Eye on Extremism
December 9, 2022
Reuters: Dozens Killed As Jihadist Groups Clash In Eastern Mali
“Dozens of civilians have been killed and hundreds displaced over several days of heavy fighting between rival Islamist groups in Mali's restive east, local government officials said on Thursday. Jihadists linked to Islamic State have been clashing with local al Qaeda affiliates over territory in the regions of Gao and Menaka, where insurgents have been waging offensives over the past decade. The militants have been advancing in the east since France and several other European nations decided to pull their troops following disagreements with the military government. Particularly violent clashes broke out this week, exacerbating a conflict that has already has killed thousands and displaced more than 2.7 million across the Sahel, according to the United Nations. “Battles resumed mainly in Ansongo [Gao region] and other districts... There are deaths, many deaths,” said Bajan Ag Hamatou, a former MP who is now a member of the transitional council set up after the military seized power in a 2020 coup. At least 100 people have been killed, 40 of them in Ansongo two days ago, Hamatou told Reuters on Thursday. Menaka mayor Nanout Kotia confirmed via telephone that fighting had resumed, but did not give a death toll. Fahad Ag Almahmoud, head of a pro-government militia, said on Twitter that between 200 and 300 civilians were massacred on Dec. 4.”
Associated Press: Palestinians: Israeli Army Kills 4 In West Bank Violence
“Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest violence to shake the region after months of unrest. Late Thursday, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian youth near the city of Ramallah and wounded three others, the ministry said. The Israeli military said it fired at Palestinians who threw rocks and paint bottles at Israeli cars traveling on a West Bank road. “Hits were identified,” it said without providing further details. Earlier in the day, three Palestinians were killed when the Israeli military was carrying out an arrest raid in the flashpoint city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. The army said forces came under fire and then responded with live fire. Jenin, and its adjacent refugee camp, are a stronghold for Palestinian militants and Israel has stepped up raids there in recent months. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that “confrontations and violent clashes” erupted between residents of Jenin and the Israeli forces. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the three men as Atta Shalabi, 46, Tarek al-Damj, 29, and Sedki Zakarneh, 29. It was not immediately clear if they were affiliated with a militant group. Old photos circulating on social media showed two of the three Palestinians who were killed posing with rifles. Palestinian media also shared footage showing an ambulance hit by Israeli gunshots in Jenin.”
AFP: Attack In Northern Burkina Faso Kills At Least 10 People
“At least 10 people, most of them civilian volunteers supporting the armed forces, were killed in northern Burkina Faso in an attack by suspected jihadis, local sources told AFP on Thursday. The attack took place Wednesday at Boala in the central-north region, two residents and a regional leader of the VDP volunteer force told AFP. “At least 10 volunteers were killed and there were several wounded, who were taken to the medical center in Boulsa,” the main town in Namentenga province, one of the residents said. The VDP official said that “several terrorists were neutralized by volunteers” after a two-hour fight. A poor landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, Burkina Faso is battling a seven-year jihadi insurgency that swept in from neighboring Mali. Thousands of civilians and members of the security forces have died, and nearly 2 million people have fled their homes. More than a third of the semi-desert country is in the control of the militants, and anger within the armed forces at military losses has spurred two coups this year. The latest attack is the fourth in Burkina Faso since Sunday and brings the latest tally of deaths to at least 27. On Sunday six civilians, including four teachers, were killed by suspected jihadis at Bittou near the southeastern border with Ghana and Togo. At least nine civilians were killed in the north on Monday and Tuesday in attacks on a village and a convoy of traders.”
United States
CNN: As North Carolinians Regain Power, Investigators Probe Terrorism And Threats Against Power Substations Across The US. One Expert Explains What Needs To Be Done
“A growing number of reported threats to power infrastructure are under investigation following attacks on substations in the South and on the West Coast as electricity becomes a more critical need in winter. Even before the gun assaults Saturday in Moore County, North Carolina, wiped out power for days to thousands, at least five electricity substations in Oregon and Washington had been attacked in November, according to energy companies. Duke Energy personnel work to restore power at a crippled electrical substation and caused a mass power outage, in Carthage, North Carolina. US officials have been worried about such attacks by domestic extremists for years. While no motive or suspect behind the North Carolina attacks has been identified, investigators are zeroing in on two possible threads centered on extremist behavior: writings by extremists on online forums encouraging attacks on critical infrastructure and a series of recent disruptions of LGBTQ+ events across the nation by domestic extremists, law enforcement sources told CNN. Though investigators have no evidence connecting the Moore County outage to a drag event that began there around when the lights went out, the timing and context of armed confrontations around similar LBGTQ+ events across the country are being considered, the sources told CNN. The outage ended the Moore County drag show after audience members lit the stage with phone flashlights, Sandhills PRIDE has said.”
The Daily Beast: Florida Teen Nabbed In Feds’ Probe Of New Jersey Synagogue Threats
“A Florida college student was arrested Thursday for allegedly attempting to conceal online chats he had with a New Jersey man facing federal charges for allegedly plotting a series of synagogue attacks. Christopher Raymond Joseph, an 18-year-old student at the University of South Florida (USF), now faces one count of altering or destroying records in a federal investigation. Of his apparent online persona, Joseph told the FBI he was just “LARPing,” or “live action role playing,” as a terrorist, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday and first obtained by The Daily Beast. But the charge against him is very real, and could put Joseph—who the feds say had access to guns—behind bars until he’s nearly 40. Joseph’s troubles stem from an interview he had with the FBI in November, during which agents say they saw him delete messages he had exchanged on his phone with Omar Alkattoul, also 18, who was arrested last month on suspicion of planning attacks in his home state. In their conversations online, Alkattoul told Joseph that he had been in touch with members of Al Qaeda and discussed potential attacks against a synagogue or gay club, according to the complaint. Joseph’s court-appointed lawyer, Adrian Burden, did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. A spokesperson for the University of South Florida declined to comment.”
Syria
MEI: The Spider Of Khanasir And The Rising Star Of Syria’s Hussam Luka
“Damascus has adopted many strategies during its decade-long war in an attempt to adapt to and overcome serious opposition gains and international interventions. The most ubiquitous of these are the brutalizing of dissident civilians while announcing substance-less reforms, legalizing loyalist militias as legitimate forces, besieging and forcibly cleansing anti-regime neighborhoods, and finally using the guise of “reconciliation” to reimpose its will over destroyed regions and people. All of these approaches had one thing in common: the use of violent coercion dressed up as political diplomacy. Today, with much of the country back under Assad’s control, Damascus continues to try to strong-arm its remaining enemies into “negotiated settlements,” akin to the so-called reconciliation agreements that saw thousands of families expelled from their homes and thousands more men forcibly conscripted into the armed forces. But the Kurdish-led government in northeast Syria and the Turkish-protected zones in northwest have proved much more difficult to threaten than besieged rebel towns.”
Middle East
The Washington Free Beacon: Palestinian President Threatens Return To Terrorism
“Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas indicated the Palestinian Authority may turn to terrorism, saying “armed resistance” against Israel could commence any day. “I do not endorse armed resistance at the moment, but I may change my mind later,” President Mahmoud Abbas said in a recent Arabic-language interview translated into English on the Elder of Ziyon website, a blog that tracks Israeli-Palestinian issues. “I do not adopt military resistance at this time, but it is possible that I change my mind tomorrow or after tomorrow, or any time.” Abbas's comments come at a troubling time for his Palestinian Authority governing body, which is the weakest it has been in decades. The Iran-backed Hamas terror group, which controls the Gaza Strip, has been challenging Abbas's power, and several armed faction groups have also joined the fray in recent months. The challenge to Abbas's rule threatens to topple a fragile security framework with Israel that has been vital to stopping terror attacks on the Jewish state. Abbas's most recent remarks are likely to inflame an already dangerous situation, according to Middle East observers. “The assessment right now is that we have not seen this much unrest in the West Bank in pretty much 15 years,” Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the Treasury Department who now works on Middle East issues at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, told the Washington Free Beacon.”
Nigeria
Al Jazeera: Nigeria Denies Mass ‘Abortion Programme’ Of Boko Haram Victims
“Nigeria’s military has denied conducting a years-long illicit programme to carry out abortions among women and girls who have been victims of armed groups in the northwest, a claim reported by Reuters on Wednesday. “Since at least 2013, the Nigerian military has conducted a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme in the country’s northeast, ending at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls,” the news agency said. It said many of the women and girls had been kidnapped and raped by armed fighters, adding that those who resisted an abortion ran the risk of being “beaten, held at gunpoint or drugged into compliance.” The report was based on witness statements from 33 women and girls, five health workers, and nine security personnel involved in the alleged programme, and on military documents and hospital records “describing or tallying thousands of abortion procedures”. Most of the abortions, Reuters said, were carried out without the woman’s consent and some were conducted without their prior knowledge, through abortion-inducing pills or injections passed off as medications to boost health or combat disease. The agency was unable to establish who created the abortion program or determine who in the military or government ran it. United States Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday that Washington was looking into the report.”
Africa
The North Africa Post: Tunisia Foils Terror Plot In Sfax
“Tunisia announced Wednesday security forces managed to bust a “terror plot” targeting a security unit and a religious institution in Sfax governorate, south of the country. The statement issued by the National Guard and seen by Anadolu news agency notes that a terrorist who had served his prison sentence, is responsible for a terror plot aiming at attacking a security unit and a religious institution in the governorate. The statement did not elaborate on which security unit and religious entity were being targeted. It did not reveal the name of the terrorist who also according had been condemned to prison for terrorism related crime. The suspect has been handed to the justice for investigation and prosecution. The North African country has been under state of emergency since 2015 as measure to curb terrorism. The country suffered its worst attacks in 2015 after three separate attacks claimed by the Islamic state group killed more than 70 people in 2015. Most victims were foreign tourists. Late October, the interior ministry indicated that it foiled a terror plot targeting a security patrol in the city of Sousse, East of the country. Also in March the National Guard announced its forces dismantled 148 terrorist cells.”
United Kingdom
The Independent: Terror Suspects Arrested In Britain Mostly White And British, New Figures Show
“White people make up the largest ethnic group of terror suspects in Britain, new figures show as the number of far-right investigations continues to grow. A Home Office report shows that 45 per cent of people arrested on suspicion of terror offences in the year to September were white, 37 per cent were Asian and 7 per cent were black. Three quarters of the 190 suspects considered themself to be British or dual citizens, with the proportion having dramatically increased from a third in 2002. The figures were published after the head of MI5 warned of the threat from “self-initiated terrorists” planning attacks. Ken McCallum said jihadist terrorism “remains the larger problem” for the security services, but that the extreme-right wing had grown from a fifth to a quarter of investigations being dealt with in a year. “We are seeing growing numbers of right-wing extremist influencers, operating globally, who fuel grievances and amplify conspiracy theories,” he added. “This problem feels like it will endure.” A record proportion of those detained by counter-terror police in the past year were children, who now account for one in six people arrested on suspicion of terror offences. Figures released on Thursday show that 31 under 18s were arrested, 32 suspects aged 18 to 20 and 25 aged 20 to 24. In the same period, seven children were charged with a terror-related offence and four were convicted.”
Daily Mail: Rapist Who Was Freed From Jail Before Using Covid Loans To Fund Isis Is Found Guilty Of Providing Money For Terrorism
“A convicted rapist who was radicalised in prison funnelled more than £18,000 of taxpayers’ cash to Islamic State in his Syria homeland. Tarek Namouz, 43, claimed Covid loans from Hammersmith and Fulham Council for his west London barbershop but sent the money to a terrorist friend. Namouz came to Britain as a student and claimed asylum in 1996 to avoid military service. In 2014, while landlord of a pub in Finsbury Park, north London, he raped an 18-year-old woman. He served half a ten-year jail sentence, Kingston Crown Court heard. On early release, he opened Boss Crew Barbers in Olympia. He claimed the council cash in 2021 and transferred it to a schoolfriend fighting with Isis. In their WhatsApp messages, Namouz said: ‘I want to burn Christianity, we have incinerators and holocausts like Hitler.’ He also received a video of how to make a bomb like that used in the Manchester Arena attack. Namouz was found guilty yesterday of providing money for terrorism and possessing information useful for terrorism. He will be sentenced on January 5. When police raided Namouz's barbershop in May last year they found £3,170 in cash and a hidden mobile phone containing messages to his contact in Syria, an ISIS bomb-making video and a video showing how to kill someone with a knife. In another message he said: ‘We will take control of all people by force and by the ruling of Sharia law.’ Alia told his accomplice: ‘Whoever is not happy, a bullet in their head, I don’t want a single person alive who would oppose Sharia.’”
Germany
CBC Tonight: CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler
“On December 7, 2022, CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler appeared on CBC's Canada Tonight for this story: “German police arrest suspected far-right extremists in plot to overthrow parliament.”
Reuters: Germany Expects More Arrests After Coup Plot Swoop
“German authorities on Thursday ordered 23 people to be held for questioning as they investigate a far-right group that prosecutors say wanted to overthrow the state and install a former member of a German royal family as national leader. Investigators have said the group, many of whom were members of the movement Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich), planned to install aristocrat Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss as leader of a new state and found evidence that some members planned to storm the German parliament and seize lawmakers. Heinrich, 71, a descendant of the royal House of Reuss in the eastern state of Thuringia, was working as a real estate developer. He was arrested in the financial capital Frankfurt on Wednesday in a swoop on the group that has shocked many in one of Europe's most stable democracies and its largest economy.”
Australia
The Guardian: Clare O’Neil Warns Counter-Terror Laws May Need To Change To Better Handle Rightwing Extremism
“Counter-terrorism laws could be overhauled to better target the threat of rightwing extremism and neo-nazism, with the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, saying current legislation may not capture the types of “lone wolf” or less sophisticated acts that are of increasing concern to security agencies. O’Neil said the government was preparing a major civics and social cohesion program to address misinformation and threats to democracy in Australia, revealing her concern about foreign interference and radicalisation of young people. In a major speech to the National Press Club, she also announced a new offensive cyber team to “punch back” at hackers and flagged a new national strategy on cybersecurity. “We are waking from a cyber slumber,” O’Neil said. “Better cybersecurity for Australia means all businesses and citizens changing how they engage with the internet … the truth is, we are unnecessarily vulnerable.” Asked about rightwing extremism in a Q&A session after her speech, O’Neil said the government was aiming to revise laws in response to “new forms of terrorism”. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation chief, Mike Burgess, last year said the agency’s investigations into ideologically motivated violent extremism was nearly half its counter-terror workload, specifically citing racist and nationalist actors.”
Europe
The Guardian: Most Convicted Terrorists Radicalised Online, Finds MoJ-Backed Study
“Most convicted terrorists in Britain were turned to extremism by the internet, with half of those radicalised online having some problems with mental health, personality disorders, depression, or autism, the most authoritative study of its kind has found. The study for the Ministry of Justice, released on Thursday, examined official risk assessments of every convicted terrorist in prison since 2010 in England and Wales. The majority were radicalised at least in part online – a trend caused by technology and the tactics of groups such as Islamic State. While those incited to carry out or support violence online make up the majority of terrorists, their plots, according to the study, are less likely to succeed. The research challenges conventional wisdom that the growth of internet radicalisation by Islamists and the extreme right allows terrorism to fester out of sight of the security services and police. The researchers from the prison and probation service, as well as Nottingham Trent and Bournemouth Universities, were given access to Extremism Risk Guidance 22+ forms. These are written for the prison and probation services and assess the commitment to terrorism, as well as the danger posed by convicted terrorists. The forms include material from counter-terrorism policing. For all convicted terrorists in jail from 2010 to 2021, 490 records were retrieved and 437 studied in detail.”
The Times: Trial Of Islamic State Jihadists Halted Over Claims Of ‘Abuse’ By Brussels Police
“The trial of ten Islamic State jihadists accused of playing a part in the 2016 Brussels terror attacks was briefly halted yesterday as some defendants complained they were being beaten and refused to stay in court. Their lawyers claim they are being abused by Belgian police and prison authorities. Jonathan De Taye, a lawyer for Ali El Haddad Asufi, told judges at the special court that the trial, the biggest legal proceedings ever undertaken by the Belgian state, should be suspended. “I’m totally hallucinating. I’ve never attended a trial that takes place under these conditions,” he said. He added that the treatment of his client is “worthy of a totalitarian state”. It was briefly halted yesterday morning to allow a doctor to confirm that lesions.”
Kurdistan 24: Anti-ISIS Coalition Meets In The Netherlands, As It Pursues ‘Enduring Defeat’ Of ISIS
“Senior diplomats from the 85-member anti-ISIS coalition met Wednesday in the Netherlands, where they affirmed their continued commitment to fighting the terrorist group. The meeting of the Small Group of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, held at the level of political directors, prominently included a discussion of how to address what they described, in a statement issued at the end of their meeting, as “the dire humanitarian and security needs” in detention centers in northeast Syria, including al-Hol camp. The situation remains “an urgent concern in the region” and requires “sustainable long-term solutions,” they said. Repatriation of the detainees is the most obvious way to deal with the problem. However, concern about the problems that the detainees might create, if they were allowed to return to their home countries has been the major factor inhibiting their repatriation. Thus, most countries have defaulted to the easiest path—to leave their citizens in detention in northeast Syria in the camps run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Coalition’s main partner in the fight against ISIS in Syria. Notably, the majority of those detained in Syria are Iraqi nationals (the second largest group is Syrian.) Indeed, as The Washington Post reported in July, some 30,000 of al-Hol’s 55,000 inhabitants are Iraqi. Thus, the Small Group paid special attention to Iraq.”
Southeast Asia
Associated Press: Australia Wants Indonesia To Monitor Released Bombmaker
“Australia's government on Thursday said it was seeking assurances from Indonesia that the man convicted of making the bombs used in the 2002 Bali terrorist attacks would continue to be monitored after his release from prison. Islamic militant Hisyam bin Alizein, also known as Umar Patek, was paroled Wednesday after serving about half of his original 20-year sentence, despite strong objections from Australia. The attacks killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said it was a difficult day for those who lost loved ones in the bombings. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that his government had advocated against Patek’s early release and would urge the Indonesian government to ensure he was under constant surveillance while on parole. Indonesian authorities have said Patek, 55, was successfully reformed in prison and they will use him to influence other militants to turn away from terrorism. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said it was a horrible day for the victims and their families. “This is a person who was in the Indonesian justice system. My personal view is his actions are inexcusable and completely abhorrent,” O’Neil said at the National Press Club in Canberra. “We don’t control the Indonesian justice system, and that is the way of the world.”
Vice: Suicide Bomber Attacks Police Station To Protest Indonesia's New Criminal Code
“A suspected Islamist militant carried out a suicide bomb attack at a police station in Indonesia on Wednesday, just one day after the national government passed controversial new laws banning pre-marital sex and the spreading of views counter to the state ideology, among other things. At least one person was killed and ten more were injured during the attack in the city of Bandung, about 115 kilometres southeast of Jakarta. In the wake of the incident, police said they discovered a note—attached to a blue motorbike that is thought to have belonged to the attacker—condemning the new criminal code as “an infidel product.” Indonesian police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo also told a news conference that investigators had found “dozens of papers protesting the newly ratified criminal code” at the crime scene. The perpetrator has been identified as Agus Sujatno, a man who had previously been jailed on terrorism charges and is believed by authorities to be affiliated with the Islamic State-inspired group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD). Analysts have suggested that the attack was likely an ideological rejection of Indonesia’s new laws, which not only signal a crackdown on civil liberties in the world’s third largest democracy, but also an increased hostility towards the propagation of beliefs that run counter to the country's secular ideology.”
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