Eye on Extremism - 11-30-21 & 12-01-21

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#1 Dozens Of Former Afghan Security Forces Dead Or Missing Under Taliban, Report Says
By: Conter Extremeism Project - 11-30-21 #2 (Report below this one_
Re: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#ca...SNhxXDppBmQkMN

1st repot Eye on Extremism - November 30, 2021

The New York Times: Dozens Of Former Afghan Security Forces Dead Or Missing Under Taliban, Report Says

“More than 100 former members of the Afghan security forces in four provinces have been killed or disappeared by the Taliban in the first two and a half months of the militants’ rule, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The deaths are part of a string of assassinations and summary executions, largely considered revenge killings, that have been happening across Afghanistan since the fall of Ashraf Ghani’s government in August. The attacks underscore the dangers that Taliban critics, activists and members of the former government’s security forces face despite the Taliban announcement when they seized power of a general amnesty for former government workers and military officials. In a report released on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch detailed the killing and forced disappearance of 47 members of the former government’s security forces who had either surrendered to the Taliban or were detained by them between Aug. 15 and Oct. 31 in four of the countries 34 provinces: Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz.”

Reuters: Gunmen Free More Than 260 Inmates In Nigerian Jail Attack

“Gunmen freed more than 260 inmates during an attack on a prison in Nigeria's central city of Jos, officials said, in the country's fourth such raid this year. The attackers opened fire on guards on Sunday evening, starting a gunbattle that left one guard and nine prisoners dead, the correctional service said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the raid in the capital of Plateau State. Regions further north have been plagued by bandits and Islamist militants. "Some of the attackers and a total of 262 inmates escaped in the melee before reinforcement could come from sister services," the service said in a statement.”

Syria

The Wall Street Journal: Pentagon To Investigate 2019 Syria Airstrike That Killed Women And Children

“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered an investigation into a 2019 U.S. strike in Syria that killed dozens of people, including women and children, but that wasn’t publicly acknowledged by the military until this year, the Defense Department said Monday. Gen. Michael X. Garrett, who is in charge of Army Forces Command, will lead the inquiry and will look at the number of civilians killed, whether the U.S. complied with the laws of war in launching the attack, how the military records such events, and whether anyone should be held accountable for the deaths, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. The defense chief sought Gen. Garrett to lead the investigation because he wasn’t part of the decision to launch the strike and therefore could lead a dispassionate review, Mr. Kirby said. Mr. Kirby didn’t say why the defense chief hadn’t ordered an investigation until now. But the decision follows a New York Times investigation that reported this month that the U.S. military sought to hide the outcome of the strike and never investigated it, even after the decision to launch it immediately raised questions internally. The strike, carried out in March 2019 in the Syrian city of Baghuz, killed approximately 80 people.”

Kurdistan 24: SDF Arrests ISIS Facilitator In Raqqa

“The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested an alleged ISIS facilitator in Raqqa in a joint operation with the US-led coalition on Tuesday. The SDF and the Coalition forces conducted “operations in Ar Raqqah Province resulting in the detention of a key Daesh (ISIS) facilitator”, the US Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (SOJTF LEVANT) tweeted. SOJTF LEVANT, which oversees activities in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt, also announced in a Friday tweet that the SDF carried out the operation in Markada, Hasakah province. “This is part of continued efforts to protect the Syrian people and Coalition partners by deterring the reconstitution of Daesh (Arabic acronym for ISIS),” the official account said. Raqqa was liberated from ISIS in October 2017 by the SDF with support from the US-led coalition. The entirety of ISIS’s self-styled caliphate was destroyed following the SDF’s capture of the eastern town of Baghouz in March 2019. However, the group still launches regular sleeper cell attacks in SDF-controlled parts of Syria, especially the Arab-majority eastern province of Deir al-Zor.”

Iraq

The National: Verdict Expected In Case Of ISIS Member Accused Of Yazidi Genocide

“The landmark trial of an Iraqi ISIS member accused of genocide against the Yazidi community is to conclude on Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany. Prosecutors accuse Taha Al J of enslaving a 5-year-old Yazidi girl called Rania and allowing her to die when she was tied up outside in the scorching Fallujah heat in the summer of 2015. A key witness in the trial has been Rania’s mother, who Taha Al J is also accused of keeping as a slave and abusing. Although German courts have already convicted ISIS members who returned to Germany for crimes against the Yazidis, Tuesday’s judgment could be the first time that a court decides that what happened to the community is genocide. About 10,000 Yazidis were killed when ISIS swept through northern Iraq in 2014. Around 7,000 women and girls were enslaved. Taha Al J is believed to have joined ISIS in early 2013 but was arrested in Greece in May 2019. He is accused of purchasing and beating Rania and her mother, and depriving them of food. They were kidnapped in the summer of 2014 after ISIS invaded the Sinjar region of Iran. Last month, Taha Al J’s wife Jennifer Wenisch was jailed for 10 years by a Munich court for the death of Rania on charges of crimes against humanity and membership of a terrorist organisation.”

Middle East

The Times Of Israel: Man Seriously Injured In Jerusalem Terror Attack Released From Intensive Care

“A man seriously injured in a deadly terror attack in Jerusalem’s Old City last week has been released from intensive care, the hospital where he is being treated announced Monday. Shaare Zedek Medical Center said 26-year-old Aharon Yehuda Imergreen’s condition was improving and that he will remain in the hospital to undergo several more operations. His family asked the Israeli public to pray for his full recovery. “A Hanukkah miracle,” a statement from the hospital said, referring to the Jewish holiday that began this week. Imergreen was one of several people wounded in the shooting attack, in which Eli Kay was killed. Kay, an employee at the Western Wall Heritage Foundation who had made aliyah from South Africa, was heading to work when he was fatally shot by terrorist Fadi Abu Skhaydam. Abu Shkhaydam, an East Jerusalem Palestinian who taught at a public school in the city, was shot dead by police at the scene, following a brief gun battle. According to Israeli authorities, he was a member of Hamas’s political wing.”

Africa

Foreign Policy: Uganda And Congo Are At War With The Islamic State

“On Aug. 26, as the United States was rushing to evacuate Americans and their allies following the Taliban’s rapid advance across Afghanistan, a suicide bomber attacked the crowds surrounding Kabul’s airport, killing 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 Afghans. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since 2011. Within hours, the Islamic State-Khorasan claimed the attack, a sobering reminder that despite the Islamic State’s territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria two years ago, the group has not disappeared. In fact, its reach is spreading to new parts of the globe. Last month, the Islamic State claimed its first attacks in Uganda. And on Nov. 16, the Islamic State claimed two nearly simultaneous suicide bombings that rocked downtown Kampala, Uganda, and forced the closure of Uganda’s parliament. The Uganda bombings were perpetrated by the Islamic State’s affiliate group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which calls itself the Islamic State Central Africa Province and is known locally as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). It is one of the deadliest armed groups operating in Congo. Yet there is a heated debate among Congo scholars and contemporary jihadism experts over whether or not the ADF is really tied to the Islamic State.”

Al Jazeera: More Than 20 Killed In Attack On DR Congo Displaced Persons Camp

“At least 22 civilians have been killed in an attack on a camp for internally displaced people in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an aid worker and civil rights leader have said. Red Cross coordinator Mambo Bapu Mance told the AFP news agency on Monday that 20 people were buried immediately in two common graves, while another two who died of their wounds were buried later. The same camp in Ituri province was attacked less than a week ago when 29 people were killed. Mance accused the armed group Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) of carrying out the attack on Ivo camp on Sunday. Civil rights group president Charite Banza put the toll at 22. “This is the third attack by these outlaws against displacement sites in the space of a week in this part of the country, causing more than 50 deaths and enormous material damage,” Banza told the Reuters news agency. The Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a US-based monitor of violence in the region, cited the same death toll. The army spokesman in the region, Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, said the CODECO rebels were repelled, but did not elaborate. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for strong action against the perpetrators.”

Al Jazeera: Ethiopia Denies Attack On Sudan, Blames Rebels For Violence

“Ethiopia has denied it staged an attack over the weekend along its shared border with Sudan, blaming unrest in the disputed zone on rebels from its war-hit Tigray region. On Saturday, Sudan’s military said “several” soldiers had been killed in an attack by armed groups and militias linked to the Ethiopian military in the fertile expanse known as Al-Fashaqa. The area has long been a source of tension between Addis Ababa and Khartoum, sparking deadly clashes over the last year. But in comments that aired on state media on Sunday, Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu dismissed claims the military had attacked Sudan as “groundless”. Instead, he blamed the violence on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the fighter group that has been locked in a gruesome war against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government since November 2020 and claims to be approaching the capital Addis Ababa. “A large group of insurgents, bandits and terrorists had entered [from Sudan],” Legesse said in comments aired by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, without providing evidence. “The Ethiopian National Defence Force and the local militia have destroyed them,” he added. Legesse also said the TPLF was training in Sudan and receiving support from unspecified “foreign backers.”

Australia

Australian Associated Press: Terrorist, 24, Who Branded Herself And Her Husband The 'Jihadi Bonnie And Clyde' Walks Free After Repeatedly Breaching A Federal Control Order

“A woman who described herself and her husband as a jihadi Bonnie and Clyde has been jailed again after repeatedly breaching a federal control order. But Alo-Bridget Namoa has again walked free, after her new sentence was backdated to when she was returned to custody after her re-arrest. The now 24-year-old and Sameh Bayda were found guilty in 2018 of conspiring between December 8, 2015 and January 25, 2016 to do an act in preparation for a terrorist act. Namoa was jailed in the Supreme Court for three years and nine months with a minimum term of two years and 10 months. On her release in December 2019, she was placed on a control order which included conditions aimed at protecting the public from a terrorist act. She later pleaded guilty in the District Court to three counts of failing to comply with the order, including by misusing her permitted mobile phone. Namoa on Monday was sentenced to 16 months with a non-parole period of 12 months. She was released from custody as the term was backdated to when she was returned to jail in July 2020.”

Europe

AEP: Finland's Secret School For Children Of ISIS Fighters

“At home in Helsinki, Ilona Taimela scrolls through hundreds of WhatsApp chats with her former pupils — pictures of animals, maths sums and simple sentences in English and Finnish. Last year, the teacher gave lessons to Finnish children imprisoned about 3,000 kilometres away in Syria's Al Hol displacement camp — using only the messaging app. Al Hol is a sprawling tent city housing around 60,000 people, mainly women and children displaced by the US-backed battle to expel the ISIS militant group from war-torn Syria. Among them are thousands of children of foreign mothers who travelled to Syria to be the wives of ISIS fighters. “Some of the children didn't know what a building is, what a house is, because they've always been in a tent,” Ms Taimela told AFP. “There was so much that they needed to learn.” Rights observers warn the camp's children are under constant threat from violence, poor sanitation and fires. “It's a miserable place, it's out of control,” said Jussi Tanner, Finland's special envoy charged with ensuring the fundamental rights of the Finnish children in Al Hol, including access to healthcare and schooling, and eventual repatriation.”

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2nd Report: Uganda, Congo Launch Strikes On Islamic State-Linked Group
Dated: 12-01-211st repot by Counter Extremism Project - 12-01-21
Re: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#ca...sqJRXRsjxDXbrR

As of: December 1, 2021

Bloomberg: Uganda, Congo Launch Strikes On Islamic State-Linked Group

“Uganda launched a military campaign against militants linked to Islamic State operating from a base in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. The East African nation’s government blamed the Allied Democratic Forces for terror attacks over the past five months, including two bombings in the capital, Kampala, on Nov. 16. that left at least seven people dead. “We have launched joint air and artillery strikes against ADF camps with our Congolese allies,” Ugandan army spokeswoman Flavia Byekwaso said on Twitter. Islamic State, through its self-proclaimed Central Africa Province, has claimed responsibility for attacks in Uganda. The group’s leader, Musa Muhsin Baluku, said in September 2020 the ADF was disbanded and is now a province of IS, according to a study published this month by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College in London. Congolese government spokesman, Patrick Muyaya, confirmed Tuesday’s strikes. “Targeted and concerted actions with the Ugandan army were launched today with airstrikes and artillery fire from Uganda on ADF terrorist positions in the DRC,” Muyaya said on Twitter.”

The New York Times: ISIS Fighter Convicted In Death Of Enslaved 5-Year-Old Girl

“A German court on Tuesday convicted an Islamic State fighter for crimes against humanity and war crimes for tying up a 5-year-old Yazidi girl he had bought as a slave in Iraq, and leaving her in scorching heat to die of thirst. The 29-year-old man, identified only as Taha Al-J. under German privacy laws, was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay 50,000 euros, or about $57,000, in compensation to the girl’s mother, who was a co-plaintiff in the case and was present when the verdict was read. It was the first genocide conviction of a fighter for the Islamic State, which systematically persecuted the Yazidi ethnic group in Iraq, according to Christoph Koller, the judge overseeing the trial in Frankfurt. During its reign, the Islamic State killed thousands of Yazidi men, and kidnapped and forced into slavery thousands of Yazidi women and girls. “This is the moment Yazidis have been waiting for,” Amal Clooney, a human rights lawyer and a member of the mother’s legal team, said in a statement. “To finally hear a judge, after seven years, declare that what they suffered was genocide.” Even though neither the victim nor the killer were German, and the crime occurred in Falluja, Iraq, the trial was held in Germany on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which German courts have been using to try people accused of war crimes in countries like Iraq and Syria.”

United States

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Targets Colombian Guerrilla Splinter Groups With Terrorist Listing

“The Biden administration added two new Colombian drug-trafficking gangs to its list of foreign terrorist organizations, reflecting the U.S.’s determination to support a peace agreement in Colombia threatened by the groups’ mayhem. The U.S. on Tuesday declared that the New Marquetalia group and the FARC-EP would join a blacklist of groups that include al Qaeda, Hamas and Boko Haram. At the same time, the Biden administration said it is removing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, because the decades-old guerrilla group “formally dissolved and disarmed” upon signing a peace agreement with Colombia’s government in 2016. The Wall Street Journal reported on the removal last week. FARC “no longer exists as a unified organization that engages in terrorism or terrorist activity or has the capability or intent to do so,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. However, Mr. Blinken noted that revoking the designation for the FARC does nothing to shield those ex-rebels from U.S. charges for crimes such as drug trafficking. The two groups added to the list are made up of hundreds of former FARC fighters who didn’t take part in the peace agreement, which demobilized some 13,000 guerrillas and ended a 52-year-old conflict between Colombia’s government and the country’s largest insurgency.”

Iraq

The National: ISIS Attack Kills Kurdish Fighter In Eastern Iraq

“ISIS killed a member of the Kurdish security forces and injured three others on Monday in an attack in eastern Iraq's Diyala province. The terrorist group has stepped up its operations against Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, in recent days. The Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said its ninth Infantry Brigade was the target of Monday's attack in Diyala's Kifri district. “As a result of our defence by our forces, the ISIS attack was destroyed but unfortunately one Peshmerga was [killed] and three others wounded,” it said. It added that its forces foiled another attack by the militants in Diyala on Sunday night. No deaths or injuries were announced. ISIS seized large areas of Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014, before being beaten back by a counter-insurgency campaign supported by a US-led military coalition. Since 2014, the US has led an international coalition in Iraq to fight the terrorist group. On Saturday night, ISIS attacked the southern Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah, killing five Peshmerga fighters and wounding four others. Two days later, the militants claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack. The move prompted Kurdish officials to talk about the “serious threat” ISIS still poses to the region.”

Afghanistan

Voice Of America: Taliban Demand Unfreezing Afghan Assets In 'Positive' Talks With US

“Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and the United States wrapped up two days of meetings in Qatar on Tuesday, with the Islamist group saying its delegates urged U.S. officials to unfreeze Afghan state assets and remove sanctions. The discussions took place amid growing appeals by aid groups to international donors to scale up financial aid to Afghanistan, where the United Nations says more than half the population is suffering from acute hunger this winter. U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi led their respective delegations at the talks in Doha, the Qatari capital. Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said the two sides discussed and exchanged views on political, economic, health, education, security and humanitarian issues. “The Afghan side assured them about security, urged immediate unconditional unfreezing of Afghan reserves, ending of sanctions & blacklists, & disconnecting humanitarian issues from political considerations,” Balkhi tweeted. “Overall the sessions were positive and both sides agreed to continue such meetings moving forward.” U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement released Tuesday, “The United States remains committed to ensuring that U.S. sanctions do not limit the ability of Afghan civilians to receive humanitarian support from the U.S. government and international community while denying assets to sanctioned entities and individuals.”

Middle East

Business Insider: After 7 Years, A US-Led Task Force Fighting ISIS Is Getting A New Name And Taking A New Approach To Its Mission

“The special-operations task force that led the way in the war against ISIS has been renamed as major combat operations against the terrorist group wind down. Since 2015, Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, or SOJTF-OIR, has been the tip of the spear in the multinational coalition that came together to fight ISIS. After almost seven years, the Pentagon has renamed the unit. Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant, or SOJTF-Levant, now has expanded authority in the region. US special operators have more or less focused their efforts against ISIS in Iraq and Syria while conducting operations against its offshoots in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and some African countries. SOJTF-OIR focused solely on the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. SOJTF-Levant will continue to support Iraqi and coalition forces against the remnants of ISIS in Iraq and Syria and expand its operations against the terrorist group into Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, according to US Special Operations Command Central. The expanded role is a milestone. “We operate in a region with numerous terrorist and violent extremist organizations and share a common interest with partner nations in prevailing against these regional security challenges,” Army Maj. Charles An, a spokesperson for US Special Operations Command Central, told Defense News.”

Nigeria

Sahara Reporters: Why We Will Allow 'Repentant' Boko Haram Terrorists To Go Scot-Free—Borno Governor, Zulum

“Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum has said the state government will not prosecute 'repentant' Boko Haram insurgents. While presenting the 2022 budget at the State House Of Assembly on Tuesday, Zulum said terrorists will not be encouraged to eschew violence if they see 'repentant' ones being prosecuted. Addressing the House of Assembly, the governor said, “Mr. Speaker, honourable members, we need Allah’s guidance and the utmost wisdom to work for an end to the crisis facing our dear state. “Prosecuting all the criminals (insurgents) would have been most appropriate but if we insist on it, we would discourage others out there that are willing to lay down their arms. “The terrorists’ ranks could swell and our innocent fellow citizens, particularly those in local government areas, could become more vulnerable to attacks and abductions. Noting that the exercise to de-radicalise terrorists is being handled by security forces, Zulum said the initiative does not give terrorists the freedom to kill and immediately seek pardon. He said none of the 'repentant' terrorists had been reintegrated into society yet, adding that terrorists willing to surrender must immediately “stop further attacks on civilians, security agents and facilities.”

Africa

Reuters: Four West African States Mount Operation Against Islamist Insurgents

“Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo have carried out a joint military operation to counter increased attacks by Islamist insurgent groups in parts of West Africa, Burkinabe Security Minister Maxime Kone said on Tuesday. Over 5,700 troops were deployed in the borderlands between Burkina Faso and the other three countries under a security cooperation deal the countries agreed in 2017 to prevent jihadist violence spreading from the Sahel region. The five-day operation led to the arrest of over 300 suspects and the seizure of weapons, ammunition, vehicles, drugs and a large amount of material to make improvised bombs, Kone told a news conference. Groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have expanded their reach in the Sahel region in recent years, destabilising Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. They have made occasional incursions south, including into Ivory Coast and Togo. The Burkina Faso government is facing a public outcry over its perceived inability to stop the militants, who in November carried out the most devastating attack on local security forces in recent years.”

The National: ISIS Tightens Grip On Mozambique By Training New Generation Of Suicide Attackers

“ISIS's global expansion into northern Mozambique includes training for a terror offensive involving suicide bomb tactics among a new generation of recruits, one of Africa’s leading intelligence analysts has said. The southern Africa-based groupings have withstood counter offensives to regain territory and with a bounce from developments in Afghanistan, are training in sophisticated bombing techniques by foreign fighters. With input from Middle East focused “ISIS central” the Mozambique commanders' strategic thinking has changed from the idea of establishing a defacto state to hijacking local insurgencies, indoctrinating the population and radicalising them, Jasmine Opperman told The National. The insurgency in Mozambique has already shown its resilience – just as the European Union training mission was launched this month ISIS hit back with a string of attacks. In seven significant assaults it has killed at least 14 Mozambique government forces and beheaded two alleged spies, all in the northern Cabo Delgado region. The insurgency came to international attention in March when a force of 200 fighters seized the town of Palma and killed Westerners working at Total’s $20 billion liquid natural gas development. In this image taken from militant video released by the Islamic State group on Monday March 29, 2021, purporting to show fighters near the strategic north eastern Mozambique town of Palma, as the militant group claimed it had taken control of the area after five days of conflict.”

United Kingdom

The National: MI6 Recruiting From World's Most Dangerous Groups To Combat Al Qaeda

“MI6 is recruiting agents in the “most dangerous organisations in the world” to combat Al Qaeda’s ambition for mass-casualty terrorism, the service’s chief has said. Richard Moore said the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks is seeking to rebuild bases in Afghanistan to launch international strikes. In his first public speech, the Chief of the Security Intelligence Service, highlighted the threat to world stability from Russia, China and Iran as well as from artificial intelligence. Praising the bravery of his officers, many of whom operate in foreign countries running special agents at great risk to both, Mr Moore said he needed better technology and more people to tackle Al Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist groups. “We retain an intense focus … to degrade existing terrorist groups, prevent their spread and identify unknown threats. To do this, MI6 continues to recruit agents in the most dangerous organisations in the world.” There was no doubt the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August had emboldened international terrorists and that in Afghanistan both Al Qaeda, he said, and ISIS were now seeking “to increase their foothold and to rebuild their ability to strike Western targets”. “Their affiliates and imitators retain an undiminished appetite for violence and the inflicting of mass casualties,” he told the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank in London.”

The Independent: Man Arrested In Essex Over Suspected Far-Right Terror Plot

“A man has been arrested in Essex on suspicion of mounting a far-right terror plot. Counter-terror police said the man was detained in the Harwich area in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He was arrested on suspicion of the preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and remains in custody. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “The arrest is linked to suspected extreme right-wing terrorism, and there is not believed to be any imminent threat to the public in relation to this. “The arrest is not connected to the murder of Sir David Amess MP.” Officers were searching the suspect’s home as the investigation continued on Tuesday evening. It comes after the government raised the national terror threat level from substantial to severe, meaning further attacks are considered highly likely. The decision was made following the Liverpool bombing on Remembrance Sunday, which was the second terror attack to strike Britain in a month, following the murder of Sir David at a constituency surgery in Essex. Commander Richard Smith, head of Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “I’d firstly like to reassure the local community in Essex and beyond that we are not aware of any imminent threat to the public in relation to this arrest today.”

BBC News: National Action: Ben Raymond Guilty Of Terror Charges

“The co-founder of a neo-Nazi group has been found guilty of being a member of a banned terrorist organisation. Ben Raymond, 32, from Swindon, was part of National Action, a group which wanted to wage a “white Jihad” and race war in Britain. Raymond was also convicted of possessing a manifesto by the Norwegian terrorist Andrews Breivik and a guide to homemade detonators. He was found not guilty of four counts of possessing other documents. The graduate is the 17th person to be convicted of membership of the white supremacist group after a jury convicted him on Tuesday. Raymond helped create the organisation in 2013 and coined the term “white jihad”, Bristol Crown Court previously heard. He produced much of its propaganda and was likened to the Third Reich's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. It was later proscribed after its social media channels glorified the murder of the MP Jo Cox by white supremacist terrorist Thomas Mair in 2016. After the ban he remained involved in the group - joining group chats, designing propaganda and continuing to associate with other leading figures. His trial at Bristol Crown Court heard how he told an associate he would “take it as a badge of honour” if National Action was declared illegal.”

Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald: Islamic State Flag Flown Over 300 Times In NSW In Last Six Years

“The black and white flag of terrorist group Islamic State has been displayed 305 times in NSW since 2015, according to internal police data on incidents and reports. The number of recorded displays of the flag peaked at 142 in 2015, dropping to 45 in 2017, 22 in 2019, and persisting in smaller numbers this year. Police recorded eight relevant reports or events in 2020 and the same again so far this year. The vast majority were reported across Sydney, especially the north-western and south-western metropolitan areas, although a handful of incidents was recorded in other parts of NSW. The data also indicated the flag of Hezbollah, the Shiite political and militant group based in Lebanon, was displayed 49 times since 2015. The federal government designated the entirety of Hezbollah, rather just its militant wing, as a terrorist group earlier this month, along with neo-Nazi group The Base. Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, came to prominence in 2011 and established control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria. While the group was beaten back by US-led coalition forces and declared defeated by 2019, remnants of the group survive in the Middle East and other regions. The NSW Police data was provided to State Parliament in response to questions from Labor police and counter-terrorism spokesman Walt Secord.”

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