Eye on Extremism

September 24, 2021

The New York Times: New Taliban Guidelines Stir Fear About The Future Of Press Freedom

“Concerns are growing at the increased constraints the Taliban government has placed on the news media in Afghanistan, after officials issued a new framework of rules for journalists that critics say open the door for censorship and repression. Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi, the interim director of the Government Media and Information Center and a longtime Taliban spokesman, unveiled 11 rules for journalists this week. They include directives against publishing topics that are in conflict with Islam or insulting to national personalities, and also instruct journalists to produce news reports in coordination with the government media office. The once-vibrant media industry in Afghanistan has been in free fall since the Taliban seized control last month. Many Afghan journalists fled the country, fearing repression and violence from the new rulers, while dozens more have gone into hiding and are still seeking a way out of Afghanistan. More than 100 local media companies and radio stations around the country have stopped operating, having either been closed down, taken over by the Taliban or forced out of business for lack of funding, according to local media. Some of the most prominent newspapers have had to cease print operations and now publish only online, amid the country’s sharp economic downturn.”

Voice Of America: Somalia Court Convicts Foreigners For Membership In Al-Shabab

“A military court in Somalia has convicted two foreign extremists for fighting alongside terrorist group al-Shabab. The court in Mogadishu sentenced Darren Anthony Byrnes from Britain and Ahmad Mustakim bin Abdul Hamid from Malaysia to 15 years in jail for being members of al-Shabab and entering the country illegally. They are the first foreign extremists in Somalia to be convicted for al-Shabab membership, court officials said. Prosecutors said Abdul Hamid and Byrnes came to Somalia to support al-Shabab and “destroy” and “shed blood.” A lawyer for the two, Mohamed Warsame Mohamed, said the men denied being members of al-Shabab and claimed to have come to Somalia to visit relatives and friends. He said he would file an appeal if Abdul Hamid and Byrnes chose to do so. No witnesses supporting the Somali government's case testified in court, Mohamed said. Instead, he said, the government relied on accounts by people who gave testimonies in absentia and an alleged confession of al-Shabab membership by the defendants. Abdul Hamid and Byrnes admit they have been to areas controlled by al-Shabab, he said, but they deny becoming members of the militant group.”

United States

M Live: Michigan Man Sent To Federal Prison For Trying To Help Cousin Join ISIS

“A Lansing man was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS. Mohamad Salat Haji, 28, was sentenced this week by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to 10 years, 10 months in federal prison. Once his prison term ends, Haji will be on supervised release for 12 years. Haji and his cousins – brothers Mohamud Muse, 25, and Muse Muse, 22 – worked to send the younger Muse to join ISIS fighters in Somalia. The three pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a terror organization. They were arrested Jan. 21, 2019, at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids. The government said Mohamud Muse, 25, drove his brother, Muse Muse, 22, from Lansing to Gerald R. Ford International where the younger man intended to take a flight to Somalia to join ISIS fighters. Mohamud Muse was earlier sentenced to eight years, two months in federal prison. His brother was sentenced to six years, six months in federal prison. The three men had communicated via Facebook Messenger with undercover FBI special agents who posed as ISIS operatives. They intended to provide support, resources and personnel to the terror group, the government said.”

Iraq

Al Monitor: Iraq Conducts Airstrikes Against ‘Terrorists’ Near Kirkuk

“Iraq announced new airstrikes against “terrorists” near the disputed northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday. The Iraqi air force conducted “destructive strikes” targeting hideouts belonging to unspecified groups in Wadi Shay, southwest of Kirkuk. They used Russian-made Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft, military spokesman Yehia Rasool said in a tweet. Some US-made F-16 fighter jets carried out additional strikes targeting hideouts, which led to smoke and the sound of explosions in the area, according to Rasool. The Islamic State (IS) lost its final territory to Iraqi forces, backed by the US-led coalition, in 2017. The group has remained active since then, and carries out hit-and-run attacks in Sunni Muslim majority areas of the country. Non-IS insurgent groups may also be active in Iraq. In 2018, Iraqi forces battled with a group purportedly called the White Flags outside of Kirkuk. Their exact relationship to IS was not known.”

Afghanistan

The Wall Street Journal: Don’t Recognize The Same Old Taliban

“Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, President Biden took credit for having “ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan” and “opening a new era of relentless diplomacy.” But he didn’t address whether the U.N. should recognize the Taliban formally as the government of Afghanistan. Such recognition would give the Taliban potential access to unchecked flows of funds and investments from countries or international organizations. Due to the symbiotic relationship between the Taliban and al Qaeda and its affiliates, those funds could be diverted to terrorists. Recognition of the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan by the U.N. also wouldn’t be prudent because it would hamper the effectiveness of the Security Council, which imposed sanctions on many of the current Taliban leaders years ago. These sanctions prohibit U.N. member nations from provisioning funds to these Taliban leaders. In 1999 the U.N. convention against the financing of terrorism stated “that the number and seriousness of acts of international terrorism depend on the financing that terrorists may obtain.” This is as true today as it was two decades ago. Mr. Biden emphasized this point in his speech saying that “by targeting their financing and support systems, countering their propaganda, preventing their travel, as well as disrupting imminent attacks,” terrorist networks can be dismantled.”

Al Jazeera: How Deep Are Divisions Among The Taliban?

“There have been reports of divisions among the Taliban leadership, raising questions about the unity within the group which took over Afghanistan last month. The public’s doubts about the group’s unity only increased earlier this month, when Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister, seemed to have disappeared from public view. Then came reports that he had been killed. When he did reappear, it was in a pre-recorded video. Baradar, clearly reading from some sort of a statement, said his fading from the public eye was the result of travel, and that the Taliban, “have compassion among ourselves, more than a family”. In a final bid to ease suspicions about his death or injury, Baradar was photographed attending a meeting with United Nations officials on Monday. However, diplomatic and political sources have told Al Jazeera that the discord among the Taliban leadership is real, adding that if the disharmony grows, it will spell further trouble for the Afghan people. A writer and reporter who has spent several years covering the Taliban said the divisions are the result of a political-military divide. The hardliners, he said, “feel that they are owed things for 20 years of fighting.” A political source who has had a decades-long relationship with the Taliban’s top brass agrees.”

Yemen

Arab News: Houthis Must Be Re-Designated A Terrorist Organization: Senior Yemeni Official

“The Houthi militia must be re-designated as a terrorist organization to curb its violence-driven ambitions in Yemen and force it to talk peace in the war-torn country, a senior Yemeni official said. The brief designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization during former US President Donald Trump’s tenure was a positive step, Muammar Al-Eryani, the minister of information, was quoted by state news agency SABA as saying. And he added that during the designation period, the Houthi’s efforts declined and its various military operations stopped. In a virtual meeting with Peter Derrek Hof, the Dutch ambassador to Yemen, Al-Eryani called on the international community and the European Union to take serious steps to re-designate the Iran-backed group as a terrorist organization. The US State Department earlier this year lifted the terrorist designation against the Houthis that the Trump administration issued during its final days on the grounds that it would cause more suffering to millions of Yemenis than the militia force. Al-Eryani emphasized that the Yemeni government made concessions to various peace efforts to ‘reach peace and in order to end the war imposed by the Iran-backed Houthi militia.’”

Lebanon

CNN: Hezbollah Threatened Top Judge Probing Beirut Port Blast, Source Says

“Hezbollah has threatened to “usurp” the Lebanese judge investigating the Beirut port blast in a verbal message to him in recent days, a source familiar with the conversation has told CNN. High-ranking Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa issued the threat to Judge Tarek Bitar through an unnamed intermediary, who relayed the contents of the message, according to the source. The intermediary was someone the judge knew and trusted, the source said, and mentioned Safa by name. Safa is head of the Iran-backed militant group's Liaison and Coordination Unit. In 2019, he was placed on a US Treasury sanctions list, accused of having “exploited Lebanon's ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband and facilitate travel” on behalf of Hezbollah. “We've had it up to our noses with you. We will stay with you until the end of this legal path, but if it doesn't work out, we will usurp you,” the message to Bitar said, according to the source. Neither Safa nor other members of Hezbollah have been named by state media as official subjects of the investigation into the port blast. The conversation was first reported by Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation correspondent Edmond Sassine in a tweet on Tuesday.”

Egypt

The Jerusalem Post: Is The Surrender Of A Senior ISIS Sinai Official A Game Changer?

“The recent surrender of a key ISIS Sinai operations official to Egypt may signal a paradigm shift in the years-long battle between the sides, according to a Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report. The report states that on September 10, Muhammad Sa’ad Kamel al-Sa’idi, aka Abu Hamza al-Qadi (“the judge”) surrendered to a tribal militia cooperating with the Egyptian army after promises that he and his family would not be harmed. Next, the report says that, “Information that reached the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center revealed details about al-Qadi and the conditions in the Sinai Province.” The intelligence center is made up of former senior Israeli intelligence officials and maintains close ties to the current intelligence community, occasionally receiving exclusive material to declassify. From the report, it emerges that Al-Qadi is “the second or third most important operative in the Province after the Emir (“commander”) and possibly one other person, making him the most senior figure in the Sinai Province to surrender to the Egyptian authorities” to date. What is even more important is the Meir Amit Center’s contention that “the surrender of al-Qadi…will severely damage the organization, because he will give valuable information and intelligence to the Egyptian authorities and because his surrender will be a blow to the operatives’ morale.

Nigeria

The New York Times: Thousands Of Boko Haram Members Surrendered. They Moved In Next Door.

“For over a decade, the extremist group Boko Haram has terrorized northeastern Nigeria — killing tens of thousands of people, kidnapping schoolgirls and sending suicide bombers into busy marketplaces. Now, thousands of Boko Haram fighters have surrendered, along with their family members, and are being housed by the government in a compound in the city of Maiduguri, the group’s birthplace and its frequent target. The compound is next to a middle-class housing development and a primary school, terrifying residents, teachers and parents. “We are very afraid,” said Maimouna Mohammed, a teacher at the primary school, glancing at the camp’s wall 50 yards from her classroom. “We don’t know their minds.” Nigerian military and justice officials say that in the past month, as many as 7,000 fighters and family members, along with their captives, have left Boko Haram, the largest wave of defections by far since the jihadist group emerged in 2002. The turning point for its fortunes appears to have been the death of Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s longtime leader, who blew himself up in May after being cornered by a rival faction. However weakened Boko Haram may be, though, it does not necessarily mean an end to terror for the people of northeastern Nigeria, hundreds of thousands of whom have died, and millions of whom have fled.”

Somalia

Voice Of America: Somalia, AU Coordinate To Fight Against Al-Shabab

“The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somalia's National Army (SNA) launched a center this week to better coordinate their fight against al-Shabab militants, who have threatened to disrupt Somalia's elections. The Joint Operations Coordination Center at AMISOM Sector One headquarters in Mogadishu was officially launched Wednesday at a ceremony presided over by the army chief of defense forces, General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh, and the AMISOM deputy force commander in charge of operations and planning, Major General William Kitsao Shume. There are currently more than 20,000 peacekeepers in the country, trying to keep Somalis secure from attacks by al-Shabab and Islamic State. Rageh stressed the need for continuous collaboration between the army and AMISOM. He said he success of the center would depend on the relationship of the two headquarters “and how they coordinate in delegating work to the sectors, which then execute any such directives for a successful execution and implementation. I believe our long cooperation and experiences gained over the years will help us get the best out of this center so we can confront the challenges that are ahead.”