Eye on Extremism - August 4, 2016

Eye on Extremism August 4, 2016 Counter Extremism Project Fox News: Report: ISIS Has Its Own Secret Service Unit “CEP Spokesperson Tara Maller discusses a report that details a special unit within ISIS that works to plan and carry out attacks across Western countries. The fight against ISIS is not a traditional military fight and more must be done to combat ISIS's online recruitment and propaganda, Maller said, noting that CEP has developed a technology that can help remove extremist content from the Internet and social media platforms” The Wall Street Journal: Mass Stabbing Strikes London As U.K. Steps Up Armed Police Force To Prepare For Possible Terror Attacks “A woman was killed and as many as five others were wounded in a knife attack in central London late Wednesday, hours after more armed police officers were deployed on the city’s streets under measures to prepare the country for the types of attacks by Islamic extremists seen elsewhere in Europe. London’s Metropolitan Police, known as Scotland Yard, said they arrested a suspect in connection with the attack in Russell Square. The police didn’t rule out terrorism as a motive, according to a police statement early Thursday. No further information was immediately available. Earlier on Wednesday, Scotland Yard said the deployment of the previously announced extra armed officers would include ensuring a visible presence in the city, including at well-known landmarks.” CNN: DC Transit Police Officer Charged With Aiding ISIS “In the first case of a US police officer charged with aiding ISIS, a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority cop was arrested Wednesday for providing material support to ISIS, the Justice Department announced. Nicholas Young was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday but was on law enforcement's radar since 2010, according to an affidavit released with Young's arrest. There was no evidence of any threat to the DC Metro system. Young will make his first appearance in court later Wednesday, according to two law enforcement officials. He would be the first police officer in the United States arrested and charged with supporting ISIS. Young has been in contact with undercover law enforcement officers and informants since 2011 and was interviewed as early as 2010 about his relationship with a friend, Zachary Chesser, who pleaded guilty to supporting a foreign terrorist organization, according to court documents.” New York Times: Pentagon Says Deso Dogg, Ex-Rapper And ISIS Recruiter, Survived Airstrike After All “The airstrike on Oct. 16 was touted as a battlefield success against a key figure loyal to the Islamic State group. American defense officials announced that a recruiter for the militants, Denis Cuspert, a German-born former rapper known as Deso Dogg, had been killed in Syria that day. But on Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that it was mistaken: Mr. Cuspert had survived the strike near the town of Raqqa. Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, said in an emailed statement: “At the time, our assessment was the strike was successful. It now appears that assessment was incorrect and Denis Cuspert survived the airstrike.” The Daily Beast: ISIS’s New Chechen Warlord “It’s been less than a month since news broke that the so-called minister of war of the so-called Islamic State, Tarkhan Batirashvili a.k.a. Omar al-Shishani (Omar the Chechen) had been killed… again. And this time, since weeks have passed without a resurrection, it might just be true. But that news is not quite as good as it sounds. The famous red-bearded warlord originally from the troubled Pankisi Valley on the Georgian frontier with Chechnya allegedly perished in early July while fighting on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq.” Reuters: Turkey Detains 20 Suspected Islamic State Members: Media “Turkish police detained 20 suspected members of the Islamic State militant group in the southern city of Adana early on Thursday, the private Dogan news agency reported. It said anti-terror police, supported by a helicopter, staged simultaneous raids on 22 addresses in the city after a tip-off that Islamic State cells were planning attacks. The suspects, who included senior local figures in the group, were taken to Adana police headquarters for questioning, it said. President Tayyip Erdogan has said Islamic State militants from the former Soviet Union were behind an attack on Istanbul's main airport in June which killed 45 people. Dozens have been detained over the attack. Islamic State controls an area of Syria along the Turkish border, east of Adana.” Haaretz: ISIS In Egypt Says Israel Will Soon 'Pay Heavy Price' “A video purportedly by Egypt's Islamic State affiliate has delivered a rare direct threat to Israel, saying the Jewish state will soon "pay a high price." The 35-minute video released on Monday directly threatens Jewish Israelis, saying "your account with us has become weighty and you will soon pay a high price." The authenticity of the footage could not immediately be verified, though its contents and production style mirrored previous ISIS propaganda material.” Reuters: Thousands Of Yazidis Missing, Captive, Two Years After Start Of 'Genocide': U.N. “Thousands of Yazidis are being held captive by Islamic State in Syria where many are used for sexual slavery or forced to fight for the group, the United Nations said on Wednesday, on the second anniversary of what investigators termed a genocide. A U.N.-appointed commission of independent war crimes investigators said in June that Islamic State was committing genocide against the Yazidis, a religious community of 400,000 people in northern Iraq, beginning with an attack on their city of Sinjar on Aug. 3, 2014. Yazidis' beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions and they are considered infidels by the hardline Sunni Islamist militants. The U.N. said most of the captives have been taken to neighboring Syria ‘where Yazidi women and girls continue to be sexually enslaved and Yazidi boys indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities.’” BBC: Armed French Police Start Cross-Channel Ferry Patrols “Armed French police have begun patrols on cross-Channel ferries in a bid to prevent terrorist attacks. The scheme started on Monday, but with no agreement yet in place for French police to patrol vessels in UK waters, they arrived by helicopter and boarded a ferry as it approached France. The two governments are in talks about French officers patrolling for full crossings, France's marine police said. The Home Office said security plans were under ‘constant review’. French authorities told the BBC no timeline had been set for an agreement to be reached.” Bloomberg: France's War On Terror Reaches Into The Countryside “The unease in towns like Beauvais has grown as the terrorists’ reach has expanded, switching from the French capital in November to the south and then the north coast within less than two weeks in July. That shift in focus has unsettled the whole population, both provincial and metropolitan, as France’s summer of terror dominates the political debate eight months out from presidential elections. Security and the fight against terrorism is now far and away the top concern for the French public even amid a sluggish economy and near-record joblessness. Whereas unemployment was cited as the over-riding issue among a majority of voters in polls taken in early November, priorities changed after the Bataclan massacre later that month.” The Wall Street Journal: Islamic State Names New Leader Of Boko Haram “Islamic State said it appointed a new leader for Boko Haram, in a sign that the Nigerian Islamist insurgency is retooling under the command of the terrorist group. Sheik Abu Mossab al Bornawi was recently assigned to take command of the Nigerian insurgency, Islamic State’s weekly newsletter Al Naba said Tuesday. The article didn’t say what happened to Abubakar Shekau, the former face of Boko Haram, who hasn’t been seen in videos since early 2015. It also isn’t clear if Mr. Shekau’s followers support the change in management. Boko Haram, whose war with Nigeria’s government has left more than 30,000 people dead, declared loyalty to Islamic State in 2015. Mr. Bornawi told al Naba that the two groups have decided ‘to fight and unite under one umbrella.’” The Guardian: Turkey Coup Plotters' Use Of 'Amateur' App Helped Unveil Their Network “Turkish authorities were able to trace thousands of people they accuse of participating in an underground network linked to last month’s failed military coup by cracking the weak security features of a little-known smartphone messaging app. Security experts who looked at the app, known as ByLock, at the request of Reuters said it appeared to be the work of amateur software developers and had left important information about its users unencrypted. A senior Turkish official said Turkish intelligence cracked the app earlier this year and was able to use it to trace tens of thousands of members of a religious movement the government blames for last month’s failed coup. Members of the group stopped using the app several months ago after realising it had been compromised, but it still made it easier to swiftly purge tens of thousands of teachers, police, soldiers and justice officials in the wake of the coup.” Reuters: Italy Investigating Possible Islamic State Role In Migrant Flows “Italy is investigating whether Islamic State is involved in organizing the passage of tens of thousands of migrants across the Mediterranean, its justice minister said on Wednesday. The Turkey to Greece migration route has been largely shut down since a repatriation deal was struck between the European Union and Ankara in March, but hundreds of people are arriving in Italy every day, mostly from Libya. Criminal gangs have taken advantage of chaos in Libya to charge mainly sub-Saharan Africans, looking for a better life in Europe, hundreds of dollars to make the voyage. ‘From the information available, there is an investigation underway focused on whether representatives of ISIS (Islamic State) have crucial roles in controlling and managing migrant flows to Italy,’ Justice Minister Andrea Orlando told a parliamentary committee.” United States Reuters: Pentagon Not To Pay Pakistan $300 Million In Military Reimbursements “The Pentagon will not pay Pakistan $300 million in military reimbursements after U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter decided not to tell Congress that Pakistan was taking adequate action against the Haqqani network, a U.S. official said. Relations between the two countries have been frayed over the past decade, with U.S. officials frustrated by what they term Islamabad's unwillingness to act against Islamist groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network. ‘The funds could not be released to the Government of Pakistan at this time because the Secretary has not yet certified that Pakistan has taken sufficient action against the Haqqani network,’ Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said on Wednesday.” Syria Reuters: Syrian Government Forces Hit Hospitals In Aleppo's 'Worst Week': Rights Group “Syrian government forces launched air strikes against six hospitals in the Aleppo area within a week in attacks that amounted to war crimes, a U.S.-based rights group said on Wednesday. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said it was the worst week for attacks on medical facilities in the Aleppo region since the beginning of Syria's five-year conflict, which has killed more than 250,000 people. The medical facilities were hit between July 23 and 31, the New York-based group said. The city and province of Aleppo have been among the areas hardest hit by intensifying violence as peace efforts earlier this year failed and a fragile ceasefire crumbled.” BBC: Syria Aleppo Siege: Government Forces 'Roll Back Rebel Gains' “Government forces have reportedly gained ground after a rebel offensive in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Intense fighting has continued since the weekend, when rebels started trying to break a government siege of rebel-held areas. The army has been fighting back with the help of Russian air strikes to stop the rebels breaking through. About a quarter of a million civilians are living under siege since government forces cut them off last month. On Wednesday, Russian state television ran pictures of civilians and fighters leaving the city through so-called humanitarian corridors. The network RTR says seven such corridors are currently open.” BBC: Syria 'Toxic Attack': Aleppo Rebels Accused By Russia “The Russian military says it has informed the US that it believes rebels in the Syrian city of Aleppo have deployed ‘toxic substances’. Syrian state media says toxic gas was contained in shells that rebels have been firing at government-held areas in the divided city. Russian news agency Interfax says seven people died and more than 20 were hospitalised after Tuesday's attack. There has been no independent confirmation of the claim. It comes after reports from a rebel-held town in Idlib province that chlorine gas was dropped on it late on Monday after a Russian military helicopter had earlier been shot down nearby.” Turkey Reuters: Turkey Sees Swift Overhaul Of Intelligence Agency, Gendarmerie After Coup “Turkey will soon complete an overhaul of its intelligence agency and make new appointments to its gendarmerie as it tries to rid its security apparatus of the followers of a U.S.-based cleric blamed for an attempted coup, officials said on Wednesday. President Tayyip Erdogan said new appointments in the gendarmerie, responsible for security in rural areas and key in the fight against Kurdish militants, would come within 48 hours. Interior Minister Efkan Ala said work on restructuring the MIT intelligence agency was ongoing and ‘should not take too long’. More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation following the July 15 coup attempt, prompting fears among Western allies and rights groups that Erdogan is using the events to crack down on dissent.” Yemen Associated Press: Security Council Fails To Agree On Support For Yemen Envoy “The Security Council failed to agree Wednesday on a statement supporting the U.N. special envoy to Yemen who is trying to get Shiite rebels to back a peace deal and end the 17-month civil war in the Arab world's poorest country. Yemen's internationally recognized government has approved the U.N.-proposed deal but Houthi rebels have so far rejected it. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters ‘the council was almost ready to make a joint pronouncement in support of the political process’ when a delegation made an unacceptable demand. Diplomats said Britain and other council members wanted a statement to criticize the Houthis for announcing a formal alliance with the country's ousted president and his former ruling party by setting up a new political council to rule the country, a step U.N. envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed described as jeopardizing peace efforts.” Egypt ISIS In Egypt Says Israel Will Soon 'Pay Heavy Price' “A video purportedly by Egypt's Islamic State affiliate has delivered a rare direct threat to Israel, saying the Jewish state will soon ‘pay a high price.’ The 35-minute video released on Monday directly threatens Jewish Israelis, saying ‘your account with us has become weighty and you will soon pay a high price.’ The authenticity of the footage could not immediately be verified, though its contents and production style mirrored previous ISIS propaganda material. ‘Jews will not remain in Palestine, we will turn it into a graveyard for Jews,’ Israeli media quoted the video as saying.” Middle East Reuters: Hezbollah Sees No Immediate End To Syria War, Partition In Iraq And Syria A Possible Outcome “Lebanon’s Hezbollah said the partition of Iraq and Syria was a possible outcome of sectarian fighting across the region and there was no prospect of any end to the war in Syria until after November's U.S. presidential election. Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy leader of the Iran-backed group, whose forces are fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad against rebels supported by Western and regional powers, said Hezbollah, Iran and Russia would stand by Assad until the end. In an interview with Reuters, he said recapturing Aleppo, Syria’s second major city where a decisive battle is unfolding, remained an objective but was not an immediate goal.”                                 The Times Of Israel: IS Plans To Hit US Air Bases In Mideast, Warn Israelis Who Hacked Into IS Web Group “The Islamic State terror group has issued a specific call to leading activists to target air bases used by the US in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, an Israeli cyberintelligence company that claimed to have hacked the jihadist organization’s Telegram communication group warned on Wednesday. Intsights, a Herzliya-based intelligence company, hacked into what it said is the Islamic State’s Telegram group on the dark web in which the organization’s operatives disseminate terror attack plans among 500 leading activists, according to a (Hebrew) report on Channel 10.” Reuters: U.S., Israel Close Many Gaps In Defense Aid Talks, Hope For Deal Soon “The United States and Israel have closed many of the remaining gaps in negotiations over a new multibillion-dollar military aid package for Washington's top Middle East ally, and the two sides hope to reach a deal soon, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday. Jacob Nagel, acting head of Israel's national security council, wrapped up three days of closed-door discussions in Washington over a new 10-year defense pact, including a meeting with U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice. Drawn-out aid negotiations have underscored continuing friction between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over last year's U.S.-led nuclear deal with Iran, Israel's arch-foe. The United States and Israel have also been at odds over the Palestinians.” Nigeria BBC: Boko Haram In Nigeria: Abu Musab Al-Barnawi Named As New Leader “The Islamic State (IS) militant group has announced that its West African affiliate Boko Haram has a new leader. Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who was previously spokesman for the Nigerian-based Islamists, is featured in the latest issue of an IS magazine. It does not say what has become of the group's former leader Abubakar Shekau. He was last heard from in an audio message last August, saying he was alive and had not been replaced - an IS video released in April said the same. Boko Haram, which has lost most of the territory it controlled 18 months ago, is fighting to overthrow Nigeria's government. Its seven-year insurgency has left 20,000 people dead, mainly in the country's north-east.” United Kingdom BBC: Russell Square Stabbings: One Dead, Five Hurt In London Attack “A woman has died and five other people were injured in a knife attack in Russell Square, central London. Police were called at 22:33 BST on Wednesday to reports of a man injuring people with a knife, including a woman in her 60s who later died. Police using a Taser arrested a man of 19 who is being held under armed guard at hospital. The Met said mental health was a ‘significant factor’ in events. London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for the public to remain ‘calm and vigilant’. Two other women and three men received various injuries in the attack, Scotland Yard confirmed later. The Met's assistant commissioner for specialist operations, Mark Rowley, said the force's homicide command was leading the investigation into the attack, with support from the counter-terrorism unit.” BBC: Two Arrests In Coventry Over Syria-Related Terrorism Offences “Two men have been arrested in Coventry on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences. The men, aged 38 and 40, were arrested at separate addresses and are being held on suspicion of financing terrorism. The arrests were part of a continuing investigation and intelligence-led. There was no immediate threat to public safety, West Midlands Police said. Officers from its counter terrorism unit are searching the addresses. Both men have been released on bail, police have confirmed.” BBC: 'Worrying' Rise In Anti-Semitic Incidents, Charity Says “The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK rose by 11% in the first six months of this year, charity figures have suggested. The Community Security Trust said 577 incidents targeting Jews were reported to the charity from January to June, up from 473 in the same period last year. The charity's chief executive, David Delew, said it was a ‘worrying trend’. Home Secretary Amber Rudd condemned the ‘deplorable rise’ of incidents, which included 41 violent assaults. The CST, which has compiled data on anti-Semitic hate incidents in the UK since 1984, said there was no ‘obvious single cause’ for the high number.” Newsweek: Britain Bombs Saddam Palace Used By ISIS As Foreign Fighter Base In Iraq “British fighters jets have bombed a former palace built by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and now used by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) as a training center for foreign fighters. In footage released to Newsweek by the U.K. Ministry of Defense, British jets can be seen conducting strikes on the complex situated near the Tigris River in Mosul. Two RAF Tornados dropped 900 kilogram bombs on the headquarters Monday. The complex served as a training center, as well as outhouses used for ‘repression,’ according to the ministry. ISIS has controlled Mosul, Iraq’s second-biggest city, since June 2014 after its fighters launched a lightning offensive that forced the Iraqi security services protecting the city to flee their posts.” Germany The Wall Street Journal: Germany Discusses Enlisting Military Help At Home To Fight Terrorism “As hundreds of police officers hit the streets of Munich last month fearing a terrorist attack, Germany’s defense minister broke a national taboo: She ordered soldiers to prepare to step in. After police found a lone teenage shooter, not a team of terrorists, killed nine victims and himself, the 100-strong army unit didn’t leave its base. But the minister’s unprecedented command, and three other acts of violence that shocked Germany in late July, are spurring debate about a World War II legacy. Germany’s postwar constitution—intended to protect democracy after the Nazi era—forbids the army from deploying at home, except for defense against invasion or in case of natural disasters or extreme emergencies. Last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel, under pressure to reassure anxious Germans, presented a nine-point counterterrorism plan that included training the army to assist police in dealing with a terror attack.” France The Wall Street Journal: France, Insurers Working To Shore Up Terror Compensation Fund “The surge in terror attacks across France is draining a fund for compensating victims faster than the insurance industry can replenish it. President François Hollande ’s government has been in talks with France’s largest insurer AXA SA and other industry players since February about how insurance companies can shore up funding of a government-run program that pays families of terror victims and people injured in attacks, AXA France Chief Executive Jacques de Peretti told analysts on Friday. Government officials said they aim to announce an agreement in September. The potential shortfall is a measure of how the insurance industry must adapt to what some are calling a ‘new normal’ across the continent, in which people inspired by Islamic State and other radical groups carry out attacks on cafes, concert venues and other so-called soft targets with greater frequency.” Europe The New York Times: How A Secretive Branch Of ISIS Built A Global Network Of Killers “With European officials stretched by a string of assaults by seemingly unconnected attackers who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, Mr. Sarfo suggested that there may be more of a link than the authorities yet know. He said he was told that undercover operatives in Europe used new converts as go-betweens, or ‘clean men,’ who help link up people interested in carrying out attacks with operatives who can pass on instructions on everything from how to make a suicide vest to how to credit their violence to the Islamic State. The group has sent ‘hundreds of operatives’ back to the European Union, with ‘hundreds more in Turkey alone,’ according to a senior United States intelligence official and a senior American defense official, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.” Daily Caller: Elite ISIS Branch Planning Multiple Attacks Across Europe “An elite special operations branch within the Islamic State is creating a network of hundreds of foreign fighters who are actively planning multiple coordinated attacks across Europe. The branch is known as Emni in Arabic, and is headed by chief ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, The New York Times reports. Adnani is famous for appearing in ISIS videos calling on would-be terrorists to carry out lone wolf attacks on non-believers, and even justifying the deaths of fellow muslims inadvertently killed. Emni reportedly identifies foreign fighters upon their arrival, and then tries to recruit them for operations abroad.” CNN: Europe Received Record-Breaking 1.3 Million Asylum Applications In 2015 “Europe received a record-setting 1.3 million asylum applications in 2015, shattering the previous record in 1992 following the fall of the Soviet Union, according to the Pew Research Center. Half of the asylum seekers came from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq as violence in those countries has displaced millions. About 73% of the asylum seekers in 2015 were males, according to Pew researchers who analyzed data from Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency. Overall, 42% of the European asylum seekers last year were young men between the ages of 18 and 34.” ISIS Voice of Iraq: "ISIS Billionaire" Captured “The intelligence unit of the Iraqi Federal Police managed to track down and arrest Rashid Khalaf Dahi, a prominent ISIS leader and smuggler. He was captured in a security operation in the western part of Ar-Rutbah district, west of Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad). Dahi, who was born in 1970, is married to three women, the latest one a Syrian national. Raised as a simple shepherd in Ar-Rutbah district, he transformed into a "billionaire" with a personal fortune of over 5 billion dinars ($4.3 million) after becoming a major smuggler. Upon joining ISIS in 2014 he was nicknamed "Abu Mohammed al-Kubaisi." Shortly afterwards, he became the closest aide of senior ISIS terrorist Shaker Wahib. Al-Kubaisi assumed the role of "ISIS's intermediary" and desert guide on behalf of the organization, as well as the official in charge of "Sheep Zakat." Muslim Brotherhood Almasry Alyoum: Egyptian Pharmacists' Union Accuses Muslim Brotherhood Of Tarnishing Egyptian Pharmaceutical Image “Dr. Ahmed Abu Doma, Board Member and Spokesman of the Egyptian Pharmacists' Union, stated on Tuesday that the Muslim Brotherhood’s TV channels are attempting to distort the image of Egyptian pharmaceuticals. He indicated that he had received a surprising request to attend a TV interview Friday evening during which he was asked to present the Union’s point of view regarding the phenomenon of pharmaceutical fraud in Egypt. Dr. Abu Doma mentioned that he had noticed that the interviewer was deliberately and insultingly casting aspersions on Egypt's pharmaceutical industry and Egyptian pharmacists. He added that he immediately refuted the interviewer’s claims, maintaining that compared to the rest of the world, this phenomenon is less common in Egypt. He contended that the Muslim Brotherhood’s TV channels continue to mislead Egyptian officials and interview guests.” Almesryoon: Muslim Brotherhood’s Youth In Sudan Face Financial Crunch “Nearly 300 of the Muslim Brotherhood youth, who ran from Egypt to Sudan to escape the crackdowns by security forces following the ouster of former Egyptian president Morsi, are now encountering a financial crisis. This situation, which was uncovered at the end of last year, is now at the top of the agenda in the Muslim Brotherhood’s internal debate due to the severe cuts in student funding. The youth have made repeated complaints against the persons responsible for their wellbeing in Sudan. It should be noted that hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood students were forced to flee south after being pursued by the Egyptian security and judicial agencies. Scores of them were convicted; thus they opted to move to Sudan mainly due to low tuition fees compared to Qatar, Turkey, Malaysia and the UK.” Houthi Yemen Akhbar: Houthis Deduct Money From Employees' Salaries In Ibb “Government officials in Ar Radmah Directorate of Ibb Province (central Yemen) claimed on Wednesday that the Houthis were deducting large sums of money from their paychecks in support of what they called "the war effort." The employees maintained that the Houthis, led by their supervisor in Ar Radmah Directorate, nicknamed "Abu Jaber", had deducted 1500 riyals (about $6) from roughly 1000 Education Department employees, to address the needs of their military operations. In addition, Houthis prevented post offices from paying salaries and, instead, formed a committee tasked with disbursing payment to educators, health workers and others.” Abarah Press: Houthi Militia Robs Zakat Funds To Support War Effort “Local sources at the Yemeni Governorate of Taiz report that the militias belonging to the Houthis and former president Ali Saleh have been collecting Zakat donations under the pretext of supporting the war effort. The sources added that Mr. Abdul Aziz al Saudi, the security director of the Makbana and Al Ma'yan directorate on behalf of the Houthis, accompanied by militia members from the cities of Hajdah and Albarh, collects money from local stores and businesses. The sources estimate the amount of money collected under the Zakat banner from each business at anywhere between YR 25,000 ($116) and YR 100,000 ($465).”