Eye on Extremism November 18, 2016

Eye on Extremism November 18, 2016 CNN: Mosul: Hundreds Of Bodies Discovered In Mass Graves Near City “Iraqi security forces have discovered two mass graves near the city of Mosul containing around 250 bodies, police said Thursday. The graves were found near the town of Hammam al-Alil and were created by ISIS militants, Iraqi Federal Police Commander Brig. Gen. Faris Radhi Abbas told CNN. Their discovery follows the uncovering of 100 decapitated bodies in another mass grave near the same town on November 7. Hammam al-Alil is on the Tigris River around 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Mosul. It was liberated by Iraqi Federal Police about 10 days ago.” Washington Post: Iraqi Forces Advance Into Mosul Under Fire, 1 Soldier Killed “Iraqi troops advanced cautiously into eastern districts of Mosul on Friday, facing stiff resistance from Islamic State militants a day after they paused their assault due to poor visibility, officers said. Airstrikes, automatic fire and artillery were heard from dawn and one soldier was reported killed in clashes. Civilians, some of them wounded, could be seen fleeing the fighting. According to the officers, the Iraqi forces aim to take complete control of the city’s Tahrir area and from there move into the adjacent Muharabeen district. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.” Business Insider: ISIS is using 'Mad Max'-style vehicle bombs in Iraq “ISIS fighters are using heavily-armored 'Mad Max'-style vehicles to deliver suicide bombs to targeted Iraqi and Peshmerga forces in Mosul. Col. John Dorrian, spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, showed off a photo of one of the vehicles the terrorist group has been using in Mosul for vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, or VBIEDs. "It's reminiscent of a Mad Max vehicle, with armored plating in the front to protect the driver until he can detonate the explosives he's carrying on board," Dorrian said in a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday, according to The Washington Examiner.” Al Jazeera: Iraq: Bomb Blast Kills Dozens In Amiriyat Al-Fallujah “At least 40 people have been killed and more than 60 wounded after a suicide car bomb attack targeted a police officer's wedding in Amiriyat al-Fallujah in Iraq, police sources have told Al Jazeera. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion on Thursday, but police said they believed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group was responsible for the attack. Amiriyat al-Fallujah, 35km south of Fallujah, is home to pro-government Sunni tribal fighters, who fought ISIL for more than two years and repelled many attacks on their town before the armed group was pushed out of Fallujah in June.” The Wire: UN Security Council Extends Inquiry Into Chemical Weapons Attack In Syria “The UN Security Council approved on Thursday a one-year extension of an international inquiry to determine blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, paving the way for a showdown over how to punish those responsible. Russia had said it wanted the inquiry to be broadened to look more at the “terrorist chemical threat” within the region, and the resolution to renew the mandate included language to reflect that request. The 15-member council unanimously adopted the US-drafted resolution.” New York Times: Protest Of U.S. Terror Listing Offers A Glimpse At Qaeda Strategy “American officials accuse him of being part of the “inner leadership circle” of Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, most widely known as the Nusra Front, and of raising as much as $5 million for the terrorist group while signing up thousands of fighters. But Abdallah Muhammad al-Muhaysini insists that he could not be more surprised to learn that the United States Treasury Department had designated him as a terrorist and ordered his funds frozen. “Today, Syrians are shocked to find that the United States has put on the terror list a person whom they consider to be a national symbol,” Mr. Muhaysini said in a Skype interview with The New York Times last week. “It’s a very bizarre thing.” Guardian: Isis In Afghanistan: 'Their Peak Is Over, But They Are Not Finished' “Fifteen months ago, militants arrived in the village of Manan Bagh, eyeing its strategic location in the mountains close to Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. They started picking out community leaders, elders and people they accused of conspiring against them. Among them was Zahir Shah, who was marched into the mountains and whose fate his family only learned from a video uploaded to Facebook. “They forced him to sit on explosives,” Ziarat Gul, Shah’s father-in-law, told the Guardian. “We haven’t been able to find even one part of his body.” Islamic State fighters have been pummelled by US airstrikes and receive little local support, but they maintain a small – and seemingly resilient – stronghold in eastern Afghanistan.” ABC News: Europe's Top Cop Fears Blowback From ISIS 'Squeeze' “As military pressure on ISIS ramps up, foreign fighters who travelled to Syria and Iraq in recent years could return home to Western Europe and pose a domestic threat, the continent’s top law enforcement official said in an interview on Wednesday. Europol Director Rob Wainwright welcomed the progress made by the U.S.-led coalition against the terror group and predicted its eventual downfall, but told ABC News that Western European nations are challenged with the task of tracking returning foreign fighters and neutralizing any threat they may present.” NBC News: ISIS Attack On Israeli National Soccer Team Foiled: Kosovo Cops “Simultaneous attacks by ISIS have been foiled — including one targeting the Israeli national soccer team, police in Kosovo said. According to a statement issued Thursday, 18 people were arrested in Kosovo and six more across both Albania and Macedonia. Police said explosive devices, weapons, electronic equipment and a drone were recovered. Police said the groups were coordinated by two Albanians who are part of ISIS in Syria.” Business Standard: Extremist Group Linked To ISIS Fighters Active In UK “Members of an extremist group banned in Germany for inspiring more than 140 ISIS fighters with its ideology are active in the United Kingdom and seeking to recruit followers in Britain's largest cities. The German Police launched almost 200 raids across the country at mosques, offices and homes linked to Die Wahre Religion (DWR) movement, meaning "The True Religion", this week but British security forces remain powerless to do the same, reports the Independent.” New York Times:  Police: Suicide Bombers Attack Maiduguri; 6 Die “Suicide bombers attacked a checkpoint and bustling bus station in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri on Friday, killing four of themselves and two civilian defense fighters, police said. It was the fifth attack in three weeks on the city that is the birthplace of Nigeria's homegrown Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram. Before 4 a.m. Friday, police challenged two women and a man running toward the checkpoint opposite the Federal High Court, police commissioner Damian Chukwu said. One woman detonated, killing herself and the male accomplice. The other woman has been arrested and is being interrogated, he said.” Reuters: Iraqi Children Dump Islamic State's Books Of Violence “The school walls have a fresh coat of paint and classrooms are crammed, but it will take longer to undo the damage done to thousands of Iraqi children who lived under Islamic State for more than two years. Although the school term began officially in September, only this week have pupils in the northern town of Qayyara been re-issued with standard Iraqi textbooks, which the militants replaced with their own in an attempt to brainwash a generation. Islamic State was driven from the town three months ago in the early stages of a campaign to recapture the city of Mosul, which lies about 60 km (40 miles) to north and is now under assault by Iraqi security forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition.” United States Associated Press: All 9 Men In Minn. Court On ISIS-Related Charges Are Sentenced “A Minnesota man described as a leader of a group of nine who plotted to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday by a federal judge who said he didn't believe the man's tearful apologies and words of contrition. Two other members of what U.S. District Judge Michael Davis repeatedly called a "terrorist cell" -- Mohamed Farah and Abdirahman Daud, both 22 -- were sentenced earlier Wednesday to 30 years in prison apiece. But Guled Omar, 22, drew the longest sentence of the nine defendants who appeared before Davis this week.” Military.Com: US Halts Airstrikes In Support Of Turkish Military Inside Syria “The U.S. has cut off air and ground support for Turkey’s actions inside Syria in another sign of growing friction with a NATO ally and member of the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday. Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said the U.S. had halted airstrikes backing an offensive by Turkish forces in concert with a rebel militia called the Free Syrian Army against the town of al Bab about 20 miles inside northeastern Syria. U.S. Special Forces advisors accompanying the Turkish military had also been withdrawn, Dorrian said. “We've not supported the advance to al Bab thus far,” Air Force Col. John Dorrian said. "This is a decision they've made to go into al Bab, but it's not one that the coalition has provided strikes in support of.” Syria BBC: Syria Conflict: Strikes On Rebel-Held Aleppo 'Kill 25' “Eight besieged eastern districts were reportedly bombarded, as government forces stepped up an offensive. A three-week moratorium on air strikes declared by the government and its ally Russia came to an end on Tuesday. Meanwhile, another 20 people were killed in car-bomb attack in the rebel-held town of Azaz, north of Aleppo. Both rebel fighters and civilians were among the dead, a senior official in the rebel Nour al-Din al-Zinki Movement told AFP news agency.” Associated Press: Airstrikes In Syria's Aleppo Province Kill Family Of 7 “Syrian activists and rescue workers say airstrikes on a village in Syria's Aleppo province have killed seven members of the same family, including four children. Friday's strike comes as neighborhoods in the besieged rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo are facing the fourth day of renewed attacks by government warplanes. This week's onslaught on the rebel-held enclave of 275,000 people began with a Russian announcement of its own offensive on the northern rebel-controlled Idlib province and the central Homs province.” ARA News:  US-Led Coalition Strikes ISIS Headquarters In Raqqa “Coalition warplanes launched several airstrikes on Thursday, targeting the Islamic State’s (ISIS) headquarters in Raqqa Governorate. The airstrikes were in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) Euphrates Wrath Operation. The penultimate goal of Euphrates Wrath is the isolation of ISIS in Raqqa city, the extremist group’s de facto capital. The campaign began almost two weeks ago.” RT: Russian Strategic Bombers Strike ISIS & Al-Nusra In Syria With Cruise Missiles (Video) “Russia has deployed strategic bombers to launch strikes on Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front targets in Syria, the Defense Ministry reported. The bombers flew from Russia for the mission, and fired cruise missiles while over the Mediterranean Sea. With in-flight refueling on two occasions, the bombers covered a distance of some 11,000km (6,835 miles), flying over a northern sea route and the eastern Atlantic.” Iraq Associated Press: Iraqi Forces Pause Mosul Push, But Face Deadly ISIS Attacks “Due to poor weather and cloudy skies, Iraq special forces on Thursday paused temporarily in their push into the northern city of Mosul but still faced deadly attacks by the Islamic State group that killed at least seven civilians and a soldier. In one attack, IS militants fired mortar rounds on government-controlled areas in eastern Mosul, killing seven civilians and wounding 35 others, said army medic Bashir Jabar, who is in charge of a field clinic run by the Iraqi special forces.” Turkey Los Angeles Times: Russia, Turkey Expand Military Operations In Syria During Trump's Transition To Power “U.S. intelligence officials expect Turkey and Russia to expand military operations in Syria over the next two months as President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team takes over and President Obama exits the White House. The Obama administration has stood back as Turkish forces have pushed deeper into northern Syria and as Russia has escalated airstrikes on eastern Aleppo this week, pummeling the city with cruise missiles and fighter jets launched from its aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean.” Yemen Military.Com: After Yemen Missile Attacks, CO Tells Sailors To 'Be Prepared' “When missiles launched from the coast of Yemen targeted multiple ships in Carrier Strike Group 10 in October, crews had to use precision and speed to execute defenses, including a retaliatory strike Oct 12 that destroyed radar sites where the missiles were believed to have originated. But the response to at least two separate incidents was part of the workday for sailors as they operated the vessels in international waters, said Rear Adm. James Malloy, commander of the carrier strike group. "They defended themselves as they are trained to do, as the ships are capable of doing," Malloy told Military.com in a phone interview from the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, now operating in the Arabian Gulf.” Middle East Monitor: Dozens Killed In Yemen As Fighting Intensifies “Heavy fighting between pro Houthi militias allied with militias loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh and government forces in various parts of Yemen has left dozens dead over the past two days, military officials said yesterday. According to AFP, the fighting intensified when forces loyal to the government launched an attack on three fronts to recapture the coastal town of Midi and nearby Haradh, both located in the northern highlands of Yemen. Some 38 people were killed in these clashes. Fighting has continued in other parts of Yemen, particularly in the city of Taiz, which has been besieged by Houthi and Saleh forces since March last year. On Tuesday, 39 people were killed in clashes between the warring parties.” Al Jazeera: Yemen: No Ceasefire Deal With Houthis “Yemen's foreign minister has reaffirmed his government's decision to reject a ceasefire offer by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, a day after heavy fighting between government troops and opposition forces in various parts of Yemen left 51 dead. The Arab coalition and Houthi fighters agreed to a temporary cessation of hostilities starting on November 17. Shortly after the announcement, Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, the foreign minister, said his government was not interested in the latest ceasefire plan involving the Houthis. He repeated the government's stance on Thursday, saying there was no agreement but just "a declaration which means nothing.” Libya Reuters: Army On Rise In Libya's East, Spurring Hopes Of Normal Life “At Benghazi University, graduation pictures shot at a wrecked campus symbolize hope for a return to normality in the city after more than two years of war. It is a war in which the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) has been slowly prevailing against a coalition of Islamists and former revolutionaries. Its commander, Khalifa Haftar, is gaining political influence, his popularity boosted by the army's advance. "We can't pursue our studies here but thanks to our army I've been able to return, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be standing here," said Amal al-Obeidi, a law graduate. "The situation will get back to normal and we hold great hope in our army.” United Kingdom Guardian: May To Meet Obama And Merkel For Talks On Islamic State Threat “Theresa May will hold talks with Barack Obama and European leaders in Berlin about the risk of the fight against Islamic State in the Middle East spreading to neighbouring countries, and will try to get in a few words on Brexit during a one-on-one with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. The main issue on the agenda for Friday’s “Quint” meeting between Merkel, May, Obama, France’s François Hollande and Italy’s Matteo Renzi – plus Spain’s Mariano Rajoy – will be the threat posed by the dispersal of seasoned Isis fighters, who are being pushed out of Iraq and Syria by coalition attacks and could move to other countries in Africa or the Middle East or return to Europe.” Germany Daily Sabah: Germany Expects To Send About 12,000 Back To Afghanistan, Report Says “More than 12,000 Afghan migrants to Germany are to be sent back to their home country because large parts of Afghanistan are considered safe, according to a German government document reviewed by a German newspaper yesterday. The document - an explanation by the government to a question posed by the hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party - states that about 5 per cent of the 247,000 Afghans who had reached Germany by the end of September will likely be sent home because their safety can be guaranteed in Afghanistan's larger cities. That would amount to 12,539 Afghans.”