Eye on Extremism
October 24, 2019
The
Hill: House Homeland Security Committee Advances Online Extremism
Bill
“A House panel on Wednesday voted to advance a bill aimed at
combating the scourge of extremist content online despite ongoing
pushback from civil liberties groups and Republicans on the committee.
The House Homeland Security Committee unanimously voted to advance the
National Commission on Online Platforms and Homeland Security Act,
greenlighting one of the first legislative efforts to address internet
extremism and bigotry after a string of mass shooters were tied to
white supremacist online footprints this year. “Through our oversight
of the social media companies, it is evident that this is one of those
areas where the private sector needs the government to be a convener,”
committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said during his opening
remarks. The bill, which has undergone several drafts over the past
few months, would create a 12-member bipartisan commission of experts
to research “how online platforms have been exploited to carry out
mass-casualty targeted violence” — including acts of domestic and
international terrorism as well as “covert foreign state influence
campaigns.”
Foreign
Affairs: The Coming ISIS Jailbreak
“U.S. President Donald Trump just handed the Islamic State (ISIS) a
literal get-out-of-jail free card. On October 6, he announced the
withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeastern Syria in order to make way
for a Turkish invasion. The Turks had in their sights the Kurdish
forces with whom the United States partnered to topple ISIS’
territorial caliphate only seven months prior. Trump’s decision was a
betrayal of these partners, whose ties to militants on the Turkish
side of the border threatened Ankara. More ominously, the decision was
a gift to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the biggest single
boost to his organization since it captured a large swath of Iraq and
Syria in 2014. Remarkably, ISIS won’t even have to adjust its strategy
to seize this opportunity to rebuild. It can merely reuse the playbook
that enabled its initial rise: a systematic campaign of jailbreaks
that yielded the manpower and the leadership necessary to conquer
physical territory. Thanks to the Trump administration, the Kurdish
forces guarding Syrian prisons that contain tens of thousands of ISIS
militants and their families are now fighting for their lives. The
flurry of prison breaks reported in recent days isn’t just an accident
of the Turkish invasion—for years, ISIS has relied on breaking its
fighters out of jails and detention camps to bolster its
manpower.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Islamic State’s TikTok Posts Include Beheading
Videos
“Islamic State militants, who have been posting propaganda videos
to TikTok, the social-media network known for lighthearted content
popular with teenagers, have also been posting execution and torture
videos to the site. The videos, identified by social-media
intelligence company Storyful, show balaclava-wearing militants
grabbing captives, pushing them to the ground and beheading them with
machetes. In another video, an assailant fires a gun at people at
close range. The video is edited to show a burst of colorful confetti
fly across the screen. The findings follow the discovery of Islamic
State recruitment videos on TikTok, which The Wall Street Journal
reported this week. Those videos, also identified by Storyful,
glorified the group with songs and icons that appeared to be aimed
more at recruitment and rousing enthusiasm. TikTok removed all the
videos flagged by the Journal and canceled the accounts responsible.
TikTok is owned by Beijing-based Bytedance Ltd. The company’s rules,
which prohibit terrorist and criminal organizations from using TikTok,
explicitly forbid showing violence or any content that incites
violence. “DO NOT use TikTok to promote and support these
organizations,” the company says in its guidelines.”
Jewish
News Syndicate: Legislators Accuse Twitter Of Allowing Content From
Hamas And Hezbollah, Violating Law
“It is outrageous that Twitter, a U.S.-based publicly traded
company, would carve out exceptions to accommodate internationally
designated terrorist organizations,” Counter Extremism Project
executive director David Ibsen told JNS. “Twitter’s posture is
representative of the tech industry’s absurd inconsistency, especially
since Twitter removed Hamas-linked accounts back in 2016. Twitter’s
latest refusal to apply standards consistently on its platform
demonstrates how tech continues to apply its rules when it deems it
convenient.” “Clearly, these companies cannot be trusted to
‘self-regulate,’ ” he added. “This kind of government oversight is
needed to ensure that the tech industry operates in a way that
protects our national security.”
United States
The
Wall Street Journal: Barr Wants To Adopt Terrorism-Prevention Tactics
To Stop Mass Shootings
“The same tactics that law-enforcement officials developed to stop
terrorists should be adopted to prevent mass shootings, Attorney
General William Barr said in a memo released Wednesday directing the
FBI to find ways to better identify and thwart such attacks.
Authorities should include psychologists, community groups and
“intervention teams” when trying to gauge whether someone is gearing
up for mass violence, in much the same way the FBI’s terrorism squads
seek to identify people as they radicalize, Mr. Barr wrote in the memo
to the nation’s federal prosecutors. “Some of our most creative and
effective disruption and early engagement tactics were born of the
posture we adopted with respect to terrorist threats,” Mr. Barr wrote,
urging authorities to take a similar approach to today’s threats that
“appear abruptly and with sometimes only ambiguous indications of
intent.” Mr. Barr’s memo stops short of proposing stronger measures,
such as gun control or a federal statute that would make domestic
terrorism a crime, which some current and former Justice Department
officials believe would give investigators and prosecutors a better
tool to go after mass shooters before they
act.”
CEP
Advisory Board Member Senator Joseph I. Lieberman For The Hill:
Congress Must Confront Online
Extremism
“With each new terror attack or mass murder linked to extremist
content online, major tech companies like YouTube, Facebook and
Twitter make promises to better police their platforms. But after the
outrage subsides, very little of consequence changes. It is clear now
that tech firms will not effectively and consistently enforce their
terms of service, since doing so negatively impacts their bottom line.
Patience for their bait and switch tactics is wearing thin, and it is
time for Congress to hold this unregulated industry accountable by
modifying the blanket legal protection afforded through Section 230 of
the Communications Decency Act. Tech companies have put profits over
the physical safety of people for too long. How else can Facebook
explain its inability to stop ISIS followers from exploiting its
platform to host meetings, link to terrorist propaganda and organize?
How else can YouTube explain its failure to permanently remove ISIS
videos or take action against the responsible accounts that repeatedly
upload them?”
Syria
Voice
Of America: Syrian Unrest Breathes Life Into Islamic State Militant
Group
“Officials are warning that Turkey's offensive into northeastern
Syria might be giving the militant group Islamic State new life.
However, American counterterrorism officials say the group's next
moves are unclear. They warn that Islamic State, or IS, knows how to
use conflicts in the area to make gains, as it did in Iraq. The
officials spoke on the condition that their identities would not be
released. IS has used the months since its defeat in Baghuz, Syria, to
create “networks” of about 10,000 to 15,000 fighters, the officials
said. The group is preparing for a long, violent insurgency. But, it
remains uncertain how IS will change its plans “in Syria in light of
the Turkish incursion,” a U.S. counterterrorism official told VOA.
Most IS military operations had targeted Kurdish security forces
before Turkey launched its offensive. Now, some believe, it is
possible that IS may try to free some of its 12,000 fighters being
held by the U.S.-supported Syrian Democratic Forces – or SDF. It may
also try to free some of the IS wives and other family members in
camps in the area. In September, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi asked
his fighters to do just that.”
Deutsche
Welle: NATO Chief Warns 'Fight Against IS Is Not
Over'
“NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Wednesday that
“Islamic State” could revive itself following the US withdrawal in
Syria. In a press conference setting the agenda for an upcoming,
high-level NATO meeting, Stoltenberg said the fight against IS must
continue. “Ending IS was the reason NATO went in (to northeastern
Syria). We have to preserve those gains,” he said. “We also have to
understand that the fight against IS is not over; they can come back.”
Stoltenberg said NATO would continue to support the fight against IS
in both Iraq and Afghanistan, especially through the training of local
forces. Stoltenberg repeatedly called for a political solution to the
conflict between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds, addressing agreements
between the US, Turkey and Russia. He said he: understood that Turkey
had shouldered a great burden of terrorist attacks and hosting
refugees; felt it was too early to judge the consequences of the Sochi
agreement between Russia and Turkey; welcomed the agreement between
Turkey and the US, saying reducing violence was the first step to a
political solution; welcomed the German defense minister's recent
calls for an international presence in northeastern Syria as an
encouraging proposal for a political solution, adding that any
solution would have to involve actors on the ground.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Desperate Pleas To Free Women, Children From ISIS Camps In
Syria
“When Kamalle Dabboussy learned this month that President Donald
Trump was removing troops from northeastern Syria, he pulled over in
his car and wept. For months, Dabboussy has been lobbying the
Australian government to remove his daughter and three grandchildren
from a detention camp for relatives of ISIS militants. Now, he
believes, the window to save them is closing. “It’s tough; it’s
scary,” he told his daughter, Mariam, during a recent phone call.
Dabboussy tried to comfort her. “We’re still pushing,” he said. The
fate of tens of thousands of women and children in Kurdish-run
detainee camps in Syria has posed a challenge for governments around
the world since ISIS lost its last territory there earlier this year.
But the chaos and violence that have followed the American pullback
have intensified questions about what duty nations have to citizens
detained abroad, even those affiliated with a brutal terrorist group.
Dabboussy has been leading a contingent of about a dozen Australian
families seeking the return of more than 65 relatives, most of them
children. He has traveled to al-Hol, the camp where his daughter is
being held in what he describes as unbearable conditions.”
Iran
The
Guardian: Albanian Police Say Iranian 'Terror Cell' Planned To Attack
Exiles
“Albanian police say they have discovered an Iranian paramilitary
network that allegedly planned attacks in Albania against exiled
members of an Iranian group that is seeking to overthrow the
government in Tehran. The country’s police chief, Ardi Veliu, said the
foreign wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards operated an “active
terrorist cell” targeting members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, in
Albania. He did not say what the alleged plot involved or whether any
arrests were made. A police statement alleged that two Iranian
security officials led the cell from Tehran. It said the network was
allegedly linked to organised crime groups in Turkey and used a former
MEK member to collect information in Albania. Veliu said a planned
attack on the group in Albania by Iranian government agents was foiled
in March. Last year Albania expelled Iran’s ambassador and another
Iranian diplomat over alleged illegal activities threatening Albania’s
security. MEK is outlawed in Iran and was listed as a terrorist
organisation by the US state department until 2012. Around 2,500 of
its members moved to Albania from Iraq in 2014.”
Iraq
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Six Iraqi Police Officers Killed
“Six police officers including two senior commanders were killed in
northern Iraq on Tuesday when ISIS militants opened fire on them
during a reconnaissance mission, security sources said. Militant
attacks on security forces are common in Iraq but the killing of
senior commanders is rare. Major General Ali al-Lami, who commands the
Iraqi Federal Police's Fourth Division, and Brigadier General Mohammed
Allawi from the same division were killed alongside four members of
their security detail, Samara Operations Command sources said. The
generals were leading a reconnaissance mission in the Zor area north
of Samara in Salahuddin. Militants opened fire on them as soon as they
got there. Helicopter gunships were firing at the bushes in that area
where the militants are hiding, Iraqi army officials said. The
defense ministry issued a statement of condolences calling the fallen
generals martyrs and heroes. Four Iraqi police officers were killed
and five wounded when ISIS militants attacked checkpoints in the Allas
oilfields area of the northern Salahuddin province late on Monday,
police said earlier. Iraq declared victory over the hardline militants
in late 2017 after pushing them out of all territory it held in the
country.”
Turkey
The
New York Times: After Turkish Incursion, ISIS Wives Speak
Out
“Now that Turkey’s military offensive has weakened Kurdish control
in northeastern Syria, the question of what will happen to thousands
of detained Islamic State fighters and their families is more pressing
than ever. We traveled to Al Hol, a sprawling refugee camp guarded by
Kurdish-led forces. Here, the wives and children of ISIS fighters are
held in squalid conditions. There is no running water, and hundreds of
children have died from disease and malnutrition since the beginning
of the year. Instability caused by Turkey’s incursion could
potentially provide an opportunity for them to escape. The people we
spoke with offered divergent views on what the military operation
might mean for them. We approached a group of women covered head to
toe in black as they were lining up for humanitarian aid. One told us
that she hoped the Turkish offensive would help pave the way for the
caliphate’s resurgence. Another added, emphatically, “ISIS will not
end.” Others openly denounced ISIS, saying the group had destroyed
their lives. A Belgian woman with a small child on her hip pleaded for
sympathy. “The world forgets that we’re just humans,” she said. “We’re
not animals. We’re humans.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Rocket Attack Wounds At Least 5 Marines In
Afghanistan
“At least five Marines were wounded on Tuesday during a Taliban
rocket attack on a military base in southern Afghanistan, according to
three defense officials. The high number of casualties came a day
after Defense Secretary Mark. T. Esper visited the country. The attack
occurred in the provincial capital of Helmand Province, Lashkar Gar,
where American Marines keep a small base at the airfield there. The
attack highlights that — despite President Trump’s assertion that the
American military is hitting the Taliban “harder than they have ever
been hit before” — the insurgent group is still capable of hitting a
fortified military base in a well-defended provincial capital.
Following the attack, the Taliban tweeted that their fighters had
fired more than 60 “missiles” at the outpost and killed and wounded
“tens” of Americans and Afghans. One defense official said it was only
several rockets and those wounded were in a stable condition. In a
tweet, Col. Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for the American-led mission in
Afghanistan said that there were no “U.S. or coalition casualties” but
the “Taliban’s indiscriminate and inaccurate rockets resulted in two
innocent Afghan civilians being injured.” It was unclear whether
Colonel Leggett meant that no one was wounded in the Taliban
attack.”
Xinhua:
4 Special Force Members Dead In N. Afghan Attack
“Four Afghan army special force members were killed and others
wounded in a Taliban militants' ambush attack in northern Takhar
province Wednesday, local police said. “The fighting erupted after
militants ambushed a unit of Afghan National Army Special Operations
Corps roughly at 2:00 a.m. (local time) Wednesday in Chachak locality,
Khwaja Ghar district. Several militants were also killed and wounded
during the clashes,” Abdul Khalil Asir from provincial police told
Xinhua. The army and police forces arrived and secured the area after
the fighting. The bodies and the wounded were shifted to an army camp.
The province has been the scene of heavy clashes and fighting since
long. Afghan security forces launched several anti-government
operations in Takhar since early this month, destroying several
militants' hideouts, fighting positions, attacking tunnels and weapons
storage. Fighting rages across the war-torn country and clashes
between security forces and Taliban have been continuing in most of
the country's 34 provinces since early April when Taliban insurgents
launched a yearly rebel offensive.”
Pakistan
Yahoo
News: Pakistan-Sponsored Terrorism Ignored By World
Press
“An Indian journalist, who testified before a US committee
discussing human rights situation in Kashmir, said Pakistan-sponsored
terrorism has been completely overlooked by the world press for the
past 30 years, evoking a sharp reaction from a US Congresswoman who
questioned her objectivity while reporting. Following the criticism by
American lawmaker Ilhan Omar, Aarti Tikoo Singh, who flew in to the US
at the Congressional invitation to testify, accused her of being
“unfair” and also alleged the Congress hearing was “prejudiced,
biased, a setup against India and in favour of Pakistan”. “Throughout
these 30 years of conflict, Islamic jihad and terror in Kashmir
perpetrated by Pakistan has been completely ignored and overlooked by
the world press. There is no human rights activists and no press in
the world which feels that it is their moral obligation to talk or
write about the victims of Pakistani terror in Kashmir,” Singh said.
While attacking the journalist, Omar had also said that press is at
its worth worst when it is a mouthpiece for a government. “That is
very unfair,” Singh told Congressman Brad Sharman, Chairman of the
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee during a Congressional hearing on human
rights in South Asia.”
Nigeria
All
Africa: Nigeria: Troops Capture Boko Haram Top Commanders, 16 Others
In Sting Operation
“The Nigerian Army yesterday said combined troops of 26 Task Force
Brigade, 21 Special Armoured Brigade and elements of Civilian Joint
Task Force, acting on intelligence, conducted a sting operation
against some Boko Haram criminals hibernating around Pulka general
area of Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State on Sunday. Nigerian
Army Operations Media Coordinator, Aminu Iliyasu, in a statement, said
the operation led to the arrest of 16 active Boko Haram members. He
said preliminary investigation revealed that some of the arrested
suspects participated in the attack on Pulka and Gwoza, including the
execution of some police personnel sometime ago. He said two of the
arrested insurgents, Lawan Abubakar Umar Garliga and Bayaga Manye, had
been on the Nigerian Army most wanted Boko Haram list earlier
published on Serials 41 and 90. The suspects, who were Boko Haram
logistics suppliers, included Alhaji Umaru, Goni Agwala, Momodu
Shetene, Hassan Audu, Usman Manye, Ali Lawan, Modu Mallum, Modu
Abubakar Jugudum, Bulama Ali, Umar Usman, Mustapha Alhaji Mele, Abor
Lassan, Mallum Ari and Mala Bala.”
Somalia
New
York Post: Alleged Somali Pirates Accused Of Kidnapping Hit With
Terrorism Charges
“Two alleged Somali pirates previously accused of kidnapping an
American journalist and holding him for more than two and a half years
were hit with fresh federal charges on Wednesday — including new
allegations they were working on behalf of terrorists. Mohamed Thalil
Mohamed and Abdi Hassad were previously hit with kidnapping raps in
connection with the long captivity of Michael Scott Moore. But defense
attorneys for the pair were able to convince Brooklyn federal Judge
Allyne Ross to drop the charges because the alleged crimes occurred
out of US jurisdiction. So prosecutors decided to take a second swing
at the case — and are now arguing that Mohamed and Hassan nabbed Moore
on behalf of a terrorist group. The terror group was not named in
court papers. Dressed in jail garb, Mohamed and Hassad, both pleaded
not guilty to the charges contained in a new indictment in court
Wednesday. “The charges that have been put forward are an overreach
and will be dismissed,” James Kousouros, Hassad’s lawyer, told The
Post following the arraignment.”
Africa
The
Washington Post: Extremist Attacks Intensify At Mali, Burkina Faso
Border
“Assaya Ngweba says Islamic extremists transformed his
once-peaceful village in Burkina Faso, near the border with Mali, into
“a place of misfortune and death.” Now the 78-year-old is among half a
million people who have fled the area this year as the extremists
linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group increase attacks and
expand their range in West Africa. Concerted military actions by five
regional countries, along with a French operation, have failed to stem
the violence. The border between Burkina Faso and Mali is the latest
flashpoint in the vast, arid Sahel region that stretches across Africa
south of the Sahara Desert. In the past week at least 19 civilians
have been killed by suspected extremists in Burkina Faso’s north. The
extremists have launched deadly assaults against the regional G5 Sahel
counterterror force set up in 2017 with soldiers from Burkina Faso,
Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. The worst occurred earlier this
month when al-Qaida-linked fighters attacked two army bases in central
Mali, killing at least 38 soldiers and leaving more than a dozen
missing. The attack in Boulikessi “was devastating for the military in
terms of morale and strategic impact because it laid bare the
jihadists’ strength in that crucial border region which is a bridge to
Islamist expansion further south,” said Human Rights Watch’s West
Africa associate director, Corinne Dufka.”
United Kingdom
BBC
News: Pair Jailed For Inciting Copycat Terror Attacks
“Two men who encouraged copycat terror attacks after shootings in
New Zealand have been jailed. Morgan Seales and Gabriele Longo
discussed doing something similar to the attacks on mosques in
Christchurch which claimed 51 lives in March. They were convicted of
encouraging terrorism and other offences after a trial at Leeds Crown
Court. Seales, from South Shields, was jailed for four years. Longo,
from Crawley, West Sussex, was given a six-year term. The court heard
the pair published extreme right-wing statements encouraging terrorism
on a WhatsApp group called Christian White Militia. Counter-terror
police arrested Seales, 20, from Turner Avenue, South Shields, shortly
after the New Zealand attacks, when suspicions were raised about his
online activities. Longo, 26, of Burdock Close, Crawley, was arrested
the following month after he was identified from Seales' mobile phone
records. As well as encouraging terrorism, the pair were also found
guilty of possessing material for terrorist purposes and collecting or
making a record of information useful in the preparation of an act of
terrorism.”
Southeast Asia
Yahoo
News: 3 Indonesian Maids Who Were Working In Singapore For Years
Charged With Funding Terrorism
“They had been working as maids in Singapore for as long as 13
years when they became radicalised after viewing propaganda by the
militant group ISIS online last year. Over time, the trio connected
with others who were like-minded and even had “online boyfriends” who
shared their pro-ISIS views. The three maids from Indonesia, who are
in their 30s, galvanised support for the terrorist group via posts on
several social media accounts, and allegedly contributed cash to fund
terrorism-related activities. One of the maids was even prepared to be
a suicide bomber for ISIS, while another wanted to join the terrorist
group in Syria. At the State Courts on Wednesday (23 October), the
trio, who have been detained under the Internal Security Act since
last month, were each charged with funding terrorism. They are accused
of remitting, collecting, or handing over about $1,600 in total,
knowing that the money would be used to facilitate terrorist acts.
Turmini, who goes by one name and is 31, is accused of remitting a
total of 13,000,000 Indonesian rupiah, or about $1,200, to a person
over five occasions between September last year and May.”
The
Straits Times: Terrorist Linked To Al-Qaeda Will Be Freed Next Month,
Confirms Malaysian Police Chief
“Unrepentant Malaysian terrorist Yazid Sufaat, who acquired 4
tonnes of ammonium nitrate in 2000 in preparation for a foiled bombing
plot in Singapore, will be freed from prison next month, Malaysia's
national police chief said on Wednesday (Oct 23). He confirmed the
report in the The Straits Times last Saturday that the 55-year-old
US-trained biochemist, who once attempted to produce weapons of mass
destruction for Al-Qaeda, would be released from Simpang Renggam
prison where he has spent two years in detention, the maximum allowed
under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota). “He has served his
sentence, and only if he commits an offence after his release, will
the police take action,” Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador told reporters
after officiating the 69 Commando Golden Jubilee at the General
Operations Force base in Ulu Kinta, Ipoh. “Just to detain him based on
people's perception, we (the police) will not do that. (But) we
understand people's concern, that he has the capability and was deeply
involved in terrorism activities,” he said. Mr Abdul Hamid said the
police would not challenge the release. In the 1990s, Yazid attempted
to cultivate and load anthrax onto weapons in Afghanistan. His home in
Kuala Lumpur had also been used by senior Al-Qaeda members for
meetings.”
Technology
The
Independent: Zuckerberg Claims He Is ‘Trying His Best’ To Remove
Terrorist Content From Facebook, As Congress Attacks Company’s
Cryptocurrency Plans And Civil Rights Record
“Mark Zuckerberg has been criticised by US politicians for his
company's failure to remove terrorist content, its plans to introduce
its own cryptocurrency and perceived bias over what views it promotes.
The questions came as Mr Zuckerberg testified in front of the House
Financial Services Committee, about Facebook's plans to create a
global digital currency that would be available to all users of its
services. But criticisms focused not just on that plan, but all of the
various ways that Facebook conducts business around the world.
Lawmakers asked about whether Facebook encouraged discrimination, for
instance, as well as pointing out flaws in its content moderation
techniques. During the hearings, Mr Zuckerberg was informed that
videos of mass killings such as the Christchurch mosque shooting was
still being hosted to watch by Facebook. He agreed that the company
was “doing its best” to try and take such videos down, but suggested
it would never be possible to catch them all. Mr Zuckerberg's hearing
was advertised as focusing on Libra, the cryptocurrency that
regulators fear could undermine government's power and traditional
money. In recent months, the plan has come under scrutiny from
lawmakers and has lost many of its biggest supporters.”
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