“At least six people were beheaded and an Italian nun killed on Tuesday by
Islamic State-linked insurgents in Mozambique's Nampula province, authorities
said on Wednesday. Speaking in the resort town of Xai Xai north of the capital
Maputo, President Filipe Nyusi said the insurgents unleashed a killing spree as
they fled from soldiers from Mozambique, Rwanda and the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) sent to tackle the violence. The insurgency is
concentrated in Mozambique's northern province of Cabo Delgado and has claimed
thousands of lives since it broke out in 2017, disrupting multibillion-dollar
natural gas projects. “On the 6th of September, as a result of terrorist
attacks, six citizens were beheaded, three kidnapped, six terrorists were
captured and dozens of houses torched in the districts of Erati and Memba,
Nampula province,” Nyusi said. According to media reports, confirmed by Nampula
province Secretary of State Mety Gondola, an 83-year-old Italian nun, who lived
in the city of Nacala, was shot in an attack on Tuesday night, while two other
missionaries managed to escape. Gondola gave no further details on the attack
but said the situation was worrisome.”











<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>



Eye on Extremism


September 8, 2022



Reuters: At Least Six Mozambicans Beheaded, Italian Nun Shot Dead By Insurgents

<[link removed]>



“At least six people were beheaded and an Italian nun killed on Tuesday by
Islamic State-linked insurgents in Mozambique's Nampula province, authorities
said on Wednesday. Speaking in the resort town of Xai Xai north of the capital
Maputo, President Filipe Nyusi said the insurgents unleashed a killing spree as
they fled from soldiers from Mozambique, Rwanda and the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) sent to tackle the violence. The insurgency is
concentrated in Mozambique's northern province of Cabo Delgado and has claimed
thousands of lives since it broke out in 2017, disrupting multibillion-dollar
natural gas projects. “On the 6th of September, as a result of terrorist
attacks, six citizens were beheaded, three kidnapped, six terrorists were
captured and dozens of houses torched in the districts of Erati and Memba,
Nampula province,” Nyusi said. According to media reports, confirmed by Nampula
province Secretary of State Mety Gondola, an 83-year-old Italian nun, who lived
in the city of Nacala, was shot in an attack on Tuesday night, while two other
missionaries managed to escape. Gondola gave no further details on the attack
but said the situation was worrisome.”



The Washington Post: Raids On ISIS Camp In Syria Yield Hundreds Of Arrests
<[link removed]>



“Syrian forces allied with the United States have rounded up hundreds of
suspected Islamic State operatives this year in raids on a refugee camp that
has been a hotbed of violence perpetrated by terrorist sympathizers, operations
coordinated and facilitated by the U.S. military. U.S. Central Command
announced Wednesday that, over the last two weeks alone, Syrian Defense Forces
(SDF) had apprehended “dozens” of suspects at the al-Hol camp in northeast
Syria and dissolved a “major ISIS facilitation network.” The operation is
ongoing, according to a U.S. defense official, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity to detail an unfolding situation. The raid, characterized as a “full
clearing operation,” is the largest carried out at the al-Hol camp since May
2021, the official said. It marked the seventh time this year that SDF units,
enabled by their American allies, have raided the sprawling desert complex that
houses about 55,000 people — many of them deemed ISIS sympathizers who traveled
to Syria and Iraq at the height of the group’s power. Each raid has resulted in
the detention of between 40 and 120 suspected ISIS operatives. Col. Joe
Buccino, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that, as
part of the ongoing operation, Syrian forces on Monday rescued four women
located in tunnels where they had been chained and tortured.”



United States



The Washington Post: U.S. Cited ‘Domestic Terrorism’ In Search Tied To Oath
Keepers’ Lawyer
<[link removed]>



“A court opinion unsealed Tuesday evening marks what appears to be the first
time the federal court in Washington has disclosed the FBI and Justice
Department’s use of a domestic terrorism measure in the USA Patriot Act to
obtain a search warrant connected to their sweeping probe into the Jan. 6,
2021, attack on the Capitol. Federal investigators probing the extremist group
Oath Keepers on charges of seditious conspiracy last year invoked the provision
that permits the government to obtain a search warrant from a U.S. magistrate
judge anywhere in the country rather than one located where the search is to be
executed in a domestic terrorism investigation, according to the newly unsealed
court records. The 18-page opinion revealed that in July 2021, prosecutors
asked a U.S. magistrate judge in D.C., rather than one in Texas, to approve a
court-authorized search of a cellphone owned by a person who appears to match
the description of an attorney for the Oath Keepers, Kellye SoRelle. The lawyer
was arrested last week in Texas and was with the group’s founder, Stewart
Rhodes, outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”



Syria



CBS News: Young Yazidi Woman Rescued After 8 Years Of Forced Marriage, Rape
And Captivity At The Hands Of ISIS
<[link removed]>



“A young woman has been rescued after an eight-year ordeal that saw her
repeatedly sold, raped and enslaved by ISIS militants, officials in Syria tell
CBS News. Her rescue began with a massive operation to root out ISIS sleeper
cells and weapons hidden among the tens of thousands of refugees stuck in a
sprawling camp in the northeast Syrian desert. The notorious Al-Hol camp is run
by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mostly Kurdish umbrella group that was
a vital American ally during the U.S. military's operations against ISIS in the
region. During a recent raid, SDF forces found explosives, weapons, ammunition
and tunnels used by ISIS members to smuggle the illicit items into and around
the sprawling camp. A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces' Women's
Protection Units (YPJ) stands guard during a raid in the Al-Hol refugee camp in
northeast Syria, aimed at rooting out ISIS sleeper cells and weapons in the
sprawling compound. Syamad Ali, a spokesperson for the YPG, the SDF's main
military force, told CBS News that interrogations during the raid revealed the
daunting scope of the danger ISIS still poses inside the camp.”



Afghanistan



Vice: ISIS-K Is Stepping Up Its Brutal Attacks Against The Taliban
<[link removed]>



“Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate, ISIS-K, is ramping up its attacks on
the Taliban in Afghanistan, undermining the group’s pledge to end suicide
bombings in the country. The Afghan branch of the Islamic State group has
claimed responsibility for a string of high-profile suicide attacks over the
last couple of weeks, including one on the Russian embassy in Kabul on Monday,
which killed eight people, including two embassy staff, and injured many more.
The attack on the Russian embassy, one of the very few foreign missions still
operating in the country, was a bad look for the Taliban. The group has already
struggled to convince countries to keep their representatives in Afghanistan.
The attack on Monday appeared to surprise the Taliban. Lucas Webber, an expert
and the co-founder and editor of Militant Wire, a research outlet tracking
extremist groups, said it was “a culmination of years of hostile rhetoric
directed at Moscow by ISKP [another abbreviation for the group] and months of
markedly intensified threats. ISKP had been promising to attack Russian
interests and had also been encouraging its followers to do the same.” ISIS-K
has accused the Taliban of not being “Islamic enough” and has killed hundreds
of civilians as well as targeting prominent Taliban leaders.”



WTOP News: The Hunt: Who Killed A Russian Diplomat In Afghanistan?
<[link removed]>



“In this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP national security
correspondent J.J. Green,” Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the
Counter Extremism Project, talks about who did it and why.”



Middle East



Asharq Al-Awsat: Palestinian Killed In Israel West Bank Raid
<[link removed]>



“A Palestinian was killed during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on
Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry said. “Yunis Ghasan Tayeh, 21, was
killed by a bullet to the heart fired by a soldier of the occupation in al-Fara
camp,” between Jenin and Tubas, in an area that has seen repeated clashes in
recent weeks. The Israeli military said it carried out arrest raids across the
West Bank as part of a monthslong crackdown on Palestinian militants. It said
its soldiers came under fire during the arrest of a wanted person in the Faraa
refugee camp in the northern West Bank. Israel has stepped up operations in the
northern West Bank after a wave of attacks against Israeli targets killed 19
people, mostly Israelis, in March. It has carried out near nightly raids on
Palestinian-administered towns and cities, that have sparked frequent clashes
with residents. Armed forces chief Lieutenant General Aviv Kohavi said Monday
some 1,500 wanted people had been arrested in the raids and “hundreds of
attacks” prevented, AFP reported. On Tuesday, one Palestinian was killed and 16
wounded when Israeli troops entered Jenin to demolish the home of the shooter
who carried out an attack in Tel Aviv in April.”



The Jerusalem Post: Hamas, Islamic Jihad Call To Step Up 'Resistance' In West
Bank <[link removed]>



“Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Wednesday called on Palestinians to
step up the “resistance” attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers in the
West Bank. The call came in response to increased IDF counter-terrorism
operations in the West Bank. A senior Palestinian official, meanwhile, ruled
out the possibility that the Palestinian Authority security forces would move
to disarm armed groups in the northern West Bank. The official told The
Jerusalem Post that the PA leadership has come under pressure from Israel and
some international parties to take action against the gunmen, most of whom
belong to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the ruling Fatah faction headed by PA
President Mahmoud Abbas. “If Israel wants the violence to stop, it should stop
sending its soldiers every night to arrest and shoot young Palestinians,” said
the official. “We can’t do anything while Israel is continuing to escalate its
military operations.”



Mali



Associated Press: Mali Launches Air Strikes After Militants Seize Village
<[link removed]>



“The Malian military launched air strikes Wednesday near a village that
witnesses said had been seized by extremists with ties to the Islamic State
group. Witnesses reported the takeover of Talataye, in Mali’s northern Gao
region, on Tuesday. The development has renewed fears extremists would again
expand their reach following the Aug. 15 departure of French troops last after
nearly a decade of battling insurgents. “Islamic State fighters attacked our
position in the village of Talataye and our fighting unit finally withdrew from
the village,” said Fahad Ag Almahmoud, secretary general of GATIA, an umbrella
organization representing formerly armed groups that signed a peace agreement
with the Malian government. But Almahmoud said it’s unclear whether the
militants control the village following the air strikes. “Last we heard, the
Islamic State fighters took control of the village all night, but this morning
there were air strikes by the Malian army on the site. At this moment, we still
don’t know if they are still in the village or if they have withdrawn,” he
said. Extremist groups have in the past briefly seized towns and vilages. In
September 2016, al-Qaeda-linked fighters took control of the central town of
Boni before abandoning the town a day after the attack.”



Africa



Voice Of America: Togo Extends State Of Emergency Due To Militant Attacks
<[link removed]>



“The West African nation of Togo has extended a state of emergency in its
northern Savanes region for another six months due to continued attacks by
Islamist militants. A six-month state of emergency was approved Tuesday by the
Togolese parliament to restore security in the region. A statement from
Damehame Yark, the Togolese security minister, said that the extension was
“necessary for the proper conduct of military operations” and “a return to
peace” in the region. Togo declared a three-month state of emergency in the
Savanes region in June, after Islamist militants attacked an area near the
border with Burkina Faso, killing eight troops and wounding 13. More recently,
local media said that between 15 and 20 people were killed in a series of
attacks on July 15. While the army gave no official figures about this
incident, it was confirmed that “several” people were killed and wounded.
Togolese defense and security forces were again attacked on August 22 in the
village of Blamonga, close to the border with Burkina Faso. A few soldiers were
injured during an exchange of fire that lasted several minutes before armed
groups retreated. Togo, after Benin, Ghana and Ivory Coast, is the latest
country on the coast of West Africa to become the target of Islamist militants
coming from the Sahel region.”



Voice Of America: Cameroon Separatists Attack Bus, Kill 6 Civilians
<[link removed]>



“Military officials in Cameroon say armed separatists killed at least six
people and wounded nine when they attacked a bus on a highway in the country's
troubled Southwest region. The military has deployed scores of troops to track
down the rebels. Locals say there has been heavy fighting between the two sides
since the Tuesday attack. These are voices of Cameroon government troops
pulling people out of a bus, asking what could have prompted separatist
fighters to kill innocent commuters. In the video, widely circulated on social
media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp, the men in military gear say
they have removed four bodies from the bus. The Cameroon military has confirmed
that the video is of its troops helping victims after separatists opened fire
Tuesday on a bus at Ekona, a village in Cameroon’s Southwest region. The
military says four people died on the spot, while two died on their way to a
hospital in Buea, capital of the Southwest region. It says fighters disappeared
into the bush and villages after the attack. The military says troops have been
deployed and the shooters are wanted dead or alive. Austin Ebai is a commuter.
He says there has been heavy shooting since government troops arrived in Ekona
on Tuesday.”



France



The National: Nice 2016 Attacker 'Cannot Be Divorced From ISIS'
<[link removed]>



“French officers investigating the 2016 Nice attack told a court that the
ISIS terrorist group bore responsibility for the “lone wolf” rampage, having
drawn in Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel through propaganda in the weeks before the
July 14 killing spree. The Tunisian used a hired 19-tonne lorry to mow down
men, women and children on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, killing 86
people. He was shot and killed by police after a four-minute killing spree.
“Sometimes ISIS is content to make recommendations on operating methods or
targets available to all,” one of the agents that investigated the attack told
a court hearing. “The Nice attack is part of a period when France had been
continually threatened by the propaganda of ISIS.” The court was told on
Wednesday of Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's fascination with violence and how he had a
long history of domestic abuse before he began looking at the ISIS propaganda.
His interest deepened in the lead-up to the killings during Bastille Day
celebrations. The judge presiding questioned the analysis. “Was he able to
carry out his attack to satisfy his personal need for violence, devoid of
Islamist ideology?” he asked. ISIS propaganda may have played a role,” the
investigator said. “Lahouaiej-Bouhlel took action alone.”



Germany



Reuters: German Court Hands Islamic State Member 10 Years In Prison For
Murder, War Crimes
<[link removed]>



“A German court has sentenced an Islamic State member to 10 years in prison
for war crimes and murder committed in Syria, including the beating of a
prisoner who later died in custody. The man, who was not named, travelled to
Syria from Germany and joined Islamic State in March 2014, according to a
statement on Wednesday from the Duesseldorf court after the verdict. He became
a prison guard and along with three other men was ordered to punish a prisoner.
The defendant beat the handcuffed man, who was suspended from the ceiling by
his hands tied behind his back. He died two days later. A German court last
year sentenced a former Islamic State militant to life imprisonment for
involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity.”



Technology



The Hill: Violent Extremist Movement ‘Boogaloo Bois’ Reemerges On Facebook:
Report
<[link removed]>



“The violent extremist “boogaloo” movement is showing new signs of activity
on Facebook, in spite of the social media platform’s ban on the group,
according to a new report from the Tech Transparency Project.

Boogaloo groups and individual “boogaloo bois” have increased their activity
on Facebook following the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
home, the Tech Transparency Project found. The boogaloo movement appears to
“see this moment as a growth opportunity for their movement” and hopes to
“capitalize on the wave of far-right anger at the FBI,” the report said. In
particular, several boogaloo groups on Facebook have been “valorizing” an armed
man who tried to breach an FBI field office in Cincinnati soon after the
Mar-a-Lago search, according to the report. The man was killed following an
hours-long standoff with police. Even though the Tech Transparency Project saw
a resurgence accompanying the Mar-a-Lago search, several boogaloo accounts were
created in the spring after President Biden announced efforts to curb gun
violence, the report noted. The accounts appear to be evading Facebook’s
detection by using coded keywords and variations of boogaloo like “bogaloo” and
“big igloo,” according to the report. The Tech Transparency Project also found
several new boogaloo memes, which the movement often uses for recruitment and
propaganda.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

DONATE NOW
<[link removed]>




Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>