Eye on Extremism
December 19, 2019
The
New York Times: German Parliament Calls For Full Ban Of Hezbollah
Activities
“Germany's parliament passed a resolution Thursday calling for a
national ban on the activities of Hezbollah and for the Lebanese
militant group to be put on the European Union's terrorist list.
Mathias Middelberg, the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel's
conservatives in parliament, said the joint resolution was agreed upon
with the junior coalition Social Democrats, as well as the opposition
Free Democrats. “It is unacceptable that Hezbollah is waging a
terrorist fight against Israel in the Middle East, which is being
financed through worldwide criminal activities, among other things,”
he said in a statement. “In view of Germany's special responsibility
toward Israel, we call on the government to ban all activities for
Hezbollah in Germany.” The EU now lists Iran-backed Hezbollah's
military wing as a banned terrorist group, but not its political wing,
which has been part of Lebanese governments in recent years. “The
separation between a political and a military arm should be abandoned,
and Hezbollah as a whole should be placed on the EU terrorist list,”
Middelberg said. “This could freeze Hezbollah's funds and assets in
Europe more extensively than before.”
The
Telegraph: Dozens Of Former French Soldiers Joined Jihadist Groups In
Middle East, New Report Reveals
“Islamist groups have recruited dozens of former French soldiers, a
troubling new report has revealed less than three months after a
terrorist attack by a staff member at police headquarters in Paris
shocked the nation. More than a third of the ex-servicemen are
converts to Islam and nearly half served in elite Foreign Legion,
parachute, commando or marine units where they acquired expertise in
combat and handling weapons and explosives. The conservative newspaper
Le Figaro published excerpts on Wednesday from the forthcoming report
by the Centre for the Analysis of Terrorism, a Paris-based think tank.
The report says the French army “constitutes a strategic recruitment
target for terrorist groups… and former soldiers represent tremendous
assets for these groups.” The report, “Soldiers and Jihad”, profiles
23 ex-servicemen “identified within terrorist organisations [mainly
Isil] or implicated in plotting terrorist attacks”. An earlier
parliamentary report noted that about 30 former servicemen have joined
jihadist groups since 2012. Several former Legionnaires have been
arrested over terrorist plots in France, and ex-paratroopers or
commandos have become leaders of Isil combat units in Syria or
Iraq.”
Reuters:
Boko Haram Militants Kill 14 Chad Civilians In Overnight
Raid
“Boko Haram militants killed 14 Chadian civilians and wounded five
others in an overnight attack on a fishermens’ camp in the
northeastern part of Lake Chad, a local official said on Wednesday.
Boko Haram has been fighting for a decade to carve out an Islamist
caliphate in northeast Nigeria and has carried out regular raids over
loosely guarded borders into neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The
latest attack struck a camp of fishermen near the village of Kaiga on
Lake Chad, which has been plagued by the militants since 2009. “The
assailants arrived in the night and attacked the fishermen,” official
Dimoya Souapebe told Reuters. Thirteen people are missing in addition
to the 14 killed, he said. In March, Boko Haram militants killed at
least 23 Chadian soldiers in an overnight raid, one of the deadliest
such attacks inside Chad by the insurgents. Chadian soldiers are part
of a U.S.-trained West African task force deployed to counter Boko
Haram. The violence over the past decade has killed more than 30,000
people and forced about 2 million to leave their homes.”
Radio
Farda: Iran Continues Crackdown A Month After Protests With 650 New
Arrests
“More than a month after the start of the latest round of
anti-government protests in Iran, security forces are still arresting
people in various cities. The Police Chief in Kermanshah, Ali Akbar
Javidan said on Wednesday December 18 that 250 more protesters have
been arrested in that city. Elsewhere in Iran officials broke the news
on Tuesday about more than 400 other arrests in Alborz Province near
Tehran, as well as Khuzestan and Fars Provinces in the south. Although
arbitrary arrests continue, there is still no official figure about
the number of those detained during and after the protests that
started on November 15 following a sudden three-fold rise in the price
of gasoline. Some officials, including a key member of Parliament,
Hossein Naqavi Hosseini of the National Security Committee, have said
that around 7,000 protesters have been arrested during the first week
after the protests started. Radio Farda’s estimate is that well over
8,000 people have been detained. The official news agency IRNA reports
that Javidan has accused the detainees of "being thugs, provoking
others to stage mutiny, destruction of public and private property and
attacking the police and Basij militia." The accusations are typical
of what Iranian officials have said about protesters in the past and
in the wake of the most recent unrest while ignoring their demands for
socio-economic justice.”
The
Independent: There’s No Way Back For British Isis Prisoners
Languishing In A Syrian Jail
“Aseel Muthana always looked up to his older brother. There were
only a couple of years between them, but the way he talks about him
makes the gap seem much larger. Growing up in the Welsh capital of
Cardiff together, Aseel absorbed his extremist opinions on politics
and religion, and followed him everywhere he went. So when, in 2013,
Nasser decided to travel to Syria to join one of the world’s deadliest
terror groups, Aseel was eager to go too. “I told him: ‘If you’re
gonna go, I wanna go with you,’” says the younger Muthana, speaking to
The Independent in a prison for captured Isis fighters in northeast
Syria. “He told me I was too young. ‘Wait until you’re older, then you
can come join.’ So I stayed. After he left I felt empty. So I felt I
had to go.” Less than a year later, Aseel travelled to Syria to join
his brother, who was already on his way to becoming a key member of
the group’s propaganda machine. He was 17 years old. The stories
Muthana and all other Isis prisoners tell now that they have been
captured are riddled with lies and half-truths. Even today, when the
scale of Isis’s crimes against humanity is known to everyone, many
seem reserved in their criticism of the terror group.”
Radio
Free Europe: U.S. Envoy Meets Afghan President In
Push To 'Finalize Deal With
Taliban'
“U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has met in Kabul with
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss “efforts to finalize a deal
with the Taliban” militants fighting the central government and U.S.
and NATO troops, officials said. Washington last month restarted talks
on a possible withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan for the first
time since U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly shut down negotiations
in September amid increased violence. AFP quoted the Afghan leader's
spokesman as saying that Ghani had expressed “concerns about the
continued violence by the Taliban” and Afghans' desire for “a
sustainable peace” in his meeting with Khalilzad. The Taliban has
refused to negotiate with the government in Kabul, saying it is a
“puppet” of the United States. “A productive trip,” Khalilzad tweeted
after the talks. AFP quoted a State Department spokesman as saying the
Ghani-Khalilzad meeting included discussion of “efforts to finalize a
deal with the Taliban.” “If an agreement can be reached, the process
must soon pivot to intra-Afghan negotiations,” the spokesman added.
There are an estimated 12,000-13,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and
speculation has swirled that Trump could soon announce a reduction of
around 4,000 troops in 2020.”
United States
CNN:
The FBI Labeled The Jersey City Shooting As Domestic Terrorism. Why
That's Not A Federal Crime -- And How It May Change
“The lack of a federal domestic terrorism statute is once again in
the spotlight after last week's deadly attack at a kosher market
outside New York City. The FBI has announced that they're
investigating the attack -- which officials have said was fueled by
anti-Semitism and anti-law enforcement sentiment -- as a domestic
terrorism incident with hate crime bias. It's one of several such high
profile attacks in the last several years that have been classified as
domestic terrorism. However, had the two assailants who attacked the
Jersey City, New Jersey, kosher market survived, federal prosecutors
wouldn't have been able to charge them with federal domestic terrorism
charges. That's because domestic terrorism is still not a federal
offense. The theory on why domestic terrorism doesn't need to be a
federal crime is that the conduct associated with such an act --
homicide, for instance -- is already illegal under federal or state
laws. The argument is there is no need for the additional label. The
other, less abstract, hurdle is a political one -- so far, there has
not been broad enough bipartisan support to pass a bill making
domestic terrorism a federal offense. Some lawmakers are working to
change that. Three bills that would designate domestic terrorism a
federal crime remain stalled in congressional committees.”
Los
Angeles Times: Somali Men Convicted Of Terrorism Enter Fourth Year
Waiting For Appeals Court Ruling
“After nearly an hour of listening to arguments from federal
prosecutors and the lawyers for four Somali men who lived in San Diego
and were convicted of terrorism-related charges in 2013, Judge Marsha
S. Berzon of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals formally closed the
court hearing. “Very interesting case,” she said. That was late in the
morning of Nov. 11, 2016 — more than three years ago. It was also the
last time anyone heard from the court on the case — the only one
publicly acknowledged by the government to have been brought using a
controversial mass surveillance program that allowed the National
Security Agency to sweep up phone call records of citizens for years,
secretly and without warrants. Even for the 9th Circuit, the nation’s
largest and busiest appeal court, the long wait for a ruling is
extraordinary. Two of the four men who were tried and convicted of
sending a total of $15,500 to the Shabab terrorist group have been
sentenced, served their time and released. The case centered on the
NSA program of sweeping up metadata — information that says who
someone called, when they called and how long they spoke.”
Syria
Voice
Of America: UN: Ability To Get Lifesaving Aid To 4 Million Syrians At
Risk
“The U.N. humanitarian chief is urging the Security Council to
authorize a one-year extension of cross-border aid operations into
Syria, warning there is no backup plan for reaching millions of
vulnerable civilians without it. "Cross-border operations provide
assistance that cannot otherwise reach those in need," Mark Lowcock
told the Security Council president, U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft, in
the letter dated December 17 and seen by VOA. "The United Nations does
not have an alternative means of reaching 2.7 million people in need
in northwest Syria." Lowcock said another 1.3 million people in the
northeast receive lifesaving aid through a border crossing with Iraq.
In all, about 4 million of the 11.7 million people in need of
humanitarian assistance in war-torn Syria are reached through four
crossing points from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan. "Without the
cross-border operation, we would see an immediate end of aid
supporting millions of civilians," he wrote. Russia's U.N. ambassador
said Wednesday that the U.N.'s continued call for using the four
border crossings, and its support for an additional one that Turkey
has proposed, did not reflect "the realities."
Asharq
Al-Awsat: 8 Portuguese Men Charged With Fighting For ISIS In
Syria
“Prosecutors in Portugal said Wednesday they were bringing terror
charges against eight Portuguese men suspected of fighting for the
ISIS group in Syria. Prosecutors said in a statement the men were
suspected of involvement in the 2012 kidnapping by the group of
British war correspondent John Cantlie and Dutch photographer Jeroen
Oerlemens. The case was opened in 2013 after Portuguese authorities
received information about the kidnappings from British authorities.
Over the past six years investigators have traced the radicalization
and movements of the men, the statement said. They joined ISIS, the
statement said, and traveled to Syria with their wives and children.
They are accused of joining, supporting and recruiting on behalf of a
terror organization. Two of them are in Portugal and have been
interrogated, the statement said. The whereabouts of the other six
wasn't known.”
Iran
The
New York Times: Iran President Says Country Testing New Advanced
Centrifuges
“Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said his country's nuclear experts
are testing a new type of advanced centrifuges, remarks likely meant
to rally support for the Iranian leader as his nation struggles under
crushing U.S. sanctions. Rouhani spoke during a meeting Wednesday with
Iranian expatriates in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he also used an
Islamic conference on Thursday as a platform to decry American
sanctions against Iran. “We have had great achievements and today,
Iranian new IR-6 centrifuges are working and models IR-9 are currently
being tested,” the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as
telling the Iranian expats. Iran was gripped by several days of
violent protests in November amid anger over a sharp hike in gasoline
prices following U.S. sanctions after Washington withdrew last year
from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.”
Iraq
Al
Jazeera: ISIL Tomorrow: Mosul In The Shadow Of
War
“In Mosul, Iraq, the city once controlled by the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), memories of war linger in the
shelled-out buildings and rubble-strewn streets as residents remember
all those who were lost. A woman recalls seeing the bodies of her
nephew and brother floating in a river, in a mix of water, blood, and
mud. A soldier remembers watching a child blowing themselves up on a
suicide mission. A widow speaks of losing her husband, an ISIL
fighter, and being refused schooling and work because of stigma
towards ISIL families. In the aftermath of war, resentment,
marginalisation and mistrust continue to divide communities as
families struggle to find forgiveness for those who killed and people
remain fearful of those loyal to ISIL.And the 500,000 minors that
lived under three years of ISIL occupation in Mosul - many targeted
for recruitment - face an uncertain future. “I'm not going to school,
I have no books or anything. The clothes I'm wearing are the only ones
I have. Before I had a ball and so many toys and I played with the
neighbours. My big brother and I played together but now, all that is
gone,” says 12-year-old Yousef. “I don't know what to do, I keep
crying. I think about what I've seen, about the dead people in the
world. I think about my family that they killed in front of my very
eyes.”
Kurdistan
24: Over 5,000 Iraqis Displaced By ISIS Who Returned Home Are Back At
Camps In Kurdistan
“In the past five months, more than 5,000 Iraqis who fled the
Islamic State since 2014 to live for years in displacement camps in
the Kurdistan Region have gone home to find conditions unsafe or
unlivable to the extent that they have again returned to the camps.
According to a report by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG)
Joint Crisis Coordination Centre’s (JCC) published on Dec. 15, between
the months of July and November, 5,197 Iraqi internally displaced
persons (IDPs) returned to the camps in Kurdistan Region after
returning to their homes for various periods of time. “Lack of
security, absence of essential services such as electricity, water,
and health services, plus no available livelihoods or other sources of
income are among the main reasons they choose to leave their homes
again and return to the camps in Kurdistan Region,” Mariwan Hassan,
Director of Crisis Response Directorate of the JCC, told Kurdistan 24.
He added, “Security risks are one of the major concerns, such as
tribal feuds and insurgent attacks from terrorist groups, either ISIS
or other unknown armed groups. All these factors are forcing them to
return to the safety of Kurdistan Region camps.”
Kurdistan
24: After ISIS Attacks, Villagers In Kurdistan Region Call For
Security Outpost
“Members of a small community in the Kurdistan Region’s Garmiyan
area are calling on Peshmerga forces to establish a security outpost
near their village to protect them against possible Islamic State
attacks. The Garmiyan Administration is an unofficial province in the
Kurdistan Region that includes the three districts of Kalar, Kifri,
and Chamchamal, in territory disputed between Baghdad and Erbil.
Regional Kurdish Peshmerga and Asayish forces are in charge of
security in Garmiyan, while national Iraqi forces control the region
to its south and west. Recently, members of the so-called Islamic
State have carried out a series of terrorist attacks on both the
Peshmerga and Iraqi forces in the area, killing dozens. They have also
shelled nearby villages, wounding civilians who live there. In
response, the Kurdistan Region began reinforcing these areas and its
security forces have carried out a counterterrorism operation to root
out Islamic State remnants. The Iraqi forces engaged in similar
efforts as well. Despite such efforts, attacks have continued in these
and other parts of the country, especially close to cities and towns
that the terrorist organization previously controlled. “This is a vast
stretch of flat land, and we have been very concerned with the recent
situation,” Yusef Abdullah, a Kurdish man from a village in the
Zangabad area, told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday.”
Turkey
The
Telegraph: Turkey's Protection Of Hamas Is A Huge Blow To Peace In The
Middle East
“The latest reports that Turkey is now permitting senior Hamas
commanders to order attacks against Israel from Istanbul is not
surprising. It is however highly disappointing and represents a huge
setback in the quest of the US, the UK, and their western allies to
bring about a more peaceful Middle East. It might be recalled that in
mid-2014, three Israeli teenagers were abducted by Hamas operatives in
the West Bank and subsequently murdered. The mastermind of the attacks
was Salah al-Arouri, who moved to Turkey after residing in Syria, and
issued orders to Hamas from Turkish soil. He shifted his residence
multiple times, moving to Qatar and Beirut, but ultimately he would
come back to Turkey where he engaged in dispatching Palestinians in
the field. According to its own charter, Hamas is the Palestinian
branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1928,
but later expanded to many countries. Geopolitically, the movement
backed the recovery of lost Islamic territories from Spain (what they
still call Andalus) to the Balkans.”
Daily
Mail: Woman Sparks Panic On A Plane After Posing As A Terrorist,
Waving A Koran And Threatening To Blow Up The Jet Before She Is
Dragged Away In Turkey
“A woman claiming to be a terrorist sparked panic on board a flight
from Istanbul today after angrily waving a Koran in the cabin and
threatening to blow up the plane. Wearing dark glasses and a blue
headscarf, the woman claimed she belonged to FETO, a group which
Turkey blames for a 2016 coup attempt. After her menacing speech she
was restrained by passengers and escorted off the plane, according to
Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak. A security team then searched the
Cyprus-bound plane and found nothing suspicious on board. According
to the Cyprus Mail, the woman was heard shouting: 'I am a FETO member,
and I will blow up the aircraft.' Footage taken in the cabin showed
the women being surrounded and restrained by other passengers after
menacingly waving her Koran. The woman claimed to have as many as
five bombs, according to Turkish media reports. She also appeared to
be holding up a picture of Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic cleric behind
the controversial movement. There were contradictory reports over
whether the plane had taken off late or whether the flight was
cancelled altogether. Some passengers appeared to return to the tarmac
after the panic on Wednesday morning.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Afghan Official: Bomb Stuck To Car Goes Off In Kabul,
1 Dead
“A sticky bomb attached to a private car in Kabul went off on
Thursday, killing one civilian and wounding two others, a police
spokesman said. No one immediately claimed responsibility and it was
unclear why the people in the car were targeted. The Afghan capital
frequently sees attacks — both large-scale bombings claimed by the
Taliban or militants from the Islamic State group, but also smaller
explosions from so-called sticky or magnetic bombs. According to
police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz, the victims were on their way to a
market in western Kabul when the bomb exploded. The Taliban today
control or hold sway over half of the country and, along with IS,
stage near-daily attacks.”
Xinhua:
Militants' Big Revenue Source Eliminated As Tons Of Drugs Seized In
Eastern Afghanistan
“The police in Afghanistan eastern province of Ghazni have seized
and torched over 120 tons of drugs from the anti-government Taliban
militants, inflicting heavy blow to the outfit's biggest source of
revenues, the Ministry of Interior said Wednesday. The
counter-narcotic police, backed by air forces, launched a special
operation resulting in the discovery and elimination of a big quantity
of drugs in Deh Yak district's Alokhil village of the province, the
ministry said in a statement reached Xinhua. “Seven drugs processing
factories and big reservoirs, with more than 120 tons of norco-drugs,
have been discovered and set on fire, during the overnight search
operation, eliminating the main source of the militants revenues in
Ghazni and neighboring provinces,” according to the statement.
Elsewhere in the country's northern Samangan province, more than 2,000
kilograms of optimums seized from drug-traffickers have been set
ablaze, according to a separate statement from the ministry. The burnt
drugs included poppy, hashish, heroin and morphine, which have been
confiscated from smugglers and drug-dealers, during 75 counter-drugs
cases in past two years, the source added. The police also arrested
109 people along with dozens of vehicles in connection to the cases,
the source further said.”
Pakistan
Xinhua:
Wanted Taliban Commander Arrested In Southern
Pakistan
“Security officials in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi
said on Wednesday that a militant commander wanted by the police for
involvement in terrorist activities has been arrested. Chaudhry
Safdar, senior official from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in
Karachi, said that Rahmat Shah, commander of the banned
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was involved in attacks on security
forces. Safdar said the TTP leader was arrested in a raid in Karachi.
However, he did not say when the militant was taken into custody. The
Taliban commander was behind an attack on a camp of security forces in
Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in 2009 when the
TTP controlled parts of Buner and nearby Swat district. The security
forces had cleared the areas of the TTP's militants. Shah had fled the
area during the military operation, according to the security
officials. Safdar said the KP province government had announced 2
million rupees (about 13,000 U.S. dollars) reward for the arrest of
the TTP commander. The CTD official said the Taliban commander will be
handed over to the KP province for formal trial. The Pakistani
military said that members of the TTP had fled to neighboring
Afghanistan as the result of operations in the tribal areas in recent
years.”
India
Foreign
Policy: India’s Militant Pipeline
“On April 18, 16-year-old Aqib Ahmad Hajam left his home in
Redhwani, Kashmir, telling his family that he would be traveling north
for a few days. That same day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
addressed an election rally in Gujarat, claiming that his government
had managed to contain militancy to only “two and a half districts” in
Indian-administered Kashmir. He added that during the five-year rule
of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), “no bomb blast took place in any
other part of the country.” That is not correct. In fact, since the
BJP formed a government in 2014, the three-decade armed insurgency in
Kashmir has intensified. In a single suicide attack in February 2019,
more than 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers died. The incident brought
India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Yet Modi continued to sell his
security credentials throughout his campaign, which won him a mandate
for a second term in May. Just a few months later, on Aug. 5, the BJP
delivered on another of its campaign talking points: repealing a
constitutional clause that had granted some autonomies to Kashmir and
introducing a bill to divide the area into two federal territories
under direct control of the federal government.”
Egypt
Al
Jazeera: Egypt's El-Sisi Says Position On Qatar
'Unchanged'
“Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said the position of the
Saudi-led bloc on relations with Qatar remains unchanged. "I affirm
that nothing has changed," el-Sisi said in a reply to a question at
the closing session of a youth forum in the Red Sea resort of Sharm
el-Sheikh on Tuesday. "There are efforts being exerted and we hope
this effort will succeed," he said, without giving further details.
"We are talking about building confidence and healthy relations."
Qatar has faced a blockade since June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and
trade ties with Doha. The four countries accuse Qatar of supporting
"terrorism". Doha has denied the allegations and accused its
neighbours of seeking to curtail its sovereignty. The blockading
nations have demanded that Qatar cease interactions with their rival
Iran, shut down Al Jazeera Media Network, and close a Turkish military
base.”
Africa
The
New Arab: DR Congo Freezes Assets Of Hezbollah-Linked 'Bread
King'
“The Democratic Republic Congo said on Tuesday it had frozen the
assets of a Lebanese businessman dubbed the Bread King after
Washington accused him of financing Hezbollah. But fearing disruption
of bread supplies, the government will allow his businesses to open
new bank accounts under supervision, government spokesman Jolino
Makelele told a press briefing. The US sanctions target Saleh Assi,
who is based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a compatriot,
Nazem Said Ahmad, a Lebanon-based diamond dealer and art collector. In
a statement last Friday, the US Treasury Department accused the pair
of being "money launderers" who had generated "tens of millions of
dollars for Hezbollah, its financiers, and their malign activities".
Assi's assets and those of "all of his businesses" will be frozen,
along with "all transactions from these accounts", Makelele said after
a special cabinet meeting.”
The
Africa Report: How To Predict Where Terrorists Find New
Recruits
“Extensive research exists about the causes and complexities that
surround security challenges on the continent. What’s proven difficult
is creating real-world solutions based on this literature. For
example, we know that economic inequality is an important indicator
for identifying areas that are, or could become, vulnerable to
conflict. However, it’s unclear how to translate this insight into
actionable plans for prevention and protection. The key to connecting
what we know, with what we can do, lies in new technology. Now,
geospatial data, combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and
machine learning (ML), can be used to understand population
characteristics at a granular level. This means it’s possible to
target human-centric indicators that influence security, such as
employment levels, access to services, and education for any country,
region, or neighbourhood. This information can be combined with other
data inputs, such as the locations of recent violent outbreaks by
extremist groups. The game-changing impact of this technology is best
illustrated with an example: In 2017, UNDP published a ground-breaking
report entitled “Journey to Extremism in Africa: Drivers, Incentives,
and the Tipping Point for Recruitment.”
United Kingdom
Daily
Mail: Threat Of Extremism Is RISING In Britain As Number Of People 'At
Risk Of Radicalisation' Hits Highest Level Ever
“The Home Office today claimed potential far-right terrorists now
outnumber jihadists in the UK - despite Islamists murdering
significantly more people on British soil. The government’s
controversial £40million anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent says in
the past year it has had more referrals for right-wing extremism cases
than people with jihadi sympathies - the first time in history. In the
Home Office's annual report on the programme 561 people were found to
be at 'risk of radicalisation' with 254 holding far-right views and
210 as suspected Islamists. But despite these claims jihadis have been
responsible for significantly more deaths on Britain's streets than
far-right extremists in recent years. In the past three years there
have been two murders carried out by far-right terrorists in Britain -
the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in 2016 and
Darren Osborne's killing of a Muslim man outside the Finsbury Park
mosque in 2017. But in the same period jihadis have murdered 64 and
injured 212 others in horrific attacks in Westminster, at the
Manchester Arena and twice on London Bridge. And in the 12 months to
September 2019, 224 people were arrested on suspicion of terror
offences in the UK - and three out of four of them held
Islamist-extremist views. Experts believe the increase in far-right
referrals to Prevent could be skewed by increased sharing and posting
of far-Right material online or via messaging services such as
WhatsApp - rather genuine plots to murder and maim.”
Germany
The
Jerusalem Post: German Parliament Approves Initiative Calling For
Hezbollah Ban
“The German Bundestag approved a non-binding initiative calling on
the government to ban activities of the Lebanese terrorist
organization Hezbollah in the federal republic on Thursday. Two other
Bundestag initiatives concerning Hezbollah were rejected. The
initiative revealed that the number of Hezbollah operatives is
increasing. According to the resolution titled “Effective action
against Hezbollah" reviewed by The Jerusalem Post, “the followers of
[Hezbollah] are around 1,000 people in Germany since a number of years
and have showed recently a rising trend.” According to German
intelligence reports, there are as many as 1,050 documented Hezbollah
members and 30 mosques and centers operated by Hezbollah supporters.
“In Germany there are currently about 30 known cultural and mosque
associations in which a clientele regularly meets that is close to
Hezbollah or its ideology,” the city-state of Hamburg’s intelligence
agency stated in 2019. The Bundestag anti-Hezbollah resolution states
that Germany’s federal Attorney General in 2018 has launched 36
investigations into individuals linked to
Hezbollah.”
The
National: Germany Ramps Up Fight Against Far-Right Extremism In Its
Military
“Germany is to expand efforts to rid its public services of
far-right supporters after fascist sympathisers were found to be
worryingly prevalent in the military and police. It is part of an
overhaul of its approach to far-right extremism by employing hundreds
more dedicated officials in the wake of several high-profile incidents
in the last year. Interior minister Horst Seehofer said some 600 new
police and intelligence positions are to be created, adding that
recent “terrible isolated incidents” have shaken Germany’s confidence.
“This is a very big challenge for the internal security of Germany,”
he said. The move will not affect efforts against other sorts of
crimes such as Islamist extremism. “The fight against right-wing
extremism should have been given this priority earlier,” said Mr
Seehofer. “That is also true.” He referenced an October attack on a
synagogue in the city of Halle where two people were killed and the
murder in June of a politician who had welcomed Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s pro-refugee policy. “I'll never forget a young citizen in
Halle calling through the silence that 'you all can't protect us,’” Mr
Seehofer told a press conference. “As a consequence of Halle, we want
to confirm to the public: Many steps are being taken.”
Southeast Asia
The
New York Times: Indonesia Police Question Suspected Islamic Militants
Arrested In Papua
“Indonesian anti-terrorism officers are interrogating eight
suspected Islamic militants arrested in the province of Papua on
suspicion that they were planning an attack, a police spokesman said
on Wednesday. The arrest was a “pre-emptive strike” by the
anti-terrorism squad earlier this month in several locations in Papua,
National Police spokesman Asep Adi Saputra said in Jakarta. The
suspects have been transferred to Jakarta for questioning, he said.
They were suspected of having links to the Islamic State-inspired
Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which has carried out a series of
attacks in Indonesia.Police said the arrests were made after officers
had conduced surveillance of meetings between the suspects, as well as
training and preparation for suspected attacks. “Their target and
their plan is currently being investigated,” Saputra said. Separately,
Papua police chief Paulus Waterpauw said on Tuesday the suspects were
part of JAD networks on the Indonesian island of Sumatra that had
moved to Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua. He said the arrest
prompted police in Papau to heighten security in the area, especially
before the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Indonesia is
predominantly Muslim but some areas, particularly in the east,
including Papua, have Christian majorities.”
Technology
The
Wall Street Journal: EU Legal Opinion On Facebook Case Spells Trouble
For Data Transfers
“U.S. companies face potential disruptions in how they handle
European users’ information, after an adviser to the European Union’s
top court argued that privacy regulators should stop data transfers to
countries that force companies to break the bloc’s privacy laws. In a
nonbinding opinion, Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe, an advocate general for
the EU’s Court of Justice, said judges shouldn’t strike down
EU-approved contractual clauses that companies use to comply with EU
privacy laws overseas, offering relief for businesses and trade
groups. But Mr. Saugmandsgaard Øe then said data-protection
authorities should be obligated to block data transfers when companies
can’t comply with those clauses. That could haunt U.S. tech companies
because the case stems from concerns over whether their obligations
under U.S. surveillance laws violate EU privacy protections. The main
plaintiff in the case, privacy activist Max Schrems, has argued that
Facebook Inc. shouldn’t be allowed to transfer its users’ data to the
U.S., because it could be turned over under secret government
requests.”
International
Business Times: ISIS Now Uses Blockchain To Spread Propaganda,
Utilizes Bcm Messenger's 'Supergroups'
“The use of blockchain isn't limited to serving companies and
organizations that benefit from the distributed digital ledger.
Nefarious activities stem out of blockchain because of the
technology's inherent capability to mask the identities of those
behind transactions. While terror funding and cryptocurrencies are
nothing new since terror groups are increasingly turning to digital
assets amid traditional channels being blockaded by sanctions, ISIS is
reported to have been taking more careful measures to secure the
confidentiality in spreading their propaganda. According to VICE, the
terrorist group is leveraging a blockchain messaging app called BCM,
which stands for “Because Communication Matters,” to get their message
across their network of supporters. The app sits perfectly in
accommodating the needs of the terrorist organization as it boasts the
capability of creating supergroups that could hold up to 100,000
users. Aside from this, BCM's end-to-end encryption on group chats
would mean that no one in the server can access the messages. And it
makes sense for ISIS to take an alternate route from using Telegram,
especially since the cloud-based instant messaging app is clamping
down on terror-related content.”
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