Eye on Extremism - March 22, 2021

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Eye on Extremism -March 22, 2021
By: Counter Extremism Project - 03-22-21
Re: info@counterextremism.com

Topic: Taliban Expect US Withdrawal, Vow To Restore Islamic Rule

Associated Press: Taliban Expect US Withdrawal, Vow To Restore Islamic Rule

“The Taliban warned Washington on Friday against defying a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of American and NATO troops from Afghanistan, promising a “reaction,” which could mean increased attacks by the insurgent group. The Taliban issued their warning at a press conference in Moscow, the day after meeting with senior Afghan government negotiators and international observers to try to jumpstart a stalled peace process to end Afghanistan’s decades of war. President Joe Biden’s administration says it is reviewing an agreement the Taliban signed with the Trump administration. Biden told ABC in an interview Wednesday that the May 1 deadline “could happen, but it is tough,” adding that if the deadline is extended it won’t be by “a lot longer.” “They should go,” Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban negotiation team, told reporters, warning that staying beyond May 1 would breach the deal. “After that, it will be a kind of violation of the agreement. That violation would not be from our side. . . Their violation will have a reaction.”

Reuters: At Least 22 Killed In Niger Village Attacks, Sources Say

“Armed men killed at least 22 civilians in southwestern Niger on Sunday, three sources said, less than a week after unidentified assailants killed 58 villagers in the same region. The attackers raided three villages in the Tillabery region, which borders Mali and Burkina Faso. A security source said Islamic State fighters were responsible, while two local sources did not say who was behind it. Islamic State’s local affiliate is active in the zone and has been blamed for previous attacks that killed dozens of civilians and soldiers. The violence is part of a wider security crisis across West Africa’s Sahel region, which is also fuelled by militants linked to al Qaeda and ethnic militias. Alfouzazi Issintag, mayor of Tillia, the rural commune to which the villages belong, confirmed to Reuters that there had been “a lot of deaths”, but did not say how many. Last Monday, armed men killed at least 58 civilians in Tillabery when they intercepted a convoy returning from a weekly market and attacked a nearby village. Suspected militants also killed at least 100 civilians on Jan. 2 in raids on two villages in Tillabery, one of the deadliest episodes in the country’s recent history.”

United States

Voice Of America: 4 Men Linked To Proud Boys Charged In Plot To Attack Capitol

“Four men described as leaders of the far-right Proud Boys have been charged in the U.S. Capitol riots, as an indictment ordered unsealed Friday presents fresh evidence of how federal officials believe group members planned and carried out a coordinated attack to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory. So far, at least 19 leaders, members or associates of the Proud Boys have been charged in federal court with offenses related to the January 6 riots. Proud Boys members, who describe themselves as a politically incorrect men's club for “Western chauvinists,” have frequently engaged in street fights with antifascist activists at rallies and protests. Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, sued the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling it as a hate group. The latest indictment suggests the Proud Boys deployed a much larger contingent in Washington, with more than 60 users participating in an encrypted messaging channel for group members that was created a day before the riots.”

International Business Times: ISIS Bride Says She Cried When Donald Trump Tweeted She Won't Be Allowed To Enter US

“…According to a counter-extremism project, Hoda, famously known as the 'ISIS bride', urged jihadists in America to ''go on drive-bys, and spill all of their blood.'' Hoda also cheered when a terrorist opened fire in France in 2015 in the attack against Charlie Hebdo magazine that left 12 people dead. The ISIS bride married three jihadists in Syria, all of whom were killed by American forces and she delivered a baby boy with whom she now stays at the Roj refugee camp in Northern Syria. With a sudden change of heart two years ago and not liking the fact she was treated below dignity by her fellow ISIS fighters, Hoda decided to get back to the US but her dreams were struck down by the Trump administration. Hoda, who is seen in a 90-minute documentary 'The Return: Life After ISIS' that premiered at the South by Southwest film festival revealed that she cried when she saw Donald Trump's tweet and the tone of his message was harsh against her. In February, 2019, Trump had tweeted, ''I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!''

Syria

Agence France-Presse: 'Caliphate' Or Not, Islamic State Expands Its Reach

“In the two years since Kurdish forces wrested away the Islamic State's last Syrian bastion, the jihadist group has proved it does not need a stronghold to pose a potent threat in more countries than ever. At their apogee, the extremists controlled a territory the size of Britain covering large swaths of Syria and Iraq, where it waged one of the most brutal campaigns of systematic terror in modern history. Its defeat on March 23, 2019, was, it turns out, far from definitive, with the group managing to maintain its cohesion despite the dispersal of its leadership. It has also continued to claim scores of deadly attacks far beyond its original base, while taking advantage of the vast deserts of war-scarred Syria to target forces loyal to the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. “It has for the time being gone to ground, but with the goals of maintaining its insurgency in Iraq and Syria and a global cyber-presence,” General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command that oversees troops deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, said last month. At the same time, the group is “building and retaining a cellular structure which allows it to carry out terrorist attacks,” he said.”

Iran

The Jerusalem Post: Failure To Stop Iran's Terror Support Might Lead To Israel-Hezbollah War

“The Middle East has entered a new and significant stage in recent weeks, as all regional actors position themselves around the key question of whether or not US President Joe Biden’s administration renews the Iran nuclear agreement. Failure to achieve an improved nuclear deal and cause Iran to downgrade its regional destabilizing activities will have long-lasting effects, could create an economic disaster in Iran and could lead to a military escalation between Iran and America’s regional allies. The issue of whether sanctions on Iran will be lifted and the outline of a possible new agreement is the leading factor that will shape the face of the Middle East in the coming years. The new American administration is maneuvering through a minefield in which various developments could impact its decisions on the region. To understand the new complex Middle Eastern puzzle, it is first necessary to recognize the fact that the Biden administrations is dealing with Iran on two fronts. The first is Tehran’s radical activities and support for armed movements that stretches from Yemen through to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as part of a grand strategic attempt to change realities in the region. The second is Iran’s nuclear program.”

Iraq

Kurdistan 24: US-Led Coalition Warplanes Strike ISIS Positions Near Iraq’s Disputed Makhmour

“Warplanes of the international US-led Coalition struck hideouts used by the so-called Islamic State in an area known as Qarachogh Mountain, located outside the disputed district of Makhmour, a security source told Kurdistan 24. There remains to be seen if any suspected members of the group have been killed or wounded in the latest counterterrorism operation in the rugged Qarachogh region, some 50 kilometers southwest of the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil. Similar airstrikes targeted hideouts in the area on March 17. The militant group occupies a stretch of near-inhospitable land in between the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces and the federal Iraqi forces in the Qarachogh area, near Makhmour district, which is part of territories disputed between Erbil and Baghdad. A video from the Peshmerga line showed plumes of smoke rising from the mountain following the airstrikes by Coalition forces, which have conducted dozens of anti-ISIS operations in coordination with Kurdish and Iraqi troops in the area. Following the emergence of the Islamic State in 2014, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces held their front lines in the areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, preventing sleeper cells from entering their territory despite the terrorist organization controlling adjacent land.”

Turkey

Associated Press: Turkey: 20 Detained In Raids Targeting PKK Militants

“Turkish police have detained some 20 people in raids against suspected Kurdish militants, including three top local officials of the country’s pro-Kurdish party, the state-run news agency reported Friday. Separately, Ozturk Turkdogan, the chairman of Turkey’s Human Rights Association, IHD, was also detained in Ankara following a raid on his home, the association announced on Twitter. The raids in Ankara and Istanbul came days after a top prosecutor filed a case with Turkey’s highest court seeking to disband the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, accusing it of ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The European Union and the United States criticized the move, saying it would violate the rights of millions of HDP voters in Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said anti-terrorism police carried out simultaneous raids in four Istanbul districts early on Friday, detaining 10 people suspected of engaging in “acts on behalf of the PKK.” Ten other people were detained in Ankara, where the raids focused on a PKK-linked group suspected of coordinating the militants’ actions, according to Anadolu. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.”

Daily Sabah: Turkey Deported 2,764 Foreign Terrorist Fighters Since 2019

“Turkey has deported 2,764 foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) of 67 different nationalities since 2019, thanks to security efforts both within the country and across the border, Turkey's Interior Ministry announced Sunday. In a written statement, the ministry indicated that the deportation of FTFs who come to join terrorist organizations, including the PKK, its various offshoots and Daesh, continues. “Within this scope, 1,595 foreign terrorist fighters were caught and deported to their countries in 2019, 1,019 in 2020 and 150 in the first two and a half months of 2021,” it said, adding that 224 FTFs were sent to European Union countries in the past three years. According to the Interior Ministry’s numbers, 117 foreigners from 11 EU countries were deported in 2019, while 95 FTFs from eight EU countries were deported in 2020, and 12 FTFs from three EU countries so far this year. The ministry underlined that most deportations were to France and Germany. Of the 224 FTFs deported to the EU in the past three years, 66 were of French nationality, 57 were German, 22 were Dutch, 14 were Swedes and 7 were Swiss.”

Afghanistan

Reuters: Afghan Government, Taliban Agree To Accelerate Peace Talks After Moscow Summit

“The Afghan government and the Taliban agreed on Friday to try to accelerate peace talks, at a meeting in Moscow that followed an international conference there on the peace process, a senior Afghan official was quoted as saying. The United States, Russia, China and Pakistan called on Afghanistan’s warring sides to reach an immediate ceasefire at the conference, held in Russia just six weeks before a deadline agreed last year to withdraw U.S. troops. “We expressed our readiness to accelerate the (peace) process,” Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, told Russia’s RIA news agency. “They (the Taliban) did as well.” Abdullah said the sides had not discussed any specific issues when they met in Moscow on Friday. Moscow hosted the international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday, at which Russia, the United States, China and Pakistan released a joint statement calling on the Afghan sides to reach a peace deal and curb violence, and on the Taliban not to launch any offensives in the spring and summer.”

The New York Times: Even Suicide Bombings Can’t Keep These Students From School

“Two and a half years ago, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest during an algebra class at the Mawoud Academy tutoring center. At least 40 students, most from Afghanistan’s Hazara ethnic minority, died as they studied for college entrance exams. Najibullah Yousefi, a teacher who survived the August 2018 blast, moved with his students to a new location. He has a plan for the next suicide bomber. “I’m in front of the class and will get killed anyway,” Mr. Yousefi, 38, said. “So to protect my students, I will go and hug the attacker” to absorb the blast. Perhaps no other minority group faces a more harrowing future if the Taliban return to power as a result of negotiations with the Afghan government — especially if they don’t honor a pledge under a February 2020 agreement with the United States to cut ties with terror organizations such as the Islamic State. But even as the violence deters some students, many young Hazaras keep returning to classrooms. They have swept aside their fears and dread to pursue dreams of higher education in a country where attending class is an expression of faith amid a climate of terror. “This is very unfair, but this is Afghanistan and this is how people suffer here,” Mr. Yousefi said.”

Voice Of America: Taliban Claim Reduction In Violence In Their Proposal

“The Taliban claim they, not the U.S., originated the pending proposal for a three-month reduction in violence, or RIV, to “create a conducive atmosphere” for intra-Afghan peace negotiations, two Taliban officials told VOA Saturday. “We have floated a plan under which all related sides will reduce violence. But this is not a cease-fire,” Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem said. He did not offer more details. Another Taliban official said the proposal has been under discussion between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar for a while. “Both sides even held further discussions during a recent meeting in Doha between the Taliban and the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad,” the Taliban official said on condition of anonymity. Taliban officials, other than their official spokesmen, are not allowed to talk to media, so they only share information on condition of anonymity. The idea first came to light earlier this month in a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The letter was leaked to the media.”

Lebanon

Arab News: Hezbollah Reneges On Lebanese Government Pledge

“Hezbollah has walked away from a previous agreement to form a Lebanese government of nonpolitical specialists, claiming that any leadership not backed by political forces “will go down in a week or two.” The militant party’s change of tack has shattered hopes that an 18th meeting between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri scheduled for next Monday would end the long-running stalemate over the formation of the government. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s comments, made in a televised address on Thursday, also undermine French efforts launched by President Emmanuel Macron to form a government free of political forces in order to gain the confidence of the international community and help Lebanon recover from its crippling economic and health crisis. Mustafa Alloush, a leading figure in Hariri’s Future Movement, said: “There is a chance to agree on the formation of the government on Monday, but Hariri has no intention of bringing back a political government because it will inevitably fail, based on previous experience.”

Nigeria

Sahara Reporters: Boko Haram Terrorists Attack Borno Community Again, Burn Houses, Cars

“Militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, on Thursday night again attacked Damasak in Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno state. SaharaReporters gathered that some residential houses, shops, cars and other properties worth millions of naira were destroyed by the gunmen during the attack. A military source said troops of Operation Lafiya Dole stationed at super camp in the community with a combat aircraft of the Nigeria Air Force however repelled the attack. He said the soldiers killed some of the insurgents with gun trucks and other weapons recovered. The attack comes barely three days the terrorists took over the military base in the community. Sources told SaharaReporters that the gunmen stormed the community, shooting in all directions before ramming an explosives-laden pick-up truck into the military base. A resident said the terrorists came in different groups and could not be counted. He added that some Nigerian soldiers were killed while others fled into the bush.”

Africa

Reuters: Mozambicans Fleeing Insurgency Risk Radicalisation, U.N. Fears

“Mozambicans uprooted by a jihadist insurgency have the potential to become radicalised themselves if they lack basic essentials and root causes of the conflict are not addressed, United Nations officials warned on Friday. Islamic State-linked militants have in the past year escalated attacks in Mozambique’s northernmost province Cabo Delgado, murdering villagers, fighting the army and seizing towns. Beheadings have been a hallmark of attacks. The number of people fleeing their homes swelled from 70,000 to about 700,000 over the last year, said Raouf Mazou, the U.N. refugee agency’s assistant high commissioner for operations. Many initially made their way south to the well-protected provincial capital of Pemba to live, often in cramped conditions, with host families. The government has started moving people to resettlement sites outside the city, Gillian Triggs, the U.N. refugee agency’s assistant high commissioner for protection, told reporters at a briefing alongside Mazou. Following a camp visit, Mazou and Triggs said more funding and planning was needed to cover food, medicines and education.”

Al Jazeera: Over 200 Killed In Armed Attacks In DR Congo Since January: UN

“More than 200 people have been killed and an estimated 40,000 displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January in attacks attributed to armed groups affiliated to ISIL (ISIS), the United Nations has said. The UN refugee agency reported on Friday an “alarming increase” in attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – an historically Ugandan group present in eastern DRC since 1995. Since the start of the year, attacks blamed on the ADF “have killed nearly 200 people, injured dozens of others, and displaced an estimated 40,000 people in DRC’s Beni Territory in North Kivu province as well as nearby villages in Ituri province,” UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said. “In less than three months, the ADF has allegedly raided 25 villages, set fire to dozens of houses and kidnapped over 70 people,” he told reporters in Geneva. The ADF has a reputation of being the bloodiest of the 122 militias that plague the eastern DRC. It killed an estimated 465 people last year. According to the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), an NGO that monitors violence in the DRC’s troubled east, the group has killed more than 1,200 civilians in the Beni area alone since 2017. The massacres have become more frequent since the army launched an offensive in October 2019, forcing the ADF to break up into smaller, highly mobile units, say experts.”

The North Africa Post: Tunisia: 10 People Sentenced To 48 Years In Prison On Terrorism Charges

“A court in capital Tunis Wednesday sentenced 10 people, including five women, to 48 years in prison after they were convicted for forming a terror group. The defendants were arrested in 2017 in several governorates in the north of the country. They admitted the formation of the terror cell and allegiance to the Islamic state group (ISIS). They were also accused of encouraging young Tunisians to leave the country and join terror groups in hotbed conflict zones including Libya and Syria. During their arrest, security forces seized several passports, computers and amounts of money. The North African country has been in war on terror after several bloody attacks claimed by the ISIS rocked the country in 2015.”

United Kingdom

BBC News: Londonderry: Man Charged With Preparing Terrorist Acts Denied Bail

“A 52-year-old man from Londonderry has been charged with possessing explosives, bomb-making components and preparing terrorist acts. Kieran McCool from Ballymagowan Gardens in the city was arrested on Thursday by police investigating the New IRA's bomb-making activities. A detective told the court he could connect Mr McCool to a number of items found during searches since 2017. Mr McCool's defence barrister said the evidence was “flimsy and untenable”. Belfast Magistrates Court heard that an explosive substance used in semtex, timer switches and black gloves have been seized. The police officer said he believed there was a correlation between the materials found over the last four years and a number of improvised explosive devices discovered in Strabane, Derry and Belfast between 2017 and 2020. Defence barrister Joe Brolly said the evidence was “remarkably flimsy and untenable” and it was “a highly speculative case that's going nowhere”. He said his client had previously been arrested following a number of searches but was released unconditionally.”

Australia

Australian Associated Press: Right-Wing Group Given Terrorist Listing

“Australia has for the first time listed a right-wing extremist organisation as a terrorist group, paving the way for investigations and possible jailings of members. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is listing the Sonnenkrieg Division - also known as SKD - under the criminal code, joining the likes of Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Members of the group have been convicted for plotting to attack the British royal family, as well as disseminating terrorist material. Mr Dutton said the listing reflected the government's commitment to stamping out violence and extremism of all kinds, regardless of ideology or motivation. “SKD adheres to an abhorrent, violent ideology that encourages lone-wolf terrorist actors who would seek to cause significant harm to our way of life and our country,” he said on Monday. “Members of SKD have already been convicted of terrorist offences in the United Kingdom, including encouraging terrorism, preparing for a terrorist attack and possession and dissemination of terrorist material.” The listing enables all available terrorist offences and penalties to apply to the organisation, including up to 25 years in jail for some offences.”

Southeast Asia

Al Jazeera: Philippine Troops Kill Abu Sayyaf Leader, Rescue Hostages

“Philippine troops have killed a leader of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group and rescued four Indonesian hostages – one aged just 15 – who had been held for more than a year, the military said on Sunday. Majan Sahidjuan, alias Apo Mike, was severely wounded in an exchange of gunfire with the marines on Saturday night in Languyan town in southern Tawi-Tawi province, and later died, said Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan Jr. He described Sahidjuan as the mastermind in several kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf, which is based in Sulu and has also been involved in bomb attacks and piracy for decades. Since 2014, it has proclaimed allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group. “We are happy that all the hostages are safe now and we are also able to neutralise the notorious ‘Apo Mike’ and two of his comrades,” said Vinluan, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command. Sahidjuan was among five members of Abu Sayyaf who went to Tawi-Tawi by boat from Sulu, with their four Indonesian kidnap victims last Thursday. Their boat capsized after it was battered by big waves, giving government troops the chance to rescue three of the four hostages – Arizal Kasta Miran, 30; Arsad Bin Dahlan, 41; and Andi Riswanto, 26.”

Associated Press: Indonesian Police Say New Cell Islamic Militant Group Was Recruiting, Training

“Twenty-two suspects arrested in recent weeks were connected to the banned Jemaah Islamiyah militant group — among them a convicted leader who was recruiting and training new members, Indonesian authorities said Thursday. The 22 men were flown Thursday under the guard of Indonesia's elite counterterrorism squad from Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, to a police detention center in the national capital Jakarta for further questioning. Television footage showed them being led off the plane, their hands and legs cuffed and their faces masked. A dozen of them were arrested in different cities in East Java province late last month. Counterterrorism police arrested another 10 early this month. Police also seized a pistol, knives, long swords, machetes and jihadist books, said Rusdi Hartono, the National Police spokesperson. He said the suspects conducted military-style training in East Java's Malang district and plotted to attack on-duty police. Hartono said previously the suspects created a bunker for weapons and bombmaking and prepared a route to escape after carrying out their planned attacks.”