Eye on Extremism
May 27, 2022
**NOTE: CEP’s Eye On Extremism will be suspended on Monday, May 30 in observance of Memorial Day. It will resume Tuesday, May 31.**
Reuters: Armed Assailants Kill About 50 People In Eastern Burkina Faso
“Armed assailants have killed about 50 people in a part of eastern Burkina Faso ravaged by Islamist violence, the region's governor said on Thursday. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack on Wednesday against residents of the rural commune of Madjoari, said Colonel Hubert Yameogo, the governor of the East Region. The victims were traveling to a town in the nearby commune of Pama, close to the borders with Benin and Togo, Yameogo said in a statement. Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have overrun swathes of Burkina Faso in recent years, part of a wider insurgency across West Africa's semi-arid Sahel region. The violence has expanded and intensified in the past decade, killing thousands of civilians each year. The conflict is now spilling over into coastal West African countries like Benin and Togo. Eight soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in northern Togo this month in what was likely the first deadly raid in Togo by Islamist militants. Wednesday's attack in Burkina Faso followed two others this month in Madjoari. One killed 17 civilians and another killed 11 soldiers. Army officers angry about worsening militant attacks overthrew Burkina Faso's president in January and vowed to improve security, but levels of violence have remained high.”
Voice Of America: Turkish Officials Claim Capture Of New Islamic State Leader
“The reign of new Islamic State terror group leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi may be over, less than three months after it began. The Turkish website OdaTV first reported the arrest of Abu al-Hassan Thursday, saying Turkish police captured him without firing a single bullet during a raid on a house in Istanbul last week. The website further reported the IS leader was being questioned and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to formally announce the arrest and share additional details in the coming days. Separately, two senior Turkish officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrest to Bloomberg News, adding that Erdogan has been informed. U.S. officials, however, remained cautious. “[We] can’t confirm the reports about al-Qurashi,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Thursday. “Obviously we've been looking at this all day, but we're just not in a position where we can actually confirm that press reporting.” IS named Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as the terror group’s third leader in March, saying he took over shortly after the death of his predecessor during a raid by U.S. special forces in northwestern Syria in February. IS followers quickly lined up behind the new leader, with the terror group’s media division sharing photos and videos of fighters from Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan, the Philippines and elsewhere pledging their allegiance to Abu al-Hassan.”
United States
The Wall Street Journal: Senate Republicans Block Domestic Terrorism Bill
“Senate Republicans blocked debate Thursday on a bill that would establish new domestic terrorism offices in the wake of a shooting that killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket this month, saying the legislation could let the government target conservatives for their political views. The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act failed to reach the 60 votes need to advance under the threshold set by Senate filibuster rules, with 47 in favor and 47 opposed. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) called the bill “a necessary and timely step to honor the memories of the dead in Buffalo, and to make sure mass shootings motivated by race don’t happen again.” The bill would have created new offices within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and would have required coordination between the agencies, as well as regular reporting on domestic terrorism threats. The bill doesn’t contain any expansion of domestic surveillance authority or add criminal offenses, and some of its backers called it a limited measure. But the effort, which previously enjoyed GOP support, couldn’t overcome fresh opposition from Republicans who voiced concerns about backing any legislation that they allege could be subjectively applied to conservative causes.”
Associated Press: Detention Hearing Waived In Plot To Kill George W. Bush
“An Iraqi man behind bars following his arrest on a charge of plotting to assassinate former President George W. Bush has waived his right to a detention hearing and will remain behind bars for now, according to a court document filed Thursday. Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, 52, also schemed to smuggle other Iraqis into the U.S. from Mexico to aid in the plot, after which they’d be smuggled back out through Mexico, prosecutors said in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Columbus following his Tuesday arrest. Shihab, who came to the U.S. from Iraq in 2020 on a visitor’s visa, insinuated he had contacts with the Islamic State group, prosecutors said. It did not appear the plot came close to materializing, with confidential informants briefing the FBI from April 2021 through this month. Shihab on Thursday waived his right to a detention hearing scheduled for Friday, according to the court document which did not provide details. A message was left with Shihab’s federal public defender. If convicted, Shihab could face up to 30 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.”
Syria
Foreign Affairs: The Child Victims Of ISIS
“Three years ago, a global coalition of countries led by the United States retook most of the territory in Iraq and Syria controlled by the Islamic State. Once ISIS was defeated on the battlefield, the world moved on. Left unanswered was the question of what to do about the people, including thousands of children, who had come from abroad, either voluntarily or through coercion, to live under ISIS rule and were now abandoned by their governments. Many of the women and children, and a small number of men, ended up in two detention camps in the middle of the desert in northeast Syria, where they remain today, with no way out. Some of the camps’ residents had been willing adherents to ISIS, whereas others were victims of trafficking and online grooming. Still others were taken as children to join ISIS or lived in ISIS-controlled territory and were displaced, co-opted, or coerced into the control of the group. The larger of the two camps, Al Hol, was initially built for Iraqi refugees in 1991; the smaller, Roj, was established in 2014, also to house families fleeing Iraq. Both camps expanded in earnest in 2019, after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) conquered Baghouz, the last holdout of ISIS in Syria. Estimates of the camps’ population vary, but the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) puts the combined total at over 60,000 people, with more than 80 percent being women and children.”
Nigeria
All Africa: Nigerians Must Unite To Fight Terrorism - Buhari
“President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Nigerians to be united against the activities of the terrorists causing mayhem in some parts of the country. This is just as he said the nation was in a mourning mood over the 'senseless loss of lives seen in Borno State and Katsina State over the last 48 hours'. The President, in a release issued Wednesday by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, assured that the perpetrators of the killings would be brought to justice even as he noted that they were already running scared. According to him, 56,000 Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists have surrendered to the authorities in a year and still counting. He said: “That these terrorists and bandits have been reduced to scavenging from our artisanal miners and farmers for survival is evidence that they are backed into a corner. “This will be small comfort to the family members and loved ones of those murdered this week. But it is in times like these that we must be at our strongest. “Now more than ever Nigerians must come together, in proud defiance of those who would seek through terror and violence to divide us along religious, political or ethnic lines. “And so while we are in mourning for those we have lost, let us face these cowards already fading in strength, number and willpower as one. “Let us show them that Nigerians will not be swayed by terror. Let us show them that Nigerians will not be divided. Let us show them we will not be defeated.”
Premium Times Nigeria: Train Attack: Terrorists Release Another Video Of Abducted Passengers
“The gunmen who abducted passengers on a Kaduna-bound train have released another video of the abductees. In the recent photo, the hostages were pleading with the Nigerian authorities to come to their rescue. This is the fourth time bandits are releasing video or pictorial evidence that the abductees are alive. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the bandits planted explosives on the rail track and immobilised the train around Katari and Rijana axis on the 28 of March. At least nine people were killed in the attack while several others were injured. The Nigerian government said it doing its best to rescue the abducted passengers but 56 days later only the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Hassan and a pregnant woman have been released by the gunmen. In the 2 minutes and 39 seconds video, six of the captives – three men and three women – were shown sitting and kneeling on a taurpalin with one gunman standing behind them ordering them to introduce themselves and speak. One of the hostages said: “My name is Mohammed Dayyabu. We are among those abducted when the Kaduna bound train was attacked. We are calling on the Federal Government, Kaduna state government, non-governmental organisations and international human rights organisations to please accept the conditions laid down by these people who captured us so that we all will go back to our families. Thank you.”
Somalia
Foreign Policy: Somalia’s Al Qaeda Branch Has Gotten ‘Bigger, Stronger, And Bolder’ Since U.S. Exit
“Somalia’s al Qaeda franchise has gotten “bigger, stronger, and bolder” since the small U.S. military footprint of 750 troops was ordered out of the country by then-U.S. President Donald Trump in late 2020, the Pentagon’s top military official for Africa said on Wednesday. U.S. Africa Command chief Gen. Stephen Townsend told reporters at the command’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, that the terrorist group al-Shabab had taken advantage of Somalia’s political dysfunction after the U.S. withdrawal to regroup and improve its capability to strike within the Horn of Africa region and overrun African nations’ forward operating bases. Now, after U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to send troops back, which U.S. officials have described as a move to keep a consistent presence in the country to tamp down on the rising terrorist threat, the United States is making preparations to send just under 500 troops to try to reverse the tide. But al-Shabab’s ability to conduct complex attacks has grown due to the Trump-era hiatus, U.S. military officials believe. In early May, the terrorist group overran an African Union forward operating base in Somalia about 100 miles from the capital of Mogadishu, killing up to an estimated 30 peacekeepers in a tense firefight. And the group stepped up attacks ahead of this month’s elections—including a suicide bombing near the capital city’s airport that killed at least four people and wounded seven.”
Africa
Associated Press: Congo's M23 Rebels Attack Military Base In Country's East
“Congo’s army defended a major military camp in the country’s east on Thursday after days of fighting with M23 rebels making advances in the region. Clashes continued at the Rumangabo base in the Rutshuru area of North Kivu province about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the provincial capital, Goma. “There is no truce. The fighting is still continuing this morning on the same fronts as yesterday,” deputy army spokesman Gen. Sylvain Ekenge said. Gunfire exchanges have been heard there since early in the morning, said Manouvo Nguka, who lives in Rumangabo where the base is located. “The army seeks to regain full control of Rumangabo,” he told The Associated Press. The situation has been critical since Wednesday night, he added. “There was more than an hour of exchange of fire between the loyalist army and the M23 rebels,” he said. The army earlier confirmed the rebels also attacked its positions in the Nyragongo and Rutshuru areas. More than 20 shells were fired by the rebels on Tuesday and Wednesday on Rumangabo, Natale, near the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, and the surrounding area, according to a statement from military spokesman Lt. Gen. Constant Ndima.”
United Kingdom
BBC News: Terrorism Caution After Sheffield Pepper Spray Protest
“A protester arrested at a demonstration where officers were accused of heavy-handed tactics has been cautioned for terrorism offences. Campaigners said police “went berserk” with pepper spray at last months' pro-Kurdish event at Sheffield Town Hall. A 44-year-old man has since been cautioned for displaying an article suggesting membership or support of a banned group. An internal police inquiry cleared officers of any wrongdoing. It was launched when Sheffield TUC contacted the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner to lodge a formal complaint about the actions of officers involved. Footage of the demonstration appeared to show some attendees washing their eyes due to the effects of pepper spray. John Grayson, from South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group, which was supporting the protest, told the BBC at the time that the “police went berserk”. “They started to throw people to the floor, started hitting people with batons and started pepper-spraying people and saying 'get back',” he said. Deputy Chief Constable Tim Forber, who reviewed the video evidence from the protest, said: “Following this internal review, I am very satisfied our officers carried out their duties with the utmost professionalism and patience.”
Canada
Calgary Herald: Calgary-Area Man Who Went To Syria To Join ISIS As A Fighter Handed 12-Year Sentence On Terrorism Charges
“Going to Syria to become an ISIS fighter has landed a Calgary-area man a 12-year prison term. Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench Justice David Labrenz on Thursday accepted a joint Crown and defence submission to sentence Hussein Borhot to a dozen years on terrorism-related charges, including participating in the activities of a terrorist group and taking part in the commission of an offence — kidnapping — for a terrorist group. Labrenz sentenced Borhot to eight years for participating in ISIS activities and an additional four years for the kidnapping offence. The judge also accepted the submission from Crown prosecutor Kent Brown and defence counsel Rame Katrib that Borhot be ordered to serve at least half the term before he is eligible for parole. During his April 28 guilty pleas, the Airdrie resident admitted travelling to Turkey in 2013 to join the terrorist group in its fight in nearby Syria. Court heard Borhot, 36, initially considered becoming a suicide bomber before joining ISIS as a fighter. Details of Borhot’s involvement with the group surfaced during an RCMP undercover operation involving an operative, identified in court as HQ1544, between October 2016 and December 2018, co-Crown prosecutor Domenic Puglia told Labrenz.”
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