“Mozambique has made gains against Islamic State-linked insurgents who
disrupted the southeast African nation’s multibillion gas project, according to

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


December 17, 2021  

 

Bloomberg: Mozambique Sees Gains Against Militants Who Disrupted Gas Plan
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“Mozambique has made gains against Islamic State-linked insurgents who
disrupted the southeast African nation’s multibillion gas project, according to
President Filipe Nyusi. All insurgents’ bases have been deactivated this year,
which should allow people in affected regions to return to their homes, Nyusi
said in a state-of-the-nation address on Thursday. The insurgency, which
started in the northeastern Cabo Delgado province in 2017 and has since spread
westward into the neighboring Niassa province, has caused more than 3,500
deaths and prompted at least 800,000 people to flee their homes. TotalEnergies
SE evacuated its $20 billion project to exploit natural gas off the coast for
export after a March attack on a nearby town. Rwandan soldiers and forces from
the 16-member Southern African Development Community bloc are helping to fight
the militants, driving them from large towns. They continue to mount
smaller-scale attacks, though. “We are currently witnessing increasing
stability despite outbreaks of attacks in Niassa,” Nyusi said. This year, the
number of attacks in Cabo Delgado were reduced by three times, 245 militants
were captured and leaders, including third-ranked Rajab Fakir, were killed, he
said.”

 

The National: US Government Accuses Iran Of Harbouring Senior Al Qaeda Leaders
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“In its annual terrorism report, the US State Department accused Iran of
providing a safe haven for senior Al Qaeda members despite the regime’s public
condemnation of the group. The report, released on Thursday, claimed senior Al
Qaeda leaders are currently residing in Iran and “[facilitating] terrorist
operations from there”. It added that Iran remained unwilling to bring those
leaders to justice and has refused to publicly identify them. “Iran has allowed
[Al Qaeda] facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran
since at least 2009, enabling [Al Qaeda] to move funds and fighters to South
Asia and Syria, among other locales,” the State Department said. John Godfrey,
the US acting co-ordinator for counterterrorism, said Iran’s relationship with
Al Qaeda is “a reflection” of their foreign policy behaviour. “The fact that
they have enabled that leadership cadre to safely reside in Iran is a
reflection of their use of terrorism as an adjunct of their foreign policy
goals,” Mr Godfrey said in a call with reporters. “Iran … continues to support
a range of designated terrorist groups in training weapons and equipment. And
the fact that this Al Qaeda leadership has to reside there is reflective of
that approach.”

 

Syria

 

The National: Anti-ISIS Coalition Shoots Down Terrorist Drone In Southern Syria

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“An anti-ISIS coalition shot down a terrorist drone near a base in southern
Syria this week, military officials said. Two RAF Typhoon FGR4s were patrolling
over Syria and Iraq on Tuesday, as part of the global coalition against ISIS,
and were ordered to investigate hostile drone activity near the Al Tanf
military base. The pilots identified a small hostile drone and shot it down
using an advanced short range air-to-air missile. Tanf is the only position
with a significant American military presence in Syria outside the
Kurdish-controlled north. US Navy Capt Bill Urban, a spokesman for US Central
Command, said two drones entered the Al Tanf garrison “deconfliction” zone on
Tuesday and one of them was shot down as it moved closer to the base. There
were no casualties or damage to facilities, he said. It was the first
operational air-to-air engagement conducted by an RAF Typhoon, and the first
air-to-air missile firing during Operation Shader, which is targeting the
remnants of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
said: “This strike is an impressive demonstration of the RAF’s ability to take
out hostile targets in the air that pose a threat to our forces. “We continue
to do everything we can alongside our coalition partners to stamp out the
terrorist threat and protect our personnel and our partners.” It was not
immediately clear who was responsible for the drone, but Iran-backed forces
have frequently attacked allied troops with drones and rockets in eastern Syria
and Iraq.”

 

Kurdistan 24: Kurdistan Region Counter Terrorism Unit Arrests ISIS Arms
Smugglers In Erbil: Coalition
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“Elite forces from the Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter
Terrorism (CTD) arrested two ISIS arms smugglers in Erbil, according to a
statement released on Thursday by the Special Operations Joint Task
Force-Levant (SOJTF LEVANT), part of the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
“Today the CTD conducted operations in the Al Zaytun area of Erbil, Iraq which
resulted in the capture of two Daesh (Arabic acronym for ISIS) arms smugglers,”
read a post on the official Twitter account of the SOJTF LEVANT. It concluded,
“These operations deny Daesh the ability to smuggle, store and transport
weapons.” The operation has not yet been confirmed publicly by the CTD, which
falls under the command of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC).  The
SOJTF LEVANT oversees Special Operations activities in Syria, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon, and Egypt, and earlier replaced the Special Operations Joint Task
Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, which was focused only on Iraq and Syria, the
Military Times reported. Earlier this week, the Kurdistan Region’s Asayish
security forces arrested an ISIS suspect in Halabja province. During the
previous week, also in Halabja, the Asayish said it had captured 25 suspected
ISIS facilitators.”

 

Iraq

 

Al Monitor: Islamic State's Spread Beyond Syria, Iraq Remains Concern For US
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“The number of terrorist attacks increased worldwide in 2020 in part due to
the spread of Islamic State (IS) branches and al-Qaeda affiliates, the US State
Department said in a report released Thursday. The Country Reports on Terrorism
provided annually to Congress said the number of terrorist attacks and
resulting fatalities increased by more than 10% last year compared to 2019.
 “The terrorism threat we face has become more geographically diffuse,” John
Godfrey, acting coordinator for counterterrorism and special envoy to the
Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, told reporters on a call Thursday. Godfrey
described IS, which the report said maintains a low-level insurgency in Iraq
and Syria, as a “determined and dangerous enemy” despite its territorial
defeat. “We’re working to build on our gains by sustaining pressure on [IS]
remnants in Iraq and Syria, and to deny its global network and branches the
ability to effectively operate,” he said. Of particular concern, Godfrey said,
is the terrorist group’s focus on branches outside of Iraq and Syria, which
caused more fatalities in 2020 than in any previous year. IS-affiliated attacks
in West Africa killed nearly 5,000 people in 2020 compared to 2,700 people in
2017, according to the report. In Mozambique alone, an estimated 1,500 people
died in attacks conducted by the group’s local branch.”

 

Lebanon

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanon To Deport Members Of Group That Bahrain Considers It
Harbors Terrorism
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“Lebanon's interior minister on Wednesday ordered the deportation of
non-Lebanese members of a Bahraini group after some of them held a news
conference in Beirut, harming Lebanon’s ties with the Kingdom. Bahrain accuses
the group of harboring terrorism. Bahrain's government has denounced “the
promotion of malicious allegations and causing harm to the Kingdom of Bahrain.”
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Wednesday directed security officials “to
take the measures necessary to expel from Lebanon the non-Lebanese members” of
the group. Bahrain's interior minister, Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa,
had earlier on Wednesday called Mawlawi and spoke to him about events that
“harm Lebanon and its people”, a statement from Bahrain's interior ministry
said. During the call with his Bahraini counterpart, Mawlawi said that Lebanon
would not be used “as a platform to spread hate... towards Arab countries.”

 

Middle East

 

The Times Of Israel: Israeli Man Killed, Two Injured In Northern West Bank
Terror Shooting
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“An Israeli man was killed and two were injured in a shooting attack outside a
settlement outpost in the northern West Bank on Thursday night, officials said.
The victim was named as Yehudah Dimentman, 25, a father of one from the West
Bank settlement of Shavei Shomron. The terror attack was reported along the
road just outside the Homesh outpost, west of Nablus and north of Shavei
Shomron, the Israel Defense Forces said. Dimentman and the two others who were
injured were shot in their car as they left Homesh, a settlement that was meant
to have been abandoned as part of a 2005 eviction, but is now the site of an
illegally operated yeshiva. “The car was hit by an ambush from the side of the
road,” said Brig. Gen. Avi Bluth, commander of the IDF’s Judea and Samaria
Division, named for the biblical term for the West Bank. According to Bluth, at
least 10 bullets were fired into the car. Israeli troops were quickly deployed
to the scene, setting up checkpoints and blocking roadways throughout the area
in an effort to catch the perpetrators. “We are grabbing any threads there are
to pull,” Bluth said.”

 

The Times Of Israel: Islamic Jihad Praises Terror Attack, Does Not Take
Responsibility
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“The Islamic Jihad terror group praises — but not does take responsibility for
— the deadly terror attack that left an Israeli man dead and wounded two others
in the northern West Bank tonight. “We bless the heroic operation carried out
by heroic resistance fighters from among our people, which came as a natural
response to the crimes of the occupying soldiers and settlers,” says Tariq Izz
al-Din, a spokesperson for Islamic Jihad’s West Bank branch.”

 

Nigeria

 

Sahara Reporters: Boko Haram Terrorists Dare Buhari Government, Mount
‘Security’ Checkpoints On Borno Highways
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“Militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic
State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah
lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād have mounted roadblocks in some parts of Borno State.
Areas, where the checkpoints were mounted by the terror group, include
“Mararaban Kimba, Ammo Bulin, Wajiroko, Gada, and Sabon Gari, all located along
Damboa/Biu Road,” one of the sources said. Sources said the insurgents have
been checking on travellers IDs to fish out security operatives travelling in
mufti, which is daring considering how much effort the administration of
President Muhammadu Buhari said it had put into ensuring security in the
North-East. ISWAP, which split from the mainstream Boko Haram in 2016, has
become a dominant group, focusing on military targets and high-profile attacks,
including against aid workers. Since the death of JAS leader, Abubakar Shekau,
the group has been consolidating its grip in locations around Lake Chad. Just
recently, it appointed Wali Sani Shuwaram, a 45-year-old as the new Leader
(Wali) of ISWAP in Lake Chad. The sect’s membership has swollen with the
defection of hundreds of Boko Haram fighters under Shekau.”

 

The Punch Nigeria: Nigeria Witnessed 11 Conflicts, 1,000 Deaths From Terrorism
War In 2020 -Report
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“No fewer than 1,000 people died as a result of the “terrorism war” in Nigeria
in 2020, a report by Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research
has revealed. The report, tagged ‘Conflict Barometer 2020’, also noted that
Nigeria witnessed 11 conflicts, leading to 740 fatalities. According to the
report, the war between factions of terrorist organisations worsened insecurity
in Nigeria and neighboring countries. Part of the report read, “Although
Islamic State West Africa Province established strongholds particularly in
Nigeria’s Borno State, where it collected taxes and provided healthcare,
attacks were also frequently conducted in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. “Besides
ISWAP, governments in the Lake Chad Basin continued to fight Jama’atu Ahlis
Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad (JAS), also known as Boko Haram. In 2020, the war
accounted for over 1,000 fatalities. Moreover, as a result of the continued
violence involving both JAS and ISWAP, approximately 2.8 million people were
displaced. “Despite sustained international efforts, the wars continued to
challenge public securities in the region. “In its efforts to suppress both
insurgencies, the Nigerian government and allied forces continued to rely
heavily on airstrikes, mostly withdrawing ground troops from heavily contested
areas.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The National: Global Task Force Needed To Deal With Repatriation Of ISIS
Fighters
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“…In a separate report by the Counter Extremism Project think tank, titled
Female Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Challenges In Repatriation, Prosecution, And
Rehabilitation, nations are warned that a lack of action in dealing with female
fighters will result in difficulties in their rehabilitation. “Governments
which delay the repatriation of foreign fighters, their rehabilitation and
re-entry programmes may struggle to reverse the extremist beliefs and
disillusionment that prompted many of these foreign fighters to travel to
conflict zones in the first place,” the report's author Riza Kumar says.
“Another challenge governments will have to contend with would be reconciling
the risks of repatriating foreign fighters, and the concrete steps needed in
assuring safe rehabilitation and reintegration of these individuals.
“Understandably, female returnees present a unique challenge in the nexus of
policy and security. The potential dangers of a returnee who re-engages in
terrorist activities can be catastrophic, but those concerns do not exist in a
vacuum. “There are concrete steps that international governments can take to
address the individual risks associated with returnees. International security
is based on confronting new and unusual challenges to achieve a favourable
outcome, and the approach to repatriating and rehabilitating female returnees
can only reach such an outcome once the challenge is adequately taken on.”

 

Germany

 

Deutsche Welle: Germany: Police Seize Bomb-Making Supplies In Far-Right Raid
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“Police arrested four people and seized bomb-making supplies during raids
targeting suspected far-right extremists in the western German city of Cologne
on Thursday. Officers searched the homes of four men allegedly belonging to the
far-right extremist scene. Police said the men were seeking to construct an
explosive device. The suspects were 36 to 53 years old. Special forces and
explosives sniffer dogs took part in the raids. Police said they found the
basic supplies for building an explosive device, as well as firecrackers. State
criminal police are investigating. The raids took place in the Cologne
districts of Nippes, Holweide and Mülheim. Police also seized drugs, in
sufficient quantity to form the basis of initial charges against the suspects.
A police spokesperson told local paper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: “There was a
suspicion that someone was obtaining basic materials for the manufacture of
IEDs, unconventional explosives and incendiary devices.” German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz said on Wednesday that far-right extremism posed the greatest threat to
German democracy.”

  

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