“A Libyan man accused of being involved in making the bomb that destroyed Pan
Am Flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988 pleaded
not guilty on Wednesday to three federal charges brought against him in
Washington, DC. Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi faces two charges of
destruction of an aircraft resulting in death and one charge of destruction of
a vehicle used in foreign commerce by an explosive, resulting in death. If
convicted, he faces life in prison. A detention hearing for Mas’ud is scheduled
for February 23. The attack killed 270 people – 259 aboard the Boeing 747 and
11 on the ground – when a bomb detonated on the flight over Scotland.”











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Eye on Extremism


February 9, 2023



CNN: Lockerbie Bombing Suspect Pleads Not Guilty To Charges Connected To 1988
Terrorist Attack
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“A Libyan man accused of being involved in making the bomb that destroyed Pan
Am Flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988 pleaded
not guilty on Wednesday to three federal charges brought against him in
Washington, DC. Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi faces two charges of
destruction of an aircraft resulting in death and one charge of destruction of
a vehicle used in foreign commerce by an explosive, resulting in death. If
convicted, he faces life in prison. A detention hearing for Mas’ud is scheduled
for February 23. The attack killed 270 people – 259 aboard the Boeing 747 and
11 on the ground – when a bomb detonated on the flight over Scotland.”



Bloomberg: ISIS Threatens To Target Chinese Embassy In Afghanistan, UN Says
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“Islamic State militants have threatened to target Chinese, Indian, and
Iranian embassies in Afghanistan in an effort to isolate the Taliban from a
handful of countries it counts as diplomatic allies. The local affiliate of the
Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, is attempting to ‘undermine the relationship
between the Taliban and member states in the region,’ according to United
Nations report on the group’s activities. The report is expected to be
discussed later Thursday at United Nations Security Council in New York. The
militants are one of the Taliban’s most serious security threats, carrying out
large-scale attacks in densely populated areas in Afghanistan. It was behind
the deadly attacks against Russian and Pakistani embassies, as well as a hotel
in Kabul often frequented by Chinese nationals. Saudi Arabia closed its embassy
in Kabul on Feb. 2 because of the recent threats made by the militant group and
its staff were evacuated to Islamabad.”



Reuters: MSF Suspends Operations In Northwest Burkina Faso After Gunmen Kill
Two Staff
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“Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has suspended its operations in an area of
northwest Burkina Faso where armed assailants killed two of its employees on
Wednesday, the medical charity said in a statement. Gunmen on Wednesday morning
opened fire on an MSF-branded vehicle transporting four staff members between
the towns of Dedougou and Tougan, in an administrative region named ‘Boucle de
Mouhoun’ in Sourou province. Two Burkina Faso nationals - the driver and a
logistics supervisor aged 39 and 34 respectively - were killed, MSF said in a
statement. The other two passengers managed to escape. MSF suspended its
activities in the Boucle de Mouhoun while it seeks more clarity on the
circumstances of the attack, the statement added. Burkina Faso is one of
several West African countries grappling with violent jihadist militants linked
to al Qaeda and Islamic State.”



United States



CBS Baltimore: Officials Warn Of More Extremist Attacks In Aftermath Of Plot
Targeting Maryland Energy Stations
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“Federal officials fear more white supremacist groups may be plotting to
target critical infrastructure across the country. Earlier this week, FBI
arrested two alleged neo-Nazis planning to destroy power substations in the
Baltimore area. On Monday, Catonsville resident Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 34, was
charged after allegedly collaborating with Brandon Russell, who is the
co-founder of "Atomwaffen," an Orlando-based neo-Nazi group, to shoot energy
stations in Norrisville, Reisterstown, Perry Hall and Baltimore City. "There's
no doubt in my mind that 2023, this year that we're in right now, is probably
going to be the most catastrophic when it comes to the uptick of domestic
violence extremist attacks on electricity infrastructure," said Brian Harrell,
former Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection at the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security.”



Voice Of America: American Islamic State Emir Convicted On All Counts
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“A naturalized U.S. citizen who became so enamored with Islamic State that he
abandoned his wife and child to join the terror group in Syria, eventually
rising to the rank of emir, faces life behind bars after being convicted of all
charges against him. The U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday that a
jury has found the now 46-year-old Ruslan Maratovich Asainov guilty on five
counts, including conspiracy to provide material support, receiving and
providing training, obstruction of justice and support to a terror group that
led to the death of one or more persons. Asainov “was so committed to the
terrorist organization’s evil cause that he abandoned his young family here in
Brooklyn, New York, to make an extraordinary journey to the battlefield in
Syria,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.”



CNN: Suspect In New Year’s Eve Machete Attack In New York Pleads Not Guilty
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“The man who allegedly attacked New York police officers with a machete on New
Year’s Eve pleaded not guilty to state charges in court Wednesday. Trevor
Bickford, 19, appeared in a Manhattan courtroom wearing a tan uniform with his
wrists and ankles shackled. He spoke only to enter his plea. Bickford was
indicted January 6 on 18 counts, nine of which included charges of first-degree
attempted murder, assault, aggravated assault on a police officer, attempted
aggravated assault on a police officer and attempted assault in furtherance of
an act or as a crime of terrorism, according to the indictment. He is also
facing several other charges related to assault, attempted assault and
attempted murder.”



Syria



Daily Mail: 'I Just Want To Go Home': Alabama Jihadi Bride Stripped Of Her
Citizenship After Calling For Extremists To 'Spill Blood Of Americans' Pleads
To Be Let Back Into U.S.
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“An Alabama jihadi bride who was stripped of her citizenship after joining
ISIS in Syria now claims the terrorist group plans to attack the Syrian camp
where she is detained - but says she 'just wants to go home'. Hoda Muthana, 28,
says she fears that ISIS will attack Camp Roj - the detention camp in north
east Syria where she has been detained. Muthana joined the terrorist group when
she was 20 but now says she was groomed online by members who wanted to attract
young and vulnerable women. She was stripped of her citizenship by Obama and,
in January, Supreme Court Justices refused to hear her appeal to be allowed
back. But at the height of the extremists' power, she had voiced enthusiastic
support for them on social media, calling for them to 'spill the blood of
Americans'.”



Pakistan



The News International: TTP Terrorist Killed In CTD Raid In Khanewal
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“A Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist was killed and his three
accomplices managed to escape a CTD raid after the exchange of fire in Khanewal
on Wednesday. The Counterterrorism Department received a tip that a group of
terrorists was active in the area and involved in terrorist activities
including an attack on LEAs in Chak 40/10 R Khanewal. The CTD found that the
terrorists were planning major terrorist activities against LEAs, CTD officials
said. On this information, A CTD team planned an IBO and got close to the
terrorists. Firing was exchanged afterwards and continued for 20 minutes. When
the firing stopped, the CTD Team searched the area and found the body of a
terrorist while three other terrorists managed to escape by taking the
advantage of darkness. The killed terrorist was identified as Irfanullah s/o
Kemya Gul Afridi of the Gul Ghara District, Kurram.”



Dawn: Karachi Police Arrest IS-Linked Militant Involved In ‘Collecting
Donations’
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“Karachi Police’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Wednesday claimed to
have arrested an Islamic State-linked militant who was ‘collecting donations’
from Karachi to be sent to Afghanistan. ‘Acting on a tip-off, the CTD conducted
a raid in the Korangi Industrial Area and detained an important commander
affiliated with the global militant Islamic State group,’ the department said
in a handout. The CTD identified the suspect as an Afghan national named Abdul
Malik. It said that the suspect, who was living in Karachi for a long time,
used to collect ‘donations’ in Ramazan usually, which were then sent to the IS
in Afghanistan. During interrogation, the suspect revealed that he had been in
touch with the IS’ Mulla Abdul Manan group since 2011, the CTD said. In
addition, he disclosed that he was involved in the illegal ‘hawala/hundi’
business and had sent ‘millions of rupees’ to Afghanistan through it, the
department added.”



Middle East



i24 NEWS: Israel's Army To Demolish Home Of East Jerusalem Terrorist
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“Israel's army said Wednesday that it intends to demolish the home of the
terrorist who murdered seven civilians in the Neve Ya'akov neighborhood of east
Jerusalem two weeks ago. On January 27, 2023, six Israelis and one Ukrainian
civilian were massacred outside a Jewish place of worship in an ultra-Orthodox
neighborhood of east Jerusalem, while three others were wounded. Khairi Alkam
was not known to security forces and had no previous connections to terrorist
organizations before opening fire with his handgun near the Ateret Avraham
synagogue. Days after the attack, his home in the east Jerusalem neighborhood
of A-Tur was sealed and Israel's police raised its alert level to the highest
level. The commander of Israel's Home Front Command noted that it extended the
temporary confiscation and sealing order of Alkam's apartment after rejecting
his family's claims to open it to them. His family was notified of the planned
demolition.”



TV7 Israel News: ISIS Cell Caught Before Attack On Turkish Synagogues, Churches

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“It has been revealed that the capture came on Sunday, just before the country
was hit by devastating earthquakes. ‘15 people were detained on the grounds
that the so-called Khorasan Province leadership of Daesh (an Arabic acronym for
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terror group, also known as ISIS or IS)
ordered an action against the Swedish and Dutch Consulate Generals and places
of worship belonging to our Christian and Jewish citizens in Istanbul,’ said a
city police statement reported by the Hürriyet Daily News. The Islamic State’s
Khorasan wing (IS-K) is named for a region of the ancient Persian Empire. The
thwarted attacks may have been planned in retaliation for the public burning in
late January of a Quran by a far-right Danish politician outside of Ankara’s
the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. The incident prompted widescale outrage
across the Islamic world, with one Muslim man threatening to burn a Torah
scroll outside of Israel’s Embassy in the Swedish capital. The United States
State Department issued a warning last month of possible imminent attacks on
sites revered by Christians and Jews in Turkey, while cautioning Americans
residing in the country to be on heightened alert against terror attacks on
diplomatic compounds or sites where Westerners are known to gather.”



Egypt



AFP: Egypt Sentences One To Death, Jails 11 For Life On 'Terror' Charges
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“An Egyptian court sentenced one man to death and 11 to life imprisonment
after convicting them of joining a ‘terrorist group’ linked to the Islamic
State group, state media reported Wednesday. The same counter-terrorism court
in Cairo also handed down three 15-year jail sentences, three 10-year sentences
and four acquittals at Tuesday's hearing, the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram
reported. The defendants were found guilty of ‘leading or joining a terrorist
group’ in the capital between 2015 and September 7, 2019, the paper said. Their
convictions are subject to appeal. After then army chief now President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, jihadists,
some inspired by the Islamic State group, carried out a wave of attacks on the
security forces and other targets, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula. The
authorities responded with a sweeping crackdown on Islamists and other
dissidents in which thousands were detained.”



Africa



Prensa Latina: Nigeria: More Than 100 Police Officers And Civilians Killed
Violently
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“The number of police officers and civilians killed in the northern Nigerian
state of Katsina after attacks on communities by criminal gangs rose to 102,
police sources reported on Wednesday. The public relations officer of the state
security forces, Dambo Isah, told local media that during the assaults, which
took place hours ago in the districts of Guga, Kakumi, Kandarawa and Jargaba,
the bandits used AK-47 rifles and other types of weapons. Most of the deaths
occurred when the bandits ambushed a convoy of volunteer guards, who were
trying to recover a batch of stolen cattle in a forest, reports said. In
Katsina and other states of Nigeria, in the last months, the attacks on
different targets by criminal and extremist groups have increased, those
worsening the climate of insecurity on this territory, with a population of
about 216 million inhabitants. In view of this complex situation, tension is
escalating in a context considered delicate just a few days before the
presidential and legislative elections on February 25.”



Al Awsat: New Recruits To Extremist Groups Expected To Surge In Africa
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“More people are joining terrorist groups in Africa, which draws questions on
its reasons, said a new report by the UN's international development agency.
The report underscored the importance of economic factors as drivers of
recruitment. Meanwhile, experts expected recruitment to increase as the African
governments and international powers fail to find successful approaches to
reduce poverty, unemployment, and ethnic marginalization in the continent. The
report monitored a 57 percent decrease from the 2017 findings in the number of
people who join extremist groups for religious reasons.”



United Kingdom



Reuters: UK Counter-Terrorism Strategy Needs To Refocus On Islamism -Review
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“Britain's counter-terrorism programme ‘Prevent’ must refocus its efforts more
on the threat posed by militant Islamism after becoming too concerned with
right-wing extremism, an independent review of the often-criticised strategy
concluded on Wednesday. ‘Prevent’ is a key strand of Britain’s security
apparatus, which was brought in after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States
with the aim of stopping radicalisation and preventing people from going on to
commit acts of violence. But it has been dogged since its inception by
allegations that it has been used to spy on Muslim communities, while some of
those referred to the programme later went on to commit terrorist offences.
William Shawcross, who was appointed Independent Reviewer of Prevent in January
2021, said it was not doing enough to target ‘non-violent Islamist extremism’.
Islamism, often referred to as Islamic fundamentalism, as an ideology was not
the same as Islam as a faith, he said.”



Coventry Telegraph: Coventry Man In Court Accused Of Preparing Terrorist Acts
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“A Coventry man accused of preparing terrorist acts has appeared in court.
Mohamad Al-Bared, 26, was arrested at a property in Kare Road last week.
Detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands CTU were at the scene
for a number of days and a blue tent was put up next to a garage. Al-Bared was
later charged with engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts
between May 19, 2022, and January 31 this year. He appeared at Westminster
Magistrates' Court on Tuesday (February 7) via video link. He did not enter any
plea or speak at all during the hearing which lasted around 15 minutes.”



Europe



The Brussels Times: Belgian Woman Who Travelled To IS In Syria Acquitted For
Terrorism
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“A young woman from the municipality of Vilvoorde, just north of Brussels, has
been acquitted of terrorism by the Brussels Court of Appeal, which overruled
her previous four-year prison sentence for participating in the activities of a
terrorist group. The woman, identified as Noura F., came into contact with
Houssien Elouassaki, one of the key members of Sharia4Belgium – a terrorist
organisation that called for Belgium to be converted into an Islamic state.
With Elouassaki, Noura F. travelled to Syria at the age of 17. There, she
married Ali Houdaifa Ammi, who had also travelled from Vilvoorde to Syria to
fight for the Islamic State (IS) and had several children with him. Though the
details are not clear, Houdaifa Ammi is believed to have been killed in Syria.”



Al Arabiya News: Sweden Increasingly A Focus For Extremists After
Quran-Burning, Security Police Say
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“Sweden has moved into the spotlight for violent extremists globally after a
number of incidents including the recent public burning of the Muslim holy
book, the Quran, the security services said on Wednesday. ‘Recent developments
with threats targeted at Sweden and Swedish interests are serious and affect
Sweden’s security,’ the Swedish Security Service SAPO said in a statement. ‘The
developments mean that Sweden is deemed to be in greater focus than previously
for violent Islamic extremists globally.’ Sweden and neighbor Finland last year
launched bids to join NATO, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The
membership process has been held up by Turkey, which says the two Nordic
countries, primarily Sweden, are not doing enough to fight terrorism. The
burning of the Quran by a far-right politician outside the Turkish embassy last
month has ratcheted up tensions.”



Technology



The Jerusalem Post: Twitter Sees Surge In Gen-Z Neo-Nazi Antisemitism Since
Musk Takeover <[link removed]>



“A new study has found a rise in extremist users – including those
proliferating antisemitic content – rejoining Twitter en masse since Elon
Musk’s takeover of the company. The study by the Combat Antisemitism Movement
and the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) shows that much attention
has been paid to Kanye ‘Ye’ West’s antisemitic tirades. The organizations’ data
found a 136% increase in toxic comments, threats, and identity attacks in
tweets pertaining to Jews on the platform. The data further suggest that the
influx of extremist activity onto Twitter began far before West’s statements,
with organized efforts of extremist communities like the Gen-Z neo-Nazi
‘Groypers,’ led by white supremacist Nick Fuentes. They acted as a vanguard –
anticipating, planning for, and capitalizing on Musk’s acquisition of Twitter
to popularize and disseminate hateful content. ‘They did so with the
expectation that Musk would provide a more hospitable platform for their brand
of extremist content, joining Twitter at a rapid rate,’ the report reads.”



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