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Eye on Extremism
March 28, 2022
The Washington Post: Trial To Begin In ISIS Killings Of U.S. Journalists, Aid Workers
“The only trial in U.S. court for a member of an infamous terrorist cell is set to begin Tuesday, as El Shafee Elsheikh stands accused of taking part in the capture and murder of journalists and aid workers by the Islamic State. Elsheikh, 33, was one of four ISIS militants who traveled to Syria from London and whose British accents led prisoners of the terrorist group to label them the “Beatles.” Some of those prisoners were released in exchange for ransom money from foreign governments. When countries would not pay, their hostages were slain — some beheaded on videos that were broadcast around the world. He is in federal court in Alexandria because of the deaths of four Americans who were reporting on or supporting victims of the Syrian civil war — journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. Prosecutors say he is also implicated in the deaths of British, Japanese and Norwegian captives. Mohamed Emwazi, a member of the cell who was known as “Jihadi John” before he was identified, killed many of those prisoners himself, on camera, while taunting Western leaders. He died in a drone strike in 2015. The other three guarded the hostages and handled ransom negotiations.”
AFP: Two Israeli Police Dead In 'Terrorist' Shooting In North
“Two Israeli police were killed in a “terrorist” attack Sunday in the northern city of Hadera before officers shot the assailants dead, police and medics said. The deadly attack comes as four Arab foreign ministers and the US secretary of state are gathering in southern Israel in an unprecedented regional meeting. Police said that “two terrorists arrived at Herbert Samuel Street in Hadera, and began shooting at a police force there,” resulting in two deaths. Members of “an Israeli counterterrorism force happened to be in a restaurant nearby and they ran out and neutralised the terrorists,” police said in a statement. Dudu Boani, the police deputy commander for the region, told reporters that the two victims of the attack were police officers. He said the assailants were shot dead. The Magen David Adom emergency medical responders said that “two Israelis” were killed in the attack -- a man and a woman -- with four other people taken to hospital and two more treated at the scene. Residents in Umm El Fahm, near Hadera, said police had deployed heavily in the Arab Israeli city. An Israeli official said security forces suspect the perpetrators were Arab Israelis. Defence Minister Benny Gantz's office said he was conducting a situation assessment with military, police and intelligence chiefs, while Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said the premier was headed to the attack site.”
United States
“A man from Maine and two teenagers planned an ISIS-inspired attack on a Shia Muslim mosque near Chicago, newly unsealed court documents revealed on Friday. The FBI said Xavier Pelkey of Waterville, Maine, and the two teens — one from the Chicago area and one from Kentucky — communicated through Instagram and other chat platforms with plans to meet in Chicago during “spring break.” The teens were not named due to their age. The teenager in Chicago allegedly told the FBI that the plan was to “enter the Shia mosque and separate the adults from the children, then murder the adults” all in the name of ISIS, according to a court filing. “If they had not encountered law enforcement at that point, they would continue on to another Shia mosque or Jewish synagogue and execute the same plan. They did not have a plan to escape but rather their plan ended with them being shot by law enforcement,” the FBI said in its filing. The FBI conducted search warrants in February at the teenagers' houses in Chicago and in Kentucky. During those raids, “agents from Chicago FBI seized multiple firearms, including a Remington pump shotgun, swords, knives, a bow and arrows, multiple homemade ISIS flags, and multiple electronic devices from Juvenile #1’s residence,” according to the FBI. When agents searched Pelkey’s home in February they allegedly found several hand-painted ISIS flags and three homemade explosives that used fireworks and also allegedly had shrapnel.”
ABC 4: Utah Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Faking ISIS Persona
“As of March 24, Murat Suljovic of Salt Lake City was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison followed by an additional 20 years of supervised release by a U.S. District Court Judge in Utah. According to police records, the 24-year-old’s crimes date back to 2019 when he attempted to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS), a designated terrorist organization. According to the plea agreement, Suljovic admitted to using an online persona to pretend to be an ISIS leader and provide would-be attackers advice on potential targets as well as how to plan their attacks. Suljovic additionally admitted to using this persona to provide a bomb-making tutorial video to someone he believed to be an ISIS member, with the understanding that the video would be used to train and assist the execution of ISIS attacks. The case was investigated by the FBI and members of its Joint Terrorism Task Force as well as prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carl D. LeSueur and Tyler L. Murray of the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office with the assistance of National Security Division Counterterrorism Section Trial Attorney Michael Dittoe. “Suljovic provided advice on potential targets, along with providing a bomb-making tutorial video and advice on how to plan an attack, to people he believed were motivated to carry out a terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS,” said United States Attorney Andrea Martinez.”
Boston.com: ‘Stand Up To This Kin Of Scum’: South Boston Gathering To Call Out Local Neo-Nazis
“…The Nationalist Social Club is identified as a neo-Nazi group by both the Counter Extremism Project and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The group was formed in eastern Massachusetts in 2019 and claims to have small, independent groups throughout Europe and the United States, according to the ADL. Stickers for the organization have also turned up on MBTA vehicles recently. The transit agency, in a tweet on Thursday, advised passengers who see them to report them so they may be removed. Saturday’s gathering, slated for noon, comes on the heels of an online spat between NSC 131 and local Celtic punk rockers, the Dropkick Murphys. The Quincy-based band served the neo-Nazi organization a cease and desist letter earlier this week, after one of Webber’s tweets highlighted how the group illegally used the band’s song, “The Boys Are Back,” in a promotional video of sorts. “F***** Losers,” the band wrote in a tweet. “Stop using our song for your little dress up party video. We will SMASH you 👊🏻.” When someone responded, “Link up or shut up, 131 will rock your s***,” the band’s account fired back: “I’ll be down M Street park on Saturday at 12:30 walking my dogs if you’ll are looking to discuss.” (sic) “What’s to talk about. Said we’re we’d be Saturday 🤷🏻♂️,” the band added.”
Iraq
The National: Iraq Building Wall To Keep Out ISIS Fighters From Syria
“Iraq is building a concrete wall along part of its border with Syria to stop ISIS fighters from infiltrating, a military source said Sunday. In the first section, a wall of about “a dozen kilometres, 3.5 metres high, was built in Nineveh province”, in the Sinjar area of north-west Iraq, a senior officer told AFP. Iraq, whose border with Syria is more than 600 kilometres long, will use the wall to stop ISIS members infiltrating its territory, the source said, without giving details of how long the wall would be. Iraq in 2018 said it had begun building a fence along the Syrian border for the same reason. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the wall was being built in an area facing the town of Al Shaddadi, in the south of Syria's Hasakeh province. In January in the Kurdish-controlled province, ISIS fighters attacked a prison to free fellow extremists, sparking days of clashes that killed hundreds. Many prisoners are thought to have escaped, with some crossing to Syria's north, the Observatory said. ISIS overran large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, declaring a “caliphate”. Baghdad declared victory over the extremists in late 2017 after a grinding campaign. But a low-level insurgency has persisted, flaring up particularly in rural and mountainous areas between Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and northern outskirts of the capital.”
Afghanistan
Foreign Affairs: The Taliban Have Not Moderated
“When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, some observers suggested that their approach to governance might prove more moderate this time around. Twenty years had elapsed since the group was last in charge. The country had transformed dramatically, and with the fight against the United States over, tasks like collecting garbage and keeping the lights on now seemed largely nonideological in nature. The Taliban’s initial actions in office, however, quickly dashed those hopes. The group has embraced a narrow, repressive rule, barring more than one million girls from school and reinstating the notorious Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice—one of the Taliban’s most powerful institutions of social control--on the premises of the now-defunct Ministry of Women’s Affairs. This should come as no surprise, given the movement’s past record and the means by which it returned to power. The departure of U.S. troops, followed by the Afghan government’s abdication, cleared the way for the Taliban to assume control without conceding much of anything. The Afghan people will pay the steepest price for this draconian, regressive rule. But foreign governments should not assume they are immune to events on the ground. Civil war could be possible, and the ensuing chaos could create a breeding ground for still more militant extremism.”
Pakistan
Associated Press: Pakistan Army Says Security Forces Kill 6 Separatists
“The Pakistani army said Saturday that security forces killed six Baluch militants during a raid at their hideout in the country’s volatile southwest. In a statement, the military said the raid was conducted in the Nagao mountains near the Sibbi district of Baluchistan. Militants opened fire triggering a shootout in which six of them were killed. One soldier was also killed and two others wounded in the heavy exchange of fire. The dead militants were involved in recent attacks in Sibbi and surroundings. Troops recovered weapons and ammunition from the hideout. Baluchistan has been the scene of a low level insurgency by Baluch separatists, who want independence from Islamabad.”
Egypt
Al Monitor: Islamic State Affiliate In Sinai Steps Up Attacks Under New Leader
“Egypt’s security authorities are closely following up on the situation in the Sinai Peninsula following the appointment of Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as the Islamic State’s (IS) new commander after IS-affiliate Wilayat Sinai pledged allegiance to the new leader. On March 17, IS published on its media mouthpiece Amaq photos of Wilayat Sinai militants pledging allegiance to Qurashi. Wilayat Sinai was previously known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, before pledging allegiance to IS in November 2014, when the organization was led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi at the time. On March 11, Reuters revealed that the new IS leader is the brother of Baghdadi, who was killed in a US raid in northern Syria in 2019. On March 10, IS confirmed the death of its leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who is believed to have blown himself up Feb. 3 during a US raid in the border town of Atmeh in northwest Syria. Meanwhile, Egyptian media has been busy shedding light on IS’ new leader. Al-Bawaba news reported March 10 that the new IS leader is Iraqi and was one of the leading commanders who were close to the IS founder, Baghdadi. In its March 11 report, Reuters quoted an Iraqi security official as saying that the new leader “is a radical who joined Salafi jihadi groups in 2003 and was known to always accompany Baghdadi as a personal companion and Islamic legal adviser.”
Nigeria
Reuters: Gunmen Kill One In Airport Attack In Nigeria
“Gunmen killed one person during an airport attack in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna on Saturday afternoon, three sources working at the airport said, the latest in a series of attacks by gunmen in the north of the country. A ground crew and two airport officials said armed men entered the airport premises through a perimeter fence from a nearby forest and started shooting sporadically to scare workers. “They opened fire on the NAMA (Nigerian Airspace Management Agency) security staff, killing him instantly and tried to invade the runway to prevent (an) aircraft from taking off,” said the ground crew, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press. The two airport officials said armed security managed to repel the gunmen, preventing them from gaining access to the main airport complex. A police spokesperson for Kaduna state did not respond to calls or text messages seeking comment. Gunmen have spread terror across Nigeria's northwest, where they have attacked and killed villagers and security officials and kidnapped hundreds of school children and villagers for ransom.”
Al Jazeera: US Sanctions Six Nigerians For Aiding Boko Haram
“The United States has imposed new sanctions on individuals connected with Nigeria’s armed group Boko Haram, the Treasury Department announced. Six Nigerian nationals who were found guilty of setting up a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates to raise funds for fighters in Nigeria have been placed on the sanctions list. “With this action, the United States joins the UAE in targeting terrorist financing networks of mutual concern,” Under-Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson said on Friday. “Treasury continues to target financial facilitators of terrorist activity worldwide. We welcome multilateral action on this Boko Haram network to ensure that it is not able to move any further funds through the international financial system,” he added. The men, identified as Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad, were convicted in the UAE of attempting to send $782,000 from Dubai to Nigeria. Adamu and Muhammad were sentenced to life in prison for violating UAE anti-terrorism laws, while Musa, Yusuf, Isa and Alhassan received sentences of 10 years in prison followed by deportation.”
Africa
Reuters: Tunisia Says It Has Dismantled 150 Militant Cells In Past 6 Months
“Tunisian police forces have dismantled about 150 militant cells in the past six months, a spokesman for the National Guard said on Saturday. He added that some of the foreign militants arrested were planning to join “Jond Kilafha”, a group linked to Islamic State in Libya and in the mountains on the Tunisian-Algerian border. “Attempts of attacks targeting neighbouring countries were thwarted and a cell that was planning to stab the interior minister in the south of the country was dismantled,” Houssem Eddine Jbebli told reporters. The North African nation has been under a state of emergency since 2015, after an assault in which a number of presidential guards were killed. Tunisian security forces have thwarted most militant plots in recent years and have become more efficient at responding to those attacks that do occur.”
United Kingdom
BBC News: Two Teenagers In Court Accused Of Preparing Terrorist Acts
“Two teenagers have appeared in court charged with terrorist offences. Al-Arafat Hassan, 19, from Enfield, north London, and a 15-year-old boy from Leeds each face a charge of preparing terrorist acts. The two appeared at the Old Bailey via video link and were remanded in custody. A plea hearing has been set for 29 July, with a provisional trial date set by Mr Justice Sweeney for 4 October at Leeds Crown Court. The 15-year-old is accused of the research and purchase of knives and online research to acquire components for an explosive device between 9 January and 20 March. Mr Hassan is accused of purchasing knives, acquiring chemicals and conducting online research to acquire components for an explosive device between 12 January and 27 February.”
“An alleged far-right extremist has appeared at the Old Bailey accused of having a stash of terrorist documents. Charles Cannon, 20, from Highfield Avenue, Aldershot, Hampshire, is charged with seven counts of possession of terrorist information. It allegedly includes details on homemade explosives, 'unconventional warfare devices and techniques', and 'booby traps'. The offences were said to have taken place on dates between March 2018 and June 26 2019. On Friday the defendant appeared at the Old Bailey by video link for a preliminary hearing. Mr Justice Sweeney set a plea hearing for July 1 and a provisional trial at Winchester Crown Court from October 10. The defendant, who spoke to confirm his identity, was granted continued conditional bail. Far-right extremism is on the rise with an attack in London likely in the next 12 months, according to intelligence on threats facing the capital. Officials who have seen the security assessment said far-Right militants are now thought more likely to mount an attack in London than Islamist terrorists. Analysis by the Metropolitan Police and MI5 suggests the surge has been triggered by anger at an influx of 15,000 Afghan refugees flown to Britain in August. Other factors were the Black Lives Matter protests and Covid restrictions.”
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Germany: Ex-Soldier Charged With Planning Terror Attack
“State prosecutors in Frankfurt on Friday charged a former soldier with plotting a serious terror attack. The 22-year-old former member of the German military, the Bundeswehr, together with his father and brother, were found to have a cache of weapons as well as material pointing to a plot to overthrow the German state. Prosecutors said the man kept “a large number of short and long guns” he did not have a license for, as well as “grenades and ammunition as well as various explosive devices.” According to investigators, the man was inspired by Nazi ideology, and had written a manifesto to that effect by the age of 16. He allegedly began to hatch a plan to create a militant neo-Nazi organization to take over Germany and rid it of immigrants and refugees. By July 2020, officials said, he had become determined to implement his plan. Family members also charged His father, 64, and brother, 21, are alleged to have approved of the plan. The weapons cache was hidden amongst a series of garages adjoining their properties in the district of Hochtaunus, northwest of Frankfurt. The two family members have been charged with aiding and abetting. All three are also facing charges of violating weapons and explosives laws. They have been in custody since 2021 as investigators worked to determine the extent of their crimes.”
Europe
Financial Times: Ericsson Shareholders To Deal Blow To CEO Over Possible Isis Payments
“Foreign shareholders are set to strike a blow at the chief executive and board of Ericsson over the Swedish telecoms equipment maker’s handling of possible payments to the Isis terror group that wiped a third off its share price. Norway’s $1.3tn oil fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund and a top-10 Ericsson shareholder, will vote against discharging chief executive Borje Ekholm and several other directors from liability at Tuesday’s annual meeting. Glass Lewis and ISS, the two largest proxy advisory companies whose advice is followed by many investors, have both recommended that shareholders vote against Ekholm and other directors. Ekholm said last month that payments were made for transport routes in Iraq in areas controlled by terror groups including Isis but that Ericsson could find no evidence whether the money went to Isis or not. The US Department of Justice responded earlier this month by saying Ericsson had breached its deferred prosecution agreement — imposed in a settlement for bribery in five countries in 2019 — for the second time. Ericsson’s shares fell by a third in two weeks before recovering somewhat in recent days. “Basically, we don’t trust them. We wonder whether they’re hiding something, otherwise they would come clean. The governance is dysfunctional,” one top-10 shareholder told the Financial Times.”
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