Eye on Extremism
July 19, 2019
The
New York Times: Argentina Designates Hezbollah Terrorist Group On 25th
Anniversary Of Bombing
“Argentina designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization on
Thursday and ordered a freeze on the financial assets of the group,
which has been blamed for two terrorist attacks in the country. The
move coincided with the 25th anniversary of one of those attacks, the
1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, the
Argentine capital, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300 in
one of the deadliest anti-Semitic crimes since World War II. The
terrorist designation of Hezbollah, a political and military group
supported by Iran, came a day before a whirlwind visit by Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo. He will participate in a regional counterterrorism
conference in Buenos Aires and also take part in a commemoration of
the victims of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid
Association community center. Mr. Pompeo’s trip comes at a time when
“the U.S.-Iran policy has been isolated in Europe and found little
support among traditional partners, so the State Department is looking
for unusual allies to tighten the screws on Iran,” said Benjamin
Gedan, an Argentina expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center
for Scholars.”
CNN:
First On CNN: US Transports Alleged American ISIS Fighter Back From
Syria To Face Trial
“The US has transported an American citizen who is alleged to have
been an ISIS fighter back to American soil from Syria in order to face
trial for his alleged involvement with the terror group, according to
two US officials familiar with the matter. The officials said he had
been previously held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a
group of Kurdish-led anti-ISIS fighters that are currently holding
over 2,000 foreign ISIS fighters from over 50 countries. The US
military helped facilitate the transfer. “The Department of Defense
assisted in the movement of a US national from Syria to the United
States. He was previously held by Syrian Democratic Forces as a
suspected member of ISIS,” a Pentagon spokesperson later confirmed to
CNN. “He was transferred to the US for prosecution. As a matter of
policy, DOD does not discuss matters of litigation; so for further
details, please contact the Department of Justice,” the spokesperson
added. The Department of State referred CNN to the Department of
Justice, which declined to comment. The number of foreigners in
detention increased sharply following the capture of ISIS' last area
of territorial control in Baghouz, Syria in late March. US officials
told CNN in April that they were investigating reports that some of
those detainees were US citizens.”
NPR:
Brother Of Suicide Bomber In Manchester Concert Attack Faces Murder
Charges
“The brother of the suicide bomber who killed nearly two dozen
people after an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 appeared in a London
court on Thursday to face charges that he helped carry out the attack
in Manchester, England. Hashem Abedi, who was extradited from Libya
this week, said through his lawyer that he was not involved in the
attack. The 22-year-old wore glasses and a gray shirt and spoke only
to confirm his name, date of birth and British nationality, according
to media reports. Abedi's older brother, Salman Abedi, detonated the
device that wreaked havoc in Manchester on May 22, 2017. The bomb
detonated between a train station and the concert venue as fans —
including thousands of children and young people — were leaving the
arena. Salman Abedi died in the blast. During Thursday's hearing at
Westminster Magistrates' Court, the names of all 22 people killed in
the bombing were read aloud. Hashem Abedi has been charged with
murdering those 22 people, as well as attempted murder and conspiracy
to cause an explosion. Prosecutors say he played a key role in the
attack: buying chemicals for the bomb, making detonator tubes and
helping purchase a car to hold the materials, according to the
BBC.”
The
Washington Post: Explosion Outside Kabul University Kills 6, Wounds
27
“A powerful bomb exploded outside the gates of Kabul University in
the Afghan capital on Friday, killing at least six people and wounding
27, according to police and health officials. No group immediately
claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest to target Kabul.
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group often stage large-scale
bombings in the city, targeting Afghan forces, government officials
and minority Shiites. The early morning blast also set two vehicles
ablaze although it wasn’t clear if the attack was carried out by a
suicide bomber or a remotely detonated bomb, said Kabul police
spokesman Ferdous Faramarz. The casualty tolls were released by the
Health Ministry spokesman, Dr. Wahidullah Mayar, who tweeted that “6
people have been martyred & 27 more wounded, as a result of
today’s explosion in Kabul. All the wounded patients were evacuated to
our hospitals and have been receiving the required treatment.” The
university compound houses several hostels where many students stay
over the summer, attending classes and conducting research. The
university is co-educational. Though Friday is the start of the
weekend in Afghanistan, Massoud, an economics professor at the
university who like many Afghans uses only one name, said that several
lawyers were taking their exams to become judges when the explosion
occurred.”
The
New York Post: Trio Sentenced To Death For Beheading Backpackers In
ISIS-Inspired Slayings
“Three jihadists were sentenced to death in Morocco for butchering
two female Scandinavian backpackers in an ISIS-inspired execution.
Ringleader Abdessamad Ejjoud, Younes Ouaziyad and Rachid Afatti were
convicted of terror charges Thursday in the trial over the grisly
slaughterings back in December. Maren Ueland, 28, and Louisa
Vesterager Jespersen, 24, were fatally wounded Dec. 17 in a tent on a
Christmas camping trip near Mount Toubkal, one of Morocco’s highest
peaks. Prosecutors allege that Ejjoud, 25, and Ouaziyad, 27, beheaded
the hikers while Afatti, 33, recorded the slayings on his phone. All
three men pledged allegiance to ISIS in a video before the murders.
The trio was sentenced along with 20 other accomplices who received
jail terms ranging from five to 30 years. Khalid El Fataoui, the
lawyer for Vesterager’s family, said he was “100 percent satisfied”
with the verdicts. The death sentences will be the first in Morocco
since 1993 when the country introduced a moratorium on capital
punishment, the BBC reported.”
NBC
News: Right-Wing Extremism Is A Growing Worry In Germany After Series
Of Attacks
“Andreas Hollstein says he receives at least two death threats a
month by mail or by phone. Though they are scary, they don’t compare
to the night 18 months ago when a man approached the major of Altena,
in the west of Germany, at a kebab shop. The man asked if he was the
mayor and said, “You let me die of thirst and let 200 refugees into
Altena,” Hollstein recalled at the time. Then the man plunged a knife
into Hollstein's neck. Hollstein, who ended up with a 6-inch gash, had
became nationally known during the refugee crisis for welcoming
migrants to his city. Authorities believed there was a political
motive behind the attack and arrested a suspect. Since then, Hollstein
has been outspoken about the need to tackle right-wing extremism in
Germany. Yet last month another politician who spoke out in defense of
migrants, Walter Lübcke, was fatally shot in the head on the terrace
of his home. A man with far-right views was arrested and confessed,
though he later recanted. Lübcke's death reignited a debate about
whether Germany, long praised for confronting the ghosts of its
extremist past, is in fact doing enough to combat far-right groups in
the 21st century.”
United States
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Navy Flotilla Encounters Iran In Strait Of
Hormuz
“Immediately after entering the Strait of Hormuz at 7 a.m. local
time on Thursday, a group of six U.S. Navy ships had a series of tense
encounters with the Iranian military, culminating in the downing of an
Iranian drone. The incident came after the group of six ships led by
this sea-to-land assault vessel headed into waters where the U.S. and
the U.K. have blamed Iran for attacking or harassing commercial
vessels. Iran downed an American spy drone over the Persian Gulf last
month and, on Thursday, seized a foreign vessel it accused of
smuggling. An unarmed Iranian navy Bell 212 helicopter flew alongside
the Boxer, yards away from the deck, before it was chased away by a
U.S. helicopter. The commander of the Boxer, Capt. Ronald Dowdell,
called the engagement “surreal.” The convoy swept past the speed boats
without incident but was followed by the larger Iranian military
vessel, which came as close as 500 yards to the Boxer—the distance the
U.S. navy allows before verbally communicating to a ship not to come
any closer.”
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Military Returns To Saudi Arabia In Response
To Iran
“The Pentagon is sending hundreds of troops to Saudi Arabia as part
of a buildup to counter potential threats from Iran and its allies,
U.S. officials said, marking a U.S. return to the kingdom after its
2003 withdrawal. U.S. forces will again be stationed at the Prince
Sultan Air Base, which had been closed to the American military since
the fall of Baghdad following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, officials and
experts said. The move comes amid a standoff between the Trump
administration and Congress over arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other
Persian Gulf countries, and U.S. support for the Saudi-led war effort
in Yemen, and represents a new demonstration of Washington’s strategic
interest in Riyadh. The military already has begun to deploy more than
500 U.S. service members to Prince Sultan Air Base, about 150
kilometers southwest of Riyadh, officials said. Saudi officials didn’t
respond to requests for comment. Officials from U.S. Central Command,
which overseas the Middle East, declined to comment. The deployment
comes after Iran said it had seized a tanker in the region and the
U.S. on Thursday said it downed a drone that came too close to an
American warship.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Trump Says U.S. Ship Downed Iranian Drone In
Strait Of Hormuz
“President Trump said the U.S. Navy downed an Iranian drone that
was flying too close to a U.S. warship in the Strait of Hormuz, hours
after Iranian forces said they had seized a foreign tanker, the latest
in a series of incidents that have ratcheted up tensions in a vital
oil shipping route. Mr. Trump said the USS Boxer, an amphibious
assault ship, took defensive action against the drone, which he said
was “threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew” in the
Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel leading into the Persian Gulf
through which a third of the world’s seaborne oil is transported. The
drone was “immediately destroyed,” Mr. Trump said. The president
called the approach by the drone the latest “of many provocative and
hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international
waters.” Defense officials wouldn’t say how the drone was downed, but
one official said it was an electronic measure. The U.S. Marine Corps
within the last year has begun to deploy a system that can detect
drones and jam the signal that connects them to their remotely located
pilots, forcing them to crash.”
The
Jerusalem Post: U.S. Places Sanctions On Int'l Network Involved In
Iran Nuclear Program
“The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on five people and
an international network of companies the U.S. Treasury said are
involved in the procurement of materials for Iran's nuclear program.
They are the first punitive steps by Washington since Tehran announced
earlier this month it would increase its levels of enriched uranium
that can be used for bomb fuel. Tehran announced on July 1 that it had
amassed more low-enriched uranium than permitted under its 2015
nuclear deal with world powers, marking its first major step beyond
the terms of the pact since the United States withdrew more than a
year ago. “Treasury is taking action to shut down an Iranian nuclear
procurement network that leverages Chinese- and Belgium-based front
companies to acquire critical nuclear materials and benefit the
regime's malign ambitions," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in
a statement. "Iran cannot claim benign intent on the world stage while
it purchases and stockpiled products for centrifuges," he added.”
CBS
Pittsburgh: Suspect In Pittsburgh Church Bomb Plot Indicted On
Terrorism Charges
“The man suspected of plotting a bomb attack on a Pittsburgh church
has been indicted on federal terrorism charges. Mustafa Alowemer, 21,
is accused of planning to bomb the Legacy International Worship Center
on the North Side. U.S. Attorney Scott Brady says a federal grand jury
has now returned a three-count indictment against Alowemer. The
indictment charges him with one count of attempting to provide
material support and resources to ISIS, and two counts of distributing
information relating to an explosive, destructive device or weapon of
mass destruction. Alowemer is currently being held in federal custody.
He is a refugee from Syria and was living in the city’s Northview
Heights section until his arrest. He had recently graduated from
Brashear High School. At a hearing last month at Pittsburgh’s federal
courthouse, Alowemer was held for trial. U.S. Attorney Soo Song told
the judge that Alowemer slowly fine-tuned his plan of attack. She said
he wrote his intentions online, and then handwrote those plans,
including a 10-point guide where he placed X’s and checkmarks as he
worked through the list.”
The
Hill: Treasury Department Bureaucrats Risk Jumpstarting Islamic State
Resurgence
“It has now been 21 months since Kurdish forces, backed by U.S.
Special Forces and U.S. air support, moved into Raqqa, the capital of
the Islamic State. Earlier this month, I spoke at a Rojava Centre for
Strategic Studies conference in Amudeh, Syria, exploring the Islamic
State’s enablers, after which I had the opportunity to visit Raqqa as
the local administration’s guest. To enter Raqqa is to be overwhelmed
by destruction. Thousands of former residents remain in tents at
a camp alongside the road outside Ayn Issa. Most would like to return
to their homes just 45 minutes’ drive away, but Raqqa remains largely
destroyed. Driving into town requires passing the shells of apartment
buildings stretching miles. Local authorities have given a face lift
to Naim Square, where the Islamic State executed prisoners and mounted
their heads, and rebranded it Freedom Square. The buildings facing the
square, however, remain bombed out. There are signs of life in the
center of town: wedding dresses, children’s toys, and sweets sold in
shops surrounded by rubble. Children played soccer in a stadium once
used as the Islamic State’s chief prison. Graffiti on the stadium wall
cursed the Islamic State and expressed love for Taylor Swift.”
The
National: Is The US Facing A Growing Terror Threat – From
Canada?
“While much has been made of the apparent security threat emanating
from beyond America’s southern border by the White House and
elsewhere, recent events show that it may actually be Canada that
presents a greater terror concern to US soil. During the first six
months of 2018, six foreign individuals listed on the Terrorist
Screening Database were stopped while attempting to enter the country
from Mexico, according to US government officials. At the Canadian
border? Forty-one people. And while more than 16,000 patrol agents are
deployed at the Mexican border, with thousands more on the way, just
2,097 monitor the Canadian frontier, which spans 8,900 kilometres –
more than the distance from London to Sri Lanka. In January, news
website Politico reported that as many as 200 US border patrol
positions on the Canadian border went unfilled. Since 2015, four
residents of Canada have been charged with carrying out or conspiring
in terror-related attacks on US soil. In 2015, a Tunisian citizen
living in Montreal and a Palestinian from Toronto were sentenced to
life in prison for plotting to derail a passenger train travelling
between Ontario and New York.”
Syria
The
Jerusalem Post: Moscow Sends Troops To Front Lines In Syria-
Report
“Russia has reportedly dispatched special forces to the front line
of an ongoing Syrian regime offensive in the northwestern province of
Idlib, the last major bastion controlled by rebels, mainly from Hayat
Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qaida-linked group. In response, the Russian
Defense Ministry on Thursday released a statement categorically
denying the claim. If true, however, it would mark the first time that
Moscow has deployed ground troops to partake in the three-month-long
assault, which has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people and
displaced an estimated 300,000, thereby raising fears of another
humanitarian crisis. The offensive has also angered Turkey, which
maintains a strong military presence on the Syrian side of a shared
border through its National Liberation Front proxy. Turkey occupies
numerous strongholds in northern Syria, where it sent its troops as a
xxxxxx against Syrian-Kurds combatting President Bashar al-Assad’s
loyalists. Ankara sees those fighters as allies of the Kurdish Workers
Party, or PKK, which has been waging an insurgency within Turkey in an
effort to secure autonomy.”
The
Jerusalem Post: Jihadists Rape, Stone Christian Woman To Death In
Syria
“Islamic terrorists from the Jihadist organization Jabhat al-Nusra
stoned to death an Armenian Christian woman living in the Syrian
province of Idlib. Christian and human rights groups reported over the
last week that the 60-year-old Suzan Der Kirkour was found dead
outside of her village, al-Yaqoubiyeh. According to the website of
International Christian Concern (ICC), “An autopsy revealed that Suzan
was tortured and repeatedly raped over an estimated period of nine
hours. She was then stoned to death.” The French Christian
humanitarian organization SOS Chrétien’s d’Orient, wrote that “cruel
was her ordeal. The reality is just as much… (a) virgin at sixty, she
died under the repeated assaults of the jihadists of al-Nusra.” “The
autopsy reveals that Suzan had been subjected to repeated rape since
the afternoon of Monday (the 8th) until early Tuesday morning, only
hours before her discovery. As a martyr, she is joined in heaven by
thousands of Christian brothers, who died in the arena of barbarism,”
SOS Chrétien’s d’Orient added.”
Iran
CNBC:
The F-35 Has Already Freaked Out Iran And Changed Everything In The
Middle East
“No conversation about the world’s massive political and economic
changes since 2015 is complete without mentioning the F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter, developed by Lockheed Martin. That became even clearer
this week thanks to a somewhat cheeky statement by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to Iran’s provocative moves in
the Persian Gulf and other threats from Tehran. Standing in front of
an F-35 jet parked at an Israeli Air Force base, Netanyahu barely held
back a smile as he said that Israel can reach Iran, but Iran cannot
reach Israel. He didn’t add the words “undetected by radar,” but it
was surely implied. To understand why that soundbite with the visual
backdrop was more than just bluster, you have trace the F-35′s
incredible history in the Middle East over the past four years.”
The
New York Times: Gibraltar Extends Detention Of Iranian Tanker To
August 15
“Gibraltar's supreme court has granted a 30-day extension to allow
authorities there to continue to detain the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1
until Aug. 15. The vessel was seized earlier this month by British
Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory on
suspicion of violating sanctions against Syria. "At a private meeting
of the Supreme Court on an application by the Attorney General, the
Court has extended the period of detention of the vessel, Grace 1, for
a further 30 days and has set a new hearing for 15 August 2019," the
Gibraltar government said on Friday. The issue has stoked tension in
the Gulf and Britain last week said it had fended off Iranian ships
that tried to block a British tanker in the region. However, both
sides have said they do not want the situation to escalate. British
foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said Britain would facilitate the release
of the Grace 1 if Iran gave guarantees that the tanker would not go to
Syria, once the issue had followed due process in Gibraltar's
courts.”
Iraq
Xinhua:
8 IS Militants Killed, 4 Wounded In Anti-IS Attacks In
Iraq
“A total of eight Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on
Thursday in an airstrike by the U.S.-led international coalition
aircraft in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh and an ambush by
security forces in the eastern Diyala province. In the northern
Nineveh province, the U.S.-led coalition aircraft acted on
intelligence reports from Nineveh's Operations Command and carried out
an airstrike on an IS hideout in al-Baaj area near the border with
Syria, a statement by the media office of the Joint Operations Command
(JOC) said. The airstrike resulted in the killing of six IS militants
and the destruction of the hideout, the statement said. Separately in
Diyala, a joint force from the Iraqi army and paramilitary Hashd
Shaabi members killed two IS militants and wounded four others in an
ambush between at a rural area near the city of Jalawla, 135 km
northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the JOC said in a separate
statement. Despite repeated military operations in Diyala, some IS
militants are still hiding in some rugged areas near the border with
Iran, and in the sprawling areas extending from the western part of
the province to the Himreen mountain range in the northern part of the
province.”
Turkey
Al
Jazeera: Turkey Bombs Kurdish Region In Iraq After Diplomat
Killed
“Turkey on Thursday launched an air attack on the Kurdish region in
northern Iraq in response to the killing of a Turkish diplomat in the
region, the country's defence minister said. The Turkish vice consul
to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region was shot dead on Wednesday in
the local capital Erbil. Police sources said two other people were
also killed. There was no claim of responsibility for the shooting,
but many Iraqi experts have pointed to the probability that the
Turkish separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara
considers a “terrorist” group, was behind the attack. “Following the
evil attack in Erbil, we have launched the most comprehensive air
operation on Qandil and dealt a heavy blow to the (PKK) terror
organisation,” Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement.
Targets such as “armaments positions, lodgings, shelters and caves
belonging to terrorists” were destroyed. “Our fight against terror
will continue with increasing determination until the last terrorist
is neutralised and the blood of our martyrs will be avenged,” he
added. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which now leads the
regional government, enjoys good political and trade relations with
Turkey.”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Post: Taliban To Talk To Swedish NGO After Afghan Clinic
Closures
“The Taliban said they would hold talks Thursday with
representatives of a Swedish non-profit group after threats by the
insurgents forced the organization to close 42 clinics it runs in
eastern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Taliban fighters in southern Kandahar
province attacked police headquarters, killing at least 10 people and
wounding dozens more, officials said. The closures of the facilities
run by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan in Taliban-controlled
areas of Maidan Wardak province are expected to affect almost 6,000
people. The clinics in government controlled parts of the province
remain open. The closures came after Afghan forces last week raided a
clinic run by the NGO, in pursuit of the Taliban. Two staffers died in
the raid. On Wednesday, Sonny Mansson, the group’s director, told The
Associated Press that the Taliban threatened the NGO’s staff by saying
that if they do not close the facilities, “it would have consequences
for themselves and their families.” The talks are meant “to resolve
the situation” in Maidan Wardak province, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah
Mujahid, though he offered no details on where and how the meeting
would take place.”
Reuters:
12 Killed, Scores Wounded In Afghanistan Taliban Car
Bombing
“Twelve people were killed and more than 80 wounded when Taliban
fighters detonated two car bombs at a gate outside police headquarters
in the Afghan city of Kandahar on Thursday, police and medical
officials and the Taliban said. After the blasts, militant gunman
opened fire from nearby positions and members of the security forces
were battling them, said Tadeen Khan, the southern city’s chief of
police. The attackers targeted the police force’s counter-narcotics
wing, Khan said. Eyewitnesses said that following the first
explosion, three back-to-back explosions were heard and the gunfight
was still going on. Police cordoned off the area as passers-by fled.
Those killed were both policemen and civilians, said Bahir Ahmadi, a
spokesman for the provincial governor, giving the death toll. A
doctor on duty in Kandahar provincial hospital said 83 wounded people
had been taken to the hospital, most of them civilians. The Taliban
said in a statement their fighters had detonated car bombs and clashes
were continuing as some fighters had entered the police offices.
Kandahar was the former seat of the Taliban when they ruled
Afghanistan from 1996 until they were ousted by a U.S.-led coalition
in 2001.”
Voice
Of America: Taliban Raid Afghan Provincial Police
Headquarters
“Taliban insurgents assaulted a provincial police headquarters
Thursday in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 12 people and
wounding more than 60 others. Officials said multiple heavily armed
men wearing suicide vests stormed the well-guarded building in the
center of Kandahar about 5 p.m. local time. The attack began with a
suicide bomber detonating an explosives-packed vehicle at the main
entrance to police headquarters. A large number of civilians were said
to be among the casualties because the security installation is near
residential areas. The siege was ongoing six hours later, according to
residents and insurgent officials. The Taliban claimed responsibility
for the violence, saying they had killed and injured dozens of
security forces, though insurgent claims are often inflated. “Kandahar
police headquarters initially came under a tactical bomb blast that
enabled several martyrdom-seeking mujahedeen [holy warriors], equipped
with heavy and light weapons, to enter the compound and launched [the]
operation inside the [police] headquarters,” the group asserted in a
statement. This was the second deadly Taliban assault on government
forces in as many days.”
Gulf
Times: 14 Taliban Militants Killed In Security Operations In
Afghanistan
“Fourteen Taliban militants were killed in separate security
operations by Afghan and coalition forces in Ghazni and central Logar
provinces in central and eastern Afghanistan. The 203rd Thunder Corps
in a statement said the Afghan artillery units conducted strikes
against Taliban positions in Nogha area of Ghazni city. The statement
further added that the artillery strikes killed four Taliban militants
and wounded three others. Furthermore, the Afghan Air Force conducted
airstrikes in Rawza area of Ghazni city killing four Taliban
militants, Afghan (Khaama Press) Agency reported. The 203rd Thunder
Corps also added that the Afghan forces killed three Taliban militants
and wounded two others in Khwaja Omari district of Ghazni. Meanwhile,
the US forces conducted airstrike in Azra district of Logar which
killed three Taliban militants.”
Pakistan
Council
On Foreign Relations: Pakistan, Terrorism, And Meeting
Trump
“Yesterday news broke that Pakistani police had arrested Hafiz
Saeed, founder of the UN- and U.S.-designated terrorist group
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The United States government holds this
terrorist group responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai, India
terrorist attacks. Saeed himself has been under UN and U.S. individual
terrorism designations for years. Arrest of a notorious designated
terrorist sounds, on the face of it, like a good step for troubled,
terrorism-addled Pakistan. The problem is that the whole world has
seen this before, because Saeed has been on the catch-and-release
carousel for years now. It’s hard to see this latest arrest as
anything other than a tactical move, given Pakistani Prime Minister
Imran Khan’s visit to Washington, DC next week. The publicly available
information about Saeed and his organization, the long-banned LeT, is
now voluminous. ProPublica’s Sebastian Rotella authored an extensive
series about the Mumbai attacks, in which the LeT’s role features
prominently. U.S. citizen David Headley pleaded guilty in 2010 for his
role aiding the Mumbai attacks, and the transcripts of his trial and
legal proceedings implicate the LeT. Based on an Indian government
request, Interpol sent out a red notice for Saeed all the way back in
2009.”
Middle East
The
Daily Beast: As Iran-U.S. Tensions Rise, Hezbollah Readies For War
With Israel
“The tranquil winding roads of Lebanon’s mountainous interior are
far from the tense waters of the Persian Gulf where President Donald
Trump says America came within 10 minutes of war with Iran a few weeks
ago. And where, he said on Thursday, the U.S. shot down an Iranian
drone. But if fighting ever does begin, these hills and valleys near
the border with Israel will quickly be on the front lines. And
according to Hezbollah commanders, that moment could be coming soon.
When Trump talked of war, he meant a shooting war in the conventional
sense. But for Iran and its allies, it’s Trump’s economic war with its
suffocating sanctions that is bringing the region to the brink of
armed conflict. The targets of Trump’s weaponized dollar increasingly
see resorting to military engagements as the only response left. Here
in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s commanders are close allies and clients of
Iran—and they are targeted by U.S. sanctions as well. They warn that
if the pressure continues these rugged hills where the Party of God
fought bloody guerrilla campaigns to end 15 years of Israeli
occupation in 2000 and repel an Israeli invasion in 2006 could erupt
once again.”
Egypt
Al
Jazeera: Two Killed In Suicide Bombing In Egypt's North
Sinai
“A suicide bomber killed two people in Egypt's restive North Sinai
region on Thursday, a day after four headless bodies were found there.
The victims of the bombing were a civilian and a member of the
security forces, security and medical sources said. The bomber was
shot before he reached a military checkpoint, his intended target, but
his explosive belt detonated and killed the soldier and civilian, an
Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement. The Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group claimed responsibility
for the attack via its Amaq website, saying five members of the
security forces were killed or wounded. Multiple armed groups, some
linked to ISIL, are active in the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt's army
launched a major operation there in February last year. Thursday's
bombing took place at a car park in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, near
the border with the Gaza Strip. Separately, two security sources said
four headless bodies were found in an empty street in the North Sinai
town of Bir al-Abd on Wednesday. Their families reported that the four
men, aged 23 to 51, had been kidnapped. Fighters stopped several cars
before taking five people away and forcing them to lie down on the
ground, a security source and three residents said.”
Nigeria
Al
Jazeera: Six Nigerian Soldiers Killed In Borno State
Ambush
“Six soldiers have been killed in an ambush by rebel fighters in
northeast Nigeria's Borno state, two military sources told the AFP
news agency on Thursday. Heavily armed fighters from the Islamic State
West Africa Province (ISWAP) group opened fire on a patrol vehicle on
Wednesday near Jakana, 30km from the state capital Maiduguri, killing
all the soldiers on board. “We lost all six soldiers in the ambush,
including a colonel,” said the first of two military sources, who both
spoke on condition of anonymity. The soldiers were on their way to
Maiduguri from Damaturu, the capital of neighbouring Yobe state, when
the rebels attacked them around 16:20 GMT, said the source. “The gun
truck the soldiers were driving in was destroyed,” the second source
said. Following the ambush, the fighters attacked a military base just
outside Jakana in seven trucks fitted with machine guns, engaging
troops in an hour-long battle, the sources said. The attack was
repelled by soldiers at the base, with ISWAP fighters abandoning
weapons and one vehicle as they fled. The attacks came hours after a
military chief in the northeast warned “terrorists” in the region to
disarm or be destroyed. Major-General Abdulmalik Bulama Biu told
reporters in Maiduguri that rebel fighters should lay down their arms
“or prepare for a fierce encounter with me.”
Sahara
Reporters: Army Commander, 20 Soldiers Killed By Boko Haram In
Yobe
“An army commander and at least 20 soldiers have been killed in an
ambush by Boko Haram insurgents in Yobe State, TheCable reports. The
troops were ambushed on their way from Borogozo in Yobe where the
headquarters of the army’s 29 task force brigade to Benisheikh in
Yobe, where they have a forward operating base (FOB). A military
source in sector 2 headquarters of operation Lafiya Dole told TheCable
that the incident happened around 6pm on Wednesday. “They were on
their way to Benisheikh when they ran into the enemy. The commander of
that brigade, a colonel, and about 20 soldiers were killed,” he said.
Reinforcement was reportedly sent to the town and it was confirmed
that the brigade commander had been killed. Among the bodies
reportedly identified was that of a captain and four soldiers. Their
bodies have since been moved to the 7 division hospital in Maiduguri,
Borno state capital. Sources said one of the soldiers who escaped the
ambush has returned to the base in Benisheikh. In June, at least 28
soldiers were reportedly killed while the insurgents ransacked a
military base in Gajiram, Nganzai local government area of Borno. Musa
Sagir, army spokesman, had not responded to a text message sent by
TheCable as of the time this report was filed.”
Africa
Morocco
World News: Moroccan Al Qaeda Leader Added To US Global Terrorist
List
“Ali Maychou holds a leadership role with Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam
wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a West-African militant jihadist group designated
by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), and as a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in September 2018. JNIM
was formed by a merger of three existing terrorist organizations in
2017. At the time of its creation, the group pledged allegiance to
Al-Qaeda, the Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden.
According to a press release by the US Department of State, Maychou
has held a leadership role with JNIM since its inception. He claimed
responsibility for an attack on a military camp that housed Malian
Armed Forces in Gao, Mali, and has had a role in operational
activities of JNIM. On July 16, the US Department of State listed
Maychou as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The department
also designated Malien Bah Ag Moussa for his involvement with JNIM.
The designation imposes sanctions on “foreign persons determined to
have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing, acts of
terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national
security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.”
The
New York Times: 3 Sentenced To Death For Killing Scandinavian Hikers
In Morocco
“Three men accused of the murder of two Scandinavian hikers in the
Atlas Mountains last year have been sentenced to death, an
antiterrorism court in Morocco decided on Thursday. Maren Ueland, 28,
of Norway and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, of Denmark, were
discovered dead at their campsite in a remote part of the Atlas
Mountains in December 2018 with wounds to their necks. The incident
was labeled by Moroccan authorities as a terror attack after some of
the men involved pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The men were
tried under an antiterrorism law and were the main defendants in a
case that put two dozen suspects on trial over the women’s deaths last
year. Following a seven-month trial, Abdessamad Al Joud, Younes Ouziad
and Rachid Afati were sentenced to death, while a fourth man,
Abderahman Khayali, was handed a life sentence, according to Moroccan
state television.”
United Kingdom
The
Conversation: How Far-Right Groups Use Britain’s Extremism Definition
To Argue They Aren’t Extremist
“The government’s definition of extremism is so unfit for purpose
that far-right groups with clearly dangerous ideology are using it to
“prove” that they are not extremist. I’ve written about this in a new
study published by the Commission for Countering Extremism as part of
a wider set of research aimed at improving understanding about
far-right extremism in Britain. The government defines extremism as
the: Vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values,
including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual
respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs … calls for the
death of members of our armed forces (are also) extremist. My own
research on the definition looks at how it was used by groups such as
National Action, which gained notoriety in December 2016 when it
became the first far-right group in the UK to be proscribed, or banned
under terrorism legislation. This made it a criminal offence to be a
member of the group, organise meetings and wear clothing or symbols
linked to it. National Action was a youth-focused group that adhered
to an extremely traditional interpretation of National Socialism.
Routinely glorifying Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, the group spoke
about the need to undertake a “white jihad” as a means of establishing
a “white homeland” in the UK."
Germany
The
National: German Police Raid Apartments At Centre Of Suspected ISIS
Plot
“In a series of dawn raids on Thursday, German police searched
apartments linked to a ring of suspected extremists inspired by ISIS,
detaining six people. The German newspaper Bild reported the raids on
the addresses in Dueren and Cologne, western Germany. It said knives
and baseball bats, 20 mobile phones, a number of external hard drives
and three laptops were seized. Police in Cologne said they launched
the raids against the alleged terrorists because of suspicions they
were planning an attack and in hope of gaining concrete evidence of a
plot. Cologne police chief Uwe Jacob said he was “confident that we
will soon be able to substantiate our threat assessment”. The security
forces took action when the principal suspect, a German-Lebanese
Muslim convert known as Wael C, 30, who had made a number of attempts
to join ISIS, moved into the Dueren apartment with another extremist,
according to the Associated Press. This second man, identified as Timo
R, was also known to have sworn allegiance to ISIS. Wael C, originally
from Berlin, worked as a temporary imam at the now-banned Fussilet 33
Mosque Association. The organisation, a known focal point for
extremists, was closed by Germany’s interior ministry over its links
to ISIS.”
Europe
The
Washington Post: Swedes Can’t Give Residence Permit To Terror Attack
Victim
“Sweden’s justice minister says a Ukrainian woman who lost her leg
in the deadly Stockholm terror attack cannot be granted a permanent
residence permit out of compassion. Morgan Johansson said Thursday
such a permit can’t be given to Iryna Zamanova because “clemency only
applies to criminal cases, not residence permits.” Zamanova, a
tourist, got a temporary permit after the April 7, 2017, attack to
give evidence in the trial of Rakhmat Akilov, who drove a stolen truck
into a crowd in Stockholm. Akilov was given a life sentence in June
2018. She then applied for a permanent permit, which was turned down
by authorities who said she can’t provide for herself in Sweden and
medical care is available in Ukraine. Zamanova then sought the
government’s clemency."
Foreign
Policy: Is Italy Immune From Terrorism?
“Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini recently delivered a
stark warning: Such was the scale of migration into Italy, he argued,
that “Islamic terrorist infiltration is no longer a risk—it has become
a certainty.” Although the vast majority of asylum-seekers in Italy
are not security threats, the case of Alagie Touray, a Gambian
asylum-seeker arrested in southern Italy in April 2018 on suspicions
that he was planning an attack, helped lay the groundwork for
Salvini’s case. It also made it easier to justify Italy’s decision
to prevent ships containing migrants from docking at Italian ports.
What has gone unsaid, however, is that Italy seems to have largely
dodged the carnage Islamist terrorists have afflicted on some of its
neighbors. Certainly, Italians have previously suffered at the hands
of terrorists. Italy had a very active jihadi scenecentered on Milan
in the 1990s, leading the U.S. Treasury Department to describe a
mosque there as “the main al Qaeda station house in Europe.” In
November 2003, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s group carried out a truck
bombing on an Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriyah, Iraq.
Nineteen Italians were killed. And Islamists have threatened to strike
the Vatican.”
The
National: Irish Prime Minister Wants ISIS Member And Child To Return
Home
“Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar wants to bring home a former
Irish army soldier turned ISIS member and her two-year-old child who
is stuck in a Syrian displacement camp. But Mr Varadkar warned that
returning 37-year-old Lisa Smith was fraught with complications and
said he would not risk the safety of Irish officials. Ms Smith on
Thursday told a reporter she thought it was possible she would not be
allowed to return to Ireland because of her military background.
Thousands of foreign ISIS members remain stranded in overcrowded,
dingy camps after the capture of the terror group’s territory in Syria
and Iraq. Repatriating citizens from the region is fraught with risk
and many western governments are refusing to do so amid security
risks. “I want her child to be able to come home. I would never
separate a mother and child, so yes, I want her to come home,” Mr
Varadkar told RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster. “We do have to bear
in mind that where she is now is a war zone, it is a conflict zone. We
don’t want to put any of our personnel, whether military or
diplomatic, at risk,” he said. Ms Smith has insisted in interviews she
has never taken part in violence and rejected claims she had helped
train young girls to be fighters. But Mr Varadkar said she would
likely face a police investigation if she did return.”
Latin America
Reuters:
Argentina Brands Hezbollah Terrorist Organization, Freezes
Assets
“Argentinian authorities designated Hezbollah, which it blames for
two attacks on its soil, a terrorist organization on Thursday and
ordered the freezing of the Lebanese Islamist group’s assets in the
country. The announcement coincided with a visit by U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo as Argentina marks the 25th anniversary of the
deadly bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in which
85 people died. Argentina blames Iran and Hezbollah for the attack.
Both deny any responsibility. Argentina also blames Hezbollah for an
attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 that killed 29
people. The Argentine government’s Financial Information Unit, ordered
the freezing of assets of members of Hezbollah and the organization a
day after the country created a new list for people and entities
linked to terrorism. The designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group
was the first by any Latin American country. “At present, Hezbollah
continues to represent a current threat to security and the integrity
of the economic and financial order of the Argentine Republic,” the
unit said in a statement. There was no immediate comment from
Hezbollah on the move.”
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