Eye on Extremism - 12-23-20

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Eye on Extremism - December 23, 2020
By: Counter Extremism Project - 12-23-20
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of December 12-23-20: (** see note at the bottom of this page)

Al Jazeera: UN Probe In Mali Sees War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity: Report

“United Nations investigators into violence in Mali have told the Security Council of evidence that security forces committed war crimes, and fighters and other armed groups perpetrated crimes against humanity. The allegations were made in a 338-page report by the International Commission of Inquiry for Mali, a three-member panel which investigated violence that unfolded over six years from 2012-2018. The probe, whose conclusions have been sent to the Security Council but have not yet been made public, recommends setting up a court that specialises in prosecuting international crimes. “The Commission has reasonable grounds to believe that the Malian defence and security forces committed war crimes, including violence to the life and person of civilians and persons hors de combat suspected of being affiliated or cooperating with extremist armed groups,” says the report, acquired by the AFP news agency on Tuesday. The landlocked Sahel country descended into violence in 2012 when ethnic Tuareg separatists launched an armed uprising in the north of the country, which was then overtaken by an armed campaign of fighters. France, the former colonial power, launched a military operation in 2013.”

Sahara Reporters: Suicide Bombers Planning To Strike At Christmas – DSS

“The Department of State Services (DSS) has said some criminal elements are planning to carry out violent attacks on public places during the Christmas season. Peter Afunanya, spokesman for the DSS, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday. According to Afunanya, the attacks are to be executed with the use of explosives, suicide bombing and other dangerous weapons. He asked Nigerians to be on the alert, saying the agency was taking steps to prevent such attacks from happening across the country. The statement read, “The Department of State Services (DSS) wishes to inform the public about plans by some criminal elements to carry out violent attacks on public places, including key and vulnerable points during the Yuletide season. “The planned dastardly acts are to be executed through the use of explosives, suicide bombing and other dangerous weapons. “The objective is to create a general sense of fear among the people and subsequently undermine the government. “Against this backdrop, citizens are called upon to be extra vigilant and report strange movements and indeed, all suspicions around them to security and law enforcement agencies. “On its part, the Service is collaborating with other sister agencies to ensure that adequate measures are put in place for protection of lives and property.”

United States

Associated Press: Oregon Case Reflects Extremists' Need Of Online Presence

“A man supported the Islamic State group for years from a Portland, Oregon, suburb by helping the extremists maintain an online presence that encouraged attacks and sought recruits, federal agents and prosecutors said. Hawazen Sameer Mothafar, who was arrested in November and whose trial is scheduled to begin in January, produced and disseminated propaganda and recruiting material through social media platforms, according to a grand jury indictment. Mothafar pleaded not guilty to charges of providing material support to a designated terrorist organization and conspiring to provide that support. Mark Ahlemeyer, his federal public defender, declined to comment. The case underscores the group's focus on an online presence, often referred to by experts as a “digital caliphate.” By late 2017, the Islamic State had lost most of the territory it seized in Iraq and Syria, and its self-declared caliphate along with it. The group continues to carry out and inspire attacks. Law enforcement's attempts to take down Islamic State's online presence often resemble a game of whack-a-mole. A year ago, European law enforcement officials removed accounts and information linked to the Amaq agency, which spreads propaganda and news for the group.”

Iraq

The Washington Post: Iraq Wants Thousands Displaced By The ISIS War To Go Home. They May Be Killed If They Do

“The homes destroyed by the Islamic State are still smashed. The group's bullets are still lodged in the sand berms. Hundreds of villagers perished here fighting the militants. Many more were displaced in the violence or fled in the aftermath, fearing they would be tarred as sympathizers of the Islamic State, either because they were or because their relatives had been associated with the group. As the Iraqi government now speaks of shuttering displacement camps where tens of thousands of these internal refugees have been sheltering since then and returning them to their villages, the prospect of retribution back home awaits. “The Islamic State is gone, and we’re still living in their wreckage,” said Kadhim al-Khazaraji, a local Shiite Muslim sheikh as his gaze settled on a house that had collapsed like a half-melted candle. “If I see someone here who was with ISIS back then, I will kill them. They killed my family.” This hostility represents one of the largest obstacles to the government’s plan, announced in fall, to move ahead with the camp closures as part of a program of “safe and voluntary return.” Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has made the shutting of the camps one of his marquee promises.”

Afghanistan

Agence France-Presse: The Afghan Police Team Welcoming Back Taliban Fighters

“After more than a decade fighting for the Taliban and being hounded by Afghan and US forces, Haji Lala thought there was little chance of ever returning home. Once a commander and senior district official for the insurgent group, he says he was captured by Pakistan's security services who took him across the border and detained him for two and a half years. Haji Lala said he was interrogated by the agents -- long-term backers of the Taliban -- for information about a spy working against the group. When he was released, the 58-year-old vowed to put his militant years behind him and look for a way to go back home. It was with the unlikely support of a police chief and the encouragement of a fellow former Taliban militant that he was given the opportunity to return home to the southern province of Kandahar. “I thought maybe... they would hand me over to the US troops,” said Lala, describing his initial trepidation at trusting a police officer. Before being captured, US forces he had battled against had raided his house nearly 15 times. “After I returned, friends and villagers visited me for nearly 10 days, as if there was a wedding party,” he told AFP. “I have a good reputation now in the village and the police are also not troubling me. I feel absolutely safe.”

Pakistan

Associated Press: Pakistan Army Says It Killed 10 Militants In Southwest Raid

“Pakistani security forces raided a militant separatist hideout in a remote town in southwestern Baluchistan province Tuesday, triggering a shootout in which 10 suspects were killed, the military said. The attack, based on intelligence provided to the military, came after troops conducted a raid on the same town, Awaran, on Sunday in which a soldier was killed. Since then, security forces have been looking for those responsible for killing the soldier. In its statement, the military said the 10 militants killed Tuesday were involved in the soldier's death. It said troops also seized a cache of weapons in the raid. Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by small separatist groups that have been demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region’s natural resources, such as gas and oil.”

Eurasia Review: Pakistan And Extremism Extraction

“Defining terrorism is not a simple matter. Till now, there is no single internationally accepted definition of what constitutes terrorism. The literature on terrorism is abundant with competing definitions; some call it extremism, however not all types of extremism are terrorism. Regarding terrorism and extremist, an international organization, Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), annually publishes a report, titled, “Global Terrorism Index (GTI)”, that provides a comprehensive summary of salient global trends and patterns in terrorism. Like every year since 2000, GTI for 2020 is also an all-inclusive analysis of terrorism impact in 163 countries till end 2019. The GTI 2020 covers over 17000 terrorism incidents from 1970 to 2019 using data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and other sources. As per GTI report, Pakistan’s ranking has improved from 5th (2019) to 7th (2020). In 2019, Pakistan recorded its lowest number of terror-related deaths since 2006. The report also indicates that since 2007, there is a 90% decline in deaths related to terrorism incidents in Pakistan. Most of the deaths form terrorism in Pakistan were from small-scale attacks that were not attributed to any group.”

Middle East

The Jerusalem Post: Interpol Says Terrorist Groups Using COVID-19 To Strengthen Their Power

“Interpol issued a new report on the impact of COVID-19 on global terrorism, trends and potential risks related to attacks on vulnerable targets and bioterrorism. The organization, whose headquarters are in the French city of Lyon, pointed out that since the beginning of the pandemic, some terrorist groups and other non-state actors (NSAs) used the pandemic to reinforce their power and influence, particularly among local populations, or to expand their external financial resources. “Terrorists – like all criminals – have sought to profit from COVID-19, to make money, strengthen their base and to fuel division,” said Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock. Underlining the crucial need to monitor the reaction and response of terrorist networks, violent extremist groups and other potentially dangerous NSAs, Interpol's report also highlighted that the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy has indirectly affected the funding of terrorist groups. “Our terrorism assessment report is another tool to help law enforcement identify and address these evolving threats, in what continue to be challenging circumstances,” Stock said.”

Somalia

Reuters: Somali Hotel Rises Again After Al Shabaab Bombing

“A former minister in Somalia whose hotel was damaged in a bomb attack by the Islamist group al Shabaab says he is rebuilding and expanding, in an unusual show of business confidence in a country where violence is a daily challenge. The car bomb in August blew out the windows of the beachfront Elite Hotel in Mogadishu and partially destroyed its perimeter wall. Attackers then stormed the building, setting off grenades and shooting their way through rooms and staircases. “I have to invest in reconstruction. To stop reconstruction for fear of what may happen in future means to give up business,” hotel owner and former finance minister Mohamed Abdullahi Nur, 38, told Reuters. Al Shabaab, which is allied with al Qaeda, has been fighting to topple the Somali government for more than ten years. The group wants to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law. The militants have frequently targeted hotels, restaurants and cafes in Mogadishu, which are patronised by the political and security elite. Nur told Reuters he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on reconstructing and repairing the hotel that cost him $2 million to build. Just a month after the attack, well-heeled customers were back in the five-story hotel, enjoying seafood and cappuccino, and taking in views of the ocean while beachgoers swam and speedboats cruised by.”

Dalsan Radio: Somalia: Al Shabaab Court Cuts Off A Man's Hand For Stealing

“Alshabab militants have publicly cut off the right hands of a man on Tuesday after a sharia court convicted him of breaking into a shop and stealing about a 26,000 Somali shilling which is equivalent to one US dollar. The man identified as Mukhtar Muhidin confessed to the theft in the Adan Yabal district of the Lower Shabelle region and was ordered to refund the money. Meanwhile, a 47-year-old man was publicly executed by firing squad after he was accused of killing another man identified as Maalim Aweys Arbow. All of the victims were convicted by militant courts, according to al-Shabab affiliate media sites. Al-Shabab, which has been fighting for over a decade to topple the central government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law, carries out executions, floggings and amputations after summary trials in cases ranging from espionage to theft.”

France

Agence France-Presse: France Opens Door To Talks With Some African Jihadists

“France could back talks with some jihadist elements in Africa’s restive Sahel region, a source in President Emmanuel Macron‘s office said on Monday. A dialogue with some elements of the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) would be “possible,” the source said, because their agenda was more local and opportunistic than other groups. France has more than 5,000 troops fighting jihadists in the region, which runs the width of Africa to the south of the Sahara. Overlapping insurgencies severely affect Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Macron ruled out negotiating with jihadist groups in the Sahel last month, telling Jeune Afrique magazine: “We don’t talk with terrorists. We fight.” The source told AFP on Monday there could be no negotiation with the leadership of Al-Qaeda, and any talks with the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) were also “neither possible nor requested by anybody in the region.” “We’re at war with two organisations which are not of the Sahel but international, and which are waging a terrorist battle beyond the region,” the source said. Although affiliated with Al-Qaeda — which the source said “nobody has ever managed to negotiate with” — GSIM contains elements which might deserve “a response that is different from the war on terror.”

Australia

ABC News Australia: Perth Man Charged With Terrorism Offences After Investigation By Federal Authorities

“A Perth man has been charged with advocating terrorism, following an investigation by Commonwealth authorities. Abdussalam Adina-Zada made a brief appearance in Perth Magistrates Court this morning on four counts of advocating terrorism, with the alleged offences occurring between November 2019 and February 2020. In court, the magistrate described the accusations as serious. There was no application for bail and Mr Adina-Zada was remanded in custody to appear in court in January. The 52-year-old man was arrested yesterday, after a joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and WA Police. The investigation began in February when the joint counterterrorism team became aware of an online video-sharing account with content which called for acts of politically motivated violence to be carried out. The team seized electronic devices after a search of the home and car of the man alleged to own the online account in April. After another search of the man's home yesterday, he was charged with the four offences. AFP Assistant Commissioner of counterterrorism Scott Lee said the investigators had spent hundreds of hours collecting and examining evidence which led to the charges.”

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**NOTE: CEP’s Eye on Extremism will be suspended on Thursday, December 24 & Friday, December 25 in observance of the Christmas holiday. It will resume Monday, December 28.**