Eye on Extremism
December 11, 2019
The
New York Times: Somali Security Forces Kill 5 Al Shabaab Fighters To
End Hotel Siege
“Somali security forces shot dead five Al Shabaab gunmen, who had
killed three civilians and two soldiers during an attack on a hotel
near the presidential residence in Mogadishu on Tuesday night, police
said early on Wednesday. Al Shabaab, an al Qaeda linked Islamist
militant group, frequently launches bombing and gun raids in Mogadishu
in a bid to topple Somalia's U.N.-backed government. The group
confirmed last night it had attacked the Syl hotel, a popular
gathering place for officials and lawmakers.”
Voice
Of America: Dozens Injured In Attack Near US Base In
Afghanistan
“A powerful bomb-and-gun attack on the largest American military
base in Afghanistan early Wednesday injured dozens of people, mostly
civilians. Afghan military authorities said a suicide bomber detonated
an explosives-packed vehicle in front of the gate of an unused
hospital almost adjacent to the Bagram Airfield in Parwan province.
Four gunmen later entered the vacant health facility before foreign
forces engaged them in a gunfight, Alozai Ahmadi, the commander of the
Parwan coordination center, told VOA. A spokesman for the NATO-led
Resolute Support military mission confirmed the attack on the medical
facility.”
Fox
News: Iran Building New Underground Tunnel To House Missiles:
Intelligence Sources
“Iran is building an underground tunnel to store missiles and
large-scale weapons, according to satellite images obtained by Fox
News and Western intelligence sources who reviewed the information.
The structure, housed within the Imam Ali military base in Eastern
Syria, is estimated to be nearly 400 feet long, 15 feet wide and 13
feet deep. The first image--taken by Image Sat International (ISI), an
end-to-end geospatial intelligence solutions company, where
construction of the tunnel can be seen--was captured on Oct. 5. Two
weeks later, a shed was used to hide the tunnel entrance from the air.
Large dirt piles appeared at the opposite end of the tunnel as
excavations continue.”
The
Washington Post: Gunman In Base Shooting May Have Embraced Radical
Ideology Years Before Arriving In U.S., Saudi Report
Says
“The Saudi aviation student responsible for a shooting that killed
three U.S. sailors on a Florida base last week appears to have
embraced radical ideology as early as 2015, well before he arrived in
the United States for training, a Saudi government analysis has found.
According to the internal report, a Twitter account believed to have
been used by Ahmed Mohammed al-Shamrani indicates that four religious
figures described as radical appear to have shaped the Saudi Air Force
trainee’s “extremist thought.” A copy of the report was obtained by
The Washington Post. The attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola has
raised concerns about the vetting of foreign military personnel who
take part in training and exchange programs in the United States, and
drawn renewed congressional scrutiny of the kingdom following a period
of substantial tension. While some lawmakers have criticized Saudi
Arabia for its role in Yemen’s punishing civil war and the killing of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, the
Trump administration has consistently defended the kingdom as a key
ally against Iran and other threats. On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it
was suspending operational training for about 850 visiting Saudis,
part of a larger review of the handling of foreign military
students.”
The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Woman Pleads
Guilty To Conspiring To Support ISIS
“An Augusta-area woman has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide
material support and resources to ISIS and will face up to five years
in prison and $250,000 in fines when she is sentenced Feb. 5, federal
court records show. The Justice Department announced Kim Anh Vo’s
arrest in March, saying she was apprehended in Hephzibah, which sits
about 14 miles southwest of Augusta.More: Feds arrest Georgia woman
for supporting an Islamic State-linked group Vo is at least the second
person in the Southeast to be charged this year with supporting ISIS,
also known as the Islamic State. On Thursday, the Justice Department
announced the indictment of Romeo Xavier Langhorne, 30, of Roanoke,
Va., accusing him of attempting to provide material support and
resources to ISIS. Langhorne, according to the Justice Department, was
seeking to help ISIS adherents arm themselves with deadly explosives
for terrorism.After signing a plea deal in June, Vo — who also goes by
“Zozo,” “Miss.Bones” and “Kitty Lee” — told a federal judge in New
York that she joined and recruited for the United Cyber Caliphate, an
online group that has pledged allegiance to ISIS.Justice Department
officials said the group and its subgroups have disseminated online
“kill lists,” identifying U.S. soldiers and U.S. State Department
workers. One such list from April 2016 identified about 3,600 people
in the New York City area and was labeled “We Want them #Dead.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Facebook Rebuffs Barr, Moves Ahead On Messaging
Encryption
“Facebook FB -0.23% said it would move forward with plans to add
encryption across its messaging platforms, rejecting a plea from
Attorney General William Barr to allow some form of government access
to those services over concerns about public safety. In a letter to
Mr. Barr on Monday, Facebook executives Will Cathcart and Stan
Chudnovsky, who lead the company’s WhatsApp and Messenger services,
said that undermining encryption in their products for law enforcement
would create a “backdoor” vulnerability that malicious actors also
could leverage to harm users. “The ‘backdoor’ access you are demanding
for law enforcement would be a gift to criminals, hackers and
repressive regimes, creating a way for them to enter our systems and
leaving every person on our platforms more vulnerable to real-life
harm,” the executives wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by The
Wall Street Journal.”
United States
U.S.
News & World Report: Man Sentenced To 6 Years For Plotting Foiled
Terror Attack
“An Ohio man accused of plotting with his girlfriend to obtain guns
and explosives for a foiled domestic terror attack at a bar was
sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison. Vincent Armstrong, 24, of
Toledo, pleaded guilty in August to a charge related to conspiring to
transport or receive an explosive with intent to harm. He will remain
on probation for three years after his release, The Toledo Blade
reported. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Freeman said Armstrong's
girlfriend Elizabeth Lecron was the mastermind behind the planned
attack and that she introduced him to online communities interested in
mass murders. Prosecutors said the pair had talked extensively about
taking part in violent attacks on public places, visited the site of
the Columbine High School massacre and had bomb-making materials and
weapons. Armstrong said his roommate convinced him to not go through
with the assault. “When I recall being confronted by my roommate, I
felt like it was a second chance at life,” Armstrong said. “My life is
far from over. I will become a better version of myself with the help
of my family and friends.” Armstrong’s defense attorney, Adam
Nightingale, said Armstrong's roommate persuaded him to end his
involvement with Lecron about six months before he was arrested in
December 2018.”
The
New York Times: Bipartisan Bill Targets Online Spread Of Child Sex
Abuse Material
“Legislation was introduced on Tuesday that would hold tech
companies more responsible for an explosion in online child sexual
abuse material and give law enforcement agencies more opportunity to
gather evidence of crimes. The bill, proposed by a bipartisan group of
lawmakers in the House and Senate, would require companies to retain
information about illegal photos and videos found on their platforms
for a longer period of time. Its sponsors said the bill was in
response to a New York Times investigation, part of a continuing
series, revealing that cases often went cold after businesses deleted
the data.”
The
New York Times: 3 Crime Scenes And 6 Dead: Rampage Stuns Jersey
City
“The shooting began outside a cemetery in Jersey City, N.J., on
Tuesday when a 40-year-old detective tried to intercept two people who
were suspects in a homicide. They opened fire and fled, speeding off
in a rented truck that had been reported stolen and leaving the
detective dead on the ground. They drove about a mile, stopping in a
Hasidic neighborhood where dozens of young ultra-Orthodox families
have relocated to in recent years. With traffic at a standstill as the
police rushed to answer 911 calls about the shooting at the cemetery,
the pair invaded a kosher market.”
Syria
The
New York Times: Turkey And Russia Judged Bigger Risk Than ISIS For
U.S. Troops In Syria
“The Trump administration’s rapidly shifting strategy in northern
Syria has American commanders there scrambling to protect their forces
from an expected surge in actions by military units from Turkey,
Russia, Iran and the Syrian government, as well as their proxy forces,
according to Defense Department officials. American commanders now see
these armed groups as a greater danger than the Islamic State forces
they were sent to fight. Commanders have requested guidance outlining
how American forces might deal with an attack from the assortment of
armed groups, including Russian-backed Syrian government forces, that
have, in the past, tried to seize territory held by the United States.
But they have received muddled direction from the Pentagon, two
Defense Department officials said. For now, the American command
heavily relies on the instincts of junior commanders on the ground,
cautionary phone calls to officials from Russia and Turkey and
overhead surveillance — susceptible to failure in poor weather — to
help avoid close encounters with other forces in the Euphrates River
Valley, where most American troops are based. “These forces are at
risk without a clear understanding of what they are expected to
achieve, and without the political support of their nation, if or more
likely when, one of these American adversaries decided to attack
them,” said Jennifer Cafarella, the research director for the
Institute for the Study of War in Washington.”
Reuters:
Russia, Turkey And Iran Express Concern About Militants In Syria's
Idlib
“Russia, Turkey and Iran are concerned about the increased presence
of terrorist groups in Syria’s Idlib province, the three countries
said after talks in Kazakhstan, pledging to coordinate actions aimed
at eliminating the militants. Moscow, Ankara and Tehran “highlighted
the necessity to establish calm on the ground”, the trio said in a
joint statement after the talks, also attended by representatives of
the Damascus government and the Syrian armed opposition. The three
countries also said they rejected attempts to create “new realities on
the ground, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives” and that
they were opposed to the illegal seizure and transfer of Syrian oil
revenues. Commenting on the work of the Syrian Constitutional
Committee, the three nations said it should be governed by a sense of
“compromise and constructive engagement” without foreign interference
and externally imposed timelines.”
Al
Jazeera: Women Under ISIL: The Teacher
“My name is Ayat. I am 27 years old and a primary school teacher.
ISIL closed the schools and turned them into training centres for
fighters. They only wanted us to teach the verses in the Quran about
“jihad”, war and murder. We did not like children learning that. So, I
tried to teach at home. I made a deal with some parents for small
groups of students to come to my house. But the mother of one of my
students talked too much. The news spread from one person to another.
And ISIL found out a teacher was teaching at home and was not
following their instructions. They told my husband: “She'd better get
training in ISIL's laws and teach children at the mosque like we want.
Or else ...” It was a threat. I had no other choice. During the
training, we were constantly reminded that we were one of them and had
to abide by their rules. They had our names and monitored us closely.
We were now with them. At the end of the training, we were given a
private appointment. We were received one by one, and they made us
take an oath. We did it in the presence of the emir's wife. She was
responsible for these kinds of things. Whenever we saw the car of the
religious police, we would all start trembling. We were terrified and
would clear the roads until it passed by.”
Iraq
Kurdistan
24: Iraq Announces Close To Most Recent Phase Of Anti-ISIS
Campaign
“The Iraqi military on Monday announced the conclusion of the
seventh phase of an ongoing military operation known as “Will of
Victory” that aims to seek and destroy remnants of the Islamic State
in multiple areas within the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and
Salahuddin. The phase of the campaign was carried out between Saturday
and Monday and was primarily focused on routing out sleeper cells of
the extremist group, according to a statement, which added that ground
troops were supported by the Iraqi air force and operated “in
cooperation with the International coalition.” Security forces were
able to “destroy 18 ISIS tunnels, demolish 20 bases of the terrorist
groups, apprehend 164 explosive belts, safely dispose of 54 improvised
explosive devices (IED), and arrest 21 wanted individuals.” The
statement said that operations covered an approximate area of 3,257
square kilometers, including the mountain areas of Hamrin and Ajil,
the Alas oil fields, and several sectors and villages in Diyala.
Kirkuk Governorate, which is part of disputed territories between the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Federal Government of
Iraq, has witnessed a series of attacks since last week.”
Turkey
The
New York Times: As Rivals Fight For Control Of Libya, Erdogan Says
Turkey May Jump In
“The battle for control of Libya threatened to escalate further
this week as Turkey said it might intervene to stop the Russian-backed
forces now closing in on Tripoli, the capital. In comments to Turkish
television networks on Monday night and again on Tuesday, President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointedly raised the possibility that Turkey
might send troops to counter the Russians if the United
Nations-recognized government headquartered in Tripoli formally
requested it.”
Associated
Press: Turkey Hints It Could Bar US From Using Key Air
Bases
“Turkey’s foreign minister suggested Wednesday that the United
States could be barred from using two strategic air bases in
retaliation to possible U.S. sanctions against his country, the
state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Mevlut Cavusoglu comments came amid
reports that U.S. lawmakers had agreed on a defense bill that also
includes calls to sanction Turkey over its decision to proceed with
the purchase and deployment of Russian-made S-400 missile defense
systems. “In the event of a decision to sanction Turkey, the Incirlik
and Kurecik airbases can be brought to the agenda,” Anadolu quoted
Cavusoglu as saying.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Bagram Air Base In Afghanistan Is Attacked By Car
Bomb
“Armed attackers on Wednesday set off a car bomb and penetrated
Bagram Air Base, the largest United States military base in
Afghanistan, killing at least one person and wounding at least 80,
officials said. The attack on the base — which President Trump had
recently visited — came as peace talks resumed between American
officials and Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar’s capital. A
vehicle laden with explosives targeted the southern part of the base,
the site of a medical facility that was under construction. Several
attackers then entered the base, engaging in a firefight with Afghan
and coalition forces. There was no immediate claim of responsibility
for the attack on the base, which is north of Kabul, the capital. A
spokesman for the American-led NATO mission in Afghanistan said that
the medical facility was being built to help people who live near the
base, and that it was the target of the attackers. The spokesman said
medical facility under construction was badly damaged. While the
United States military said that the attack had been repelled, some
local officials said that several militants were still holed up inside
the medical facility hours later. Abdul Shukur, the governor of Bagram
district, said that at least 80 civilians were wounded by the car bomb
and a woman was killed.”
The
Washington Post: Taliban Abduct 45 People From Gov’t Employee’s
Funeral
“The Taliban abducted as many as 45 elderly family members of a
late Afghan government employee who were attending his funeral,
officials said Tuesday. The Taliban singled out the old men from a
funeral procession carrying the deceased employee’s coffin to a
graveyard, according to interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi. The
young men in the group were not taken, he said. The Taliban have
consistently warned people not to attend the funerals of anyone
working with the Kabul government, according to Payghambarpul Khuram,
the head of intelligence in Jawzjan province, where the kidnappings
took place. Khuram disputed the number of people who were kidnapped,
saying only six family members were taken and that other local elders
were negotiating with the Taliban for their release. The Taliban did
not immediately comment on the abduction. The insurgent group controls
or holds sway over nearly half of Afghanistan, staging near-daily
attacks that target Afghan security forces and government officials
but also kill scores of civilians. A suicide car bomb attack Monday
killed at lest five Afghan soldiers and wounded four others in the
southern Helmand province, ministry of defense spokesman Fawad Aman
said.”
Xinhua: Taliban
Sets Free 8 Employees Of Afghan Election Commission:
Official
“Taliban militants have set free eight employees of the election
commission in the eastern Parwan province after more than two months
of captivity, provincial governor's spokesperson Wahida Shahkar said
Tuesday. The eight employees of the election commission, according to
the official, were abducted by the armed insurgents from Shinwari
district on the Presidential Election day held on Sept. 28, but were
released on Monday following mediation of the elders. Afghanistan's
fourth Presidential Election since the collapse of Taliban reign in
2001 with 16 candidates on the race was held amid tight security on
Sept. 28, but the results have yet to be announced.”
Pakistan
Al
Jazeera: Pakistan's Hafiz Saeed Indicted On 'Terror
Financing'
“A Pakistani court has indicted Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of
the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) armed group and alleged mastermind of
the 2008 Mumbai attacks, on terrorism financing charges, officials
say. The court ordered the government's prosecution team to summon its
witnesses to pursue the case, according to a statement by prosecutor
Abdur Rauf Wattoo issued following the hearing in the eastern city of
Lahore on Wednesday. “The counterterrorism department had lodged a
case against Hafiz Muhammad Saeed for illegal funding,” Watoo said.
Imran Gill, Saeed's lawyer, confirmed that his client had been
indicted, along with Zafar Iqbal, another official associated with
Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the humanitarian arm of LeT. The next hearing in
the case will be held on Thursday. Saeed, who has a $10m US government
reward out for his capture, has been accused by India and the US of
masterminding the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that
killed more than 160 people. LeT routinely targets Indian security
forces and government targets, mainly in the disputed region of
Kashmir where an armed rebellion against Indian rule has been ongoing
for decades.”
Saudi Arabia
Gulf
News: Al Houthi Projectiles Land In Saudi Hospital
“Yemen’s Iran-aligned Al Houthis militia had fired projectiles that
fell in a hospital in the Saudi border city of Jizan, causing no
casualties, a Saudi official said Wednesday. The attack, which took
place late Tuesday, was the first to be reported by Saudi authorities
in nearly three months. On September 14, Al Houthis claimed a drone
attack on major Saudi oil installations, which Riyadh blamed on Iran.
Spokesman for the Civil Defence Directorate Col Yahia Al Qahtani said
Wednesday that shrapnel from the projectiles hit the hospital and
nearby civilian facilities, resulting in damaging the wall of the
hospital. “There were no casualties, thanks be to God,” he added,
according to the official Saudi news agency.”
Lebanon
The
National: Iranian Threat To ‘Flatten Tel Aviv’ From Lebanon Draws Ire
In Beirut
“Top officials in Beirut reacted with outrage on Tuesday after
comments by an adviser to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,
threatening to attack Israel from Lebanese territory. "If Israel makes
a mistake, even the smallest one, against Iran, we will flatten Tel
Aviv into dirt from Lebanon," Morteza Ghorbani, a senior adviser to
the IRGC Commander Hossein Salami, told Iranian media agency Mizan on
Monday evening, Lebanese media said. Mr Ghorbani appeared to be
referring to Israel’s arch enemy and Tehran’s main proxy in the
Levant, Hezbollah.”
Middle East
Gulf
News: Qatar Not Serious To End Gulf Crisis. Says Bahraini
Minister
“Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa has said
that Qatar is not serious about ending a long-standing rift with a
Saudi-led bloc, damping expectations for an imminent end to the
crisis. Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani skipped an annual summit
of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that was held in the Saudi
capital Riyadh on Tuesday. He sent the emirate’s Prime Minister
Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Thani to head the Qatari delegation at the
gathering. The Bahraini minister cited the deputisation as a sign of
Qatar’s non-serious approach to the 2-1/2 dispute. “This
non-seriousness was quite obvious in its dealing with the Riyadh
summit,”he said in a statement released by the Bahraini Foreign
Ministry late Tuesday.”
Libya
U.S.
News & World Report: UN Experts: Libya Is New Focus Of Islamic
State Extremists
“U.N. experts say the interference of Chadian and Sudanese fighters
in Libya is “a direct threat” to the security and stability of the
war-torn country, which a leader of the Islamic State extremist group
has declared “one of the main axes” of its future operations. The
panel of experts said in a 376-page report to the U.N. Security
Council released Tuesday that the presence of the Chadians and
Sudanese “has become more marked” in 2019 as a result of the
intensification of the conflict in Libya. It said their continued
presence as organized groups or as mercenaries “may lead to further
instability.” Libya has been in turmoil since a civil war in 2011
toppled Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. In the chaos that
followed, the country was divided, with a weak U.N.-supported
administration in Tripoli overseeing the country's west and a rival
government in the east aligned with the Libyan National Army led by
Gen. Khalifa Hifter, each supported by an array of militias and
foreign governments. Hifter launched a surprise military offensive
April 4 aimed at capturing Tripoli despite commitments to attend a
national conference weeks later aimed at forming a united government
and moving toward elections.”
Nigeria
The
Straits Times: Three Nigerian Security Staff Executed In ISIS-Linked
Militants' Video
“Militants in north-east Nigeria have released a video showing the
execution of two soldiers and a policeman, posted online late on
Monday (Dec 9) by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
propaganda agency Amaq. The video, dated Sunday, was made by a branch
of Boko Haram that has sworn allegiance to ISIS known as the Islamic
State Group in West Africa (ISWAP). Its release came days after the
militants announced the kidnapping of 14 people including two aid
workers and, according to the militants, six members of the security
forces. It shows three men in plain clothes kneeling in a field,
introducing themselves as members of the Nigerian security forces
before masked men in fatigues open fire on them shouting “Allahu
Akbar” (God is greatest). “We tell the Nigerian army that we will
never spare those fighting against the people who follow Allah's
religion,” one of the executioners said in Hausa, a language widely
spoken in the north of the country. “We will attack your bases and
confront you on your routes,” the militant added, shortly before the
execution. One of the three victims introduced himself as a police
sergeant, saying the militants had “captured” him when he was on his
way to Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's north-eastern Borno
state.”
Somalia
CNN:
Al-Shabaab Claims Attack On Elite Hotel In Mogadishu
“Security forces ended a deadly attack at a hotel in Somalia's
capital Mogadishu on Tuesday after a seven-hour battle that left at
least three civilians and two soldiers dead. The attack began when
five heavily armed gunmen overpowered security guards and stormed the
upscale SYL hotel, according to police and government officials.
Eleven people were injured, including two members of the country's
security forces, police said. The attackers, claimed by terrorist
group Al-Shabaab, began shooting at responding Somali security forces,
said police officer Ali Abdi. All five attackers were killed in the
firefight, officials said. “The security forces have finally
accomplished the operation they have been conducting in SYL hotel, the
entire of the 5 attackers have been killed, (and) 5 people have been
killed in the attack,” government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar tweeted
early Wednesday. Dozens of people were evacuated from the hotel, he
also said. The SYL is close to the presidential palace and is popular
with Somali lawmakers and security officials, according to local
police. Hassan Ahmed, who was in a nearby building when the attack
unfolded, told CNN he heard the sound of explosions coming from inside
the hotel.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Somali Security Forces Kill 5 Shabaab Fighters To End Hotel
Siege
“Somali security forces shot dead five al-Shabaab gunmen, who had
killed three civilians and two soldiers during an attack on a hotel
near the presidential residence in Mogadishu on Tuesday night, police
said early on Wednesday. Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda linked group,
frequently launches bombing and gun raids in Mogadishu in a bid to
topple Somalia's UN-backed government. The group confirmed last night
it had attacked the SYL hotel, a popular gathering place for officials
and lawmakers. The latest attack started at around 7 pm on Tuesday and
ended at about 1 am on Wednesday, when all five attackers had been
killed, deputy police commissioner General Zakia Hussen said in a
statement on Twitter. “The security forces ended the operation. Five
people including three civilians and two soldiers died in the attack,”
Hussen said, according to Reuters. “Eleven others were slightly
injured, including nine civilians and two soldiers,” she added. Hussen
had said on Tuesday night that 82 people, including several officials,
had been rescued from the SYL hotel. Security officers had initially
mistook the gunmen for the police, until they began shooting and
throwing grenades, another police officer said on Tuesday.”
Africa
Reuters:
U.S. Imposes Sanctions On Islamist Rebels In Eastern
Congo
“The United States imposed sanctions on the leader of an Islamist
rebel group and five others on Tuesday for perpetrating serious human
rights abuses including mass rape, torture and killings in eastern
Congo, the U.S. Treasury said. Congolese officials have accused the
rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who are originally from Uganda,
of killing more than 100 people in a series of raids on villages over
the last six weeks, hampering efforts to end an Ebola epidemic in the
area. The group has been fighting in the dense jungles of eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo since the mid-1990s, where it has carried
out massacres, kidnappings and looting, often in collaboration with
other local militias and leaders. According to the Treasury’s Office
of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), ADF leader Musa Baluku assisted the
group “through recruitment, logistics, administration, financing,
intelligence, and operations coordination”. The ADF “continues to
perpetuate widespread violence and innumerable human rights abuses
including the abduction, recruitment, and use of children during
attacks and other violent operations”. The sanctions allow the U.S.
government to seize any property or accounts the fighters have in the
U.S. and prohibits anyone in the U.S. from doing business with
them.”
Anadolu
Agency: Cameroon: 275 Killed By Boko Haram Since
January
“At least 275 people were killed in the renewed attacks by Boko
Haram in the Far North region of Cameroon between January and
November, an international rights group said on Wednesday. In a
report, Amnesty International said it conducted a two-week field
research in the localities of Maroua and Mokolo in the Central African
country and documented that the victims included 225 civilians. The
report also documented attacks during which non-Muslims were
kidnapped. Samira Daoud, Amnesty International's acting regional
director for West and Central Africa, said people in the region are
“living in terror” and feel “completely abandoned”.”
North Korea
The
Wall Street Journal: How To Defeat Kim Jong Un
“The latest phase in the North Korean nuclear crisis is a race
against time inside North Korea itself. Which will come first: nuclear
breakout or economic breakdown? Washington should be moving much more
forcefully to tilt the outcome in the West’s favor. On the one hand,
Pyongyang presses ahead with production of nuclear warheads and
intercontinental ballistic missiles. Kim Jong Un publicly announced as
much nearly two years ago, on New Year’s Day 2018. Mr. Kim
successfully parlayed a temporary halt to nuclear and ICBM testing
into the summitry with President Trump—with the North manufacturing
more strategic weapons all the while. When Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal
is sufficiently developed, Mr. Kim will likely switch back to
confrontation, renewing nuclear brinkmanship, this time with the
mainland U.S. at risk.”
United Kingdom
The
Guardian: Islamist Extremism Remains Dominant UK Terror Threat, Say
Experts
“The attack on London Bridge shows the Islamist threat remains
strong in the UK, counter-terrorism and counter-extremism experts have
said, warning against complacency. The murder of Jack Merritt and
Saskia Jones on 29 November by Usman Khan was the first fatal Islamist
terror incident in two years. The conversation around extremism and
counter-terrorism has been focused on the threat from the far right in
the last year following attacks including the Christchurch mosque
shootings in New Zealand, the El Paso Walmart shooting in the US and
the synagogue killings in Halle, Germany. But while UK authorities
have warned the far right is the fastest growing threat, Islamist
extremism remains the dominant form. On Monday night, a man was
arrested in the Bristol suburb of Clifton on suspicion of
Islamist-related terrorism offences. The 33-year-old was held on
suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of
terrorism, Avon and Somerset police said. They added it was not linked
to the London Bridge attack. Charlie Winter, senior research fellow at
the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political
Violence, at King’s College London, said: “As far as I’m concerned,
the threat didn’t go away – if anything, having been defeated in
Baghouz [in Syria] earlier this year, the Islamic State’s appetite for
terror attacks in the UK is greater now than it’s ever been.”
Germany
The
Jerusalem Post: US Envoy Urges Germany: Don’t Fund Iranian
Terrorism
“The most high-level US ambassador in Europe, Richard Grenell, told
The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Germany’s government should join
the United States and work to stop Iranian regime support for
terrorism in response to a German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce event in
Berlin. “The economy is strained because the Iranian regime is
funneling its resources to terrorist proxies in Lebanon and Syria,”
Grenell said. “We will continue to explain to our partners that we
should work together to end Iranian support for terrorism – not find
ways to give the regime more resources.”
Europe
Reuters:
14 Bulgarians Sentenced For Supporting Islamic State
“A Bulgarian court on Tuesday sentenced radical imam Ahmed Mussa
and 13 other Bulgarians for propagating religious hatred and
incitement to war in their support for the Islamic State militant
group. The trial against Mussa and his supporters began in 2016
following an investigation into suspected sympathizers of Islamic
State in southern Bulgaria. Mussa, already serving four years in jail
for spreading radical Islam, was sentenced by the regional court in
the southern city of Pazardzhik to 8-and-1/2 years. His supporters,
men from the southern towns of Plovdiv, Pazardzhik and Asenovgrad,
received jail sentences of between one and 3-and-1/2 years. The only
woman in the group got a suspended sentence. In late 2014, following
raids in more than 40 homes and a mosque in southern Bulgaria,
investigators discovered a large number of shirts, hats, flags and
banners with the logo of the Islamic State. Prosecutors have said that
Mussa, a former Christian of Roma origin who converted to Islam in
2000 while working in Vienna, had preached surrounded by the Islamic
State flags. His group had attempted to recruit fighters for the
militant group which had at the time seized parts of Syria and Iraq.
Bulgaria supported the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State but
has not taken an active military role.”
NPR:
Why European Countries Are Reluctant To Repatriate Citizens Who Are
ISIS Fighters
“President Trump is continuing to put pressure on European
governments to repatriate their ISIS fighters, who the Pentagon says
are being held in “pop-up prisons” in northeastern Syria. “Would you
like some nice ISIS fighters?” Trump asked French President Emmanuel
Macron on the sidelines of last week's NATO leaders meeting in London.
“I can give them to you.” To which Macron replied, “Let's be serious.”
The awkward exchange between the two world leaders was emblematic of
the wider issue at hand. The Trump administration wants Europe to take
back its terrorist fighters, but European leaders have brushed away
the idea. Trump previously threatened to drop “thousands” of ISIS
fighters into Europe should the various countries continue to shy away
from taking them back. “We're holding thousands of ISIS fighters right
now, and Europe has to take them,” he told reporters in August. “If
Europe doesn't take them, I'll have no choice but to release them into
the countries from which they came, which is Germany and France and
other places.” The Pentagon earlier this year reported that an
estimated 10,000 ISIS fighters are being held in prison facilities
scattered across northeastern Syria.”
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Albanian Man Repatriated From Syria Charged With
Terror
“Kosovo prosecutors on Tuesday filed terrorism charges against an
ethnic Albanian man who is accused of joining the ISIS terror group in
Syria. Prosecutors said in a statement that the man, identified as
V.Q., joined ISIS in June 2014 together with another person who was
later killed. The statement said V.Q. went to Syria using illegal
passages through neighboring North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Once in Syria, he joined ISIS forces as a nurse in its military
hospitals. Prosecutors say he posted propaganda videos on the internet
that show him in military garb with a weapon and an explosives belt.
He also forced his 3-year-old son to appear in the video with an
explosives belt and a Kalashnikov rifle and told him to shoot. The
defendant was arrested in December 2017 and was among 110 Kosovo
citizens repatriated from Syria in April, reported The Associated
Press. The defendant is accused of joining a terror group and of
child’s maltreatment. If convicted, he could face between five and 15
years imprisonment. Kosovo authorities say 30 of the country's
citizens are still actively supporting terror groups in Syria.”
The
National: Swedish Islamic School Closed Over Radicalisation
Fears
“A leading Islamic school in Sweden accused of appointing teachers
who had recently returned from fighting for ISIS abroad has been shut
down amid fears students were at risk of being radicalised. Abdel
Nasser El Nadi, former principal of Vetenskapsskolan school in
Gothenburg, was allegedly involved in transferring hundreds of
thousands of dollars to bank accounts abroad. El Nadi was arrested in
May by Swedish police along with four other clerics who were
considered security threats. A new administration took over and
changed its name to the Sapphire School but officials said problems
persisted. El Nadi was born in Egypt but has lived in Sweden since
1992 and has twice had Swedish citizenship applications turned down.
It was found that the 450 pupils at the school were still at risk of
being “subjected to radicalisation and recruitment to environments
that accept violence or serious crime as a method of political
change”. “We have made an assessment that the new owner does not take
a completely independent position with the previous owner,” said the
school inspectorate’s lawyer, Johan Kylenfelt. It was claimed that one
member of the school’s new board had shared ISIS propaganda
online.”
Daily
Mail: Two Terrorist Sympathizers Face Prison After Spreading Sermons
From Jailed Islamist Preacher Abdullah El-Faisal Dubbed The 'Sheikh Of
Hate'
“Two terrorist sympathizers are facing jail for spreading the hate
speeches of a convicted Islamist preacher. Mohammed Kamali, 31, and
Mohammed Abdul Ahad, 38, published sermons given by notorious terror
recruiter Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal. The speeches 'glorified'
terrorist organisations including Al-Qaeda and ISIS and 'encouraged'
listeners to commit or prepare for acts of terrorism, the court heard.
El-Faisal, now 56, claimed he was reflecting the words of the Koran
but the 'Sheikh of Hate' was convicted of three charges of soliciting
to murder and jailed for nine years in 2003.”
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