“Afghanistan's Taliban freed on Monday American engineer Mark Frerichs in
exchange for an Afghan tribal leader linked to the Taliban who the United
States had held on drugs charges since 2005, the group's acting foreign
minister said. Frerichs was exchanged at the airport in the capital, Kabul,
with Bashir Noorzai, acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told a news
conference in the city. Noorzai was detained by the United States on suspicion
of smuggling more than $50 million worth of heroin into the United States and
Europe. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is ready to solve problems by
negotiation with all including the United States," Muttaqi said, referring to
the Taliban. Frerichs is an engineer and U.S. Navy veteran from Lombard,
Illinois, who worked in Afghanistan for a decade on development projects. He
was abducted in February 2020. The United States has no official representation
in Afghanistan and U.S. government officials elsewhere were not immediately
available for comment.”











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Eye on Extremism


September 19, 2022



Reuters: Taliban Release American Engineer Frerichs In Prisoner Swap
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“Afghanistan's Taliban freed on Monday American engineer Mark Frerichs in
exchange for an Afghan tribal leader linked to the Taliban who the United
States had held on drugs charges since 2005, the group's acting foreign
minister said. Frerichs was exchanged at the airport in the capital, Kabul,
with Bashir Noorzai, acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told a news
conference in the city. Noorzai was detained by the United States on suspicion
of smuggling more than $50 million worth of heroin into the United States and
Europe. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is ready to solve problems by
negotiation with all including the United States," Muttaqi said, referring to
the Taliban. Frerichs is an engineer and U.S. Navy veteran from Lombard,
Illinois, who worked in Afghanistan for a decade on development projects. He
was abducted in February 2020. The United States has no official representation
in Afghanistan and U.S. government officials elsewhere were not immediately
available for comment.”



ABC News: Failed Rocket Attack Targets US Military Base In Syria, CENTCOM Says
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“There was a failed rocket attack on the U.S. military base known as Green
Village in northeast Syria on Sunday, the U.S. Central Command said. Three
107mm rockets were launched but "failed to strike U.S. or Coalition forces or
equipment," CENTCOM said in a statement. "A fourth rocket along with rocket
tubes was found at the launch point, approximately 5 kilometers away," it
added. This is the same base where a recent attack by Iran-backed militants
resulted in retaliatory fire and airstrikes by Apache helicopter gunships on
those militants. It's unclear who launched the attack Sunday. U.S. forces are
investigating the incident.”



United States



NBC New York: 14-Year-Old On Long Island Arrested For Online Terrorist Threat
Against School: Police
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“Police on Long Island arrested a 14-year-old boy they said made a school
threat on social media. Suffolk County Police arrested the teenager Thursday
night after he allegedly said on social media that he was going to bring
weapons to the R.C. Murphy Junior High School in Stony Brook and harm students
and faculty. Following an investigation, detectives arrested the 14-year-old at
home. Police say he was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for
evaluation and was charged with making a terrorist threat. No weapons were
found in the teen’s home.”



Syria



AFP: Kurdish Forces End 3-Month Operation Against ISIS Supporters In Syria’s
Al-Hol Camp
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“Kurdish forces in northeast Syria on Saturday announced the end of a
three-week operation against ISIS supporters inside the overcrowded and
increasingly lawless camp of al-Hol. They arrested more than 200 people,
including dozens of women, discovered tunnels used by extremists and seized an
arsenal of weapons. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel
online or via the app. The internal security forces of the area’s
semi-autonomous Kurdish administration carried out the massive sweep of the
camp, which houses tens of thousands of relatives of suspected ISIS members.
The number of murders inside the camp had risen recently, as had fears that
al-Hol was becoming the hub from which the terrorist organization was planning
its resurgence. “The operation was launched following the increasing crimes of
killing and torture committed by ISIS,” a Kurdish statement said. The UN says
more than 100 people have been murdered since the start of 2021 in al-Hol,
which lies in a remote area near the border with Iraq and is home to Syrian and
Iraqi families, as well as around 10,000 of others, mostly women and children,
originating from further afield. The Kurdish security forces said ISIS had
relied heavily on women and children in al-Hol, most of whom had been there for
more than three years, to spread the group’s extremist ideology.”



Reuters: Turkish Troops, Militants Clash On Syrian Border, Turkey's Defence
Ministry Says
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“Militants carried out an attack with a rocket launcher on a Turkish military
post near the Syrian border on Sunday, killing one soldier and wounding
another, Turkey's defence ministry said. It did not identify the militants, but
Turkish forces are in conflict in that region with the Syrian Kurdish YPG
militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group and which is a key part of
the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The ministry said that after
the attack on the post at Suruc, in Sanliurfa province, Turkish forces
retaliated. “Targets were identified in the area and immediately fired upon,
with 12 terrorists neutralised according to initial information,” the statement
said. The term neutralised usually means killed. It added that operations were
continuing in the area.”



Middle East



The Times Of Israel: Police To Boost Jerusalem Presence Amid Terror Alerts
Ahead Of Holidays
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“Police said Sunday that they were preparing to boost security in Jerusalem
to keep Israelis and tourists safe as tens of thousands of people were expected
to visit the capital during the upcoming Jewish High Holidays. Jerusalem
District Commander Doron Turgeman said that police had received intelligence
alerts of potential terror attacks in the city during the holidays, and that
2,000 officers would be deployed to protect major events during the period,
while the number of cops on motorbikes will be doubled to decrease police
response time to any potential incidents. Police will focus operations on
events in Jerusalem’s Old City and the Western Wall, including the traditional
prayers of supplication, or selichot, in the lead-up to the Jewish New Year
(Rosh Hashanah) and Yom Kippur, in addition to the priestly blessings during
the week of Sukkot and the large crowds expected for Simhat Torah. Several
roads in the vicinity of the Old City will be closed during the selichot and
Rosh Hashanah events as necessary, and vehicles will be forbidden from entering
the Old City during those times. Religious festivities tend to be a tense time
in Jerusalem, as throngs of people descend on the city and its holy sites,
increasing the likelihood of clashes between followers of different faiths.”



Nigeria



Sahara Reporters: Terrorists Attack Communities In President Buhari's State,
Kill One, Kidnap About 50
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“As the security situation in Katsina State continues to exacerbate, Islamic
terrorists have reportedly invaded Bakiyawa community in the Batagarawa Local
Government Area of the state killing one and abducting about 50 persons. The
terrorists who have been terrorising forests in the Batsari Local Government
Area were reported to have launched the attack on Wednesday night, going from
house to house. AIT reports that apart from the abductions and killing, four
people were injured. Katsina is the home state of Nigeria's President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, however, it has
become a hotbed of terrorist activities in recent years. The recent attack
according to the media outlet took place at about 11 pm when the residents had
gone to sleep. The terrorists reportedly arrived in the community riding about
40 motorcycles and shooting indiscriminately. Then they went from house to
house, demanding money, and asking for the breadwinners of the families. It was
gathered that about 60 animals were also rustled, while the terrorists faced no
resistance as they operated freely for about three hours. A source told AIT
that a nursing mother who was one of the abductees, later returned with some
others, after trekking in the forest for about two hours.”



Somalia



Voice Of America: Somalia President Sees Progress In Fight Against Al-Shabab,
Seeks More US Support
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“Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said that his country is seeing
gains in the fight against the Somali-based, al-Qaida-affiliated Islamist
militant group al-Shabab, following recent clashes in central Somalia between
the Somali National Army supported by pro-government local clan militias and
al-Shabab. “We see a strong momentum against al-Shabab and want to sustain it
to defeat a group that has proven to be remorseless and [like the] mafia, which
has attained economic autonomy through intimidation and the murder of innocent
people,” Mohamud said. In a speech to the Somali diaspora community in the
Washington area Friday, he said his government is organizing a strong military
front in the southern Jubaland state of Somalia. “There is ongoing preparation
to liberate al-Shabab from middle-Juba region in southern Somalia, the only
region in the country where the militants control its entirety,” Mohamud sad.
He said his government’s new approach is being encouraged by the resistance of
local clan militia, who keep fighting al-Shabab in the central Somali regions
of Hiran and Galguduud. “Once they could not tolerate the intimidation, the
extortion and the abduction of their children, now some local clans say they
have started fighting al-Shabab. Therefore, we want to support our people to
live in peace and dignity,” Mohamud said.”



Africa



AFP: Niger Army Kills 7 Suspected ‘Terrorists’: Ministry
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“Seven suspected “terrorists” have been killed and some 30 accomplices of the
Boko Haram jihadist group arrested over the past two weeks in southeastern
Niger, the defense ministry said Thursday. The ministry, in its weekly bulletin
on military operations, said the seven suspects were killed in the town of
Gueskerou, near the Nigerian border. The army also dismantled kidnapping gangs
in N’Guigmi, further north and near the Chadian border. The weekly report added
that the army had, on September 9, intercepted 30 foreign nationals
transporting goods for elements of the Boko Haram jihadist group. Six people
described as “Boko Haram accomplices” were also arrested during a military
offensive in the Diffa region close to the Lake Chad basin, a strategic area
where the borders of four countries converge — Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and
Nigeria. The Niger army gave no details of those arrested, but local sources
said they were Nigerian nationals. Meanwhile, the UN Office for Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) in Niamey reported the movement of more than 2,000 displaced
people, mostly women, and children, from the islands of Lake Chad to safe areas
after “threats from non-state armed groups.” Niger, the world’s poorest country
by the benchmark of the UN’s Human Development Index, has been hit hard by the
jihadist insurgency that began in northern Mali in 2012.”



Canada



National Post: Spy Who Smuggled Teens To Join Islamic State While Working For
Canada Could Be Returning Here
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“A man arrested after smuggling British teenagers into Syria to join Islamic
State fighters at the same time he was spying for Canada may be returning to
Canada — just as he said he was promised when he began work as a double agent.
The involvement of a purported spy for Canada in smuggling British school
children into Islamic State (IS) territory — while Canada was part of a
military coalition fighting the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq — is already
a scandal. Mohammed Al Rashed was released from a Turkish jail on Aug. 5 after
his 2015 arrest, sources told Britain’s Daily Telegraph and Canada’s Globe and
Mail, and may be granted political asylum in Canada. Al Rashed was jailed there
for terrorism and smuggling offences. In his defence, Al Rashed told Turkish
authorities he was spying on IS for the West and had built a relationship with
Canadian officials in 2013 when he sought asylum in Canada. He told police he
was offered Canadian citizenship in return for information on IS, according to
contemporary reports. Turkey will not allow Al Rashed, who is a Syrian
national, to remain in the country, leaving few options that include returning
him to Syria, where he could be in danger because of his work with either
Western intelligence, Islamic State, or both, or fulfilling Canada’s purported
promise of protection.”



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