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Eye on Extremism
December 14, 2021
Associated Press: The AP Interview: Taliban Seek Ties With US, Other Ex-Foes
“Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers are committed in principle to education and jobs for girls and women, a marked departure from their previous time in power, and seek the world's “mercy and compassion” to help millions of Afghans in desperate need, a top Taliban leader said in a rare interview. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also told The Associated Press that the Taliban government wants good relations with all countries and has no issue with the United States. He urged Washington and other nations to release upward of $10 billion in funds that were frozen when the Taliban took power Aug. 15, following a rapid military sweep across Afghanistan and the sudden, secret flight of U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani. “Sanctions against Afghanistan would ... not have any benefit,” Muttaqi said Sunday, speaking in his native Pashto during the interview in the sprawling pale brick Foreign Ministry building in the heart of the Afghan capital of Kabul. The fate of women's rights in Afghanistan: Their lives 'ended overnight' when Taliban took over “Making Afghanistan unstable or having a weak Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone,” said Muttaqi, whose aides include employees of the previous government as well as those recruited from the ranks of the Taliban.”
The Guardian: France Seeks To Ban Ultra-Right Group Suspected Of Attacking Anti-Racists
“France’s interior minister is seeking to dissolve an “ultra right” group suspected of attacking anti-racism protesters who entered a campaign rally held by the far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour. The Zouaves, who support Zemmour’s anti-immigration and anti-Islam ideology, are thought to be behind the brawl, which happened eight days ago. Members from the anti-racial discrimination group SOS Racisme were set upon after they entered the rear of the venue to protest against Zemmour. The group said it had aimed to protest peacefully but five of its members were injured. In one clip taken that night, a man was caught violently punching the head of a young woman who was wearing a “No to racism” T-shirt. Other assailants kicked and threw chairs at protesters. After the meeting, police said they had identified about 50 people linked to the Zouaves who posed for a picture and chanted: “On est chez nous” (this is our home), according to AFP. On Sunday, the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said he had begun legal action to have the Zouaves movement outlawed and hoped the State Council would agree to the ban.”
United States
The Detroit News: Accused Islamic State Soldier From Dearborn Loses Evidence Fight Against Feds
“A federal judge Monday refused to suppress texts and statements made to federal agents by an accused Islamic State fighter from Dearborn captured on a Syrian battlefield three years ago, dealing a setback to the defense of a rare foreign fighter brought back to America to face charges. Texts Ibraheem Musaibli, 31, exchanged with an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force officer and comments the Dearborn man said while being flown back to the United States aboard a customized C-17 military cargo plane were made voluntarily, U.S. District Judge David Lawson wrote in a federal court filing. Musaibli talked to the officer after being advised of his rights, the judge added. The FBI received a tip in 2016 that included this grainy photo of Dearborn native Ibraheem Musaibli posing next to an assault rifle. “There is no valid reason to suppress the statements or the text messages,” Lawson wrote. Musaibli is scheduled to stand trial in January on terrorism charges punishable by up to 50 years in prison. Musaibli drew international attention three years ago when he was captured in Syria. The case has shed light on Musaibli's journey from his parents' perfume shop in Detroit to a Middle East war zone and presented the U.S. court system with a unique chance to prosecute an American accused of leaving the U.S. and fighting for the Islamic State group.”
Syria
Associated Press: US-Backed Syria Forces Say 5 IS Suspects Killed In Raid
“Syrian Kurdish-led forces said Monday their ant-terrorism unit, with U.S.-led coalition support, killed five suspected Islamic State group fighters in a raid to break up a militant cell in Syria’s east. The Syrian Democratic Forces unit carried out the joint operation with the international coalition near Busayrah, a village in the eastern countryside of Deir el-Zour province. It targeted a “dangerous IS cell” based on intelligence and reconnaissance of their presence in the area. The militants opened fire at the raiding force, which had besieged the area, the SDF said in a statement. The force responded, killing five suspected IS members, it said. The operation came after attacks against the local administration and security forces. There was no immediate response from the U.S.-led coalition. Activists and a war monitor reported the raid, suggesting civilians were among those killed. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said the raid was conducted with aerial support from U.S.-led forces. It targeted a wanted IS member who fled as the SDF force arrived and was shot dead while fleeing on his motorcycle. The Observatory, which relies on a network of local activists, said the force then captured the father of the wanted suspect and his brother and shot them dead outside their home.”
Al Monitor: Islamic State Attacks Government, Russian Forces In Syrian Desert
“Islamic State (IS) militants have attacked Syrian regime and Russian forces in Syria’s central and eastern desert regions. According to local news reports, an attack occurred in the area of al-Masrib in the west of Deir ez-Zor province. IS targeted Syrian government and allied militia forces, Step News reported yesterday. The Sada AlSharqieh news outlet reported Dec. 11 that seven Syrian regime soldiers were killed during an IS ambush and that clashes between the two continued afterward. The Beirut-based outlet Al Modon also reported about the Masrib attack yesterday, noting several casualties on the Syrian government's side. The outlet added that a mortar also hit the Russian-controlled Palmyra airport in central Syria, the first attack on the airport since the Syrian government retook it in 2017. Russian planes conducted eight air raids in al-Masrib, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported today. Russian forces are in Syria to help the Syrian government in its war against rebel groups. Russia also conducts operations against the Islamic State. The Palmyra region is of particular interest to Russia, in part due its Roman ruins. Russia began restoring historical sites in Palmyra in November.”
Pakistan
The New York Times: Militants Kill 2 Policemen In Kashmir As Violence Escalates
“Militants fired on a police bus in the Indian region of Kashmir on Monday, killing at least two officers and wounding more than a dozen, the police said, just three days after a similar attack left two policemen dead. Kashmir, disputed between India and Pakistan, has long endured clashes between separatist insurgents and government forces, and the violence has escalated recently as strict security protocols imposed in 2019 and pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Pakistan, which contains a part of Kashmir, also claims the Indian portion, and there have been repeated conflicts along the boundary separating them. The attack on Monday, on the outskirts of the largest Kashmiri city, Srinagar, took place in a highly guarded area home to major Indian security establishments operating in the region. In the attack three days earlier, gunmen fired on a squad of officers patrolling streets in northern Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir was India’s only Muslim-majority state, with a degree of autonomy, until August 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government drastically changed the region’s political status. It stripped the region of its autonomy and its status as a state, and placed it under the direct control of New Delhi.”
Middle East
The Jerusalem Post: Worker At Pharmaceutical Company Indicted On Terrorism Charges
“A worker at a pharmaceutical company was indicted on Monday on charges of aiding terrorist activity after he provided terrorists with five liters of hydrogen peroxide for the production of explosives in the West Bank. In the first half of 2020, Mohammed Sunuqrut, a resident of Israel, met with his friend B.A. in a mosque in Ramallah, where his friend asked him to join a terrorist operation against Israel. Sunuqrut declined but agreed to provide his friend with five liters of hydrogen peroxide for the purpose of producing explosives for terrorist activity. A few days later, he took five liters from the company he worked at and brought them to his friend in Bidu. Sunuqrut refused to accept payment for the hydrogen peroxide because it was being used for terrorism. According to the request filed to detain Sunuqrut until the end of the proceedings, he has confessed to the charges. During a widespread operation in September to arrest a Hamas terrorist cell that was planning attacks against Israelis, three Palestinian terrorists were killed in clashes with Border Police YAMAM in Bidu. Part of the weapons found in the arrest operation against the heavily armed terrorist cell included enough explosive material to make three or four suicide belts.”
Nigeria
The Punch Nigeria: Violence, Terrorism Not Unique To Nigeria – Presidency
“The presidency has stated that the violence and terrorism, which has become prevalent in the country, was not unique to Nigeria. This was contained in a statement, on Sunday, in response to an Editorial by Daily Trust signed by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, which noted that the government’s effort to suppress the challenges had yielded results. The statement also referred to The Economist’s recent issue that described Nigeria as “The Next Afghanistan”, adding that it also makes the President, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, worried. The statement read in part, “The growing instability and violence in the North of Nigeria and elsewhere are unacceptable. No one, not least the Presidency, underestimates the seriousness of the situation. Every day, the President holds the victims and their families in his thoughts and prayers. “Above all, he wishes to reassure them – and all Nigerians – that tackling the scourge of banditry and terrorism remains this government’s priority. “Sadly, in this respect, Nigeria is not unique. Violence and terror have risen steadily across the entire African continent over the last decade.”
Somalia
All Africa: Somalia: Roadside Bomb Targets African Union Peacekeepers In Southern Somalia
“A roadside blast has targeted the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers in Southern Somalia. The Burundian troops were patrolling Buurane and Mahadey areas on foot when they encountered an improvised explosive device (IED) on Saturday evening. The al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for the roadside bombing in the two middle Shabelle towns saying they killed four soldiers in the explosion. The explosion comes amid growing attacks in the past days in Hirshabelle state. On Saturday one person was killed and four others were wounded including two MPs after an explosion in a restaurant in Jowhar. According to Jowhar police chief, Bashir Hassan, the person killed in the attack was a well-known elder identified as Abdullahi Osman. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. The militant group on Friday targeted the Jowhar city airport with mortars attacks targeting Burundian peacekeepers serving under the AMISOM. Al-Shabaab has lost many areas previously under its control, but the militant group is still capable of staging attacks in Somalia.”
Mali
AFP: French Forces Pack Up In Mali For Sahel Pullout
“After nine years deployed in Mali, France is organising a drawdown, with troops preparing to leave the last of three bases in the far north of the insurgency-hit and poverty-wracked country. French troops were sent to Mali in 2013 by then-president Francois Hollande to tackle the rebels affiliated to Al-Qaeda or Islamic State in the arid north. Paris has since deployed around 5,100 troops across the Sahel region, which includes Mali, helping to support local governments and their poorly-equipped forces fight an ever-growing Islamist insurgency that has left thousands dead. But after leaving the Kidal and Tessal bases in north Mali, French troops are now packing up in Timbuktu. “We're training Malian forces in holding their ground and in guiding air support before they take over from us,” a commander in charge of the withdrawal in Timbuktu told AFP giving only his rank, captain, and first name, Florian. Around him, several dozen soldiers could be seen packing boxes, taking down a basketball hoop, or sorting through medical supplies and tents. All the material is being sent south by road to the French base in Gao. “Everything is being sorted, labelled, then either destroyed, re-used here or sent back to France,” Major Christelle explained, surrounded by piles of camp beds as well as spare parts for vehicles.”
United Kingdom
BBC News: Manchester Arena Inquiry: Bomber's Punch 'Could Have Been Red Flag'
“Salman Abedi punching a female student after a row about her wearing a short skirt could have been a red flag to his radicalisation, an inquiry has heard. Abedi, who killed 22 people in the Manchester Arena bombing, hit the girl in the face at Manchester College. The inquiry heard there was a pattern of those convicted of Islamist extremist offences also having a history of violence towards women. Dr Matthew Wilkinson said Abedi had a “very bad attitude towards women”. The expert in extremism said the assault could be interpreted as being driven by misogyny, adding one of the factors in the 22-year-old's motivation to carry out the bombing was religious-inspired hatred of women. The so-called Islamic State group - said to have inspired the bomber - was widely known for its denigration of women, the inquiry into the atrocity heard. Twenty-two people were killed when Abedi detonated the bomb on 22 May 2017 at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. Abedi punched the student, also from the city's Libyan community, during his studies at Manchester College in 2012 and 2013, He struck her on the face and then delivered further punches as she lay on the ground, the inquiry was told.”
Southeast Asia
“The Indonesian Police's anti-terror squad Densus 88 on Monday (Dec 13) arrested four suspected terrorists in the cities of Palembang and Lubuklinggau, in South Sumatra province, a police officer said. They are allegedly linked to the outlawed Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group and are suspected of planning several attacks during Christmas and New Year holidays, the South Sumatra Police's spokesman Senior Commissioner Supriadi told a press conference on Monday. He said that the police had watched the four suspects for four months before arresting them. They are now detained for further investigation. Following the arrest, Supriadi said the police would strengthen security during the holidays, particularly at places of worship, urging people to immediately report to the police if they find something suspicious. JI, an affiliate of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda, was behind some of the deadliest attacks in Indonesia, including the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings against churches and priests and the 2002 nightclub blasts on Bali that killed 202 people, mostly Westerners.”
“Two self-radicalised Singaporeans previously detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) were released in August, after showing “good progress” in their rehabilitation, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) on Tuesday (Dec 14). Muhammad Shamin Mohamed Sidek, 35, and Mohamed Omar Mahadi, 38, were assessed to “no longer pose a security threat requiring preventive detention”, the ISD said in a statement. Shamin was self-radicalised by online propaganda and was arrested and jailed in May 2015 under the Penal Code after he incited religious violence through pro-ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) postings on social media, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said at the time. He continued to express unstinting support for ISIS while in prison and was later detained under the ISA in August 2015. ISD's investigations showed that he planned to travel to Syria to join ISIS once he had raised enough money to fund the trip. The MHA said Shamin had decided that if he was unable to do so, he would consider fighting alongside a regional militant group that he considered to be aligned with ISIS. He was reportedly undeterred by his arrest under the ISA and had said he would pursue his plans to join ISIS after his release from detention.”
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