Eye on Extremism August 30, 2016

Eye on Extremism August 30, 2016 Counter Extremism Project Voice Of America: Germany Wants Facebook To Take Initiative In Fight Against Online Hate “Germany's interior minister visited Facebook's offices in Berlin on Monday and said it should be more proactive in removing forbidden content from its social network platform. "Facebook should take down racist content or calls for violence from its pages on its own initiative even if it hasn't yet received a complaint," Thomas de Maiziere said. "Facebook has an immensely important economic position and, just like every other large enterprise, it has an immensely important social responsibility." Mark Wallace, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who now heads the Counter Extremist Project (CEP) in New York, a non-profit group that maintains a database of information about extremist groups, said Facebook was a leader in the social media sector in combating extremism, but more work was needed.” Fox News: Thousands Buried In At Least 72 ISIS Mass Graves, AP Finds “Surrounded by smoke and flames, the sound of gunshots echoing around him, the young man crouched in the creek for hours, listening to the men in his family die. On the other side of the mountain, another survivor peered through binoculars as the handcuffed men of neighboring villages were shot and then buried by a waiting bulldozer. For six days he watched as the extremists filled one grave after another with his friends and relatives. Between them, the two scenes of horror on Sinjar mountain contain six burial sites and the bodies of more than 100 people, just a small fraction of the mass graves Islamic State (ISIS) extremists have scattered across Iraq and Syria.” Daily Beast: Leaked ISIS Documents Show Internal Chaos “What appear to be internal documents from the administration of the so-called Islamic State, obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast, show the terrorist organization under strain from financial misappropriation, embezzlement, alleged infiltration by anti-ISIS spies, and bureaucratic infighting. These documents, originally captured by a Syrian rebel group near Damascus, are stamped by official ISIS “ministries.” They show the dollar salaries ISIS paid to its jihadist fighters, at least as of a year ago, in addition to other income earmarked for those fighters’ dependents.” Reuters: Turkish Forces Deepen Push Into Syria, Draw U.S. Rebuke Over Their Target “Turkish-backed forces pushed deeper into northern Syria on Monday and drew a rebuke from NATO ally the United States, which said it was concerned the battle for territory had shifted away from targeting Islamic State. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter called on Turkey to stay focused on fighting Islamic State militants and not to target Kurdish elements of Syrian rebel forces, which Washington backs. The White House said a continued Turkish push would complicate the fight against Islamic State. At the start of Turkey's now almost week-long cross-border offensive, Turkish tanks, artillery and warplanes provided Syrian rebel allies with the firepower to capture swiftly the Syrian frontier town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants. Since then, Turkish forces have mainly pushed into areas controlled by fighters aligned to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that encompasses the Kurdish YPG militia and which has been backed by Washington to fight the jihadists.” ABC News: Emails Show ISIS Eager To Release Kayla Mueller For Ransom, Expert Says “Even after a failed U.S. Special Forces hostage rescue mission in Syria, the launch of hundreds of coalition airstrikes and the subsequent video beheadings of three hostages, ISIS offered hope to Carl and Marsha Mueller that made them believe paying a ransom could still bring their captive daughter Kayla home, emails from the family's negotiations show. But a former senior FBI agent told ABC News that U.S. government negotiators missed the likely final opportunity to free the last American in captivity for ransom almost two years ago, which ISIS said was "still a possibility" in its last email to her parents before her death.” International Business Times: ISIS Fighters In Libya's Sirte Goad Government Troops Into Killing Them As Militants Make Last Stand “As pro-government troops close in on the last Islamic State (Isis) fighters in the coastal Libyan city of Sirte, the few that remain have started goading their enemies to kill them and are intent on dying as martyrs. Sources on the ground in Sirte, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IBTimes UK that few IS fighters were ever captured in the city which has been held by the militant group for over a year. There were believed to be thousands of Islamic State fighters in Sirte, the hometown of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, most of them foreign fighters from Tunisia and sub-Saharan Africa. However – Libyan troops, fighting under the auspices of the UN-backed Government of National accord and drawn mostly from the city of Misrata – have made a grinding advance against the militant group with the aid of US air strikes. The troops now appear on the verge of liberating Sirte.” Reuters: 12 Soldiers Die In Clash With Islamist Militants In The Philippine South Twelve soldiers, including a young lieutenant, were killed in a clash with Islamic State-linked rebels on a remote southern island in the Philippines, an army spokesman said on Monday as the army offensive entered its fifth day. Major Filemon Tan said five soldiers were also wounded in an 1-1/2 hour firefight in the jungles of Patikul town on Jolo island as troops pursued a large formation of the small but brutal Abu Sayyaf group. "The fighting was really intense, we lost 12 men," Tan said. "You can really expect heavy casualty from both sides due to volume of fire from both sides. We don't know how many from the enemy died but there could be more than 30 rebels." Reuters: Fight For Syria's Aleppo Exposes Limits Of Russian Air Power “Russia's politically-sensitive and ultimately fruitless decision to launch bombing missions on Syria from Iranian soil has exposed the limits to its air power, leaving Moscow in need of a new strategy to advance its aims. People familiar with Russia's military said Moscow opted for the sorties from Iran - and Tehran agreed to allow them - because they were struggling to achieve their aim of crushing rebels in the city of Aleppo. The gamble failed and rebels fighting their ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Aasad, remain ensconced in parts of Aleppo. Russia began air strikes on Syria in support of Assad on Sept. 30 last year, launched from bases in government-held territory and from warships. Then this month, facing logistical problems in mounting an expensive campaign at a time of tight state finances, it intensified the bombing of Aleppo in what turned out to be a brief series of raids from Iran.” Voice Of America: IS Gaining Foothold In Yemen “The Islamic State group is becoming a growing menace in Yemen and is further destabilizing a war-torn nation already past its breaking point. In recent years, the group has built support bases across the country, with a particular concentration in the south and southeastern parts. Monday’s attack in Aden — in which at least 45 people were killed — is the latest example of the growing presence of the group in Yemen. With the declaration of an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq in June 2014 by IS, many jihadist groups across the world began to pledge allegiance to the group. In Yemen, several groups affiliated with al-Qaida expressed their desire to operate under the command of the newly formed terror leadership in Syria and Iraq.” Daily Caller: Parts Of Europe Profiting Heavily From Fears Of Terrorism “Southern Europe is enjoying a tourism boon as France and Turkey are struggling to attract foreign visitors in the wake of terrorist attacks. France has been rocked by multiple terrorist attacks in the last 12 months, most notably the Nov. 13, 2015, attacks by ISIS militants in Paris, which claimed the lives of 130 people, and an ISIS-inspired terrorist who mowed down 84 people with a truck in Nice on Bastille Day. In Turkey, the international airport in Istanbul, the country’s largest city, was attacked by three suicide bombers in June that killed 42 people; the NATO member country was then rocked by a failed coup attempt in July. As a result of their troubles, tourism is down in France and Turkey. Bookings have slumped by close to 20 and 52 percent, respectively, between September and December, compared to 2015. The woes of the two terror-struck nations are the gains of Portugal, Spain, and Italy — they’re all seeing a rise in tourism.” United States Fox News: Defense Secretary Ash Carter Calls On US-Backed Forces To 'Not Fight One Another' “Defense Secretary Ash Carter called on U.S.-supported allies Turkey and Syrian Kurdish forces Monday to ‘not fight one another,’ after a series of clashes erupted in northern Syria over the weekend.  Carter called on Turkish forces not to head south of the Syrian border town of Jarabulus following a successful operation to rid the town of ISIS fighters.  Turkey has since expanded it's operation away from ISIS by shelling US-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters known as the YPG, a key ally against the Islamic State. Carter called for Turkey to ‘stay focused’ on ISIS and not the Kurdish forces.  This spring, 250 U.S. special operations forces embedded with the Kurdish YPG to help them lead a ground assault against ISIS in Syria.” Reuters: U.S. Drone Enters Iran's Airspace, Leaves After Warning: Tasnim “Iran's military detected a U.S. drone entering Iranian airspace on Monday and issued a warning for it to leave, which it subsequently did, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported. ‘Iran's army air defense detected and warned an American drone in the eastern airspace of the country. It was coming from Afghanistan. The drone left the area,’ Tasnim quoted the Iranian military as saying. Tasnim gave no details on how the Iranian authorities had warned the unmanned drone to leave its airspace. A U.S. defense official said last week that four of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels 'harassed' a U.S. warship on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran said the ships had only been carrying out their regular duties monitoring foreign ships near Iranian waters.” Reuters: U.S. Says Clashes Between Turkish Forces And Opposition In Syria 'Unacceptable' “The United States on Monday criticised clashes between Turkish forces and some opposition groups in northern Syria as ‘unacceptable’ and called on all armed actors in the fighting to stand down and focus on the fight against Islamic State. ‘We want to make clear that we find these clashes - in areas where ISIL is not located - unacceptable and a source of deep concern,’ Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the coalition to counter Islamic State, said on his official Twitter account, citing a defense department statement. ‘We call on all armed actors to stand down... the U.S. is actively engaged to facilitate such deconfliction and unity of focus on ISIL, which remains a lethal and common threat.’ Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies seized territory controlled by Kurdish-aligned forces on Sunday, the fifth day of a cross-border campaign that a monitoring group said had killed at least 35 villagers.” The Washington Post: U.S., European Military Advisers Work To Boost Lagging Afghan Combat Readiness “Decentralizing the military bureaucracy and teaching Afghan forces to survive without the Western largesse have been a constant challenge. Both setups encouraged dependence and fostered corruption, which is viewed by many as the single largest obstacle to effective Afghan military performance in the war. American and NATO advisers say the only way to ensure accountability and efficiency is by instilling modern administrative methods. But this is slowed by low literacy rates among Afghan troops, including many officers, and by entrenched nepotistic practices that make it difficult to get rid of incompetent staff.” Reuters: U.S. Tries To Stop Feuding Allies From Unraveling Syria Strategy “The United States scrambled on Monday to get its feuding allies, Turkey and Kurdish YPG militia, to focus their firepower on Islamic State instead of each other after clashes that have threatened to unravel America's war strategy in Syria. Turkey, which has long viewed Kurdish militants as its top security threat, upended U.S. assumptions about the conflict by launching a major push last week into northern Syria that has included areas controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes experienced Kurdish YPG fighters. In turn, Turkey has blamed a rocket attack from a YPG-controlled area for the death of one of its soldiers on Saturday. Turkey said it killed 25 Kurdish militants on Sunday.” Daily Caller: Study: US Needs A Contingency Plan To Move Bases Out Of Turkey “Despite Turkey’s strategic role in U.S. defense policy, the military needs to have a contingency plan to move its bases out of the country, according to a recent study by a Washington, D.C. think tank. ‘Although I join most observers in continuing to believe that the U.S.-Turkish relationship is crucial and that Incirlik’s role is particularly important in the context of the anti-IS (ISIS) struggle, it is clearly time to face the possibility that the U.S. may, against its will, be forced to leave,’ wrote Eric Edelman, the former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and current senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). The report, titled, ‘Covering the Bases: Reassessing U.S. Military Deployments in Turkey After the July 2016 Attempted Coup d’Etat,’ emphasizes the importance of trying to maintain Turkey’s role in NATO through all diplomatic means, but also recognizes the fractured relationship between the U.S. and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.” Syria Reuters: Syrian Rebels Make Gains In Northern Hama Province, Capture Strategic Town “Syrian rebels have captured a strategic town in northern Hama province in a major offensive that threatens government loyalist towns populated by minority Christians and Alawites north of the provincial capital, rebels and a monitor said on Tuesday. The town of Halfaya was stormed on Monday after the hardline jihadist Jund al-Aqsa alongside Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigades launched a battle overnight that overran several army and pro-government checkpoints in northern Hama countryside. The town, which is near a main road that links the coastal areas with the Aleppo-Damascus highway is only a few kilometers from the historic Christian town of Mahrada to the west.” Iraq Reuters: Iraq Says Fires Put Out At Four Oil Wells In Town Captured From IS “Iraq has put out fires at four oil wells in the oil-producing region of Qayyara which Iraqi forces recaptured from Islamic State last week, the oil ministry said on Monday. ‘Work is underway to put out flames in the remaining wells or oil spots that Daesh criminal gangs set ablaze before fleeing the city,’ Deputy Oil Minister Fayadh al-Nema said in the statement. Islamic State is also known as Daesh. He didn't say how many fires were still ablaze. The Qayyara region produces heavy sour crude and has a small refinery to process some of the oil.” CNN: Turkish Warplanes Wallop Syria, Iraq Targets “Turkish warplanes extended the country's cross-border military operations on Monday, slamming ISIS strongholds in Syria and pounding Kurdish militants in Iraq, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Three rockets fired from ISIS-controlled territory in northern Syria into the Turkish province of Kilis struck a residential building and landed in two fields, injuring five children, the provincial governor said, according to Anadolu. After the Turkish armed forces located the positions where the rockets were launched, they fired back into Syria, destroying eight targets. The injured children were between ages 5 and 11, with the oldest in critical condition, according to an Anadolu hospital source. This year, more than 20 people have died in Kilis, with the mortar shells fired from ISIS-held territory.” Turkey The Washington Post: As Its Proxies Advance In Syria, Turkey Warns Kurds To Pull Back “Syrian rebels, backed by Turkey and the United States, pushed deeper toward U.S.-backed Kurdish positions in northern Syria on Monday, as Turkey’s foreign minister warned the Kurds to ‘immediately’ pull back east of the Euphrates River or face more assaults. The deepening animosities came a day after the Pentagon urged the American allies to stop fighting each other and refocus their efforts against the Islamic State, calling the clashes ‘unacceptable.’ But by Monday evening, the Syrian rebels said they had crossed the al-Sajour River, about nine miles north of the town of Manbij, which is controlled by Kurdish-aligned fighters. A Kurdish spokesman said the rebels had reached the river but had not crossed it.” Afghanistan Reuters: Australian Aid Worker Kidnapped In Afghanistan Freed “An Australian aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan four months ago was freed following a raid by Afghan special forces near the eastern city of Jalalabad, officials said on Monday. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed in a statement that Kerry Jane Wilson, who was taken by two armed men from the offices of a charity in Jalalabad in April, had been freed and was ‘safe and well’. A spokesman for Australia's foreign ministry declined to provide details but Afghanistan's National Directorate for Security said in a statement Wilson had been freed on Sunday night after a raid by special forces. Four people were arrested. Kidnapping for ransom has long been a problem in Afghanistan, affecting Afghans more than foreigners, and it has become a lucrative source of income for militant Islamist groups in recent years.” Saudi Arabia Reuters: Rockets Hit Saudi Border Town As Yemen War Flares Anew “Yemeni Houthi forces are again firing rockets at this corner of southern Saudi Arabia, ending a lull of several weeks and complicating efforts to revive talks on ending Yemen's 18-month-old civil war. This month's collapse of negotiations on the Yemen conflict - which like the Syrian civil war pits allies of Saudi Arabia against those of its regional rival Iran - is taking a toll in the Saudi city of Najran, albeit on a much smaller scale than in Yemen itself. Last week, one rocket fired by the Iranian-allied Houthi movement from northern Yemen landed in Najran, which lies 30 km (20 miles) from the border. It hit a car scrap yard, killing five Saudis and two Yemenis as they were driving past. Another hit a Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) power station in Najran on Friday, spilling diesel from a punctured tank into acrid black lakes coating the surrounding streets.” Egypt Reuters: International Experts In Egypt To Inspect Metrojet Wreckage “Experts from Russia and Germany are in Egypt to inspect the wreckage of a Russian passenger plane that crashed in Sinai last year killing all 224 people on board, the Egyptian-led investigating committee said on Monday. Irish, American, and French experts will join the inspection team which will seek to pinpoint the area where the plane began to break up, the committee said in a statement. Parts of the wreckage had been previously gathered and moved to Cairo International Airport. The experts will attempt to reconstruct the plane. The Airbus A321, operated by Metrojet, had been returning Russian holiday makers from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh to St Petersburg when it broke up over Sinai, killing all on board. Islamic State said it brought down the plane with a bomb smuggled inside a fizzy drink can.” Middle East The Times Of Israel: Hamas Recently Opened Offices In Tunisia, Official Says “Hamas recently opened up official offices in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, a senior leader from the terror group revealed on Sunday. Moussa Abu Marzouk told the Tunisian news channel el-Bilad that Hamas has ‘new-old’ offices in Tunis, publicly acknowledging the headquarters for the first time. The Hamas leader said the offices were opened with the blessing of the Tunisian authorities. He did not specify when the offices were opened. The Islamist terror group kept its main offices in Damascus until 2012, when war and political upheaval forced the group’s political leadership to move to Qatar. Hamas also keeps official offices in Turkey.” The Wall Street Journal: Charity Group Disputes Israeli Allegations That Employee Siphoned Funds To Hamas “Christian charity World Vision investigated and dismissed allegations of financial impropriety of an employee just months before Israeli authorities arrested the same person for allegedly diverting the group’s funds to Hamas’s military operations, according to the chief executive of World Vision’s international arm. The arrest has stirred concern among aid officials in the Palestinian territories that their operations are used by groups hostile to Israel, which could jeopardize donor funding. Israel earlier this month charged Mohammed El-Halabi, director of the Gaza Strip branch of World Vision, with funding Hamas with roughly $50 million over more than five years. Israel, the U.S. and other Western nations consider Hamas—which has governed Gaza since 2007—a terrorist organization. Mr. Halabi was detained June 15 and has a preliminary hearing on Tuesday in an Israeli court, according to an Israeli official.” Libya BBC: Thousands Of Migrants Rescued Off Libya “About 6,500 migrants have been rescued off Libya, the Italian coastguard says, in one of the biggest operations of its kind to date. Some 40 co-ordinated rescue missions took place about 20km (12 miles) off the Libyan town of Sabratha, it added. Video footage shows migrants, said to be from Eritrea and Somalia, cheering and some swimming to rescue vessels, while others carried babies aboard. On Sunday more than 1,100 migrants were rescued in the same area. The instability in Libya has made the country a hub for people-trafficking. Monday's operations involved vessels from Italy as well as the EU's border agency Frontex and the NGOs Proactiva Open Arms and Medecins Sans Frontieres. The migrants had set off in overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels with enough fuel to reach waiting rescuers, AP reported.” Germany Daily Caller: Report: German Military May Be Infiltrated By Dozens Of Islamist Extremists “Reports indicate dozens of Islamist extremists have joined the German military to gain training they could later apply to carry out attacks. The military is looking to boost security to better spot potential extremists, newspaper Welt am Sonntag reports in an article published Sunday. A law change, where every recruit will have to go through a background check prior to enlisting, is expected to pass this week and go into effect in July 2017. Germany’s military counter-intelligence agency is investigating 64 suspected Islamists, 268 suspected right-wing extremists and six left-wing extremists currently in the armed forces, according to Welt.” Voice Of America: Germany Wants Facebook To Take Initiative In Fight Against Online Hate “Germany's interior minister visited Facebook's offices in Berlin on Monday and said it should be more proactive in removing forbidden content from its social network platform. ‘Facebook should take down racist content or calls for violence from its pages on its own initiative even if it hasn't yet received a complaint,’ Thomas de Maiziere said. ‘Facebook has an immensely important economic position and, just like every other large enterprise, it has an immensely important social responsibility.’ The German government has been critical of Facebook in the past. Political leaders and regulators have complained the world's largest social network, with 1.6 billion monthly users, had been slow to respond to hate speech and anti-immigrant messages. Last year, Justice Minister Heiko Maas told Reuters that Facebook must abide by stricter German laws banning racist sentiment even if it might be allowed in the United States under freedom of speech.” France NBC News: Paris Attacks Inspire Huge Influx Of Police Recruits “The Police Nationale, France's largest law enforcement organization, has seen such a surge in interest in wake of last year's attacks that earning a slot at its police academy is now as competitive as gaining a place in the nation's top universities. The police have been quick to capitalize on the shifting attitudes, in part because they must meet new staffing levels under national reforms aimed at preparing France for further terror attacks. Indeed, the police unveiled a new recruiting campaign that focuses heavily on the themes of patriotism and terror. Meanwhile, the government is trying to translate this surge of interest into, eventually, more officers on the street.” Deutsche Welle: French Interior Minister Slams Burkini Ban, Meets Muslim Leaders “Speaking to Catholic newspaper ‘La Croix,’ Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the ban was ‘unconstitutional, ineffective and would evoke antagonisms and irreparable tensions.’ He said some people wanted to use the garment to stigmatize Muslims and attract voters. His statement came shortly after France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, revoked a ban on the swimsuit on the beaches of a southern town, Villeneuve-Loubet. The French constitution prohibits religious displays in public institutions. The French parliament banned the burqa and the niqab in 2010. Around 30 towns and villages imposed a prohibition on the burkini, which they considered a symbol of radical Islam and a potential threat to security.” Europe RT: ‘Jumpy Europe Jumping To Conclusion That Every Violent Incident An Act Of Terrorism’ “Europeans are understandably anxious about the ongoing terrorist threat across the continent, so when something explosive happens, people are quick to conclude that another bomb has gone off, says Annie Machon, former MI5 agent. A automobile crashed into the Brussels Criminology Institute and caught fire around 2:30 local time this morning, according to Belgian broadcaster RTL. The building was empty at the time and no causalities have been reported. Experts are attempting to determine whether this was an act of terrorism or a criminal act. One conflicting source reported that no bomb was involved in the incident, but rather the explosion was due to the vehicle’s gasoline igniting, according to VRT media outlet.” Daily Mail: Five Arrested In Brussels After Gang Bomb Crime Lab 'Because They Wanted To Destroy Evidence' “Terror fears were sparked this morning after attackers rammed the Brussels Institute of Criminology with a car before the building was ravaged by fire and explosions. A vehicle carrying two people is said to have forced its way onto the site in northern Brussels before the attackers scaled a ladder and launched an arson attack. Thick black smoke was seen coming from the laboratories at about 3am this morning and residents reported hearing a loud blast sparking fears of a bomb. The building was empty and no one was wounded. Local investigators believe the arson attack may have been an attempt to destroy evidence held in the building. The car was torched by the attackers. Five people were arrested nearby and are being held and questioned, a spokeswoman for the city's prosecutors said.” Counter-Extremism Alriyadh: Expert: Social Networks Ensure The Survival Of Terrorist Organizations “Ammar Mohammed, digital media expert and coach, asserted that mobilization and recruitment of new militants are the prime targets for terrorist organizations; since luring new recruits into terrorist organizations ensures their survival. He noted that these organizations are exploiting the sympathy of Internet users to their causes. They lure new recruits with "glamorous and enthusiastic" slogans used profusely in electronic chat rooms. Mohammed indicated that the European Union announced the launch of a massive campaign to stop the threat of terrorism, by means of a specialized unit designed to monitor and crack down on extremists. This is perhaps the biggest war being waged in the virtual world, using the mind to uproot (extremist) ideas and their dissemination. It should be noted that the number of websites used by ISIS alone comes to more than 9,600.” ISIS All4syria: Syria: Coordination Between The Regime And ISIS To Allow Supply Of Vegetables Into Deir Al-Zour “In a first of its kind development, tons of vegetables have entered Deir al-Zour city's neighborhoods, which are controlled by the (Syrian) regime forces and besieged by ISIS. The vegetables were supplied through the river crossing point in the village of el-Geneina in coordination with ISIS, which controls the opposite bank of the Euphrates River. Four tons of vegetables, including eggplants, were brought into Deir al-Zour on Sunday. Although reaching the besieged neighborhoods at a price of 50 pounds ($0.23) per kilogram, merchants in the el-Wadi Street sold them at 2,500 pounds ($11.7) per kilogram Commenting on these prices, a source inside the beleaguered neighborhoods said that this is a new form of siege.” Muslim Brotherhood Albawabh News: Egypt: Seizure Of Funds Owned By 20 Muslim Brotherhood-Affiliated Associations In Three Provinces “Head of the Financial Affairs Office at the (Egyptian) Ministry of Social Solidarity Affairs, Kamal al-Sharif, disclosed that the Ministry is set to announce the disbanding of some 20 associations belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood in Al Buhayrah, El Dakhleya and Al Sharqia provinces. He noted that this is the tenth group (of associations) the Ministry of Solidarity has dissolved permanently, following approval by the General Federation of Associations. Al-Sharif asserted that funds and properties of these associations are expected to be directed to the Civil Society NGO Support Fund. These assets will be confiscated until the relevant administrative body appoints an overseer to carry out the liquidation process within one month of issuance of the decision. A report on the results of the liquidation will then be forwarded to the Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee.” Shorouk News: Egypt: Arrest Of Brotherhood Currency Trader Found In Possession Of $17,000 “Al Buhayrah Investigation (Service), headed by Major General Mohammed Khrisah, Director of Criminal Investigations, in conjunction with the National Security (Agency) and a branch of the Public Funds Investigation Department, arrested a Brotherhood member who was trading in currency outside the banking system. Detained in possession of US$17,330, the man also held 100 euro banknotes and 39,500 Egyptian pounds ($4,500).” Houthi Alarabiya: Houthis Printed YR 3 Trillion Without Legal Banking “An official at the Central Bank of Yemen revealed that the Houthis printed nearly three trillion riyals ($14 million) in various banknotes. The source stated that they pumped some of the money into the market by exploiting their control of the bank. The official, who preferred anonymity, claimed that the Houthis did not stop there and even pumped defective banknotes into the market, which were kept in the Bank after being removed from the market.”