“The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Tuesday against arms
traffickers connected to ISIS and al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist
network that claimed responsibility for a car bomb that killed more than 100
people in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu on Saturday. “We extend our
heartfelt condolences to all who lost loved ones and were injured in Saturday’s
horrific attack and strongly condemn this indefensible act of terrorism,” Under
Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson
said in a statement. “Today, we take direct aim at the networks funding and
supplying both ISIS-Somalia and al-Shabaab that support their violent acts.”
Tuesday's sanctions mark the first time that the Treasury has targeted ISIS in
Somalia, though sanctions were also levied against al-Shabaab in mid-October.
Several of the individuals sanctioned on Tuesday primarily traffic weapons
between Yemen and Somalia, including Isse Mohamoud Yusuf, who the Treasury said
runs a network of smuggling vessels to transport AK-47s, PKMs, RPG-7s and IED
parts to ISIS. Another sanctioned individual, Osama Abdelmongy Abdalla Bakr, is
a supporter of ISIS in Brazil.”











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Eye on Extremism


November 2, 2022



Fox Business: Treasury Sanctions Arms Traffickers Connected To ISIS And
Al-Shabaab In Somalia
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“The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Tuesday against arms
traffickers connected to ISIS and al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist
network that claimed responsibility for a car bomb that killed more than 100
people in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu on Saturday. “We extend our
heartfelt condolences to all who lost loved ones and were injured in Saturday’s
horrific attack and strongly condemn this indefensible act of terrorism,” Under
Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson
said in a statement. “Today, we take direct aim at the networks funding and
supplying both ISIS-Somalia and al-Shabaab that support their violent acts.”
Tuesday's sanctions mark the first time that the Treasury has targeted ISIS in
Somalia, though sanctions were also levied against al-Shabaab in mid-October.
Several of the individuals sanctioned on Tuesday primarily traffic weapons
between Yemen and Somalia, including Isse Mohamoud Yusuf, who the Treasury said
runs a network of smuggling vessels to transport AK-47s, PKMs, RPG-7s and IED
parts to ISIS. Another sanctioned individual, Osama Abdelmongy Abdalla Bakr, is
a supporter of ISIS in Brazil.”



Reuters: Blast In Kabul Hits Bus Carrying Taliban Admin. Employees, Injures
Seven
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“A blast hit a bus carrying Taliban administration employees in the Afghan
capital on Wednesday morning, police said, injuring seven people. "Due to a
blast on a mini bus from the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development,
seven have been injured," said Khalid Zadran, Kabul's police spokesperson,
adding the explosion was caused by a roadside mine. It was not immediately
clear who was behind the blast. Several attacks have taken place in urban areas
in recent months. Last month an attack by gunmen on a vehicle in western
Afghanistan, which was claimed by the Islamic State, killed five medical
personnel employed by Taliban security forces. The Taliban say they are focused
on securing the war-torn nation since they took over the country in 2021.
Though large-scale fighting has ended since foreign forces withdrew over a year
ago, the United Nations has said security is deteriorating.”



United States



The Wall Street Journal: Kansas Native Sentenced To 20 Years For Training
Islamic State Women’s Brigade
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“Allison Fluke-Ekren was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for working
with Islamic State after an emotional court hearing that explored how a mother
of 12, who grew up on a Kansas farm, came to run a women’s brigade for the
murderous terrorist group in Syria. “Even terrorists are telling her she is too
extreme,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh said, describing how
Fluke-Ekren worked with several terrorist groups and trained over 100 women and
girls for Islamic State on using assault rifles, grenades and suicide belts in
2017. He laid out how she aspired to commit an attack at a shopping mall or
college in the U.S. and moved her children through war zones for a decade. She
“brainwashed young girls and trained them to kill,” Mr. Parekh said.
Fluke-Ekren pleaded guilty in June to her work for Islamic State, in one of the
first cases to detail an American woman’s extensive operational role in the
terrorist group. She also admitted to helping another terrorist group review
U.S. government documents seized by one of her ex-husbands from the 2012 attack
on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. On Tuesday, one of her
daughters told the court about abuse she said she faced at her mother’s hands
while they lived in Syria—and described how her mother married her off to an
Islamic State fighter when she was 13, soon after her father, the emir of the
group’s snipers in Syria, had been killed.”



Mediaite: GOP Senator Accuses Democrats Of ‘Trying To Wipe Christianity Out In
This Country’
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“…The nonpartisan Counter Extremism Project defines “The Great Replacement
Theory” here: The Great Replacement Theory is an ethno-nationalist theory
warning that an indigenous European—e.g., white—population is being replaced by
non-European immigrants. The Great Replacement concept was popularized by
French writer Renaud Camus in his 2012 book, Le Grand Replacement (“The Great
Replacement”). Camus postulated that black and brown immigrants were
reverse-colonizing native “white” Europeans. Tuberville agreed with Bolling
about his replacement theory, and added that it could be a miscalculation
because many people crossing the border are Christian or have Christian values,
which he claimed “they” are trying to “wipe out” in America. The “they” in this
context being the left and Democrats. I agree with you. But the problem they’re
going to have is there are going to be a lot of conservatives in this group
because there’s a lot of Christians coming across that border and they’re
trying to wipe Christianity out in this country and they’re letting more in
than is not. I think they’re going to be surprised by the Hispanic vote coming
up in eight days. I think they’re going to be shocked and hopefully they are
because if they’re in this country now, they’re part of our country and they
need to make sure that we keep it the way it is and not what they came from.”



Iran



The Parliament Magazine: Why The EU Should Take A Tougher Stance On Iran
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“Mahsa Amini was 22 years old when she was arrested by the morality police in
Tehran on 13 September for allegedly failing to properly wear the hijab. Three
days later, Amini died after reportedly being beaten by the same Iranian
forces. Since her death, Iranian men and women have been flooding the streets
to form the largest protest movement that the country has seen in years against
the daily systematic oppression and persecution that they face. So far, over
100 civilians have lost their lives, and thousands more have been injured or
arrested. On 17 October, the Council of the European Union agreed to a new
package of human rights-related sanctions against 11 Iranian individuals and
four entities linked to Tehran’s crackdown on protesters and the death of Amini
– including Iran’s morality police. It is in this context that there is a need
to reflect on how Europe’s narrowly focused pursuit of a nuclear deal
(officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) has
prevented it from taking meaningful action against ongoing human rights
violations in Iran. In a joint letter to the EU’s Foreign Affairs Chief Josep
Borrell on 26 September, 51 MEPs called for the EU Global Human Rights
Sanctions Regime to be applied to Iran’s morality police, the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iranian law enforcement agencies.”



Nigeria



All Africa: Nigeria: Military Thwarts Boko Haram's Attempt To Attack Base In
Niger <[link removed]>



“An attempt by the Boko Haram terrorist group to infiltrate the military base
in Wawa town in the Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State has been
thwarted by the combined team of soldiers and air force personnel. The
terrorist group, which tried to forcefully gain entry into the military base,
according to a reliable source, planned to secure some of their members who
were being detained in the military base. According to a very reliable source,
the heavily armed terrorists came into the town in large numbers and started
shooting sporadically to scare the military men in the base. However, the alert
soldiers countered the terrorists' onslaught and in the process eight of the
terrorists were neutralised. It was also learned that the soldiers, however,
secured the services of their colleagues in the air force, who were said to
have deployed Tucano fighter jets to wipe out the terrorists. “Some soldiers
were injured but no one died,” a competent source told THISDAY. However, as at
the time of this report, there was still panic in the town, though the security
situation was said to be returning to normal. The public, according to a
report, has been advised to remain indoors till further notice. No official of
the government was available to confirm the story, but a top traditional title
holder in the Wawa emirate, who preferred anonymity, confirmed it.”



Somalia



Voice Of America: Death Toll Rises To 121 In Somalia Al-Shabab Attacks
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“The death toll from two al-Shabab bombings in Mogadishu has risen to 121,
Somalia’s Health Minister Dr. Ali Haji Adam, said Tuesday. In an interview with
VOA’s Somali Service, Adam said 10 people have been recorded as missing from
the Saturday bombings. He said the National Response Committee appointed by the
government also recorded 333 injuries. “This morning there are 142 injured
people in the hospitals, some of them in the intensive care unit,” he said.
Adam said the government set up a call center for people who are missing their
loved ones to contact. He said the government has also been distributing food
and water to the wounded and their relatives who are coming to the hospitals.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has appealed to the international
community to send doctors to help treat the wounded. Adam said Turkey was the
first country to respond to the appeal made by the president. “We were
expecting an air ambulance, carrying medical supplies and doctors (from Turkey)
today but it was delayed,” he said. He said they are also expecting medical
supplies, two ambulances and a trauma team from the World Health Organization.
Adam said the government also set up a victims’ support fund, to which the
government has donated $1 million. Three private companies, Dahabshiil, Hormud
and BECO have donated $500,000, $200,000, and $50,000 respectively.”



Voice Of America: US Targets Smugglers Supplying Islamic State In Somalia
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“…Even the information issued by the U.S. noted that despite efforts to raise
funds and the movement of hundreds of thousands of dollars, IS-Somalia members
receive low wages. Some former counterterrorism officials think that may have
to do with IS-Somalia’s focus, which is not on Somalia itself. IS-Somalia “is
much more invested in its ability to support ISIS networks elsewhere,” Edmund
Fitton-Brown, a former top U.N. official who is now a senior adviser to the New
York and Berlin-based Counter Extremism Project (CEP), told VOA. The notion is
supported by intelligence that indicates that despite its small size,
IS-Somalia is home to one of the Islamic State’s key regional hubs. U.N. member
state intelligence published earlier this year suggests the so-called al-Karrar
office based in Somalia serves as a key financial hub for IS, moving money from
Yemen to Afghanistan to help buy weapons and pay the salaries of IS fighters in
Somalia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”



Africa



AFP: Fleeing Jihadist Violence, Niger Pupils Return To School
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“With blue schoolbags bouncing off their backs, hundreds of schoolchildren
hurtle down small sand dunes eager to attend class again. But these boys and
girls are survivors of suffering and trauma that few children of their age
could conceive. Their new school is in the town of Ouallam in southwestern
Niger, a region that for five years has been plagued by attacks unleashed by
groups linked with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. The pupils come from
18 villages near Mali whose inhabitants fled to the relative safety of Ouallam
in 2021 after jihadist killings that also forced the closure of schools. The UN
children's agency UNICEF says 817 schools with 72,421 pupils -- including
34,464 girls -- have closed in Niger, mostly in the Tillaberi, the border
region where Ouallam is located. In Ouallam alone, around one hundred schools
have had to shut their doors. The chronic insecurity has prompted the
authorities to create dedicated educational centres where displaced children
can resume their schooling, Mahamadou Illo Abarchi, an education official in
Ouallam, told AFP. Some 17,000 pupils have already re-entered the school system
and another 55,300 are set to follow suit, enrolling in around 20 centres for
displaced children across southwestern Niger, the government says. In Ouallam,
almost 1,600 schoolchildren -- some of whom had not attended class for three
years -- are registered with three centres built near a site for displaced
people.”



All Africa: Africa: As Terrorists Claim New Ground, An African Strategy Is
Vital <[link removed]>



“As Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda leaders have been targeted and eliminated
internationally, the terrorist groups have expanded and consolidated their
African operations. According to Jihad Analytics, half the attacks claimed by
IS since the beginning of 2022 were carried out in 10 African countries. Among
them were Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria - the four Boko Haram-affected
countries of the Lake Chad Basin. Boko Haram factions are also expanding
operations beyond the region. For a long time, the eight primary target areas
of violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin were North and Far North
(Cameroon), Lac and Hadjer-Lamis (Chad), Diffa (Niger), and Borno, Adamawa and
Yobe (Nigeria). However in 2022 the scope has expanded, particularly with the
establishment of Ansaru and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) cells in
other parts of Nigeria. This has complicated counter-insurgency operations,
especially where national militaries are already overstretched. The extension
of terrorist activities beyond the Lake Chad Basin also puts these groups
beyond the reach of the region's Multinational Joint Task Force - a military
response to Boko Haram set up by Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.”



United Kingdom



Reuters: UK Counter-Terrorism Police Lead Investigation Into Dover Bomb
Incident
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“Britain's counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation into an
incident in which petrol bombs were thrown at an immigration centre in the
southern English port of Dover, police said on Tuesday.” What appears clear is
that this despicable offence was targeted and likely to be driven by some form
of hate filled grievance, though this may not necessarily meet the threshold of
terrorism,” police said. Police also identified the suspect who threw the bombs
at the immigration centre on Sunday as Andrew Leak, a 66 year-old man from High
Wycombe, southern England, who was later found dead at a nearby service
station. “There is currently nothing to suggest the man involved was working
alongside anyone else, and there is not believed to be any wider threat to the
community in the High Wycombe area or in Dover,” the police statement said. The
Dover facility is the first stop for thousands of people making the dangerous
journey across the English Channel before being sent to other accommodation
while their claims to stay in Britain are reviewed. The attack came as British
policy towards migrants and asylum seekers remains a heated political issue.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told his cabinet on Tuesday that the nation
is a compassionate and welcoming place for asylum seekers, but this is
dependent on the country being able to effectively police its borders.”



Europe



AFP: 'Terror' Charge For Swede Over Plot To Kill Party Leader
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“A Swede with a history of mental health issues was charged Tuesday with
“terrorism” for allegedly killing a prominent psychiatrist and “preparing a
terror crime” over plans to murder a top politician. Theodor Engstrom, 33, is
alleged to have stabbed to death Sweden's national coordinator for psychiatric
care in early July in broad daylight in Visby, on the island of Gotland, near
an annual week-long gathering of Sweden's political class called Almedalen.
After Engstrom's arrest, police found indications that he also had alleged
plans to murder Centre Party leader Annie Loof, who was nearby when the
stabbing occurred. The murder of 64-year-old psychiatrist Ing-Marie Wieselgren
was considered a “terrorist” act as it “could have caused Sweden serious harm”
and was designed to “instill grave fear among the population or part of the
population”, prosecutors said in the charge sheet, seen by AFP. Prosecutors
said the same was true for Engstrom's alleged plans for Loof's “murder or
aggravated assault”. In the weeks before the attack, Engstrom had acquired a
double-edged knife, two swords and a set of bow and arrows. He also had
detailed information of both Wieselgren's and Loof's plans and movements at
Almedalen, according to the charge sheet. Prosecutors said they also had
notebooks, internet search histories and an encrypted hard disc as evidence for
the “terrorism” charges.”



AFP: Netherlands To Repatriate 40 Citizens From Syrian Camps
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“Twelve women and 28 children will be repatriated to the Netherlands from
detention camps in northern Syria, the Dutch government announced on Tuesday,
making the country's largest group yet to be brought back. They will face
charges on their return for joining the Islamic State group. The move comes
after a Dutch court in May recommended that the women be returned immediately
to the Netherlands, or that a commitment to return then be made within four
months. “The cabinet is transferring twelve Dutch women suspected of terrorist
offences and their 28 children to the Netherlands,” two government ministers
said. “The women will be arrested after arrival in the Netherlands and will be
tried,” Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra and Justice Minister Dilan
Yesilgoz-Zegerius said in a letter to parliament. The ministerial letter
declined to say from which camp the women and children will be fetched or when,
adding only it will be done via a “special operation”. The children will be
taken into the care of the Dutch child protection services, the ministers
added. Western countries have faced a dilemma over how to handle their citizens
detained in Syria since the end of military operations against the Islamic
State group there in 2019. Thousands of extremists in Europe decided to join
the group as fighters, often taking their wives and children to live in the
“caliphate” declared in territory conquered in Iraq and Syria. Some 300 Dutch
citizens travelled to Syria during the height of the civil war, according to
Dutch government figures.”



Technology



The New York Times: Security Training Group Asks Musk To Rid Twitter Of
Antisemitism
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“The nonprofit organization Secure Community Network, which provides safety
consulting and training for Jewish facilities across North America, wrote a
letter on Monday to Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, imploring him to clamp down
on antisemitic content that could endanger lives. “Twitter has an antisemitism
problem — with hashtags such as #holohoax [Holocaust Hoax] and #killthejews
abounding on the site,” Michael Masters, the group’s national director and
chief executive, wrote in the letter. The group is made up of many former law
enforcement officials, including Mr. Masters, who was the chief of staff at the
Chicago Police Department. It gave Mr. Musk five recommendations to improve
Twitter and the safety of Jewish people, including hiring and training
moderators to identify antisemitic content, removing it from the platform and
closing user accounts that promote violent extremism. Officials at the
nonprofit say they have observed a swell of online posts expressing hate toward
or conspiracy theories about Jewish people in the last few years. The
organization touches 90 percent of the 7.2 million Jews across North America,
Mr. Masters said, providing security training and coordination to synagogues,
Hillel groups and other Jewish facilities.”



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