Eye on Extremism July 29, 2016

Eye on Extremism July 29, 2016 The Washington Post: Five U.S. Troops Wounded In Afghanistan Fighting Islamic State, Top General Says “Five U.S. Special Operations troops, fighting alongside their Afghan counterparts, were wounded recently while battling Islamic State militants in Afghanistan’s Nangahar province, the top U.S. general there said Thursday. Speaking to reporters from Kabul, U.S. Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr. said that the troops had been wounded from small-arms fire and shrapnel in the past week. He did not specify when exactly the injuries occurred. Two of the service members have already returned to their unit, while the three others had been evacuated out of Afghanistan, though their injuries are not life-threatening, Nicholson said. The troops came under fire during what Nicholson called ‘clearing operations’ as U.S. and Afghan troops pushed into southern Nangahar following a series of airstrikes.” CNN: Syria's Al-Nusra Rebrands And Cuts Ties With Al Qaeda “Syrian jihadist group Jabhat al Nusra has announced it is severing ties with al Qaeda and changing its name to Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, according to a video statement from leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani. Though Golani, in his first video appearance, said the new group will have ‘no affiliation to any external entity,’ U.S. officials quickly dismissed the rebranding as a public relations ploy. The supposed breakup comes less than two weeks after Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States and Russia had agreed to cooperate in Syria against al Nusra in an effort to ‘restore the cessation of hostilities, significantly reduce the violence and help create the space for a genuine and credible political transition’ in the war-ravaged country.” Business Insider: 'Unique, Strange, And Terrible' — ISIS May Have Created A New Type Of Bomb “On July 3, 292 Iraqis were killed during ISIS' deadliest attack thus far. In a crowded street in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, or VBIED, detonated after midnight, causing nearby dwellings to be engulfed in flames. Many residents were trapped inside the inferno — it was estimated that 20 to 30 people died from the initial explosion. But investigators at the scene are now concerned with another potential threat: The terrorist group may have developed and used a new type of bomb.” Reuters: Attempt At U.S.-Russia Cooperation In Syria Suffers Major Setbacks “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's attempt to elicit Russian military cooperation in the fight against Islamic State in Syria suffered two potentially crippling blows on Thursday. First, the Syrian army said it had cut off all supply routes into the eastern part of the city of Aleppo - Syria's most important opposition stronghold - and President Bashar al-Assad's government asked residents to leave the city. That move, U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity said on Thursday, appeared to be an effort to pre-empt a U.S. demand that Russia and Syria reopen a major road into the divided northern city before talks could begin on creating a joint intelligence center to coordinate air attacks against Islamic State.” Associated Press: Experts Weigh Multiple Explanations For Surge Of Mass Killings “The relentless series of mass killings across the globe poses a challenge for experts trying to analyze them without lapsing into faulty generalizations. Terms like contagion and copycat killing apply in some cases, not in others, they say, and in certain instances perpetrators' terrorist ideology intersects with psychological instability.” The Wall Street Journal: Islamic State Threat In Europe Shifts “The mushrooming of small-scale terror attacks in Europe has allowed Islamic State and its adherents to keep people here on edge without having to train and equip teams to pull off highly sophisticated operations. Indeed, some U.S. officials say they believe some of the simpler attacks on softer targets of the type seen recently will prove to have been directed by Islamic State, not just inspired by the group. ‘We know there is a command and control structure behind some of these attacks,’ said a U.S. official. ‘Islamic State has filled up the pipeline with militants in Europe.’ According to U.S. officials the smaller attacks may be designed to overwhelm law-enforcement and intelligence services—helping operatives planning a bigger attack to move around undetected.” New York Times: U.S. Drops Snark In Favor Of Emotion To Undercut Extremists “The Obama administration has revamped a program designed to lure foreign fighters away from extremist groups like the Islamic State, focusing on a series of new advertisements and social media posts that seek to appeal to emotion rather than logic. Money for the program, which is managed by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, tripled this year, to $16 million, after administration officials concluded that past efforts that had attempted to scare potential militants away from the extremist groups were not working.” Reuters: Islamic State's Oil Revenue Dives As It Loses Iraqi Territory “Islamic State, pushed off more than half the Iraqi territory it seized in 2014, has suffered a near collapse in revenue from oil smuggling, officials say, forcing it to cut fighters' pay, levy new taxes and raise fines for breaking its religious code. The jihadist group has lost control of a series of oil fields, and is having to sell what production that remains at steep discounts to persuade truck drivers to collect it and run the gauntlet of U.S.-led air strikes. Alongside taxes, ransoms and antiquities trading, oil has been a major fundraiser for Islamic State operations. At one point it made millions of dollars a month in sales to neighboring Syria and Iran, or to makeshift local refineries.” The New York Times: With Army In Disarray, A Pillar Of Modern Turkey Lies Broken “As a rebel faction of Turkey’s military began a violent attempt to topple the elected government, the country’s top officer, Gen. Hulusi Akar, was held at gunpoint in his office in the capital and told for the first time about what was happening. Now, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wages a widespread purge, jailing and suspending tens of thousands of state employees, the military that has long served as a unifying force for the country is deeply divided, diminished and discredited. Nearly half of the top generals and admirals have been jailed or dismissed and thousands of foot soldiers charged. More than 1,500 officers were dishonorably discharged this week in advance of a meeting of the Supreme Military Council in Ankara on Thursday, where leaders were expected to consider a broader restructuring of the military.” Reuters: Anti-Boko Haram Task Force Says Recaptures Town In Nigeria's Borno State “A multinational task force battling Boko Haram said on Thursday it had recaptured the only town in northeast Nigeria's Borno state that was still held by the Islamist militant group. Boko Haram, which formed in Borno, has waged an insurgency since 2009 to carve out a state based on sharia (Islamic law) in the northeast of Africa's most populous country. More than 15,000 people have been killed and some 2.4 million displaced. Damasak, captured by Boko Haram in October 2014, was part of an area around the size of Belgium that the jihadist group controlled in northeast Nigeria by the end of 2009. Its attacks have spread to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, which prompted those nations to combine troops to form the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF).” NBC News: Afghanistan Sees 20 Percent Rise In Casualties Of Security Forces, Police: Official “It has been another bloody year on the battlefield for Afghan soldiers and police officers, who have experienced a surge in casualties over last year, according to the top U.S. general in the region. The number of those killed so far this year is about 20 percent higher than during the same period last year, Gen. John Nicholson said Thursday without disclosing exact figures. In all of 2015, there were 20,000 casualties among Afghan Security Forces, he added. The Taliban militants opposing the government forces have fought steadily through 2016, including over the winter, officials said. The fledgling democracy has also been tormented by rival terror group ISIS.” United States Daily Mail: US Seize Haul Of 10,000 Documents And 4.5 Terabytes Of Information From ISIS Fighters In Syria “US intelligence agents are studying files captured from ISIS in a bid to identify potential terrorists returning to the west. The cache includes some 10,000 documents and 4.5 terabytes of information containing the identities and countries of origin of the terror group's fighters.  Also contained in the intelligence files are details of the routes used to smuggle terrorists in and out of the warzone. The information was captured in Manbij in Northern Syria after the terror group was pushed back from the city. Intelligence agents hope the information will help them identify ISIS terrorist cells while also providing details of the group's finances and might even lead to military strikes against senior terror leaders. It is estimated that almost 43,000 terrorists from 12 countries have at least attempted to go to Iraq and Syria.” CNN: FBI Chief: Success Against ISIS Means More Terror “Battlefield success against ISIS may produce more terrorism for the West, FBI Director James Comey warned this week. Speaking to a cybersecurity conference at Fordham University Wednesday, Comey predicted that eventually crushing ISIS in its self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq will likely result in dispersing terrorists elsewhere. ‘At some point there is going to be a terrorist diaspora out of Syria like we've never seen before,’ Comey said. ‘Not all of the Islamic State killers are going to die on the battlefield.’ The FBI director's warning that the collapse of the caliphate will mean increased attacks in Western Europe and the United States mirrors a consensus among intelligence officials.” Syria BBC: Syria Conflict: Aleppo 'Corridors' Must Be Protected - Red Cross “People allowed to flee besieged areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo using new humanitarian corridors must be given protection, the Red Cross says. Aid workers must also be allowed access to civilians and ensure that families who choose to leave are kept together, the agency added. Russia, Syria's ally, says three routes will be open for civilians and unarmed rebels and a fourth for armed rebels. Meanwhile the US says it is assessing if a coalition strike killed civilians. Unverified, graphic images from a village near Manbij, northern Syria, have been posted on social media.” CNN: Syria, Russia To Open Aid, Exit Corridors In Besieged Aleppo, Officials Say “Syrian and Russian forces are to open humanitarian corridors for people to flee the besieged city of Aleppo, officials in both countries said Thursday, the day after Syria's army announced it had encircled the city and cut off rebel supply routes. In a ‘large-scale humanitarian operation,’ three relief corridors would be set up to distribute food and medical aid to civilians, and provide them -- along with rebels who chose to surrender -- the opportunity to leave the city, Russia's Ministry of Defense said. A fourth corridor would be established in northern Aleppo to allow for the withdrawal of armed insurgents, the statement said, calling it an exceptional attempt to spare civilians from violence.” Iraq Reuters: Fourteen Civilians Killed In Air Strikes In Iraq, Syria: U.S. Military “Fourteen civilians were killed and another was injured in six U.S. air strikes against al Qaeda and Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria between July 28 last year and April 29 this year, the U.S. military said on Thursday. ‘We deeply regret the unintentional loss of life and injuries resulting from our airstrikes and express our sympathies to those affected,’ said a statement from U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East. The strikes took place against Khorasan Group, an al Qaeda offshoot in Syria, and Islamic State facilities and vehicles in Iraq, the military said.” Turkey Sputnik: Turkey Identifies Percentage Of Military Ankara Claims Took Part In Coup Attempt “As the Turkish government continues a widespread purge of its countrymen following last week’s coup attempt, precise numbers of those implicated are becoming clearer. In the wake of the failed coup, Ankara has launched an unprecedented crackdown on those they claim were involved. In moves that many note appear to be well-scripted enough to have been planned in advance, approximately 1,684 military personnel have been dishonorably discharged, and tens of thousands of civil servants have been fired. On Wednesday, the Turkish military provided a statement to Turkey’s NTV television and said it believes 8,651 soldiers took part in the coup, roughly 1.5% of Turkey’s forces. The statement also provided figures for military hardware used.” Reuters: Turkey Military Purge Harming Fight Against Islamic State: Clapper “Turkey's purge of its military after a failed coup attempt is hindering cooperation in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State, James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said on Thursday. The purge has swept aside many Turkish officers who dealt with the United States and landed some of them in jail, Clapper and head of U.S. Central Command General Joseph Votel said while both were speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado. Turkey launched a major overhaul of NATO's second-biggest military after the abortive coup, in which Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan narrowly escaped capture and possible death. Nearly 1,700 military personnel received dishonorable discharges over their alleged role in the July 15-16 putsch, including around 40 percent of Turkey's admirals and generals.” Associated Press: Turkey's Top Military Commander Keeps His Job After Failed Coup “Turkey's top military commander, who was held hostage during an attempted coup, kept his post Thursday, while the general who served as acting chief of staff was promoted following a purge in the military following the failed putsch. Hulusi Akar, a four-star general, retained his position as chief of staff, the presidency announced after a meeting of the Supreme Military Council, representing the commanders of NATO's second largest army. The decisions came after Turkey discharged nearly 1,700 officers, including 149 generals and admirals, suspected of involvement in the July 15 attempted coup. A senior Turkish official described the actions as ‘dishonorable discharges.’” BBC: Turkey Coup Attempt: More Than 130 Media Outlets Shut “The Turkish authorities have announced the closure of 131 media organisations, as a crackdown continues following the failed coup on 15 July. Three news agencies, 16 TV channels, 23 radio stations, 45 papers, 15 magazines and 29 publishers will be shut. One of them, Zaman, once one of Turkey's biggest newspapers, was put under state control in March. Arrest warrants have been issued for 47 staff. Many of the media outlets are linked to the US-based cleric Fetullah Gulen. The government says Mr Gulen was behind the army-led attempted coup, a claim he denies. Separately, the government announced on Wednesday that nearly 1,700 members of the armed forces, including 149 generals and admirals had been discharged. At least 246 people died during the coup, and more than 2,000 people were injured.” Afghanistan Reuters: Afghan Government Loses 5 Percent Of Territory In 4 Months: U.S. Government Watchdog “The Afghan government lost control or influence of nearly 5 percent of its territory between January and May, the U.S government's top watchdog on Afghanistan said in a report on Friday, an indication of the challenges its forces are facing. Fifteen years after the United States invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban rulers who had harbored al Qaeda militants who attacked the United States, the Taliban have made major gains and are estimated to control more territory than at any time since 2001. Washington has been training and equipping Afghan security forces in order to withdraw America troops from the country, but the Afghans remain short of personnel and hardware.” The New York Times: Afghans Go to Syria to Fight for Its Government, and Anguish Results “Afghanistan has been hollowed out as its citizens have fled poverty and war, many seeking work in Pakistan, Iran or Persian Gulf nations, or risking the perilous trail to Europe. But this specific emigration pattern — of thousands of young men flowing into neighboring Iran and then on to fight alongside the Syrian government and its allies — has provoked extraordinary anguish for families here and for Afghanistan’s government, particularly over the past year. Leaving a country racked by decades of war, the young Afghans who choose the path to Syria then fall into peril on the bloody front lines of Aleppo, Homs or other battlegrounds. Iranian state news media and some Afghan officials suggest that hundreds have been killed in battles over the past year.” Yemen Fox News: Yemen's Houthi Rebels Announce Alliance With Ousted President “Yemen's Shiite rebels on Thursday announced a formal alliance with the country's ousted president and his onetime ruling party by forming a new political council to rule the country, which analysts warn could add a wrinkle to peace talks with the current government. The rebels, known as Houthis or Ansar Allah, signed a deal with the General People's Congress, led by the ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh, agreeing to form a council of 10 members, five from each party. The two sides said they would work together to confront the Saudi-led military coalition, which supports the internationally-recognized government months after it fled the country. The Houthis have controlled the capital, Sanaa, since 2014.” Reuters: Houthi-Led Bloc Says To Set Up Body To Run Yemen With Peace Talks Stalled “Yemen's dominant Houthi group and its allies in ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh's party said on Thursday they would establish a governing council to run the country, in a move the United Nations said threatens peace talks in Kuwait. Senior officials in President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government said the move undermined diplomatic efforts to end a devastating civil war that has drawn in a Saudi-led Arab coalition and caused a humanitarian crisis. The announcement by the Iranian-allied Houthis and Saleh's General Peoples' Congress Party (GPC) could unravel an already shaky ceasefire that took effect in April and had reduced the intensity of the conflict.” Egypt BBC: Egypt Convicts Former Auditor Of Spreading 'False News' “Egypt's former top auditor, who was sacked after alleging government corruption, has been given a prison sentence for spreading ‘false news’. Hisham Geneina was fired in March by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi after estimating corruption had cost Egypt $67.6bn (£51.3bn) over four years. He was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $2,200 but told he could avoid prison if he paid an additional $1,100, judicial sources said. His lawyer said he would appeal. Lawyer Ali Taha said prosecutors had failed to prove their accusations and said the case for the defence had not been examined. Reporters were not allowed to attend the sentencing at a Cairo court.” Newsweek: Egypt Jails Female Genital Mutilation Doctor In Unprecedented Move “A doctor who carried out female genital mutilation (FGM) on a 13-year-old girl who later died from her injuries has been jailed in Egypt, an unprecedented step in a country with one of the highest rates of the practice in the world. In January 2015, Raslan Fadl became the first person to be convicted of performing FGM in Egypt following the death of his patient, Souheir al-Batea, in the country’s northeast Daqahlia governorate. Last week, he turned himself into a police station, around 18 months after his conviction. According to Reda Eldanbouki, executive director of the Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance in Egypt and a lawyer who successfully prosecuted al-Batea’s case with the help of Equality Now, an international human rights organization, Fadl continued to practice medicine freely after his conviction.”  Middle East The Times Of Israel: Netanyahu: Any Hamas Attack Will Bring ‘Devastation’ On Gaza “Touring communities in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed that Israel’s 2014 war against Hamas had produced ‘the two quietest years in a long time.’ Netanyahu said Hamas was dealt a hard and ‘unprecedented’ blow during the war, touting a policy of ‘responding decisively to any violation of the calm’ as crucial to maintaining deterrence two summers later. ‘Quiet here equals quiet in Gaza,’ while ‘an attack on us will lead to destruction and devastation on the other side of the fence,’ added the prime minister, who in recent days has faced withering criticism from political rivals and bereaved parents over the degree of Israel’s preparedness for the war.” Nigeria BBC: UN Condemns 'Barbaric' Boko Haram Violence In Nigeria “The United Nations has accused the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram of ‘almost unimaginable’ violence and brutality in Nigeria. Stephen O'Brien, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator, said the militant group's actions had forced thousands to flee and left unprecedented numbers in need. The UN estimates that more than nine million people in the region need humanitarian assistance. Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State. Mr O'Brien told the UN Security Council that Nigeria was bearing ‘the brunt of the crisis’, with Nigerians accounting for seven of the nine million people in need. Associated Press: Military: Boko Haram Ambushes Humanitarian Convoy, Wounds 5 “Boko Haram Islamic extremists ambushed a humanitarian convoy escorted by troops in northeast Nigeria on Thursday, wounding three civilians including a U.N. worker, and two soldiers, the army and UNICEF said. The attack comes as aid agencies are warning that children are dying of starvation daily among more than 500,000 people in need of urgent help in recently liberated areas that still are dangerous to reach. An employee of the U.N. Children's Fund and a contractor for the International Organization for Migration were among those wounded in the ambush on the road from the city of Bama to Maiduguri, the regional capital and headquarters of the military's campaign against the Islamic insurgency that is 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) to the northwest.” United Kingdom BBC: 'Extremist' Books Remained In Jail Libraries Despite Warning “Five books regarded as ‘extremist’ by the Prison Service remained in jail libraries in England and Wales for seven months after a review called for their removal, the BBC has learnt. Two of the authors are seen as having inspired jihadists in the Arab world. Extremism academic Dr Chetan Bhatt said the presence of these books within prison libraries was ‘worrying’. The government said the texts had been identified as part of the Acheson review into extremism in prisons. The BBC understands that Ian Acheson's inspection team first alerted the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to the presence of the books in November 2015. One or more of the texts had been found in chaplaincy rooms at nine of the 11 prisons visited by the review team.” Newsweek: How Long Will The U.K Be Spared An Extremist Attack? “The United Kingdom threat level from international terrorism is currently set at ‘severe.’ This means that the security and intelligence agencies believe that ‘an attack is highly likely.’ It has been at this level since August 2014 when it was raised in response to developments in Iraq and Syria including the increased number of foreign fighters travelling to the Middle East from Britain and Europe. Since then we have seen the extremist threats in Europe mature and become more acute, while the U.K. has so far been spared an attack. It is difficult to know why that is the case. It could be thanks to effective efforts by security and intelligence agencies, or it could be because the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), Al-Qaeda or other groups do not currently have the capacity to launch an attack on British soil.” Germany RT: German Police Raid Islamic ‘Hotbed’ As 15yo Detained For Allegedly Planning Terror Attack “Around 400 German police conducted raids at a mosque and eight apartments in a ‘hotbed’ of radical Islam near Hannover. It came as police near Stuttgart arrested a 15-year-old who they believe was planning a mass shooting. The raids took place in Hildesheim, a town which Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius described as ‘a hotbed of radical Salafist’ activity. He said that up to 400 police and special forces took part in the operations, though no figures were released regarding how many arrests were made.” France Newsweek: Timeline Of Jihadi Attacks In France Since Charlie Hebdo “In the past 18 months France has suffered seven deadly Islamist attacks. The murder of an 84-year-old priest in a church near the northern city of Rouen on Tuesday, was the latest tragedy to hit a nation which is already overwhelmed with grief and fear. This incident came less than two weeks after an attacker ploughed a truck into Bastille Day revelers in Nice, killing 84 people. These were the latest in the recent spate of attacks that have collectively claimed the lives of 230 people. Historically, French security services have dealt successfully with Islamic extremism, particularly in the middle of the civil war that rocked its former colony Algeria in the 1990s. But they became complacent while countries such as the U.K. dealt with a greater threat after 9/11, says Jason Burke, the author of the acclaimed book on this subject The New Threat From Islamic Militancy.” The New York Times: France Identifies 2nd Man Who Attacked Church and Killed Priest “The French authorities on Thursday identified a second man who stormed a church in Normandy and killed an 85-year-old priest as he celebrated Mass. The Paris prosecutor’s office identified the man as Abdel-Malik Nabil Petitjean, 19. It was not clear how he knew the other killer, Adel Kermiche, also 19, who lived near the church, the Église St.-Étienne, in St.-Étienne-du-Rouvray, a working-class suburb of Rouen. Both were of Algerian ancestry. They were shot dead by the police after the assault on the church on Tuesday, which also left an 86-year-old parishioner severely wounded; he is in stable condition.” BBC: How France Is Wrestling With Jihadist Terror “France's anti-terror measures are under intense scrutiny again, because both of the Islamists who attacked a church in Normandy were known to the security services as potential threats and one of them was wearing an electronic surveillance tag. After last year's jihadist atrocities in Paris, claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS), it emerged that many of the killers had also been on French anti-terror watch lists. There is a database called the S list (S standing for ‘state security’) containing 20,000 names, of whom 10,500 are suspected jihadists. Not all of them are under electronic surveillance. Besides jihadists there are also other political extremists and even hooligans, France's Le Figaro newspaper reports. The suspects are given various threat levels.” Europe The Huffington Post: Recent ISIS Killings Spur Security Fears Of More Attacks To Come “As Islamic State militants continue to lose seized territory in Syria and Iraq, the group has claimed a number of deadly terror attacks in countries around the world over the past two months. There have been at least 14 attacks outside of Syria and Iraq since early June, when ISIS ramped up its campaign of killings during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But whether the killings have been directed (like the Paris attacks) or largely solitary acts (including the killing of 49 people at gay nightclub in Orlando), ISIS touts them as evidence of its ability to carry out global attacks. The rising frequency of these plots has led to security fears in a number of countries, as some analysts point toward a trend of ISIS increasingly attempting attacks abroad to compensate for its losses closer to home.” The Guardian: ‘Terrorism Threat Is Waning’: Figures Put Europe’s Summer Of Violence In Context “The scale of violence in western Europe to date this summer has shocked Europeans and the world alike. But when put in a global and historical context, the figures and headlines quickly give us a different perspective on the global proliferation of terrorism and its victims. Figures from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) show that since 2012 there has been a dramatic rise in the number of deaths from terrorist attacks across the world. In western Europe, however, the figure has decreased since the early 1990s. David Miller, professor of sociology at the University of Bath, says: ‘The figures would tend to suggest that there is much less of a threat from terrorism overall now than there was then.’”