Eye on Extremism - February 18, 2016

Eye on Extremism February 18, 2016 Reuters: Exclusive: Radioactive Material Stolen In Iraq Raises Security Fears “Iraq is searching for "highly dangerous" radioactive material stolen last year, according to an environment ministry document and seven security, environmental and provincial officials who fear it could be used as a weapon if acquired by Islamic State. The material, stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer, went missing in November from a storage facility near the southern city of Basra belonging to U.S. oilfield services company Weatherford WFT.N, the document seen by Reuters showed and officials confirmed.” Reuters: Turkey Blames Kurdish Militants For Ankara Bomb, Vows Response In Syria And Iraq “Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed a Syrian Kurdish militia fighter working with Kurdish militants inside Turkey for a suicide car bombing that killed 28 people in the capital Ankara, and he vowed retaliation in both Syria and Iraq. A car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses as they waited at traffic lights near Turkey's armed forces' headquarters, parliament and government buildings in the administrative heart of Ankara late on Wednesday.” ABC News: US Airstrikes Destroy More Than $500 Million In ISIS Cash Reserves “The U.S. believes that airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have destroyed more than $500 million in cash that ISIS used to pay its fighters and fund its terror and military operations. That is probably a low estimate, as one U.S. official told ABC News that the figure is in ‘the high hundreds of millions of dollars.’ As part of the effort to weaken ISIS, the U.S. military has struck at ISIS’s finances, particularly its lucrative oil smuggling enterprise in Syria that provides revenue for its operations.” Detroit News: Man Linked To ISIS Indicted On Non-Terror Charges “A grand jury in Detroit has indicted a Dearborn Heights man on firearms charges, but did not issue terrorism-related charges. Khalil Abu-Rayyan, who is under FBI investigation for allegedly making threats of terror and martyrdom, was named in a two-count indictment Wednesday that charges him with making a false statement to acquire a firearm and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. The charges are 10-year felonies.” Wall Street Journal: Islamic State Claims Responsibility For Yemen Suicide Bombing “A Yemeni branch of Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on Wednesday that officials said killed 13 people and injured dozens more at a military camp near the southern port city of Aden. The attack was the latest in a string of incidents that have shaken security in Aden since a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition took control of the city last summer. The names and nationalities of the victims have not been released.” Daily Beast: Exclusive: Obama Refuses To Hit ISIS’s Libyan Capital “Despite the growing threat from the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Libya, the Obama administration has turned down a U.S. military plan an assault on ISIS’ regional hub there, three defense officials told The Daily Beast.  In recent weeks, the U.S. military—led by its Africa and Special Operations Commands— have pushed for more airstrikes and the deployment of elite troops, particularly in the city of Sirte. The hometown of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s, the city now under ISIS control and serving as a regional epicenter for the terror group.” Gulf News: Hezbollah Threatens ‘Nuclear-Like’ Attack On Israel “Occupied Jerusalem: Israel’s top general said Wednesday that the regime’s military has ‘effective deterrence’ against Hezbollah. Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot spoke after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to attack an ammonia storage facility in the north of the country. Nasrallah said Tuesday that ‘our rockets combined with the ammonia storage facility in Haifa will create the effect of a nuclear weapon.’ Eisenkot said Hezbollah is Israel’s most formidable adversary, but that for ten years Israel’s border with Lebanon has been its quietest frontier. In 2006 Israel fought a war with the group in Lebanon.” Al Arabiya: ISIS Smiles Big At Russia’s Offensive In Syria “If there was such a thing as an ‘ideal scenario’ for ISIS, it is quickly transforming to a reality in Syria as the group’s rivals are dealt severe blows by the Russian offensive, while a regional war in proxy is distracting from any serious ground mission to defeat it. Russia’s 444 sorties in the last week around Northern Aleppo were very much in line with Moscow’s targets since last September and the beginning of its operation in Syria.” Reuters: Kurds' Advance In Syria Divides U.S. And Turkey As Russia Bombs “The rapid advance of U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, taking advantage of Russian air strikes to seize territory near the Turkish border, has infuriated Ankara and threatened to drive a wedge between NATO allies. Washington has long seen the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its YPG military wing as its best chance in the battle against Islamic State in Syria - to the chagrin of fellow NATO member Turkey, which sees the group as terrorists and fears it will stir up greater unrest among its own Kurdish minority.” Fortune: Google's Plan To Fight 'Violent Extremism' “Alphabet’s ‘think tank’ is transitioning into an incubator to tackle ‘geopolitical challenges,’ the company’s executive chairman has announced. Eric Schmidt announced on Tuesday that his company’s Google Ideas unit has been renamed Jigsaw. Jared Cohen, a Schmidt advisor and former employee at the U.S. State Department, will serve as Jigsaw’s president. In that role, he’ll be tasked with leading the team’s charge to ‘use technology to tackle the toughest geopolitical challenges, from countering violent extremism to thwarting online censorship to mitigating the threats associated with digital attacks,’ Schmidt said in a statement.” United States Reuters: U.S. Believes Mustard Gas Used By Islamic State In Syria, Iraq “Islamic State militants are believed to be responsible for sulphur mustard gas attacks in Syria and Iraq last year, the United States said on Wednesday. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Islamic State insurgents were responsible for a mustard gas attack in the town of Marea on Aug. 21 ‘largely based on photographic evidence as well as Syrian opposition description of the event.’ A confidential Oct. 29 report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, concluded that at least two people were exposed to sulphur mustard in Marea, north of Aleppo, in August.” ABC News: Washington Seeks Hollywood's Advice In War On ISIS “Secretary of State John Kerry visited Los Angeles on Tuesday to meet with a group of Hollywood studio executives for advice on fighting ISIS propaganda. It was one of Kerry’s last stops on the West Coast after attending a conference of Asian-Pacific leaders with President Obama. Kerry tweeted out a message after his meeting yesterday, but little is being shared about the discussion itself and what ideas the group might have come up with.” Yemen Reuters: Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 13 Recruits At Yemen Army Camp “A suicide bomber killed at least 13 recruits at a Yemeni army camp run by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government in the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday, medical sources and a security official said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series of bombings rattling the city since Saudi-backed forces captured Yemen's second-largest city from the Iran-allied Houthis in July last year.” Turkey Jerusalem Post: At Least 28 Dead In Ankara Bombing; Turkey Suspects Terrorism “At least 28 people were killed and over 60 wounded in the administrative heart of Turkey's capital Ankara on Wednesday when a vehicle laden with explosives detonated as military buses passed near the armed forces' headquarters, parliament and government buildings. The Turkish military condemned what it described as a terrorist attack on the buses as they waited at traffic lights.  Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter the attack was an act of terrorism. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who had been due to leave for a trip to Brussels later on Wednesday, canceled the trip, an official in his office said.” Deutsche Welle: Turkey Proposes 'Secure Strip' Inside Syria To Protect Border And Refugees “In an interview on Wednesday, Turkey's deputy prime minister, Yalcin Akdogan, told A Haber television that the safe zone inside Syria should be ‘free from clashes.’ Akdogan did not elaborate further on its dimensions or how it could be created. Turkey, which is currently home to more than 2.6 million Syrian refugees, has long called for a safe zone, backed up by a no-fly zone, to protect its borders and provide protection for displaced civilians on Syrian soil. Several camps have also been set up inside Syria near Azaz.” Syria Al Arabiya: Can A Ground Offensive End The Syria Conundrum? “The moment it seems that the crisis in Syria cannot get worse the greatest optimist among us becomes pessimistic. The country has been embroiled in an extremely complicated conflict the intensity and dimensions of which continue to escalate. It is no longer just about the domestic strife in Syria or even the rise of ISIS; it has also triggered the Turkish-Kurdish confrontation, which appears to be escalating as Kurdish militias strengthen their positions.” Afghanistan New York Times: Afghanistan’s Crippled Power Grid Exposes Vulnerability of Besieged Capital “When saboteurs crippled the Afghan capital’s power supply last month the tailors in Najeebullah’s clothing shop had to abandon their electric sewing machines for hand-cranked models. Their output fell by half. ‘I’ve lost nearly $215 since the power cuts,’ Mr. Najeebullah, a gentle-mannered man with a gray beard, said. ‘I have four tailors to pay, whether they sew two outfits a day or four. And I have to pay my rent and feed my staff, whether I make money or not.’” Associated Press: UN Condemns Use Of Child Soldiers In Afghanistan “The United Nations on Wednesday condemned all sides in Afghanistan's conflict for using child soldiers, noting that while government forces have curbed the practice, insurgent groups continue to train large numbers of fighters under the age of 18. The Afghan government has made progress on the issue, said Leila Zerrougui, the U.N. representative for children and armed conflict. But she said the Afghan Local Police — government-allied groups that often operate as independent militias and are widely seen as unprofessional and corrupt — are major perpetrators.” Iraq Fox News: Missing Radioactive Material In Iraq Prompts Nationwide Search, ISIS Fears “A desperate hunt for ‘highly dangerous’ radioactive material is on in Iraq, where officials fear it could be used to make a ‘dirty bomb’ if in the hands of ISIS, according to a government official in Baghdad. The material, stored in a case the size of a laptop, disappeared from a storage facility near the southern city of Basra in November, Reuters reported. It was in the possession of Houston-based oil industry contractor Weatherford, according to a document obtained by the news agency.” AFP: ISIS Shoots Down Iraqi Army Helicopter Killing One: Officials “ISIS shot down an Iraqi military helicopter west of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least one person, officials said. The helicopter - the second lost by Iraq in two days - went down near Amriyat al-Fallujah, though officials differed on the exact location. An Iraqi army aviation captain said that the Bell helicopter was shot down with a Dushka heavy machine gun, killing one crew member and wounding a second, who was rescued by another helicopter.” Middle East CNN: Estimate: More Than 26,000 ISIS Fighters Killed By Coalition “More than 26,000 ISIS fighters -- and as many as 27,000 -- are estimated to have been killed in Iraq and Syria by the U.S. led coalition since airstrike operations began in 2014, a U.S. official told CNN. The official emphasized this is an estimate only. U.S. officials had put the figure at roughly 20,000 toward the end of 2015. The latest information is a sharp increase from about one year ago.” Nigeria Premium Times: Nigerian Troops ‘Destroy’ Boko Haram Camps In Sambisa “The Nigerian Army on Wednesday said it destroyed all remaining Boko Haram camps and enclaves around Alagarno and Sambisa forests. A statement by the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Sani Usman, said the troops recorded successes in recent onslaught on the insurgents’ camps. ‘Yesterday, troops of 81 Battalion and 251 Task Force Battalion patrol team, cleared Boko Haram camps located at Komala, Dole, Kumshi and Moadori around the fringes of Alagarno forest.’” Russia CNN: Russia: 7 Alleged ISIS Charged For Plotting Terror In Moscow, St. Petersburg “An ISIS massacre on the streets of Moscow? Bombs detonated by the same terror group in St. Petersburg? Such ‘huge terrorist acts’ might have happened if Russian authorities hadn't detained seven alleged ISIS members, state media reported. The FSB -- Russia's security agency and the successor to the Soviet Union's KGB -- told state-run TASS news that the seven suspects were charged Wednesday for plotting terrorist attacks.” Arabic Language Clips Terrorist Financing Alkhaleej Online: National Commercial Bank Of Saudi Arabia Closes Its Branches In Lebanon In Order To Avoid Money Laundering And Financing Of Terrorism The National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday decided to close all of its branches in Lebanon in order to prevent any possibility of money laundering or terrorist financing operations. It announced that all the deposits will be withdrawn in accordance with regulations of the banking and financial systems. For his part, Saudi banking expert, Fadhel Al Buainain, warned that the Lebanese banking and financial environment may adversely affect the Saudi banking sector due to the large volume of money laundering and financing of terrorism-related transactions. Al Buainain noted that in the event of closure of any Saudi bank abroad, the procedure is to transfer the accounts to another bank in Lebanon. ISIS Russia Today: US Official: ISIS Is Facing Problems In The Disbursement Of Salaries To Its Militants Daniel Glaser, U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing, stated that the ISIS terror organization is experiencing difficulty in paying the salaries of its gunmen and delivering basic services to the population under its control. Glaser on Thursday (February 18th) said that representatives of dozens of member-countries in FATF (the international anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism) Group, discussed the ISIS issue in a meeting in Paris, held on February 14th. The US official stressed that those who attended the meeting reported "real progress" in the fight against the financing of ISIS. Glaser explained that the Paris meeting focused on the exchange of information regarding the sources and channels of ISIS funding and ways to cut them off. He asserted that the main sources of funding for this terrorist organization remain unchanged, i.e. robbing banks, confiscating property and oil production. Muslim Brotherhood Aloma News: Documents...Dollar Hits 9 Egyptian Pounds And The Brotherhood Is The Reason Hossam Al-Aaodare El-Masry, Director of the "Association of Egyptians Abroad", stated that Muslim Brotherhood gangs are generating income by collecting dollars from Egyptians abroad and converting them into Egyptian pounds. He explained that such activities were taking place in such countries as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait as well as other Gulf countries. This activity has caused a decline in foreign exchange transfers by Egyptians working abroad. This is why the dollar exchange rate is now at 9 pounds. El-Masry explained that the Brotherhood supporters are collecting the dollars and sending Egyptian pounds to the families of Egyptian expatriates. He added that the Brotherhood is exploiting the bad security situation in Egypt and smuggling its money out. This has created an economic crisis and stirred outrage in the Egyptian society due to the skyrocketing prices. Alsahm News: Lawsuit To Oust (Brotherhood-Affiliated) Hisham Geneina Postponed To March 29th The Alexandria Court for Urgent Matters decided on Tuesday to postpone a lawsuit demanding the removal of Hisham Geneina, Head of the Central Auditing Organization (CAO) in Egypt. The next session will be held on March 29th. The lawsuit was filed by Egyptian lawyer, Tarek Mahmoud who, during his arguments, stressed that Geneina had harmed the Egyptian economy with his "false" remarks on the widespread corruption in the country. The lawyers claimed that following these comments foreign capital inflow into Egypt declined. Mahmoud also asserted that Geneina's remarks tarnished the image of the Egyptian state in international forums. Mahmoud emphasized that those remarks were directed primarily against the President of the Republic as the prime figure responsible for this corruption. The lawyers claimed that the remarks had been dictated by the international arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, which exploited these statements against state institutions. Sada El-Balad: (Egyptian Expert) Al-Najjar: Financial Corruption Allegations Are The Reason For Failure Of Brotherhood Reforms Hisham al-Najjar, a researcher of Islamic movements, noted that suspicions of corruption that haunt the Muslim Brotherhood have been well-known for a long time. But they resurface only in times of internal crises and conflicts, with the desire of each party to make gains at the expense of the other. Al-Najjar stated that the control of Brotherhood funds, the corruption within the group, and the lack of accountability of financial affairs all serve as the best mechanism for managing internal conflicts and exerting pressure to make gains. These topics remain the most prominent obstacles to the Group's development and implementation of its internal reforms.