Eye on Extremism - March 22, 2019

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Eye on Extremism
March 22, 2019
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March 22, 2019
Voice Of America: Airstrikes Target Last Defenders of IS Caliphate

“A series of airstrikes late Thursday slammed into two pockets of Islamic State fighters trying to cling to the last scraps of land to be part of the terror group's self-declared caliphate. The strikes followed nearly two days of clearing operations in the northeastern Syrian town of Baghuz, where hundreds of IS fighters surrendered earlier this week to U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. A media official with the YPG, a Kurdish militia that has been supporting the SDF offensive, said some of the strikes targeted one group of IS fighters who had been pushed to the edge of the Euphrates River. The rest were aimed at a second group that had taken cover by a mountain on the outskirts of the town. But despite the bombardments, the U.S.-led coalition said late Thursday that IS was putting up a “hard fight.” ”Daesh is showing that they intend to keep fighting for as long as possible,” the coalition said in a statement to VOA, using the Arabic acronym for the terror group. The coalition also accused IS of deliberately putting the remaining civilians in harm's way. ”Daesh continues to resort to gruesome tactics like suicide attacks and using children as human shields,” it said.”

Fox News: The ISIS Caliphate Is Gone – But ISIS Will Be Back

“The last ISIS stronghold is no longer strong. Or held. The last recognized remnant of the terrorist group’s so-called caliphate is gone, Fox News reported Thursday. This is a milestone victory for the forces of counterterrorism. But it is not the end of the war on terrorism. Unfortunately, the bad guys will be back on the field soon enough. Rising to prominence quickly, ISIS was the boldest of the bold transnational terrorist groups. At the height of its power, it advanced a claim that Al Qaeda – its former comrade and then competitor in arms – never dared make: control of a territorial caliphate. In asserting the establishment of an Islamist empire, ISIS signaled the equivalent of the end of times. In a part of the world where honor is power, this was heady stuff. It was a clarion call for all who shared the radical ideology of ISIS – a direct challenge to the Arab world, the West and “the great Satan” (the U.S.) in particular. It was also disturbingly effective. Tens of thousands foreign fighters answered the call, flocking to join the ranks of ISIS. In addition, ISIS launched a global media campaign that promoted radicalization and inspired terrorist attacks around the world, from North Africa to Europe to the U.S. and Australia.”

The Wall Street Journal: Israel’s Golan Heights: U.S. Recognition Of Israeli Sovereignty Sees The Middle East As It Is

“President Trump made new U.S. policy on Thursday, as he often does these days, with a tweet recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights on the border with Syria. This time his tweet was based on more than personal impulse and makes sense for American and Israeli interests. Israel captured most of the Golan from Syria in the 1967 war and formally annexed it in 1981. The rest of the world has never recognized Israel’s control, and U.S. negotiators over the decades have seen it as land Israel would return to Syria as part of a broader peace settlement. That scenario has become even more unlikely amid the chaos of Syria’s long civil war. A country controlled by the Assad family has become a fractured cauldron of jihadist militias and Iranian proxies. If Israel didn’t control the Golan, the heights might now be dominated by Hezbollah or perhaps Islamic State. Either reality is unacceptable to Israel.”

The National: US Envoy Brian Hook: Sanctions Are Hurting Iran’s $700m Support For Hezbollah

“The Trump administration told The National that it is seeing an impact from its sanctions on Iran in constraining its estimated annual $700 million budget for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. With US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo making his first visit to Lebanon on Friday, the US Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, told The National in an exclusive interview from the State Department, that Washington is determined to keep up the pressure on Hezbollah. Mr Hook said the message to the Lebanese government is that Hezbollah is a “terrorist organisation [designated by the US in 1997] that is holding back the lives and creating a safety risk for the Lebanese people in its dedication to a war with Israel”. He said that Washington “is not looking to grant any exceptions or waivers” when it comes to the energy sanctions enforced on Iran since November.”

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook Left Up Video Of New Zealand Shootings For An Hour

“Facebook Inc. left a gruesome video of shootings at a New Zealand mosque up on its site for half an hour after a user brought it to the company’s attention, a previously unreported delay that highlights the social media giant’s difficulty in controlling violent content on its platform. The timetable, based on times supplied overnight by Facebook and the New Zealand police, means the video showing men, women and children being gunned down at a mosque in Christchurch was available on Facebook’s site for an hour from the time it started rolling to the time it was ultimately removed. The live-streaming video was taken by the shooter as he began a rampage that left 50 people dead Friday afternoon. The broadcast began on Facebook at around 1:33 p.m. and ended 17 minutes later at approximately 1:50 p.m. A Facebook user flagged the post to the company 12 minutes after that, Facebook said. The social media team of the New Zealand police alerted Facebook to the video at 2:29 p.m., police told the Journal. Facebook said it took the video down within minutes thereafter. New Zealand police said the timeline was approximately correct. Facebook declined to comment.”

The Verge: Upload Filters And One-Hour Takedowns: The EU's Latest Fight Against Terrorism Online, Explained

“Though acts of terrorism take place in the real world, they attain a kind of online afterlife. Materials like those from the recent Christchurch shooting proliferate as supporters upload them to any media platform they can reach. Lawmakers in Europe have had enough, and this year, they hope to enact new legislation that will hold big tech companies like Facebook and Google more accountable for any terrorist-related content they host. “Whether it was the Nice attacks, whether it was the Bataclan attack in Paris, whether it’s Manchester, [...] they have all had a direct link to online extremist content,” says Lucinda Creighton, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a campaign group that has helped shape the legislation. “The frustrating thing is that [extremist content] has been flagged with the tech companies, it’s been taken down and it’s reappearing a day or two or a week later,” Creighton says, “That has to stop and that’s what this legislation targets.”

United States

The New York Times: Residents Of New Mexico Compound Plead Not Guilty To Terror Charges

“Five residents of a squalid New Mexico compound where a child was found dead last year pleaded not guilty on Thursday to terror charges that they were plotting to kill United States government officials, military personnel and F.B.I. employees. While federal authorities say the five family members were planning deadly attacks, their lawyers contend they were charged because they are Muslim. The new charges are included in an indictment handed up last week. The two men and three women — who have been incarcerated on weapons charges since August, after the authorities raided the compound — stand accused of running a terror training camp and using malnourished children, who lived on site, as pawns in their plot. Their remote desert outpost near the Colorado border was used to store firearms and served as a base from which to prepare to “engage in jihad, to die as martyrs, and to engage in violent acts,” according to the recent indictment. “The defendants in this case allegedly were preparing for deadly attacks and their targets included law enforcement and military personnel, the very people who are committed to protecting all of us,” Michael McGarrity, the assistant director of the F.B.I.’s Counterterrorism Division, said in a statement.”

NBC News: Mail Bomber Cesar Sayoc Pleads Guilty; Devices Were Sent To Critics Of Trump

“A Florida man suspected of sending more than a dozen pipe bombs to prominent critics of President Donald Trump last year pleaded guilty on Thursday. Cesar Sayoc entered the plea before a federal judge in Manhattan. He had previously pleaded not guilty. "I know that these actions were wrong and I'm sorry," Sayoc said through tears. Sayoc said that he never intended for the devices to explode, but he acknowledged that he was aware there was a risk they could detonate. Sayoc, 57, pleaded guilty to 65 counts, including using weapons of mass destruction and the illegal mailing of explosives with intent to kill or injure. He faces up to life in prison. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 12.”

Al Arabiya: Pompeo Hopes That Pressure On Iran Will Return Houthis To The Political Table

“The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Iran provides not only resources but also missiles to Houthis, adding that he hopes pressure on Iran will convince Houthis to return to the political table, in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya on Thursday. During his time in Jerusalem, Pompeo told Al Arabiya: “We’re very hopeful that this pressure will convince the Houthis that they need to return to the political table, they need to have a discussion, they cannot win this militarily, and we’re determined to ensure that order is restored in Yemen.” Asked on whether he believes that Iran instructed the Houthis from the Stockholm Agreement, Pompeo said that he believes that there’s very little that Houthis do without directions from Khomeini and Soleimani. A part of Pompeo’s tour was a visit to Lebanon, where Hezbollah, enlisted by the US as a terrorist group, is part of the government.”

NPR: President Trump Backs Israeli Sovereignty Claim Over Golan Heights

“The Trump administration has backed Israel's claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The move comes weeks before Israeli general elections and reverses the position U.S. administrations have held for decades. President Trump made the announcement via tweet Thursday. "After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!" the president wrote. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed the territory, a move not recognized by the U.S. or the international community. For years, the U.S. has tried to broker a regional agreement that would involve Israel exchanging captured territory for peace. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. has repeatedly endorsed controversial Israeli positions. In early March the U.S. closed its Jerusalem Consulate, which has been the lead diplomatic mission to the Palestinians, NPR's Daniel Estrin reported. It folded that job into the U.S. embassy to Israel.”

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Backs Israeli Sovereignty Over Golan Heights

“President Trump endorsed Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights on Thursday, marking what would be a sharp U.S. policy shift over the disputed territory decades after Israel seized the land from Syria in the Six Day War. The decision, the latest in a series of pro-Israel moves under Mr. Trump, telegraphs support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the Israeli leader campaigns in a tight re-election bid under the cloud of potential corruption charges. Mr. Netanyahu is leveraging his close ties to Mr. Trump, who has consistently supported the Israeli leader’s foreign-policy goals, often to the outrage of Palestinians and the broader Arab world. As president, Mr. Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, relocated the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, closed a U.S. diplomatic mission to the Palestinians and cut U.S. aid to Palestinian refugees.”

Reuters: FBI Not Properly Assessing Potential U.S. Maritime Terrorism Threats: Report

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation is not taking appropriate steps to review and assess potential maritime terrorism risks facing U.S. sea ports, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog has found. The audit, released on Thursday by Inspector General Michael Horowitz, found that while top FBI officials believe the country faces a low maritime terrorism threat, that view is actually based on “incomplete and potentially inaccurate information.” Moreover, the audit found that the FBI had not conducted its own formal assessment of the matter. In a letter to Horowitz dated Aug. 30 that was released as part of the final audit, FBI Acting Section Chief Thomas Seiler for the External Audit and Compliance Section of the Inspection Division said the FBI concurs with all of the report’s recommendations and will work to implement them. In 2005, the FBI created a Maritime Security Program as part of its National Joint Terrorism Task Force in its counterterrorism division. That program is meant to “prevent, penetrate, and dismantle criminal acts of terrorism” directed at ports. The audit said that top FBI officials believed the terrorism threat in this space was low based on a small number of maritime incidents and investigations logged into its database.”

Syria

Fox News: ISIS Caliphate Has Crumbled And Last Stronghold Liberated, Fox News Has Learned

“The caliphate has crumbled, and the final offensive is over. While the official announcement hasn’t yet been made – Fox News has been told that this village, the last ISIS stronghold, is liberated. It’s the first time since we’ve been here in Syria for five days that the bombs have stopped dropping and the gunfire has disappeared. We have witnessed the end of the caliphate – the brutal empire that once ruled over 8 million people – is gone. Troops here are now bringing down the black flags of ISIS. The flags no longer fly over the town, instilling fear. The last five days, Fox News has witnessed the last major offensive up close -– with U.S.-backed SDF forces attacking ISIS from three sides, pushing the fighters back, house to house, then tent to tent, against the Euphrates River. Inside Baghouz, it’s easy to see how they hid for so long – not just in tunnels but trenches and hundreds of cubby holes covered by tarpaulins, which blend in perfectly to the dirt. In the end, the majority surrendered. In fact, since the start of the year about 60,000 have dripped into the desert, and most are now held in camps. There is a major concern about what to do with the camps though. The SDF has asked for U.S. support in setting up a tribunal here to prosecute them.”

CBS News: ISIS Defeat In Syria Enclave Is A Milestone, But The Fight Won't End

“It still wasn't completely clear Thursday morning whether ISIS had been definitively defeated in the terror group's last tiny sliver of territory in Syria, but CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata said that what had for months been a vicious battle, appeared all but over. At its peak in 2015, ISIS held an area across Syria and neighboring Iraq almost the size of Indiana. But four years later, they held less than a square mile at the beginning of this week, and the final battle was on to recapture the patch of ground in Baghouz, eastern Syria. For two months, D'Agata has been with the U.S.-backed fighters leading that battle against ISIS. He said on Thursday that there was still some fighting to be done -- the ISIS camp needed to be fully searched before America's allies would declare outright victory -- but from he saw, that victory certainly looked close. As a member of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) sat on the ground fiddling with a blade of grass, D'Agata said he'd never seen the battle-hardened forces on the frontline of the fight against ISIS looking so laid back. One look at their faces was enough to know the final fight to completely deprive ISIS of territory had just about come to an end.”

Middle East Monitor:

Syria Rights Group: Thousands Killed By Regime At Al-Mezzeh ‘Slaughterhouse’ Hospital

“More than 6,000 people were executed in 21 months by the forces of President Bashar Al-Assad at Al-Mezzeh 601 Military Hospital near Damascus, the Syrian Legal Commission (SLC) has revealed in a memorandum to the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, calling the facility a “slaughterhouse”. The commission provided evidence of widespread torture and extrajudicial killings committed by government troops al the Al-Mezzeh base, including the testimony of a regime dissident and the names of 43 soldiers and doctors who led the campaign of abuse. The defector stated that some 70 bodies a week were transferred from the hospital in designated trucks to a nearby crematorium where they would be burned so as to remove any evidence of torture. The extent of the violence committed resulted in several soldiers defecting from the military; however, the source said one was caught prior to his escape and was also tortured to death.”

Reuters: Forgotten Victims: The Children Of Islamic State

“The hallways of the Rusafa Central Criminal Court in Baghdad teemed with anxious toddlers on the days their mothers were on trial. Then they vanished again, into the women’s prison, where they have lived for the past year and a half. They sleep on thin mattresses in crowded cells, bored, hungry and often sick. They are the foreign children of Islamic State. Among them is Obaida, the two-year-old son of a Chechen woman, Laila Gazieva. Gazieva was detained in late 2017 while fleeing the Islamic State stronghold of Tal Afar in northern Iraq, and convicted six months later for belonging to the militant Islamist group. On the day Gazieva was sentenced to life in prison, so too were at least a dozen other young women, court records show.Obaida remains with his mother in a Baghdad women’s jail, according to Russian government records. About 1,100 children of Islamic State are caught in the wheels of Iraqi justice, said sources with knowledge of the penitentiary system. The youngest, like Obaida, stay with their mothers in prison. At least seven of these children have died because of the poor conditions, according to detainees, embassy records reviewed by Reuters and sources familiar with the prison.”

Afghanistan

The New York Times: ‘Women Here Are Very, Very Worried’

“It was once a prominent and bipartisan cause: the liberation of Afghan women from the tyranny of the Taliban. These women were championed by an array of strange bedfellows: feminists like Eleanor Smeal, celebrities like Lily Tomlin and stalwarts of a conservative administration like Laura Bush and Dick Cheney. In the early days of the invasion, the world heard vivid stories of the changes the war had brought. Women could walk freely outside their houses and put on makeup; girls could go to school. It was a narrative that helped buoy public support for the fight in Afghanistan and deflect criticism about American empire. In November 2001, as American troops were fighting to drive Al Qaeda out of the country and topple the Taliban government, Mrs. Bush was given the megaphone of the president’s weekly radio address. “Only the terrorists and the Taliban forbid education to women,” she said. “Only the terrorists and the Taliban threaten to pull out women’s fingernails for wearing nail polish.”

Voice Of America: UN: Afghan Peace Talks Offer Glimmer Of Hope

“A report to the U.N. Human Rights Council says nascent peace talks in Afghanistan offer a glimmer of hope to a country that has been at war for decades. The United Nations said 2018 was a particularly deadly year in the war between the government of Afghanistan and Taliban insurgents. It said nearly 11,000 civilians were killed and injured, including 927 children, the highest number since 2009. The U.N. blamed the Taliban and other terrorist groups for most of the casualties. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour said, with the exception of Islamic State in Afghanistan, all parties to the conflict appear to be taking measures to mitigate harm to civilians. But he said additional concrete steps are needed. He welcomed the Afghan government's proposal last year for unconditional peace talks with the Taliban, saying this offers a glimmer of hope for peace. “The country witnessed a large-scale civic movement, demanding that the … armed groups renounce violence and engage in peace negotiations,” he added. “Civil society and women's groups also began mobilizing around human and women's rights concerns, pressing for the inclusion and meaningful participation of women in any peace process.”

Reuters: Islamic State Claims Kabul Blasts - AMAQ

“Islamic state claimed responsibility for several explosions in the Afghan capital Kabul that killed six people and wounded 23, the group’s news agency AMAQ said on Thursday without providing evidence of its claim. The attack happened during celebrations to mark the Persian new year, an Afghan government spokesmen said.”

Xinhua: Afghan Forces Kill 4 Militants In Northern Afghanistan

“Afghan forces launched a spate of military operations leaving at least four militants loyal to the Taliban dead and nine others wounded in the country's northern Faryab province, a provincial police spokesman said Friday. “Joint Afghan forces including police, the national spy agency and the national army launched a series of clearance operations late on Thursday night in Qaisar district, killing four Taliban militants and seriously wounding nine others, including their local leader Qari Aref,” Abdul Karim Yurash told Xinhua. Several villages have also been retaken from the militants and no security forces sustained casualties during the operations, said the spokesman. Taliban militants are yet to make comments.”

Pakistan

Voice Of America: EU Weighs Designating Pakistani Militant A Terrorist

“The European Union is reportedly contemplating designating the leader of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) a terrorist. The EU's decision comes nearly a week after a push by France and India to declare JeM leader Masood Azhar a terrorist and freeze his assets. JeM is already a U.S.- and U.N.-designated terror group. Azhar is an Islamist extremist who wants to end Indian control of a portion of the disputed Kashmir area and merge it with Pakistan. He was born in 1968 in Pakistan's Punjab province in a Deobandi (Sunni sect) Muslim family. He reportedly received his early education in Bahawalpur, Punjab, and later enrolled in Jamia-ul-Uloom, an Islamic seminary in Karachi, where he became a teacher. Azhar founded Jaish-e-Mohammad in 2000 and maintained his affiliation with several terror groups, including al-Qaida, Hurkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) and Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA), all U.S.-designated terror groups. JeM is believed to be based in the Peshawar region of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Azhar received his militant training in Afghanistan in the 1980s and fought Soviet troops there.”

Foreign Policy: Masood Azhar Is China’s Favorite Terrorist

“On March 13, China placed a “technical hold” on a resolution calling on the United Nations Security Council to designate Masood Azhar, the leader of the Pakistani militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), as a terrorist. Beijing’s intervention effectively torpedoed the measure. This marked the fourth time that China has prevented Azhar, who enjoys long-standing ties to the Pakistani security establishment, from being officially designated a terrorist by the United Nations. There had been good reason to believe that this time might be different, and that Beijing would step back and let the resolution get approved. The fact that the fourth time wasn’t the charm speaks volumes about how deep the partnership between China and Pakistan still runs, and how far Beijing is willing to go to defend its “iron brother.” So important is the China-Pakistan partnership that Beijing was willing to stick its neck out in support of a key terrorist asset of the Pakistani state who garners little sympathy outside Pakistan. At home, Beijing has sent hundreds of thousands of innocent Chinese Muslims to detention centers under the guise of counterterrorism, but it has bent over backwards to protect an actual Islamist terrorist abroad.”

Lebanon

Reuters: Hezbollah Sanctions Harming Lebanon, Says President Aoun

“U.S. sanctions on Hezbollah are harming Lebanon as a whole, President Michel Aoun said on Thursday ahead of a visit to the country by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The United States deems the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah group a terrorist organization and has been steadily increasing financial sanctions against it as part of efforts to counter Iran. Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah has a large armed militia that has helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his eight-year war against rebels, but it is also a political party in Lebanon with seats in the parliament and cabinet. “Lebanon is within the siege that has been imposed on others, particularly on Iran. And it is passing, as a result of that, through a big crisis,” Aoun told Russian media in Lebanon, the Lebanese Presidency office said. Sanctions against Hezbollah introduced since 2016 raised fears among Lebanese that U.S. correspondent banks might deem Lebanese banks too risky to do business with, harming a major part of Lebanon’s economy. However, Lebanon’s Central Bank has repeatedly said that the banking sector is fully compliant with sanctions and that foreign institutions are satisfied with how it implements regulation. “We don’t expect more measures against the banks,” Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, said.”

Reuters: Pompeo, In Israel, Says Hezbollah Putting Lebanon At Risk

“U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday described the heavily armed Hezbollah group as a risk to their fellow Lebanese and conferred with Israel about the Iranian-backed militia ahead of a trip to Beirut. Pompeo, who has been on a regional tour to promote the Trump administration’s hard tack against Iran, received a warning from Israel, which worries it may again be in the sights of Hezbollah fighters winding down their intervention in Syria’s civil war. Washington also has been increasingly voicing concern at Hezbollah power, echoing Israel, whose forces were fought to a standstill by the militia in a 2006 Lebanon war. Hosting Pompeo at his office, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri “cannot say to anyone that Lebanon is separate from Hezbollah” - a reference to the group’s clout in Beirut where it has ministers in the coalition cabinet as well as lawmakers in parliament. ”If some(thing) will happen from Lebanon toward Israel, we will hold Lebanon as the responsible (party)”, Rivlin said.”

Middle East

The Guardian: Hamas Violently Suppresses Gaza Economic Protests

“Hamas appears to have forcibly suppressed a rare uptick in public dissent in Gaza, beating and arresting scores of people over the past week who have been demonstrating against price rises and dire living conditions across the strip. A group of activists and civil society figures calling itself “We want to live” had planned a general strike on Thursday, but after attacks by riot police since last week it was not clear whether the strike would go ahead. Hamas rules Gaza, a 140 sq mile territory, while Israel controls the strip’s air, sea and most of its borders. Israel’s military occupies the West Bank, with small enclaves run under the limited autonomy of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has backed a year-long protest movement along the frontier with Israel but has not shown similar approval for internal criticism. Over several days during the past week, Palestinians have gathered in multiple locations to rally. They have made clear their demands are economic and not an attempt to overthrow their leaders. Videos posted online showed officers clubbing unarmed protesters and firing live rounds into the air. Amnesty International said hundreds of people, including journalists attempting to document the rallies, had been subjected to arbitrary arrest and torture.”

Nigeria

The Express Tribune: Four Farmers Killed In Boko Haram Attack In Nigeria: Witnesses

“Four farmers were killed in an attack by Boko Haram insurgents in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, witnesses said on Wednesday. The attack came a day after the militants killed three people in a raid in neighbouring Adamawa state. Fighters in trucks on Tuesday opened fire on the farmers as they worked in their fields outside Lassa village on the fringes of the group’s Sambisa forest enclave. “We lost four of our kinsmen to Boko Haram who came around 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) yesterday and shot them dead in their farm outside the village,” said Adamu Galadima, a militia leader assisting the military to fight the militants. “They (Boko Haram) tried to enter the village but our vigilantes mobilised and chased them away,” he said. Resident Danjuma Ijaduwa who gave a similar account, told AFP the attack was a reprisal after the militants incurred heavy losses the previous day. On Tuesday, vigilantes in Lassa laid an ambush on Boko Haram fighters as they fled a military pursuit. The insurgents were retreating to Sambisa forest after an attack on Michika town in Adamawa state where they killed three and robbed a bank. Residents said the militants lost men and equipment in the attack by vigilantes and troops. The Lassa area which lies near Sambisa forest has been repeatedly attacked.”

Africa

Reuters: Boko Haram Fighters Kill 23 Chadian Soldiers: Security Sources

“Boko Haram militants killed at least 23 Chadian soldiers overnight, Chadian security sources said on Friday, in what appeared to be the deadliest such attack inside Chad by the Islamist insurgents. Boko Haram has been fighting for a decade to carve an Islamist caliphate out of northeast Nigeria, and has carried out regular raids over loosely guarded borders into neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Friday’s attack occurred in the town of Dangdala, near the banks of Lake Chad, two security sources told Reuters. One of them added that the assailants were believed to have crossed the frontier from Niger before attacking Chadian soldiers around 1:25 a.m. (0025 GMT). An army spokesman declined to comment.”

Bloomberg: Islamist Insurgencies Feed Age-Old West African Conflicts

“Alassane Dicko used to lead his cattle each day through the grasslands of central Mali until gunmen burned down his village and took all his animals. Now he lives on the edge of a landfill in the capital, Bamako. Dicko, 38, is one of hundreds of ethnic Fulanis who fled their homes in recent months because of violent disputes over land and water, pitting herders against crop farmers and hunters. Such communal conflict in Mali and other West African nations is being stoked by a toxic combination of climate change, population growth and state neglect and exploited by Islamist insurgencies, which have drawn the intervention of French and United Nations troops. “Everything was burned; there was nothing left,” Dicko said in an interview at the Bamako camp. “I lost everything including my cattle.” Tit-for-tat attacks between farmers and herders, who are predominantly Fulani, or Peul, their name in French-speaking West Africa, date back generations. But the scale of the recent violence is unprecedented, and there are fears that it’s spreading to Burkina Faso and Niger. In Nigeria, the herder-farmer conflict claimed about 2,000 lives last year, according to Amnesty International, more than the number who died in the war against Islamist militants in the northeast.”

United Kingdom

CNN: Birmingham Mosque Attacks Probed By Counter-Terrorism Officers

“Counter-terrorism police have launched an investigation after five mosques in the British city of Birmingham were attacked on Thursday. West Midlands Police first responded to reports of a man smashing the windows of a mosque in the north of the central English city with a sledgehammer at 2:32 a.m. When officers arrived at the scene they discovered the attack had taken place some time earlier. In less than an hour, police were subsequently called to reports of a similar attack on a mosque nearby, and officers then began patrols around two other places of worship, where they discovered further damage. At 10:03 a.m. officers were called to another mosque following reports of a fifth attack in which windows had been smashed. West Midlands police announced that they are treating the attacks as being “linked,” but noted that the motive remains under investigation. Forensic officers are currently working on scene to identify evidence, and CCTV footage is being examined. Councilor Majid Mahmood told CNN that he was “shocked and appalled” by the attacks and said that the Muslim community in Birmingham has been “fearful of attacks since the terrorist attack in Christchurch (last Friday).”

France

The National: France Orders Dissolution Of Four Hezbollah Aligned Organisations

“French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has proposed a clampdown on Zahra Centre France, Anti-Zionist Party, Shia Federation of France and France Marianne TV in a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. Interior Ministry said the groups sympathise with Hamas through the internet and “the armed wing of Hezbollah, all listed on the list of terrorist organisations of of the EU”. French police last year seized weapons and detained 11 people in a raid on Zahra Centre France, one of the largest Shiite centres in Europe, near the northern town of Dunkirk. The Anti-Zionist Party, Shia Federation of France and France Marianne TV had bases in the same office as the Zahra Centre France. The French government froze the assets of the Shiite group in a co-ordinated response. Assest from the Iranian Ministry of Security and Intelligence, and of two Iranian men thought to be members of the country’s intelligence service, were also frozen as part of an anti-terrorism raid last year. The Zahra Centre France website claims that the association provides “scientific, educational, religious and gnostic” knowledge, and makes films exploring “social, family and religious structure”. Zahra Centre France was founded in 2009 by Yahia Gouasmi, and appears to have two other leaders, Tahiri Jamel and Khalid Adelkri, its website says.”

Euronews: France To Deploy Military Anti-Terror Force At Gilets Jaunes March

“The French government is to deploy its military anti-terror force as reinforcement during Act 19 of Saturday's Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protests, President Emmanuel Macron decided on Wednesday. “The president has requested emergency measures to toughen the security by the armed forces”, Benjamin Griveaux, the spokesperson for the French Elysee Palace, said on Wednesday. The yellow vests, he said, “are not protesters, but rioters”. Alongside the deployment of the French military anti-terror force, called Sentinelle, to protect official buildings and other “static places”, Griveaux announced that armed forces would start using surveillance drones and throw indelible, invisible liquid on protesters to mark them. “We cannot let a minuscule minority damage our country and the French image abroad”, he said. The decision came after violence marred last weekend's protests, reaching levels not seen since December. Many targets by the movement in Paris and other cities included known landmarks and stores or places seen as elitist, such as the Parisian restaurant Le Fouquet's on the Champs Elysées. Following the attacks at Charlie Hebdo in 2015, the military has been patrolling the streets across the country.”

Voice Of America: France Urges Iran To Free Human Rights Lawyer

“France on Thursday called for Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh to be released and warned Tehran that its adherence to a nuclear accord does not give it a blank cheque on human rights. "We will do all we can to secure the release of Mrs. Sotoudeh," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the upper chamber Senate. "She was condemned under astonishing conditions," for "defending the rights of women, in particular those who contest the obligation to wear the Islamic veil," he added. Sotoudeh's husband, Reza Khandan, told AFP on Sunday that his wife had been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison over a case with seven charges, but she is to only serve the longest sentence, 12 years imposed on Sunday for "encouraging corruption and debauchery". She has also been convicted of espionage.”

Europe

The New York Times: Terrorism Charges Planned In Utrecht Shooting, Dutch Prosecutors Say

“Dutch prosecutors said on Thursday that they planned to bring terrorism charges against a man suspected of killing three people on a tram in the city of Utrecht, in addition to multiple counts of murder or manslaughter. In a statement, the public prosecutor’s office in the Netherlands suggested that the mental health of the suspect, Gokmen Tanis, was also under investigation, as well as his motives. “It’s being investigated if the suspect acted out of solely terrorist motive or that his actions came from personal problems in combination with radicalized ideology,” prosecutors said. “The Dutch Institute for Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology will be asked to conduct an investigation of the suspect’s personality.” Mr. Tanis, 37, is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday in his first court appearance in connection with the shootings in Utrecht. The office said that Mr. Tanis was suspected of murder or manslaughter with terrorist intent, attempted murder or manslaughter, and threats with terrorist intent. The attack on Monday on a busy tram left three people dead and five more injured. People in Utrecht who know Mr. Tanis, who was born in Turkey, say he was erratic and sometimes violent, and recently espoused a strict form of Islam. He had been arrested multiple times and was facing a rape charge.”

The Washington Post: North Macedonia Jails 7 IS Fighters Captured In Syria

“A court in North Macedonia has jailed seven citizens, accusing them of fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Six men were given six-year sentences for joining IS, while a seventh man was jailed for nine years after also being found guilty on charges of organizing a terrorist group. The suspects were arrested last August in Syria by international coalition forces and later handed over to Macedonian authorities. It was the second group from North Macedonia sentenced for joining and recruiting IS fighters. In March 2016, six people, including a Muslim preacher were sentenced from five to seven years in prison. According to police, about 150 of the country’s citizens have joined Islamic State extremists.”

New Zealand

The Wall Street Journal: After New Zealand Shooting, Founder Of 8chan Expresses Regrets

“Fredrick Brennan founded the website 8chan more than five years ago as a no-holds-barred bastion of unconstrained speech devoted to critiquing what he saw as the authoritarianism of leftist culture and politics. Now, he says, it has gone too far. Mr. Brennan, a former Brooklynite who cut ties with the site in December, said he believed 8chan’s administrators were too slow to remove the post last week from Christchurch, New Zealand, shooter Brenton Tarrant and posts on the site’s message boards that incite violence. Their reluctance to do so, along with the proliferation of posts on 8chan praising Mr. Tarrant’s actions, have persuaded Mr. Brennan that the toxic, white-supremacist culture that lives on parts of the site could someday be linked to another mass shooting. “It was very difficult in the days that followed to know that I had created that site,” he said in an interview from the Philippines, where he has lived since 2014. He added: “It wouldn’t surprise me if this happens again.”

The Washington Post: New Zealand’s Prime Minister Called Alleged Mosque Gunman A Terrorist. But He May Not Be Charged As One.

“When police dramatically apprehended Brenton Harrison Tarrant last Friday after he allegedly shot dozens of Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, authorities filed only one charge against him: a single count of murder. The idea was to keep him behind bars on a holding charge to provide time for authorities to gather evidence and build a case against him. And those preparing that case now have a complicated task ahead of them: choosing what other charges they may press against him. John Ip, a senior lecturer at University of Auckland’s law school, told The Washington Post that prosecutors probably will choose between terrorism charges and murder charges but not pursue both. Between the two, he said, murder charges are a far more likely choice — in large part because if Tarrant is found guilty, murder charges could prevent him from asking for parole anytime soon. In New Zealand, the standard minimum non-parole period for a life sentence is longer when someone is charged with murder, Ip said. “If the shooter is convicted of murder for the number of counts we’re talking about, this [sentence] is for the rest of his natural life,” Ip said. Although New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern swiftly labeled the attack terrorism, authorities may want to avoid charging Tarrant under the 2002 Terrorism Suppression Act, in part because it would require deep analysis of the motive behind the mosque shootings.”

The New York Times: Spreading the Mosque Shooting Video Is a Crime in New Zealand

“A lone white supremacist is the suspect in the Christchurch mosque killings. But under New Zealand law, many others could face charges for spreading or perhaps even possessing all or part of the 17-minute Facebook Live video streamed by the killer as he methodically shot the victims. As of Thursday, at least two people had been charged with sharing that video via social media, under a law that forbids dissemination or possession of material depicting extreme violence and terrorism. Others could face related charges in connection with publicizing the terrorist attack, under a human-rights law that forbids incitement of racial disharmony. While freedom of expression is a legal right in New Zealand, the parameters are more restrictive than the First Amendment guarantees in the United States. New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs includes a chief censor, an official who has the authority to determine what material is forbidden. The restrictions mean New Zealanders could face legal consequences for intentionally looking at the Christchurch killer’s video, which may have been seen millions of times around the world. Facebook and other social media platforms also could face new legal issues because of the video, and not only in New Zealand.”

The Economist: Why White Nationalist Terrorism Is A Global Threat

“He seems to have been a classic “lone wolf”. As far as police can tell, the man who murdered 50 worshippers, and critically wounded nine more, at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15th was not part of any organisation. The 28-year-old Australian, Brenton Tarrant, claimed to have developed his violent beliefs on his own, surfing the internet and visiting Europe. He bought his weapons himself. He honed his skills at a suburban shooting-range. No one there suspected that he was preparing a massacre. Yet he was part of something much bigger. The names and slogans scrawled on his weapons were familiar to extreme white nationalists all around the world—but hardly anyone else. His ranting internet manifesto, “The Great Replacement”, repeated a staple far-right conspiracy theory: that non-white and Muslim immigrants in Western countries are invaders, ushered in by scheming elites to replace ethnic-European populations. Variants of that once-fringe idea are now common, not just in social-media posts by anonymous wackos but in the speeches of elected politicians from Hungary to Iowa.”

Bloomberg: White Nationalism Is A Terrorist Threat, But Not Like Radical Islam

“In the aftermath of last week’s massacre of 50 Muslims at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, it has become common to equate white nationalism with radical Islam. A typical comment came from Senator Elizabeth Warren: “In the same way that ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorism pose a threat to the U.S.,” she said, “so does the rise of white nationalism.” This perspective is understandable. Right-wing extremist violence is a major domestic threat. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s database, it has accounted for about 73 percent of terrorist-related murders in the U.S. in the last 10 years. It’s also true, as Warren also suggested, that President Donald Trump has failed to forthrightly condemn white nationalists, such as after the deadly violence at a white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. In recent years, the Department of Homeland Security has even cut funding for some programs focused on countering white supremacism. That said, it’s unrealistic to expect the U.S. government to treat white nationalist terrorism the same way it has treated the Islamist variety. It’s hard to imagine anyone supporting drone strikes on communities of white militias or other racist outposts, for example.”

Technology

The Atlantic: Instagram Is The Internet’s New Home For Hate

“When Alex, now a high-school senior, saw an Instagram account he followed post about something called QAnon back in 2017, he’d never heard of the viral conspiracy theory before. But the post piqued his interest, and he wanted to know more. So he did what your average teenager would do: He followed several accounts related to it on Instagram, searched for information on YouTube, and read up on it on forums. A year and a half later, Alex, who asked to use a pseudonym, runs his own Gen Z–focused QAnon Instagram account, through which he educates his generation about the secret plot by the “deep state” to take down Donald Trump. ”I was just noticing a lack in younger people being interested in QAnon, so I figured I would put it out there that there was at least one young person in the movement,” he told me via Instagram direct message. He hopes to “expose the truth about everything corrupt governments and organizations have lied about.” Among those truths: that certain cosmetics and foods contain aborted fetal cells, that the recent Ethiopian Airlines crash was a hoax, and that the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shootings were staged.”

TechCrunch: Facebook’s AI couldn’t Spot Mass Murder

“Facebook has given another update on measures it took and what more it’s doing in the wake of the live streamed video of a gun massacre by a far right terrorist who killed 50 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Earlier this week the company said the video of the slayings had been viewed less than 200 times during the livestream broadcast itself, and about about 4,000 times before it was removed from Facebook — with the stream not reported to Facebook until 12 minutes after it had ended. None of the users who watched the killings unfold on the company’s platform in real-time apparently reported the stream to the company, according to the company. It also previously said it removed 1.5 million versions of the video from its site in the first 24 hours after the livestream, with 1.2M of those caught at the point of upload — meaning it failed to stop 300,000 uploads at that point. Though as we pointed out in our earlier report those stats are cherry picked — and only represent the videos Facebook identified.”

The Washington Post: Facebook Says It Left ‘Hundreds Of Millions’ Of Users’ Passwords Stored In Plain Text

“Facebook on Thursday said that it had left “hundreds of millions” of users’ passwords exposed in plain text, potentially visible to the company’s employees, marking another major privacy and security headache for a tech giant already under fire for mishandling people’s personal information. Facebook said it believed the passwords were not visible to anyone outside the company and had no evidence that its employees “internally abused or improperly accessed them.” But it said it would notify users of Facebook as well as its photo-sharing site, Instagram, that they had been affected. The incident was first revealed by the Krebs on Security blog, which estimated the total number of affected users ranged between 200 million and 600 million. Facebook declined Thursday to confirm the estimate. Facebook’s mishandling of users’ passwords adds to a litany of recent privacy and security mishaps at the company, some of which have triggered investigations in the United States and European Union and could carry the risk of steep fines and other punishments.”

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook Left Up Video Of New Zealand Shootings For An Hour

“Facebook Inc. left a gruesome video of shootings at a New Zealand mosque up on its site for half an hour after a user brought it to the company’s attention, a previously unreported delay that highlights the social media giant’s difficulty in controlling violent content on its platform. The timetable, based on times supplied overnight by Facebook and the New Zealand police, means the video showing men, women and children being gunned down at a mosque in Christchurch was available on Facebook’s site for an hour from the time it started rolling to the time it was ultimately removed. The live-streaming video was taken by the shooter as he began a rampage that left 50 people dead Friday afternoon. The broadcast began on Facebook at around 1:33 p.m. and ended 17 minutes later at approximately 1:50 p.m. A Facebook user flagged the post to the company 12 minutes after that, Facebook said. The social media team of the New Zealand police alerted Facebook to the video at 2:29 p.m., police told the Journal. Facebook said it took the video down within minutes thereafter.”