Eye on Extremism - February 10, 2016

Eye on Extremism February 10, 2016 CNN: Top Intelligence Official: ISIS To Attempt U.S. Attacks This Year “Top U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday that ISIS was likely to attempt direct attacks on the U.S. in the coming year and that the group was infiltrating refugees escaping from Iraq and Syria to move across borders. ISIS ‘will probably attempt to conduct additional attacks in Europe, and attempt to direct attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2016,’ Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who was also at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, estimated that violent extremists were active in about 40 countries and that there currently exist more terrorist safe havens ‘than at any time in history.’” Fox: Top Intel Official Confirms ISIS Made, Used Chemical Weapons “The nation’s top intelligence official confirmed Tuesday that the Islamic State has succeeded in making and deploying chemical agents in Iraq and Syria -- calling it the first such attack by an extremist group in more than two decades.  The confirmation of mustard gas use came during Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he spoke to the Islamic State's growing sophistication online and in the battlefield. He did not elaborate on where and when the chemical attacks occurred, though there has been mounting evidence the terror group was experimenting with chemical weapons.” New York Times: ISIS, In A First, Says It’s Behind Attack In Capital Of Syria “A car bomb tore up a vegetable market and a police officers’ club in Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Tuesday, according to a witness and to regional news reports, striking an area that had been quiet for about two years under a local agreement between the Syrian government and insurgents. The Islamic State, using its official media channels, claimed responsibility for the blast, which the witness said had wounded dozens in Masaken Barzeh, a neighborhood on the northern edge of the city. It was the first attack in Damascus itself to be claimed by the Islamic State, although the group said it was behind an assault last month on the Sayeda Zeinab shrine, on the outskirts of the capital, that left dozens dead.” Reuters: Turkey Detains 34 People With Explosives, Suicide Vests At Syrian Border - Media “The Turkish military detained 34 people and seized up to 15 kg of explosives and four suicide-bomber vests as they tried to enter Turkey from Syria, Turkish media reported the army as saying on Wednesday. The private Dogan news agency and other media outlets said the group, consisting of four men, 10 women and 20 children, was detained on Tuesday night in the Oguzeli district of southeastern Gaziantep province, across the border from an area controlled by Islamic State militants.” Reuters: U.N. Fears For Hundreds Of Thousands If Syria Troops Encircle Aleppo “Hundreds of thousands of civilians could be cut off from food if Syrian government forces encircle rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning of a new exodus of refugees fleeing a Russian-backed assault. The army aims to secure the border with Turkey and recover control of Aleppo, a senior adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Reuters, adding that she did not expect diplomacy to succeed while foreign states maintain support for insurgents. The U.N. is worried the government advance could cut off the last link for civilians in rebel-held parts of Aleppo with the main Turkish border crossing, which has long served as the lifeline for insurgent-controlled territory.” The Blaze: Israeli Military Chief Hints At Secret Engineering Work To Combat Hamas Tunnel Threat “Israel’s military chief of staff said Tuesday that Israel is quietly working — mostly in secret — to combat the threat of Hamas attack tunnels. Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot made his remarks following the collapse of at least four tunnels since the end of January. The multiple cave-ins, which have killed at least 12 Hamas members, over such a short period of time has raised questions as to whether Israel was involved. The top IDF commander did not say if Israel had caused the recent tunnel collapses, Hamas had attributed the phenomenon to recent rainy weather.” Voice Of America: Al-Qaida, Yemeni Forces Clash In Aden “Yemeni forces and al-Qaida militants battled Tuesday in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, leaving several people dead. The fighting took place in the Mansoura district.  Residents there said the Yemeni troops were backed by aircraft from a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting on behalf of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi for nearly a year. The government is trying to establish control over Aden after pushing out Houthi rebels late last year.  The Houthis still control Yemen's capital, Sana'a, and other parts in the north.” Sputnik: Copenhagen Sees 66% Rise In Suspected Radicals “Municipal authorities received 100 reports in 2015 about people who showed signs of radicalization, compared to 60 notifications in 2014. Eighteen of those reports turned out to have cause, Anna Mee Allerslev told the local broadcaster DR. ‘It is a daunting figure for such a small city as Copenhagen. It is too many when you look at our population and compare it with other European and Western cities,’ Allerslev noted. In all of the 18 cases that were investigated, the residents in question were found to have propagated a radical interpretation of Islam, the Danish broadcaster said. There was no information given on the background of the individuals involved.” New York Times: British Effort To Identify Potential Radicals Spurs Debate Over Profiling “The boy’s teachers were growing increasingly concerned. He was speaking admiringly in school of Jihadi John, the notorious British executioner with the Islamic State, and expressing a desire to travel to Syria. Twice, the teachers referred the boy — a teenager from Blackburn, in northern England — to a government program called Prevent set up to spot early signs of extremism and intervene before it was too late. On both occasions, the boy — struggling with his studies after his parents separated and socially withdrawn because of a degenerative eye disease that blurred his vision — refused to participate in sessions intended to keep him from becoming radicalized.” International Business Times: France State Of Emergency Extended After Parliament Vote Following ISIS Paris Attacks “Following approval from the lower house of Parliament or the Assemblée Nationale, the French Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve a law that extended the state of emergency order set to expire Feb. 26 for at least another three months,  according to a tweet  from a reporter with French newspaper Le Monde. The order was first put in place following attacks on Paris last November and it gives law enforcement expanded powers that the government claims will allow for a crackdown on terror cells in the nation. The constitutional change will give the government more power in security situations, and French President Francois Hollande has led the charge on supporting this amendment. Around 75 percent of all members of the lower house abstained from voting, and numbers on attendance in the Senate was not immediately available.” United States Washington Post: Pentagon Will Boost Number Of U.S. Military Advisers In Southern Afghanistan “The Pentagon will deploy dozens of additional U.S. military advisers to southern Afghanistan in coming weeks, a U.S. military official said, part of an effort to rebuild the Afghan army unit that has faced a bloody fight in Helmand province. The advisers will be deployed to train the 215th Corps, the Afghan army unit based in Helmand, the official said. The poppy-rich province was once home to about 30,000 coalition troops and major operations run by U.S. Marines, but nearly all U.S. troops there withdrew by the end of 2014. In recent months pitched battles have been fought there, some of which involve U.S. Special Operations troops working alongside Afghanistan commandos.” Jerusalem Post: Obama To Propose $200 Million To Battle ISIS In Africa “President Barack Obama is proposing about $200 million in new military spending to confront Islamic State in north and west Africa, US defense officials said ahead of Tuesday's budget rollouts for the next fiscal year. US officials declined to specify to which nations the funding would be directed. The disclosure comes as the United States and its allies discuss ways to halt the spread of the Sunni militant group in Libya and elsewhere in Africa from its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.” Syria Andalou Agency: Russian Airstrikes Kill 15 In Syria’s Idlib: Local Sources “Fifteen civilians were killed and another 17 injured on Tuesday when Russian warplanes struck a handful of opposition-held villages in Syria’s Idlib province, local Civil Defense sources told Anadolu Agency. According to the sources, Russian warplanes targeted residential areas in four villages in Idlib. Firas Faham, a local media activist based in Idlib province’s city of Maarat al-Nuuman, told Anadolu Agency that thousands of Syrians who had recently fled Aleppo due to fierce Russian airstrikes had since come to Idlib seeking refuge.” RT: Summary Executions, Torture, Makeshift Courts In Syria: UN Reveals Horrific Details “Parties to the Syrian conflict, including anti-government armed groups, as well as Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State, have committed ‘serious violations’ of the rights of detainees, including torture and killing, according to United Nations investigators. The 25-page report, ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in Detention,’ covers from the beginning of the conflict in March 2011 until last November. It is based on 621 interviews, more than 200 of which were with former detainees who witnessed one or more deaths in custody. According to the special UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, anti-government armed groups and Al-Nusra fighters are ‘responsible for murder, torture and other forms of ill treatment of detainees.’” The Guardian: Syria Airstrike Hits Médecins Sans Frontières-Supported Hospital “An airstrike hit a hospital in southern Syria that is supported by Médecins Sans Frontières, killing three people and wounding six, the medical charity has said. ‘The strike on Tafas field hospital, some 12 km (seven miles) from the Jordanian border, took place on the night of 5 February,’ MSF said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that a nurse was among the casualties. ‘It caused partial damage to the hospital building, and put its heavily used ambulance service out of action.’ ‘The hospital is the latest medical facility to be hit in a series of airstrikes in southern Syria, which have been escalating over the past two months.’” Iraq Rudaw: Iraqi Army Says Ramadi Cleared Of All ISIS Remnants “The Iraqi army announced on Tuesday that it has regained full control of the city of Ramadi in western Iraq after weeks of battling remnants of Islamic State militants. An army statement said that counterterrorism forces, local police and Shiite militia took part in several operations to drive ISIS militants from three main quarters of the city and surrounding areas among them Sajariyya, Jubiyya and Hasibah. The militants had remained in the city and fought the Iraqi security forces after it was declared free from the extremist group at the end of December.” Middle East Times Of Israel: Israeli Jogger Lightly Wounded In West Bank Stabbing “An Israeli man was moderately injured Tuesday afternoon in a stabbing attack outside the West Bank settlement of Neve Daniel, south of Jerusalem. His condition was later adjusted to lightly wounded. The injured man, named as Tomer Ditur, 28, from the nearby Etzion Bloc settlement of Rosh Tzurim, arrived at the gate of Neve Daniel with stab wounds, according to the IDF. The stabber reportedly fled the scene. IDF troops were searching the area, the army said.” Haaretz: Dozens Of Ultra-Orthodox Men Attack Military Police Officers In Ashdod “Dozens of ultra-Orthodox men attacked Military Police soldiers in the city of Ashdod on Monday night, upon the officers' arrival in their neighborhood to arrest a draft dodger.    Police was alerted to the scene, dispersed the crowd and evacuated the officers. No casualties were reported, and the police made no arrests.  Police said that when the assailants spotted the army vehicle, surrounded it, shouted at the soldiers inside, threw stones at the car and eventually overturned it.” Arutz Sheva: Eight ISIS, Taliban Recruits Joined Galloway Convoy To Gaza “A brutal ISIS torturer wasn't the only jihadist terrorist who traveled with former British MP George Galloway to Gaza, it has been revealed. According to a recent report, Alexander Kotey left the UK on Galloway's ‘Viva Palestina’ convoy to Gaza in 2009, and from there eventually made his way to Syria to join the Islamic State terror group. The 32-year-old Muslim convert was recently unmasked, along with 31-year-old Aine Davis, as among a group of four British ISIS ‘jailers’ who held western hostages and tortured them brutally, before some were executed by fellow Briton Mohammed Emwazi, a.k.a ‘Jihadi John.’ But he was not alone. As many as eight Muslim extremists who would later be convicted of or involved in terrorist activities joined the convoy, according to The Times. Among them were Amin Addala and Reza Afsharzadegan, both known associates of Emwazi from west London; and Stephen Gray, a former member of the Royal Air Force who attempted to join ISIS.” Libya The Guardian: West 'Can't Fight Isis In Libya Without A Unity Government' “Islamic State (Isis) in Libya has become a threat to all of Europe and western military intervention may now be required, but only so long as the Libyans can first form a coherent national government, Sir Peter Ricketts, David Cameron’s former national security adviser, has warned. Ricketts, who has just ended a stint as UK ambassador to France, said there was a ‘very remote’ chance UK combat forces would be used, and said airstrikes on their own would be of no use. Western powers have been considering whether any military intervention, such as training Libyan security forces, can help prevent Isis gaining a permanent foothold in the oil-rich country.” Al Bawaba: Tunisia Increases Military At Border As Libya Concerns Grow “The meeting of the security co-ordination and monitoring unit, on Tuesday, in the government palace in Kasbah, was devoted to the examination of the security situation in the country and the latest developments in Libya in light of the proliferation of Daech group in this country and the attempts of infiltration of the terrorist elements on the Tunisian soil. Chaired by Prime Minister Habib Essid, the unit highlighted the efforts exerted to prevent and fight against terrorism, commending, on this occasion, the success of the anticipatory operations, hunting down militants in addition to thwarting several ‘terrorist plans’. According to a statement of the Prime Ministry, the security co-ordination and monitoring unit decided the strengthening of the military and security presence on the border. ‘The terrorist threat on the national security requires to show vigilance and not hampering the efforts of the security forces and the army in their fight against terrorism,’ the same statement reads.” Nigeria NAIJ: Over 50 Killed As Gunmen Besiege Zamfara “Leadership reports that over 50 persons were killed in the bloody operation that took place in the wee hour of the night. According to a witness, the assailants stormed the community when most residents were already asleep. The witness said the armed bandits also set houses ablaze during the raid. Another resident who gave his name as Salisu Musa told newsmen that the assailants came prepared to wreak havoc as each of the motorcycles they came with were mounted by three passengers.” Newsweek: Nigerian Secret Police Arrest ‘Isis Recruiter’ In Kano “Nigeria’s secret police say they have arrested a recruiter for the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in northern Nigeria and broken up an extremist cell plotting attacks in the country. The State Security Service (DSS) said they arrested Abdussalam Enesi Yunusa in Kano, northern Nigeria, on January 17, in a statement reported on Tuesday by Nigeria’s Premium Times. Prior to his arrest, Yunusa, an undergraduate student in Niger state, western Nigeria, had made arrangements to travel to Libya to join an ISIS training camp along with at least three other Nigerians he recruited to the group. Yunusa listed at least two other ISIS agents operating in Nigeria and two members of his cell already undergoing training in Libya.” NAIJ: Nigeria Troops Kill Boko Haram Terrorists, Rescue Hundreds “The Nigerian troops currently battling Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria’s northeast have reportedly made significant successes in the war against insurgency. The acting public relations director of the Army, Colonel Kukasheka Usman, who made this disclosure during a press briefing on Tuesday, February 9, 2016, informed that the troops at different locations made sure of victory as they destroyed enclaves of the insurgents, killed some of the terrorists and rescued hundreds of men, women and children.” Asia Al-Arabiya: Indonesia Jails Seven For Supporting ISIS “An Indonesian court on Tuesday handed down prison terms to seven men accused of supporting ISIS amid a security crackdown on the militant group’s suspected sympathisers in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. Indonesia has been on high alert since a bomb and gun attack in the capital Jakarta last month claimed by ISIS stamped the group’s presence in the region for the first time. Eight people were killed, four of them the attackers themselves. ‘What was proven was the defendants’ intent to conspire in, assist, and prepare terrorism-related activities,’ presiding judge Syahlan, who only goes by one name, said, adding that it was not necessary to prove they had actually carried out any attacks.” Times Of India: NIA Seeks Assistance Of Facebook, Twitter In ISIS Case “National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought the assistance of social networking giants like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, to identify the activities of the ISIS and its members promoting the ideology of the terror group. NIA said they have sent requests to various social media sites including, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, KIK and Surespot, to obtain the datas under Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). This was revealed today by the probe agency before a Delhi court while seeking extension of NIA's custody of three terror suspects -- Sheikh Azhar Ul Islam, Mohammed Farhan Shaikh and Adnan Hassan, who were arrested after being deported from UAE for their alleged ISIS links.” Arabic Language Clips Combating Terrorism Financing Mogaz News: Member Of Parliament Hails Closure Of Terrorist Financing Sources In Saudi Arabia Mohammed Abdullah Zinedine, a member of the Egyptian Parliament, hailed the decisions taken by the Saudi authorities to close two associations belonging to the international arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. These associations are accused of exploiting donations they receive to finance terrorist operations carried out by the Brotherhood's "Qualitative Committees." The Egyptian politician, in a statement issued Tuesday, stressed that all Arab and Islamic countries should pursue the same approach taken by Saudi Arabia and Egypt in dealing with all Brotherhood-affiliated associations and educational centers. These measures are needed to dry up the Brotherhood's sources of funding after it was proved that many donations are being used to finance terrorist activities. The Seventh Day: The Money Of Terrorists There is one question that is always asked in relation to the terrorist operations in Sinai: Who is funding the armed terrorist factions and standing behind them? These groups are executing terrorist operations against Egyptian soldiers in Sinai despite the fact that the Egyptian army is combating them. The answer is simply that the financial resources of terrorist groups are available and plentiful; they are still receiving funds from abroad. Smuggled arms continue to reach them all the way up in central Sinai. This is because they are maintaining ties with other and more deadly groups in Gaza and on the border with Libya. ISIS Alyaoum24: Two Moroccan Females Inside The Largest Terrorist Cell Ever To Provide ISIS With Logistics         A Spanish report, quoting security sources, claimed that the two Moroccan females arrested on Sunday by the Spanish authorities, along with five other ISIS suspects, belong to the largest cell ever tasked with supplying ISIS from North Africa and Europe with its logistical needs for the battlefields in Syria and Iraq. The cell-members were detained in Ceuta, Alicante and Valencia. In this context, a source from the Spanish Interior Ministry revealed that the cell members had exploited humanitarian aid activities as a cover to send military equipment to areas of conflict in Iraq and the Levant. Muslim Brotherhood Veto: Brotherhood Dissident: Delivery Of Financial Aid From Terrorist (Brotherhood) To Its Supporters Goes On Sameh Eid, a dissident Brotherhood leader and researcher on Islamic movements, claims that the group's supporters received a major blow following the cutback in financial aid granted to them. He stressed, however, that the Brotherhood continues to deliver such aid. Eid asserted that Brotherhood-affiliated students at Egyptian universities who had previously received around 2,000 pounds ($256) a month are now getting only 500 pounds ($64). This is because the Brotherhood is having difficulty in fulfilling all its financial obligations to its supporters. The researcher added that this money comes from wealthy Brotherhood financiers in Egypt, as well as funds received from the group's international arm abroad. Almogaz: Confessions By Those Accused Of Setting Fire To Al-Munib (Police) Station: We Received Funding From The Brotherhood… And Aljazeera TV Documented The full details of the cases of 26 juvenile defendants belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood have been unveiled. They are accused of setting fire to Al-Munib police station, a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, and two branches of telecom companies. They are also suspected of attacking a café in January 2015. Their cases were forwarded to the military court by the Southern Giza General Prosecution Office for Juveniles. During his interrogation a suspect, identified only as "Mahmoud Kh," admitted his involvement in the incidents and his affiliation with the Brotherhood. He also admitted that he and others had received money to carry out their crimes. He disclosed the names of two individuals who had given him the money: Mustafa Hassan and Khaled Rezeq, two leaders of the Brotherhood from the Tersa district of Giza. The suspects also provided details on the delivery mechanism of these funds.