Eye on Extremism - January 23, 2020

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Eye on Extremism
January 23, 2020
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of: January 23, 2020

The New York Times: Chaos As Militants Overran Airfield, Killing 3 Americans In Kenya

“Armed with rifles and explosives, about a dozen Shabab fighters destroyed an American surveillance plane as it was taking off and ignited an hourslong gunfight earlier this month on a sprawling military base in Kenya that houses United States troops. By the time the Shabab were done, portions of the airfield were burning and three Americans were dead. Surprised by the attack, American commandos took around an hour to respond. Many of the local Kenyan forces, assigned to defend the base, hid in the grass while other American troops and support staff were corralled into tents, with little protection, to wait out the battle. It would require hours to evacuate one of the wounded to a military hospital in Djibouti, roughly 1,500 miles away. The brazen assault at Manda Bay, a sleepy seaside base near the Somali border, on Jan. 5, was largely overshadowed by the crisis with Iran after the killing of that country’s most important general two days earlier, and is only now drawing closer scrutiny from Congress and Pentagon officials. But the storming of an airfield used by the American military so alarmed the Pentagon that it immediately sent about 100 troops from the 101st Airborne Division to establish security at the base.”

Bloomberg: German Defense Chief Warns Islamic State Could Resume ‘Terror’

“Germany’s defense minister warned that Islamic State fighters could return in force in the Middle East if an international coalition is unable to continue its work against the militant organization. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, speaking in an interview at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, said that Germany aims to keep its forces in Iraq, but can only do so at the behest of the government in Baghdad. “We need to keep in mind that in Iraq, IS is not yet defeated,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told Bloomberg Television in Davos, Switzerland. “If the pressure is reduced, then the danger is great that it resumes its regime of terror.” The concerns by a key U.S. ally underscore how the mission has been shaken since the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, which prompted the Iraqis to demand the departure of 5,000 American troops from the country. The self-declared caliphate was largely subdued by early last year in Syria and Iraq, where it once controlled territory the size of Iceland. Germany, which has some 120 troops in Iraq as part of an anti-ISIS campaign, suspended its operations amid the crisis. Thirty-two German troops were transferred to Jordan and three to Kuwait.”

The Washington Post: Iran Uses Violence, Politics To Try To Push US Out Of Iraq

“Iran has long sought the withdrawal of American forces from neighboring Iraq, but the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi militia commander in Baghdad has added new impetus to the effort, stoking anti-American feelings that Tehran hopes to exploit to help realize the goal. The Jan. 3 killing has led Iraq’s parliament to call for the ouster of U.S. troops, but there are many lingering questions over whether Iran will be able to capitalize on the sentiment. An early test will be a “million-man” demonstration against the American presence, called for by influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and scheduled for Friday. It is not clear whether the protesters will try to recreate a New Year’s Eve attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-supported militias in the wake of U.S. airstrikes that killed 25 militiamen along the border with Syria. Iran might simply try to use the march to telegraph its intention to keep up the pressure on U.S. troops in Iraq. But experts say Iran can be counted on to try to seize what it sees as an opportunity to push its agenda in Iraq, despite an ongoing mass uprising that is targeting government corruption as well as Iranian influence in the country.”

United States

The New York Times: A New Face Of White Supremacy: Plots Expose Danger Of The ‘Base’

“The plans were as sweeping as they were chilling: “Derail some trains, kill some people, and poison some water supplies.” It was the blunt, bloody prescription for sparking a race war by a member of the Base, a white supremacist group that has come under intense scrutiny amid a series of stunning recent arrests. Federal agents, who had secretly recorded those remarks in a bugged apartment during a domestic terrorism investigation, pounced on seven members of the group last week in advance of a rally on Monday by gun rights advocates in Richmond, Va. Three members of one cell in Maryland affiliated with the group plotted attacks at the rally, hoping to ignite wider violence that would lead to the creation of a white ethno-state, law enforcement officials said. The “defendants did more than talk,” Robert K. Hur, the United States attorney for Maryland, said after a detention hearing on Wednesday in federal court in Greenbelt, Md. “They took steps to act and act violently on their racist views.” The details that emerged in court and in documents from active cases in three other states — Georgia, Wisconsin and New Jersey — unveiled a disturbing new face of white supremacy.”

The New York Times: Judge: Canadian Tied To Extremist Group Is 'Very Dangerous'

“A former Canadian Armed Forces reservist plotted with other members of a white supremacist group to carry out “essentially a paramilitary strike” at a Virginia gun rights rally, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan agreed to keep Patrik Mathews, 27, detained in federal custody pending a Jan. 30 preliminary hearing. Mathews leaned back in his chair and quietly laughed when the magistrate read aloud a transcript of a video in which the Canadian national advocated killing people, poisoning water supplies and derailing trains. “This is a very dangerous person,” the magistrate said during Mathews' detention hearing in Maryland. “He espouses very dangerous beliefs.” Later Wednesday, Sullivan refused to set bail for another defendant arrested in the FBI's investigation of The Base. A prosecutor described William Garfield Bilbrough IV — a 19-year-old pizza delivery driver who lives with his grandmother in Denton, Maryland — as a leader of the group who was seen as a “prophet” by Mathews and the third man arrested in the case.”

CBS Boston: Northeastern Student Was Deported Back To Iran Over Family’s Ties To Terroristic Groups

“Shabab Dehghani, a Northeastern University college student who was detained at Logan Airport and sent back to Iran before an immigration hearing was held, was deported because of his family’s ties to terroristic groups, CBS News reports. A U.S. official familiar with information reviewed by authorities told CBS News that Dehghani himself does not have ties to terroristic groups, but “some very close to him” do. Dehghani is studying economics at Northeastern. He’s been studying in Boston for two years, but was stuck at home in Iran in December 2018 after visiting his family as he waited for his student visa to be renewed. Dehghani’s attorney, Susan Church, told WBZ-TV he was detained starting Sunday night despite having a legal F1 Student Visa, as he tried to get back to school – and said at the time she didn’t know why. An immigration hearing was scheduled for Tuesday morning, but Dehghani was deported before it began. Judge Richard Stearns said during the brief hearing that there was nothing he could do because Dehghani had already been deported. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey tweeted Wednesday that he still hadn’t heard from U.S. Customs and Border Protection about why Dehghani was turned away.”

Syria

The Washington Post: How Islamic State Gains From Strife Among Its Enemies

“If there is one cause common to the governments of the U.S., Turkey, Iraq and Iran, it’s the continued suppression of Islamic State, the most destructive Islamist militant organization the world has seen. Working together and separately, those nations and their allies by early 2019 managed to subdue the group in Iraq and Syria, where it once controlled a chunk of territory as big as Iceland. Now, tensions among the countries that dismantled Islamic State threaten to subvert efforts to combat its resurgence. 1. What condition is Islamic State in? Its self-declared caliphate -- a state that claims dominion over all Muslims -- has been in ruins since March 2019 when U.S.-assisted Syrian Kurdish forces, Russian-backed Syrian government troops and Iranian-supported fighters from Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Pakistan took the group’s last remaining strongholds in Syria. It had lost its territorial foothold in neighboring Iraq in 2017 to government forces backed by a U.S.-led multinational coalition. The group’s enigmatic leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a U.S. strike in northern Syria in October. His death is widely believed to have been a blow to the group, but not a fatal one. U.S. intelligence concluded that it would have little impact on the group’s ability to rebuild.”

Reuters: Militants Set Off Car Bombs, Storm Army Positions In Syria's Idlib: State News Agency

“Militants in Syria set off car bombs and used heavy gunfire to storm army positions in Idlib on Thursday, state news agency SANA reported. The militant attack forced the army to redeploy and clashes were ongoing, SANA added. Idlib is the last rebel-held swathe of territory in the country and hundreds of thousands of people in the area have fled in recent weeks amid heavy airstrikes by Russian and Syrian forces.”

Voice Of America: In Syria, Captured Islamic State Fighters, Followers Going Home

“A growing number of fighters and followers captured during the final battles to defeat the Islamic State terror group’s self-declared caliphate are being released in Syria, with some facing justice and others being given a chance to restart their lives. Once held under heavy guard in makeshift prisons or in camps for displaced persons, dozens of fighters and hundreds of so-called IS-affiliated persons have made the journey home since late last year, according to U.S. and U.N. officials. And while the prospect of allowing some former IS fighters and followers to mingle in communities freed from the terror group’s grip has, in some cases, raised tensions, U.S. officials, so far, have been pleased with the results. “We see these SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] return-and-reintegration initiatives as positive,” a State Department official told VOA, asking for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the program. “They have been successful in holding fighters to account and also reintegrating some individuals and a significant number of families back into Syrian communities, usually under tribal and family oversight,” the official added. About 4,000 captured Syrian IS fighters are thought to be in SDF custody, while the number of noncombatants — women and children and others — held in displaced-persons camps still number in the tens of thousands.”

Iraq

France 24: IS Resurgence Possible If US Leaves Iraq: General

“The Islamic State group is weakened but a resurgence is possible if the United States leaves Iraq, US Major General Alexus Grynkewich, the number two commander for the international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria, said Wednesday. The group “certainly still remain a threat,” he said. “They have the potential to resurge if we take pressure off of them for too long.” The general said he did not see the threat of an immediate IS comeback. “But the more time we take pressure off of them, the more of that threat will continue to grow,” he said. At a Pentagon press conference, he said the structural weakness of IS is shown by their failure to take advantage of demonstrations in Iraq calling for political reforms since October. More than 460 protesters have been killed, and demonstrators are angry that few Iraqi security personnel have been charged for the violence. The allies at the heart of the international coalition have over the last few months been evaluating the position of the jihadist movement whose self-declared “caliphate” once spanned parts of Iraq and Syria. It collapsed last March after years of battle with coalition-backed forces. IS went underground and reverted to well-honed guerrilla tactics that continued to do damage.”

Military Times: No ISIS Surge During Pause In US Operations, General Says

“Islamic State fighters did not capitalize on a recent break in U.S. operations to significantly reconstitute their ranks in Iraq, according to a top general. After a U.S. airstrike killed Iran's top military commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the U.S. briefly suspended coalition training activities in Iraq on Jan. 5. The move came during a heightened state of alert to protect facilities housing U.S. troops amid unpredictable retaliations from Iran's proxy forces. Air Force Maj. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve at U.S. Central Command, told an audience at a Mitchell Institute event outside Washington, D.C., that U.S. and coalition troops have not observed a compelling uptick in ISIS activities throughout Iraq and Syria recently. He added that targeted strikes on ISIS fighters have waned in recent months to about “two to three airstrikes per week.” “[But] we certainly want to get back to providing that overall pressure” to keep ISIS at bay for the foreseeable future, Grynkewich said Wednesday. He credited Iraqi forces with keeping the pressure on ISIS during the break. The U.S. announced it was resuming operations against the Islamic State on Jan. 15.”

Afghanistan

The New York Times: Afghan Officials: Taliban Kill Officer; Bomb Kills 2 Troops

“The Taliban ambushed and killed an Afghan intelligence official in southern Helmand province as he was walking home from work while a roadside bombing in the country's north killed a military commander and his bodyguard, officials said Thursday. The attacks were the latest violence in Afghanistan even as the Taliban hold peace talks with a U.S. envoy tasked with finding a resolution to the 18-year war, America's longest conflict. In the Helmand attack, the officer, who headed the intelligence department's press office for the province, was ambushed late on Wednesday, according to the provincial police chief’s spokesman Zaman Hamdard. Another member of the intelligence department was wounded in the attack, the spokesman said. An investigation was underway to find the perpetrators, Hamdard added. Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack. The roadside bombing in northern Faryab province took place on Wednesday morning, killing the commandeer of the Afghan army's First Battalion and his bodyguard, and wounding two other bodyguards. According to Mohammad Hanif Rezaie, the military spokesman in northern Afghanistan, the battalion commander, Capt. Muhib Shah, was traveling to the volatile Khwaja Sabzposh district when the car he and his bodyguards were in hit the roadside bomb.”

Reuters: Trump Says Taliban Must Curb Violence For Meaningful Afghanistan Talks

“U.S. President Donald Trump told Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani that there cannot be meaningful negotiations until the Taliban significantly reduces its violence, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday. “Trump reiterated the need for a significant and lasting reduction in violence by the Taliban that would facilitate meaningful negotiations on Afghanistan’s future,” the White House said. Trump had been in Davos attending the World Economic Forum.”

Saudi Arabia

Asharq Al-Awsat: Saudi Arabia Asks US To Remove Sudan From Terror List

“Saudi Arabia has asked the United States to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, Saudi state TV said on Wednesday, citing Minister of State for African Affairs Ahmed Kattan. The US government added Sudan to its list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1993 over allegations of cooperation with extremist groups, mainly al-Qaeda. In 2017, the United States lifted trade sanctions imposed on Sudan a decade before but kept Khartoum on its terrorism blacklist alongside Iran, North Korea and Syria. Saudi media said Kattan met in Riyadh with the US envoy to Sudan, Donald Booth, and “stressed to Washington the necessity of lifting Sudan from the terrorism list”. According to state broadcaster Al-Ekhbaria, the minister emphasized “Saudi Arabia's support for Sudan's security and stability.”

Lebanon

NBC News: Lebanon's New Government Backed By Hezbollah And Allies Meets For First Time

“Lebanon's new government met for the first time Wednesday as President Michel Aoun said its main task was to win back international confidence that could unlock the funding the crisis-hit country badly needs. Formed by the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah and its allies without the participation of major Lebanese political parties that enjoy Western backing, it also faces one of the biggest financial crises in the heavily indebted country's history. A liquidity crunch that has hit the Lebanese pound, fueled inflation and driven banks to impose capital controls. “Your mission is delicate,” Aoun's office cited him as telling the cabinet. “It is necessary to work to tackle the economic situation, restore the confidence of the international community in Lebanese institutions andreassure the Lebanese about their future,” Aoun said. Lebanon, burdened with a public debt equivalent to about 150 percent of GDP, won pledges exceeding $11 billion at an international conference in April 2018 conditional on reforms that it has so far failed to implement. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the government's formation and said he would work with Prime Minister Hassan Diab to support the reform agenda, Guterres' spokesman said in a statement on Wednesday.”

Egypt

Al Monitor: Why Egypt Is Amending Its Terrorism Law

“The Council of Ministers approved Jan. 8 the draft amendments to Law No. 8 of 2015, with the goal of making more effective the measures to counter terrorism and terrorism financing. The amendments involve expanding the general prosecution’s powers of freezing the assets and funds of individuals and entities affiliated with terrorist groups or activities. While Article 7 of the law requires freezing and seizing the funds of such individuals and entities when used in a terrorist activity only, the new amendments grant the authorities the right to freeze all of the funds the defendants own. The amendments stipulate freezing the funds or other assets owned solely or jointly or controlled directly or indirectly by the individual and entity, as well as the returns generated from these properties, and the funds or assets of the individuals and entities acting on their behalf. The new amendments also stipulate freezing the funds and other financial assets and economic resources, including oil resources, and other natural resources and properties of any kind, regardless of how the individual or entity obtained them.”

Nigeria

The Washington Post: Islamic Extremists Kill Nigerian Pastor, Attack His Hometown

“Islamic militants in Nigeria have killed a Christian pastor who had pleaded for his life in a video just days earlier, and a human rights activist said Tuesday that other extremists attacked his hometown on the same day. The Rev. Lawan Andimi was abducted earlier this month when Boko Haram militants attacked the Michika local government area, where he was the chairman of a local chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria. He was killed on Monday. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari condemned Andimi’s slaying, calling it “cruel, inhuman and deliberately provocative.” “I am greatly saddened by the fact that the terrorists went on to kill him even while giving signals of a willingness to set him free by releasing him to third parties,” Buhari tweeted. Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International in Nigeria, called it “appalling” that Boko Haram followed up Andimi’s killing on Monday with an attack on his hometown in the Chibok local government area of northeastern Borno state. In April 2014, 276 girls were abducted from the Government Secondary School in Chibok. More than 100 are still missing nearly six years later. Andimi is the latest Christian to be killed by Boko Haram or a breakaway faction that has ties to the Islamic State group.”

Somalia

Breitbart: Somalia Offers To Take Swedish Islamic State Members From Syria

“Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has offered to take in Swedish-Somalian Islamic State members, stating that he will accept them if European countries will not take them. Kurdish authorities have said that around half of the Swedish woman in the al-Hol prison camp have a Somalian background, a number estimated to be between 30 to 40 people, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports. “If no one wants them and the Europeans do not take them back, then Somalia’s president has decided that women and children who want to can be taken to Somalia,” said Somalia’s European Union ambassador Ali Said Faqi. The Swedish Foreign Ministry has refused to comment on the offer, with the ministry’s press spokeswoman Julia Eriksson Pogorzelska saying: “We are aware of the remarks, but there is nothing we can comment on.” Sweden has had a mixed history with returning Islamic State members and fighters, with some politicians advocating that returning jihadists should be integrated back into society. Others, such as terror expert Magnus Ranstorp, have argued that because there are not sufficient laws to prosecute them, Sweden should not allow returning jihadists, including female members of the terror group, to return to the country.”

Africa

The New York Times: Burkina Faso Approves State Backing For Vigilantes Fighting Jihadists

“Burkina Faso's parliament has voted to provide funding and training to local vigilantes in response to the growing firepower of jihadist groups who threaten to overrun government forces across large swathes of the West African country. The move, which is expected to apply mostly to vigilante groups called koglweogo - “guardians of the bush” in the Moore language - has drawn concerns from the United Nations and human rights activists, who fear it could empower fighters accused of ethnic killings in the past. The vigilantes grew significantly as a response to instability that followed the 2014 revolution that overthrew longtime President Blaise Compaore. There are an estimated 40,000 such groups across Burkina Faso, according to the U.N. “This law was voted unanimously by the parliament,” Defence Minister Moumina Cheriff Sy told reporters after the vote late on Tuesday. “It shows that beyond our differences of opinion... we can be one when it comes to defending the homeland.” Security deteriorated dramatically across Burkina Faso and its neighbors in the semi-arid Sahel region last year, as Islamist militants with ties to Islamic State and al Qaeda stepped up their attacks. On Monday, militants killed 36 people at a market in a village in northern Burkina Faso.”

Business Insider: US Troops In Kenya Were Hit Hard And Fast By Terrorist Militants Who Broke Into A Frail Base

“Around a dozen al-Shabab militants launched a surprise attack against a Kenyan military base housing US forces earlier in January, according to new details in a New York Times report published Wednesday. The attack killed two civilian contractors and a US Army soldier, the Times said. In fighting that lasted several hours, the militants successfully infiltrated the Manda Bay, Kenya, near the Kenya-Somalia border, on January 5. US forces and Kenyan Rangers were stationed at the base to conduct training and surveillance operations against the terrorist group. It is unclear how the militants made their way into the base, which was guarded by local Kenyan forces and a fence line. Some of the Kenyan troops whose job was to defend the base are thought to have hidden in the grass during the attack, The Times reported. Once the militants made their way inside, two Defense Department contractor pilots who were taxiing their aircraft on the tarmac initially took them for animals on the runaway, according to The Times. The militants then fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the aircraft, killing pilots Dustin Harrison and Bruce Triplett. The fighters also struck at other nearby aircraft and an fuel storage area, The Times reported, causing damages estimated to have cost millions of dollars."

The Guardian: Sahel Faces Surge In Violence From Terror Attacks

“The Sahel is facing an unprecedented wave of violence, with more than 4,000 deaths reported last year, and a bloody start to 2020. The number of attacks have increased fivefold in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger since 2016, United Nations figures have revealed. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the UN’s envoy for the fragile region on the southern rim of the Sahara, said it had experienced “a devastating surge in terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets”. In Burkina Faso, the number of deaths rose from about 80 in 2016 to more than 1,800 in 2019. On Tuesday, authorities in Ouagadougou, the capital, said dozens of civilians had been killed in the latest attack by suspected Islamic militants on a village market in the northern province of Sanmatenga. Chambas told the UN security council earlier this month that the “devastating surge in terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets” would have alarming humanitarian consequences in the region and was set to spread. “Most significantly, the geographic focus of terrorist attacks has shifted eastwards from Mali to Burkina Faso and is increasingly threatening west African coastal states,” he said earlier this month.”

United Kingdom

The Guardian: Non-Violent Groups On UK Counter-Terror List Threaten Legal Action

“Peaceful protest groups listed in a counter-terrorism guide used as part of anti-extremism briefings are threatening legal action unless it is withdrawn. The Guardian revealed on Friday that Greenpeace, Peta and other non-violent groups were listed alongside neo-Nazis in the document used as part of training for Prevent, the anti-radicalisation scheme designed to catch those at risk of committing terrorist violence. The guide, from June 2019, bears the logo “Counter Terrorism Policing” on every page, and was presented in briefings to public sector workers such as medical staff and teachers. Police said the document was provided to Prevent partners as “a guide to help them identify and understand the range of organisations they might come across”. The groups listed say their rights have been violated and their inclusion in the guidance is “unlawful” and open to legal challenge. The groups behind the legal threat include Animal Aid, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and Extinction Rebellion. The letter sent by solicitors acting for the groups says: “Our clients are non-violent organisations focused on lawful protest and engagement to pursue their legitimate aims.”

France

RFI: France To Further Boost Its Anti-Jihad Force In Sahel

“France will further bolster its anti-jihadist force in the Sahel, on top of 220 reinforcement soldiers already sent recently to try to stem a spiral of violence in the region, the country's top general said Wednesday. Defence chief of staff Francois Lecointre told reporters in Paris he would detail the “profile and composition” of the proposed troop buildup to President Emmanuel Macron in the coming days. France has a 4,500-member force in the Sahel region, recently reinforced with a further 220 soldiers, to train and assist local forces fighting an increasingly deadly insurgency in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad. Thousands of civilians have been killed and more than a million displaced, with hundreds of troops killed, including dozens of French soldiers. Further reinforcements will be accompanied by “additional logistical and intelligence tools,” said Lecointre, with efforts concentrated on the Liptako-Gourma region where the Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger borders meet. “Today in this extremely vast zone, the means at Operation Barkhane's disposal are not sufficient for us to have soldiers deployed 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said, using the official name for France's Sahel mission.”

Southeast Asia

Voice Of America: Indonesia Considers Repatriating More Than 600 Citizens With Alleged Terror Ties

“Indonesia is discussing the possible repatriation of 660 citizens with alleged links to terrorism — foreign fighters and dozens of their family members — who have been detained abroad. Mahfud MD, the country’s coordinating minister for politics, law and security, told VOA that his government had started talks about the future of the fighters and their families, and expects to reach a decision by midyear. He said the citizens in question are being held in a number of countries, with the majority in Syria and Afghanistan. “This [repatriation] involves many ministries. The Social Ministry, which, for example, accommodates its social consequences. The Ministry of Political, Legal and Security [Affairs], concerning the law and citizenship. There are also the tourism and investment aspects, which can be impacted if, for example, there is still a perception of terrorism, and so on. Everything will be considered,” he said. The rise in recent years of Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria and the Maute militant group in the neighboring Philippines have led to hundreds of Indonesians traveling abroad to join the extremist groups. When IS lost its final enclave in Syria in March 2019, however, dozens of the fighters and their family members there were detained by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.”