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Eye on Extremism
April 22, 2022
Associated Press: Afghan IS Group Claims Series Of Bombings Targeting Shiites
“An Islamic State affiliate on Friday claimed a series of bombings a day earlier that targeted Afghanistan’s minority Shiite Muslims, while Pakistan issued a warning of IS threats in its eastern Punjab province. The deadliest of three bombings on Thursday in Afghanistan exploded inside a Shite mosque in northern Mazar-e-Sharif. Hospital officials say at least 12 people were killed and as many as 40 were hurt. Earlier Thursday, a roadside bomb exploded near a boys school in the Afghan capital of Kabul, injuring two children in the city’s predominately Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi. A third bomb in northern Kunduz injured 11 mechanics working for the country’s Taliban rulers. Since sweeping to power last August, the Taliban have been battling the upstart Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State in Khorasan Province or IS-K which is proving to be an intractable security challenge for Afghanistan’s religiously driven government. Last November the Taliban’s intelligence unit carried out sweeping attacks on suspected IS-K hideouts in eastern Nangarhar province.”
Reuters: Islamic State Claims Nigeria Bombing, Says About 30 Killed Or Hurt
“Islamic State claimed responsibility for an explosion that it said killed or injured 30 people at a market where alcohol was sold in Taraba State, Nigeria, marking an expansion of the area where the extremist group operates in the country. Northeast Nigeria, especially the states of Borno and Yobe, have been in the grip of Islamist insurgencies for over a decade, but Taraba, located at the eastern end of Nigeria's Middle Belt central region, has not previously been attacked. The explosion took place on Tuesday in Iware, a rural town, and local police initially said three people were killed and 19 injured. They could not immediately be reached on Thursday to comment on the Islamic State claim or casualty count. In a statement posted late on Wednesday on a Telegram messaging channel used by Islamic State to distribute its propaganda, the group described those who detonated the bomb in the market as “soldiers of the caliphate in central Nigeria”. The statement said the attack had struck “a gathering of infidel Christians” and expressed satisfaction that the drinking spot had been damaged. It did not break down the casualty figure into dead and injured. The whole of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, has been suffering from a rise in crime and violence, exacerbated by the economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
United States
CBS 46: California Man Charged With Making Terrorist Threat To President Of Wisconsin School Board
“A California man is charged and accused of making a death threat toward the president of a Wisconsin school board. According to online court records, 33-year-old Jeremy Hanson was charged with terrorist threats, which is a felony. According to the criminal complaint filed with the charges, Hanson sent an anonymous email to Tim Nordin, the ECASD Board of Education president, from a Gmail account named “Kill All Marxist Teachers” at 11:58 a.m. on March 21, 2022. According to WEAU, the email said, “I am going to kill you and shoot up your next school-board meeting for promoting the radical transgender agenda. It’s now time to declare war on you pedos. I am going to kill you and your entire family.” The email was sent to Nordin’s school email, and ECASD’s IT staff worked with the Eau Claire Police Department to find the IP address of the device the email was sent from. Investigators learned the IP address originated in Los Alamitos, California, and that the message appeared to have been sent from a PlayStation 4. Detectives reached out to the internet service provider, Spectrum, to get more information about the account holder. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department then contacted the account holder, who identified herself as the mother of Hanson and confirmed that they owned a PlayStation 4.”
Syria
Associated Press: ‘We Found Nothing’: Thousands Of Islamic State’s Victims Are Still Missing
“For journalist Amer Matar, a decade-long search for his younger brother has defined him and changed the course of his life, which is now dedicated to researching and documenting crimes committed by the Islamic State group in Syria. Mohammed Nour Matar vanished in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa in 2013 while reporting on an explosion that hit the headquarters of an insurgent group. His burnt camera was found at the scene of the blast, and his family soon afterward got word he was in an Islamic State prison. But there has been no other sign of him since. He is among thousands of people believed to have been seized by Islamic State, the extremist group that in 2014 overran large parts of Syria and Iraq, where it set up a so-called Islamic caliphate and brutalized the population for years. Three years after its territorial defeat, thousands of those believed seized are still missing and calling their captors to account remains elusive. Families of missing people feel abandoned by a world that has largely moved on, while they struggle to uncover the fate of their loved ones. “These violations may constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes and even genocide in some cases,” the Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center, or SJAC, said in a report published Thursday.
Turkey
Daily Sabah: Suspected Terrorist Attack Targets NGO Office In Istanbul
“A suspected female terrorist carried out an attack targeting the offices of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Istanbul’s Gaziosmanpaşa district early Thursday. According to security footage, the explosion took place shortly after a woman came near the building and left it at around 5:40 a.m. local time (2:40 a.m. GMT). The building, located in the Hürriyet neighborhood, housed the office of the Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), Anadolu Agency (AA) reported. No casualties were reported after the explosion. Initial investigations suggested that the explosion was caused by a stun grenade. While no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the PKK terrorist group carried out an attack targeting a vehicle carrying prison guards in Bursa province a day earlier. Police have cordoned off the area and are still investigating the incident.”
Afghanistan
Bloomberg: Taliban Ban TikTok App For ‘Misleading’ Youth In Afghanistan
“ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok video app will be banned in Afghanistan as part of a moral policing drive by the ruling Taliban, a spokesman for the group said. The widely-used social media application is “misleading the younger generation,” Inamullah Samangani said on Twitter. TikTok’s “filthy content was not consistent with Islamic laws,” he later said by phone. The decision, taken during a cabinet meeting Wednesday, is the first time the militant group has banned an app since they came to power last year. The cabinet also decided to block the popular South Korean PUBG battlegrounds game and bar Afghan television channels from airing “immoral” content, Samangani said. The group’s crackdown on TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media app, is just one part of their stringent religious policing campaign, which includes suspending high school education for girls, forcing government workers to grow beards, and ordering taxi drivers to not allow women to travel more than 70 km (43 miles) without a male family member. “We’ve received a lot of complaints about how the TikTok app and the PUBG game are wasting people’s time,” Samangani said. “The ministry of communications and information technology was ordered to remove the apps from internet servers and make them inaccessible to everyone in Afghanistan.”
Pakistan
Deutsche Welle: Tensions Increase Between Taliban And Pakistan Over Attacks
“Tension is high between Pakistan and Afghanistan after Pakistan's military air raids into Afghanistan killed 47 civilians over the weekend. During the past few months, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an armed militant group, increased attacks on Pakistan security forces from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. Afghan officials said the death toll had risen to 47 following Pakistan military strikes in the eastern Afghanistan provinces of Kunar and Khost. The casualties include mostly women and children. Taliban officials in Kabul and Islamabad are struggling to resolve the cross-border attacks, and have warned Islamabad after the death of civilians in the predawn assault. Last year, Pakistan's government involved the Taliban in negotiating a peace agreement with the TTP, but that failed just after a monthlong truce between Islamabad and the TTP. The Taliban, meanwhile, have not made significant efforts to help Islamabad break a deal with the TTP to stop them from attacking Pakistan. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemns in the strongest possible terms the bombardment and attack that has taken place from the Pakistan side on the soil of Afghanistan,” government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told journalists in an audio message.”
Middle East
Fox News: Israel-Gaza Conflict Escalates Following Palestinian Rocket, Terror Attacks
“Conflict between Israel and Gaza militants continued to escalate Thursday following a series of rocket attacks launched into Israel and corresponding Israeli countermeasures. Hamas militants fired the first rocket into Israel in months Monday and continued to ramp up the aggression, leading to a flurry of rockets Wednesday evening. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have responded each time with airstrikes on Hamas militant targets within Gaza. “In the last month, terrorist activity against Israel has been on the rise: 14 Israelis were murdered in terror attacks. Palestinians chose to violently riot at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Terrorists in Gaza launched multiple rockets into Israel—including last night,” the IDF tweeted Thursday. The escalation comes amid growing unrest within Israel, where a wave of Arab terrorist attacks killed 14 in March and early April. Israel responded to the attacks with crackdowns in the West Bank, which resulted in 15 Palestinian deaths. Palestinian protests have also rocked the Aqsa mosque, known as the Temple Mount in Judaism. The area is a holy site for both religions, and thousands of Palestinians gathered there last week to pray during the month of Ramadan. When the prayers were finished, however, many participants began protesting and marching in the area surrounding the mosque.”
AFP: Lone-Wolf Palestinian Terrorists Show Private Gripes Now Top Ideology, Say Analysts
“Recent deadly attacks by Palestinians have shown a shift in the dynamics of terrorism in the West Bank, as armed factions play less of a role and individual grievances trump ideology, analysts say. At a bustling market in the Palestinian political headquarters of Ramallah, customers clamor to get their hands on the latest hot trend. This season, it is T-shirts printed with an M-16 rifle. Clothing store manager Ahmed Abu Hamza said he has sold 12,000 of the shirts in the past week. “The demand is terrifying,” he said. “It’s the recent conditions in Palestine, especially Jenin,” a terrorist hotbed in the northern West Bank that has seen a wave of arrests by the Israeli army, the 40-year-old said. It was with an M-16 rifle that gunman Diaa Hamarsheh rampaged through the Tel Aviv ultra-Orthodox suburb of Bnei Brak late last month, killing five people. That was one of four terror attacks by Palestinians and Arab-Israelis since late March that have left 14 people dead. Over the same period, a total of 23 Palestinians have been killed across the West Bank, many while attempting to carry out attacks. But while armed factions — from the Islamist Hamas to the secular Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas — have long dominated Palestinian terrorism, analyst Jihad Harb said the dynamics are changing.”
Nigeria
Sahara Reporters: Nigerian Military Re-Arrests ‘Most Wanted’ Boko Haram/ISWAP Spy In Borno
“The most wanted high ranking intelligence spy of the Boko Haram/Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists, Modu Babagana, who escaped from military detention in Bama has been re-arrested by troops of 21 Special Forces Brigade in Borno State. Zagazola Makama, a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst disclosed this in a tweet on Thursday. “The Nigerian Army Troops of 21 Special Forces Brigade, Bama have arrested a most wanted high ranking Intelligence spy of the Boko Haram/ISWAP, Modu Babagana, who escaped from military detention in Bama,” he said. “An Intelligence Officer told Zagazola Makama, a Counter Insurgency Expert in the LakeChad, that the notorious Boko Haram/ ISWAP member was arrested in January 2020 for carrying out espionage activities on troops in the general area of Bama and Banki. “The sources said a few days after Babagana was taken to prison, he used charms to facilitate his jailbreak as well as evaded himself from being caught by anyone, particularly his own troops. “Upon realising that he escaped by troops manning the prison, he was declared wanted with his pictures shared at every nook and cranny of the city.”
United Kingdom
“The co-founder of a neo-Nazi terrorist group saw a government ban as an “obstacle to overcome” while continuing to advance his agenda, a court has heard. Alex Davies is charged with remaining a member of National Action after it was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in December 2016, and then setting up a spin-off group called NS131 that was later banned. Winchester Crown Court heard that the 27-year-old told a fellow neo-Nazi that it was “pretty cool” to be “up there” with the British Union of Fascists, which was banned in 1940. The government announced its intention to outlaw National Action, adding it to a list of 70 groups including Isis and the IRA, on 12 December 2016. Jurors were told that later that day, a neo-Nazi contact messaged Mr Davies and his fellow co-founder Ben Raymond who has since been convicted of membership. The man wrote that he was “very sorry to hear news of the insane ban in prospect” and urged them to “see it as an opportunity to be creative in expressing the same thing without using words that will offend”. Jurors were shown a reply from Mr Davies, where he wrote: “It’s nothing to get worked up about. I’m sure we’ll come up with some creative way to overcome the obstacles put in front of us.”
“Counter-terrorism measures in the government’s Online Safety Bill could be “muzzled and confused”, a watchdog has said. Jonathan Hall QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, recommended that parts of the delayed law are rewritten to provide “greater clarity”. The bill aims to force online platforms and media companies to find and remove terrorist content, and give Ofcom powers to fine those who do not…”
BBC News: Abubaker Deghayes Jailed For Encouraging 'Jihad By Sword'
“A man who called for jihad “by sword” in a speech at a Brighton mosque has been jailed for four years for encouraging terrorism. Abubaker Deghayes, 54, from Saltdean, East Sussex, was convicted at an earlier hearing at the Old Bailey. He addressed about 50 worshippers, including children, at the Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre on 1 November 2020 after evening prayers. Deghayes was seen to make a stabbing gesture when talking about jihad. Sentencing Deghayes, Judge Nigel Lickley described his actions as “reckless” rather than intentional. He said his comments came at the end of a speech that was not rehearsed. He told Deghayes: “You said at that point you were 'rolling with the speech'. I take that to mean that you got carried away by the audience.” The judge said there was no evidence that Deghayes had been in a position of authority or influence in the mosque and he had abused that position - but his statement had been “made recklessly” widely to an audience. The court heard the audience included fathers and their school-age sons who, as such, could be considered “vulnerable”. Deghayes, originally from Libya, had denied wrongdoing and said he was explaining the meaning of jihad by the sword as self-defence.”
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