Eye on Extremism January 19, 2017

Eye on Extremism January 19, 2017 International Business Times: ISIS May Be Losing In Iraq, But It Is Fighting Back In Syria “As the battle for Mosul looks like it will lead to a clear defeat for Islamic State (Isis/Daesh), the group is shifting its focus back to Syria. IS recently launched two major offensives in the country, one targeting and later capturing Palmyra in December last year, and the other this week, isolating a key military airport in the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor. It is no coincidence that such attacks are being launched at a time when the group's presence in Iraq, its other stronghold, is being threatened. After weeks of fighting inside Mosul, the eastern side of the city seems poised to fall to Iraqi government forces. IS will have to withdraw from the eastern bank of the Tigris river, which divides the city into two almost equal parts, with the western part of the city remaining thus far untouched by Iraqi forces.” International Business Times: US-Led Air Strike In Syria Kills Top Leader Of Al-Qaeda Splinter Group Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham A US-led coalition air strike in northwestern Syria killed a top leader of al-Qaeda splinter group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham on Wednesday (18 January). Four other militants of the group were also killed in the strike on Idlib governorate, local reports said. Abu Ibrahim al-Tunsi, the Tunisian jihadist, was reportedly a leading member of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly the al-Nusra Front. ‘The air raid hit al-Tunsi's convoy in the Aqrabat district in Idlib,’ an activist told ARA News. However, coalition forces and the militant group are yet to confirm the leader's death. US-led forces have targeted the splinter group's leadership in Syria in the past as well.” Reuters: As Caliphate Crumbles, Islamic State Lashes Out In Iraq “Two days after Iraqi forces launched a new push against Islamic State in Mosul, bomb blasts ripped through a marketplace in central Baghdad - the start of a spate of attacks that appear to signal a shift in tactics by the Islamist group. The Sunni jihadists have targeted Shi'ite Muslim civilians. Raids on police and army posts in other cities, also claimed by Islamic State, have accompanied the bombings. The attacks show that even if Islamic State loses the Iraqi side of its self-styled caliphate, the threat from the group may not subside. It will likely switch from ruling territory to pursuing insurgency tactics, seeking to reignite the sectarian tensions that fueled its rise, diplomats and security analysts say.” The Wall Street Journal: Russian And Turkish Jets Strike Islamic State Positions In Northern Syria “Russian and Turkish jets carried out coordinated airstrikes against Islamic State targets in the northern Syrian city of al-Bab Wednesday, in what Russia’s defense ministry described as the first such air operation between the two countries. ‘Everything was agreed ahead of time via the General Staffs and commanders of the aviation groups of the two countries,’ said Russian Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy in a statement. The two countries have worked in greater cooperation since Moscow and Ankara brokered a cease-fire that largely ended hostilities in Aleppo between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebel groups fighting him." Wall Street Journal: U.S. Officials Say Sizable Arab Force Identified For Raqqa Campaign “The U.S.-led coalition in Syria has amassed an Arab force it considers large enough to move the fight against Islamic State into the city of Raqqa, U.S. military officials said, which would represent a significant advance after months of scrambling to find enough fighters for the crucial battle. The U.S. military now has counted as many as 23,000 men in northern Syria who identify themselves as Arab and say they are willing to fight Islamic State, according to multiple officials familiar with the situation on the ground inside Syria.” Newsweek: ISIS Territory Shrinks By Almost A Quarter In 2016 “Extremist group Islamic State (ISIS) lost almost a quarter of the territory it held across Syria and Iraq in 2016 including areas “vital” for its bid to form a caliphate, according to new research. The group’s domain shrunk by 23 percent, following on from a smaller contraction in 2015 of 14 percent, analytics firm IHS Markit reports. This means ISIS lost control of almost 18,000 sq km (6,900 sq miles) over the last 12 months, bringing the totality of the landmass it holds in the region to 60,400 sq km (23320 sq miles)—slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Florida.” The Washington Post: Turkey Rounds Up 27 With Links To Suspected Nightclub Gunman “Turkish police rounded up 27 people linked to the suspected gunman in Istanbul’s New Year’s Eve nightclub attack and the justice minister said Wednesday that the capture of the suspect will lead to a better understanding of the Islamic State group’s operations in Turkey. The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Abdulkadir Masharipov, was caught late Monday in a police operation in Istanbul. Authorities identified him as an Uzbek national who trained in Afghanistan and staged the attack for the IS. IS claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 39 people. Turkish authorities say the suspect has confessed.” The Washington Post: Truck Bomb Kills At Least 60, Including Army Troops, In Northern Mali “A suicide truck bomb killed at least 60 people, including army personnel, in northern Mali on Wednesday as the country struggles to implement a peace deal crafted after Islamist groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, took over key northern cities. The group’s North African affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), asserted responsibility for the attack. Some Islamist extremist groups in the area have opposed a 2015 peace pact between Mali’s government and other militant factions. Among the dead were soldiers, members of pro-government forces and fighters from autonomous armed groups that have signed the peace accord. At least 100 people were injured.” The New York Times: Villager And Israeli Police Officer Die In Clash At Bedouin Hamlet “The sun had not yet risen over the Bedouin hamlet early Wednesday as hundreds of Israeli police officers gathered at its edges. They had come to help demolish part of the village, but two people were dead before the forces had destroyed any houses. The police fatally shot a resident they said was about to ram them with his car. The vehicle struck one police officer, killing him. The police version of the events was immediately disputed by the motorist’s relatives in the village in southern Israel’s Negev, as well as human rights activists who had come to support the villagers. They insisted that he had plowed into the officers only after he was shot and lost control of the car.” Deutsche Welle: Europol Chief: 'Internet A More Significant Facilitator Of Crime And Terrorism Than Schengen' “‘[The attack in] Berlin unfortunately is a sad reminder that we are dealing with thousands of potentially radicalized individuals who could carry out those kind of attacks,’ the director of the EU’s law enforcement agency Rob Wainwright told Deutsche Welle's Conflict Zone. Wainwright said Europol ‘can't reduce that threat to zero’ as it is facing a ‘very determined and well-resourced terrorist group in 'IS' that [is] intent on carrying the fight into our backdoor in Europe as we have seen from Paris through Brussels and now in Berlin as well.’ The Tunisian Anis Amri is accused of having killed 12 people by running them over with a truck at a Christmas market on December 19, 2016.” Daily Mail: Hundreds Of Jihadis Who Have Returned To The UK From Syria Pose The Greatest Terror Threat To Britain For Years, Expert Warns “Jihadists returning to the UK from fighting in Syria are among hundreds of Islamic State supporters posing the greatest terror threat to the country for years, a watchdog has warned. David Anderson QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terror Legislation, said the danger was worse than at any time since he took the post in 2011. Then, there had been a sense of being ‘over the worst’ after a crackdown on Muslim fanatics in the wake of the July 7 attacks in 2005, which killed 52 and injured hundreds. Al Qaeda was also reeling after military action in Afghanistan and the Middle East.” International Business Times: Russia In The Middle East: Libyan Military Leader Talks Major Moscow Arms Sale, Political Support “Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar has reportedly begun negotiating billions worth of arms deals with Russia, intended to give the strongman a political and tactical advantage over other competing factions in his country's six-year civil war, Reuters reported Tuesday. Haftar, an influential figure in the embattled country who rejects both Islamist forces and the U.N.-backed transition government in Western Libya, paid a visit last week to the Admiral Kuznetsov, a Russian aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. While onboard, he reportedly discussed Russian support against ‘terrorist groups’ in Libya with Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu via video conference call. Similar language has been used by Moscow and Damascus in their joint campaign against opposition forces in Syria that turned the tides of war in favor of President Bashar Assad.” NBC News: Nigeria’s Botched Airstrike Shows Boko Haram Isn’t Defeated “Just over a year after Nigeria proudly declared Boko Haram was all but defeated, its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a camp full of people driven from their homes by the militants. The airstrike illustrates the insurgents — the world's deadliest terrorist group during 2015 — are still far from subdued. Estimates for the number killed in Tuesday's botched operation outside the northeastern town of Rann ranged from 50 to more than 100. Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, on Wednesday called the incident a ‘truly catastrophic event’ and called for a full investigation.” Syria Reuters: Islamist Syrian Rebel Group Says It Won't Attend Peace Talks In Kazakhstan “One of Syria's strongest rebel factions, the conservative Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group, said on Wednesday it will not attend peace talks to be held in Kazakhstan on Jan. 23. Several other leading rebel groups decided on Monday that they would be at the talks, which will be attended by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and are backed by Russia and Turkey. Ahrar al-Sham said in a statement posted on social media that although it was not going, it would support the rebel groups that did plan to attend if they could achieve a beneficial result. The talks come in the context of a ceasefire declared by Russia and Turkey at the end of last month that has reduced, but not ended, fighting between pro-government forces and rebels that began almost six years ago.” Reuters: Syria's Assad Aims For Local 'Reconciliations' From Astana Talks “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he believed the aim of Russian-backed peace talks in Kazakh capital Astana was to achieve a ceasefire and allow rebel groups to reach ‘reconciliation’ deals with the government. ‘So far, we believe that Astana will be about talks with terrorist groups over a ceasefire and allowing them to reach reconciliation deals,’ Assad said in an interview with Japanese media outlet TBS, excerpts of which were published on the presidency's Twitter feed on Thursday. Assad said he hoped the conference in Astana, scheduled for next week, would be a platform to discuss ‘everything’ with rebel groups but that it was not clear if it would include a political dialogue ‘because it is not clear who will participate’.” Iraq USA Today: Iraq Military: Troops Have ‘Full Control’ Of Eastern Mosul “Iraq's armed forces said Wednesday they are now in full control of eastern Mosul, a key development in a bloody fight with the Islamic State to win back the country's second-largest city. Iraqi Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, who commands the counterterrorism forces, said the achievement was a ‘big victory,’ describing the success of the Iraqi forces as ‘unprecedented,’ the Associated Press reported. Col. John Dorrian, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, estimated during a briefing Tuesday that the eastern part of the city was 85% to 90% cleared of Islamic State militants.” Turkey Reuters: New York Times Says Turkey Denies Entry To Its Correspondent “Authorities in Turkey denied entry to a veteran New York Times correspondent and forced him to take a flight back to London, the newspaper said on Wednesday, in what its executive editor denounced as ‘an affront to freedom of the press’. The Times said its correspondent Rod Nordland was told after arriving at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Tuesday that his name was on an Interior Ministry order denying him entry.  The newspaper cited one of its Turkish lawyers as saying that airport police had told a colleague that the reason was ‘national security’, but gave no further details. Four senior Turkish officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment.” Time: The Fighting Over Erdogan’s Constitutional Reforms Has (Literally) Begun “A brawl in the Turkish parliament is a taste of the disagreements to come. On Jan. 11, members of Turkey’s parliament gathered in Ankara to debate a package of constitutional amendments that includes a dramatic expansion of presidential power. Perhaps it was only fitting that it quickly devolved into a fistfight. During the heated debate, opposition lawmakers took control of the parliament chair’s seat in an attempt to filibuster or block the amendments from moving forward. Deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) protested, and moved in to retake the stand. A filibuster is one thing, but a physical occupation of the chair was against parliamentary procedure, they later argued. Punches were swiftly thrown.” Afghanistan Reuters: Aid Groups Need $550 Million To Confront Worsening Afghan Crisis - U.N. “International aid groups needs more than a half a billion dollars this year to help millions of Afghans struggling with increased violence and a bleak economy, as a humanitarian crisis worsens, a senior U.N. official told Reuters. The United Nations estimates at least 9.3 million Afghans, or nearly a third of the population, will need humanitarian assistance in 2017, a 13 percent increase from last year. Officials expect hundreds of thousands of refugees to return from Pakistan and Iran this year, even as an average of 1,500 people are newly displaced by fighting every day, said Mark Bowden, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan.” Reuters: Pakistani Forces Kill Leader Of Banned Sectarian Militant Group “Pakistani security forces said on Wednesday they had killed the leader of the banned Sunni Muslim militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) along with three other militants accused of killing hundreds of civilians. The Counter Terrorism Department of the eastern province of Punjab said its forces had killed Asif Chotoo and his comrades during a shootout in the city of Sheikhupura after a tip-off that the group was planning an attack in nearby Lahore. However, an intelligence official with knowledge of the operation told Reuters that Chotoo had been in custody since August and was ‘eliminated’ by authorities, something Punjab police spokesman Nayab Haider called ‘baseless’.” Yemen Sputnik: Man Suspected Of Links To Daesh Arrested In Yemen “According to The National media outlet, Ali Sael was detained on Tuesday after several days of surveillance by local police and the Arab coalition forces. Abdurrahman Naqeeb, an Aden police spokesman, said that the detainee was ‘one of the leading figures’ in Daesh, as quoted by the media outlet. Sael is suspected of recruiting suicide bombers for Daesh through radical sermons in social networks, the publication reads. The recruiter has trained at least 20 suicide bombers currently residing in Aden, a source in the counterterrorism forces said.” Middle East Fox News: Israel: New Defense System Can Hit Targets Outside The Atmosphere “Israel ramped up its missile defense capabilities Wednesday with the delivery of a state-of-the-art system -- developed in part by Boeing -- designed to strike targets outside Earth's atmosphere. The Arrow-3 missile defense system will form the uppermost layer of Israel’s multilayered defense system, Israel Defense Forces officials have said. It was expected to protect from ballistic missiles capable of flying thousands of miles. Iran has tested such missiles several times in the past, defying international sanctions. Arrow-3 was delivered to the Israeli Air Force Wednesday morning, joining the Iron Dome, the Arrow-2 and David’s Sling.” Nigeria The New York Times: Death Toll In Mistaken Bombing Of Camp In Nigeria Climbs To 70 “The number of people killed in an accidental military bombing at a Nigerian camp for displaced people has increased to 70, aid groups said on Wednesday, with at least nine of them humanitarian workers. The mistaken attack came after a military plane targeted an area crowded with people fleeing Boko Haram militants. Medical workers were scrambling on Wednesday to assemble equipment to treat dozens of severely injured people who were still awaiting evacuation from the camp in Rann, in northeastern Nigeria. At least 120 people were hurt in the errant strike on Tuesday by the Nigerian Air Force at the camp, which is near the Cameroon border and houses about 20,000 people. Initial reports put the death toll around 50.” The Hill: Boko Haram Is As Big A Threat As ISIS. So Why Are We Ignoring It? “For the past two years, candidates for the presidency have made heavy-handed speeches about ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’ Each candidate has claimed to be a stronger, more ruthless leader than the next — Donald Trump won by promising not to warn before bombing in Mosul, a callous move experts say would have heightened civilian casualties. The American people want to feel safe, so it is understandable that they desire a strong leader. However, the rhetoric against radical Islamic terrorism is sometimes couched in benevolence and a desire to save lives — primarily those of Christians — and establish more rights for women. The focus on Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and the lesser importance given to Boko Haram, shows that black lives do not matter internationally.” The Guardian: Boko Haram’s Legacy Of Fear And Ruin Delays Return Of Displaced Nigerians “The homecoming of tens of thousand of Nigerians displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency has been prevented by enduring fear of the Islamists and reluctance to return to areas of the country’s north-east devastated by the campaign against the militants, according to aid workers. The continued threat posed by Boko Haram was underlined on Monday when twin suicide bombings killed two people at a university in Maiduguri. The city is the provincial capital of Nigeria’s north-east Borno state, the epicentre of the group’s seven-year campaign to create a regional Islamic caliphate.” United Kingdom BBC: The Man Correcting Stories About Muslims “When one newspaper reported last year that ‘enclaves of Islam see UK as 75% Muslim’ last year, Miqdaad Versi's instinct was to challenge it. He believes errors in the reporting of Muslims have become all too common, and has made it his mission to fight for corrections. Miqdaad Versi sits in front of a rather geeky-looking spreadsheet at the offices of the Muslim Council of Britain in east London. He is the organisation's assistant secretary general, but the task in front of him is a personal project. The spreadsheet has on it every story published concerning Muslims and Islam that day in the British media - and he is going through them looking for inaccuracies.” Germany Deutsche Welle: Local AFD Leader's Holocaust Remarks Prompt Outrage “Jewish groups have reacted with anger and shock after a local leader of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) attacked Germany's national Holocaust memorial and the country's devotion to teaching its citizens about Nazi genocide. ‘It is deeply outrageous and completely unacceptable to describe the Berlin Holocaust Memorial as Björn Höcke did as a 'monument of shame,’ the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, said in a statement. ‘With these anti-Semitic and extremely misanthropic remarks, the AfD is showing its true face. I would not have believed that it was possible for a politician in Germany to say such things 70 years after the Shoah.’” The Jerusalem Post: 'German Research Institute Trivializes Holocaust To Attack Israel' “Israel’s embassy and leading deputies in the German parliament slammed a Max Planck Institute branch for stoking hatred of Israel and Jews with a series of lectures from a pro-Hezbollah US academic who trivialized the Holocaust and is popular among neo-Nazis. ‘It is outrageous that a distinguished German institution [Max Planck Institute branch in Halle] gives a stage to someone who spreads, in the best case, science fiction, and in the worst, pure incitement against Israel. Supporting [Norman] Finkelstein to maintain his academic facade is highly dangerous and an abuse of the scientific standards,’ the Israeli Embassy in Berlin told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.” Deutsche Welle: Anis Amri: How A Terror Suspect Eluded German Authorities “When German authorities announced that Anis Amri, a Tunisian national suspected of driving a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, had been on their radar for more than a year, questions arose as to how and why he hadn't been apprehended beforehand. Despite allegations of petty crime, a failed asylum application and telling an intelligence informant that he wanted to commit an attack on German soil, the 24-year-old managed to slip through the sprawling web of national security and law enforcement agencies.” Financing of Terrorism Al-Ain: Expert: Funding - Main Source Of Terrorist Groups' Endurance “According to Dr. Adel Al Mohannadi, Professor Emeritus of the Arab Academy, the financing of terrorist groups remains the foremost factor that inflicts huge losses on countries' economies. He noted that the termination of terrorist activities starts from drying up funds which constitute the main source for the continued existence of terrorist groups. Funds of terrorist organizations, according to al-Muhannadi, are the source of their strength. The money often originates from civic organizations or "charities" in various countries. He added that there is no exact figure on the value of the {terror} funds, but he estimated them at billions of dollars.” ISIS All4Syria: Syria: Oil Tankers Observed Heading From ISIS-Controlled Areas To Regime's Territories “The Security Office at the Military Council in Marea, located in the northern rural areas of Aleppo, announced it has monitored a convoy of tankers loaded with crude oil, heading from areas under the control of ISIS to the Homs refinery, located in areas held by the Assad regime. The convoy passed through areas controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Syria militias. One of the drivers admitted, in a videotape released by the Security Office in Marea, that the trucks were heading to the Homs refinery following an agreement with a merchant, Hussam al-Katerji, who is playing the role of mediator between the Assad regime, ISIS and the Kurdish militias. Al-Katerji purchases daily shipments of high-quality fuel oil and sells it in the region's controlled areas. Sources disclosed that this is not the first instance of cooperation between the regime and the Kurdish units.” Muslim Brotherhood The Seventh Day: Egypt: Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee Commissioned To Manage Abu Treika Funds   “A legal source claims that the recent ruling issued by the North Cairo Criminal Court (listing the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist entity and 1420 of its leaders as terrorists, including ex-soccer player Mohammed Abu Treika) authorizes the Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee to manage funds belonging to the people on the list. The source pointed out that Article 8 of Law No. 8 of 2015, regarding terrorist entities, stipulates that in cases in which funds are frozen, the court must determine who will manage these funds, at the discretion of the public prosecutor. The source noted that the appointed administrator of the seized funds should protect the money through good management. The source added that the {Egyptian} Minister of Justice issued a decree commissioning the Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee to manage the impounded assets, as stipulated in Article 8.” Elfagr: Egypt: Owner Of "Juhayna Food Industries" Put On Terror List “The Al-Abbasiya-based Cairo Criminal Court 6th Circuit, presided over by Judge Khalil Abdul Aziz, recently issued a ruling adding the Muslim Brotherhood to the list of terrorist entities. It also listed Brotherhood-affiliated individuals whose properties had been seized by Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee. One of the most prominent names is of businessman Safwan Thabet, owner of "Juhayna Food Industries Co.", whose assets were appropriated by the Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee. Following the court ruling, his name will be added to the travel ban list in addition to the loss of the 'good reputation' required to hold public or parliamentary positions. The seizure of Thabet's assets could threaten one of Egypt's largest companies, which employs thousands of workers.” The Seventh Day: Egypt: Trial Of Woman Accused Of Conning Citizens Out Of 15 Million Pounds For The Benefit Of Her Brotherhood Partner “Judge Mohammed Kamal El Samahi, head of El Matareya Prosecution, decided to put on trial the "conniver of El Matareya" and her Brotherhood partner. The pair will be tried in a misdemeanor court on charges of fraud. The case involves a woman accused of taking over 15 million pounds ($800,000) from citizens, on the pretext of investing their money for "giant profits." Investigations revealed the 29-year old accused was working for a Brotherhood activist. Police arrested her Brotherhood partner after she revealed his identity. During interrogations, she admitted that her partner had tried to recruit her to the Muslim Brotherhood. She told police he had taken money from citizens but refused to return it. She admitted that the citizens' money had been invested in bogus real estate projects and trade in electrical appliances.”