Eye on Extremism - February 18, 2021

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Eye on Extremism - February 18, 2021
By: Counter Extremism Project - 02-18-21
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of February 18, 2021:

Agence France-Presse: France Maintains Sahel Force To ‘Decapitate’ Al-Qaeda Groups

“President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to keep French troops in the Sahel region of western Africa, to help “decapitate” Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent groups that local governments are struggling to hold back. But while Macron said there would be no “immediate” drawdown of the 5,100-member Barkhane force, he made clear that France expected to have a far lighter presence over time. “Changes that are likely to be significant will be made to our military deployment in the Sahel when the time comes, but they will not be made immediately,” Macron told reporters after a video summit with the leaders of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. The so-called G5 countries were urged to step up their anti-terror fight and work on restoring government control in areas where Islamist fighters have closed schools and driven millions from their homes. Just hours before the summit opened, Malian sources said two soldiers had been killed by a roadside bomb in central Mali. “We are re-engaging our forces in order to decapitate these organizations,” Macron said after the two-day meeting in Chad’s capital N’Djamena. The aim is to strengthen actions against terrorism while delivering a “political jolt” to give the people something to hope for, he said.”

Associated Press: Taliban Tweet Threatens Malala; Twitter Removes Account

“A Pakistani Taliban militant who nine years ago is alleged to have shot and badly wounded Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai has threatened a second attempt on her life, tweeting that next time, “there would be no mistake.” Twitter on Wednesday permanently suspend the account with the menacing post. The threat prompted Yousafzai to tweet herself, asking both the Pakistan military and Prime Minister Imran Khan to explain how her alleged shooter, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had escaped from government custody. Ehsan was arrested in 2017, but escaped in January 2020 from a so-called safe house where he was being held by Pakistan’s intelligence agency. The circumstances of both his arrest and escape have been shrouded in mystery and controversy. Since his escape, Ehsan has been interviewed and has communicated with Pakistani journalists via the same Twitter account that carried the Urdu-language threat. He has had more than one Twitter account, all of which have been suspended. The government is investigating the threat and had immediately asked Twitter to shut down the account, said Raoof Hasan, an adviser to the prime minister.”

United States

Vice: Department Of Homeland Security Confirms Neo-Nazi Leader Used To Work For It

“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it once employed an American neo-Nazi terror leader now based in Russia after he posted what he said were letters of appreciation that DHS and the Pentagon sent him thanking him for his service. Earlier this month, Rinaldo Nazzaro, 47, founder and leader of the Base, one of the most violent American domestic terror groups in years, posted three undated letters from U.S. agencies lauding him for his service. One was from DHS—an agency tasked with thwarting terrorism in the U.S.—and two were on Marine Corps letterhead. All spoke glowingly of Nazzaro. Since late 2019, nine members of the Base, the group he founded, have been arrested in the U.S. for alleged crimes as wide-ranging as an assassination plot, ghost-gun making, plans for train derailments, and a mass shooting. The Canadian government has designated it as a terrorist group. While it wouldn’t authenticate the letter addressed to Nazzaro, DHS verified he had worked with the department in the past. “I can confirm that Rinaldo Nazzaro worked at DHS from 2004 to 2006,” said a DHS spokesperson.”

Syria

Arab News: What Next For The Children Of Daesh Detainees?

“The attempt by Daesh to create the so-called Islamic state in Syria and Iraq attracted volunteers from many nations. The children of these volunteers, many of whom were born in Syria, now pose a unique dilemma for those nations. It is estimated that about 70,000 women and children are detained in the refugee camps in Northern Syria. Of that number, at least 12,000 are foreign nationals. Two-thirds of the children held there are under the age of 12, with the majority under five years old, according to a report by the UNHCR. More than 500 people died in the camps in 2019 and researchers found that 371 of them were children.These youngsters are, first and foremost, a vulnerable group in need of urgent assistance in a volatile and war-torn region. The urgency of resolving the question of how to manage their cases cannot be overstated, given the instability in the region and the ongoing threat posed by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). If not dealt with, the challenge these children present runs a serious risk of developing from an easily solved welfare issue into a possible security and counterterrorism issue. It is in the short and long-term interests of all nations to take action over the children left behind in areas once held by the now-vanquished Daesh.”

Iraq

Brookings: To Save Iraq From Economic Collapse And Fight ISIS, Contain Iran’s Proxies

“The day after President Biden was inaugurated, Baghdad was hit by two suicide bombers who, in macabre fashion, killed at least 32 people and wounded at least 100. The attack was a stark reminder that the Iraq theater is still a critical one for combatting ISIS and preventing it from mounting a resurgence. With this in mind, U.S.-Iraq ties are worth salvaging after their deterioration over the past four years. ISIS is strongly positioned to carry out more routine mass-casualty attacks. While the January bombing was its first major terrorist attack in Baghdad in over three years, ISIS carries out near-daily attacks in the rest of the country and could develop a momentum similar to that which preceded its declaration of a caliphate in 2014. There are two underlying challenges that makes ISIS capable of carnage and launching a resurgence: Iraq’s desperate need for an economic revival and the threat from Shiite militia groups. Addressing both requires that Washington adopt a set of guiding principles for its engagement with Iraq — an approach premised on the fact that Iraq’s economic crisis and the threat from Iran-aligned Shiite militia groups are two sides of the same coin. Iraq’s economic crisis will produce untold poverty levels if it is not addressed.”

Nigeria

The Washington Post: Gunmen Kidnap At Least 20 Boys From Nigerian Boarding School

“Gunmen stormed a north-central Nigerian boarding school early Wednesday, kidnapping at least 20 teenage boys, the local governor said — the second mass abduction of children to shake the country in three months. The attackers raided the Government Science Secondary School in the town of Kagara before sunrise and dragged the classmates into the dense woods. Police initially said they suspected “hundreds” could have been taken. Three teachers and 12 family members also vanished into the night, Abubakar Sani Bello, the governor of Niger state, said on television.Schools in the region have been shuttered. Helicopters hovered over the treetops as security forces continued their search and, by midmorning, authorities were still counting the missing. No one has asserted responsibility for the ambush, but the region is regularly afflicted by criminal gangs — authorities call them “bandits” — that take hostages for ransom. That threat recently collided with Boko Haram, the extremist group that gained global notoriety after abducting hundreds of schoolgirls in 2014. Those radical fighters normally operate hundreds of miles away in the nation’s northeast. Then the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, shocked Nigerians when he claimed responsibility for kidnapping 300 boys from a northwestern school in December. Security forces freed the boys days later.”

Africa

The Wall Street Journal: ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero Paul Rusesabagina’s Terrorism Trial Begins

“The trial of a U.S. resident hailed as a hero and immortalized by Hollywood for saving more than 1,200 people during the Rwandan genocide began Wednesday in the country’s capital, in a case seen as spotlighting President Paul Kagame’s efforts to quell political dissent across the globe. Paul Rusesabagina, a 66-year-old recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom who was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda,” appeared with 20 other suspects to face terrorism charges, including forming a rebel group and seeking to launch an armed insurrection. Mr. Rusesabagina, a critic of Mr. Kagame’s government who has lived between the U.S. and Belgium for more than a decade, says the charges are politically motivated. He was arrested last year after disappearing during a visit to Dubai airport, before being paraded in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, in handcuffs. Mr. Kagame, who says Mr. Rusesabagina is a fugitive responsible for funding terrorism, denied he had been kidnapped but called the operation flawless. The trial—which has been widely condemned by human-rights groups, members of U.S. Congress and the European Parliament, among others—is being seen as a signal that Rwanda’s government is prepared to reach far beyond its borders to quash dissent.”

Daily Nation: Kenya: Concern As Al-Shabaab Militants Spread Across Mandera County

“A wave of attacks by the Al-Shabaab that has left death and destruction in its wake in Mandera County, has raised questions about preparedness to fight terror even as the government warned of a local and ominous angle to the problem. Within the county, the militants operate in Mandera East, Lafey, Elwak and Kutolo and recently spread their activities to the interior parts of Banisa, Rhamu and Takaba. The latest attack was last Monday, after al-Shabaab militants raided Jabibar village and killed a police reservist and a civilian at 2am. And now North Eastern Regional Coordinator Nicodemus Ndalana has admitted the militants have moved to the interior of the county, after dismissing earlier warnings by Mandera Governor Ali Roba that a security crisis was unfolding in the county. The governor claimed the militants control more than half of the county and man the county's roads. Mr Ndalana revealed that the State saw the Al-Shabaab crossing into Mandera but waited to see their actions inland. “I know there is a problem because they have reached where they have never been before. I agree with everyone on that; we never used to have Al-Shabaab in Banisa and Takaba. They were only along the border, but currently, they have spread all over,” Mr Ndalana said at a peace meeting in Mandera town.”

The North Africa Post: Morocco Adopted Comprehensive Strategy Becoming Pioneer In Counterterrorism, Violent Extremism

“Morocco has adopted a comprehensive and integrated strategy in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism, which enabled it to become a pioneer in this field and enjoy wide international recognition, said officials and experts taking part in the annual international conference on “Combating Violent Extremism: New Responses to New Challenges” that opened on Tuesday in Rabat. The three-day conference debates focus on evolving terrorist threats, ways of combating extremist & hate propaganda, de-radicalization and rehabilitation programs as well as women and violent extremism: for a new approach that transcends stereotypes. According to security experts, the general landscape of terrorist threats in the world has changed during the last three years at the operational level and geographical redeployment of terrorist organizations especially during the current global health crisis generated by covid-19 pandemic. The terrorists have changed their tactics, their modus operandi, communication tools and priorities of the targeted objectives and countries. The continuing instability in some zones like the Sahel, Libya, and Yemen and the proliferation of weapons constitute a fertile ground for terrorism expansion.”

Europe

Reuters: Russia Detains 19 Militants Planning Attacks: Security Service

“Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday it had detained 19 suspected Islamist militants planning attacks in the North Caucasus. The FSB said it had seized a suicide belt, homemade bombs and automatic weapons from the suspects this month. The 19 detainees, suspected members of the Takfir wal-Hijra Islamist group, were spread across the Rostov, Krasnodar and Karachay-Cherkessia regions, as well as Crimea, the peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Footage from the detentions published by Russian news agency RIA showed FSB operatives scaling an apartment building and entering through a window to detain a suspect. Russia has repeatedly been targeted by Islamist militant groups, including in an attack on a train carriage in a St Petersburg metro tunnel in 2017. In recent years, some parts of the North Caucasus have been plagued with militant attacks on security officials.”

Agence France-Presse: Judges Mull Verdict In Barcelona Terror Attacks Trial

“Spanish judges on Wednesday February 17th began deliberating a verdict in the trial of three men accused of helping the jihadists behind the 2017 attacks in Barcelona and a nearby town that killed 16. The Islamic State (IS) group took responsibility for the bloodshed of August 17th-18th, when pedestrians were mown down by a van in Barcelona and others were attacked at a nearby seaside town as Europe reeled from a string of jihadist attacks. Since the trial began more than three months ago at a branch of the National Court near Madrid, more than 200 witnesses have testified, with the judges now meeting to weigh their sentence in a process which could take weeks. Although the six perpetrators were shot dead by police, many questions remained, with investigators and victims hoping the trial would shed light on how the violence unfolded, which also left 140 people wounded. While none of the trio are charged with carrying out the attacks, they are accused of helping the jihadists, one of whom ran down pedestrians on Barcelona's Las Ramblas on a busy Thursday, killing 14. The driver then killed another person before being shot dead days later.”

Technology

Vice: Two Infamous White Nationalists Still Have A Platform For Their Podcast Somehow

“…He has attempted to replicate Nikitin’s model of politics in the U.S., starting a far-right apparel line and using slick videos to attempt to rebrand white nationalism as part of a healthy, masculine and aspirational lifestyle.“Robert Rundo and Denis ‘Nikitin’ Kapustin both promote a white nationalist movement rooted in an extreme right-wing hyper-masculinity that focuses on using physical fitness, street combat, and MMA to proselytise,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a senior analyst at the New York-headquartered Counter Extremism Project, which issued warnings about the podcast this month. Joanna Mendelson, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said the podcast represented an attempt by the pair to expand their base, and increase their standing and influence as white supremacist leaders. “Rundo and Nikitin seek to create a movement of adherents who embrace physical force and violence as a necessary response to defend their future,” she told VICE World News. “They peddle this notion of an existential threat … that they, as vigilante soldiers, can help to defend against.”