Eye on Extremism - July 1, 2020

[Boats]

Eye on Extremism
Counter Extremism Project - July 1, 2020
Re: info@counterextremism.com

As of July 1, 2020:

Associated Press: French, Spanish And African Leaders Meet To Combat Extremism

“Leaders from the five countries of West Africa’s Sahel region — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger — on Tuesday called for intensifying counter-terrorism operations supported by the French military that have already seen successes in the recent months despite growing jihadist attacks in the region. The heads of state from the five Sahel countries said the stability of the region below the Sahara Desert remains challenged by persistant attacks, a deteriorating security situation in Libya and the COVID-19 pandemic, and renewed calls for the cancellation of external debts as they deal with the pandemic. The statements came after meetings between the heads of states Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott to discuss military operations against Islamic extremists in the region. The five African countries, known as the G5, have formed a joint military force that is working with France, which has 5,100 soldiers in the Sahel to help combat the still growing attacks. France first sent troops to the Sahel in 2013 when it helped to push al-Qaida-linked militants from their strongholds in Mali’s north.”

The Washington Post: Facebook Removes Hundreds Of Boogaloo Accounts For ‘Promoting Violence’ In Coordinated Takedown

“Facebook on Tuesday removed hundreds of accounts and groups associated with a violent network of the far-right “boogaloo” movement whose followers have been linked to violence that disrupted mostly peaceful protests around the United States. Facebook said it was designating the faction of the boogaloo movement that advocates violence as a “dangerous organization” and had taken down 220 accounts, 28 pages, 106 groups and 95 accounts on Facebook-owned Instagram that were associated with it. The social media platform said it also had removed 400 more Facebook accounts and more than 100 additional groups that supported or praised the violent network. Facebook’s move against the boogaloo movement came after federal prosecutors charged several adherents of the movement with crimes across the United States, including the murder of a security officer at a federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif., and a plot to use explosives at a demonstration in Las Vegas protesting the police killing of George Floyd. As Trump warns of leftist violence, a dangerous threat emerges from the right-wing boogaloo movement.”

United States

NPR: 'Not Your Old-School Aryan Nation Guy': Army Case Highlights Evolving Threat

“When Army Pvt. Ethan Melzer found out last April that he was deploying to Turkey, U.S. prosecutors say, he began to plot. He allegedly browsed jihadist propaganda, including an ISIS account of attacks on American forces. In it, militants referred to a “harvest of the soldiers.” But the ambush 22-year-old Melzer was planning, authorities say, was driven by a different ideology. A federal indictment unsealed this month accuses Melzer of passing sensitive military information to fellow members of a Satanic neo-Nazi supremacist network, the Order of the Nine Angles. The target: Melzer's own unit. While the case hinges on contacts with white supremacists, jihadist references are laced throughout. In May, prosecutors say, Melzer slipped information to someone he took for an al-Qaida operative. Court papers show a conversation where an alleged neo-Nazi asked Melzer if they were “literally organizing a jihadi attack,” to which he replied, “Yes probably.” “They didn't draw a distinction, didn't really see a problem with adhering to tenets of violent white supremacy, Satanism and jihad,” said Colin P. Clarke, a terrorism researcher at The Soufan Center. “The lines are blurrier than ever before.”

Military Times: Proposals Would Make Extremist Activity A Military Crime, Create DOD Oversight Office For Racial Issues

“House Democrats will push to make extremist activity a stand-alone crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and call for the appointment of a new defense inspector general focused on racial issues among the armed forces as part of broader efforts to include issues of equality in the annual defense authorization bill being debated this week. The move comes after more than a month of nationwide protests on issues of racial inequality and police brutality, and just a few weeks after House Armed Services Committee members expressed concerns during a Capitol Hill hearing on diversity that military leaders haven’t done enough to track those problems in the ranks. The authorization bill, which has passed into law for 59 consecutive years, is a massive defense budget policy measure including issues like the annual service member pay raise, equipment funding priorities and personnel reforms. More than half of minority service members have seen links to the hate groups among fellow troops. But lawmakers have also used the legislative package in the past to try and highlight a host of social justice issues and societal changes.”

Syria

BBC News: Canada Failing To Bring Home 26 Children Stuck In Syria: Report

“A human rights group has criticised Canada for failing to repatriate dozens of citizens with alleged ties to the Islamic State (IS) back from Syria. Human Rights Watch, an international organisation, says 47 Canadians - including 26 children - have been detained for over a year. Included in the list is Jack Letts, an Anglo-Canadian man who lost UK citizenship in 2019. Nicknamed “Jihadi Jack” by the UK press, he joined IS in 2014, aged 18. The dual UK-Canadian national was jailed after being captured by Kurdish YPG forces while trying to flee to Turkey in May 2017. The Canadian government said the UK had “off-loaded” its responsibilities. The report, published by Human Rights Watch, accused Canada of abandoning its international obligations and failing to provide consular assistance because of the Canadians' alleged ties to IS. “If Canada can bring home tens of thousands of citizens from around the world in a matter of weeks, surely it can find a way to repatriate fewer than 50 others trapped in horrific conditions in northeast Syria,” said Letta Tayler, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The lives of Canadians are on the line, and the time to bring them home is now.”

Iran

PBS: Pompeo Urges U.N. Arms Embargo On Iran’s `Terrorist Regime’

“Calling Iran “the world’s most heinous terrorist regime,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to extend the U.N. arms embargo against Tehran, which expires in October, and reject “extortion diplomacy.” The United States has circulated a draft Security Council resolution to extend the arms embargo indefinitely, and Pompeo said the United States’ “overwhelming preference” is to work with its 15 members to adopt it. But he indicated that if the resolution isn’t approved, which is likely because of Russian opposition, the U.S. will move to invoke a provision of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers to re-impose all U.N. sanctions against Iran. The Trump administration pulled out of the deal in 2018. Pompeo spoke at a virtual open meeting of the council on implementation of resolution 2231, which was adopted in 2015 to endorse the Iran nuclear deal. The arms embargo is included in the measure and Iran’s leaders insist that it be lifted completely on its Oct. 18 expiration date. Pompeo noted that Iran’s President Hasan Rouhani recently declared that “Iran will give a crushing response if the arms embargo on Tehran is extended.”

The Jerusalem Post: German Intel Says Iran 'Massively Promotes Antisemitism, Israel Hatred'

“The domestic intelligence agency for the city-state of Berlin disclosed Thursday in a new report on antisemitism that Iran’s clerical regime is a leading sponsor of Jew-hatred. “Antisemitism and hatred of Israel were also massively promoted by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The leader of the Iranian Revolution Ayatollah [Ruhollah] Khomeini already described Israel as the ‘little Satan’ and openly called for the destruction of Israel. Antisemitism has been part of Iran's state ideology ever since [the founding of the Islamic Republic] and is regularly fueled by statements by state representatives,” wrote the intelligence officials. The US government has gone further in its classification of Iranian regime state-sponsored antisemitism. In January, US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism Elan Carr said at an US Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) Global Efforts to Combat Antisemitism hearing that “Iran is not only the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, it is the world’s chief trafficker in antisemitism. The Islamic Republic of Iran has pushed antisemitic dogma throughout the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world beyond the Middle East.”

Iraq

The Jerusalem Post: Kataib Hezbollah In Iraq Says It Will Never Surrender Weapons

“Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq is riding high after humiliating the Iraqi prime minister this week. After 14 of its members were arrested and then released, it held a victory party at which it burned images of Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi and told pro-Iranian media it will never give up its “resistance weapons.” This is similar to the way Hezbollah in Lebanon describes its need to have a massive arsenal of weapons and be a state within a state. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps model now appears to be moving full steam ahead, as groups like Iraqi Hezbollah seek to have a parallel armed force. Kataib Hezbollah is a group of hard-core pro-Iranian cadres who support the Iranian agenda. They are also part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a group of militias that have become an official paramilitary force in Iraq. They are accused of extrajudicial killings and running secret prisons. They fought ISIS, but instead of disbanding, Iran pushed former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi to make them an official force. They are now a cross between Lebanese Hezbollah and the IRGC in Iran. They have fired dozens of rockets at US forces in Iraq, killing three members of the coalition earlier this year. The US has carried out airstrikes against them.”

Afghanistan

ABC News: US Tries To Push Forward Taliban Deal Amid Bounty Reports, Trump's Moves To Withdraw From Afghanistan

“Amid reports that a Russian paramilitary unit offered the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Trump administration is pushing ahead with its peace process to end America's longest war and withdraw U.S. forces. Four months after the U.S. and the Taliban signed a deal, that process has been stuck. Instead of sitting for negotiations designed as the next step of that deal, the militants and the Afghan government have been fighting at heightened levels of violence. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Taliban leadership in Qatar late Monday, seeking to push talks forward and urging them to “not (attack) Americans,” according to his spokesperson. The Taliban said in their own readout of the video teleconference meeting that Pompeo applauded the insurgents for not attacking cities and large military bases, just hours after an Afghan government spokesperson said the militants have on average killed or wounded 24 civilians every day since the end of February. The deal, signed by President Donald Trump's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar on Feb. 29, lays out a timeline for U.S. withdrawal in exchange for Taliban commitments to prevent terror groups from using Afghanistan to attack the U.S. and to sit with an Afghan national delegation for peace talks on March 10.”

Radio Free Europe: Pompeo Warns Taliban Against Attacking U.S. Troops

“U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has held a video conference call with the Taliban during which the top U.S. diplomat warned the insurgents against attacking American troops in Afghanistan, the Department of State says. A statement said Pompeo and the Taliban’s Qatar-based chief negotiator, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, on June 29 discussed implementation of a February agreement between Washington and the militants. “The Secretary made clear the expectation for the Taliban to live up to their commitments, which include not attacking Americans,” department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. Earlier, the Taliban said Baradar reaffirmed during the call the group’s commitment to the peace process in Afghanistan and reiterated a pledge not to strike U.S. forces. The call comes as U.S. President Donald Trump faces mounting pressure to explain his actions after being reportedly told that Russian spies last year had offered and paid cash to Taliban-linked militants for killing American soldiers. The White House has said Trump wasn't briefed on the intelligence assessments because they haven't been fully verified and were not deemed credible actionable intelligence.”

Human Rights Watch: Afghanistan: Taliban Rights Efforts Fall Far Short

“The Taliban in Afghanistan have imposed severe restrictions on rights in areas under their control despite claims of reform, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Residents reported an inability to criticize or question Taliban actions, violations of the rights of women and girls, and severe limits on freedom of expression and the media. Rights abuses by both Taliban and government forces mean that the United States and other countries supporting the peace process should ensure that any agreement has strong human rights commitments and enforcement mechanisms. The 69-page report, “‘You Have No Right to Complain’: Education, Social Restrictions, and Justice in Taliban-Held Afghanistan” focuses on the everyday experiences of people living in Taliban-held districts and Taliban restrictions on education, access to information and media, and freedom of movement. The Taliban’s widespread rights abuses in areas it controls raise concerns about their willingness and ability to keep commitments on rights in any future peace agreement. “The Taliban have rolled back some of their harshest measures in areas they control, but it remains difficult and dangerous for people to voice objections to Taliban authorities,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director.”

Pakistan

Voice Of America: Pakistani PM Blames India For Militant Raid On Stock Exchange

“Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has directly accused rival India of being behind a deadly terrorist attack on his country’s stock exchange building in Karachi. Four heavily armed assailants attempted to storm the key economic installation in the southern port city Monday, but security guards swiftly confronted and killed them in a shootout that officials said lasted eight minutes. The firefight also killed four other people, including private security guards and a police officer. “India had wanted to destabilize Pakistan through this attack. … We have absolutely no doubt that it was planned in India,” Khan told Parliament on Tuesday. Khan’s allegations came a day after India denied any links to the assault. An outlawed militant group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a U.S.-designated global terrorist group, claimed responsibility. The group is largely active in and fighting for independence of Pakistan’s southwestern natural resource-rich Balochistan province, along with several other separatist organizations. Islamabad consistently blames New Delhi for supporting the militants. The BLA also took responsibility for an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018. The group has repeatedly threatened to attack China’s Belt and Road Initiative-related investments in Balochistan.”

Middle East

Voice Of America: Israel's Annexation Plan Will Trigger Violence, Instability Arabs Warn

“Arab governments have warned Israel that plans to annex the West Bank will trigger violence and regional instability. Unilateral annexation could happen as early as July 1, but European states, the United Nations, the Arab League and senior members of the U.S. Democratic Party say the move will harm chances for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Jordan is only one of two Arab countries, along with Egypt, to have signed peace treaties with Israel and it supports the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. The kingdom has made clear to Israel that it risks a harsh response to even a limited annexation of West Bank land. It has threatened to annul or downgrade its 1994 peace treaty with Israel, if the annexation goes ahead. King Abdullah II has made his concerns about the possible ramifications known to European leaders and Washington, where he is well respected as a key U.S. ally in the region. Jordanian analyst Osama Al Sharif tells VOA that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu’s plan is “very divisive” not only among Israel’s society and security communities, but also within the U.S. administration and elsewhere.”

Somalia

Dalsan Radio: Somalia: Fierce Battle As Alshabaab Attacks Somalia Military Base In Hiran

“Al-Shabab militants attacked a Somalia National Army base Baladweyne of Hiran region on Monday night, prompting a fierce battle. Residents told Radio Dalsan both sides exchanged heavy and small weaponry that could be heard from remote distances during the confrontation. There are casualties although the casualty figure on both warring sides are not established. The latest clashes came barely less than a week after special trained Danab forces liberated Jaana-Abdale, Helishid, Mayonde and Garascebe villages in Lower Jubba. On Friday the military killed four militants killed including senior Nepalese trainer in Lower Jubba of southern Somalia. Despite facing defeat, Alshabab controls some parts of Somalia and continues to carry out high profile attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.”

United Kingdom

The Telegraph: MEPs Urge UK To 'Play Vital Role' In Demanding EU Member States Ban Hizbollah As Terror Group

“A group of senior MEPs have written to Priti Patel urging the UK to “play a vital role” in demanding that all EU member states recognise Hizbollah in its entirety as a terror organisation. In the letter seen by The Daily Telegraph, both serving and former MEPs request that despite Brexit, the UK will remain “a close ally and partner” to the European Union and that as such “the UK should persuade the EU to no longer make the false distinction between Hizbollah's ‘military' and 'political' wings.” The UK initially proscribed parts of the Lebanese organisation in 2001. However last year, under Sajid Javid’s tenure, the Iran-backed militant group was officially banned as a terrorist organization after the former home secretary branded it a threat to the public's safety and security...”

Germany

Stars And Stripes: Reports: Germany Revamping Elite Army Unit Over Extremism

“Germany’s defense minister reportedly plans to restructure the country’s special forces unit after numerous allegations of far-right extremism. Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has called a news conference for Wednesday to talk about a “structural analysis” of the Kommando Spezialkraefte, or KSK, unit, following up on an analysis she ordered in May. Her office wouldn’t immediately provide further details, but Die Welt newspaper reported Tuesday that she plans to announce structural reforms of the unit, including the dissolution of one of its four combat companies that has been the center of extremism allegations. Die Welt and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported about 70 soldiers would be affected. In a tweet, the Defense Ministry said the “affected unit and its personnel” had been informed and that further details would be released at Kramp—Karrenbauer's news conference. Part of Germany’s Bundeswehr military, the KSK was formed as an army unit in 1996 with a focus on anti-terrorism operations and hostage rescues from hostile areas. It has served in Afghanistan and the Balkans and its operations are kept secret.”

Europe

Agence France-Presse: Italy Seizes 14 Tonnes Of Islamic State-Made Amphetamines From Syria: Police

“Italian police said Wednesday they have seized a world record 14-tonne haul of amphetamines made by the Islamic State group in Syria. The drug, in the form of 84 million Captagon tablets, was worth about one billion euros, police said in a statement, describing the operation as “the biggest seizure of amphetamines in the world”. “We know that the Islamic State finances its terrorist activities mainly by trafficking drugs made in Syria which in the past few years has become the world’s largest producer of amphetamines,” the statement added. The shipment was hidden in three containers found in the port of Salerno, just south of Naples. Captagon, a brand name, was originally for medical use but illegal versions have been dubbed “the Jihad Drug” -- after being widely used by IS fighters in combat -- the police said.”

Southeast Asia

The Diplomat: How Terrorists Use Cryptocurrency In Southeast Asia

“In May 2020, the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research (PIPVTR) reported that Islamic State (IS)-linked terror groups had conducted their first transactions in cryptocurrencies. According to the report, a terrorist-linked money laundering operation involving cryptocurrencies generated funds, which were then allegedly used to finance the activities of terror networks operating in the conflict-ridden Mindanao region in the southern Philippines. While the adoption of cryptocurrency is not unprecedented among IS supporters, this case signals a reinvigorated push to diversify funding tactics for terrorism in Southeast Asia. As such, this article explores the propensity for Southeast Asian militants to adopt cryptocurrency for fund raising, fund moving, and fund using for terrorist purposes. IS has long been interested in cryptocurrency. In a high-profile case from 2015, a 17-year-old in the U.S. state of Virginia was jailed for providing IS supporters online with advice on using the virtual currency Bitcoin to conceal financial donations. He had also written a prominently referenced blog titled “Bitcoin and the Charity of Jihad.”

Technology

The National: Spread Of Fake News Demands Tough New Rules, Says German AI Leader

“In a webinar held by the think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP), Ms Kemmer gave a warning that extremists and radicals could use fake news as a tool and said the issue was “really concerning”. She called for youngsters to be educated in identifying fake news from an early age. “We have to use the full force of the law and we have to focus more on the digital channels,” she said. “We can see the effects, the really terrible terror attack in Hanau. It is really becoming clear that the possibilities are ever more realistic; looking at deep fake news they are increasing and getting more widespread. “Today in many cases deep fakes are still detectable, there are still some teething troubles left but the technology is really improving. Soon almost everyone will be able to produce more deep fakes and it will get more and more difficult to distinguish them. ”Reporting channels for illegal content have to be improved and be more user friendly. The platforms have to take more responsibility to take down content. It is not acceptable to just think they are not responsible, they really have to take more responsibility in these cases,” Ms Kemmer said. “I really think it is important for the future that we improve digital literacy.”

Forbes: Democratic Senators Demand Facebook Answer For Its White Supremacist Problem

“As a widespread advertising boycott pressures Facebook to address its handling of hate speech and misinformation, three Democratic senators sent a letter Tuesday to CEO Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s “lack of action to prevent white supremacist groups from using the platform as a recruitment and organizational tool.” The letter, sent by Senators Robert Menendez, Mazie Hirono, and Mark Warner, takes issue with Facebook’s failure to “rid itself of white supremacist and other extremist content,” despite its stated commitment to racial justice and combating hate speech. The senators cite two studies from the Tech Transparency Project, which found 51% of white supremacist groups are on Facebook and outlined how far-right extremists from the “boogaloo” movement are using Facebook to organize a “militant uprising.” The letter also cites a 2016 Facebook presentation reported by the Wall Street Journal, which shared that “64% of all extremist group joins are due to our recommendation tools.” Zuckerberg will have until July 10 to respond to the senators with information on the company’s efforts to combat hate speech and white supremacy, and who is responsible at Facebook for those efforts.”

CNN: White Supremacists Openly Organize Racist Violence On Telegram, Report Finds

“On June 5, a car full of White supremacists drove through the streets of Knoxville, Tennessee, harassing and abusing people attending a Black Lives Matter protest. One of those in the car shouted to a group of protesters: "You wanna die? Come on in. 9mm with your name on it." The occupants of the car recorded several videos as they went -- videos that were later uploaded to the encrypted messaging app Telegram. One of the channels they used was The Fascist Group Esoteric Anti Root Collective -- one of more than 200 White supremacist Telegram groups that have become much more active in the midst of protests across the United States, according to CNN analysis. According to a new report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) -- shared exclusively with CNN -- these channels have thousands of members. The ISD, a London-based think tank studying extremism, says they include frequent and explicit threats of violence against minority communities and BLM protesters -- threats that in some cases have translated into violence. A man is seen "trashing" a Black Lives Matter memorial in a screengrab from a video shared on one of more than 200 White supremacist Telegram groups that have become much more active during protests across the United States…In May, the White supremacist group Rise Above Movement launched its own Telegram channel, which, according to the Countering Extremism Project, features anti-Semitism and anti-migration themes. White supremacists have migrated to Telegram because it's less active in moderating content than other social media networks, according to ISD and other researchers. The channels share everything from manuals on how to manufacture 3D guns to praise for mass killers.”