Eye on Extremism - February 17, 2016

Eye on Extremism February 17, 2016 Reuters: Americans Kidnapped In Iraq Last Month Released “Three U.S. citizens who were kidnapped in Baghdad last month have been released with the help of the Iraqi government, the State Department said on Tuesday. Unknown gunmen seized the trio from a private apartment in the capital's southeasterly Dora district in mid-January and were thought to be held by an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia, though Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi later dismissed the likelihood of Iranian involvement.” Reuters: Apple Opposes Order To Help Unlock California Shooter's Phone “Apple Inc opposed a court ruling on Tuesday that ordered it to help the FBI break into an iPhone recovered from a San Bernardino shooter, heightening a dispute between tech companies and law enforcement over the limits of encryption. Chief Executive Tim Cook said the court's demand threatened the security of Apple's customers and had’"implications far beyond the legal case at hand.’ Earlier on Tuesday, Judge Sheri Pym of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles said that Apple must provide "reasonable technical assistance" to investigators seeking to unlock the data on an iPhone 5C that had been owned by Syed Rizwan Farook.” CNN: Case Of Alleged ISIS Supporter Set To Become First Of Its Kind To Proceed To Trial “When it comes to prosecuting defendants accused of providing support to ISIS, the Department of Justice has an unblemished record at trial. That's in part because it appears no one charged with such a crime has ever taken their case to a jury -- until now. In U.S. District Court in Phoenix on Tuesday, accused ISIS supporter Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem is doing just that. A Justice Department official said his case is thought to be the first of its kind to proceed to trial.” Wall Street Journal: Kurdish Militias Advance In Northern Syria “U.S.-backed Kurdish militants seized new ground in northern Syria on Tuesday as Turkey fired artillery from across the border to try to halt their advances, deepening the divide between allies in the fight against Islamic State. As diplomatic efforts struggled to gain traction, Kurdish fighters stepped up an offensive that is heading for Islamic State strongholds, setting the stage for a long-anticipated showdown between America’s most reliable militant allies in Syria and the Sunni extremists.” Reuters: Turkey Seeks Allies' Support For Ground Operation As Syria War Nears Border “Turkey, Saudi Arabia and some European allies want ground troops deployed in Syria as a Russian-backed government advance nears NATO's southeastern border, Turkey's foreign minister said, but Washington has so far ruled out a major offensive. Syrian government forces made fresh advances on Tuesday, as did Kurdish militia, both at the expense of rebels whose positions have been collapsing in recent weeks under the Russian-backed onslaught.” Reuters: Saudi Arabia Took Part In Weekend Air Strikes Against Islamic State: Pentagon “Saudi Arabia participated in air strikes as part of a U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State militants over the weekend, a U.S. Department of Defense spokesman said on Tuesday. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who has been under pressure to shore up support from Sunni Arab allies to fight Islamic State last week welcomed a commitment from Saudi Arabia to expand its role in air strikes. Saudi Arabia has concentrated its military efforts over the last year on the conflict in Yemen, where it is leading a coalition of mainly Gulf Arab forces battling Houthi fighters who control the capital, Sanaa.” AFP: Top South Yemen Officials Survive Al-Qaeda Gun Attack “The governor and police chief of Yemen's main southern city Aden escaped unharmed Tuesday after an attack by al-Qaeda gunmen that left three assailants dead, an aide said. Aden's governor Aidarus al-Zubaidi and its police chief General Shallal Ali Shayae were travelling in a convoy in Aden's central Mansura district when they came under fire, said Zubaidi's aide, Mansur Zaid.” The Independent: Isis 'Recruitment Cell' Uncovered In Counter-Terror Police Raids In Belgium “A suspected Isis recruitment cell has been uncovered by a counter-terrorism operation in Brussels. Belgium’s federal prosecutor said the raids, which saw 10 people arrested, were not directly related to the Paris attacks in November. Armed police stormed nine properties early on Tuesday morning in the districts of Molenbeek, Koekelberg, Schaerbeek and Etterbeek on the orders of a judge.” Associated Press: ISIS Is Broke, And Only Accepting Payments In US Dollars “Faced with a cash shortage in its so-called caliphate, the Islamic State group has slashed salaries across the region, asked Raqqa residents to pay utility bills in black market American dollars, and is now releasing detainees for a price of $500 a person. The extremists who once bragged about minting their own currency are having a hard time meeting expenses, thanks to coalition airstrikes and other measures that have drained millions from their finances since last fall.” Daily Caller: White House Misses Required Deadline To Present ISIS Plan “The Obama Administration’s deadline to present a plan to defeat Islamic State to Congress by Feb. 15 has come and gone, with no strategy presented. The report, which is required by law, is officially passed due, according to a press release by House Committee on Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry . When contacted by The Daily Caller News Foundation about the delivery of the report, committee communications director Claude Chafin actually said he triple checked, and the report had not been delivered.” Fox News: Surviving ISIS Sex Slave Speaks Out “A former Islamic State sex slave who said she saw her family slaughtered in front of her is calling on humanity to ‘be united in facing ISIS.’ Nadia Murad, 21, made the comments during a speech at London’s Trade Union Congress House, The Mirror reported Sunday. Murad, from the Iraqi town of Sinjar, said she was orphaned after ruthless ISIS militants killed six of her brothers and her mother.” United States Reuters: U.S.-Led Coalition Stages 30 Strikes In Syria, Iraq Against Islamic State “The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 30 strikes in Syria and Iraq on Monday, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the operations said in a statement. In Iraq, 20 strikes were staged near eight cities, including Al Qaim where nine strikes hit a logistics facility, two Internet cafés, two headquarters, and an media all used by the Islamic State militant group, the task force said. Ten strikes near four Syrian cities included six that hit an Islamic State weapons cache, headquarters, three weapons storage facilities, and a barracks, according to the statement released on Tuesday.” Yemen Associated Press: UN Says A 'Humanitarian Catastrophe' Is Unfolding In Yemen “The United Nations humanitarian chief says a "humanitarian catastrophe" is unfolding in Yemen. Stephen O'Brien says the situation is exacerbated by increasing restrictions on efforts to respond to the staggering needs of millions of people, including the diversion of a U.N. aid ship by Saudi-led coalition forces. Stephen O'Brien painted a grim picture Tuesday of the war-ravaged country: more than 35,000 casualties since March 2015 including over 6,000 deaths; at least 7.6 million people "severely food insecure"; and more than 3.4 million children now out of school.” Turkey AFP: Turkey Urges Syria Ground Operation, UN Prepares Aid Convoys “Turkey called Tuesday for a ground operation with its international allies to end the war in Syria, as the United Nations announced aid convoys are being sent to besieged towns. ‘So far I understand that the government of Syria has approved access to seven besieged areas,’ said Vanessa Huguenin, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).” The Guardian: Turkey Revives Plan For Safe Zone In Syria To Stem Flow Of Refugees “Turkey has revived its proposal for a safe zone inside Syria, saying it could be extended as far as 10km into the country and help prevent hundreds of thousand of refugees crossing the border as they flee a Russian-backed advance. Turkey claims the plan has the support of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, but it would require US involvement. The US has rejected any safe zone inside Syria on the basis that it would require a no-fly zone, which might lead to conflict with Russian jets in the skies above Syria.” Syria Business Insider: After Obama Spoke With Putin, Suspected Russian Airstrikes Hit Hospitals And A School In Rebel-Held Syria “Close to 50 civilians were killed and more wounded when missiles hit three hospitals and a school in rebel-held Syrian towns on Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, as Russian-backed Syrian troops intensified their push toward the rebel stronghold of Aleppo. According to UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, Ban said the attacks were ‘blatant violations of international laws’ that ‘are further degrading an already devastated health care system and preventing access to education in Syria.’” The Hill: ISIS Used Chemical Weapons Against The Kurds, US Officials Say “The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) used chemical weapons against the Kurdish peshmerga in August, two U.S. defense officials tell The Hill.  The officials said they have confirmed that ISIS used chemical weapons during fighting in northern Iraq and that the Kurdish military — a staunch ally of the United States — was targeted. ‘We can confirm some type of chemical weapon was employed by ISIL in that August mortar attack,’ a U.S. defense official told The Hill on the condition of anonymity, using another acronym for ISIS.” The Guardian: Refugees Are Becoming Russia's Weapon Of Choice In Syria “Russia’s flat denials of responsibility for the lethal bombing of hospitals and schools in Syria cut no ice in Ankara. Senior Turkish officials say Vladimir Putin and his Syrian allies are shamelessly using increased refugee outflows resulting from these and similar attacks as a weapon of war – one that is deliberately aimed at Turkey and Europe. Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, categorically rejected claims by Turkey and other countries that Russian forces, acting in support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and Syrian Kurd militias, had committed war crimes in mounting Monday’s strikes, which killed about 50 people.” Reuters: Islamic State Shrugs Off Any Saudi Ground Force In Syria “Islamic State says it will fight any Saudi ground intervention in Syria and that Saudi action might add to complications but would not bolster enemies of the militant group. Saudi Arabia has said it is ready to participate in any ground operations in Syria that the U.S.-led alliance may decide to start. ‘This intervention, if it happened, would not provide much to the enemies of Islamic State ...,’ Islamic State said in an editorial on Tuesday carried by the group's al-Naba weekly newspaper, referring to President Bashar al-Assad, his Russian and Iranian allies and the U.S-led coalition.” Daily Caller: Syrian Army Charges Toward The ISIS Capital “A Syrian army group is moving on the ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria in a bid to drive a decisive blow to the terrorist group. The once dilapidated Syrian army, under President Bashar al-Assad, has been able to renew its efforts in the fight against ISIS thanks in no small part to increased support from Assad’s allies in Russia and Iran. IHS Jane’s Defense Review released a report on Sunday after witnessing Syrian soldiers posting several pictures on social media while operating near the border of Hama and Raqqa provinces.” Afghanistan The Hill: UN Reports Record Number Of Civilian Casualties In Afghanistan “Increased fighting between government troops and insurgents in Afghanistan in 2015 contributed to the highest number of civilian casualties since the United Nations began tracking civilian casualties in the war-torn nation in 2009. Overall, 3,545 civilians were killed and 7,457 were injured, marking a 4-percent increase in casualties from 2014, according to a recently released U.N. report.” Egypt Haaretz: Thousands Cross From Gaza Into Egypt As Border Opens For Short While “More than 2,800 people crossed from the Gaza Strip into Egypt at the Rafah crossing, which was opened on Saturday for the first time since December and closed on Monday, sources in Gaza and Egypt said. The Palestinian border authority also said that the Egyptians had permitted 64 trucks into Gaza carrying cement, gravel and other construction materials, which were transferred by the Qatari government.” Libya USA Today: Stop Islamic State In Libya Before It Is Too Late: Former Undercover CIA Operative “North and West Africa are breeding grounds for radical Islamic terrorism. The Obama administration has allowed this situation to fester too long by failing to produce a coherent strategy to stop Islamic State’s advances in the Maghreb in general and in Libya in particular. Following territorial losses in Iraq and Syria over the past year, ISIL has stepped up operations in Libya as the security situation there continues to crumble. The growing danger ISIL poses there means securing stability in Libya is just as important as it is in Syria and Iraq. If left unaddressed, Libya will provide ISIL with the space, the resources and the geographical opportunity to do some serious harm to our European allies and to us.” Nigeria AFP: Cameroon Stages Major Attack On Boko Haram Base In Nigeria “Cameroon mounted a major assault against a key Boko Haram base in Nigeria last week, inflicting heavy losses on the Islamist group and seizing arms and prisoners, the government said in a statement obtained by AFP on Tuesday. The Cameroonian army offensive took place from February 11 to 14 in Ngoshe in Nigeria, some 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the northern town of Ashigashia on the border between the two countries, government spokesman and Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in the statement.” France New York Times: France’s Emergency Powers Spur Charges Of Overreach From Muslims “Depending on who is telling the story, Daoud Muradyan, a blind 21-year-old, is either a potential terrorist or a harmless immigrant who embodies everything that is wrong with France’s broad new antiterrorism powers. Mr. Muradyan came under suspicion after having contact with a radical imam, the French authorities say. They also say that he recently traveled to a part of Brussels where several of the attackers in the Nov. 13 Paris assaults had lived, and that he had five cellphones and four USB memory sticks in his possession when the police raided his home in the southeastern city of Avignon.” Arabic Language Clips Terrorist Financing Alriyadh: 5.5 Years In Prison For A (Saudi) Citizen Who Fought In Syria And Financed Terrorism The Specialized Criminal Court sentenced a Saudi citizen to 5.5 years in jail, after convicting him of taking part in the fighting in Syria and of terrorist financing. He was convicted of violating Saudi law by traveling to Syria twice to participate in the fighting, as well as joining a group which later pledged allegiance to ISIS. He deployed with this terrorist group to Iraq and then returned again to Syria. The Saudi national was also convicted of handing over his passport to leaders of the terror group and expressing his willingness to coordinate the travel arrangements of his cousin to Syria. The Saudi was also implicated in the financing of terrorism by sending SR 21,000 ($5,600) to a member of ISIS in Syria. ISIS Shafaaq News: International Strikes Hit ISIS Money Centers Including The (Iraq) Central Bank A security source in Nineveh province stated that on Monday the international coalition warplanes bombed a branch of the Iraq Central Bank in Mosul as well as other banks and ISIS's so-called "Zakat & Sadaqa Chamber". The source noted that the international coalition aircraft carried out intensive air raids which targeted the Iraqi Central Bank's branch in Mosul, the Real Estate Bank of Iraq, and the Rasheed Bank branch. The source claimed that the raids completely demolished the "Zakat & Sadaqa Chamber" building in the city. Muslim Brotherhood Sada El-Balad: Tamarod Gamaa (Islamiyya): Financial Incentives Cause Differences Inside Brotherhood Walid al-Barsh, the founder of "Tamarod (rebel) Gamaa Islamiyya Movement", claimed that the main reason for the discord between the Muslim Brotherhood leaders and their supporters is the preferential financial treatment and incentives provided by the Brotherhood to their allies in Turkey. Al-Barsh added that the dispute flared up around the issue of who receives the dollars, prompting some leaders to resign. This provoked a crisis inside the Muslim Brotherhood because those who stepped down were accused of attempting to blackmail the group into giving them increased funding. The Seventh Day: Secretary General Of The (Egyptian) Doctors (Union): We Did Not Incite To Strike And The Proportion Of Muslim Brotherhood Doctors In Hospitals Is Only 1% Secretary-General of the Egyptian Doctors’ Union, Ehab El Taher, disclosed that the proportion of doctors affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood who work in hospitals does not exceed 1%. He stressed that the political mobilization of the doctors is not directed against the state, but is only intended to assert their rights. El Taher claimed that the doctors who had gathered inside the Union building had not chanted any invectives against the Interior Ministry, adding that the verbal attacks against the state were initiated by citizens from outside the Union. Houthi Ababil: The Houthis Declare General Mobilization For The Second Time And Loot The Capital Sanaa The Houthi militia in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa announced a general mobilization for the second time in the last few weeks. The call-up is a means of dealing with what it described as the risk of invasion into the city by the Arab-led coalition and government forces as well as the "Popular Resistance" militia. This came following the advancement of these forces to the outskirts of the capital and their occupation of Naham, located north of the city. In addition, mobile phone companies, operating in the capital and the rest of the governorates of Yemen, sent messages to subscribers urging them to donate money as part of the popular mobilization. This desperate move indicates that the Houthi group is on the brink of bankruptcy. Last month, Houthi leaders in the capital ordered the Yemeni Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Yemen to cut the salaries of nearly 25,000 state employees and to deduct all benefits and bonuses for all employees. The Houthis also dismissed many state employees, replacing them with members of the Shiite militia.