Eye on Extremism - February 3, 2016

Eye on Extremism February 3, 2016 Counter Extremism Project Mirror: ISIS Are Building Their Own TANKS Out Of Japanese Pick-Up Trucks “In October an investigation was launched into how so many Toyotas ended up in the hands of ISIS. The car maker's trucks, particularly Toyota Hilux pickups and Toyota Land Cruisers, have appeared in the terror group's propaganda videos in Iraq, Syria and Libya, loaded with heavy weapons and packed full with terrorists. Mark Wallace, a former US Ambassador to the United Nations, who is CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, told ABC News : ‘Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have effectively become almost part of the ISIS brand.’” Daily News: NYPD Investigated Three Terror Plots Linked To ISIS Last Spring, Bill Bratton Says “Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Tuesday that the NYPD investigated three ISIS-influenced terror attacks last spring. ‘We saw three separate plots — all influenced by ISIL — to either behead people, bomb public events, or attack police,’ Bratton said at a hearing in Washington D.C. before the Senate committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. One of the incidents involved two women - Asia Siddiqui, 31 and Noelle Valentzas, 28 - who were arrested in April 2015 for plotting to build pressure cooker bombs and had talked about setting a bomb off at a police funeral, a police spokesperson said. That case is pending in federal court in Brooklyn.” Time: Syria Peace Talks Threatened As Regime Launches ‘Unprecedented’ Assault “Russia has launched hundreds of bombing raids in Syria since Monday, aiding President Assad’s forces as they conduct a major military offensive that could destabilize fragile peace talks. Monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, has said at least 18 civilians were killed in Syria’s Aleppo province on Tuesday in strikes of ‘unprecedented’ intensity, reports Agence France-Presse. ‘We have never seen things like this since the beginning of the revolution,’ said Basma Kodmani, spokesperson for Syria’s main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC.)” Ara News: U.S. Strike Kills ISIS Emir In Iraq’s Tal Afar “An airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition hit a convoy for the Islamic State (ISIS) radical group in northwestern Iraq, and killed the head of the ISIS-controlled district of Tal Afar. Ammar Mustafa al-Zakiyah, the ISIS Emir in Tal Afar, was killed in the airstrike along with a number of his escorts, according to an informed source in the Nineveh police department. The source told ARA News that the raid was conducted after the secret service of Iraq Kurdistan informed the U.S.-led coalition on the location of al-Zakiyah.” New York Times: Anti-ISIS Coalition To Intensify Efforts, John Kerry Says “Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that members of the American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State had agreed at a meeting here to intensify their efforts to defeat the group, but he ruled out sending United States forces to intervene in Libya, where the Sunni extremists are pressing to claim territory. The United States and 22 other nations agreed to ‘a very specific schedule’ for backing the formation of a national unity government in Libya, Mr. Kerry said, and discussed contributions that would be needed from each nation to stabilize Iraq and address the humanitarian crisis in Syria. ‘Every single country there agreed that each of us has to do more in order to more rapidly and completely defeat Daesh,’ Mr. Kerry told reporters as he wrapped up a day of meetings in Rome devoted to planning the next stages of the battle against the group, using an Arabic acronym to refer to it.” The Telegraph: Police Smash Huge Hizbollah Cocaine Ring 'Raising Funds For War In Syria' “The agents, arrested in France, allegedly masterminded a massive global drug ring which raised millions of dollars to arm Hizbollah gunmen fighting for Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, in Syria. According to America's Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), they worked directly with Colombian cocaine cartels, including a feared debt collection outfit set up by the Pablo Escobar. The Hizbollah agents detained by French police include alleged leaders of the group's European cell, including 45-year-old businessman Mohamad Noureddine. The DEA, which has classified him as a ‘specially-designated global terrorist’, accuses him of being a Lebanese money launderer for Hizbollah's financial arm.” Business Insider: ISIS Has Reportedly Released Its First Android App “Islamic State militants can now share their radio broadcasts all over the world through an Android app, dark-web news site Vocativ reports. The app cannot be downloaded using the Google store like normal apps, and can only be accessed through APK files (a file format used for installing software on Android operating system), that the group's followers are spreading online. According to deep web analysts at Vocativ, who discovered the app, the files are distributed on Islamic State-linked social media and forums to allow those who download the app to listen to the group's al-Bayan radio broadcast.” Telegraph: Google To Deliver Wrong Search Results To Would-Be Jihadis “Jihadi sympathisers who type extremism-related words into Google will be shown anti-radicalisation links instead, under a pilot scheme announced by the internet giant. The new technology means people at risk of radicalisation will be presented with internet links which are the exact opposite of what they were searching for. Dr Anthony House, a senior Google executive, revealed the pilot scheme in evidence to MPs scrutinising the role of internet companies in combating extremism.” Saudi Arabia Al Arabiya: Saudi Arabia Publishes List Of 154 Wanted Terror Suspects On The Run “Saudi security authorities are on the lookout for 154 wanted terror suspects named in nine lists published by the Ministry of Interior earlier, according to sources. The ministry asked those who have any information about these wanted men to tip off the security agencies by calling 990 or by visiting the nearest security post. If the information helps in foiling a terrorist attack, the reward amount will be increased to ($1,860,000) SR7 million. The security agencies also updated the list of suspects arrested during the past eight days from various regions of Saudi Arabia, according to sources.” Yemen Haaretz: Fighting In Yemen Leaves At Least 30 Dead “Fighting has intensified outside the Yemeni capital, killing at least 30 people in two days, security officials and tribal elders said Tuesday. Some 25 fighters from both sides were killed in clashes between government forces and Shi'ite rebels and their allies some 65 kilometers east of Sanaa, they said, adding that five civilians were also killed when artillery shells hit residential areas.” Al Arabiya: Yemeni Army Controls ‘ Naham’, Advances Toward Sanaa “In a strategic progress on the ground in Yemen, the resistance and the Yemeni army took control over a main camp for the militias in Furdat Naham, the northeastern gate of the capital Sanaa. From its part, the coalition aircraft fired intensive raids on weapons warehouses belonging to the ousted Saleh in Sanaa, causing a huge explosion.” Turkey Hurriyet Daily News: Turkey: Foreign Snipers Among PKK Militants “Snipers of foreign nationality have been killed fighting for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Southeast Anatolia against government forces, Turkish officials have claimed. ‘There have been foreign snipers. That is true as our prime minister said. However, media reports citing snipers from the nationality you’ve stated are all speculation and baseless. We do not disclose information about their nationalities,’ Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala said Feb. 2 when asked to comment on several media reports in several dailies that cited a counterterrorism operation which allegedly killed a Serbian sniper hired by the PKK in Cizre, a district in the southeastern province of Şırnak. The Turkish administration discloses no information about the nationalities of foreign snipers taking into account the sensitivities in regard to the country’s foreign policy, Ala said.” Associated Press: Turkey Detain Leftist Militants Suspected Of Planning Attack “Turkish police say they have detained two members of a banned far-left group who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks in the country. A police statement said that the suspects are members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front, or DHKP-C, and include a man who is wanted for the 1996 assassination of a prominent businessman in Istanbul. Police seized weapons and explosives, it said. The two were arrested Tuesday at the town of Soke near the Aegean coast and are believed to have crossed into Turkey illegally from one of the Greek islands.” Syria Ara News: Kurds Repel Fresh ISIS Attack South Kobane “Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) repelled an attack by militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the vicinity of Kobane, northern Syria, military sources reported on Tuesday. ‘A group of ISIS terrorists tried to infiltrate in the Tishreen village southwest of Kobane, but the YPG repelled the attack and forced the militants to retreat towards their strongholds in Jarablus,’ YPG spokesman Habun Osman told ARA News in Kobane.  The offensive started when an ISIS militant carried out a suicide attack near a security checkpoint for the YPG in the vicinity of Tishreen Dam, followed by an attempt by a group of some 30 ISIS militant fighters to storm YPG’s headquarters in the area. ‘Subsequent to the terror attack, clashes broke out between our (YPG) fighters and ISIS terrorists in the vicinity of Tishreen Dam,’ the official source reported.” Lebanon Haaretz: In ISIS-Qaida Warzone In Lebanon, Hezbollah Rocket Attack Kills Four Fighters “Hezbollah fighters killed at least four members of the Al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in a rocket attack on their car in northeastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source said. The incident took place in a restive area near the Syrian border, just outside the Lebanese town of Arsal, which Nusra Front and Islamic State fighters overran briefly in 2014 before withdrawing after clashes with the army. Shi'ite Hezbollah has previously targeted Sunni Islamist fighters in the area who have staged regular incursions from Lebanon's war-torn neighbor. “ Afghanistan CNN: Afghan Official: U.S. Airstrikes Hit ISIS Radio Station, Kill 29 Militants “U.S. airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan killed 29 ISIS fighters and struck the terrorist group's FM radio station, signaling American forces' continued military action in the war-torn nation -- albeit against a different entity that brought them there in the first place. The strikes occurred Monday evening in Nangarhar province, according to Ataullah Khogyani, a spokesman for that province's governor. Khogyani said the 29 killed included eight ISIS members who worked on the group's radio and online efforts. Until then, ISIS propaganda could be heard on the radio station in Nangarhar's capital of Jalalabad. Khogyani said the U.S. strikes not only hit the radio facility but destroyed the Islamic extremist group's internet equipment.” Iraq Reuters: ISIS Has Turned A Western Iraqi City Into ‘A Huge Detention Center' “A senior Iraqi official has appealed to the U.S.-led coalition to air-drop food and medicine to tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Falluja, the Islamic State stronghold under siege by security forces. The city's population is suffering from a shortage of food, medicine and fuel, according to residents reached by phone, and local media said several people had died due to starvation and insufficient medical care. Insecurity and poor communications inside the city make those reports difficult to verify. Sohaib al-Rawi, the governor of western Anbar province where Falluja is located, said an air-drop was the only way to deliver humanitarian supplies to residents after Islamic State mined the entrances to the city and prevented civilians from leaving.” ABNA: Iraq: Six Killed, 27 Injured In Bombings In, Around Baghdad “Six people were killed and more than two dozen others injured in separate bomb attacks in and around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, security and medical sources said Tuesday.  A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least two civilians died and five others sustained injuries when an improvised explosive device went off close to a number of workshops in Baghdad’s eastern neighborhood of al-Talebiyah.  A police officer also died and four others were injured when a roadside bomb targeted a security checkpoint in the town of Yusufiyah, located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad.” Egypt Jerusalem Post: Egypt Kills 9 Alleged Terrorists In Sinai “Egyptian security forces killed nine alleged terrorists and wounded eight near the Sinai city of Sheikh Zuweid on Tuesday, Egyptian media reported. The alleged terrorists were members of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which pledged allegiance to Islamic State, reported El-Watan newspaper, which tends to support the regime. A security source quoted by the paper said security forces saw intelligence that led security forces to the area and then to clashes with the fighters” Middle East Newsweek: There Is Little Chance An Arab Coalition Can Defeat Isis “The horrific ISIS suicide bombing near the Sayyida Zaynab mosque outside of Damascus is ‘caliph’ Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s calling card—his way of reminding people that the peace talks being organized in Geneva represent only one facet of the struggle for Syria. As Washington tries, in the face of long odds, to orchestrate a political transition that would sideline Bashar al-Assad for the sake of anti-ISIS Syrian national unity, Syria’s other criminal kingpin—Baghdadi—weighs in with his own inimical ‘don’t forget about me’ manner. The Sayyida Zaynab atrocity is also a reminder of how woefully inadequate the international response to ISIS’s despicable presence in eastern Syria has been.” The Blaze: Hamas Rolls Out Its New ‘Tank’ to Fight Israel. See If You Can Spot the Problem. “During a memorial service Saturday for seven Hamas militants killed when the tunnel they were in collapsed on them, Hamas rolled out what it called a ‘locally-produced’ tank it said was fashioned out of an Israel Defense Forces’ tank captured two years ago. However, a number of observers, both Palestinian and Israeli, noticed that there was something odd about the armored fighting machine which a Hamas spokesman warned would be used on the ‘path of jihad.’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Ofir Gendelman pointed out that the contraption appeared to be a mockup constructed of wood placed atop another vehicle whose wheels could be spotted poking out of the bottom.” Jerusalem Post: Report: Gaza Tunnel Collapses, Killing At Least One Hamas Operative “Palestinian media sources in Gaza reported on Tuesday that a Hamas operative was killed and several others were injured or missing in a tunnel collapse in the central Strip. Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesman from the Gaza health ministry said that a 23-year-old Palestinian identified as Ahmed Heydar a-Zahar was transferred to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The incident the second time in recent weeks that an underground passageway collapsed with Hamas figures inside.” Libya USA Today: Coalition Looks For Ways To Block Islamic State In Libya “Members of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State gathered Tuesday in Rome where they discussed how to prevent the extremist group from gaining a stranglehold in Libya and seizing its oil wealth. ‘In Libya, we’re on the brink of getting a government of national unity,’ U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, speaking at the 23-nation conference. ‘That country has resources. The last thing in the world you want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue.’” Long War Journal: Ansar Al Sharia Libya Relies On Al Qaeda Ideologues To Guide Followers “Jihadist groups around the globe denounced Saudi Arabia’s execution of more than 40 men in early January. Some of those sentenced to death had taken part in al Qaeda’s first campaign to disrupt the kingdom between 2003 and 2006. It was only natural, therefore, that al Qaeda, its regional branches and other affiliated groups would decry the House of Saud’s decision to follow through on the death sentences. However, Ansar al Sharia Libya’s response was especially noteworthy. In a three-page statement released via Twitter on Jan. 15, the group compared those executed to senior al Qaeda leaders killed in America’s drone campaign. ‘Al Salul [a derogatory reference to the Saudis] recognizes the importance of the true righteous scholars who control jihad with the correct provisions from the book of Allah Almighty and the sunna of His messenger, peace and blessing be upon him, and the impact of the absence of these scholars on the jihadist arena,’ Ansar al Sharia Libya’s officials wrote, according to a translation obtained by The Long War Journal.” Telegraph: Peacekeepers Sent To Libya Would Become A Target For Isil “The last time the Government ordered the military into action in Libya five years ago, the campaign was hardly a roaring success. Operation Ellamy, as the MoD called it, may have succeeded in securing its principal aim, namely the overthrow of the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. But the absence of any serious post-conflict planning – sound familiar? – together with the reluctance of Britain and its allies to deploy anything resembling ground forces, meant that the country quickly descended into lawlessness. The result is that its 1,200-mile coastline today acts as a safe haven for Islamic State (Isil) fighters and myriad other Islamist-inspired miscreants. It is hard to see how those European powers – such as Britain, Italy and France – that support some form of military intervention can do so without the backing of a functioning, unified Libyan government. Isil, moreover, is making full use of the political stalemate to consolidate its grip over Islamist-controlled enclaves on the Libyan littoral, including Gaddafi’s birthplace Sirte, where the group has established Sharia courts that administer public beheadings and floggings for offences such as apostasy and witchcraft.” Nigeria NAIJ: Six Killed In Boko Haram Fresh Attack “The deadly Boko Haram sect continued its deadly attacks in Borno state. In a fresh attack on Goniambari village in Kaga local government area six people were killed while one resident received gunshot injury. The sources said the terrorists also set ablaze some houses and cars using Improvised Explosive Devices and petrol bombs before looting foodstuffs and livestock.” NAIJ: Multiple Explosions Rock Benin City (Photo) “Four residential buildings were on Tuesday destroyed in a multiple explosions that occurred in parts of Benin City, capital of Edo state. This development heightened tension and anxiety in the entire area as people scampered in different directions for safety as the people apparently suspected that men of the dreaded Boko Haram were responsible for the blasts. One of the occupants of one of the affected buildings and a woman who was passing by were said to have sustained serious injuries from the explosion, but no live was lost.” United Kingdom The Guardian: Britain Accuses Russia Of Trying To Carve Out Mini-State For Assad In Syria “Britain has said Russia could be trying to carve out an Alawite mini-state in Syria for its ally President Bashar al-Assad by bombing his opponents instead of fighting Islamic State militants. Russia and Britain have been engaged in a war of words after British foreign secretary Philip Hammond said on Monday that he believed president Vladimir Putin was worsening the Syrian civil war by bombing opponents of Isis. Hammond dismissed Russian criticism that he was spreading ‘dangerous disinformation’, saying there was a limit to how long Russia could pose as a promoter of the peace process while bombing Assad’s opponents, who the west hopes can shape Syria once the president is gone.” Arabic Language Clips Terrorist Financing Alhayat: Tobacco Smuggling To Finance Terrorism Is More Rewarding Than Weapons Smuggling Despite the ban imposed by the "Islamic State" (IS) on tobacco trading and the organization's threat to punish smokers in the areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, this trade has intensified substantially in recent months. The illegal trade of tobacco products is being used to generate a new and lucrative funding source for extremist organizations. Officials in the "British American Tobacco" company project an increase in total unearned tax-money and/or loss of profits to Arab States as a result of the illicit tobacco trade. They expect this figure to climb to $1.2 billion per year compared to $1 billion today, as a result of smuggling operations. The officials stressed that the reasons behind the expected increase in tobacco trafficking in the Arab World are not only related to the entry of terrorist organizations into this trade, especially in Iraq and Syria. They explained that a significant increase in the tax on tobacco products introduced by Arab governments, along with permitting tobacco companies to manufacture cheap products in liberated zones, has led to the emergence of a large black market for tobacco products in the Arab countries. ISIS Echorouk: Arrest Of 40 People At Houari Boumediene Airport On Their Way To (Join) ISIS Algerian security forces, in coordination with the border police at the Houari Boumediene International Airport, detained a group of over 40 young people, aged 23-45 years old, who had decided to enlist in ISIS. They had planned to join the terror group by boarding flights to Turkey. According to the information revealed by the security services, the young people were arrested thanks to tip-offs. The detainees told interrogators they had decided to reach the terrorist organization by using fake passports. They attempted to hide their true intentions by declaring that their trip to Turkey was for tourist purposes. They are still undergoing interrogation. Muslim Brotherhood Shorouk News: Hisham Jaafar Remanded In Custody For 15 Days On Charges Of Belonging To The Muslim Brotherhood And Of International Bribery Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution remanded in custody Hisham Jaafar, Chairman of Mada Foundation for Media Development, on charges of belonging to an illegal group that aims to disrupt state institutions and obstruct their work. He is also suspected of receiving bribes from abroad. According to investigation findings, Mada conducted a number of research studies on the national dialogue, family and child affairs, and tolerance in exchange for fees paid by international clients. These studies were carried out without the required security approval; therefore, the authorities believe this to constitute international bribery. An informed source said that this is the first time that Article 87 of the Penal Code, which deals with foreign funding, has ever been implemented. Al Wafd: (Egyptian) Court Postponed To April 5th A Lawsuit To Invalidate The Seizure Of Funds Owned By (Brotherhood-Affiliated) Pakinam El-Sharqawi The First Circuit of the Court of Administrative Justice at the Egyptian State Council, headed by Judge Yehia Dakruri, Chairman of the Club of State Council, ruled on Tuesday to postpone the lawsuit filed by Dr. Pakinam el-Sharqawi, former assistant to ousted President Mohammed Morsi for political affairs, to overturn the decision to seize her assets. The next session is scheduled for April 5th. In the lawsuit, el-Sharqawi claimed that she was surprised by the decision to seize her funds for allegedly belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. She further asserted that the decision runs contrary to the Constitution and the Egyptian laws. She stressed that the decision is an assault on private property. El-Sharqawi also noted that the court had acted outside its legal jurisdiction in this regard, explaining that a ban on using appropriated assets should be issued by the Criminal Court in compliance with the regulations prescribed in the Criminal Procedures Code. Veto: Brotherhood Reconciliation To Resolve The Fate Of Financial Aid Sources close to the Muslim Brotherhood disclosed that the group would not be transferring new funds to the families of imprisoned members of the group. The sources emphasized that resumption of infusing funds would be examined only after efforts to achieve internal reconciliation in the group are successful. The families of prisoners affiliated with the Brotherhood have expressed anger due to the freeze in financial aid provided by the group.