“The U.S. on Monday imposed its second round of sanctions in less than a week
on people and firms in Africa who it says have provided financial or material
support to the Islamic State group. The latest financial penalties target South
African entities, including one cell leader, Farhad Hoomer, accused of
expressing “the will and intent to attack the interests of the United States,”
the Treasury Department said in a statement. Last week, the U.S. sanctioned
what it said was a Somali Islamic State weapons trafficking cell. Government
reports outline how the Islamic State group is expanding its presence in
Africa, after the group faced defeats in Iraq and Syria. The State Department
has designated nine groups worldwide as IS affiliates and foreign terrorist
organizations. In the latest action, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control designated four people and eight companies controlled by individuals
that it said were in the South African Islamic State cell — including Nufael
Akbar, Yunus Mohamad Akbar, Mohamad Akbar, and Umar Akbar. Their gold trading,
construction and other firms are targeted for sanctions.”











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Eye on Extremism


November 8, 2022



Associated Press: U.S. Sanctions South African Islamic State-Affiliated Firms
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“The U.S. on Monday imposed its second round of sanctions in less than a week
on people and firms in Africa who it says have provided financial or material
support to the Islamic State group. The latest financial penalties target South
African entities, including one cell leader, Farhad Hoomer, accused of
expressing “the will and intent to attack the interests of the United States,”
the Treasury Department said in a statement. Last week, the U.S. sanctioned
what it said was a Somali Islamic State weapons trafficking cell. Government
reports outline how the Islamic State group is expanding its presence in
Africa, after the group faced defeats in Iraq and Syria. The State Department
has designated nine groups worldwide as IS affiliates and foreign terrorist
organizations. In the latest action, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control designated four people and eight companies controlled by individuals
that it said were in the South African Islamic State cell — including Nufael
Akbar, Yunus Mohamad Akbar, Mohamad Akbar, and Umar Akbar. Their gold trading,
construction and other firms are targeted for sanctions.”




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Reuters: Record Number Of Foreigners Repatriated From IS Camps In Syria This
Year
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“Repatriations of foreign woman and children affiliated to Islamic State from
detention camps in northeast Syria hit a record high in 2022, Kurdish
authorities said on Tuesday. Thousands of foreigners including women and
children had gone to Syria to live in IS's so-called "caliphate" until 2019,
when U.S.-backed Kurdish forces snatched the last pocket of Syrian territory
from the jihadists. Fleeing women and children were housed in overcrowded
detention camps run by Kurdish authorities and international NGOs, who had
pushed for repatriatiations due to rising violence and dire conditions in the
camps. Governments responded slowly, fearing security threats and a public
backlash over the return of individuals radicalised by Islamic State. But the
pace picked up his year, with 517 women and children repatriated so far,
according to Kurdish authorities' statistics.”



Syria



Associated Press: Group Warns Of Rampant Violence In Syria Camp Of ISIS
Families
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“A sprawling camp in northeastern Syria housing tens of thousands of women
and children linked to the Islamic State group is witnessing pervasive
violence, exploitation and lawlessness, an international aid group said Monday.
Doctors Without Borders also said that countries with citizens held in the
detention center of al-Hol in Syria's northeastern province of Hassakeh have
failed to take responsibility for protecting them. Repeated breaches of human
rights and recurrent patterns of violence have been observed at the camp, said
the group, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF. MSF, which runs
mobile clinics and also clinic for patients with chronic diseases in the camp,
said that counter-terrorism policies have trapped thousands of civilians in the
camp in a cycle of indefinite detention, danger and insecurity. In addition to
the killings in the camp, this cycle of violence “permeates every aspect of
their daily lives and deprives them of their fundamental human rights,” it
said. The report came as several Western countries have repatriated dozens of
women and children over the past weeks, according to the Kurdish-led local
authorities in northeastern Syria. The latest repatriations from al-Hol
followed a major security operation in the facility and a call by a top U.S.
military commander for repatriations. Following the rise of ISIS in 2014 and
its declaration of a co-called Islamic caliphate, some countries stripped some
of their citizens who had headed to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS of their
nationalities.”



The Jerusalem Post: Four Hezbollah Operatives Killed In Bomb Explosion Near
Quneitra, Syria <[link removed]>



“Four Hezbollah operatives were killed in a bomb explosion near Quneitra in
southwestern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.”



Iran



Reuters: Up To EU To Decide Whether To Classify Iran's Revolutionary Guard As
Terrorist Organization - Germany
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“It is up to the European Union to decide whether to classify Iran's
Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, a spokesperson for the German
government said on Monday, but declined to go into details on what talks are
ongoing.”



Radio Free Europe: Iran Arrests 26 Foreigners It Says Were Behind Shiraz
Mosque Attack
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“Iran's Intelligence Ministry says it has arrested 26 people -- all
foreigners -- in connection with last month's attack on a Shi'ite pilgrimage
site in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz that has been claimed by the
Islamic State (IS) militant group. In a statement published on November 7, the
ministry alleged an Azerbaijani national was the main person inside Iran who
was involved in directing and coordinating the attack. “All of those arrested
are non-Iranians. They are nationals from the Republic of Azerbaijan,
Tajikistan, and Afghanistan,” the statement added. At least 15 people were
killed on October 26 in an attack on a key Shi'ite Muslim shrine in southern
Iran, with IS claiming responsibility for the assault. State television said
the attack, carried out by a lone gunman during evening prayers at the Shah
Cheragh mausoleum in Shiraz, also left at least 19 people wounded. The attack
came amid a brutal state crackdown on weeks of antiestablishment protests that
erupted following the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody
for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly. Many Iranians believe the regime
is trying to exploit the attack to weaken and suppress the protests, which have
become one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic leadership since the
revolution in 1979.”



Nigeria



Punch Nigeria: Military Kills Terrorist Leaders Near Lake Chad
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“Islamic State’s West Africa Province leaders Ali Kwaya and Bukar Mainoka
have been reportedly eliminated. It was gathered that they were neutralised in
an operation by Nigerian military fighter jets at Lake Chad on Saturday. Kwaya
and Mainoka were influential members of the ISWAP Shura (Consultation) Council.
They died after the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai conducted air
interdiction missions at Belowa, said to be one of the ISWAP/Boko Haram
enclaves in the Tumbuns, and located in Abadam Local Government Area of Borno
State, western coast of Lake Chad. The military said the strikes at Belowa
became necessary after intelligence revealed the convergence of some ISWAP
leaders and fighters. The terrorists were suspected to be gathering for a
meeting ahead of an attack on friendly forces. A Nigerian Air Force fighter
aircraft dispatched to the location hit the ISWAP terrorists with rockets and
bombs in multiple passes. Sources revealed that the intelligence agency
confirmed the killing.”



Mali



AFP: Top Mali Commander Calls On All Tuaregs To Fight Islamic State Group
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“A leading commander in Mali's army has called on ethnic Tuaregs to fight
jihadists in the north of the country in a WhatsApp audio message authenticated
Monday by AFP. General El Hadj Ag Gamou, himself a Tuareg and a major figure in
the Malian army's fight against the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISGS) --
which is affiliated with the Islamic State organisation -- called on the
military help of all Tuaregs inside and outside the country. The Tuareg
community is made up of dozens of nomadic sub-communities settled in the Sahara
across several countries, mainly Mali, Algeria, Niger and Libya. In the
Tamashek-language message, he said he would “give 10 days to all young Tuaregs
from Algeria, Libya and elsewhere to reach Gao”, the largest city in northern
Mali, which has been plagued by jihadist violence. Ag Gamou is one of the
leaders of a pro-government armed group, the Self-Defence Group of Imghad
Tuaregs and Their Allies (GATIA), as well as a general in the national army.
ISGS has since March increased its offensives in the expansive regions of Gao
and Menaka. The UN has repeatedly expressed its concern about the deteriorating
situation, and labour unions in the Gao region have called for a 48-hour strike
this week to protest against the situation and “government inaction”. As of
Monday, the ruling junta had not yet reacted to Ag Gamou's remarks.”



Africa



Bloomberg: Uganda Says Airforce Destroyed Islamic State-Linked Rebel Camp
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“Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said his nation’s airforce had attacked
and destroyed a camp in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo that was
housing Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces. Uganda staged the Nov. 4
strike with the permission of the Congolese government, Museveni said on
Twitter on Sunday. In September 2020, ADF leader Musa Muhsin Baluku said his
group had been disbanded and become an IS province, according to a study
published a year ago by the International Centre for the Study of
Radicalisation at King’s College London. IS, through its self-proclaimed
Central Africa Province, claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in
Uganda last year, prompting the government to embark on a retaliatory campaign
in November 2021. “Wherever they go, we shall reach them as long as the Congo
government allows us to operate,” Museveni said.”



Axios: Rebel Offensive In Eastern Congo Threatens Key Border City
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“As a renewed rebel offensive in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo nears
the largest city in the region, Kenya is sending in forces and the DRC and
neighboring Rwanda are exchanging tense accusations. The big picture:
Resource-rich parts of eastern DRC — more than a thousand miles from the
capital, Kinshasa, and largely outside the government's control — have for
decades been havens for illicit mining, proxy conflict, and rebel groups like
the March 23 Movement (M23), which took control of several villages over the
past two weeks. The fighting this weekend came within 25 miles of Goma, a major
city that sits on the DRC's border with Rwanda. One shopkeeper in Goma told AFP
last week her children were refusing to go to school out of fear an assault
could begin at any moment. Human Rights Watch estimates that 186,000 people
have fled their homes since the spring due to the fighting. That number could
swell quickly if it reaches Goma. The DRC accuses neighboring Rwanda of arming
and supporting M23, as did a recent UN report. Rwanda denies that and accuses
the DRC of harboring a Rwandan rebel group, the FDLR, that includes alleged
perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Kinshasa denies that. Zoom in: “Of
course people are scared” that the violence will reach them, says a wildlife
conservationist who lives outside Goma on the Rwandan side of the border. “But
they don’t have a choice. You have to wait and see what’s going to happen.”



Technology



Politico: Russia, China And Islamic State Jump On Musk’s Twitter Bandwagon
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“Elon Musk has some new super fans: Russia, China and the Islamic State.
After the world's richest man bought Twitter for $44 billion last month,
officials and journalists linked to Russia and China — and even some jihadists
— urged him to lift restrictions on their use of the platform. So far, their
pleas have fallen on deaf ears. But the repeated requests — including from
high-profile figures like Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia's
foreign ministry — are part of efforts by these individuals to use Musk’s
takeover as a chance to make a comeback on Twitter. Right-wing extremist groups
in the West have already heralded Musk's ownership as a signal that they can
post hate-filled and potentially illegal content online with little, or no,
resistance. Now, Russian and Chinese state-backed Twitter accounts have taken
up the same free speech argument, demanding the platform reinstate them, remove
labels that identify these accounts as linked to Beijing or Moscow, and allow
them to post more freely, including on hot-button topics like the war in
Ukraine. “They are doing this to jump on the bandwagon now that the right-wing
community are putting pressure on Musk,” said Felix Kartte, a senior adviser at
Reset, a technology accountability lobbying group. “They are pushing it because
everyone else is pushing Musk, too.”



Al Jazeera: Countries To Face ‘Grey List’ In Anti-Terror Crackdown On Crypto
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“Countries that fail to implement anti-money laundering guidelines for
cryptocurrencies could be added to a “grey list” that includes Syria and Haiti
under a global watchdog’s plans to tighten scrutiny of virtual assets. The
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is preparing to conduct annual checks to
ensure countries are enforcing anti-money laundering and terrorist financing
rules on crypto providers operating in their jurisdiction, two sources with
knowledge of the matter told Al Jazeera. The use of yearly reviews — instead of
mutual evaluations that run on 10-year cycles — will give non-compliant
countries less time to enact standards set by the intergovernmental
organisation, raising the risk they are added to a “grey list” of countries
subject to increased monitoring, according to the sources, who spoke on
condition of anonymity. One of the sources said that while failure to comply
with the rule would not automatically result in a greylisting, it would affect
a country’s overall rating, potentially moving some jurisdictions much closer
to the threshold of being listed. The plans for annual checks have sparked
fears within the crypto industry that governments may enact blanket bans on
crypto service providers or pressure banks to cease servicing platforms to
avoid an FATF listing. In response, crypto industry leaders are preparing to
unveil a set of proposals at the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali this month aimed
at minimising the potential fallout for cryptocurrency users and exchanges.”



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