Eye on Extremism November 1, 2016

Eye on Extremism November 1, 2016 CBS News: Special Forces Hammer ISIS Positions At Gateway To Mosul “Iraq’s special forces entered the outskirts of Mosul on Tuesday and were advancing toward its more urban center despite fierce resistance by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters who hold the city, an Iraqi general said. It was the first time Iraqi troops have set foot in the city, Iraq’s second largest, in over two years. The advance could be the start of a grueling and slow operation for the troops, who will be forced to engage in difficult, house-to-house fighting in urban areas that is expected to take weeks, if not months. Troops entered Gogjali, a neighborhood inside Mosul’s city limits, and by noon were only 800 yards from the more built-up Karama district, according to Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces.” The Wall Street Journal: Iraq Offensive Unleashes Tales Of Islamic State Brutality “After more than two years of enduring Islamic State’s harsh rule, desperation trumped fear for Assad Ali Hassan and other residents of Faziliya, Iraq. A few dozen militants controlled the village near the ISIS stronghold of Mosul with torture, fear and bureaucracy, recounted some who survived the occupation. The small band were the only ones with weapons, enabling them to exert outsize power over the 7,000 villagers, said Muhammad Ayub, an English-speaking graduate of Mosul University. ‘Sometimes one of them would just show up in a village around here wearing a suicide belt and blow himself up,’ said Mr. Hassan, 45 years old. There might be no apparent justification for it besides ensuring people remained terrified, he said.” USA Today: U.S. Aircraft To Block ISIL Militants Fleeing Mosul In Iraq “The U.S.-led coalition has developed plans to target Islamic State militants from the air if they attempt to escape the Iraqi city of Mosul and head west toward Syria, as Iraqi ground forces close in on the city from several sides, a top U.S. general said Monday. ‘This is all about getting after (the Islamic State) and setting up an opportunity where, should they try to escape, we have a built-in mechanism to kill them as they are departing,’ said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, commander of U.S. air forces in the Middle East. Blocking militants from escaping has been a key challenge as U.S.-backed Iraqi and Syrian ground forces have retaken towns and cities from the Islamic State. Hundreds of militants have managed to slip away.” Reuters: Afghan Elders Killed In Suicide Attack On Meeting “Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that devastated a gathering of local elders in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on Monday. Afghan officials said four people were killed and seven wounded in the attack, while a statement from Islamic State said 15 ‘apostates’ were killed and 25 wounded. Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar which is the main stronghold of Islamic State in Afghanistan, said the meeting of elders had been called to settle a dispute between local people when the bomber staged his attack.” Reuters: Syrian Army Edges Closer Towards Rebel Stronghold In Capital “The Syrian army and its allies seized a strategic area in the besieged rebel-held eastern Ghouta area of Damascus, tightening their grip on the biggest insurgent stronghold near the capital. Rebels said the army stormed the town of Tel Kurdi on Sunday bringing them only a few kilometres from the city of Douma, the once sprawling urban heart of the eastern rural area of Damascus known as al Ghouta. ‘After intensive battles on this front that continued more than fifty days in which the Assad militias used a scorched earth policy, the Mujahdeen were forced to retreat from the area,’ said Hamza Bairqdar, the military spokesman for Jaish al Islam, the biggest rebel group in the area.” Associated Press: Palestinian Gunman Killed After Wounding 3 Israeli Soldiers “A Palestinian gunman opened fire on a West Bank checkpoint on Monday, wounding three Israeli soldiers before forces shot and killed him, the Israeli military said. Palestinian security officials identified the shooter as Mohammed Turkman, a 25-year-old police officer from the northern West Bank. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the officer's identity with the media. Israel's emergency rescue service MDA said one soldier was seriously wounded and two others suffered light injuries in the attack, which took place near the West Bank city of Ramallah.” Newsweek: Female Jihadis Give ISIS New Avenues For Attacks “It was early on a Sunday morning in September when French police discovered a Peugeot parked near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with its hazard lights flashing and its license plates removed. The car carried seven gas cylinders, six of them full, and three cans of diesel. The perpetrators had perhaps intended to blow it up with a lit cigarette and a fuel-soaked blanket, but the vehicle failed to detonate. Three weeks after that failed plot, police arrested two teenage suspects accused of planning a violent attack in Nice, the details of which haven’t been made public.” Voice Of America: US Deeply Concerned By Turkey's Increased Pressure On Opposition Media “The United States is ‘deeply concerned’ by what appears to be an increase in official pressure on opposition media outlets in Turkey after Monday's detention of senior staff from Cumhuriyet, ‘one of Turkey's most respected newspapers.’ ‘We encourage the government of Turkey to ensure that the rule of law and fundamental freedoms are protected,’ said State Department spokesperson John Kirby during Monday’s briefing, adding “democracy becomes stronger by allowing diverse expression of views, particularly in difficult times.’” CNN: Life In A Post-ISIS Town: Shaving, Haircuts And Cigarettes “A group of small boys peer in through the broken window of a tiny barbershop, witnesses to an unfamiliar sight: a man having his beard shaved off. Some of the younger boys seem almost perplexed. Even the man with the razor, Ahmed abu Usama, says he's out of practice. For two years, his business has consisted of regulation "ISIS-approved" haircuts and no shaves. Shaving was banned by the terror group when it took over this village. The town of al Fazliya is just 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles) north of Mosul and a mere 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the nearest ISIS position. Six days ago, ISIS fled this town as Kurdish Peshmerga forces advanced.” Washington Post: Terrorists Killed His Wife In Paris. A Year Later He Still Won't Hate “The familiar Facebook prompt — “What’s on your mind?” — beckoned. Antoine Leiris was in the darkest moment of his life when he decided to type his answer. Leiris’s wife, Hélène Muyal-Leiris, had just been killed in the terrorist attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. She was 35, and the mother of their son, Melvil, then 17 months old. “You stole the life of an exceptional being, the love of my life, the mother of my son,” Leiris began (in French), “but you will not have my hate. I don’t know who you are and I don’t want to know. You are dead souls. . . . So, no, I will not give you the satisfaction of hating you.” United States ABC News: Turkey's Case Against Muslim Cleric Has Merit: US Official “A senior State Department official said Monday that Turkey's contention that a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric and his followers were involved in the failed coup attempt may have some merit, even as the Obama administration says Turkey has provided little evidence to support their claim. Ankara is accusing Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the attempted military coup in July, which left more than 270 people dead, and is asking the U.S. to extradite him. Gulen denies any involvement and has condemned the attempted coup and the U.S. is reviewing Turkey's request. The official told reporters there are ‘reasonable grounds’ to take the Turkish government's accusations against Gulen seriously. The official held a briefing for reporters but insisted on anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.” Associated Press: Kerry, UK Foreign Secretary Host Meeting On Libya Stalemate “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson hosted a London meeting Monday designed to help break Libya's political stalemate and resolve its acute cash shortage. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the meeting ‘emphasized the international community's commitment to provide the Government of National Accord technical, economic, humanitarian, security and counter-terrorism assistance.’ The session comes after the United Nations-backed Libyan government's failure to win legitimacy — or to function at all — amid the political fragmentation that followed the overthrow and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.” Syria Reuters: U.N. Syria Toxic Gas Inquiry Extended 18 Days To Allow More Talks “The U.N. Security Council on Monday extended for 18 days the mandate of an international inquiry charged with laying blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria as Western states on the 15-member council attempt to negotiate a longer renewal. The year-long inquiry by the United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas. The mandate of the inquiry had been due to expire on Monday, but the council unanimously agreed to extend it until Nov. 18.” Reuters: Syrian Army Says Rebel Bombardment Of Aleppo Killed 84 In Three Days “Syria's army said on Monday the Nusra Front and what the army called other terrorist groups had killed 84 people, mostly women and children, in Aleppo during the past three days, in a bombardment that included chemical weapons and rocket fire. The Nusra Front broke allegiance with al Qaeda and changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in July. It is one of the main rebel groups taking part in an offensive against government-held western Aleppo that began on Friday. Syrian state media reported on Sunday that militants had fired poison gas at the Hamdaniya district of government-held western Aleppo. Rebels called that accusation a lie.” Iraq Reuters: Iraqi In Wheelchair Makes Risky Escape From Islamic State “Abbas Ali wept as his wife slowly pushed him in his wheelchair out of their village in northern Iraq, a risky escape along a route where Islamic State snipers three days earlier had shot dead a couple seeking freedom from their rule. Flanked by their four children, they looked behind them to see if any jihadists were still around to carry out their threats of shooting anyone who tried to flee Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate. Kurdish peshmerga fighters stood on a berm, watching closely for any signs of suicide bombers, who sometimes pose as civilians. Two men behind them lifted their shirts to show they were not strapped with explosives.” Voice Of America: Iraqi Forces Nudge Into Mosul As Sectarian, Ethnic Tensions Rise In Northern Iraq “The prize is close. In a village just two kilometers from Mosul, the head of Iraq's Special Forces, General Talib Shaghati, held an impromptu news conference with several reporters to announce ‘good news’ for more than a million civilians trapped in the Islamic State’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq. With the thud of mortars landing in the background, plumes of black smoke billowing on the horizon, and a warplane roaring overhead as it struck an IS position, the general pledged, to ‘clear Mosul of terrorists very soon.’ He confirmed some of his forces have now entered Karama, a neighborhood just inside the city. Shaghati urged Mosul’s mainly Sunni Muslim civilians to remain in their homes and to avoid going near IS buildings in the besieged city where, two years ago, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his Sunni caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria.” Turkey Reuters: Turkish Prosecutors Say Operation Launched Against Cumhuriyet Executives “Turkish authorities ordered the detention of executives from Cumhuriyet newspaper on Monday on accusations they committed crimes on behalf of Kurdish militants and the ‘Gulenist Terror Organisation’ (FETO), the Istanbul prosecutor's office said. An investigation was launched in August into several executives after allegations that the newspaper's publications were of a nature that legitimised a July 15 failed coup, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. Ankara blames the supporters of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for the coup attempt. The government refers to his network as the Gulenist Terror Organisation (FETO). Gulen has denied involvement in the putsch.” Reuters: Turkey Wants Raqqa Offensive To Begin After Mosul Campaign Completed “Turkey wants the operation on Raqqa, Islamic State's main stronghold in Syria, to start after Mosul and Euphrates Shield operations have been completed, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday. ‘Turkey's stance on the Raqqa operation is clear. It would be better both militarily and strategically to conduct this operation after the Mosul operation and Turkey's Euphrates Shield operation are completed,’ Kurtulmus told reporters in Ankara. Iraqi security forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters started the offensive on Mosul on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition against the hardline Sunni group. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter last week said Washington expected it to overlap with the Raqqa offensive.” Reuters: Three Turkish Soldiers, 13 PKK Militants Killed In Clashes: Sources “Three Turkish soldiers and 13 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were killed on Monday during clashes in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast, security sources said. Turkish soldiers were on an operation in the Daglica district of Hakkari province, which borders Iraq, when clashes broke out, leaving three of the soldiers and four militants dead, the sources said. One Turkish soldier was also wounded, they added. Nine more PKK militants were killed and four were severely wounded in an operation in the Hisar region of Hakkari, security sources said. The Turkish military said earlier this month that a total of 463 militants had been killed in military operations in the Hakkari province. An operation is being carried out in the region to root out the militants with aerial and gendarmerie support, the sources said.” Reuters: Turkey Detains Editor, Top Staff At Opposition Newspaper “Turkish police detained the editor and senior staff of a leading opposition newspaper on Monday over its alleged support for a failed coup in July, in a move described by a top EU politician as the crossing of a red line against freedom of expression. Updating earlier information on its website, Cumhuriyet newspaper said 11 staff including the editor were being held by authorities, and arrest warrants had been issued for five more. Turkey's crackdown since rogue soldiers tried to seize power on July 15 has alarmed Western allies and rights groups, who fear President Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup attempt to crush dissent. More than 110,000 people have been sacked or suspended and 37,000 arrested over the past three and a half months. The latest detentions came a day after 10,000 more civil servants were dismissed and 15 more media outlets shut down.” Voice Of America: Turkish Police Raid Opposition Newspaper “In Turkey concern is growing over the police raid and arrests of journalists working at the country's oldest newspaper - one of the few remaining media outlets critical of the government. Hundreds gathered outside the headquarters of Cumhuriyet to protest the police raid on the paper and the arrest of its editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu. The paper’s website said arrest warrants had been issued for more than a dozen people linked to the paper, including many of its leading writers. Among those detained was 72-year-old columnist Aydin Engin. Engin asked while being taken away by police why he was being detained. He said his writing for Cumhuriyet was reason enough.” CNN: Turkey Detains 13 Journalists After Mass Firings Of Public Servants “Turkey has detained 13 journalists in an ongoing wave of government crackdowns following a coup attempt in July. Early Monday morning, Turkish police detained Murat Sabuncu, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Cumhuriyet, along with a dozen other reporters in a raid, according to official news agency Anadolu. The Turkish government has accused the journalists of publishing stories to ‘legitimize the coup d'etat’ just before the July 15 coup attempt. The journalists are accused of crimes on behalf of enemies of the state. Supporters of the newspaper, including opposition politicians, protested the move outside the publication's Istanbul offices Monday.” Afghanistan Daily Caller: Afghan Military Troops Can’t Stop Killing Each Other “The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces has suffered major insider attacks this year from infiltrators joining government forces and then turning on their comrades, according to a new inspector general report. The quarterly report, released by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), details the number of insider attacks that have plagued Afghan forces since the beginning of the year, also including figures from 2015. From 2015 to the Aug. 19, 2016, there were a total of 101 insider attacks in the Afghan military, which resulted in 257 deaths and 125 Afghan personnel wounded. Of that total number of attacks, 44 took place in 2016, which left 120 dead and 70 others wounded.” Daily Caller: Despite $115 Billion In Reconstruction Aid, Afghanistan Is In Bad Shape “After 15 years of war and reconstruction efforts, basic security, infrastructure and economy measures show Afghanistan is slipping, according to a government report. ‘Past gains are eroding: poverty, unemployment, underemployment, violence, outmigration, internal displacement, and the education gender gap have all increased, while services and private investment have decreased,’ a quarterly report from the Special Investigator General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) says. The U.S. has given $5.73 billion to the reconstruction effort in 2016, bringing the total cost of reconstruction to $115 billion.” Saudi Arabia The Jerusalem Post: Saudi Arabia: ISIS Plot To Bomb 60,000 Sports Fans Foiled “Saudi Arabian officials reported on Sunday that it had successfully thwarted an ISIS-linked terrorist plot to attack up to 60,000 sports fans at a soccer stadium in the port city of Jeddah, according to Iranian state news agency PressTV.  The Saudi Interior Ministry said that four suspected Islamic State operatives were arrested one day before executing a plan to bomb the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, also known as the ‘Luminous Jewel,’ during a UAE-Saudi FIFA World Cup qualifying match on October 11.  ‘Daesh wants any operation that could result in the highest number of victims,” said an Interior Ministry spokesperson, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. According to Press TV citing Saudi security officials, a vehicle containing an estimated 400 kilograms (882 pounds) of explosive material was discovered near the stadium parking lot.” Middle East The Times Of Israel: Hamas Calls For More Attacks By PA Security Personnel “Hamas ‘welcomed’ an attack by a Palestinian police officer on Monday that injured three Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Ramallah, and called on Palestinian security personnel to carry out more attacks. ‘We welcome the heroic operation carried out by the martyr officer Muhammad Turkman,’ the terror group said it a statement. ‘We consider [the attack] a strong message in the face of Israeli crimes.’ While Hamas usually praises attacks against Israelis — whether civilians or soldiers — the terror group went a step further on Monday by specifically calling for more members of the Palestinian security forces to ‘join the Palestinian intifada.’” Haaretz: Don’t Attack Israeli Army Officers, Defense Minister Rebukes Lawmakers “Lawmakers should not lash out at senior Israel Defense Forces officers - especially regarding military activities in the territories - Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged on Monday. Speaking at the start of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, Lieberman said he feels very bad about the way the army is being treated, including by people around the table. In recent months politicians and members of Knesset have been attacking army generals, Lieberman said, adding, ‘One may agree with the coordinator of military activities in the territories, or not. One may agree with decisions by the general in charge of the Central Command, or not. But the criticism should be delivered to the political echelon. It is wrong for army officers to become objects of attack, certainly [not by] people sitting around this table.’” Associated Press: Israel Asks For Delay In West Bank Outpost Demolition “Israel has asked the country's Supreme Court to delay the court-ordered evacuation of an illegal West Bank outpost slated for later this year. The state asked the court for a seven-month extension on Monday. The Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the Amona outpost was built on private Palestinian land and must be demolished by Dec. 25. The impending evacuation has threatened to destabilize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line coalition. Pro-settler lawmakers have tried to find a legal loophole to keep the outpost in its place, a move Israel's attorney general says is unconstitutional.” Libya Reuters: Western Powers Voice Support Libyan PM In Standoff With Rivals “Western and some Middle Eastern powers expressed support on Monday for Libya's U.N.-brokered unity government and Prime Minister Fayez Seraj's push to restore order across the chaotic country and revive its oil-based economy. In London, officials from the United States, Britain, Italy, France, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia met Seraj for talks to tackle a standoff preventing the Government of National Accord (GNA) from expanding its authority outside the capital. After the meeting, a spokeswoman for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the ministers, who included British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Italy's Paolo Gentiloni, said they had reaffirmed the ‘strong international support’ for the GNA.” Voice Of America: Libya's Chaos Prompts New US Calls For Action “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spearheaded renewed efforts Monday to bolster Libya's U.N.-backed government against continued chaos and a collapsing economy, but the meeting appeared to yield little more than an expression of support for the embattled Libyan leadership. Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson convened the gathering in London that included ministers from France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, who met with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. The ministers reaffirmed what a State Department official said was ‘strong international support’ for Libya's Government of National Accord, the U.N.-backed interim governing body that has thus far been unable to establish control outside the capital, Tripoli.” Nigeria Fox News: Report: Women, Girls Saved From Boko Haram Later Abused By Police, Military “Nigerian women and girls left homeless by Boko Haram's reign of terror were victimized yet again, when the people who were supposed to help them sexually abused them, according to a new study. Humanitarian group Human Rights Watch released findings on Monday showing police officers and military service members at seven government camps in the Borno State capital of Maiduguri sexually abused 41 women and girls who had fled Boko Haram. ‘It is bad enough that these women and girls are not getting much-needed support for the horrific trauma they suffered at the hands of Boko Haram,” said Mausi Segun, senior Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch said in a statement. “It is disgraceful and outrageous that people who should protect these women and girls are attacking and abusing them.’” United Kingdom Sputnik News: 2 In 3 Jihadists Released From UK Jails Despite Ignoring Rehab Programs “Around two-thirds of convicted terrorists have been released from British jails over the past 15 years despite refusing to cooperate in prison deradicalization programs, UK media said Monday. A Sky News investigation revealed that three-quarters of 583 people jailed on terror-related charges since the 9/11 attacks in the United States had been set free, two-thirds of them without reforming. The channel found that 164 terror convicts had been freed in the past two years. Among the recently released are three men who helped plan the July 2005 terror attacks by four suicide bombers in London that killed 52 people.” Reuters: UK Police Seek Tip-Offs On Guns To Prevent Paris-Style Attacks “British police appealed on Monday for tip-offs from the public on any illegal firearms in circulation, stepping up efforts to prevent what they described as a ‘marauding terrorist attack’ similar to the Paris attacks a year ago. London and some other major British cities have experienced a surge in gun crime in recent months, raising concerns that illegal weapons could filter from street gangs to extremists. ‘We want to lessen the harm to our communities and to prevent the possibility of a marauding terrorist attack in the UK,’ said Lynne Owens, director general of the National Crime Agency, which leads Britain's fight against serious and organized crime.” International Business Times: MI5 Chief Says Russia And Violent Islamic State Extremists Pose Biggest Threat To UK “More than 3,000 violent Islamic extremists are in the UK at the moment and some 12 jihadi terror plots have been foiled in the past three years, the director general of MI5 has said in the first ever newspaper interview by a serving head of the British security service. Andrew Parker also used the interview with the Guardian - of which published the Snowden files and has been an active campaigner against extra powers for the security services - to claim that Russia was becoming an increasing threat to the stability of the UK. Parker said most of the violent extremists were British and that Islamic State (Isis) members in Syria and Iraq were trying to incite terror plots against the UK.” The Guardian: Jihadis Planning Paris-Style Gun Attacks On British Streets, Police Say “Terrorists wanted to get firearms to launch gun attacks on Britain’s streets in five extremist plots foiled in the last two years, police have revealed, as they admitted that 800 legally owned guns had gone missing. In a rare joint appeal, the National Crime Agency and Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command urged the public to report fears about lax gun security among legal owners as well as criminals handling firearms. The intensified activity comes as British law enforcement, security and intelligence services try to prevent a marauding terrorist gun attack, such as the one that struck Paris in November 2015, happening in the UK.” BBC: Police Fear Gun Links Between UK Crime Gangs And Terrorists “Half of the terror plots prevented in the UK over the last two years involved extremists trying to buy guns, senior police officers have said. National Crime Agency (NCA) chief Lynne Owens said criminals ‘think nothing about who they sell firearms to’. UK security services have warned of the growing risk of a marauding gun attack, similar to those in Paris and Mumbai. A major campaign is being launched to try to clamp down on the supply of illegal firearms. The NCA said the appeal was aimed at anyone who might see guns smuggled through smaller ports of entry to the UK. The UK terror level is currently severe - meaning an attack is highly likely.” Germany The Wall Street Journal: German Police Examine Islamic State Stabbing Claim “German authorities on Sunday were trying to determine the authenticity of a claim by Islamic State that the group was responsible for a knife attack in Hamburg two weeks ago that left a teenager dead and set off a manhunt for the unknown attacker. The militant group’s Amaq news agency posted a statement on its website earlier in the day, saying the attack was carried out by a ‘soldier of the Islamic State.’ But Hamburg police said the statement doesn't entirely match the evidence police have turned up since the attack on Oct. 16 and that police couldn't confirm the attack was an act of terrorism.” France Reuters: Police Swoop On Paris Migrant Camp After Calais Jungle Clearout “French riot police swooped on a makeshift migrant camp in northeast Paris on Monday, sparking a brief standoff at a site where numbers have soared since the closure of the Jungle shanty town in the northern port city of Calais. The operation, largely consisting of identity checks on some of an estimated 2,500 migrants sleeping rough around a canal and railway bridge near Paris's Stalingrad metro station, came as pressure mounts on the government to shut the camp. Tension has risen with the speculation that police will move in to evacuate and close the camp definitively in the coming days, as the Paris authorities are demanding.” Terrorist Financing Al Quds Al-Arabi: Sources Of Funding For Terrorist Groups In West Africa “An international report claims that "extortion, smuggling, looting and ransom constitute the basic funding channels for terrorist groups active in West and Central Africa." The report stressed that "it is difficult to determine which is the main channel of funding for these movements. It is also difficult to uncover the real value of the wealth of these movements." However, the report underscored that "these movements are constantly evolving and expanding." The report went on to say that "Boko Haram, the Nigerien movement, which was founded in 2002, relies primarily on local resources, while other movements rely on foreign sources." The report added "terrorist organizations in the Sahel region obtained more than $183 million in recent years in the form of ransom for the release of hostages.” Muslim Brotherhood Parlmany: Egypt's Car Dealers Association: The Dollar Reached A Rate Of 18 Pounds Because Of The Muslim Brotherhood “Egypt's Car Dealers Association Chairman, Nasser Shaaban, claimed that currency traders affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood are keeping foreign currencies, especially dollars in their homes. He called for their arrest, saying: "Take them from their homes together with {all the} greedy sugar and rice merchants." Shaaban noted that when the dollar exchange rate against the {Egyptian} pound rises by a penny per day "the world turns upside-down, but at present it is rising by half a pound per day. This never happened in the past." The Chairman of Egypt's Car Dealers Association stated: "There are people whose mission is to destroy the country and deprive the market of sugar, rice and the dollar. The country has {enough} sugar and rice, but the Brotherhood wants to see Egypt's economic downfall following their political failure. They want Egypt to turn into Iraq and Syria.” Elwehda: Egypt: Parliament Redirects "Unconstitutional" Brotherhood Funds Draft Law Back To The Government “On Monday, the Committee for Constitutional and Legislation Affairs in the Egyptian Parliament sent a draft law back to the government. The law establishes a "Judiciary Committee to Seize, Manage and Dispose of Funds", {pertaining to} funds owned by what it describes as "terrorist groups and entities and those affiliated with them." The draft legislation mainly targets the funds {and assets} of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Committee explained that some of its provisions lack constitutionality. In addition, there are conflicting clauses which need to be presented for review by the competent authorities. The draft law sets new definitions for "terrorist individuals and groups" which are broader than the definitions set forth in the "Terrorist Entities Law", previously submitted by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and passed by Parliament. The proposed new Judiciary Committee, which is supposed to replace the current Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee, will be immune from any initiative to disband it.” Egypt Today: Egypt: New Suspects In Attempt To Assassinate Assistant Public Prosecutor Were Paid By The Muslim Brotherhood “Security services affiliated with the Egyptian Interior Ministry arrested three new suspects Monday belonging to "Hasm Movement." They allegedly attempted to assassinate Zakaria Abdulaziz, Assistant Public Prosecutor for Judicial Inspection Affairs, at the beginning of last month. A security source in the ministry disclosed that the suspects admitted to adopting extremist ideas and receiving payment from Muslim Brotherhood operatives to commit several assassination operations against security and media figures, judges and other public figures, in an effort to terrorize the state.” Houthi Gulf 24: Sources: Houthi Group Loots Over $200 Million A Month “A Saudi newspaper obtained information indicating that leaders of the Houthi militia have bought private properties in the provinces of Sana'a, Hodeidah, Ibb, Hajja, and Al-Mahwit. These purchases cost them large sums of money, which they obtained from revenues of state institutions. According to sources, each month the Houthis pilfer more than 50 billion riyals (over $200 million) from state revenues, obtained from the oil, telecommunications and customs sectors. This comes as Yemeni state employees are entering their third month without receiving wages. The sources disclosed that the Houthi {leaders} transferred revenues obtained by tax, customs and oil from State institutions to their private accounts in local banks. The sources added that the Houthis have turned Cooperative & Agricultural Credit Bank ("CAC Bank") into their private banking establishment for executing financial transactions. In addition, the group's leaders have transferred vast amounts of money to Saada province, the Houthis' stronghold.”