Eye on Extremism - March 24, 2016

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.