Eye on Extremism
November 15, 2019
Voice
Of America: US Vows To Stay In The Lead Vs. Islamic
State
“The United States is promising not to abandon the fight to
eradicate the Islamic State terror group, while pushing allies to take
more responsibility for foreign fighters and for rebuilding Iraq and
Syria. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the pledge Thursday at the
start of a meeting of the Defeat IS coalition, rejecting criticism
that leadership has been lacking since the U.S. first began
withdrawing forces from northeastern Syria. “You all know we must keep
taking the fight to ISIS. So do we,” Pompeo told ministers from more
than 35 countries and organizations. “We took out [IS leader Abu Bakr
al-]Baghdadi and his would-be successor,” Pompeo added of raids last
month that wiped out the terror group's top two officials. “Ask each
of them whether there's a deficit in American leadership.” The defiant
tone came with just 31 of the Defeat IS coalition's members in
attendance, and U.S. and Western intelligence and defense officials
warning the threat from IS, also known as ISIS or Daesh, is rising.
U.S.-backed forces in Syria liberated the last of IS-held territory
this past March, putting an end to the terror group's self-declared
caliphate.”
Business
Insider: A Federal Judge Ruled That New Jersey-Born, ISIS-Bride Hoda
Muthana Is Not A US Citizen
“A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Hoda Muthana, a 25-year-old
woman born in New Jersey who joined ISIS in 2014, is not a US citizen.
Judge Reggie B. Walton of the Federal District Court for the District
of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit brought forward by Muthana's family in
the hopes of retrieving her and her 2-year-old son from a refugee camp
in Syria. On Thursday, Walton said there was sufficient evidence
indicating that Muthana was born while her father held diplomatic
status in the US. Muthana has faced criticism for her decision to
travel to Syria and for promoting ISIS propaganda during her time with
the group. According to the Counter Extremism Project, Muthana posted
photos on Twitter in 2014 announcing an intention to burn her US
passport and called for violent attacks in the US.”
New
York Post: ISIS Urges Lone Wolves To Pose As Journalists To
Assassinate World Leaders
“ISIS has released a guide to assassinate world leaders, urging
lone wolves to pose as journalists so they can carry bombs and unleash
terror attacks on politicians, according to a report. The pro-ISIS
Quraysh Media released the chilling how-to guide titled “Ways To
Assassinate Leaders,” which provides three ways for would-be jihadists
to execute “leaders, officials and military commanders,” according to
the Daily Mail. “The mujahid brother, dressed up in the journalist’s
clothes, may participate in news conferences, forums and meetings
which may enable him to target key enemy figures,” according to the
guide cited by the Middle East Research Institute. “He may also use
the camera as an explosive device or to hide a weapon inside it,” it
adds. Another tactic urges the use of sniper rifles to attack VIP
convoys from high vantage points. “A lone wolf may disrupt the convoys
of commanders or their places of assembly by attacking them using
machine guns or Molotov bombs,” the poster says. “They may also carry
out such operations using blade weapons or carry out this operation
from high places.” And a third strategy involves scoping out a
potential area to attack and monitor a convoy’s route to expose
security flaws that also would allow the attacker to consider a
“withdrawal plan.”
Fox
News: Missouri Man From Bosnia Who Aided ISIS Gets 8-Year Prison Term,
Faces Deportation
“A Missouri man who came to the U.S. from Bosnia was sentenced
Thursday to eight years in prison for supporting terrorists, including
an ISIS leader in Syria. Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 45, of St. Louis County,
pleaded guilty last spring to backing Bosnian-American Abdullah Ramo
Pazara, who left Missouri for Syria in 2013 and died fighting for
ISIS, authorities said. Hodzic sent cash and military equipment to
several Middle Eastern countries and Pazara between 2013 and 2015 that
furthered ISIS’s efforts, prosecutors said. His attorney asked for a
lighter sentence, saying Hodzic mostly sent Pazara supplies like socks
and that he loved the United States, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
reported. Three of Hodzic’s co-defendants have already been sentenced.
His wife and another defendant who pleaded not guilty await
sentencing. Hodzic will be deported after his prison term, authorities
said.”
The
Washington Post: Trump Was Right To Abandon The Taliban Peace Deal.
Here’s What A Good One Would Look Like.
“Two months after President Trump declared U.S.-Taliban peace talks
“dead,” diplomacy with the Afghan insurgents is reviving. With the
administration already having negotiated a framework agreement with
the Taliban, the key question now facing Washington is whether simply
to dust off the settlement that was shelved in September or seek
substantial revisions. The Taliban’s position is clear: It maintains
that the text from earlier this year “contains answers to all issues”
and “only needs signing and implementation.” Yet the Taliban’s
enthusiasm for the deal underscores why the White House should
reconsider its terms. The predicate for any acceptable peace agreement
with the Taliban ought to be their total, unequivocal break with
international terrorism. It was, after all, two decades ago, when the
Taliban was in power in Afghanistan, that its sheltering of al-Qaeda
made possible the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and it was the Taliban’s
subsequent refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden that forced the United
States to invade. The experience of recent coalition military
operations in Afghanistan, moreover, underscores that al-Qaeda’s links
to the Taliban remain strong. Under the deal Trump set aside in
September, the Taliban appeared willing to promise that Afghan
territory under their control would never again be used to launch
terrorist attacks against the outside world.”
Vice
Views: Neo-Nazi Terror Groups Are Using iFunny To
Recruit
“iFunny is an obvious target for extremist groups because
modern-day propaganda comes in meme form, and websites with young
audiences are ripe for grooming, said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a research
analyst at the Counter Extremism Project. “iFunny caters to a young
and online demographic, which correlates to many white supremacist
accelerationist groups,” said Fisher-Birch. “There’s also a lot of
content on the site involving ironic displays of white supremacism,
which helps create a space where some users might be susceptible to
individuals pushing a white supremacist accelerationist agenda.”
United States
CNN:
Trump Hikes Price Tag For US Forces In Korea Almost 400% As Seoul
Questions Alliance
“Secretary of Defense Mark Esper landed in South Korea on Thursday
to navigate renewed threats from an "enraged" North Korea and newly
heightened strain in the alliance with Seoul that congressional aides,
lawmakers and Korea experts say has been caused by President Donald
Trump. Trump is demanding that South Korea pay roughly 400% more in
2020 to cover the cost of keeping US troops on the peninsula, a
congressional aide and an administration official confirmed to CNN.
The price hike has frustrated Pentagon officials and deeply concerned
Republican and Democratic lawmakers, according to military officials
and congressional aides. It has angered and unnerved Seoul, where
leaders are questioning US commitment to their alliance and wondering
whether Trump will pull US forces if they don't pay up. "Nothing says
I love you like a shakedown," said Vipin Narang, an associate
professor at MIT who follows the Korean peninsula, summarizing South
Korean uncertainty about the US.”
ABC
News: GOP Senators Complain Erdogan Played Video He Claimed Showed
Kurds As Terrorists
“During a meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulled out an iPad to show a group of
five Republican senators and President Trump an anti-Kurd video,
according to several of the senators who complained about Erdogan's
tactic on Thursday. The video, which was first reported by Axios,
depicted members of the U.S.-backed People’s Protection Units and the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which the State Department has designated as
a terrorist group. “I had never been in a foreign policy meeting where
a head of state pulls out an iPad and has a video that was clearly
professionally produced and was focused on the security and terror
challenges they face,” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told ABC News on
Thursday. “Turkey faces real challenges from terrorism and they’re
right to be focused on that,” Cruz said. “What is wrong is to use that
terrorism as an excuse to go after the Kurds more broadly.”
CBS
DFW: Suspected Neo-Nazi Member Of ‘AtomWaffen Division’ Terrorist
Group Charged With Gun Crime
“A suspected neo-Nazi was charged with a gun crime following an
investigation by the FBI. Aiden Bruce-Umbaugh, 23, was charged with
possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance
after he was arrested in Post, Texas, dressed in tactical gear and in
possession of multiple firearms. A federal grand jury indicted
Bruce-Umbaugh Wednesday. According to a criminal complaint filed a
week prior, local law enforcement executed a traffic stop for a blue
Ford Focus on Nov. 4. The vehicle was driven by Kaleb Cole;
Bruce-Umbaugh was seated in the front passenger seat. Inside the
vehicle, law enforcement allegedly discovered an AR-15 rifle, two
AK-47 rifles, a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol, at least 1,500 rounds of
ammunition, a small canister of marijuana, and approximately two grams
of THC oil. Bruce-Umbaugh – who “avoided eye contact and limited
conversation” with law enforcement and denied having anything illegal
inside the vehicle during the traffic stop– later admitted that the
firearms, marijuana, and THC belonged to him, telling investigators he
smoked marijuana on a daily basis, according to the complaint.
“Federal prosecutors are committed to enforcing our nation’s gun laws
to keep communities safe,” said U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox. “As a drug
user, this defendant should never have been allowed to possess
firearms.”
Star
Tribune: Charlottesville Suit Seeks To Link Online Talk To
Violence
“The white nationalist rally that took a deadly turn in
Charlottesville, Virginia, during the summer of 2017 shocked Americans
with its front-row view of hatred on the rise. But weeks before the
violence, organizers were making preparations for the gathering in a
corner of the internet. Using a private server on a platform designed
for online gaming, supporters of the rally discussed everything from
restroom access to what to wear and what weapons they could legally
bring (guns, knives, pepper spray) to the August rally. Those online
chats are now at the heart of a lawsuit that accuses more than two
dozen individuals and entities, including white supremacists, of
engaging in a violent conspiracy to violate the rights of the
counterdemonstrators who gathered in Charlottesville to denounce
racism and anti-Semitism.”
Voice
Of America: Parents Of US Reporter Missing For 7 Years In Syria Still
Await His Return
“The parents of an American journalist who has been missing in
Syria for the past seven years told VOA in an interview that they are
convinced he is still alive and that the U.S. government should do
what it can to reveal his whereabouts and ensure his safe return home.
The 38-year-old journalist, Austin Tice, went to Syria in May 2012 to
cover the war as it was entering its second year. He was arrested
three months later in August at a checkpoint in Darayya suburb, south
of the capital Damascus, and has been missing since. “In the event
that Austin sees this interview, [we want him to know] that his mother
and father love him very much and his siblings can’t wait to see him
again,” Tice’s father, Marc Tice, told VOA. “We know he is strong and
we know he will hang in there, and we can’t wait to hold him in our
arms.” Marc Tice said he and his wife, Debra Tice, believe their son
is apprehended in Syria, most likely in areas currently under the
Syrian government control. The couple have been trying relentlessly
for years to secure the release of their son, albeit with no
success.”
Syria
CBS
News: Russia Establishes New Foothold In Syria Amid Spike In
Violence
“President Trump on Wednesday said the ceasefire between Turkey and
Kurdish forces seems to be holding. But based on what CBS News crews
have seen and heard in northeast Syria, the situation is anything but
secure. It was an unexpected sight to see a pair of Russian attack
helicopters in the region, followed moments later by a U.S. military
convoy, hauling supplies into Syria. Russia confirmed Thursday it's
setting up a new base in the northern city of Qamishli, right under
the noses of U.S. forces. Yet for all the security forces now jostling
for control, they've been unable to ensure security for the local
population. Two teenage girls were among five young people killed when
back-to-back explosions tore through Qamishli this week. When the
Turkish offensive forced Kurdish troops to pull back, it left the
region vulnerable to attacks.”
Stars
And Stripes: Syria’s Assad Says ‘Resistance’ Will Force US Troops
Out
“Syrian President Bashar Assad said in remarks broadcast Friday
that the American presence in Syria will lead to armed “resistance”
that will eventually force the U.S. troops to leave his country. Assad
spoke in an interview with Russia24 TV and Rossiya Segodnya news
agency saying Americans should remember the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan and that “Syria will not be an exception.” U.S. officials
said this week that Washington will leave about 600 troops in Syria to
fight the Islamic State group. That followed President Donald Trump’s
decision last month to withdraw the bulk of roughly 1,000 American
troops from Syria, drawing bipartisan condemnation. Earlier this
month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trump that he
intended to carry out an operation to clear the Turkey-Syria border of
Syrian Kurdish fighters who fought side-by-side with U.S. troops in
beating back IS fighters in northeast Syria. Ankara considers the
Syrian Kurdish fighters terrorists linked to a Kurdish insurgency
within Turkey. After Turkey began an invasion on Oct. 9, capturing
dozens of Syrian towns and villages and displacing tens of thousands
of people, Kurdish fighters then turned to the Syrian government for
protection.”
The
New York Times: U.N. Query On Syria Hospital Bombings May Be
Undermined By Russia Pressure, Limited Scope
“The aerial bombings of hospitals in rebel areas of Syria have long
stood out as possible war crimes, so brazen that the leader of the
United Nations ordered a special inquiry three months ago, raising
hope of some accountability. But with evidence accumulating that the
Syrian government’s Russian allies are responsible for some of those
bombings, the opposite appears to be happening. The scope of the
inquiry has so far been limited to just seven sites among the many
targeted, according to an internal United Nations document seen by The
New York Times. At the same time, diplomats say Russia has been
pressing the global organization’s leader, Secretary General António
Guterres, not to release the conclusions of even this narrow
inquiry.”
The
New York Times: Experts Divided On Authenticity Of Islamic State
Receipts
“Questions have been raised about documents that seemed to indicate
that the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was able
to hide out in a hostile area of northwestern Syria because ISIS paid
members of a rival jihadist group. An independent Syria researcher,
Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, said he believed that the documents, which
were central to an article published in The New York Times on Oct. 30,
had been forged. The documents were provided to The Times by Asaad
Almohammad, a retired American intelligence operative who is now a
senior research fellow at the George Washington University Program on
Extremism. They purport to be receipts for payments made by the
security branch of the Islamic State to members of Hurras al Din, a
Syrian jihadist group known to be an enemy of ISIS. The receipts
showed that the payments were for services like security and
logistical expenses. After The Times published its article, Mr.
Almohammad published a report that also cited the receipts. He said he
stood by their authenticity. Mr. al-Tamimi, who had been asked by The
Times to review four of the receipts, was cited in the article as
vouching for their authenticity. He has since reviewed all eight
receipts and now says he believes they are forgeries.”
Washington
Examiner: 'Recalibrating' The Global Fight Against
ISIS
“The battle against the Islamic State is far from over, as
evidenced by this morning’s meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat
ISIS at the State Department. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo leads the
lineup of speakers and will address the D-ISIS small group ministerial
at 10 a.m. There was concern last month that the coalition of 81
countries might be crumbling in the wake of President Trump's orders
withdrawing all U.S forces from northern Syria. Now that the Pentagon
has announced that 500 to 600 will remain, though, the conference will
focus on next steps. “We are very happy with the decision that the
president took to continue our D-ISIS military mission on the ground
in northeast Syria, and the members of the coalition are universally
supportive of that decision,” a senior State Department told reporters
this week. “What we’re going to be doing is essentially
recalibrating.” The official outlined the plan. “We’re assembling some
35-plus member-states and organizations, the key ones who are involved
in operations in Syria and Iraq or otherwise supporting the effort
through funding and civilian operations, to meet with us and to go
over developments over the past month,” the official said.”
Reuters: Coalition
Fighting Islamic State Had 'Difference Of Opinion' On Repatriation Of
Detainees
“Members of a coalition fighting Islamic State had a “difference of
opinion” at a meeting in Washington on Thursday on whether jihadi
detainees should be repatriated, the U.S. Special Representative for
Syria Jim Jeffrey said. “There was some difference of opinion on
whether they should be repatriated or whether that should be something
that countries are still going to look at and think about in more
detail, but nonetheless, that is acknowledged as a significant
problem,” Jeffrey told a news conference. U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo had urged members of the coalition ahead of the meeting to take
Islamic State detainees back to their countries of origin.”
Iran
Fox
News: Iran's Supreme Leader Pardons Thousands Of
Prisoners
“Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pardoned more
than 3,500 prisoners, according to media reports. The report by
judiciary website Mizanonline.com said the pardoned included 32
prisoners being held on "security" charges and who were mainly
university students and journalists. Prisoners convicted of armed
opposition against the Islamic Republic were not pardoned. The
announcement came following the Islamic holiday marking the Prophet
Muhammad’s birthday. The pardons were requested by Ayatollah Ebrahim
Raisi, the head of the Iranian judiciary and an influential
cleric.”
Turkey
CNN:
Turkey Begins Deporting Suspected ISIS Fighters To US, UK,
Germany
“Turkey has begun the process of returning alleged foreign ISIS
fighters to their home countries, starting with an American, a Briton
and seven Germans. Turkey's Interior Ministry said an American who is
suspected of being an ISIS fighter was being deported the US, a
British suspect to London and seven Germans to Berlin. The American
was initially sent to Greece on Monday, upon his request, according to
the Ministry. But Greece refused to accept him, and he was left
stranded for several days in a “buffer zone” between the countries,
the ministry said. “Upon the commitment of the USA to issue a travel
document, necessary procedures have been initiated to send the foreign
terrorist fighter to the USA,” the ministry said. This comes after
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with US President Donald
Trump at the White House on Wednesday, where they discussed the fight
against ISIS, among other things. In their joint press conference,
Erdogan suggested that Turkey had thousands of ISIS-affiliated
individuals in its custody and was in the process of sending them back
to “their countries of origin.” On Thursday evening, counter-terror
police arrested a British man on suspicion of “Syria-related” terror
offenses at London's Heathrow Airport after he arrived in the UK from
Turkey, the Metropolitan Police said Thursday in a statement.”
The
Washington Post: Turkey Detains 4 Elected Mayors On Terror
Charges
“Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have detained four
mayors over their suspected links to Kurdish rebels, as part of an
ongoing crackdown on the country’s pro-Kurdish party. Anadolu Agency
said the mayors of the towns of Savur, Derik and Mazidagi in Mardin
province and the town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province were detained
along with some 20 municipality officials on Friday. The mayors,
members of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, were
elected into office in March. The government accuses the party of
links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. Some 20 HDP
mayors have been removed from office and replaced with government
appointees, and 14 of them have been jailed. Seven former HDP
lawmakers, including former chairman Selahattin Demirtas, are also in
prison.”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Post: A Birthday, A Walk To School And A Blast That Tore An
Afghan Family Apart
“In Abdul Saboor Samadi’s three-story house, Wednesday morning
started just like any other. He woke his two oldest children, Dunya,
10, and Hadis, 7, then ushered them out the door for their usual five
minute walk to school, picking up their friend Mustafa and their
cousin, Sana, along the way. When they reached the main road, Samadi
recalled later, he grabbed their hands as he always did, to escort
them across the busy throughway where buses and cars often speed on
their way past the nearby airport and toward central Kabul. Then he
felt a boom. This is what Samadi said he will always remember about
what happened next: the apple he had handed his daughter moments
before falling from her hand. The way he reached for his son just in
time to feel the boy’s final deep breath. How he saw his daughter’s
lifeless body lying a few feet away, Mustafa dead and Sana severely
wounded beside her. “Anytime I remember, anytime I speak about it, my
heart aches,” Samadi, a shopkeeper, said Thursday, surrounded by
friends and family visiting for a memorial service. The suicide blast
that killed the three children during rush hour Wednesday morning
targeted an armored vehicle belonging to GardaWorld, an international
security company, Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the Interior
Ministry, confirmed.”
Xinhua:
4 District Police Officers Killed In N. Afghanistan
“Four police officers, including a district police chief, were
killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province
on Friday, a local official said. “Afzal Hakimi, police chief of
Warsaj district of Takhar province, and three of his colleagues were
martyred during clashes with Taliban in Jalga district of neighboring
Baghlan province early Friday morning,” Takhar provincial government
spokesman, Jawad Hijiri, told Xinhua. The deceased police chief was
travelling together with three policemen from his hometown in Jalga to
Warsaj district police station after vacation but the militants
ambushed his vehicle in Kotal-e-Palfi locality of Jalga, the official
noted. The Afghan security forces' casualties have risen recently as
they struggle against a surge in attacks by Taliban militant group and
other anti-government fighters. Baghlan province, as well as
neighboring Takhar province, has been the scene of heavy clashes over
the past couple of months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the
government forces in the once relatively peaceful region.”
Pakistan
The
New York Times: Pakistani Officials: 2 Islamic State Members
Arrested
“Pakistani security officials say they have arrested two suspected
members of the Islamic State group in a raid on their hideout in the
eastern Punjab province. In Thursday’s statement, the province’s
counterterrorism forces said it had arrested the men in Bahawalnagar
city. It said security officials also seized bomb-making material
during the raid. Pakistan’s counterterrorism forces have announced the
arrest of accused IS members before, although the government says the
group has no organized presence in the country. IS militants are
active in neighboring Afghanistan, where they regularly stage attacks
against civilian and military targets.”
Saudi Arabia
Reuters:
Saudi Arabia Discussing Yemen Truce In Informal Talks With Houthis:
Sources
“The talks were launched in Jordan in late September, three of the
sources said, with Riyadh taking sole responsibility for military
efforts by the Arab alliance fighting in Yemen after the exit of its
main partner, the United Arab Emirates. The discussions began after
the Houthis offered to halt cross-border missile and drone attacks on
Saudi cities if the Saudi-led coalition ended air strikes on Yemen,
they said. A fourth source said “discussions on finalizing the
security pact are moving very quickly now through a number of
channels” but that Riyadh still had concerns about its border
security. “We have had an open channel with the Houthis since 2016. We
are continuing these communications to support peace in Yemen,” a
Saudi official said. A Houthi official, who declined to be named,
confirmed the group was discussing a broad ceasefire with Riyadh but
cautioned that the group’s patience was “wearing thin”.”
Lebanon
Reuters:
Lebanon's Safadi Agrees To Be Next PM Amid Economic Crisis:
Bassil
“Mohammad Safadi, a former finance minister, has agreed to be
Lebanon’s prime minister if he wins the support of leading parties,
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Friday. The consensus on the
wealthy 75-year-old, who has had extensive business ties to Saudi
Arabia, suggests progress towards forming a new government at a time
of acute economic crisis and street protests that brought down his
predecessor. Bassil told broadcaster MTV the process to name Safadi as
prime minister should begin on Monday and a new government was likely
to be formed quickly as all the main parties agreed on the need to
move swiftly. Saad al-Hariri quit as prime minister on Oct. 29 in the
face of the protests against ruling politicians who are blamed for
rampant state corruption and steering Lebanon into its worst economic
crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. “I confirm that we have been in
contact with minister Safadi and he has agreed to take on the position
of prime minister if his name gets agreement with the main political
forces in government,” said Bassil. Political sources said the
consensus on Safadi emerged in a meeting late on Thursday between
Hariri, a Sunni politician aligned with Western and Gulf states, and
representatives of the Iran-backed Shi’ite group Hezbollah and its
Shi’ite ally Amal.”
Middle East
PJ
Media: Muslim Brotherhood Subversion Vs. Jihadist
Rage
“What do Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Osama bin Laden and Ayman
al-Zawahiri—that is, the late leader of ISIS, and the late and current
leaders of al-Qaeda—have in common? That they’re among the world’s
most notorious Islamic terrorists? Yes, but there’s something else,
something more subtle, that binds them: they all began their careers
as members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest and most widespread
political Islamic organization in the world. In a 2014 video
interview, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi—a spiritual leader of the
Brotherhood whose Al Jazeera program on shari‘a is watched by tens of
millions of Muslims—asserted that “this youth [al-Baghdadi] was from
the start among the top ranks of the Brotherhood, but he was inclined
to [positions of] leadership and so forth… Then, after he spent years
in prison [for Brotherhood activities] he came out and joined with
them [the nascent Islamic State],” eventually becoming first “caliph.”
(I first discussed this Qaradawi video soon after it appeared in 2014;
predictably, YouTube has since taken it down, though Arabic websites
still have it.)”
The
Times Of Israel: Families Of Israeli Terror Victims Suing Hamas For
Half A Billion Shekels
“The families of five terror victims will file a lawsuit against
Gaza’s Hamas rulers and three money changers with US assets who
allegedly helped fund attacks against Israelis, demanding compensation
totaling half a billion shekels ($144 million), a report said Friday.
The inclusion of the Gaza-based money changers in the lawsuit — set to
be filed Sunday at the Jerusalem District Court — is a precedent, the
Yedioth Ahronoth daily said. The trio — named as Mohammed Alai, Fawaz
Nasser and Kamel Awwad — are accused of working for Hamas and
funneling money to it from Iran via a holdings company called Beit
al-Mal. While normally, the chances of compensation actually being
paid in similar cases is small, this case could be different since the
money changers have bank accounts and other assets in the United
States, which have been frozen by authorities under sanctions
announced by the Treasury Department. A ruling in favor of the
plaintiffs could thus be at least partially enforced due to bilateral
agreements between Jerusalem and Washington.”
Egypt
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Threatens Egypt With Sanctions Over Russian
Arms Deal
“The U.S. has warned Egypt of possible sanctions over Cairo’s
decision to proceed with a purchase of Russian warplanes, a new source
of friction with a country whose leader has been lauded by President
Trump. The warning came in a letter Wednesday from Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging Egypt’s defense
minister to cancel a deal to buy Russian Su-35 warplanes. The letter,
which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said Egypt risked
sanctions under a U.S. law barring purchases of Russian military
equipment. “Major new arms deals with Russia would—at a
minimum—complicate future U.S. defense transactions with and security
assistance to Egypt,” the letter said. The U.S. has provided Egypt
with billions in military and economic aid in recent decades,
including sales of F-16 jet fighters, attack helicopters and other
armaments. Russia has taken a more forward stance in the Middle East
in recent years, providing crucial military support for the regime of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and selling a missile-defense system
to Turkey, an ostensible U.S. ally.”
Nigeria
Quartz:
How Boko Haram Went From A Peaceful Islamic Sect To One Of The World’s
Deadliest Terrorists In A Decade
“Last month marked ten years since Mohammed Yusuf, founder of Boko
Haram, died in police detention. His death led to the radicalization
of the sect and a declaration of Jihad against the Nigerian state. In
an earlier paper on the sect I argued that before 2009, its operations
were more or less peaceful, but that it was radicalized in 2009 after
a confrontation with Nigerian security agencies. The police cracked
down on the group setting off an armed uprising in Bauchi State,
Northern Nigeria. Opinions differ on the reasons for the government
clampdown. But some believe that the government intervened based on
intelligence that the group was arming itself. The crackdown led to an
uprising that soon spread to other parts of northeastern Nigeria and
800 members of the group were killed by the Nigerian security
services. Yusuf was arrested during this period but died in police
detention. The police claimed that he died while trying to escape.
Yusuf’s successor, Abubakar Shekau, vowed to exact revenge on the
Nigerian government. A violent campaign against the state was
launched. A year later in 2010, Shekau sought to make it a Jihad
against Christians.”
Somalia
Xinhua:
Somali Army Kills 5 Al-Shabab Militants
“Somali National Army (SNA) on Wednesday killed five al-Shabab
extremists in an operation in the central region of Hiran, a military
official confirmed on Thursday. Mohamed Abdullahi, commander of Unit
27 from Somali National Army said the forces conducted an operation in
El Bal'ad town in Hiran region following intelligence of the
militants' presence in the area and they inflicted severe casualties
on the militants. “Our army attacked al-Shabab militants in the town
who were forcefully collecting zakawat (taxes) from the residents,
there was a fierce gunfight but we defeated them,” the commander said.
“We killed five of them in the confrontation and our army recovered a
large number of animals which the militants took from the locals,” he
added. Residents said there was heavy fight in the town. “As the
militants entered our town to take some taxes from the residents, they
were suddenly attacked by government forces and both sides exchanged
fire for a while. The army are now in the town after the militants
were chased out,” Farida Hashi, a resident told Xinhua by phone. The
latest operation came barely hours after al-Shabab militants killed
two government officials in an ambush in a village in the outskirts of
Bal'ad town in the country's southern region of Middle Shabelle.”
Africa
The
Washington Times: Anti-ISIS Coalition Shifts Focus To Africa's Sahel
Region
“The global coalition to defeat Islamic State is focusing new
attention on a region in North and West Africa as the terror group’s
“caliphate” has been mostly abolished in Syria and Iraq, Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo said Thursday. “West Africa and the Sahel would be a
preferred area of focus for the coalition outside of the ISIS core
space, and with good reason,” Mr. Pompeo said at a meeting with NATO
chief Jens Stoltenberg. The secretary said efforts to defeat ISIS in
Iraq and Syria will remain, and the new shift into the Sahel region
“will complement existing military efforts.” Evangelist Franklin
Graham calls impeachment hearing 'a day of shame for America' “We will
develop and coordinate our efforts in close cooperation with countries
of the Sahel,” he continued. The Sahel region spans from the Atlantic
Ocean across continental Africa to the Red Sea and encompasses
Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan
and Eritrea. Mr. Stoltenberg insisted that the fight against ISIS “is
not over. ISIS is still a threat.” Despite several assertions from
Trump administration officials earlier this year that the ISIS
caliphate was almost completely defeated, analysts and former
officials warn that the terrorist organization remains a threat to the
U.S. and its allies.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Moroccan Security Forces Arrest Isis
Extremist
“The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) arrested an
ISIS-linked extremist on Tuesday in the city of Guelmim, southern
Morocco. According to the BCIJ statement, investigations revealed that
the terror suspect is promoting ISIS extremist ideology through apps
to “serve the agenda of this terrorist organization.” BCIJ agents
seized several electronic devices, mobile phones, and electrical
cables during the operation. BCIJ has carried out several other
crackdowns against terror cells throughout the year. Morocco
introduced the BCIJ in 2015. The bureau has been monitoring security
threats across the country and has also assisted foreign security
agencies in combating terrorism. This year, Moroccan security services
dismantled 13 terrorist cells that were preparing to commit criminal
acts targeting the security and safety of the Kingdom or friendly
countries, and recruited young Moroccans to fight in areas where
militant groups are active. BCIJ, which specializes in combating
terrorism, also dismantled a number of terrorist networks, including
thwarting a terror cell operating in Morocco and Spain. Morocco has
accumulated an important experience in the fight against extremism,
thanks to upholding a proactive and precautionary security policy
approach.”
United Kingdom
Reuters:
UK Anti-Terrorist Police Arrest Man After Turkey Deports
Suspects
“British police arrested a 26-year-old man at Heathrow Airport who
had arrived from Turkey on Thursday, on suspicion of terrorism
offences related to Syria. “He was arrested on suspicion of
preparation of terrorist acts,” London’s Metropolitan police said in a
statement. “The arrest is Syria-related.” Turkish authorities have
begun to send Islamic State detainees back to their home countries
with the country’s interior ministry earlier saying it was deporting
one British and seven German fighters on Thursday. Ankara says it has
hundreds more jihadists in detention, and has accused European
countries of being loath to take back citizens who traveled to join
Islamist militants fighting in Middle East wars, mainly in Syria and
Iraq. Some 10,000 Islamic State detainees and tens of thousands of
family members remain in camps and prisons in northeastern Syria
guarded by the Syrian Kurdish allies of the United States. Washington
is also pushing European countries to take their citizens back.”
The
National: Tony Blair Calls For Global Education Charter To Fight
Extremism
“Tony Blair has called for a dramatic increase in resources for
education that combats extremism in a new report that says learning is
an underappreciated tool to deploy against violent ideologies. In a
report titled Teaching tolerance: how to educate against extremism,
the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change said it hoped to a launch a
charter for education reform that nations could sign up to as part of
the UN Global Goals. The principles in the charter would seek to
address the threat from radicalisation in the early years of life, an
aspect that security polices had not so far confronted on a world
widewide scale. By redressing the imbalance between military and
financial responses to extremism, the initiative hopes for an antidote
to the spread of hate. “Ultimately, we can take all the security
action we like,” wrote the former British prime minister in a
foreword. “But if young people are vulnerable to hateful ideologies,
some of them will turn to violence. They do not naturally tend towards
such sentiments. It is something that is taught. And it can be
untaught. “A vital component of an enlightened security approach is to
treat open-minded education as an imperative.”
France
Breitbart:
France Is Target Of More Islamic Terror Attacks Than Any Other EU
State
“France is the European member state most affected by radical
Islamic terrorism according to a study that shows over half of the
terror attacks in the EU occurred in the country. The study, which was
released by the Foundation for Political Innovation (Fondapol),
examined radical Islamic terror attacks from 1979 to August 31st of
2019 and discovered that France had been the victim of 71 attacks
during that period which resulted in 317 killed, newspaper Le Figaro
reports. Between the period of 1979 and 2012, the country saw just 29
attacks and 45 killed, but in the era of the Islamic State terror
group, the attacks increased to 42 with 272 deaths in just six years.
Around 54.3 percent of the attacks in which the Islamic State took
credit occurred in France, with soldiers and police officers being the
most frequent targets for terrorists. The French capital of Paris and
its surrounding no-go suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis have seen the most
attacks, along with other regions that have noted problems with
Islamic radicalisation. The study also examined the global effect of
Islamist terrorism, noting that there were 33,769 Islamic terror
attacks worldwide from 1979 to 2019, and 167,096 killed as a
result.”
Germany
Deutsche
Welle: Germany: Don't Panic Over 'Islamic State' Returnees'
Arrival
“A family of seven German Islamists arrived in Berlin on Thursday
after the Turkish Interior Ministry announced earlier this week that
it would start deportations of captured “Islamic State” supporters.
There are no German arrest warrants for the family of German-Iraqi
Kanan B., meaning they will be free to return to their homes in the
central German state of Lower Saxony, though under police observation.
According to Turkish authorities, Kanan B. tried to travel to Syria
with his family about a year ago, but it is not known if he arrived.
The family, consisting of two parents, two adult children, plus three
minors, had been in custody in the Turkish city of Izmir since March.
German authorities said they do not believe Kanan B.'s family ever
joined Islamic State, but that he was part of the “Salafist spectrum,”
which means the family members are thought to observe a particularly
conservative interpretation of Islam. Armin Schuster, the interior
policy spokesman for Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU),
insisted that the German returnees were not “serious cases,” and
warned against media-fueled hysteria. “They did not take part in the
fighting,” he told the Deutschlandfunk radio station.”
Europe
The
Washington Post: Europe Has Resisted Taking Back Citizens Who Joined
ISIS. Now, It May Not Have A Choice
“Bint Dahlia was 33 when she left Germany with her husband and
children to start life in the Islamic State’s newly declared
caliphate. She is one of thousands of Europeans who did — and, five
years later, one of hundreds trying to come back. European governments
have resisted repatriating their nationals since the caliphate
crumbled. Leaders fear domestic attacks and public backlash and have
argued that trials should take place regionally. But now Europe’s hand
is being forced. Although Turkey has said it is starting to deport
people in its custody with suspected Islamic State links, even more
significant are landmark court cases giving governments little choice.
Last week, an appeals court in Berlin ruled that the German government
should repatriate Bint Dahlia alongside her three children from
al-Hol, a squalid Kurdish-run camp inside Syria. (The woman’s real
name was redacted in court documents shared with The Washington Post,
and her relatives have asked that The Post use a family nickname for
her safety.) The camp’s conditions, the court determined, were
life-threatening, and the children had a right to remain with their
mother. The lawyer for the case said he hopes it will set a precedent
for 20 other German mothers and 40 children he
represents.”
Southeast Asia
7News:
Wife of Medan Police Station Suicide Bomber Was Planning A Terrorist
Attack In Bali
“The wife of a suicide bomber who blew himself up at Medan police
station this week was even more radicalised than her husband and had
been planning a terrorist attack in Bali. Police investigating the
blast, at Medan police headquarters on Wednesday, have since arrested
the dead man’s wife and are investigating her links to other
terrorists, including her communication with a jailed female terror
suspect. Police have yet to reveal the exact nature of the Bali plot
or how advanced it was but authorities in Bali have stepped up
security on the tourist island. Police have seized documents and
computer equipment and say that the wife was communicating on social
media platforms about plans for a Bali terrorist attack. A 24-year-old
university student, Rabbial Muslim Nasution, blew himself up in the
parking lot area of Medan police station. He died in the attack,
captured on police CCTV cameras, and several police and civilians were
injured, although none seriously.”
South
China Morning Post: Ex-Isis Fighters Arrested In Indonesian Terror
Probe After Medan Suicide Bombing
“Indonesian police on Thursday arrested four men linked with
Islamic State, a day after a suicide bomber attacked a police station
in Medan city, killing himself and injuring six people. “The four
suspects went through military training and also fought alongside Isis
in Syria. [Anti-terror squad] Densus88 is further investigating
[them],” said Dedi Prasetyo, the national police spokesman. Police
also arrested the Medan bomber’s wife for allegedly planning terror
attacks in Bali using social media, said Dedi. The latest arrests
brought the total number of people held following the blast to 10 in
anti-terror raids across Sumatra and Java. There were no details on
when the four alleged Isis veterans returned home, and whether they
were linked to the Medan blast, but their detainment has raised
concerns over the threat posed by returnees from Syria. Indonesia has
an estimated 34 jihadist fighters and some 700 citizens stuck in
Syria. About 50 Indonesian Isis fighters and their families were
believed to have escaped from Syria last month. Their whereabouts are
currently unknown. The country has suffered a resurgence in home-grown
militancy in recent years, with police frequently the target of
attacks.”
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