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**NOTE: CEP’s Eye On Extremism will be suspended December 30-31 in observance of New Year's Day. It will resume Monday, January 3.**
Eye on Extremism
December 29, 2021
Reuters: Turkey Detains 16 Accused Of Links To Islamic State After Bookshop Clash
“Turkish police detained 16 people accused of links to Islamic State on Tuesday after protesters used sticks and stones against security forces trying to shut down an unlicensed religious bookshop, the governor's office said. Police had tried to close the shop in the southeastern city of Bingol overnight, the governor's office said, adding that the shop supported Islamic State activities in the country. Islamic State has conducted numerous attacks across Turkey, including on a nightclub in Istanbul on Jan. 1, 2017, in which 39 people were killed. “Teams of our police intervened ... while attacks using sticks and stones were carried out against our security forces,” the governor's office statement said. The suspects had been detained for assaulting a law enforcement officer, intentionally causing injury and damaging public property, it said. Footage from the operation showed dozens of people clashing with police using sticks, while gun shots were heard. Since a failed 2016 coup, Turkey has investigated and tried tens of thousands of people accused of militant links in a crackdown which rights groups say has been used as pretext to quash dissent. The government has said its actions are necessary given the gravity of the threats faced by Turkey.”
The National: Saudi Arabia: Lack Of UN Action On Houthis Encourages Regional Terrorism
“Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that the UN’s lack of strict action against Yemen’s Houthi rebels allows the group to continue its terrorist acts in the region. In recent weeks attacks against the kingdom by the rebels have increased. On Saturday an attack on the Saudi border town of Jizan killed two civilians and injured seven. “It is obvious that the absence of strict actions by the international community, and in particular the UN Security Council, towards the Houthi militias’ weapons supplier will allow these terrorist militias to continue their terrorist acts in the region,” the kingdom’s mission to the UN said. Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UN, Abdallah Al Mouallimi, sent a letter to the UNSC about his country’s concerns over “the continued terrorist attacks committed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias against Saudi Arabia’s civilians”. “It is crucial for the UNSC to shoulder its responsibility towards the Houthi militias, their weapons supplier and the resources which fund their terrorist acts, in order to stop their threats to international peace and security,” the ambassador's statement said. The kingdom is leading a military coalition, by the request of Yemen's internationally recognised government, against the Houthis after the rebels ousted authorities from Sanaa in 2014.”
United States
ABC News: 5 Dead In Denver 'Killing Spree' By Suspect With Extremist Views, Police Sources Say
“A shooter allegedly went on a “killing spree” across the Denver area Monday night, killing five and wounding two others, across at least four locations, officials said. The suspect also died following an exchange of gunfire with police, officials said. Prior to the shooting, federal law enforcement was aware that the suspect, Lyndon Mcleod, harbored extremist views and had a history of psychiatric episodes, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News. Law enforcement is now scouring the suspect's writings, both physical and online, and trying to determine what led up to the shooting spree, sources said. Police said they had investigated the suspect in 2020 and 2021 for previous incidents, but he was not arrested either time. All of the victims were known to Mcleod through personal or business relationships, police said at a press conference Tuesday evening. Police confirmed on Tuesday that a fifth shooting victim had died, but did not specify which person died of those who were injured. Police officers stand outside Sol Tribe tattoo shop on Broadway on Dec. 27, 2021 in Denver. The incident began at about 5 p.m. on Monday in downtown Denver, where three people were shot, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said. Two women were killed and a man was injured, he said.”
Associated Press: California Man Gets Second Life Term For Synagogue Attack
“A 22-year-old white supremacist was sentenced Tuesday to life in federal prison for killing a woman and injuring three others in a shooting at a Southern California synagogue in 2019, adding to the life term he received three months earlier in state court. John T. Earnest declined to speak in a courtroom full of victims, families and congregants. In state court, his attorney said he wanted to speak but a judge refused, saying he didn't want to give a platform for his hate-filled speech. Earnest's attorney, Ellis Johnston III, said his client acknowledged his actions were “inappropriate,” a statement that was greeted with skepticism by prosecutors. Peter Ko, a federal prosecutor, said Earnest's show of contrition came shortly after the shooting in a recorded phone call to someone else. U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia said the federal and state life sentences would run one after the other instead of concurrently, acknowledging it was symbolic but that it was meant to send a strong message. The judge denied the defense attorney's request to have Earnest stay in state prison. “Obviously this is as serious as it gets,” Battaglia said. Earnest was tied to restraints and looked straight ahead without expression during the two-hour hearing, which marked the end of legal proceedings against him.”
Syria
Kurdistan 24: Biden Signs Defense Bill: Funds Kurdish Forces Fighting ISIS
“US President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law the bill authorizing defense spending for the next fiscal year. The legislation, formally known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), contains significant funding for Kurdish forces fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The total amount authorized in the NDAA is $771 billion. Out of that sum, $260 million is allocated for the Peshmerga in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and $177 million for two groups in Syria. One of those groups is the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, and the other is the Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT, Revolutionary Commandoes), which operates in southeast Syria, at the al-Tanf garrison. Notable in the funding of the Peshmerga forces is the allocation of $5 million for a military drone (Puma Unmanned Aircraft System), which will mark a first for the Peshmerga. Notable in the funding for Syria is $440,000 for 1,000 gas masks. At ISIS's core is the former Iraqi regime—as the highly-regarded German news magazine, Der Spiegel, explained. The former Iraqi regime was known for its use of chemical weapons, including against the Kurds—most notoriously in the Anfal campaign of the late 1980s.”
Turkey
Associated Press: Turkey: 1 Hurt In Knife Attack On Pro-Kurdish Party Office
“Police on Tuesday detained a man who wounded one person during a knife attack on a branch of a pro-Kurdish party in Istanbul, Turkish media reports said. The assailant entered the People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, office in Istanbul’s Bahcelievler district and threatened to kill everyone inside the building before wounding one person, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported. It was the second attack on an HDP building this year. In June, a gunman stormed the HDP’s office in Izmir province, in western Turkey, killing a female employee. Recalling the attack on their building in Izmir, the HDP tweeted that Tuesday's assault wasn't “an isolated one.” “These attacks can't intimidate us,” the party said. “Our people are giving the strongest response by protecting their party and will continue to do so.” The HDP, the second-largest opposition party in Turkey’s parliament, is the subject of a widespread government crackdown, with party members being accused of supporting an outlawed Kurdish militant group. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called party members terrorists. Thousands of pro-Kurdish activists, along with lawmakers and the party’s former leaders, have been imprisoned.”
Afghanistan
Al Jazeera: Afghan Women Call For Rights, Protest Alleged Taliban Killings
“A crowd of women has marched through the Afghan capital calling for women’s rights to be respected and accusing Taliban authorities of covertly killing soldiers who served the former United States-backed government. About 30 women gathered near a mosque in the centre of Kabul on Tuesday and marched a few hundred metres chanting “justice, justice” before they were stopped by Taliban forces, an AFP correspondent reported. The Taliban also tried to prevent journalists from covering the march, organised against the “mysterious murders of young people, particularly the country’s former soldiers”, according to social media invitations for the march. Taliban fighters briefly detained a group of reporters and confiscated equipment from some photographers, deleting images from their cameras before returning them. Since the Taliban returned to power in August, it has effectively banned unsanctioned protests and frequently intervene to block demonstrations against its rule. The protest comes weeks after separate reports by the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said there were credible allegations of more than 100 extrajudicial killings by the Taliban since the takeover. “I want to tell the world, tell the Taliban to stop killing.”
Nigeria
“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, has claimed that its fighters killed 10 people including Nigerian soldiers and children during an attack on Buni Yadi community, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State. SaharaReporters had reported that the insurgents on Sunday engaged troops of the Nigerian Army in the community in a gun battle. Sources said the gunmen invaded the community around 5pm shooting sporadically as residents fled into the forest for safety. Buni Yadi came into the limelight in 2014 after Boko Haram insurgents killed 58 male students of the town’s Federal Government College. ISWAP in a notice seen by SaharaReporters on Monday said “10 people were killed including soldiers and children during the attack.” The terror group added that it razed many military operational vehicles. Since the death of JAS leader, Abubakar Shekau, ISWAP 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.”
Somalia
Financial Times: Somalia Conflict Escalates: ‘We Know Al-Shabaab Will Take Advantage’
“In the ruins of his devastated hospital, Ali Omar Tarabi despairs at the violence that has come to the city of Guriel, a once peaceful haven in Somalia. “The fighting, the war has arrived here. Look at this, look,” said the hospital chair, stepping on charred scalpels and forceps and taking care to avoid shattered glass as he points to the mangled beds and tables in what used to be an operating theatre. Almost a year since Washington withdrew US troops from the country, delayed elections have emboldened fighters, including Islamist militants al-Shabaab, and threaten to bring the country into even deeper chaos. The city of Guriel has been the site of some of this year’s deadliest fighting in a country that has been beset by decades of violence. Humanitarian and local officials estimate that since October 120 people have been killed in fighting between regional and federal forces and Ahlu Sunna Waljama’a, a paramilitary and political group, until recently a government ally. More than 100,000 people have fled the area. The biggest fear for the city’s residents is the approach of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab, which has long terrorised the country and wants to overthrow the government. Al-Shabaab fighters are just 70km from Guriel, say local and humanitarian officials, and have made gains in the semi-autonomous central state of Galmudug for the first time in a decade.”
Africa
The Washington Times: Congo Attacks Show Islamic State’s Expansion Across Africa
“The Islamic State’s foothold across Africa is expanding amid a recent spate of gruesome attacks and there are growing fears in Washington that the terror group, as well as other extremist outfits like it will use the continent as a staging ground for future jihadist strikes against the West. After years of ISIS inroads made across North Africa and in such nations as Mali and Nigeria, counterterrorism specialists are now closely watching the group’s southward movement into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a resource-rich country that’s also at the center of evolving strategic competition between the U.S. and China. While the Pentagon’s Africa Command closely tracks terror groups operating in the Congo, the bulk of U.S. and wider Western counterterrorism operations in Africa over the past decade have been focused to the north — most notably in Somalia, the headquarters of the al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab, and on the wider Sahel. The vast region, which stretches along the underbelly of the Sahara and encompasses parts of about 10 countries, has been an epicenter of extremism and home to numerous jihadi organizations since 9/11. But it’s clear some of the groups are now reaching deeper into Africa. A Christmas Day suicide bombing outside a restaurant in Beni, Congo, killed at least five people and wounded more than a dozen others.”
Southeast Asia
CBS News: “Absolutely Horrifying”: Two Aid Workers Confirmed Dead In Myanmar Massacre
“The humanitarian group Save the Children says it has confirmed that two of its staff were among at least 35 people killed in a Christmas Eve attack in eastern Myanmar that's being blamed on the country's military. The aid group says the two men were caught up in the attack in Kayah state as they were traveling back to their office after conducting humanitarian work in a nearby community. In a statement, Save the Children said their names were not being released for security reasons, but identified them as a 32-year-old with a young son who worked training teachers, and a 28-year-old with a 3-month-old daughter who had worked for the charity for six years. Photos of the aftermath of the massacre showed burned-out vehicles and charred remains of victims, including women and children, who who were reportedly shot by government troops as they were fleeing nearby combat. A witness described the events to The Associated Press but details could not be independently verified. In this photo provided by the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), smoke and flames billow from vehicles in Hpruso township, Kayah state, Myanmar, on Dec. 24, 2021.”
The Manila Times: 7 Members Of Terror Groups Surrender
“Seven members of communist terrorist groups abandoned their armed struggle and surrendered to government forces in Sultan Kudarat, the military announced on Tuesday. Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., commander of Western Mindanao Command, said four were members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters-Karialan Faction, two were members of Guerilla Front-73, and one was from the Daulah Islamiyah-Hassan Group. “Based on the report, surrendered personalities voluntarily submitted themselves to Lt. Col. Edwin Alburo, commanding officer of the 40th Infantry Battalion (40IB) at the unit's headquarters in Barangay Tual, President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat on Sunday, December 26,” Rosario said. The seven handed over two rocket propelled grenades, one Barrett, one Ingram (9mm), one round RPG heat cartridge, three improvised hand grenades, two detonating assemblies, one M16 rifle with plastic magazine and 20 rounds cartridge 5.56mm ball, one commercial handheld radio, one M79 rifle, one round 40mm high explosive and one cal. 20 pistol. According to Alburo, the surrender is a result of the collaborative efforts of the military, the local government unit and the local residents.”
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