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Eye on Extremism
April 25, 2022
The Washington Post: Taliban Vows Crackdown On ISIS As Violence Surges In Afghanistan
“A four-day blitz of terrorist bombings across Afghanistan has left the country reeling after months of relative calm, raising fears that the Taliban — which spent years fighting the Afghan state and its U.S. backers — will be unable to maintain the peace. Sunni extremists from the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, known as Islamic State-Khorasan or ISIS-K, have claimed at least one of the attacks, a bombing Thursday inside a crowded Shiite mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif that killed at least 31 people and injured more than 60. On Friday, Taliban officials announced the arrest of a local Islamic State leader who they claimed was the “mastermind” of that attack. But just hours later, another bomb exploded at a Sunni mosque in northern Kunduz province, killing more than 30 people, and a mine was detonated near a market in Kabul. The blasts capped a violent and chaotic week, which included a double bombing outside a school in the ethnic Shiite Hazara district of Kabul and another attack in Kunduz on government workers. All told, at least 77 Afghans have been killed and more than 160 wounded.”
Reuters: Attacks In Mali And Burkina Faso Kill 21, Wound Dozens
“Fifteen soldiers and six civilians were killed on Sunday in attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso, neighbouring West African countries struggling with deadly jihadist insurgencies, military and security sources said. Suicide bombers drove cars packed with explosives into three military camps in central Mali before dawn, the military said in a statement. Six were killed and 15 wounded at the Sevare camp, and five were wounded at two other locations. Across the border in northern Burkina Faso, simultaneous attacks on military detachments in Gaskinde and Pobe-Mengao in the early hours killed nine soldiers and six civilians, including two who were members of an armed self-defence group, the military said in a statement. About 30 were wounded in the two attacks. Military juntas have snatched power in Mali and Burkina Faso in the last two years, promising to provide greater security than their democratically-elected predecessors. But violent attacks on civilians and the army persist. The armed forces of both countries have been accused of abuses against civilians in their attempt to root out Islamist fighters from rural desert communities. The trouble began in Mali in 2012 when Islamists took over the north. Forces from former colonial power France beat them back, but they regrouped and were soon carrying out attacks closer to the southern capital Bamako.”
United States
CBS News: Documents Reveal Bin Laden's Bid For American Support
“New translations of Osama bin Laden's personal documents show that the intention behind 9/11 was not only to kill Americans, but to incite U.S. protests, like those seen during the Vietnam War. These documents, first recovered in the 2011 raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, have been declassified since 2017, but were unorganized and mostly untranslated, until now. The letters offer one of the closest looks yet into the mind of America's most infamous terrorist. In her new book, “The Bin Laden Papers,” author and Islamic scholar Nelly Lahoud distills nearly 6,000 pages of the personal notes, letters, and journals taken from bin Laden's compound. She spoke with 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi about the al Qaeda leader's motivation behind 9/11. “He thought that the American people would take to the streets, replicate the anti-Vietnam War protests, and they would put pressure on their government to withdraw from Muslim majority states,” Lahoud told Alfonsi on the broadcast. It was a huge miscalculation. A Gallup poll from October 2001 showed 88% of Americans approved of the military action in Afghanistan. According to Lahoud, bin Laden's papers revealed a disconnect between his ambition and capability.”
Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat: SDF Chief: Turkey Hinders Anti-Isis Operations
“Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said Turkey has intensified attacks against SDF-run areas east of the Euphrates, violating international covenants with the guarantor countries. He pointed to the Turkish attacks targeting Syria’s Ain al-Arab (Kobani) and the drone attacks that have killed innocent civilians and administrative figures. He said in a tweet on his official page on Saturday that these provocative attacks threaten peace and security and hinder anti-ISIS operations in these areas. Abdi’s remarks followed a series of violent attacks targeting SDF sites in the countryside of Aleppo, Hasakeh and Raqqa governorates in northeastern Syria. Since early April, the Turkish army has targeted nine SDF military sites and posts in its areas of influence east of the Euphrates, killing six military personnel, including three women, one of whom was a prominent leader in the SDF women's wing, and injuring 17 others. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) denounced in a statement published on its official Facebook page on Saturday Turkey’s constant brutal attacks and policy of genocide adopted against Kurdish areas, the latest of which was targeting a car in Kobani, in which head of the Defense Office and her companions were killed.”
Afghanistan
AFP: Taliban Arrest IS 'Mastermind' Of Afghan Mosque Attack: Police
“Taliban forces have arrested a suspected Islamic State militant who planned a bomb attack that killed at least 12 worshippers at a Shiite mosque in Afghanistan, police said on Friday. IS claimed the bomb blast that tore through the Seh Dokan mosque during midday prayers in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday. The attack also wounded 58 people. Balkh province's police spokesman Asif Waziri said Abdul Hamid Sangaryar was a key operative of IS. “He was the mastermind of yesterday's attack on the mosque,” Waziri told AFP. The interior ministry also reported the arrest of Sangaryar, an Afghan national. “He played a key role in several attacks in the past and had repeatedly managed to escape, but this time we arrested him in a special operation,” Waziri said. IS also claimed a separate bomb attack in another northern city of Kunduz on Thursday that killed four people and wounded 18 people. The group has taken responsibility for deadly attacks in Afghanistan, often against Shiite targets, even as the number of bombings have fallen since the Taliban seized power in August last year. Shiite Afghans are mostly from the ethnic Hazara community and make up between 10 and 20 percent of the country's 38 million people. They have long been the target of the IS, who consider them heretics.”
Associated Press: Militants In Afghanistan Strike Pakistan Army Post, Kill 3
“Militants in Afghanistan fired heavy weapons across the border into a Pakistani military outpost overnight, killing three personnel, the army said Saturday, in the latest violence to rattle the volatile region. A firefight ensued with the militants firing toward the army post in Pakistan's rugged North Waziristan region, and several were killed, the statement said. There was no immediate way to independently confirm details of the attack. It comes as Afghanistan is reeling from a series of explosions in recent days, including the bombing of a mosque in northern Kunduz province on Friday that killed 33 people, including several students of an adjacent religious school or madrassa. That includes an attack Thursday on the Abdul Rahim Shaheed school in Kabul that killed seven children. It re-opened on Saturday, with children remembering their fallen classmates with roses. The striking increase in attacks in Afghanistan — as well as in neighboring Pakistan — highlights the growing security challenge facing Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, who swept to power last August in the closing days of the chaotic withdrawal of American and NATO troops ending their 20-year war.”
Lebanon
“Lebanon’s security forces carried out a series of raids in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh, the strongholds of the Shiite Hezbollah party and Amal movement, following complaints by the local population over the security situation. The security forces arrested dozens of individuals, who are wanted for theft, armed robbery and drug trafficking. Pickpocketing and theft of motorcycles and mobile phones have increased dramatically in recent months, forcing the suburbs’ residents to restrict their movement especially during nighttime. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, a resident said she “hesitates to go out at night to the markets to buy Eid al-Fitr necessities, due to fears of being robbed.” The people of the district resorted to a sort of self-security plan, with social media sites posting videos showing residents catching and beating a person who tried to steal a motorcycle, before handing him over to the state security forces. In view of the wide popular discontent, a security campaign was launched last week, with the participation of the Lebanese Army, the Interior Security Forces (ISF), State Security and General Security. The residents of the suburbs have expressed some relief at the recent deployment of security forces in the streets.”
Middle East
“As violent and tense as the last month has been, considering all the buildup and warnings about the inherent danger of Ramadan coinciding with Passover and Easter, things could have been much, much worse.
Of course, four vile terrorist acts that killed 14 people over a 16-day span, violent clashes between Arab rioters and police on the Temple Mount and five rockets fired from Gaza toward Israel over the last week is bad, very bad. But thanks to swift steps and a measured policy taken by the government and the IDF and security forces, the situation has so far remained fairly contained. There is still another week of Ramadan, including massive Muslim prayers at the Temple Mount this Friday, the last Friday of the holiday. Then there is Independence Day on May 5; the one-year anniversary of Operation Guardian of the Walls in Gaza on May 6; the fourth-year anniversary of the US Embassy move to Jerusalem on May 14; Nakba Day, Palestinian “Catastrophe Day,” on May 15; and Jerusalem Day, with its now very fraught flag march through the Old City to the Western Wall on May 29. There are plenty of off-ramps where things can turn very violent, very quickly. But so far, the government and security apparatus have kept the situation pretty well under control.”
The Times Of Israel: Israeli Forces Arrest 12 Palestinians In West Bank Anti-Terror Raids
“Israeli forces arrested 12 people across the West Bank over the weekend in connection with a spate of deadly attacks inside Israel, the military announced on Sunday. Israel’s army and the Shin Bet domestic security agency said they had conducted “joint counterterrorism activities” in several West Bank locations, including the flashpoint districts of Hebron and Jenin. “The forces apprehended a total of 12 individuals suspected of involvement in terror activities over the weekend,” they said. Palestinian media reports claimed that the cousin of the terrorist who carried out the deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv earlier this month was among those arrested. He was arrested in a raid carried out in a village on the outskirts of Jenin in the northern West Bank, the reports said, identifying the man as Ahmad A-Sa’ad, a cousin of Ra’ad Hazem, who killed three people when he opened fire on a busy Tel Aviv bar on April 7. There was no immediate confirmation from the IDF, which has made several attempts to arrest Hazem’s family members, including opening fire on a car in which his brothers were traveling. Israeli security forces have sought to arrest the father and brother of Hazem for their alleged involvement in the attack. Hazem’s father, Fathi, is a former security prisoner who previously served as an officer in the Palestinian Authority’s security services in Jenin.”
Nigeria
Reuters: Blast In Northeastern Nigeria Injures 11 People, Say Police
“A blast in the capital of Nigeria's northeastern Taraba state on Friday evening injured 11 people including children, police said, days after an explosion claimed by Islamic State killed 3 people at a marketplace in a rural town in Taraba. The blasts in Taraba mark the spread of Islamist insurgencies that have gripped Nigeria's northeast for a decade. “There was an explosion at about 8.15 p.m. yesterday in Nukkai, Jalingo. Eleven youths, comprising 10 male and one female, mostly between 11 and 18 years had minor bruises and have been treated. No one died. No one has owned up to the act,” Usman Abdullahi, a police spokesman in Taraba State, said. The explosion at a marketplace in Iware on Tuesday killed 3 people and injured 19.”
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.”
Daily Post Nigeria: Police Confirm Killing Of 10 Persons By Boko Haram In Yobe
“Ten persons have been killed by Boko Haram in Damaturu, Yobe, state Police Command has confirmed. The Police explained that several others were wounded in the attack which occurred in Geidam town. ASP Dungus Abdulkarim, the spokesman for the Command, said the victims were in a local beer parlour, popularly known as Kwari, on the outskirts of the town when the insurgents struck on Wednesday. He also explained that the insurgents killed a young man who operates a SIM card registration shop in the town. According to him, the insurgents who operated on motorcycles invaded the staff quarters of a public school in the area. The spokesman urged the residents to report suspicious movements and persons in their communities to security agencies, saying that the command sympathised with the community over the attack. He assured, “Currently, normalcy has returned and people are going about their normal business as security operatives were deployed for patrols and visibility policing to avert future occurrence of the attack.”
Somalia
Associated Press: Somalia’s Extremists Bomb Restaurant In The Capital; 6 Dead
“A bomb blast by Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels hit a popular seaside restaurant in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, killing at least six people, ambulance service officials say. The explosion was detonated by a suicide bomber who had been denied access inside the restaurant where the Somali Police Commissioner and several lawmakers were having dinner, Somali Police Spokesman Maj. Abdifatah Aden Hassan announced at a press conference Saturday. The explosion occurred Friday evening when many patrons gathered for an Iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast. The restaurant is frequented by government officials. Those killed were mostly civilians and seven other people were wounded, the director of Aamin Ambulance Service, Abdulkadir Adan told The Associated Press by phone. The blast caused “huge damage,” he said. Some security personnel were killed in the blast but police did not specify how many. Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamic extremist group has claimed responsibility for the explosion.”
United Kingdom
The Jerusalem Post: UK Neo-Nazi, 19, Sentenced For Inciting Terrorism Against Jews
“19-year-old UK citizen Thomas Leech, who has encouraged terrorism against Jews and Muslims, has been sentenced to two years in a young offender’s institution. Leech posted a “call to arms” and glorified far-right killers such as Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in two terrorist attacks in Norway in 2011 and Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. Leech, a Preston native, pleaded guilty to inciting terrorism against Jews and Muslims and stirring up religious or racial hatred. Rachel White, mitigating, said some offenses were committed when Leech was still a minor, aged only 17 or 18, and that he suffered from autism, agoraphobia and bullying, which kept him out of school. Manchester Crown Court heard how Leech believed conspiracy theories about Jews, saying they were planning the “great replacement” of the white race and are responsible for the “Islamification” of Europe. Leech posted online about his belief that the Holocaust was a hoax and that Jews controlled the world, as well as posting Third Reich imagery and anti-Muslim content. Prosecutor Joe Allman said Leech first came to police attention when he claimed to be planning a shooting at his school in January 2017.”
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