Eye on Extremism
June 2, 2022
Associated Press: Pakistan Sends 50-Member Team To Kabul To Discuss Cease-Fire
“Pakistan's government on Wednesday sent a 50-member delegation of tribal elders to Kabul to negotiate an extension of a truce with the Pakistani Taliban that expired this week, two security officials said. Talks between the two sides that led to cease-fires in the past have been mediated by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban — known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP — are a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in their country last August, as the U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from Afghanistan. The TTP has been behind numerous attacks in Pakistan over the past 14 years and has long fought for stricter enforcement of Islamic laws in the country, the release of their members who are in government custody and a reduction of Pakistani military presence in the country’s former tribal regions. The development comes after the latest cease-fire expired on Tuesday. A similar truce between the TTP and Pakistan, brokered by the Afghan Taliban last November, lasted a month. However, none of the cease-fires have paved the way for a more permanent peace agreement. Both sides have remained silent about earlier talks in Kabul, the sticking points between them and also about the chances of an extension to the latest cease-fire. Analysts say a more permanent deal could be possible if either side is willing to show flexibility on what is or isn't acceptable to them.”
CBS News: Buffalo Shooting Suspect Indicted On Charge Of Domestic Terrorism Motivated By Hate
“A grand jury on Wednesday charged the White 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket with domestic terrorism motivated by hate and 10 counts of first-degree murder. Payton Gendron, who has been in custody since the May 14 shooting, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Erie County Court. The 25-count indictment also contains charges of murder and attempted murder as a hate crime and weapons possession. The suspect had previously been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting, which also injured three people. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors told a judge May 20 the grand jury had voted to indict the suspect but was continuing its investigation. Federal authorities also are investigating the possibility of hate crime charges against the suspect, who apparently detailed his plans and his racist motivation in hundreds of pages of writings he posted online shortly before the shooting. The attack was livestreamed from a helmet-mounted camera. The suspect drove about three hours from his home in Conklin, New York, intending to kill as many Black people as possible, investigators have said. His attorney, Brian Parker, said he had not seen the indictment and could not comment, adding that prosecution and defense attorneys have been barred by a judge from discussing the case publicly.”
United States
The Detroit News: Amid Terror Concerns, ISIS 'Soldier' From Detroit Gets New Prison Sentence
“A federal judge Wednesday ordered a paroled Islamic State “soldier” from Detroit back to prison for 18 months after he was caught amassing weapons, consuming radical jihadi propaganda and deceiving court officials. The pattern of conduct by Sebastian Gregerson, aka Abdurrahman Bin Mikaayl, was consistent with preparations made by terrorists ahead of lone wolf attacks, U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg said during a hearing in federal court in Detroit. The ISIS “soldier” Sebastian Gregerson and some of the weapons in his arsenal. The Gregerson case involves a man portrayed by prosecutors as an unrepentant radical Islamic State supporter and raised concerns the restaurant cook was preparing to wage a terrorist attack. The case and fight over his freedom also illustrate the problems court officials have had monitoring former inmates during the pandemic. Prosecutors wanted Gregerson, 35, imprisoned for two years for lying to and deceiving his probation officer, amassing dangerous weapons and consuming violent extremist propaganda online despite being banned from unauthorized use of the Internet. The propaganda included sermons by Anwar al-Awlaki, the late radical American-born cleric who trained underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009.”
Iraq
The Christian Post: 'Kidnapped In Iraq': Christian Aid Worker Recounts His 66-Day Abduction By Islamic Militants
“A French former Catholic school teacher has opened up about the torturous conditions he faced while being held hostage by Islamic militants for two months while serving a Christian humanitarian effort in Syria, something he felt God had called him to do. In 2014, Alexandre Goodarzy became alarmed at reports of Christian oppression in the Middle East and responded by joining the relief group SOS Christians of the Middle East in Syria. He traveled to the country in 2015 to assist persecuted Christians in the region ranked as one of the worst when it comes to tolerance of Christianity. As a history and geography teacher, Goodarzy told The Christian Post he first heard of SOS Christians — known in French as SOS Chrétiens d'Orient — from one of his students. “For a long time, I raged to remain spectators of all this human madness, to have to watch from afar this region that I loved so much, to end up remaining powerless,” Goodarzy wrote via email. “[SOS] was for me a call from the Lord, a call to serve Him by coming to relieve His children, my brothers.” After hearing reports of the dwindling Christian population in Syria — which has gone from roughly 2 million to about 700,000 since the start of the civil war a decade ago — Goodarzy felt compelled to help.”
Lebanon
Reuters: 'Major Confrontation' With Hezbollah Ahead, Says Lebanon Christian Politician
“The Christian Lebanese Forces party will reject anyone aligned with the armed Shi'ite movement Hezbollah as prime minister and stick to its boycott of government if a new consensus cabinet is formed, the party's leader said on Wednesday. Lebanon is in the throes of one of the world's worst economic meltdowns, according to the World Bank, with the local lira losing 90% of its value since 2019. Analysts have warned that the divisions in parliament will likely delay consensus on reform laws needed to drag Lebanon out of crisis. They could also create a vacuum in top leadership positions. While the LF and independent newcomers gained more seats in last month's elections, they still failed to prevent Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri from securing a seventh term as speaker in parliament's first session on Tuesday. “If it's a government that includes everyone as usual, of course we won't approve and we won't take part,” LF party chief Samir Geagea told Reuters. “...They (Hezbollah) shouldn't celebrate too much,” he said, adding that the splits in parliament would lead to a “major confrontation” between Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies on one side and the Saudi-aligned LF on the other. Tuesday's session was the first since the new parliament was elected on May 15, in the first vote since Lebanon's economic collapse and the Beirut port explosion of 2020 that killed more than 215 people.”
Middle East
Associated Press: Israeli Troops Kill 2 Palestinians, One An Alleged Attacker
“Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian woman in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday who they said had approached them while carrying a knife. Another Palestinian was killed as the army went to demolish the family home of an attacker. The military released a photo of what it said was the knife she was carrying. It said the soldiers were patrolling a highway near the Al-Aroub refugee camp in the southern West Bank. No soldiers were wounded. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the woman as Ghafran Warasna and said she was shot in the chest. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said the 31-year-old had been released from Israeli prison in April after serving three months. An Israeli security official said Warasna was jailed from January to March after attempting to stab an Israeli police officer in the West Bank city of Hebron. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said she attempted to stab the soldier on Wednesday at “point-blank range.” There were no photos or videos immediately available to confirm the account. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate said Warasna had worked on and off as a journalist for more than a decade. Dream Radio, a local station in Hebron, said she was on the way to their studio for a broadcast when she was killed.”
The Jerusalem Post: Terrorist Attacks Not Surprising Given Palestinian Suffering, Says EU Envoy
“Terrorist attacks against Israelis should not be surprising given the depth of Palestinian suffering from the 74 years of conflict with Israel, according to European Union Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff. “When you are a Palestinian child living next to the separation wall, what do you think this child will grow up with,” he said Tuesday at an Alliance for Middle East Peace conference in Jerusalem. “What do you think a child who sees the houses of their parents, their brothers and sisters demolished because he or she was a suspected or real terrorist” will feel? he asked. “What kind of hatred will burn in this child? What do you think will happen?” Burgsdorff cited the spate of terrorist attacks that have rocked the country since the start of the year. “We saw, a few months ago and the last few weeks, terrible terror attacks perpetrated on Israeli territory,” he said. “Twenty Israeli innocents lost their lives. But don’t be surprised, because there is hatred burning in many of these young Palestinians.” Burgsdorff gave a brief but impassioned speech about the overall toll the Israel-Palestinian conflict has taken on the lives of Palestinians and the particular danger that exists now, given the absence of any peace process.”
Mali
France 24: UN Peacekeeper Killed In 'Terrorist' Attack In Northern Mali
“A UN peacekeeper was killed and three others injured Wednesday in a “terrorist attack” on their convoy in Kidal, northern Mali, according to the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force. The casualties were members of the mission's Jordanian contingent, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The convoy patrolling near the town of Kidal in northern Mali was hit by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in an attack that lasted about an hour, MINUSMA spokesman Olivier Salgado tweeted. “Unfortunately, one of the blue helmets succumbed to his wounds following the attack,” he posted in French. No details were given about the suspected attackers. MINUSMA – the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali – was deployed in 2013 to help shore up the fragile Sahel state in the face of jihadist attacks. With 13,000 members, the mission is one of the UN's biggest peacekeeping operations, and also one of its most dangerous. It says 172 troops have died from hostile acts. The latest attack came days after a MINUSMA report released earlier this week said there was an “exponential rise” in violence against civilians in Mali. While jihadists remain the biggest source of violence against civilians, there was an “exponential rise” in fatalities and other abuses linked to the armed forces, “supported by foreign military elements”, the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force said.”
Africa
AFP: Burkina Army Kills Jihadist Chief, Say Security Sources
“Armed forces in Burkina Faso have killed a jihadist commander blamed for some of the bloodiest attacks in the country’s troubled north, security sources said Tuesday. Tidiane Djibrilou Dicko “was neutralized with around 10 other terrorists in an airstrike on May 26,” a source close to military headquarters told AFP, confirming a report by the national press agency AIB. The attack took place near Tongomayel in Soum province, the source said. Another security source said Dicko was killed “after being located in the Djibo area (the provincial capital) with several dozen men” as he was preparing to attack a convoy. Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries of the world, has been grappling with a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali in 2015. The campaign, led mainly by groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State, has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced around 1.8 million people to flee their homes. Dicko was on a most-wanted list of 46 jihadists that the armed forces circulated in early May. He reputedly had a role in some of the biggest attacks in the north, notably an assault in Silgadji in January 2020 that left more than 40 dead. He initially was a member of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) but in mid-2021 joined the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), an Al-Qaeda-linked alliance and the biggest jihadist network in the Sahel.”
United Kingdom
BBC News: Widnes Teenager Detained On Terrorism Charges
“A teenager with an “extreme right-wing mindset who endorsed warped ideology” has been detained for possessing and accessing terrorist publications. Mason Yates, 19, of Widnes, Cheshire, admitted downloading two documents shared among a chat group on the encrypted Telegram app. Manchester Crown Court heard they included instructions on how to prepare fireballs and explosive devices. He was detained for 30 months for the offences between 2020 and January 2021. The court heard Yates was a college student when he downloaded the documents. Sentencing, Judge Alan Conrad QC told him: “For some years you have held an extreme right-wing mindset expressing hatred towards a number of minorities, religious, ethnic and other groups. “Posts by you have endorsed those who have committed atrocities in the name of such warped ideology.” He said he was in a “like minded” group who exchanged “disturbing views” using the encrypted platform which was “very dangerous”. “It serves to encourage others and only needs one person to take it up for catastrophe to ensue.” Judge Conrad concluded Yates retains his extremist mindset noting Yates attended a rally featuring far-right activist Tommy Robinson in Telford in January wearing a skull mask, two months after he was charged. Yates also restored one of the documents to his phone hours after police returned his device and wiped all data from it, the court heard.”
BBC News: Liverpool Man Charged With Terror Offences After Home Searched
“A 19-year-old man from Liverpool has been charged with terrorism offences. He was arrested on 2 December 2020 after counter-terrorism police searched his home in Stockbridge Street, Everton. It followed an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North West, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said. He has been charged with possessing a document likely to be useful to a terrorism, encouraging terrorism and possessing a prohibited image. GMP said the man appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday and was released on bail. He is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 10 June.”
France
RFI: Long Delay At Paris Terror Trial As Nine Accused Refuse To Take Their Places In Court
“Tuesday's hearing at the Special Criminal Court was delayed for several hours because nine of the eleven prisoners accused of involvement in the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks refused to take their places in the glass security enclosure. They were protesting in support of Muhammad Usman, one of their number, who says he has been refused medical treatment. Solidarity was the key word at the Paris attacks trial on Tuesday. While the majority of the accused decided to boycott the hearing in solidarity with Muhammad Usman who is unwell, the closing remarks of the lawyers who represent the survivors and the families of victims had chosen “solidarity” as the central theme of their presentation. The coincidence gave rise to a long and difficult day. Accused prisoners are not obliged to appear in court. Once the eight men who decided to remain in the holding cells in support of Muhammad Usman, already absent on Monday for unspecified medical reasons, had been formally advised that the trial was about to resume, proceedings went ahead without them. There were, thus, only two accused, Mohammed Amri and Farid Kharkhach, in the security box. The three accused who appear in open court, Abdellah Chouaa, Ali Oulkadi and Hamza Attou, were also present.”
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Germany: Police Arrest Suspect Accused Of Spreading Nazi Propaganda
“The German federal prosecutor's office has arrested a suspected member of a right-wing extremist criminal organization for allegedly spreading antisemitic and Nazi ideology. German national Matthias B. was taken into custody in Röderaue in the eastern state of Saxony, a statement from the prosecutor's office said Wednesday. Authorities raided his property as well as the homes of three other suspects. The four individuals are suspected of belonging to an extremist criminal group that runs a publishing house known as “Der Schelm,” the statement said. That name has many potential translations into English, including the rogue, the knave, or the imp. What are the suspects accused of? The prosecutor's office said the group committed sedition and used the publishing house to disseminate Nazi propaganda. The suspects allegedly distributed extreme far-right books and had storage rooms stocked with several thousand texts that were printed abroad. The prosecutor did not name any of the published works. It said only that Matthias B. played a leading role in the operation, processing online orders and instructing other members of the group to ship the books. He is expected to appear before a judge on Thursday. Wednesday's arrest came two months after a nationwide police operation that involved 800 police officers and searches at the homes of 50 suspected right-wing extremists. Four key individuals were arrested.”
Europe
The National: Dutch Woman Jailed On Syria Terrorism Charges
“The first woman to be taken home from Syria to stand trial in the Netherlands on Wednesday received a prison sentence of three and a half years for joining ISIS. The woman, identified only as Ilham B, 28, was repatriated last year from Al Roj detention camp in north-east Syria after she joined ISIS and Jabhat Al Nusra militants with her husband in 2013. Rotterdam District Court said Ilham B was “sentenced to 42 months in jail of which were 12 suspended, for taking part in terrorist organisations and preparing various crimes”. “The court is satisfied she participated in Syria in the IS and Jabhat Al Nusra terrorist organisations,” it said. Prosecutors, who demanded an eight-year sentence, said Ilham B also sent out extremist propaganda on social media and carried guns during her time in Syria. The judges rejected her defence that she “lived in a bubble in Syria and did not know what was going on”. They said there were “ample sources of information she could have consulted, the length of her stay, her husband's function and the content of her online messages”. Ilham B, from the western Dutch city of Gouda, left the Netherlands in September 2013 to travel to Syria through Turkey, court papers said.”
Associated Press: Men Linked To Terror Group Arrested In Norway, Bulgaria
“Two men have been arrested in Norway and Bulgaria respectively for having “expressed support” for Al-Qaeda “through “Internet-based activities,” Norway’s domestic security agency said Wednesday. One suspect was arrested in Oslo and the other — identified as a Norwegian student — was taken into custody in Bulgaria as part of a coordinated action in the early hours of Tuesday, said Thomas Blom, a prosecutor with the agency, known by its acronym PST. Norwegian media said there is a family connection between the men. The suspect in Norway was ordered held for two weeks ahead of his trial. He hasn’t been identified. Blom said the arrest in Bulgaria took place on the strength of a European arrest warrant issued by the prosecuting authority in Norway where an investigation had been launched. Bulgarian authorities confirmed the arrest of a Norwegian citizen who is being investigated in Norway on charges of membership in a terrorist organization, preparing of a terrorist attack and inciting terrorism. The prosecutor’s office in Sofia said that the suspect was arrested in the southern city of Stara Zagora. The Bulgarian agency for national security said that before and after arriving in Bulgaria, the suspect had urged in online messages for terrorist acts inside and outside of Europe and had maintained close online links with other radicalized individuals.”
Technology
The New York Times: Racist And Violent Ideas Jump From Web’s Fringes To Mainstream Sites
“On March 30, the young man accused of the mass shooting at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo surfed through a smorgasbord of racist and antisemitic websites online. On BitChute, a video sharing site known for hosting right-wing extremism, he listened to a lecture on the decline of the American middle class by a Finnish extremist. On YouTube he found a lurid video of a car driving through Black neighborhoods in Detroit. Over the course of the week that followed, his online writing shows, he lingered in furtive chat rooms on Reddit and 4chan but also read articles on race in HuffPost and Medium. He watched local television news reports of gruesome crimes. He toggled between “documentaries” on extremist websites and gun tutorials on YouTube. The young man, who was indicted by a grand jury last week, has been portrayed by the authorities and some media outlets as a troubled outcast who acted alone when he killed 10 Black people in the grocery store and wounded three more. In fact, he dwelled in numerous online communities where he and others consumed and shared racist and violent content. As the number of mass shootings escalates, experts say many of the disturbing ideas that fuel the atrocities are no longer relegated to a handful of tricky-to-find dark corners of the web.”
The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If you value what we do, please consider making a donation.
