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Eye on Extremism
October 11, 2016
The
Washington Post: Taliban Enters Capital Of Helmand Province After Weeks
Of Fighting
“When Taliban fighters penetrated the capital of Helmand province for
the first time Monday, killing at least 14 people in a suicide bombing
and related attacks, it was their most successful assault to date on the
strategic southern city and opium trade center, which the insurgents have
been trying to capture for months. Government forces pushed them out
after several hours, and officials declared the situation under control,
but by then some panicked residents had fled the beleaguered city, and
the psychological damage had been done. The Taliban had not raised their
flag over Lashkar Gah, but they had come awfully close. Monday’s
ground assault and bombing came two days after Gen. John W. Nicholson,
the top U.S. and NATO military commander in Afghanistan, flew from Kabul
to Lashkar Gah and promised worried local leaders that international
forces would do everything possible to make sure the city does not
collapse.”
Reuters:
Exclusive-Russia Builds Up Forces In Syria, Reuters Data Analysis Shows
“Russia has built up its forces in Syria since a ceasefire collapsed
in late September, sending in troops, planes and advanced missile
systems, a Reuters analysis of publicly available tracking data shows.
The data points to a doubling of supply runs by air and sea compared to
the nearly two-week period preceding the truce. It appears to be Russia's
biggest military deployment to Syria since President Vladimir Putin said
in March he would pull out some of his country's forces. The increased
manpower probably includes specialists to put into operation a newly
delivered S-300 surface-to-air missile system, military analysts said.
The S-300 system will improve Russia's ability to control air space in
Syria, where Moscow's forces support the government of President Bashar
al-Assad, and could be aimed at deterring tougher U.S. action, they
said.”
The
New York Times: ISIS Media Output Drops As Military Pressure Rises,
Report Says
“The vaunted propaganda operations of the Islamic State, which helped
lure more than 30,000 foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq, have dropped
off drastically as the extremist group has come under military pressure,
according to a study by terrorism researchers at West Point. In addition,
the researchers found, there has been a striking shift away from
publications and social media portraying a functioning state with
competent bureaucrats, thriving businesses and happy citizens. The
Islamic State, also called ISIS and ISIL, claims that it is building a
new caliphate — or unified Muslim land — a claim that has become
increasingly threadbare.”
Al
Arabiya: ISIS Confirms Death Of Propaganda Chief
“ISIS on Monday confirmed the death of its propaganda chief, whom the
Pentagon said was killed in a US-led air strike in Syria’s Raqqa province
last month. An statement posted online by the militant group paid tribute
to Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, also known as Abu Mohammed
al-Furqan. The statement just referred to him by his alias. It did not
say when, where or how he had died. The Pentagon said last month that a
US-led coalition air strike on Sept. 7 had killed al-Fayad. It said he
was minister of information, overseeing ISIS propaganda, and a prominent
member of its Senior Shura Council, or leadership group. ISIS’s statement
referred to al-Fayad as head of its media arm. The air strike took place
near Raqqa, ISIS de facto capital in northern Syria, and targeted
al-Fayad while he was on a motorcycle outside his house, the Pentagon
said.”
Fox
News: ISIS Suffers Major Land Loss Ahead Of Planned Mosul Assault Report
Finds
“U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and ground fighting have depleted the
Islamic State’s territory in Iraq and Syria in a big way, reportedly by
16 percent over just 9 months, a new study has found. ISIS now controls
only 25,000 square miles of land in the region, an area roughly the size
of West Virginia, IHS Conflict Monitor reports. It marks a sharp reversal
from the terror network’s massive land grab in 2014 and is down
drastically from the reported 35,000 square miles controlled at the start
of 2015.”
The
Wall Street Journal: In Coastal Libya, Islamic State Prepared To Build A
Nation
“In Libya, Islamic State was able to establish and run a state with
tax-collection offices, police, courts and even an immigration office to
support foreign recruits, a highly organized venture otherwise seen only
in Iraq and Syria, where its leaders are based, U.S. officials say. With
the Libyan government’s battle for Sirte all but won and militants holed
up in a last redoubt by the shoreline, the extremists’ hopes to extend
the caliphate to within some 350 miles of Europe have dimmed. Still, the
document trove makes clear that Islamic State’s nation-building ambitions
succeeded, however fleetingly, in Libya as they fell short with the
group’s other affiliates from Nigeria to Yemen, said Aymenn Jawad
al-Tamimi, a researcher at the Middle East Forum, a U.S.-based think tank
that focuses on radical groups.”
Fox
News: Palestinian Leader's Party Calls Jerusalem Shooter A 'Martyr'
“The gunman who killed two Israelis and wounded five during a shooting
rampage in Jerusalem Sunday is now being hailed as a ‘martyr’ by the
party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Fatah party wrote on
its Facebook page that ‘the one who carried out the operation today in
Jerusalem is a pilgrim martyr, one of the most prominent people in
Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a released prisoner,’
according to Israeli monitor group Palestinian Media Watch. A post on the
Jerusalem branch of Fatah’s Facebook page also announced a general strike
‘in Jerusalem in memory of the souls of the martyrs of Palestine and this
morning’s martyr,’ The Times of Israel reported, adding that the leader of
the militant group Hamas called the killer's parents on the phone to
‘congratulate’ him.”
Commentary:
Acts Of War Cannot Go Ignored
“On Sunday night, as Americans were transfixed by the spectacle of the
second presidential debate, events occurred off the coast of Yemen that
remind us of the kind of challenges with which a president must contend.
Two ballistic missiles were fired at a U.S. destroyer in international
waters from the part of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, an Iranian-back
militia. The missiles did not hit the USS Mason, although it’s unclear if
they had some internal defect or whether the ship defended itself with
its suite of missile-defense systems. U.S. warships do not routinely come
under attack. When they do, it’s called an act of war. So someone has
committed an act of war against the United States. The proximate culprit
appears to be the Houthi movement, which is mad at America for backing an
assault on it by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Just last
week, an Emirati ship was destroyed off the same part of the Yemen coast.
But the Houthis are hardly lone actors. They do not manufacture their own
missiles. They get them from Iran. That suggests this could be seen as an
act of war by Iran against the United States.”
CBS
News: Syrian Nabbed In Alleged Bomb Plot, With Help Of Other Refugees
“A Syrian man who was granted asylum in Germany and is suspected of
preparing a bomb attack at an unknown location was arrested early Monday
following a nearly two-day manhunt, police said. Jaber Albakr, 22, was
arrested in the eastern city of Leipzig, police in Saxony state said.
Police were informed that fellow Syrians were holding Albakr at an
apartment and ‘immediately went there and arrested him,’ Saxony police
spokesman Tom Bernhardt said. Leipzig is around 50 miles from Chemnitz,
the city where he had evaded authorities on Saturday after they allegedly
found a volatile explosive in a dwelling there. Police aren’t giving
further details ‘because we do not want to provoke any dangers for those
persons who gave us the tip,’ Bernhardt added.”
BBC:
Syria Conflict: France Wants Russia On War Crimes Charges
“French President Francois Hollande has suggested Russia could face
war crimes charges over its bombardment of Syria's second city Aleppo.
Mr Hollande told French TV this could take place in the
International Criminal Court (ICC). He also said he might refuse to meet
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is due to visit France next week.
Last week Russia vetoed a Franco-Spanish UN Security Council resolution
calling for an end to the bombing. Moscow has repeatedly denied attacking
civilians, and said it targets terrorist groups in Syria. Mr Hollande's
call for Russia to be prosecuted came as Foreign Minister Jean-Marc
Ayrault said France was working to find a way for the ICC prosecutor to
launch an investigation into attacks on rebel-held eastern Aleppo.”
New
York Times: Nadia Murad, Yazidi Woman Who Survived ISIS Captivity, Wins
Human Rights Prize
“Fighters for the Islamic State abducted a young Yazidi woman named
Nadia Murad, her siblings and their mother from their village in northern
Iraq more than two years ago. Barely in her 20s, Ms. Murad was separated
from her family, beaten and sexually assaulted. Compared with thousands
of other Yazidis, followers of a centuries-old religion whom the militant
group considers heretical and has killed or enslaved by the thousands,
she considers herself fortunate. She managed to escape, and eventually
made her way to Germany.”
The
New York Times: Women, Children And Razor Wire: Inside A Compound For
Boko Haram Families
“Beyond the tall, concrete walls of a fortified compound, the
authorities are holding a special group of detainees: the wives and
children of Boko Haram commanders. Guards stand ready at the gate. Curls
of razor wire line the walls. Civilian militia members with AK-47s
hanging from their shoulders meander about. The 56 women and children
held inside have been there for months, after being swept up by the
Nigerian military during raids on Boko Haram strongholds. The state
governor, who is operating the detention center, considers them all Boko
Haram supporters.”
Newsweek:
ISIS In Europe: ‘Complete Connect’ Between Jihadi And Criminal Circles
Across Continent
“There is now a ‘complete connect’ between jihadi circles in Europe,
some that were behind attacks claimed by the Islamic State militant group
(ISIS), and criminal networks on the continent, according to the author
of a new report that profiles the criminal past of European jihadis to be
published Tuesday. The report, written by the
London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalization
and Political Violence (ISCR) and entitled Criminal Pasts, Terrorist
Futures, profiles 79 European jihadis who progressed from petty or
violent crime to hardened jihadism on the continent or the Middle East.
It finds that criminal and extremist groups recruit from the same social
pools, resulting in the transfer of skills and an environment that suit
those susceptible to violence and experienced at averting law enforcement
agencies.”
United
States
Fox
News: Pentagon To Crack Down On US Taxpayer-Funded 'Ghost Soldiers' In
Afghanistan
“The Department of Defense has pledged to closely monitor Afghan
active-duty security forces so that U.S. taxpayer money is not squandered
on so-called ‘ghost’ soldiers, Stars and Stripes reported. In a letter
released Friday to the Pentagon, the office of the Special Inspector
General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, said it was concerned
about ‘significant gaps between the assigned force strength of the
(Afghan National Defense and Security Forces) and the actual number of
personnel serving.’ The letter, obtained by FoxNews.com, cites reports
indicating discrepancies between the assigned force strength of the
ANDSF and the actual number of personnel serving.”
Associated
Press: Missiles Fired From Rebel-Held Yemen Land Near Us Destroyer
“Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen landed near an
American destroyer in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy said Monday, the second
such launch targeting ships in the crucial international waterway in
recent days. The missile launches Sunday came as a ballistic missile
fired from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim
holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite
rebels and their allies. Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their
allies offered no reason for the launches, though they came after a
Saudi-led airstrike targeting a funeral in Yemen's capital killed over 140
people and wounded 525 on Saturday.”
Iraq
Fox
News: ISIS Suffers Major Land Loss Ahead Of Planned Mosul Assault Report
Finds
“U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and ground fighting have depleted the
Islamic State’s territory in Iraq and Syria in a big way, reportedly by
16 percent over just 9 months, a new study has found. ISIS now controls
only 25,000 square miles of land in the region, an area roughly the size
of West Virginia, IHS Conflict Monitor reports. It marks a sharp reversal
from the terror network’s massive land grab in 2014 and is down
drastically from the reported 35,000 square miles controlled at the start
of 2015. Analysts said one of the biggest blows against ISIS came when
Turkey, a stalwart ally of the U.S., entered Syria at the end of August,
capturing the strategically important border town of Jarablus.”
Turkey
Reuters:
Turkish Military Says Killed 417 Kurdish Militants Since August
“Turkish security forces have killed 417 Kurdish fighters since late
August, helping disrupt the militants' attack plans in the build-up to
winter, the army said on Monday. The announcement came a day after
suspected Kurdish militants set off a truck bomb, killing 15 people at a
military checkpoint in Hakkari province, a region bordering Iran and Iraq
that has borne the brunt of the conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK). Earlier reports had put the death count from one of the southeast
region's deadliest recent attacks at 18. There has not yet been a claim
of responsibility for the bombing - the PKK usually issues such
statements more than a day after an event. A two-year ceasefire with the
PKK collapsed in July last year, adding to the turmoil in a region
already struggling with the civil war in neighbouring Syria and the rise
of Islamic State there and in Iraq.”
Deutsche
Welle: Russia, Turkey Sign Gas Pipeline Deal, Talk Syria
“Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep
Tayyip Erdogan on Monday took steps to reconcile differences following a
severe deterioration of relations between the two countries earlier this
year. Putin arrived in Istanbul for the World Energy Congress, his first
visit to the country since Turkey downed a Russian jet along the Syrian
border last November, triggering a crisis. Turkey apologized for the jet
incident in June, leading to a gradual improvement in relations and
Moscow clawing back damaging sanctions on the Turkish economy. In a sign
Moscow and Ankara remain capable of compartmentalizing political
differences in pursuit of economic deals, the two sides on Monday signed
an inter-governmental agreement to build the stalled TurkStream gas
pipeline under the Black Sea to Turkey.”
BBC:
Turkey Blocks Web Drives After Email Leak
“Access to online storage systems, including DropBox, GitHub and
Microsoft OneDrive, was blocked in Turkey on Saturday. The Turkish
government imposed the blocks after a hacktivist group leaked emails it
said it had stolen from the nation's energy minister. The Redhack group
had threatened to publish the information unless left-wing dissidents
were released. In total, more than 57,000 emails were put online by the
group. News about the block was broken by the Turkey Blocks digital
rights group, which monitors net censorship in the county. It said that
Google's Drive storage service had also initially been included in the
list of sites blocked but this block had been lifted soon after. The
blocks stayed in place on the other web companies until late on Saturday
as links to the email cache were removed.”
Afghanistan
BBC:
Taliban Fighters Push Into Helmand Capital Lashkar Gah
“The Afghan Taliban have launched a major assault on the strategically
important city of Lashkar Gah. The city of 200,000 people is the capital
of Helmand province, parts of which have been seized back by the militant
group. The new assault is their most concerted push yet into the city, in
the south of the country. At least 14 people were killed by a suicide
bomber in Lashkar Gah on Monday. including 10 police officers. The city
was the scene of heavy fighting between the Taliban and Nato-led forces
before their withdrawal in 2014.”
Voice
Of America: 14 Killed In Suicide Car Bombing In Afghanistan
“A suicide car bomber killed more than 14 people, mostly police
officers, and wounded many more in an embattled key provincial capital in
southern Afghanistan, hours after Taliban insurgents staged a major
assault and forced their way into the city. The bomber reportedly rammed
an explosives-packed vehicle into a police base in Lashkar Gah, the
capital of Helmand, the largest of all 34 Afghan provinces. Local police
officials say they expect the death toll to rise. The bombing occurred
shortly after Taliban insurgents assaulted Lashkar Gah from different
sides, fighting their way into the city they have kept under siege for
weeks.”
Saudi
Arabia
The
Wall Street Journal: Saudi Arabia To Investigate Yemen Funeral Bombing
“With its military campaign in Yemen under renewed international
scrutiny, Saudi Arabia said it ‘regretted’ a strike on a funeral that
killed 142 mourners but stopped short of accepting responsibility for the
attack. In a letter from its United Nations mission to the U.N. Security
Council on Sunday, the kingdom promised to release the results of an
investigation into Saturday’s airstrike, which Yemen’s Iranian-backed
Houthi rebels blamed on the Saudi-led coalition fighting to unseat them.
Saudi Arabia ‘reaffirmed that it will continue to ensure that all
possible measures are taken to protect all civilians and civilian objects
in Yemen, as well as necessary corrective and appropriate measures to
ensure accountability,’ according to a statement published Monday by the
state-run Saudi Press Agency.”
Middle
East
The
Times Of Israel: After Deadly Terror Attack, Minister Denies Security
‘Screw-Up’
“Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday defended Israel’s
security establishment against claims it should have thwarted the deadly
terror attack in Jerusalem a day earlier that left two people dead and
another five injured. ‘People should look at the broader picture,’ he
told Army Radio, noting the recent decrease in the number of Palestinian
attacks carried out during the year-long spate of violence. Levana
Malihi, 60, and police officer Yosef Kirma, 29, were both killed on
Sunday morning when a 39-year-old Palestinian man opened fire on
civilians and police officers near a light rail stop at Ammunition Hill.”
Libya
Reuters:
Libyan Forces Push Into Last Islamic State Area In Sirte
“Libyan pro-government forces are advancing into the last area
controlled by Islamic State in the coastal city of Sirte, surrounding the
militants after a five-month campaign backed by U.S. air strikes,
military officials say. At least eight pro-government fighters were
killed over the weekend as their forces pushed into the 600 block, an
area in central Sirte, with snipers and boobytraps posing the main
obstacles to their advance, the officials said. A Reuters reporter on the
ground said forces advanced across two streets on Sunday, but were facing
resistance and discovering explosive devices in many buildings. Islamic
State took over Sirte a year ago, exploiting the chaos and violence that
have dogged Libya since the overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011
in order to carve out a new base, far from its main territory in Iraq and
Syria.”
Germany
CNN:
Syrian Refugee Detained In Germany For Alleged Attack Plan
“A Syrian refugee detained by police in Germany had links to the ISIS
militant group and was planning a bomb attack ‘with Islamist motives,’
German officials said Monday. German police discovered 1.5 kg of
extremely dangerous explosives in a flat in Chemnitz before detaining
22-year-old Jaber al-Bakr in Leipzig on Sunday, ending a manhunt that
lasted almost two days, the German general prosecutor said. A specific
target was as yet unknown, he said. Al-Bakr was captured after two other
Syrian men tied him up in their apartment in Leipzig and alerted police.
Al-Bakr had met the men at Leipzig's train station on Saturday, Michaelis
said, and asked if he could stay with them. The men took in the stranger
but realized on Saturday night through social media that he was wanted by
police. They tied al-Bakr to their sofa and alerted the police via social
media, asking them to come detain him.”
France
Sputnik
News: Russia, France's Joint Mission: 'To Stop Syrian Bloodshed'
“Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Russia continues
preparations for an upcoming visit of President Putin to Paris on October
19, which is set to focus on the ongoing Syrian conflict and the
situation in Ukraine; meanwhile the French foreign minister has confirmed
that the two countries have a common goal: to end the Syrian massacre.
Russia continues preparations for an upcoming visit of Russian
President Vladimir Putin to Paris, and there is no official
information on him not meeting French President Francois Hollande,
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. The comment comes
in response to the remark of the French president which
has been perceived by some in the media as his
‘uncertainty’ over the personal meeting with Vladimir Putin.”
Combating
The Financing Of Terrorism
Turaif
News: Saudi Arabia: Financial Rewards For Blowing The Whistle On Terror
Financing Offenses
“In a move to increase the involvement of workers outside Saudi
financial institutions in tracking terrorist financing crimes and money
laundering operations, informed sources claimed that the relevant
authorities have approved the granting of financial rewards to
whistleblowers for this type of offence. The sources did not disclose the
mechanism for granting such rewards or their values, but did confirm that
these rewards will be directed to parties not employed in financial and
business institutions or professions, nor in non-profit organizations.
This is in order to address questionable transactions and to motivate
individuals to report them. According to the sources, the rationale
behind this move is to dry up the sources of these {illicit} activities
and uproot them by sophisticated ways and means, in line with
technological developments and methods of modern communication.”
ISIS
Kululiraq:
Mosul: ISIS Collects Iraqi Currency From City Residents
“ISIS has adopted a new approach to getting its hands on the money of
residents in the city of Mosul. It is being done this time under the
pretext of replacing the Iraqi currency with new currency featuring the
printed banner of ISIS. A source from within Mosul was quoted as saying,
"Members of the terrorist organization collect money from the people
of Mosul under the pretext of replacing it with currency with ISIS's
banner printed on it." The source added, "ISIS terrorists
removed the Iraqi currency from the market in Mosul and gave residents
receipts for the sums of money taken from them, promising to replace it
with the new ISIS currency.”
Muslim
Brotherhood
Albawabh
News: Muslim Brotherhood Exploits Official Website To Cover Financial
Losses
“The Muslim Brotherhood is exploiting the group's official website
"Ikhwanonline" commercially in an attempt to cover the
financial losses it has incurred. The site now offers paid advertising
space. Those who want to publish on the site are asked to leave their
phone number as a means of future contact. This is a new move by the
group, which had always managed to obtain foreign funding without needing
to use its website commercially. There has been news recently that the
veteran leadership of the group neglected to deliver the {regular}
monthly assistance to the youth faction, as punishment for what it
considers a serious revolt against it.”
Infirad:
Egypt: Lawsuit Demanding Removal Of Ayman Nour From Membership In The Bar
Association Due To Ties With The Muslim Brotherhood
“The Second Circuit of the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court at
the State Council, headed by Judge and Deputy Chairman of the State
Council Club, Councilor Sami Abdel-Hamid, forwarded a lawsuit filed
against Ayman Nour to the State Commissioners Authority, demanding removal
of Nour's membership in the Bar Association. The lawsuit was filed by Dr.
Samir Sabry, The Commissioners Authority is scheduled to review the case
on November 13th. Sabry claimed that Ayman Nour serves as an instrument
of the Muslim Brotherhood to incite violence. Hence, he added, it is
natural that Nour was {guilty of} transferring funds to this group
secretly. Sabry noted that there are persons who travel to Turkey to meet
with Ayman Nour, including suspicious figures who played inciting roles,
and are still acting against the nation. According to the lawsuit, Nour
took advantage of his position as Chairman of the Al-Sharq TV,
broadcasting out of Turkey, to use this Brotherhood channel to incite
against Egypt.”
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