Eye on Extremism - March 17, 2021

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Eye on Extremism - March 17, 2021
By: Counter Extremism Project - 03-17-21
Re: info@counterextremism.com

Al Jazeera: Gunmen Kill At Least 58 Civilians In Attack On Niger Convoy

“Armed men in southwestern Niger have killed at least 58 people when they intercepted a convoy returning from a weekly market and attacked a nearby village, the government said on Tuesday. The attacks on Monday occurred in the Tillabery region, which is near the border with Mali and Burkina Faso and has seen increasingly deadly attacks by armed groups active across the region with links to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda. The announcement was read on Niger state television on Tuesday evening by government spokesman Abdourahmane Zakaria, who declared three days of national mourning for the victims. The mass killings underscore the enormous security challenges facing Niger’s new president, Mohamed Bazoum, who won the election in late February to succeed outgoing leader Mahamadou Issoufou. Attackers killed at least 100 civilians on January 2 in raids on two villages in Tillabery, one of the deadliest episodes in the country’s recent history. The assailants this time intercepted four vehicles transporting passengers from a weekly market to the villages of Chinagoder and Darey Dey, the government said in a statement. “These individuals then gutlessly and cruelly proceeded to carry out targeted executions of passengers,” it said. “In the village of Darey Dey, they killed people and burned the granaries.”

European Council: Terrorist Content Online: Council Adopts New Rules

“The EU is working to stop terrorists from using the internet to radicalise, recruit and incite to violence. Today, the Council adopted a regulation on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online. The aim of the legislation is a swift removal of terrorist content online and to establish one common instrument for all member states to this effect. The rules will apply to hosting service providers offering services in the EU, whether or not they have their main establishment in the member states. Radicalisation and incitement to violence through social networks and video platforms, the live streaming of attacks; these are becoming more and more frequent factors in recent terrorist attacks. With the new rules adopted by the Council today our law enforcement authorities will have an effective instrument to tackle this threat. Together, we send a strong signal to the internet companies: it is time for faster, more efficient action. Voluntary cooperation with the hosting service providers will continue, but the legislation will provide additional tools for member states to enforce the rapid removal of terrorist content where necessary. Competent authorities in the member states will have the power to issue removal orders to the service providers, to remove terrorist content or disable access to it in all member states.”

United States

Reuters: Michigan Man Charged With Threatening To Kill Biden, Pelosi And Whitmer

“Michigan state prosecutors have charged a 21-year-old man with threatening to kill President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, all Democrats, saying he claimed to “be the catalyst” for an American revolution, officials said on Tuesday. Whitmer previously had been the target of right-wing militia extremists who plotted to kidnap her ahead of last November’s election, according to U.S. prosecutors. The new and separate charges come as U.S. law enforcement officials including FBI Director Christopher Wray have warned of the growing threat of homegrown violent extremism in the United States. The office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Monday charged Joshua Docter, 21, of Holland, Michigan, with threatening terrorism and using a computer to commit a crime. Each count carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The suspect turned himself in on Monday and faced a judge on Tuesday, Nessel’s office said in a statement. A lawyer for Docter could not immediately be identified. The FBI, which initiated the investigation, received a tip that Docter posted threats on the social media site iFunny, and the case was later taken over by Michigan State Police, the statement said.”

New York Post: Four People On Terror Watchlist Arrested At Southern US Border Since October

“Four people on the FBI’s terror watchlist have been arrested at the southern border since October, a report said. Three of the people are from Yemen, and the other is from Serbia, the Customs and Border Protection agency confirmed to Congress on Tuesday, according to Axios. The terror watchlist includes people who are “known to be or reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities,” the report said, citing the FBI. The revelation comes as Republican lawmakers touring the border on Monday said some suspected terrorists had been heading to the crossing — along with the tens of thousands migrants typically from Mexico or Central America. “Individuals that they have on the watchlist for terrorism are now starting to exploit the southern border,” Rep. John Katko (R-NY) said. “We need to wake up.” In the past two fiscal years, fewer than four people on the watchlist were busted at the border, sources told Axios. Six people from Yemen and Bangladesh were arrested in fiscal year 2018. And in fiscal year 2017, more than 3,700 people on the watchlist were stopped by the Department of Homeland Security — mainly at airports, the report said.”

Fox News: NC 'Domestic Terrorist' Sentenced Over Failed Fire Attack On Police SUV During George Floyd Unrest

“A man from North Carolina – who federal prosecutors deemed a “domestic terrorist” – was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison for attempting to set fire to a marked police vehicle during demonstrations last summer that erupted in the state capital of Raleigh in reaction to the viral bystander video showing George Floyd pinned beneath Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin's knee. Jabari Devon Davis, of Raleigh, was arrested by special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) on June 4, 2020. He was charged and convicted of one count of attempting to damage or destroy by fire a vehicle owned or possessed by an institution receiving federal financial assistance, G. Norman Acker III, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said in a statement Monday following Davis' sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. On May 31, 2020, at approximately 12:31 a.m. a fire was discovered coming from the “fuel filler area” of a police vehicle owned by the Raleigh Police Department (RPD) that was parked at the Raleigh Police Southeast District Station (RPSDS), according to court documents.”

Iraq

Al Monitor: Flurry Of Sunni Triangle Ops Sparks Questions Over Islamic State

“Mass killings, including ones in which attackers wore military attire, and counterterrorism operations on a near-daily basis have revived concerns about an oft-prophesized Islamic State (IS) “resurgence” in areas northwest of Baghdad. While many analysts say low-level insurgency may continue for quite some time without this leading to any territorial control by the nonstate actors, locals contacted by Al-Monitor put the blame for the latest attacks on armed forces deployed there. International coalition spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto told Al-Monitor March 14, “[IS] is territorially defeated. It continues to pursue an insurgency with hit-and-run tactics, murder, assassinating and intimidating local leaders. Despite a recent uptick in simple low-level attacks [the coalition] has not observed any indication of a resurgence.” The previous day he had tweeted an article quoting a peshmerga officer as saying March 11, “The US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State had carried out over two dozen airstrikes against the group over the previous day.” When asked by Al-Monitor whether such an unusually high number of airstrikes had actually been conducted, Marotto replied, “I can’t confirm at this time.”

Afghanistan

Associated Press: Afghan Official: Gunmen Fire At University Bus, Killing 2

“Gunmen opened fire at a minibus belonging to a university in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding six, a provincial official said. Jawed Basharat, spokesman for the police chief in Baghlan province, said a student and the driver of the minibus were killed in the attack, which took place on the outskirts of Puli Khomri, the provincial capital. The wounded were all university lecturers. The bus was carrying students and teachers from the faculty of agriculture and was travelling to the university, Basharat said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the militant group was not involved in it. Afghanistan is experiencing a nationwide spike in bombings, targeted killings and other violence as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government continue to face an impasse. The Islamic State group’s local affiliate has claimed responsibility for some of the violence, but many attacks go unclaimed, with the Afghan government putting the blame on the Taliban. The insurgents have denied responsibility for most of the attacks. Last November, Islamic State militants stormed Kabul University, sparking an hours-long gunbattle in the Afghan capital that killed 22 people and wounded another 22.”

Middle East

The Jerusalem Post: IDF Trains For Hamas Terrorist Infiltrations From The Gaza Strip

“As the IDF moves toward tightening cooperation between its different forces, the Gaza Regional Division completed a wide-scale drill earlier this week, exercising interoperability during an infiltration from the Gaza Strip. As part of the drill, all the division’s units practiced going from routine operations to emergency mode. The threats that the forces were facing were in multiple arenas – on the ground, underground, in the air, at sea, and near-ground (the drone threat). The forces came from different army wings – infantry, tanks, missile batteries, navy vessels, and air force choppers. In addition, intelligence units played a major role in guiding the other units and alerting them about different threats. OC Gaza Division Brig.-Col. Nimrod Aloni said after the drill ended that his units managed to “attack, with tight cooperation with the air force, multiple targets in a short time. “We were operating throughout the entire front, and it enabled us to examine and practice the entire might of the Gaza Division,” he said. “It is the second division drill we had in the past three months, and we keep going forward in this pace — being sharper and becoming more lethal. The 75th Armored Battalion is now the tanks unit in charge of defending the Gaza border."

Nigeria

Sahara Reporters: Boko Haram Counters Nigerian Army, Releases Pictures Of 16 Killed, Abducted Soldiers

“Militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, have released pictures of 15 soldiers killed by the group during an ambush on Nigerian soldiers in Monguno, Borno state. This is contrary to a statement by the Nigerian army that four soldiers died in the attack. The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima had on Monday said the encounters, which took place on the Tumbus of Lake Chad’s fringes, led to the destruction of the terrorists’ gun trucks and recovery of a large cache of arms and ammunition. He added that the combined troops of Sector 2 advanced and cleared Daban Massara and Ali Sherifti villages among other settlements before they harboured for replenishment and retrofitting along the axis. “In the course of the hot pursuit which was aided by air cover provided by the Air Task Team of Operation Lafia Dole, several terrorists were neutralised and their gun trucks destroyed. “Unfortunately, however, one officer and three gallant soldiers paid the supreme sacrifices while those wounded in action are currently receiving medical attention at 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital in Maimalari Cantonment.”

Mali

Reuters: Militants Kill 11 Malian Soldiers In Ambush, 11 Others Missing

“Eleven Malian soldiers were killed and 11 more are missing after Islamist militants ambushed a patrol in the desert north, the army said on Tuesday. Fourteen soldiers were also wounded, eight of them seriously, in the attack in the northern region of Gao on Monday, the army said in a statement. It added that seven militants were killed in an ensuing exchange of fire. Islamist militants, who seized Mali’s desert north in 2012 before being pushed back by French-led forces the following year, have stepped up attacks in the north and centre in recent years. Many are linked to al Qaeda or Islamic State. Last year was Mali’s deadliest on record due to attacks by the militants, tit-for-tat violence between rival ethnic groups and killings by security forces, according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). The militants have also used Mali as a base to extend their operations into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, defying attempts by regional, French and U.N. troops to contain them.”

Africa

The Washington Post: Children As Young As 11 Beheaded By Mozambique Militants, Aid Group Says

“A new report says that children as young as 11 were beheaded by militants in Mozambique’s troubled Cabo Delgado province, where a local Islamist insurgency is battling against the government forces. Save the Children, an aid group based in Britain, said in a short account released Tuesday that it had spoken to displaced families who gave details of their young children being killed by militants from the local group referred to as al-Shabab. “That night our village was attacked and houses were burned,” a woman referred to as Elsa, 28, told the organization. “When it all started, I was at home with my four children. We tried to escape to the woods, but they took my eldest son and beheaded him. “We couldn’t do anything because we would be killed too,” Elsa said. Her son was 12, according to Save the Children. A 29-year-old woman whose name was given as Amelia also told the group her son was beheaded in similar circumstances. Save the Children did not give the full identity of the witnesses or their real names to protect their identities. “After my 11-year-old son was killed, we understood that it was no longer safe to stay in my village,” Amelia told the organization, explaining that they did not have time to properly bury her child before fleeing.”

The Africa Report: Morocco’s ‘FBI’ Boss Decries Lack Of Anti-Terrorism Cooperation With Algeria

“Appointed at the end of November as head of the 'Bureau Central des Investigations Judiciaires' (BCIJ), also known as the Moroccan “FBI”, Cherkaoui Habboub is now at the forefront of Morocco’s fight against terrorism. Cherkaoui Habboub will always remember 4 December 2020. On that day, he led his first field operation as director of the Bureau Central des Investigations Judiciaires (BCIJ). The aim of this operation was to dismantle a “dangerous terrorist cell” in Tetouan, northern Morocco, with the help of the Groupe d’Intervention Rapide (GIR). A few days earlier, on 29 November, he had been appointed by Abdellatif Hammouchi, the director-general of the Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST), and the Direction Générale de la Sûreté Nationale (DGSN) to head the BCIJ. The appointment was made at the headquarters of the BCIJ, located in the heart of the “triangle of death”, as the inhabitants of the city of Salé call it. The institution is located behind the high walls of the Zaki prison and a few steps away from Salé’s anti-terrorism court.”

Australia

ABC News Australia: Police Make Arrests After Counter-Terrorism Operation In Melbourne

“Police have arrested two men and a 16-year-old boy as part of a joint counter-terrorism operation in Melbourne. Police will allege a 19-year-old Epping man attempted to engage in a terrorist act. A 20-year-old Epping man is still in custody, and a 16-year-old Pascoe Vale boy was released pending further inquiries, a police statement said. Assistant Commissioner Michael Hermans, from Victoria Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said police would offer the 16-year-old support and “hopefully divert him away from the activity that saw him come to our attention this morning”. Police said the operation was ongoing, but they did not anticipate further arrests at this time. The operation was conducted by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which comprises of Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and other agencies. Assistant Commissioner Hermans said it was Islamic “ideology-based, religious extremism”. But he stressed it made “no difference” which religion was involved, as police focused on the crime, not the religion.”

Europe

Radio Free Europe: Jehovah's Witness Convicted On Extremism Charges In Russia

“A 77-year-old Jehovah’s Witness in Russia's Far Eastern Primorye region has been handed a six-year suspended sentence on extremism charges amid an ongoing crackdown on the religious group that has been banned in the country since 2017. A district court in the town of Volno-Nadezhdinskoye on March 15 found retired military officer Vladimir Filippov guilty of taking part in the activities of an “extremist organization” and also banned him from taking part in any public groups for three years. Prosecutors had sought 6 1/2 years in prison for Filippov. In his last testimony at the hearing, Filippov denied taking part in the activities of any extremist groups. “I have never participated in extremist affairs, never expressed any hatred towards people of other nationalities and religions.... I did not commit a crime, but only exercised my constitutional right to believe in Jehovah, God,” Filippov said. The United States has condemned Russia's ongoing crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses and other peaceful religious minorities. For decades, the Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia, where the dominant Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin.”

Southeast Asia

Daily Mail: Sri Lanka Considers Burqa Ban Two Years After ISIS Fanatics Killed 260 People With Bomb Attacks On Churches And Hotels

“The Sri Lankan government will consider banning the burqa two years after ISIS fanatics killed 260 people in bombings of churches and hotels. The minister for law and order, Sarath Weerasekara, said the full face covering worn by Muslim women was a national security risk. 'In our early days Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa,' he said. 'It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently. We are definitely going to ban it.' The burqa was temporarily outlawed in the days after the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings of three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo, which left eight Britons dead. Bombs were detonated in rapid succession at three churches in Colombo on Easter Sunday, one of the holiest days in Christianity. Explosions also rocked three luxury hotels, targeting foreigners who were sitting down to breakfast. The most deadly blasts were at the two Roman Catholic churches, the Shrine of St Anthony and St Sebastian's, where 171 worshippers were killed. Three five-star hotels on the beachfront were attacked around the same time: the Shangri-La Hotel, the Cinnamon Grand Hotel and The Kingsbury. The attacks killed more that 260 people, including eight British tourists and the three children of the Danish billionaire owner of ASOS, Anders Holch Povlsen.”