“Two suicide blasts and gunfire erupted Tuesday at the main military hospital
in the Afghan capital, in an attack that killed at least 20 people and i

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


November 2, 2021 

 

The Washington Post: Blasts And Clashes At Military Hospital In Kabul Kill 20
People
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“Two suicide blasts and gunfire erupted Tuesday at the main military hospital
in the Afghan capital, in an attack that killed at least 20 people and injured
dozens more, a doctor and a Taliban official said. The doctor at Sardar
Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital, Habib Rahman, told The Washington Post at
least 20 were killed and more than 37 wounded, but added he expected the toll
to rise because the first explosion at the entrance also hit many people. A
local Taliban commander said clashes broke out as gunmen moved inside the
hospital where two blasts struck. Another doctor also said he heard gunfire.
Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
talk to the media. The Taliban’s deputy spokesman, Bilal Karimi, told The Post
that two suicide bombs targeted the hospital in central Kabul, but did not
comment on reports of gunmen entering the building. Ambulance sirens rang out
and smoke rose from near the large medical complex soon after the sound of the
first explosion shook downtown Kabul. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry,
Qari Saeed Khosty, confirmed there were casualties and said the Taliban had
dispatched forces to the 400-bed facility, according to Afghan news agency
Ariana. At least 15 people were killed and 34 wounded, Reuters reported.”

 

Reuters: Ethiopia Government Says Tigray Forces Killed 100 Youths In Kombolcha
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“Ethiopia's government said on Monday rebellious Tigrayan forces had killed
100 youths in Kombolcha, one of two towns the rebel group said it captured over
the weekend. “The terrorist group TPLF has summarily executed more than 100
youth residents of Kombolcha in areas it has infiltrated. The international
community should not turn a blind eye to such atrocities,” the Government
Communication Service said on Twitter. The statement did not include details
and government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not immediately answer phone calls
seeking comment. Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesperson Getachew
Reda did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment on this
allegation and other issues on Monday morning.”

 

United States

 

Associated Press: Ohio Man Pleads Guilty In Islamic State Training Case
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“An Ohio man has pleaded guilty to a terrorism offense related to an attempt
to fly overseas to train with an Islamic State-affiliated group. The government
accused Naser Almadaoji, an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen, of arranging with an
Islamic State supporter in 2018 to move through Kazakhstan to Afghanistan,
where he intended to train with a group called ISIS Wilayat Khorasan. The
supporter was actually an FBI informant, and federal agents arrested Almadaoji
on Oct. 24, 2018, at the Columbus airport before he departed. Almadaoji said he
hoped to to set off a car bomb at a federal building, but needed training
first, according to a document unsealed Monday. Almadaoji pleaded not guilty in
2018 to a federal charge of attempting to provide material support and
resources to a foreign terrorist organization. Almadaoji pleaded guilty Friday
before federal Judge Walter Rice to the same charge, which carries a possible
punishment of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing was set for
Jan. 31. A message was left with Almadaoji’s attorney seeking comment.”

 

Los Angeles Times: Army Veteran Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For Long Beach
Terrorist Bombing Plot
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“A U.S. Army veteran from Reseda was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison
for plotting to set off a bomb at a Long Beach political rally in a thwarted
terrorist attack. U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson rejected prosecutors’
request for a penalty of life in prison for Mark Steven Domingo, 28, who was
convicted at his trial in August for attempted use of a weapon of mass
destruction and providing material support to terrorists. Prosecutors told
Wilson that Domingo wanted the aborted April 2019 bombing to avenge the killing
of 51 people at mosques in New Zealand “and to stoke terror, chaos, and civil
unrest that would weaken the United States and help ISIS and other Jihadist
groups spread.” “His clear intent was to intimidate this nation and the world,
and he sought to influence world events and the conduct of the United States
government through that intimidation,” Assistant U.S. Attys. Reema M. El-Amamy
and David T. Ryan told the judge in a sentencing memo. Starting around May
2017, they said, Domingo started sharing private Facebook messages “regarding
his support for ISIS, hatred of Jews, and desire to commit mass-casualty
attacks,” the prosecutors alleged. In March 2019, he wrote in an invite-only
online chatroom about conducting a mass attack similar to the October 2017
fatal shooting of 59 people at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, they said.”

 

Syria

 

Al Monitor: Syrian Jihadi Group Cracks Down On Last Pocket Of Rivals In Idlib
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“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls Syria’s northwestern province of
Idlib, is trying to seize the last pockets of opposing jihadist organizations
in the Jabal al-Turkman area, east of Latakia province, and in the western part
of Idlib. It launched a large-scale military operation against these groups on
Oct. 25. “The battle is still going on,” an HTS military official, who declined
to be named, told Al-Monitor. Since Oct. 25, he said, HTS has taken control of
Tal al-Mashafa, Tal al-Abraj, Tal Abu Aref and Salour village. The military
operation mainly targets the Jundallah group, he said, in addition to other
jihadist groups and new recruits, including former Islamic State members. “We
found coins, which [IS] self-declared caliphate issued, in the military
barracks and positions they forcibly withdrew from,” he said. The jihadists are
in strategic positions and showing strong resistance, setting booby traps and
planting mines, the source said. But, he added, “Our military operations
against Jundallah and its extremist allies claimed the lives of many of their
members, including prominent leaders such as the general commander of
Jundallah, Abu Khalil Azari, its communication officer Talhat Azari, as well as
Anas Azari, Ammar Azari, Shueib Azari, and Abdel Azeem Azari.”

 

Iraq

 

Al Monitor: Iraq Arrests Alleged Islamic State Fighters After Deadly Attack
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“Iraqi security forces have captured several Islamic State fighters, a
spokesperson announced today. The six alleged IS members were detained in
Ramadi and Fallujah in Iraq’s western Anbar province. Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool
tweeted that another “terrorist” was arrested in Baghdad. The operation
followed a deadly IS attack in the north that killed two of the autonomous
Kurdistan Region’s peshmerga soldiers Saturday night. The attack occurred in
Pirde on the border of the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq, Kurdistan Region
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a press statement. Iraqi forces largely
defeated IS in 2017 with support from the US-backed coalition. The group has
remained somewhat active since then with small-scale hit-and-run attacks in
Sunni areas recently. Last week, IS killed 12 civilians in Diyala northeast of
Baghdad. The Iraqi justice system has been criticized for its treatment of
alleged IS members, including reports of unfair trials and torture.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Bloomberg: Taliban’s Supreme Leader Makes Rare Appearance After Infighting
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“The Taliban’s spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada made his first public
appearance since 2016 at a famous Islamic seminary over the weekend, praising
the militant group for sweeping to power as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan.
Akhundzada hasn’t been seen in public since he became the supreme leader of the
Taliban about five years ago. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in
August, there was widespread speculation of his death amid infighting within
the group. “May Allah reward the oppressed people of Afghanistan who fought the
infidels and the oppressors for 20 years,” Akhundzada said in his address to a
gathering at Darul Uloom Hakima, a religious school in Kandahar province.
“Let’s pray for Allah that we successfully came out of this big test.” Taliban
spokesman Bilal Karimi confirmed the 10-minute audio recording and said
Akhundzada was visiting the religious school on Saturday. The recording first
emerged on several Taliban-linked social media accounts. Akhundzada’s first
public appearance comes nearly two months after concerns of a power struggle
within the Taliban. In early September, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group’s
most public face who led peace talks with the U.S., was physically attacked by
a leader of the U.S. terrorist-designated Haqqani Network over cabinet
appointments.”

 

The Washington Post: The Taliban Is Trying To Win Over Afghanistan’s Shiites
With A 33-Year-Old Hazara Emissary. But Many Question The Group’s Sincerity.
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“As a military commander, Maulavi Mahdi never captured territory or killed
Americans in battle. Yet the Taliban considers the 33-year-old ethnic Hazara a
godsend. Last year, the militants made Mahdi a shadow district governor in his
birthplace. Then they showcased a video of him on their website to glorify his
credentials. On a recent trip to Kabul, he was housed in a large villa with a
garden, which the Taliban typically reserves for its most senior leaders. Mahdi
knows why. “I am a bridge between the Taliban and the Hazara community,” he
said. Of all the history the Taliban has with other Afghan groups, none is more
tortured than the one with the country’s Hazara minority. When they first rose
to power in the mid-1990s, the hard-line Sunni militants massacred, kidnapped
and uprooted thousands of Shiite Hazaras, declaring them infidels. They
destroyed Hazara cultural heritage sites and extended their political and
economic marginalization by different Afghan regimes. Tens of thousands of
Hazaras have fled the country. How the Taliban treats Hazaras in its new regime
will serve as an essential barometer to gauge the militants’ claim that they
have changed and deserve international recognition and financial support. On
one level, Mahdi’s elevation represents a change from the past — one based on
strategic calculations to attract local support in minority communities and
create the semblance of diversity within the militants’ ranks.”

 

Pakistan

 

The New York Times: After Violent Standoff, Pakistan Strikes Deal With Banned
Islamist Group
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“Pakistan averted a political showdown on Monday as officials reopened a key
national highway that supporters of a militant Islamist group had occupied for
days, following a secret pact between the government and the group. The
agreement defused a crisis that had left the country reeling in recent days,
the latest in a series of debilitating standoffs with Islamist hard-liners
protesting perceived blasphemy. But it also illustrated the growing influence
and power of such groups, including Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, or T.L.P., which
Pakistan banned as a terrorist organization in April, and the weak civilian
government’s struggle to assert itself amid economic troubles and rising
inflation. “Just because the government has reached an ‘agreement’ with the
T.L.P., it does not mean that such public outcry against blasphemy will not
raise its head again,” said Saad Rasool, a constitutional lawyer and newspaper
columnist. After a violent, dayslong face-off with members of T.L.P. that left
four police officers dead, the Pakistani government announced Sunday that it
had entered into an agreement with the group, but did not disclose the terms
publicly. Many of the group’s supporters remained on the national highway,
hoping to pressure the government to follow through on the promises made in the
agreement.”

 

Saudi Arabia

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: Saudi Arabia Executes Detainee Over Terrorism Links
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“The Saudi Interior Ministry executed on Monday a detainee for his ties to a
number of fugitives wanted on terrorism charges. Saudi national Makki bin Kazem
Al Obeid was executed in al-Dammam city. He was an accomplice to one of the
detainees held in the shooting of a security forces member. Obeid was also
found guilty of theft, the possession of weapons, damaging public property and
trafficking captagon pills and cannabis. After his arrest, Obeid was
investigated, referred to the criminal court and found guilty of the charges
against him that are punishable by the death penalty. The Interior Ministry
stressed that it was keen on the Kingdom’s security and that it will not
hesitate in deterring anyone who deigns to undermine its stability, citizens
and residents.”

 

Middle East

 

Haaretz: The NGOs Israel Designated As Terror Groups Remain Legal In The West
Bank
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“The six Palestinian civil society organizations that Defense Minister Benny
Gantz declared to be terrorist organizations a week and a half ago can still
legally operate in the West Bank, where they are registered and are active. For
an organization to be declared a “disallowed association” in the West Bank, the
commander of the army’s Central Command must issue an order. But in response to
a Haaretz query, Central Command replied that no such order was issued. This
means the six nongovernmental groups in question remain legal the West Bank and
are outlawed only in Israel, which implies that Israel cannot try their
employees at military tribunals just for working there, among other things.
Sources at the State Prosecutor’s Office have already conceded that they do not
intend to file indictments against the organizations or their workers. The
Counter-Terrorism Bureau, which designated the NGOs as terror organizations on
October 22, was created in 2018 with the goal of coordinating activities
against the financial infrastructure of terror groups. It acts under power of
authorities vested in the Counter-Terrorism Law of 2016 and is headed by Paul
Landes. The Defense Ministry said that the organizations act on behalf of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and that they served to finance
it. It added that they received large sums from European countries and
international organizations through a variety of fraudulent methods, which were
then used to promote terrorism, recruit operatives and pay them salaries, and
pay stipends to families of security prisoners and terrorists.”

 

Nigeria

 

Pulse Nigeria: Military Airstrikes Kill 37 Terrorists, Scores Killed In
Artillery Bombardments
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“Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, disclosed this
in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. Nwachukwu said the troops had on Saturday
morning observed the movement of six Gun Trucks within Sambisa Forest general
area, which were subsequently located at a settlement near Yuwe. He said that
the trucks later moved to a remote location, where they were joined by other
terrorist elements, in what seemed like a convergence for a meeting. According
to him, more than 50 Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters were observed to have gathered
at the meeting. “Having clearly identified the terrorists’ hideout, the Air
Component of OPHK immediately dispatched two aircrafts to conduct air
interdiction on the location. “The strikes, which were carried out under cover
of darkness, were successful and devastating, as battle damage assessment
corroborated by local sources revealed that over 37 Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists
were neutralized, while several of them reportedly suffered varying degrees of
injury,” he said. Nwachukwu also disclosed that the combat air crew of the air
component, located another set of four Gun Trucks about six Kilometers South
West of Bama, as the aircraft retreated to base after the air interdiction. He
said the air crew immediately relayed the coordinates of the location of the
gun trucks to troops of the Land Component.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Armed Men Kill 10 Civilians In Northern Burkina Faso
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“Ten people were killed in an attack in northern Burkina Faso on Monday
morning, and four others were missing, a government source and a security
source said. Unidentified armed men attacked the group of civilians as they
were driving their carts to market in the town of Markoye, in Burkina Faso's
Sahel reserve, the sources said. The area, which borders Mali and Niger, is
overrun by Islamist militants who wage frequent attacks despite the presence of
a regional counter-terrorism force and French troops. Burkina Faso on Monday
marked the 61st anniversary of its army with a ceremony focused on the fight
against terrorism. “We will get through it together, or not at all,” said
President Roch Kabore in remarks to journalists. Islamist attacks have surged
across Africa's Sahel region, killing thousands and driving millions from their
homes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. More than 1.3 million Burkinabe have
been displaced by the violence in the last two years, according to the U.N.
Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Five police officers were killed on Sunday in another
attack in the north of the country, and about 15 attackers were killed in the
ensuing fight, the security ministry said. The state news agency also reported
that two women and a baby were killed on Sunday when their cart hit an
improvised land mine in the department of Ouindigui.”

 

Reuters: Uganda's Police Detain 48 Suspects Linked To Last Month's Bombings
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“Uganda's police have arrested 48 suspects in connection with last month's
deadly bombings blamed on an Islamist group linked to Islamic State, police
said on Monday. An explosion at a restaurant in the capital on Oct. 23 killed
one person and left at least three people injured, while a suicide bomber in a
bus two days later injured a senior police officer. Securities agencies have
“conducted several intelligence led operations, that led to the arrest of 48
suspects, highly linked to the acts of terror in the country”, police said in a
statement. The detained suspects involved “single individuals, those operating
in small cells that have been broken and others on various activities of
terrorism”. Security personnel have blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF),
an Islamic group allied with Islamic State, for both attacks. Islamic State
claimed responsibility for the restaurant bombing and no group has claimed the
bus attack. Originally a local rebel group, the ADF has operated in the dense
forests in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo across the border with Uganda
for more than three decades. The group began killing civilians in large numbers
in 2014. It has publicly aligned itself with the Islamic State and Ugandan
officials have blamed the group for a gun attack on a minister in June and a
series of killings of officials that have included Muslim leaders and police
officials.”

 

Europe

 

Radio Free Europe: Belarusian Journalist, Husband Jailed For Spreading
'Extremist' Content On Facebook
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“A Belarusian court has sentenced a journalist and her husband to 15 days in
jail for sharing “extremist” content on Facebook. Iryna Slavnikava, a
representative of Belsat TV, along with husband Alyaksandr Loyko, were
sentenced by a Minsk court on November 1, the Vyasna human rights center
reported. Slavnikava, who is also the deputy chairman of the Belarusian
Association of Journalists, and her husband were detained late on October 29 as
they were returning from Egypt. Polish-funded Belsat was declared “extremist”
by the Belarusian authorities in July and had its website and all social-media
accounts blocked. The television channel extensively covered the mass protests
after last year's presidential election that strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka
claimed to have won in a landslide. Dozens of news websites have been blocked
in Belarus and independent media shuttered as part of a sweeping crackdown on
information in the wake of unprecedented protests triggered by the election the
opposition and West say was rigged. According to the Belarusian Association of
Journalists, 28 journalists are currently behind bars, including two female
journalists from Belsat, Katsyaryna Andreyeva, and Darya Chultsova, who were
sentenced to two years in prison in February for their reporting of protests.”

 

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