Eye on Extremism - May 12, 2021

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Eye on Extremism - May 12, 2021
By: Counter Extremism Project
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of May 12, 2021:

Voice Of America: US Sanctions Seven Lebanese Linked To Hezbollah

“The United States has sanctioned seven Lebanese nationals it says are linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, and its financial arm, Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH). In a Treasury Department press release Tuesday, the seven were listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). “From the highest levels of Hezbollah’s financial apparatus to working level individuals,” Hezbollah “continues to abuse the Lebanese financial sector and drain Lebanon’s financial resources at an already dire time,” said Andrea Gacki, the director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. She said such actions demonstrate Hezbollah’s “disregard for financial stability, transparency, or accountability in Lebanon.” One of those sanctioned is Ibrahim Ali Daher, who “serves as the Chief of Hezbollah’s Central Finance Unit, which oversees Hezbollah’s overall budget and spending, including the group’s funding of its terrorist operations and killing of the group’s opponents,” Treasury said. Ahmad Mohamad Yazbeck, Abbas Hassan Gharib, Wahid Mahmud Subayti, Mostafa Habib Harb, Ezzat Youssef Akar and Hasan Chehadeh Othman were also blacklisted.”

Associated Press: Israel, Hamas Escalate Heavy Fighting With No End In Sight

“Israel stepped up its attacks on the Gaza Strip, flattening a high-rise building used by the Hamas militant group and killing at least three militants in their hideouts on Tuesday as Palestinian rockets rained down almost nonstop on parts of Israel. It was the heaviest fighting between the bitter enemies since 2014, and it showed no signs of slowing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to expand the offensive, while Gaza militants unleashed a fierce late-night barrage of rockets that set off air-raid sirens and explosions throughout the densely populated Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Just after daybreak Wednesday, Israel unleashed dozens of airstrikes in the course of a few minutes, targeting police and security installations, witnesses said. A wall of dark gray smoke rose over Gaza City. Iyad al-Bozum, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said airstrikes destroyed the central police headquarters in Gaza City, a compound with several buildings. Five Israelis, including three women and a child, were killed by rocket fire Tuesday and early Wednesday, and dozens of people wounded. The death toll in Gaza rose to 35 Palestinians, including 10 children, according to the Health Ministry. Over 200 people were wounded.”

United States

Yahoo News: Exclusive: Attorney General To Detail New Guidelines For Domestic Terrorism Investigations And Cases

“U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected in his testimony before Congress on Wednesday morning to highlight new Department of Justice guidelines for investigations and cases related to domestic terrorism. The new guidelines, as outlined in a Justice Department memo obtained by Yahoo News, represent significant changes to how cases and investigations into domestic violent extremism are handled by federal prosecutors around the country, and put in place procedures for tracking those cases. The guidelines were sent to federal prosecutors nationwide in a March 8 memorandum from acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin. The three-page memo is titled “Guidance Regarding Investigations and Cases Related to Domestic Violent Extremism.” Among other changes outlined in the memo, “prosecutors must submit for review and approval” to the Justice Department Counterterrorism Section in the National Security Division any charges and associated court filings that link a case to domestic violent extremism. The Counterterrorism Section “in its review shall seek to ensure accuracy and consistency in such descriptions in filings nationwide,” the memo says. The memo also sets out policies for standardizing data collection on domestic terrorism cases.”

CNN: Four Key Takeaways On The US Government Response To The Pipeline Ransomware Attack

“Senior cybersecurity officials testified before a key Senate committee on Tuesday after one of the nation's largest pipeline operators was hit by an ongoing major ransomware attack that forced the company to shut down operations. CNN has learned that federal agencies and private cybersecurity firms are investigating the attack on Colonial Pipeline but lawmakers made clear that the incident only adds to their broader concerns about hackers who are increasingly exploiting vulnerabilities in US infrastructure. Here are some key takeaways from the hearing and CNN's reporting on the government's response to the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. A top Biden administration cybersecurity official warned the Senate hearing that cyberattacks on the nation's infrastructure are “growing more sophisticated, frequent and aggressive.” “Malicious cyber actors today are dedicating time and resources towards researching, stealing, and exploiting vulnerabilities, using more complex attacks to avoid detection and developing new techniques to target information and communication technology supply chains,” acting Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Brandon Wales told the Senate Homeland Committee, whose hearing was focused on a spate of recent incidents impacting the US.”

Politico: DHS Stands Up Domestic Terror Intelligence Team

“When President Joe Biden addressed Congress last month, he said white supremacist terrorism is the greatest threat to the U.S. Now, as the White House prepares to release its report on domestic terrorism, the Department of Homeland Security is also continuing to shift its focus to domestic threats. The Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence arm is setting up a dedicated team to focus on domestic terrorism, two DHS officials told POLITICO. The team will have several full-time personnel. DHS is also renaming and refocusing a separate office that has drawn criticism for its prior work fighting extremism. The moves come as the department is increasing its focus on domestic terrorism and violent threats. DHS is grappling with the growing threat of domestic terrorism, particularly attacks perpetrated by white supremacists. The Biden administration and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have made countering the threat a top priority and launched an internal review scrutinizing domestic extremism in the department’s ranks. Earlier this year, DHS sent out its first-ever National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin about domestic terrorism. But addressing the threat presents complex challenges, and groups representing American Muslims and others focused on civil rights aren’t yet convinced the department will get it right.”

USA Today: Suspect In Atlanta-Area Spa Killings Indicted On Murder, Domestic Terror Charges, Could Face Hate Crimes

“The suspect in a string of fatal shootings at Atlanta-area massage parlors was indicted Tuesday on domestic terror and murder charges, and prosecutors signaled they will also seek hate crime charges – something advocates have been pushing since the March slayings rattled the Asian-American community. Robert Aaron Long was officially indicted by a Fulton County grand jury in the fatal shootings of four people killed at two spas in Atlanta: Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. The indictment does not cover the four others who were killed at another massage parlor in Cherokee County. The indictment charges Long with one count of domestic terrorism, four counts of murder, four counts of felony murder, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The domestic terrorism charge – which isn't frequently used against in mass shooting cases due to legal red tape – says Long committed a series of illegal acts “which were interrelated by distinguishing characteristics, with the intent to cause serious bodily harm and to kill individuals and groups of individuals, and with the intent to intimidate the civilian population of this state and of its political subdivisions.”

Syria

Asharq Al-Awsat: Syrian Regime Forces, ISIS Clash In Hama

“The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported violent clashes in the eastern countryside of Hama between regime forces and their proxy militants and ISIS. The clashes were mainly in the countryside of al-Rahjan, during which four pro-regime militants were killed, in addition to one ISIS member, and a civilian who was shot. The Observatory said ISIS’ activity has increased throughout the Syrian desert, and the regime forces and affiliated militias are trying to counter their attacks. The Observatory documented the death of seven members of regime forces and militants, when two land mines exploded in the Jabal al-Amour area, to the west of the al-Sukhnah area in the eastern desert of Homs. The death toll is expected to increase with more than 18 fighters injured, some critically. The war monitor has documented 1,419 deaths in the ranks of regime forces and loyalist militants, both Syrian and non-Syrian, from March 24 until this day. They include at least two Russians and 149 non-Syrian militants loyal to Iran, all of whom were killed during ISIS attacks, bombings and ambushes in the region west of the Euphrates, Deir Ezzor desert, Raqqa, Homs, Sweida, Hama and Aleppo.”

Iraq

Voice Of America: Islamic State Increases Attacks On Iraqi And Kurdish Forces

“The Islamic State terror group has increased its attacks on Iraqi and Kurdish security forces, killing nearly two dozen people in the last month, according to Iraqi officials. Local government sources and public statements show that a wave of IS bombings and hit-and-run attacks, affecting largely the territories disputed between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Region, have killed at least 21 people and wounded dozens more. Jabar Yawar, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Peshmerga forces, warned of a new and deadlier IS strategy. “Daesh has changed its tactics,” Yawar told VOA, using the Arabic acronym for IS. He said the group has shifted away “from large-scale attacks to smaller and targeted ones that have left casualties among the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army.” The rise in deadly attacks by the radical Sunni group is concerning for Iraqi and Kurdish security officials amid persistent domestic pressure to dismiss the U.S.-led foreign troops in the country. They say IS has remained active, despite regular airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition, because foiling smaller-scale insurgency attacks is challenging.”

Turkey

Associated Press: Iran: Clash Near Turkey Kills 2 Guard Troops, 7 Militants

“Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard forces on Tuesday killed seven militants and dismantled their cell in the country’s northwest near the border with Turkey, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported. Two Guard members were also killed in the shootout. IRNA said the “group of terrorists” had snuck into Iran illegally from Turkey. The clash took place around noon in the city of Salmas in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, according to the repot. The city is located about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northwest of the capital, Tehran. The area has seen occasional fighting between Iranian forces and Kurdish separatists as well as militants linked to the extremist Islamic State group. In November, unknown gunmen killed three and wounded two Iranian border guards in the province.”

Al Monitor: Talk Of Kurdish Weddings Code For Terror Plots, Turkish Prosecutors Say

“Justice remains elusive for Metin Kilicaslan, a wedding singer from the mainly Kurdish province of Siirt in southeast Turkey who’s been languishing in a Turkish prison since 2015 on charges of membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He tracks his days spent in jail by his daughter’s birthdays. She was newly born when Kilicaslan was hauled away into the sort of legal inferno that has beset Turkey’s increasingly politicized, massively overburdened and cruelly arbitrary judicial system. The evidence used to convict Kilicaslan, 31, includes mobile text messages in which a friend tells him, “There’s a wedding in our neighborhood.” He responds, “I know bro.” The exchange was declared a secret code used to organize a terrorist plot. Kilicaslan’s lawyer, Cihan Toprak, called the case against him a “mockery of justice.” Kilicaslan’s troubles date back to 2013, when Kurdish youth hurled rocks at security forces across the predominantly Kurdish southeast region to protest their heavy-handed tactics and to signal support for the PKK. He was arrested along with 25 others, many of them juveniles, on charges of violently resisting police, organizing illegal demonstrations and throwing Molotov cocktails and similar devices to attack police.”

Afghanistan

Reuters: Taliban Capture Key District Near Afghan Capital

“Taliban insurgents captured a key district just outside the Afghan capital Kabul in central Wardak province, forcing government forces to retreat, security officials said on Tuesday. The seizure of Nerkh district comes amid intensifying violence following an announcement by the Islamist group of a three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan for the Muslim religious holiday of Eid, starting this week. Tariq Arian, an interior ministry spokesman, said government troops made a “tactical retreat” from the district centre, which is a gateway to Kabul, after a heavy firefight with the Taliban. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, wrote on Twitter that they had killed and captured some members of the Afghan security forces after seizing the district. He added that they had also seized a large cache of ammunition. The Afghan government did not comment on casualties among the security forces. The Taliban have dug in in Wardak, which lies less than an hour’s drive west of Kabul, and in nearby Logar province to the south. Afghan officials say the Taliban have used the provinces - gateways to the capital - as launchpads for hit-and-run attacks and suicide bombings on Kabul. Kabul has been on high alert since Washington announced plans last month to pull out all U.S. troops by Sept. 11, with Afghan officials saying the Taliban stepped up attacks across the country following the announcement.”

Middle East

The New York Times: More Than 30 Dead In Gaza And Israel As Fighting Quickly Escalates

“The worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years intensified on Tuesday night, as Israeli airstrikes began targeting Hamas offices in Gaza City and militants in Gaza fired rockets at the metropolis of Tel Aviv, the southern city of Ashkelon and Israel’s main airport. In Gaza, at least 35 Palestinians, including 10 children, had been killed by Tuesday night, and 203 others were wounded, according to health officials. In Israel, five people were killed in strikes on Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and Lod, and at least 100 were wounded, according to medical officials. Away from the military conflict, a wave of civil unrest spread across Arab neighborhoods as Palestinian citizens of Israel expressed fury at the killings in Gaza and longstanding complaints of discrimination inside Israel itself. While the surge in strikes, the worst since 2014, brought fear to millions in Gaza and Israel, they nevertheless bolstered an unlikely pair: Hamas, the Islamist militant group that runs the Gaza Strip, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. For Hamas, the conflict has allowed it to revitalize its claims to the leadership of Palestinian resistance.”

Egypt

Asharq Al-Awsat: Egypt Postpones Trial Of ISIS Terrorists Till June

“Egypt postponed the trial of 21 ISIS members to June 12 in the case known as the “ISIS Imbaba Cell II” in the Giza governorate. One of the accused faces the charge of assuming the leadership of a terrorist group that aims to disrupt public order, endanger the safety of society, attack the general freedom of citizens, assault members of the armed forces and the police, harm national unity and social cohesion, and target churches. The Public Prosecution charged the defendants with joining a terrorist group and committing terrorist financing crimes by possessing, supplying, and providing the group with money and information. Meanwhile, the Cairo East Criminal Court delayed once again announcing the verdict in the case known in the media as “Filming the Belbeis airbase” for May 17th. In 2017, an Egyptian court sentenced nine defendants to life imprisonment, and four to temporary imprisonment. It also sentenced four defendants to 10 years in prison, and four others were sentenced to five years. They were also accused of receiving, by illegal means, one of the country’s defense secrets by taking photos of Belbeis airbase in preparation for targeting it.”

Nigeria

All Africa: G7 Nations Pledge Millions To Assist In Boko Haram Fight

“The G7 group of countries, comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the U.S. has pledged U.S.$389 million to assist millions of people affected by Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria. The British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Catriona Laing said: “the G7 agreed to support the UN to more than double its plans to tackle drought, epidemics, and other catastrophes before they strike.” In March 2021, the UN launched an appeal fund for U.S.$1 billion to help more than eight million vulnerable people in Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency has killed approximately 36,000 people and displaced about two million people in Nigeria since 2009.”

United Kingdom

Yahoo News: Student Denies Posting From Extremist Twitter Account

“A neo-Nazi student was responsible for a string of tweets, including an anti-Jewish post on Remembrance Day which featured a picture of a German SS soldier, a court has heard. Andrew Dymock, 23, allegedly promoted the extremist right-wing group System Resistance Network (SRN) through a Twitter account and a website before it was banned. The defendant, from Bath in Somerset, has denied being behind the accounts and claimed he was “set up”, the Old Bailey has previously heard. On Tuesday, jurors were shown a stream of SRN tweets which included images that were later recovered from devices seized from Dymock’s bedroom. On November 11 2017, a tweet featuring an image of a German SS soldier hailed those who fought for “Europe’s freedom against Jewish Bolshevism and Capitalism”. It stated: “Their sacrifice shall not be in vain. Hail victory. #11November #RemembranceDay.” Jurors viewed other tweets which contained homophobic, racist, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic language. On November 23 2017, the SRN account tweeted about the former military commander Ratko Mladic the day after he was convicted of war crimes, claiming he “did nothing wrong.”

France

Voice Of America: France, Britain Fearful Of Resurgent Jihadist Threat After Lockdown

“Nearly 200 jihadists imprisoned in France are due to be released over the next two years and French security officials are pressing French lawmakers to approve fresh antiterrorist measures to impose enhanced restrictions on those freed and to give police new legal powers to fight terrorism. British officials, likewise, are fearful of a resurgent jihadist threat and are considering overhauling Britain’s 650-year-old treason law to make it easier to prosecute militants returning from Syria and Iraq. And it is not only returnees from the Levant who are preoccupying European security officials. During the pandemic jihadist assaults have subsided — the consequence, officials think, of society-wide lockdowns and other travel restrictions that have stymied would-be attackers. The lack of crowds and public events have also deprived militants of high-profile targets. But in the meantime there has been increased activity online by radical Islamists, according to security officials. Neil Basu, assistant commissioner for specialist operations at London’s Metropolitan Police told The Times newspaper this week that he fears large numbers of vulnerable and marginalized youngsters have been trapped online during lockdowns and surfing increased amounts of propaganda that have been posted online during the pandemic.”

Southeast Asia

Associated Press: Suspected Militants Kill 4 People In Indonesian Village

“Five suspected militants killed four people in an Indonesian village on Tuesday, beheading one of them, officials said. The attackers also burned a motorcycle that belonged to one of the victims in Kalemago village in Central Sulawesi province's Poso district, they said. A witness said the attackers were believed to be members of the East Indonesia Mujahideen group, Central Sulawesi spokesperson Didik Supranoto said. He said police and military officers are searching for the perpetrators. It was unclear why the villagers were targeted. In November, members of East Indonesia Mujahideen killed four people and burned seven houses in a village in Sigi district. Security operations in Central Sulawesi have been intensified in recent months to try to capture East Indonesia Mujahideen members. The group’s former leader, Abu Wardah Santoso, was killed in a shootout with security forces in 2016. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has conducted a sustained crackdown on Islamic militants since bombings on the tourist island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. Attacks on foreigners have been largely replaced by smaller, less deadly strikes targeting the government, police and anti-terrorism forces.”