“Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, died after being shot
twice on Friday while giving an election campaign speech. He was shot in th











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Eye on Extremism


July 8, 2022



Wall Street Journal: Shinzo Abe Is Assassinated
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“Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, died after being shot
twice on Friday while giving an election campaign speech. He was shot in the
chest and near the neck by a man who approached him from behind as he spoke in
the city of Nara, according to witnesses, authorities and video footage. Mr.
Abe, who was 67 years old, was prime minister until late 2020 and was one of
Japan’s best known but polarizing politicians. He was the de facto leader of
the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and wielded strong
influence in the government despite standing down as prime minister in
September 2020. The attack happened while he was campaigning for the party's
candidates in a national election of the upper house of the Diet on Sunday.”



Reuters: Nigeria Recaptures 27 Inmates After Jail Attack Claimed By Islamic
State
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“Nigeria's security forces on Thursday recaptured 27 inmates who fled from a
prison in the capital in Abuja following an attack claimed by Islamic State,
the correctional service said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for
Tuesday's raid on the Kuje prison, which freed around 440 inmates, among them
Islamist militants, raising fears that insurgents are venturing from their
enclaves in the northeast. Three of the attackers were killed in the encounter
while several others escaped with bullet wounds, a Nigerian Correctional
Service spokesperson said in a statement. The prison attack has raised
questions on the security of Nigeria's correctional facilities, especially
those holding suspected militants.”



United States



The Hill: Florida Man Sentenced To 20 Years For Creating Instructional
Bomb-Making Video For ISIS
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“A Florida man was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in federal prison and 15
years of supervised release after pleading guilty to attempting to provide
material support to ISIS through an instructional bomb-making video. The
Justice Department said in a press release, citing court documents, that Romeo
Xavier Langhorne pledged his allegiance to the Islamic terrorist organization
in 2014 and engaged in online activity supportive of the group — including
posting support on social media, participating in ISIS chat rooms and sharing
ISIS-produced videos on YouTube — in 2018 and 2019. Beginning in 2019,
Langhorne began communicating with an undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS
affiliate about creating a video teaching viewers how to make an explosive
known as triacetone triperoxide (TATP), telling the agent that he was making
the video to arm ISIS adherents and others to use in support of the group,
according to the Justice Department. The FBI made the video based on
Langhorne’s instructions, but unknown to him included only an inert chemical
formula for TATP that would not cause an explosion. Langhorne then uploaded it
to a video-sharing platform, according to the department. Langhorne also asked
the agent in 2019 to work with him to create a recording of an ISIS member
saying “Allah Akbar” and of children saying “kill them all” in order, he said,
“to encourage justified retaliation” against the U.S. over its role in killing
Muslims, according to the Justice Department.”



NBC News: Georgia Prosecutor Calls Explosion At 'America's Stonehenge' An Act
Of Domestic Terrorism
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“A Georgia prosecutor described the apparent targeting of a mysterious
monument with an explosive device as an “act of domestic terrorism,” saying
Thursday that the alleged crime was aimed at the county authorities that own
the site. “The destruction of a public building by explosive is inherently
intended to influence the actions of the governing authority that owns the
structure,” Parks White, the Northern Judicial Circuit district attorney, said
in an email about the Wednesday explosion of the Georgia Guidestones. “The use
of violence to sway or alter the behavior of any government agency is
terrorism,” said White, whose office would handle a potential prosecution. The
Elbert County Board of Commissioners is the site's governing authority, he
said. No suspect has been identified in the case. In a statement Wednesday,
White said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has “many” leads in its probe of
the explosion and “a case is being made against the perpetrator.” The agency
released new surveillance video Thursday showing what it described as an
unknown person leaving the device at the site in northeastern Georgia. The
explosion occurred around 4 a.m. Wednesday. The agency said one of five massive
granite slabs — which are engraved with messages about the conservation of
humanity — was destroyed in the explosion.”



Iraq



The Jerusalem Post: Mosul Has Been Liberated From ISIS For Five Years -
Analysis <[link removed]>



“On July 9, 2017, the then-prime minister of Iraq arrived in Mosul to
celebrate its liberation from ISIS. The city had suffered grievously under the
extremists. Its minorities had been purged and expelled. Yazidis had been sold
into slavery. Archaeological sites had been damaged. Cultural history erased.
Millions had suffered. This was once a great city, but part of it lay in ruins.
Iconic sites such as the Nuri Mosque had been destroyed by ISIS. Now five years
have passed. There is good news. There is an emerging “start-up” scene, says
The National in the UAE. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization is offering vocational training in Mosul. A group
recently graduated from this training. Some of the group were part of the
reconstruction of a school, according to UNESCO. There is reconstruction of
religious sites, including Christian ones. In addition, the Sayegh palatial
house in the Old City is one of the sites that UNESCO is helping restore. The
Old City saw intense fighting during efforts to liberate the city from ISIS.
There is still much work to be done. Activists and experts like Omar Mohammed
of Mosul Eye have played a key role in bringing the city’s story to an
international audience.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: Watchdog Alleges Taliban ‘Summarily’ Executed At Least 100
Suspected Islamic State Members
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“Taliban security forces in eastern Afghanistan have extrajudicially killed
dozens of suspected members and supporters of a local affiliate of the Islamic
State terrorist group, according to Human Rights Watch. The global human rights
group has documented the alleged abuses in a report released Thursday, saying
they were committed in eastern Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. “Since the
Taliban took power in August 2021, residents of Nangahar and Kunar … have
discovered the bodies of more than 100 men dumped in canals and other locations
[between August 2021 and April 2022],” the report said. The two provinces,
which border Pakistan, are known for hosting active bases of the Islamic State
of Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State. Taliban
forces in these areas had “carried out abusive search operations” against
residents they accused of sheltering or supporting ISIS-K members, according to
the report. During these security actions, including night raids, residents
allegedly had been subjected to torture and men detained without legal process
or revealing their whereabouts to their families. “Taliban authorities appear
to have given their forces free rein to detain, ‘disappear,’ and kill alleged
militants,” said Patricia Gossman, the associate Asia director at Human Rights
Watch.”



Reuters: EXCLUSIVE United Arab Emirates Set To Run Kabul Airport In Deal With
Taliban, Sources Say
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“The Taliban and the United Arab Emirates are poised to strike a deal for the
Gulf nation to run Kabul airport and several others in Afghanistan that could
be announced within weeks, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
The Taliban, whose government remains an international pariah without formal
recognition, have courted regional powers, including Qatar and Turkey, to
operate Kabul airport, landlocked Afghanistan's main air link with the world,
and others. But after months of back-and-forth talks, and at one point raising
the possibility of a joint UAE-Turkey-Qatar deal, the Taliban is set to hand
the operations in their entirety to the UAE, who had previously run Afghan
airports, the sources said.”



Nigeria



Sahara Reporters: ISWAP Terrorists Threaten To Attack More Prisons In Nigeria,
Other Countries
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“The Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa
Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah
wa'l-Jihād, has vowed to attack more prisons in Nigeria and other parts of the
world. The group had earlier claimed responsibility for the attack on Kuje
Prison in Abuja. SaharaReporters on Tuesday reported that the facility was
under attack by gunmen. According to a source, the terrorists invaded the
facility around 9:05 pm and operated till 1:30am on Wednesday morning. He added
that over 800 inmates including terrorists escaped during the attack by gunmen.
However, ISWAP in a video released on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the
attack. In the video, the terrorist sect showed some of its men shooting their
way into the facility. The terror group in a post added that its fighters who
attacked Kuje prison were divided into three groups. The first group stayed at
the prison gate, the second one raiding the prison facility while the last one
was tasked with blocking the nearby roads. ISWAP added that its fighters would
continue attacking prisons in different parts of the world.”



Daily Post Nigeria: Boko Haram, ISWAP: Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabaab Funding
Terrorists In Nigeria – Somalia’s President Mohamud
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“Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has hinted that Al-Shabaab funds
terrorists in Nigeria where Boko Haram and ISWAP are rooted. Mohamud made the
revelation at Ankara in Türkiye during his visit to thousands of soldiers and
police officers training in the country. “We have evidence that the money
collected by Al-Shabaab is used in financing terror groups in Mozambique and
Nigeria with some going to Al-Qaeda. Al-Shabaab is the East Africa franchise of
Al-Qaeda which is deep-seated in the Middle East and North Africa. “We’ll shut
down these revenue streams”, vowed Mohamud who assumed office in May 2022. For
more than a decade, Nigeria has been battling Ansaru, Boko Haram and Islamic
State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP). Insurgents have killed thousands of
citizens and displaced millions, especially in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
On Tuesday, ISWAP attacked a prison in the Kuje area of Abuja, the capital,
releasing hundreds of inmates, including terrorists. The Nigerian government
also said its fights are behind the killings of Christians and attacks on
churches. In Mozambique, a terror group, Al-Shabab controls parts of Cabo
Delgado in the Northern region. It is unclear if it has ties with Al-Shabaab.”



United Kingdom



The Independent: Man Charged With Terror Offences After Being Stopped At Luton
Airport
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“Terrorism police have arrested a man who was arriving in Britain on suspicion
of being a member of the banned militant “Tamil Tigers” organisation. Officers
from the Counter Terrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police arrested the man,
in his 30s, after he arrived at Luton Airport. The suspect was initially
stopped by officers under the Terrorism Act 2000 on Tuesday, the Met has
revealed. He was arrested on suspicion of being a member of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), more widely known as the Tamil Tigers, and also
on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation. The man was taken to a
local police station, where he was later released under investigation. Founded
in 1976, the guerrilla organisation fought for the creation of an independent
Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, claiming the Tamils were
persecuted by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government. Their brutal
tactics sparked the country’s civil war, which lasted from 1983 to 2009, during
which it’s estimated at least 100,000 people were killed, of which many were
Sri Lankan Tamils. Thousands of others went missing before the Tamil Tigers
were defeated by the country’s army in 2009.”



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