Eye on Extremism
December 2, 2019
The
Wall Street Journal: London Attack Reflects Problems In Tracking
Convicted Terrorists
“The killing of two people by a convicted terrorist on early
release from prison has highlighted a growing challenge for security
services in the U.K. and across Europe: the return into the community
of people who have served time in jail for terrorism offenses. The
attack in the London Bridge area on Friday—by a knife-wielding man who
was convicted in 2012 for being part of a group that was plotting to
bomb the London Stock Exchange—has thrust the sentencing of terrorists
to center stage in the campaigning in the Dec. 12 general election. It
is the second consecutive general-election campaign that has been
interrupted by a terrorist incident: In 2017, a nearby attack that
left 11 people dead raised questions about cutbacks in funding for the
police. The question of how to monitor convicted terrorists returning
into society is a growing issue for stretched counterterrorism police
and security agencies in the U.K. and across Europe—a parallel with
the challenge they face from jihadists returning from the Syrian
conflict. Usman Khan, the attacker, was released early from prison in
December 2018 under a set of conditions that included an internet ban,
a curfew and limitations on his movements and meetings.”
Reuters:
The Al Qaeda-Inspired 28-Year-Old Militant Who Launched London Bridge
Attack
“Nine years before Usman Khan killed two people in a stabbing spree
on London Bridge, he was overheard by British security services
discussing how to use an al Qaeda manual he had memorised to build a
pipe bomb. It was a snippet of conversation, along with other
intelligence about a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange, that
prompted British police to arrest Khan - then 19 years old - and a
group of older men on Dec. 20, 2010. Sentenced to a minimum of eight
years in prison in 2012 with a requirement that the parole board
assess his danger to the public before release, he was set free in
December 2018 - without a parole board assessment. On Friday, he
strapped on a fake suicide vest, armed himself with large kitchen
knives and went on the rampage at a conference on prisoner
rehabilitation beside London Bridge. Confronted by bystanders,
including a Polish man brandishing a narwhal tusk he had grabbed from
the wall of Fishmongers’ Hall, Khan was wrestled to the ground. Three
armed police officers surrounded him. They fired twice. He was dead.
“This individual was known to authorities,” said Britain’s top counter
terrorism officer, Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Basu. “A key
line of enquiry now is to establish how he came to carry out this
attack.”
The
Guardian: Iraq Risks Breakup As Tribes Take On Iran’s Militias In
‘Blood Feud’
“Iraq’s parliament will today begin the process of electing a new
leader after the prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, resigned last week.
His successor will have to cope with the severe unrest that is
spreading across the country and which has pitched security forces
against demonstrators for nearly two months. Fears are mounting that
the country could unravel altogether. Security forces killed at least
45 civilians who were protesting around the southern city of Nasiriyah
on Thursday in one of the worst incidents in the recent outbreak of
anti-government protests. The government’s actions were intended to be
a show of brute force following the firebombing of the Iranian
consulate in Najaf on Wednesday, an attack that was the strongest
expression yet of the anti-Iranian sentiment by the Iraqi
demonstrators. But the crackdown has only fuelled growing resentment
across central and southern Iraq and the standoff between defiant
street protesters and an embattled political class has become more
entrenched. At stake now is whether the post-Saddam Iraq constructed
by the US remains viable 16 years after the invasion that overturned
the country’s regime and reset the balance of power in the
region.”
The
New York Times: With Brutal Crackdown, Iran Is Convulsed By Worst
Unrest In 40 Years
“Iran is experiencing its deadliest political unrest since the
Islamic Revolution 40 years ago, with at least 180 people killed — and
possibly hundreds more — as angry protests have been smothered in a
government crackdown of unbridled force. It began two weeks ago with
an abrupt increase of at least 50 percent in gasoline prices. Within
72 hours, outraged demonstrators in cities large and small were
calling for an end to the Islamic Republic’s government and the
downfall of its leaders. In many places, security forces responded by
opening fire on unarmed protesters, largely unemployed or low-income
young men between the ages of 19 and 26, according to witness accounts
and videos. In the southwest city of Mahshahr alone, witnesses and
medical personnel said, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps members
surrounded, shot and killed 40 to 100 demonstrators — mostly unarmed
young men — in a marsh where they had sought refuge. “The recent use
of lethal force against people throughout the country is
unprecedented, even for the Islamic Republic and its record of
violence,” said Omid Memarian, the deputy director at the Center for
Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based group.”
Yahoo
News: Nearly 70 Dead In Syria Regime Clashes With Idlib
Militants
“Two days of clashes between regime forces and armed groups in
Syria's last major opposition bastion have killed nearly 70 on both
sides, a war monitoring group said Sunday. The battles in the
northwestern province of Idlib are the most violent there since a
Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement went into effect in late August,
said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. On Sunday
morning, clouds of smoke rose over the Maaret al-Numan region as
warplanes pounded jihadists and allied rebels in positions they had
recently recaptured from regime forces, said an AFP correspondent.
Residents of affected villages fled north to escape the fighting,
adding to the tens of thousands who have already flooded out of the
province's violence-plagued south since an escalation started earlier
this year. The Observatory on Sunday put the death toll from fighting
at 69 combatants since battles started the previous day. At least 36
regime forces were among those killed. It said an attack led by
Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate on several regime positions had
initially sparked the fighting. Overnight, the Syrian army backed by
Russian warplanes launched a counter-push to reclaim territory it had
lost in the battles, according to the Britain-based war monitor.”
WTOP:
The Hunt: Managing Terrorism In Refugee Camps
“CEP Senior Director Hans Jakob Schindler discusses the problem of
radicalized individuals leaving Syrian refugee camps. "Every nation
that has foreign fighters, men or women, in these camps, particularly
these camps in Syria which are maintained by Kurdish forces at the
moment, is running a massive risk that this will keep
happening."
United States
Reuters:
U.S. Accuses Russia Of Helping Syria Cover Up Chemical Weapons
Use
“The United States on Thursday accused Russia of helping Syria
conceal the use of banned toxic munitions in the civil war by
undermining the work of the global chemical weapons agency trying to
identify those responsible. The comments by the U.S. representative to
the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),
Kenneth Ward, drew a rapid denial from Moscow and came as Western
powers and Russia clashed at the agency’s annual conference in The
Hague. Moscow has for months cited dissent by two former OPCW
employees who leaked a document and an email as evidence that the OPCW
doctored the conclusions of a March 1 report which found that a toxic
chemical containing chlorine was used in a 2018 attack near Damascus.
More than 40 people were killed in that attack in Douma, a town on the
outskirts of the capital then held by rebels, on April 7, 2018.”
The
New York Times: New Jersey Grapples With Far-Right Extremism After
Arrests
“New Jersey investigators were looking into a routine complaint
from a woman who said her ex-boyfriend was harassing her, when they
uncovered something far more dire: The 25-year-old man had stockpiled
weapons and far-right propaganda and had talked about shooting up a
hospital. Two months later, New Jersey State Police responding to a
crash in the same county discovered illegal assault weapons in the
back seat of a car. Later, they found 17 more firearms, a grenade
launcher and neo-Nazi paraphernalia in the driver’s home. The arrests
of the two men rocked law enforcement officials in Sussex County,
raising fears that far-right extremism is growing in this sleepy,
rural area in New Jersey. It is impossible to know if the two arrests
so close together are a fluke or signal of a growing white supremacist
movement in the county, law enforcement officials said. The two men
appear to have no connection to one another. Sussex has lately been
seeing ugly signs of increasing racism and anti-Semitism. Vandals have
scrawled swastikas in schools, and in a highly-publicized incident
last fall, supporters of a Jewish congressman had their Sussex County
home vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti.”
ABC
News: New York City ISIS Supporter Busted For Allegedly Providing
Information For Terrorist Attacks
“A New York City man was arrested for allegedly providing material
support to the Islamic State, federal prosecutors announced on
Wednesday. Since April 2019, Zachary Clark allegedly pledged
allegiance to ISIS twice -- first in July 2019, to then-leader Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, and again after Baghdadi's death in an American raid
in October 2019, to new leader Abu Ibrahim al-Sashemi al-Quarayshi,
according to the criminal complaint filed by prosecutors with the
Southern District of New York. Clark, 40, is expected to be arraigned
in Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday for attempted provision of
material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization,
distribution of information relating to explosives and destructive
devices and weapons of mass destruction charges. “Clark championed his
support for ISIS, disseminated hate-filled messages via encrypted chat
rooms, and encouraged like-minded individuals to carry out vicious
attacks in the name of jihad,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge
William F. Sweeney said in a statement. If convicted, he could face 20
years in prison, prosecutors said. Clark, of Brooklyn, New York,
disseminated ISIS propaganda through encrypted online forums,
“distributed bomb-making instructions ... with the intent that the
information be used for, and in furtherance of, the use of a weapon of
mass destruction,” the complaint said.”
The
New York Times: Mexican Leader Draws Line On Trump Terrorist Plan:
‘Interventionism: No’
“A border wall. Mass deportations. Punishing tariffs. A halt to
foreign aid. An end to a decades-old trade deal. For years, President
Trump has pressured or wielded threats against Mexico, hoping to force
a policy change, excite his political base, or both. This week, he did
it again, announcing that he planned to designate Mexican drug
trafficking groups as terrorist organizations. Mr. Trump, who made the
remarks in an interview with the former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly,
didn’t specify which of the mosaic of criminal groups he intended to
slap with the label. But the reaction in Mexico has been swift — and
negative — as the nation considered the implications. Mexican
officials have suggested that the terrorist designations could
challenge their nation’s sovereignty, and the foreign minister,
Marcelo Ebrard, is seeking high-level talks with Trump administration
officials about the matter. Some analysts raised the specter of armed
drone strikes on Mexican soil, or other covert American actions
against drug traffickers, potentially without the knowledge or consent
of the Mexican government. Speaking on Wednesday, President Andrés
Manuel López Obrador mostly demurred on the subject, but hinted that
he did not welcome the prospect of secret American operations on
Mexican territory.”
Syria
The
Wall Street Journal: U.S., Europeans Clash Over How To Handle Islamic
State Detainees
“Washington and its European allies are at odds over how to
prosecute and detain about 2,000 foreign Islamic State fighters being
held in Syria, eight months after U.S.-backed forces seized the last
sliver of the group’s self-described caliphate there. The problem
became urgent in October when Turkish forces intervened in northern
Syria, spurring fears that the fighters might escape detention in the
confusion. Fewer than 200 prisoners have fled, according to the U.S.
military, and the fears abated after a U.S.-arranged cease-fire took
effect. But U.S. officials say a lasting solution is needed in case
the region’s tenuous stability collapses. “My experience is even small
cells of these people are quite dangerous,” said John Allen, the
retired Marine Corps general who served as the U.S. special envoy to
the coalition that is fighting Islamic State militants. “Every day we
wait on this, we’re one day closer to their release or getting loose.”
There is broad agreement on the problem. The international coalition
battling Islamic State called in November for establishing
“accountability mechanisms” to deal with foreign terrorist fighters
and their families in Iraq and Syria. But that is where the consensus
ends.”
U.S.
Department Of Defense: U.S. Forces Reset In Syria, ISIS Struggles To
Re-Form
“At an impromptu news conference outside his headquarters, the
general said everything is going well. U.S. forces withdrew from an
area 10 kilometers deep on the Syrian-Turkish border. Turkey launched
an incursion into the area in early October. Already a complicated
battlespace, the Turkish move made it even more chaotic, introducing
Turkish-supported paramilitary groups, Russian forces and Syrian
regime forces into the region, White said. U.S. service members remain
in Eastern Syria to ensure that ISIS doesn't re-emerge and get money
from oil fields in that part of Syria. White said the command will
reduce the number of U.S. forces in the area to around 600. “We are in
the process of removing some of the soldiers and service members that
were there, [and that will] probably take about another week, based on
the austere environment that's there,” he said. “Most of them will
return either to [the continental United States] or down into Kuwait.”
The U.S. and coalition effort is focused on the mission to defeat
ISIS, said senior Operation Inherent Resolve officials. The coalition
effort is aimed at helping Iraqi and Syrian forces take on the terror
group. The physical caliphate that ISIS established has been
destroyed, and the mission now is to prevent it from reconstituting
itself."
France24:
Violent Clashes Between Syrian Forces And Militant Groups In Idlib
Despite Ceasefire
“The battles in the northwestern province of Idlib are “the most
violent” there since a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement went into
effect in late August, said Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights. Residents of affected villages fled
north to escape the fighting, adding to the hundreds of thousands who
have already flooded out of the province’s violence-plagued south
since fighting escalated earlier this year. “I don’t want to see my
children trapped under rubble,” said one of those driven from his
home, Hafez, who escaped the flashpoint area along with his wife and
three kids two days earlier. On Sunday morning, clouds of smoke rose
over the Maaret al-Numan region as warplanes pounded jihadists and
allied rebels in positions they had recently recaptured from regime
forces, said an AFP correspondent. The Britain-based Observatory on
Sunday put the death toll from fighting at 69 combatants since battles
started the previous day. At least 36 in the regime forces were among
those killed.”
Al
Jazeera: Women Under ISIL: The
Torturers
“My name is Aisha. In ISIL, they called me Um Qaqaa. I lived in
Raqqa. I went to ISIL to explain my situation to them. My husband was
a martyr. I had no more money. I had no choice but to work for them. I
started the paperwork to join but they said first I needed training in
Sharia law. During the training, they taught us to recite the Quran.
There were about 30 or 40 women. The mosque was full of trainees. And
you had to recite it again and again until you passed the exam. It
took me three months to pass. Some of the women were illiterate. They
did not know how to read or write. They flogged them to make them
learn. Some of them never succeeded so they kept them in prison. One
day, two men from ISIL came to my house and said: “Tomorrow you start
working.” When we signed up, they gave us guns. My unit consisted of
10 women. Three were assigned to the van, and the other seven were at
the station in the torture room. They chose tall, huge, imposing women
to scare people. They chose the cruellest women. Women who had no
mercy for anyone. If a woman walked down the street unaccompanied, she
was arrested. She had to be accompanied by her brother or husband. If
a woman walked alone or took a taxi without them, she was
arrested.”
Xinhua:
U.S. Carries Out Airdrops In Syria's Hasakah, Kills 8 IS
Militants
“The U.S. forces carried out airdrops in Syria's northeastern
province of Hasakah on Saturday, killing eight Islamic State (IS)
militants, state TV reported. The U.S. carried out two airdrops in the
villages of Hisso and Rajm al-Hajar, where the U.S. forces killed
eight IS militants, said the TV, spelling no further details. The
official media outlets have previously reported U.S. airdrops in
northern Syria, mainly targeting IS militants. The IS has largely been
defeated in Syria and many of its members and their family members are
located in the al-Hol refugee camp, which is run by the Kurdish forces
in Hasakah.”
Iran
The
Wall Street Journal: Iran Takes Hard Line To Keep Protests
Down
“Days after 32-year-old Hamid Rasouli joined demonstrations over
Iran’s troubled economy, he was killed by security forces, according
to a friend. They handed over his body to his family with two demands:
Pay nearly $8,000 and say your son was a member of a state militia who
died at the hands of protesters. Mr. Rasouli’s family put a lien on
their house to pay for his body and were allowed only a small funeral
in the presence of security forces and a government cleric, said
Behzad Mehrani, an Iranian in the U.S. who has known the family for
decades. Hamid Rasouli, 32, was killed by Iranian security forces
during November protests, a friend of his family said. The treatment
of Mr. Rasouli’s family couldn’t be independently verified, but it
fits a pattern of intimidation by Iranian authorities trying to stop a
resumption of protests that rippled through the country before they
were quashed, according to activists and Iran
experts.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Tehran’s Assassination Playbook
“As Iran cracks down on mass protests at home, the Islamist regime
continues to strike at dissidents who criticize it from exile abroad.
Iranian opposition figure Massoud Molavi was gunned down as he walked
on the streets of Istanbul this month, according to Turkish media
reports. Thought to be in his 30s, Molavi ran a social-media channel
on the Telegram messaging service. He claimed to have contacts within
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and published allegations of
corruption against regime elites. U.S. officials say they suspect the
murder is the work of Iranian intelligence services. Iranian
intelligence agents are active in Turkey, where many Iranian
dissidents have moved. Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported Wednesday
that Turkish police have arrested five suspects in the murder, but
none have been publicly identified. Extraterritorial murders are a
staple of Tehran’s strategy of spreading revolution. In 2018 European
officials thwarted a bomb plot against Iranian dissidents in France.
Later that year Danish officials narrowly prevented the assassination
of an opposition figure in Denmark. Two Dutch citizens of Iranian
descent, assassinated in the Netherlands in recent years, weren’t as
lucky.”
The
New York Times: What Iran Did Not Want You To
See
“Parts of Iran are back online, and videos suppressed by the
nation’s internet shutdown are starting to trickle onto social media.
In the Video Op-Ed above, Raha Bahreini sheds light on the eye-opening
stories that Iran’s government did not want you to see. While internet
service has been partly restored, many Iranians still do not have
internet access on mobile phones, and government officials there have
warned that connectivity may be blocked indefinitely. In a call for
evidence of government repression during the blackout, the United
States State Department says it has received almost 20,000 messages,
videos and photographs. A small hike in fuel prices sparked protests
across Iran. Ms. Bahreini exposes and analyzes footage of human rights
abuses by Iranian security forces, including shootings into crowds of
unarmed protesters. And she warns of what may come next —
incarceration, torture and forced confessions that will further
oppress the Iranian people. If the world does not take a stand, Ms.
Bahreini fears, Iran’s internet blackout may foreshadow the nation’s
darkest days.”
The
Guardian: Iran Threatens To Step Back From UN Nuclear
Watchdog
“Iran has warned it may “seriously reconsider” its commitments to
the UN atomic watchdog if European parties to a nuclear deal trigger a
dispute mechanism that could lead to fresh sanctions. The speaker for
the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, told a press conference in
Tehran on Sunday: “If they use the trigger [mechanism], Iran would be
forced to seriously reconsider some of its commitments to the
International Atomic Energy Agency. If they think doing so is more
beneficial to them, they can go ahead.” The threat to trigger
sanctions has come after the Iranian government has taken a series of
deliberate steps away from the 2015 nuclear deal, which it says are
intended as a reprisal for Europe’s failure to deliver on commitments
to boost trade. Iran has also been frustrated by Europe’s refusal to
defy the threat of US sanctions against any European company that
trades with Iran. A mechanism known as Instex developed by Europe to
sidestep sanctions received a boost at the weekend when six more EU
countries said they would join. Instex is a bartering system devised
to avoid the reach of the US, but Iran is less interested in the
number of EU countries signed up than the fact that no deals are being
made under the mechanism.”
Daily
Beast: Iran Crackdown On Mass Protests Leaves 180
Dead
“At least 180 people in Iran have been killed over the last two
weeks as the regime cracks down on mass protests sparked by a 50
percent increase in gasoline prices. Within three days after the spike
in gas prices was announced Nov. 15, demonstrators were vigorously
demanding an end to the Islamic Republic’s government. Security forces
responded by shooting unarmed protesters, many of whom are unemployed,
low-income men between the ages of 19 and 26, according to witness
accounts and videos obtained by The New York Times. At least 2,000
people were wounded and 7,000 arrested, according to international
rights organizations, opposition groups, and local journalists. The
Trump administration’s restrictions on exports of Iran’s oil are
partially responsible for the country’s budget gap that led to the
extreme spike in gasoline prices. Omid Memarian, the deputy director
at the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, called the
events “unprecedented, even for the Islamic Republic and its record of
violence.” It is reportedly Iran’s worst political unrest since the
Islamic Revolution in 1979.”
Iraq
Voice
Of America: Iraqi Parliament Accepts Prime Minister's
Resignation
“Iraq's parliament accepted Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's
resignation Sunday, but the move is not expected to end nearly two
months of violent anti-government protests. Mahdi resigned Friday.
President Barham Salih will now ask the largest bloc in parliament to
nominate a new prime minister. But this could lead to weeks of
deal-making because it is unclear which coalition of parties make up
the largest bloc. Mahdi and his government have agreed to stay on in a
caretaker role until a new prime minister is approved. Mahdi's
resignation is unlikely to satisfy anti-government protesters who have
said it is not enough for a new prime minister to take over -- they
are demanding changes to the entire political system, which they call
corrupt, inept, and does little to help impoverished Iraqis despite
the nation’s oil wealth. "As you know, the political parties in Iraq
engaged in corruption, not the person who is the prime minister,"
Iraqi lawmaker Ahmed al-Jburi tells VOA's Kurdish Service. "The
political parties will put someone as the head of government and the
political parties who start to engage in corruption and grip on the
finances in various sectors."
The
Wall Street Journal: Iraqi Protesters Torch Iranian Consulate In City
Of Najaf
“Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew on Najaf and deployed
additional security forces after protesters stormed and burned the
Iranian consulate in the southern Iraqi city in a show of anger
against Tehran’s involvement in the country’s affairs. The escalation
of violence in the Shiite Muslim pilgrimage city has raised the risk
of a more forceful response from security forces to end a monthslong
antigovernment uprising. Protesters broke into the consulate’s
perimeter, tore down the Iranian flag and set fire to the building in
the early hours of Thursday, according to Iraqi state TV. It said
security forces responsible for protecting the consulate had evacuated
diplomats from the compound and withdrawn before it was breached. The
head of the city’s Civil Defense Force said protesters had prevented
fire engines from reaching the consulate. Three protesters were killed
and more than 40 were injured after inhaling tear gas fired by
security forces, an Interior Ministry official said. Meanwhile, the
southern city of Nassiriyah was the site of one of the deadliest
incidents since the protests began. At least 20 people were killed
when security forces attempted to disperse demonstrations there
overnight using rubber bullets, tear gas and sound bombs, a local
official and a medic said.”
Voice
Of America: Protests Are Major Test For Iraq After Islamic
State
“The ongoing protests and violence in Iraq have already transformed
the political landscape of the country in a major shakeup that the
nation has not witnessed since the rise of the Islamic State (IS) in
2014, Iraqi politicians and experts say. The recent unrest in Iraq
began in October, when thousands of people in the capital, Baghdad,
and major Shiite provinces in central and southern Iraq, took to
streets to demand an end to corruption and misgovernance almost two
years after the removal of IS. The protests soon turned bloody, with
security forces opening fire on protesters, leaving nearly 400 people
dead and over 14,000 injured so far. Ismail al-Hadidi, an adviser to
the Iraqi Presidency Office, told VOA the wave of protests signal the
need for the political establishment of the country to bring about
sweeping reforms. “The law, the constitution and the entire system
will change. A new phase will appear,” he told VOA. Such changes, he
said, should prevent the political parties and armed militias from
meddling in the government to advance their narrow interests at the
expense of Iraq's 40 million population who live in worsening
conditions despite the country's oil wealth. In a move to appease
angry protesters, Iraqi President Barham Salih last month in a
national address called for the drafting of a new election law and
said he approved an early election once the law is enacted.”
Fox
News: At Least 40 Iraq Protesters Killed In 24 Hours As Violence
Escalates
“At least 40 anti-government protesters have been killed in Iraq
over a 24-hour period, government officials told The Associated Press
late Thursday, as violence in Baghdad and the south of the country
threatened to spiral out of control. Security and medical officials
say five protesters were killed and 32 wounded late Thursday when
security forces fired live rounds to repel them from setting fire to a
mosque in the central city of Najaf. Protesters had torched the
Iranian consulate in that city the previous night. Another 35
protesters have been killed by security forces in separate
demonstrations in Nasiriyah and Baghdad since Wednesday evening. In
all, at least 350 people have died since protesters first took to the
streets on Oct. 1 to protest government corruption. The attack on the
Najaf consulate one of the worst attacks targeting Iranian interests
in the country since the anti-government protests erupted two months
ago. The Iranian staff were not harmed and escaped out the back door.
Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for Tehran's foreign ministry, called for a
“responsible, strong and effective” response to the incident from
Iraq’s government in statements to Iran’s official IRNA news
agency.”
Turkey
Reuters:
Turkey Dismisses Macron's Syria Criticism, Says He Sponsors
Terrorism
“Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday dismissed
French President Emmanuel Macron’s criticism of Turkey’s offensive in
Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, saying the French leader
sponsors terrorism. “He is already the sponsor of the terrorist
organization and constantly hosts them at the Elysee. If he says his
ally is the terrorist organization... there is really nothing more to
say,” Cavusoglu said. “Right now, there is a void in Europe, (Macron)
is trying to be its leader, but leadership comes naturally,” he told
reporters in parliament. Last month, Macron met Jihane Ahmed, the
spokeswoman for the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), of
which the YPG is a big part, to express France’s solidarity with them
in their fight against Islamic State in Syria. Turkey considers the
YPG as a terrorist group and has been infuriated by the supports its
allies have given the group. The Turkish assault, launched on Oct. 9,
was condemned by Ankara’s NATO allies, including France.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Trump Visits Afghanistan And Says He Reopened Talks
With Taliban
“President Trump paid an unannounced Thanksgiving visit to American
troops in Afghanistan on Thursday and declared that he had reopened
peace negotiations with the Taliban less than three months after
scuttling talks in hopes of ending 18 years of war. “The Taliban wants
to make a deal, and we’re meeting with them,” Mr. Trump said during a
meeting with Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, at the main base
for American forces north of Kabul. “We’re going to stay until such
time as we have a deal, or we have total victory, and they want to
make a deal very badly,” Mr. Trump added even as he reaffirmed his
desire to reduce the American military presence to 8,600 troops, down
from about 12,000 to 13,000. Mr. Trump’s sudden announcement on peace
talks came at a critical moment in the United States’ long, drawn-out
military venture in Afghanistan, a time when the country is mired in
turmoil over disputed election results and Americans at home are
increasingly tired of an operation that began shortly after the Sept.
11 attacks. The scope and prospects of any renewed negotiations
remained unclear, and White House officials gave few details beyond
Mr. Trump’s sudden revelation. On the flight to Afghanistan, Stephanie
Grisham, the White House press secretary, had insisted that the secret
trip was “truly about Thanksgiving and supporting the troops” and
“nothing about the peace process” with the Taliban.”
The
New York Times: In Afghanistan, Trump Creates Confusion Over U.S.
Policy On Taliban
“After abruptly axing nearly a year of delicate peace talks with
the Taliban in September, President Trump put the negotiations back on
the front-burner this week in a similarly jolting fashion by seeming
to demand a cease-fire that his negotiators had long concluded was
overly ambitious. Despite a sense of relief at the prospect of
resuming talks to end the 18-year conflict, Western diplomats and
Taliban leaders were scrambling to figure out whether Mr. Trump had
suddenly moved the goal posts for negotiations. They were particularly
confused by his remarks, made during an unannounced Thanksgiving visit
to Afghanistan, that the United States was once again meeting with the
Taliban to discuss a deal, but that “we’re saying it has to be a
cease-fire.” Demanding a cease-fire would amount to a big shift in the
American position and require a significant new concession from the
Taliban — one that the Americans have little leverage to extract. For
much of the yearlong talks, the Taliban and the United States were
fundamentally on the same page: The Taliban wanted the Americans out
of Afghanistan, and Mr. Trump has made no secret of his desire to end
what he has called America’s unending wars. But agreeing upon the
details of a deal proved complicated.”
The
New York Times: ISIS Is Losing Afghan Territory. That Means Little For
Its Victims.
“The Islamic State’s main stronghold in eastern Afghanistan
collapsed in recent weeks, according to American and Afghan officials,
following years of concerted military offensives from American and
Afghan forces and, more recently, the Taliban. President Ashraf Ghani
recently claimed that the Islamic State, often known as ISIS, had been
“obliterated” in Nangarhar Province, the group’s haven in the east.
And in an interview in Kabul on Sunday, Gen. Austin S. Miller, the
commander of all American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said the
group’s loss of the terrain it stubbornly held for few years would
severely restrict their recruitment and planning. But General Miller
also warned that ISIS could remain a threat in Afghanistan even if it
does not hold territory, with attention required to track militants on
the move and the group’s remaining urban cells. “It was instructive in
Iraq and Syria — when you take away big terrain from them, they move
into smaller cells and they pop up in strange places,” General Miller
said. General Miller’s reticence to affirm any type of major victory
over the offshoot is indicative of the broader inroads Islamic State
cells have made in Afghanistan — and of a long history of militant
groups in Afghanistan bouncing back after seemingly unsustainable
losses.”
Voice
Of America: Tehran Hosts Taliban Leaders For Afghan Peace
Talks
“Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has hosted leaders of
Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgency and discussed efforts aimed at
finding a negotiated settlement to the Afghan war. A Taliban spokesman
said Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the political deputy chief and head
of the insurgent group’s Qatar-based office, led the visiting
delegation at the meeting. This is the second time Taliban officials
have traveled to Tehran since their yearlong peace negotiations with
the United States collapsed in early September. The latest visit also
comes a week after the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) alleged
that Iran continues to provide the insurgent group with military
support in a bid to counter Washington’s influence in Afghanistan.
Iranian official media reported Wednesday that in his discussions with
Taliban visitors, Zarif underscored the need to launch an intra-Afghan
peace dialogue for “the formation of an all-inclusive government” in
the war-shattered neighboring country. The top Iranian diplomat is
said to have voiced Tehran’s readiness to take part in efforts aimed
at facilitating such a peace process that would be participated by the
Taliban and government officials as well as representatives from other
influential political forces in Afghanistan.”
Voice
Of America: Taliban-Planted Bomb Kills Afghan Army General; Drone
Strike Kills At Least 6 Civilians
“Officials in southern Afghanistan say a bomb explosion Saturday
killed a senior military commander and wounded at least three other
people, including a local journalist. Separately, an apparent drone
attack in the southeast part of the country is said to have killed at
least six civilians, including a newborn baby. The Taliban took
responsibility for the roadside bombing in Helmand province, where
most of the districts are either controlled or influenced by the
insurgent group. The provincial police spokesman told VOA that Gen.
Zahir Gul Muqbil, the commander of an army border unit, was heading to
the volatile Marjah district along with a group of journalists to
visit an ongoing counterinsurgency operation when the convoy struck a
roadside bomb. Mohammad Zaman Hamdard said the slain general was
directing the military operation. He added three security personnel
and a reporter with Afghanistan’s mainstream Shamshad TV, were among
the wounded. The journalist, Sardar Mohamad Sarwary, is said to have
received multiple injuries. A Taliban statement said the attack also
killed Muqbil’s two guards, though insurgent claims are often
inflated. Helmand is Afghanistan’s largest province and a major
opium-poppy producing region.”
Voice
Of America: High-Ranking Taliban Official Killed In Northern
Afghanistan
“A high-ranking Taliban official has been killed in clashes with
security forces in Jowzjan province in Afghanistan's north, a local
official said Saturday. Qari Nuriddin and his four bodyguards were
killed in the district of Mengajik, where the militant group has a
strong presence, provincial government spokesman Abdul Maaruf Azar
told RFE/RL. Four other militants were wounded in the clashes that
erupted overnight, the spokesman said. There was no immediate comment
from the Taliban. Azar also confirmed local reports that more than 25
members of the Taliban in Mengajik had recently cut ties with the
militant group to return to civilian life. Azar told RFE/RL that all
of them were young men from the Mengajik district. Most of them had
left for Iran and Turkey in search of work, Azar said. He didn't
provide further details.”
Radio
Free Europe: Afghan Officials Say Is Militants Surrender After Defeat
In Nangarhar
“Afghan military officials say 113 members of the Islamic State
(IS) extremist group surrendered to Afghan government forces on
December 1 in the Achin district of Nangarhar Province. A statement
from the 201st Corps of the Afghan National Army said those who
surrendered included 49 IS fighters along with 21 women thought to be
the wives of IS fighters and 43 children. The statement said IS
militants also handed over 35 weapons to the security forces. Dozens
of IS fighters and their families have been living in the Shinwari
district and other nearby areas of Nangarhar Province since the group
announced its presence in Afghanistan in 2014. Those areas are mostly
between the Afghan city of Jalalabad and the nearby border with
Pakistan. IS militants have fought against both Taliban militants and
Afghan government forces in Afghanistan, as well as claiming
responsibility for numerous bomb attacks against civilians in the
country. In recent months, Afghan government forces have been
conducting operations against the IS extremists in the Achin district.
Afghan officials say that offensive formally ended on November 30.
They say more than 1,000 IS fighters and their family members have
surrendered since the offensive began.”
Pakistan
Asia
Times: ISIS Schemes With Jihadist Groups In Pakistan
“Following the killing of its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria
last month, the Islamic State (ISIS), also known by its Arabic acronym
Daesh, is eying Pakistan’s tribal areas and the province of
Balochistan to enhance its presence in South Asia. Multiple interviews
with security and government officials from the region reveal that yet
to be located ISIS sleeper cells exist in the former Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan. The development
comes in the aftermath of security forces recently busting
ISIS-affiliated cells in the two most populous provinces of Punjab and
Sindh. In May this year, the Islamic State unveiled its new wilayah
(provinces) in India and Pakistan within the then-Islamic State of
Khorasan Province (ISKP), which had been based along the Af-Pak
border. The announcement came immediately after the group led gun
raids in Shopian district of Indian-administere Kashmir. In the month
leading up to the announcement, the Islamic State claimed two terror
attacks in Balochistan’s cities of Mastung and Quetta. “The idea
behind creating the new wilayah was to separate it from Daesh’s base
in the region, which is Afghanistan.”
Yemen
Reuters:
Yemen's Houthis Say They Shot Down Saudi Helicopter, Pilots Killed:
Spokesman
“Yemen’s Houthi movement said it shot down a Saudi Apache
helicopter near the border with Saudi Arabia on Friday, killing its
two pilots. “A Saudi Apache helicopter was shot down by a
surface-to-air missile... and its two pilots were killed as it was
completely burned,” the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said
in a Twitter post. There was no immediate confirmation from a
Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the group for more than
four years.”
Lebanon
Foreign
Policy: Untouchable No More: Hezbollah’s Fading
Reputation
“It was the sort of chant that, only a month or so ago, would have
been all but unthinkable in Lebanon. “Terrorists, terrorists,
Hezbollah are terrorists,” yelled some of the hundreds of
anti-government protesters who stood on a main road in Beirut early
Monday morning, in a tense standoff with supporters of Hezbollah and
another Shiite party, the Amal Movement. Other protesters told the
chanters to stop, but as widespread economic discontent and anger
engulf Lebanon—and with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah defending
the government—the sanctity around Hezbollah’s reputation is clearly
broken. “Hezbollah is being seen as part and parcel [of] the main
hurdle to change in Lebanon,” said Mohanad Hage Ali, a fellow at the
Carnegie Middle East Center. The demonstrations have been mostly
peaceful and unilaterally against the whole ruling class—all sects,
all political parties. And until recently Nasrallah, who doesn’t have
an official government position, was seen as above the endemic
corruption that has helped push the country toward a collapse,
particularly among Hezbollah’s Shiite support base. Hezbollah’s
expulsion of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory in 2000 earned the
group the moniker “the resistance” among Lebanese of all sects and
political affiliations.”
Middle East
Reuters:
Global Death Toll Of Landmines Rises Due To Mines Laid By
Militants
“The global casualty toll of landmines doubled in 2018 from a 2013
low due to conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria and Mali and mostly due to
the increased use of improvised landmines set by militant groups such
as Islamic State. Representatives from affected nations,
non-governmental organizations and donor countries are gathered in
Oslo this week to discuss how to achieve the stated aim of making the
world free of landmines in 2025. Landmines killed or injured some
6,897 people in 2018, according to the Landmine Monitor report by the
International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Some 71% of the casualties
were civilians, and of these, over half were children, it said. In
2018, most casualties were due to improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
laid by non-state groups, the report added. The lowest globally
recorded number was set at 3,457 casualties in 2013. Norwegian Foreign
Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said that in order to reduce the
casualty toll it was necessary to engage with non-state actors,
acknowledging that it was “very difficult” to do. “We have to take on
that challenge,” Soereide said in an interview. The Nordic country is
one of the top donor countries for demining work, with $40 million
pledged to 20 countries in 2018 and 2019 respectively.”
Egypt
The
New York Times: Egypt Sentences High-Profile Islamist Militant To
Death
“An Egyptian court sentenced one of the country’s most high-profile
militants to death Wednesday for his participation in scores of
attacks on government targets. The military court said in a statement
that it convicted Hisham el-Ashmawi, a former special forces officer
turned Islamist militant, on terror charges and sentenced him to hang.
Last year, the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by strongman and
close Egypt ally Gen. Khalifa Hifter, captured and extradited
el-Ashmawi. For years, Egypt’s security forces considered el-Ashmawi
the country’s most wanted militant for his intelligence value as Egypt
fights Islamist militant groups in the restive north Sinai Peninsula
and the vast Western Desert. Egyptian authorities linked el-Ashmawi,
41, to several major attacks, including a 2013 attempt to assassinate
the interior minister, Mohammed Ibrahim, along with devastating
assaults on security forces near Egypt’s porous desert border with
Libya. While in Egypt, el-Ashmawi mobilized a tiny jihadist group into
a well-organized guerrilla band that launched deadly ambushes on
military checkpoints in northern Sinai. After fleeing to Libya, he
tried to establish himself among Islamic militants and extremists in
the country’s east.”
Nigeria
France
24: Nigeria Army Frees Hundreds Of Cleared 'Boko Haram'
Suspects
“Nigeria's army on Wednesday released nearly 1,000 detainees, some
of whom had been held for years, after clearing them of having links
to the Boko Haram jihadist group. A total of 983 people incarcerated
in a military facility in the northeast city of Maiduguri were handed
over to civilian officials for “rehabilitation and integration”.
Commander Olusegun Adeniyi said at a ceremony that those released had
been “screened, investigated and cleared”. The freed inmates,
including five women, were handed over to the Borno state governor
Babagana Umara Zulum at Giwa military barracks in the city. Zulum said
those released were not Boko Haram jihadists but suspects who “after
due diligence and investigation” were “cleared of the offenses they
were accused of committing”. Rights groups have accused the military
of indiscriminate mass arrests of innocent citizens during the
decade-long fight against the jihadist insurgency in northeast
Nigeria. Activists have criticised conditions inside the detention
centres as overcrowded and unsanitary and alleged some detainees have
been tortured or even summarily executed. The release on Wednesday
represented one of the single biggest batches of detainees to be freed
by the military in one go.”
The
Punch Nigeria: Boko Haram Terrorists Hijack Ambulance, Attack Yobe
Town
“Suspected members of Boko Haram on Wednesday attacked Babbangida
town in Yobe State. The group launched the attack on the town in an
ambulance, which they had earlier seized from a team of immunization
officials at nearby Muri Mafa village in Tarmuwa Local Government Area
of Yobe State. The immunization staff were said to have left
Babbangida, the headquarters of Tarwuma LGA for a routine immunization
exercise before they were attacked by the insurgents who carted away
their ambulance. According to residents of Babbangida, the insurgents
subsequently used the ambulance belonging to the primary health centre
in the Local Government to move into the town at top speed.They were
said to have shot indiscriminately in Babbangida and carted away
foodstuffs from the town. Some of the residents of the town, who spoke
anonymously to our correspondent on phone, said, “The attackers, who
came to the town through Mafa village of Tarmuwa local Government area
were in an ambulance.” They added that the insurgents shot
indiscriminately on arrival at Babbangida, scaring many off the
streets. A source in the town said the insurgents, however, escaped
through the desert part on sighting the NAF jet that flew over the
area moment after the siege.”
Xinhua:
Nigerian Troops Kill 13 Boko Haram Militants
“At least 13 Boko Haram militants were killed when troops thwarted
an attack by the terror group in Nigeria's northeastern state of
Borno, the army said on Friday. The attack by Boko Haram was thwarted
by Nigerian troops and Chadian forces on Thursday, at Duguri Island in
Borno, according to Aminu Iliyasu, a spokesman for the army in the
country's northeast region. Four gun trucks were mounted by the Boko
Haram group with the intention of overrunning the troops' harbor
position from the rear, Iliyasu said. This sparked a gunfight, as
troops repelled the attack. Four soldiers were wounded in the
gunfight, he said. The wounded soldiers are currently in a military
medical facility and are positively responding to treatment, Iliyasu
said, adding the troops will continue keeping the pressure on the
criminal Boko Haram elements until they are totally wiped out. Boko
Haram, which launched attacks in Nigeria's northeast region a decade
ago, is known for its agenda to maintain a virtual caliphate in the
most populous African country.”
Somalia
Xinhua:
Somali Army Kills Six Al-Shabab Militants In Southern
Region
“Somali National Army (SNA) on Saturday killed six al-Shabab
militants in a gun battle in the country's southern region of Gedo, a
military officer confirmed. Mohamed Ali Abdullahi, commander of Somali
National Army (SNA) in Bardhere town told journalists that they have
launched an attack on al-Shabab militants in the area following a
tip-off from the locals. “Residents informed us that the militants
were forcing them to give compulsory taxes, and our army attacked the
area, there was a stiff confrontation, but we finally drove them out
of the town and killed six of them during the gunfight,” the military
commander said. He added that their forces also burnt two battle
vehicles from the militants. “Al-Shabab militants entered our village
ordering us to pay mandatory taxes, but the government army suddenly
attacked them, both sides fought for hours, but the militants are now
out of the city,” Mulki Afrah, a resident told Xinhua via phone.
Southern regions of Somalia have become the battleground of clashes
between government forces and al-Shabab extremists after the militants
were chased out from the capital Mogadishu in August 2011 by Somali
army and African Union forces.”
Africa
Associated
Press: Islamic State Group Affiliate Claims French Crash In
Mali
“An Islamic State group affiliate claimed responsibility Thursday
for a helicopter collision that killed 13 French soldiers earlier this
week in Mali, while France said it will reassess its military
operation in West and Central Africa after its deadliest toll in
nearly four decades. The Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
statement, with no evidence, came almost three days after the
low-flying helicopters collided on a moonless night while pursuing
extremists near the border with Niger. An investigation has begun into
the cause of the crash and the flight data recorders have been found.
French military spokesman Col. Frederic Barbry said the military would
not comment on the claim. Shortly after the crash, Army Chief of Staff
Gen. Francois Lecointre said the helicopters had been supporting
French forces on the ground pursuing fighters with the IS affiliate. A
national memorial ceremony will take place Monday in Paris. French
President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that “our mission there is
important, yet what we are now living in the Sahel leads us to look
into all strategic options.” He said the government and military will
work on the issue in the coming weeks. Macron this week defended
France’s largest overseas military mission, which involves 4,500
troops, saying it is aimed at enhancing France’s own security and
providing support to African countries.”
Reuters:
Suspected Islamists Kill At Least 19 In Latest East Congo
Attack
“Suspected Islamist rebels have killed at least 19 people in east
Congo, an official said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of
attacks causing anger at the perceived inaction of the army and U.N.
troops. The raid occurred overnight in the village of Maleki, near the
city of Oicha in a forested region near the Ugandan border, said Donat
Kibwana, the administrator of Beni territory. Kibwana blamed the
attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a jihadist rebel group
originally from Uganda that has operated for decades in Congo. They
have killed at least 80 people in 14 raids since the army launched an
operation against them late last month, according to U.N figures. He
said that many family members of the victims were afraid to return to
the scene for fear of being attacked, but that an initial search had
found 19 people dead. “This assessment remains provisional as the
search continues,” Kibwana told Reuters by phone. ADF personnel were
not reachable for comment. Several previous ADF attacks have been
claimed by Islamic State, but the extent of their relationship remains
unclear.”
Reuters:
At Least 14 Killed In Attack On Burkina Faso Church
“At least 14 people were shot dead in an attack on a church in
eastern Burkina Faso on Sunday morning, the government said. The
identity of the gunmen was not immediately clear and further details
on the attack had yet to emerge. Burkinabe armed forces were caring
for the wounded and searching the area, the government said in a
statement. This year an Islamist insurgency has ignited ethnic and
religious tensions in Burkina Faso, rendering large parts of the
country ungovernable, especially in northern areas bordering restive
Mali. The attack took place in the village of Hantoukoura near the
border with Niger in the Est region, an area known for banditry that
has come under attack over the past year from suspected jihadist
groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State. On Nov. 6 gunmen
opened fire on a convoy of buses carrying mine workers in the Est
region, killing 39. The timing of the latest incident, during hours of
worship, mirrored other attacks on Christians this year — a new
phenomenon in a West African country that has long prided itself on
its religious tolerance.”
Al
Jazeera: ISIL Is Not Dead, It Just Moved To Africa
“Illegal armed groups are opportunistic by nature. They usually
start their operations and recruit followers in countries where there
is poverty, corruption, religious conflict or ethnic strife, and where
the security forces are unable to keep the public safe and illegal
formations under control. The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in the Middle East was a
textbook example of this trend. Since the occupation of Iraq by US
forces in 2003, the region has been stuck in a vicious cycle of
conflict, sectarianism and regime change. It is in the shadows of this
crumbling landscape that ISIL first began to emerge, nourished by the
increasing frailty and incompetency of Arab states in revolt or at
war. Over the last few years, regional and global powers, aided by
non-state actors, managed to eliminate ISIL from most of Iraq and
Syria. Today, ISIL does not control any major city or township in
these states and many of the group's fighters in the region are either
dead, in captivity or on the run. Despite the collapse of its
so-called “caliphate” in the Middle East, and the killing of its
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria, however, ISIL remains a growing
and evolving threat in other parts of the world, especially in
Africa's restive Sahel region.”
North Korea
Associated
Press: North Korea May Deploy ‘Super-Large’ Rocket Launcher
Soon
“North Korea said Friday the latest test-firing of its
“super-large” multiple rocket launcher was a final review of the
weapon’s combat application, a suggestion that the country is
preparing to deploy the new weapons system soon. South Korea’s
military earlier said North Korea fired two projectiles, likely from
the same “super-large” rocket launcher, on Thursday. It expressed
“strong regret” over the launches and urged North Korea to stop
escalating tensions. On Friday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency
confirmed the launches were made with the presence of leader Kim Jong
Un and other top officials. “The volley test-fire aimed to finally
examine the combat application of the super-large multiple launch
rocket system proved the military and technical superiority of the
weapon system and its firm reliability,” KCNA said. It said Kim
expressed “great satisfaction” over the results of the
test-firing.”
United Kingdom
The
New York Times: Stabbings Around London Bridge Kill 2 In ‘Terrorist
Incident’
“The police shot and killed a man wearing a fake bomb on London
Bridge on Friday, after two people were fatally stabbed in what the
police called a terrorist incident, jolting Britain’s capital two
weeks before a general election and three days before world leaders
were to gather here for a NATO summit meeting. The chaotic eruption of
violence drew in several police officers and civilians, sent scores of
panicked pedestrians fleeing from the bridge and nearby streets on
both sides of the Thames, and evoked memories of an eerily similar
terrorist attack on the same bridge in 2017 that killed eight people.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who halted his campaign to rush back to
10 Downing Street, declared “this country will never be cowed or
divided or intimidated by this sort of attack.” He paid tribute to the
bravery of the passers-by who he said intervened to prevent further
bloodshed. Dramatic video posted on social media showed a crowd
surrounding a man, whom they appeared to have tackled. As they
wrestled with and held the man to the ground, at least three police
officers responded with their guns drawn.”
The
New York Times: London Attack Spurs Heroism And Questions About A
Prisoner’s Release
“It was midafternoon when Mike Finnerty, who sells cheese at his
Borough Market shop just south of London Bridge, realized that
something was wrong. An unusual flow of people had suddenly gathered
in front of his stall, he said, and they seemed “alarmed.” What he did
not know was that a man dressed in black and armed with knives had
gone on a murderous rampage in a grand meeting venue called
Fishmongers’ Hall on the opposite side of the bridge, just north of
the Thames River. But Mr. Finnerty sensed the danger on Friday, he
would later tell the BBC and write on Twitter. So he and another
employee rushed some customers — a couple from Vancouver and a young
American man — into a cheese refrigerator and locked the door. Then he
called the police. The “operator said it was an attack and not to
move,” he wrote. He said he could hear shouting outside the door, but
he and the group huddled together in “pretty close quarters.” Susan
Vinn, 57, was smoking outside her office adjacent to Fishmongers’ Hall
about 2 p.m. when she saw people running over the bridge. And Craig
Heathcote, a filmmaker, was walking there when, he told the British
broadcaster Sky News, someone said: “Get out of the way. Someone’s got
a knife.”
Reuters:
Islamic State Says London Bridge Attack Carried Out By One Of Its
Fighters
“Islamic State said the London Bridge attack on Friday was carried
out by one of its fighters, the group’s Amaq news agency reported on
Saturday. The group did not provide any evidence. It added that the
attack was made in response to Islamic State calls to target countries
that have been part of a coalition fighting the jihadist group.
British police on Friday shot dead a man wearing a fake suicide vest
who stabbed two people to death in London and wounded three more
before being wrestled to the ground by bystanders, in what the
authorities called a terrorist attack.”
Reuters:
The Al Qaeda-Inspired 28-Year-Old Militant Who Launched London Bridge
Attack
“Nine years before Usman Khan killed two people in a stabbing spree
on London Bridge, he was overheard by British security services
discussing how to use an al Qaeda manual he had memorised to build a
pipe bomb. It was a snippet of conversation, along with other
intelligence about a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange, that
prompted British police to arrest Khan - then 19 years old - and a
group of older men on Dec. 20, 2010. Sentenced to an minimum of 8
years in prison in 2012 with a requirement that the parole board
assess his danger to the public before release, he was released in
December 2018 - without a parole board assessment. On Friday, he
strapped on a fake suicide vest, armed himself with large kitchen
knives and went on the rampage at a conference on prisoner
rehabilitation beside London Bridge. Confronted by bystanders,
including a Polish man brandishing narwhal tusk he had grabbed from
the wall of Fishmongers’ Hall, Khan was wrestled to the ground. Three
armed police officers surrounded him. They fired twice. He was dead.
“This individual was known to authorities,” said Britain’s top counter
terrorism officer, Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Basu. “A key
line of enquiry now is to establish how he came to carry out this
attack.”
CNN:
Hundreds Of Former Jihadis Are Set To Be Freed From Jail. London
Terror Attack Shows The Risks
“The stabbing attack in London on Friday has thrust the issue of
what to do with former terrorists back into the public spotlight,
especially as hundreds more convicted offenders across Europe are due
for release in the coming years. It has also revived perennial
questions for law enforcement and intelligence agencies -- who is at
risk of re-offending? And can they be effectively monitored? How
effective are deradicalization and rehabilitation programs? Usman Khan
had been out of jail for a year after serving part of a sentence for
his involvement in a terrorism plot in 2010. On Friday, the 28-year
old stabbed to death two people on London Bridge before being shot
dead by police. Although he was wearing an ankle bracelet, he'd been
able to travel to London from his home in the English Midlands. Khan's
lawyer, Vajahat Sharif, said there were no signs that he would
re-offend. He had been a teenager when charged in 2010. He told CNN he
was “completely shocked” that his former client carried out Friday's
attack as he had seen signs over the years that he wanted to veer away
from radicalism. A letter obtained by CNN shows Khan writing from
prison in 2012 asking to join a deradicalization course.”
CNN:
London Terrorist Attack Brings Home A Chilling
Reality
“The terrorist attack in London on Friday -- in which two people
were killed by what appears to be a lone suspect, according to British
authorities -- is bound to raise questions about the UK Home Office's
decision earlier this month to lower the terrorism threat level from
“severe” to “substantial,” the lowest point since August 2014. The
Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which works closely with UK
intelligence services, made the recommendation to lower the threat
based on an evaluation of available intelligence along with an
analysis of terrorist capabilities and intentions, according to the
Home Office. Surely the destruction of ISIS's physical caliphate in
Syria and Iraq, the last vestiges of which were expunged in March,
played a role in the assessment. Indeed ISIS has seen a dramatic
decline in the recruitment of “foreign fighters.” In 2017, the US
military said as many as 40,000 people from 120 countries including
the UK had joined ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Today, that number has
slowed to a trickle. Very few want to join the losing team. There has
also been a sharp drop in terrorism deaths in Europe, from 150 in 2015
to 13 in 2018, according to European Union figures.”
BBC
News: Woman Jailed Over Extremist Magazines On
Phone
“A woman who collected extremist magazines with instructions on how
to carry out terrorist attacks has been jailed. Saria Saugir Hamid,
39, from Manchester, downloaded magazines published by the Islamic
State group on to her mobile phone, police said. She pleaded guilty to
possessing a record of information likely to be useful to terrorism.
The 39-year-old was jailed for 28 months at Manchester Crown Court.
She was ordered to serve a minimum of 14 months and given a one-year
extended licence period. Hamid, of Boyle Street, Cheetham Hill, was
stopped by officers at Manchester Airport on 18 July as she attempted
to fly to Turkey with her family, Greater Manchester Police said.
Counter terrorism officers seized her phone and found she had
downloaded “numerous magazines providing instructions on planning
terrorist attacks” and “contained articles which encouraged the reader
to engage in acts of terrorism”, the force added. Det Supt William
Chatterton said: “As terrorist propaganda can be used as a tool in the
radicalisation of others, it is a real and serious threat which we
remain committed to tackling.”
The
Guardian: Red Cross Criticises UK For Stripping Isis Recruits Of
Citizenship
“The head of the international Red Cross has sharply criticised
Britain’s policy of stripping the citizenship of people held in Syria
after the fall of Islamic State, saying it is “not conducive” to
long-term peace in the region. Peter Maurer said the UK and other
western countries also needed to consider repatriating children held
with their mothers in Syria’s overcrowded refugee camps – at a time
when the UK Home Office has said no more returns of British minors are
in the pipeline. Maurer, the president of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC), told the Guardian that he “failed to see” how
denying people such as 19-year-old Shamima Begum their nationality
would help a crisis made more complex by the recent Turkish invasion.
“There are things which are probably not conducive to a solution and I
fail to see at the present moment how stripping citizenship and making
people stateless or just pushing or betting on a second nationality
which should deal with the issue brings more clarity,” he said. The UK
has repeatedly stripped citizenship from people who travelled over to
join Isis where it believes they have a valid second nationality,
although Begum – who left east London when she was 15 – has challenged
such a decision in the British courts, arguing that she has in fact
been rendered stateless.”
The
Times: London Bridge Attack: I Told Ministers We Were Treating
Terrorist Prisoners With Jaw-Dropping Naivety. Did They
Listen?
“know a bit about the threat management of violent extremists. In
2015 Michael Gove, who was then justice secretary, asked me to conduct
an independent review of Islamist extremism in the prisons and
probation system in England and Wales. With the help of a small expert
team, we visited dozens of prisons at home and abroad. More than 1,000
prison staff corroborated our findings in a survey that was originally
opposed by Michael Spurr, then chief executive of HM Prison and
Probation Service, who had to be overruled by Gove. What we found was
so shockingly bad that I had to agree to the language in the original
report being toned down. With hindsight, I’m not sure that was the
right decision.”
France
Financial
Times: Twenty People Charged Over 2015 Paris Terror
Attacks
“French anti-terror prosecutors formally indicted 20 suspects for
the Islamist attacks that killed 131 people in the Bataclan concert
hall and Paris cafés in 2015. In a 562-page indictment released on
Friday, prosecutors requested that 14 people currently in prison or
under judicial supervision and another six who are the subject of
arrest warrants stand trial for their involvement in the attacks.
Those charged include Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the
alleged group of terrorists who directly took part in the killings on
the evening of November 13 2015. The other 19 cited in the indictment
are accused of helping organise or fund the attacks. They include
members of a France-Belgian jihadi cell behind the 2016 Brussels
bombings and Oussama Atar, a Belgian national who rose through the
Isis ranks in Syria. Atar may have been killed there in 2017,
according to press reports. The final decision to proceed with a
trial, provisionally scheduled for 2021, will be taken by French
judges. A group of suicide bombers and gunmen affiliated to Isis
targeted the Stade de France stadium in the north of Paris, bars and
restaurants in the centre and killed 90 concertgoers in the Bataclan.
It was the deadliest terror attack in western Europe since the Madrid
train bombings in 2004.”
Germany
Deutsche
Welle: Germany Denies It Will Ban Hezbollah In Its
Entirety
“An Interior Ministry spokesman has denied that an outright ban of
Hezbollah by Germany was on the cards. Steve Alter clarified on
Twitter that reports about a so-called “ban on activities” of
Hezbollah — which is a less stringent legal measure — “cannot be
confirmed.” Earlier, Der Spiegelmagazine had reported that Germany's
Interior, Justice and Foreign Ministries had agreed to move towards
outlawing Iran-backed Hezbollah. It said that the decision was to be
announced at the German interior ministers' meeting next week. The
news agency dpa had also reported that Germany was close to announcing
a ban on the group's activities, a move that would allow banning
certain activities or people, but would not constitute an outright
ban. Reuters news agency merely reported that Germany's attorney
general had been given full power of attorney to investigate
Hezbollah's activities in September. The reports came barely two
months after US ambassador Richard Grenell renewed pressure on Germany
to ban the Lebanese-based organization, which the US has classified as
a terrorist organization. Most European Union states, including
Germany, so far only consider Hezbollah's military arm as a terrorist
group.”
Europe
The
New York Times: Irish Ex-Soldier Who Married ISIS Fighter Is
Arrested
“A former Irish soldier who converted to Islam, traveled to Syria
to join the Islamic State and married a British jihadi fighter, was
arrested at Dublin Airport on Sunday for questioning about possible
terrorism crimes, having been deported from Turkey. The former
soldier, Lisa Smith, 38, was deported with her 2-year-old daughter on
a Turkish Airlines flight with the cooperation of the Irish
government, after she had been detained by Turkish forces during their
recent incursion into Syria. A small number of Irish diplomatic
personnel and a contingent from the Irish Army’s elite Ranger Wing
flew to Turkey to escort Ms. Smith and her daughter home. They were
met at the steps of the plane by detectives from the police section
that is responsible for internal security affairs in Ireland.
Photographs showed a woman descending the steps, her face hidden by a
pink blanket. Ms. Smith was questioned at a police station in the
south of Dublin, according to the authorities. Several European
governments have resisted the repatriation of citizens who joined the
Islamic State, also known as ISIS, because of the potential security
risk. But Dublin has said it accepted the right of Ms. Smith and her
daughter — an Irish citizen by virtue of her mother’s nationality — to
return to Ireland.”
The
Guardian: Former Soldier Who Fled To Syria Arrested On Her Return To
Ireland
“A former member of the Irish defence forces who moved to Syria to
live under Islamic State has returned to Ireland and been arrested on
suspicion of terrorist offences. Police met Lisa Smith upon her
arrival in Dublin on Sunday on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul
and took her away for questioning. The former soldier, 38, flew from
Turkey with her two-year-old daughter plus three Irish consular
officials, members of the Army Ranger Wing and a Turkish security
officer. Smith, from Dundalk in County Louth, converted to Islam about
a decade ago and travelled to Syria in 2015 to live in Isis’s
self-declared caliphate. She married and had a child with a British
jihadist, Sajid Aslam, whom she said later died in the conflict. After
the terror group’s defeat this year, Smith and her daughter stayed in
refugee camps run by Kurdish forces. After Turkey invaded last month
an Ankara-backed militia handed the pair to Turkey, leading to
negotiations with Irish officials for her repatriation. Irish
authorities want to determine whether Smith committed terrorist acts.
She is being questioned at a Garda station in south Dublin under
section 30 of the Offences Against the State
Act.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Denmark: 3 Men Guilty For Buying Drones For
ISIS
“A Copenhagen court found on Thursday three men guilty of helping a
terror organization by buying drones and components on behalf of ISIS.
The items were meant to be used in combat actions in Syria and Iraq.
The Copenhagen City Court said the men, two of whom are Danish
citizens, bought hobby planes, drones and thermal cameras as well as
components, tools and accessories in Denmark between 2013 and 2017.
The items were shipped to ISIS. All were cleared of terror charges and
face prison terms of up to six years. Sentencing is expected next
month. The identities of the men, who claimed their innocence, were
not released by the court.”
Australia
The
Guardian: Three Men Jailed For 28 And 16 Years Over Christmas
Terrorism Plot On Melbourne's Federation Square
“Two men will spend at least the next 28 years in jail and another
at least 16 years after conspiring to plot a terrorist attack in
Melbourne’s Federation Square. Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullah Chaarani and
Hamza Abbas are three of four men convicted over the plot to behead
people and set off bombs on Christmas Day in 2016. The fourth was
Hamza Abbas’ brother Ibrahim Abbas, who is already serving up to 24
years after pleading guilty to the plot last year. The group had
bought machetes, carried out reconnaissance in the Melbourne CBD and
built practice bombs while conspiring to develop the potentially
deadly plan. They were arrested and taken into custody three days
before Christmas. At the supreme court of Victoria on Friday, Justice
Christopher Beale sentenced Mohamed and Chaarani to 26 years’ jail
over the conspiracy. But 16 years of that sentence will be served
cumulatively with a 22-year sentence they are serving for a firebomb
attack on a Melbourne mosque in December 2016. Beale gave them a new
non-parole period of 28 years and six months.”
Fox
News: 3 Islamic State-Inspired Militants Sentenced For Christmas 2016
Plot In Australia
“Three men, who were inspired by the Islamic State group, were
given lengthy sentences Friday for plotting a Christmas 2016 attack in
Australia’s second largest city, a published report said. The men,
Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullah Chaarani and Hamza Abbas, were preparing a
mass attack involving explosives and knives at Federation Square, a
popular downtown restaurant and entertainment precinct in Melbourne,
The Associated Press reported. Justice Christopher Beale, seated at
the Supreme Court of Victoria, said Chaarani, 29, and Mohamed, 27,
must serve at least 28 years and six months in prison for their parts
in the plot. Meanwhile, Hamza Abbas, 24, who was involved in the
conspiracy for a shorter period, was jailed for 22 years with a
non-parole period of 16 years and six months, the AP reported. “Each
of you, to a greater or lesser degree, accessed materials on the
internet supportive of Islamic State and violent jihad. Their views
became so warped they had come to believe the mass slaughter of
innocent civilians would be a glorious act, pleasing to Allah.” —
Justice Christopher Beale, Supreme Court of Victoria. “The stupidity
of that belief was only matched by its malevolence,” he added.”
Southeast Asia
South
China Morning Post: Malaysia Warns Isis May Shift Base To Southeast
Asia, As Militants Seek Fake
Passports
“Malaysia has warned that the Islamic State (Isis) militant group
may open up a new front and move its operations to Southeast Asia
following the death last month of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“After losing much of its territory in Syria and Iraq, Daesh is
looking for a new base. Malaysia does not rule out the possibility of
Daesh shifting its operations to the Southeast Asia region,” Malaysian
home affairs minister Muhyiddin Yassin told the 13th Asean Ministerial
Meeting on Transnational Crime in Bangkok on Wednesday. He was
referring to Isis by its Arabic acronym. “There are also growing
threats from returning foreign terrorist fighters, online
radicalisation and lone-wolf attacks,” Muhyiddin said. Last week the
US Department of State’s top counterterrorism official Nathan Sales
said that while Isis militants were not coming to Southeast Asia “in
droves”, they were exporting terrorist tactics, techniques and
procedures from the Middle East, including suicide bombings, which
were a “very, very recent phenomenon” in the region. A former militant
warned that foreign fighters were looking for forged or stolen
passports to help them return home or enter other countries, as well
as to evade authorities.”
France
24: Bangladesh Sentences Seven Militants To Death For 2016 Cafe
Attack
“A Bangladesh court on Wednesday handed death sentences to seven
members of an Islamist militant group for plotting an attack on a cafe
in 2016 that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, in the south Asian
nation’s worst such incident. “Charges against them were proved beyond
any doubt. The court gave them the highest punishment,” public
persecutor Golam Sarwar Khan told reporters after the verdict in the
capital, Dhaka, amid tight security. One of the eight people accused
was acquitted, he added. After the ruling, the accused men in the dock
in a packed courtroom looked defiant and shouted, “Allah Akbar” (God
is Greatest), witnesses said. The July 1 attack on the restaurant
popular with foreigners in Dhaka’s diplomatic area shocked the nation
of 160 million and signalled a chilling threat to business, including
the vital garment exports sector. Five militants stormed the Holey
Artisan cafe, took diners hostage and killed them over 12 hours. Nine
Italians, seven Japanese, an American and an Indian were among the
dead. The attackers were also killed in a rescue bid by army
commandos. Khan said the seven men convicted on Wednesday were
involved in planning the attack.”
Technology
TIME:
Facebook Says It’s Removing More Hate Speech Than Ever Before. But
There’s A Catch
“On Nov. 13, Facebook announced with great fanfare that it was
taking down substantially more posts containing hate speech from its
platform than ever before. Facebook removed more than seven million
instances of hate speech in the third quarter of 2019, the company
claimed, an increase of 59% against the previous quarter. More and
more of that hate speech (80%) is now being detected not by humans,
they added, but automatically, by artificial intelligence. The new
statistics, however, conceal a structural problem Facebook is yet to
overcome: not all hate speech is treated equally. The algorithms
Facebook currently uses to remove hate speech only work in certain
languages. That means it has become easier for Facebook to contain the
spread of racial or religious hatred online in the primarily developed
countries and communities where global languages like English, Spanish
and Mandarin dominate. But in the rest of the world, it’s as difficult
as ever.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Ordered By Singapore, Facebook Posts A
Correction
“Facebook Inc. added a “correction notice” to a post that Singapore
authorities alleged contains false information, becoming the first
technology company to comply with a new law the government says is
meant to curb fake news. Appearing near the bottom of a post from
earlier this month, the notice—which Facebook called a label—reads,
“Facebook is legally required to tell you that the Singapore
government says this post has false information.” The government had
ordered the notice Friday on the post, which alleges authorities had
made a wrongful arrest. The government said no such arrest had been
made. With governments world-wide seeking to tackle social media’s
darker consequences—concerns range from privacy violations and
election interference to killings provoked by misinformation and hate
speech—Singapore is testing new terrain in online regulation. The
Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, which took
effect in October, allows government ministers who deem information
false to order correction notices or removal of the material, if they
believe that is in the public interest.”
CNET:
Youtube CEO Defends Site's Recommendation System Amid
Scrutiny
“As YouTube deals with an onslaught of controversies, from the
spread of extremism to child sexual exploitation issues, critics have
called out the site's powerful recommendation system, which uses
algorithms to drive people to new content. On Sunday, CEO Susan
Wojcicki defended the site's recommendation mechanisms during an
interview with CBS's 60 Minutes. (CNET is also owned by CBS). Because
of YouTube's massive scale -- 500 hours of video are uploaded to the
Google-owned service every minute -- YouTube can't manually review
every video it recommends. The system is controversial because some
say it can lead people down a rabbit hole of increasingly fringe and
objectionable content. YouTube has also come under fire as politicians
criticize a legal protection called Section 230, which doesn't hold
tech platforms liable for user-generated content. "If we were held
liable for every single piece of content that we recommended, we would
have to review it," Wojcicki said, according to a transcript of the
interview. "That would mean there'd be a much smaller set of
information that people would be finding." YouTube's recommendation
system has been at the heart of some of the site's biggest scandals.
Earlier this year, YouTube was slammed for enabling a "softcore
pedophelia ring." A video blogger named Matt Watson detailed how
pedophiles could enter a "wormhole" of YouTube videos to see footage
of children in sexually suggestive positions. In the comments of those
videos, users would post time stamps linking to other videos, and
YouTube's algorithms would recommend even more of those kinds of
videos.”
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