“France brought home 16 wives of jihadists from sprawling detention camps in
northeastern Syria on Tuesday, breaking with a policy that for years had











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Eye on Extremism


July 6, 2022



The New York Times: Shifting Policy, France Brings Home French Wives Of
Jihadists
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“France brought home 16 wives of jihadists from sprawling detention camps in
northeastern Syria on Tuesday, breaking with a policy that for years had ruled
out repatriating and trying adult women who had left to join the Islamic State.
The women were accompanied by 35 children — some traveling with their mothers,
others who are orphans — in what was the largest such group repatriated in one
go by France as the government responded to mounting pressure to shift its
approach. France had long resisted calls by rights groups and security experts
to repatriate adult women, saying that it considered them “fighters” who should
be tried where they were accused of committing crimes, in Syria and Iraq. Even
as such local trials proved impossible, France stuck to its position and
refused to bring home not only adults but also most children, repatriating only
a few dozen over the course of three years, following a piecemeal approach that
came to contrast with most of its European neighbors. The French Foreign
Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that welfare services had taken care of
the children and that the mothers had been turned over to the judicial
authorities. The women — all are French, except for two who have French
children, the authorities said — are expected to be charged in connection with
joining the Islamic State.”



Reuters: Pakistan Arrest Militant Suspect In Deadly Bombing Of Chinese
Nationals
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“Pakistan on Tuesday said it had arrested a militant who provided technical
support for a deadly suicide bomb attack on Chinese teachers at Karachi
University in April. A suspected female suicide bomber killed three Chinese
teachers, drawing strong condemnation from Beijing, in the first major attack
this year against nationals of long-time ally China working in Pakistan. Four
people died in total, including the minibus driver and the three Chinese staff
from the Confucius Institute, a cultural and educational program that China
operates at the university. The attack was the result of the combined efforts
of two separatist groups, the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and the
Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Sindh province information minister Sharjeel
Memon told a news conference. The accused man, Dad Bakash, was arrested from
Karachi’s district west on Monday and confessed to being commander of a sleeper
cell of the BLF, he said. “He confessed to carrying out surveillance of Chinese
nationals at Karachi University and important installations on the task given
by Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and met and provided assistance to the
female suicide bomber and her husband.”



United States



ABC News: Man Who Says He Was Assaulted By White Supremacist Marchers Speaks
Out
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“Boston officials are responding to the growing threat of white supremacists,
just days after Patriot Front members marched through the city and reportedly
assaulted a Black man. “We know these threats are continuing to escalate across
the country, and that Boston must be the leading light in how we are acting in
a coordinated way and tackling and supporting our community members,” said
Mayor Michelle Wu Tuesday. She joined officials from the local and state police
departments, the FBI and the attorney general's office to discuss impending
actions of known extremist groups. The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks
hate groups nationwide, has called Patriot Front a white supremacist group that
spreads racism, antisemitism, and other forms of hate online. The ADL says the
group is focused on “preserving America's identity as a European-American one.”
The group marched in Boston on Saturday with concealed faces and flags, wearing
shirts that read “Reclaim America.” U.S. District Attorney Rachael Rollins said
officials “are working hard to make sure that if there are any federal charges
we can bring or if there are any state charges that can be brought -- we will
be looking at this. We don't want to wait until there's violence. If there are
threats we will charge those as well.”



Iraq



Al Monitor: Iraq’s Northwest Wary As IS Executions, Cross-Border Movement
Continue
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“Five years after victory was announced by Iraqi security forces in the
Battle for Mosul against the Islamic State (IS) in July 2017, Iraq’s Ninevah
province watches warily as remnants of the international terrorist group
continue to conduct sporadic attacks and operate within desert areas not far
from the Syrian border. In late June, IS claimed responsibility for the
kidnapping and summary execution in a desert area of Ninevah of a man from the
Jughayfa tribe they claimed was a member of the Iraqi security forces. A member
of his tribe contacted by Al-Monitor said the man killed was actually a
shepherd but had close relatives within the security forces. The Jughayfa tribe
is known for withstanding an IS siege for over a year in the city of Haditha in
Anbar province. Multiple fighters from the tribe have since been killed by IS
in retaliation, including on video. The adjacent Anbar and Ninevah provinces
both contain vast desert areas and strong tribal links, along with a long
porous border with Syria and routes used by IS. Wadi al-Tharthar, for example,
which starts from headstreams in the Sinjar Mountains west of Mosul and flows
southward to Lake Tharthar between the Anbar and Salahuddin provinces, has long
been known for its IS “ratlines.”



Nigeria



Daily Post Nigeria: Nigeria Now Terrorism Capital – Fani-Kayode Reacts As
Terrorists Attack Buhari’s Convoy, Kuje Prisons
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“Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation, has said that the Federal
Government can no longer defend the current spate of insecurity in the country.
Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, had recently said that
Nigeria is better off now than in 2015 when the current administration took
over power, in terms of security. However, DAILY POST reported a few hours ago
how President Muhammadu Buhari’s convoy was attacked by gunmen suspected to be
bandits the same day another set of gunmen, suspected to be members of Boko
Haram, attacked the Kuje prison facility. And in reaction, Fani Kayode, a
member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, said Nigeria is now the
capital of mass murder and terrorism capital. The former miniser listed the
most recent killings and terrorist activities in the country to include,
“Abuja’s Kuje prison attacked and bombed. “President’s convoy attacked; 45
people killed in attack in Niger; 90 people killed in attack in Zamfara; 50
people killed in attack on Church in Ondo.” He concluded that, “We are now the
world’s mass murder and terrorism capital! This is INDEFENSIBLE!” Spokesman to
the President, Garba Shehu, in a statement on Tuesday night, said, “The
attackers opened fire on the convoy from ambush positions but were repelled by
the military, police and DSS personnel accompanying the convoy.”



Mali



Reuters: Explosive Kills At Least Two U.N. Peacekeepers In North Mali
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“At least two United Nations peacekeepers were killed and five severely
wounded in northern Mali when a logistics convoy hit an improvised explosive
device on Tuesday, the U.N. peacekeeping mission MINUSMA said. The incident
took place on Tuesday morning on the road between the village of Tessalit and
the city of Gao, MINUSMA said in a statement. “According to an initial report,
two peacekeepers died from their injuries and five others were seriously
injured,” it said. Insecurity has grown in the West African country since
Islamist insurgents who took root in its arid north a decade ago escalated
attacks and seized territory. The militants, some with links to al Qaeda and
Islamic State, have gained momentum despite the presence of foreign troops and
U.N. peacekeepers. The conflict has killed thousands and displaced millions
across the Sahel region south of the Sahara. MINUSMA - the United Nations
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali - currently has
around 12,200 military personnel deployed in the country. At least 174
peacekeepers have been killed in hostile acts and more than 420 wounded since
August 2013, according to MINUSMA.”



Africa



Al Jazeera: Dozens Of Civilians Killed In Attack In Northwest Burkina Faso
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“Armed attackers have killed at least 22 civilians in northwest Burkina Faso,
the latest deadly incident in an uptick in violence in the region. The latest
attack occurred late on Sunday into early Monday morning, according to local
officials, in the province of Kossi, about 55km (34 miles) from the border of
restive central Mali. “The provisional death toll of this terrorist attack is
22 dead, several wounded and material damage,” regional governor Babo Pierre
Bassinga said in a statement. Military forces have been deployed to the scene
and measures are in place to host those who fled to nearby cities, the
statement added. The situation in Mali has worsened since a separatist movement
began in the country’s north in 2012. In recent years, armed groups, including
those linked to ISIL (ISIS) group and al-Qaeda, have jockeyed for influence in
the resulting security vacuum in Mali’s central regions, while exacerbating
communal tensions driven by climate change. The insecurity has increasingly
spread into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, as well as the wider region.
Meanwhile, analysts say military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso have caused
institutional insecurity that has allowed the violence to continue. The
fighting has displaced more than 1.85 million people in Burkina Faso alone and
killed thousands across the Sahel.”



Europe



Metro UK: Fake British Passports Available On Dark Web ‘Within Minutes’
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“… Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project,
said: ‘Fraudulent identity documents and passports continue to present a
serious security challenge. ‘These facilitate the movement of people, vehicles,
money, and materiel across borders and through inspection points. As such, they
are invaluable to criminal and terrorist networks alike and pose a serious
security risk to the UK. Criminals and terrorists use fraudulent passports to
circumvent border checkpoints, allowing them to travel around or even leave and
re-enter the UK undetected and untraced. ‘Fake passports also enable criminals
and terrorists to live completely hidden under false identities and
fraudulently get a job or open a bank account. It is vital that the trade of
stolen passports is halted to protect British citizens from those who might
want to enter the country with sinister intentions.’”



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