Eye on Extremism
July 6, 2022
The New York Times: Shifting Policy, France Brings Home French Wives Of Jihadists
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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’
“… 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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