Eye on Extremism

December 27, 2021  

 

Associated Press: Turkey Freezes Assets Of 770 People For Alleged Terror Links

 

“Turkey froze the assets of 770 Turkish nationals and a Chicago-based foundation, according to a decision published Friday in the country’s official gazette. The list of targets includes 454 people with alleged links to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States. The Turkish government accuses Gulen and his network of being behind a bloody coup attempt in 2016. Gulen has denied the allegation. Gulen is the honorary president of the Chicago foundation that had its assets in Turkey frozen. The Niagara Foundation’s parent organization, the Alliance for Shared Values, is a nonprofit of the Gulen movement, which Turkey designated as a terror group. The list published Friday shows 119 other people had assets frozen for links to the Islamic State group, Al-Qaeda, the al-Nusra Front and other alleged “terror groups that abuse religion.” Another 108 people were targeted for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK, which is designated a terror group by Turkey and the United States. Eighty-nine people with alleged links to leftist groups designated as terror organizations were also listed in the ruling. The decision was signed by Turkey’s interior, treasury and finance ministers.”

 

Reuters: Two-Day Mourning Period Declared After 41 Killed In Burkina Faso Ambush

 

“Authorities in Burkina Faso have declared a two-day period of mourning after suspected militants killed at least 41 members of a government-backed civilian militia in the country's desert north this week. A column of civilian fighters from the Homeland Defence Volunteers (VDP), a group the government funds and trains to contain Islamist insurgents, was ambushed on Thursday as it swept a remote area in the northern Loroum province, authorities said on Saturday. It was one of the heaviest single-day losses the civilian militia has experienced to date and occurred one month after an attack on a gendarmerie post killed 53 people - the worst strike on Burkinabe security forces in years. “In this painful circumstance and as a tribute to the valiant VDP and civilians who fell in defence of the homeland, the President of Burkina Faso decrees a national mourning period of forty-eight hours, starting Sunday,” government spokesman Alkassoum Maiga said in a statement. Authorities have faced repeated protests in recent months over their perceived failure to curb a four-year Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands across Africa's Sahel Region and forced more than a million people to flee their homes. Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have inflicted heavy casualties on the region's armies, killing soldiers in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali almost every week in scattered attacks.”

 

United States

 

NBC DFW: Texas Man Sentenced To 12 Years On Terrorism Charge At Resentencing

 

“A Texas man convicted of providing material support to the Islamic State group was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in federal prison after the government appealed his previous sentence, saying it was too lenient. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Eskridge in Houston sentenced Asher Abid Khan, 27, of Spring, to also serve 15 years of supervised release, prosecutors said. Khan pleaded guilty in 2017 to providing material support to the Islamic State group. U.S. District Judge Lynn H. Hughes later sentenced Khan to 18 months in prison, saying he showed potential for rehabilitation. The government twice appealed the 18-month sentence before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the judgment reversed and vacated and the matter reassigned, prosecutors said. Khan was living in Australia when he and a friend from Texas came up with a plan to travel to Turkey and then to Syria in 2014 to fight for the Islamic State, according to prosecutors. Khan told a recruiter that he wanted to join the Islamic State, prosecutors say. Khan and his friend met up in Turkey and Khan gave his friend money, knowing his plans, prosecutors said. Khan’s family, though, convinced him to come back to the U.S. Prosecutors say that once Khan was home, he got his friend in contact with the recruiter.”

 

Syria

 

Kurdistan 24: Kurdish-Led SDF Defuses ISIS Car Bomb Near Syria’s Hasakah

 

“US-backed, Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria announced on Thursday that they had safely deactivated explosives that had been attached to a vehicle outside the city of Hasakah on the previous day. “On the 22nd of this December, the special units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defused a car bomb belonging to ISIS mercenaries in the town of Dashisha, as terrorist cells were trying to deliver and detonate it in Al-Hasaka,” the SDF Media Center wrote in an online statement. “Our units managed to thwart many terrorist operations of ISIS mercenaries in Al-Hasakah, Abu Khashab and Al-Raqqa during the past days, after tracking of many terrorist cells.” it added. Despite the SDF and the US-led coalition declaring the defeat of the extremist group’s so-called caliphate on Mar. 23, 2019, ISIS sleeper cells continue to carry out regular attacks in areas liberated from militants, especially in the eastern Arab-majority province of Deir al-Zor. The SDF and US-led coalition regularly carry out operations against the militant group to prevent it from making a significant resurgence in the region. The SDF announced earlier in the week that shelling by Turkish-backed militias outside the northeastern city of Tal Tamir on Tuesday evening killed three civilians and wounded several others, including children.”

 

Iraq

 

Al Monitor: Iraq Continues To Kill, Capture IS Members As Effectiveness Questioned

 

“Iraqi security forces continued their operations against Islamic State (IS) cells and sources of funding in December with a number of captures and killings as the US “combat mission” against IS in the country drew to an end. The US combat mission is due to officially end Dec. 31. Military advisers will remain in Iraq on bases in Anbar, Erbil and Baghdad. Iraqi military intelligence reportedly captured a man near Ramadi in Iraq’s Anbar province who was allegedly responsible for collecting “zakat” from shepherds, according to a Dec. 21 tweet by the government-linked Iraqi Security Media Cell. Zakat is a religious obligation in Islam to donate a certain part of one's wealth to charitable causes. Few Muslim countries enforce zakat taxation, but IS established a specific administrative department, Diwan al-Zakat wa al-Sadaqat, for this purpose when it still controlled a significant amount of territory between Iraq and Syria. Iraq declared victory against IS in the country in December 2017, while IS lost its last territory across the border in Syria — where many Iraqi IS fighters fled after being pushed out of their home country — in early 2019. The last two cities to be retaken by Iraqi security forces from IS were Qaim and Rawa in Iraq’s western Anbar region along the border with Syria.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: Turkey Nabs 9 Daesh Suspects In Counterterrorism Raids

 

“Turkish police detained at least nine foreign nationals over their links to the Daesh terrorist group in Istanbul, security sources said Saturday. Anti-terror police squads launched an operation to nab the suspects, believed to be a part of groups planning attacks on behalf of Daesh, said the sources, who requested anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media. Police carried out simultaneous raids at 13 locations in five different districts of Istanbul. A large number of digital materials and organizational documents were also seized during the raids. Three of the suspects remain in police custody and six have been released on prosecutor's orders. Police squads have been carrying out similar operations ahead of New Year's Day, as the terrorist group had previously targeted people celebrating the holiday. At least 39 people, including a police officer, were killed when Daesh terrorist Masharipov, armed with an AK-47, opened fire on New Year's Eve revelers at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul's Ortaköy district in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2017. The fatalities included 27 foreigners, and 79 people were wounded. Turkey was one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terror group. The country has since been attacked by Daesh terrorists multiple times. The group has carried out at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed attacks, killing 315 people and injuring hundreds more.”

 

Afghanistan

 

NBC News: The Taliban Have Halted All Evacuee Flights Out Of Afghanistan For The Past Two Weeks

 

“The Taliban have halted all flights of Afghan evacuees for the past two weeks in a dispute about how the airport in Kabul is run and who is allowed on the evacuation flights, according to a congressional source, two refugee advocates and a source familiar with the matter. A State Department official involved in relocation efforts confirmed that flights have stopped. “We are hopeful that flights will resume shortly, though as usual, winter weather conditions and airport operations remain additional factors to be aware of.” At issue are U.S.-chartered Qatar Airways flights that had been running between Kabul and Doha. The Taliban began demanding several seats on the flights for Taliban fighters and sympathizers to leave the country so they can work in other countries and send desperately needed money back to Afghanistan, according to a congressional official and the source familiar with the matter. The country’s economy is in tatters, and millions of Afghans are short of food as temperatures drop. The Taliban’s argument is that they run the country and that it is their airspace and airport the Qataris are using, so they should get a certain number of seats on the flights. Before the flights stopped, the Taliban were using the seats to send migrant workers out of Afghanistan to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other destinations to find work, according to the congressional source and the source familiar with the matter.”

 

Associated Press: Taliban-Run Government Dissolves Afghan Election Commissions

 

“The Taliban dissolved Afghanistan’s two election commissions as well as the state ministries for peace and parliamentarian affairs, an official said Sunday. Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government, said the country’s Independent Election Commission and Electoral Complaint Commission have been dissolved. He called them “unnecessary institutes for the current situation in Afghanistan.” He said if there is a need for the commissions in the future, the Taliban government can revive them. The international community is waiting before extending formal recognition to Afghanistan’s new rulers. They are wary the Taliban could impose a similarly harsh regime as when they were in power 20 years ago — despite their assurances to the contrary. Both elections commissions were mandated to administer and supervise all types of elections in the country, including presidential, parliamentary and provincial council elections. Karimi said the Taliban also dissolved the Ministry for Peace and the Ministry of Parliamentarian Affairs. He said they were unnecessary ministries in the government’s current structure. The Taliban had previously shut down the former Women’s Affairs Ministry.”

 

Reuters: Islamic State Claims Responsibility For Explosion In Kabul

 

“Islamic State claims responsibility for an explosion that took place close to the gate of the passport office in the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday, the militant group said on Saturday in a statement posted on an affiliated Telegram account.”

 

Pakistan

 

Associated Press: Militants Gun Down Pakistani Soldier Near Afghan Border

 

“Militants targeted an army post in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border, killing a soldier in a firefight overnight, Pakistan’s military said. The attack took place in the Shewa area of the district of North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army said in a statement Saturday. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The military said that during an intense exchange of gunfire a soldier was killed. It said a search of the area was being carried out to find the militants. No additional details were released. North Waziristan served as a militant stronghold for decades. The military carried out a full-fledged offensive in the region after an army run school was attacked in December 2014 in the provincial capital of Peshawar. The attack killed more than 150 people, mostly schoolchildren.”

 

Saudi Arabia

 

Associated Press: Yemeni Rebel Attack On Southern Saudi Arabia Kills 2 People

 

“A Yemeni rebel attack on Saudi Arabia’s southern border town of Jizan killed two people and wounded seven more late Friday, Saudi state-run media reported. Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a projectile that killed a Saudi citizen and Yemeni resident in the southwestern Saudi province of Jizan, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Six of the wounded are Saudis and one is a Bangladeshi national, Saudi media said. Shrapnel also smashed into nearby cars and shops. The fatal cross-border attack marks an escalation in Yemen’s long-running civil war. Saudi-led military coalition airstrikes struck Sanaa earlier on Friday, hitting a military camp near the city center, Saudi media reported. Houthi media said the strikes had hit a populated neighborhood, damaging homes. On Saturday, Yemeni Brig. Gen. Yehia Sarie, a Houthi spokesman, said the rebels fired three ballistic missiles on Jizan, targeting what he described as “vital and sensitive” sites there. He provided no further details. Yemen’s war erupted in 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the country’s north. Months later, the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition intervened to oust the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government.”

 

Nigeria

 

Associated Press: Explosions Kill Several In Northeast Nigeria, Witnesses Say

 

“Explosions killed several people Thursday in northeastern Nigeria ahead of a visit by President Muhammadu Buhari to the restive region, witnesses said. The attacks took place in Maiduguri, the city where Islamic militants first launched an insurgency against the government more than a decade ago. Nigerian authorities did not release a casualty toll. Witnesses told The Associated Press that several civilians had died, including a teenage girl. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell on the Islamic State West Africa Province, also known as ISWAP. Shortly after the explosions rattled the city, Buhari arrived to meet with the nation’s security heads and government officials in Borno. Although Nigerian troops in the northeast have scored some gains against the rebels since the death of ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi earlier this year, the group continues to infiltrate local communities and target security forces in ambushes. In a statement Tuesday, the group claimed killing at least 20 members of a pro-Nigerian army militia in the town of Kilangar in Borno state.”

 

Africa

 

Associated Press: Suicide Bomber Attacks Bar In Eastern Congo, Killing 6 

 

“A suicide bomber attacked a restaurant and bar Saturday as patrons gathered on Christmas Day, killing at least six others in an eastern Congolese town where Islamic extremists are known to be active. Heavy gunfire rang out shortly after the bomb went off, with panicked crowds fleeing the town’s center. Saturday’s attack marked the first known time that a suicide bomber has killed victims in eastern Congo, where an Islamic State group affiliate earlier this year took responsibility for a suicide bombing near another bar in Beni who had caused no other casualties. The latest violence only deepens fear that religious extremism has taken hold in a region already plagued for years by rebels. Gen. Sylvain Ekenge, spokesperson for the governor of North Kivu, said that security guards had blocked the bomber from entering the crowded bar and so the person instead detonated the explosives at the entrance. “We call on people to remain vigilant and to avoid crowded areas during the holiday season,” he said in a statement. “In the city and territory of Beni, it is difficult, in these times to know who is who.” Rachel Magali had been at the restaurant-bar for about three hours with her sister-in-law and several others when she heard a loud noise outside.”

 

Voice Of America: Ugandan Authorities Charge 15 For Kampala Bombings

 

“Uganda's director of public prosecution has charged 15 suspects with terrorism in connection with November bombings claimed by the Islamic State terror group. The 15 suspects appeared Wednesday before a magistrates court where the charges were read to them. The charges are in connection with bombings and other terror activities in the areas of Mpigi, Wakiso and Kampala in which four people were killed. The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks but authorities believe they were carried out by a Ugandan rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces. Jacquelyn Okui is the spokesperson for Uganda’s director of public prosecution. “Director of public prosecution has charged 15 suspects with three counts of terrorism, two counts of aiding and abetting terrorism and one count of belonging to a terrorist organization,” Okui said. The suspects, all Ugandan nationals, include five women. Okui says the matter is still being investigated and upon completion, the police will resubmit the case file to the DPP’s office for the purpose of putting the suspects on trial. During raids to dismantle the ADF cells in the East African country following the November suicide bombings, Uganda Police said they killed five suspected terrorists and arrested over 20 suspected ADF members.”

 

United Kingdom

 

BBC News: Convicted Terrorist Given Five-Month Sentence For Prison Attack

 

“A convicted terrorist who punched a prison officer has been sentenced to an extra five months behind bars. Abdullah Ahmed Jama Farah was being returned to his cell at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire when he assaulted the officer on 8 April. Worcester Crown Court heard Jama Farah punched him in the neck and face. The 26-year-old, from Manchester, is currently serving a seven-year sentence after being found guilty of preparing for terrorist acts. He was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2016 after creating a communications hub to help extremists linked to the so-called Islamic State in Syria. The court heard Jama Farah was being returned to the segregation unit when he attacked the officer. Prosecutor Alison Scott-Jones told the court: “The victim was dazed and hurt and describes himself as struggling to breathe.” The injured officer was forced to leave the scene of the attack crawling on his hands and knees, suffered bruising, swelling to his throat, and could not work for two weeks. He also suffered from daily headaches and had problems sleeping. Defence barrister Zayd Ahmed described Jama Farah, who appeared via video link on his 26th birthday, was a “model prisoner” who had recently been engaging with probation and was extremely remorseful about what had happened.”

 

The Sun: World’s 20 Most Dangerous Extremists Revealed — Including UK-Based Anjem Choudary And Tommy Robinson

 

“The world’s 20 most dangerous extremists have been revealed — including UK-based Anjem Choudary and Tommy Robinson. The list is compiled by experts who warn our nation has never been at such a heightened risk of a terror attack. Chiefs of rival terror organisations such as the Taliban and IS are also in the top 20. The Counter Extremism Project warns the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is “an event which threatens to usher in a new era of terror”. The think tank added: “Islamist extremists now have a new, settled safe haven.” Number one on its list is Hezbollah’s general secretary Hassan Nasrallah. The experts say the militant group will take “significant inspiration” from the Taliban’s power grab and could mount similar assaults in its regions. The Taliban makes its first appearance on the list at No4 via its “supreme leader” Haibatullah Akhundzada. Hate preacher Choudary, who groomed the killers of soldier Lee Rigby, is at ten and far-right racist Robinson completes the list at 20. Counter Extremism Project adviser Sir Ivor Roberts said: “The terrorist risk in Britain is greater now than at any time since IS was at its peak. “The main concern is not another 9/11 but the continuation of lone wolf acts or in very small groups.”

 

Australia

 

The Sydney Morning Herald: Sutherland Man Arrested On Christmas Eve Over Alleged Terror Attack Plans

 

“Counter-terror police say that alleged aspiring jihadist Daniel Greenfield was allegedly well into planning a terror attack when they arrested him in Sutherland on Christmas Eve. The 34-year-old had planned to attack police officers, government officials and other Muslims that he deemed insufficiently devout, Detective Superintendent Michael Sheehy told reporters on Friday morning. “This individual is [allegedly] posting a significant amount of material about bombings and manufacturing explosives,” Det Supt Sheehy said. “We will suggest he was planning to commit a terrorist attack that would be an act of violence against law enforcement. “We are at the point where through the potential rapid escalation we needed to act now to ensure the safety of the community.” Police raided Mr Greenfield’s home on the Kingsway on Friday, arresting him as he left his house early in the morning. Police sources not authorised to speak on the record say that investigators from NSW’s Joint Counter Terrorism Team have seized USBs, SD cards and knives in his bedroom from the address. Mr Greenfield was charged with knowingly collecting a document connected with terrorism and knowingly being a member of the Islamic State.”

 

Europe

 

Radio Free Europe: Minsk Labels RFE/RL's Belarus Service As 'Extremist'

 

“Belarus's Interior Ministry has added RFE/RL's Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, to its registry of extremist organizations, in a continued clampdown on independent media and civil society sparked by an eruption of protests against authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko’s claim he won a presidential election last year that the opposition says was rigged. According to the statement issued by the ministry on December 23, “a group of citizens associated via Radio Svaboda's internet resources were determined to be an extremist group.” The move means that Belarusians who subscribe to Radio Svaboda online could face up to six years in prison. The move comes almost three weeks after a court in Minsk designated Radio Svaboda's official Telegram channel and some of the broadcaster's social media accounts as extremist. Authorities in Belarus have declared hundreds of Telegram channels, blogs and chatrooms as “extremist” since the country was engulfed by protests since the August 2020 presidential election, which handed Lukashenko a sixth consecutive term. In response, the government has cracked down hard on the pro-democracy movement, arresting thousands of people and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Yahoo News: Bangladeshi Construction Worker Charged With Terrorism Financing

 

“A 27-year-old Bangladeshi construction worker was on Thursday (23 December) charged at the State Courts with terrorism financing — for providing $891 to Syria-based organisations over 15 occasions via online platforms. Ahmed Faysal started working in Singapore in early 2017 and became radicalised the next year, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a press release. He was attracted to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate in Syria, the ministry said. “In mid-2019, Ahmed Faysal shifted his allegiance to Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), another militant group fighting to establish an Islamic caliphate in Syria,” said MHA. Since mid-2018, the militant group has been designated as a terrorist entity under the United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to the prevention and suppression of terrorism and terrorist financing. The case will be mentioned again next year. The maximum punishment for terrorism financing is a jail term of up to 10 years along with a fine of up to $500,000. In its statement, MHA said that if found guilty, Ahmed Faysal, who is being detained under the Internal Security Act, will serve his prison sentence separately from other inmates to prevent him from spreading his radical ideas to them.”

 

The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

Click here to unsubscribe.