“The murder of a U.K. lawmaker has focused attention on “Prevent,” a program
designed to identify people at risk of becoming radicalized, as well as o

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


October 18, 2021 

 

Bloomberg: U.K. Politician’s Murder Puts Focus On Anti-Terrorism Program
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“The murder of a U.K. lawmaker has focused attention on “Prevent,” a program
designed to identify people at risk of becoming radicalized, as well as on how
to combat “corrosive” online discourse. U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel said
Sunday the counter-terrorism program is undergoing an independent review. The
suspect in the deadly stabbing of Conservative MP David Amess had reportedly
been referred to “Prevent” several years ago -- as had at least two others in
the past few years who went on to commit violent or deadly acts. “It’s timely
to do that, we have to learn, not just from incidents that have taken place,
but how we can strengthen our programs,” Patel said on Sky News’s “Trevor
Philipps Show.” The suspect in custody was identified by a U.K. government
official as Ali Harbi Ali, a 25-year-old British citizen of Somali origin. He’s
been held under the U.K.’s Terrorism Act, the Metropolitan Police said in a
statement. Early investigations revealed a potential motivation linked to
Islamic extremism, the police said. The BBC reported that Ali was referred to
“Prevent” some years ago. However, the U.K. official, speaking under the usual
custom of anonymity, said the man was never a formal subject of interest to
MI5, the nation’s domestic security agency.”

 

Reuters: Taliban Pledge To Step Up Security As Shi'ite Victims Buried In
Afghanistan
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“Taliban authorities pledged to step up security at Shi'ite mosques as
hundreds of people gathered on Saturday to bury the victims of the second
Islamic State suicide attack on worshippers in a week. Hardline Sunni group
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on the Fatima mosque in
Kandahar that saw a group of suicide bombers shoot their way into the mosque
before blowing themselves up among the worshippers during Friday prayers. A
health official said the casualty toll from the attack stood at 41 dead and 70
wounded but could rise further. “Some of the wounded are in a critical
condition and we are trying to transfer them to Kabul,” he said. On Saturday,
large crowds gathered to bury the white-shrouded victims in a mass grave in the
southern city of Kandahar. The head of Kandahar police said units would be
assigned to protect the Shi'ite mosques which have so far been guarded by local
volunteer forces with special permission to carry weapons. “Unfortunately they
could not protect this area and in future we will assign special security
guards for the protection of mosques and Madrasas,” he said in a statement
posted on Twitter by a Taliban spokesman.”

 

Syria

 

The Washington Post: Biden Administration Attempts To Overcome Reluctance Of
Nations To Repatriate Islamic State Fighters From Syria
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“The Biden administration is redoubling efforts to persuade countries to
repatriate Islamic State fighters and their families from eastern Syria, but
there are few signs the United States can quickly break an impasse that
military leaders say is a major security threat. Around 11,000 suspected
fighters remain imprisoned in makeshift prisons run by Syrian Kurdish forces in
northeast Syria. At least 60,000 women and children are confined to camps
housing Islamic State families, where officials warn dire conditions and
rampant extremism may yield a new generation of militants. At least 70 people
have been killed so far this year inside al-Hol, the sprawling camp that has
come to symbolize the deadlock over the fighters and family members, hailing
from across Europe, the Middle East and beyond, who now personify the
unaddressed aftermath of the five-year battle against the Islamic State. Many
countries, including close U.S. allies in Europe, have been reluctant to bring
home their nationals, citing security fears and the burden of monitoring or
prosecuting those with extremist links. “Just because it’s out of sight and out
of mind, which it is for the vast majority of Americans, doesn’t mean it’s not
a very serious problem,” said Nathan Sales, who oversaw efforts to repatriate
those in the facilities as a top counterterrorism official during the Trump
administration.”

 

Pakistan

 

The Washington Post: In Kashmir, Militants Target Minority Civilians, Stoking
Fears Of A Return To Violent Past
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“Militants in Kashmir have killed seven civilians, including Hindus and Sikhs,
in targeted attacks this month, marking an escalation in the decades-old
conflict in the Muslim-majority enclave and setting the stage for new clashes.
One of the victims, Makhan Lal Bindroo, a Hindu, spent his life running a large
pharmacy in Muslim-majority Kashmir’s Srinagar city. This month, militants
barged into his shop in a bustling market and shot him four times at
point-blank range. “He died before reaching the hospital,” his son, Siddharth,
said. The others killed included two schoolteachers and a street hawker. Four
were Hindus and Sikhs, prompting dozens of families — mostly those whose
members work government jobs — from those communities to leave for the
neighboring Hindu-majority region. Kashmir has been a flash point between India
and Pakistan since the subcontinent’s partition. In the 1990s, the rise of
militant groups battling the Indian state for independence or merger with
Pakistan triggered the exodus of tens of thousands of its minority population,
considered a dark chapter in the region’s history. A well-regarded figure in
Kashmir, Bindroo, 68, was among the few hundred Hindu families that remained in
the valley. Siddharth said his father vowed he would never leave his homeland.”

 

Lebanon

 

The New York Times: Beirut, A City Where Everyone Gets By, Revisits Sectarian
Violence
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“Tony Nohra, a shopkeeper in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut, was receiving
a shipment of yogurt on Friday, the day after sectarian clashes killed seven
people in the city, and talking about how many Shiite Muslim friends he had.
But when asked how the violence had begun, he snapped. “You have to ask the
guys there,” he said, angrily pointing toward the Shiite neighborhood nearby.
Overhearing the comment, the Shiite man delivering the yogurt cut in. “No, no,”
he insisted. “It started from here.” Most of the time, residents of Beirut, a
scrappy Mediterranean city whose roughly 2.5 million inhabitants represent
tremendous ethnic and religious diversity, get by and get along. They do
business, socialize and even marry outside of their religious groups. Various
denominations of Christians, Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Druze, Armenians, Syrian
and Palestinian refugees and other groups crowd together, often sharing
employers, neighborhoods and apartment buildings. But the clashes on Thursday,
the worst sectarian violence in Lebanon’s capital in years, revealed tensions
lurking just beneath the surface in a city haunted by 15 years of civil war.”

 

Euronews: Europe Should Take Action Against Hezbollah's Growing Strength
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“Last month, an EU Resolution on Lebanon brought the plight of the
Mediterranean nation back into the European spotlight. After defaulting on its
Eurobond debt last year, Lebanon is struggling with one of the worst financial
crises the world has seen since the 19th century. The government can no longer
afford to import basic necessities, while fuel shortages have plunged the
country into near-constant darkness. Hezbollah was founded amid the chaos of
the 15-year civil war that raged in Lebanon from 1975 until 1990. Ever since
its inception, it has engaged in violent terrorist activities, targeting its
own enemies and acting as a proxy organisation for Iran, both in Lebanon and
abroad - including in Europe. Hezbollah’s destructive influence was exemplified
just this week when gunfire erupted in the Lebanese capital during a protest
organised by the group.At least six people were killed, and dozens injured, in
violence reminiscent of the civil war and the worst street fighting Beirut has
seen in years. The simple reason for the dissent was Hezbollah once again
attempting to thwart the democratic process. The group was protesting against
Judge Tarek Bitar leading the investigation into last year’s cataclysmic port
explosion.”

 

Middle East

 

Gulf News: Kuwait’s Top Court Jails Professor For 7 Years On Terror Charges
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“Kuwait’s top appeals court had confirmed a seven-year imprisonment term
against a university professor convicted of bankrolling terrorism in Syria,
local media reported. The Court of Cassation also ordered the convict and two
others to pay a fine of KD700,000 and confiscation of KD668,00 in their
possession. The convict is a teacher at an Islamic Sharia law faculty. The
court handed down a similar sentence to his brother and confirmed a
five-year-jail term against a third defendant in the same case. The verdicts
are final. The three were prosecuted last year after accusation they had
illegally collected nearly KD500,000 for financing the terrorist Al Nusra
Front, an affiliate of Al Qaeda in war-torn Syria. The defendants denied the
charges, claiming they had collected the money to support needy families in
Syria.”

 

Egypt

 

Al Monitor: Egypt Looks To Expand Counter-Terrorism Cooperation With Sudan
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“Sudanese security forces, led by the country's intelligence services, have
been cracking down on Islamic State (IS) members over the past weeks. Five
members of the Sudanese intelligence service were killed Sept. 28 during a raid
on a terrorist cell in Jabra neighborhood, south of the capital Khartoum.
According to preliminary information, most of the members of the cell were
Egyptian. Among those detained were five Egyptian nationals who had illegally
entered Sudan in 2013. One of them was a young woman who, according to social
media accounts, was forcibly disappeared in April 2019.  Other media reports
claimed that one of the arrested members of the terror cell was involved in the
deadly explosion at the Mansoura security directorate in Egypt in December 2013
and had escaped to Sudan shortly after. Meanwhile, the Sudanese General
Intelligence Service denied in an Oct. 1 statement handing over any of those
detained during the Sept. 28 raid to another party — in reference to Egypt —
and confirmed dealing with them in compliance with Sudanese legal frameworks.
Relations between Cairo and Khartoum under ousted President Omar al-Bashir’s
rule had been fraught by the issue of members of the Muslim Brotherhood who had
escaped and found refuge in Sudan after the fall of the regime of President
Mohammed Morsi in 2013.”

 

Nigeria

 

Voice Of America: US Cautious Over Claims Key Is African Leader Is Dead
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“Claims from Nigeria that the leader of one of the fastest-growing Islamic
State terror group affiliates is dead are being met with extreme caution in the
United States. Officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department said
Friday they were aware of accounts that Islamic State West Africa Province
leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi had been killed, but some said it was too early to
say anything for sure. “We are aware of the reports but note that unconfirmed
reports in the past have proven unfounded,” one senior administration official
told VOA on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the
situation. “That said, ISIS-West Africa remains a threat to peace and stability
in the region,” the official added, using another acronym for the terror group.
Nigeria's chief of defense staff, General Lucky Irabor, first announced the
death of al-Barnawi at a news conference in Lagos on Thursday.” I can
authoritatively confirm to you that Abu Musab is dead,” Irabor said, offering
no other details. Some media outlets suggested al-Barnawi had been killed in
clashes with rival factions, but such claims could not be independently
verified.”

 

Sahara Reporters: Scores Of Boko Haram Terrorists Killed As Military,
Insurgents Clash In Maiduguri
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“No fewer than three Nigerian soldiers and 20 Boko Haram insurgents lost their
lives on Saturday as the military tried to recapture Maiduguri town, the Borno
state capital. The insurgents were said to have invaded 777 housing estate, on
the outskirts of Maiduguri metropolis around 10: 15 pm on Saturday. A report by
Peoples Gazette says Air Force fighter helicopters were immediately deployed to
prevent the insurgents from taking over the area. While soldiers engaged the
insurgents, residents of Pompomari, 778 and 1000 housing estates were put on
alert. The incident came hours after Nigerian soldiers at Banki Junction, in
the Kumshe area of the state had repelled an ambush laid by Boko Haram
terrorists. Similarly, three soldiers and 20 terrorists were killed in a
separate incident that occurred around 07:45 pm on Friday. Assorted weapons and
mats belonging to the insurgents were seized in the process. Boko Haram and its
offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have killed thousands and
displaced millions of people in North-Eastern Nigeria. The Nigerian military
has repeatedly claimed that insurgency had been largely defeated and frequently
underplays any losses.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Independent: Ministers Ignored Official Recommendations To Combat Hateful
Extremism
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“Ministers have failed to act on any of the official recommendations for
tackling the rise of extremism in Britain, it has emerged. Over three years,
the Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE) – set up by Theresa May in the
wake of the Manchester Arena attack – has repeatedly warned more had to be done
to tackle the evolving threats facing the UK, including closing legal loopholes
that allowed those who inspired terrorists to go free. But ministers have not
formally responded to any of the reports released by the body since 2019, and
none of the suggested measures have been put in place, despite warnings that
security threats would worsen until the government stepped up its response. It
comes as counterterror police investigate the murder of Conservative MP Sir
David Amess, who was stabbed to death while holding a constituency surgery
inside a church on Friday. Officers are reportedly investigating whether Ali
Harbi Ali, the 25-year-old arrested over the killing, had been
“self-radicalised” during lockdown. Figen Murray, whose son Martyn Hett was
killed in the Manchester attack, referenced the Manchester Arena inquiry’s
report that warned “doing nothing is not an option” in regard to the threat of
extremism, and that more people could be harmed if action is not taken.”

 

Europe

 

Vice: ‘A Far-Right Terrorist Shot Me Four Times, But I Felt No Hate When I
Testified Against Him’
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“It’s been ten years since Ylva Schwenke was shot four times by a far-right
terrorist. Aged 14, she was one of hundreds of young people attending a summer
camp organised by the Labour Party-affiliated Workers’ Youth League (AUF) when
it was attacked by Anders Behring Breivik. Breivik murdered 69 people, mostly
teenagers, on the small island of Utøya where the summer camp was based, having
already killed eight people in a bomb attack outside the Prime Minister’s
office in Oslo. Two days after the attack, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens
Stoltenberg quoted a member of the AUF who was at Utøya in a televised speech,
saying: “If one man can create that much hate, you can only imagine how much
love we as a togetherness can create.” As Norway mourns the five victims of a
mass killing attack in the south of the country, VICE World News spoke to
Schwenke in her first major English language interview about what happened that
day, what it meant to survive Utøya, and how Norway responded in the decade
since. Ylva Schwenke: It was a rainy Friday and the second day of the camp. We
had a big football tournament that morning, and everyone was super happy
because Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norway's first female prime minister, came to
visit that day.”

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: Spain Arrests ISIS Cell Planning Terrorist Attacks In Europe
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“The Spanish police have detained five people on suspicion of belonging to a
terrorist group. Earlier, three other suspects were detained this year on
charges of belonging to the same cell. Investigations revealed that the ISIS
affiliates have been trying to establish bases in several European Union
countries and form cells to carry out terrorist plots. The source said that
these elements arrived in European countries through illegal immigration
networks that use the seaports in southern Spain. A spokesman for the Spanish
police said that the detainees were very dangerous, and they almost acquired
automatic weapons, including Kalashnikovs. The spokesman said that the cell
includes a group of Algerian youths, including two ISIS members, who had
previously participated in the Syrian war. The agencies monitored their entry
to Spain late last year. Police sources said that following investigations and
analysis of documents seized from the first group of suspects, a fourth person
of Algerian nationality was arrested, whom they referred to as “Sheikh.” The
sources said that the Sheikh entered from southern Spain by the sea with a
group of illegal immigrants two months after the arrest of the cell members.”



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