Eye on Extremism
November 22, 2019
U.S.
News And World Report: Russia Encroaches On U.S. Stronghold In Syria,
Threatening Conflict
“Russia has chosen to establish a new military base in a part of
Syria perilously close to an area that American troops have been
charged with defending, heightening the risk of a confrontation from
either an unintentional skirmish or a deliberate provocation. Analysts
believe the potential for new fighting in northeast Syria is
particularly high as Russia seeks to test the resolve of the U.S. and
its allies following President Donald Trump's hasty decision to
withdraw from the region last month. "This is a new phase that the
U.S. hasn't dealt with before," says John Dunford, a research
assistant at the Institute for the Study of War, which tracks the
movement of forces in the region. "As we move into a new phase of war,
northeast Syria becomes more and more compacted with different
forces." U.S. troops, under orders from the president to secure oil
fields in northeast Syria, last week reportedly began patrolling near
the strategically important Syrian town of Qamishli adjacent to the
Turkish border, which essentially serves as a gateway into the
region.”
Reuters:
Special Report: How Jihadists Struck Gold In Africa's
Sahel
“People around Pama, a West African town on the edge of vast
forested conservation areas, had long been forbidden by their
government to dig for gold in the reserves, to protect antelope,
buffalo and elephants. In mid-2018, men wearing turbans changed the
rules. Riding in with assault rifles on motorbikes and in 4X4 trucks,
they sent government troops and rangers fleeing from the area in
eastern Burkina Faso bordering the Sahel, a belt of scrubland south of
the Sahara Desert. The armed men said residents could mine in the
protected areas, but there would be conditions. Sometimes they
demanded a cut of the gold. At other times they bought and traded it.
The men “told us not to worry. They told us to pray,” said one man who
gave his name as Trahore and said he had worked for several months at
a mine called Kabonga, a short drive northwest of Pama. Like other
miners who spoke to Reuters, he asked not to be identified for fear of
retribution. It was not safe for reporters to visit the region, but
five other miners who had been to Kabonga corroborated his
account.”
BBC
News: Syria War: UN Appalled By Deadly Attack On Idlib Camp For
Displaced People
“Missiles struck the crowded facility in Qah, in opposition-held
Idlib province, destroying tents and sparking fires, rescue workers
and medics said. Most of the victims were children and women. A
maternity hospital was also damaged, and four aid workers were hurt.
Activists alleged that the missiles were fired by pro-government
forces. Idlib, which is dominated by jihadist groups, is the last
stronghold of the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The
UN estimates that region is home to 3 million people, including a
million children. More than 40% of them come from other previously
opposition-held areas. Qah, which is close to the border with Turkey,
is one of the most densely populated camps in Syria. "I find it
sickening that missiles hit vulnerable civilians, including elderly
people, women and children sheltering in tents and makeshift shelters
in a camp for internally displaced people," said Mark Cutts, the UN's
deputy regional humanitarian co-ordinator for the Syria crisis. "This
horrific incident needs to be fully investigated," he added.”
The
New York Times: Iran Declares Protests Are Over, But The Evidence
Suggests Otherwise
“The Iranian authorities moved Thursday to project the appearance
of normalcy after a week of violent protests over gasoline price
increases, partly restoring internet access and decreeing that the
mayhem that convulsed the country was really a foreign-backed failure.
But other developments suggested that a severe crackdown was underway
in response to the street clashes, rioting and destruction that had
upended life in dozens of Iranian cities and towns — and that the
uprisings had not been completely crushed. Doctors reported that
hospitals were overfilled with people injured in the protests. They
also said the Health Ministry had ordered all hospitals in Tehran and
other cities to cancel elective surgeries because of the influx of
emergency cases. Iran’s student union said plainclothes agents of the
pro-government Basij militia, hiding inside ambulances to evade
restrictions on entering campuses, had seized more than 50 students at
Tehran University after protests there.”
Voice
Of America: Racist Attacks At Syracuse University Spark Controversy,
Fear
“Students at Syracuse University, in northern New York state, have
been given permission to leave campus early for next week’s
Thanksgiving break, because of a spate of racist threats on campus
that have left students, staff and faculty spooked about possible
violent attacks. Meanwhile, a group of protesting students known as
#NotAgainSU has staked out the student wellness center, calling for a
stronger university response to the attacks. They say the school has a
history of minimizing racial attacks. A group of 19 faculty members
said the same, in a letter to the editor published in the university
newspaper The Daily Orange. The attacks were varied. Racist graffiti
attacking African Americans and Asians had been scrawled on two
separate floors of a freshman dormitory. A Nazi swastika was found
carved into the snow on campus. In all, a dozen instances of racist
and anti-Semitic graffiti have been found on or adjacent to the campus
serving about 22,500 students.”
The
Washington Post: ‘Your Product Is Defective’: Sacha Baron Cohen Slams
Facebook For Allowing Hate Speech
“In his roles as characters like Borat and Bruno, actor Sacha Baron
Cohen is famed for tricking real people into making outlandishly
bigoted comments on camera, turning their prejudice into the butt of
his jokes. But on Thursday night, Cohen didn’t need any of his
on-screen personas to rip into America’s biggest social media
organizations for facilitating the kind of racism and hate he
regularly lampoons. In a speech at the Anti-Defamation League’s Never
Is Now summit, Cohen spoke in his own voice as he skewered social
media companies he called “a sewer of bigotry and vile conspiracy
theories,” taking aim at the leaders of Google, YouTube and Twitter
for not more actively removing hate-speech from their platforms. But
he reserved his most biting critique for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg,
whom he called “unaccountable” and compared to Julius Caesar during
the Roman Empire. “I’m just a comedian and an actor, not a scholar,”
said Cohen, who was accepting the ADL’s International Leadership
Award. “But one thing is pretty clear to me: All this hate and
violence is being facilitated by a handful of Internet companies that
amount to the greatest propaganda machine in history.”
United States
Bloomberg:
U.S. Seeks To Stem Islamic State Networks After Baghdadi
Death
“The U.S. is moving to contain the Islamic State’s regional
networks in parts of Afghanistan and Africa, following the death of
the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a State Department official
said. Islamic State affiliates in West Africa, Greater Sahara and
Khorasan province in Afghanistan remain “serious threats” that have to
be “capped from metastasizing further,” said Ambassador Nathan Sales,
the State Department’s counter-terrorism coordinator. “We have to be
working closely with regional partners who share our concern about
these threats to bring to bear all the tools of national power,” Sales
speaking from Manila in a conference call Friday. The U.S. will
establish a center in the Philippines to train Southeast Asian
authorities on how to counter Islamic State sympathizers in the region
and respond in case of terror attacks, the State Department official
said. Southeast Asian nations will also get U.S. assistance to boost
border security and cooperation to cut off the flow of fighters,
weapons and money used for terrorism, Sales said. The U.S. stands
ready to sanction and blacklist financial institutions like banks and
companies that act as front for terror groups, he added.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Heartbreak For Kurdish-Americans
“What does the U.S. want for the Middle East? As Kurdish-Americans,
we always believed Washington was working with its regional allies to
create the kind of democratic society our families found when they
risked everything to come to the U.S. The Kurds—like people
everywhere—seek lives of peace and opportunity. When we lost hope in
our homeland, many of us flourished here in America. Hamdi Ulukaya
immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey in 1994, after his advocacy for
Kurdish rights drew unwanted government attention. He went on to
create America’s best-selling brand of yogurt, Chobani. Heval Kelli
became a refugee in Germany before moving to the U.S. after 9/11. He
started as a dishwasher in Atlanta and became one of the nation’s most
prominent cardiologists. Kurdish-American success stories like these,
however, are inextricably linked to the heartbreak of abandonment.
Over the years the U.S. has made and reneged on frequent promises to
the Kurds. The most famous example was in 1991, when President George
H.W. Bush called on Iraqi Kurds to rise up against Saddam Hussein,
only to stand aside as regime loyalists slaughtered tens of thousands.
Now it has happened again in northern Syria.”
CNN:
The Department Of Justice Says A Chicago Gang Leader Was Radicalized
By ISIS
“He is the purported leader of the “AHK Street Gang,” a gang in the
Chicago area that traffics various narcotics throughout the city
region, including heroin and cocaine, according to the Department of
Justice. But Thursday, Jason Brown stepped into a federal courtroom
not on drug charges, but for allegedly attempting to provide material
support to ISIS. Specifically, the Department of Justice alleges that
on three separate occasions this year, “Brown provided $500 to a
confidential source with the intent that the $500 be wired to an
individual Brown believed was an ISIS soldier engaged in active combat
in Syria.” That individual was confidentially working with law
enforcement, the DOJ says. The larger question now is: how might have
an alleged Chicago area gang leader gotten wrapped up with ISIS? While
Brown was serving time for a previous arrest in 2016, the criminal
complaint alleges, he was “radicalized in prison.” An expert says
Western prisons have become a key recruiting ground for ISIS over the
past decade. “ISIS has manipulated its ideology to appeal to people
with criminal backgrounds,” said Bennett Clifford, a research fellow
at the Program on Extremism at the George Washington University. “This
is one of the notable areas where the Islamic State has been able to
recruit.” One of the aspects Clifford says ISIS has tried to hone in
on is the idea that previous wrongdoings don't matter.”
CNN:
A Woman Who Wrote Letters To Dylann Roof Is Going To Prison For
Plotting 2 Terrorist Attacks
“An Ohio woman who wrote letters to Dylann Roof and admired the
Columbine High School shooters was sentenced to 15 years in prison
Wednesday for her role in planning two terrorist attacks, according to
the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Elizabeth
Lecron was arrested last December, accused of plotting an attack at a
Toledo bar and purchasing bomb-making materials to blow up a pipeline
in Georgia. She pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in August. Upon
release from prison, she'll be subject to lifetime supervision by a
federal court as part of her sentence. An attorney for Lecron declined
to comment. Lecron's co-defendant, her boyfriend, Vincent Armstrong,
also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his participation in the
plot, the USAO said in a statement. He'll be sentenced on December 10.
According to the USAO, Lecron and Armstrong were “immersed” in an
online group called the “True Crime Community,” which “fixated and
lionized mass murderers and posted extremely graphic images, videos,
and sayings.” Lecron would routinely post about the gunmen in the 1999
Columbine High School shooting, in which 13 people were killed, and
Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at a historically black church in
Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, the USAO said in an August news
release.”
The
National Interest: Tales Of An American Lone Wolf
Terrorist
“The FBI recently released a report on the fifty-two “lone wolf”
terrorism cases and offenders that were involved in thirty-three acts
of terrorism committed in the United States between 1972 and 2015.
Because of these terrorist attacks, 258 people died and a total of 982
were injured. The report covered the gender, age, and level of
education of the various offenders, among several other factors.
However, these three in particular demand further consideration. To
start, all of the offenders were males. While this obviously doesn’t
mean that terrorism is solely a male domain, as incidents in the
Middle East show, it raises the question of why all U.S. attacks have
so far been done by males. The FBI report itself doesn’t talk about
how and why gender has become irrelevant when dealing with domestic
terrorism. This answer might be because of two factors. First, during
the 1980s and 1990s, female participation in radical religious
movements and other forms of indoctrination may have been far more
limited. Social media didn’t exist then, and the active participation
of women was likely to have been discouraged. There wouldn’t have
been, for example, ISIS recruiters attempting to reach out directly
and personally to female Muslims in the West via Facebook or the
like.”
Syria
Radio
Free Europe Radio Liberty: In Syria, A Mutilated Corpse, Video
Evidence, And New Scrutiny For Russian Mercenaries
“The graphic video shows four men in camouflage gear exchanging
jokes in unaccented Russian as they pour flammable liquid over a man's
mutilated corpse strung up on two wooden beams. Before setting it
alight and watching it burn as they pose for the camera, they scrawl a
Russian phrase praising the country's airborne forces on its chest.
The clip of the brutal murder in Syria, apparently filmed in the
summer of 2017, resurfaced this week in the wake of an investigation
by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. The newspaper ties the men to
Vagner, a shadowy Russian mercenary group widely believed to be
spearheading the expansion of Russian influence across Africa and the
Middle East. In its report published late on November 20, Novaya
Gazeta identified one of the men shown in the clip as a former police
officer from the southern Russia region of Stavropol who promised to
"represent the interests of Russia abroad" in a form he allegedly
submitted to Vagner upon joining the organization in 2016. The
newspaper identifies the man by his first name and the first letter of
his surname but withholds his full name amid concerns for his family's
safety. Questioned about the clip and Novaya Gazeta's report, the
Kremlin denied any knowledge of the men depicted.”
The
Jerusalem Post: ISIS In Syria: US-Led Coalition Keeps Strong
Partnership With SDF
“The US-led Coalition and its Operation Inherent Resolve that is
designed to defeat ISIS has continued a close partnership with the
Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria, despite the recent crisis.
A discussion with the spokesman for the coalition, Col. Myles B.
Caggins III, reveals how the continued campaign in eastern Syria seeks
to balance the control of critical infrastructure while dealing with a
complex environment bordered by other countries. Caggins was recently
in Syria where he saw first hand the results of shifting policy where
the US withdrew from border areas in northeast Syria and closed
several bases between Tabqa, Raqqa, Manbij and Kobani. That included
an airstrip at Sarrin and a base near a cement factory. This is
“re-balancing” of forces into other areas of eastern Syria where the
coalition continues to partner closely with the SDF in Deir Ezzor and
Hasakah provinces. “The partnership never broke or was severed,”
Caggins says. This is important because the US decision on October 6
to withdraw from parts of Syria left many questions about what the
coalitions role would eventually be. The coalition is made up of 81
partners, but most of them were not involved in eastern Syria. French
and UK special forces were once involved, but their role today is
unclear.”
Iran
The
Washington Post: In Iran, “Rage Is Escalating” As Economic Stress
Reaches New Level
“A sudden move to raise fuel prices in Iran has sparked nationwide
protests over the past week and, in turn, drawn a fierce crackdown by
security forces, marking some of the worst violence in the country in
years. Scores have been reported killed. The protests have flared in
many of the same areas that experienced unrest two years ago, when
demonstrators protested a similar proposal to slash state subsidies.
Then, as now, lower-income Iranians rose up against a system that they
said had failed them economically. But a wider spectrum of society may
have joined the revolt this time around, analysts say, pointing to
demonstrations in major cities and at universities, including the
University of Tehran. Protesters have also clashed with police in
urban centers such as Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz and Tabriz. Over the
past two years, Iran’s economy has worsened because of U.S. sanctions
and declining oil sales — revenue the government uses to pay salaries
and fund imports. Iran’s economy is expected to contract by 8.7
percent this year, according to the World Bank.”
Associated
Press: US Calls For Iran Crackdown Videos, Internet Slowly
Returns
“Iranian authorities slowly eased up their sweeping blockage of
internet access on Friday, as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
called for Iranians to send the U.S. videos “documenting the regime’s
crackdown” on protesters. “The U.S. will expose and sanction the
abuses,” Pompeo tweeted early Friday, as pockets of Iran saw internet
over landlines restored. Authorities have said the internet may be
entirely restored soon, suggesting Iran’s government put down the
demonstrations that began Nov. 15 over government-set gasoline prices
rising. Amnesty International said Tuesday that protest unrest and a
subsequent security crackdown killed at least 106 people. Iran
disputes that figure without offering its own. A U.N. office earlier
said it feared the unrest may have killed “a significant number of
people.” The jump in gasoline prices represents yet another burden on
Iranians who have suffered through a painful currency collapse. That’s
a result of the reimposition of crippling U.S. economic sanctions as
part of President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against
Tehran, following his unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from Iran’s
2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iran’s relatively moderate
President Hassan Rouhani has promised the fuel price increase will
fund new subsidies for poor families. Rouhani declared victory
Wednesday in the unrest, blaming “the Zionists and Americans” for the
violence.”
The
Hill: So Long As Iran Dominates The Middle East, A New Baghdadi Will
Rise
“On the day after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death, President Trump
identified an unlikely partner in the global fight against ISIS. “Iran
is right there,” he said, along with Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iraq,
all of which maintain close ties with Tehran. “They all hate ISIS,”
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It’s a familiar refrain. During
the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump argued that Iran, along with
Syria and Russia, has played a positive role in combating the
terrorist group. “I don’t like Assad at all, but Assad is killing
ISIS,” he said. “Russia is killing ISIS. And Iran is killing ISIS.”
The Obama administration adopted a similar view. In 2014, as nuclear
negotiations with Tehran proceeded in earnest, Obama sent a letter to
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that floated the
possibility of U.S.-Iranian cooperation to defeat ISIS if the two
could reach a nuclear agreement. “The fact is,” Secretary of State
John Kerry told the UN Security Council, “there is a role for nearly
every country in the world to play, including Iran,” in defeating
ISIS. Iran’s efforts to achieve hegemony in the Middle East have
entailed the brutal suppression of Sunni Arab populations. In Syria,
the relentless atrocities of the Assad regime reflected those of ISIS
itself.”
Arab
News: Arab League Condemns Iran For Handing Yemen Embassy To
Houthis
“Iran handed over the state’s Yemeni embassy to the Houthi militia,
a move condemned by the Arab Leauge, the Saudi Press Agency reported
on Wednesday. The Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit
condemned Iran’s step considering it a flagrant violation of
diplomatic norms and of the United Nations Charter, the Vienna
Convention, and the relevant Security Council resolutions. The move,
he said, also reflects an Iranian insistence to destabilize Yemen’s
conditions, and threaten the security of its neighbouring
countries.”
Iraq
Daily
Sabah: Daesh Terrorists Kill 2 Police Officers In Northern
Iraq
“Two police officers were killed in an armed attack carried out by
Daesh terrorists in Iraq's Kirkuk province, while another was injured,
a security source told Anadolu Agency on Friday. The incident took
place at a security checkpoint in Rasheed village, the source added.
The assailants managed to escape. In mid-2014, Daesh overran roughly
one-third of Iraq, including the northern city of Mosul. By late 2017,
the Iraqi army – with the help of the U.S.-led military coalition –
recovered most if not all the territories lost to the terrorist group.
Although officials in Baghdad say Daesh's presence in the country has
been largely eradicated, the terrorist group has continued to stage
sporadic attacks in Iraq's Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, Saladin and Anbar
provinces.”
The
Guardian: 'Even Isis Wouldn't Shoot At Us': Medics On Frontline Of
Baghdad Protests
“Then demonstrators took to the streets of Baghdad in early
October, two military medics, Abbas and Ahmad, saw people beaten back
by police and soldiers, cut down with canisters and bullets and
overcome by noxious gases designed for use on the battlefield. Later
in the month they left their homes, ignored their orders and joined
the demonstrators in the heart of the Iraqi capital, and they have
been treating those wounded in the clashes ever since. “We couldn’t
just stay at home and pretend nothing was happening,” said Ahmad. “We
had to get out and look after the injured.” Baghdad is familiar with
war and insurgency but far less so with protests led by unarmed
citizens demanding a change to the terms of the contract between
citizen and state. In unprecedented daily demonstrations, up to
200,000 protesters at a time have called on Iraq’s leadership to hand
over power to officials who would end the structural corruption and
patronage networks that have whittled away the country’s vast oil
wealth. At the same time, they have demanded that Iran’s extensive
role in Iraqi affairs be pared back. Neither Iraqi officials nor their
overlords in Iran appear inclined to compromise. Instead, a tolerance
of the protests over the first fortnight has given way to a violent
crackdown.”
Turkey
The
Washington Post: Turkey: Captured IS Figure Planned Russia, Germany
Attacks
“Turkey’s interior minister has identified a key Islamic State
suspect captured by the country’s forces in Syria as the alleged
mastermind behind attacks in Russia and Germany, according to a
newspaper report on Friday. Turkey had announced last week that it
detained an “important” IS figure but did not name him. In an
interview published in Hurriyet newspaper, Suleyman Soylu identified
the man as Yusuf Huba, describing him as a high-ranking IS member.
Soylu said the man allegedly planned and ordered a bomb attack in
Russia in 2018 as well as an attack at a supermarket in Germany.
Turkey has been highlighting what it says is its fight against IS, in
the face of accusations that the Turkish military offensive last month
to drive Syrian Kurdish fighters from northeast Syria would allow for
a resurgence of the militant Islamic group. The interior minister said
the suspect is also known as Abu Jihad al-Din al-Nasır Ubeyde and is
being held and questioned in Syria, in an area controlled by Turkey.
“We have captured a very senior IS member who is known as a bomber,
bomb-maker and mastermind of suicide bomb attacks,” he told Hurriyet.
It was not clear which attack in Russia in 2018 the minister was
referring to. In a 2017 attack in the northern German port city of
Hamburg, a 26-year-old Palestinian man killed one person and wounded
six others in a stabbing spree at a supermarket.”
Afghanistan
Bloomberg:
Prisoner Swap May Pave Way For Fresh U.S.-Taliban
Talks
“The release of three senior Taliban members in exchange for two
western hostages is not a gateway to peace talks or even a temporary
cease-fire with the Afghan Government, but it may help resume stalled
negotiations with the U.S. and ultimately lead to an agreement on the
withdrawal of foreign troops, the militant group said. “Perhaps the
prisoner swap can help build mutual trust between the U.S. and Taliban
in order to restart discussion on a nearly-finalized troop withdrawal
deal that can end the U.S. occupation,” Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah
Mujahed said in a phone interview. “It’s baseless to say the release
can help begin direct talks or a temporary truce with the government.
The occupation must end first as that’s a major roadblock to any
government-Taliban talks.” The statement is a setback to President
Ashraf Ghani’s hopes that the prisoner-hostage swap -- Taliban members
freed in return for American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks
-- would bring the Taliban to the table for direct talks. The
militants who now control or lay claim to half the country have
repeatedly rejected Ghani’s calls for talks calling his government
illegitimate and a U.S. puppet. U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to
Ghani and expressed appreciation for his support in freeing the
hostages, according to a White House readout of the call
Thursday.”
Reuters:
Red Cross Says It Handed Over 10 Afghan Soldiers After Release By
Taliban
“The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on
Thursday it facilitated the release of 10 Afghan security force
members detained by the Taliban and handed them over to Afghan
authorities. It followed the release by Afghan Taliban on Tuesday of
American and Australian university professors held hostage for more
than three years, raising hopes for a revival of peace talks. “The 10
Afghan National Security Forces members were released and handed over
to the ICRC in Helmand Province, in the District of Nahr-e Saraj,”
Juan Pedro Schaerer, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Afghanistan said
in a statement. “We transferred them across the frontline to Lashkar
Gah where we handed them over to the Afghan authorities at the
governor’s office.”
Voice
Of America: Islamic State Staggers In Afghanistan, But
Survives
“One of the Islamic State's most feared affiliates has suffered a
significant setback, though U.S. officials caution reports that the
terror group was “obliterated” are overblown. U.S. officials
confirmed Thursday that Islamic State-Khorasan, as the terror group's
Afghan affiliate is called, collapsed in the country's eastern
Nangarhar province following months of fighting. “Afghan government
and coalition operations against the group, along with the Taliban's
campaign … led to ISIS-Khorasan's collapse in Nangarhar and the
surrender of hundreds of fighters to Afghan forces,” a senior
counterterrorism official told VOA, using an acronym for the group.
“Surrendered [Islamic State] fighters said they were told to leave
Nangarhar for Kunar [province], where we assess the group still
maintains a presence, as well as the northern provinces of
Afghanistan,” the official added. The U.S. assessment contrasted with
some more optimistic pronouncements from Afghan officials, who touted
the victory in Nangarhar as conclusive. “No one believed one year ago
that we would stand up and remain in Nangarhar, and thank God that
today we have obliterated Daesh,” President Ashraf Ghani said Tuesday
during a speech in Jalalabad, using an Arabic acronym for IS.”
The
National: With ISIS Gone, Afghan Villagers Struggle To Rebuild From
Rubble
“After more than four years under ISIS, there is barely a house
still standing in Pekha, a village in Achin district of Afghanistan’s
eastern Nangarhar province. Buildings are riddled with bullet holes
and homes lie in rubble. On some of the walls still standing the
extremist group’s black flag has been hastily scraped off. The
government gained control over Pekha this year. But recently hundreds
more ISIS fighters have surrendered to the government after military
operations in Nangarhar, one of the group's main bases in the country.
More are expected to surrender soon. “Daesh’s backbone has been
broken,” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani declared on Tuesday. Villagers
in Pekha say their spirit has been broken, too. “Just look any
direction – everything is in rubble,” said Nakibullah Sahir, 29,
sitting amid the ruins of his home. “We have to start all over again.
“Many of us left during ISIS control. The militants destroyed so much
and countless American bombs were dropped at the same time. “It was
unbearable then but it isn’t much better now. We came back to
nothing.” In recent weeks, the men of the village have been meeting at
the home of an elder, one of the few houses not destroyed, to discuss
how to move ahead.”
Stars
And Stripes: US, Allies’ Military Successes Drove Down Terrorism
Deaths Almost Everywhere Except Afghanistan, Report
Says
“Military successes by the U.S. and its allies against terrorist
groups helped drive down global deaths from terrorism in 2018 for the
fourth consecutive year, a report released this week said. But even as
terrorism deaths declined in most countries, they soared in
Afghanistan, despite the U.S. launching peace talks with the Taliban
that year to try to end decades of war in the country. Terrorism
deaths in Afghanistan soared by nearly 60% to more than 7,300 in 2018,
with most of those casualties blamed on the Taliban, which overtook
the Islamic State group to become the deadliest terrorist organization
in the world, said the Global Terrorism Index 2019 report released
Wednesday. The Taliban killed 6,000 people last year in Afghanistan,
said the report, issued by Australia’s Institute for Economics and
Peace think tank. At the same time, military successes against ISIS
caused it to sharply lose ground in Iraq and Syria, said the report,
which has been compiled annually since 2013. U.S. airstrikes in
Somalia also led to a decline in terrorism deaths there and a 24% fall
in attacks by the al-Shabab terror group, the report said. As ISIS
buckled under military pressure, terrorism deaths in Iraq fell by 75%
in 2018, the report said.”
Xinhua:
Afghan Forces Arrest 2 IS Militants In Eastern Nangarhar
Province
“Afghan security forces in crackdown against militants have
captured two militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) outfit
in the eastern Nangarhar province, said an army statement released
here Friday. The security forces, according to the statement, during
routine checking and cleanup operations in Mohmand Dara district on
Thursday arrested two IS fighters and handed them over to police for
investigation. It also stressed that the security forces would
continue to chase militants elsewhere in the country. The hardliner IS
group has yet to make comment. More than 600 members of the Islamic
State outfit and their families including women and children have
surrendered to security forces in Nangarhar province over the past
couple of weeks, according to officials.”
Yemen
I24News:
Report: Houthis Warn Could Hit Vital Targets Deep Inside
Israel
“Yemen’s Houthi rebels warned they could hit vital targets deep
inside Israel’s “occupied territories,” Press TV reported on
Wednesday. In an event hosted in the capital of Sana’a by the Moral
Guidance Department of the Houthi-led Yemen military, branded “Israeli
ambitions in Yemen,” Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree claimed that
Jerusalem plots to establish and permeate its control over strategic
sites in the Persian Gulf, Bahrain and the Red Sea, as cited by Press
TV. He elaborated on Yemen’s developed defense capabilities in the
fields of missile technology and unmanned aerial vehicles. A second
Houthi official participating in the conference, Brigadier Abdullah
bin Amer, maintained that Israel has ambitions to occupy a number of
Yemeni islands in the Red Sea, referencing various statements made by
Israeli officials since 1966.”
Middle
East Monitor: Rights Group: Houthis Killed More Than 3,800 Children In
Yemen
“The Yemeni Network for Human Rights and Freedoms has accused the
Houthis of killing 3,888 children since early 2015 and until the end
of August. The group issued a statement on Wednesday saying that it
has worked in cooperation with 13 international organisations and
monitored 65,971 incidents of violations committed by the Houthis
against children in 17 Yemeni governorates since the beginning of
January 2015 until the end of August 2019. It accused the Houthis of
injuring 5,357 children and inflicting permanent disabilities on 164
children by indiscriminate air strikes on densely populated
neighbourhoods. The Houthis have abducted 456 children who are still
detained in the prisons, and caused the displacement of 43,608 others,
the statement said, adding that the group had recruited about 12,341
children. The network called on the international community to break
its silence and “take serious action to stop these violations against
children”.”
Lebanon
Voice
Of America: Lebanon Faces Financial Collapse Amid Daily
Anti-Corruption Protests
“In the parts of Beirut where protesters camp out, financial
institutions remained shuttered this week, with cartoons of pigs with
dollar-sign eyes spray-painted on the walls next to graffiti calling
for revolution. In other parts of the city, the banks cautiously
reopened, after being mostly closed for more than a month since daily
anti-corruption demonstrations began in October. Lebanon is now on the
brink of financial collapse, according to economists, and the only way
out is to build a government and end the upheaval. But the current
leadership remains unable to agree on a prime minister or hold
legislative sessions. And protesters blame the chaos on corruption
among the same stagnated political class, saying demonstrations will
continue until they all resign and are replaced by nonpolitical
"technocrats."
Egypt
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Egypt: ISIS Claims Attack In Sinai That Killed
Officer
“ISIS terrorist group has claimed an attack this week in Egypt’s
restive Sinai Peninsula which left an office dead and wounded three
others. The group released a statement late on Wednesday through a
militant-linked website saying the group had targeted an armored
vehicle carrying Egyptian forces with a roadside bombing the previous
day in the town of Sheikh Zuweid. Egyptian officials had said a
captain was killed and four members of the security forces were
wounded in the roadside bombing, the Associated Press reported. Egypt
has been battling an extremist insurgency in Sinai, led by the
regional ISIS affiliate, that intensified following the ousting of
former president Mohammed Morsi in 2013, who belongs to the “banned”
Muslim Brotherhood organization. The militants have carried out scores
of attacks, mainly targeting security forces and minority
Christians.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Egypt: Awqaf Ministry Vows To Terminate Services Of Imams
Linked To 'Terrorist Groups'
“The Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf tightened its grip on imams of
mosques and terminated the service of 10, preventing them from
delivering sermons, adding that the measures aim to control the
religious discourse away from extremism, according to a ministry
source. The ministry issued directives to all mosques in Egypt,
preventing them from enabling or supporting the 10 dismissed imams and
prevent them from preaching ahead of the public. It asserted that it
will not hesitate to terminate the services of any person who is
affiliated or associated with any terrorist group or commit a crime
against the homeland, asserting that it relies on the judicial rulings
in such cases. The Awqaf has already taken control of mosques
belonging to the fundamentalists and prevented anyone from collecting
donations inside or around mosques. It also unified Friday sermons to
avoid the discussion of political matters. The source told Asharq
Al-Awsat, that the ministry has already warned imams and preachers in
mosques against belonging to any organization or group, so as not to
affect their independence in advocacy work, which addresses the public
interest.”
Nigeria
Daily
Post Nigeria: UN, EU To Help Nigeria Defeat Boko
Haram
“Amb. Mohammed Ibn-Chambers, the UN Special Representative for West
Africa and Sahel, has restated commitment to support Nigeria to combat
insurgency in the northeast and Lake Chad Basin. Ibn-Chambas made the
pledge on Monday, when a delegation of the UN and European Union (EU)
officials paid a courtesy visit to Maj.-Gen. Olusegun Adeniyi, the
Theater Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD) in Maiduguri. He said
that he would mobilize global partnership to support Nigeria in the
campaign against insurgency. Ibn Chambers noted that the UN condemned
terrorism in its entirety globally, adding that the fight against Boko
Haram was not for Nigeria alone but rather a global campaign that
required support from international community. He added that terrorism
in the region was a manifestation of international terrorism and
stressed the need for collaborative effort to ensure it defeat,NAN
reports. Ibn Chambers said that the visit was in pursuance to the UN
Council resolution 2049 of 2017; which seek to promote partnerships
between international actors and Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC)
States. “In this context we have been very supportive of the
individual efforts of the LCBC member states to combat, defeat and
eliminate terrorism in whatever form or shape it manifested itself in
the region.”
Somalia
The
New York Times: Somali Canadian Peace Activist Was Killed By Stray
Bullet
“Preliminary investigations show a young Somali Canadian peace
activist was killed by a stray bullet earlier this week in Mogadishu,
the peacekeeping mission in Somalia said Friday, while her family
prepared her memorial. The statement by the African Union mission said
Almaas Elman was hit while traveling in a car Wednesday inside a
heavily defended base near the international airport where many
diplomats and aid workers have offices. The former diplomat was the
latest member of Somalia’s diaspora to be killed after returning home
to help rebuild the country after decades of conflict, including a
Somali Canadian journalist who died in a bomb blast in July. Elman’s
family founded a prominent peace center in Somalia and her sister
Ilwad was reportedly short-listed for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
In a brief statement Thursday, Ilwad Elman said “we will lay my sister
Almas to rest” at a mosque in Mogadishu during Friday prayers. “Thank
you for all of the love.”
Africa
The
Washington Post: Islamic State Claims Massacre Of Troops In Mali,
Where It Is Gaining Ground
“The Islamic State has asserted responsibility for an attack that
killed 30 soldiers this week in the West African nation of Mali, where
extremists are gaining ground in their bloody pursuit to seize
territory. In a statement late Wednesday, the group’s self-described
West Africa arm said it also wounded 30 soldiers in the attack while
mentioning no deaths among its fighters. The Malian army, which
routinely tangles with extremists in the country’s restive north, said
Tuesday that 17 militants were killed in the fight at Tabankort in the
Gao region, which borders Burkina Faso and Niger. U.S. officials say
the Sahel region, which lies south of the Sahara Desert, threatens to
become a safe haven for terrorists to plot and carry out attacks
worldwide. Mali, which is about twice the size of Texas, is a
particularly troubling hot spot. “The rapidly spreading instability in
the Sahel threatens U.S. national security and undermines our
diplomatic goals,” Whitney Baird, deputy assistant secretary of state
for West Africa and security affairs, said at a congressional hearing
this month. “It enables the spread of terrorism, stifles economic
growth and thwarts democratic institutions,” she said. More than 100
soldiers have died in Mali since October in near-weekly clashes as the
resource-strapped country tries to shake off a scourge that took root
after the Libyan government collapsed in 2011.”
Long
War Journal: Islamic State Claims Rare Attack In
Algeria
“The Islamic State claims that its men killed eight Algerian
soldiers during a counterterrorism raid in Tamanrasset, which is
located in the southern part of the country. However, as of yet, no
independent reporting confirms the military casualties. The Algerian
military has reported other raids in the past 24 hours, but hasn’t
indicated that it suffered significant casualties. The Islamic State
issued the claim via its Amaq News Agency and in a short official
message, saying that “two fighters refused to surrender” and then
“clashed with the Algerian” security forces before being killed. Three
helicopters were supposedly deployed as part of the raid, according to
Amaq. In Nov. 2014, the Islamic State declared that it had a
“province” in Algeria, making it one of the first countries outside of
Iraq and Syria where the so-called caliphate had an official branch. A
group known as Jund al-Khilafah established a beachhead for the group
earlier that same year. The U.S. government designated Jund
al-Khilafah as a terrorist organization in Sept. 2015, saying it
consists of a group of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
“military commanders” who “broke away” to join the Islamic State.”
United Kingdom
Deutsche
Welle: UK To Repatriate British Orphans Of 'Islamic State'
Fighters
“The British foreign secretary said on Thursday that the UK had
arranged for British orphans in Syria to be repatriated to the UK. The
UK now joins Germany, Belgium and Australia in repatriating children
whose parents were caught up in the Syrian conflict, including
suspected members of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS).”These
innocent, orphaned, children should never have been subjected to the
horrors of war,” UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said. “We have
facilitated their return home, because it was the right thing to do.
Now they must be allowed the privacy and given the support to return
to a normal life,” he added. Raab did not specify how many children
were returning and the British Foreign Office did not release further
details. The Kurdish administration in northern Syria posted on
social media updates about three children headed to the UK. “Three
British orphans from ISIS parents were handed over to a delegation
representing the British Foreign Ministry,” said Abdulkarim Omar, the
de facto Kurdish foreign affairs spokesman, on Twitter, referring to
the IS. Figures from the charity Save the Children said in October
that over 60 British children may be trapped in Syria.”
France
France
24: French Court Sentences Sister Of IS Group Propagandist To Nine
Years
“A French court on Wednesday sentenced Anne Diana Clain, whose
brother was a notorious propagandist for the Islamic State group, to
nine years in prison for terrorist association. Paris's criminal
courts handed down the sentence to Clain, 44, for having attempted
between 2015 and 2016 to head to conflict-ravaged Syria with her
husband and four children to join her brothers Fabien and Jean-Michel
Clain. Fabien Clain has been identified as the voice in an audio
recording claiming responsibility for the 2015 Paris attacks which
killed 130 people and warning that they were just “the beginning of
the storm”. His brother has also been accused of being an IS group
propagandist in Syria. The court also found Clain's husband Mohamed
Amri, a 58-year-old Tunisian, guilty and handed him a 10-year sentence
as presiding judge Isabelle Prévost-Desprez highlighted the couple's
determination to reach Syria. “That project failed but not because you
wanted it to -- you never gave up on [the idea] of your own volition,”
she said, recalling how Anne Clain's attempt to reach Syria failed
when the convert to Islam was arrested at the Turkish border in July
2016. “You took your children off on a deadly trip as far as your
arrest in Turkey on the Syrian border,” said Prévost-Desprez, saying
the scheme was “extremely serious.”
Europe
The
Independent: How Ukraine Became The Unlikely Home For Isis Leaders
Escaping The Caliphate
“As far as extreme terror went, Al Bara Shishani had a reputation.
Understood to have held the post of Isis’ deputy minister of war, head
of a unit responsible for “special operations” and surveillance, the
Georgian-born commander reportedly had a hand in it all: executions of
“non-believers”; public beheadings; terror operations abroad. He also
had a reputation for being dead – that is, until last Friday. Al Bara
Shishani’s dramatic reappearance in the dock of a court room in
central Kiev was shocking not only for the fact of how alive he was.
As details emerged about his miraculous resurrection – how he dodged
what had been reported as a fatal air strike in Syria, then used a
fake passport to travel to Turkey and Ukraine, where he would live
untroubled for two years – a number of questions came begging about
Kiev’s capacity and willingness to deal with terrorists taking shelter
within. According to the SBU, Ukraine’s admittedly unreliable security
agency, Al Bara Shishani even continued to coordinate Isis terror
operations from Kiev.”
The
National: Calls To Shut Swedish School Where 'ISIS Teachers' Taught In
Classrooms
“Calls are mounting for the closure of a leading state-funded
Islamic school in Sweden that was accused of hiring ISIS fighters as
teachers after their return from Syria. The chancellor of
Vetenskapsskolan school in Gothenburg, Abdel Nasser El Nadi, has been
caught up in a scandal involving the transfer of hundreds of thousands
of dollars to bank accounts abroad. El Nadi was arrested in May with
four other top clerics in a clampdown linked to extremism. Last month
Swedish authorities accused him of being a threat to national
security, which he denies. There have been calls to deport him to his
native Egypt but legal actions based on human rights laws have ensured
this did not happen. Now politicians are seeking to close the school
he ran and owned until September this year. It has since been renamed
the Sapphire School. Reports claim four former ISIS fighters have
taught in the school, along with another man who has been accused of
soliciting funds for terrorism. Swedish authorities have faced
increasing domestic and international criticism for failing to arrest
and prosecute returning ISIS fighters, amid suggestions that the
country could be regarded as a sanctuary for terrorists.”
Daily
Sabah: Deaths From Far-Right Terror Attacks Increase As Number Of
Terror Victims Fall Globally
“While the number of deaths from attacks launched by terrorist
organizations globally has fallen, deaths by far-right terrorist
attacks has increased this year in many countries, according to the
Global Terrorism Index 2019, published Wednesday by the Institute for
Economics and Peace (IEP). The report by the think tank noted a huge
leap in the deaths caused by far-right terrorism in Western Europe,
North America and Oceania, with the number of deaths growing by 320%
over the past five years. It cited the March attacks on two mosques in
New Zealand's Christchurch, which killed 51 people, as an example of
far-right ideology spreading to a country with “almost no prior
history of terrorist activity.” There was a total of 77 deaths
attributed to far-right terror between January and September 2019, a
52% increase from 2018 when 26 people were killed in far-right attacks
and 11 deaths in 2017. Meanwhile, deaths from terrorism totaled 15,952
globally, a 15.2% decrease in 2018. The number has significantly
decreased, compared with a high of 33,555 deaths in 2014, according to
the report. It attributed the fall in terrorism-related deaths to the
fall of the Daesh terrorist group and victories in Somalia over
al-Shabab insurgents.”
Southeast Asia
Business
Insider: Malaysia Has Freed A Terrorist Notorious For Making
Biological Weapons – Here’s What We Know
“After spending two years in a Johor jail, Yazid Sufaat is now a
free man – though authorities will continue to watch him closely given
his close links to militant groups Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Jemaah
Islamiyah. The US-trained biochemist was detained under Malaysia’s
Prevention of Terrorism Act for two years – the maximum duration
allowable under the Act, which permits police to jail suspects without
trial. This is the 55-year-old’s third time being released, bringing
his total duration behind bars to 12 years. Yazid was freed from
Simpang Renggam Detention Centre on Wednesday (Nov 20), The Star
quoted Bukit Aman’s counter-terrorism division head Ayob Khan as
saying. He will have to wear an electronic monitoring device, remain
within Kuala Lumpur’s Ampang district, and report to the Ampang police
station twice a week, The Star’s report added. In addition, Yazid will
be under police surveillance and cannot access the Internet, The
Straits Times (ST) reported, adding that authorities would re-evaluate
his situation in two years’ time. Quoting an intelligence source, ST
added that Yazid’s release was secured in part because the Prison
Department indicated that he appeared to have repented for his
crimes.”
The
Philippine Star: ‘Local Terrorists Lack Support From
ISIS’
“For lack of support from their foreign counterparts, terrorists in
Mindanao are capable of mounting only small-scale attacks, according
to the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). In an
executive summary submitted to the Inspector General of the US
Department of Defense, the USINDOPACOM said Islamic State of Syria and
Iraq (ISIS)-inspired terrorists in Southeast Asia also lack strong
internal leadership, a factor that has impeded their ability to launch
attacks outside their base or carry out large-scale attacks.
“ISIS-East Asia is... only capable of conducting... suicide attacks in
Jolo, Sulu and... islands in Southern Philippines,” it said. The
Hawaii-based US military command, through its newly created unit
–Operation Pacific Eagle Philippines (OPE-P) – has deployed an
anti-terror contingent in parts of Mindanao. The US anti-terror unit
is training and providing intelligence information to Filipino
soldiers hunting down members of the Abu Sayyaf, Khalifa Islamiyah
Mindanao and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, particularly in
Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao provinces and Central Mindanao. The
OPE-P replaced the former US Pacific Command Joint Special Operations
Task Force-Philippines based in Zamboanga City.”
The
Straits Times: ISIS Militants Not Flocking In Droves To S-E Asia, Says
Top US Counter-Terrorism Official
“Islamic State militants who fought in Syria and Iraq are not
flocking to Southeast Asia “in droves”, as they opt instead to press
their fight closer to the Middle East - in Africa - a top United
States counter-terrorism official said on Friday (Nov 22). “We know
that an ISIS core, the remnants of ISIS in Syria, had been encouraging
their fighters to leave and fight again, to take the fight to other
regions,” Mr Nathan Sales, who leads the US State Department's
counter-terrorism bureau, told reporters in Manila. He said there had
been “a clear indication of an interest” among militants to head to
South-east Asia. “But truth be told,” he said, “it's not one of the
regions that ISIS fighters seem to be heading to in droves.” Mr Sales
said west Africa's Sahel region - a semi-arid zone south of the Sahara
that includes parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger - presents a more
pressing concern for the US-led global coalition against ISIS, or the
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
said earlier this part of the world “would be a preferred initial area
of focus” for the coalition. Across the Sahel, a combination of porous
borders, intercommunal tensions and ill-equipped domestic armies has
exacerbated a problem that regional and international forces are now
struggling to contain.”
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