“At least six paramilitary soldiers were killed and 22 were injured in a
suicide attack in southwest Pakistan on Tuesday, days after a suicide bombing

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


March 9, 2022

 

Reuters: Six Pakistani Soldiers Killed In A Suicide Bombing
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“At least six paramilitary soldiers were killed and 22 were injured in a
suicide attack in southwest Pakistan on Tuesday, days after a suicide bombing
at a Shi’ite Mosque in northwest Pakistan killed 63 people, officials said.
Militant violence has risen in the South Asian nation amid political
instability as country’s opposition parties prepare to bring a no-confidence
vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the coming days. The Islamic State
affiliate in the region known as Islamic State in Khorasan province and
headquartered in Afghanistan claimed Tuesday’s attack in a statement posted by
the SITE Intelligence group. “The bomber first hurled a grenade which failed,
after which he blew himself up close to paramilitary men, killing six,” Nasroor
Alam Kolachi, a senior police officer of the Sibi District in South-West
Balochistan province, told Reuters. The men were ending security duties after
an annual cultural festival attended by President Arif Alivi. He had left the
venue before the attack. On Friday, a suicide bombing at a Shi'ite mosque in
the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar killed at least 64 people, police
and hospital officials said.”

 

The Hill: Zelensky To UK Parliament: Recognize Russia As A 'Terrorist State'
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“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday implored the West to
recognize Russia as a “terrorist state” while urging British lawmakers to
impose more penalties on Moscow and send military assistance to Ukraine. “We
are looking for your help, for the help of the civilized countries,” he said.
“We are thankful for this help ... please increase the pressure of sanctions
against [Russia], and please recognize this country as a terrorist state, and
please make sure that our Ukrainian skies are safe,” Zelensky said, referring
to earlier calls for NATO members to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. “Please
make sure that you do what needs to be done and what is stipulated by the
greatness of your country,” he added. Zelensky, who has become an inspiration
and symbol of Ukraine’s resistance against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
assault, spoke virtually from Kyiv. The city is under siege from Russian forces
that are slowly advancing toward the Ukrainian capital almost two weeks after
Moscow first launched the invasion.”

 

United States

 

The Hill: House Votes To Condemn Threats To HBCUs And Attack On Texas Synagogue

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“The House on Tuesday adopted measures to condemn the spike in bomb threats
against historically Black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, and the
January attack on a Jewish synagogue in Texas. The resolution to condemn the
threats of violence against more than 30 historically Black colleges and
universities passed handily with bipartisan support, 418-0. On Feb. 1 alone,
the first day of Black history month, at least 18 HBCUs all over the country
received bomb threats. That came after more than a dozen threats in January.
“It should not go unnoticed that these current threats underscore the very
reason HBCUs were established in the first place: to eliminate the barriers to
higher education for Black students by creating safe, affirming, and
high-quality institutions,” said House Education and Labor Committee Chairman
Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
The FBI said last month that it is investigating the threats as “racially or
ethnically motivated violent extremism and hate crimes.” The vote comes five
days after the Senate passed a similar resolution condemning the threats of
violence against HBCUs by unanimous consent. In addition, the House passed a
resolution by voice vote to condemn the “heinous terrorist attack” on
Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, on Jan. 15.”

 

NPR: Senate Passes Anti-Lynching Bill And Sends Federal Hate Crime Legislation
To Biden
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“The Senate unanimously passed a bill on Monday that criminalizes lynching and
make it punishable by up to 30 years in prison. It sailed through the House of
Representatives last month, and President Biden is expected to sign it. While
it eased through both chambers of Congress this time with virtually no
opposition, the path to passage took more than 100 years and 200 failed
attempts. Under the bill, named the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act after the
14-year-old boy from Chicago who was lynched while visiting family in
Mississippi, a crime can be prosecuted as a lynching when a hate crime results
in a death or injury, said Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., a longtime sponsor of the
legislation. “Lynching is a longstanding and uniquely American weapon of racial
terror that has for decades been used to maintain the white hierarchy,” Rush
said in a statement Monday evening. “Unanimous Senate passage of the Emmett
Till Anti-Lynching Act sends a clear and emphatic message that our nation will
no longer ignore this shameful chapter of our history and that the full force
of the U.S. federal government will always be brought to bear against those who
commit this heinous act.” Unanimous consent in the Senate allows a bill to pass
without a roll call, so long as there's no senator present to object.”

 

Iran

 

Voice Of America: Iran’s Apparent Supply Of Combat Drones To Venezuela
Highlights Terrorism Risks
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“Israel’s contention that its regional foe Iran is helping Venezuela build
combat drones is raising concerns that the two anti-U.S. allies could enable
such drones to be used for terrorism. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said
on February 22 that his government determined that "Iranian precision-guided
missiles are being delivered" to Venezuela to be fitted into "advanced Iranian
Mohajer" drones and similar models. As Gantz spoke, a screen showed an image of
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro presenting a model of a drone on state TV.
Research group Aurora Intel, which first tweeted the screen shot of the
Venezuelan TV program in November 2020, said the model was a representation of
an Iranian Mohajer-6 drone, the latest version of its kind. Its capabilities
include missile strikes and surveillance at a range of 200 kilometers and an
endurance of 12 hours. "With this image in mind," Gantz said, "I can tell you
that in my meetings with partners from around the world, including African and
Latin American partners, I heard extreme concern about Iranian support for
terrorism.’”

 

Pakistan

 

Newsweek Pakistan: Proactive Measures Needed To Tackle Terrorism In Future:
Imran Khan
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“The Government of Pakistan must adopt proactive measures to tackle incidents
of terrorism in future, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday, as he
stressed “zero tolerance” for all extremist elements in the country. Chairing a
meeting of the Apex Committee on the National Action Plan (NAP) in Islamabad,
the premier strongly condemned last week’s bombing at a Shia mosque in Peshawar
and offered condolences for the people who lost their lives in the attack. “The
prime minister said that the government has zero tolerance for terrorists and
swift persecution is required to set an example,” read a statement issued by
the Press Information Department. The ISIS-K militant group has claimed
responsibility for a suicide attack on a Shia imambargah in Peshawar during
Friday prayers that left 57 people dead, and over 190 others injured. The death
toll has since risen to 63, with the death of six of the 10 critically injured
victims. The PID said that Khan had emphasized adopting a multi-pronged
approach, including “vigorous” implementation of NAP to thwart the threat of
terrorism in the country. He also stressed upon adopting proactive measures to
prevent such incidents from occurring in future.”

 

Nigeria

 

Reuters: Gunmen Kill At Least 62 Vigilantes In Nigeria's Kebbi State
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“Gunmen ambushed and killed at least 62 members of a volunteer vigilante group
in Nigeria's northwestern Kebbi state, the head of the group and a police
spokesman said, in the worst violence to hit the state since mid-January. Many
northwestern states in Nigeria have groups of volunteers who help defend
villages and towns from armed gangs as the security forces are stretched
fighting Islamist militants and the gangs, known as bandits. Usman Sani, the
head of the “Yan Sa Kai” vigilante group in Kebbi, told Reuters that his group
had planned to attack bandits in the Sakaba area on Sunday night but someone
tipped them off. “They lay in ambush, hid their motorcycles in the shrubs,
circled us and opened fire from different directions,” Sani, a retired soldier,
said on Tuesday. He said 62 people had been killed. Kebbi police spokesman
Nafiu Abubakar confirmed the ambush but said he did not have details on how
many people had been killed. In January, dozens of gunmen on motorbikes
ransacked a village and killed more than 50 people in Kebbi. Gunmen have spread
terror across the northwest, where they have kidnapped hundreds of school
children and villagers for ransom. The violence has compounded the problems in
northern states, which are typically poorer than those in the south.”

 

Mali

 

Voice Of America: Malian Army Accused Of Killings, Denies Culpability
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“Videos of an alleged massacre in central Mali are circulating on social
media, with locals saying those killed were ethnic Fulani men whom security
forces arrested in late February and early March. Mali's military this week
denied any responsibility for the killings; however, VOA spoke to a man who
said he witnessed troops arresting a close friend. Last week, the videos began
circulating on social media in Mali, showing the burned corpses of dozens of
men, blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their backs. Fulani in villages
around Diabaly, in central Mali, say that the victims were recently arrested by
the Malian army. The Fulani are a traditionally pastoralist ethnic group spread
across West Africa and have for years accused the army of unfairly targeting
them for supposed ties to extremism. A local man, who did not wish to be
identified for fear of reprisal, told VOA via a messaging app from his village
that he witnessed troops arresting the men who disappeared, including a close
friend and six of his acquaintances. It was the Malian army, he said. They are
the ones who took them. He said they were wearing uniforms; they were on
motorbikes. They chased us away, and they called in reinforcements. Then, he
said, they took all these seven guys that I know myself, in their vehicles.”

 

Africa

 

The Jerusalem Post: Mozambique Military Downs IS Drones With Israeli
Anti-Drone System <[link removed]>

 

“The Mozambique Army downed drones belonging to the Islamic State using
Israeli-designed jamming systems manufactured by MCTECH technologies. Based in
Kfar Saba, MCTECH RF Technologies specializes in developing and manufacturing
electronic warfare solutions for security forces, armies and governments in
Israel and around the world. The company announced last September that it had
sold and delivered its MC-Horizon 360D V3 systems to an East African army in
order to protect forces maneuvering in conflict zones. Less than a year after
acquiring the system, Mozambique announced that it had downed three IS drones
that were allegedly gathering intelligence on troops as well as planning to
bomb them. According to Yossi Gofer, the CEO of Orad, while MCTECH’s systems
are in use by a number of militaries around the world, this marks the first
time that a foreign army has reported interception with the Israeli system. “In
Mozambique, IS is attacking troops with drones. They use drones to identify
troops, to bomb troops and even to identify troops and then navigate artillery
to hit forces. This is exactly the same thing that happened with IS in Iraq,”
Gofer told The Jerusalem Post. According to him, the drones used by IS
militants in the area are “so small and they fly very fast and very low to the
ground so that it’s hard to identify them. You need a very good radar.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Irish Times: Lisa Smith’s Facebook Messages With Jihadists To Be Admitted
As Evidence
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“Facebook messages between Lisa Smith and known jihadists in Syria and
Australia will be admitted as evidence into the former soldier’s trial on
charges of membership of Isis and funding terrorism, the Special Criminal Court
has ruled. Ms Smith’s lawyers had asked the court to refuse to admit the
messages, saying the use of private conversations that are stored indefinitely
by Facebook is a breach of privacy rights. They also argued that the material,
which was initially discovered by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
was gathered without any consideration of Ms Smith’s rights and shared with
gardaí without any protocols as to how the material should be shared. Mr
Justice Tony Hunt, who delivered the judgment of the three-judge, non-jury
court, rejected all arguments made by Ms Smith’s lawyers. He said it is now
customary in criminal trials for the accused to invoke the right to privacy
under the Constitution to render their third-party conversations as
inadmissible. He added: “The difficulty for individuals relying on this right
is that it is far from absolute and its exercise is balanced against whatever
other constitutional rights and values arise in the context.” In a criminal
trial, he said, the privacy right must be balanced against society’s right to
have “proper and effective investigation, detection and prosecution of serious
crime.”

 

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