Eye on Extremism - March 10, 2016

Eye on Extremism March 10, 2016 CNN: U.S.: ISIS Detainee Providing Information On Chemical Weapons “The U.S. military has conducted airstrikes against targets it believes are crucial to ISIS' chemical weapons program based on information provided by a senior ISIS operative involved in chemical weapons, several U.S. officials told CNN. The U.S. captured the operative in Iraq three weeks ago, the first since a team of Special Operations forces recently began operating in northern Iraq. Officials told CNN that his name is Sleiman Daoud Al-Bakkar. One official called him ‘the key leader,’ but others could not say if he runs the entire chemical weapons program for ISIS.” The Guardian: Isis Document Leak Reportedly Reveals Identities Of 22,000 Recruits “More than a dozen Britons and a handful of Americans are among Islamic State fighters reportedly named in a cache of 22,000 documents obtained by German intelligence. Britons identified in the documents so far had previously been revealed to the public and are dead, killed in US-led strikes, or their whereabouts unknown. Sixteen Britons are thought to be on the list, among them Junaid Hussain and Reyaad Khan.” AFP: Italy Says ISIS Has 5,000 Fighters In Libya “The ISIS group has around 5,000 fighters in Libya with the capacity to carry out deadly raids into neighboring countries, Italy's foreign minister told parliament on Wednesday. The figure is at the top end of recent Western estimates of the number of ISIS fighters in Libya and is likely to further fuel concern over the threat posed by the group's establishment of a base in the troubled north African state. ‘According to our analyses, there are today around 5,000 Daesh fighters in Libya,’ Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the Italian Senate, using an Arabic name for ISIS.” Reuters: ISIS Commander Still Alive, Badly Wounded: Syria Observatory “The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that Islamic State's military commander was badly wounded but still alive, appearing to contradict U.S. officials who said he was likely killed in a U.S. air strike. The U.S. officials said on Tuesday that Abu Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen and described by the Pentagon as the group's "minister of war", was targeted near the town of al-Shadadi in Syria. Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman said he had been badly wounded but not killed and had been moved to Islamic State's base of operations in Raqqa for treatment.” RT: ISIS Shelled Kurdish-Controlled Iraq Village With 'Poisonous Substances' – Governor “Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighters used “poisonous substances” during the shelling of a village in northern Iraq on Tuesday, a local governor said, according to Reuters. ‘There were poisonous substances in these shells. We don't know what,’ Kirkuk province governor Najmuddin Kareem told reporters, referring to a Tuesday attack on the village of Taza.  More than 40 people suffered from partial chocking and skin irritation after mortar shells and Katyusha rockets filled with the ‘poisonous substances’ exploded in the mainly Shia Turkmen village, which is located south of the oil city of Kirkuk, in a region under Kurdish control.” Wall Street Journal: Saudi Arabia, Houthi Rebels Hold Direct Talks On Yemen War “Saudi Arabia has begun direct talks with Houthi rebels over the nearly yearlong war in Yemen, which has become a test of Riyadh’s determination to defend its interests aggressively in the region. The Saudi-led military coalition and an official for the rebels said on Wednesday the talks were taking place near the Saudi-Yemeni border. But the two sides appeared to differ over the agenda of the negotiations, which began Monday.” CBS News: Fears Grow About Mosul Dam Catastrophe “The failure of Iraq's largest dam, near the northern ISIS-held city of Mosul, is in danger of collapse, and could have catastrophic consequences, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power tweeted on Wednesday. The Mosul Dam grabbed headlines recently, amid fears it could collapse due to neglect and lack of needed maintenance because of the ongoing fighting between Iraqi forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which controls large swaths of northern and western Iraq.” CNN: Air Force Veteran Is Convicted Of Trying To Enter Syria To Support ISIS “A U.S. Air Force veteran was found guilty by a jury in Brooklyn Federal Court on Wednesday for providing material support to ISIS, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 47, a former avionics instrument system specialist from New Jersey, was found guilty of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of an official proceeding, according to the release.” Haaretz: Terror Attacks In Jerusalem Leave Bystander Wounded  “Two Palestinian gunmen who fired at an Israeli bus in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning were shot and killed by Israeli forces after a car chase over several miles. A bystander was seriously wounded in the shootout. There were no injuries on the bus. Shortly after that incident, a 16-year-old male Palestinian was shot and killed after he tried to stab a soldier at an army position near the Palestinian village of Salfit. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who arrived in Israel on Tuesday for a two-day visit, strongly condemned the attacks but added that they could not be stopped using force alone.” The Guardian: Syrians Under Siege: 'We Have No Children Any More, Only Small Adults' “Sick children dying as lifesaving medicine waits at checkpoints, youngsters forced to survive on animal feed and leaves, and families burning their mattresses just to find something to keep them warm. Schools moving underground for shelter from barrel bombs, the crude, explosive-filled and indiscriminate crates that fall from the sky and are so inaccurate that some observers have said their use is a de facto war crime.” Deutsche Welle: Cameroon Pins Hopes On Vigilantes To Defeat Boko Haram “About 50 vigilantes sing and dance to local war songs as they prepare to venture into Cameroon's northern frontline with Boko Haram. They know the terrain to their finger tips and are capable of outmaneuvering the insurgents. They wield different versions of handmade machetes, a few Kalashnikovs and anything they could use to scare off the Islamists. Since their inception, they have had some amount of success fending off an already weakened Boko Haram.” United States Fox News: US Special Forces Captured ISIS Chemical Weapons Chief In Iraq, Official Reveals “U.S. special forces captured the head of the Islamic State terror group's unit trying to develop chemical weapons in a raid last month in northern Iraq, a defense official tells Fox News. ‘We are using information we have learned for operations,’ one official said. The captured operative was identified as Sleiman Daoud al-Afari. He told U.S. interrogators ISIS had converted banned mustard gas into powdered form to launch in artillery shells, The New York Times adds.” Reuters: U.S.-Led Coalition Conducts 17 Strikes On Islamic State In Iraq, Syria “The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 17 strikes in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement on Wednesday. The Combined Joint Task Force said six strikes near three cities in Syria destroyed cranes and fighting positions and hit a natural gas processing plant, among other targets. In Iraq, 11 strikes near five cities hit several tactical units and destroyed mortar fire positions, vehicles and explosive devices, the statement said.” The Hill: Obama Nominee Supports Sending Special Operators To Libya “The general nominated to lead U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) said Wednesday he supports putting commandos on the ground in Libya to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). ‘We’ve already identified some formative organizations that we hope to be working with in the future,’ Lt. Gen. Raymond Thomas told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his nomination hearing to be commander of SOCOM. The Obama administration has been struggling with how to deal with the rise of ISIS in Libya, which is seen as the terrorist group’s most dangerous branch outside of Iraq and Syria.” Syria Reuters: Syria Opposition Sees Fewer Truce Breaches, U.N. Prepares Talks “The Syrian opposition said on Wednesday there had been fewer breaches of a truce agreement by the government and its allies in the past day as a U.N. envoy unveiled plans to resume peace talks next week. The ‘cessation of hostilities agreement’ brokered by the United States and Russia has slowed the war considerably despite accusations of violations on all sides, preparing the ground for talks which the United Nations plans to convene in Geneva.” Washington Post: U.N. Envoy For Syria Expects Peace Talks To Start Monday “Despite continuing cease-fire violations, there has been “quite a sustained reduction of violence” in Syria, and peace talks between the government and armed opposition groups are now scheduled to begin Monday in Geneva, U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura said. ‘Incidents are taking place, no question, and I’m expecting even worse incidents to take place, probably caused by spoilers,’ de Mistura said Wednesday at a news conference in Geneva.” RT: Syrian Kurds Accuse Turkey Of Aiding Sarin Gas Delivery To Rebels After Fresh Chemical Attacks “In an interview with RT, a spokesman for the Kurdish YPG militia accused Turkey of providing a clear transit route for the chemical weapons that were deployed against them near the city of Aleppo on Tuesday. Syrian anti-government militants ‘took advantage of the ceasefire’ to launch attacks against a Kurdish-controlled area near Aleppo in northern Syria, Redur Xelil told RT. The attackers targeted a civilian district of what was once Syria’s biggest city, and has since become a key battleground.” Turkey Associated Press: Turkey Ends Anti-PKK Operations In Mainly Kurdish City “Turkey's military on Wednesday ended a three-month operation against Kurdish militants in the largest city in the country's mostly Kurdish southeast, which had raised concerns about civilians being caught up in the fighting and the possible destruction to monuments and heritage. Interior Minister Efkan Ala told the state-run Anadolu Agency that security forces have concluded their offensive against the militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK in Diyarbakir's historic Sur neighborhood. The security forces would however, continue searching for possible explosives and a curfew imposed on the neighborhood would remain.” Afghanistan Washington Post: Taliban Attack Police Headquarters In Afghanistan’s Helmand “The Taliban attacked a police headquarters and an intelligence agency office early Wednesday in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, where the insurgents have been battling government forces for months. At least three police officers were killed along with seven attackers, said Jabbar Karaman, a lawmaker appointed by President Ashraf Ghani to investigate the situation in Helmand. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attack on the intelligence facility was repelled.” Yemen Reuters: Yemen War Brings Widespread Suffering “Amid Yemen’s misery, two young women living in the war-damaged cities of Aden and Sanaa know they are among the relatively fortunate. They are not starving, their homes have not been destroyed and they have survived bombs and bullets unscathed. But both long to escape the conflict plunging their country ever deeper into catastrophe. Neither can see a way out. ‘I don’t want to lose my life over a dream,’ says Nisma al-Ozebi, a 21-year-old civil engineering student in the southern port city of Aden. She hankers for a scholarship that would be her passport to a sanctuary in Europe, but adds: ‘I don’t want to leave Yemen and live like a refugee.’” Middle East Monitor: UN: 2.4m Refugees Due To War In Yemen “The renewed conflict in Yemen has forcibly displaced more than 2.4 million Yemenis and the situation is likely to worsen, a statement by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said yesterday. According to the statement, there were 2,430,178 internally displaced Yemenis during the period between March 2015 and January 2016. It noted that the number the number of people displaced within Yemen ‘remains staggeringly high and a cause for grave alarm.’” Middle East Jerusalem Post: Two Israeli-Arabs Indicted For Planning Terror Attacks For ISIS In Israel, Abroad “Two Israeli-Arabs were indicted in the Lod District Court on Wednesday for planning terrorist attacks for Islamic State in Israel and abroad. In the indictment filed by the Central District Attorney’s Office, the two defendants, ages 24 and 48, whose names are still under gag order for reasons the Justice Ministry did not explain, were charged with conspiracy to commit a felony, contact with and providing information to a foreign agent, membership in an illegal organization and other crimes.” Libya Reuters: Tunisian Troops Kill 10 Militants Near Libyan Border After Monday Raid “Tunisian troops have killed 10 Islamist militants around Ben Guerdan on the Libyan border after an Islamic State attack on Monday that killed at least 55 people. In military raids late on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning around the town, one soldier was also killed. Two of the militants were killed after being tracked to a construction site, the defense and interior ministries said. About 50 Islamic State militants launched a dawn attack on army and police posts in Ben Guerdan on Monday, Tunisia's government said, in one of the insurgent group's largest assaults on Tunisia. The army killed 36 of the attackers.” Associated Press: Suspected IS Fighters Kill 3 Guards At Libya Checkpoint “Libyan officials say suspected Islamic State militants have killed three guards in an attack on a checkpoint outside an “operations room” set up last month to fight IS. Mohamed al-Shami, a spokesman for the operations room says the Wednesday attack took place midway between IS-controlled Sirte to the east, and Misrata to the west. Forces allied with an Islamist-backed government based in the capital, Tripoli, founded the operations room last month to coordinate the fight against IS.” CNN: Two Italian Hostages In Libya Freed; Two Others Die “Two of four Italian construction workers who were kidnapped in Libya in July are back home, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told parliament Wednesday, but the other two are dead. Workers Filippo Calcagno and Gino Pollicardo were freed last Friday and are in Italy with family, Gentiloni said. Contrary to media reports, no ransom was paid, the foreign minister said. The other two hostages, Salvatore Failla and Fausto Piano, were killed during a raid near Sabratha, Libya, about 50 miles west of Tripoli, last Wednesday.” Arabic Language Clips Terrorism Financing Alhowsh: Freezing Bank Accounts (In Sudan) Of Foreigner Suspected Of Being A Terrorist Sudan's Prosecution for Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Financing of Terror continues its investigations in the case of a foreigner suspected of terror financing. A source familiar with the case revealed that the Prosecution received an official letter from a foreign country claiming that the suspect, who is on a terror blacklist, is currently in Sudan. The foreign country urged Sudan to seize the man's bank accounts. Therefore, the Prosecution asked the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Sudanese Central Bank to freeze his accounts allowing relevant Sudanese authorities to collect any incriminating financial data and evidence related to the suspect before presenting it to legal authorities. ISIS New Arab: Bribing ISIS Gunmen Facilitates Escape Of Civilians In spite of announcing the "Caliphate" in the summer of 2014 after taking control of large areas in Iraq and Syria, ISIS has barely managed to entice new people to come and live under its regime and laws. This is also illustrated by the escape of many residents of ISIS-controlled areas. With all the measures introduced by ISIS to tighten controls on the population, escaping from ISIS's Caliphate still remains a possibility. It is true that ISIS implements radical decisions and applies strict Islamic teachings, but money still tempts its members. This opens the door to bribery in exchange for escaping from ISIS regions for those who wish to secure their freedom. According to people who fled from cities controlled by the terror organization, some people have joined ISIS seeking jobs at a time when many business establishments have ceased their operations. Others are young people whose goal was to attain power and flaunt it, which is possible by means of joining the jihadist organization. All of these opportunists can easily be bribed. Muslim Brotherhood New Arab: Seizure Of 64 Brotherhood-Affiliated Civil Societies In Egypt Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity, Ghada Wali, issued a decision on Wednesday to disband 28 Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated societies in the villages and cities of Qaliubiya Province, located north of the capital Cairo. 36 other NGOs were also dissolved, and committees have been set up for their management. According to the decision, the seized NGOs were placed under the financial and administrative supervision of the Directorate of Social Solidarity in Qaliubiya. The Ministry's decision comes as part of the resolutions adopted by the Egyptian Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee. Almogaz: Brotherhood To Probe (Secretary General Mahmoud) Hussein Regarding The (Misuse Of) $400,000 Well-informed sources report that the Turkey-based Administrative Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood has decided to form a committee consisting of Mohammed Kamal, member of the Brotherhood's Shura Council, Ali Batikh, a member of Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau, as well as other unidentified senior Brotherhood officials. The committee's mission is to investigate Mahmoud Hussein, Secretary General of the Muslim Brotherhood, amid accusations aimed at him by the "Ikhwan Wikileaks" Facebook page concerning the use of $400,000 of the Group's funds for private purposes. The Seventh Day: The Death Of (Brotherhood-Affiliated) 'Kerdasa Octopus' El Saidi Inside His Villa In Pyramids Gardens... After an exchange of gunfire at the Pyramids Gardens‏ on Wednesday morning, the Egyptian Interior Ministry announced the death of Emad Hanafi El Saidi. He was considered to be the most dangerous criminal to take part in the 2013 "Massacre of Kerdasa", which witnessed the slaying of 14 police officers. He was tried twice in absentia, sentenced to life imprisonment and later to execution. He was also wanted for his involvement in 20 cases of armed robbery. El Saidi's removal from the scene represents a triumphant security strike because of his frequent and frenetic criminal activities. For instance, he formed militias of criminals, who threatened society and committed acts of theft, looting and abduction of children for ransom in El Haram district. El Saidi, who resided in a villa in the Pyramids Gardens area, was defendant No. 186 in the case of the Kerdasa Massacre. He was accused of financing the assault and supplying the Muslim Brotherhood gunmen who committed the massacre with weapons. He reportedly escaped from Kerdasa immediately after his name was raised as the prime suspect in this case.