Eye on Extremism
October 29, 2019
Voice
Of America: Assault On Islamic State Leadership Not
Over
“Senior Islamic State leaders in Syria are coming under fire, part
of what appears to be an urgent campaign to gut the terror group's
brain trust. The U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces — credited with
playing a key role in taking out IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and IS
spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir — said Wednesday it had carried out a
series of raids aimed at getting the terror group's key players dead
or alive. “Another successful raid targeting & arresting senior
ISIS members,” SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali tweeted late Monday, using
an acronym for the terror group which is also known as IS or by its
Arabic acronym, Daesh. Word of ongoing operations against the terror
group came shortly after a senior State Department official credited
the SDF with playing a “key role” in enabling the U.S. raid on
Baghdadi's compound in Bashira, Syria, which led to the IS leader's
death. The official also confirmed SDF claims that its forces had
killed the IS spokesman in a separate operation Sunday in the town of
Jarablus, near the Syrian border with Turkey. Pentagon officials
denied any involvement in the strike, in which a second IS fighter was
killed and a third was captured, though the State Department said U.S.
assets were involved.”
The
New York Times: Intelligence From Al-Baghdadi Raid, Including 2
Prisoners, Could Reveal Trove Of ISIS Clues
“Delta Force commandos took two Islamic State fighters as prisoners
and a trove of intelligence from the now-destroyed compound where Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world’s most wanted terrorist, had been hiding,
officials said Monday. The prisoners, who are being held in Iraq, are
being questioned by the United States military. If the Trump
administration follows its previous practice with captured Islamic
State fighters, the men will eventually be turned over to the Iraqi
government for prosecution. Both the captives and the documents taken
from the compound during a two-hour search of the area following the
nighttime raid in which Mr. al-Baghdadi was killed over the weekend
could provide a trove of information for the military and intelligence
agencies, current and former officials said. Officials said the
intelligence is expected to underscore assessments that Mr.
al-Baghdadi no longer exercised direct operational control over the
group. Officials cautioned that the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and other
intelligence agencies were still conducting a preliminary review of
the confiscated documents and electronic records. The intelligence
material that commandos seized from the compound in northwest Syria
where Mr. al-Baghdadi was hiding is likely to contain new details
about the group’s operations.”
CNN:
After Baghdadi, A Candidate To Lead ISIS Emerges
“What remains of ISIS -- the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria -- is yet to acknowledge the death of its leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi who died in a raid by US forces in northern Syria on
Saturday. At this early stage it's not clear who will succeed him, but
a long-time Baghdadi companion and religious scholar would seem to be
a leading candidate. He is known within jihadi circles as Abdallah
Qardash, but the US government identifies him as Amir Muhammad Sa'id
Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla and is thought to have known Baghdadi for at
least 15 years. They were both detained at a US-run prison known as
Camp Bucca soon after the coalition's invasion of Iraq in 2003, though
it's unclear if that's where they first met. Born in the 1970s,
al-Mawla is thought to have been one of the many Baathist officers
during Saddam Hussein's rule to go underground after the US invasion
in 2003 and join forces with insurgents.”
Reuters:
Sixteen Killed In Burkina Faso In Suspected Jihadist
Attack
“Suspected jihadists killed 16 villagers in northern Burkina Faso
on Monday in an incident highlighting the increased presence of
Sahel-based Islamists in the area, local and security sources said.
The gunmen came to Pobe-Mengao, about 200 km (160 miles) north of the
capital Ouagadougou, threatening to take way children and telling
villagers to help them buy weapons, a security source told Reuters.
When they refused, they were shot dead, the sources said. A security
source told Reuters that the death toll had reached 16. An Islamist
insurgency with links to Islamic State and al Qaeda has crossed into
Burkina Faso this year from neighboring Mali, igniting ethnic and
religious tensions, especially in northern regions. Attacks by
Islamist militants as well as clashes between herding and farming
communities have surged since, killing hundreds of civilians and
soldiers in a country that used to be a pocket of relative calm in the
Sahel. The government did not immediately comment on the
killings.”
Al
Jazeera: France Mosque Shooting: Man Arrested After Mosque
Attack
“French authorities have arrested a man suspected of shooting and
seriously wounding two men in their 70s outside a mosque in southwest
France, police have said. An 84-year-old man opened fire when the two
victims, aged 74 and 78, found him trying to set fire to a mosque in
Bayonne, a police statement said on Monday. The victims were brought
to a nearby hospital with serious injuries, while the suspected
shooter, identified as Claude Sinke, was later arrested near his home.
Sinke also set fire to a car outside the Mosque. “I strongly condemn
the heinous attack perpetrated in front of the Bayonne Mosque,”
President Emmanuel Macron said on his Twitter account. “Everything
will be done to punish the perpetrators, and protect our Muslim
compatriots,” he added. Separately, Interior Minister Christophe
Castaner confirmed the arrest, and offered his “solidarity and support
to the Muslim community.” Marine Le Pen, the leader of a far-right
National Rally party which has had links to violent anti-Muslim
groups, also condemned the shooting. “The attack ... goes against all
the values of our movement,” she said.”
Wired:
The Curious Tale Of Julian, The Last King Of Brussels
“Think of a hot-button technology issue: online radicalisation;
counterterrorism; fake news; cybersecurity; 5G networks safety. There
is a good chance that Julian King is the EU official in charge of that
issue. Of the 22 Security Union laws proposed under King’s
stewardship, 15 have been passed and one was in the final stages of
approval at the time of writing. Lucinda Creighton, a senior adviser
from the Counter Extremism Project NGO says that King has “grasped the
nettle”, often tapping into his diplomatic skills to build consensus
among all the EU institutions around new regulation. “He came in as
somebody who really wanted to put his mark on the commissioner job and
to make it relevant,” Creighton says. “He wanted to create something
of a legacy, and I think that that with at least two, three [measures
he sponsored] he’s come very close to having done that.”
United States
The
Washington Free Beacon: Group Demands Docs Related To Qatar’s
Suspected Infiltration Of U.S. Public
Schools
“A legal organization has filed a series of requests to compel
American universities to turn over documents that it suspects will
shine light on efforts by Qatar to peddle influence and push
anti-Israel bias in U.S. public schools, according to a copy of public
records requests obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The Lawfare
Project, a legal group that provides services to the pro-Israel
community, has filed document requests to compel Middle Eastern
studies departments at the University of North Carolina and Duke
University to turn over documents related to the alleged promotion of
curricula sponsored by Qatar Foundation International, a partially
state-funded organization that has helped Doha spend an estimated $1
billion pushing the Middle Eastern nation's priorities. The Lawfare
Project suspects these documents will reveal how Qatar has worked to
spread its propaganda inside the American education system. The
organization is seeking public records from UNC regarding any
potential involvement by Qatar and its proxies in teacher training
programs sponsored by the Duke-UNC Center for Middle Eastern
Studies.”
The
New York Times: Dissent Erupts At Facebook Over Hands-Off Stance On
Political Ads
“The letter was aimed at Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief
executive, and his top lieutenants. It decried the social network’s
recent decision to let politicians post any claims they wanted — even
false ones — in ads on the site. It asked Facebook’s leaders to
rethink the stance. The message was written by Facebook’s own
employees. Facebook’s position on political advertising is “a threat
to what FB stands for,” the employees wrote in the letter, which was
obtained by The New York Times. “We strongly object to this policy as
it stands.” For the past two weeks, the text of the letter has been
publicly visible on Facebook Workplace, a software program that the
Silicon Valley company uses to communicate internally. More than 250
employees have signed the message, according to three people who have
seen it and who declined to be identified for fear of
retaliation."
The
Hill: Poll: Majority Of Voters Are Deeply Concerned About Iran
Obtaining Nuclear Weapons
“A large majority of voters — 84 percent — are concerned about the
prospect of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, according to a
Hill-HarrisX poll released on Monday. That's more than those who
expressed concern over other foreign policy issues, including North
Korea’s use of ballistic missiles, U.S. election security, Turkey’s
military action in Syria and President Trump’s ongoing trade war with
China. Voters across party lines expressed concern over Iran's nuclear
capabilities. Of those polled, 89 percent of Democratic voters said
they were either very or somewhat concerned about the Middle East
country developing weapons of mass destruction, compared to 85 percent
of Republican and 79 percent of independents who said the same.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the summer after the
U.S. military confirmed that Iran shot down a Navy drone. Trump also
accused Tehran of being behind attacks on two oil tankers, which
prompted the administration to deploy an additional 1,000 troops to
the Middle East.”
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Recovered Valuable Intelligence In Baghdadi
Raid
“The U.S. military raid resulting in the death of Islamic State
founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi also yielded an array of valuable
intelligence concerning the militant group and its top leaders,
defense officials said, providing details that likely will lead to
future operations. The Defense officials and Pentagon leaders on
Monday wouldn’t detail the intelligence recovered on Saturday, but
said it consisted of data-storage devices and other files that will
add to the understanding of Islamic State as the U.S. and allies
continue pursuing its leaders and operatives. In a sign of the
continuing nature of the operations, a senior State Department
official on Monday said a second U.S. raid closely following the
operation against Baghdadi resulted in the death of Islamic State’s
top spokesman.”
ABC
News: US Law Enforcement On Alert In Wake Of ISIS Leader Al-Baghdadi's
Death
“The death of the leader of one of the world’s most notorious
terror groups may end a particularly brutal saga in the Middle East,
but law enforcement and intelligence officials are on alert for
possible retaliation from sympathizers or sleeper operatives in the
U.S. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder and leader of the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria -- or ISIS -- died on Sunday as a result of a raid
executed by U.S. special forces in Syria. Authorities say, however,
that despite a diminished physical caliphate and vacancy at its
highest rank, ISIS has still been able to influence vulnerable
populations abroad via online message boards and social media groups.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Monday that
its “operating at a heightened state of vigilance” as it and other
agencies assess the potential for retaliation against al-Baghdadi’s
death from terror cells or ISIS sympathizers in the U.S., though a
specific threat has yet to be identified. “Our security posture will
remain agile, we will continue to mitigate and respond to the ever
evolving threat landscape,” a DHS spokesperson said. Authorities'
concerns about reaction to al-Baghdadi's death come amid an already
elevated level of alert for terrorist attacks.”
Associated
Press: Flagging Rental Car Drivers Who Might Pose Terrorist
Threat
“A proposed bipartisan bill in Congress would help car rental
companies identify customers who have been flagged by authorities for
terrorism-related activities. The measure announced Monday by New
Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer is named after a resident of
the state killed two years ago in a truck attack in New York City.
Thirty-two-year-old Darren Drake worked at the World Trade Center and
was out for a bike ride when he was struck and killed on a bike path
along the West Side Highway on the afternoon of Halloween 2017. Seven
others died in the attack. Sayfullo Saipov is alleged to have used a
rented truck in the attack. He was shot and wounded by an off-duty
police officer and could face the death penalty when he goes on trial
next year. He has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of murder and
other charges, including providing material support to Islamic State
group. Rented trucks and other vehicles have been used in numerous
terror attacks, including the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993
and the Oklahoma City bombing two years later, as well as recent
attacks in Nice, France; London; Edmonton, Alberta; and Chicago.”
Voice
Of America: DHS At 'Heightened State Of Vigilance' After Baghdadi
Death
“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it is operating at a
“ heightened state of vigilance” following the death of Islamic State
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi but there are no plans to issue an
(National Terrorism Advisory System) alert unless “we develop specific
or credible threat information” to share with the public. “Our
security posture will remain agile, we will continue to mitigate and
respond to the ever evolving threat landscape,” the DHS said in a
statement a day after President Donald Trump announced that U.S.
military special forces operation in northwest Syria successfully
targeted and “violently eliminated” Baghdadi. The chief of the Islamic
State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, purportedly appears for the first
time in five years in a propaganda video in an undisclosed location,
in this undated TV grab taken from video released April 29 by
Al-Furqan media. “Last night the United States brought the world's
number one terrorist leader to justice,” said Trump, speaking from the
Diplomatic Room of the White House, explaining that the IS leader
detonated a suicide vest in a tunnel, also killing three of his
children.”
NBC
New York: NYPD Steps Up Security For NYC Marathon
After ISIS Leader Killed
“New York City’s police department stepped up its show of force
this week in Times Square, military installations, other tourist and
transit hubs, following the death of the Islamic State group's leader.
The department’s Chief of Counterterrorism tells News 4 that the
unit’s Critical Response Command members outfitted with long guns,
explosive detections, k-9 dogs and odor pursue dogs are out on the
streets, in subways and all around major events. The increased patrol
is a precaution to assure residents of safety and to deter any
terrorism-related activities. “There are resources around the entire
city now. We're down in Wall Street, we're up in other parts of
Manhattan and other parts of the city with our emergency service
people and our Critical Response Command,” Counterterrorism Chief
James Waters said. The NYPD says the added security will remain in
place at least through the NYC Marathon on Sunday. At least three
terror attacks in New York City have been linked to Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, the militant group's leader who had blown himself up
after being cornered in a dead-end underground tunnel in Syria. The
most recent incident was the 2017 pipe bomb explosion in the subway
passage way near the Port Authority Bus Terminal.”
Syria
The
New York Times: Syria Peace Talks To Open After A Long, Strange
Month
“The first United Nations mediator who tried to broker peace in
Syria declared it “mission impossible” and abandoned the effort. That
was seven years and hundreds of thousands of deaths ago. Now, as
Mediator No. 4 prepares to try again, diplomats appear to be setting
their sights lower and choosing their language carefully. In recent
weeks, they spoke only of “a glimmer of hope” and of “a door opener to
a political process. Despite the turmoil, for the first time in years,
Syrian government and opposition delegates will meet this week to
weigh the devastated country’s future. On Thursday, after months of
intensive but low-key diplomacy, the United Nations special envoy for
Syria, Geir Pedersen, plans to bring 150 Syrians to Geneva. There,
they will begin work on a constitutional committee intended to shift
attention from the battlefield to what happens when, sooner or later,
the fighting in their country stops.”
TIME:
U.S. Spies Say Turkish-Backed Militias Are Killing Civilians As They
Clear Kurdish Areas In Syria
“Three weeks after President Donald Trump ordered U.S. forces to
pull out of northern Syria, American spy agencies are seeing
disturbing intelligence. Turkish-backed militias, armed by Ankara,
have killed civilians in areas abandoned by the U.S., four U.S.
military and intelligence officials tell TIME. The officials say they
fear that the militias committing those potential war crimes may be
using weapons that the U.S. sold to Turkey. These officials say they
are concerned that worse could lie ahead. Turkey and its allies are
deploying larger forces and bringing more significant weapons to the
field than would be necessary to complete their publicly-stated
mission. They have said that they plan only to maintain a security
zone along a 18-mile wide ribbon of land south of Turkey’s border with
Syria. “They’re far more than the Turks need to conduct the operations
they’re supposed to be conducting,” one of the U.S. officials told
TIME.”
The
Guardian: US Deploying More Troops Around Syria Oil Fields After
Killing Of Isis Leader
“The US military has started reinforcing its positions around oil
fields in eastern Syria, saying the new deployments are part of its
continuing counter-terrorist mission after the killing of the Islamic
State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. General Mark Milley, the chairman
of the joint chiefs of staff, said on Monday that US forces would
remain in Tanf along the Iraqi border, and more were being sent to the
oil fields operated by the US energy corporation ConocoPhillips around
Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria. Video footage from the region showed US
military convoys re-entering Syria, days after Donald Trump had
ordered them out in advance of a Turkish invasion. The change of mind
reportedly came after Pentagon officials persuaded the president that
it was essential to protect east Syrian oil resources.”
U.S.
News & World Report: What’s Next For ISIS And The U.S. Military
Following Baghdadi’s Killing
“The U.S. raid that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the
Islamic State group, has the potential to change circumstances
drastically on the ground in Syria that have already faced violent
shifts in recent weeks, both for the terrorist network and the
American presence there. Killing Baghdadi serves as an essential
component to defeating the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS,
which once controlled an area spanning Iraq and Syria the size of
Portugal. Yet its future remained uncertain on Monday. The terrorist
network had previously relied on its territorial control in the Middle
East and ability to plan and orchestrate operations worldwide as a
critical component of its ability to attract new recruits. Baghdadi
became a symbol of its abilities, and he reportedly maintained some
control over operations and contacts with affiliate groups
worldwide.”
USA
Today: What Happens To ISIS Now, And Other Things To Know Following
Al-Baghdadi's Death
“Eliminating the Islamic State group's elusive leader gives
President Donald Trump a new argument for leaving Syria, but the U.S.
military campaign against the extremists is far from finished. The
killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by U.S. forces leaves the Islamic
State without an obvious leader, a major setback for an organization
that in March was forced by American troops and Kurdish forces out of
the last portion of its self-declared “caliphate,” which once spanned
a swath of Iraq and Syria. But what does this mean for ISIS and what
else should you know about his death? What happens now with ISIS? The
Islamic State, which arose from the remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq after
that group's defeat by U.S.-led forces in 2008, has ambitions to
regenerate again. And it remains a dangerous threat in Iraq,
Afghanistan and beyond. “The bottom line is: This puts the enemy on
its heels, but the ideology — and this sounds so cliched — it is not
dead,” said Chris Costa, a former senior director for counterterrorism
for the National Security Council in the Trump administration. Key to
the Islamic States is its “kill where you are” ethos, encouraging a
far-flung network of followers, including those in the United States,
to commit violence however and wherever they can."
CBS
News: Despite Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi's Death, ISIS Is Still Very Much
Alive
“A Sunday raid by U.S. commandos in northwestern Syria ended a
yearslong manhunt for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the most wanted terrorist
in the world. President Trump said the longtime leader of ISIS killed
himself during the attack on his location. U.S. Special Forces
collected highly sensitive information at the scene, including future
plans for ISIS, and took some of al-Baghdadi's associates prisoner. As
CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports, at the very least, this
is a symbolic blow to ISIS because this is the man who stood up in a
mosque five years ago in Iraq and declared himself the caliph, or
leader, of his so-called Islamic state. After splitting from al Qaeda,
he led ISIS to the peak of its violent rampage – ruling over an
estimated 10 million people at one point, enslaving women, carrying
out gruesome executions, and exporting its terror to Europe and the
U.S. But ISIS was never about one man. It is an ideology, an extreme,
and violent interpretation of Islam. Some say it is a perversion of
Islam. That ideology doesn't end with al-Baghdadi or with ISIS. Other
jihadist groups have replaced their leaders quickly when they've been
killed – and ISIS will no doubt do the same.”
The
New York Times: What Survivors Of ISIS Carnage Say About Al-Baghdadi’s
Death
“In the Islamic State strongholds in Syria and Iraq where Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi and his allies lived, there was bitterness at the news
that the head of the Islamic State had died — not that it had
happened, but that it had not happened sooner. Mr. al-Baghdadi, who
was killed in a nighttime raid by American Special Operations Forces
in Syria early on Sunday, brought a trail of carnage into their lives
through the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, destroying their homes
and their cities and ultimately forcing hundreds of thousands of
people to flee. The chaos unleashed by the Islamic State’s rise and
the battles to destroy it is far from over, and the fighting,
displacement and destruction are likely to disrupt people’s lives for
years to come, so it is perhaps not surprising that Mr. al-Baghdadi’s
death gave the survivors little solace. “I lost my brother because of
the ISIS organization and the despicable Baghdadi,” said Mohammad
Salif al-Jaddi, an employee at the electricity department in the Iraqi
city of Mosul. “I hope to see the Islamic State organization totally
obliterated.” The raid was no doubt a serious blow to the Islamic
State, which has been decimated by five years of fighting Iraqi and
Syrian Kurdish troops working closely with the United States, though
its reach has already spread beyond the region.”
The
New York Times: As Kurds Tracked Isis Leader, U.S. Withdrawal Threw
Raid Into Turmoil
“When the international manhunt for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the
leader of the Islamic State, zoomed in on a village in northwestern
Syria, the United States turned to its local allies to help track the
world’s most-wanted terrorist. The American allies, a Kurdish-led
force that had partnered with the United States to fight ISIS, sent
spies to watch his isolated villa. To confirm it was him, they stole a
pair of Mr. al-Baghdadi’s underwear — long, white boxers — and
obtained a blood sample, both for DNA testing, the force’s commander,
Mazlum Abdi, said in a phone interview on Monday. American officials
would not discuss the specific intelligence provided by the Kurds, but
said that their role in finding Mr. al-Baghdadi was essential — more
so than all other countries combined, as one put it — contradicting
President Trump’s assertion over the weekend that the United States
“got very little help.” Yet even as the Syrian Kurdish fighters were
risking their lives in the hunt that led to Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death
this weekend, Mr. Trump abruptly shattered America’s five-year
partnership with them.”
The
Washington Post: Baghdadi Hid Among Rivals And Enemies In Rebel-Held
Syrian Province
“When U.S. forces found Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the
Islamic State militant group, he was not in some forgotten border town
or remote patch of desert but in Syria’s Idlib province, a place where
Baghdadi surely knew he was surrounded by enemies, and eyes. The
province, a major battlefield in Syria’s civil war, is dominated by an
Islamist militant movement hostile to the Islamic State. In the skies,
Syrian and Russian warplanes are ever-present, carrying out bombing
raids to help the government of President Bashar al-Assad recapture
Idlib, Syria’s last rebel-held bastion. Observation posts manned by
Turkish soldiers dot the province. Three million people live or
shelter there, in a place only slightly larger than Delaware and
nearly impossible to escape. It is unclear how long Baghdadi had been
in Idlib or what he was doing there. But the province where he died —
with its refugee camps, its front lines, its unshakable sense of dread
— stands as a stark reminder of the misery and threats still radiating
from Syria’s civil war. Western intelligence agencies are nervously
monitoring the fighting in Idlib, which has become a proving ground
for a new generation of extremists, in a war that has already bred
thousands of hardened militants.”
The
Washington Post: Baghdadi May Be Dead, But Groups Linked To Islamic
State Continue To Pose Threat In Regions Far And Wide
“With the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a
U.S. raid in northern Syria this weekend, the militant group has
suffered a serious setback. But it is, by no means, an insurmountable
blow — neither in Syria nor elsewhere. Cells affiliated with or linked
to the Islamic State have persisted in South Asia, Africa and other
parts of the Middle East. Though inspired by the Islamic State — which
is also known as ISIS — those groups have operated largely
independently of the militant network, which was based out of Syria
and Iraq, and are expected to continue to push ahead with plots and
propaganda efforts. One key question will be to what extent global
affiliates of the Islamic State or groups linked to it will remain
loyal to a network that has lost all the territory it once held. These
groups’ loyalty may differ from country to country. The Philippines:
The country emerged as a key hot spot in the fight against the Islamic
State, after extremists aligned with the group launched a battle for
the city of Marawi in 2017. For months, the Philippine military tried
to gain back ground, with material help from the United States and
other countries. More than 1,000 people were killed — a figure that
includes militants, soldiers and civilians, the military said.”
Foreign
Policy: What Remains Of The Islamic State?
“U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the leader of
the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had died in a raid by U.S.
special operations forces in northern Syria—detonating a suicide vest
during the pursuit. It’s a major success for the president—and his
national security team—as he faces a mounting impeachment inquiry.
“Last night the United States brought the world’s No. 1 terrorist
leader to justice,” Trump said. Plans for the raid were underway well
before the United States began withdrawing troops from the region, and
the New York Times reports that the sudden decision to pull out of
Syria earlier this month complicated the Pentagon’s ability to carry
out the operation. Finding the ISIS leader was a top priority for
Trump, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces spent five months
working to gather intelligence on his location before the Turkish
incursion began this month. What remains of ISIS? Even without
Baghdadi, the Islamic State still poses a threat in Syria and Iraq,
particularly after the Turkish offensive reconfigured the situation in
the country’s northeast—and led hundreds of former Islamic State
fighters to escape Kurdish-run prisons.”
New
York Post: ISIS Already Has A New Leader In Former Saddam Hussein
Officer
“ISIS already has a new leader — a feared former officer for Saddam
Hussein known as “the Destroyer,” according to reports. Abdullah
Qardash was reportedly already running day-to-day operations and kill
campaigns for the terror group and formally took over its leadership
after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death on Saturday. “Baghdadi was a
figurehead. He was not involved in operations or day-to-day,” a
regional intelligence official told Newsweek in confirming the
successor. “All Baghdadi did was say yes or no — no planning.” Qardash
had been loyal to Baghdadi after they were held together at the Camp
Bucca detention center in Basra after being jailed by US forces over
their links to al Qaeda in 2003, the Times of London has said. Even
before his death, Baghdadi was handing more power to Qardash, known as
a brutal policymaker whose name is sometimes spelled Kardesh, the
Times said. A former security analyst with the Iraqi government,
Fadhel Abo Ragheef, told the paper in August that Baghdadi was
understood to be “trying to prepare Qardash to lead ISIS in the
future.”
The
Telegraph: Syrian Kurds Beef Up Security In Isil Detention Centres In
Anticipation Of Riots Over Baghdadi Killing
“Syrian Kurdish forces said on Monday they are beefing up security
in prisons and detention camps where tens of thousands of Isil
militants and their supporters are held, fearing a reaction to the
death of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. An official with the Kurdish-led
internal security agency said forces were “on high alert” in
anticipation of possible riots or attacks on the guards. The news that
the Islamic State chief died in a US special forces raid on Sunday
morning has not been officially announced to the camps by Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but many detainees have access to
phones. Women interviewed by local journalists on Monday in the
largest of the camps, al-Hol - which holds nearly 70,000 Isil wives
and their children - said it would not kill the Isil ideology but only
make it stronger. “Our faith will not change, and the day of revenge
will come, and the Islamic State will remain,” one woman wearing a
black facing-covering abaya said, using the Arabic word “Baqiya”, or
remaining – a reference to the Isil slogan “remaining and
expanding.”
Fox
Business: Funding Terror: How ISIS Became A Billion-Dollar Extremist
Group
“While there is no clear answer as to how much money ISIS has, the
caliphate was believed to control $2 billion at its peak, from a
combination of private donations, tax, ransom payments and commercial
revenue streams. It reportedly received a giant infusion of cash after
seizing a Mosul, Iraq, bank in June 2014, pocketing $425 million. The
added cashflow made ISIS the richest terror group ever. But its most
reliable source of income has been tax revenue from loyalists and
exploitation of Syrian and Iraqi oil fields, something that President
Trump has said he intends to stop, even at the cost of American lives.
The U.S. “may have to fight for the oil,” Trump said Sunday after
announcing the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “It's OK.”
“What we know is that they accumulated large amounts of cash and other
assets,” Rand Corporation senior economist Howard Shatz told The
Atlantic in March. “We don't know where it all went.” Some of the
revenue came from selling stolen antiquities. Relics from Syria as old
at 8,000 years fetched $36 million for the terrorist group on the
black market in 2014, according to reports.”
Iran
Washington
Examiner: Revealed: Iran Used Google Maps To Target Saudi Oil
Facilities
“Saudi officials believe that Iran’s accurate attack on its
state-owned Aramco oil facilities in September was not coordinated by
an insider but instead helped by Google Maps. According to West
Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Saudi Aramco authorities said that the
website’s satellite maps were so clear that the attacks could pinpoint
a tiny target. During his trip there just two weeks after the attack,
which the United States blamed on Iran, Manchin said he was shown
video of the missile hits that sidelined the oil facility. "I asked
[an] Aramco [official], I said, 'Aren’t you concerned about espionage,
maybe somebody working for you in your plant who is able to get all of
this intricate information and also the coordinates of where the
missiles could hit?'" Manchin told the North American Infrastructure
Leadership Forum in Washington. “He looked at me and said, ‘If we
thought that was a problem, we would be, but basically it’s all
Google, Google Maps.’ He said, ‘It’s so accurate.'”
Radio
Farda: One Of Europe's Most Wanted Criminals 'Lives In Iran' - Dutch
Media
“The "most wanted criminal" in the Netherlands lives freely in
Iran, a Dutch daily, De Telegraaf, reports. The 41-year-old Ridouan
Taghi is a Morrocan drug and weapons smuggling kingpin accused of
various crimes, including cooperation in killing an Iranian dissident,
Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi, in 2015, in the Netherlands. Furthermore,
Taghi has also allegedly assisted the Islamic Republic intelligence
agents to assassinate other dissidents across Europe. Kolahi Samadi,
56, was gunned down in December 2015 in the Dutch town of Almere. He
had fled Iran after the June 28, 1981 bombing of the Islamic Republic
Party headquarters in Tehran, which left more than seventy dead. Among
the victims was the nascent Islamic Republic's Republic's
Chief-Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, considered as the number
two man of the newly established Islamic regime, after its founder
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.”
FP:
To Make Maximum Pressure Work, Washington Should Cancel Iran Nuclear
Waivers
“From Syria to Ukraine, it is no secret that the Trump
administration has its share of challenges coordinating messaging,
policy goals, and the means to achieve them. But the White House’s
approach to Iran and its nuclear program, long a fixture of the
president’s speeches and an area the administration spent considerable
time and political capital on, should not be so difficult. Despite
leaving the nuclear deal in May 2018, the Trump administration is
still pulling its punches on Iran’s nuclear program. The coming days
offer an opportunity to correct course. This week, the Trump
administration will move to either renew or cancel waivers for select
Iranian nuclear projects. These waivers render Iran’s civil nuclear
cooperation initiatives, which were authorized by the Obama
administration and its European, Chinese, and Russian counterparts,
immune from U.S. sanctions.”
Reuters:
Netanyahu Says Iran Seeking Means To Attack Israel From
Yemen
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran on Monday
of seeking the means to launch precision-guided missiles at Israel
from Yemen, a signal that the war-torn Gulf Arab country could come
under pre-emptive Israeli attack. Netanyahu made his allegations,
which were short on details, as he hosted a senior U.S. delegation and
following days of unusually voluble warnings in Israel that war could
break out with Iran or its allies on more than one front. Neither Iran
nor the Yemeni Houthi fighters it sponsors had an immediate response
to Israel’s allegation. The Houthis use missiles and drones in their
war against a coalition led by neighboring Saudi Arabia but there is
scant public indication they possess weapons capable of traveling the
some 2,000 km (1,240 miles) to Israel. “Iran wants to develop
precision-guided missiles that can hit any target in Israel within
five to ten meters,” Netanyahu said in a speech in Jerusalem. “Iran
hopes to use Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen as bases to attack
Israel with statistical missiles and precision-guided missiles. That
is a great, great danger,” he said.”
Xinhua:
Iran Says Death Of IS Leader Should End “U.S. Intervention In Middle
East”
“The death of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi should
end U.S. interventions in the Middle East,” Iran's government
Spokesman Ali Rabiee was quoted as saying by Press TV on Monday.
“Washington's policies are the main reason for the proliferation of
terror outfits in the region,” Rabiee said. He also said that
al-Baghdadi's death is the end of a symbol of “destructive terrorism,”
however, his death cannot be interpreted as an end to the ideology of
extremism, like IS. The U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday
morning in a televised address at the White House that the IS leader
al-Baghdadi was killed by the U.S. forces' raid on his compound in
northern Syria.”
Iraq
NPR:
ISIS Leader's Death Met With Joy And Skepticism In
Mosul
“In the part of Iraq where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
declared the so-called Islamic caliphate, people are reacting to the
news of his death. ISIS ruled the city of Mosul for three brutal and
devastating years. Some people there don't believe he's dead or that
it would even matter if he is. NPR's Jane Arraf reports from Mosul.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Two years after ISIS was driven out of Mosul, a
street outside the mosque where al-Baghdadi declared an Islamic State
is slowly coming back to life. Between the damaged, shuttered shops,
there's a bakery, a hardware store, even a shop selling songbirds.
MAHMOUD SAEED: (Foreign language spoken). ARRAF: Mahmoud Saeed, a
local imam, was in the nearby al-Nuri mosque the day that Baghdadi
roared up with dozens of bodyguards and strode to the pulpit. Baghdadi
told worshippers he was the latest successor to an Islamic ruler known
as Abu Bakr 13 centuries ago.”
The
New York Times: Iraqi Antigovernment Protests Grow, Part Battle Lines
And Carnival
“The Iraqi government announced a midnight-to-dawn curfew in
Baghdad on Monday, as it struggled to contain growing antigovernment
protests that have gained support around the country, including from a
leading Shiite cleric who has called for early elections. Iraq’s
Parliament met for the first time since the protests restarted — over
corruption, unemployment and official accountability — and its first
act was to dissolve provincial councils that have been widely
criticized as corrupt. Lawmakers also pledged to reduce the salaries
of high-ranking officials, including of members of Parliament
themselves. It was not clear, however, how much the public was paying
attention to anything the government was doing or saying. Despite
considerable efforts to repel the protesters — including with pepper
spray, tear gas and sound bombs — they have persisted for days, and
now seem to be growing and attracting people from more walks of
life.”
Turkey
The
Jerusalem Post: Turkey Is “A Regional Hub For Terrorism,” Israeli
Envoy Tells Unsc
“Turkey is a “regional hub for terrorism,” Israel’s envoy told the
United Nations Security Council on Monday, as he exchanged barbs with
Ankara’s envoy Feridun Sinirlioglu. “For years now [Turkish President
Recep Tayyip] Erdogan has been destabilizing the region through
violence and supporting terror organizations,” Israeli Ambassador to
the UN Danny Danon told the 15-member UNSC in New York. Sinirlioglu in
turn charged that Israel’s government had been “hijacked by a
terrorist state of mind.” Danon who initially took the floor stated
that, “Erdogan is dragging Turkey down a dangerous, neo-Ottoman,
imperialist path” and added “Erdogan has turned Turkey into a regional
hub for terrorism.” The Israeli envoy condemned Turkey’s military
incursion into northeast Syria and its attacks on the Kurds and
charges that Turkey’s actions have strengthened ISIS. “It was not
enough for Erdogan to persecute the Kurdish citizens of his own
country. He now sends his troops to massacre Kurdish people in Syria
as well. He is responsible for the death of many innocent people, and
for the displacement of tens of thousands,” Danon said.”
Afghanistan
Reuters:
Afghanistan Says Death Of Islamic State Leader Delivers Big Blow To
Afghan Faction
“Afghanistan welcomed the killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi as a major blow to terrorism that is expected to weaken
the South Asian branch of the Middle Eastern militant group. The
emergence of an Afghan affiliate of Islamic State emerged in recent
years created another enemy for the U.S.-backed government, which has
been fighting against the much larger Taliban insurgency since 2001.
“The Afghan government strongly welcomes the U.S. forces’ operation
that led to the death of ... Baghdadi,” a spokesman for President
Ashraf Ghani said in a post on Twitter. “The death ... is the biggest
blow to this group and to terrorism,” the spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi,
said. Baghdadi, who had led the jihadist group since 2010, killed
himself during a raid by U.S. special forces on his hideout in
northwest Syria early on Sunday. His death was announced by U.S.
President Donald Trump. The leadership of Islamic State in Khorasan
(ISIS-K), named after an old name for the region that covered much of
modern-day Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, had pledged
allegiance to Baghdadi but it was unclear what direct operational
links the two groups had. The Afghan affiliate first appeared in 2014,
in the eastern province of Nangarhar, where it retains a
stronghold.”
Xinhua:
Afghan Forces Kill 33 Militants In Eastern Province
“As many as 33 militants have been killed as government forces
backed by fighting planes struck Taliban hideouts in parts of the
eastern Ghazni province over the past 24 hours, said an army statement
released here Tuesday.In the operations, which have covered Muqar, Ab
Band, Gero and Andar districts of the restive province, 11 more
militants have been wounded, the statement further said. High amount
of arms and ammunition and a number of the militants' vehicles have
also been discovered and seized by security forces, added the
statement. Without providing information on the possible casualties of
the security forces, the statement said the security forces would
continue to target the insurgents elsewhere in the country. Taliban
militants have not commented on the report.”
South
China Morning Post: US Welcomes China’s Offer To Host Talks Between
Taliban And Afghan Government
“The United States has welcomed China’s proposal to host a fresh
meeting bringing together Afghan officials and the Taliban, after
President Donald Trump abruptly ended talks with the insurgents. The
Taliban last week said that China had invited a delegation to talks in
Beijing, the second such meeting after a dialogue in Qatar in July
that jointly arranged with Germany. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special
envoy on Afghan peace, met with his colleagues from China, Russia and
Pakistan last week in Moscow, where the four countries renewed support
for a “comprehensive and sustainable peace agreement.” The talks will
include “a wide range of political figures” including “representatives
of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, other Afghan
leaders and the Taliban,” it said. There was, however, some confusion
about when the talks might take place. The Taliban last week said the
conference would happen on October 29-30, but on Monday an insurgent
spokesman denied a report that said a Taliban delegation was in
Beijing. The Taliban have refused to negotiate formally with the Kabul
government, but the Beijing and Doha gatherings are seen as fostering
dialogue and planting the seeds of an eventual brokered solution.”
Lebanon
CNN:
Lebanon 'Days' Away From Economic Collapse If No Political Solution To
Protests Found, Says Central Bank Governor
“Lebanon is on the verge of economic collapse unless an "immediate
solution" can be found to end days of nationwide protests that have
paralyzed the country, Central Bank Governor Riad Salame told CNN in
an exclusive interview Monday. Lebanon's banks have been closed since
the demonstrations, sparked by a series of proposed austerity measures
including a tax on WhatsApp calls, began nearly two weeks ago. "It's a
matter of days, because the cost is heavy on the country," said
Salame, who called for an immediate solution to stave off the crisis
while warning of longer-term damage to investor confidence. Protesters
are demanding the resignation of the national unity government of
Prime Minister Saad Hariri, forcing road closures throughout the
country and filling the streets of its urban centers. The
demonstrations are the largest in Lebanon in almost 15 years.”
Middle East
The
New York Times: How To Really Make The Death Of ISIS’s Leader Bigger
Than Bin Laden’s
“When President Trump announced the death of the Islamic State
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi following a raid in northwestern Syria
this weekend, he made sure to take the opportunity to one-up his
predecessor: Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death, Mr. Trump said, was bigger than
Osama bin Laden’s. Mr. al-Baghdadi was “the biggest there is,” the
president said, “the worst ever.” “Osama bin Laden was very big,” Mr.
Trump said, but “this is a man who built a whole, as he would like to
call it, a country, a caliphate, and was trying to do it again.” Mr.
Trump might not know his Nusra Front from his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,
but in this case he’s not exactly wrong. The killing of Mr.
al-Baghdadi could well prove more significant than the killing of Mr.
bin Laden in 2011 — if the United States handles the next few critical
months carefully.”
New
York Post: ISIS Already Has A New Leader In Former Saddam Hussein
Officer
“ISIS already has a new leader — a feared former officer for Saddam
Hussein known as “the Destroyer,” according to reports. Abdullah
Qardash was reportedly already running day-to-day operations and kill
campaigns for the terror group and formally took over its leadership
after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death on Saturday. “Baghdadi was a
figurehead. He was not involved in operations or day-to-day,” a
regional intelligence official told Newsweek in confirming the
successor. “All Baghdadi did was say yes or no — no planning.”
The
Wall Street Journal: A Battle Won In The War On
Terror
“The Washington Post may have hastily changed its embarrassing
headline for its obituary of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—“austere religious
scholar at helm of Islamic State”—but that won’t be the end of the
West’s difficulties in understanding and responding to the
multifaceted crisis in the Middle East. Movements like ISIS don’t
spring from nowhere. It took centuries of decline, serial humiliations
at the hands of arrogant European imperial powers, and decades of
failed postcolonial governance to produce the toxic mixture of bigotry
and hate out of which Baghdadi and his adherents emerged. That toxic
brew won’t quickly disappear. Angry, alienated and profoundly confused
people—many young and at best half-educated—will continue to find the
message of ISIS and similar groups seductive. Baghdadi’s death isn’t
the end of ISIS, and the collapse of the U.S.-backed order in northern
Syria could provide conditions for its re-emergence as a serious
military force.”
Egypt
Al
Monitor: Can Egypt's Newest Search Engine Root Out
Extremism?
“Dar al-Ifta, Egypt's Islamic authority with the power to issue
fatwas (religious edicts), recently launched a search engine to track
fatwas from terrorist groups and extremists and to help Al-Azhar
scholars tackle Islamophobia. The data collected will enable clerics
to develop indicators to help decision-makers better understand
terrorist networks and guide policymakers in formulating effective
counterterrorism strategies. Monitoring online hate speech targeting
Muslims will also allow Al-Azhar scholars to respond appropriately to
bigotry and abuse. The search engine uses a web crawler program to
systematically browse the web to look for keywords, such as “fatwa”
and “halal” (permissible in Islam), to track extremist sites and
detect Islamophobes. The data collected from news sites, social media
and chat rooms are then classified according to topic, source and
geographic location before being archived in a database for scholars,
who can analyze the content to generate indicators to help
policymakers decide how best to respond to threats. Speaking to
Al-Monitor, Tarek Abu Hashima, head of Dar al-Ifta's Strategic Studies
Unit and director of the Global Fatwa Index, noted how extremists
groups such as the Islamic State (IS) use social media to spread
radical ideas and recruit new members.”
Nigeria
Pulse
Nigeria: How The Death Of ISIS Leader Baghdadi Affects Boko Haram In
Nigeria
“The fugitive leader of the Islamic State (IS), Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, is dead. al-Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest in
north-west Syria after fleeing into a tunnel, chased by US military
dogs, according to United States President Donald Trump. Trump said
al-Baghdadi was “whimpering and crying and screaming”, while being
chased by the military dogs. Baghdadi took his own life and those of
three of his children by igniting his suicide vest. Afterwards, the
tunnel he had fled into, collapsed. Trump says no US personnel were
killed but one of the dogs was left seriously injured in the
explosion. “The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his
last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the
American forces bearing down on him...he was a sick and depraved man.
He died like a dog, he died like a coward,” Trump announced after the
operation. Baghdadi was a ruthless, skilled, strategic, organised and
ruthless battlefield tactician. The Nigeria based Boko Haram faction,
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), has long pledged
allegiance to the Syria based IS. Will Baghdadi’s death weaken ISWAP
in any way, shape or form? Who is ISWAP’s leader and how do they
operate?”
Premium
Times: Nigerian Army Needs More Funds To Tackle Boko Haram,
Insecurity
“The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Tukur Buratai, has called for
improved funding for the Nigerian Army to meet with the current
challenges in the fight against insurgency in the country. He made the
call at the opening of the 12th Biennial Training Conference of the
Nigerian Army Finance Corps in Uyo, on Monday. The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Buratai was represented by the General
Officer Commanding, 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Jamil Sarham. He said
that the current funding for the army was inadequate in view of the
roles it was playing in the internal security of the nation. The News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the conference was
“Expanding Roles of the Nigerian Army in Internal Security Operations:
Funding Imperatives.” He said that the public sector financial
reforms, such as cashless policy, treasury single account and
Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPIS), had prevented
leakages in the sector. The army chief said that some of the policies
would affect the optimal performance of the army and its core
competencies, if not well managed. “The Nigerian Army will continue to
ensure prudence and accountability in the utilisation of available
resources.”
All
Africa: Nigeria: 38 Aid Workers Killed In Boko Haram
Conflict
“The Boko Haram has killed 38 United Nations (UN) and
non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers in Nigeria since 2011. Ten
of the victims have been killed in the past 18 months. Six more are
missing. Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, disclosed the figures in an
update of the situation in northeast Nigeria. The area is under siege
from the Boko Haram, an Islamist group involved in a violent campaign
to overthrow the Nigerian government. Over 30 000 people have been
killed while more than three million others displaced during the
conflict that began ten years ago. “Ten years of conflict and violence
perpetrated by Boko Haram and other non-state armed groups have
devastated communities,” Lowcock lamented. More than 7 million people
currently need humanitarian assistance in the states of Adamawa, Borno
and Yobe. Lowcock expressed concern that more than 140 000 people
forced to move this year alone because of renewed violence. The
Nigerian military has meanwhile been accused of violating the rights
of civilians during the crackdown against the Boko Haram
militants.”
Somalia
Xinhua:
Somali, AU Security Partners Resolve To Curb Use Of Explosive
Device
“Stakeholders in Somalia's security sector have committed to end
the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by al-Shabab militants
to terrorize people in the horn of Africa nation. In a joint statement
issued on Monday after a two-day meeting in Mogadishu, the
stakeholders noted that IEDs remain a weapon of choice for terrorists
who target African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) convoys, Somali
security forces and civilians traveling along the main supply routes.
"As a result, this hampers the movement of people, goods, and the
delivery of humanitarian aid to communities in need," said the
participants at the meeting organized by AMISOM, the UN Mine Action
Service (UNMAS) and the British Army.”
All
Africa: Somalia: Kenya Seeks To Cut Financial Flow To
Al-Shabaab
“Kenya is seeking international help to stop informal finances to
the Al-Shabaab terror group that remains active despite military
operations. Kenya's High Commissioner to the UK Manoah Esipisu ) said
regional and international partners must come together with the
federal and regional governments of Somalia to design and implement a
framework for combatting Al-Shabaab's financing using strong Joint
Investigation Teams linked to effective prosecution and incarceration
in Somalia. These teams, he argued, must also take aim at its illicit
taxation and protection rackets of thousands of businesses and many of
the humanitarian organisations in Somalia. A big part of this requires
that civilians and international humanitarian operations be much
better protected by Somali regional and federal forces, he argued. He
said it is also important that all countries exposed to this threat to
domesticate and be in compliance with the binding counter-terrorism
measures in UN Security Council resolutions such as 2178 on Foreign
Fighters and others on combatting the financing and any form of
support to terrorist groups.”
United Kingdom
The
Guardian: UK Intelligence Services Step Up Monitoring After Death Of
Isis Leader
“British intelligence agencies are engaged in heightened monitoring
of subjects of interest after the death of the Islamic State leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to safeguard against the possibility of revenge
attacks in the UK. The response covers about 3,000 people in the UK
and abroad who are believed by MI5 to have connections to Isis or who
could be inspired by the group to launch terrorist attacks in Britain.
Rafaello Pantucci, a terrorism expert and director at the Royal United
Services Institute thinktank, said: “The most immediate concern will
be that major terrorism events often prompt actions by copycats or in
revenge.” However, there are no plans to adjust the overall threat
level, which remains at severe. That means a terrorist attack is
considered highly likely by the intelligence agencies. The highest
level, critical, when an attack is deemed “highly likely in the near
future”, has only been briefly invoked in the past, most recently in
2017 after the Manchester Arena bombing and the bomb attack at Parsons
Green tube station in London. Terrorist plots in the UK are still
directed from the Middle East by Isis supporters, intelligence sources
say, although the principal fear revolves around lone actors, who may
not have any known Islamist links and who may not be on the security
agencies’ watchlist.”
Express:
ISIS Jihadi Brides In Secret Return To UK Despite No.10’s
Promises
“It is believed both the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office
are against the move, which will take up a lot of resources. The news
comes as the US dismantled the terror cell by taking out jihadi leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The evil mastermind died “whimpering all the
way”, Donald Trump said yesterday. The cornered jihadi leader, whose
venomous hate preaching inspired the Manchester Arena and London
Bridge terror attacks, blew himself up in a Syrian cave. Holed up
underground and living in fear, al-Baghdadi detonated his suicide
vest, killing himself, three of his children and two of his wives. The
coward was flushed out during a daring special forces raid on
Saturday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the coup as “an
important moment in our fight against terror” but warned the battle
against Isis was not yet won. Announcing news of his death, President
Trump said yesterday: “The United States brought the world’s number
one terrorist leader to justice. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead.”
Southeast Asia
Malay
Mail: Islamic State Threat In South-East Asia Rises With Founder’s
Death, Warn Police
“The death of Islamic State (IS) founder Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi could
prompt the terror group to relocate to South-east Asia, according to
Bukit Aman’s counter-terorrism chief. Deputy Commissioner Datuk Ayob
Khan Mydin Pitchay told The Star that Malaysian securiy forces remain
on high alert for potential terrorism threat in the country after the
US announced Abu Bakr's death yesterday after raiding Raqqa, Syria.
“IS will remain a dangerous group despite the loss of its leader and
law enforcement agencies, especially the police, cannot afford to let
their guard down. “We have detected IS’ plan to set up a new caliphate
in the region since the fall of their stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, in
2017,” the Special Branch Counter Terrorism division head was quoted
saying in the report published today. And the looming danger will
likely come from lone-wolf attackers and self-radicalised militants
instead of a well-coordinated large scale assault, now that the terror
network's central leadership appear to have disintegrated. But Ayob
said this raises the IS threat, and makes intelligence more paramount
than before. Lone-wolf attacks are typically harder to predict and can
be deadlier should security forces fail to prevent them.”
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