Eye on Extremism February 4, 2016 Washington Post: Kansas Man Pledged Allegiance To ISIS, Planned To Detonate Car Bomb At Army Base “A 21-year-old Kansas man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to attempting to detonate what he thought was a 1,000 pound ammonium nitrate bomb on the Fort Riley Army base in Manhattan, Kansas. John Booker of Topeka was netted in an FBI sting in 2014 when he was introduced to an FBI informant, who eventually led Booker to another informant. The two insiders helped Booker with the construction of a bomb made primarily of inert components. According to a Department of Justice statement, Booker told the informants that he “”dreamed of being a fighter in the Middle East, and proposed capturing and killing an American soldier’ and that a suicide attack would ensure that he hit his target. Prior to carrying out his attack, he recorded a video intended to be seen after his death.” Arutz Sheva: Leader Of ISIS In Yemen Killed In Drone Strike “The leader of the Islamic State group in Yemen was killed in a drone strike early on Thursday. Local residents and officials who witnessed the explosion told reporters about the strike.  According to a report by the Reuters news agency the residents said the strike targeted a car in which Jalal Baleedi and two of his aides were traveling in, and that it took place on a road between the towns of Zinjibar and Shaqra in southern Yemen. Tribal sources told the agency on Thursday that a separate drone strike killed six suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in an overnight attack in eastern Yemen.” Reuters: Walls And Watchtowers Rise As Turkey Tries To Seal Border Against Islamic State “Slabs of concrete wall have sprung up and military patrols have intensified, but local people say this stretch of Turkey's border facing Syrian territory under Islamic State control is still far from water-tight. Ankara is under intense pressure from its NATO allies to seal off the 70 km (40 mile) strip that stretches from just east of the Turkish town of Kilis to Karkamis, long a conduit for fighters, smuggled goods and war materiel. Beyond a string of tiny villages nestled in undulating fig and olive groves lies the last stretch of Syrian territory on Turkey's southern frontier that Islamic State militants still hold, following advances by rival Kurdish rebels.” Bloomberg: Bin Laden's Backers Want To Destroy Islamic State In Afghanistan “The Afghan militant group that sheltered Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks is closing the door to the Islamic State. The Taliban is giving up on holding talks with the group and will prevent it from gaining a foothold in Afghanistan, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said by e-mail. He accused the media and intelligence agencies of inflating the Islamic State’s strength. ‘We’ve used all reasonable chances and options for peace efforts, but apparently those people are not rational, and reconciliation and talks with them is not possible,’ Mujahed said. He called the group, known by the Arabic acronym Daesh, ‘a scruffy and uncouth production of nations in the Middle East" that “has no place in our community.’” Malaysian Insider: To Silence Propaganda, Iraq Seeks To Take Isis Offline “Iraq is trying to persuade satellite firms to halt Internet services in areas under Islamic State's rule, seeking to deal a major blow to the group's potent propaganda machine which relies heavily on social media to inspire its followers to wage jihad. Social media apps like Twitter and Telegram are scrambling to limit Islamic State's cyber-activities. So far that has proven to be a cat-and-mouse-game, with the group re-emerging through other accounts with videos showing beheadings and extolling the virtues of living in a caliphate. For Iraq then, the key is to stop the militant group from accessing the web at all - a feat, which if achieved, could sever a significant part of a propaganda campaign that has inspired deadly attacks in the West.” Al-Shabaab: Militant Group Al Shabaab Leading Suspect In Somalia Plane Blast: U.S. Government Sources “Investigators suspect the Al Shabaab militant group was behind a likely bomb blast that forced an Airbus A321 into an emergency landing this week in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, U.S. government sources said Wednesday. One U.S. government source said investigators believe the Islamic militant group Al Shabaab perpetrated the attack. However, officials said that there had been no claim of responsibility for the attack. One man was killed by the blast on Tuesday on the Daallo Airlines plane, officials said. Local authorities north of Mogadishu said the body of a man, believed to have been sucked out through the hole in the fuselage made by the blast, was found in their area.” CNN: Terror Threat In Europe 'As High As It's Ever Been,' Officials Say “The terror threat in Europe is at as high a level as it's ever been, a U.S. official told CNN Wednesday, and nearly 2,000 foreign fighters who went to Iraq and Syria from Europe have returned home -- with some potentially plotting new attacks. The latest European and U.S. estimates show as many as 1,900 of those foreign fighters are back in Europe after stints in Iraq and Syria, the official said. The estimate covers the last few years since intelligence services across the world began tracking these movements. Most of the fighters returning -- but not all of them -- joined ISIS while in the terror group's self-declared caliphate and remain committed to the group. Others became disenchanted and fled back to Europe. It's not clear how many of those who returned are plotting new attacks, the official said.” NPR: Thousands Of Foreign Fighters Still Join ISIS Despite Visible Defeats “ISIS has lost a lot of territory but that hasn't translated into a loss of supporters. The reason: the group has convinced its followers that defeat is part of a larger plan. And if you were to look at a map of territory held by Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria in 2015, it would show that the terrorist group lost ground. ISIS was run out of areas near the Turkish border, and it lost most of the Iraqi city of Sinjar. Yet foreign fighters continue to join ISIS. NPR's counterterrorism correspondent Dina Temple-Raston explains why. Dina Temple-Raston, Byline: Here's a way to understand how ISIS continues to attract followers in the face of defeat. It claims its setbacks are the fulfillment of prophecy.” BBC: Top IS Commanders 'Taking Refuge' In Libya “Several senior commanders from the so-called Islamic State have moved to Libya from Iraq and Syria in recent months, according to a top Libyan intelligence official. The official told BBC Newsnight that increasing numbers of foreign fighters had arrived in the city of Sirte. But Ismail Shukri, the head of intelligence in the city of Misrata, told Newsnight there had been an influx of foreign fighters in recent months. ‘The majority [of IS fighters in Sirte] are foreigners, around 70%. Most of them are Tunisians, followed by Egyptians, Sudanese and a few Algerians. ‘Add to that the Iraqis and the Syrians. Most of the Iraqis come from Saddam Hussein's disbanded army.’” United States The Hill: Pentagon: Low Weapons Supplies Aren't Hurting ISIS Fight “The Pentagon says the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has the weapons it needs, even as munitions supplies run low. ‘Obviously, the Department of Defense will prioritize supply to where it's needed,” Army Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for the campaign, said in a press briefing on Wednesday. “And as an active battlefield, obviously, priority of supply will come to us.’ His comments come after Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday said supplies are starting to run low because of the fight against ISIS.” Yemen New York Times: Airstrike At Yemen Cement Factory Said To Kill At Least 15 “An airstrike by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia hit a cement factory north of Sana, Yemen’s capital, on Wednesday evening, killing at least 15 people, including civilian workers in nearby businesses, according to local security and medical officials. The bombing of the factory, in Amran Province, came days after Saudi officials pledged to form a high-level committee to investigate strikes in Yemen’s civil war that have killed civilians, and to improve their military’s aerial targeting with advice from American and British experts. The cement factory had been idle since it was hit by airstrikes earlier in the war, according to a security official in Amran, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. The deaths from the latest bombing, at the factory gate, included two military guards, but also ‘people inside parked cars, grocery store owners, pharmacists and shoppers,’ he said.” Reuters: Suicide Attack In Yemen's Aden Wounds Security Chief “A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the home of the security chief of the Yemeni province of Lahej on Wednesday night, killing himself and wounding the official and six other people, residents and a security official said. They said the security chief, Brigadier General Adel al-Halemi, was in stable condition after the attack in the al-Mindara district in the eastern part of the city of Aden. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.” ABC: Rebel Shelling Destroys Museum In Yemen “Shelling by Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels in the heavily contested western city of Taiz struck a museum housing rare manuscripts and the possessions of a deceased ruler, activists said Wednesday. Activist Reham al-Badr, who inspected the National Museum in Taiz, told The Associated Press that Shiite rebels have routinely shelled the district where it is located, which is defended by local fighters. She said the museum was struck Sunday.” Daily Star: 3 Al-Qaeda Suspects Dead In Clash With Yemen Loyalists “Three suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in a clash Wednesday with forces loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi in southern Yemen, local government sources said. The extremists were travelling towards the city of Aden, the government's temporary base, when loyalists manning a checkpoint in neighboring Abyan province stopped them, sparking a gunfight, the sources said. The three suspects were coming from the southeastern city of Mukalla, which Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has controlled since April.” Turkey Hurriyet Daily News: ISIL Militants Open Fire On Security Forces Near Syrian Border “Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) opened fire at Turkish soldiers doing mine clearing work in the southeastern town of Karkamış on Feb. 3, although no casualties were reported. Turkish soldiers on duty in Karkamış, a district in the Gaziantep province that borders Syria, responded with fire as defined in Turkey’s rules of border engagement to the gunfire from Jarabulus, an ISIL stronghold on the Syrian side of the border, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The mine clearing work on and near the border area was reportedly halted because of sporadic clashes after the gunfire.” Washington Post: As Syria Burns, Turkey’s Kurdish Problem Is Getting Worse “Not far from the Turkish border with Syria, another war is raging. In the heart of the ancient city of Diyarbakir, behind its historic black-stone walls, security forces have been engaged for weeks in clashes with the youth wing of an outlawed Kurdish separatist group. Whole neighborhoods have been sealed off under curfew; tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee. The mini-rebellion has been echoed elsewhere in Turkey's restive southeast, a region that is home to a majority Kurdish population and that has been in the grips of a low-level civil war since tensions flared last summer. The violence is likely the worst seen in the past two decades.” Syria Arutz Sheva: Russian Military Officer 'Killed By ISIS Shelling In Syria' “A Russian military adviser has been killed in Syria by shelling from ISIS, the Russian Defense Ministry told Ria Novosti news agency Wednesday. The officer was training Syrian soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the use of ‘new weapons’ when he was ‘fatally wounded’ on Monday, the Ministry was quoted as saying. No details were given about where the attack took place.” Business Insider: Top US Military Official: Russia Has Made It 'Very Clear' That It's Not Really In Syria To Fight ISIS “Months into Russia's campaign of air strikes in Syria, it's become clear that ISIS isn't the Russian military's true target. Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said at a briefing on Wednesday that at most, only 10% of Russian strikes are hitting the terrorist group ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, and Daesh) in Syria. The vast majority of the strikes hit other groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has be known to drop barrel bombs on civilian areas.” BBC: Syria Conflict: Government 'Cuts Aleppo Rebel Supply Route' “Syrian government forces are reported to have broken a siege of two towns north-west of Aleppo, severing a key rebel supply route into the city. State TV said troops and allied militiamen, backed by Russian air strikes, had reached Nubul and Zahraa. A military source told the AFP news agency that opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo were now cut off from Turkey, to the north, which backs the rebels.” Lebanon Arutz Sheva: Lebanese Army: 6 Jihadists Killed In Anti-ISIS Raid “The Lebanese army said its troops killed six jihadists and arrested 16 others near the Syrian border on Wednesday, in its largest operation against ISIS. The soldiers launched the raid, in which local ISIS chief Anas Zaarour was killed, at dawn in the Arsal region of eastern Lebanon, a military spokesman said. A ‘most wanted’ militant, Ahmad Noun, was among those arrested.” Afghanistan Long War Journal: US Strikes Pakistani Taliban Faction In Eastern Afghanistan “The US is reported to have killed 18 Taliban fighters from Pakistan in an airstrike last night in an eastern Afghanistan area known to serve as a safe haven for several terrorist groups. The Taliban fighters who were killed are believed to belong to a group led by Sajna Mehsud, an al Qaeda-linked commander wanted by the US. Afghan officials said that the airstrike took place in the Afghan province of Paktika, which borders Pakistan’s Taliban-infested tribal agency of South Waziristan. Xinhua reported the strike took place in the Gomal district, while Dawn claimed it occurred in Bermal. The discrepancy may be due to the fact that the two remote districts border each other, as well as Pakistan. Both districts are known to be jihadist strongholds. The identities of the Taliban members killed in the airstrike were not disclosed. Taliban sources told Dawn that Sajna Mehsud, who is also known as Khan Said Sajna, ‘was expected to appear’ at a meeting. It is unclear if he was present at the meeting at the time of the airstrike. There are no reports that he has been killed or wounded.” Iraq Jerusalem Post: Arabs, Kurds Retake Northern Iraq Village From ISIS “Sunni Muslim Arab fighters backed by Kurdish forces and US-led air strikes retook a village in northern Iraq on Wednesday in an example of effective military cooperation on the ground between them against Islamic State insurgents. The offensive in the Makhmour district south of Erbil began early on Wednesday, resulting in the recapture of Kudila - part of a series of planned operations to clear Islamic State from the area, Kurdish and Arab commanders said.” Rudaw: ISIS Attacks Kill 31 Iraqi Soldiers In Two Days “The Islamic State (ISIS) has shelled Anbar provincial capital Ramadi on Wednesday and killed 13 Iraqi soldiers.  According to Al Jazeera in the village of Abu Risha north of Ramadi ISIS artillery killed four soldiers.  In the eastern suburb of Shujirayah nine soldiers from the Iraqi Army's 8th Division were killed by shelling when they attempted to force some 300 ISIS members from the area. That area is believed to be the last foothold ISIS retains in the city.” The Guardian: Iraq Builds Wall And Trench Around Baghdad To Stop Militant Attacks “Iraq has begun building a wall and a trench around Baghdad in a bid to prevent militant attacks and reduce the large number of checkpoints inside the city. The interior ministry’s spokesman, police Brigadier General Saad Maan, told the Associated Press that work began this week on a 100km (65-mile) stretch of the wall and trench on the northern and northwestern approaches of the capital. The wall will be three metres (10 feet) high and partially made up of concrete barriers already in use across much of the capital, he said. He declined to specify the measurements of the trench.” Ara News: Head Of ISIS-Led Sharia Court Killed In Iraqi Strike Near Ramadi “An Iraqi airstrike near Ramadi has killed a number of militants of the Islamic State (ISIS), including head of the Sharia Court and other ISIS officials, local sources reported on Wednesday. Muhammad Ghandour, aka Abu Dujana al-Masri, who served as Sharia chief in the ranks of ISIS, was reported dead in an airstrike that hit eastern Ramadi in Anbar province.” Arutz Sheva: Iraqi Tribal Leader Warns Of New Extremist Islamist Groups “Iraq's Sunnis must be given a greater role in the political process of the war-torn country in order to prevent the possible rise of organisations even more extreme than ISIS, an Iraqi tribal leader told AFP on Wednesday. ‘There is no doubt we must remove and defeat ISIS. But the absence of any political solution or national reconciliation will pave the way for more radical groups to emerge -- some possibly even more radical than ISIS,’ Sheikh Jamal al-Dhari, a leader of the mixed Sunni and Shiite al-Zoba tribe, said in an interview.” Egypt Ahram Online: Militants Killed In Cairo Planned Attacks Against Police: MOI “Egypt's interior ministry said that the two militants killed on Wednesday in the Cairo suburb of Maadi were planning attacks in response to the earlier killing of an Agnad Masr militant group leader by authorities. The ministry said that the militants were planning to target several public figures, including politicians, and army and police members. The police said in an official statement that the two ‘terrorist members’ were involved in several terrorist operations. The planned attacks were in retaliation for the recent Killing of Agnad Misr leader Ahmed Galal Ahmed Mohamed Ismail.” Middle East Times Of Israel: Policewoman Killed, Second Badly Hurt In Jerusalem Attack “Policewoman Hadar Cohen was killed and a second policeman badly wounded when three Palestinians shot and stabbed them outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday afternoon. The three, identified by the Palestinian news agency Ma’an as Ahmed Abou Al-Roub, Mohammed Kameel and Mohammed Nassar, all hailing from the northern West Bank, arrived at the scene armed with apparently locally fabricated “Carl Gustav” rifles, knives and two pipe bombs, police said. Police initially suspected a third item found at the scene was a bomb, but sappers determined it was an abandoned bag. Cohen, 19, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition with multiple wounds to her upper body. She died several hours later. The second policewoman, with serious injuries, was not identified A third victim, identified only as a 20-year-old Israeli, was very lightly wounded and treated at the scene.” Arutz Sheva: Haredi Soldiers Thwart Bomb Attack In Binyamin “Soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda battalion, also known as Nahal Haredi, helped thwart a major terror attack after seizing a cache of weapons during a security operational activity earlier this week.  The soldiers discovered the assault rifles, grenades and combat vests inside a vehicle parked in the village of Gilazun, adjacent to the Jewish town of Beit El in Samaria. The vehicle was located not far from what is known as the "V.I.P checkpoint" at the entrance to Beit El, where just last Sunday three IDF soldiers were injured in a shooting attack.” Jerusalem Post: Third Hamas Attack Tunnel In Recent Days Collapses In Gaza “A Hamas attack tunnel collapsed in the Gaza Strip in the Zeitoun area on Wednesday evening, one day after another tunnel collapsed in the coastal area. Hamas blocked off the area around the tunnel and was making sure that radio stations were not reporting details of the incident. On Wednesday morning, Hamas officials confirmed the death of at least two of its operatives in a separate tunnel collapse.” Times Of Israel: Hamas Official Brags, Then Denies, Tunnels Reach Into Israel “Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said Wednesday that the Islamist group’s attack tunnels in the Gaza Strip had already reached into Israeli territory, as the terrorist organization buried two fighters killed in a tunnel collapse. ‘The tunnels reach deep into the territory occupied in 1948,’ said the Hamas official during the funeral for one of the fighters. ‘The [tunnels] reach [further] than Gaza.’ Later, however, al-Zahar toned down the rhetoric, and seemed to deny his earlier statements. ‘The resistance tunnels are defensive tunnels for the protection of our people in the face of any Israeli aggression,’ he said.” Nigeria Associated Press: Nigerian Air Force: Drone Bombs Boko Haram Base “The Nigerian Air Force says a drone bombed a Boko Haram logistics base in the northeast, possibly hitting an ammunition depot and dealing a ‘major setback’ to the Islamic extremists. A statement from Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa said the first attack by an unmanned combat aerial vehicle took place when it was activated over a large gathering of vehicles a kilometer (mile) north of the Sambisa Forest, an insurgent stronghold. It says multiple explosions and huge fire ball shown in an attached video suggest the drone hit an ammunition and fuel depot.” Bloomberg: Cameroon Sees Surge In Bombings As Nigeria Chases Boko Haram “Nigeria’s campaign to quash the Islamist militant group Boko Haram has triggered a surge of bombings in neighboring Cameroon, where the army says it’s making headway in stopping attacks on military targets. Cameroon’s Far North region has been hit by as many as 19 militant attacks since the beginning of the year, mostly bombings by teenagers with explosive devices strapped to their bodies. At least 74 people were killed, in addition to almost 1,100 civilians who died in extremist violence since 2013, according to government data. ‘Increased military pressure in Nigeria has forced militants across the border,” Malte Liewerscheidt, senior Africa analyst at Bath, England-based risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, said in e-mailed comments. “Boko Haram operates rear bases in remote border areas, which are supported by networks based on ethnic kinship in Cameroon’s Far North region. These factors enable Boko Haram to operate with a degree of impunity.’” Daily Post Nigeria: Boko Haram: Troops Arrest Village Head, 42 Others In Borno “Troops along Damboa and Chibok axis have arrested 43 persons, who are said to be unknown vigilante with Ak-47 riffles during an ongoing operations in the area. Operation Lafiya Dole’s Media Coordinator, Col. Mustapha Anka said, those arrested include someone who claimed to be the Village Head of Kopchi. According to Col. Anka, they claimed to be operating around Madagali general area, but were carrying 6 AK-47 riffles and 15 Magazines.” Germany Reuters: Germany Investigates Syrian Student Suspected Of Making ISIS Video “Prosecutors in Germany are investigating the activities of a 35-year-old Syrian doctorate student they suspect of being involved in a propaganda video for Islamic State (IS) militants. Prosecutors in Frankfurt also suspect the unnamed man of posting a symbol resembling the IS flag, forbidden in Germany, on his personal page on a social media site. In a 9-minute video in Arabic posted on the Internet on Jan. 7, the suspect is believed to have explained his reasons for supporting IS, the prosecutors said in a statement.” NBC: German Police Raid Homes, Refugee Shelters In Hunt For ISIS-Linked Jihadis “Police raided homes, offices and refugee shelters across Germany early Thursday in a hunt for four suspected Algerian jihadists — including one linked to an ISIS training camp. Special police forces confiscated ‘computers, mobile phones and notes,’ according to a statement from Berlin police. The raids targeted ‘four people from the jihadist scene’ and were triggered by Berlin's general prosecutor and conducted in coordination with Germany's domestic intelligence service, the statement said.” Asia Philippine Star: US Closely Monitoring ISIS Threat In Philippines, Southeast Asia “The US is working closely with the government to monitor the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Speaking at the Pandesal Forum in Quezon City, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg said the rhetorical support of the Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and Ansar al-Khalifa to ISIS might become a danger to the country or the region. ‘We all have to be on guard against groups that pledge allegiance to ISIS, that say they want involvement in the kinds of activities and ideologies presented by ISIS, and we are watching that ISIS in the Philippines very closely and we need to continue to do so to make sure that whatever rhetorical support or whatever might be happening behind the scenes is not something that becomes a danger to the Philippines or the region,’ he said.” Arabic Language Clips Terrorist Financing World Akhbar: Saudi Arabia: Court Sentenced Saudi Citizen To Four Years In Prison On Charges Of Terrorism And Production Of (Inflammatory) Film-Clips A Saudi court sentenced a citizen of the country to four years in prison for acts of terrorism and public disorder in the kingdom. He was also convicted of producing anti-regime video-clips. In addition, the Specialized Criminal Court banned him from travelling abroad for four years following his release, after it was proved that he had travelled to Syria to fight in the ranks of terrorist groups. In addition, he was implicated in acts intended to disrupt public order including disseminating subversive tweets. The court also convicted the Saudi of saving banned video clips on his mobile phone and of financing terrorism and terrorist operations with money he received in Syria. ISIS Veto: ISIS Takes Over The Homes Of Residents In The Villages Of Kirkuk Local sources in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk said on Wednesday that ISIS has commandeered the homes of families of Hawija whose sons fled from the district. The source claimed that the terror organization was forcing these families to pay monthly rent of 50,000 dinars ($45 dollars) for the right to live in their own homes. The source was quoted as saying that "yesterday ISIS began imposing a rental fee on the homes of citizens in Hawija and the districts of al-Abbasi, Zab and Riyadh (55 km southwest of Kirkuk), after the majority of young people and government employees in those areas fled to other regions in Kirkuk and Salahuddin province due to the intolerable living conditions." Muslim Brotherhood Veto: Sources: Al-Qaradawi Is Negotiating With The Qataris To Contribute To The Fund For Supporting The Families Of The Brotherhood Sources close to the Muslim Brotherhood revealed that Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, is conducting talks with members of the Qatari ruling family to provide financial aid to the families of Muslim Brotherhood members who are serving prison sentences for their involvement in violent crimes. The sources explained that the delivery of such funds raises the odds of attaining internal Brotherhood reconciliation. The source believes that al-Qaradawi, who has been leading the reconciliation efforts, will be able to raise huge sums of money to support the families of jailed Brotherhood members. Sada El-Balad: Sources: Financial Crisis Hits The Brotherhood TV Channels And The Inclination Is To Shut Them Down Due To Lack Of Funding The internal crisis within the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey continues. This is due to the group's failure to resume the broadcast of its satellite TV channels which were scheduled to be aired again after the fourth anniversary of the January 25th Revolution. However, the group's failure to carry out demonstrations and acts of violence upset many of the escalating measures that the Brotherhood had intended to instigate at the beginning of February. Sources disclosed that the Brotherhood leadership rejected calls to launch fundraising campaigns or other financial means to reactivate the TV channels. Despite the current funding crisis the Brotherhood leaders preferred keeping the money rather than investing it in new channels. Instead, they preferred to launch new websites, claiming their impact is greater than the TV channels that are viewed only by supporters of the group. Houthi Almshhd News: Ali Abdullah Saleh Spent More Than $50 Million To Finance Military Operations Against The (Arab) Coalition The "Yemen Alliance for Human Rights" claims that an international report has disclosed the fact that two financial networks are helping former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his son to circumvent the international sanctions imposed on them. The report indicates that Saleh used $50 million to finance military operations carried out with the Iran-backed Houthi militia. The Alliance demanded that the former Yemeni President return the funds he looted from state coffers.