Eye on Extremism
October 26, 2022
The Hill: Airstrike In Somalia Kills Two Al-Shabaab Members: Pentagon
“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
“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
“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
“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'?
“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
“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
“…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
“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
“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'
“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
“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
“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
“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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