“The U.N. envoy to Afghanistan on Wednesday delivered a bleak assessment of the
situation following the Taliban takeover, saying that an affiliate of

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


November 18, 2021  

 

Reuters: U.N. Envoy Says Islamic State Now Appears Present In All Afghan
Provinces
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“The U.N. envoy to Afghanistan on Wednesday delivered a bleak assessment of
the situation following the Taliban takeover, saying that an affiliate of the
Islamic State group has grown and now appears present in nearly all 34
provinces. U.N. Special Representative Deborah Lyons told the U.N. Security
Council that the Taliban's response to Islamic State-Khorasan Province's (ISKP)
expansion “appears to rely heavily on extrajudicial detentions and killings” of
suspected ISKP fighters. “This is an area deserving more attention from the
international community,” she said. Her comments came hours after the group --
an ideological foe of the Taliban -- claimed responsibility for two blasts that
killed at least one person and wounded six others in a heavily Shiite Muslim
neighborhood of Kabul. The Taliban, she said, has been unable to stem ISKP's
growth. “Once limited to a few provinces and the capital, ISKP now seems to be
present in nearly all provinces, and increasingly active,” Lyons said, adding
that the number of the group's attacks have increased from 60 strikes in 2020
to 334 this year. While the Taliban is making “genuine efforts to present
itself as a government” since seizing Kabul in August after a 20-year war with
the United States, they continue excluding representatives of other sectors of
society and curtailing the rights of women and girls.”

 

The Washington Post: Family Of American Held By Islamist Extremists In Africa
Appeals For Help Securing His Release
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“The family of an American man believed to be held hostage by Islamist
extremists in Mali appealed for help Wednesday in securing his release after
more than five years in captivity. Els Woodke said she believed her husband,
Christian aid worker Jeff Woodke, had recently been transferred from the
custody of Islamic State militants in Mali to that of an al-Qaeda affiliate
whose leader may be more open to negotiating his release. Jeff Woodke had lived
in neighboring Niger full-time for more than 15 years when armed men appeared
at his home in Abalak in October 2016, killing his guards and abducting him,
Els Woodke told reporters in Washington. The California native, now 61, had
spent about three decades living part- or full-time in Niger, where his work
included construction of wells and schools, his wife said. Els Woodke has made
only limited statements to the media since her husband’s disappearance due in
large part to guidance from the U.S. government, which has often advised
families of hostages to avoid drawing attention to efforts to obtain their
release. She said she is now embracing a more public strategy because previous
attempts to secure his freedom were unsuccessful and because her husband’s new
captors appeared to be more amenable to freeing him. Woodke said she believed
her husband had initially been held by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
and that his transfer occurred after the death of that group’s leader, Adnan
Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, in a French military operation in August.”

 

United States

 

US Department Of Justice: Man Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison For Attempting
To Provide Material Support To ISIS
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“A New York man was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for attempting to
provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and
al-Sham, aka ISIS. The defendant was also sentenced to 100 months, or more than
eight years’, imprisonment for assaulting a federal correctional officer and
possessing contraband at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn,
New York, to run consecutive to the terrorism sentence. Ali Saleh, 28, of
Queens, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS in
July 2018. According to court documents, starting in 2013, Saleh swore an oath
of allegiance to ISIS and embraced ISIS’s directive to either travel to the
Middle East or take action at home in support of ISIS. On Aug. 25, 2014, Saleh
stated online, “I’m ready to die for the Caliphate, prison is nothing.” On Aug.
28, 2014, Saleh stated online, “Lets be clear the Muslims in the khilafah
[caliphate] need help, the one who is capable to go over and help the Muslims
must go and help.” That same day, Saleh made an airline reservation to travel
from New York to Turkey, but was ultimately prevented from traveling because
his parents took away his passport. “Saleh made numerous attempts to travel
overseas to join ISIS, and when those efforts failed, attempted to assist
others in joining the terrorist organization,” said Assistant Attorney General
Matthew G. Olsen for the Justice Department’s National Security Division.”

 

CBS News: “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison For
Role In January 6 Attack
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“The man known as the “QAnon Shaman,” who stormed the Senate chamber on
January 6 adorned in face paint and wearing a fur helmet with horns, was
sentenced to 41 months behind bars on Wednesday for his involvement in the
attack on the Capitol. Jacob Chansley, 34, from Phoenix, Arizona, pleaded
guilty in September to one felony count of obstruction for his role in trying
to block the counting of the 2020 Electoral College votes. He faced a maximum
of 20 years in prison on the charge, but federal prosecutors sought a sentence
of 51 months, the longest requested sentence in a January 6 investigation to
date. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth handed down the 41-month sentence in
the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday. He also
sentenced Chansley to three years probation once he's released. In sentencing
Chansley to prison time, Lamberth said he thought Chansley was “genuine in your
remorse” but said the severity of his crime warranted the sentence. “What you
did here was horrific, as you can now see,” the judge said. Images of a
shirtless, American flag-carrying Chansley entering the halls of Congress and
sitting in the Senate president's chair became iconic representations of the
mayhem of January 6, when hundreds of pro-Trump rioters stormed the building
and briefly delayed the formal counting of the electoral votes.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Reuters: Islamic State Claims Twin Blasts In Afghan Capital Kabul
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“Islamic State claimed responsibility for two explosions that hit a heavily
Shi'ite Muslim area of the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least
one person and wounding at least six others including three women. The blasts
were the latest in a series of attacks in Kabul claimed by the militant Sunni
group in recent days, with Shi'ite areas in the west of the city targeted
several times. The group has also launched attacks on Shi'ite mosques in the
northern city of Kunduz and the southern city of Kandahar. One car bomb blast
in Dasht-e Barchi, in western Kabul, killed a civilian and wounded six,
interior ministry spokesman Qari Sayeed Khosty said in a tweet. There was no
confirmation of casualty numbers. A Taliban official who spoke on condition of
anonymity said seven people had been killed and nine wounded. A second
explosion was reported in the nearby Karte 3 area, local residents said. A
Taliban official said security forces were still gathering information. Images
posted on social media showed a car destroyed by flames as well as twisted
wreckage strewn across the road. Islamic State claimed responsibility in a
statement posted on an affiliated Telegram account. The local affiliate of the
radical group has emerged as the main security threat to the Taliban since the
fall of Kabul in August and has mounted attacks across the country that have
killed and wounded hundreds.”

 

Voice Of America: Taliban ‘Open Letter’ Appeals To US Congress To Unfreeze
Afghan Assets
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“The Taliban foreign minister Wednesday penned an “open letter” to the U.S.
Congress, warning of a mass refugee exodus from Afghanistan unless the United
States unblocks more than $9 billion in Afghan central bank assets and ends
other financial sanctions against the country. Amir Khan Muttaqi wrote that the
sanctions “have not only played havoc” with trade and business but also with
humanitarian aid to millions of desperate Afghans. Muttaqi’s office in Kabul
released copies of the letter in several languages, including English. Muttaqi
maintained that his government has managed to bring political stability and
security to Afghanistan since returning to power last August but growing
economic troubles are worsening humanitarian challenges. “Currently the
fundamental challenge of our people is financial security and the roots of this
concern lead back to the freezing of assets of our people by the American
government,” said the Taliban’s chief diplomat. “We are concerned that if the
current situation prevails, the Afghan government and people will face problems
and will become a cause for mass migration in the region and world,” Muttaqi
said. Last week, the Norwegian Refugee Council reported that around 300,000
Afghans have fled to Iran since August and up to 5,000 continue to illegally
cross the border into the neighboring country daily.”

 

Pakistan

 

Voice Of America: Indian Kashmir Forces Accused Of Killing Civilians In Raid
On Alleged Militants
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“Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday detained relatives of two
civilians killed in a controversial gunfight after the families staged a
protest in Srinagar demanding that local police return the bodies for
traditional burial. The two civilians were among four people killed in a
shootout with government security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir earlier
this week, and their families have accused those troops of lying about how the
raid unfolded. Police say the civilians died in the crossfire between
government troops and rebels. But witnesses and families of the civilians say
Indian troops used those civilians as human shields during the standoff. On
Tuesday, police in the disputed region’s main city said that four people were
killed in the raid. The fight, according to police, left dead a foreign
“terrorist,” Hyder — whose alias, according to police, is Bilal Bhai — along
with his “associate,” Aamir Ahmad, and “two sympathizers,” Mudasir Gul and
Altaf Ahmad Bhat. Vijay Kumar, police inspector general for the Muslim-majority
Kashmir region, told reporters that police had information about the presence
of militants in the area. “The joint teams of police, central reserve police
force and army set up a cordon and searched,” he said, adding that when
government forces knocked on the door of a room where the militants were
hiding, militants shot at them, and in “self-defense, troops opened fire.”

 

Nigeria

 

Reuters: Death Toll From Gunmen Attack In Nigeria's Northwest Rises To 43
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“At least 43 people have died following raids by gunmen in Nigeria's Sokoto
state this week, three times more than the initial death toll given by
officials, a spokesman for the state governor said on Wednesday. Although the
military is conducting an operation to stamp out a tide of violence by armed
gangs known as bandits in the northwest, including a telecoms blackout, the
violence and kidnappings have continued. The latest attacks in Sokoto's Illela
town bordering Niger republic town took place from Sunday night into the early
hours of Monday morning. The state government had said 13 people were killed
while another two were killed in another town east of the state capital.
“However, at the time of the governor's visit Wednesday afternoon the toll has
risen to 43,” Muhammad Bello, the governor's spokesman said in a statement.
Last month, gunmen killed at least 43 people in another attack in the state.
read more Armed gangs operating for profit have killed or kidnapped hundreds of
people across northwestern Nigeria this year.”

 

Africa

 

Reuters: Gunmen Kill At Least 25 In Southwest Niger
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“Unidentified gunmen have killed at least 25 people in southwest Niger,
officials said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of deadly raids along the
country's border with Mali. Attackers on motorcycles stormed the camp of a
local self-defence militia near the village of Bakorat in the Tahoua region on
Tuesday, said Attawane Abeitane, mayor of the nearby town of Tillia. A gunfight
lasted for several hours before Nigerien security forces arrived and repelled
the attackers, Abeitane said. A security official said only one of the defence
militia survived. “These are terrorists who came from outside and there were
many of them,” Abeitane said. “There were deaths among the terrorists, and
motorcycles were also burned.” No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's
attack. A local affiliate of Islamic State has killed hundreds in rural
communities near the Malian border this year. One raid on Bakorat and
neighbouring villages in March killed 137 people, one of the deadliest days in
Niger's recent history. Local officials blamed that attack on Islamic State in
the Greater Sahara. In the absence of a permanent military presence, some
villages and towns have taken up arms to defend themselves, though security
analysts fear this can stoke the violence. The attack is part of a wider wave
of violence that since 2017 has swept across West Africa's Sahel region, a band
of arid terrain south of the Sahara Desert.”

 

Reuters: Death Toll Soars To 53 After Attack On Burkina Faso Security Post
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“Fifty-three people were killed in a weekend attack on a gendarmerie post in
Burkina Faso, an updated government toll showed on Wednesday, as President Roch
Kabore responded to a public outcry over the worst strike on security forces in
years. Sunday's bloodshed has provoked protests over the authorities' failure
to curb a four-year Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and forced
more than a million people to flee their homes. The attack, near a gold mine in
Inata, a territory in the northern Soum region, killed 49 military police
officers and four civilians, a government spokesperson said, updating a
previous estimate of 32 killed. On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters took to the
streets of Burkina Faso's capital, demanding Kabore resign for failing to rein
in militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State who regularly target
Burkinabe forces and civilians. In a public address on Wednesday, Kabore said
he understood why some citizens were angry about the attack and the
circumstances leading up to it. The personnel stationed at the gendarmerie post
had run out of food and been forced to slaughter animals in the vicinity for
the past two weeks, according to a memo sent by the post's commander to his
superiors last week and seen by Reuters.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Times Of Israel: Liverpool Terror Bomber Planned Blast For At Least 7
Months, Police Say
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“The man who died in a botched bomb attack in the northern English city of
Liverpool on Sunday had planned the blast for at least seven months, police
said Wednesday. Iraq-born Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, rented a property in the city
in April and had made “relevant purchases” for his bomb since “at least” that
time, said Russ Jackson, who heads counter-terrorism policing in northwest
England. Al Swealmeen’s improvised device went off in the back of a taxi
outside a Liverpool hospital moments before Britain marked Remembrance Sunday
last weekend. He was killed in the fireball, while the quick-thinking taxi
driver escaped with minor injuries after reportedly locking Al Swealmeen inside
his cab. “A complex picture is emerging over the purchases of the component
parts of the device, we know that Al Swealmeen rented the property from April
this year and we believe relevant purchases have been made at least since that
time,” said Jackson. “We have now traced a next of kin for Al Swealmeen who has
informed us that he was born in Iraq.” The failed asylum seeker suffered from
bouts of mental illness that will “form part of the investigation and will take
some time to fully understand” said Jackson.”

 

France

 

Reuters: French Police Arrest Two Linked To Ultra-Right In Anti-Terrorism
Probe - Source
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“Two people linked to France's ultra-right movement have been arrested by
agents from the DGSI intelligence service as part of an anti-terrorism probe, a
judicial source said on Wednesday. France Info earlier reported that the two
were suspected of issuing a call for violence via the Telgram messaging app.
Weapons were found at the home of one of the two suspects, the judicial source
told Reuters. Material related to the making of explosives had also been found,
French news agency AFP reported. Both suspects, who were seized by police on
Tuesday, are from southwestern France, France Info and AFP said.”

 

Europe

 

Reuters: Hungarian, 22, Charged With Plotting Islamist Attack, Prosecutors Say
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“Hungarian prosecutors have charged a 22-year-old man with plotting an
Islamist terror attack with an accomplice in the country last year, prosecutors
said in a statement on Wednesday. It said the man, who prosecutors said had
converted to Islam in a Budapest mosque in June 2020, pledged loyalty to
Islamic State in the spring of 2021. Prosecutors said the man was planning to
execute an attack to intimidate Europe's population, based on the charges
brought against him. They said the man and an unnamed accomplice had in May
discussed ways online to execute the attack, which would have involved the
defendant ramming pedestrians in a lakeside resort in Siofok and his accomplice
blowing up a nail bomb in Budapest. The man, who is under arrest, is also
charged with making preparations to obtain the components required for the
bomb. Hungarian special forces and prosecutors foiled the attack in June this
year, the statement said.”

 

CNN: What A Staggering Gun Cache Discovered In One Suspected Neo-Nazi's House
Says About Far-Right Extremism In Europe
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“Last month, Austrian police made a remarkable discovery. In a raid on a house
in the town of Baden, they found an arsenal of weapons and 1,200 kilograms of
ammunition -- as well as Nazi paraphernalia and a large amount of gunpowder.
Altogether some 50 weapons, including submachine guns and pump-action rifles,
were seized. According to a police statement, the house belonged to a
53-year-old man who is “suspected of national socialist Nazi activities,”
including sharing numerous files on Internet forums. Interior Minister Karl
Nehammer said of the raid: “The consistent action against right-wing extremism
is not only part of the historical responsibility, but also a clear advocacy of
our democratic coexistence in Austria.” It wasn't the first action against
alleged neo-Nazis in Austria this year. In July, police seized automatic
weapons and hand grenades in coordinated raids against a biker gang whose
leader planned to establish a “militia of the respectable” that would “overturn
the system.” Support for Nazism is a criminal offense in Austria. The most
prominent neo-Nazi figure is Gottfried Kuessel, who was sentenced to a
nine-year jail term in 2013 for propagating Nazism online. It was his second
conviction.”

 

Politico: Nominations And Markups And Hearings, Oh My!
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“…Gilles de Kerchove has joined the advisory board of the Counter Extremism
Project. He was EU counterterrorism coordinator from 2007 to 2021. …”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Deutsche Welle: Indonesian Police Arrest Top Cleric Over Terror Connections
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“Indonesia's counter-terrorism force Densus 88 arrested one of the country's
leading Muslim clerics over suspected connections with the al-Qaida-linked
group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), police said on Wednesday.

Ahmad Zain An-Najah is a member of the southeast Asian country's Ulema
Council, an umbrella group of religious organizations made up of Islamic
scholars. He is believed to have close ties with the terror group and to have
funded their activities. Ahmad was arrested in Jakarta on Tuesday, along with
two associates, following a police raid, national police spokesperson Rusdi
Hartono said. The cleric has been accused of starting a charitable organization
“for education, social activities... some of the funds are used to mobilize
JI,” Rusdi said. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country. It
has been dealing with a series of militant attacks, many of which have been
connected to locals who have returned from Iraq and Syria where they fought for
the so-called “Islamic State.” The militant Islamist group stands accused of
being behind the 2002 nightclub bombings on the island of Bali that killed 200
people. They are also believed to have been behind a series of recent attacks
in both Indonesia and the Philippines.”

 

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