Eye on Extremism - March 18, 2021

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Eye on Extremism - March 18, 2021
By: Counter Extremism Project
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of March 18, 2021:

Al Jazeera: Attackers On Trucks And Motorbikes Raid Mali Base, Kill 33 Troops

“At least 33 Malian soldiers have been killed and 14 wounded in an attack on a military post in the country’s violence-hit northeastern region of Gao, according to the army. Some 100 assailants on pick-up trucks and motorbikes launched the attack on Monday at about 13:00 GMT in the town of Tessit, located 60km (37 miles) southeast of Ansongo, near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso and Niger. The army said in a statement on Wednesday that 20 attackers were killed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. While offering its condolences to the soldiers’ families, the army underlined “the necessity of strengthening the fight against terrorism”. Mali has been plagued by a brutal conflict that began as a separatist movement in the north but devolved into a multitude of armed groups jockeying for control in the country’s central and northern regions. The violence has spread into Burkina Faso and Niger, with fighters linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda exploiting the poverty of marginalised communities and inflaming tensions between ethnic groups. The “tri-border” region – the three-country point joining Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – has seen the most intense fighting in a worsening conflict that has sparked a major humanitarian crisis.”

Forbes: Domestic Extremism Is Most ‘Lethal And Persistent’ Terrorism Threat To U.S., Says Mayorkas

“The most “lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat” to the United States is domestic, ideologically motivated extremism, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in his opening remarks at a hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee. Mayorkas said that since the September 11 attacks, the threat landscape against the U.S. has substantially “evolved” to the point that foreign terrorism is no longer the chief concern of DHS. Mayorkas said the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was a “searing example” of the threat the country faces. DHS announced in February that it would provide $77 million to state and local governments to combat domestic violent extremism. At the time Mayorkas wrote in a statement that “the most significant terrorist threat facing the nation comes from lone offenders and small groups” whose violent acts are motivated by “extremist ideological beliefs.” President Joe Biden directed intelligence officials to study domestic violent extremism shortly after his inauguration. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the assessment would clarify if new methods are needed to combat domestic extremism. FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee in September that “racially motivated violent extremism” accounted for the largest number of domestic terrorism cases the FBI handled in the last year.”

United States

CBS News: Man Charged With Terrorism After Several Devices Go Off In North Carolina And Another Is Found In A Church

“Authorities here charged a man with terrorism and possessing a weapon of mass destruction after “incendiary” devices were found at several buildings, including a church, on Sunday morning, reports CBS Spartanburg, South Carolina affiliate WSPA-TV. The one at the church was intact but the others had gone off, causing light damage, Brevard police said. Officers were called to the First Baptist Church of Brevard around 10:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of an incendiary device on church grounds. Officers searched the area and found multiple devices, which had detonated, at the Transylvania County Community Services Building and the American Legion Lodge. Terry Lee Barham, 64, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with three counts of terrorism, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of a weapon of mass destruction, manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction, malicious damage to a government building, attempted malicious damage to a government building, attempted malicious damage to a church, and attempted malicious damage to an occupied building.”

USA Today: White Supremacist Propaganda Hit An All-Time High In 2020, New Report Says

“Incidents of white supremacist propaganda hit an all-time high in 2020, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, which has tracked racist propaganda for decades. anti-Semitic, racist and anti-LGBTQ+ posters, flyers and graffiti were recorded 5,125 times in 2020, according to the report, almost twice the number of incidents recorded in 2019. The report, released today, details incidents in every state excluding Hawaii. It includes 130 incidents of white supremacists putting up banners, 56 in-person white supremacist events and 283 incidents of anti-Semitc language or propaganda that specifically targeted Jewish institutions, a 68% increase from 2019. Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism, said the increased propaganda is another indication of how divided America has become. “As if a pandemic, social justice protests and a polarizing election were not enough, one of the other things we've been dealing with is a significant increase in efforts by white supremacists to spread their messages around the country,” Segal said. “What the numbers suggest is a doubling down on what they view as a successful tactic.”

Afghanistan

Stars And Stripes: US Airstrikes Target Taliban In Kandahar Province

“The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan in the past 48 hours following multiple attacks by the insurgents on Afghan government forces, a military spokesman said Wednesday. The airstrikes, the latest in Kandahar province, underscore the reliance of Afghanistan’s military on U.S. airpower, even as the Biden administration mulls whether to pull all U.S. troops out of the country by May. The strikes targeted Taliban fighters in the Zharay, Spin Boldak and Kandahar districts of the province as they were “actively attacking and maneuvering on” Afghan troops, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said on Twitter. “The U.S. continues to defend [Afghan forces] in accordance w/ the US-TB agreement,” Leggett tweeted, referring to a deal struck between Washington and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar last year that paves the way for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces by May. An undisclosed number of strikes were carried out, he said. Leggett’s tweet came after the Taliban earlier Wednesday accused the U.S. of unlawfully targeting Taliban fighters in Kandahar who were not involved in the fighting.”

Yemen

Arab News: Yemeni Army Kills 18 Houthi Militants In An Ambush Near Taiz

“Over 18 Houthi militants have been killed in an ambush in the Maqbanah district, west of Taiz, the Yemeni army said Wednesday. Yemeni army troops have been advancing in Taiz and taking control of many locations in the area as Houthi militants retreated, the army said earlier. Meanwhile, a civilian was killed and eight others were wounded by shells of a rocket fired by Houthi militia on local market in Marib City, Yemeni state news agency Saba reported on Tuesday. A medical source said that among those killed and injured was an African refugee, according to the report. The militia continued firing ballistic rockets on neighbourhoods and markets in the city, the source added.”

Nigeria

Sahara Reporters: Nigerian Soldiers Flee As Boko Haram Takes Over Military Base In Borno

“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 taken over a military base in Damasak town, Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State. Sources told SaharaReporters that the insurgents stormed the community, shooting in all directions before ramming a pick-up truck loaded with explosives into the military base. A resident said the gunmen came in different groups and could not be counted. He added that some Nigerian soldiers were killed while others fled into the bush. “They came, hundreds of them, with guns, trucks, and grenades and started firing from different directions. The soldiers ran away and left us on our own. They didn’t shoot at them (insurgents) at all. Though some soldiers were killed I can’t say how many,” he told SaharaReporters. It was learnt that the insurgents also burnt a Nigerian army tanker and some buildings in the military base. The attack on the base took place just days after Boko Haram fighters ambushed a military convoy in Gudumbali, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno state, killing over 15 soldiers, including the commanding officer, 123 Special Forces Battalion, Major U.I. Urang.”

Germany

Lawfare: The German Far Right Doesn’t Need To Win Elections To Be Dangerous

“…According to the Counter Extremism Project, events such as these have played a key role in the development of “a leaderless, transnational and apocalyptic violent extreme right-wing movement,” and German far-right extremists count as some of the most internationally networked. President Trump’s one-time adviser Steve Bannon attempted to create a coordinated far-right internationalism that failed. But the creation of a leaderless movement dedicated to the protection of white European culture and operating in similar fashion to Islamist terrorist groups might be more dangerous still. The past years have served as a disturbing wake-up call about the allure that hate and illiberalism still hold in German society. While the AfD has not been able to expand its base of support, two years of increasing pressure by the BfV, combined with the party’s infighting and clear radicalization have not dented it significantly either. The actions of the BfV alone will not protect German democracy from the far right. As in democracies everywhere, that remains the responsibility of the voters.”

Technology

The Washington Post: Anti-Asian Attacks Rise Along With Online Vitriol

“The fatal shootings of six Asian women in Georgia on Tuesday have turned a spotlight on a disturbing trend of the past year: Crimes against people of Asian descent have risen sharply in the United States, along with online slurs blaming them for the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities say they are not certain, at this point, that the alleged shooter, Robert Aaron Long, 21, was motivated by racial animus. But the broader trend of hateful words and deeds against Asians and Asian Americans is clear, researchers say, and appears to have spiked since the November presidential election and the contentious months that followed. Terms including “China,” “Wuhan” and “flu” surged on far-right forums on Telegram, 8kun and TheDonald.win as former president Donald Trump pushed baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud, according to data tracked by the Network Contagion Research Institute, which monitors misinformation and online extremism. The terms were used on those platforms 44 percent more in January than in the average month last year. While the exact relationship between these terms and allegations of election fraud is not clear, the researchers theorize that rising political polarization fueled harsh talk online, as did xenophobia and the quest for scapegoats, including people of Asian descent.”