“Islamist militants have advanced further into eastern Mali in recent days,
seizing territory, killing hundreds of civilians and forcing thousands to flee,
regional Malian officials and analysts said. The gains by the militants
highlight Mali's struggle to fill the vacuum following the departure of French
and other European forces, while relations with neighbouring Niger have
deteriorated, preventing joint military operations near the Niger and Burkina
Faso borders. Heavy fighting between Tuareg separatists and the Islamic State
in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) group has been reported in Menaka region, where
Malian forces took over a French military camp in June. read more While the
offensive started in March, France's pullout "left a vacuum and lifted a lot of
pressure", said Heni Nsaiba, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location &
Event Data Project (ACLED), a U.S.-based crisis monitoring group. Hundreds have
been killed since March, mainly civilians, as jihadists have battled their way
into Menaka and the neighbouring Gao region, according to ACLED data, Nsaiba
added. Islamic State-linked fighters are the major perpetrators of that
violence, according to the U.N. Secretary General's report to the Security
Council released on Thursday. This month, Islamist militants took over the
rural Ansongo district, near the border with Niger, a local official and
pro-government militia said.”











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Eye on Extremism


October 17, 2022



Reuters: Islamist Militants In Mali Kill Hundreds, Displace Thousands In
Eastern Advance
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“Islamist militants have advanced further into eastern Mali in recent days,
seizing territory, killing hundreds of civilians and forcing thousands to flee,
regional Malian officials and analysts said. The gains by the militants
highlight Mali's struggle to fill the vacuum following the departure of French
and other European forces, while relations with neighbouring Niger have
deteriorated, preventing joint military operations near the Niger and Burkina
Faso borders. Heavy fighting between Tuareg separatists and the Islamic State
in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) group has been reported in Menaka region, where
Malian forces took over a French military camp in June. read more While the
offensive started in March, France's pullout "left a vacuum and lifted a lot of
pressure", said Heni Nsaiba, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location &
Event Data Project (ACLED), a U.S.-based crisis monitoring group. Hundreds have
been killed since March, mainly civilians, as jihadists have battled their way
into Menaka and the neighbouring Gao region, according to ACLED data, Nsaiba
added. Islamic State-linked fighters are the major perpetrators of that
violence, according to the U.N. Secretary General's report to the Security
Council released on Thursday. This month, Islamist militants took over the
rural Ansongo district, near the border with Niger, a local official and
pro-government militia said.”



Reuters: Russian, Syrian Forces Kill 20 Militants In Syria, Russian General
Says
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“Russian and Syrian forces have killed 20 Islamic militants in an operation
in southern Syria, including those responsible for blowing up a troop bus, a
Russian officer was quoted as saying late on Sunday. Major General Oleg
Yegorov, quoted by Russia's TASS news agency, said the operation took place in
southern Deraa province. "The Russian group on interaction with security units
of the Syrian armed forces conducted a special operation in the town of Jasim,
Deraa province in the south of (Syria) to liquidate Islamic State fighters,"
TASS said Yegorov told a briefing. TASS said the fighters had been involved in
the bombing of a bus last week that killed at least 18 Syrian servicemen near
Damascus. Yegorov said those killed in the operation included the organiser of
the bus attack as well as others linked to Islamic State's operations in Deraa
and in Raqqa province. Reuters was not able to independently verify the
reports. The bus attack was one of the deadliest in months against Syrian
government troops not on an active front line. There was no immediate claim of
responsibility and no comment from Syrian authorities. A decade of conflict in
Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of people and left the country
fractured. Russian forces have been in Syria since 2015, helping authorities in
their drive to recapture territory held by opposition fighters.”



Syria



Reuters: Hardline Syria Rebels Sweep Across North, 27 Killed In Clashes
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“Hardline rebel fighters in northern Syria have clawed territory away from
their Turkey-backed rivals this week in clashes that have left more than two
dozen dead, the factions and a war monitor said on Friday. Tensions erupted
earlier this month between a rebel group backed by Turkey and more hardline
fighters, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Syrian branch of
al-Qaeda, according to statements by the clashing groups. HTS and its allies
captured the town of Afrin, which Turkish-backed forces seized from Kurdish
factions in 2018, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.
The Observatory said HTS also seized a string of nearby villages and towns in
the northern province of Aleppo this week from the Turkish-backed Third Corps.
The resulting fighting killed 19 fighters and eight civilians, including
children, according to the Observatory. Hisham Iskef, a spokesperson for the
Third Corps, told Reuters that negotiations to end the fighting had fallen
apart and the clashes were intensifying. Local officials in the town of Azaz
called for residents to stand against HTS while a similar statement from the
town of Al-Bab asked Turkey and top Syrian opposition figures to step in and
keep the peace. Syria has been mired in conflict since protests against
President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 were met with a crackdown, leading to war
that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and drawn
in regional and global powers.”



Kurdistan 24: ISIS Sleeper Cell Attempts To Kill Local Imam In Raqqa
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“ISIS members on a car attempted to assassinate an imam of a mosque in
Al-Raqqah, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor
reported on Monday. On Monday, a suspected ISIS member stabbed the imam of a
mosque in Raqqa during the dawn prayers, while saying an ISIS slogan. The Imam
was injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. The SDF freed the former
ISIS capital Raqqa from ISIS control in Oct. 2017 with support from the US-led
anti-ISIS coalition. Although ISIS lost all the territory that once made up its
self-styled caliphate in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells are still active in
northeast Syria. As a result, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with support
of the coalition has continued operations against suspects ISIS cells in Raqqa,
Deir ez-Zor and other territories.”



Pakistan



Associated Press: Roadside Bomb Kills 3 In Pakistan’s Restive Baluch Region
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“A roadside bomb on Friday killed at least three people in Pakistan’s restive
southwestern province, government officials said. The blast near the town of
Mastung injured six others, including two police, said Baluchistan province’s
top security official, Mir Zia Langu. The attack appeared to target a vehicle
carrying the relatives of a man abducted and killed in a separate attack on
Thursday night, Langu added. No one claimed responsibility for the blast but
Baluch separatists have been involved in such attacks in the region while
Islamic militants also operate there. A separate attack later on Friday riddled
with gunshot wounds and killed Baluchistan province’s former top justice
official, Noor Mohammad Meskanzai, Langu said. Militant group the Baluch
Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. Mineral and gas rich
Baluchistan has been a scene of low-level insurgency by separatist groups for
over two decades. Pakistan’s military has said they quelled the insurgency but
violence persists in the area.”



Middle East



CNN: East Jerusalem Rocked By Sixth Night Of Clashes As Israeli Raids In West
Bank Leave At Least Two Palestinians Dead
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“Clashes erupted in the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh
Jarrah and in the West Bank for a sixth consecutive night overnight Thursday
into Friday, leaving at least two Palestinians dead. They were killed in the
restive West Bank city and refugee camp of Jenin during an Israeli raid on
Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. It named one man who died as
“colleague and doctor” Abdullah Al-Ahmad, and said he died as a result of
“being hit by a bullet that pierced his head fired by occupation soldiers in
front of Jenin Governmental Hospital this morning.” Palestinian news agency
Wafa named the other man who was killed as Mateen Dabaya, 20. The Israel
Defense Forces is “reviewing whether an uninvolved individual was hit and
injured” in the Jenin incident, IDF international spokesman Richard Hecht said
on Twitter on Friday. The unrest in East Jerusalem, meanwhile, was marked by
Israelis and Palestinians throwing stones at each other. At one point, Israeli
TV showed right-wing Israeli politician Ben Gvir drawing a gun and saying: “If
they throw stones, shoot them.” At least 20 Palestinians were injured, five of
whom needed hospital treatment. Two Israelis were also sent to the hospital,
Palestinian and Israeli officials said. The violence in East Jerusalem and the
West Bank is the latest in the steady increase of tensions between Israelis and
Palestinians that has seen the largest number of people killed on each side
this year since 2015.”



Nigeria



All Africa: Nigeria: Why Govt Released 101 'Boko Haram' Suspects From Kirikiri
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“It was an out-of-court settlement that led to the recent release of 101
'Boko Haram' suspects who were arrested at various locations in 2009 and had
been in detention since then at various correctional facilities, including the
Kirikiri maximum and medium centres in Lagos. This is contrary to recent claims
especially in social media that the suspects were released in exchange for the
remaining 23 abducted passengers of the Kaduna- Abuja train. Daily Trust
Saturday leant from credible sources monitoring the case that discussions for
the release of the suspects started long ago when it was evident that there
were no facts to prove that they were Boko Haram members, considering that most
of them were arrested in the streets of various cities at the onset of the Boko
Haram uprising 13 years ago. But while fielding questions from journalists
after the National Security Council (NSC) meeting yesterday in Abuja on the
released suspects, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor said, "...
Perhaps may be at this point, what I may need to add is the fact that Council
was also briefed that 101 ex-combatants were taken to Operation Safe Corridor
(in Gombe) and currently undergoing the process of de-radicalization at the
centre.”



Somalia



Associated Press: Mozambique Jihadi Violence Spreads Despite Military Effort
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“Fleeing beheadings, shootings, rapes and kidnappings, nearly 1 million
people are displaced by the Islamic extremist insurgency in northern
Mozambique. The 5-year wave of jihadi violence in Cabo Delgado province has
killed more than 4,000 people and scuppered international investments worth
billions of dollars. In a sprawl of dilapidated tents and thatched huts around
Nanjua, a small town in the southern part of Cabo Delgado province, several
hundred families are seeking safety from the violence. They say their
conditions are bleak and food assistance is meager but they're afraid to return
home because of continuing violence by the rebels who are now going by the name
Islamic State Mozambique Province. More than 1.000 miles south, however,
government officials in the capital Maputo are saying the insurgency is under
control and are encouraging the displaced to return to their homes and energy
companies to resume their projects. "The terrorists are on the run
permanently," Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi assured investors at the
Mozambique Energy and Gas Summit in Maputo in September. He urged the gathering
of international energy executives to resume work on their stalled liquefied
natural gas projects.”



AFP: Somalia Warns Traders Not To Pay Off Islamist Militants
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“Somalia’s government Saturday threatened to sanction businesses that pay
extortion money to al-Shabab, looking to choke a lucrative cash pipeline the
Islamist militants use to fund a deadly insurgency. Somalia's ministry of
commerce and industry said the full force of the law would be brought against
traders who pay the al-Qaida ally, which experts say raises millions of dollars
through a complex and extensive taxation system. The ministry said any business
found to have paid or collaborated with al-Shabab in any way would "face legal
action" including having their government-issued trading permits revoked. "Any
merchant who obeys instructions issued by the terrorists, and pays them income,
will never be allowed to do business in Somalia again," the ministry said in a
letter to traders. "Any company found to involve members of al-Shabab, or that
sponsors their merchandise, will have their property including real estate
confiscated by the government." Al-Shabab has been trying to overthrow the
central government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years and regularly stages
deadly bombings and armed attacks on civilian and military targets. Despite an
international effort to degrade the group, the militants control swaths of
countryside, and use threats of violence to collect taxes in territory under
their jurisdiction.”



Africa



AFP: Road Bomb Kills Two People In Niger
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“Two people were killed in southeastern Niger on Sunday by a road bomb which
exploded as they were passing with donkeys, local sources told AFP. "Two women
were killed and a child was seriously wounded when an improvised explosive
device detonated as their donkeys passed near Bosso," in the Diffa region, near
Nigeria, a local resident said. A regional official confirmed that two people
had died, without giving further details. Bosso, on the shores of Lake Chad, an
areas subject to frequent jihadist attacks, including by notorious Boko Haram
and its rival, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) group, Last
month, suspected Boko Haram jihadists shot dead 11 farmers in Diffa, a local
official said. Niger, the world's poorest country by the benchmark of the UN's
Human Development Index, has been hit hard by the insurgency which began in
northern Mali in 2012.”



Voice Of America: Western Sahel Conflict Sees Dramatic Rise In Year-Over-Year
Deaths
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“Backers of Burkina Faso's latest coup cited the military's failure to stem a
deadly Islamist insurgency that is spreading across the Sahel and has displaced
millions of people. A new analysis shows more civilians died in the Western
Sahel conflict during the first half of 2022 than in all of 2021. War has raged
between Western Sahel countries and militants linked to Islamic State or
al-Qaida for more than a decade. Analysts say failure to stop attacks helped
spark two coups in Burkina Faso, the most recent coming September 30. Both
military juntas that carried out the coups cited the inability of the previous
government to improve security. "There was this expectation that a military
leader would perform better than a civilian one," said Constantin Gouvy, an
analyst for the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank. "What we’ve seen
instead is that since January, the security situation has continued to
deteriorate." Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project show
that nearly 2,300 civilians were killed in the Western Sahel conflict during
the first half of 2022. That’s about 400 more than the number killed in the
whole of 2021. In Burkina Faso, one of the previous military junta’s flagship
policies for reducing violence was to create “military interest zones.” It
called for civilians within conflict-affected provinces to leave for a period
so the army could carry out operations against terrorists.”



Germany



Washington Examiner: 'Terror Granny' Arrested In Germany Over Alleged Plot To
Restore Kaiser
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“A woman dubbed "Terror Granny" was arrested in Germany over an alleged plot
to destroy the modern democratic German state and restore the Kaiser. Elisabeth
R., 75, an evangelical theologian and retired pastor and schoolteacher, was
already well-known in German monarchist circles, being dubbed "the countess,"
according to T-Online. Due to her advanced age and unassuming nature, the
German press has dubbed her "Terror-Oma," or "Terror Granny," Bild reported.
Prosecutors claim she was the leader of a monarchist cell called "United
Patriots" that sought to kidnap the German health minister and destroy the
nation's power grid, which the cell hoped would then lead to civil war-like
conditions that would result in the restoration of the Kaiser. The plot was
foiled back in April, but she was only arrested on Thursday, T-Online reported.
The alleged plot was grandiose and simple: The conspirators would destroy the
country's power grid in order to trigger a blackout, dubbed project "silent
night," possibly using a graphite bomb planted at a substation that would
trigger a nationwide chain reaction of short-circuiting. In the resulting
chaos, members would stage a coup, which would have apparently involved the
conspirators kidnapping several celebrities, including Health Minister Karls
Leuterbach, a central enemy in far-right circles in the country over his strict
COVID-19 lockdown policies.”



Europe



Reuters: Slovakia Could Treat Killings Outside Gay Bar As Terrorism,
Prosecutor Says
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“Slovakia could treat the killing of two people outside a well-known gay bar
in the capital Bratislava as an act of terrorism, a top prosecutor said on
Friday, as investigators looked deeper into the shooting which has rattled the
central European state. The killings, investigated as a possible hate crime
although police have yet to determine its motives, have sparked outrage from
politicians and rights groups, and prompted the president to call for
reflection on the political climate in the country. Thousands gathered in
downtown Bratislava later on Friday to show solidarity with the LGBT community,
many waving the rainbow flags symbolising the movement for gay rights or
carrying banners like "Stop the violence!". Police found the suspected killer
dead on Thursday morning, after he shot his victims outside the Teplaren bar in
the city centre on Wednesday evening. Police said they suspected the shooter
then killed himself. Prime Minister Eduard Heger has called the shooter a
"radicalised teenager", while President Zuzana Caputova said in a Facebook post
the shooting was a hate crime. On Friday, police and judicial officials said
investigations so far showed no indications the killer knew his victims. Police
on Friday identified those killed as 23-year-old Matus H. and 26-year-old Juraj
V. A third victim Radoslava T., 28, was wounded in her leg.”



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