Eye on Extremism - April 25, 2019

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Eye on Extremism
April 25, 2019
RE: info@counterextremism.com

Topic: Eye on Extremism / April 25, 2019


The New York Times: Sri Lanka Suicide Bombers Included Two Sons Of A Spice Tycoon

“He built his fortune on black pepper, white pepper, nutmeg, cloves and vanilla. His family lived in a beautiful white villa and traveled in a chauffeured BMW. He was feted by Sri Lanka’s former president for “outstanding service provided to the nation.” But on Wednesday the narrative of Mohammad Yusuf Ibrahim, one of Sri Lanka’s wealthiest spice traders, was ripped apart. Officials revealed he was in custody in connection with the devastating suicide attacks on Easter Sunday that killed more than 350 people. An Indian official said that two of Mr. Ibrahim’s sons, who have been identified in Indian media reports as Inshaf and Ilham, were among the eight suicide bombers who struck at hotels and churches across this island. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, and investigators said Mr. Ibrahim was being extensively interrogated.”

WTOP: The Hunt: The Sri Lanka Easter Sunday Massacre

“At least 350 people were killed and more than 500 were wounded in the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka. CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, joins host J.J. Green to discuss ISIS's role in helping local extremist groups plan and carry out the coordinated suicide bombings.”

The Atlantic: ISIS’s Newest Recruiting Tool: Regional Languages

“When ISIS claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings in Sri Lanka that killed more than 350 people, it did so, as one would expect, in Arabic and English. But it also issued statements in other languages—including Tamil. There is yet no independent verification of the terrorist group’s claim, but the pronouncement in a language spoken by about 70 million people, overwhelmingly in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, as well as in Malayalam, spoken by about 35 million people mostly in the southern Indian state of Kerala, suggests the organization has recruits fluent in what are essentially regional languages with relatively few speakers. Get the latest issue now. It is this sort of targeted outreach at which ISIS is particularly good: Like other militant groups, ISIS exploits weak governments, but it also capitalizes on disenfranchisement among Muslim minorities, speaks to their particular grievances, and looks to recruit educated professionals for its sophisticated propaganda efforts. On the face of it, ISIS’s influence in South Asia is limited. About 180 Indians are said to have joined the group out of a population of 170 million Indian Muslims, according to the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a think tank in New Delhi.”

Euronews: New Zealand, France To Host Summit In Bid To Stop Extremist Content On Social Media

“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French president Emmanuel Macron will meet next month to try and eliminate violent extremist content online in the wake of the March 15 terrorist attacks in Christchurch New Zealand. In an interview with the Euronews' Cube team, Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project welcomed the talks but argued it was time for a radical shift in regulation. “It is now time to simply look at the tech industry the same way we look at the banking industry,” Dr Schindler said. “If you don’t find it acceptable that terrorists have bank accounts, there is really no clear argument why we should find it acceptable that a terrorist should use a Skype account, or a Whatsapp account, or a Facebook account to propagate, organise, finance, transfer capabilities, or distribute something as harmful as bomb-making instruction manuals.”

The Independent: Social Media Companies 'Actively' Serve Up Extremist Material To Users To Maximise Profits, MPs Say

“Social media companies are “actively” pushing their users to consume extremist content in order to drive up profits, MPs have said.Algorithms used by sites like YouTube to suggest new content to users are recommending inflammatory and radical material, a Home Affairs Committee hearing was told. One member accused YouTube, Facebook and Twitter of “not giving a damn” about fuelling radicalisation in the wake of the massacres in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Following heated exchanges in Wednesday’s evidence hearing, Yvette Cooper said MPs had been “raising the same issues again and again” over several years. As representatives of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, outlined action taken against extremist content, MPs provided fresh examples of neo-Nazi, Islamist and far-right posts on their platforms. MPs took particular aim at YouTube over the way its algorithms promote videos and create playlists for viewers that they accused of becoming increasingly extreme. The site has been repeatedly criticised for showing a variety of inflammatory comment in the recommendations pane next to videos. MPs said that could easily radicalise young people who begin watching innocent videos.”

The New York Times: Facebook Expects To Be Fined Up To $5 Billion By F.T.C. Over Privacy Issues

“Facebook said on Wednesday that it expected to be fined up to $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations. The penalty would be a record by the agency against a technology company and a sign that the United States was willing to punish big tech companies. The social network disclosed the amount in its quarterly financial results, saying it estimated a one-time charge of $3 billion to $5 billion in connection with an “ongoing inquiry” by the F.T.C. Facebook added that “the matter remains unresolved, and there can be no assurance as to the timing or the terms of any final outcome.” Facebook has been in negotiations with the regulator for months over a financial penalty for claims that the company violated a 2011 privacy consent decree. That year, the social network promised a series of measures to protect its users’ privacy after an investigation found that its handling of data had harmed consumers.”

United States

CNN: How A Convicted Terrorist Became A US Citizen

“A one-time Islamic jihadist who spent years in an Israeli prison for attempting to bomb a bus was granted US citizenship and allowed to remain in the country for nearly a decade as federal authorities investigated his background, CNN has learned. The case of convicted terrorist-turned-US-citizen Vallmoe Shqaire raises questions not only about how Shqaire slipped past the enhanced vetting process implemented after 9/11, but also about why US law enforcement did not act more swiftly once his deception was discovered. Federal authorities have been aware since at least 2010 that Shqaire was arrested on a bombing-related charge in Israel and served time in prison. They've had fingerprint evidence conclusively linking him to the terrorist act, committed under the name Mahmad hadr Mahmad Shakir, since early 2016, according to federal court records. “Somebody dropped the ball,” said Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. Shqaire, 51, carried out the attack in Israel in 1988 “acting on the direction” of a cell of the Palestine Liberation Organization, at the time a terrorist group in the eyes of the US government, according to records filed in US District Court in Los Angeles.”

The Jerusalem Post: U.S. Called On To Boycott German Cars Until Hezbollah Banned From Germany

“The newly formed Committee to Ban Hezbollah in Germany called on US consumers to boycott German automobiles in an advertisement in The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected outlawing Hezbollah. The advertisement declares, “Boycott the German car industry until Hezbollah is banned in Germany.” The full-page advertisement will run for the next four weeks in The Jewish Journal and leads with the statement: “On June 25, 1996, at 9:50 p.m., Hezbollah, Iran’s terrorist arm, murdered 19 American airmen at the Khobar Towers in Dharan, Saudi Arabia.” The advertisement in the community weekly reads: “Yet Germany allows Hezbollah to operate openly on its soil. It’s time to send a message to the German government. Americans will not buy their cars while it allows the murderers of our soldiers to raise money, recruit and propagandize on German soil.” Merkel’s administration is vehemently opposed to banning Hezbollah’s entire organization in Germany, where at least 950 Hezbollah members operate.”

The New York Times: Man With Gas Cans In St. Patrick’s Cathedral Planned To Burn It Down, Prosecutor Says

“The philosophy teacher charged last week with carrying gas cans and lighter fluid into St. Patrick’s Cathedral had a clear plan, prosecutors say, to set the Fifth Avenue landmark ablaze. The man, Marc Lamparello, had also booked a one-way flight to Rome — and a hotel room within a 20 minutes’ drive of the Vatican, a prosecutor told a judge on Wednesday. “He was present at the church the day before,” the prosecutor, David Stuart, told Judge Kevin McGrath during a video arraignment in Manhattan criminal court. “And was present at the church for more than an hour before walking in that night.” His intent? “To burn down St. Patrick’s Cathedral,” Mr. Stuart said. Mr. Lamparello, a 37-year-old graduate student and philosophy teacher, watched Wednesday’s proceeding over a closed-circuit video link to Bellevue Hospital Center, where he sat in a hospital gown next to his lawyer, Christopher DiLorenzo.”

The New York Times: Texas Executes White Supremacist For 1998 Dragging Death Of James Byrd Jr.

“John William King, 44, convicted two decades ago for killing James Byrd Jr. in an act of unfathomable racist brutality in the small town of Jasper, was put to death by the State of Texas on Wednesday night with a dose of pentobarbital. The execution, carried out at the state’s death chamber in Huntsville, came after the United States Supreme Court turned down Mr. King’s last petition for a stay. He was pronounced dead at 7:08 p.m., said Jeremy Desel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Mr. King kept his eyes closed as witnesses arrived to the execution chamber on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. When the prison warden, Bill Lewis, asked him if he had any final words, Mr. King said, “No.” Mr. King made a final statement issued in writing, Mr. Desel said. “Capital Punishment: Them without the capital get the punishment,” it said."

Syria

Reuters: After 'Caliphate' Defeat, Islamic State Is Down But Not Out

“Driven from its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State is down but not out. Where once they confronted armies, the extremist Islamist group’s adherents have now staged hit-and-run raids and suicide attacks. In some cases, the group has claimed responsibility for atrocities, including the bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed at least 359 people. Its involvement is not always proven, but even if the link is ideological rather than operational, Islamic State still poses a security threat in many countries. After defeat by U.S.-backed forces, Islamic State has reverted to the guerrilla tactics it was once known for. Sleeper cells have regrouped in provinces including Diyala, Salaheddin, Anbar, Kirkuk and Nineveh, where they carry out frequent attacks, including kidnappings and bombings aimed at undermining the Baghdad government. In February, two people were killed and 24 wounded when a car bomb went off in Mosul, once the group’s Iraqi capital. The Pentagon said in January that IS was regenerating faster in Iraq than in Syria. Analysts estimate that about 2,000 active combatants now operate in Iraq.”

Al Jazeera: 18 Killed In Huge Blast In Northwest Syria

“A powerful explosion on Wednesday in Syria's rebel-held northwest killed 18 people - including more than a dozen civilians - as rescuers searched for victims trapped under the rubble.A building of at least four storeys collapsed in the town of Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province, a region controlled by Syria's former al-Qaeda affiliate. A structure opposite partially caved in while surrounding buildings appeared on the verge of collapse. A civil defence worker could be seen easing himself under a massive slab of fallen concrete to search for victims, as three colleagues crouched by his side to help. Thirteen civilians were among those killed in the blast, the cause of which was not immediately clear, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor. The explosion could have been the result of a car bomb or a vehicle carrying explosives that detonated, it said. But bystanders and the head of the local civil defence unit, Abdelwahab al-Abdu, said they did not know what caused it. Abu Ammar, a father of two, said he felt the “huge” blast from his home about 50 metres away. “We ran to the place of the explosion and saw the rescue teams trying to pull out the wounded,” he said.”

USA Today: Joining ISIS Has Been A 'Disastrous Mistake' For Many Women Who Came From Around The World

“The women say it was misguided religious faith, naivete, a search for something to believe in or youthful rebellion. Whatever it was, it led them to travel across the world to join the Islamic State group. Now after the fall of the last stronghold of the group's “caliphate,” they say they regret it and want to come home. The Associated Press interviewed four foreign women who joined the caliphate and are now among tens of thousands of IS family members, mostly women and children, crammed into squalid camps in northern Syria overseen by the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces who spearheaded the fight against the extremist group. Many in the camps remain die-hard supporters of IS. Women in general were often active participants in IS's rule. Some joined women's branches of the “Hisba,” the religious police who brutally enforced the group's laws. Others helped recruit more foreigners. Freed Yazidi women have spoken of cruelties inflicted by female members of the group. Within the fences of al-Hol camp, IS supporters have tried to recreate the caliphate as much as possible. Some women have re-formed the Hisba to keep camp residents in line, according to officers from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces guarding the camp.”

Iran

Bloomberg: Hezbollah Donation Boxes Show Trump's Sanctions Are Hurting Iran

“Hezbollah’s on a fund-raising drive and wants everyone in its Lebanese strongholds to be able to contribute. The militant group’s donation boxes, for years placed in shops across Beirut neighborhoods and southern towns, are now also fixed to street poles and have proliferated following an appeal from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah for greater assistance. “Public support is needed,” the 58-year-old had said bluntly in one of his regular televised addresses in early March.Nasrallah knows well that Hezbollah’s social programs and military operations overseas don’t come cheap. But he was also anticipating the Trump administration’s decision this week to dramatically tighten its sanctions on oil exports from Iran, the Lebanese movement’s main financial and military backer. A U.S. official estimated that assistance at $700 million each year. The U.S. announcement that it wouldn’t renew waivers enabling a handful of countries to buy sizable quantities of crude from Iran was part of its push to roll back the Islamic Republic’s influence across the Middle East, from Syria to Yemen. There are few signs it’s succeeding, and analysts say the latest American measures are unlikely to force Iran to immediately shrink its footprint in regional conflicts.”

The New York Times: Iran’s Foreign Minister Proposes Prisoner Exchange With U.S.

“Iran’s foreign minister offered publicly on Wednesday to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the United States, saying he had been authorized to conduct such talks. It appeared to be the first time that the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, had made such a proposal openly, in what seemed like a diplomatic overture in a worsening relationship with the United States under the Trump administration. “I put this offer on the table publicly now, exchange them, all these people that are in prison inside the United States, on an extradition request from the United States,” Mr. Zarif said during a talk at the Asia Society in New York, where he was attending a meeting at the United Nations. “We believe their charges are phony. The United States believes charges against these people in Iran are phony,” Mr. Zarif said. “Fine, let’s not discuss that. Let’s have an exchange. I am ready to do it and I have the authority to do it.”

Iraq

Iraqi News: Acts Of Reprisal Rise Against ISIS Families In Mosul

“An official source informed, on Wednesday, that dozens of reprisal acts took place against the families of the members of the Islamic State group in Mosul. The source said in a press statement that the incidents against the ISIS families rose recently. A few days ago, the mother and sister of one of the Islamic State members were killed by one of the radical group’s victims, he added. The accused person broke in the victims’ house and killed them immediately, the source further explained. He was arrested later. The source also pointed out that a person killed the mother of one of the ISIS members, after her sons executed his father, who was an Iraqi army officer, near their house in the area of ​​al-Nour, east of Mosul. The perpetrators were also arrested. Furthermore, one person was arrested after killing the sister of one of the ISIS members, in revenge for the killing of his wife and children by the group members, he added. It is noteworthy that Mosul District Council issued instructions to transfer the families of the Islamic State group to camps, fearing of the rise of reprisals against them by the affected citizens, as well as rehabilitating them psychologically and intellectually after confirming their response to rehabilitation.”

The San Francisco Gate: Islamic State Legacy Of Guilt Weighs Heavily On Iraqi Widows, Children

“When Ahmed Khalil ran out of work as a van driver in the Iraqi city of Mosul three years ago, he signed up with the Islamic State group’s police force, believing the salary would help keep his struggling family afloat. But what he wound up providing was a legacy that would outlast his job, and his life. In Mosul and elsewhere across Iraq, thousands of families — including Khalil’s widow and children — face crushing discrimination because their male relatives were seen as affiliated with or supporting the Islamic State when the extremists held large swaths of the country. The wives, widows and children have been disowned by their relatives and abandoned by the state. Registrars refuse to register births to women with suspected Islamic State husbands, and schools will not enroll their children. Mothers are turned away from welfare, and mukhtars — community mayors — won’t let the families move into their neighborhoods. The Islamic State group’s “caliphate” that once spanned a third of both Iraq and Syria is now gone, but as Iraq struggles to rebuild after the militants’ final defeat and loss of their last sliver of territory in Syria earlier this year, the atrocities and the devastation they wreaked has left deep scars.”

Afghanistan

Arab News: Heavy Fighting Flares Up Between Taliban, Daesh For Afghan Territory

“Afghan Taliban insurgents are battling fighters loyal to Daesh over control of territory in eastern Afghanistan in some of the heaviest clashes over the past year between the rival militants, officials said on Wednesday. The fighting erupted on Monday in two districts of the eastern Afghan border province of Nangarhar, when Daesh fighters attacked villages under Taliban control. “Islamic State fighters have captured six villages in Khogyani and Shirzad districts but the fighting has not stopped,” said Sohrab Qaderi, a member Nangarhar’s the provincial council. About 500 families had fled from the fighting, he said. Casualty figures were not available. A spokesman for the Taliban, who control more territory than at any point since they were ousted from power nearly 18 years ago, was not available for comment. Daesh fighters first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in around 2014 and have battled the Taliban as well as government and foreign forces. The Afghan affiliate of Daesh, sometimes known as Islamic State Khorasan (Islamic State-K), after an old name for the region that includes Afghanistan, has made some inroads into other areas, in the north in particular. It has also established a reputation for unusual cruelty, even by the standards of the Afghan conflict, and has been behind some of the deadliest attacks in urban centers.”

Reuters: Russia, U.S., China Aim To Cajole Taliban Into Inter-Afghan Talks

“Russia, the United States and China will this week try to press Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents to hold talks with Afghan politicians and civilians, an important step in a process aimed at ending the Afghan war. Representatives of the three countries will meet in Moscow on Thursday hoping to accelerate the pace of talks with the Taliban, days after the collapse of a meeting, aimed at bringing together rival Afghan sides, laid bare tensions that have hampered moves towards formal negotiations. The U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, who has held several rounds of direct talks with Taliban officials in Qatar, will attend the meeting in Moscow. ”On this trip, I am working to build on international support for Afghan peace process and push Afghan parties forward on dialogue and negotiations. A bump in the road isn’t reason to slow down,” Khalilzad said on Twitter this week. Khalilzad has made some progress in his talks with the Taliban, in particular in two main areas: a Taliban demand for the withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign forces and a U.S. demand the Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for militant attacks.”

Voice Of America: US Official: Afghan Peace Deal Could Trigger Internal Woes

“A peace treaty to end more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan could usher in a new era of instability and erase many of the gains made by international reconstruction efforts, a key U.S. official cautioned Wednesday. John Sopko, U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, told reporters in Washington that while “we all want peace,” there are concerns that the push for a deal will overshadow critical planning needed for any agreement to have a lasting impact. ”We've spent close to $1 trillion in Afghanistan,” he said. “All of that is at risk if we screw up on the day after a peace agreement.” Sopko pointed to the Afghan government's dire financial situation, and its dependence on U.S. assistance to pay the salaries of the country's security forces, as a leading worry. “A dramatic decrease in not only [U.S. and coalition] troops but a dramatic decrease in financial support for the Afghan government will mean the collapse of the government,” Sopko said. “If the economy collapses or if they are not paid, if we withdraw the funding, you have 500,000-some troops and police who are trained and have weapons,” he added.”

Yemen

Reuters: Yemen's Houthis Ignoring Calls For Political Solution: Saudi Minister

“Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister on Wednesday blamed Yemen’s Houthi movement for a stalled peace deal in the main port of Hodeidah, saying the Iran-aligned group was ignoring the kingdom’s call for a political solution to the four-year war. Saudi Arabia is leading a Western-backed Sunni Muslim military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which was ousted from power in the capital Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014. “They are ignoring our calls for a political solution to this crisis,” Prince Khalid bin Salman said at a security conference in Moscow, in his first comments on Yemen since becoming deputy defense minister in February. The warring parties reached a deal at U.N.-sponsored talks in Sweden in December for a ceasefire and troop withdrawal from the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a lifeline for millions of people.”

The Tower: Iranian-Backed Houthis Threaten U.S. Arab Allies: Missiles Can Reach Saudi, UAE Capitals

“The Iranian-sponsored Houthi militia fighting the internationally-recognized government in Yemen said Monday that their missiles could reach the Saudi capital of Riyad, as well as tourist hotspots in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Iran is using Yemen as a testing ground for its ballistic missile program, as well as a battleground to expand its influence on the Arabian Peninsula. Their ability to wage proxy war on the region has seen nuclear power plants, civilian airports, and oil tankers all targeted. “Our missiles are capable of reaching Riyadh and beyond Riyadh, to Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” said Abdul Malik al-Houthi. “It is possible to target strategic, vital, sensitive and influential targets in the event of any escalation in Hodeidah,” he added. “We are able to strongly shake the Emirati economy.” The port of Hodeidah is the rebel group’s prized possession, accounting for at least 80% of Yemen’s aid and the illegal flow of Iranian weaponry to Houthi fighters.”

Lebanon

Al Jazeera: US Issues New Hezbollah-Related Sanctions

“The United States Treasury, moving to boost pressure on Hezbollah, imposed sanctions on Wednesday against two people and three firms that Washington accuses of being involved in schemes to help the group avoid American sanctions. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it was targeting Belgium-based Wael Bazzi because he acted on behalf of his father Mohammad Bazzi, a Hezbollah financier. OFAC also took action against two Belgian companies and a British-based firm controlled by Bazzi. In addition, the US Treasury designated Lebanon-based Hassan Tabaja, who it said had acted on behalf of his brother Adham Tabajha, also a Hezbollah financier. The US action freezes their assets and property and prevents US citizens and businesses from dealing with them. The two men and three businesses were targeted for sanctions under US regulations aimed at suspected “terrorists” or those who support them, the Treasury said in a statement. Hezbollah is considered a foreign terrorist organisation by the US. “Treasury is relentlessly pursuing Hezbollah's financial facilitators by dismantling two of Hezbollah's most important financial networks,” Treasury Undersecretary Sigal Mandelker said in a statement.”

The Daily Star: 2 Lebanese Nationals Targeted In New Anti-Hezbollah Sanctions

“Two Lebanese nationals were sanctioned by the United States under a program targeting Hezbollah. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it was targeting Belgium-based Wael Bazzi because he acted on behalf of his father Mohammad Bazzi, a Hezbollah financier. OFAC also took action against two Belgian companies and a British-based firm controlled by Bazzi. In addition, the U.S. Treasury designated Lebanon-based Hassan Tabaja, who it said had acted on behalf of his brother Adham Tabajha, also a Hezbollah financier. The U.S. action freezes their assets and property and prevents U.S. citizens and businesses from dealing with them. The two men and three businesses were targeted for sanctions under U.S. regulations aimed at suspected terrorists or those who support them, the Treasury said in a statement. Hezbollah is considered a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.”

The Jerusalem Post: Lebanon's Minister Threatens To Strike Ben-Gurion Airport In Future War

“Lebanon’s Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab has warned that the Lebanese military would strike Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport if Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport were struck in a future conflict. “If ‘Israel’ bombards our airport, we will bombard its airport; if it strikes our oil facilities, we will strike its oil facilities,” he was quoted as saying by Hezbollah’s al-Manar news site.Saab made the comments while touring south Lebanon. During his tour, he met with Lebanon’s Army Chief Gen. Joseph Aoun in Tyre, who briefed him on the situation in the southern region, especially in villages bordering Israel Saab and Aoun later visited UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, where they were received by its general commander Maj.-Gen. Stefano Del Col. Disagreement over Israel’s ongoing construction of the border wall and Lebanon’s plans to explore for offshore oil and gas in disputed maritime waters have elevated tensions between the two countries, which officially remain at war. Israel and Hezbollah fought a deadly 33-day war in 2006, which came to an end under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for disarmament of Hezbollah; withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanon; deployment of the Lebanese army; and an enlarged UN force in southern Lebanon.”

Middle East

The Jerusalem Post: Henkin Family Files $360m. Lawsuit Against Iran, Syria For Parents' Murder

“He children of Eitam and Naama Henkin filed a $360 million civil damages wrongful death lawsuit against Iran and Syria on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in the murder of their parents in a West Bank terrorist attack in 2015. The civil case, filed in a federal court in Washington, comes three years after the Palestinian terrorists who murdered the Henkins had been sentenced to life in prison by an Israeli military court in 2016. It also comes just as the US campaign to pressure Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is heating up. The IRGC is often credited with supporting terrorist groups throughout the region, including Hamas. According to the civil lawsuit, on the evening of October 1, 2015, American-Israeli Eitam Henkin, his wife Naama and their four minor children were driving in the West Bank. At one point, their car was overtaken by another vehicle driven by three Palestinian gunmen.”

Nigeria

Fox News: Nigeria Plagued By Ethnic And Religious Violence As Attacks On Christians Rise

“A deadly attack left 11 dead and 30 wounded after a disgruntled police officer drove his truck into a group of children in yet another Easter tragedy, this time in Gombe, Nigeria. Earlier this month, Islamist militants massacred 17 Christians and injured eight in an attack on a church in Nasarawa state. The attack occurred during an infant dedication when armed militants opened fire in the church, killing the baby’s mother and several children.These tragic events come just as the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka highlights the dangers that remain from asymmetric terrorism and violence against Christians in ethnically and religiously divided societies. “There are some similarities between violence in Sri Lanka and Nigeria,” Professor Max Abrahms, a terrorism expert at Northeastern University, told Fox News. ”Both have experienced substantial political violence which has traditionally been nationalist but has increasingly been infused with more narrowly religious-motivated extremist attacks.” Nigeria, often overlooked by U.S. policymakers usually more concerned with the Middle East, Russia and Europe, is home to one of the world’s most deadly Islamic terror groups.”

Daily Post Nigeria: Boko Haram: Troops Kill 3 Terrorists In Borno

“In continuation of the on going Operation YANCIN TAFKI, troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF, operating in close collaboration with troops of the Nigerian Army have continued to put pressure on Boko Haram Terrorists resulting in more human and equipment casualties for the terrorist group. A statement from Colonel Timothy Antigha, Chief of Military Public Information MNJTF N’Djamena – Chad said, on Monday’s night, at about 01:20 am, terrorists attacked troops position at Cross Kauwa, about 40 kilometers from Monguno. “However, the terrorists paid dearly for it as 3 were killed, while others escaped with gun shot wounds. “Similarly, one AK 47 Riffle, Motar bomb and General Purpose Machine Gun, respectively, were captured. Additionally, assorted rounds of ammunition were impounded,” the statement said.”

Africa

Al Jazeera: Boko Haram Threatens Civilians' Lives In Niger

“The armed group Boko Haram appears to be using new tactics against civilians in the Lake Chad region. The United Nations has documented increasingly violent and frequent attacks against villages in Diffa, in southeastern Niger. A record 88 civilians were killed there in March and more than 18,000 others displaced.”

United Kingdom

BBC News: Bradford Terror Suspect, 16, Made 'Fake Bomb To Show Off'

“A 16-year-old boy accused of making a bomb to “kill many people” has told a court the device was fake and he had made it to show off to his friends. The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of making the shrapnel-filled CO2 bomb in June 2018. Giving evidence at Leeds Crown Court. he said he made a “prop” bomb at his grandfather's home in Bradford with some canisters from a paintballing gun. He denies five terrorism-related offences. The boy said the prop bomb “would look like a CO2 bomb but it was, like, an imitation.” When his barrister, Ali Naseem Bajwa QC, asked why he did this, he replied: “Just to show off to my mates. “Like, I have a proper bomb here, even though it wouldn't be real.” The boy said he made it “off the top of my head, what I thought it would look like” and that he came up with the design because it was “something like off a movie or a game”. He said he got bored of making the device and abandoned it before it was finished. “If I showed my mates this in public I could be shot, or worse,” he told the jury. He admitted telling fellow pupils about carrying out a school shooting, saying he was “just being stupid.”

Germany

Stars And Stripes: German Woman, Parents-In-Law Indicted For Aiding ISIS

“German prosecutors say they've indicted a 21-year-old woman on suspicion of membership in the Islamic State group and of keeping three Yazidis as slaves in Syria. Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that the German-Algerian woman, identified as Sarah O. for privacy reasons, traveled to Syria as a teenager in 2013, joined ISIS and married a fellow German ISIS recruit. Both allegedly received firearms training and conducted “guard and police duties” in ISIS-controlled areas. They also forced a Yazidi girl and two Yazidi women to work in their household and convert to Islam. Sarah O. was arrested in September upon her return to Germany. Prosecutors allege that O.'s parents-in-law, Ahmed S., 51, and Perihan S., 48, helped their sons supply ISIS with equipment such as firearms magazines and scopes. They have been indicted on suspicion of aiding ISIS.”

Europe

El País: Report: The Return Of ISIS Fighters Threatens European Security

“Over 50,000 Jihadists from more than 100 countries have traveled to Syria, Iraq and Libya in the last five years to join the Islamic State (ISIS). Of these, nearly 7,000 came from countries in North Africa. Now, the return of survivors to Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt is posing a threat to those countries and also to the European Union, according to a new study by the Egmont Institute for International Relations, a Brussels-based think tank, and the German foundation Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Researchers recommend “a good dose of humility” The report, released on Wednesday, says that “from a European perspective, North African dynamics are of particular interest. First, because instability in the region could have a damaging spillover effect for European security. Second, because a majority of foreign terrorist fighters from Europe were of North African descent, which has strengthened ties between jihadi milieus across the Mediterranean that might have an equally lasting impact for security on both sides.”

Southeast Asia

Reuters: U.S.'s Pompeo Says 'Every Indication' Islamic State Inspired Sri Lanka Attacks

“U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a television interview on Wednesday there was “every indication” that Sunday’s bomb attacks in Sri Lanka that killed 359 people were inspired by Islamic State. ”Every indication is that this was at the very least inspired by ISIS,” Pompeo said in an interview with CBS News, referring to the group by an acronym. Sources familiar with internal U.S. government reporting on the attacks told Reuters that while investigations are ongoing, U.S. agencies believe the group that carried out the attacks had sympathies and possibly contacts with the Islamic State movement. U.S. agencies are collecting information on the attackers’ relationship with Islamic State and are trying to determine if there was any involvement in the attacks by what remains of the militant group’s central organization, which scattered following its eviction from territory it controlled in Syria, the sources said. One of the sources said official reporting supported news reports that the leader of the group that carried out the attacks is known as Mohammed Zahran Hashim and that he is the central unmasked figure in a photo of the alleged attack team issued by an Islamic State publicity outlet.”

The Atlantic: Why Sri Lanka Was Probably Not Retaliation For Christchurch

“I have seen this before. Eight guys form a circle, hands in the center, in the configuration known to players of team sports as a huddle. ISIS calls this huddle a ceremony of bay’ah—a term dating to the earliest days of Islam, and likely before—that historically has involved the physical laying on of hands, to swear allegiance to a commander. Past recipients of the bay’ah have included the Prophet Muhammad, the king of Saudi Arabia, and Saddam Hussein; it is not a ritual invented by ISIS. The most recent video of it out of Sri Lanka, however, is classic ISIS: A group of previously unknown jihadists stand in front of the black banner and pledge their soon-to-be-truncated lives to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the still-missing caliph of the Islamic State.”

The Washington Post: Why No One Expected An ISIS Attack In Sri Lanka

“The Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka stunned many, and not only because they marked the worst violence in the country in a decade. Or because the terrorists targeted Christians and foreign tourists, two groups that, for the most part, were spared during Sri Lanka’s three decades of civil war. Or because the attacks were coordinated, with explosives going off in three cities. On Monday, Sri Lankan officials blamed National Thowheed Jamaath, a little-known local Islamist group, for the Sunday carnage. Authorities said the group probably had international assistance. Then, on Tuesday, the Islamic State — also known as ISIS — claimed credit. And this, too, was a surprise. Sri Lanka did not have a history of Islamist extremism; if anything, it is the nation’s Muslim minority that has faced harassment from the Buddhist majority in recent times. “Sri Lanka’s Muslim community had no history of violence against other groups and was widely seen as moderate and restrained, even in the face of violent attacks by radical Buddhist groups,” Alan Keenan, senior analyst for Sri Lanka at the International Crisis Group, wrote in an email. And Sri Lanka, relative to its neighbors, did not have a large number of foreign fighters leave the country to join the Islamic State.”

The Washington Post: Radicalization Among Sri Lanka’s Muslims Was Slow And Steady

“Attacks against mosques, shrines and followers of Sufi sheikhs in Sri Lanka more than a decade ago point to early warning signs of fundamentalism taking root among a sliver of the country’s Muslims. The Easter attacks in Sri Lanka that killed more than 350 people in churches and hotels showed how the warnings went largely unheeded. It also exposed how a legacy of civil war, marginalization, political disarray and security lapses cultivated fertile ground for the militants to carry out their attacks. The Islamic State group, which has lost all the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, claims it was behind the bombings. Sri Lankan authorities remain unsure of its involvement, and have blamed breakaway members of two obscure local Muslim extremist groups. Bruce Hoffman, a senior fellow for counterterrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations, said as far back as 22 years ago on his first visit to Sri Lanka there were Muslims who were concerned about people being radicalized. He said Sunday’s attacks would have likely required an elaborate process of recruitment, radicalization and then sequestration to prepare suicide bombers for their mission. The plan would have also needed safe houses for bomb makers, operatives who could conduct surveillance and reconnaissance of targets, and others to transport the bombers safely.”

The New York Magazine: The ‘Caliphate’ Is Defeated, But ISIS Is Just Getting Started

“Yesterday the Islamic State claimed responsibility for Sunday’s devastating series of coordinated suicide bombings at churches and hotels throughout Sri Lanka, which killed more than 300 people and injured hundreds more. On its online “news agency” Amaq, the terror group issued a statement celebrating the attacks and identifying seven men it claimed were the bombers; it also published a video of eight men, including the bombings’ suspected mastermind, swearing fealty to ISIS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. ISIS does not usually wait two days to claim an attack, as it did in this case, and observers were not sure what to make of the delay. The group often claims acts merely inspired by its call to global jihad and has been known to take credit for terrorist attacks in which it had no real involvement; it typically waits longer to claim incidents where the links to its ideology are more tenuous. The use of pseudonyms to describe the suspected attackers, plus the video of them swearing allegiance, suggest a somewhat stronger connection here. Still, the nature and degree of the terror group’s involvement in the bombings remains unclear.”

CNN: What Explains Rich-Kid Terrorists

“Sri Lankan Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said Wednesday that most of the terrorists who killed at least 359 people at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday were “well-educated and come from maybe middle- or upper-middle-class. So, they are financially quite independent, and their families are quite stable financially.” Two of the suicide bombers were the sons of a wealthy Sri Lankan spice trader, Mohamed Ibrahim, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. This likely runs counter to what many people may believe about suicide bombers. After all, why would well educated, upper-middle-class folks with seemingly everything to live for blow themselves up and kill so many innocents? Of course, there is no simple answer for what must be a difficult decision, nor is there a one-size-fits-all description of how people radicalize to the point that they are willing to die while killing. In the case of Sunni militants, this decision is likely enabled by their embrace of violent jihadist ideology, which is often sectarian in nature and encourages the murder of “infidels.” This is often combined with the belief that Sunni Muslims are under attack and revenge must be taken. Group dynamics can also play a role.”

Technology

NPR: Global Effort Begins To Stop Social Media From Spreading Terrorism

“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that she and French President Emmanuel Macron will lead a global effort to stop social media from promoting terrorism in the wake of recent attacks that devastated New Zealand and Sri Lanka. “This isn't about freedom of expression; this is about preventing violent extremism and terrorism online,” Ardern told reporters at a news conference in Auckland on Wednesday. She described how the white supremacist gunman in Christchurch, who killed 50 people at two mosques in March, had no right to livestream the attack. Wearing a camera attached to a helmet, he broadcast his shooting spree on Facebook; the company later removed the video. “What we're trying to tackle here is a global issue and therefore I think requires a global response,” she said. Macron and Ardern plan to host a meeting with world leaders and tech company executives in Paris on May 15, alongside a Tech for Humanity meeting of digital ministers from leading industrial nations. Ardern says their efforts will uphold the principles of a free Internet, but Adrian Shahbaz, a research director for the D.C.-based watchdog Freedom House, worries where the discussions could lead.”

Mashable: 'You Are Making These Crimes Possible': Facebook, Youtube Torn Apart By UK Lawmakers

“Representatives from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter were grilled and admonished on Tuesday by UK lawmakers angry at the spread of extremist and criminal content.The UK parliamentary committee hearing was spurred by the spread of the graphic Christchurch shooting video, which the platforms struggled to contain. The shooter, who killed 50 people and injured 50 more at two mosques in New Zealand, livestreamed his crime on Facebook. Both liberal and conservative politicians slammed the companies for allowing hateful content to proliferate, and in the case of YouTube, actually promote its visibility. ”What on Earth are you doing!? You’re accessories to radicalization, accessories to crimes,” MP Stephen Doughty said, according to BuzzFeed. “You are making these crimes possible, you are facilitating these crimes,” chairwoman Yvette Cooper said. ”Surely that is a serious issue.” Facebook's Neil Potts said that he could not rule out that there were still versions of the Chirstchurch shooting on the platform. And YouTube's director of public policy, Marco Pancini, acknowledged that the platform's recommendation algorithms were driving people towards more extremist content — even if that's not what they “intended.”