Eye on Extremism - March 2, 2020

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Eye on Extremism
March 2, 2020
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of March 2, 2020:

The New York Times: Afghan Peace Plan Faces Its First Roadblock: Releasing Taliban Prisoners

“The Trump administration’s nascent deal to end the war in Afghanistan faced its first stumbling block on Sunday, the day after it was signed, over whether the Afghan government must release Taliban prisoners as part of the continuing negotiations. The confusion threatened to inflame tensions between the Afghan government and the Taliban, just days before both sides were scheduled to sit down in direct talks to foster peace and protect the country’s fledgling civil liberties after more than a generation of conflict. The Trump administration’s blueprint for the peace talks included a provision that up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners “will be released” by the time the next round of negotiations, with the Afghan government, begin on March 10. Any remaining prisoners could be released over the following three months, according to the document. “The United States commits to completing this goal,” the document stated. The first snags in the process were apparent less than 24 hours later. In Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan said on Sunday that it was up to his government, not the United States, to decide when Taliban prisoners would be released. “There is no commitment to release the Taliban prisoners,” Mr. Ghani told reporters.”

Reuters: Clashes Break Out In Somalia, Slowing Fight Against Al Qaeda-Linked Insurgents

“Somali troops clashed with a regional militia on Friday in one of the most serious outbreaks of fighting yet over political rivalries that Washington says are slowing the war against al Qaeda-linked insurgents. Eleven people were killed in the violence, witnesses said. Tension spilled over on Thursday evening between the Somali National Army and the Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama’a (ASWJ) militia, a group of moderate Sufi Muslims which has played a key role in the fight against the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgency. Clashes began in Dhusamareb, administrative capital of central Somalia’s Galmudug state, and spread to Guriel town, 60 km (40 miles) away, on Friday, residents said. One resident said government forces had attacked a house where prominent ASWJ leaders live, and the two sides were fighting with mortars and anti-aircraft guns in the city center. “After 11 years of peace, Dhusamareb city today is hell,” Halima Farah told Reuters by phone, adding that she and her four children were cowering inside their flimsy house. “We are holding our children’s hands but we have no way out.”

Kenyans: New Tact Al-Shabaab Using To Recruit Kenyans

“Somalia-based terror group, Al-Shabaab, has stumbled upon a new way to lure Kenyan recruits even as attacks in the North-Eastersn part of the country increase. Feeding off the desperation of unemployed youth, it is now using employment and fake sports sponsorships, particularly in football, to lure young Kenyans. According to a report by the Daily Nation on Sunday, March 1, provided that teenagers, some not even out of secondary school, were willing to join the terrorist group as a way to escape poverty. A case on May 16, 2017, revealed the extent of this desperation. During a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) recruitment at Mweiga, one of the potential recruits threatened to join the Al-Shabaab if he wasn't drafted… In just two months of 2020, the country has witnessed about 16 terror attacks that have claimed at least 20 innocent lives. These attacks have been attributed to the Al-Shabaab terror group. Al-Shabab’s ideology is typically described as a brand of Salafism and Wahhabism that supports takfir, the ex-communication of apostates or unbelievers. According to Counter Extremism Project (CEP), the group fights first and foremost to create a fundamentalist Islamic state in the Horn of Africa that would include not only Somalia but also Djibouti, Kenya, and Ethiopia.”

United States

Fort Worth Star Telegram: A Paranoid Militia Infiltrating Texas Police Is Bent On Rebellion, ‘Ready To Rise Up’

“A revolution-minded, conspiracy-bent militia group named the Oath Keepers is recruiting law officers in Hood County to take up arms in what the founder predicts will be a “bloody civil war” against the U.S. government. A national director of the Las Vegas-based Oath Keepers, John D. Shirley, moved to rural Hood County in 2015 and has been appointed by county commissioners as a constable, giving him both access to confidential information and a political platform to recruit more militia members. A regional recruitment rally announced for Monday was canceled by Harbor Lakes Golf Club, citing misrepresentation. It was supposed to launch Shirley’s “Oath Keepers of Hood County” chapter. The Oath Keepers’ current recruiting pitch focuses on gun rights and the Second Amendment. But unlike other gun libertarians, the Oath Keepers promote paranoid fears of a “New World Order” conspiracy and spread veiled anti-Semitism in distrusting “elites,” similar to discredited Austin showbiz personality Alex Jones. Mainly, the group asks for money. Its website begs law officers and veterans to militarize and also pay $1,200 for a “lifetime membership” or $50-$120 for annual memberships.”

Arab News: How Loose Talk Costs Lives In The Fight Against Extremism

“Michael Bloomberg, the candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, has come under fire for surveillance programs conducted against Muslims while he was mayor of New York. This is not the first time that security policies Bloomberg pursued as mayor have come back to bite him in his presidential campaign; he has had to apologise for the “stop and frisk” policy that the police conducted in New York, and which disproportionately targeted ethnic minorities. The core of both attacks on Bloomberg’s record is a preference for racial or religious profiling as a tool of crime fighting. In both cases, the vast majority of the profiled group, who are not just innocent but deplore the activities of those who are not, can end up resentful at the implication that they are more likely to commit crime. The latest assault on Bloomberg’s record relates to a video released this week of a campaign event in November 2019, in which he was questioned about the surveillance program against Muslims. In the video, he responds: “We only went into mosques when they asked us to come in,” widely interpreted to mean that the surveillance program was conducted only in response to concerns raised by Muslim leaders.”

The Federalist: Why A Domestic Terrorism Law Would Create More Problems Than It Solves

“Would a federal domestic terrorism law do much to solve violent extremism here at home? There’s now a push underway to enact legislation to that effect, with a New York Times feature story trumpeting the effort necessary to suppress the new threat of “white supremacy.” The Times relies on a new report by the New Jersey office of Homeland Security and Preparedness that equates “White Supremacists” with “Homegrown Violent Extremists” as equally “high”-level threats. Homegrown Violent Extremism is the preferred DHS euphemism for jihadist terrorists whose ties to a specific terror group cannot be established. Ironically, the report goes on to list the groups with whose ideology the so-called HVEs align, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State, as “Low” threats. The FBI investigates HVEs under the rubric of international terrorism for this reason. Federal law differentiates international terrorism, committed by members of designated foreign groups or by American nationals in league with these foreign groups, and domestic terrorism, when there is no such foreign link. While some states have domestic terrorism legislation, the laws almost always require the commission of a violent crime before authorities can legally intervene.”

Syria

Reuters: Turkish Strike In Syria Kills Nine Hezbollah Members, Wounds 30: Source

“Turkish strikes on northwest Syria late on Friday killed nine members of Iran-backed Hezbollah and wounded 30 others, a commander in the regional alliance backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said. The commander said on Saturday that the Turkish strikes targeted Hezbollah headquarters near the city of Saraqeb in Idlib, a flashpoint of fighting in recent days, using smart missiles and drones.”

Iraq

The Washington Post: What Will Happen To Iraqi Shiite Militias After One Key Leader’s Death?

“The U.S. decision to assassinate Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January inadvertently also caused the death of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the powerful and influential head of Kataib Hezbollah and de facto head of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). While commentators have focused on Soleimani, the death of Muhandis has broad implications for Iraq’s Shiite militia network. The killing of a major figure at the helm of the militia network for years, along with Soleimani, the network’s most important external patron, comes at a moment of weakness and uncertainty for Iran and its allies in Iraq. In recent months, Iraqi protesters have lamented the role of Iran’s proxies and the PMF in the brutal suppression of the civilian-led movement, which has strengthened their resolve to remove these groups from power. How will Iran respond to Soleimani’s killing — and where will the escalation end? The political uncertainty facing Iran-aligned groups was substantially compounded Jan. 3, when a U.S. drone targeted and killed Soleimani and Muhandis. Iran and its Iraqi allies no longer enjoy the aura of invincibility that for years has shaped their grip on the Iraqi political space. Muhandis was a critical pillar in Iraq’s wide-ranging network of Iranian proxies and militias.”

Kurdistan 24: ISIS Kills Three Tribal Fighters North Of Baghdad

“The Iraqi military announced on Saturday that the Islamic State launched an attack 30 km north of Baghdad the night before, killing three local tribal fighters. The Security Media Cell said in a statement that the three were killed “with direct fire by ISIS terrorist gangs in the Hour al-Basha region, north of the capital, Baghdad.” “Security forces are conducting a search operation to locate the militants who carried out this terrorist act,” it added. No further details regarding the attack or the identity of the victims were provided. On Wednesday, anti-terror forces, backed by the international anti-ISIS coalition, killed 39 members of the Islamic State in clashes in northern parts of Salahuddin Province. The operation comes as the terrorist organization continues to carry out insurgency-style attacks, often in and near territories of disputed claim between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal Iraqi government. In recent months, the group has increasingly relied on kidnapping civilians from rural parts of these areas and holding them for ransom, fueling security concerns among local residents. In the third reported case in recent weeks, suspected Islamic State militants released two Kurds from Kirkuk in exchange for $80,000 paid by family members.”

Kurdistan 24: Continued ISIS Attacks In North Iraq Kill 2 Security Force Members

“On late Saturday evening, two separate attacks by the Islamic State in the disputed Iraqi province of Kirkuk and the city of Mosul lead to the death of two members of the national security forces and injuring another. In Kirkuk, an Islamic State sleeper cell targeted a checkpoint in the village of Mateqi Kakai in Daquq district, leading to multiple clashes. Sources from Daquq hospitals stated that, after the attack, the body of one Iraqi force member and another two injured arrived at the hospital, while a security source confirmed that the attack took place at 8:45 p.m. at a security checkpoint on the village’s main road and that Iraqi troops managed to kill two Islamic State fighters. At the same time, Iraq’s Security Cell confirmed that remnants of the Islamic State also attacked the Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) militias in the al-Hamdanya area of Nineveh province, killing one militiaman. Killings and other insurgent-style operations have continued with disturbing regularity, notably in Iraq's disputed territories, over two years after the Islamic State lost all its territorial claims in Iraq and Baghdad declared a final victory over the extremist organization.”

Afghanistan

The New York Times: Taliban And U.S. Strike Deal To Withdraw American Troops From Afghanistan

“The United States signed a deal with the Taliban on Saturday that sets the stage to end America’s longest war — the nearly two-decade-old conflict in Afghanistan that began after the Sept. 11 attacks, killed tens of thousands of people, vexed three White House administrations and left mistrust and uncertainty on all sides. The agreement lays out a timetable for the final withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan, the impoverished Central Asian country once unfamiliar to many Americans that now symbolizes endless conflict, foreign entanglements and an incubator of terrorist plots. The war in Afghanistan in some ways echoes the American experience in Vietnam. In both, a superpower bet heavily on brute strength and the lives of its young, then walked away with seemingly little to show. American efforts to instill a democratic system in the country, and to improve opportunities for women and minorities, are at risk if the Taliban, which banned girls from schools and women from public life, become dominant again. Corruption is still rampant, the country’s institutions are feeble, and the economy is heavily dependent on American and other international aid.”

The Wall Street Journal: Officials Feared U.S.-Taliban Deal Could Collapse Up Until The Last Minute

“Until the last moment, organizers feared the smallest misstep might quash the signing of a historic deal between the U.S. and the Taliban, with mistrust and suspicion enduring until ink was on paper. The deal—providing for U.S. troops reductions, a Taliban renunciation of terrorism and intra-Afghan talks—was more than a year in the making, encountering obstacles all the way up until its approval Saturday at a five-star resort in Doha. It still faces a “rocky and bumpy” road ahead, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday. Minutes after Mr. Pompeo arrived in Doha for Saturday’s signing, a Taliban video on Twitter showed Taliban representatives who had arrived to witness the signing of the deal engaged in a victory parade. The procession appeared to be marching toward the resort, their tunics and beards billowing in the wind beneath Taliban flags. Organizers worried that Mr. Pompeo, with his reputed fiery temper, would see the flags—the symbol of an Islamic emirate not recognized by the U.S.—and walk out, according to people familiar with the matter. The Qatari government hosts were on guard to stop the flags from entering the hotel; moments later, the Taliban procession arrived without them, the people said.”

Reuters: Pompeo Sees Inter-Afghan Negotiations In Coming Days After U.S.-Taliban Deal

“U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday expressed hope that negotiations would begin in the coming days between Afghanistan’s government and the Taliban after the United States signed an agreement with the Taliban on a U.S. troop pullout. Pompeo told CBS’s “Face the Nation” program the agreement signed on Saturday was historic and contained detailed commitments by the Taliban to reduce violence in the country, paving the way for negotiations among the Afghan people on the future of the country for the first time in nearly two decades. “We are hopeful that there will be inter-Afghan negotiations that commence as well,” Pompeo said, adding that U.S. President Donald Trump would be actively engaged in the process. Pompeo gave no date for Trump’s promised meeting with Taliban leaders.”

Egypt

Asharq Al-Awsat: Egyptian Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison For Collaborating With Hezbollah

“The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced an Egyptian to five years in prison for collaborating with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. This comes as part of Ahmed Hamdan’s retrial case dating back to 2010. In the first round of the trial, Hamdan received the same sentence of five years imprisonment, but he lodged an appeal against the verdict and the Court of Cassation accepted his request. In April 2010, the Cairo Criminal Court issued various rulings against 26 accused in the case known as the “Hezbollah cell in Egypt.” The sentences against the defendants ranged from six months to life. The accusations against the convicts included involvement in the plotting of terrorist acts against ships crossing the Suez Canal and foreign tourists, and sharing intelligence with Hezbollah leaders.”

Nigeria

The Punch: Jihadists Kill 10 In Borno

“Jihadists have killed 10 people in a raid on a village in northeast Nigeria’s restive Borno State, burning homes and looting food supplies, civilian militia sources said Sunday. Suspected Boko Haram insurgents in trucks fitted with machine guns stormed into Rumirgo village in the Askira Uba district at 1740 GMT on Saturday, shooting indiscriminately and sending residents fleeing into the surrounding countryside. “They killed 10 people in the indiscriminate shooting which made residents run into the bush” civilian militia member Adamu Galadima said. The militants burnt a dozen homes, carted away food supplies and two “trailers loaded with foodstuffs,” another militiaman, Peter Malgwui said. Askira Uba lies close to the Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram enclaves dwell and has suffered repeated attacks. Yet in recent months an Islamic State group-aligned faction of Boko Haram has been waging attacks. Last month three Nigerian soldiers were killed in clashes with fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction in Askira Uba town. A decade of Boko Haram violence has killed 36,000 people in the northeast and displaced around two million from their homes, creating a severe humanitarian crisis.”

Africa

The Telegraph: Battle For The Sahel: The New Frontline In The War On Terror

“The Trump administration shook hands with the Taliban on Saturday to end a near two decades-long war in Afghanistan. But just as one front in the battle on terror is closing a new one is opening up. On the southern fringe of the Sahara, along a vast and underpopulated stretch of arid semi-desert known as the Sahel that stretches across Africa, the armies of militant Islam have massed anew and the black flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) is flying again. For seven years, three international forces — one led by France, the second by the United Nations and a third drawn from the nations of the Sahel — have tried to stop the jihadist miasma spreading. So far they have failed. As Britain prepares to step up its political, military and humanitarian involvement in the Sahel over the coming months, officials across...”

Daily Mail: Operation Stop ISIS: British Troops Are Sent To Senegal To Provide Counter-Terrorism Training As New Jihadi Danger Rises In West Africa

“British forces have been deployed to West Africa to stop it turning into an Islamic State and Al Qaeda ‘caliphate’ rife with battle-hardened extremists. Dozens of troops from 1 Scots Guards and the Royal Marines are training three African nations in Senegal to tackle soaring numbers of diehard jihadists. Countries such as Mali in the Sahel region are at the epicentre of the world’s fastest-growing Islamist insurgency. Thousands of extremists from IS, Al Qaeda and local groups are working together for the first time to wage mass terror. Foreign fighters have fled Syria to the lawless region, taking bomb-making skills with them. UK officials fear more could follow and plot overseas attacks. The threat of a new Syria emerging in Africa’s ungoverned desert and scrubland has become a major security concern for the UK Government. Colonel Matthew Botsford, who oversees the British military training team in Nigeria, said: ‘What none of us want to see is a caliphate anywhere near West Africa that imposes its own regime and Islamic law. That’s the worst case for us.’ He said ‘skills and experience are being transferred’ from Syria and Iraq to West Africa as IS is pushed out from the Middle East.”

United Kingdom

BBC News: Prevent: Muslim 'Support' For 'Toxic' Anti-Extremism Scheme

“The principles behind the anti-extremism scheme Prevent may not be as controversial among British Muslims as thought, a survey suggests. Criminal justice think tank Crest Advisory says its research shows the “narrative” the scheme is a “toxic brand” is “fundamentally flawed”. UK Muslims would be more likely to tip off the scheme when someone was being radicalised than the wider public. But the Muslim Council of Britain said Prevent still needed to be overhauled. The research was funded by a charitable trust with an interest in policing and crime reduction which for security reasons does not wish to be identified. The survey showed that many of those questioned had not heard of Prevent before - amounting to 55% of Muslims and 68% of the general population. But when offered “a neutral explanation” of Prevent, 80% of British Muslims and 85% of the wider public offered broad support for it, Crest Advisory says. Some 67% of British Muslims surveyed said they would tip off the authorities about someone being radicalised, compared with 63% of the wider public.”

Germany

The Independent: The Hanau Shooting Shows How Germany Is Returning To Its Nazi Past

“The tragic far-right terrorist shootings in Hanau last week showed the rest of the world what ethnic minority Germans have always known – Germany’s dark past is not behind it. Modern Germany has a carefully cultivated image where it can “celebrate” multiculturalism, without disclosing the conditions of that coexistence. It is willing to welcome a million migrants, but is less happy when those migrants want to do something other than take menial jobs and have kids – two things that “native” Germans are less willing to do. Germany is liberal, on its own terms – not those of its minorities. Last week’s terrorist attacker, Tobias Rathjen, uploaded a 24-page document in which he attacked ethnic minorities in Germany, and announced that certain groups needed to be “completely annihilated”. Although his attitudes are at the extreme end of the spectrum, they are increasingly at home in Germany’s media, politics, and even sport. Rathjen’s violent acts are far from isolated: the Hanau shootings follow the killing of a local politician in June and an attack on a synagogue in October that killed two people.”

Europe

The Daily Progress: Former Prague Muslim Leader Sentenced On Terror Charges

“A Czech court on Friday convicted a former Prague Muslim leader of being part of a terror group and financing terrorism, sentencing him to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors said imam Samer Shehadeh helped his brother Omar and later his brother's wife, Fatima Hudkova, travel to Syria to join a terror group known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. Prosecutors also said Shehadeh sent unspecified sums of money to the group that seeks to replace the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad with an Islamic state. Two other people in the same case were convicted of terror charges in absentia by Prague’s Municipal Court. One received a prison term of 11 years and the other person was given a term of six years. Shehadeh didn’t deny the charges but said he didn’t consider his deeds a crime because he doesn’t recognize the Syrian government and doesn’t consider the group terrorist. Shehadeh can still appeal the verdict. The members of Prague’s Muslim community distanced themselves from his activities.”

Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald: Bollards Take Over The Beaches As Threat Of Terrorism Changes The Face Of Sydney

“Sydney councils are scrambling to secure crowded places as the federal government warns that sites such as stadiums, shopping centres, pedestrian malls and major events continue to be attractive targets for terrorists. Concrete barriers have been installed as a temporary measure to secure busy locations such as Bondi Beach, the light rail along George Street in Sydney's CBD and in Cronulla. Over summer, North Bondi became the latest site to be surrounded by bollards, after Waverley Council spent $134,000 placing concrete blocks along Campbell Parade to protect the popular beach. The beachfront Queen Elizabeth Drive and nearby Bondi Junction Mall have previously been earmarked among the council's vulnerable sites. Both have already had bollards installed. Australia's current national terrorism threat level remains “probable”, but a Waverley Council spokeswoman said the blocks were not in response to any specific threat. “The council has installed a few blocks in other areas and may install others during special events,” she said. “As part of the longer-term response to the specialist advice, the council will be designing landscaping and street furniture that enhances both amenity and security.”

Technology

Wired: How Telegram Became A Safe Haven For Pro-Terror Nazis

“Totally encrypted and largely unmonitored, the messaging app Telegram was created to provide uncensored communication between citizens of autocratic countries. Unfortunately, while it counts hundreds of millions of users, the platform has grown most infamous as a safe-haven for terrorists. Now, a new report from the political action group Hope not Hate has found that the platform is playing host to several dozen Nazi channels. These public and private chat groups, which post predominantly in English or Ukrainian and are predominately US-based, with a handful of UK groups, dub themselves the “Terrorgram”. The groups are highly interconnected, often reposting content from each other’s channels. They draw influence from existing far right terror groups like the Atomwaffen Division, the now defunct Nazi webforum Iron March, and the writings of American Neo-Nazi James Mason. The groups disseminate white supremacist propaganda, videos of lynches and shootings, survivalist and guerrilla training manuals, and instructions for manufacturing weapons, carrying out attacks and evading detection. The groups also canonise other famous terrorists as “saints.”