Eye on Extremism
November 19, 2019
The
Wall Street Journal: Taliban Release Two Western Hostages In Exchange
For Militants
“Two Western hostages, one American and one Australian, were freed
by the Taliban on Tuesday after more than three years in captivity,
Afghan officials and a person briefed by officials of the militant
group said, in a prisoner exchange that could spur the resumption of
negotiations to end the 18-year Afghan war. In return for the release
of the American, Kevin King, and the Australian, Timothy Weeks, the
Afghan government released three high-profile Taliban members who
belong to its most feared faction, the Haqqani network. They include
Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of the Taliban’s deputy leader and
top military commander. The Taliban turned over Mr. King and Mr. Weeks
in the southern Afghan province of Zabul, in the district of Naw
Bahar, which is controlled by the insurgents, said the person, who is
in regular communication with Taliban officials and whose information
has proved reliable in the past. They were expected to be moved for
medical treatment to a U.S. military hospital in Germany, where Mr.
King’s family has traveled to meet him, the person added. Both men
have been said to be in deteriorating health, particularly Mr. King.
The Taliban said more than two years ago that Mr. King was suffering
from “dangerous” heart and kidney problems. In a video, Mr. Weeks
begged President Trump to save him: “If we stay here for much longer,
we will be killed. I don’t want to die here.”
The
New York Times: US Blacklists Companies, People For Supporting
ISIS
“The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on four companies
and two people operating in Syria, Turkey and Europe for providing
financial and logistical support to ISIS. The targets were blacklisted
under an executive order that imposes sanctions on terrorists and
those who have provided assistance or support for terrorists, the US
Treasury Department said, according to Reuters. Turkey-based Sahloul
Money Exchange Company, Al-Sultan Money Transfer Company and ACL
Ithalat Ihracat were targeted for providing financial and logistical
support to ISIS, as were Turkish nationals Ismail Bayaltun and his
brother Ahmet Bayaltun. The Afghanistan-based Nejaat Social Welfare
Organization and two of its senior officials, Sayed Habib Ahmad Khan
and Rohullah Wakil, was also targeted for supporting activities of the
ISIS branch in Afghanistan. In a statement, US Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin characterized the move as a follow-up pressure tactic
on the extremist group after a US special forces operation killed ISIS
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “Following the highly successful
operation against al-Baghdadi, the Trump administration is resolved to
completely destroy ISIS’s remaining network of terror cells,” Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, using an acronym for the group.”
The
Washington Post: These Iraqi Militias Are Attacking Protesters And
Getting Away With It. Here’s Why.
“Armed forces allied with the Iraqi government have used alarming
levels of violence to suppress the country’s mass popular protests now
entering their second month. The often-lethal tactics include firing
military-grade tear gas directly at protesters’ heads and deploying
snipers who shoot to kill, leading to a death toll exceeding 300. The
Iraqi government has avoided identifying the groups that thus far have
been operating under impunity. Clear evidence, however, has emerged of
abuses and crimes conducted by anti-riot police, regular military
units and militias, and parastatal groups that have direct but
flexible connections to the state. Some of these militias make up part
of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and are allied with Iran. They
are often mischaracterized as non-state actors, simple proxies of Iran
or extensions of the Iraqi government. None of these descriptions is
wholly true and results in a limited analytical understanding of such
groups and their sources of strength. As an alternative, our recent
research develops the emerging concept of hybrid actors, which draw
power from states and help shape state agendas, while at the same time
pursue autonomous agendas. They are hybrid because they run counter to
the Western policymaker’s binary of state vs. non-state actors.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Threatens Action
Against Protesters
“Iran’s top paramilitary force threatened to crack down on Iranians
protesting a rise in fuel prices, as Tehran struggles to counter U.S.
sanctions that are crippling the country’s economy and posing a risk
to the government. As demonstrations persisted on Monday, the powerful
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would “confront the
continuation of any insecurity and actions disturbing the people’s
peace and calm in a revolutionary and decisive way.” The unrest shows
the widespread anger among Iranians whose savings have evaporated as
unemployment soars and the currency collapses, posing a political risk
for President Hassan Rouhani ahead of February parliamentary
elections. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who oversees the
Guard Corps, said on Sunday that the legislative, administrative and
judiciary branches of government made the decision, which he
supported. The statement showed how the crisis has forced the regime
to put on a unified front.”
The
New York Times: Mali Army Says 24 Soldiers, 17 Militants Killed In
Attack On Northern Patrol
“Twenty-four Malian soldiers were killed and 29 wounded in an
attack on an army patrol in northern Mali on Monday in which 17
militants were also killed, a spokesman for the army said. The West
African country is still reeling from an attack on an army post that
killed 54 in early November - one of the deadliest strikes against its
military in recent memory, which underscored the increasing reach and
sophistication of armed jihadist groups active in the wider region.
The Malian patrol attacked on Monday was in Tabankort, Gao region,
while on a joint operation with Niger against militants operating near
the border. “During this attack, Malian forces suffered 24 deaths, 29
wounded as well as equipment damage. On the enemy's side, 17 were
killed and a certain number captured,” army spokesman Diarran Kone
said. The authorities have not named the assailants or identified
which group they belonged to. From strongholds in Mali, groups with al
Qaeda and Islamic State links have been able to fan out across the
Sahel, destabilizing parts of Niger and Burkina Faso. Violence has
surged this autumn with heavy military and civilian losses in Mali and
Burkina Faso.”
The
Roanoke Times: Roanoke Man Accused Of Posting 'How-To' Video On
Explosives To Fuel Terrorism
“A man living in Roanoke since the spring has been arrested and
accused of posting an online video tutorial on how to make explosives,
reportedly in support of the Islamic State group. Romeo Xavier
Langhorne, 30, was taken into custody Friday and is being held at the
Western Virginia Regional Jail. In a 51-page criminal complaint filed
Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Florida, an agent with the
Northeast Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force accused Langhorne of
“attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign
terrorist organization.” The complaint calls Langhorne “an ISIS
supporter” who “has created and disseminated a video on how to make
triacetone triperoxide, a deadly explosive.”Much of the criminal
complaint is dedicated to communications, reportedly between Langhorne
and someone working undercover for the FBI, who had been exchanging
texts since February. The affidavit says the person working undercover
created the video, “based on the ideas provided by Langhorne,” on how
to manufacture explosives from components found in common household
items. The complaint says Langhorne posted the video on Nov. 11 on the
website BitChute, but the investigative team included in the video a
formula “that would be likely to appear to Langhorne to be the formula
for TATP but, in fact, would produce an inert product.”
United States
Reuters:
U.S. To No Longer Waive Sanctions On Iranian Nuclear
Site
“The United States said on Monday it will no longer waive sanctions
related to Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant after Tehran resumed uranium
enrichment at the underground site. “The right amount of uranium
enrichment for the world’s largest state sponsor of terror is zero ...
There is no legitimate reason for Iran to resume enrichment at this
previously clandestine site,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told
reporters. The U.N. atomic watchdog and Iran itself said this month
Tehran is again enriching uranium at the sensitive site, which Iran
hid from U.N. non-proliferation inspectors until its exposure in 2009.
While European countries have tried to salvage the 2015 nuclear
nonproliferation agreement, Iran has increasingly distanced itself
from the accord since the United States withdrew last year. The pact
requires Iran to restrain its enrichment program in exchange for the
removal of most international sanctions, and it called for Fordow to
be converted into a nuclear, physics and technology center. Despite
its withdrawal, the Trump administration has granted sanctions waivers
that allowed foreign firms to do work in Iran that advanced
non-proliferation. Those included Russia’s Rosatom at Fordow. Pompeo
said the waivers will end on Dec. 15. The State Department had said
last month that it renewed waivers for 90 days."
The
Hill: Pompeo: US Ending Sanctions Waiver For Site Where Iran Resumed
Uranium Enrichment
“The United States is ending a sanctions waiver for civil-nuclear
work at a site where Iran recently announced it was enriching uranium,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday. “The United States
will terminate the sanctions waiver related to the nuclear facility at
Fordow effective Dec. 15, 2019,” Pompeo told reporters at the State
Department. “The right amount of uranium enrichment for the world’s
largest state sponsor of terror is zero. Iran originally constructed
Fordow as a fortified underground bunker to conduct secret uranium
enrichment work, and there is no legitimate reason for Iran to resume
enrichment at this previously clandestine site.” “Iran should reverse
its activity there immediately,” he added. Pompeo’s announcement comes
after Iran announced, and the International Atomic Energy Agency
confirmed, that it had resumed uranium enrichment at its underground
Fordow site in its latest breach of the 2015 nuclear deal. The deal
between Iran and other world powers allowed Fordow, a long-secret
facility, to maintain centrifuges for research purposes, but banned
enrichment activities there.”
The
New York Times: Man Charged With Making Explosives Tutorial For
Terrorists
“Authorities say a man who moved from Florida to Virginia earlier
this year was trying to support the Islamic State terrorist group by
posting a video online for making explosives. The Florida Times-Union
reports that a federal judge in Jacksonville unsealed a criminal
complaint and arrest warrant Friday after 30-year-old Romeo Xavier
Langhorne was arrested in Virginia. He’s charged with attempting to
provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist
organization and faces up to 20 years in prison. The FBI says
Langhorne began making the video in February, when he lived in St.
Augustine. Investigators say he moved to Virginia in April and posted
the tutorial video last Monday. Statements and images on Langhorne’s
Facebook page first came to the attention of law enforcement in 2014.
Court records didn’t list an attorney for Langhorne.”
The
Washington Post: ISIS Killed Our Daughter. They Cannot Have The Last
Word On U.S. Hostages.
“Nearly five years ago, the Islamic State tweeted that our
daughter, Kayla Mueller, was dead. In the preceding two years, while
the world had watched with shock and outrage at the Islamic State’s
increasingly brutal and public actions, our family was being silently
taunted by the era’s most notorious terrorist group. Kayla was a
24-year-old humanitarian aid worker in Aleppo, Syria, when she was
kidnapped by the Islamic State in August 2013. During her captivity,
Islamic State members wrote to us with impossible demands for Kayla’s
release, eventually threatening her with violence and death. All the
while, our family put its trust in the U.S. government to bring her
home. Then, in February 2015, the Islamic State sent us photos of
Kayla’s lifeless body, saying she had been killed in an airstrike by
the U.S.-led military coalition. Islamic State members apparently
assumed this information would prompt us to give up on Kayla. They
could not have been more wrong. We didn’t want to allow the terrorist
organization that brutalized our daughter to have the last word on
Kayla’s life. We had many unanswered questions about what exactly
happened to her, how and why she was killed, by whom, and where they
may have buried her.”
Bloomberg:
We Shouldn’t Strip U.S. Terrorists Of
Citizenship
“U.S.-born Hoda Muthana should be in an American prison for joining
Islamic State, the caliphate that terrorized, murdered and raped
innocent civilians. Instead, she and her 2-year-old son are stuck in a
refugee camp in Syria — because the U.S. government, relying on a
technicality, has stripped her of her passport and told her that she
and her son are not citizens. A federal judge has just held that
government had the authority to do so. It’s hard to feel sympathy for
Muthana. But the judge’s decisions, and the government’s before that,
set a terrible precedent for others whom the government might try to
strip of their citizenship in the future. A person who reasonably
believes she was born a citizen, and has been issued a passport on
that understanding by the government, should be treated as a citizen
unless she has lied to get that passport in the first place. The
backstory to the Muthana case starts with the fact that various
European governments have been dealing with people who joined Islamic
State by actively stripping them of their citizenship to stop them
from coming home. Ordinarily, the U.S. government can’t do that. U.S.
law doesn’t have provisions for taking away citizenship once it is
conferred, except if it was obtained by fraud.”
The
Defense Post: US Citizen ISIS Member Wants To Know Why He Can’t Go
Home
“Lirim Sulejmani limped over a green steel threshold, his gnarled
toes bare on the filthy concrete. An orange jumpsuit, inside-out, was
draped over his emaciated shoulders. When the Kosovo-native was 23, he
found refuge in the United States after fleeing a genocidal regime.
Sixteen years later, he decided to join one. Sulejmani is one of
hundreds of American citizens believed to have joined Islamic State in
Iraq and Syria since 2014. But as the Trump administration transfers
dozens of high-priority ISIS suspects from makeshift prisons across
northeast Syria as U.S. troops levels draw down, he is beginning to
fear he may have been left behind. Forced to fight Turkey’s invasion
on their own after U.S. troops withdrew to the eastern oilfields, the
Syrian Democratic Forces says it is scarcely able to supply and guard
the jails. And the Syrian government, notorious for swift and blind
executions of Islamists, has already sent troops into the northeast to
fill the gap of withdrawing American forces. Now, though he insists he
committed no crime, Sulejmani is beginning to fear for his future.
Like most of the 5,000 suspected ISIS fighters crammed into the prison
near Hasakah, he surrendered to the SDF during ISIS’s final stand at
Baghuz, in eastern Syria near the Iraq border, in early 2019.”
Syria
The
Jerusalem Post: Two Years Of Attacks From Syria, Increasing Escalation
Show Iran's Entrenchment
“The rockets fired from Syria just before five in the morning come
after almost two years of escalation on the Syrian front. This
includes actual and attempted drone and rocket attacks. They began in
the context of deepening Iranian entrenchment in Syria and have
continued as the Syrian regime re-conquered southern Syria from the
Syrian rebels in 2018 and as tensions between Israel and Iran have
grown. They represent Iran's attempt to create a corridor of power
across Iraq and Syria to Lebanon and to threaten Israel from areas
near the Golan. Syrian state media said this morning that its air
defenses were activated against an attack. Israel’ former chief of
staff said in January 2019 that Israel had carried out more than 1,000
attacks on Iranian targets in Syria over the last several years. Syria
does not say who fired the rockets at Israel but the IDF says that
four rockets were detected.”
Al
Monitor: IS Kills Priests In Syria As Turkish-Backed Fighters Express
IS Sympathies
“Residents of Qamishli took part Nov. 12 in the funeral procession
of the Rev. Hovsep Petoian and his father, the Rev. Hanna Petoian, of
the Armenian Catholic Mar Youssef Church in the city of Qamishli near
the border with Turkey. The priests were both shot dead Nov. 11 by
the Islamic State (IS) as they headed from Hasakah to Deir ez-Zor to
oversee the restoration of a church. The Armenian National Committee
of America said it looked to President Donald Trump to publicly press
Turkish President Erdogan for an answer regarding the IS murder of two
Catholic Armenian priests in a region of Syria that has fallen
increasingly under the control of Ankara’s allies. Mary Hagop, a woman
in her 70s, fled Tell Abyad to Qamishli with her family last month
after the Turkish army and the opposition National Army occupied her
city during Operation Spring of Peace carried out by Ankara against
the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US ally in the war against IS.
As she put flowers on the coffins of the priests, she told Al-Monitor
that she rented a house in Qamishli after the Ahrar al-Sharqiya jihadi
militia, which is fighting as part of the National Army, seized her
house, her son's house and their shop.”
Iran
Fox
News: Iran Continuing Construction On Army Base Along Iraq-Syria
Border, Images Show
“Iran is continuing construction on an army base along the
Iraq-Syria border, according to satellite images taken Sunday and
obtained by Fox News. The Imam Ali base had been partially destroyed
during airstrikes in early September. The new images, examined by
analysts at ImageSat International (ISI), showed eight zones of
construction or reconstruction. Each zone had hangers big enough to
conceal trucks and large quantities of equipment. There also was a
checkpoint on both sides of the compound with fortified walls around
the complex. The news of reconstruction at this base came as thousands
of Iranians have taken to the streets in several cities across the
country, protesting the latest spike in fuel prices. Iranian security
forces have killed at least 12 people, according to reports.”
The
Intercept: A Secret Summit
“THEY WERE HARDLY kindred spirits. In fact, they stood on opposite
sides of one of the world’s fiercest geopolitical divides. Yet in a
secret effort at detente, two of the most formidable organizations in
the Middle East held a previously undisclosed summit at a Turkish
hotel to seek common ground at a time of sectarian war. The 2014
summit brought together the foreign military arm of Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, known as the Quds Force, and the Muslim
Brotherhood, a sprawling Islamist political movement with significant
influence throughout the region. The Quds Force represents the world’s
most powerful Shia-dominated nation, while the Muslim Brotherhood is a
stateless but influential political and religious force in the Sunni
Muslim world. The Trump administration designated the Revolutionary
Guards a foreign terrorist organization in April, and the White House
has reportedly been lobbying to add the Muslim Brotherhood to the list
as well. The disclosure that two such polarizing organizations on
either side of the Sunni-Shia divide held a summit is included in a
leaked archive of secret Iranian intelligence reports obtained by The
Intercept.”
The
Washington Post: Iran’s Regime Faces A Backlash At Home And Next
Door
“On Monday, Iran remained an offline nation. A startling weekend of
protests gripped the country after its theocratic regime issued an
edict Friday cutting fuel subsidies and raising the cost of gasoline.
The measures incensed many ordinary Iranians, who have for months felt
the bite of U.S.-imposed sanctions on the country’s enfeebled economy.
The dramatic scenes of unrest prompted Iranian authorities to
effectively switch off the Internet. Protests and demonstrations took
place in some 100 cities and towns in Iran, an astonishing development
that comes on the heels of mass protests elsewhere in the Middle East.
At least 100 banks and 57 shops were set on fire, and about 1,000
people were arrested, noted the semiofficial Fars News Agency. Despite
the clampdown on social media, videos circulated of protesters
chanting angry slogans at the regime, setting fire to tires and
abandoning their vehicles on highways to block roads. Clashes with
security forces and pro-regime militias led to at least 12 deaths,
though local activists indicated that number is probably closer to 40.
On state television on Sunday, the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, described those who engaged in violent demonstrations as
“thugs” backed by Iran’s foreign enemies. On Monday, a statement from
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, a dominant paramilitary organization
that controls swaths of the state, said that continued disturbances
would be met by “decisive” action, a grim warning of a potentially
more brutal crackdown to come.”
Iraq
CNN:
Counting AK47s And Learning Trigonometry For Snipers. How Children
Were Taught Math Under ISIS
“Two floors beneath the headquarters of Iraqi Military
Intelligence, at the end of a red-carpeted corridor, two doors swing
open to reveal a museum of cold, calculated and deliberate horror.
This is no celebration of the darkest chapter in Iraq's recent bloody
history -- rather it is a warning of how dangerously efficient were
those who dreamed of establishing a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.
It's a stomach-heaving experience to recall how they wiped the history
in a swath of this nation by destroying any trace of non-Islamic
culture in the areas they controlled, blowing up ancient buildings and
archeological sites dating back millennia. The staggering brutality of
ISIS, what the terrorists called the “management of savagery,” was
meticulously recorded and posted on the internet to morbidly fascinate
the world and ensure absolute obedience in the regions under its
control. ISIS's reach was massive -- they covered a territory the size
of the United Kingdom with up to 12 million people in it -- but it's
the small things in the museum, the Nazi-like obsession with records,
files, and documentation, that send the visitor reeling. Primary
school books teach arithmetic by counting AK-47s. Trigonometry is
explained in the context of a sniper working out the range to his
human target.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Russia Repatriates 32 Children Of ISIS Members From
Iraq
“Russia said it has repatriated another 32 children of members of
the ISIS terror group from Iraq. Russia’s state TV on Tuesday showed
footage of the children arriving at Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow.
It said the children aged between one and nine will undergo extensive
medical check-ups before relatives take them home. Russia’s Foreign
Ministry said the children had been held in asylum centers in Iraq or
in prisons with their mothers. Their arrival represents the fourth
group of Russian children to be repatriated from Iraq, the Associated
Press reported. The Foreign Ministry said a total of 122 children have
been brought home. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that over
4,000 Russian citizens and some 5,000 citizens of other ex-Soviet
nations have joined the ISIS in Syria and Iraq.”
Turkey
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Blacklists Four Turkish Companies For Aiding
ISIS
“The U.S. on Monday blacklisted four companies based in Turkey that
the Treasury Department said were providing financial and logistical
support for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The alleged activities of
the companies operating in Turkey, including two currency-exchange
houses, underscore the concerns among Western intelligence and
security experts that Ankara hasn’t done enough to counter Islamic
State and other terror organizations operating within its borders. The
move follows the death last month of the ideological leader of Islamic
State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a U.S.-led raid as well as the
president’s decision to pull U.S. forces out of northern Syria—a
decision critics said risked empowering the internationally designated
terror group. The companies sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury include
Alsultan Kuyumculuk , which operates as a currency exchange, gold and
diamond seller and import-export business, and Acl İthalat İhracat
İsmail Bayaltun, a money-transfer company. Neither company could be
reached for comment. Although President Trump has fostered an amicable
relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, many current
and former U.S. national security officials have expressed grave
concerns about a slew of Turkish policies they say threaten U.S.
security and Western interests.”
Afghanistan
USA
Today: Bombs, Missiles Falling At Record Pace In Long-Running
Afghanistan War
“As American ground forces in Afghanistan shrink, U.S. and allied
warplanes are dropping bombs and firing missiles at insurgent targets
at a record pace in the 18-year-long war. The spike in firepower
coincides with a Trump administration policy, dating to 2016, that
gives military commanders greater authority to attack Taliban and
Islamic State militants in Afghanistan. "The logic is that the Taliban
may be more likely to agree to a peace deal acceptable to the United
States and the Afghan government if the Taliban believe they can’t win
the war in Afghanistan," said Seth Jones, a defense analyst at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies and former adviser to
the special operations commander in Afghanistan. "Consequently,
airstrikes and ground operations are a way to raise the costs for the
Taliban of continuing to fight," he said. But negotiations with
insurgents have broken off.”
The
New York Times: Two Western Hostages Are Freed In Afghanistan In Deal
With Taliban
“The Taliban on Tuesday freed two Westerners they had held for more
than three years in exchange for the release of three senior
insurgent leaders, officials said, in a deal that officials hoped
could pave the way for Afghan peace talks with the Taliban. The
Westerners were released to American forces by the Taliban, and
included an American, Kevin C. King, 63, and an Australian, Timothy J.
Weeks, 50, teachers at the American University in Kabul who were
abducted in 2016. The key figure being returned to the Taliban is Anas
Haqqani, the younger brother of the Taliban’s military operations
leader and a leading fund-raiser and propagandist before he was
captured in 2014. The exchange was brokered, in part, by the American
peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, who had earlier negotiated a tentative
agreement with the Taliban that would have included terms of an
American troop withdrawal. But those talks were abruptly aborted by
President Trump in September. Now, the prisoner exchange could be a
step toward restarting talks between the United States and the
Taliban, who have said they will stand by the terms negotiated with
Mr. Khalilzad. In announcing that he was willing to free the senior
Taliban figures, President Ashraf Ghani said last week that the
exchange was intended to “facilitate direct peace negotiations”
between the Afghan government and the Taliban.”
Al
Jazeera: Taliban Commanders 'Land In Qatar' As Part Of Prisoner Swap
Move
“Three Taliban commanders have been released by the Afghan
government as part of a prisoner swap involving two Western hostages,
sources have told Al Jazeera. The sources said on Tuesday that the
men, including senior Taliban leader Anas Haqqani, had landed in
Qatar, which hosts the group's political office at the request of the
United States. In exchange, two university professors identified as US
citizen Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks were reportedly
released later on Tuesday. The pair have been held by the Taliban for
three years. “The two professors are safely freed and are being taken
care of now,” an Afghan official told Reuters news agency on condition
of anonymity. Representatives of the Afghan government and the US
embassy in Kabul were yet to comment on the reported swap. The
developments come after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced a week
ago that Haqqani - whose older brother is the deputy Taliban leader
and head of the Haqqani Network - a Taliban affiliate, and the two
other commanders would be freed. At the time, Ghani said the decision
was made after consultations with the US and was aimed at
“facilitating face-to-face negotiations directly with the Taliban”,
who have, until now, refused to engage with what they call an
illegitimate, US-backed “puppet” government.”
Xinhua:
14 Militants Killed In N. Afghan Airstrike
“Fourteen Taliban militants, including a militants' divisional
commander, were killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan's northern
Kunduz province, local police said Tuesday. The sortie was launched by
Afghan Air Force late on Monday against a hideout belonging to Taliban
militants in Qarluq, an area in Archi district of Kunduz, resulting in
the death of 14 militants, provincial police said in a statement.
Those among the killed militants was Ezatullah, known as Hamza, one of
the outfit key local commanders and two of his close subordinates,
according to the statement. The slain militants have been involved in
a series of anti-government activities leading to the destruction of
the district office building, military compound and other public
facilities in the turbulent district, the statement added. The Afghan
security forces have recently beefed up security operations against
the Taliban militants who have been attempting to take territory and
consolidate their positions in the countryside ahead of winter. The
militant group has not made a comment on the report so far.”
Yemen
The
Guardian: Yemen's Houthi Rebels Hijack Towboat With Apparent Saudi
Link
“Yemen’s Houthi rebels have hijacked a boat towing a South Korean
drilling rig, a Riyadh-led coalition has said, with a global shipping
tracker calling it a Saudi-flagged vessel. Sunday’s incident in the
Red Sea follows a lull in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia as one Riyadh
official said the kingdom had established an “open channel” with the
Iran-backed rebels. “On Sunday, during the sailing of the tugboat
Rabigh-3 in the southern Red Sea, it was hijacked and subjected to
armed robbery by terrorist elements affiliated to the Houthi militia,”
the coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said. “The boat was towing a
[marine rig] owned by a South Korean company,” Maliki said in a
statement posted on the official Saudi press agency. The statement did
not say which country the vessel belonged to or how many crew members
were onboard. Maliki did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for
comment. Yemen’s prime minister, Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, tweeted that
a “Korean ship and two accompanying boats” had been seized by the
rebels, condemning the move as a “dangerous escalation”. According to
the tracking website Marine Traffic, Rabigh-3’s home port is in the
western Saudi city of Jeddah and it sails under the kingdom’s
flag.”
Lebanon
Associated
Press: Protesters Force Postponement Of Lebanese Parliament
Session
“Thousands of protesters rallying against the Lebanese political
elite blocked roads in central Beirut on Tuesday, preventing lawmakers
from reaching the parliament and forcing the postponement of a
legislative session. The session had been scheduled even though the
country is still without a Cabinet following the prime minister’s
resignation amid unprecedented demonstrations that have gripped
Lebanon since mid-October. The protesters scuffled with riot police as
they closed all roads leading to the parliament building in Beirut.
When one legislator headed toward the building and could not reach it
and turned back, his bodyguards opened fire in the air to clear the
way. No one was hurt in the shooting. The protesters are questioning
the constitutionality of a parliament session in the absence of a
government. An earlier session last Tuesday was postponed amid the
protests. Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned his government on Oct.
29 in response to the protests, which erupted over proposed new taxes
but have since snowballed into calls for the government to resign and
for the entire political elite that has ruled Lebanon since the end of
its 1975-90 civil war to step aside.”
San
Francisco Chronicle: Hezbollah Feels Political Heat Of Protest
Movement In Lebanon
“Young men chanting “people want to bring down the regime” gathered
outside the office of Lebanese legislator Mohammed Raad, the powerful
head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc. A man grabbed a metal rod and
swung it at the sign bearing Raad’s name, knocking it out of place as
others cheered. It was a rare scene in the southern market town of
Nabatiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold. The protests engulfing Lebanon have
united many across sectarian lines and shattered taboos, with some
taking aim at leaders from their own sects, illustrating a new,
unfamiliar challenge posed to the militant group. Iran-backed
Hezbollah built a reputation among supporters as a champion of the
poor and a defender of Lebanon against Israel’s much more powerful
military. It and its Shiite ally, the Amal party, have enjoyed
overwhelming backing among the Shiite community since the end of the
1975-1990 civil war, making them a political powerhouse that, along
with allies, has dominated recent governments.”
Middle East
The
Wall Street Journal: In Golan Heights, Israel Intercepts Rockets From
Syria
“Israel’s military said four rockets were fired from Syria toward
the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights early Tuesday, ratcheting up
tensions in Israel’s north just days after a shaky cease-fire ended
fighting with Iran-backed militants in Gaza that had raised concerns
of a wider conflict in the country’s south. The rockets were
intercepted by Israel’s air-defense systems and caused no harm to
Israeli communities, Israel’s military said. For more than a year,
Israel has conducted an air campaign in Syria that it has recently
expanded into Iraq and Lebanon. It is aimed at stopping what Israel
says are Iranian efforts to entrench itself militarily and move
weapons to allied groups in the region. Israel has alleged Iran
maintains military bases in Syria and Israeli officials have recently
warned that Tehran is planning to launch attacks against it from
Syria. Iran says its military presence in Syria is part of what it
describes as an axis of resistance against Israel, and is meant to
deter attacks on Iran. It couldn’t be determined if Tuesday’s rocket
attack was preplanned or in response to explosions heard—according to
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency—near the Damascus airport around
the same time. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
in a statement Tuesday morning that “fierce explosions” took place in
the Damascus region at dawn, after Israeli aircraft fired five rockets
at sites located west and southwest of the Syrian capital. The
statement said the organization had no reports yet of casualties.
Iranian and Hezbollah forces operate in the areas of the strikes, the
group said.”
The
New York Times: Israel Intercepts Four Rockets Launched From
Syria
“Four rockets were launched from Syria toward the
Israeli-controlled Golan Heights at dawn on Tuesday, setting off
air-raid sirens but causing no harm, according to the Israeli
military. The military said that the incoming fire was intercepted by
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system and that it appeared no rockets
had fallen on the Israeli-controlled side of the line. It was not
immediately clear if the rocket fire from Syria was meant as a
surprise attack or came in response to Israeli activity across its
northern frontier. Around the same time as the rocket launches, Sana,
the official Syrian news agency, reported that explosions were heard
in the vicinity of the Damascus airport. An Israeli military
spokeswoman had no comment on the report from Syria.”
The
National: Qatar's Silence On Iran's Ship Attacks ‘Devastating At All
Levels'
“A western intelligence report showing Qatar knew of Iranian plans
to attack four ships off the coast of the UAE could have “devastating”
legal implications for Doha, an international relations expert said.
Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of the London consultancy Cornerstone Global
Associates, also told The National the intelligence report, which
detailed how Qatar failed to warn its western allies of the May
attack, showed Doha was “clearly not a trusted ally” of the West. “The
intelligence is very serious and has very serious implications for
Qatar,” Mr Nuseibeh said. “It could not have come at a worse time for
Qatar, after a serious of allegations of Qatar’s associations with
extremists around the world. "If proven, those allegations could have
devastating legal implications against Qatar on all political,
economic and military levels." The report, Fox News, detailed how the
international wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the
Quds Force, targeted two Saudi tankers, a Norwegian tanker and a UAE
vessel near the port of Fujairah on May 12. The attack came amid
rising tension between the US and Iran over American sanctions seeking
to block Iranian oil exports. “Elements of civilian government of
Iran, as well as the state of Qatar, were aware of the IRGC’s
activities,” the report said. French and British politicians have
raised alarm over Qatar’s failure to alert its western allies.”
Egypt
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Egypt Sentences Libyan Terrorist To Death For Killing 11
Policemen
“An Egyptian military court sentenced a Libyan man to death after
being convicted alongside others of a terrorist operation, which
killed 11 policemen, and the deadly attack at the Al-Wahat highway in
2017. The court ordered the death sentence for Mohamed al-Mesmary, the
Egyptian army spokesperson Tamer al-Rifai said in a statement. The
court also issued prison sentences to 32 defendants, while 20 others
were acquitted. It accused the defendants of committing several
crimes, including forming the terrorist al-Fatah extremist group in
Libya. They were charged with killing 11 security forces members in
Wahat, taking some hostage and seizing their weapons and ammunition.
The main defendant is Mesmary, a Libyan who received training from now
dead Egyptian terrorist Imadeddine Ahmed. He participated in attacks
against the police officers in the Bahariya Oasis and the abduction of
Captain Mohammed al-Haies. Investigations revealed that Mesmary was
trained to use machine guns and make bombs in camps inside Libyan
territories. He also established a training camp in the al-Wahat
desert area, joining several terrorists to carry out operations
against churches and state institutions.”
Libya
The
New York Times: U.S. Drone Strikes Stymie ISIS In Southern
Libya
“A recent flurry of American airstrikes against Islamic State
fighters in southern Libya has seriously disrupted the terrorist
group’s efforts to reorganize and carry out attacks in one of its most
important hubs outside the Middle East, military and counterterrorism
officials say. Over 10 days in late September, four strikes killed 43
militants — or about one-third of the group’s estimated 150 fighters
in Libya — including some important commanders and recruiters,
according to officials at the headquarters of the Pentagon’s Africa
Command. The strikes, which other officials said were carried out by
Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drones based in neighboring Niger, came as the
Islamic State had increased recruiting and attacks in recent months in
the largely ungoverned spaces of southwest Libya. Several new camps of
fighters had emerged in that area, prompting the first American
strikes against ISIS in Libya this year. “The most critical, enduring
weakness for both ISIS Libya and A.Q.I.M. is recruitment,” Rear Adm.
Heidi Berg, the command’s director of intelligence, said in an
interview, referring to the Islamic State and Al Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb, which is active in Libya.”
Nigeria
Pulse
Nigeria: Troops Overcome Another Ambush By Boko Haram Terrorist In
Dikwa
“The Nigerian Army says its troops have overcome another ambush by
the Boko Haram terrorist in Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno. The
Nigerian Army Operations Media Coordinator, Col. Aminu Iliyasu,
disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.Iliyasu said that the
encounter took place on Monday when troops of 153 Task Force Battalion
deployed at New Marte embarked on fighting patrol to Dikwa to hunt and
destroy remnants of the insurgents. According to him, the troops
encountered an ambush staged against them by some remnants of the
criminal Boko Haram insurgents along the patrol route at Ala Village,
7 km away from New Marte. “The ambush was reinforced with a crudely
prepared Improvised Explosive Device planted by them against the
troops. “In a rare display of boldness, resilience and faithful
service to their fatherland, the troops, turned around the initial
setback and dealt a devastating blow on the criminals. “Having so
clearly asserted their superiority in the ensuing firefight, the
criminal insurgents were forced to flee in disarray.” “The gallant
troops then embarked on a relentless pursuit of the scampering
insurgents who abandoned some of their fighting equipment in utter
confusion,” he said.”
Sahara
Reporters: Survivors Of Boko Haram Attacks Adopt New Strategy To
Rebuild Communities, Restore Hope
“Survivors of armed conflicts in Northern Nigeria especially Boko
Haram attacks have invented local savings initiative for economic
recovery in a bid to restore hope in their communities. The survivors,
who had formed groups of 25 persons (50 percent women) have leveraged
on a European Union's £11m supported program to build a new lease of
life. The EU had in the aftermath of Boko Haram and other violent
conflicts launched 14 key self-help components in Adamawa and Kebbi
states to help affected families build resilience against hunger and
poverty. In Adamawa State for instance, over 25,000 households have
benefited from the initiative by creating local savings and loan
scheme known Village Savings and Loan (VSL) scheme. Besides the VSL,
the livestock transfer component has lifted 2870 poor families out of
poverty. Under the scheme, a household receives a goat and afterward
transfer its offspring to another beneficiary on the down-line. In the
same vein, the villagers also operate food loan scheme and so far 350
food reserve/grain banks have been constructed. Through these
components, they contribute into a weekly savings box and so far the
clusters have saved over N1m each, besides unrecovered loans.”
United Kingdom
The
National: Briton In Court Over Syria Terrorist
Charges
“A 26-year-old Briton appeared in court on Monday over a
Syria-related terrorist offence after he was deported by Turkey. Mamun
Rashid, from east London, was arrested by police at Heathrow Airport
on Thursday. The arrest came after Turkey said it would deport alleged
foreign ISIS members who were held in its prisons or parts of Syria it
controlled following its military push into Kurdish-held regions. Mr
Rashid confirmed his identity and British nationality in court on
Monday but did not enter a plea to the charge of preparing terrorist
acts. He was remanded in custody by a London magistrate and will
appear in court again next month.”
Germany
The
Guardian: Neo-Nazi Terror Group Threatened ‘To Find And Harm’ US
Activist In Germany
“An US activist in Germany who was targeted by the neo-Nazi terror
group Atomwaffen Division (AWD) has told the Guardian German police
were last year warned by US authorities of “a specific threat to find
me and do me harm”. The activist, who moved to Germany in part because
of the threats she was receiving from the far right in the US, was
told last November that German Federal Criminal Police had been warned
by US federal authorities about an AWD member who had traveled to
Germany with the possible intention of harming her. She was also
advised to take security precautions, including delisting her address
from official government records, and to exercise vigilance when
walking at night. The activist, whose name is being withheld due to
safety concerns, has been a consistent and vocal critic of the far
right, and has participated in prominent anti-fascist demonstrations.
She showed the Guardian Twitter direct messages sent by German police
last November, asking her to call them about the threat. German
magazine Der Spiegel, who first reported on the transnational warning,
confirmed the activist’s account with German authorities. The activist
believes the person who triggered international concerns was allowed
to enter the country.”
Australia
The
Guardian: Accused Far-Right Terrorist Says How-To Massacre Document
Was 'Satire'
“A man accused of plotting terror attacks in Melbourne says his
how-to document referring to “building destruction” and a “massacre”
was intended to be a Monty Python-esque satire. Phillip Galea has also
described himself as a self-taught electrical engineer, but insists he
has never used his scientific knowledge to harm anyone. The
35-year-old expressed the sentiments while being questioned by his
lawyer in his trial in the supreme court of Victoria on Tuesday. Galea
has been accused of plotting attacks on Melbourne anarchist and
socialist groups between August 2015 and 2016 to “eliminate the
leaders of the left”. He was also allegedly working on a terror how-to
document he called the “Patriot’s Cookbook”, prosecutors say. But
Galea – who was associated with the far-right group Reclaim Australia
– insists he was making a “satirical document” for people to enjoy,
inspired by another “hilarious” parody book. “I intended it to be
taken as a joke,” he said. “I’d intended to include disclaimers every
couple of pages which would be taking the piss out of the content ...
taking the piss out of everyone and everything.” Asked by his lawyer
Felicity Gerry QC whether the comedy was a similar style to that of
the Monty Python group, Galea said it was. “The same sort of humour,
yes.”
Europe
The
Telegraph: Russian Mercenaries 'Beat And Beheaded Syrian Man' In
Leaked Video
“A video has emerged purporting to show Russian mercenaries
torturing and beheading a Syrian army deserter, in what is thought to
be rare footage of Moscow's shadowy paramilitary outfit operating in
Syria. The video, which dates to 2017 but was only released in full on
Russian social media site VK last week, appears to show
Russian-speaking fighters striking the man with a sledgehammer before
decapitating him and lynching his body. It came to the attention of
online sleuths who used open-source intelligence to geolocate the
footage to al-Shaer oil fields in Homs, central Syria, which was under
Russian and Syrian government control at the time of the attack.
Russia has been fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad since it intervened in the war in 2015. The Syrian army,
depleted by mass defections and casualties, had been struggling before
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, decided to support the regime
with air cover and troops on the ground. The video is understood to
have been posted last week on a private VK account linked to Russian
security contractors called Wagner Group.”
Southeast Asia
Reuters:
Indonesia Police Link Suicide Bombing To Islamic State-Inspired
Group
“Indonesian anti-terrorism officers shot dead two suspected bomb
makers during a raid on the weekend and arrested more than a dozen as
authorities linked a suicide bombing last week to an Islamic
State-inspired network, police said on Monday. A 24-year-old student
blew himself up outside a police station in the city of Medan in North
Sumatra province last Wednesday, killing himself and wounding six
people. Police had initially declared the attacker to be a “lone
wolf”, but a national police spokesman said on Monday the student
along with 22 other suspects in the area had links to the Islamic
State-inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD). JAD has been blamed for a
series of attacks in recent years and was banned in Indonesia last
year for “conducting terrorism” and being affiliated with foreign
militants. “(The network in) North Sumatra has direct links to JAD,”
police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said in a statement, adding that a
leader of the group had been arrested.”Their main target is the
police,” Prasetyo said in comments broadcast on television. Of the 23
suspects, two suspected bomb-makers were shot dead on Saturday while
resisting arrest, while one officer was wounded during the raid, said
Prasetyo. Bomb-making material was seized, he said.”
Associated
Press: Indonesia Arrests 43 People Following Suicide
Attack
“Indonesian police said Monday that they have arrested 43 suspected
militants believed to have links to last week’s suicide attack at a
busy police station in the country’s third-largest city. National
police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said those arrested are suspected
members of a local affiliate of the Islamic State group known as the
Jama’ah Anshorut Daulah. He said police seized explosives, guns,
knives, arrows and jihadi documents from the suspects. The arrests
were made in seven provinces and include the group’s leader, Prasetyo
said at a news conference in the capital, Jakarta. The Nov. 13 suicide
bombing involving a lone attacker in Medan wounded six people. Among
the suspects arrested in the raids were 20 members of JAD who have
attended military-style jihadi training in North Sumatra’s Mount
Sibayak, Prasetyo said. Police on Saturday killed two suspected
militants in a shootout in North Sumatra province’s Hamparan Perak
village. Police said they believe the two were the bombmakers in the
Medan attack. A day later, four suspects surrendered to authorities,
Prasetyo said. JAD has been implicated in numerous attacks in
Indonesia over the past two years and was designated a terror
organization by the U.S. in 2017.”
Technology
The
Wall Street Journal: FTC Says Several Tech Antitrust Probes Are Under
Way
“The Federal Trade Commission is pursuing several antitrust
investigations into online platforms, the agency said, suggesting a
broader review of the technology sector than previously known. FTC
Chairman Joseph Simons said Monday that in addition to the agency’s
probe of Facebook Inc., which that company has disclosed, the agency
has “multiple other investigations going on with major platforms.” The
FTC has interviewed sellers on Amazon.com Inc.’s online marketplace,
according to some of the sellers who have spoken with the agency.
Amazon hasn’t disclosed being notified of a formal FTC probe and
didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The FTC enforces
U.S. antitrust laws along with the Justice Department and state
attorneys general. Those entities are also investigating whether large
tech firms are abusing their market power. Facebook and Alphabet Inc.,
owner of Google, are the subject of both state and DOJ probes,
according to the companies and regulators’ public statements. The
companies have said they are cooperating with investigators and that
they acquired their market positions legally—by making products
benefiting consumers.”
The
New York Times: Silicon Valley’s Biggest Foe Is Getting Even
Tougher
“Margrethe Vestager spent the past five years developing a
well-earned reputation as the world’s top tech industry watchdog. From
her perch overseeing Europe’s competition rules, she fined Google more
than $9 billion for breaking antitrust laws, and forced Apple to pay
about $14.5 billion for dodging taxes. Now she says that work, which
made her a hero among tech critics, did not go far enough. The biggest
tech companies continue to test the limits of antitrust laws, behave
unethically and push back against government intervention, she said.
But she said the public’s growing skepticism about technology has
given her an opportunity for a tougher approach. “In the last five
years,” Ms. Vestager said in an extended interview, “some of the
darker sides of digital technologies have become visible.” So Ms.
Vestager, a 51-year-old former Danish lawmaker, is doubling down. She
has signed on for a rare second five-year term as the head of the
European Commission’s antitrust division, and assumed expanded
responsibility over digital policy across the 28-nation bloc.”
The
Telegraph: Isil Terrorists Hack Ordinary People's Dormant Twitter
Accounts To Promote Jihad
“ISIL supporters are hacking into people’s dormant Twitter accounts
to hijack them to promote jihad and celebrate their dead leader Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi. They are circumventing email and identity checks by
taking over accounts that range from individuals’ in the UK and across
the world to a local cricket club in Australia. The posts celebrate
Isil killings, battles and individual jihadists as well as
Al-Baghdadi, often posted against a backdrop of Isil iconography on
flags or posters. Typical is one with images of armed Isil fighters
which declares: “With God almighty, soldiers in the caliphate targeted
officers in a prison, using a pistol, and which led him to perish,
thanks be to God.” Others feature armed soldiers digging graves,
preparing fortifications and marching to the frontline with Arabic
script urging people to join the jihad. The hacking has been uncovered
by Eric Feinberg, founder of the Global Intellectual Property
Enforcement Center who has developed technology to detect
communications of terrorists in Arabic and other languages and thus
trace material that might be missed by the platforms. “This is a
hacking of dormant accounts to spread propaganda via hashtagging ‘dog
whistle’ words like #Afghanistan #Iraq and # alBaghdadi in Arabic,”
said Mr Feinberg.”
|
