“Rotting fruit lies beneath mighty mango trees in northern Mozambique - an area
empty of the people who would usually pick them. Over the last four ye

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


October 6, 2021 

 

BBC News: Mozambique Crisis: Rwandan Troops Find Sex Slaves And Destroyed
Mosques <[link removed]>

 

“Rotting fruit lies beneath mighty mango trees in northern Mozambique - an
area empty of the people who would usually pick them. Over the last four years,
many villages and towns in Cabo Delgado have been abandoned - but in the last
month Islamist militants have been pushed back by a 1,000-strong contingent of
Rwandan troops. Buildings lie in ruins, roofs caved in, evidence of shelling or
blasts still visible. Walls falling apart and weeds growing right inside what
were once human dwellings. I was among a group of journalists seeing, for the
first time, the destruction left behind by some of the least known Islamist
militants in the world. Locals referred to them by the Arabic name for youth -
al-Shabab. But they have no connection to the better known group of the same
name based in Somalia. They are said to be affiliated to the Islamic State. “It
is more of ideological affiliation,” Rwanda's military spokesman Colonel Ronald
Rwivanga told us. The Rwandan forces took us on a tour of the province,
following the routes taken over the last few weeks. One group moved from Palma
in the north, the scene of a hotel attack in which dozens were killed in March
- some of the victims were later found beheaded with hands tied to their backs.”

 

Associated Press: Denmark Charges 3 Citizens With Planning Terror Attacks
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“Danish prosecutors said Tuesday that they have charged three people with
attempting to carry out acts of terrorism by acquiring bomb-making chemicals
and equipment that were to be used for an attack “in an unknown place either in
Denmark or abroad.” Copenhagen chief prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas said police
foiled the plot when the two male suspects were arrested. The men and a woman
were detained in December 2019 and have remained in custody since then. None of
the suspects was named. In a statement, Nilas said the men are ages 22 and 23,
and the woman is 39. One of the men has Danish citizenship, and the other man
and the woman have dual citizenships. Their other nationalities was not given.
If found guilty of the main terror charge, they would be eligible for life
prison terms, although defendants sentenced to life in Denmark serve an average
of about 16 years. The woman faces additional charges. She was charged with
financing terrorist activities by acting through an intermediary to transfer
money to people associated with the Islamic State group. Prosecutors also
charged her with promoting terrorist activities by allegedly helping several
people affiliated with IS to create social media profiles and communicate on
the internet, as well as by having spread the extremist group’s propaganda
online.”

 

United States

 

Forbes: Pentagon Now Continuously Scanning All Staff With Security Clearances
For Terrorist And Criminal Threats
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“The Department of Defense says all staff with security clearances are now
part of a program that continuously looks for signs of any criminal and
terrorist threats they could pose, amid a years-long effort to more closely
monitor federal employees for suspicious activity. DOD has enrolled all service
members, civilians and contractors with security clearances in a system called
“continuous vetting,” which automatically scans and filters criminal and
terrorist databases in search of red flags for employees, the Pentagon said in
an article on its website Tuesday. This program means DOD officials could find
out about arrest warrants and terrorism concerns leveled against staff within
days, instead of waiting until an employee’s next background check renewal,
which may take several years. Some 3.6 million people with clearances are now
included in the continuous vetting system, the Pentagon said Tuesday afternoon.
Over the next two years, the government plans to add employees from more
federal agencies to the continuous vetting program. It will also start scanning
for more categories of information, adding financial and travel records to the
criminal and terrorist information currently included in the system.”

 

Afghanistan

 

CNBC: The Taliban Takeover Of Afghanistan Could Reshape Counterinsurgencies In
Africa, Experts Say
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“The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and the subsequent withdrawal of
Western troops was closely watched in many African capitals — and by Islamist
insurgent groups on the continent.  The shift in power comes at a critical
juncture for the so-called war on terror for the governments of countries like
Somalia, Mali, Mozambique and Nigeria, and the Western powers that support
them.  A media outlet linked to Somali militant group al-Shabab wrote “God is
great” following news of the takeover. Meanwhile, the leader of West Africa’s
Jama’at Nasral-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) jihadist organization drew comparisons
between the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and France’s planned drawdown of
military presence in West Africa’s Sahel region.  French President Emmanuel
Macron announced in July that the 5,000-strong troop presence in the Sahel —
known as Operation Barkhane — would end in the first quarter of 2022. Despite
putting a timeline on the end of the main military operation, Macron insisted
that France was not withdrawing entirely from its former colonial territories.”

 

Somalia

 

Radio Dalsan: Somalia: U.S. Trained Danab Forces Kill 7 Militants In Southern
Somalia
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“US-trained special trained Danab forces have killed seven al-Shabab militants
during a security operation carried out in the Lower Shabelle region, in the
southern part of the country. SNA commander leading the operation told the
military radio that the seven militants were killed during operations conducted
in Busley and Bulo-Alundi villages under the Janale area. According to the SNA,
the government forces destroyed the militants hide outs and achieved success in
the ongoing operation to flush out the group from their hideouts. The
government forces have intensified operations against al-Shabab militants but
the militants are still hiding in the rural areas of those regions, conducting
ambushes and planting landmines. Since 2007, Al-Shabaab has launched several
attacks against Somalia's federal government and AMISOM troops.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Southern African Bloc Extends Troop Deployment In Mozambique To Fight
Insurgency -Communique
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“Southern African regional bloc SADC agreed at a summit on Tuesday to extend a
troop deployment in Mozambique to help the government fight an Islamic
State-linked insurgency. “Summit approved the extension of the SAMIM (SADC
Mission in Mozambique) to continue with offensive operations against terrorists
and violent extremists,” the bloc said in a communique after top officials met
in Pretoria, South Africa. The SADC troop deployment was initially for three
months and due to end on Oct. 15. The communique did not say how long the
extension was approved for. Southern African nations agreed in June to send
troops to help Mozambique respond to the insurgency, which is concentrated in
the northern province of Cabo Delgado and has claimed thousands of lives since
beginning in 2017. Rwanda, which is not a SADC member, began deploying soldiers
in Mozambique a month later. The fighting brought a $20 billion natural gas
project led by French energy company TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) to a halt, after
fighters attacked the town of Palma in March. The communique on Tuesday said
three soldiers on the SADC mission to Mozambique had lost their lives, from
Botswana and Tanzania.”

 

Al Monitor: Are Brotherhood Members Forming Terror Cells In Sudan?
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“Sudanese security services have recently arrested members of a terrorist cell
affiliated with the Islamic State (IS). In the midst of political and security
tension in Sudan, the country's intelligence services announced Sept. 28 that a
raid in neighborhoods south of the capital, Khartoum, targeted a cell
affiliated with IS, which has never claimed responsibility for an attack in the
country. An exchange of fire erupted during the operation, killing five members
of the Sudanese intelligence service. Meanwhile, 11 terrorists of different
foreign nationalities were arrested, while four fled but were later tracked
down and arrested. Sudan was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 by
the United States. Since former Islamist President Omar al-Bashir came to power
in 1959, his regime harbored and supported extremist Islamist groups including
al-Qaeda, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Lebanese Hezbollah. Sudan
hosted al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden between 1992 and 1996. In 2020, the
United States removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism
following the overthrow of Bashir in April 2019. However, the US State
Department had warned in 2018 against IS making its way back to Sudan after the
organization lost much of its territories in Syria and Iraq.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Sky News: Man Charged With Terror Offences After Arrest At Heathrow Airport,
Thames Valley Police Say
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“A man has been charged with terror offences after being arrested at Heathrow
Airport, Thames Valley Police said. Shabazz Suleman, who is also accused of
being a member of the Islamic State group, will appear at Westminster
Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. The 25-year-old, of Freemantle Road, High
Wycombe, was arrested at Heathrow on 29 September under the provisions of
Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. It came after an investigation by
Counter-Terrorism Policing South East. On Tuesday, Thames Valley Police said he
had been charged has been charged with preparing for acts of terrorism, under
section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. He is also accused of membership of a
proscribed organisation - namely Isis or the Islamic State group - under
section 11 of the Terrorism Act 2000. He is further charged, under section 54
of the Terrorism Act 2000, with receiving weapons training.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

AFP: Sri Lanka Agrees To Reform Terror Law To Keep EU Trade Deal
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“Sri Lanka's president vowed “immediate steps” to amend anti-terror
legislation to retain a lucrative trade status with the European Union, his
office said Tuesday. The EU had warned Sri Lanka that its generalised system of
preferences (GSP Plus) -- a favourable trade scheme to encourage developing
nations to respect human rights -- could be withdrawn if Colombo did not
improve its rights record. Gotabaya Rajapaksa told a visiting EU delegation
Monday that he had instructed the justice minister and the attorney general to
carry out urgent reforms to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The law
allows police to arrest and detain suspects for long periods. Confessions
extracted from suspects can be used against them, and many have been held for
decades without charge. “Immediate steps will be taken to amend the necessary
provisions of the PTA,” Rajapaksa's office quoted him as saying. “President
Rajapaksa also stated that the country would abide by the agreements on human
rights in the world today.” International human rights organisations have
accused Rajapaksa's government, which came to power in November 2019 with the
overwhelming support of the Sinhalese-Buddhist majority, of persecuting
minorities and targeting rights activists.”

 

Al Jazeera: Sri Lanka Indicts ISIL ‘Mastermind’ Over Easter Sunday Bombings
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“Sri Lankan prosecutors have indicted the alleged mastermind of the 2019
Easter Sunday suicide bombings along with 24 men they say are co-conspirators
in the island’s worst single “terror” attack. Nearly 300 people including
dozens of foreign nationals were killed in the April 21 attacks on three
churches and three luxury hotels, in a wave of killings singling out Sri
Lanka’s Christian community. Prosecutors have brought more than 20,000 charges
against the suspects, three of whom have already been accused of “terrorism” by
the US Justice Department. The suspects are in police custody, but one of them
did not appear in court on Monday as he was suffering from COVID-19, officials
said, adding that hearings will begin on November 23. Prosecutors told the
court that US and Australian forensic experts assisted investigators in
tracking down the backers of the eight-member suicide squad responsible for the
attacks. Sri Lanka authorities have accused their ringleader, Mohamed Naufar,
of being the mastermind of the deadly suicide bombings and of being a member of
the ISIL (ISIS) group. Former Police chief Pujith Jayasundara and top defence
official Hemasiri Fernando are also being prosecuted separately for failing to
act on repeated intelligence warnings of a possible ISIL attack.”

 

Technology

 

Yahoo News: Facebook Whistleblower: Without Action, 'Extremist Behaviors We
See Today Are Only The Beginning'
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“Facebook (FB) whistleblower Frances Haugen testified in the Senate Tuesday
about a trove of documents she says point to Facebook’s “destructive impact” on
society that has led to, among other things, ethnic violence in Myanmar and
Ethiopia. “My fear is that without action, divisive and extremist behaviors we
see today are only the beginning,” Haugen told the Senate consumer protection
subcommittee. “What we saw in Myanmar and are seeing in Ethiopia are only the
opening chapters of a story so terrifying, no one wants to read the end of it.”
Facebook has been blamed for helping to spread misinformation, disinformation,
and hate speech that has led to sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing in
Myanmar and Ethiopia. Haugen’s testimony follows her appearance on “60 Minutes”
on Sunday during which she discussed the information from her data leaks, and
said that Facebook “has realized that if they change the algorithm to be safer,
people will spend less time on the site, they'll click on less ads, they'll
make less money.” The Wall Street Journal initially published Haugen’s
revelations in a series of articles discussing everything from the impact
Facebook’s Instagram has on teens and young women to how Facebook is used by
human traffickers in foreign markets.”



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