Eye on Extremism
September 7, 2022
Reuters: HSBC Not Liable For Al-Qaeda Suicide Attack At CIA Base -US Appeals Court
“A divided U.S. appeals court on Tuesday said HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) was not liable to the families of two American contractors killed in an al-Qaeda suicide bombing of a CIA base in Afghanistan, after the bank allegedly evaded U.S. sanctions targeting sponsors of terrorism. Dane Paresi and Jeremy Wise were among nine killed when Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a doctor, blew himself up by detonating hidden explosives at Camp Chapman on Dec. 30, 2009. Their families accused HSBC of violating federal anti-terrorism laws through its dealings with Iran's state-controlled Bank Melli and Bank Saderat and Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank, each with alleged financial ties to al-Qaeda or other U.S.-designated terrorist groups. But in a 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said the families did not plausibly allege that HSBC aided and abetted al-Qaeda terrorism, or was "generally aware" it played a role, through its years of dealings with intermediary banks.”
Associated Press: Suspects In Bastille Day Attack Trial Deny Terrorist Ties
“The defendants on trial for the 2016 Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that killed 86 people denied any links to terrorism and told the court Tuesday that they had been trapped or fooled by the driver at fault for the massacre. The driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, was killed by police after the attack on the Mediterranean city’s storied beachfront, where 25,000 people had gathered to celebrate France's national holiday. The eight people who went on trial in Paris this week are accused of helping him, though investigators didn’t find evidence that they were directly involved in the carnage. While the Islamic State group claimed responsibility and Bouhlel had been inspired by its propaganda, investigators found no evidence that IS orchestrated the attack. The suspects on trial, in their opening testimony Tuesday, sought to distance themselves from the attacker and any extremist ideas. “I saw nothing coming and I found myself caught in the gears,” said Mohamed Ghraieb, charged with association with a terrorist criminal. “It was a scumbag who did this. Terrorism frightens me.”Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, was perceived by his family as a violent person, but not religious. He ate pork and drank alcohol.”
United States
Military.com: Soldier Who Said He Wanted Combat Experience To Kill Black People Booted After FBI Probe
“A former paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division who has been arrested said he enlisted to become more proficient at killing Black people and made overt references to white supremacy. Spc. Killian Ryan was taken into custody Aug. 26 on a charge related to lying on his secret security clearance and was kicked out of the Army the same day, according to the service. An investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force discovered ties to white nationalism and threats of violence against minorities on social media accounts, according to court records. “I serve for combat experience so I'm more proficient in killing n-----s,” Ryan wrote in one social media post on May 27, 2021. That comment was posted roughly two weeks after he enlisted in the Army. His personal email address at the time was “NaziAce1488,” a reference to Adolf Hitler and American white supremacy. The Pentagon has vowed a crackdown on extremism in the ranks, taking measures such as modifying the vetting process to join the military and asking whether an applicant subscribes to any extremist ideology. But that line of questioning may rely heavily on the honesty of recruits. Ryan also filled out a Standard Form 86, or SF 86, a questionnaire for his security clearance. In it, he was asked whether he ever advocated for any acts of terrorism.”
Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch: Afghanistan: ISIS Group Targets Religious Minorities
“The Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Islamic State’s (ISIS) affiliate in Afghanistan, has repeatedly attacked Hazaras and other religious minorities at their mosques, schools, and workplaces, Human Rights Watch said today. The Taliban authorities have done little to protect these communities from suicide bombings and other unlawful attacks or to provide necessary medical care and other assistance to victims and their families. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Islamic State affiliate has claimed responsibility for 13 attacks against Hazaras and has been linked to at least 3 more, killing and injuring at least 700 people. The Taliban’s growing crackdown on the media, especially in the provinces, means additional attacks are likely to have gone unreported. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that recent attacks by the group on Shia gatherings in Kabul killed and injured more than 120 people. “Since the Taliban takeover, ISIS-linked fighters have committed numerous brutal attacks against members of the Hazara community as they go to school, to work, or to pray, without a serious response from the Taliban authorities,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch.”
Pakistan
AFP: Five Pakistan Soldiers Killed In Clash With Taliban
“Pakistan's Taliban accused the military Tuesday of breaking a fragile ceasefire, after the army said five soldiers and at least four militants died in a gun battle in the country's northwest. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) declared an indefinite ceasefire in June to facilitate peace talks being brokered by neighbouring Afghanistan, but there have been regular clashes since then despite both sides saying the truce was still on. In the latest clash on Monday, the Pakistan military said it raided a militant hideout in Boyya, North Waziristan, following an intelligence tip-off. “Intense fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists,” the military's public relations wing said in a statement. It said four militants were killed, and five soldiers, including an officer, “embraced martyrdom”. On Tuesday a TTP commander confirmed the clash and accused the government of bad faith, saying troops had attacked them in six districts recently, including Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. “The government was not honouring its commitment regarding the ceasefire,” the commander told AFP. A government official who has been party to negotiations with the group accused them of “targeted killings” and “increasing their movements” in parts of the country.”
Yemen
Associated Press: Yemeni Officials: Militants Attack Security Post, 27 Killed
“Suspected al-Qaida militants on Tuesday attacked a security post in southern Yemen, sparking clashes that killed at least 21 troops and six militants, military officials said. The early morning attack in Ahwar, in the province of Abyan, targeted a post manned by troops from the Security Belt, a security force loyal to the secessionist Southern Transitional Council. The separatist council is backed by the United Arab Emirates and controls much of Yemen’s south. It is at odds with the internationally recognized government. The officials said at least 21 troops were killed in the attack and the clashes that ensures for hours. Four more troops were also wounded, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media. Among the dead troops was Yasser Nasser Shaea, a senior commander in the force fighting terror groups in Yemen, the Security Belt said in a statement. It said six militants were killed and others were detained. It posted images showing bodies it said were the dead militants. No group claimed responsibility for the ambush. But it bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. AQAP has long been considered the global network’s most dangerous branch, and has attempted to carry out attacks on the U.S. mainland.”
Nigeria
Daily Post Nigeria: Airstrikes: Hundreds Of Boko Haram Fighters Flee To New Location
“Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters have reportedly fled Gaftari village to a new location in Bazamri, close to Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, northeast Nigeria. Gaftari village is located between Bama and Konduga local government areas of Borno State where military operations had hindered the operations of the terrorists recently. The two local government areas are within a distance of 35km and 60km away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. According to information from security sources, over 400 Boko Haram fighters and their families on Sunday night relocated to Bazamri after a massive defeat by troops of Operation Hadin Kai of the Nigerian Army. A counter insurgency’ expert, Zagalola Makama informed DAILY POST last week that over 70 of the Boko Haram fighters were drowned in a river, after intense military airstrikes in Gaftari and Shehuri, two villages located between Bama and Konduga. It was reported that the remaining terrorists, along with their families, relocated to a new settlement at Bazamri, few hours after they buried over 40 of their drowned members, who they had recovered from a river intersecting the village. They were believed to have drowned in the river while escaping airstrikes, as most of them had already sustained injuries that were difficult to survive.”
Mali
Reuters: German Military Resumes Reconnaissance Mission In Mali
“The German military resumed its reconnaissance mission in Mali on Tuesday after a suspension of more than three weeks following a spat with Mali's government over flight clearances. Berlin has deployed some 1,000 troops to Mali, most of them near the northern town of Gao where their main task is to gather reconnaissance for the U.N. peacekeeping mission MINUSMA. "The troops can resume their patrols beyond Gao," the German military said on Twitter, lifting the suspension announced in mid-August. MINUSMA was established in 2013 to support foreign and local troops battling Islamist militants, but in recent months there have been repeated instances of tensions between the Malian authorities and the mission. The longer-term future of German participation is in doubt after the latest dispute with the ruling junta in Bamako and reports of Russian forces arriving in Gao, adding to Berlin's unease over the increasing Russian military presence in Mali.”
Africa
AFP: Burkina Junta Chief Vows To Defeat Armed Groups After Attack
“The head of Burkina Faso's ruling junta Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba vowed Tuesday that his country would defeat armed groups, a day after a blast left dozens dead. At least 35 civilians were killed and 37 wounded Monday when an improvised explosive device struck a convoy carrying supplies in Burkina Faso's jihadist-hit north, the governor of the Sahel region said. “This umpteenth cowardly and barbaric attack is proof that we must continue the fight against all those who reject the extended hand,” Damiba said, as he paid tribute to the “memory of all the innocent victims”. “I firmly believe that we will defeat them, it's only a matter of time,” he said, referring to armed groups. The landlocked African state is in the grip of a seven-year-old insurgency that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced some 1.9 million people to leave their homes. The fighting has been concentrated in the north and east, led by jihadists suspected to have links with Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group. The military-led supply convoy, including civilians, drivers and traders, had left the north for Ouagadougou, security sources said.”
France
RFI: Nice Terror Trial: No Killer, No Accomplices, Few Bereaved Families
“The man who drove a truck into the crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice in 2016, killing 86 people, injuring hundreds of others, is himself dead, shot by security forces at the scene. The eight accused in this trial are suspected of relatively low levels of complicity. Few bereaved families have made the trip to Paris. The Nice trial is being held in the central Paris courtroom specially built to accommodate the so-called Bataclan hearings, the trial of twenty men involved in the planning and perpetration of the November 2015 Paris massacres which cost 132 people their lives. If the physical surroundings and the security precautions are identical to those in place for the earlier trial, the atmosphere at the start of this Nice hearing could hardly be more different. As the presiding judge, Laurent Raviot, officially opened proceedings on Monday afternoon, fewer than one third of the seats reserved for bereaved relatives and injured survivors were occupied. Daily newspaper Le Monde reports that, in Nice itself, where a retransmission service has been established for the families of victims in the Acropolis conference centre, fewer than 30 of the 700 seats were occupied at the opening. One thing which has not changed is the place which French justice accords to the survivors and bereaved families, the so-called parties civiles or civil witnesses.”
Europe
Counter Punch: Ukraine’s Azov Battalion: Neo-Nazis Or Russian Propaganda?
“…However, according to all available information on Asov, to argue that the battalion is a monolithic Neo-Nazi, ultra-nationalist, and anti-Semitic unity is unjustified. German-extremism researcher, Alexander Ritzmann at Berlin’s Counter Extremism Project said recently, the Azov Battalion is definitely not a right-wing extremist Battalion in the Ukrainian army. Riztmann noted that many of Asov’s right-wing extremist founding members had, in fact, left the Azov Battalion in the course of its integration into Ukraine’s National Guard. Once outside, they founded the right-wing extremist Azov movement. Finally, the Azov Battalion and other right-wing extremists operating at Ukraine’s national level are insignificant for Ukraine as a whole. For example, all right-wing extremist parties combined received only 2.15% of public support in the last election.”
Technology
Financial Express: How Is Cryptocurrency Funding Terrorism Across The Globe
“At a time when the world is going through digital evolution, with currencies too being traded in the form of cryptocurrency, this has led to a rise in concern about insurgents using the same to mobilise terrorism. Case in point, when the Taliban a fundamentalistic Islamic group came into power on August 15, 2021, in Afghanistan, it was perceived that a lot of the money will be routed via cryptocurrency. However, the Taliban regime has banned cryptocurrency and claims to have arrested 16 local exchanges in the city of Herat in the northwest, according to the regional news website ATN-News. Furthermore, as per a report by the Israeli Anti-money laundering (I-AML) website, in the year (August 2020-August 2021), terror organisations received Ethereum (ETH), ERC20 tokens, and XRP donations. Da Afghanistan Financial Institution (the central bank) stated in a letter that the trading of digital currency has caused several problems including fraud and hence it needs to be shut down. Sayed Shah Sa’adat, the head of the Herat police’s counter-crime squad, told ATN-Information, “We acted and detained all of the exchangers involved in the business and shut down their shops.” Meanwhile, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism week in June 2021 stated that the Covid-19 pandemic increased the potential for terrorist organisations to obtain money through online sources.”
Bloomberg Law: Extremism Concerns Raised Against Bill To Empower Local News
“Digital rights advocates are warning that a bill to aid local journalism could force technology platforms to carry and pay for extreme content. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider the bipartisan bill (S. 673) Thursday. It’s intended to empower small news organizations to negotiate compensation from technology giants such as Meta Platforms Inc.‘s Facebook and Alphabet Inc.‘s Google. Allowing media companies to take legal action against tech platforms if they limit offensive or extreme content would violate the First Amendment and increase the amount of disinformation, hate speech, and harassment online, 21 groups told committee leaders in a Sept. 2 letter, made public Tuesday.”
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