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Old 03-01-2019, 06:20 AM
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Arrow Eye on Extremism / March 1, 2019

Eye on Extremism
March 1, 2019
RE: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#in...MGsTFKwrxfBpMR


The New York Times: Gun Battle Rages In Somali Capital After Shabab Bombing

“A gun battle raged in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, into Friday morning as soldiers battled to dislodge Islamist militants holed up in a building next to a hotel they had bombed the previous evening. At least 29 people have been killed. The militants, from the Shabab extremist group, set off two blasts outside the Hotel Makkah al-Mukarammah on a busy street lined with shops and restaurants on Thursday, before retreating to an adjacent building from where they fired on soldiers who tried to enter. At least two wounded soldiers were carried away from the hotel on Friday morning. The attack was the latest in a series of high-profile assaults in East Africa by the Shabab, and it came after American forces in Somalia stepped up airstrikes against the Islamist group.”

CNN: The Islamic State Is Dying ... But Believers In Its Radical Ideology Live On

“She was covered from head to toe in black. Identifying herself only as Um Bassam, the mother of Bassam, she told me she was 25 years old, the mother of four children, a widow, and from the city of Aleppo. All around her were clusters of other women with similar stories, also clad in black, faces concealed, with their children huddled beside them. It had rained just a few hours before. Babies were crying. Used diapers, discarded clothing, bags, empty tins of beans and hummus, and human feces littered the ground. Even with this misery as a backdrop, Um Bassam didn't hesitate to declare her unwavering devotion to the so-called Islamic State, now in its dying days. Speaking the Arabic of someone who is educated, she explained calmly and with conviction why she remained committed to the idea of the Islamic State.”

Reuters: Lebanon's Hezbollah Slams Britain's Terrorist Group Listing

“The Lebanese group Hezbollah condemned on Friday the British government’s decision to list it as a terrorist organization, saying the move showed “servile obedience” to the United States. The heavily armed Shi’ite group, which is backed by Iran, said in a statement it was a “resistance movement against Israeli occupation” and described the British move as an “insult to the feelings, sympathies and will of the Lebanese people that consider Hezbollah a major political and popular force”. “Hezbollah sees in this decision servile obedience to the U.S. administration, revealing that the British government is but a mere a follower in service of its American master,” the statement added. Britain said on Monday it planned to ban all wings of Hezbollah due to its destabilizing influence in the Middle East, classing it as a terrorist organization. Hezbollah is already deemed a terrorist organization by Washington. Long the most powerful group in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s clout has expanded at home and in the region. The group controls three of 30 ministries in the government led by the Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, the largest number it has ever held.”

The New York Times: African Allies Grapple With Rise In Terrorist Attacks As U.S. Pulls Back

“President Trump has ordered most American troops to withdraw from Syria. He wants to bring home thousands more from Afghanistan. Now hundreds of United States commandos and other forces are leaving West Africa — despite an onslaught of attacks from an increasingly deadly matrix of Islamist fighters. The shift has unnerved African commanders in Burkina Faso and neighboring nations in the Sahel, a vast sub-Saharan scrubland increasingly racked by Islamist bombings, massacres, kidnappings and attacks on hotels frequented by Westerners. It is a region in which most Americans were unaware of United States military involvement until four Army soldiers were killed in a deadly 2017 ambush in Niger by Islamic State fighters. What is emerging, critics said, is a glimpse of what happens when American troops, especially Special Operations forces, pull back before insurgents are effectively subdued, leaving local or allied forces to fend off the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or their offshoots. “It’s a real problem,” Col. Maj. Moussa Salaou Barmou, commander of Niger’s Special Operations forces, said of the drawdown and the closing of seven of eight American elite counterterrorism units operating in Africa.”

The National: US Offers $1m Reward For Capture Of Osama Bin Laden's Son

“The United States has announced a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Hamza bin Laden, son of the late Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. A notice posted on the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website on Thursday describes Hamza bin Laden as an “emerging” leader of Al Qaeda, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US, the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbour in October 2000 and the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam. US declared Hamza bin Laden a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2017. His current whereabouts are unknown, but he is believed to operate out of Pakistan, according to the Counter Extremism Project.”

Business Insider: Facebook And Google Will Be Punished With Giant Fines In The UK If They Fail To Rid Their Platforms Of Toxic Content

“The British government plans to hit social-media firms with fines potentially worth billions of dollars if they fail to rid their platforms of content considered harmful. In an interview with Business Insider, the UK's digital minister, Margot James, said a new independent tech regulator would be given powers to punish companies, including Facebook and Google, found not to properly protect users. The plans are set to be detailed in full in a policy paper on internet safety next month, but James gave Business Insider some insight into the government's thinking on how the new sanctions regime could work. It comes as lawmakers across the world are drawing up new rules to bring the biggest tech giants to heel. UK ministers are planning to establish a powerful new tech regulator meant to be independent of government. It will make determinations about what constitutes harmful content and dish out penalties for firms that fail to take swift action in removing inappropriate posts.”

United States

Penn Live: Will Terrorism Continue To Decline In 2019?

“Lost in the headlines, rapidly accelerating news cycles and the pervasive fear generated by terrorist threats is the fact that terrorist attacks worldwide have actually been declining – in some areas substantially. Terrorism researchers like me have long noted that the number of terrorist attacks rises and falls in waves – generally lasting several decades. I’m the founding director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, and one of the original creators of the Global Terrorism Database. My colleagues Laura Dugan, Erin Miller and I define terrorism as “the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by non-state actors to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal through fear, coercion or intimidation.” The database shows that the world has been gripped by a wave of terrorist attacks that began shortly after the 9/11 attacks. My research using the START database shows the extent of this spike. From 2002 through 2014, worldwide terrorist attacks increased by 12 times and terrorist fatalities increased by more than eight times. Especially hard hit were Iraq and Afghanistan in the Middle East, India and Pakistan in South Asia, and Nigeria in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Syria

Reuters: Trump Says All Islamic State Territory Retaken, Contradicting Allied Commander

“President Donald Trump told American troops on Thursday that U.S.-backed forces in Syria have retaken 100 percent of the territory once held by Islamic State militants, contradicting the commander of the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, who said it would take another week. “We just took over, you know, you kept hearing it was 90 percent, 92 percent, the caliphate in Syria. Now it’s 100 percent we just took over, 100 percent caliphate,” Trump told troops at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson during a refueling stop in Alaska. Earlier on Thursday, the commander of Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Kobani, said in a video released to the news media that the SDF would be able to announce “the complete victory over Daesh (Islamic State) in a week.” Trump made his comments while talking to U.S. troops in Alaska about the progress his administration has made in Afghanistan and the Middle East over the past two years. He stopped in Alaska on his way back from talks in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The U.S. president has been anxious to declare that Islamic State has been driven out of all its territory since announcing in December that he would withdraw American forces from Syria, claiming they had succeeded in their mission to defeat the militant group.”

Reuters: Russia Tells Syrian Asylum Seekers: You Need To Go Home

“In pre-war Syria, Safaa Al-Kurdi sold wedding dresses. Fed up with the conflict, the mother-of-three fled Damascus four years ago and sought asylum in Moscow. Now, Russia is saying she must go home. Safaa is one of thousands of Syrian refugees that Russia, an ally of President Bashar al-Assad, is urging to return. Large parts of Syria are safe, Russian officials say, and there is no reason for asylum seekers like Safaa, 55, to remain. The Russian stance is creating problems for Syrians here who are seeing their asylum requests rejected. Banned from working, they face the threat of arrest and deportation. “Since my children are there and Syria is my country, I would naturally like to return,” Safaa, whose two eldest sons were drafted into the Syrian army, said through tears.”

The New York Times: Trump Declares ISIS ‘100%’ Defeated in Syria. ‘100% Not True,’ Ground Reports Say

“President Trump declared on Thursday that “we just took over 100 percent” of territory controlled by the Islamic State in Syria — a claim that reports from the battle front suggested was 100 percent untrue. “You kept hearing it was 90 percent, 92 percent, the caliphate in Syria. Now it’s 100 percent, we just took over,” Mr. Trump said in remarks to American troops in Alaska. “Now it’s 100 percent, we just took over 100 percent caliphate. That means the area of the land. We just have 100 percent.” “So that’s good.” Over the past month, American forces have been working with Syrian fighters to seize the last square mile of Islamic State territory — the riverside village of Baghuz on the border with Iraq. Taking and holding terrain in any military operation can be a difficult task, especially against extremists who are willing to face death instead of surrender.”

Reuters: Syria Urges People At Camp In U.S.-Protected Area To Return Home

“The Syrian government on Thursday urged people sheltering at a camp located in a U.S.-protected area on the Jordanian border to return home and said it would help them to do so. Some 40,000 people are living in dire conditions at the Rukban camp, located in a U.S.-protected area of Syria near a Pentagon-run base at Tanf that is a focal point of tension with the Damascus government and its Russian allies. Many of the people at Rukban had fled areas seized by Islamic State militants who have now lost nearly all the territory they once held. The United Nations this month described the conditions at Rukban as increasingly desperate. “The Syrian state will offer all facilities to move those citizens from the camp to their places of residence,” state news agency SANA quoted a Syrian foreign ministry source as saying. Rukban lies inside a “deconfliction zone” set up by U.S. forces. Moscow and Damascus say U.S. troops are illegally occupying Syrian territory and providing a safe haven for rebels, and have been pushing for them to leave the area. The U.S.-protected zone has encouraged many of Rukban’s inhabitants to stay rather than go back to their homes in areas under government control, where many fear conscription into the Syrian military.”

Reuters: As Assad Holds On In Syria, EU's 'Strategic Patience' Tested

“After eight years of civil war from which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is emerging victorious, the European Union is divided over how to deal with a man accused of using chemical weapons on his own people. Next month the bloc hosts an international conference in Brussels to raise billions in aid for displaced Syrians, a moment of reckoning for Europe’s efforts to isolate Assad as the United States pulls back its troops, diplomats say. The EU, the world’s biggest aid donor, has repeatedly made its reconstruction support conditional on a U.N.-led peace process to end a war that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced about half of Syria’s pre-war 22 million population. But with the U.N. process stuck, Russia’s 2015 intervention proving decisive for Assad, and Arab neighbors considering re-establishing diplomatic ties, the EU’s divisions risk eroding what little power it has. “The pressure on us to rebuild Syria is increasing, particularly from the Russians,” said one senior EU diplomat. Italy, Austria and Hungary, all fierce critics of European immigration policy and closer to Moscow, favor talking to Syrian authorities to allow millions of refugees to go home.”

The New York Times: Fabien Clain, Prominent French Voice Of ISIS, Is Reported Killed In Syria

“A high-profile French jihadist and Islamic State propagandist, Fabien Clain, who is believed to have recorded the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the November 2015 attacks in Paris, was killed by an airstrike in southeastern Syria, the American-led coalition said on Thursday. “A Coalition strike killed an active Daesh media official named Abu Anas al Faransi, also known as Fabien Clain, in Baghouz,” the coalition said in a Twitter posting, using the Arabic name for the Islamic State. Baghouz, also spelled Baghuz, is a village in the last bit of territory in Syria still held by the militant group. It was unclear when Mr. Clain was killed, but he and his brother, Jean-Michel, were believed to have been targeted by an airstrike on Feb. 20. The defense minister of France, part of the coalition, called his death “possible” the next day. The fate of the brother remains unclear. Mr. Clain, 41, narrated a six-minute audio recording produced by the Islamic State, claiming responsibility for the Nov. 13, 2015, attacks on Paris that killed 130 people and wounded more than 400. The recording, released the day after the attacks, included religious chanting by Mr. Clain’s brother.”

The Washington Post: UN Envoy Wants Action On Syria’s Missing, New Constitution

“The new U.N. special envoy for Syria said Thursday his goals in the period ahead are to achieve “concrete action” on detained and missing people and the convening of a committee to draft a new constitution for the war-torn country “as soon as possible.” Geir Pedersen said he also wants to begin a sustained dialogue with the government and opposition “on building trust and confidence,” to engage a wide-range of Syrians, and to help the international community deepen its dialogue on achieving a political settlement of the eight-year conflict. Pedersen’s first briefing to the U.N. Security Council indicated a much broader approach to trying to end the war and restore peace to Syria than his predecessor, Staffan de Mistura, who spent his last year trying unsuccessfully to form a constitutional committee. The Security Council has been deeply divided over Syria, with the U.S. and its allies backing the opposition and Russia and China supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government along with Iran and other countries. The result has been near-paralysis of the U.N.’s most powerful body. Pedersen focused on a resolution the council did succeed in adopting unanimously in December 2015 endorsing a road map for peace.”

Voice Of America: Lawlessness Remains In Syria As War Wanes, UN Report Says

“The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria says in a new report that lawlessness remains widespread throughout Syria, despite a general winding down of the war as pro-government forces make military gains. In its report to be submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council on March 12, the commission said there had been a significant drop in fighting in Syria during the reporting period from mid-July 2018 to mid-January 2019. That, it said, was mainly due to extensive military gains made by forces allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and an agreement between Turkey and Russia to establish a demilitarized zone in northwestern Syria. But U.N. investigators said the war was not over. They said attacks by pro-government forces in Idlib and western Aleppo have caused scores of civilian casualties. They said civilians also suffered from the fighting by Syrian Democratic Forces and the U.S.-led international coalition against Islamic State militants in Deir el-Zour. Chairman Paulo Pinheiro said the commission did not evaluate decisions made by any member state engaged in Syria. But he told VOA the commission was deeply concerned about the possible implications of any large-scale troop withdrawals. He said they could deepen insecurity and endanger the rule of law and human rights.”

CNN: The Islamic State Is Dying ... But Believers In Its Radical Ideology Live On

“She was covered from head to toe in black. Identifying herself only as Um Bassam, the mother of Bassam, she told me she was 25 years old, the mother of four children, a widow, and from the city of Aleppo. All around her were clusters of other women with similar stories, also clad in black, faces concealed, with their children huddled beside them. It had rained just a few hours before. Babies were crying. Used diapers, discarded clothing, bags, empty tins of beans and hummus, and human feces littered the ground. Even with this misery as a backdrop, Um Bassam didn't hesitate to declare her unwavering devotion to the so-called Islamic State, now in its dying days. Speaking the Arabic of someone who is educated, she explained calmly and with conviction why she remained committed to the idea of the Islamic State. "We just wanted to live in peace and wear our Islamic clothing, not to go out, not to see men and to be ruled by the law of the Almighty," she explained. Um Bassam was speaking from a non-descript spot on the eastern Syrian plains. She and hundreds of other women and children had been trucked in the afternoon before from the outskirts of Baghouz, ISIS' last speck of land in Syria.”

BBC News: Life Inside The Chaos Left By The Islamic State Group's Fall

“US President Donald Trump says "100%" of the Islamic State group's territory has now been taken over, even though local commanders with the US allies, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), maintain total victory will be declared within a week. As the battle draws to a close, the BBC's Quentin Sommerville met some of those leaving the group's last stronghold, Baghouz. Hamza Jasim al-Ali's world is small and terrible. He hasn't moved far in life, living always along the same 40km (25 mile) stretch on the banks of the Euphrates. His journey, still without end, took him from al-Qaim in Iraq, across the border to Syria and into the dark centre of what was the Islamic State group's nightmare caliphate. He has seen more of life and death than any child of 12 should. Now he is far from his river, sitting on the desert floor in a wind-whipped tent, alone - apart from an elderly woman who barely knows him. His leg is broken, but healing, and he smiles as I ask him questions. I asked him what life was like inside. "It was good," he says, smiling again. "Less food and water and a lot of fighting. It was heavy fighting." Does he still like IS? "No. Why would I like them after all they have done?" he answers. Hamza is an IS orphan. His father joined the group and took the whole family with him.”

Iran

NBC News: Iran-Backed Hackers Hit Both U.K., Australian Parliaments, Says Report

“The Iranian-backed hackers who stole personal data on Australian lawmakers earlier this year are the same group that attacked the British Parliament in 2017, according to new research by a cybersecurity firm that sheds light on Iran's campaign of cyberespionage against its adversaries. A report by Los Angeles-based Resecurity, obtained exclusively by NBC News, says the Feb. 8 hack of the Australian Parliament "is a part of a multi-year cyberespionage campaign" by an Iranian-backed hacking group they call Iridium. "This actor targets sensitive government, diplomatic and military resources" in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S., the firm says. Australia has not formally attributed the attack to Iran, but the Iran connection was first reported this month by The Wall Street Journal. The BBC attributed the 2017 British parliament attack to Iran, but Resecurity for the first time connected the two events, said Charles Yoo, Resecurity's president. Using brute force attacks that guessed passwords, the hackers obtained thousands of records from both parliaments containing names, email addresses, birthdates and other information on lawmakers and their staff. "We don't believe they are really trying to influence elections but we know that they are collecting so-called strategic intelligence," Yoo said.

Iraq

The Washington Post: Bombs In Iraq’s Mosul Kill 1 Person, Injure 17

“Iraqi security officials say two bombs have exploded in the city of Mosul, killing one person and wounding 17 others. The first explosion, a road side bomb, went off Thursday in an area southwest of Mosul near a vehicle belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of predominantly Shiite militias, wounding four. Another car bomb went off near the cultural center, killing one person and wounding 13, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. There was no immediate claim for the bombings, the latest in a string of attacks along roads and in villages in areas north and west of Baghdad. The Islamic State group has claimed many of them. Iraq claimed victory over the organization in 2017 after a four year war.”

Afghanistan

USA Today: Osama Bin Laden's Son Hamza Emerging As New Al-Qaeda Leader

“One of the sons of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is emerging as the new leader of the militant group, according to the State Department. The United States is offering a reward for information on Hamza bin Laden, thought to be about 30-years-old and based near the Afghan-Pakistan border, of $1 million. The State Department's Counter-Terrorism Rewards Program posted the reward on its website late Thursday. "He has released audio and video messages on the Internet, calling on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies, and he has threatened attacks against the United States in revenge for the May 2011 killing of his father by U.S. military forces," it said in a statement. Hamza bin Laden is married to the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker and a mastermind of al-Qaeda's September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Hamza's father Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy Seals in Pakistan in 2011. According to letters found by the Navy Seals during the raid on his hideout in Pakistan, Hamza wrote to the Saudi-born al-Qaeda leader asking to be trained to follow him. The letters indicate Osama bin Laden was grooming Hamza to replace him.”

U.S. News & World Report: Afghan Forces Clash With Taliban To Retain Control Over Military Base

“At least nine Taliban insurgents, including three suicide bombers were killed by the Afghan forces in a bid to prevent a complex attack by the hardline Islamist group on a military base in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Friday. The 215 Maiwand Army Corps situated in Helmand province came under attack in the early hours of Friday, said a senior security official in Kabul, adding the attack was Taliban's third attempt to overrun the strategic military installation in the past 48 hours. "Afghan soldiers of 215 Maiwand Corps stopped the Taliban from gaining control of the military compound, we have reports that six Afghan soldiers were killed during the clashes," said a senior Afghan security official on condition of anonymity. Two other security officials confirmed that members belonging to foreign forces present at the base were safe as the Taliban could not breach walls of their compound.The United States has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led mission, known as Resolute Support, and a separate U.S. counter-terrorism mission largely directed against militant groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda. But U.S. President Donald Trump told Congress last month he intended to reduce U.S. forces from Afghanistan as negotiators make progress in talks with Taliban insurgents, saying: “Great nations do not fight endless wars.”

The New York Times: Under Peace Plan, U.S. Military Would Exit Afghanistan Within Five Years

“All American troops would withdraw from Afghanistan over the next three to five years under a new Pentagon plan being offered in peace negotiations that could lead to a government in Kabul that shares power with the Taliban. The rest of the international force in Afghanistan would leave at the same time, after having mixed success in stabilizing the country since 2001. The plan is being discussed with European allies and was devised, in part, to appeal to President Trump, who has long expressed skepticism of enduring American roles in wars overseas. The plan calls for cutting by half, in coming months, the 14,000 American troops currently in Afghanistan. It would task the 8,600 European and other international troops with training the Afghan military — a focus of the NATO mission for more than a decade — and largely shift American operations to counterterrorism strikes. Various elements of the plan were shared with The New York Times by more than a half-dozen current and former American and European officials. It intends to help talks with the Taliban that are being led by Zalmay Khalilzad, the American special envoy. So far, the plan has been met with broad acceptance in Washington and NATO headquarters in Brussels.”

The New York Times: 700 Afghan Women Have A Message: Don’t Sell Us Out To The Taliban

“It was a rare sight, even after 18 years of progress in Afghanistan: more than 700 women from across the country, gathered to send an unequivocal message to the men now negotiating with the Taliban. We want peace, the women said, but not at the cost of our rights. The conference in Kabul, six months in the making, represented a watershed moment at a time when Afghans are struggling to comprehend what peace with the Taliban would bring, even as the war with the militant group is as deadly as ever. American diplomats are holding talks with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, but the Afghan government is not involved. Several women expressed fears that a peace deal could bring the Taliban back into the government, leaving women and girls vulnerable to a new wave of the sort of edicts that constrained their lives until the group’s overthrow in 2001. Women were routinely beaten for violating Taliban codes. One woman at the conference, held inside an enormous tent-like structure, spoke sharply to President Ashraf Ghani shortly before he delivered a speech emphasizing his support for women’s rights. “You should put killers in prison, not make peace with them,” said the woman, Nargiss Qurbani, 48, who said the Taliban killed her husband in 1997 and later wounded her son, a soldier. Mr. Ghani did not respond.”

Pakistan

Fox News: AP Explains: Pakistan-Based Militant Group Sparks Tensions

“When a suicide bomber blew himself up in India's insurgency-wracked Kashmir region on Feb. 14, killing more than 40 soldiers, the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad was quick to take responsibility. The Pakistan-based group's attack sent tensions soaring between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. The disputed region, divided between the two countries and claimed by both in its entirety, has been the cause of two past wars between India and Pakistan. Although the bomber was from Indian Kashmir, the claim by the militant group caused India to launch what it called a pre-emptive strike against Jaish-e-Mohammad inside Pakistan, saying they killed a "very large number" of militants. Pakistan retaliated with a strike of its own that hit six positions inside India on Wednesday, downing two Indian planes and taking one pilot into custody. Here's an explanation of the militant organization, its origins and agenda: Jaish-e-Mohammad was formed in 2000 by Masood Azhar, originally a member of an al-Qaida affiliate. Azhar was arrested by Indian authorities in the late 1990s when he returned to Indian controlled Kashmir after reportedly fighting with the al-Qaida affiliate in Somalia.”

Yemen

The National: Yemen Foreign Minister Khalid Al Yamani: UN Failing To Pressure Houthis On Peace

“The UN is failing to pressure the Houthis to comply with a peace deal that aims to end Yemen’s brutal war, the country’s foreign minister, Khalid Al Yamani told The National. Yemen’s warring sides agreed on a ceasefire and troop withdrawal from Hodeidah at consultations in Sweden in December, the first in two years. It was the first major breakthrough in peace efforts to end the four-year-long war. But the rebels have failed to withdraw from the ports of Hodeidah, Saleef and Ras Issa, he said. “Houthis are failing to be a responsible partner and the United Nations needs to be more vocal in the way they tell those who are not implementing the deal that you are responsible for durable peace in Yemen,” Mr Al Yamani said on the sidelines of the 46th session of the Organisation of Islamic Council in Abu Dhabi.”

Saudi Arabia

Arab News: Saudi Arabia Welcomes UK’s Terror Classification For Hezbollah

“Saudi Arabia welcomed on Thursday the UK’s decision to classify Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. The Saudi Presidency of State Security said that the decision is an important step in the fight to counter terrorism and financing it at a regional and international level. It added that Hezbollah represents a real and clear threat to international stability and security, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The presidency added that the decision reflects the UK’s keenness on countering terrorism and extremist ideologies. The UK said on Monday it would join the US, Canada, Israel and the Arab League in banning the all of Hezbollah. Previously it had just proscribed its militant wings as “terrorist”. The proscription, which comes into effect on Friday, will make membership of the movement or inviting support for it a crime punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.”

Middle East

The Telegraph: Female Terrorists At Risk Of Re-Radicalisation Because Of 'Lenient' Treatment, UN Warns

“Women who return home after joining terrorist groups are at risk of re-radicalisation because they are treated too leniently, a new United Nations report warns. Seen as passive onlookers to terrorism, the popular image of the coerced ‘jihadi bride’ leads authorities to treat them less harshly, according to the report released this week by the United Nation’s Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED). Sentences handed down to men and women charged with terrorist offences shows relative leniency towards females, according to the report's findings. “Women... tend to receive more limited rehabilitation and reintegration support, thus putting them at potentially greater risk of recidivism and re-radicalization and potentially undermining their successful reintegration into society,” CTED warns.”

Egypt

Haaretz: Hamas Operatives Held in Egypt Since 2015 Released

“Four Hamas operatives arrested by Egypt in 2015 have been released on Thursday and returned to Gaza, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh announced. The move is seen as a significant achievement for Hamas that could relieve some tensions between Israel and the Palestinian organization. Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported earlier on Thursday that Haniyeh, who heads Hamas' political wing, concluded a three-week visit to Cairo focusing on the operatives' release and intra-Palestinian reconciliation without securing any results. Haniyeh confirmed he discussed the release with Egyptian officials during his visit, adding he managed to secure the release of four other Palestinians detained in the country. The four Palestinians, who are officers in Hamas' naval commando forces, were taken by gunmen from a bus traveling from the Rafah border crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border to Cairo International Airport. Hamas believes they are being held by Egypt, a claim never officially confirmed by Egyptian authorities. According to some Palestinian reports, the four were headed for training in Iran. Their arrest, according to several reports, followed from intelligence provided by Israeli agencies.”

Libya

Al Monitor: Libyan Court Cracks Down On Hamas Activities

“Hamas is denouncing a Libyan military court's heavy sentences levied on four Palestinians found guilty of smuggling arms from Libya to Hamas in Gaza, setting up a secret foreign organization inside Libya, possession of arms and conspiracy against state security. This is the first judicial security case involving Hamas in Libya. On Feb. 21 in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, the military court imposed sentences on the men ranging from 17 to 22 years. The four men, arrested in October 2016, are Marwan al-Ashqar, his son Baraa, Muaied Abed and Naseeb Shbeir. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Feb. 22, “The Libyan judgments were based on the public prosecutor’s investigations, which included secret documents accusing the detainees of joining a legally banned organization, disclosing secrets related to national defense, ... [and] illegal possession and smuggling of firearms to Gaza.” The detainees' family members told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the detainees have lived in Libya since the 1990s. They worked for a technology company in Tripoli and studied at the capital’s universities. The detained, held at the prison of Tripoli’s Special Deterrence Force, have been denied visits for months and suffered daily abuses, relatives said.”

Xinhua: Libyan Army Takes Over 2 Southwestern Towns Amid Anti-Terror Campaign

“Libya's eastern-based army said it took control of the southwestern towns of Ghat and Awaynat near Algerian border on Thursday. According to Army Spokesman Ahmad al-Mismari, the armed forces entered into the two towns and the residents welcomed the armed forces. The army, led by Khalifa Haftar, has been leading a military campaign against crime and terrorism in southern Libya since mid-January. On Wednesday, al-Mismari said the army was making significant progress in the region, pending Haftar's orders to end the military action. The army is allied with the eastern-based government, as Libya is politically divided between two governments in the east and the west, both competing for legitimacy.”

Nigeria

Voice Of America: UNHCR Says 30,000 Nigerians Return To Town Targeted By Boko Haram

“An estimated 30,000 Nigerians have returned since Tuesday from Cameroon to the flashpoint town of Rann, which has been targeted repeatedly by Boko Haram militants this year, the U.N. refugee agency said in an emailed comment to Reuters on Thursday. The men, women and children were among 40,000 civilians who fled Rann and sought refuge in the Cameroonian village of Goura. A United Nations humanitarian report said 5,000 remained in Goura and were expected to make the 8-km (5-mile) trip to Rann on foot on Friday. The other 5,000 had reportedly traveled to Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria's Borno state, or to other unknown locations, the U.N. report said. The Rann residents who decided to return did so after being visited by Nigerian officials who encouraged them to go, and gave assurances that security would be restored in the area, the UNHCR statement said. "They have responded to this appeal and many have opted to take the return journey home," UNHCR said. "We have also advocated with the authorities to guarantee admission and protection of those seeking asylum and government support so that humanitarian organizations can deliver assistance." On Wednesday, the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said Cameroonian and Nigerian authorities had ordered the 40,000 refugees to return to northeast Nigeria.”

Somalia

Voice Of America: Dozens Killed, Wounded In Somalia Attack

“The sounds of a gun battle continue to rock Somalia’s capital Friday, a day after two car bomb attacks by insurgents were launched on one of Mogadishu’s busiest streets. Officials say at least 20 people have been killed and 40 wounded in the bombings and the clashes between the militants and security forces. Al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group, has claimed responsibility. An al-Shabab spokesman told Reuters that his group is in control of the Maka Almukarramah Hotel. “The government tried three times to enter the building, but we repulsed them. We still control the hotel,” said Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s military spokesman. The first explosion occurred just after the 8 p.m. local time Thursday when an explosives-loaded vehicle was detonated on Maka Al-Mukarama Road. Eyewitnesses said dozens of people were sitting outside hotels and restaurants in the area when the bomb exploded.”

Bloomberg: Hotel Siege In Somalia Continues After Militant Blasts Kill 25

“Somali forces are battling al-Qaeda-linked militants around a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, a police officer said, after at least 25 people were killed in bombings on a major thoroughfare. Al-Shabaab insurgents detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near the gate of the Maka Al Mukrarram hotel on Thursday evening, Abdihafid Adan, a police officer who rushed to the scene, said by phone. He counted 18 bodies and said the toll could rise. Seven people found with injuries have died, while another 25 wounded were admitted to a nearby hospital, according to Mohamed Ahmed, a paramedic who attended the scene. There was a second blast near a junction on the same road from a vehicle being chased by security forces, police said. Casualties from that attack are still unknown. There are still bursts of gunfire as some militants remain in a hotel and buildings in the area, said Ahmed Nur, a police officer. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement broadcast on Radio Andalus, which supports its insurgency. The militants have waged an insurgency in the Horn of Africa nation since about 2006 in a bid to impose their version of Islamic law. While the group was driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by Somali and African Union forces, it continues to carry out deadly gun and bomb attacks.”

Europe

The Independent: Belgium To Repatriate Children Of ISIS, But Leave Mothers In Syria

“A court in Belgium has opened the way for the country to separate children of Isis members from their mothers in order to bring them back home. A judge ruled last year that the country had to bring back two women who went to Syria to join Isis if it wanted to repatriate their six children, because separating them would be a violation of their rights. Tatiana Wielandt, 26, Bouchra Abouallal, 25, were convicted in absentia of joining Isis and sentenced to five years in prison, and are currently detained in al-Hol camp, in northern Syria, by Kurdish forces. After the government challenged last year’s ruling, an appeals court said Wednesday that it will not be forced “to undertake any act of repatriation.” In response, the justice ministry has said it will seek to bring back all children under 10 years old, and deal with older children on a case-by-case basis, while leaving the mothers behind. “The Belgian government will continue to work … to bring children under the age of 10 back to Belgium. Children must not be punished for the deeds of their parents,” said Justice minister Koen Geens. The children of the two women in question are all believed to be under 10 years old. Both Wielandt and Abouallal have said they would accept sending their children back, and that they regret joining Isis.”

PRI: Belgian Court Rules Against Repatriating Mothers Convicted Of Being ISIS Militants

“A Belgian court's decision to overturn a ruling forcing it to repatriate two Belgian women convicted of being Islamic State militants and their six children from Syria has left their family devastated. The grandmother of the six children, aged from 11 months to seven years, has been trying for more than a year to bring them back from Syria, where they are being held by US-backed Kurdish militias. When a judge ordered the state in December to do everything possible not only to bring the children back but also their mothers, she had begun to prepare for their homecoming. Pink and blue backpacks hang under pegs with the children's names in the hallway of her home near Antwerp ready for them to return to school. She has been sending their mothers — her daughter Bouchra Abouallal, 25, and step-daughter Tatiana Wielandt, 26, — school material via WhatsApp for them to prepare.”

The Local Sweden: ISIS Jihadi 'Returned To Sweden To Treat War Wounds'

“An Isis jihadi fighter returned to his home in Sweden to have wounds to his shoulder treated, before returning to the front line in Syria, Sweden's Expressen newspaper has reported. Khaled Shahadeh, 28, returned to Sweden in 2015 for medical care before returning to Syria that summer, his father told the newspaper, a claim the newspaper has confirmed by other sources. Shahadeh is one of four Isis members from Gothenburg and the nearby city of Borås judged as a continuing threat to Sweden, alongside the convert Michael Skråmo, Nader el Shaya, and Mohamud Saeed Adib. Thomas Lindén, chairman of the ethics advisory panel at Sweden's Läkarförbund doctors' union, said it was wrong to expect doctors to consider anything apart medical needs when deciding who to treat. "We don't judge people. We provide care according to the medical need and without looking at what a person is or what they have done," he told the newspaper. "We give care to rich and poor, to murderers and people sitting in prison. If people need to be punished, there are other parts of society that can do it. Healthcare should not become part of the apparatus of punishment." Shahadeh's father said he had last had contact with his son two months ago.”

Canada

CTV News: Toronto man who wanted to join ISIS sentenced to 4 years in prison

“A Toronto man who tried to join Islamic State militants in Syria was sentenced to just over four years in prison on Thursday after a judge found he had taken responsibility for his actions and abandoned his radical views. Pamir Hakimzadah, 29, pleaded guilty in early February to one count of leaving Canada to participate in a terrorist activity. Justice John McMahon said Hakimzadah's guilty plea, his age, his family's support, the fact he didn't end up joining Islamic militants and his commitment to participating in a deradicalization program were all factors in the man's favour. "Luckily for the accused, his family and Canada, he was arrested shortly after arriving in Turkey," McMahon said. "He neither counselled others to join the organization, he didn't actually join and has taken responsibility for his actions and didn't continue to voice the same views." The Crown had sought a six-year sentence while the defence asked for a sentence of three years and seven months. McMahon settled on a sentence of four years and one month for Hakimzadah plus three years probation. After receiving credit for time already spent in custody, Hakimzadah will spend six more months behind bars.”

Australia

Sydney Morning Herald: 'One Bullet Away From Paradise': Alleged Islamic State Admin Living In Sydney

“A former taxi driver living in Auburn with his wife, children and step-children has been linked to Islamic State accused of administering the group's encrypted messages and travelling to Syria in support of the group in 2015. The man, who is originally from Bangladesh and has been granted Australian citizenship, left his home in Sydney in an attempt to make it to Syria to fight with the Islamic State in early 2015. He returned from the conflict zone via Turkey six months later, and was promptly picked up by Australian Federal Police officers at the airport as he arrived in September 2015. Concurrently, anti-terrorism investigators from the Australian Federal Police raided the Auburn home he shared with his wife, their children and his wife's children from a previous marriage. Video footage from the raids obtained by The Herald shows his wife and the children being led away from the home by uniformed police, while officers swarm on the Auburn home. Senior sources say that the man remains under surveillance because of his suspected radical views and links to Islamic State, but he has not been charged with any offence under Australian law. He is believed to not have actually participated in the fighting in Syria, but spent time there with the radical group before returning and allegedly continuing his work for the Caliphate.”

Technology

The Wall Street Journal: New York Requests Documents From Facebook, Apps On Data Sharing

“A New York regulator is ramping up a promised investigation of how Facebook Inc. gathered sensitive personal information from popular smartphone applications, after a report by The Wall Street Journal revealed that some apps were sending the social-media giant data, including users’ body weight and menstrual cycles. The state’s Department of Financial Services on Wednesday sent a series of letters seeking information and documents from Facebook and the developers behind the at least 11 apps mentioned in the Journal’s reporting, according to a person familiar with the investigation. One letter, addressed to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, requests information about all companies that have sent Facebook data about mobile application users via software provided by the social-media giant in the last three years, the person said. It also asked the company to provide the categories of data that were shared and a list of all New York state residents whose data were included, the person added.”

NPR: Apps Give Private Data To Facebook Without User's Knowledge Or Permission

“NPR's Mary Louise speaks with The Wall Street Journal's Sam Schechner about how several apps they tested sent sensitive personal data to Facebook without users' permission or knowledge. MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Let's dig deeper now into how some of these apps are sharing users' data without their knowledge. Laura mentioned The Wall Street Journal just there. It recently published another story headlined "You Give Apps Sensitive Personal Information. Then They Tell Facebook." Sam Schechner is one of the reporters on the story, and I asked him what sensitive personal information we're talking about here. SAM SCHECHNER: Well, it could be your weight, if you're having your period, your height, your blood pressure. We saw all of that kind of information being transferred from apps directly to Facebook servers in testing that we ran over the last few months.”
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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