“A Pakistani court has jailed Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, founder of the
militant group blamed by the United States and India for a deadly 2008 attac

 

 


<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Eye on Extremism


April 11, 2022

 

Reuters: Pakistani Court Jails Islamist Hafiz Saeed For An Extra 31 Years
<[link removed]>

 

“A Pakistani court has jailed Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, founder of the
militant group blamed by the United States and India for a deadly 2008 attack
in India, for 31 years in connection with terrorism financing, court documents
showed. Saeed was found guilty of multiple breaches in two cases but it was not
immediately clear how much jail time the new verdict would entail given his
current incarceration and the fact that his sentences run concurrently. “The
sentences awarded to convict Hafiz Muhammad Saeed run concurrently of this case
and of previously awarded, if any,” a the court said in an order, dated April
7, that was seen by Reuters on Friday. Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba
militant group, is already in jail having been found guilty on multiple similar
charges in 2020. Saeed has been arrested and released several times over the
past decade. He denies any involvement with militancy, including the 2008
Mumbai attacks in which gunmen who slipped into Mumbai by boat from Pakistan
killed 160 people, including Americans. The United States offered a reward of
$10 million for information leading to his conviction. The latest sentencing
comes as Pakistan tries to avoid blacklisting by the global dirty money
watchdog the Financial Action Task Force, which judges a country’s ability to
combat illicit financing, including to militant organisations.”

 

The Wall Street Journal: Terrorist Attacks In Israel, Jerusalem Tensions
Challenge Palestinian Strategy
<[link removed]>

 

“A burst of terrorist attacks on civilians and rising religious tensions in
Jerusalem are testing Israel’s U.S.-backed policy of eschewing peace talks and
trying instead to improve Palestinian quality of life while building deeper
ties with Arab countries aligned against Iran. A rare spate of violence against
civilians within central and southern Israel has left 14 victims dead in four
apparently unconnected attacks in different cities. The latest attack was
Thursday night in central Tel Aviv, when a gunman opened fire at a bar, killing
two immediately, and a third who died of his wounds on Friday. Israeli
authorities are worried about the next two weeks when Jews and Muslims will
seek to pray at the same sites in Jerusalem during an unusual convergence of
the Jewish holiday Passover and Islam’s holy month, Ramadan. The presence of
Jewish and Muslim worshipers has been combustible in the past, and Israeli
security forces have already scuffled with Palestinians in recent days near the
Old City. The mounting tensions highlight the vulnerabilities of a paradigm
shift in Israeli-Palestinian relations that has accelerated in recent years:
That peace talks, moribund for almost a decade, aren’t necessary for Israel to
be embraced in the Arab world, and that Israel can manage its century-old
conflict with the Palestinians through trust-building and economic measures.”

 

Iran

 

The Washington Post: Biden Won’t Remove Iran’s Revolutionary Guard From Terror
List. He’s Right.
<[link removed]>

 

“The Biden administration plans to reject an Iranian demand that the United
States lift its designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a
terrorist organization as a condition for renewing the 2015 nuclear agreement —
putting completion of the deal in jeopardy. A senior administration official
told me that President Biden doesn’t intend to concede on the terrorist
designation, even though this may be a dealbreaker: “The onus is on Iran as to
whether we have a nuclear deal. The president will stick to core principles.
The Iranians know our views.” The official’s comments amplify a statement
earlier this week by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Asked during an
interview with NBC News whether the IRGC is a terrorist organization, Blinken
answered, “So, they are.” He continued: “I’m not overly optimistic at the
prospects of actually getting [the nuclear] agreement to conclusion.” Iran’s
demand that the United States remove the IRGC from its “foreign terrorist
organization,” or FTO, list has emerged as the main obstacle to reviving the
2015 nuclear pact. European countries have urged the United States to find a
compromise formula that will save the deal, whose basic provisions have been
negotiated in Vienna over the past year.”

 

Iraq

 

France 24: Iraq Official Warns Of Jihadist Threat From Syria Camp
<[link removed]>

 

“The Al-Hol camp for displaced people in Syria is a jihadist threat and should
be dismantled, a senior Iraqi security official said on Saturday. Al-Hol, in
the Kurdish-controlled northeast, is Syria's largest camp for displaced people.
It houses about 56,000 including displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, some of
whom maintain links with the Islamic State group (IS). About 10,000 are
foreigners, including relatives of jihadists. “Each day that passes with the
camp still there, hate grows and terrorism thrives,” Iraq's national security
adviser, Qassem al-Araji, told an international conference about the camp. IS
“continues to represent a real threat at Al-Hol,” Araji told delegates who
included ambassadors from the United States and France. The overcrowded camp is
controlled by the autonomous Kurdish administration and lies less than 10
kilometres (six miles) from the Iraqi border. Araji called on foreign
governments to repatriate their citizens from Al-Hol, and urged rapid
dismantlement of the camp. Most of Al-Hol's residents are people who fled or
surrendered in Syria during the dying days of IS's self-proclaimed “caliphate”
in March 2019.”

 

Kurdistan 24: Iraqi Airstrikes Killed 70 ISIS Members In Past Three Months
<[link removed]>

 

“Iraqi airstrikes killed at least 70 ISIS militants over the past three
months, according to a top security official.  Even though Iraq carries out
regular airstrikes and operations against ISIS militants, the group still “pose
a threat” in northern, eastern, and western provinces, including Diyala,
Kirkuk, southwest Nineveh, Anbar, and north Baghdad, Major General Tahsin
Al-Khafaji told Iraqi state media on Friday. Based on accurate intelligence,
the Iraqi Air Force eliminated 70 ISIS members. Iraq regularly carries out
airstrikes against ISIS using its F-16 fighter jets. Khafaji said that security
forces had stopped the infiltration of terrorists into the country,
particularly from the Syrian border. The government is presently strengthening
its security measures on that border by installing surveillance cameras and
building observation towers and wire barriers. Following the conclusion of the
US-led coalition’s combat mission in Iraq, the country’s air force has ramped
up its efforts to target the group to prevent it from making a resurgence.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Axios: American Released By Taliban Recounts Months-Long Nightmare
<[link removed]>

 

“An American citizen detained by the Taliban says he was wrongfully accused of
espionage but that his release can be a case study for U.S. diplomacy with the
still-unrecognized Afghan government. Driving the news: Safi Rauf, 27, whose
non-profit helped evacuate thousands of at-risk Afghans during the fall of
Kabul — including an interpreter who once helped President Biden — shared new
details of his 105-day detention in an interview with Axios. President Biden
called Rauf on Thursday, hours after the interview, and invited him and his
family to the White House next week, Rauf's girlfriend, Sammi Cannold, told
Axios. Flashback: Rauf was born in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan and came
to the U.S. as a teenager. He deployed to Afghanistan for four years as a
linguist and cultural adviser embedded with the military and continues to serve
as a Navy reservist. Rauf first visited Taliban-controlled Kabul in November
while the aid group he founded with his brothers, Human First Coalition, was
assessing how to stem the rapidly unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
He said he worked closely with the U.S. government and the Taliban to provide
aid and evacuate Afghans who had documents to leave — and that both entities
were “completely on board” with Human First's operations.”

 

Middle East

 

Associated Press: Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Militant In West Bank Raid
<[link removed]>

 

“Israeli troops on Saturday raided the hometown of a Palestinian who carried
out a deadly shooting in Tel Aviv, sparking a gunbattle in the occupied West
Bank that left at least one Palestinian militant dead, according to Israeli and
Palestinian accounts. The arrest raid was the latest in a series of events that
have escalated tensions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Clashes and
protests in Jerusalem last year helped spark an 11-day war with Hamas militants
in the Gaza Strip. In Saturday's raid, the Israeli military said it conducted
what it described as a counterterrorism operation in and around the city of
Jenin — the area in the northern West Bank where the gunman in Thursday's
attack had lived. It said troops were surveying the attacker's home “to examine
the potential demolition of the house.” Israel often demolishes the homes of
Palestinian attackers in a controversial practice that it says deters future
attackers but which critics dismiss as collective punishment. The army said it
also conducted an arrest operation on people suspected of militant activity.
During the raids, it said soldiers came under fire. Troops fired back, killing
one militant. The Islamic Jihad militant group identified the man as a member.”

 

Reuters: Bahrain, UAE Condemn 'Terrorist' Shooting In Tel Aviv
<[link removed]>

 

“Bahrain on Friday condemned the attack that took place in Tel Aviv late on
Thursday, describing it as a “terrorist operation” and offering condolences to
the families of the victims and the Israeli government. “We reiterate the
Kingdom of Bahrain's position that opposes all forms of terrorism and violence
no matter the motives and the justifications”, the foreign ministry said in a
statement. Later, the United Arab Emirates' embassy in Israel tweeted its
condemnation of the attack, offering condolences to the families of the
victims. Both countries formally established relations with Israel in 2020 as
part of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that also included Morocco. A
Palestinian who killed two people in a Tel Aviv bar late on Thursday was shot
dead by Israeli security forces on Friday after an hours-long manhunt through
the city.”

 

Egypt

 

Al Jazeera: Palm Sunday Church Attacks: Egypt’s ‘Worst Day Of Violence’
<[link removed]>

 

“Beshoy Abd el-Malak, an Alexandria-based plumber, spent the night before Palm
Sunday in 2017 weaving palm fronds into crosses and hearts at home with his
family. This is part of the Coptic Christian tradition to celebrate Easter, one
of the most important events for those who mark it. On Palm Sunday, these
creations are blessed by a priest and carried in a procession in memory of
Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem. According to his sister, Mariana, Beshoy, 19,
excelled at this craft and unusually that year had decided to celebrate Palm
Sunday not in his family’s usual church of the Virgin Mary on Seif street, but
rather at St Mark’s Cathedral along with his aunts and cousins. “He was
strangely insistent that he wanted to go there,” Mariana, 40, told Al Jazeera.
Mariana along with her father, mother, and other siblings went to their church.
During the service, they learned of an attack on St George’s Church in Tanta, a
city in the Nile Delta, 95km (60 miles) north of the capital Cairo. A man
wearing concealed explosives managed to pass through a security check outside
and detonated himself near the front pews, killing at least 28 people and
wounding 77 others. Mariana – knowing that Pope Tawadros II, leader of the
Coptic Orthodox Church, would be attending – had a premonition the mass at St
Mark’s could be targeted next and called Beshoy frantically demanding he and
the rest of their family get out.”

 

Nigeria

 

AFP: Who's Behind Nigeria's High-Profile Train Attack?
<[link removed]>

 

“For a decade, northwest and central Nigeria have been ravaged by criminal
gangs known as bandits who raid villages, kill and kidnap for ransom. Last
week, a string of attacks in northwestern Kaduna state culminated in an assault
on a train running from the capital Abuja to Kaduna city. At least eight people
were killed, a number of passengers were abducted and gunmen released a video
showing a high-profile captive. Many conclude the attack is a sign of a major
escalation by the bandit gangs. But the sophisticated operation, use of
explosives and Islamist-style hostage video also raise the question: Were
jihadists involved? Northwest Nigeria's security crisis has its roots in
friction between farmers and herders over water and land. Tensions snowballed
into tit-for-tat attacks and then into broader, organised criminality which
experts say is now conducted on a vast scale. The state government Zamfara in
April last year estimated 100 bandit camps were hidden in forests around the
northwest. It suggested there were 30,000 gang members in the region -- a
figure that some view as conservative. “Thousands of militants... have taken
over swathes of the countryside,” an Abuja-based think tank, the Centre for
Democracy and Development, said in a report this year.”

 

Reuters: Nigeria To Try Separatist Leader Kanu On Terrorism Charges
<[link removed]>

 

“Nigeria's separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu should stand trial and answer to
charges that include terrorism and broadcasting falsehoods, a High Court judge
ruled on Friday. Kanu, a British citizen who leads the banned Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB), denies all the charges, which are linked to broadcasts he
made between 2018 and last year. A judge on Friday ruled that Kanu will stand
trial on seven counts of terrorism out of 15, and stuck out eight of the
charges which the government brought against the IPOB leader. The hearing was
held in camera. A federal court judge ruled on Thursday that all trials of
terrorism cases in Nigeria will henceforth be held in camera. Separately,
Kanu's lead lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, on Thursday said that Kanu cannot be tried
on charges of terrorism and knowingly broadcasting falsehoods because he was
not extradited from Kenya based on those charges. The Kenyan high commissioner
has denied his country's involvement. Kanu disappeared from Nigeria after
skipping bail in 2017. He was arrested after years on the run. IPOB, which Kanu
founded in 2014, is pressing for the secession of a part of southeast Nigeria
where the majority of ethe population belongs to the Igbo ethnic group.”

 

All Africa: Nigeria: Terrorists To Govt - Talk To Us Or We'll Kill All 167
Captives <[link removed]>

 

“Terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train have threatened to kill those
in their captivity unless the government meets them. “Government should hasten
to meet us before we turn this place into an abattoir because killing these
people is nothing to us. It's not about money, we can't do this for money. The
government knows what we want,” the terrorists said in a viral video released
late Wednesday. Recall that the terrorists attacked the Kaduna-bound train,
killing eight passengers, injuring 41 and kidnapping scores of others. This
came as a group of pastors, under the aegis of Inter-faith Alliance, yesterday
staged a peaceful protest against the incessant attacks and killings by bandits
in Kaduna State, pleading with government to embark on massive bombardment of
bandits/terrorists in their hideouts. As at Wednesday, the Nigerian Railway
Corporation, NRC, had said 141 passengers taken away were unreachable but the
terrorists claimed they had in their custody 168 persons, out of which the
acting managing Director of Bank of Agriculture, BOA, Alwan Ali Hassan, was
released after alleged payment of N100 million ransom. Speaking further in
Hausa, the terrorist said: “We are the people who abducted these people in the
train some days back.”

 

Somalia

 

All Africa: Somalia: Al-Shabaab Militants Surrender
<[link removed]>

 

“Two members of al-Shabab surrendered to government forces on Saturday, the
Somali military said on Sunday. The Somalia National Army (SNA) said Mohamed
Tawane and Deqoq Ibrahim, who had been coordinating attacks in the Gedo region
of southern Somalia, turned themselves in with their weapons to government
soldiers in Luuq region amid intensified security operations to flush out the
terror group in the region, the military radio reported. Several Shabab leaders
have in the recent past surrendered to government forces during the security
operations in southern and central Somalia. Al-Shabab has been launching
attacks targeting government and electoral delegates taking part in the ongoing
national elections.”

 

Africa

 

Associated Press: Suspected Extremist Attack Kills 16 Soldiers In Burkina Faso
<[link removed]>

 

“An attack by suspected Islamic extremist rebels on a military unit in Burkina
Faso Friday has killed at least 16 security forces and injured many others, the
army announced.  A dozen military soldiers and four volunteer fighters who work
alongside the army died when their military unit was attacked at 5 a.m. in
Namissiguima town in the Center North region, said a statement by the armed
forces. An additional 21 soldiers were wounded and equipment was also damaged,
said the statement. Burkina Faso is grappling with rising jihadi violence
linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that’s killed thousands and
displaced some 2 million people. This is the latest in a series against the
military. At least 40 security forces were killed in the last two weeks of
March according to an internal security report for aid groups seen by The
Associated Press. The Friday attack involved a car bomb and was carefully
planned, according to security analysts. “In addition to this being a sign of
how (the) security situation continues to deteriorate, it also shows the
ability of jihadist groups to carry (out) sophisticated and complex attacks,”
said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a
Moroccan-based organization focused on economics and policy.”

 

Voice Of America: Africa Urged To Use Good Governance, Inclusion To Fight
Violent Extremism
<[link removed]>

 

“A top U.S. military commander says African countries dealing with violent
extremism need to enact good governance, a stronger rule of law and inclusion
of marginalized communities if they want to promote stability.  Africa has seen
an increase in terror groups operating across the continent in recent years.
Al-Shabab in East Africa, al-Qaida and Islamic State affiliates expanding in
the Sahel, and Boko Haram around the Lake Chad Basin are among the most
prominent. The head of the U.S. military's Special Operations Command Africa,
Rear Admiral Jamie Sands, said on April 3 that African countries need better
governance and greater cooperation if they are to stop the threat of terrorism.
“No nation can solve this challenge or this problem alone,” he said.
“Partnerships are key. Prevention of extremism through governance reforms and
progress is an easier path than fighting established violent extremists through
kinetic activity. Values matter. Transparency, accountability and inclusion are
key as we move forward. International investment is critical, and this
investment must be paired with security, good governance and aid.” Terrorist
activity has displaced at least 33 million people continent-wide and
contributed to political instability in countries like Mali, Burkina Faso and
Somalia.”

 

BBC News: Mozambique Palma Terror Attack: 'I Can't Go Back'
<[link removed]>

 

“The town of Palma in northern Mozambique was the scene of a horrific attack
by Islamist militants a year ago, which left dozens of people dead, forced
thousands to flee their homes and put a massive nearby gas project on hold. BBC
Africa correspondent Catherine Byaruhanga has been speaking to some of those
who survived the assault to see what has changed. Fear still pervades Palma.
Before the well co-ordinated assault began, the coastal town was packed and
bustling - full of those who had come to find work in the area's burgeoning gas
industry. It was also full of thousands of people who had fled violence in
other areas of Cabo Delgado, the mainly Muslim province where an Islamist
insurgency began in 2017. The militants are known locally as al-Shabab. They
have no link to the Somali group of that name, but have since pledged
allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group. Today, French energy giant Total's
multi-billion dollar gas project remains closed. Some of those who have begun
to return home are too afraid to talk to the BBC over the phone, even though
the militants have been expelled. Antònio, one of the contractors who had gone
to the town to work in the gas industry, is not hopeful about the future.”

 

United Kingdom

 

BBC News: Preston Man Encouraged Terrorism Against Jews And Muslims
<[link removed]>

 

“A neo-Nazi who encouraged far-right terrorism against Jews and Muslims has
been sentenced to two years in a young offenders institution. Thomas Leech, 19,
posted a “call to arms” and glorified far-right killers online.

Manchester Crown Court heard that after being arrested by police, he told
officers: “I am a Nazi.” Leech, of Preston, pleaded guilty to encouraging acts
of terrorism and stirring up religious or racial hatred. The court was told
Leech believed conspiracy theories that Jewish people were planning the “Great
Replacement” of the white race through extinction and the “Islamicisation” of
Europe. Joe Allman, prosecuting, said he first came to police attention when he
claimed to be planning a shooting at his school in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, in
January 2017. He told police it was a “prank” and received a caution and some
intervention. Leech was referred to Prevent, the Government's deradicalisation
programme, but he “dropped off the radar” when he moved to Gillingham, Kent, in
June 2017. After moving to Preston in 2020, posts by him on an online platform
were found by the Community Security Trust, a charity involved in security for
Jewish communities. Mr Allman said: “The cumulative effect of the posts is a
call to arms by Mr Leech, inciting others who shared his world view to commit
mass murder.”

 

Technology

 

The National: Twitter Suspends Houthi Military Spokesman's Account
<[link removed]>

 

“…The non-profit Counter Extremism Project, which has been documenting the
Houthi spokesman's Twitter activity since he joined the platform in 2018, said
he “threatened new attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and
any other country participating in the Arab coalition fighting the Houthis”.
One of the threats followed Houthi attacks on the UAE, when the group used
drones and ballistic missiles. Energy, power and water infrastructure have been
the targets of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. On March 20, the Saudi Press
Agency reported that a Houthi attack on a water treatment centre at Al Shaqeeq
“did not affect the production and supply of desalinated water to the
beneficiary areas”. Twitter says it is prohibits the use of the platform for
“glorifying” acts of violence, including “attacks carried out by terrorist
organisations or violent extremist groups (as defined by our terrorism and
violent extremism policy.”

 

The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.
DONATE NOW
<[link removed]>


Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>