“The Pentagon’s top military officer discussed with his Russian counterpart an
apparent offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his militar

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


September 28, 2021 

 

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Asked Russia About Offer Of Bases To Monitor
Afghan Terror Threat
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“The Pentagon’s top military officer discussed with his Russian counterpart an
apparent offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his military’s
bases in Central Asia to respond to any emerging terrorist threats in
Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, raised the subject at the request of President Biden’s
National Security Council staff in his meeting last Wednesday with Russian
Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the U.S. officials said. Gen.
Gerasimov was noncommittal during the Helsinki meeting, the U.S. officials
said. A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment. The previously unreported
exchange comes as the Biden administration is searching for ways to strengthen
its capability to monitor and respond to potential terrorist dangers in
Afghanistan now that U.S. forces have left the country. While the U.S. and
Russia share concerns about the threat of terrorism, the idea of working with
Russia on counterterrorism is fraught with challenges, particularly
politically. Congress enacted legislation several years ago that precludes
close cooperation between the U.S. and Russia militaries as long as Russian
troops are in Ukraine, unless the secretary of defense issues a special waiver.”

 

Reuters: Gunmen Kill 22 Nigerian Security Personnel, Says State Lawmaker
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“Gunmen killed at least 22 security personnel at a remote army base in a
northwestern Nigerian state plagued by bandits and kidnappers, a lawmaker said.
Aminu Gobir and another security source said bandits attacked the base in
Sokoto State close to the border with Niger on Sunday, killing 14 soldiers,
five police officers and three members of a civil defence force. The army had
said earlier that troops had repelled an attack by militants from the Islamic
State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and killed scores of them. Armed forces
spokesperson Major General Benjamin Sawyerr said the security forces had
suffered casualties but gave no details. Reuters could not independently verify
either account. The clash took place in an area where it is unsafe to travel
due to the risk of attacks and abductions, and where the authorities have shut
down telecoms networks to help an ongoing military crackdown on bandit camps.
Northwestern Nigeria has been hit by a wave of mass abductions this year which
the authorities have blamed on bandits seeking ransoms. Sawyerr did not respond
to repeated requests for comment on the different accounts of the clash. In his
statement, he said the crackdown in the northwest had disrupted both bandits
and ISWAP.”

 

United States

 

Vice: A White Supremacist Is Organizing Fight Clubs Across The US
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“…A judge dismissed the charges the following year, concluding that their
activities were protected by the First Amendment. This year, a federal appeals
court reinstated the charges. (He was briefly wanted by authorities, and then
he bought time by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, who have not ruled on
whether they will hear his case.) “Whereas RAM was a group, there is the claim
of plausible deniability in the active club movement model,” said Joshua
Fisher-Birch, a terrorism researcher at the Counter Extremism Project. “Rundo
can tell people to go out and organize, train, and spread propaganda, but he is
not necessarily the functional leader of active clubs around the country.” In a
blog posted to his site, Rundo himself says he hopes to achieve a “brush-fire
effect” by encouraging supporters to mobilize others in their communities and
form their own “Active Clubs.” “The system and media will waste tons of energy
and resources to put out one small fire as another catches a spark elsewhere,”
he wrote. “Even if the system and their dogs manage to put out one fire, it
will lead to minimal results because these clubs are generally small and local,
helping to shield it from infiltrators and broader law enforcement actions.”

 

Syria

 

Stars And Stripes: US-Led Coalition Says Raid Killed 3 ISIS Militants As War
In Syria Continues
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“Recent raids by the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in
Syria resulted in the killing or capture of several people affiliated with the
terrorist group, officials said. The raids and other recent operations
highlight the ongoing fighting by the international coalition in Syria, even as
U.S. officials seek to emphasize a shift to noncombat support in neighboring
Iraq. In a raid over the weekend, coalition forces killed three ISIS terrorists
and detained two associates, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Wayne
Marotto said Sunday on social media. A couple of days earlier, the coalition
captured one known ISIS terrorist and two associates in eastern Syria, Marotto
said in an earlier post. Hundreds of U.S. troops remain deployed to help the
Syrian Defense Forces battle ISIS. Marotto said the coalition also provided
reconnaissance support during raids in the eastern city of Raqqa on Sunday. The
combat operations come on the heels of President Joe Biden’s remark Tuesday at
the United Nations General Assembly that the U.S. is not at war “for the first
time in 20 years.” Officials were working to provide further details in
response to a query Monday, Marotto said in a message to Stars and Stripes, but
further information wasn’t available by press time.”

 

Iraq

 

Kurdistan 24: Iraqi FM Calls For Extradition Of Terrorist Families With
Foreign Citizenship
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“Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein called on countries to live up to their
responsibility for extraditing family members of detained terrorists in Iraq
who hold foreign citizenship during a meeting with his Belgian counterpart
Sophie Wilmès on Sunday. “In the meeting held on the sidelines of the 76th
session of the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès
praised the efforts made by Iraq to communicate with many countries to
facilitate the return of the terrorists’ families detained in Iraq, including
their children who were born in Iraq,” read a statement in Arabic published on
the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on Sunday. According to the
official statement, many of these countries have only taken back children of
detained terrorists’ families to date, often leaving their mothers behind.
“Hussein stressed the importance of concerted international efforts for solving
this problem,” the statement added. The foreign minister called on these
countries to understand Iraq’s circumstances and also to understand that
Baghdad “is obligated to deal with them [terrorists’ families] according to
Iraqi laws and legislations.” Following the defeat and destruction of the
Islamic States’ (ISIS) self-styled caliphate, many family members of detained
ISIS terrorists remained in Iraq and Syria.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Al Jazeera: Taliban Takes On ISKP, Its Most Serious Foe In Afghanistan
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“After taking over Afghanistan last month, the Taliban claimed that security
“has been assured” and that the county was taken out of the “quagmire of war”.
But a series of attacks carried out by an affiliate of the ISIL (ISIS) group in
recent weeks has shattered the claims of security. In the six weeks since the
Taliban came to power, there have been reports of Islamic State in Khorasan
Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), attacks and activity in the cities of Kabul, Jalalabad
and Mazar-i-Sharif. On the evening of August 26, just 11 days after the Taliban
takeover of the country, ISKP claimed responsibility for a bombing at Kabul’s
Hamid Karzai International Airport. That attack led to the deaths of more than
180 people and injuries to hundreds of others. In the last several weeks,
several attacks have been reported in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of
Nangarhar province, and one of ISKP’s most common targets. The recent attacks,
including IED explosions, killed civilians and purported Taliban fighters. In a
Telegram message, ISKP claimed to have killed up to 35 Taliban fighters in
Jalalabad, a figure the Taliban denies. Each of these instances has been met
with harsh words from the Taliban, who continue to pledge to eradicate any
forces loyal to the ISIL group.”

 

Yemen

 

Arab News: Yemen FM Urges UN To Put Financial Pressure On Houthis
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“Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak on Monday urged the
international community to put more financial pressure on the Iran-backed
Houthi militia, in an address at the UN General Assembly in New York. He
thanked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on behalf of President Abed Rabbo
Mansour Hadi for his efforts to bring peace to Yemen, and congratulated its
people on the anniversary of the 1962 revolution. Bin Mubarak reminded the
assembly that Yemen has been at war for seven years, with the Houthis supported
logistically and militarily by Iran which, he added, aims to destabilize both
Yemen and the wider region by backing armed sectarian proxy groups. “This
proves,” he said, “that Iran has been, and continues to be, part of the problem
in Yemen, rather than the solution.” He added that the Houthis have presided
over a humanitarian crisis in their bid to enrich themselves, calling their
coup an “autumn of suffering, injustice, oppression, destruction of political
participation, suffocation of public freedom, raids on houses, explosion of
schools and places of worship, chasing of opponents, torture of citizens and
transforming of Sanaa — a city of history and coexistence — into a large prison
for the Yemeni people.”

 

Middle East

 

The Times Of Israel: Large Explosives Cache Belonging To Hamas Cell Said Found
In West Bank Town
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“Israeli security forces early Monday carried out further operations in the
West Bank to disrupt alleged plans for major terror attacks, using new intel
gained following the arrest of some 20 suspected members of a Hamas cell. It
was the second straight night Israeli troops operated in the town of Bidu, near
Jerusalem. Three Hamas gunmen were killed in a shootout with soldiers the night
before. In the latest raids, forces found a significant cache of explosive
devices intended to be used in a terror attack in the capital in the coming
days, according to television reports Monday. The “kilograms of explosives”
were hidden in a well whose exact whereabouts were determined after the Shin
Bet internal security service interrogated the cell’s mastermind and other
members, the reports said. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces
declined The Times of Israel’s request for further information, citing the
ongoing investigation. Clashes were reported between Palestinians and Israeli
troops during the operation in Bidu. There were no reports of injuries. The
reported mastermind of the Hamas cell was wounded during a separate gun battle
early Sunday in the town of Burqin, near Jenin. According to the IDF’s initial
investigation, as troops approached the house in which the suspect was hiding,
the Hamas operative opened fire at them from close range from the yard of the
home.”

 

Nigeria

 

Reuters: Ten Nigerian Students Kidnapped By Bandits Freed After Ransom Paid
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“Ten more students who were kidnapped by gunmen from a school in Nigeria two
months ago have been released after ransom was paid, the school administrator
said. About 150 students were missing after armed men raided the school in
Kaduna state in the northwest in July, the 10th mass school kidnapping since
December, which authorities attributed to criminal gangs seeking ransom. The
bandits have been releasing the students in batches after getting ransom
payments. Administrator of the Bethel Baptist High school Reverend John Hayab
said after the latest release, 11 students remained in captivity and the school
was working to ensure they were freed soon. “I am happy to tell you that 10 of
our abducted students of Bethlem Baptist High school have regained their
freedom but had to pay ransom,” he told Reuters late on Sunday. He declined to
say how much was paid. Such kidnappings at schools in Nigeria were first
carried out by jihadist group Boko Haram, and later its offshoot Islamic State
West Africa Province, but the tactic has been adopted by other gangs seeking
ransom.”

 

Somalia

 

All Africa: Somalia: Al-Shabaab Says At Least 15 Kenyan Soldiers Killed In
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“A massive bomb attack was reported in Lamu County near the Somali border
targeting a Kenyan military convoy in the latest incident in the porous region.
The landmine explosion struck a convoy of Kenyan troops traveling between
Kayunga and Shangani in Lamu County with witnesses saying KDF opened fire after
the IED assault. Al-Shabaab took the responsibility for the attack, saying it
killed 15 Kenyan soldiers and destroyed a BG vehicle. There were no independent
sources confirming the claims. The Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) continued their
march, conducting mine-clearing operations on the road between Kayunga and
Shangani in Lamu County. The Kenyan troops face direct attacks and bombings
from al-Shabaab during their travels in the North Eastern Province, and
occasionally suffer heavy casualties in the IED raids.”

 

All Africa: Somalia: Bahrain Slams Al Shabab Suicide Bombing In Somalia
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“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain condemns the
terrorist bombing that took place near a security checkpoint in the Mogadishu
in the Federal Republic of Somalia, resulting in the death and injury of a
number of people. The Ministry extends its condolences to the family of the
victims to the Somalian people and Government, wishing those injured a speedy
recovery. The Ministry affirms Bahrain's support for the measures taken by the
Somalian government to stop terrorist organizations, stressing the Kingdom's
solid position in rejecting all forms of extremism and terrorism and calling
for the importance of concerted efforts to combat terrorism.”

 

Africa

 

The National: Political Turmoil In Sahel Could Undermine Anti-Terror Gains,
France Warns UNGA 2021
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“France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the UN General Assembly on
Monday that French engagement in the Sahel would continue after Paris ends its
seven-year military mission, but said that continued political turmoil risked
unravelling any counter-terrorism gains. The Sahel region has experienced four
coups in 13 months, two of them in Mali. France has, since 2013, led military
missions seeking to root out extremism in West Africa. Initially focused on
Mali, then-president Francois Hollande broadened the scope of the operation to
the whole of the Sahel under Operation Barkhane in 2014. French President
Emmanuel Macron announced in July that the mission would wind down early next
year. Mr Le Drian said however that France would continue “to remain fully
available to our international partners” in the Sahel. He warned the UN General
Assembly that French military efforts to combat terrorism in the Sahel would
not be “sustainable without political stability and respect for the democratic
process”. “I particularly have in mind the timetable for elections in Mali,
which must be strictly observed,” he said in a video statement. Mr Le Drian
said France’s military presence in the region had paid off, pointing to the
recent killing of Adnan Abu Walid Al Sahrawi, the leader of ISIS's Sahara
affiliate.”

 

France

 

AFP: Bataclan Attack Survivors To Testify At Paris Trial
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“Survivors of the November 2015 Paris attacks will testify at a historic trial
from Tuesday, reliving the most traumatic events of their lives as they try to
put the horror into words. One by one over the coming weeks, 300 survivors as
well as family members of the victims of the murderous assault on November 13
are to take the stand. The suicide bombing and gun assaults by three teams of
jihadists on bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and the national
stadium -- planned in Syria and later claimed by the Islamic State group --
left 130 people dead and around 350 physically injured. Some of the survivors
told AFP that, as daunting as it was to tell their stories in a packed
courtroom with the accused present, they felt it had to be done. “I want to go
through with this, it's part of my reconstruction effort,” said 31-year old
Marko, who sat on a terrace at the Belle Equipe cafe in central Paris with a
group of friends when the gunmen attacked, killing one of them, Victor. “I want
to face these people, I want them to see who their victims were -- What
happened to us, and to those who are gone,” Marko told AFP. That night, 39
people were killed on terraces of bars and cafes. A total of 14 defendants are
being tried in person at the biggest trial in modern French history, and six
others will be judged in their absence, with most of them facing life
sentences.”

 

Europe

 

Reuters: Poland Says It Found Evidence Of Extremism On Migrants' Phones
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“Poland's interior minister said on Monday material related to Islamic
extremism had been found in the phones of migrants crossing its border with
Belarus and he called for a 60-day extension to a state of emergency along the
frontier. The European Union member state declared the emergency at the start
of September over a surge in migration that Polish and EU officials blame on
Belarus. But Poland's nationalist government has drawn criticism from rights
groups over its treatment of migrants, five of whom have died on the frontier.
“(The situation is) extremely tense...I will apply to the Council of Ministers
(cabinet) for an extension of the state of emergency by 60 days,” Interior
Minister Mariusz Kaminski told a news conference. During the briefing Polish
officials showed material which they said were text messages and other images
linked to Islamic extremism found on some of the migrants' electronic devices.
Reuters could not independently confirm the veracity of the messages or images.
Poland's opposition and human rights groups have accused the ruling right-wing
nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in the past of stoking prejudice
against immigrants for political gain. During the 2015 migrant crisis, the PiS
leader said refugees from the Middle East could bring disease and parasites to
Poland.”



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