“A United Nations official said more cases of crypto use in terror-financing
are being detected amid stepped up scrutiny of such practices. A couple of
years ago 5% of terrorist attacks were viewed as crypto-financed or linked to
digital assets, but “now we’re thinking that it may reach about 20%,” Svetlana
Martynova, senior legal officer at the United Nations Counter-Terrorism
Committee Executive Directorate, said in an interview in Mumbai. “Statistics
here are not our best friends,” Martynova stressed in the Oct. 28 interview.
“We’re just seeing more as we’re looking more into it.” Cryptocurrency-based
crime hit an all-time high in 2021, with illicit digital-asset addresses
receiving $14 billion, up from $7.8 billion in 2020, according to a report by
blockchain specialist Chainalysis Inc. A number of militant organizations, like
Al-Qaeda or al-Qassam Brigades -- Hamas’ military wing -- tried to finance
operations with crypto but it’s hard to find “a group that has gotten away with
it,” Chainalysis said. Martynova said a UN Security Council resolution
specifically calls on member states to tackle the risks linked to virtual
assets and terrorism financing. She added that the Financial Action Task Force
has helped to set global standards on regulations, particularly for tracking
information on blockchains across jurisdictions -- known as the Travel Rule.”











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Eye on Extremism


November 1, 2022



Bloomberg: UN Says Crypto Use In Terror Financing Likely Soaring
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“A United Nations official said more cases of crypto use in terror-financing
are being detected amid stepped up scrutiny of such practices. A couple of
years ago 5% of terrorist attacks were viewed as crypto-financed or linked to
digital assets, but “now we’re thinking that it may reach about 20%,” Svetlana
Martynova, senior legal officer at the United Nations Counter-Terrorism
Committee Executive Directorate, said in an interview in Mumbai. “Statistics
here are not our best friends,” Martynova stressed in the Oct. 28 interview.
“We’re just seeing more as we’re looking more into it.” Cryptocurrency-based
crime hit an all-time high in 2021, with illicit digital-asset addresses
receiving $14 billion, up from $7.8 billion in 2020, according to a report by
blockchain specialist Chainalysis Inc. A number of militant organizations, like
Al-Qaeda or al-Qassam Brigades -- Hamas’ military wing -- tried to finance
operations with crypto but it’s hard to find “a group that has gotten away with
it,” Chainalysis said. Martynova said a UN Security Council resolution
specifically calls on member states to tackle the risks linked to virtual
assets and terrorism financing. She added that the Financial Action Task Force
has helped to set global standards on regulations, particularly for tracking
information on blockchains across jurisdictions -- known as the Travel Rule.”



Reuters: EU Examines Classifying Iran Revolutionary Guards As Terrorists –
Germany
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Germany and the European Union are examining whether to classify Iran's
Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, Foreign Minister Annalena
Baerbock said on Sunday. "I made it clear last week that we will launch another
package of sanctions, that we will examine how we can also list the
Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation," Baerbock said in a interview
with ARD broadcaster on Sunday. Her comments come after the head of the
Revolutionary Guards warned protesters that Saturday would be their last day of
taking to the streets, in a sign that security forces may intensify their
already fierce crackdown on widespread unrest. Germany last week said it was
tightening entry restrictions on Iran beyond an already announced EU sanctions
package. Baebock also said there were currently no negotiations about the
nuclear agreement between Iran and the West.



United States



CNN: Sheriff’s Office Says Antisemitic Messages In Jacksonville Were Not Crimes
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“The multiple antisemitic messages that appeared in public spaces in
Jacksonville, Florida, this weekend, including at the high-profile
Florida-Georgia college football game, do not constitute crimes at this time,
the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said. “At this time, the Sheriff’s Office has
not identified any crimes having been committed; the comments displayed do not
include any type of threat and are protected by the First Amendment,” public
information officer T.N. Dash said in an email. “We will continue to monitor
any reports of this nature to determine if they rise to level of a criminal
nature.” The Jacksonville branch of the FBI also said it is in contact with the
sheriff’s office in case the investigation reveals further information of a
crime. “Investigating these acts remains a top priority for the FBI because
hate crimes are not only an attack on the victim – these acts are meant to
threaten and intimidate an entire community,” FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in
Charge Sherri Onks said. The police statements came as local and state
officials condemned the antisemitic messages. The US has seen a rise in
antisemitic incidents over the past few years, with 941 incidents in 2015
jumping to 2,717 tracked in 2021 by the Anti-Defamation League. Four years ago,
a gunman stormed into a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and killed 11
people in the deadliest attack on Jewish people on US soil.”



AFP: US Woman Who Led Female ISIS Battalion Faces 20 Years In Prison
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“A US woman who grew up on a farm in Kansas, converted to Islam and joined
ISIS in Syria — where she led an all-female military battalion — is to be
sentenced Tuesday for providing support to a foreign terrorist group. Allison
Fluke-Ekren, 42, faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to terror
charges in June in a US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. “For at least
eight years, Fluke-Ekren committed terrorist acts on behalf of three foreign
terrorist organisations across war zones in Libya, Iraq, and Syria,” US
attorney Raj Parekh said. “Fluke-Ekren brainwashed young girls and trained them
to kill,” Mr Parekh said. “She carved a path of terror, plunging her own
children into unfathomable depths of cruelty by physically, psychologically,
emotionally and sexually abusing them.” Mr Parekh, urging Judge Leonie Brinkema
to impose the maximum 20 year sentence, traced Ms Fluke-Ekren's path from her
upbringing on an 33-hectare farm in Kansas to her apprehension in Syria after
the 2019 territorial defeat of ISIS. While other Americans travelled to Syria
and Iraq to join ISIS, most were men. Ms Fluke-Ekren is the rare US woman who
occupied a senior position in the ranks of the now-defunct group. Born Allison
Brooks, she grew up in a “loving and stable home” in Overbrook, Kansas, and was
considered a “gifted” student, the US attorney said. She dropped out of high
school in her sophomore year, however, and married a local man named Fluke,
with whom she had two children.”



Penn Live: Pa. Prison Guard’s Stabbing Was Terrorist Attack, Government Says
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“The 2020 stabbing of an Allenwood Federal Penitentiary corrections officer
was an ISIS terrorist attack, the government alleges. That was revealed Monday
in the government’s opposition to the request of Kuwait-born Abdulrahman el
Bahnasawy to resolve his U.S. Middle District criminal case by pleading no
contest to two counts. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.
Rocktashel, the inmate had in his sock when Dale Franquet Jr. was attacked on
Dec. 7, 2020, a note that stated: “This is a terrorist attack for the Islamic
State.”



Iran



AFP: Iran Arrests ‘Accomplice’ Of Islamic State-Claimed Shrine Attack That
Killed 15
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“Iran announced Monday that a suspected accomplice of the shooter who carried
out a deadly attack on a Shiite Muslim shrine in Shiraz has been arrested,
state news agency IRNA reported. At least 13 people were killed Wednesday in
the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in the southern city, according to a revised
official toll, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. State media had
initially given a death toll of 15. “The second person involved in the
terrorist operation at the sacred sanctuary, who provided support, has been
arrested,” said local deputy governor Esmail Mohebipour, quoted by IRNA. The
suspect, arrested Sunday evening in Shiraz, had not entered the shrine, and his
alleged role was not clear. The perpetrator of the attack in Shiraz, identified
by local media as Hamed Badakhshan, died of wounds sustained while he was being
arrested, a local official said Saturday. The shooting at the shrine came on
the same day that thousands of people across Iran paid tribute to Mahsa Amini,
40 days after her death in police custody. Amini, 22, died on September 16,
three days after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly
breaching the country’s Islamic dress code for women. Remarks made Thursday by
President Ebrahim Raisi appeared to link the Shiraz attack, one of the
country’s deadliest in years, with the protests and “riots” following Amini’s
death.”



Nigeria



Voice Of America: Nigerian President Meets Security Chiefs Amid Terror Alerts
By Foreign Missions
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“Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is holding emergency meetings Monday
with security chiefs after several foreign missions issued terror warnings last
week for the capital, Abuja. Buhar’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, made the
announcement in a tweet late Sunday. He said top security officials including
the defense minister, armed services chiefs, police and heads of other security
agencies will meet the president in Abuja on Monday morning. Shehu said the
meeting is to further review and strengthen the security network in the
country. The meeting follows series of warning by various foreign missions in
Nigeria of an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, especially the
capital. The U.S., UK, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Turkey and Austria last week
issued advisories to their citizens warning against non-essential travel to
Nigeria. Nigerian authorities insist the country is safe and that there is no
cause for alarm. But the warning caused fears among residents and led to the
shutdown of businesses and activities. Security expert Senator Iruegbu said
authorities are only trying to allay fears but that the warnings must be taken
seriously. “We have to continue as members of the public for one's safety, we
have to continue demanding that they should improve. When they give assurances,
I think that's the right thing to do because you don't need to create more
panic or to show the public you're not in charge of the situation,” said
Iruegbu.”



AFP: Nigeria Army Repels Attack On Base, Kills 8 ISWAP Jihadists
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“Nigeria’s military killed eight suspected of Islamic State-allied jihadists
after repelling a raid on a military base in central Niger state, where
hundreds of militants are being held, two military sources said on Monday.
Dozens of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters tried to break
into the Wawa military cantonment in the remote New Bussa village near the
border with Benin Republic late on Saturday to free more than 1,000 of their
comrades detained there, the military officers told AFP. The Wawa attack
underscores the threat ISWAP poses to Nigeria as the group expands outside its
traditional northeast stronghold, where the army has battled jihadists for more
than a decade. “The terrorists attacked the base around midnight in large
numbers but they were pulverised with air support, leading to the death of
eight of them,” one military officer said. Three of the attackers, including
their commander, were captured in the fight, the officer said. The army has
still not officially commented on the attack. Troops at the base had received
intelligence militants were preparing an attack and waited for them, said a
second officer who gave the same toll. The jihadists tried to blast their way
through the gates of the base with dynamite and heavy guns, but met “stiff
resistance” from troops at the base, said the second source. “It was obvious
they wanted to free other terrorists being held in the facility as they did in
Kuje Prison,” said the officer.”



Somalia



All Africa: Somalia: Troops Retake Town From Al-Shabaab
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“The Somali forces have retaken Ali Gadud Mosque in the Middle Shabelle
region this morning, where they have been struggling to control it for the past
few days. The Minister of Information of Somalia Daoud Aweys Jama said that the
forces of the country and the local forces have completely taken control of the
area from Al-Shabaab. The minister who spoke to the media in Mogadishu said
that Al-Shabaab has been in control of the village for years. He added that 100
militants were killed in the offensive. Also, Daoud Aweys, said that community
services will be delivered to the area, calling on the military to continue
operations against Al-Shabaab. According to reports, the military carried out a
mine search operation in the area of Masjid Ali Gadud and some of them blew up,
which they buried in Al-Shabaab.”



United Kingdom



The National: Expert In ‘Blinking Red’ Warning Of Lone Wolf Terror Amid Cost
Of Living Crisis
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“Britain may be facing a “perfect storm” over the next six months with the
risk of a new wave of far-right lone wolf terrorists competing to be “saints
and martyrs” on a computer game-style leader board, an expert has said.
Professor Matthew Feldman, who has given evidence in 40 convictions of radical
right extremists in the UK, warned of a heightened threat this winter amid the
cost-of-living crisis and political instability. In an interview with the PA
news agency, he identified at least five lone wolf attacks over the last seven
years, while highlighting counter-terrorism police officers’ continuing success
in foiling more plots. The murder of MP Jo Cox by a right-wing extremist in
2016 was followed a year later by a fatal van attack on Muslims in Finsbury
Park. In 2020, a teenager enacted a demonic ideology with far-right
associations by killing sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in a London
park. Prof Feldman counts the fatal shooting of five people in Plymouth in
August last year as a lone wolf attack, most likely driven by “Incel” ideology.
Also last year, the Southend MP Sir David Amess was cut down at a constituency
surgery by an Islamic State fanatic. Prof Feldman said the far-right variant of
what he calls “self-directed terror” is on the rise globally, fuelled by the
glorification of mass murderers such as Norwegian Anders Breivik, whose 2011
manifesto is still just three clicks away online.”



Germany



Bulan Institute For Peace Innovations: Interview With Ms. Sofia Koller, Senior
Research Analyst At The German Counter Extremism Project
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“About 1,150 individuals left Germany and traveled to the Middle East to join
ISIS and other terrorist groups. Germany has conducted various repatriation
operations bringing back ISIS-affiliated women and minors though many male
fighters remain in Syria and Iraq. According to a recent report published by
the Counter Extremism Project, at least 7 women and 22 children remain in the
Al-Roj camp, with 2 German women also present in the Al-Howl camp in Northeast
Syria. The Bulan Institute interviewed Ms. Sofia Koller, a Senior Research
Analyst at the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) in Germany. She conducted
extensive research on the state approaches in EU countries toward former
fighters and their family members. From June 2018 to December 2021, Sofia
Koller was a research fellow for counterterrorism and the prevention of violent
extremism as well as project leader of the International Forum for Expert
Exchange on Countering Islamist Extremism. She studied international relations
and management at the University of Applied Sciences Regensburg and the
German-Jordanian University in Amman as well as international conflict studies
at the War Studies Department at King’s College London.”



Technology



New York Post: Far-Right Extremist Nicholas Fuentes Tries To Get Back On
Twitter — But Is Banned
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“Nicholas Fuentes, a white nationalist who was banned from Twitter last year,
tried to get back on the social media site now that it’s owned by free speech
advocate Elon Musk — only to be turned away by the platform once again. Fuentes
— who has been banned by other tech sites including YouTube, Reddit, TikTok,
Spotify, Venmo and Clubhouse for making several incendiary comments deemed
racist and anti-Semitic — created new Twitter accounts in hopes of rejoining
the service, according to the Daily Beast. Among the new Twitter handles that
Fuentes created in hopes of getting back onto the microblogging site were
@spookygoblin8, according to the Daily Beast. The Post has sought comment from
Fuentes and Twitter. Fuentes first gained notoriety in 2017 when he said he was
forced to leave Boston University, where he was enrolled as a student, after
receiving threats for taking part in the white supremacist rally in
Charlottesville, Va. He would eventually found an organization called America
First Foundation, which the Justice Department has deemed a white nationalist
organization. Fuentes was removed from several tech platforms last year after
making controversial comments about the US losing its “white demographic core”
while praising the riots at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as “awesome.”



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