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Eye on Extremism
March 24, 2016
Counter
Extremism Project
CBS
News: Second Brussels Airport Suicide Bomber Identified As Paris
Bombmaker
“The Paris attacks were believed to have been planned in Brussels,
where a handful of the attackers lived or had links. That attack was
blamed on ISIS, but the attackers were "home-grown" militants,
from Europe. Born in Morocco, Laachraoui grew up in Schaerbeek, where he
reportedly attended a Catholic high school and studied electromechanical
engineering, according to the Counter Extremism Project. The Belgian
prosecutor's office, Laachraoui traveled to Syria in February 2013.”
Associated
Press: IS Trains 400 Fighters To Attack Europe In Wave Of Bloodshed
“Security officials have told The Associated Press that the Islamic
State group has trained at least 400 attackers and sent them into Europe
for terror attacks. The network of interlocking, agile and semiautonomous
cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses
ground in Syria. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence
officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, describe
camps designed specifically to train for attacks against the West. The
officials say the fighters have been given orders to find the right time,
place and method to carry out their mission.”
The
New York Times: As Terrorists Cross Borders, Europe Sees Anew That Its
Intelligence Does Not
“If another example of the failure of European intelligence services
to share and act on information about potential terrorists was needed,
Wednesday’s identification of the bombers in the deadly Brussels attacks
the day before certainly provides it. At least one of the attackers,
Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, had been deported by Turkey to the Netherlands last
year with a clear indication that he was a jihadist. ‘Despite our
warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter,’ President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey told a news conference in Ankara on Wednesday,
‘the Belgian authorities could not identify a link to terrorism.’ By now
it is abundantly clear that the terrorists who work for the Islamic State
think, cooperate and operate across borders, ignoring national
boundaries. The increasingly urgent question for Europe in its struggle
against them is, Can it do the same? The outlook is not promising.
CBS
News: Top NYPD Official: ‘Technology Is Becoming A Big Enabler’ In
Terrorists Secretly Planning Attacks
“A top NYPD official said the reason why terror groups like ISIS are
able to plan out deadly attacks without western authorities not knowing
about them is due to encrypted technology. Speaking to Scott Pelley on
the CBS Evening News Tuesday following the Brussels terror attacks that
left 34 dead and over 200 wounded, John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy
commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said terrorists are
able to ‘go dark’ thanks to communication systems that can’t be cracked.
Encryption technology has come to the forefront in the fight against
terrorism as companies weigh privacy issues of users. CBS News reports
ISIS uses the Telegram app to send private messages to coordinate
attacks. Apple has said they will not crack the iPhone of San Bernardino
gunman Syed Farook so the government can look at his private messages.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Turkey Says It Deported One of Brussels Suicide
Bombers in Summer
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said his country
had deported one of the Brussels suicide bombers this past summer, but
the man was subsequently freed in the Netherlands because investigators
couldn’t establish that he had any links to terror groups. While Mr.
Erdogan didn’t identify the man, Turkish officials said it was Ibrahim El
Bakraoui, a 29-year-old Belgian identified as one of the suicide bombers
who carried out the coordinated attacks that killed at least 31 people on
Tuesday. Mr. Erdogan said the man was detained near the Syrian border in
the summer, deported to the Netherlands at the man’s request and allowed
to go free. Mr. El Bakraoui was identified by Belgian authorities as one
of two suicide bombers to hit the check-in hall at Brussels Airport early
on Tuesday. An hour later, his brother, Khalid, carried out a suicide
bombing in the city’s subway system. The revelation has raised questions
about gaps in Europe’s counterterrorism efforts, which have been hobbled
in the past by poor intelligence-sharing and cooperation.”
The
Times of Israel: Israel Recently Warned Belgium Of Lax Airport Security —
Report
“Israel reportedly warned Belgian officials of the numerous security
failings at the Brussels airport weeks before a series of deadly bomb
blasts ripped through the site on Tuesday. The report came amid
widespread criticism of Belgium’s approach to immigration and security
and reports that Brussels officials had specific information about the
planned attacks. On Wednesday, Turkey revealed that Brussels attacker
Ibrahim El Bakraoui was detained and deported back to Europe last year.”
Reuters:
Strikes Kill At Least 50 At Qaeda Yemen Camp: Medics, Official
“At least 50 militants were killed in a U.S. air strike on an al Qaeda
training camp in the mountains of southern Yemen, medics and a local
official said on Wednesday. The attack took place as al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) recruits queued for dinner at the camp, west of
the port city of Mukalla on Yemen's south coast. The Pentagon said on
Tuesday that a U.S. air strike on an AQAP training camp had killed dozens
of fighters but it gave no further details. The Yemeni sources said that
at least 50 people were killed and 30 wounded. The air strikes set off
huge fires inside the camp, residents said.”
Associated
Press: Iraq Says It's Launched Offensive To Recapture IS-Held Mosul
“The Iraqi military backed by U.S.-led coalition aircraft on Thursday
launched a long-awaited operation to recapture the northern city of Mosul
from Islamic State militants, a military spokesman said. In the push,
Iraqi forces retook several villages on the outskirts of the town of
Makhmour, east of Mosul, early in the morning on Thursday and hoisted the
Iraqi flag there, according to the spokesman for the Joint Military
Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool.”
International
Business Times: US Marines Enter Battle In Iraq To Help Army And
Peshmerga Defend Oil Fields From ISIS
“The Islamic State group is trying to retake control of the oil fields
it lost two years ago in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan by
launching rockets at Kurdish and Iraqi soldiers. In an attempt to earn
back the massive amount of cash it used to fund its international
terrorism in 2014, the group has focused its resources on attacking
Makhmur, a city just 75 miles miles from the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. So
far, the group, also known as ISIS, has succeeded in outgunning the
Iraqi forces in the city, but a new contingent of American Marines might
change the outcome on the ground. The U.S. Marines in Iraq are on the
front line and have been tasked with protecting Iraqi units in Makhmur —
a scenario President Barack Obama wanted to avoid as long as possible
during his time in office.”
NAIJ:
Army Kills Boko Haram Terrorists, Rescues 180 Hostages
“The Nigeria army seems to be increasing its momentum in the effort to
decimate Boko Haram as 5 terrorists were killed in the recent clearing
excursive. In a statement issued by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman who is
the acting director of the army public relations, he said troops of7
Division Garrison and 112 Battalion were assisted by some Civilian JTF.
He said they conducted clearing operations at Menari, Bulamari, Zangebe,
Maafa, Mijigine, Baale and Kaltaram villages in Mafa Local government
area of Borno state. The operation led to the rescue of 180 persons who
had been held hostage by the terrorists.”
Reuters:
United States To Press Russia On Syria's Assad
“U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to press President
Vladimir Putin over a political transition for Syria on Thursday, after
Europe's foreign policy chief turned up unexpectedly in Geneva to try to
reinvigorate peace talks. With a fragile truce in place and Europe
pressing the warring sides to keep going with negotiations, a state
department official said Kerry wants to ‘get down to brass tacks’ on the
question of President Bashar al-Assad's future. The head of Syria's
delegation in Geneva sounded positive after meeting European Union
foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, a rare encounter with a senior
Western figure. ‘For the first time, I can tell you that we were able to
break the impasse, maybe in the form and a little bit in substance,’ he
said, adding that the government would attend the next round of talks
after legislative elections in government-held areas on April 13.”
United
States
The
Wall Street Journal: For Obama, Muted Reaction To Brussels Attacks Is By
Design
“In the aftermath of a deadly terror attack that stirred Americans’
concerns about the potential for threats to the U.S., President Barack
Obama pressed ahead with his tour of Latin America, including a planned
family excursion in Patagonia. Mr. Obama’s public appearance of
nonchalance has drawn criticism from Republicans that he is detached from
Americans’ fears and isn’t sufficiently countering violent extremism. But
his approach partly reflects his belief that overreacting to a terrorist
attack—however horrific—elevates extremist groups like Islamic State in a
way that exaggerates their influence, his aides have said. Also driving
Mr. Obama is his view that the threat of terrorism in Americans’ daily
lives often is overstated, and that the focus on it could become
self-paralyzing and an excuse to adopt misguided policies. His aides
often note that many more Americans are killed by gun violence than
terrorist attacks, for instance.”
Syria
BBC:
Palmyra: Syrian Troops Reach Outskirts Of IS-Held City
“Syrian government forces have reached the edge of the ancient city of
Palmyra after driving back Islamic State (IS) militants, officials and
activists say. Syria's state news agency said the army and allied militia
had taken control of hills overlooking the city - a Unesco World Heritage
site. IS seized the ruins of Palmyra and the adjoining modern town in
May. It subsequently destroyed two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and
funerary towers, drawing global outrage. The jihadist group, which has
also demolished several world-renowned pre-Islamic sites in neighbouring
Iraq, believes that such structures are idolatrous.”
Voice
of America: Islamic State Losing Ground, But Not the War
“While Brussels was reeling from the bloodshed after Islamic State
(IS) bombed civilians in the airport and a metro station, Iraqi forces
were piling up body bags from multiple suicide bombings across central,
western and northern Iraq. Finding it harder to hold territory in both
Iraq and Syria, IS extremists are switching tactics, using small-scale,
mass-casualty attacks, internationally and regionally. Verified numbers
are hard to come by, but local reports estimate that some 400 civilian
and security forces died in the week of March 8-14 alone from these kinds
of attacks. Polad Jangi, the Kurdish Peshmerga counterterrorism commander
in Suleymania, told VOA that pushing IS out of the cities is unlikely to
lead to its demise.”
Iraq
Voice
of America: Kurdish Commander: Mosul Battle Will Be 'Bloodbath'
“An impending battle to take back the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic
State (IS) forces ‘will be a bloodbath,’ a top Kurdish counterterrorism
official told VOA.‘For two years they (IS militants) have been digging
tunnels, for two years they've been planting IEDs, booby-traps,
everything,’ warned Polad Jangi. ‘They have kept the population
there, some people have fled, but I think 80 percent of the people are
still probably there, and they are going to use these people as human
shields. How are you going to bomb a building with an ISIS fighter
there, but a family in there also?’ asked Jangi, using another acronym
for the group. Mosul is the second largest city in Iraq, and since 2014
has served as the Islamic State’s center of control for their operations
around the country. In the past weeks, Iraq and the U.S.-led collation
have been positioning forces within an hour’s drive of Mosul in
anticipation of a fight to retake the city.”
Turkey
Reuters:
Amnesty Says 30 Afghans Forcibly Returned From Turkey
“Amnesty International accused Turkey on Wednesday of forcibly
returning some thirty Afghan asylum-seekers to Afghanistan despite them
fearing Taliban attacks, soon after a migration agreement was reached
with the European Union. Last week, the European Union sealed a deal with
Turkey, criticized by human rights groups, that was intended to halt
illegal migration flows to Europe in return for financial and political
rewards for Ankara. ‘Turkey's forcible return of around 30 Afghan asylum
seekers just hours after the European Union-Turkey refugee deal came into
force shows that implementing the deal would risk refugees' lives from
the word go,’ the human rights group said. The Turkish foreign ministry
was not immediately available for comment. Amnesty said it had credible
information indicating that Turkey violated European and international
law by forcibly returning the asylum-seekers, who fear attacks by the
Taliban, to Kabul without granting them access to an asylum procedure.”
Afghanistan
The
New York Times: Face-Off Between Strongmen Exposes Afghanistan’s
Political Rifts
“In northern Afghanistan, a dispute over billboard portraits of the
country’s vice president has inflamed tensions between two of the most
powerful regional strongmen, exposing internal political strains even as
the government faces a dire challenge from Taliban offensives. On
Tuesday, hundreds of protesters marched in the northern city of
Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh Province, expressing outrage that
photos of Abdul Rashid Dostum, the vice president and a northern Uzbek
factional leader, had been removed from two large billboards in the heart
of the city. The demonstrators blamed the province’s governor and Mr.
Dostum’s longtime rival, Atta Mohammad Noor, saying that the men who took
down the photos were using official police vehicles at a time of tight
security for the celebration of the Persian New Year.”
Business
Standard: 13 Taliban Militants Killed In Afghanistan
“At least 13 Taliban militants were killed in a gunbattle with
security personnel in Afghanistan's Ghazni province on Wednesday, police
said. A group of armed Taliban fighters raided security checkpoints in
Azad area of Gilan district on Wednesday, triggering a gunbattle that
left 13 insurgents dead and six others injured, provincial police
spokesman Fahim Amiri told Xinhua news agency.”
Yemen
Reuters:
Yemen Combat To Halt April 10, A Week Before Peace Talks: U.N.
“The warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a cessation of
hostilities starting at midnight on April 10 and peace talks in Kuwait
beginning a week later, United Nations special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh
Ahmed said on Wednesday. There have already been several failed attempts
to defuse the conflict in Yemen, which has drawn in regional foes Saudi
Arabia and Iran, and triggered a humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's
poorest country. ‘This is really our last chance,’ Ould Cheikh Ahmed told
reporters in New York. ‘The war in Yemen must be brought to an end.’ A
Saudi-led coalition began a military campaign in Yemen a year ago with
the aim of preventing Iran-allied Houthi rebels and forces loyal to
Yemen's ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh from taking control of the
country. The U.N. Security Council welcomed the announcement and urged
parties to the conflict to ‘immediately reduce violence and refrain from
any action that could lead to increased tensions, in order to pave the
way for a cessation of hostilities.’”
Middle
East
The
Jerusalem Post: Israeli Minister: Belgians Who Continue To Eat Chocolate,
Enjoy Life Can't Fight Terror
“Intelligence and Transportation Minister Israel Katz
accused Belgium of not doing enough to fight terrorism a day after deadly
attacks on Brussels, while presenting his bill to deport terrorists’
families to the Knesset House Committee Wednesday.’The first rule of war
is know your enemy, and Europe and the current American government are
unwilling to define this war as against Islamist terrorism,’ Katz said.
‘If Belgians continue eating chocolate and enjoying life and looking like
great democrats and liberals, and not noticing that some of the Muslims
there are planning terrorism, they won’t be able to fight them.’”
United
Kingdom
Wall
Street Journal: Britain Tightens Security After Brussels Blasts
“The U.K. government advised its citizens to avoid all but essential
travel to Brussels, after explosions hit Brussels’ international airport
and a subway station near European Union institutions on Tuesday, killing
more than 30 people. Two British citizens were among the scores of people
injured following the blast at the airport, according to the U.K.
government. Britain tightened security in the immediate aftermath of
Tuesday’s deadly attacks in Brussels, but government and security
officials said there was no intelligence to suggest a threat to the U.K.
was imminent. Prime Minister David Cameron said his nation stood shoulder
to shoulder with Belgium and that support had been offered to the
Belgian policing and intelligence services.”
BBC:
IS-Inspired 'Drive-By' Terror Plot: Two Students Guilty
“Two men are facing life imprisonment after being convicted of
plotting to kill police or soldiers in a shooting inspired by so-called
Islamic State. Suhaib Majeed, 21, of west London, was
convicted of conspiracy to murder and preparation of acts of terrorism.
Ringleader Tarik Hassane, 22, of west London, had admitted the same
charges. Two men who provided a gun were cleared of conspiracy to murder
and preparing terrorist acts by an Old Bailey jury, but admitted firearms
offences. Nyall Hamlett, 25, and Nathan Cuffy, 26, had admitted their
role in handing over a gun to Majeed and Hassane but denied knowing what
it was going to be used for.”
France
Business
Standard: Toulouse Airport In France Evacuated Over Security Alert
“Toulouse-Blagnac airport in France was evacuated on Wednesday over a
security alert, the media reported. The alert came just a day after the
Brussels terror attacks at the city's airport and a Metro station,
thelocal.fr reported. France is on high alert over the terrorist threat.
As passengers gathered on Wednesday morning in the departure areas, they
were suddenly told to evacuate the building due to a security alert. The
reason for the alert is believed to be the presence of a suspect
baggage.”
Europe
CNN:
Brussels Attack Investigation: Finding Those Responsible And Stopping The
Next One
“So far that's how many people authorities have identified that were
involved in Tuesdays terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium, that killed 31
people and injured 270. Authorities now believe a second suspect was
involved in the train bombing, a senior Belgian security source told CNN
on Thursday. The suspect was spotted holding a large bag on surveillance
cameras at the station, according to Belgian public broadcaster RTFB.
It's not clear if he was killed in the blast, RTBF said.”
The
Guardian: The Men In The Top Floor Flat Who Sowed Terror In Brussels
“The four men staying at a top-floor flat in Schaerbeek, north-east
Brussels didn’t talk much to their neighbours. The grey, five-storey
corner building on a quiet street was shabby and in the process of being
decorated. It had recently been sold, locals said, and housed quite a few
short-term lets. The Post-it notes and layers of sticky tape used to
stick new residents’ names near the buzzers suggested it was a building
whose tenants changed often.”
The
Washington Post: With Belgian Terrorist Attacks, The Strains On An
Already Battered Europe Grow
“Even before an Islamic State bomber detonated himself directly
beneath the behemoth steel-and-glass office buildings that form the utilitarian
core of the modern European Union, the very idea of Europe was under
extraordinary strain. An unparalleled inflow of refugees. An economy that
never bounced back from a global recession. A surge for the political
extremes, along with a hollowing out of the center. The attacks that
quite literally shook the foundations of the E.U. on Tuesday won’t
trigger that unraveling on their own. And yet they add to a palpable
sense that Europe can’t cope with its many overlapping crises.”
Arabic
Language Clips
Terrorist
Financing
Gameslola:
SAMA: (New) Controls To Counter Financial Crimes And Terrorist Financing
Dr. Fahad bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Arabian
Monetary Agency (SAMA), declared that the Gulf states had agreed to
introduce new regulations and suitable controls to counter all financial
crimes, including money laundering and financing of terrorism. He noted
that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a member of FATF and that it
is complying with all international standards. Al-Mubarak indicated that
the reports concerning the GCC countries were positive with regard to the
capabilities of the central banks, banking systems and Gulf banks to cope
with any violation. On his part, Abdullah Al Shubaily, the GCC's
assistant secretary-general for economic affairs, confirmed that the
banking system in the Gulf countries is fully under control, and
international organizations have commended the GCC countries' efforts in
the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
ISIS
Erem
News: Aamaq Agency … ISIS's Mouthpiece With Advanced Technology
ISIS is financing its own news agency called "Aamaq," which
produces news bulletins around the clock seven days a week. On Tuesday,
the agency announced ISIS's responsibility for the bombings in the
Belgian capital of Brussels. It also published press reports in English
and Arabic but displayed no images or statements by the terror
organization's leader. The agency said the Brussels attacks were part of
the broader war being waged by ISIS against the international coalition.
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a Research Fellow at the Philadelphia-based
Middle East Forum, indicated that Aamaq is considered the official media
agency of the jihadist organization. Aamaq monitors the conflict
providing media services in the areas controlled by ISIS but does not
bear the group's slogans. Al-Tamimi was quoted as saying: "It
(Aamaq) is part of the Islamic State organization and part of its media
strategy." He added, though, that it is unclear who heads Aamaq and
where it is located. The expert mentioned that Aamaq has developed an
advanced application called "A-Rawi."
Muslim
Brotherhood
Albawabh
News: The Secret Of Wali's Survival In The (Egyptian Ministry) Of Social
(Solidarity) Revealed…Through Her Most Important Achievement…
A recent report reveals that one of the most important achievements of
Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity Dr. Ghada Waly, who was appointed
in 2014, lies in combating the financing of terrorism. Since taking
office, she has ordered the disbanding of scores of Muslim Brotherhood
societies, bringing their total number to 470, to date. In addition, new
boards of directors have been appointed to additional associations. The
General Federation of Associations and NGOs is in the process of
reviewing the cases of other societies, ahead of their possible
dissolution.
Hamas
Inst
News: April 27th… The Date Of Ruling To Declare Hamas A
Terrorist Organization (In Egypt)
The Urgent Matters Court of Alexandria reviewed, on Wednesday, case
No. 347 of 2016 brought against Hamas, the Palestinian Resistance
Movement. The court decided to postpone its ruling until April 27th
on the matter of whether to add the Palestinian group to the list of
terrorist organizations. The lawsuit claims that "Hamas is a
terrorist movement due to its terrorist track record and crimes committed
in Egypt, including attacks against members of the military and police,
civilians and state installations."
Houthi
Emirates
News: Israeli Bribe To Houthis: The Secret Code For Smuggling Jews Out Of
Yemen
Arabic press reports revealed details of the exodus of 17 Yemeni Jews
from Sanaa to Tel Aviv. The operation expended a great deal of time and
effort before reaching its successful conclusion. Sources claimed that
the airlift operation of the Jews began in the Amran Governorate,
continuing via Sana'a and ending with their arrival in Tel Aviv, two days
ago. They added that the operation was carried out after the necessary
arrangements had been brokered by international parties. The sources also
disclosed the payment of large sums of bribe money paid to Houthi
militiamen to facilitate the exit operation.
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