“A U.S. grand jury on Saturday indicted a man for terrorism and other charges
stemming from an April 12 gunfire and smoke bomb attack that injured 23

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


May 9, 2022

 

Reuters: New York Subway Shooting Suspect Indicted On Terrorism Charge
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“A U.S. grand jury on Saturday indicted a man for terrorism and other charges
stemming from an April 12 gunfire and smoke bomb attack that injured 23 people
on the New York City subway. The indictment in U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of New York charged Frank James, 62, with a terrorist attack
and other violence against a mass transportation system plus a count of
discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. If convicted on the terrorism
charge James could be sentenced to life in prison. Defense attorneys
representing James did not immediately respond to requests for comment. James
is accused of setting off smoke bombs and opening fire inside a New York City
subway car in Brooklyn, striking 10 people with gunfire and setting off a
round-the-clock manhunt. Thirteen others were injured in the frantic rush to
flee the smoke-filled train, police said. He was taken into custody some 30
hours later in lower Manhattan, about 8 miles (13 km) from the scene of the
assault, after authorities determined his whereabouts with the help of tips
from residents, some of whom posted sightings on social media, police said.
James, a Bronx native with recent addresses in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, had
previously been charged with a criminal complaint filed by law enforcement over
the attack.”

 

Associated Press: Yemen Officials: 2 Commanders Killed In Clash With Militants
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“Clashes at a militia facility in southern Yemen following the arrest of a
group of suspected al-Qaida militants has killed at least a dozen people,
including two force commanders, officials said. The officials said the fighting
took place late Friday at the headquarters of the so-called Security Belt force
in Dhale province. The Security Belt is a militia trained and funded by the
United Arab Emirates and loyal to the secessionist Southern Transitional
Council. The force is active in Yemen’s southern provinces. The militia
reported that Col. Waleed al-Dhami, deputy commander of the Security Belt, and
Col. Mohamed al-Shoubagi, commander of the government’s counterterrorism unit
in Dhale, were killed. It did not offer further details. The security officials
said the nearly hour-long firefight erupted when troops asked the militants to
hand over their weapons. The militants refused and opened fire at the troops,
according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to brief reporters. Eight militants and four security
forces were killed in the fighting, including the two commanders, they said.
There were a number of wounded troops who were taken to a hospital, the
officials added. Al-Qaida and Islamic State group affiliates are active in
several regions of war-torn Yemen and have taken advantage of the yearslong
civil war to make inroads. The war pits Iran-backed Houthi rebels against the
internationally recognized government, which is aided by a Saudi-led coalition.”

 

United States

 

Reuters: U.S. Police Trainers With Far-Right Ties Are Teaching Hundreds Of Cops
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“On social media, Richard Whitehead is a warrior for the American right. He
has praised extremist groups. He has called for public executions of government
officials he sees as disloyal to former President Donald Trump. In a post in
2020, he urged law enforcement officers to disobey COVID-19 public-health
orders from “tyrannical governors,” adding: “We are on the brink of civil war.”
Whitehead also has a day job. He trains police officers around the United
States. The Idaho-based law enforcement consultant has taught at least 560
police officers and other public safety workers in 85 sessions in 12 states
over the past four years, according to a Reuters analysis of public records
from the departments that hired him. A Washington state training commission in
2015 temporarily banned Whitehead from advertising courses on its website
because of instructional materials that referred to a turban-wearing police
officer as a “towel head” and contained cartoons of women in bikinis, according
to emails from the commission to Whitehead that were reviewed by Reuters. Other
marketing literature touted Whitehead’s “deception detection” technique that,
among other things, teaches officers not to trust sexual-assault claimants if
they use the word “we” in referring to themselves and their assailant.”

 

Associated Press: Al-Qaida Chief Blames US For Ukraine Invasion In New Video
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“Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri made an appearance in a pre-recorded video
to mark the 11th anniversary of the death of his predecessor Osama bin Laden.
Al-Zawahri says in the video that “U.S. weakness” was the reason that its ally
Ukraine became “prey” for the Russian invasion. The 27-minute speech was
released Friday according to the SITE Intelligence group, which monitors
militant activity. The leader appears sitting at a desk with books and a gun.
Urging Muslim unity, al-Zawahri said the U.S. was in a state of weakness and
decline, citing the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan launched after
the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bin Laden was the mastermind and financier behind
the attacks. “Here (the U.S.) is after its defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan,
after the economic disasters caused by the 9/11 invasions, after the Corona
pandemic, and after it left its ally Ukraine as prey for the Russians,” he
said. Bin Laden was killed in a 2011 raid by U.S. forces on his compound
hideout in Pakistan. Al-Zawahri’s whereabouts are unknown. He is wanted by the
FBI and there is a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture.”

 

Syria

 

Kurdistan 24: SDF Arrests Suspected ISIS Cell Leader In Raqqa
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“The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that it
arrested a suspected ISIS leader and two local collaborators in Raqqa on
Sunday. “Our forces have raided a house where the terrorist was hiding with the
help of two local collaborators who helped in securing shelter and movement,”
the SDF Media Centre said in a statement. “A large number of weapons and
documents were confiscated.” The SDF liberated Raqqa from ISIS in October 2017
with support from the US-led coalition. The northeastern Syrian city was the
de-facto capital of the group's self-styled caliphate, which was completely
destroyed after the SDF captured the eastern town of Baghouz in March 2019. The
SDF rarely carries out operations against ISIS sleeper cells in Raqqa since
most ISIS sleeper cell activity is in the eastern Arab-majority Deir al-Zor
province. However, in recent months the SDF has arrested more ISIS suspects in
Raqqa.”

 

Iraq

 

AFP: Yazidis Displaced Anew By North Iraq Violence
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“Iraqi policeman Jundi Khodr Kalo was among thousands of Yazidis again forced
to flee their homes this month, after fierce clashes between the army and local
fighters in their Sinjar heartland. “Last time we were displaced because we
were afraid of the Islamic State” jihadist group, said Kalo, 37, from the
non-Arab, Kurdish-speaking minority. The Yazidis are a monotheistic, esoteric
community who were massacred by IS when the extremists swept across Iraq in
2014. Two days of fighting broke out on May 1 in northern Iraq's Sinjar region
between the army and Yazidi fighters affiliated with Turkey's banned Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK). A local official said the violence forced more than 1,700
families, or over 10,200 people, to flee. Some 960 families have settled in a
displacement camp in the neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan region, while others have
sought shelter with relatives, according to the United Nations. Kalo, his wife
and their five children took refuge in the crowded Chamisku camp, home to more
than 22,000 people, near the city of Zakho. Like many Yazidis, the Kalo family
suffered long years of displacement after IS overran swathes of their country.
“We lived in a camp for six years,” he said, only returned to their home
village two years ago.”

 

Yemen

 

The Jerusalem Post: Yemen’s Houthis Celebrate Terror Attack In Israel
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“The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen is celebrating Thursday’s terror attack
in Elad, which they praised it as an operation “in the heart of the Zionist
regime,” Iranian news media quoted the Houthi statement as saying. The Houthis
are a rebel group in Yemen who have been fighting the Saudi-backed government
of Yemen for years. In 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen to prevent the
group taking Aden and other cities. Since then, the Houthis have fired missiles
and drones at Riyadh. They increasingly also condemn Israel and seek to work
closely with Iran and Hezbollah. Their official slogan is antisemitic and calls
for death to Israel and “cursing” Jews. The group put out a statement of
“congratulations on the Palestinian operation against the Israeli enemy” and
said the “operation” took place in response to the actions of the Zionist enemy
and its attack on Islamic sanctuaries. The Houthis said they support the
attacks that have “shaken the Zionist regime.” They also called on Muslims in
the region to support the attacks. They accused Israel of threatening Al-Aqsa
mosque.”

 

Middle East

 

The Wall Street Journal: Israel Arrests Two Palestinians Suspected In Elad
Terrorist Attack
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“Two Palestinians suspected of killing three Israelis in a bloody ax attack on
Israel’s independence day were captured Sunday after an intensive manhunt,
Israeli authorities said. The suspects, identified by a security official as
Asad Al Refai and Subhi Sbeihat, were arrested in a wooded area adjacent to a
quarry in central Israel not far from the city of Elad, where the attack
occurred as independence day celebrations were ending on Thursday. Video of the
arrest circulated on social media and authenticated by Israeli police showed
security personnel with guns drawn surrounding a large bush and yelling for the
suspects to surrender. Mr. Refai, 19 years old, and Mr. Sbeihat, 20, from
Rumana, a Palestinian town near Jenin in the West Bank, were being interrogated
by Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, officials said. After the arrests,
officers walked one of the two suspects to a location nearby where an ax could
be seen lying on the ground covered by underbrush, another video released by
police showed. The Elad attack was the most recent in a wave of attacks against
Israelis in recent months that have left at least 18 dead. On Sunday evening, a
19-year-old Palestinian man stabbed a police officer near an entrance to
Jerusalem’s Old City, said Eli Levi, a spokesman for the police.”

 

The Times Of Israel: Israel To Return Bodies For Burial Of Two Terrorists Who
Carried Out Hadera Attack
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“Israel has agreed to return the bodies of two Arab-Israeli terrorists who
carried out the deadly terror attack in Hadera in late March and they will be
buried overnight Sunday-Monday in their hometown of Umm al-Fahm, Hebrew media
reports said. Family members agreed to police demands to bury them overnight
and restrict attendance to no more than 50 people at each funeral. They also
agreed there would be no inciting calls or banners and no processions, the
Walla news site reported. There was no official confirmation from the police.
Police had previously expressed concerns that their funerals could attract
thousands and could become rallying sites for terror. Ayman and Ibrahim
Ighbariah, cousins from the northern Arab city, were killed by police during
the Islamic State-inspired attack after fatally shooting Border Police officers
Yazan Falah and Shirel Aboukrat. Ibrahim had been previously jailed for
attempting to join the jihadist group. It was the first attack in Israel
claimed by the Islamic State since 2017. Israel Police said the two arrived at
the scene with 1,100 bullets, as well as at least three handguns and six
knives. Ibrahim, 31, was arrested in 2016 by Turkish police after trying to
join the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria.”

 

Egypt

 

Reuters: Islamic State Claims Responsibility For Attack On Egyptian Troops In
Sinai
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“Islamic State on Sunday claimed responsibility for a deadly attack that
killed an officer and 10 Egyptian soldiers in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, the
group said on its Telegram channel. Saturday's attack was one of the deadliest
in recent years in northern Sinai, where Egypt's security forces have been
battling Islamist militants with links to Islamic State.”

 

Nigeria

 

The Christian Post: Islamic Militants Kill 8 Christians, Including Children,
In Nigeria
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“Radical Islamic militants killed at least eight Christians, including
children younger than 5, and wounded several others in an attack in Nigeria’s
Borno state, according to reports. A picture from the scene shows two deceased
victims, each appearing to be young children, lying side by side, said the
U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern about the
attack in Borno state’s Kwal area. ICC added that one of its representatives
met with a 2-year-old gunshot wound survivor whose mother was killed in the
attack. According to various reports, the attackers were Islamic Fulani
herdsmen or militants from the Islamic State West Africa Province. The
attackers had AK-47 rifles and shouted, “Allah Akbar [Allah is the greatest]”
while firing indiscriminately, according to ICC, which said a community member
who was given intel about a possible attack had issued a security alert. “In
response to this warning, an ICC representative went to the community before
the attack began and rescued 15 children, whom he hid in his home beyond the
scope of the assailants,” the watchdog said. “Despite an early warning, we told
government officials, but they kept silent and allowed Fulani militants to kill
us,” a leader in the community was quoted as saying. “The government is silent
over the killings in my region because we are Christians, not Fulani Muslims.”

 

Africa

 

Associated Press: Two Islamic Extremist Attacks Kill 11 Burkina Faso Soldiers
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“Eleven security forces were killed and nine injured in two separate jihadi
attacks in northern Burkina Faso, the army said Friday. The attacks on Thursday
targeted a military camp about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Solle town in
Loroum province and a special response unit for the gendarme in the Sanmatenga
province, the army said in a statement. The military killed 20 attackers and
seized or destroyed weapons, ammunition and communication devices, the
statement said. Violence by extremists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State
group is soaring in the West African country, which has become the center of
the region's crisis, replacing neighboring Mali, according to the Armed
Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Thousands of people have been killed
and nearly 2 million internally displaced. The latest attacks come on the heels
of other coordinated attacks less than two weeks ago where 15 people were
killed including nine security forces in Burkina Faso's Sahel region. In
January, mutinous soldiers overthrew Burkina Faso’s democratically elected
president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, promising to secure the country from
jihadi violence. However, attacks have since increased, rising by 11% in
February compared with the month prior, according to the U.N.”

 

Reuters: Heavily Armed Militants Break 60 Inmates From Burkina Faso Prison
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“Militants freed around 60 prisoners during an attack on a jail in northwest
Burkina Faso overnight, ransacking offices and setting vehicles ablaze before
making their escape, two security sources and a judicial source said. Armed men
entered the town of Nouna around midnight aboard 4x4s and motorbikes,
brandishing Kalashnikovs and heavy machine guns, the security sources said. The
militants freed around 60 men from the city jail, its entire prisoner
population. Burkina Faso is battling a jihadist insurgency that has spread from
neighbouring Mali over the past decade, where violent attacks are weekly
occurrences. Thousands have been killed across the region, and millions forced
to flee their homes. No one was killed during the weekend's prison raid, but a
volunteer militia fighter was shot, according to security sources. Several of
the prison's trucks and motorbikes were set on fire, and its offices were
trashed. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The raid came
just hours after unknown militants killed at least 11 people between the
northern towns of Dori and Gorgadji, according to two local officials. Among
the dead were nine militiamen and two civilians. Burkina Faso's army on Friday
said that another 11 soldiers, militiamen and police officers were killed in
other attacks over the past week, but that more than 20 militants were killed
in retaliation.”

 

France 24: At Least 35 Killed In Attack On DR Congo Gold Mine: Local Sources
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“Raiders killed at least 35 people in an attack on a gold mine in Ituri, in
the strife-torn northeast of Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources said
Sunday. One local official, Jean-Pierre Bikilisende, of the rural Mungwalu
settlement in Djugu, Ituri, said the CODECO militia had carried out the attack
on the artisanal mine. Bikilisende said the militia had attacked the Camp
Blanquette gold mine and that 29 bodies had been retrieved, while another six
burnt bodies had been found buried at the site. Among the dead was a
four-month-old baby, he added. “This is a provisional toll,” he said, as there
had been other people killed whose bodies had been thrown down the mine shafts.
Several other civilians had been reported missing, he said. “The search
continues.” Camp Blanquette was set up in a forest, far from the nearest
military outpost, so help came too late, said Bikilisende. Cherubin Kukundila,
a civil leader in Mungwalu, said that at least 50 people had been killed in the
raid. Several people had been wounded, nine of them seriously. They were being
treated at Mungwalu hospital, he told AFP. The Camp Blanquette mine lies seven
kilometres (four miles) from Mungwalu. CODECO has been blamed for a number of
ethnic massacres in the province of Ituri.”

 

Al Arabiya: Morocco Arrests ISIS Suspect In Joint Probe With US
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“Moroccan police said Friday they had arrested a suspected ISIS group member,
in cooperation with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, who was implicated
in plotting “acts of terrorism.” The announcement came ahead of the opening
next Wednesday in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh of a conference of member
countries in the US-led coalition against ISIS. The suspect, based in the
kingdom’s northeastern Berkane region, was implicated in the “preparation of a
terrorist plot aimed at delivering a serious blow to public order,” Morocco’s
counterterrorism police, the Central Office of Judicial Research, said in a
statement. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or
via the app. “The outlines of his terrorist conspiracy were unmasked on the
basis of research and technical investigation carried out jointly with the
FBI,” it added. This operation “is further evidence of the persistent dangers
of the terrorist threat that hangs” over Morocco and “the importance of
bilateral cooperation... with the United States in the fight against
terrorism.” The suspect, a 37-year-old engineer, “ran a closed user group
dedicated to extremist goals and projects and aimed at recruiting and drawing
in sympathizers,” the statement said. His objective was to carry out attacks
against Moroccan and foreign dignitaries on Moroccan soil, it alleged.”

 

Canada

 

Edmonton Journal: Windsor Man Charged In RCMP Terrorism Probe
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“…“(Members) view themselves as rebels who are opposed to the system in all
the forms,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher with the Counter Extremism
Project. “When people are looking at various extreme right and neo-Nazi
ideologies, Atomwaffen is like the most extreme accelerationist bent.”
Combatting extremism takes education and early intervention, Fisher-Birch said,
and there are resources out there for people concerned about a friend or family
member’s views. But equally important is building a sense of community, which
can help prevent people from falling into extremist beliefs.  A London, Ont.,
man was charged last year with terrorism, in addition to murder, after a
pick-up truck veered onto the sidewalk killing four members of a Muslim family
out for a walk. The alleged attack prompted police to allege the family was
deliberately run down and targeted because of their faith.”

 

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