“The U.S. military over the weekend struck members of al-Shabaab in Somalia as
the terrorist group was attacking Somali National Army forces, the Pentagon
announced Tuesday. U.S. Africa Command said the strike occurred near
Buulobarde, about 218 kilometers north-northwest of Mogadishu, on Oct. 23. The
command initially assessed that it “killed two attacking al-Shabaab
terrorists,” according to a statement. The command said no civilians were
injured or killed in the strike. The U.S. operation is the latest in Somalia
after a similar airstrike on Oct. 1, when American forces struck and killed top
al-Shabaab leader Abdullahi Nadir. And last month, Africom claimed it killed 27
al-Shabaab terrorists who were attacking Somali forces on Sept. 18. About 500
U.S. service members are in Somali to help train, advise and equip partner
forces following President Biden’s May announcement that the American troops
would be redeployed to Somalia, an effort to counter the terrorist group.
Biden’s order reversed that of former President Trump, who decided to withdraw
all U.S. forces from the country in 2020.”











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Eye on Extremism


October 26, 2022



The Hill: Airstrike In Somalia Kills Two Al-Shabaab Members: Pentagon
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“The U.S. military over the weekend struck members of al-Shabaab in Somalia as
the terrorist group was attacking Somali National Army forces, the Pentagon
announced Tuesday. U.S. Africa Command said the strike occurred near
Buulobarde, about 218 kilometers north-northwest of Mogadishu, on Oct. 23. The
command initially assessed that it “killed two attacking al-Shabaab
terrorists,” according to a statement. The command said no civilians were
injured or killed in the strike. The U.S. operation is the latest in Somalia
after a similar airstrike on Oct. 1, when American forces struck and killed top
al-Shabaab leader Abdullahi Nadir. And last month, Africom claimed it killed 27
al-Shabaab terrorists who were attacking Somali forces on Sept. 18. About 500
U.S. service members are in Somali to help train, advise and equip partner
forces following President Biden’s May announcement that the American troops
would be redeployed to Somalia, an effort to counter the terrorist group.
Biden’s order reversed that of former President Trump, who decided to withdraw
all U.S. forces from the country in 2020.”



Reuters: U.S. Authorises Departure Of Non-Emergency Staff From Nigeria
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“The U.S. State Department on Tuesday authorised the departure of
non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families from Nigeria due to
a heightened risk of terrorist attacks in the country. The latest travel update
comes after the United States and the United Kingdom warned on Sunday of a
possible terrorist attack in the capital Abuja, especially aimed at government
buildings, places of worship and schools, among other targets. "The U.S.
Embassy Abuja continues to have limited ability to provide emergency assistance
to U.S. citizens in Nigeria," the State Department said. Nigeria's Department
of State Services said the United States had previously issued similar warnings
and urged citizens to remain alert. Insecurity, which is rife across most
Nigerian states, is a major issue among voters who will choose a new president
next February.”



Syria



Associated Press: UN: Syria Facing ‘Acute Violence’ And Worst Economic Crisis
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“Syria is facing “acute violence,” the worst economic crisis since the war
began in 2011, and a rapidly spreading cholera outbreak with more that 24,000
suspected cases reported throughout the country and at least 80 deaths, U.N.
officials said Tuesday. U.N. special envoy Geir Pedersen told the U.N. Security
Council that the conflict remains “very active” across the country despite the
“strategic stalemate” that has blocked efforts to launch a political process
between the government and opposition. He pointed to infighting between armed
opposition groups in Afrin in northern Aleppo province in recent weeks,
pro-government airstrikes in the northwest, violence in the northeast, security
incidents in the southwest, airstrikes attributed to Israel on airports in
Damascus and Aleppo, and discovery in the northeast of one of the largest
Islamic State arms caches since its so-called caliphate fell in 2017. In recent
weeks, Pedersen said, the Syrian currency, the pound, “lost a tremendous amount
of its value … which in turn saw food and fuel prices jump to even higher
record prices.” And he warned the economic crisis “will only get worst for the
vast majority” with winter approaching and additional funding needed urgently.
Reena Ghelani, director of operations for the U.N. humanitarian office, told
the council that “communities in Syria are caught in the middle of a spiraling
security, public health and economic crisis” that has left many “struggling to
survive.”



Middle East



The Wall Street Journal: Israeli Forces Kill Five Palestinians In Raid On
Militant Group
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“Israeli forces said they killed five Palestinians in Nablus during a raid on
a militant hideout, as violence in the West Bank makes this bloodiest year in
more than a decade. Israeli security forces have so far this year killed at
least 111 West Bank Palestinians, including five women and at least 24 minors,
more than in any other year since 2006, according to an analysis by Israeli
human rights group B’Tselem and The Wall Street Journal. In 2006, 134
Palestinians were killed. It was the year after the end of a bloody uprising
known as the Second Intifada, during which over 5,000 Palestinians and 1,000
Israelis were killed. Just after midnight on Tuesday, convoys of Israeli
military jeeps entered the city of Nablus to raid a site belonging to a newly
established armed group called the Lions’ Den, which has recently claimed a
string of attacks in the West Bank, including a shooting that led to the death
of an Israeli soldier in early October. The Israeli military said it detonated
an apartment used as the group’s headquarters and as an improvised explosives
laboratory. The military said its soldiers had fired on armed men shooting at
Israeli troops. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed five men were killed
by Israeli forces in Nablus, all between the ages of 26 and 35, and said 20
people were also injured during the clashes.”



Reuters: Explainer: What Is The Palestinian Militant Group 'Den Of Lions'?
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“Israeli forces killed a leader of the so-called “Den of Lions”, a
fast-rising Palestinian militant group from the city of Nablus on Tuesday in a
targeted operation that set off one of the biggest gunfights seen in the West
Bank in weeks. In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli military said its forces
had raided an apartment in the market area of the Old City that was used as an
explosives manufacturing site, killing 31-year-old Wadi al-Houh, who it said
was responsible for making pipe bombs and obtaining weapons. The Den of Lions
emerged around a year ago in Nablus, where posters of its dead fighters, almost
all young men posing with their automatic weapons and combat gear, are now
plastered all over the narrow streets of the Old City and its covered market.
While members of the group have great prestige in the Old City, none of its
leaders has established a wide profile outside their home town. The group
gained greater prominence across the West Bank following the killing in August
of a 19-year-old militant called Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, whose death has been used
a rallying cause for disaffected youths in the Old City and refugee camps.
According to local Palestinian officials, the original core group of four young
militants was mainly motivated by anger at the encroachments of Israeli
settlers and confrontations with the Israeli military.”



Nigeria



Sahara Reporters: Boko Haram, ISWAP Planning To Attack Aid Workers In Borno,
United Nations Warns
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“The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has said Boko
Haram and Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists are
planning to abduct humanitarian workers in Borno. UNDSS in an advisory released
on Tuesday said there are reasons to believe that the insurgents have concluded
plans to kidnap humanitarian workers in Banki, Bama Local Government Area of
the state. The advisory did not indicate the specific time for the planned
abduction but advised the government on the need to protect humanitarian
workers in the country. Banki was one of the communities sacked by Boko Haram
insurgents in 2014. Most residents of the town had fled to take refuge in camps
designated for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri, the state
capital. “As a mitigation measure, the UNDSS FSA has alerted all Heads of
Agencies (HoAs) and Security Focal Persons (SFP) on the impending threat,” the
UN advisory read. “It also advised them to ensure that staff vulnerability
should be avoided and to also reduce the level of exposure of any kind.” This
comes two days after the United States warned its citizens about the
possibility of terror attacks in Nigeria. The US on Sunday warned that there
was an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, especially in Abuja, the
nation's capital.”



The Guardian Nigeria: Bulletproof Vehicles, National Security And The Criminal
Law
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“…Counterbalancing the peccable statistics, the Nigerian security services
have, over time, recorded some notable successes. The Counter Extremism
Project, for example, reported that on 6th August 2022, the Nigerian Air Force
carried out a series of bombings in Katsina State killing 8 militants including
the arrowhead, Abdulkarim Faca-Faca, who reportedly led attacks in Batsari,
Danmusa, Safana and other parts of Zamfara State. Days earlier, on 3rd August
2022, the Nigerian military carried out airstrikes in the Mandara Mountains of
North Western, Borno State. The airstrike killed 28 BH terrorists operating in
varying degrees across Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon. Nevertheless, the
continuing attacks on innocent civilians, and the lack of a consistently
adequate and robust response from state actors, against the terrorists, to
sustainably safeguard the populace, raises serious questions pertaining to the
completeness, dynamism and fitness for purpose of the existing National
Security Strategy. The latter encapsulates the; National Counter Terrorism
Strategy, Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy, National Defence Policy and the
Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. First, is the determination to fight, and
win, this war, real and total? Second, is the right balance being struck in the
deployment of kinetic and non-kinetic operations?”



Somalia



Voice Of America: Death Toll Climbs To 11 Following Al-Shabab Hotel Attack In
Somalia
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“The siege at the Tawakal hotel marked al-Shabab's second major attack in
Somalia this month amid an offensive against the group by the Somali National
Army and allied militia in central Somalia. In early October, a triple bombing
in the town of Beledweyne left at least 20 people dead. Abdisalam Guled, the
director of Eagle Ranges Services, a Mogadishu-based security company, told VOA
that al-Shabab is staging war in every part of Somalia and sending a message to
the government in Mogadishu. Guled said Sunday’s attack on the Tawakal Hotel in
Kismayo shows that al-Shabab can attack anywhere any time. He said it also
shows how al-Shabab has information about the people preparing themselves to
fight the group. Guled says he has information that there were ongoing meetings
in the hotel to discuss how al-Shabab could be fought. Al-Shabab has been
fighting to topple the internationally recognized Somali government for more
than 15 years. Guled warned that, should the government fail to defeat
al-Shabab, the consequences could be disastrous, especially for communities
that joined forces with the government and dispatched militias to the
battlefront. Guled said the fight against al-Shabab is going on in specific
areas and, in order to weaken al-Shabab, there should be more front lines.
Jubaland state should join the war; Southwest state should join the war.”



Africa



AFP: Jihadist Raids Spark New Exodus In Mozambique
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“Even the exhaustion from walking 40 kilometres, fleeing jihadists who had
attacked her village, could not mask the trauma on Maria Lourenco's face. An
indelible image was imprinted on her mind. “They beheaded two men and put their
heads in a basin,” she told AFP. “Then they handed over the heads to the wife
of one of the victims to present to the authorities,” she said. “I saw their
heads.” Her village in the Katapua area in Cabo Delgado province, the epicentre
of a five-year-old jihadist insurgency in northern Mozambique, came under
attack last weekend. The 60-year-old grandmother fled on foot to the town of
Chiure, 25 miles away, with her eight daughters and grandchildren. Wearing blue
flip-flops and clutching an improvised walking stick, she was standing in the
town square waiting for her daughter-in-law to take her to the provincial
capital Pemba. The family's terrifying experience underscores how Mozambique's
jihadist nightmare remains very far from over, despite military gains last
year. The insurgency erupted in October 2017 when fighters -- since proclaimed
to be affiliated to the Islamic State group -- attacked coastal areas in
northern Cabo Delgado, close to the Tanzanian border. Bloody assaults on
villages were followed in 2020 with the capture of the port of Mocimboa da
Praia -- a key part of a huge scheme to develop liquefied natural gas in the
region.”



United Kingdom



Birmingham Mail: Extremist Found In Birmingham Mosque And Jailed For Plotting
To Fight With ISIS 'Could Be Freed'
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“An extremist who was found by police sleeping at a Birmingham mosque and
later jailed for plotting to fight with ISIS 'could be freed within weeks'.
Aras Mohammed Hamid is being lined up for release after being referred to the
Parole Board. The 32-year-old, from Coventry, had plotted to travel to the
Middle East to fight with ISIS. He was also described as the “mastermind”
behind plans to send fighters to join the Salahaddin Battalion - a Kurdish unit
of Daesh. The asylum seeker was convicted of two counts of preparing for acts
of terrorism and jailed for seven years in January 2017. The Parole Board will
make a decision on whether to release him, with the case adjourned for complex
security checks. MI5, police, and jail counter-terror units were all asked for
reports, The Sun has revealed. “Decisions are solely focused on what risk a
prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is
manageable in the community,” the Parole Board said. Kurdish-born Hamid had
been pivotal in plans for Ahmed Ismail, a student from Coventry, and Shivan
Hayder Azeez Zangana, known as “Azeez”, from Sheffield, to travel from Gatwick
to Sulaymaniyah in Iraq. Preparations included Hamid meeting Ismail in the city
during the planning in May 2016. But he was discovered, alongside Azeez, after
they were found by police sleeping at a mosque in Birmingham. Azeez, then aged
21, was arrested. But Hamid was held two days later when he was found hiding in
the back of a lorry on the A2, near Dover, as he attempted to smuggle himself
out of the country.”



France



AFP: Man Jailed In France For Online Hate Speech Against Nice Attack Victims
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“A man has been jailed in France for posting online hate speech messages
targeting victims of the 2016 Nice terror attack. The 21-year-old was found to
have “praised” the attack on Instagram, posting that “80 fascists had
disappeared”. Several videos and images of beheadings, as well as pictures of
the Taliban, were later found on the man's mobile phone. He was handed a
one-year prison sentence by an Auxerre court, as well as three years of
socio-judicial supervision. The 21-year-old had told the court that he had
posted the online messages to “attract attention”. He had previously been
convicted of making death threats and of terrorism offences. Eighty-six people
were killed and more than 400 others were injured when a truck deliberately
drove into pedestrians along Nice's Promenade des Anglais on Bastille Day. The
attacker was later shot dead by police. The attack was claimed by members of
the so-called Islamic State (IS) group but investigators have not found
evidence of a direct link to the perpetrator. Silk Road Samarkand is the only
tourist hub of such a scale in Central Asia, and with the hotels and services
on offer, the resort is expected to double the number of tourists coming to the
region. Eight people are currently on trial for their alleged roles in the
attack, the second deadliest on French soil.”



Canada



CBC: At Least 2 Canadian Women And Their Children Returning From ISIS
Detention Camp
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“At least two Canadian women have left a detention camp in Syria and will be
arriving in Canada on Wednesday morning, CBC News has learned. The women left
the al-Roj camp in northeastern Syria — which holds women allegedly tied to
ISIS and their children — and were headed for northern Iraq on Tuesday morning
with an unknown number of children, according to multiple sources. Ottawa
lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said he has learned that Kimberly Polman, his client,
is out of the camp and her tent has been taken down.Greenspon said Global
Affairs Canada told him Polman and the others being repatriated are all
expected to arrive in Montreal on Wednesday. “It's very good news,” said
Greenspon. “It shows Canada ... is capable of bringing home our Canadian
nationals held in detention.” At least two Canadian women have left a detention
camp in Syria holding ISIS fighters and their families. Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau says the government is monitoring the situation. Greenspon is
representing 23 Canadian men, women and children who are being held in ISIS
detention camps in northeastern Syria. He has been pushing at the Federal Court
to get them home. He said he's “certain” that the federal government is
allowing Polman to return home due to her health. He confirmed Polman qualified
for “extraordinary assistance” under a new policy adopted last year by Global
Affairs Canada for those who could not be treated in Syria for life-threatening
medical conditions.”



Europe



Kurdistan 24: Dutch Prosecutors Ask For Witnesses Of ISIS Crimes Against
Yezidi's
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“On Tuesday, the Netherlands Public Prosecutors Service called for witness
statements in order to prosecute possible perperators of crimes by ISIS against
Yezidi's. During a program on the Dutch TV, Pari Ibrahim, the Founder and
Executive Director of the Free Yezidi Foundation (FYF) called on witnesses to
share information on Dutch perpetrators, the Netherlands Public Prosecutors
Service said in a tweet. This included a video in Kurmanci by Ibrahim calling
on Yezidi's to provide witness statements. “It is important to see that Dutch
authorities are making a real effort to obtain information about the crimes
their citizens may have committed, including in the Yezidi Genocide,” Pari
Ibrahim told Kurdistan 24. “Germany made great progress in this, and we want
Netherlands justice authorities to also succeed in bringing cases. Also this
sheds a light to survivors that there are countries who care about these
atrocities committed by ISIS.” The Netherlands Police’s International Crimes
Team (TIM) in August said they are looking for information for Dutch ISIS
fighters or wives involved in war crimes against Yezidi’s. Almost 3,000 Yezidis
remain missing eight years after ISIS launched its brutal genocide against the
Yezidi community in Sinjar. Moreover, thousands of Yezidis still live in
displaced person camps in the Kurdistan Region, which has been hosting them
since 2014.”



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