Eye on Extremism - July 6, 2021

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Eye on Extremism - July 6, 2021
By: Counter Extremism Project - 06-07-21
Re: info@counterextremism.com

News as of: July 6, 2021

Associated Press: Iraqi Militia Commander Vows To Avenge Deaths In US Strike

“The leader of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia has vowed to retaliate against America for the deaths of four of his men in a U.S. airstrike along the Iraq-Syria border last month, saying it will be a military operation everyone will talk about. Abu Alaa al-Walae, commander of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad that the electoral victory of Iran’s hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as president will strengthen Iran-backed militant groups throughout the Middle East for the next four years. Al-Walae, who rarely gives interviews to foreign media organizations, spoke to AP on Monday in an office in a Baghdad neighborhood along the Tigris River. On June 27, U.S. Air Force planes carried out airstrikes near the Iraq-Syria border against what the Pentagon said were facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups to support drone strikes inside Iraq. Four militiamen were killed. The Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi state-sanctioned umbrella of mostly Shiite militias — including those targeted by the U.S. strikes — said their men were on missions to prevent infiltration by the Islamic State group and denied the presence of weapons warehouses.”

Reuters: Factbox: Kidnaps-For-Ransom Plague Schools Across Northwest Nigeria

“Around 150 students are missing after armed men attacked a school in northwest Nigeria's Kaduna state, a parent and an administrator told Reuters on Monday. Armed groups who authorities say are after ransom payments have in recent months targeted schoolchildren across the northwestern part of Africa's biggest economy and most populous nation. Islamist groups Boko Haram first carried out such kidnappings in 2014 in the northeast, but armed men, known locally as bandits, have recently adopted similar tactics. They have taken around 1,000 people from schools since December. Here are details of other attacks: Gunmen kidnapped 94 students and eight staff in a daytime school raid in northwestern Kebbi state on Jun. 17, police, residents and a teacher said. Three children died while another eight, along with three teachers, were rescued, but the others remain missing. One student was killed and at least 10 people were kidnapped in an armed attack on the main campus of the Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in Zaria, Kaduna state, late on June 10 according to state authorities.”

United States

ABC News: Feds Warned Last Spring Of Spike In Violence And Extremism During Pandemic: Memo

“While COVID-19's surge has ebbed, violence is on the rise across the United States. There has been a rash of gun violence in what President Joe Biden called an “epidemic,” including several public mass shootings, increases in incidents in major metropolitan areas and an uptick in road rage clashes. While dramatic declines in levels of coronavirus have engendered new hope and optimism for some, the effects of the pandemic and the measures taken to combat it linger, simmering tensions brought to a boil and manifesting themselves in anger, and in some cases, violence, experts say. Federal authorities saw that swell in violence spurred on by COVID's hardships coming -- before the pandemic even got into full swing. An internal Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by ABC News from spring of 2020 warned that the emotional, mental and financial strain exacerbated by the new coronavirus pandemic combined with social isolation -- especially if prolonged -- may “increase the vulnerability of some citizens to mobilize to violence.” “The outbreak of Covid-19, and government's response to it, have intensified concerns that could accelerate mobilization to violence with extended periods of social distancing,” the memo reads, noting such isolation is a “known risk factor” in inciting violent extremism, along with “financial stress and work disruptions, including unexpected unemployment and layoffs” also “increasing.”

The Guardian: Capitol Attack: What Pelosi’s Select Committee Is Likely To Investigate

“Nancy Pelosi’s creation of a House select committee to investigate the 6 January insurrection reopens the possibility of a comprehensive inquiry into myriad security failures and the causes of the deadly attack on Congress by a pro-Trump mob. The committee will have subpoena power and a broad mandate to examine the facts, circumstances and causes of the Capitol attack against the seat of modern American democracy. The move comes after Senate Republicans blocked the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol attack, fearful of scrutiny that could tarnish their party ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Now, six months after the attack, here are the key issues that the committee may look at: What were Trump and members of his administration doing during the attack? At some point after he delivered his incendiary speech to thousands of supporters opposite the White House, the former president watched TV coverage of the unfolding insurrection from the Oval Office. Trump also knew that the rioters had breached the Capitol since he was told in real time over the phone by Republican senator Tommy Tuberville that his colleagues were being evacuated from the chamber.”

Syria

Al Jazeera: ‘Syrian Gov’t Shelling’ In Idlib Kills Eight, Including Children

“At least eight civilians, including six children, were killed in shelling and artillery fire by Russian-backed Syrian government forces in Idlib on Saturday, a war monitor said and a rescue group said. The attacks also wounded 16 people in several locations of the Jabal al-Zawiya area in the south of the stronghold, the UK-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. It killed five members of the same family in the village of Iblin, two children in Balyun village and another child in Balshun village, it said. Syria’s Civil Defence, a volunteer search and rescue group also known as the White Helmets and operating in rebel-held parts of Syria, confirmed the deaths. “A horrific massacre committed by Russia & regime forces this morning in #Idlib countryside, where 8 civilians … were killed,” the group said on Twitter, adding that search and rescue efforts were still under way. In Iblin, an AFP news agency photographer saw the bodies of the family arrive at a health dispensary, wrapped in woollen and cotton blankets. Nurses and other people prepared the bodies for burial, cleaning the bloodied corpse of a young boy before swaddling it in gauze, he said.”

Radio Free Europe: Syrian Kurds Transfer 20 Children To Russia For Repatriation From Islamic State Camps

“The Syrian Kurdish administration has handed over another 20 children languishing in camps for the Islamic State group to a Russian delegation for repatriation. The children born to Russian parents linked to the extremist outfit were transferred to a Russian delegation on July 3, the de facto autonomous administration in northeast Syria said. The latest repatriations brings to 205 people sent home to Russia so far. “We will try to return all the children,” Larisa Nikolaevna, the deputy head of Russian state children’s rights commission, was quoted as saying by Kurdish media. Kurdish authorities hold some 10,000 suspected Islamic State fighters in prisons, after spearheading a U.S.-backed campaign against the Islamic State that ended with the extremist group losing most of its territory in 2019. Tens of thousands of foreign women and children with ties to the extremist group are held in separate camps in northeast Syria under dire conditions. Kurdish authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have called on the 60 countries from which the Islamic State fighters and their relatives came to repatriate foreign nationals. Some countries such as Germany and the Netherlands have repatriated some citizens who fought with the jihadists.”

Iraq

The National: Iraq Accuses 'Terrorist Groups' Of Launching 45 Attacks On Electricity Network

“Iraq's army said that 45 electricity pylons have been targeted by “terrorist groups” in recent months creating “security concerns” as the country’s power grids hang by a thread amid a scorching heatwave. On Friday, a major power line failure led to a power cut that angered millions of Iraqis as the government struggles to deal with stretched public services and dilapidated infrastructure. Four southern provinces have been without electricity since June 29, including Basra, home to Iraq's main port, and rising temperatures are compounded by high levels of humidity. “Nearly 45 transmission lines have been targeted by terrorists in the past few days, which have been repaired,” the representative of Iraq’s Joint Operation Command Maj Gen Tahsin Al Khafaji told state media. Gen Al Khafaji blamed ISIS militant group and said it was seeking to create panic throughout the country by targeting power lines during summer. A joint operation between security forces and the electricity ministry was formed to discuss ways to tackle the widespread power cuts, involving members of the army, police and the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Units, Gen Al Khafaji said. This comes as an electrical plant that feeds power to a water supply line into Karkh neighbourhood in Baghdad was blown up on Monday, the electricity ministry said, leaving thousands of people without electricity and water.”

Afghanistan

The Wall Street Journal: Taliban Find New Revenues As They Seize Afghanistan’s U.S.-Built Border Gateway

“The Taliban have gained a lucrative new source of income, taking over the main trade gateway into Tajikistan, and beginning to collect customs revenues, as some of Afghanistan’s neighbors tacitly cooperate with the insurgent group. The American-built Sher Khan Bandar crossing, north of the city of Kunduz, fell to the Taliban on June 22, with 134 border guards and other Afghan government troops fleeing to neighboring Tajikistan. Since then, the insurgents have seized most of the rest of Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan. Nearly 1,000 Afghan troops sought refuge in Tajikistan on Sunday and Monday, surrendering the second principal crossing, Ishkashim. Instead of shutting down after the insurgent takeover, the Sher Khan Bandar complex has remained operational, with tacit understandings reached between the Taliban and Tajikistan, according to local traders. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the group had reached out to the governments of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan after taking over several border areas in June. “We informed all these governments and assured them that the routine work of the border, the customs, will be running as before,” Mr. Shaheen said in an interview.”

Associated Press: Taliban Take Districts In NE Afghanistan From Fleeing Troops

“The Taliban’s march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum overnight with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces, several hundred of whom fled across the border into Tajikistan, officials said Sunday. More than 300 Afghan military personnel crossed from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province as Taliban fighters advanced toward the border, Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said in a statement. The Afghan troops crossed over at about 6:30 p.m. local time Saturday. “Guided by the principles of humanism and good neighborliness,” the Tajik authorities allowed the retreating Afghan National Defense and Security Forces to cross into Tajikistan, said the statement/ Since mid-April, when U.S. President Joe Biden announced the end to Afghanistan’s “forever war,” the Taliban have made strides throughout the country. But their most significant gains have been in the northern half of the country, a traditional stronghold of the U.S.-allied warlords who helped defeat them in 2001. The Taliban now control roughly a third of all 421 districts and district centers in Afghanistan.”

Pakistan

Associated Press: Pakistan: 5 Suspected Militants Killed In Raid On Hideout

“Security forces shot five suspected militants to death Monday during a raid on their hideout near Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta, a spokesman for a counter-terrorism department said. In a brief statement, it said there was an exchange of gunfire during the raid and officers seized weapons from the militant hideout after the successful operation. Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, which has been the scene of frequent militant attacks and a long-running insurgency by small separatist groups that seek independence for the mineral- and gas-rich province bordering borders Iran and Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban also have a presence there.”

Middle East

Associated Press: Israel Sentences Palestinian Woman Over Hezbollah Contacts

“An Israeli court on Sunday sentenced a Palestinian woman from east Jerusalem to 30 months in prison, probation and a fine after she acknowledged aiding Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group over several years. As part of a plea bargain, Yasmine Jaber was convicted after she admitted to charges of association with a foreign agent, membership in a terrorist organization and other terror-related charges. The charge sheet said that she was in contact with two Hezbollah agents on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. She was invited by one of them to attend a conference on the Palestinian cause in Beirut. She traveled there in 2015 and again in 2016 in violation of Israeli law, and maintained contact with Hezbollah operatives over several years, it said. The Jerusalem District Court judge said in her ruling that she was handing down a relatively lenient sentence because Jaber acknowledged her actions, took responsibility and has no prior record. The court sentenced Jaber to 30 months in prison starting August 4, 12 months of probation and a 5,000-shekel ($1,500) fine. In August 2020, the Shin Bet internal security service said Jaber was recruited by Hezbollah operatives at a conference in 2015 and asked to recruit others in east Jerusalem.”

Nigeria

Sahara Reporters: Boko Haram Terrorists Abduct Catholic Priest In Borno

“Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists have kidnapped a Catholic Priest with the Dioceses of Maiduguri, Reverend Fr. Elijah Juma Wada. SaharaReporters gathered that Wada was abducted on Damboa-Maiduguri Road last Wednesday. He was said to be travelling from Buma Parish in Shani to Damaturu for the 10th anniversary thanksgiving Mass of his friend, Rev. Fr Yakubu Inda Philibus at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Damaturu. A Facebook user, Manasseh Comfort Dooshima also confirmed the incident. “Please, My dear Facebook friends let's pray for the release of this Man of God by name Rev .Fr Elijah Juma Wada who was kidnapped by Boko Haram in Borno State. He is a Catholic priest with the diocese of Maiduguri. God have mercy on your servant,” she said. This is not the first time Boko Haram terrorists will kidnap a cleric. In December 2020, Bulus Yakura, a pastor of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) was kidnapped after the insurgents attacked Pemi village, Chibok. Also, in January 2020, Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), in Michika LGA of Adamawa was kidnapped and killed by the insurgents.”

Somalia

The New York Times: Suicide Explosion Kills 10, Injures Dozens In Somalia

“At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured in a suicide explosion in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Friday evening, the authorities said, the second such attack to rock the city in weeks as the country enters a crucial election season. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a cafe close to the well-known Juba Hotel, which is in a strategic area that houses government ministries and the intelligence headquarters. The cafe, frequented by members of the Somali security forces, was crowded with patrons when the attack took place, officials said. The Somali government blamed the terrorist group Al Shabab, and the group itself took responsibility, saying that it had targeted intelligence, police and military forces. Al Shabab claimed the blast killed at least 15 people and wounded 22 others. Somali security officials did not respond to multiple requests for information on whether government officers might have been killed or injured in the attack. “Once again Al Shabaab has proven that their violence has no bounds and will kill indiscriminately,” Somalia’s Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism said in a statement on Saturday. Al Shabab, the ministry added, strives “to cause pain, destruction and chaos. These ideals have no place in a free Somalia.”

Mali

Reuters: Mali Says Four Soldiers Killed In Ambush By Suspected Militants

“Four soldiers were killed when their patrol was ambushed by suspected militants in central Mali on Sunday, the army said in a statement. The region is where Mali is battling Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The army said in a statement that the patrol was ambushed near the town of Lere on Sunday morning. “The provisional toll is at four soldiers killed,” it said. The attack comes as France, which has deployed over 5,000 counter-terrorism soldiers in Mali to help combat militants, said on Friday that it has resumed jointed military operations with Mali after they were suspended following a coup.”

Euronews: France Resumes Military Operations With Mali Amid Terror Threat

“Just one month after Paris suspended bilateral cooperation with Mali following a coup in the West African nation, France said on Friday that it would resume joint military operations with Bamako after all. “Following consultations with the Malian transitional authorities and the countries of the region (...) France decided to resume joint military operations as well as national advisory missions, which had been suspended since June 3,” the French Defence Ministry said in a statement. The statement cited the terror threat as the reason for the resumption of operations. “The objectives of terrorist groups are the establishment, throughout West Africa, of radical Islamism as well as the regression of freedoms and human rights. France remains fully committed to opposing them with its European and American allies, alongside Sahel countries and international missions,” the French Defence Ministry said. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the official end of Operation Barkhane, a seven-year mission against jihadist groups linked to al-Qaida and the so-called Islamic State group in the Sahel. The European country is preparing to reduce its more than 5,000 troops in the coming months.”

United Kingdom

The Independent: Associate Of London Bridge Attacker Jailed Over 9/11 Anniversary Video

“A known extremist has been jailed for sharing a video glorifying terrorism on the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities. Shakil Chapra, 43, who also goes by the alias Abu Haleema, has links with London Bridge attacker Khuram Butt and, Kingston Crown Court heard, joined the banned al-Muhajiroun (ALM) group, led by notorious extremist Anjem Choudary, 54, in 2013. “You are to be sentenced for a single count of distributing a terrorist publication - posting a video agreed to give indirect glorification to and thus encouragement of terrorism,” the judged told Chapra, who pleaded guilty to disseminating a terrorist publication in March. On Friday, Judge Peter Lodder QC sentenced Chapra, from Slough, to two-and-half years in jail, with an extra 12 months on extended licence, Press Association has reported. “From at least 2013, when you joined ALM, you have held extreme Islamic views,” the judge added. Last November. Chapra was arrested for his link to Shehroz Iqbal, 29, who was jailed for eight-and-a-half years at the Old Bailey last year, having been found guilty of encouraging terrorism. The court found messages from Chapra on a 22-strong WhatsApp group for extremists, named From Dark to Light, on Iqbals phone.”

The Independent: Three-Quarters Of Children Arrested On Suspicion Of Terror Offences Are Far-Right Extremists

“Three quarters of children arrested on suspicion of terror offences in Britain are far-right extremists, police have said as parents are urged to be aware of online radicalisation. New figures show that of the 21 under-18s arrested in the year to April, 15 were linked to extreme right-wing terrorism. Statistics show that 13 per cent of all terror suspects detained are now children, up from 5 per cent in a year. A Counter Terrorism Policing spokesperson said: “This worrying growth has been occurring since 2015, why young people under the age of 24 accounted for less than 20 per cent of extreme right-wing terrorism arrests – in 2020 they accounted for nearly 60 per cent.” The remaining six teenagers are believed to include jihadists but a further breakdown was not available. Several children have previously been prosecuted over attack plots, including a 17-year-old boy who was jailed for preparing acts of neo-Nazi terrorism in November. Paul Dunleavy had researched how to convert a blank-firing gun into a live weapon, and provided “advice and encouragement” to fellow extremists online.”

Europe

Reuters: Italy Arrests Four Suspected Of Sending Funds To Islamic State

“Italian police said on Monday they had arrested four men accused of sending funds to people across Europe and the Middle East who were collecting on behalf of Islamic State, in an investigation that led to a larger suspected terrorism-funding network. The four men were suspected of wiring 30,000 euros in total from a money transfer agency in the southeastern Italian town of Andria to 42 collectors of funds for militants, in countries including Serbia, Germany, Turkey, Jordan, Thailand and Russia. Subsequent investigations showed the same 42 collectors had received as much as 1 million euros in suspicious transfers from other sources, said Luca Cioffi, a colonel in the Italian tax police. The payments made by the men arrested on Monday included 5,000 euros sent to two Russians, days before an attack on a church in southern Russia that killed five women, Cioffi said. Investigators were still trying to determine the source of the funds: “The people arrested today are unemployed and have no income, so investigations are still ongoing to identify who was giving them money to send abroad”, Cioffi told Reuters.”

Euronews: Belarus Says It Has Dismantled 'Terrorist Sleeper Cells' With Ties To West

“Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said “terrorist sleeper cells” linked to the West and allegedly preparing a coup were dismantled on Friday. “Terrorist sleeper cells were dismantled today,” Lukashenko said, cited by his press office. The authoritarian leader claimed the cells had ties to Germany, Ukraine, the United States, Poland and Lithuania, and plotted to “overthrow the regime by violence.” According to Lukashenko, “a huge number of weapons were pouring into Belarus from Ukraine,” which prompted him to order Belarusian border guards to “permanently close the border with Ukraine”. He added that the cells' activities were coordinated via a Telegram channel dubbed “Self-defence regiments of Belarus” which had 2,500 subscribers and belonged to a German citizen. The cells recently tried to detonate a Russian naval communication centre located in the Belarusian town of Vileika, about 100 kilometres northwest of Minsk, according to the Belarusian leader. “All the participants in this terrorist act (...) were found within 48 hours and arrested,” he said. The German government repeatedly refused to comment on Lukashenko's allegations at a press conference.”

Technology

BBC News: Facebook Tests Extremist Content Warning Messages

“Facebook is testing a feature in the US that asks users if they are worried somebody they know is becoming an extremist. Other users may also receive an alert saying they may have been exposed to extremist content. The trial messages are part of Facebook’s Redirect Initiative which aims to combat extremism. The pop-ups redirect users to a support page. “This test is part of our larger work to assess ways to provide resources and support to people on Facebook who may have engaged with or were exposed to extremist content or may know someone who is at risk,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. The tech firm is working with non-governmental organisations and academic experts on this project, she added. Screenshots of the pop-ups were posted on social media. One asked: “Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?” “You may have been exposed to harmful extremist content recently,” another said. “Violent groups try to manipulate your anger and disappointment. “You can take action now to protect yourself and others.” Both prompts direct users to a page with support related to extremism. Facebook said tests identified both users who may have been exposed to rule-breaking extremist content, and users who had previously been the subject of enforcement on the platform.”