Eye on Extremism

November 3, 2021 

 

Reuters: Taliban Ban Use Of Foreign Currency In Afghanistan -Spokesman

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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

 

“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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