
“…11 a.m. — Counter Extremism Project webinar: “Future Terrorism And Security Challenges Emanating From Afghanistan,” with Edmund Fitton-Brown, coordinator of the ISIL, al Qaeda and Taliban Monitoring Team, U.N. Security Council; Sofia Koller, research fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations; and Guido Steinberg, senior fellow, German Institute for International and Security Affairs.”
Saudi Arabia
“The Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Salman confirmed Saudi Arabia's perpetual commitment with the international legitimacy principles and resolutions, respect of national sovereignty of all countries and non-interference in other countries internal affairs. The Monarch also underscored the importance of making the Middle East a mass destruction weapons free, and his country's continuation to confront extremist thought based on the rhetoric of hate and exclusion as well as the practices of terrorist groups and sectarian militias which manage to destruct people and nations. The Custodian of Two Holy Mosques reiterated in the speech he delivered Wednesday via virtual communication before the 76th UN General Assembly in New York, the Kingdom's keenness on the recovery of the global economy. He cited the pioneering efforts the Kingdom has exerted, in cooperation with its partners in OPEC+ and within the framework of the G20 to address the severe consequences of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in order to enhance the world oil market stability, its balance and supplies in a way that preserves the interests of producers and consumers as well. At the outset, the King began by congratulating Abdulla Shahid on his election as President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.”
Africa
Reuters: Congo Arrests Middle Eastern National For Links To Islamist Militia
“Democratic Republic of Congo has said it has arrested a Middle Eastern national for alleged ties to an Islamist militia in the east of DRC, potentially the first time a non-African fighter has been found working with the group. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist armed group led by Ugandans, has been blamed for dozens of massacres with hatchets and firearms in the last three years, mostly in remote villages. In 2019 the ADF's leadership pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS), which has in turn claimed dozens of the ADF's attacks, although United Nations experts say they have not found conclusive evidence that IS has control over ADF operations. Congo's government spokesman Patrick Muyaya confirmed the man's arrest. “The person arrested is of Jordanian nationality. He was taken back to Kinshasa for further interrogation,” Muyaya told Reuters. According to documents seen by Reuters, however, the man was carrying a Kosovo residence permit, identifying him as a 40-year-old Saudi Arabian national. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the document's authenticity. The man is believed to have been in charge of the militia's drones, and was arrested on Sept. 18 in Makisabo, near the city of Beni, North Kivu province, where the ADF are active, according to internal army reports seen by Reuters.”
Associated Press: Canadian Recounts Her Abduction By Jihadis In Burkina Faso
“Nearly a year and a half after being abducted by Islamic extremists in Burkina Faso, Edith Blais risked her life to escape, fearing she’d never be free. “(What you’re thinking is either) you stay there your whole life and you die there, or you try something,” Blais told The Associated Press by phone ahead of this week’s publication of her book recounting the ordeal, “The Weight of Sand: My 450 Days Held Hostage in the Sahara.” The 37-year-old Canadian and her Italian companion Luca Tacchetto, were captured by jihadis in December 2018 in eastern Burkina Faso while touring the region and attempting to cross into neighboring Benin. The pair were held in the desert in northern Mali for 15 months before fleeing one night on foot. To buy time, Blais stuffed her bed in the shape of a body to make it look like she’d gone to sleep, she said. They were also helped by intense wind, which erased their footprints in the sand making it hard for the jihadis to track them. After an eight-hour walk, the two reached a main road and flagged a truck that took them to a United Nations base. “(Being free was) hard to believe, it’s like if you’re still in the nightmare and you can’t wake up and you know it’s finishing,” said Blais.”
Technology
BBC News: Extremists Using Video-Game Chats To Spread Hate
“Extremists are using mainstream video games and gaming chat platforms to spread hate, BBC Click has found. Over three months, researchers found anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia on platforms, including DLive and Odysee, where users stream and chat about games such as Call of Duty and Minecraft. Campaigners say including extremist narratives among everyday conversations can be a pathway to radicalisation. These conversations then move to spaces such as private Telegram channels. “Once you're in that world, then the radicalisation starts to happen,” Joe Mulhall, of anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate, said. “That's when you start to go to other meetings, to smaller groups that aren't necessarily playing games, talking about politics more explicitly.” In response, Telegram told BBC News it used a “combination of proactive monitoring of public spaces and user reports” to remove content breaching its terms of service. DLive and Odysee have not responded to BBC News's requests for comment. Their policies cite zero tolerance against hate and violent extremism and both say they are proactive at removing any content violating guidelines. Call of Duty said: “The actions we have taken to confront racist behaviour include banning players for racist and hate-oriented names, implementing new technology and making it easier for players to report offensive in-game behaviour.”
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