Eye on Extremism - August 3, 2021

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Eye on Extremism - August 3, 2021
By: Counter Extremism Project - 08-03-21
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of August 3, 2021:

Voice Of America: 7 Years After Islamic State Genocide, Yazidi Survivors Still Seeking Justice

“When Lamiya Haji Bashar, 23, was trying to escape Islamic State (IS) captivity, she lost her sight in a landmine explosion that also scarred her face. Bashar was 16 when IS militants rampaged through the Iraqi town of Sinjar in 2014, killing thousands of Yazidi men and forcing young women into sex slavery. The United Nations has called the onslaught a campaign of genocide against the Kurdish religious minority. Currently living in Germany where she is undergoing rehabilitation, Bashar has become a vocal advocate for Yazidi women and girls. “Seven years have passed, and our demands haven’t yet been met,” Bashar told VOA. “Sinjar hasn’t been rebuilt to allow people to return. People have been tired of living in tent camps. Many of our girls, women and children haven’t been rescued from Daesh,” she said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. In 2016, Bashar won the Sakharov Prize, which the European Parliament awards to people or groups that fight for human rights. Although IS’s so-called caliphate no longer exists, rights groups say there are nearly 2,600 Yazidi women and girls still missing. 104 Yazidi killed by the Islamic State group six years ago were given a proper burial in a cemetery in Sinjar's Kocho village in the country's north.”

The Independent: Streatham Terror Attacker Said Was ‘Not Finished With Non-Believers’ Days Before Release From Prison, Inquest Hears

“A terrorist who launched an attack after being released from prison declared that he was “not finished with non-believers” days before he was freed. Sudesh Amman, a 20-year-old Isis supporter, stabbed two people before being shot dead in the London district of Streatham on 2 February 2020. It came 10 days after he was released from prison after serving a sentence for terror offences, having encouraged his girlfriend to behead her parents and declared his own wish to carry out an attack. Detective Superintendent Dominic Murphy, of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said Amman “appeared to retain his extremist mindset and wish to carry out an attack” while in prison. He had originally been arrested in May 2018 on suspicion of planning a terror attack, but was charged with lesser offences relating to Isis propaganda. In December 2019, handwritten notes were found in his cell that appeared to show a pledge of allegiance to the leader of Isis, Det Supt Murphy said. Amman was put in segregation after joining a protest at HMP Belmarsh in January 2020, and police received a report that he told a fellow inmate he was “not finished with these non-believers yet”. The inquest heard that a senior Metropolitan Police officer expressed concerns about Amman’s release to prison officials and asked if his sentence could be extended, but was told it could not.”

United States

Newsweek: 'Domestic Extremism' Is Greatest Terror Threat Facing Us, Says DHS Secretary Mayorkas

“Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday the most significant terror threat the United States faces currently is from within the nation's own borders. Mayorkas, who appeared on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports, on Monday was asked by Mitchell if "as a result of the January 6 attack" his department was doing enough to identify extremists domestically. "We are very focused on this, this is one of our highest priorities," Mayorkas answered. "Domestic violent extremism is the greatest terrorist-related threat we face on the homeland." Mayorkas went on to identify DHS's creation of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnership (CP3) as a major step in fighting domestic terrorism, citing more than $77 billion in grant funding given over to "address this really great threat." Mayorkas took aim at some of the domestic terror groups Mitchell brought up in the interview, including QAnon and the Proud Boys. "I think there's one thing, a very important thing, that the American public should know—that these are not really well-organized groups that are hierarchical in nature as one might think of a terrorist organization in the foreign terrorist traditional sense," Mayorkas said.”

Syria

Al Monitor: Intel: US-Led Coalition Reaffirms Support For Prisons Holding IS Fighters In Northeast Syria

“The American commander of the US-led military coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS) reaffirmed international support for Syria’s Kurdish-led fighters on Sunday, announcing new aid to help secure prisons holding IS detainees. Speaking at a conference in the Syrian city of Hasakah, Lt. Gen. Paul Calvert highlighted additional assistance to upgrade detention centers run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Shadadi and Suwwar. Calvert also noted recent international support for the People's Protection Units (YPG) annex at the notorious al-Hol internment camp, which houses tens of thousands of family members of IS fighters in conditions UN-appointed rights experts have described as “squalid.” Included in the assistance is some $20 million from the UK government to upgrade the main prison holding IS fighters near Hasakah, Calvert said, adding the coalition expects “that project will be completed in September.” The Hasakah prison was the scene of at least two riots by IS fighters last year. In one of the incidents, detainees escaped the main holding cell but did not break out of the compound itself.”

Kurdistan 24: Syrian Democratic Forces Arrest 4 ISIS Suspects In Deir Al-Zor

“The US-led Coalition on Monday confirmed that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested four ISIS suspects with Coalition Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) support. “4 terrorists were arrested, making the surrounding area safer & secure. The Coalition will continue working w/ our SDF partners to create conditions where Daesh [ISIS] cannot thrive again,” Wayne Marotto, Spokesman for the US-led Coalition, said in a tweet on Monday. The SDF's Coordination and Military Operations Center, in a tweet on Sunday, added that weapons and equipment were confiscated during the operation. SDF counter-terrorism units carried out two other security operations this week that led to the arrest of two suspected ISIS leaders in southern Hasakah, the SDF Press Centre said on Saturday. In a separate operation on July 27, the SDF arrested four more ISIS suspects in the Deir al-Zor region. Although the SDF and the coalition announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in Syria in March 2019, sleeper cell attacks persist in what appears to be a deliberate campaign to destabilize northeastern parts of the nation, primarily in cities, towns, and rural tracts of land once under the extremist group’s control.”

Afghanistan

CNN: Taliban Take Over TV Station In Strategic City As US Airstrikes Pound Key Positions In Afghanistan

“The Taliban have taken over a TV station in Afghanistan's strategic Helmand province, a source at the TV and radio station told CNN on Monday, marking the latest of a series of advances by the militant group in the country. The Helmand TV station, located in the city of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, is operated by state-run Radio and Television Afghanistan. Local journalists in Lashkar Gah say there is nothing currently being broadcast over the station. In a text message to CNN, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said the group has taken over the station. The incident comes as the United States has ramped up airstrikes against the Taliban in a bid to turn back the militants' advances on a number of key provincial capitals in Afghanistan, a senior Afghan security official said Monday. Over the past 72 hours, US airstrikes have targeted Taliban positions around the cities of Herat, Kandahar and Lashkar Gah, the official said. "They strike multiple times when the Taliban try to enter the city," the official said, adding that the three cities were considered "endangered" by Taliban advances. American officials have recently confirmed that US airstrikes are active in Afghanistan again, which are now averaging between one and five strikes a day, a US defense official told CNN on Monday.”

The Independent: Afghanistan’s New Great Game: Militant Groups And Foreign Powers Are Swooping To Secure A Stake In The Country

“As the US and the west retreat from Afghanistan, new players are being drawn into the country’s violent conflict and its bitterly divisive politics in the latest version of the “Great Game”, with unforeseen and potentially highly dangerous consequences for the region and beyond. New alliances are being formed and old enmities revived between states and armed groups hovering for a division of the spoils amid continued strife in the country. The Afghan government is struggling to counter a Taliban offensive, following the pull-out of US-led forces. One example of the new reality is what is happening at the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Tajik government has reacted to the Tajik Taliban being handed a strategic strip inside Afghanistan by the Afghan Taliban, by rushing 20,000 troops to the border between the two countries. Another is the effect on Pakistani militants. The Pakistani Taliban has declared that the “victory” of its allies, the Afghan Taliban – which has long had the support of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services – has inspired it to escalate its own jihad against the Pakistani state. Then there is the increasingly important China factor.”

Egypt

The Defense Post: Egypt Army Says 89 Insurgents Killed In Restive Sinai

“Egypt’s military said Sunday it has killed 89 suspected insurgents in operations in North Sinai, a region where an affiliate of the Islamic State group has been active for nearly a decade. “Amid ongoing efforts in pursuing and defeating terrorist elements… during the previous period, the armed forces… carried out operations that killed 89 dangerous takfiris… in northern Sinai,” the army spokesperson said. His statement, using the term “takfiri” to refer to extremist Islamist militants, did not specify a timeframe for the operations, but said the army had suffered eight casualties. The army also said it destroyed 404 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), four explosive belts, and 13 tunnels used by militants to infiltrate Egyptian territory. Gruesome pictures of some of the slain suspected militants were published with the statement, along with a trove of confiscated weapons. Egyptian forces have for years fought an insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, led mainly by the local branch of the Islamic State group. Attacks have multiplied since the army’s 2013 ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Since February 2018, the authorities have been conducting a nationwide operation against Islamist militants, mainly focused on North Sinai and the country’s Western Desert.”

Nigeria

Vox: How Kidnap-For-Ransom Became The “Most Lucrative Industry In Nigeria”

“Since December, more than 1,000 Nigerian students and staff have been abducted and held for ransom by criminal gangs in the dense forests of the country’s remote northwest. These gangs, locally called bandits, have been operating in northwestern Nigeria for more than a decade, but when they were infiltrated by members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in December, the abductions and violence escalated. There are still 300 students who have not been returned to their families. Earlier this month, officials in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna took the drastic step of suspending all schooling out of concern for students’ safety. So why do these mass abductions keep happening? Well, for starters, “kidnap-for-ransom is the most lucrative industry in Nigeria today,” Bulama Bukarti, senior analyst in the extremism policy unit of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said. Not only has Bukarti studied violent extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa, including Boko Haram, for over a decade, he also hails from the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, just a mile away from where Boko Haram originated. So I called him up to find out more about why the Nigerian government has failed to rein in these bandits and stop the kidnappings and what, if anything, the international community can do to end the crisis. Our conversation, edited for length and clarity, is below.”

Somalia

Bloomberg: U.S. Steps Up Air Strikes Against Al-Qaeda Ally In Somalia

“The U. S. is expanding air strikes against members of a group affiliated to al-Qaeda who’ve intensified attacks in Somalia since hundreds of American troops exited the country earlier this year. The latest strike occurred close to the central towns of Bacadweyne and Geedaley on Sunday morning, hitting a position held by al-Shabaab militants who were engaging members of the Danab, an elite Somali commando force trained by the U.S., Somalia’s Information Ministry said. The remote attack was the third in less than two weeks and marked an escalation in counter-terrorism operations in the Horn of Africa nation since President Joe Biden took office in January. “The air strikes destroyed a large al-Shabaab firing position engaging Danab and Somali National Army forces as they approached,” the ministry said in a statement. An increasing number of al-Shabaab fighters had defected to join the Somali security forces as a result of the recent counter-terrorism measures, it said. A spokesperson for al-Shabaab didn’t respond to questions seeking comment, while a U.S. Department of Defense spokeswoman declined to comment on the strikes. Somalimemo, a pro-al-Shabaab media outlet, reported that the latest strike had no impact and the group’s militants remained in the area.”

Africa

Associated Press: Jihadis In Niger Attack Military Supply Mission, Killing 15

“Jihadi rebels in Niger attacked a military supply mission in the West African country’s southwest killing at least 15 soldiers and injuring seven others, the Ministry of Defense said Monday. At least six other soldiers remain missing after Saturday’s attack in the Torodi area of the Tillaberi region as defense and security forces were transporting supplies to Boni. The soldiers were ambushed by armed extremists, the ministry said, adding that “the rest of the elements, in their effort to evacuate their wounded comrades, fell on improvised explosive devices killing 15 soldiers and wounding seven.” Niger’s defense and security forces are searching the area, including with planes, to find and capture the attackers, the statement said. Jihadi groups linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaida are active in that part of Niger near the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso.”

Financial Times: Rwanda Joins Mozambican War To Fight Insurgents

“Rwandan soldiers have joined the fight against Islamist insurgents in Mozambique’s far north, as Maputo turns to regional armies for help in a conflict that has imperilled its development of multibillion dollar gas reserves. In late July a thousand-strong brigade of police and soldiers dispatched by Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame entered combat in the province of Cabo Delgado, where local forces have failed to stem a conflict that has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced about 800,000 since 2017. Mozambique’s president Filipe Nyusi has been under pressure to accept regional military aid since March, when the insurgents killed dozens in the coastal town of Palma and forced France’s Total to shutter a nearby LNG project. The insurgents have loose ties with Isis but are fighting to impose their own local brand of Islamism and capitalise on discontent in the country’s poorest region where few jobs are available for a frustrated young population. The elite of Frelimo, the ruling party that has controlled Mozambique since independence in 1975, dominated the province’s resource wealth, such as mining concessions, even before the natural gas developments of the last decade.”

Europe

Bloomberg: Poland On Alert After ‘Act Of Terror’ From Anti-Vaccine Group

“Polish authorities are preparing measures to confront violence inspired by anti-vaccine groups after an inoculation center was set ablaze overnight in a town in the country’s southeast. Health Minister Andrzej Niedzielski, who traveled to the site in the town of Zamosc on Monday, called the deed an “act of terror” against the state and “a clash of civilization against barbarity.” The incident is another example of the anti-vax movement becoming bolder in its attempts to undermine Poland’s inoculation campaign. Videos have spread on social media in recent days of people verbally abusing paramedics and vaccination center workers from other Polish towns. Poland has vaccinated nearly 17.5 million of its citizens, which authorities say is short of the goal needed to achieve herd immunity. The government hopes vaccinations will help reduce the scale of hospitalizations during a new wave of the pandemic that is expected to emerge in the coming weeks.”

Technology

Counter Terror Business: Online Communications, Real Life Consequences

“The advent of social media has been a boon for global terror. Terrorist groups use social media in myriad ways, from fundraising, radicalisation, and recruitment, to issuing threats, inciting violence, and planning attacks. Indeed, extremists’ rapid adoption of major tech platforms has been critical to the organisation, expansion, and success of terrorist networks. The results, as we all know, have been devastating. In 2019, far-right gunmen in Christchurch, New Zealand and El Paso, Texas killed 74 people between them. Both had been radicalised in online extremist echo-chambers where their attacks were subsequently celebrated by others. While the global pandemic provided scant opportunity for atrocities on this scale in the years that followed, terrorism officials across Europe and America have repeatedly warned that they are likely to resume as society begins to reopen. In the face of this coming crisis, there is at least some positive news to report. The first half of 2021 has been an historically busy period for online counterterrorism legislation. In May, the UK Government unveiled the first draft of its Online Safety Bill, a landmark item of legislation that will allow the Office of Communications to fine major platforms up to £18 million for failing to remove harmful content.”

Politico: Jihadists Flood Pro-Trump Social Network With Propaganda

Just weeks after its launch, the pro-Trump social network GETTR is inundated with terrorist propaganda spread by supporters of Islamic State, according to a POLITICO review of online activity on the fledgling platform. The social network — started a month ago by members of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle — features reams of jihadi-related material, including graphic videos of beheadings, viral memes that promote violence against the West and even memes of a militant executing Trump in an orange jumpsuit similar to those used in Guantanamo Bay. The rapid proliferation of such material is placing GETTR in the awkward position of providing a safe haven for jihadi extremists online as it attempts to establish itself as a free speech MAGA-alternative to sites like Facebook and Twitter.