Eye on Extremism - 03-04-21

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Eye on Extremism - March 4, 2021
By: Counter Extremism Project - 03-04-21
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of March 4, 2021:

Associated Press: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Slaying Of Three Women Media Members In Afghanistan

“The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the killing of three women working for a local radio and TV station in eastern Afghanistan, the latest in a spike in targeted killings across the war-tor country. Dozens of people gathered Wednesday for the funerals of the three media workers. The women were gunned down Tuesday in separate attacks, according to the news editor of the privately owned station and officials in Nangarhar province. Afghan officials said police arrested their alleged killer, identifying him as Qari Baser and insisting he was a member of the Taliban — a claim promptly denied by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Nangarhar police chief, Gen. Juma Gul Hemat, said Baser had used a pistol with a silencer in the attacks. He was arrested shortly after the attacks by police in Jalalabad, the provincial capital. The ISIS claim, posted late Tuesday, contradicted the Afghan government's accusations against the Taliban. The militants said the three female journalists were targeted because they worked for one of the “media stations loyal to the apostate Afghan government” in Jalalabad.”

Deutsche Welle: France Bans Far-Right Group Generation Identity

“The French government on Wednesday agreed to ban the far-right group Generation Identity, saying the organization incited “discrimination, hatred and violence.” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted the decree to ban GI on Twitter, saying it took into account the group's “structure and military organization,” adding that GI can be regarded “as having the character of a private militia.” Darmanin noted in the decree the group had links to “ultraright groups from which (GI) receives logistical support,” noting that it received donations from Brenton Tarrant, the terrorist behind the 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. In the decree, Darmanin pronounced the Lyon-based association illegal, and said its publications and actions spread “an ideology inciting hatred, violence and discrimination of individuals, based on their origin, their race or their religion.” Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said: “With that decision we are putting an end to sometimes violent actions from the group.” GI has gained notoriety in recent years after staging a number of operations to block migrants from entering the country. The most recent of which occurred in January, with around 30 GI members congregating at the Col du Portillon mountain pass on the French-Spanish border, in what the group called a surveillance operation to “defend Europe.”

NBC News: At Least 8 Injured In 'Suspected Terrorist Crime,' Police In Sweden Say

“A “suspected terrorist crime” was being investigated in a southern Sweden town after a man assaulted at least eight people in Wednesday, police said. A man in his 20s attacked people in the small town of Vetlanda, about 118 miles southeast of Goteborg, Sweden's second largest city, police said. The man was shot by police, who said that the condition of those attacked and the perpetrator was not immediately known. Officials did not immediately provide further details. Swedish media reported that the assailant used an axe. Regional police chief Malena Grann told a news conference that a suspect had been arrested after “police opened fire.”Local police chief Jonas Lindell said the suspect had been admitted to hospital. “As it is now, we have started a preliminary investigation into attempted murder,” Grann said. “That is the criminal classification we have. There are details in the investigation that make us investigate any terrorist motives, but at the moment I cannot go into details.” Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven condemned “this terrible act,” and added that Sweden's domestic security agency SAPO was also working on the case. “They continuously assess whether there are reasons to take security-enhancing measures and are prepared to do so if necessary,” he said in a statement, according to the Swedish news agency TT.”

United States

Chicago Tribune: Zion Man Sentenced To 12 Years In Federal Prison For Conspiring To Assist ISIS

“A north suburban man was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in federal prison for attempting to aid the Islamic State terrorist group by providing cellphones to an undercover FBI agent to be used as detonators for bombs. Joseph Jones and his friend Edward Schimentiwere convicted by a federal jury in 2019 of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization. In rejecting prosecutors’ request for a 17-year term, U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood said that while any terrorism case is serious, the scheme that Jones was convicted of “was not of comparable severity” as many others where specific violence was planned. “This is not a case where anyone claims Mr. Jones was actually planning on carrying out a terrorism attack,” Wood said. “And it’s not disputed ... that Mr. Jones never actually made contact with anyone directly involved with ISIS.” But Wood also said she could not give Jones time served as suggested by his attorneys, adding that Jones had tried to “minimize his conduct” in statements to law enforcement after his arrest and in his testimony at trial. The lengthy sentencing hearing played out over two days beginning last month and included a tearful statement from Jones, who apologized for his “grave mistake.”

The Hill: FBI Warns Of Increased Domestic Terror Threat Into 2022

“The FBI on Wednesday warned that racially motivated extremists and anti-government extremists are likely to be the biggest domestic threat this year and into 2022. “Looking forward, we assess the domestic violent extremist threat will continue to pose an elevated threat of violence to the U.S.,” Jill Sanborn, the bureau’s assistant director of the counterterrorism division, told lawmakers during congressional testimony. “We expect racially or ethnically motivated and violent extremists and anti-government, anti-authority violent extremists will very likely pose the greatest domestic terrorism threats throughout 2021, and in fact leading into 2022,” she added. Sanborn’s comments came during the second hearing into the Jan. 6 attack held by the Senate Rules and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees. Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) criticized the FBI at the start of the hearing for not doing more to warn other law enforcement agencies of the domestic terror risks ahead of Jan. 6. “While we are aware of the FBI raw intelligence report that came out the day before out of the Norfolk office, public reporting has indicated that neither agency, [the Department of Homeland Security] or FBI, produced a threat report,” ahead of the Capitol attack, she said.”

Vice: Accused Neo-Nazi Terrorist's Account Posted Threatening Videos Of Him Armed In Public'

"Twenty-five-year-old Michigan native Justen Watkins, a reputed former leader of a neo-Nazi terror group under an FBI counterterrorism probe, continues to be free on bond after his court date was once again delayed. VICE News has obtained a data dump of postings from a private Instagram account associated with Watkins, which was active before his arrest in October 2020 ... According to Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst at the Counter Extremism Project who specializes in groups like the Base, Watkins is a true radical. “Watkins’ alleged crimes, as well as messages and videos attributed to him, show him as someone dedicated to the hardcore promotion of white supremacist violence, whether in person or on social media,” he said. “Based on his prior efforts to intimidate and terrorize people as part of a neo-Nazi accelerationist group, the government should take all appropriate measures to ensure that he does not pose a continued threat to the community.”

Syria

Voice Of America: Rebuilding Efforts Continue In Syria’s Former IS Stronghold

“Nearly four years after it was liberated from the Islamic State (IS) terror group, the Syrian town of Tabqa has become a leading example of the reconstruction efforts currently underway in parts of the war-ravaged country. Tabqa, which is part of Raqqa province in northern Syria, was freed from IS militants in May 2017 following a major military campaign spearheaded by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). While the town is still controlled by SDF-affiliated groups, its military airbase fell under control of Syrian government troops and allied Russian forces in October 2019, after those nations reached a deal with the SDF. The deal was part of a broader understanding intended to stop a major Turkish-led offensive in northeast Syria. Turkey views the SDF as a terrorist organization. Under IS rule and during the war against the militant group, much of the Tabqa’s infrastructure was destroyed. Local officials say their efforts since Tabqa’s liberation have focused primarily on restoring basic services for the local population. “In 2020, we entered a new phase of rebuilding Tabqa,” said Abdulhamid Khamiri, co-chair of Tabqa civilian council. “We cleaned up the city and tried to end all scenes of destruction.”

Asharq Al-Awsat: Syria’s Al-Hol Camp For ISIS Families Records 31 Murders This Year

“At least 31 killings have rocked a camp holding families linked to ISIS extremist group in Syria since early January, a Kurdish official said Wednesday, with aid groups warning of a “nightmare.” It was the latest evidence of deteriorating security at al-Hol camp in the Kurdish-run northeast, where Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) had to temporarily suspend operations this week after the killing of one of its team members. “Since the start of 2021, 31 people have been killed – six of whom were murdered with a sharp object, while the rest where shot dead,” said camp official Jaber Sheikh Mustafa. The toll has more than doubled since February 8 when it stood at 14, according to Kurdish authorities. “We believe that ISIS sleeper cells are behind these murders” that especially target Iraqi residents of the camp, Mustafa told AFP. But a humanitarian source said recently that tribal score-settling between residents could also be to blame for some murders. Al-Hol holds almost 62,000 people, mostly women and children, including Syrians, Iraqis and thousands from Europe and Asia accused of family ties with ISIS fighters. Most camp inhabitants are Syrians or Iraqis displaced by the Kurdish-led battle against ISIS that took back the group’s last scrap of territory in March 2019.”

Afghanistan

Voice Of America: Speech Offers Rare Glimpse Into Taliban Inner Politics

“Offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Afghan Taliban, the group publicly shared a speech in which its deputy leader seemed to be chiding a gathering of Taliban fighters for their internal rivalries, lack of motivation, and disciplinary issues. The date and place of the speech by the head of the deadly Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani, was not clear. Haqqani started off by lauding his followers’ performance on the battlefield that he said helped “crush the arrogance of the rebellious emperors of the world” and provided an atmosphere in which they could gather and “sit together with confidence.” However, he soon turned to warnings of becoming complacent and craving materialism over the “sincerity and pure intentions” of the “jihad” that they launched two decades ago. “If you show such inclination, success will turn into failure and degradation,” Haqqani warned his followers. He also chided Taliban members for becoming lax in jihadi duties. “Now, for example, in Nangarhar, we need Mujahideen formations to come to us from Wardak, Ghazni, other provinces, so when we say to the Mujahideen that they are needed there then sometimes they say: We have passed our turn, it is winter, we will go in the spring. … So what if it is winter or if it is spring? Isn’t the duty obligatory, because you have pledged that we will obey in both hardships and ease?” he said.”

Agence France-Presse: Taliban Aid Crackdown Spreads Fear Over Treatment Of Women

“Afghan women are being cut off from crucial aid because of a growing Taliban crackdown in areas controlled by the insurgents, more than a dozen relief workers have told AFP. The militants have demanded an end to projects helping women to be more independent and have barred female staff from entering their territory in some areas. “So far the hypothesis is that the Taliban have changed, but this is really a concrete example that they haven't,” said one aid worker who did not want to be named. Washington recently lambasted the insurgents for failing to abide by a landmark deal last year that committed them to honouring a number of security guarantees. The agreement also called for the withdrawal of foreign troops by May and paved the way for peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The deal initially raised hopes the insurgents were open to moderating some of their hardline positions. But people working in pockets of territory under Taliban control, primarily in northern Afghanistan, say conditions in some areas deteriorated after the US accord was signed. Fears are growing that the Taliban are waiting for the Americans to leave before attempting to retake the country by force and reintroduce their draconian vision for Afghan society.”

Nigeria

Agence France-Presse: Six Dead In Jihadist Attacks In Northeast Nigeria: Aid Groups

“Aid groups in Nigeria said Wednesday six civilians died in a suspected jihadist attack on a northeastern town that, according to the UN, “directly targeted” aid facilities. “At least six civilians lost their lives in crossfire, several others were injured and are still missing,” the Nigeria INGO Forum, gathering 54 international charities, said in a statement. A military source told AFP that fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which split from mainstream Boko Haram in 2016, were behind an assault on the town of Dikwa that began late on Monday. “ISWAP terrorists launched simultaneous attacks on the super camp (military base) and the UN humanitarian hub,” the source said. The hub is one of nine in northeast Nigeria where aid workers live and work. A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nigeria told AFP it had received six injured people for treatment. The UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, said on Tuesday the insurgents had “directly targeted” aid facilities, affecting efforts to help nearly 100,000 people in need. The Nigeria INGO Forum said, “the full scale of the attack’s impact on civilians… is still being assessed.”

Africa

Reuters: Suspected Islamists Kill 8 In Attack On Northeast Congo Village Market

“A rmed insurgents killed at least eight people during a raid on a weekly market in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a witness and a rights group said on Wednesday, blaming fighters from a Ugandan Islamist armed group. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan insurgent faction active in eastern Congo since the 1990s, has committed a spate of brutal reprisal attacks on civilians since the army began operations against it in late 2019. The ADF has been blamed for the killing of over 140 people since the start of the year, in almost weekly attacks in Congo's restive east. The group killed around 850 people last year, according to U.N. figures. ADF fighters entered the village of Mambelenga in the territory of Irumu on Tuesday afternoon and started shooting, said Gili Gotabo from a local civil rights group. Two attackers died in the raid, he said. A Congo army spokesman confirmed the attack in Mambelenga, halfway between the eastern cities of Bunia and Beni. “In broad daylight, suddenly we saw armed men, badly dressed, with weapons and machetes. They started shooting directly at us,” said Mumbere Kokoma, a resident of the village. “I took my daughter and fled into the bush.” Islamic State has claimed responsibility for several suspected ADF attacks in the past, although U.N. experts have not found any direct link between the two groups.”

Reuters: Morocco Sees Sahel Jihadists As Magnet For Local Cells

“Jihadist groups in the nearby Sahel region, which recruit and train their followers online, represent Morocco’s biggest militant threat, the head of its counterterrorism agency said. Although Morocco has had only one major attack over the past decade - the 2018 killing of two Scandinavian tourists - its location “makes it a target for the Sahel groups” said Haboub Cherkaoui. “The terrorist threat persists as long as there are groups that recruit and train their followers online including Islamic State in the greater Sahara,” he told Reuters in an interview. Since it was set up in 2015, Cherkaoui’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation has dismantled dozens of militant cells and arrested more than a thousand suspected jihadists, he said. The numbers point to the continued militant risk in Morocco after the rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq last decade caused a surge in jihadist activity that persists even after the group was defeated in its Middle East heartland. Islamic State refocused on the Sahel region, he said, and along with other jihadist groups there has taken advantage of porous borders and trafficking networks. Both Niger and Mali have battled militant insurgencies while Libya’s civil war has created space for jihadist groups to operate.”

United Kingdom

The Independent: UK Prisons Must Not Become ‘Terrorist Training Grounds’ As Sentences Increased, Government Warned

“British prisons must not be allowed to become “terrorist training grounds” as the number of extremist inmates rise, the government has been warned. The number of terrorist prisoners hit a record high last year, and a package of new laws currently going through parliament aims to make them serve longer inside jail by increasing sentences and changing release rules. During a debate in the House of Lords on Wednesday, several peers demanded assurances that security inside prisons will be maintained and extremists can be deradicalised. It comes more than a year after the first Isis-inspired attack inside a UK jail, where a terrorist inmate and radicalised violent criminal attempted to kill a prison officer at HMP Whitemoor. Proposing a series of amendments to the new Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Marks said: “We are also concerned to consider the effect on other prisoners of having serious terrorist offenders in their midst. “It is of great importance to avoid the risk that the most serious offenders are seen as some kind of kingpins within prisons to be looked up to and emulated. If our prisons become terrorist training grounds, the effect of long sentences will have been utterly counterproductive.”

Germany

The New York Times: Germany Places Far-Right AfD Party Under Surveillance For Extremism

“For the first time in its postwar history, Germany has placed its main opposition party under surveillance, one of the most dramatic steps yet by a Western democracy to protect itself from the onslaught of far-right forces that have upset politics from Europe to the United States. The decision by the domestic intelligence agency will now allow it to tap phones and other communications and monitor the movements of members of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which not only sits in the Federal Parliament but has become entrenched at all levels of politics in nearly every part of the nation. It is among the most sweeping efforts yet to deal with the rise of far-right and neo-Nazi political movements within Western democracies, which are attempting more vigorously to constrain, ostracize or even legally prosecute those elements to prevent them from chipping away at the foundations of democratic institutions. News of the move came on the same day that France banned Generation Identity, a militant youth movement considered dangerous for its slick rebranding of neo-Nazi concepts, and as lawmakers in the European Parliament in Brussels forced the party of Hungary’s semi-authoritarian leader Viktor Orban out of the mainstream conservative group.”

Europe

Agence France-Presse: Woman On Trial In Norway Provides Glimpse Of Life Under IS

“A woman on trial in Norway for supporting the Islamic State group provided a glimpse this week of life with members of the terror group she said she was unable to flee despite numerous attempts. The woman, who AFP and other media have chosen not to identify in order to protect her children, is facing charges of supporting the Islamic State during the six years she lived in territory the radical group controlled in Syria. The 30-year-old -- born in Pakistan but raised in Oslo -- testified on Monday that she was radicalised and left for the war-torn country in 2013 after falling in love and marrying Bastian Vasquez. Vasquez was a Chilean-Norwegian jihadist who converted to Islam and was fighting at the time for an Al-Qaeda-linked group. He later joined the Islamic State group and died while making explosives. The woman said she quickly became disillusioned on arriving in Syria and on several occasions tried in vain to return home. She ended up marrying two other foreign fighters during her time in IS-controlled territory and had two children, one from Vasquez. “By taking care of the children, by cooking and doing laundry, she enabled three foreign fighters in their battles,” prosecutor Geir Evanger told the court.”

New Zealand

Brisbane Times: Christchurch Homes Raided After Online Threats To Carry Out Terrorist Attacks On Mosques

“Armed police have raided two Christchurch homes after a person allegedly made a series of online posts threatening a terrorist attack involving car bombs on March 15, the second anniversary of the mosque massacre. Members of the armed offenders squad carried out search warrants at the properties in St Albans and Linwood shortly before 6pm on Thursday. Two men were arrested, but are yet to be charged, police said. Detective Inspector Michael Ford said police had acted on information from the public regarding “concerning communications on the 4chan site”. The site is an anonymous online message board known to be frequented by far-right individuals. On Sunday night, a person made a series of posts on the site using a similar online name to that used by the Australian terrorist who fatally shot 51 people at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019. The poster said they were “originally English”, but grew up in South Africa before moving to New Zealand in 2009. The person said they planned to “take action” on March 15 by carrying out an attack remotely on the two mosques using car bombs. The explosions would be livestreamed, they said.”

Technology

Engadget: House Democrats Ask YouTube To Explain Extremism Policies

“House Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee are again pushing YouTube to explain its policies around extremist content. In a letter sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai Wednesday, the committee leaders said that “incendiary content that indoctrinates, radicalizes, and mobilizes extremists continues to flourish” on the platform. “YouTube should make meaningful reforms to its policies and strengthen enforcement efforts to eradicate dangerous extremist and alternative content on its platform,” the lawmakers write. “Gaining users, maintaining engagement, and generating more advertising revenue cannot come at the expense of our national security.” The letter also lays out several detailed questions about the company’s policies around extremist content and how it enforces those rules. For example, it asks YouTube how many videos and channels have been pulled for extremism since November 1, 2020, and how much engagement those videos received before their removal. Google has until March 17th to respond. Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The latest letter follows a similar one sent last month, in which several members of Congress urged Pichai and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki to make “permanent changes to its recommendation systems,” in the wake of the attacks on the US Capitol.”