Eye on Extremism
July 8, 2022
Wall Street Journal: Shinzo Abe Is Assassinated
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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.”
The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If you value what we do, please consider making a donation.
