“The Taliban have summarily executed members of a resistance group fighting
against their harsh rule in Afghanistan. A video filmed and shared on the
Taliban's group chats shows a group of five blindfolded fighters who have their
hands tied behind them before they are executed by cheering members of the
Taliban. In a move that echoes ISIS's social media strategy, Taliban shared
their battlefield atrocities to spread fear among their enemies. The executed
fighters are members of the National Resistance Front (NRF), a nascent group
operating mainly out of the Panjshir Valley in central Afghanistan. Another
video shows two groups of men squatting on a hillside with their hands tied
behind their backs before being shot with automatic rifles by Taliban fighters.
The fighters can be heard shouting 'Allahu Akbar', and a man is later heard
saying 'stop it, stop it' after the captives slump forward, apparently dead.
'Don't waste the bullets,' another fighter of the Taliban said. Later in the
clip a Taliban fighter says one of the victims is alive as he seemingly moves,
then two members of the Taliban start shooting at him. The footage went viral a
day after the Taliban said its forces had killed at least 40 NRF fighters in
clashes in the Panjshir Valley.’”











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



Eye on Extremism


September 16, 2022



Daily Mail: Taliban Posts ISIS-Style Execution Videos Showing Prisoners Being
Shot Dead By Cheering Fanatics As They Copy Terror Group's Tactics To Instil
Fear Among Afghan Resistance Fighters
<[link removed]>



“The Taliban have summarily executed members of a resistance group fighting
against their harsh rule in Afghanistan. A video filmed and shared on the
Taliban's group chats shows a group of five blindfolded fighters who have their
hands tied behind them before they are executed by cheering members of the
Taliban. In a move that echoes ISIS's social media strategy, Taliban shared
their battlefield atrocities to spread fear among their enemies. The executed
fighters are members of the National Resistance Front (NRF), a nascent group
operating mainly out of the Panjshir Valley in central Afghanistan. Another
video shows two groups of men squatting on a hillside with their hands tied
behind their backs before being shot with automatic rifles by Taliban fighters.
The fighters can be heard shouting 'Allahu Akbar', and a man is later heard
saying 'stop it, stop it' after the captives slump forward, apparently dead.
'Don't waste the bullets,' another fighter of the Taliban said. Later in the
clip a Taliban fighter says one of the victims is alive as he seemingly moves,
then two members of the Taliban start shooting at him. The footage went viral a
day after the Taliban said its forces had killed at least 40 NRF fighters in
clashes in the Panjshir Valley.’”



The Washington Post: White House Announces Tech Company Efforts To Combat
Violent Extremism
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“The White House on Thursday announced that major companies would roll out a
series of new policies and tools to combat the spread of extremism on their
sites. Major social media services, including YouTube, Twitch, Microsoft and
Facebook-parent Meta, announced their new initiatives to limit the spread of
hateful rhetoric in coordination with a White House gathering on hate-fueled
violence. The announcements follow mounting pressure on the companies to
address the role their services play in amplifying hateful rhetoric, especially
in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Tex., where the shooters
had histories of violent rhetoric online. YouTube will update its policies to
remove videos glorifying acts for the purpose of inspiring others or
fundraising, even when the creators don’t have links to terrorist groups.
Twitch, an Amazon-owned streaming service, soon will roll out new tools to help
its creators improve safety and limit harassment on their channels. And
Microsoft will launch online safety education for students and families within
its popular game Minecraft. Political pressure has been mounting on President
Biden and Vice President Harris to follow through on their campaign pledges to
more closely scrutinize the link between social media and violence. Biden is
also expected to reiterate Thursday his calls to Congress to “fundamentally
reform” Section 230, a legal shield that protects tech companies from lawsuits
over the photos, videos and other content people share on their services.”



United States



NPR: Biden Calls On The Country To Unite Against White Supremacy At A Summit
On Hate
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“President Biden said Thursday that America can't remain silent when it comes
to combating white supremacy and hate in an address at a White House summit on
hate-based violence. The event, called the "United We Stand" summit, gathered
experts and survivors and included bipartisan local leaders. It also honored
communities that have been through hate-based attacks, including the mass
shootings that took place at gay nightclub in Orlando in 2016; at a Walmart in
El Paso, Texas, in 2019, where the assailant said he was targeting Mexicans;
and the expressly racist shooting that killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo,
N.Y., supermarket earlier this year. Biden was introduced by Susan Bro, whose
daughter Heather Heyer was killed during a white supremacist rally in
Charlottesville, Va. in 2017. The rally, Biden has said since 2019, is the
reason he decided to run for president. "We need to say clearly and forcefully,
white supremacy, all forms of hate... have no place in America," Biden said.
"As to those who say, we bring this up, we just divide the country — bring it
up, we silence it, instead of remaining silenced. For in silence, wounds
deepen."”



CBS News: Terrorist Attack Victims Ask Biden To Take Further Action On $4
Billion In Frozen Afghan Funds
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“More than 350 U.S. victims of terrorist attacks are formally asking
President Joe Biden to move currently frozen Afghan assets into a fund created
by Congress to benefit all families, according to a new letter obtained by CBS
News. “We write to you today with a respectful but urgent request: to move the
currently frozen Afghan assets into the USVSST (US Victims of State Sponsored
Terrorism) Fund to accomplish your goal of supporting U.S. terrorism victims,”
the families wrote in their Sept. 14 letter to the president. They said that
the decision to leave nearly $4 billion dollars for a New York court to decide
compensation had created “vicious infighting, legal maneuvering, and political
gamesmanship that has beset our friends, colleagues, and loved ones regarding
the best fair and equitable way to distribute the $3.5 billion in frozen DAB
(Da Afghanistan Bank) funds.” A “CBS Mornings” investigation earlier this year
revealed a race to the courthouse, after the president signed an executive
order in February that left the frozen Afghan funds with a New York court to
consider victim compensation claims. Last month, a New York magistrate said
that she was unable to disburse any of the frozen assets and recommended
against allowing a small group of 9/11 families with claims against the Taliban
to draw on the assets.”



Syria



Associated Press: Declassified Report Shows US Predictions Of IS Group Threat
<[link removed]>



“U.S. intelligence officials predicted two years ago that the Islamic State
group would likely regain much of its former strength and global influence,
particularly if American and other Western forces reduced their role in
countering the extremist movement, according to a newly declassified report.
Analysts said many of the judgments in the 2020 report appear prescient today,
particularly as the group is resurgent in Afghanistan following President Joe
Biden’s withdrawal of American forces last year. The Islamic State group is no
longer controlling huge swaths of territory or staging attacks in the United
States as it did several years ago before a major U.S.-led offensive. But it is
now slowly rebuilding some core capabilities in Iraq and Syria and increasingly
fighting local governments in places including Afghanistan, where an affiliate
of the IS group, also known by the acronym ISIS, is fighting the ruling Taliban
following the U.S. withdrawal. “If the United States and our partners pull back
or withdraw further from areas where ISIS is active, the group’s trajectory
will increasingly depend on local governments' will and capability to fill the
resulting security voids,” says the report, originally published in classified
form in May 2020, months after then-President Donald Trump's administration
reached an agreement with the Taliban to pull out American troops.”



Voice Of America: US Believes Al-Qaida, IS Shaken By Leadership Losses
<[link removed]>



“Despite lingering doubts about the usefulness of so-called decapitation
strikes, U.S. operations to kill senior terrorist leaders are paying dividends,
according to one of Washington’s top counterterrorism officials. Both the
Islamic State terror group and al-Qaida have been forced to stay in “survival
mode” following the deaths of their leaders as a result of U.S. actions this
year, National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid said
Thursday. Islamic State, in particular, she said, has been forced to refocus
following the death of former emir Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, also
known as Hajji Abdallah, following a U.S. special forces raid in northwestern
Syria in February. At the time, senior U.S. military officials described Abu
Ibrahim’s death as a “significant blow,” an assessment that has been borne out
in the way IS has carried out operations in recent months. “What’s important
about it is it’s not just him,” Abizaid told an intelligence and security
conference outside Washington, responding to a question submitted by VOA. “It's
that he is the last in a long line of leaders who are no longer trying to
attack the United States and trying to rout Syria and regain territorial
control in a way that, I think, has really reflected a major talent loss in
ISIS senior leadership,” Abizaid said, using another acronym for the terror
group. “[It] has caused them to focus on kind of branch expansion that has
diffused the threat and, again, made the focus on the United States less acute
than we had seen in prior years.”



Afghanistan



Reuters: Taliban Condemn U.S. Move To Form Swiss-Based Trust For Afghan
Central Bank Funds
<[link removed]>



“The Taliban's foreign affairs ministry on Thursday condemned the United
States' decision to transfer Afghan central bank reserves into a Swiss-based
trust, saying it was against international norms. On Wednesday, Washington
announced it would transfer $3.5 billion in previously frozen Afghan central
bank assets into a new trust fund that it said would be shielded from the
Taliban and used to help stabilise Afghanistan's collapsed economy. The foreign
affairs ministry deemed the U.S. decision "to transfer a part of the reserves
of the Central Bank of Afghanistan to Switzerland and use it for targeted
disbursement without any input by Afghanistan as unacceptable and a violation
of international norms," spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement.
"If the reserves are disbursed without taking into consideration legitimate
demands of the Afghans, the Islamic Emirate will be forced to impose fines
against, and ban activities of, all individuals, institutions and companies
that facilitate this illegal venture and seek to misuse central bank reserves
for humanitarian and other purposes," he said.”



Pakistan



Bloomberg: Pakistan Pushes Afghanistan To Hunt Down Militant Leader
<[link removed]>



“Authorities in Pakistan said they have offered the Taliban “intelligence and
operational assistance” to hunt down the leader of a Pakistani militant group
who is believed to be in Afghanistan. Masood Azhar, the head of the
Jaish-e-Mohammed organization, was designated a global terrorist by the United
Nations Security Council in 2019. The issue of Azhar’s presence in Afghanistan
has been raised formally on “multiple occasions” with Taliban intermediaries,
who have been presented with evidence of his presence and told that he’s wanted
in terrorism cases in Pakistan, said a spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign
Ministry, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, according to a briefing transcript. “Pakistan,
as well as the international community, have sufficient reasons to be concerned
that there still remain pockets of ungoverned spaces within Afghanistan that
are being used by terrorist groups as safe havens,” he said. He added that the
Taliban are expected to deliver on their assurances that they wouldn’t allow
terrorists to operate against any country from Afghan soil. Azhar became a
factor in tensions between Pakistan and India after Jaish-e-Mohammed took
responsibility for a 2019 car bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed
40 paramilitary troops.”



Yemen



Arab News: Yemen Troops Drive Al-Qaeda From Abyan Stronghold
<[link removed]>



“Yemeni forces say they have driven Al-Qaeda militants from a key mountain
stronghold in the province of Abyan, in the latest victory against the
terrorist group. Military units commanded by the pro-independence Southern
Transitional Council on Thursday pushed deep into Omaran valley to strike a
blow against the group’s decade-long occupation, Mohammed Al-Naqeeb, the STC’s
spokesman, told Arab News. “They tried to stop our forces’ advance into the
valley by deploying snipers, planting IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and
blowing up bridges and roads,” he said. Yemeni forces “cautiously” pushed into
the valley as other troops blocked the entrances to catch fleeing militants, he
added. One soldier was killed and four were injured when the militants
counterattacked and detonated 15 IEDs, he said. Despite the stiff resistance,
local officials now say nearly 80 percent of Abyan has been cleared of
Al-Qaeda. STC forces also took control of an area called Al-Mousinah in
neighbouring Shabwa province, the spokesman said. Al-Qaeda announced on social
media that it would launch a counteroffensive called “Truth Arrows,” while also
denying it had suffered setbacks in Abyan and Shabwa.”



Middle East



The Times Of Israel: Israeli Injured In Suspected Terror Shooting At
Settlement Of Carmel
<[link removed]>



“An Israeli man was shot and moderately hurt in a suspected terror attack in
the southern West Bank settlement of Carmel on Thursday night, the military and
medics said. The incident came as an infiltration siren sounded in the area,
and the military’s Home Front Command instructed residents to remain in their
homes and lock their doors and windows. The restrictions were lifted several
hours later. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics treated an
18-year-old man who was moderately hurt by gunfire, and took him to Beersheba’s
Soroka hospital. The Rescuers Without Borders emergency service said it also
received a report by a car that had come under fire just outside the town as
well, possibly by the same attacker. The gunman fled the scene. There were no
indications that the gunman actually managed to enter the settlement during the
attack, but rather that he shot at it from outside. The Israel Defense Forces
said it had dispatched dozens of troops to the scene and launched a manhunt for
the gunman and other possible suspects. A video posted to social media showed
several people running in the town as the siren rang out.”



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



“A Palestinian teenager was killed Thursday during clashes with the Israeli
army near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, medical sources said. Uday Salah,
17, was “killed by a bullet to the head fired by the Israeli occupation
soldiers in Kafr Dan, Jenin governorate,” the Palestinian health ministry said.
The Israeli army said its forces were “mapping out the homes of the terrorists
who killed Major Bar Falah and arresting suspects throughout the West Bank.”
Falah was killed on Wednesday in clashes near the Jalameh checkpoint, north of
Jenin, which also killed Palestinians Ahmed Abed and Abdul Rahman Abed.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that soldiers had raided the family homes
of both Ahmed and Abdul Rahman Abed, and arrested “Amer Taha Abed, who is the
cousin of the martyr Ahmed Abed.” The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing
of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s secular Fatah movement, had claimed
responsibility for the Israeli major’s death. Jenin has suffered frequent
violence in recent months, part of a deadly flare-up that began in mid-March
following deadly attacks on Israeli targets, mostly by Palestinians. In
response, Israel has launched near nightly raids on West Bank towns and cities
that have killed dozens of Palestinians, including fighters.”



Nigeria



Premium Times Nigeria: Terrorists’ Use Of Tech In West Africa Must Be Contained

<[link removed]>



“When al-Shabaab attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya in
2013, the group live-blogged the terrifying event on Twitter, taunting the
authorities who were struggling to end the siege. It represented a chilling
milestone in the weaponisation of social media platforms and demonstrated the
audacity and adaptive nature of Africa’s armed groups. Nearly a decade later,
terrorist groups in West Africa are fine-tuning their tactics to hijack social
media platforms and messaging apps. Parts of the region have been home to the
fastest growing and deadliest violent extremists, the Global Terrorism Index
reveals. And there has been a steady rise in incidents where social media
platforms and messaging apps have become an integral part of extremists’ modus
operandi. As the physical and online worlds fuse, many groups, especially
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), are embedding the internet deeper into
their operations, according to researchers such as Bulama Bukarti of the Tony
Blair Institute for Global Change. What’s more, given their decentralised
character, these groups are proving harder to intercept and are achieving a
reach online that would not be possible in the physical world. A recent
workshop in Ghana organised by Tech Against Terrorism (TAT) laid out the
expansive nature of online terrorist content in West Africa and highlighted
strategies to mitigate the risks.”



Daily Post Nigeria: Borno: ISWAP Kills 8 Boko Haram In A Rival Clash
<[link removed]>



“A fierce battle broke out between Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa
Province (ISWAP) and has led to the death of eight fighters, including a middle
rank Commander simply identified as “Kundu”. It was gathered that the incident,
which took place on Thursday September 15, between Dikwa and Bama Local
Government Areas, also left many fighters from both the Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah
lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad and ISWAP injured. An Intelligence officer told Zagazola
Makama, a counterinsurgency expert and security analyst in Lake Chad that Kundu
and his team were on a robbery mission when the ISWAP intercepted them on six
motorcycles each conveying three fighters. “A Heavy fight ensued between the
terrorists resulting in 8 casualties on the side of the Boko Haram terrorists,
while few ISWAP terrorists were wounded. “The surviving Boko Haram terrorists
took to their heels, leaving their motorcycles to the ISWAP terrorists,”
Zagazola tweeted.”



France



AFP: Shock Video Sparks Horror At France Attacks Trial
<[link removed]>



“A video showing how an Islamist extremist ploughed his truck into a crowd in
Nice killing 86 people while France was celebrating its national day sparked
anguish and horror at the attack trial on Thursday. Tunisian Mohamed
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, was killed by police after a four-minute rampage down
the seaside embankment of the Promenade des Anglais, where thousands of locals
and tourists were celebrating July 14 or Bastille Day in 2016. The footage,
never shown in public, was presented as evidence at the trial of eight people
suspected of helping Lahouaiej-Bouhlel or knowing of his intentions. Witnesses
and survivors gasped in horror as the screen filled with people mowed down by
the criss-crossing vehicle, their bodies broken and squashed under its wheels.
Presiding judge Laurent Raviot had warned the courtroom that the images, filmed
by a bystander, were “terrifying”. When the lights were dimmed for the
screening, a sharp intake of breath went through the courtroom, followed
quickly by several cries of anguish. Veronique Marchand, a 79-year old woman
whose husband died in the attack, screamed and left the room. Her cries
continued to be heard from the corridor through the closed doors.”



Canada



CTV News: Anti-Hate Experts Urge Action Against Right-Wing Extremism In Canada
<[link removed]>



“Anti-hate experts are urging policy makers to take action against what they
describe as growing right-wing extremism in Canada. One of these experts says
research suggests that millions of Canadians have been drawn into the far right
over the course of the pandemic, some of whom have been indoctrinated by
misinformation and lies that were then amplified by the Freedom Convoy. Evan
Balgord, the executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, says the
convoy’s organizers were able to successfully use the month-long February
protest to recruit vaccine-hesitant people into their movement. “They were now
rubbing shoulders with, you know, racists and bigots and people who would like
to use violence to overthrow the government. A portion of those people are
getting further radicalized.” Balgord was one of more than a dozen experts who
spoke at “Hate Among Us,” an international conference held in Ottawa Tuesday
that discussed solutions to growing extremism. Although some of the Convoy’s
leadership is now facing criminal charges, Balgord says the movement’s ideas
are entrenched in the mainstream. Balgord, whose organization tracked
right-wing groups and monitored their activities and influence, claims that six
years ago there were around 20,000 white supremacists in Canada.”



Technology



Reuters: Meta Oversight Board Objects To Removing Positive Newspaper Report On
Taliban
<[link removed]>



“Meta Platforms Inc's (META.O) independent Oversight Board said on Thursday
that Facebook should not have taken down a newspaper report about the Taliban
that it considered positive, backing users' freedom of expression and saying
the tech company relied too heavily on automated moderation. Meta found the
post on the Taliban announcing that schools and colleges in Afghanistan for
women and girls would reopen in March violated Facebook's policies because it
"praised" entities deemed to "engage in serious offline harms". The company
limited the newspaper's access to certain Facebook features after taking down
the post. The newspaper appealed the decision after which the post was referred
to a special moderation queue, but was never reviewed, according to the
Oversight Board. The Oversight Board said Meta's decision to remove the post
was inconsistent with Facebook's policies as they allow reporting on such
organizations, and the company reversed its decision after the board selected
the case.”



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