Eye on Extremism - April 21, 2016

Eye on Extremism April 21, 2016 International Business Times: ISIS Executes At Least 250 Women For Refusing ‘Temporary Marriage’ In Iraq’s Mosul “The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has executed at least 250 women in northern Iraqi city of Mosul in Nineveh province for refusing sex slavery, according to reports Wednesday. The women had been ordered to accept “temporary marriages” to the militants, and were all put to death after their refusal. Said Mamuzini, an official from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, told the AhlulBayt News Agency that sometimes the families of the women were also executed for rejecting to submit. Ghayas Surchi, another official, from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, told the news agency that women are not allowed to go out alone in Mosul and are required to be completely covered in public. Surchi said that women are also barred from choosing their spouses.” The Wall Street Journal: Russia Moves Artillery To Northern Syria, U.S. Officials Say “Russia has been moving artillery units to areas of northern Syria where government forces have massed, raising U.S. concern the two allies may be preparing for a return to full-scale fighting as the current cease-fire falters, U.S. officials said. The recent Russian redeployments of the units and the forces that operate them have been accompanied by the return of some Iranian army forces to government-controlled areas close to the front lines, according to officials briefed on the intelligence. Russia, Iran and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah movement have been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ’s main supporters in the conflict.” Reuters: Obama, Saudi King Discuss Strained Alliance, Middle East Conflicts “U.S. President Barack Obama met Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday to seek joint action on security threats including Iran and Islamic State - and to talk through tensions between the two allies that have been laid bare in recent weeks. Obama's fourth and likely last visit to the world's top oil exporter has been overshadowed by Gulf Arab exasperation with his approach to the region, and doubts about Washington's commitment to their security. Most of the Gulf Arab monarchies have in private been sorely disappointed by Obama's presidency, regarding it as a period in which the United States has pulled back from the region, giving more space to their arch rival Iran to expand its influence. Obama met for two hours with Salman and a group of top princes and officials at the opulent Erga palace, a meeting that had been forecast to be awkward.” New York Times: Supreme Court Rules Iran Bank Must Pay For Terrorist Attacks “Iran’s central bank must pay nearly $2 billion to victims of terrorist attacks, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. In a 6-to-2 decision, the court said Congress had not exceeded its constitutional role in enacting a statute to make it easier for the plaintiffs to recover damages that had been awarded to them in a series of lawsuits. The cases were brought by the families of Americans killed in terrorist attacks found to have been sponsored by Iran, including relatives of those who died in the 1983 Marine Corps barracks bombing in Lebanon. That attack killed 241 servicemen. The plaintiffs sought to collect frozen funds from Bank Markazi, Iran’s central bank, relying on a 2012 federal law, the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act, that made the task easier by specifying assets of the bank that could satisfy the plaintiffs’ judgments.” Voice Of America: Turkish-Syrian Border Pocket Is Heart Of Fight Against IS “Kurdish and Syrian rebels launched an offensive in late March to take back a small border region between Turkey and Syria that has become a key foothold for Islamic State militants. After weeks of fighting, local commanders say the operation is now intensifying. The 98-kilometer-long border area in northern Aleppo is the only patch of land connecting IS-controlled Syrian territory to Turkey. It has been a funnel to transport the fighters and arms supplies to and from the defacto IS capital of Raqqa, Syria. In recent weeks, Syrian rebels coming from the west have seized more than a dozen villages from IS. And Kurds, who are battling from the east, announced the establishment of a military council to push against IS.” The Jerusalem Post: Hamas Claims Responsibility For Jerusalem Bus Bombing “The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has claimed credit for Monday's bus bombing in Jerusalem, the group said on Wednesday. Hamas released a statement announcing the death of the Bethlehem native who is suspected of detonating the explosive on the bus in southern Jerusalem. The Islamist group said that Abdel Hamid Abu Srour, 19, a resident of the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem, was one of its members. His father was arrested by the IDF on Wednesday. The Hamas statement was made even as Israeli authorities have yet to confirm that the explosion was indeed a terrorist attack. Despite numerous reports circulating that Abu Srour was the terrorist responsible for the attack, the Shin Bet and Police have not confirmed those rumors amid a strict gag order as of this writing. Police continue to investigate who is responsible for the blast that wounded 20 other men, women and children.” Reuters: Syrian Peace Talks In Quagmire As Rebels Prepare For More War “Syria's fragile peace talks might not resume for at least a year if they are abandoned now, a senior Western diplomat warned on Wednesday, as the opposition urged more military support for rebels after declaring a truce was over. Intense fighting has left Syria's partial ceasefire in tatters. The truce was brokered by the United States and Russia to pave the way for the first peace talks attended by rebel factions since the crisis began five years ago. Those talks, taking place under U.N. auspices in Geneva, also appear to have collapsed this week. The opposition says it has called a ‘pause’ to negotiations, although it is reluctant to accept blame for the collapse by walking out altogether.” The New York Times: Boko Haram And ISIS Are Collaborating More, U.S. Military Says “American military officials say that two of the world’s most feared terrorist groups — the Islamic State and Boko Haram — have begun to collaborate more closely, raising alarm that they are working together to attack American allies in North and Central Africa.On Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc, the commander of the United States military’s Special Operations in Africa, cited a weapons convoy believed to be from Islamic State fighters in Libya that was headed for the Lake Chad region, an area devastated by Boko Haram. Military officials described the convoy as one of the first concrete examples of a direct link between the two extremist groups since Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State last year. The shipment, seized near the Chadian border with Libya on April 7, was carrying small-caliber weapons, machine guns and rifles, officials said.” Reuters: Germany To Consider Stripping IS Fighters Of Citizenship: Document “Germany's ruling coalition plans to look into stripping Islamic State fighters of their German citizenship to prevent them from coming back to the country, a draft document seen by Reuters on Wednesday shows. More than 800 people have traveled from Germany to Syria and northern Iraq in recent years and around 70 returnees took part in combat or military training there, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency said earlier this month.’ To prevent jihadists from returning to Germany, we want to examine the legal possibilities for depriving people of German citizenship if they fight for a terrorist militia abroad and have another citizenship alongside their German one,’ read the draft document, which the coalition of conservatives and Social Democrats are to discuss on Thursday.” Fortune: FBI Got Useful Information Off San Bernardino iPhone “It turns out the FBI’s crack of Syed Farook’s iPhone 5c might have yielded some results. Less than a week after reports surfaced, saying the FBI’s look inside the San Bernardino attacker’s iPhone 5c had so far yielded no results, CNN is reporting, citing U.S. law enforcement officials, that it’s now found something. Those officials say that the iPhone investigators are now able to determine that Farook likely did not make contact with another ‘plotter’ during the 18-minute period in which he drove around after the tragic shooting. Last week, CBS News reported, citing its own sources, that the FBI had yet to find anything of ‘significance’ in Farook’s iPhone. The agency’s officials added, however, that they would continue to dig to find something. If CNN’s sources are correct, they finally hit pay dirt. However, it’s unclear just how important that data really is.” Daily Beast: Could Legalizing Pot In Europe Help Stop ISIS? “It’s well known that ISIS leaders are punishing those who use recreational drugs, which is against their peculiar version of sharia law. But the terror group apparently doesn’t have a problem with pushing those same drugs for profit—which is why it's been teaming up with the Sicilian Mafia to cash in on the lucrative trade. That’s also why Italy’s chief anti-Mafia prosecutor, Franco Roberti, wants to legalize cannabis and hash, not just in Italy, but throughout Europe. ‘Decriminalization or even legalization would definitely be a weapon against traffickers, among whom there could be terrorists who make money off of it,’ Roberti told Reuters in a wide-ranging interview this week.” United States Associated Press: Obama, EU Leaders To Meet Over IS Group, Migration And Libya “President Barack Obama will meet with French, British, Italian and German leaders in Hannover next week for discussions expected to touch on Syria, Libya, the Islamic State group and migration, European officials said Wednesday. Obama, French leader Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Britain's David Cameron and Italy's Matteo Renzi will attend the informal session on Monday and will deal with ‘pressing international topics,’ the French presidency said in a statement. British and French officials said the leaders would tackle issues including instability in North Africa, the situation in Syria and the European migration crisis. The five-way meeting follows an already-planned visit by Obama and Merkel to an industrial technology fair in Hannover, in central Germany. Christiane Wirtz, a spokeswoman for Merkel, said the chancellor invited the other leaders to Germany but gave few details of their agenda.” The Guardian: US Drone Strikes Outnumber Warplane Attacks For First Time In Afghanistan “Drones are firing more weapons than conventional warplanes for the first time in Afghanistan and the ratio is rising, previously unreported US Air Force data for 2015 show, underlining how reliant the military has become on unmanned aircraft. The data show strikes by unmanned aircraft accounted for 56% of weapons deployed by the air force in Afghanistan in 2015, up dramatically from 5% in 2011. In the first quarter of 2016, about 300 weapons were deployed by the air force, with drones accounting for 61%. The trend may give clues to the US military’s strategy as it considers withdrawing more troops from the country, while at the same time shoring up local forces who have struggled to stem a worsening Taliban insurgency.” Newsweek: America Puts More Boots On The Ground To Defeat ISIS “As the authorities in Western Europe face up to the increased risk of attacks from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), arrests have been made in Britain, and security operations in Belgium and France all point to intensive government action against the ‘new’ domestic threat from the militants. The popular media narrative is that this is a desperate move from ISIS as it retreats in Iraq and Syria. But security professionals take a very different view. There are three elements at work here: the actual state of the war, the Pentagon’s plans for a rapid increase in U.S. involvement in the war (including ‘boots on the ground’) and the hidden nature of ISIS’s plans for an expanded war overseas. ISIS is certainly under substantial pressure in Iraq and Syria and has lost significant territory in both countries over the past year. This, though, is a very long way from defeat.” Washington Times: U.S. Offensive Against ISIS Costing $12M A Day: Pentagon “Washington is spending $6.8 billion, or nearly $12 million a day, to finance U.S.-led operations to drive the Islamic State from its territories in Iraq and Syria, according to the Pentagon. As of April, American and allied fighters and bombers have carried out over 11,000 airstrikes against Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, targets in the Mideast, a Defense Department report states. Of those 11,000 attack sorties, over 8,000 were flown by U.S. aircraft. The majority of those airstrikes were against Islamic State targets in Iraq, according to the report released Wednesday. News of the daily price tag U.S.-led operations against the Islamic State comes as White House and Pentagon leaders are pushing more American troops and hardware into Iraq.” CBS News: Family Of Journalist Slain By ISIS Sues Syria “The family of slain journalist Steven Sotloff is suing Syria in U.S. court, claiming the government of President Bashar Assad provided support to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants who carried out the gruesome beheading. The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Washington seeks tens of millions in damages from Syria for Sotloff's 2014 killing. It's far from certain Sotloff's South Florida-based family would be able to collect money if they win the case. Sotloff, a 31-year-old Miami-area native who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, vanished in Syria in August 2013 and was not seen again until he appeared in a video released last month that showed fellow journalist James Foley's beheading.” Syria BBC: Syria Conflict: Siege Evacuations Under Way “Relief agencies backed by the UN have begun to evacuate 500 wounded people from besieged Syrian towns. Half will come from towns blockaded by pro-government forces, and half from towns blocked off by rebels. Almost half a million people live under siege in Syria, the UN estimates. Peace talks that began a week ago in Geneva have hit difficulties and it is not clear whether a partial truce that has lasted seven weeks so far will hold. Opposition representatives walked out of the talks this week, blaming government violations of the ceasefire.” Afghanistan CNN: Analysis: Afghanistan Must Recognize Taliban Are Winning “Somber figures explain how bad the problems are: 5,500 Afghan security forces dead in just 2015, say U.S. officials, far more than NATO lost in a decade of war; 3,500 Afghan civilians dead in the same period, mostly at the hands of the Taliban, says the United Nations. Two-thirds of the personnel absences in the security forces are not down to injury, but instead desertion, U.S. officials say. More of the country is in Taliban hands than at any time since 2001, U.S. officials say. The attributions to U.S. officials are important, because it was this same source of information that constantly assured reporters, the world and Afghans that once NATO drew down in 2014, Afghan security forces would be more than capable of holding back the Taliban. It is now woefully apparent that is tragically untrue.” Yemen BBC: Yemen Peace Talks Set To Open In Kuwait, UN Says “Peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Yemen will begin in Kuwait on Thursday, the United Nations says. Houthi rebels have been fighting the Yemeni government since 2014 in a war that has killed over 6,000 people and displaced millions. A US-backed coalition of mostly Arab states began air strikes a year ago in support of the government of the exiled president. A rebel delegation left Sanaa on Wednesday to join the talks. The talks were delayed from Monday after the rebel delegation failed to arrive, angry at what they said were violations of the UN-brokered ceasefire which took effect on 10 April. The two sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.” Reuters: Yemen Must Tackle Widening Sectarian Rift, Says Local Peacemaker “As Yemen war foes re-assess the prospects for high-level peace talks planned in Kuwait this week, a different kind of peace plan is in the making among non-governmental peacemakers. Peace efforts have so far ignored the growing sectarian face of the conflict, which has intensified the divisions and made it harder to reach peace, the Yemen head of Search for Common Ground, an international non-profit, said in a recent interview. Long-awaited talks to end a civil war that has killed about 6,200 people in Yemen - half of them civilians - and created a humanitarian crisis failed to start on Monday as planned, but negotiators were under United Nations pressure to meet. Meanwhile, aid agencies have focused their efforts on alleviating the suffering by distributing essential supplies in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula.” Middle East Newsweek: Israel To Build New Gaza Barrier Within Two Years “Israel is to build a new barrier fitted with new technologies between the Gaza Strip and southern Israeli communities within two years, the Israeli military announced on Tuesday. The new barrier will be constructed to prevent infiltration from above and below ground level, with a physical barrier separation as well as technological detection capabilities. An Israeli military spokesman said that the construction on the border would be considered ‘on a threat assessment basis,’ meaning that the areas of southern Israel most vulnerable to an infiltration attack by Palestinian militants would be prioritized over others.” The New York Times: Israel Says It Has Uncovered Jewish Extremist Cell In West Bank “Israel said Wednesday that it had uncovered a new network of Jewish extremists in the West Bank that was responsible for several recent attacks against Palestinians, including the attempted arson of at least one home as people slept inside. The announcement, by the police and Shin Bet, the country’s domestic security agency, came amid heightened tensions after a July arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma that killed a Palestinian boy and his parents. That attack enraged Palestinians and alarmed Israel’s security services, which have been trying to maintain stability in the West Bank. Two young Israeli Jews were charged in January in connection with the attack.” Libya Reuters: Islamic State In Retreat Around East Libyan City: Military “Islamic State fighters retreated from long-held positions around the port city of Derna on Wednesday, military forces in eastern Libya said, as troops loyal to the government in the region pressed on with an offensive in Benghazi. If the retreat around Derna is confirmed, it could mark a significant shift in the alignment of forces in the area. Islamic State gained territory in Libya as two rival governments and a range of armed factions battled to control the country in the past two years. But it has also faced resistance from other local armed groups on the ground. Derna has a history of Islamism and was an early bastion for Islamic State. The militant group lost control of the city last June to rival armed Islamists grouped under the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council, but retained positions around the outskirts.” Nigeria The New York Times: Abducted Nigerian Girls Have Not Been Abandoned, U.S. Says “The American and African forces sent to Cameroon to fight Boko Haram have, on several occasions, located clusters of the schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant group two years ago, United States officials say. Rescue operations have not been carried out, the officials said, because of fears that any ensuing battle with Boko Haram fighters would put the captives at risk, or incite retaliation against hostages still being held in other areas. American officials said a combination of local intelligence, intercepted communications and drone footage had been used to locate groups of the 276 girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in the Nigerian town of Chibok two years ago this month. Some of the girls have since been tracked to Nigeria’s sprawling Sambisa Forest. Officials insist that efforts to free the girls have not been abandoned.” Europe Jerusalem Post: NATO Security Chiefs Warn Of ISIS Plan For Nuclear Attack On Europe “Islamic State terrorists are plotting to carry out biological and nuclear attack on Europe warned NATO security experts on Wednesday according to reports by the Telegraph.  NATO security chiefs told participants of the Security and Counter Terror Conference in London that there is a 'justified concern' that Islamic State militants are actively working to obtain nuclear, radiological and biological materials.  According to the experts, ISIS operatives are also developing new ways to avoid security measures to carry out bombings. These methods include planting bombs in human bodies and hacking self-driving cars, reported the Telegraph.” Germany The New York Times: German Court Rules Antiterrorism Laws Partly Unconstitutional “At a time when Europe fears more terrorist attacks and the United States is urging European intelligence services to cooperate more closely, Germany’s highest court on Wednesday ruled that critical antiterrorism laws were partly unconstitutional and demanded tighter control over surveillance. The ruling, in a 6-to-2 vote by the federal constitutional court, reflected a familiar desire to balance public safety against violations of privacy and the safeguarding of intelligence data — a characteristically German concern, forged by the experience of Nazi and Communist rule. But the ruling also clashed with mounting public fear of a spreading scourge of jihadist terrorist attacks in Europe, where countries like France and Belgium are moving in the opposite direction and giving intelligence services greater latitude for surveillance.” France CNN: France Moves To Extend State Of Emergency As Brussels Suspect Charged In Paris Attacks “France's government is calling for a two-month extension of the state of emergency that was declared after the deadly Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, the country's prime minister said Wednesday. The move, which will require parliament's approval, is intended to cover the European Championship soccer tournament and the Tour de France. Prime Minister Manuel Valls told France Info radio that the extension of the state of emergency until the end of July will ‘allow a better response against the terrorist threat’ during the June 10-July 10 tournament. Following attacks in Brussels last month, concerns have been raised that Euro 2016 could be targeted, especially the fan zones where spectators gather to watch games on large screens. Up to 8 million fans are expected to visit the open-air areas, according to French authorities. Tournament organizers have increased the budget for security by 15 percent.” Technology Fox News: Drone Manufacturers Work To Combat Growing Terror Threat “Terrorists and drone manufacturers are locked in a high-stakes technology war, with jihadis trying to transform unmanned aerial vehicles into flying weapons and drone companies working to thwart the Islamists, experts told FoxNews.com. The conflict came to the forefront this week after a drone collided with a British Airways flight landing at London’s Heathrow Airport on Sunday afternoon. Although no one was hurt and officials have not called the incident an act of terrorism, the following day, SITE Intelligence Group reported that terrorists were using a secure messaging app to encourage the use of drones to take out commercial planes. But Adam Lisberg, the corporate communications director of Drone giant DJI Technology, told FoxNews.com a drone-on-plane attack is just a terrorist delusion”. Fortune: Microsoft, Facebook And Google Line Up Against New Encryption Bill “Tech groups warn a proposed law would make devices like smartphones less secure. It’s not up for adoption yet, but already major tech companies are sounding the alarm about a new bill that could pressure companies to bust into encrypted devices like smartphones when asked to do so by the government. Under the new bill, companies would be responsible for turning over encrypted data if demanded by court order in criminal cases that involve death, serious injury, drug offenses, child victims, or foreign intelligence operations, Reuters reported. Burr and Feinstein are now soliciting input on the bill, introduced as a draft last week, before formally introducing it for adoption in the Senate.” Arabic Language Clips Counter-Terrorism Elaph: Algerian Parliament Criminalizes Recruitment Of Extremist Fighters The deputies of the National People's Assembly, Algeria's parliament, yesterday passed the draft bill appended to Order No. 66-156 which is contained in the Penal Code. The new bill aims to combat the phenomenon of recruiting militants to terrorist organizations, especially ISIS, which is knocking at the doors of the country's eastern border with Libya. Mounia Meslem, Algeria's Minister for National Solidarity, Family and the Status of Women, who deputized Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals Al-Tayeb Louh in the voting session, said that the law was designed "to reinforce the legal arsenal in the fight against terrorism." She explained that "the importance of this law lies also in the fact that it bolsters the means of combating terrorism by criminalizing the phenomenon of fighters moving to other countries for the purpose of committing terrorist acts, and by preventing the financing of such acts." Vetogate: Central (Bank Of Egypt) Closes Nine Currency Exchange Companies (For Being Involved In Terror Financing) The Central Bank of Egypt has cancelled the licenses of nine currency exchange companies for their involvement in illegal acts, market manipulation and black market activities detrimental to the national economy. This came after the rise of the dollar on the black market to record levels of approximately 11.45 Egyptian pounds, indicating the return of the dollar crisis and manipulation of the black market. An official source at the Egyptian Central Bank said that the anti-money laundering unit at the Bank is currently tracking the sources of terror financing in Egypt, especially in regard to the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist groups. ISIS Vetogate: The Map Of ISIS Drug Smuggling... Morocco Is The Gateway And Libya's Sirte Is The Focal Point ...The Italian Mafia Is The Organization's Chief Assistant Illicit trafficking of various goods and commodities remains the best way for ISIS terrorist extremists to obtain funds for the purchase of weapons, payment of extremists' salaries and expansion of the territories of the "Caliphate." Although the organization's extremists claim to be implementing the teachings of Islam and applying the Sharia laws, illegal drug trafficking, especially of hashish, is still the focus of their financing. They have also adopted certain methods for ensuring safe passage for their smuggling operations. Italy's national anti-mafia and anti-terrorism chief Franco Roberti uncovered the route of drug smuggling by ISIS extremists who are being aided by the Italian Mafia. Roberti said that the main outlet for smuggling the hashish from North Africa starts in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, continuing through Algeria and Tunisia and on to Tobruk in eastern Libya. Muslim Brotherhood Alkhbr: Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee Confiscates Funds Of 25 Charities Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity, Ghada Wali, announced yesterday the takeover of 25 charities and the ouster of the board of directors of two associations throughout 11 Egyptian provinces. This moves follows a decision by the Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee in enactment of the ruling by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters to ban all activities and seize the properties and assets of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated associations. 24:  Report: The Dubious Role Of The Mysterious Brotherhood Millionaire Exposed In The Panama Papers The aftershocks of the "Panama Papers" are still rocking the Arab and Egyptian political and economic scenes. This comes following revelations surrounding the involvement of the son of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in tax evasion schemes via offshore companies. The leaks also mention the name of the Muslim Brotherhood millionaire, Yusuf Nada, as being involved in suspicious economic activities, ranging from tax evasion, money laundering, and possibly beyond. Sameh Eid, a dissident Brotherhood leader and independent researcher on Islamist movements, noted that Nada has undergone several investigations into his financial conduct during his many years in Europe. Eid stressed that "Nada is not the only one whose involvement in transnational financial operations was exposed in the Panama Papers. The Brotherhood's international organization has many economic arms, but Nada is the most important and prominent figure in this context."