Eye on Extremism
December 14, 2022
The Wall Street Journal: French Court Convicts Eight People In Bastille Day 2016 Truck Attack
“A French court convicted seven men and one woman in connection with a truck attack on a seaside promenade on Bastille Day six years ago that killed 86 people and traumatized the nation. The driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, was shot dead by police after mowing down revelers gathered to watch a fireworks display in the French Riviera city of Nice, killing a dozen children. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a response to calls by the extremist group to target nations allied against it. Judges sentenced Mohamed Ghraieb, a 46-year-old French-Tunisian, who worked as a night watchman in a nearby hotel in Nice, and Chokri Chafroud, a 43-year-old Tunisian construction worker, to 18 years in prison for helping Lahouaiej Bouhlel prepare the attack. The two defendants were convicted of belonging to a terrorist organization. Messrs. Ghraieb and Chafroud testified in court they didn’t know Lahouaiej Bouhlel was an Islamic State sympathizer or that he was planning an attack. William Bourdon, a lawyer for Mr. Ghraieb, said he would appeal the court’s ruling. A lawyer for Mr. Chafroud declined to comment.”
Associated Press: Paroled Indonesia Bombmaker Apologizes For 2002 Bali Attack
“An Indonesian militant who was paroled last week after serving about half of his original 20-year prison sentence for making the explosives used in the 2002 Bali bombings on Tuesday apologized to victims’ families. Hisyam bin Alizein, better known by his nom de guerre Umar Patek, was a leading member of the al-Qaida-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah, which was blamed for the blasts at two nightclubs in Kuta Beach that killed 202 people — mostly foreign tourists — including 88 Australians. “I apologize not only to the people in Bali in particular, but I also apologize to all Indonesian people,” Patek told reporters while visiting former militant Ali Fauzi, a long-time friend who runs a program aimed at deradicalizing militants in East Java’s Tenggulun village. “I also sincerely apologize especially to the Australians who also experienced a very great impact from the Bali bombing crime,” Patek said. “I also apologize to the victims and their families both at home and abroad, whatever their nationality, whatever their ethnicity, whatever their religion, I sincerely apologize to all of them.” Wearing a grey shirt and a Javanese traditional headgear, Patek received a warm welcome from his old friends, some of whom were former convicts who joined the deradicalization program headed by Fauzi. Indonesian authorities have said Patek was successfully reformed in prison and they will use him to influence other militants to turn away from terrorism.”
Syria
The Jerusalem Post: The US, SDF Keep The Pressure Up On ISIS In Syria - Analysis
“In late November, the US said that Syrian rebels in the south of the country had killed an ISIS leader. He was actually killed in October, but it apparently took time to confirm the details. He was said to be at least the third ISIS leader killed in the last few years, since a raid in 2019 killed the head of ISIS as he hid near the Turkish border in Idlib in northern Syria. In February, US Special Forces took out another ISIS leader named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. The leader killed in late October, who the US mentioned in late November, was Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. It took time for the US to confirm his death because the US apparently wasn’t involved in the operation. According to a Voice of America report “in addition to the death of Abu al-Hassan’s predecessor in February and the arrest of al-Sumaida’i in May, IS[IS] has lost at least five other senior officials in the past eight months.” Over the weekend, the US carried out another raid on ISIS, this time in eastern Syria where American forces operate with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). A raid by US forces, with extensive planning by US Central Command, took out an ISIS member named “Anas,” Washington said. He was apparently a regional leader. “The death of these ISIS officials will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out destabilizing attacks in the Middle East,” said CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino.”
Kurdistan 24: SDF Resumes Operations Against ISIS
“The media centre of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday said they resumed their joint SDF-coalition operations against ISIS. In November, the SDF said they halted operations against ISIS due to Turkish threats to launch a ground operation. “After resuming the joint field work, our Counter-Terrorism Units (YAT) and the International Coalition forces have conducted three operations, targeting the hideouts and hotbeds of the ISIS cells in different areas of NE Syria,” the SDF said. “The operations resulted in arresting one of the ISIS emirs along with two other terrorists who were responsible for supplying the terrorist cells with weapons and ammunition in an attempt to target the prisons and the al-Hol camp. Several firearms and ammunition have also been confiscated,” the SDF said in the statement. The SDF said the operations were carried out from Dec 7 to Dec. 10 in Al-Hol town, Tal Hamis, and Deir ez-Zor.”
Iran
The Jerusalem Post: Would Iran Give A Nuclear Bomb To Al-Qaeda? - Analysis
“On Monday, citing unnamed sources, Maariv reported that al-Qaeda had intercepted uranium that Iran was trying to send to its proxy in Yemen, the Houthis. There has been no public comment by Israel, the US or Iran and while Maariv, The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication in Hebrew, is a serious newspaper, it is always possible that an interested party “leaks intelligence” to the media that is actually disinformation, to achieve some more complex agenda. Several former intelligence officials with whom the Post consulted view the story as smoke and mirrors. Presuming disinformation is what is going on here, why would someone leak such a story – and how real is the threat of al-Qaeda getting nuclear material or a “dirty” style nuclear bomb from Iran, even if it did not happen this time? The why seems obvious. Why leak a story about al-Qaeda getting nuclear material from Iran? There are many Israeli, Arab and American parties who want Jerusalem, Washington, the EU and the UN to take a harder line with the Islamic Republic. Some would like the Jewish state to attack Tehran’s nuclear facilities, and would have even been happier if the attack had happened some time ago. Tossing out a story about the ayatollahs handing over nuclear material to al-Qaeda, even if it was “by accident” on the way to giving the material to the Houthis, is a good way to freak the world out that time is of the essence.”
Pakistan
Reuters: Pakistan Accuses India Of Being Behind 2021 Bombing Outside Militant Home
“Pakistan's interior minister accused India on Tuesday of being behind a bombing in 2021 near the house of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of a militant Islamist group blamed for a deadly 2008 attack in Mumbai. A suicide bomber rammed a car into a police checkpoint just outside Saeed's house, killing four people in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in 2021. No one from his family was hurt. “We have strong evidence that India was involved in this attack. Our forces have all the evidence that they funded it,” Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told a news conference in Islamabad. A spokesperson for India's foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Saeed founded the Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). India has accused LeT of orchestrating the 2008 attack on the country's financial capital, which killed 166 people, and says Saeed himself was the mastermind behind the assault. Saeed has denied any involvement with militancy, including the Mumbai attack. Sanaullah said Pakistan's counter terrorism unit had recently arrested several members of a cell after finding clues to their involvement in the 2021 suicide attack. He said India's intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) had backed the group. He did not give any more details on when the arrests took place or present any evidence to back his allegations.”
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Halle Terror Attacker Holds Prison Guards Hostage
“The German Justice Ministry on Tuesday said right-wing extremist Stephan B. was overpowered by staff at Burg prison near Magdeburg after taking two employees there hostage. Stephan B. was originally found guilty of two murders and more than 60 counts of attempted murder after a 2019 attack using homemade weapons on a synagogue in the city of Halle. What happened at the prison? State criminal police said the 30-year-old B. had taken two prison guards hostage at about 9 p.m. on Monday. The perpetrator was overpowered by other prison staff, and B. was injured. The staff members were reportedly unhurt. An investigation is underway into how the incident, which lasted about two hours, unfolded. Officials say they are investigating how the hostage taker was able to take the members of staff hostage. The hostage-taking had prompted a large-scale police operation, with heavily armed police officers positioned in front of the prison. The Halle attacker was sentenced to life imprisonment and subsequent preventive detention. He is serving his sentence in Burg prison, the largest and most modern maximum-security prison in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. B. is reportedly considered an uncooperative and difficult inmate, having tried to escape from Halle prison in June 2020. During outdoor exercise, he climbed over a 3.4-meter (just over 11 foot) fence seeking a way out of the prison. He was recaptured after a short time.”
Toronto Star: The Plot To Overthrow Germany
“Last week, German police arrested 25 members of a far-right group who were plotting a coup.What is the Reichsbürger movement? How dangerous are they? And what does this incident tell us about the nature of political extremism in Europe -- and closer to home? To answer these questions, Paul is joined by Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project.”
Australia
Associated Press: Australian Police Investigate Extremist Views Of Cop Killers
“Australian police are investigating the extremist views of three people who shot and killed two officers and a neighbor at a rural property before they were killed hours later by police in a gunfight. In all, six people died in the violence Monday in Queensland state. The killers have been identified as former school principal Nathaniel Train, 47, his brother Gareth, 46, and sister-in-law Stacey, 45. Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said late Tuesday that investigators would look at the possible extremist links of the killers after a series of posts under the name of Gareth Train were found on conspiracy theory forums. The posts include references to anti-vaccine sentiments and claims that other high-profile shootings were hoaxes or false-flag operations. “It’s very difficult at the moment for us to reason with what has happened, there are no obvious reasons,” Carroll told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. But she added she had no doubt that over the coming days and weeks, police would come back with some insight into the tragic events that unfolded. Carroll said every possible motive for the killings was being examined, including whether it was a premeditated attack on the officers. “Some of the stuff that’s online from these people, we will investigate what they have been doing not only in recent weeks but in recent years, who they’ve been interacting with,” she said.”
Europe
Conservative Home: Ian Acheson: Troubles Victims Deserve Better Than The Government’s Woeful Northern Irish Legacy Legislation
“The current system of dealing with the recent past in Northern Ireland has proven shockingly bad at delivering justice for thousands of victims and their families. They have seen no accountability delivered, watching in horror as perpetrators are recast as victims and heroes. And the new proposals which Chris Heaton Harris recommitted to last week – an effective amnesty for terrorists and security forces – will be much worse. Criminal justice can deliver, eventually. Last week the relatives of 16-year-old Aiden McAnespie got some measure of this when a former British soldier was convicted of his manslaughter by gross negligence nearly a quarter of a century after he was killed at a County Tyrone border checkpoint. I mention this rare exception because a relative of McAnespie wrote to me over a year ago to take me to task for what they saw as my ‘selective’ take on Justice for terrorism victims on social media. I have certainly sought to draw attention to the disproportionate numbers of victims of Republican terrorism for whom no arrests or convictions have ever delivered any form or justice or closure nor are ever likely to. I do not apologise for this, but highlighting their plight routinely brings down a tsunami of invective from supporters of the IRAs political descendants, Sinn Fein.”
Technology
NBC News: Facebook Hit With $2 Billion Lawsuit Connected To Political Violence In Africa
“A new lawsuit accuses Facebook of playing a role in political violence in Africa and seeks to hold it accountable by demanding more than $2 billion in restitution funds and major changes to the service’s content moderation efforts in the continent. It is the latest case to draw connections between the platform and ethnic violence in the developing world. The class-action lawsuit was filed in Nairobi, Kenya, where Facebook opened a major content moderation hub for Eastern and Southern Africa in 2019, accuses the company of monetizing the viral potential of hate and violence in conflict-torn Ethiopia, in violation of more than 10 articles of Kenya’s Constitution. It also alleges the company does not devote enough resources to content moderation on the continent compared to the United States. Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is Ethiopian professor Abrham Meareg, who is seeking political asylum in the United States. He alleges his father was killed by militants last year during the ongoing civil conflict in Ethiopia, as a result of incitement that spread on Facebook. Meareg’s father, Meareg Amare Abrha, was a well-known chemistry professor and member of the Tigrayan ethnic group. He was murdered on Nov. 3, 2021, when a group of men followed him from the university on motor bikes and shot him twice in front of his home, according to an affidavit Meareg filed in the case. The family home was eventually occupied by militants, and Meareg’s mother fled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.”
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