“The Taliban announced a complete ban on the use of foreign currency in
Afghanistan on Tuesday, a move sure to cause further disruption to an economy

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


November 3, 2021 

 

Reuters: Taliban Ban Use Of Foreign Currency In Afghanistan -Spokesman
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“The Taliban announced a complete ban on the use of foreign currency in
Afghanistan on Tuesday, a move sure to cause further disruption to an economy
pushed to the brink of collapse by the abrupt withdrawal of international
support. The surprise move came hours after at least 25 people were killed and
more than 50 wounded when gunmen attacked Afghanistan's biggest military
hospital after two heavy explosions at the site in central Kabul. “The economic
situation and national interests in the country require that all Afghans use
Afghan currency in their every trade,” the Taliban said in a statement shared
with journalists by one of their spokesmen. The use of U.S. dollars is
widespread in Afghanistan's markets, while border areas use the currency of
neighbouring countries such as Pakistan for trade. The Taliban government is
pressing for the release of billions of dollars of central bank reserves as the
drought-stricken nation faces a cash crunch, mass starvation and a new
migration crisis. Afghanistan parked billions of dollars in assets overseas
with the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks in Europe, but that money
has been frozen since the Islamist Taliban ousted the Western-backed government
in August. The departure of U.S.-led forces and many international donors left
the country without grants that financed three quarters of public spending.”

 

The Washington Post: Gunmen Kidnap Six In Rare Attack On University In
Nigeria’s Capital
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“Gunmen kidnapped four staffers and two of their children from the University
of Abuja early Tuesday, the university said, staging the first high-profile
attack on a campus in Nigeria’s capital as the nation confronts a wave of mass
abductions. Criminal gangs normally strike schools across the north of Africa’s
most populous country, a phenomenon that has driven a generation of school
dropouts. More than 600 schools in the region have closed this year —
temporarily or indefinitely — because of a mix of pandemic restrictions and
organized crime, researchers say. An estimated 3 million students have stopped
attending school. Abuja is known as an oasis of relative calm. The city of
about 3.5 million is home to the government and President Muhammadu Buhari, who
has repeatedly pledged to vanquish kidnappings with an escalated military
campaign. But abductions remain a stubbornly grim part of life in the rest of
Nigeria. People are grabbed out of cars, buses, markets and their homes. The
military outpost near the University of Abuja didn’t deter Tuesday’s
kidnappers. “The gunshots lasted from after midnight until 2 a.m.,” said
Geoffrey Nwaka, a soil science professor who lives close to campus. “It’s not
secure at all. Our security guards don’t have enough weapons to defend the
area. Nobody is safe.”

 

Iraq

 

Al Monitor: Militants Get Death Sentences For Killing Two Iraqi Journalists
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“Iraq’s Basra Criminal Court sentenced a second man to death on Nov. 1 for
involvement in a death squad that killed multiple Iraqi journalists and
activists. Another convict was also sentenced to death a day before for the
same crime. According to Iraqi security officials, Hamza Kadhim al-Aidani and
Aqeel Hadi were arrested in early 2021 with other members who worked as part of
a “network of 16 people responsible for assassinations.” Photos of the men
under arrest were widely circulated today. The court’s conviction is
preliminary and subject to a 30-day appeal period. The victims were Ahmad
Abdessamad, an Al-Dijla channel news correspondent, and his cameraman, Safaa
Ghali, who covered the 2019 protests in Basra. On Jan. 11, 2020, as they were
driving home, another car pulled up next to theirs and opened fire, killing
Abdessamad on the spot and injuring Ghali, who later died in the hospital.
After the court’s ruling, a video of Abdessamad’s mother expressing her
satisfaction with the “righteous” verdict was shared on social media platforms.
During the 2019 mass protests, many took to the streets to protest against
foreign interference in the country, lack of basic services and armed militias
outside of state control.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: 17 Daesh Terror Suspects Arrested In Central Turkey's Kayseri
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“Turkish security forces arrested at least 17 Daesh suspects in central
Turkey, security sources said on Tuesday. Police in Kayseri province launched
an operation against operatives within the terrorist organization in Syria and
Iraq, said the source on condition of anonymity. The suspects were arrested in
a simultaneous operation and digital evidence was seized during the operation,
it added. In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a
terrorist organization. The country has since been attacked by the terrorist
group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in
at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults. In
response, Turkey launched counterterrorism operations at home and abroad to
prevent further attacks.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Foreign Policy: Jihadi Networks Are More Resilient Than We Think
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“With the departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan this August, the post-9/11
era seems to be ending. Challenges such as climate change, a bellicose China,
and the crisis of liberal institutions have crowded out jihadi terrorism as the
primary American foreign-policy concern. Even in the narrow counterterrorism
realm, white supremacist violence and anti-government extremism are the flavors
of the day, and the occasional jihadi attack doesn’t seem to change things. Yet
a new book provides a stark reminder of the persistence of terrorist networks
despite over 20 years of relentless counterterrorism. In Western Jihadism: A
Thirty Year History, Jytte Klausen, a professor at Brandeis University and a
highly respected scholar of terrorism, traces the origins of al Qaeda and the
broader jihadi movement, and how the seeds they scattered throughout the West
flourished in the 1990s and even in the post-9/11 era. What emerges is a
portrait of a robust movement that, despite having suffered numerous setbacks,
has learned from its mistakes, become more connected, and adapted its tactics
and structures to keep the flame of jihad alive. Although the geographic scope
of Klausen’s work is far-ranging, it is at its best when discussing the jihadi
movement’s presence and activities in the United States and Europe. The West,
as she points out, is both a target and a sanctuary for the jihadi movement.”

 

Lebanon

 

Reuters: Lebanon Says It Wants Dialogue With Riyadh, Not Demands About
Hezbollah
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“Lebanon's foreign minister said Saudi Arabia was dictating impossible terms
by asking the government to reduce the role of Iran-backed Hezbollah, adding
Beirut's row with Riyadh could be resolved if the kingdom agreed to a dialogue
with the new Lebanese cabinet. “If they just want Hezbollah's head on a plate,
we can't give them that,” the minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, told Reuters in an
interview on Tuesday. “Hezbollah is a component of politics in Lebanon. It has
a regional armed dimension, yes, but this is beyond what we can resolve,” he
said. Lebanon is facing its worst rift yet with Gulf Arab states, spurred by a
minister's critical comments about the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen that
described the war there as futile. Saudi Arabia and some Gulf Arab allies have
reacted angrily to the remarks made by the information minister in an interview
last week, which he'd filmed before taking up his position in cabinet. Riyadh
expelled Lebanon's ambassador, banned all imports from Lebanon and recalled its
envoy for consultations. Kuwait and Bahrain followed suit by expelling the top
envoys in their own capitals, while the United Arab Emirates withdrew all its
diplomats from Beirut.”

 

Nigeria

 

Washington Examiner: ISIS Branch Releases Video Of 12-Year-Old Executing
Nigerian Soldiers
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“A branch of the Islamic State has reportedly released footage of a
12-year-old executing two Nigerian soldiers. The terrorist group released
footage of a 12-year-old member of the Islamic State in West Africa Province
killing two Nigerian soldiers in a video titled “Makers of Epic Battles.”
Tomasz Rolbiecki, a researcher of ISIS and its worldwide tactics, noted that
the 17-minute-long video depicts the attacks from ISWAP's spring campaign,
which erupted in northern Borno and Yobe, two states in Nigeria. “There are no
words to describe how awful it is,” tweeted Rolbiecki. Large portions of the
execution footage has been published in previous photo reports, though not the
video in its entirety. The footage also revealed additional details about the
organization's growing weapon supply — the video confirmed that ISWAP had
acquired a Mowag Piranha APC. “Terrorist groups such as ISWAP have killed tens
of thousands of Christians in Nigeria and displaced millions in an attempt to
discard western influence and impose strict Islamic Sharia law,” a spokesperson
for the persecution watchdog International Christian Concern said in a press
release. “ISWAP often tries to radicalize those whom they have taken captive,”
continued ICC's spokesperson.”

 

Africanews: Jihadists Hold 76 Farmers For Two Days In North-East Nigeria
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“Islamic State-aligned jihadists held 76 farmers for two days in northeast
Nigeria's Borno state near the border with Cameroon, militia sources said
Tuesday. The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters kidnapped the
farmers from a displaced people's camp in Ngala on Friday while they were
burning thick vegetation to make a clearing for their harvest, the sources
said. The men, women and children were taken to a camp in the nearby town of
Chikongudo under ISWAP control where they were kept until Sunday, the militia
sources said. “ISWAP had warned farmers from burning shrubs and thicket in the
area which give them cover from Nigerian troops,” militia leader Umar Kachalla
told AFP. They were released after the men were flogged “as punishment and
warning”, he said. His account was corroborated by Umar Ari, another militia
leader. “They were lucky to have been taken by ISWAP and not Boko Haram who
would have killed the men and enslaved the women and the children,” Ari said.
ISWAP a rival of Boko Haram, from which it split in 2016 because of
disagreements over the indiscriminate targeting of Muslim civilians and use of
children and women as suicide bombers.”

 

Mali

 

The Independent: Britain’s Mali Mission: Troops Target Isis In Growing African
Conflict
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“The sudden bursts of machinegun and Kalashnikov fire erupted from the long
grass and thorn bushes as the British troops approached. They shot back and
after an intense exchange, in which 700 rounds were fired over 12 minutes, two
suspected Isis fighters lay dead. Twenty-four hours later the same soldiers
were trying to escape a swirling fire closing in around them. One of the
armoured vehicles the troops were travelling in, loaded with weapons,
ammunition and fuel, was set alight and destroyed. The men on board jumped out
and scrambled to safety as others ran for cover. Two soldiers injured trying to
get away from the fire were flown by helicopter back to the headquarters of the
UK forces, an international base near the city of Gao. A previous task of the
medical team treating them had been to provide support in the aftermath of a
car bombing targeting a German base which wounded 12 soldiers. The clash with
the jihadists in eastern Mali was the first time regular British troops have
been in combat since 2014. The flames which could have engulfed the convoy
causing enormous losses highlighted the harsh and risky conditions in which the
force is operating. The British military presence in the country is one of the
most significant deployment overseas by this country since Iraq and
Afghanistan, but little has emerged about their role in what has been described
as the most dangerous UN mission taking place at present.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Independent: Co-Founder Of Neo-Nazi Terrorist Group Was Dedicated To
‘All-Out Race War’, Court Hears
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“The co-founder of a neo-Nazi terrorist group was dedicated to an “all-out
race war” in Britain, a court has heard. Ben Raymond, 32, is on trial accused
of seven terror offences including remaining a member of National Action after
it was banned by the government in 2016. Bristol Crown Court heard that he
coined the phrase “white jihad” to describe his aims, and “fought his holy war
with words and images”. Mr Raymond allegedly co-founded National Action in
2013, and then supported successor groups that operated under different names
after the ban. Opening the trial on Tuesday, prosecutor Barnaby Jameson QC
said: “For the defendant and his cohorts, the work of Adolf Hitler was, and
remains, unfinished … the movement had an innocuous name, National Action, but
the group’s ideology was anything but innocuous. “It was conceived as the
genesis of a UK [Nazi Party paramilitary wing] with no compunction about the
use or threat of terror in attaining its objectives. “It advocated the same
Nazi aims and ideals - the ethnic cleansing of anyone who did not fit the Aryan
Nazi mould: Jews, Muslims, people of colour, people of Asian descent, people of
gay orientation and anyone remotely liberal.” Mr Raymond denies remaining a
member of National Action after it was proscribed as a terrorist group in
December 2016.”

 

France

 

Associated Press: Suspects In Paris Attacks On Stand After Victims' Testimony
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“The lone survivor of the cell of Islamic State group extremists who attacked
Paris in November 2015 came under public questioning Tuesday for the first time
in France, describing a close family life and his neighborhood acquaintance
with many of the other defendants seated alongside him behind courtroom glass.
Salah Abdeslam, who discarded a malfunctioning explosive vest on Nov. 13, 2015
and fled, is one of 20 men on trial for the coordinated attacks that killed 130
people outside a sports stadium, at crowded restaurants and at a rock concert.
All of the attackers who fired at people or detonated explosive vests that
night died. The men now on trial are largely accused of helping with logistics
or transportation. Six of the 20 are being tried in absentia. The hearing on
Tuesday followed five weeks of testimony from attack survivors as well as
grieving families, including relatives of a man who later killed himself after
struggling with the trauma. At the start of the trial, Abdeslam wore all black,
spoke harshly and identified his profession as “fighter for Islamic State.” He
said the deaths of so many innocent people were “nothing personal.” On Tuesday,
he wore a soft gray cardigan and a pale buttoned shirt and spoke softly.”

 

Germany

 

Associated Press: German Charged With Membership In Foreign Terror Groups
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“Federal prosecutors have charged a German woman with membership in two
foreign terrorist groups, violating weapons law and committing her son as a
fighter to a foreign terrorist group. German federal prosecutors said Tuesday
that Stefanie A., whose last name was withheld in line with privacy rules, left
Germany in 2016 with her son, who was 13 at the time, in order to live with her
husband in Syrian territory that was then under the control of the Islamic
State group. She first joined the terrorist organization Jund al-Aqsa and later
the Islamic State, or IS. She is accused of willingly making her son available
to the Jund al-Aqsa and to the IS as a fighter. Shortly after her arrival in
Raqqa in Syria in 2017, the defendant joined the IS, initially living with her
husband in Raqqa and managing his household. The couple, who were financially
provided for by the IS, made their son available to the group. He completed
military training and was called up for combat operations. At 15, he was killed
in a bomb attack in March 2018, the prosecutor’s statement said. A. herself was
equipped with an explosive belt and carried a rifle during her membership in
IS. She and her husband remained loyal to the Islamic State until the end of
the group’s reign, and surrendered to Kurdish troops in February 2019. She was
arrested upon her arrival in Germany in March.”

 

Europe

 

Deutsche Welle: Vienna Honors Victims Of Terror Attack 1 Year Later
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“Vienna marked one year on Tuesday since a deadly terror attack that left four
people dead. On November 2, 2020, a sympathizer of the so-called Islamic State
(IS) group shot and killed four people in the Austrian capital before he
himself was shot dead by police. “This city is strong,” Mayor Michael Ludwig
said, speaking at the city's historic central Desider-Friedmann-Platz, where
some of the shootings took place. He went on to say that Vienna would “not be
brought to its knees — not from cowardly terrorism, not from people who think
that they can endanger our democratic values.”  The Social Democrat mayor met
with more than 20 relatives of the victims before his speech. A memorial event
was set to take place in St Rupert's Church later in the day. President
Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg both planned to
attend the service. The president shared a message on Twitter on Tuesday
morning, saying: “A year ago a cowardly terrorist attack was carried out on the
heart of our society. Right in the center of Vienna. In the middle of the
Republic. Four people lost their lives. Many were injured. Many put their life
and health on the line to protect others.” “Hate can never be as strong as our
community in freedom, democracy, tolerance and love,” he added.”

 

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