Eye on Extremism - September 14, 2016

Eye on Extremism September 14, 2016 Deutsche Welle: US Destroys 'Islamic State' Chemical Weapons Plant In Iraq “A dozen US warplanes destroyed nearly 50 targets at an ‘Islamic State’ chemical weapons production plant in northern Iraq, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The barrage of airstrikes near the terrorist group's stronghold of Mosul targeted a converted pharmaceutical manufacturing plant and headquarters. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian told reporters the coordinated airstrikes on Monday took out a ‘significant chemical threat.’ IS has been accused of using mustard and chlorine gas against civilian and military targets in both Iraq and Syria. The airstrikes come as Iraqi security forces conduct ‘shaping’ operations around IS-held Mosul in anticipation of an offensive to retake Iraq's second-largest city.” Voice Of America: As Syrian Cease-fire Takes Hold, Iran’s Role Remains Murky “While Iran has said it publicly supports the cease-fire in Syria brokered by the United States and Tehran’s ally, Russia, it is not party to the agreement. International observers say that in the long run, they do not see Tehran supporting a full-fledged truce. They predict Iran will continue to engage anti-Syrian-government forces on the battlefield. ‘Iran and its proxies in Syria, including Lebanese Hezbollah, are equally insistent that Assad must remain in power, while the main Syrian opposition group insists in negotiations that President Bashar al-Assad must step down within six months of a transitional process,’ said Phillip Smyth, a Syria analyst at the University of Maryland. Tehran says it will not compromise on Assad’s status, especially because it has lost hundreds of fighters — including some top commanders — in battles backing Assad.” New York Times: Scaling Up A Drug Trade, Straight Through ISIS Turf “The investigators for Italy’s antidrug unit were used to measuring the flow of hashish from Moroccan fields to European shores one speedboat or Jet Ski at a time. So when the phone rang with a tip that an enormous freighter loaded with hashish was plying international waters south of Sicily — bound for Libya, hundreds of miles to the east of the usual quick drug route to Spain — Francesco Amico, a senior investigator, immediately knew something odd was going on. Not just odd, but huge: When two Italian Navy warships eventually stopped the freighter, the Adam, off the Libyan coast on April 12, 2013, agents found a terrified Syrian crew and 15 metric tons of hashish — a stash many multiples larger than Italian officials had ever seen.” CNN: Pentagon Mulls Sending More Troops To Fight ISIS In Iraq “The Pentagon is in the preliminary stages of discussing whether to send more Special Operations forces to advise and assist Iraqi forces as the two countries get ready for the assault to retake Mosul from ISIS, CNN has learned. The deliberations are a reflection of how difficult the fight for Iraq's second-largest city may be, and the need to defeat ISIS there for the credibility of the Iraqi government. At this point, there are no formal proposals for how many troops might be needed for such an advise-and-assist role, and, if they are dispatched, when that would be, defense officials emphasized.” CNN: ISIS Women Post Growing Challenge To Europe “The days of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria conquering vast swaths of territory for its "caliphate" seem to have come to an end. But even as it is defeated by multiple armies on the battlefield, the headline-hungry terrorist group is far from finished. The next chapter in the horror-inducing history of ISIS is likely to feature women doing the killing -- and Europe could provide the principal stage. Of course, this should have been clear for months to anyone watching the philosophy, trajectory, strategy and tactics of the group. But now we have confirmation, with a string of arrests in Paris in recent days.” New York Post: ISIS Butchers Hang Prisoners From Meat Hooks “Sadistic ISIS executioners with a fondness for “Mission: Impossible” hung prisoners upside down from meat hooks and then slit their throats inside a Syrian slaughterhouse, a newly released video shows. About two dozen people were killed during the sickening 12-minute video released by Islamic State sickos, according to the human-rights group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently. The humanitarian group’s founder, Abu Mohammed, described it as “the worst video we saw” and added that the victims were butchered “like sheep.” New York Times: Israel Denies Claims That Syria Shot Down Warplane And Drone “The Israeli military said on Tuesday that Syrian forces had fired two surface-to-air missiles after Israeli aircraft targeted artillery positions in the Syrian Golan Heights overnight, but it categorically denied a claim by the Syrians that they had shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone. It was not immediately clear whether the Syrian antiaircraft fire early Tuesday, a rare response to an Israeli air incursion, was intended to hit the Israeli planes or to serve as a warning. Syria’s state news agency, SANA, cited the country’s General Command of the Army and Armed Forces as saying that defense forces responded to an attack by “the Israeli enemy’s air force” on a military position in the southern province of Quneitra around 1 a.m.” RT: Rise Of ISIS In Afghanistan Is Threat To Russia – Moscow “The rise of Islamic State in Afghanistan poses serious security concerns for Russia, Moscow has said, adding that Washington bears responsibility for the current chaos in the country. Moscow ‘is concerned over the rise of Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL] in Afghanistan because it has far-reaching geopolitical consequences for Russian safety,’ said Zamir Kabulov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's director of the Second Asian Department in Afghanistan. Kabulov served as Russian envoy to Afghanistan in 2004-2009 and is currently a special representative of the Russian president on Afghanistan. Kabulov said that about 2,500 Islamic State combatants are currently in Afghanistan. ‘They [Islamic State] continue to recruit people and enhance their combat capabilities. If they are not restrained then the chances are that we will have to face an even more powerful force,’ Kabulov said.” Voice Of America: Tensions Flare Between Turkey, Kurds Over Syria’s Manbij “Tensions are on the rise between Turkey and the YPG Syrian Kurdish militia, centering on the fate of the Syrian city of Manbij. Ankara is demanding the YPG withdraw from Manbij and allow Free Syrian Army forces to take control, a call that has so far been rejected. Turkish military forces entered Syria last month, backing elements of the Free Syrian Army. The Turkish incursion is targeting both the Islamic State and the YPG. Ankara accuses the Kurdish militia of being terrorists linked to the outlawed PKK Kurdish rebel group and of seeking to carve out an independent state on Turkey’s border. Last month's capture of Manbij by YPG forces operating within the coalition of the Syrian Democratic Forces set alarm bells ringing in Ankara.” The Hindu: 5 Al-Qaeda Operatives Killed By US Drone In Yemen “Five operatives of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda branch were killed when a US drone strike targeted their vehicle in Yemen’s central province of al-Bayda on Tuesday, a military official told Xinhua. The military source confirmed that missiles fired from the unmanned US aircraft destroyed a vehicle carrying al-Qaeda operatives in the mountains of Radaa area in central al-Bayda province. The military source said that “the slain al-Qaeda men were apparently travelling from Marib province and heading to meet their comrades in the al-Bayda province”.” Reuters: 35 Dead In Boko Haram, Niger Clash “Niamey - Thirty members of Boko Haram and five soldiers from Niger have been killed in fighting in the southeastern Diffa region of Niger, the defence ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday. The clash took place on Monday near the village of Toumour, near Lake Chad and the Nigerian border, an area that has been plagued by violence from the Islamist militant group and is under an extended state of emergency.” Voice Of America: France Looks At Its Prisons As Ground Zero In Terror Battle “Reports of new incidents trickle in steadily through the French media. Ten radical Islamists are quietly removed from the massive Fleury-Merogis prison over fears of an uprising. In another prison, homemade weapons are discovered in the cell of at least one suspected radical. Then there was the stabbing of two prison guards earlier this month - an incident that prosecutors are investigating for terrorist motives. French prisons have long been criticized as overcrowded incubators of Islamist militants; but, as the leftist government tries to grapple with terrorism both at home and abroad, its proposals for fighting radicalization within its penitentiary system are being criticized on multiple fronts.” Associated Press: France's First Official Anti-Radicalization Center To Open “The veil has been lifted on what is billed as France's first center to prevent those on the road to radicalization from becoming extremists. Officials said Tuesday that the center in a small town in western France would take in a half-dozen volunteers without a judicial history by month's end. The center is to be the model for others and will hold a maximum of 25 people, aged between 18 and 30, who will stay in the converted domain for up to 10 months. Some townsfolk in Beaumont-en-Veron, 340 kilometers (210 miles) from Paris, have protested the newcomers' arrival, fearing a security risk. Numerous private efforts to de-radicalize youth in day centers or homes exist, but this is the first official center.” United States Fox News: Obama To Veto Bill Letting 9/11 Families Sue Saudi Arabia, White House Confirms “The White House confirmed Tuesday that President Obama plans to veto newly passed legislation allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia – laying the groundwork for a showdown with Congress. The bipartisan bill gained final approval Friday in the House. The White House now has the legislation, and spokesman Eric Schultz said aboard Air Force One that Obama intends to veto. He said the legislation is contrary to how the U.S. has conducted business on the international stage for decades. The administration for months has argued the legislation could harm the country’s relationship with Saudi Arabia -- and cautioned that if the door is opened for U.S. citizens to take the Saudis to court, then a foreign country could in turn sue the United States.” The New York Times: Details Of Syria Pact Widen Rift Between John Kerry And Pentagon “The agreement that Secretary of State John Kerry announced with Russia to reduce the killing in Syria has widened an increasingly public divide between Mr. Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who has deep reservations about the plan for American and Russian forces to jointly target terrorist groups. Although President Obama ultimately approved the effort after hours of debate, Pentagon officials remain unconvinced. On Tuesday at the Pentagon, officials would not even agree that if a cessation of violence in Syria held for seven days — the initial part of the deal — the Defense Department would put in place its part of the agreement on the eighth day: an extraordinary collaboration between the United States and Russia that calls for the American military to share information with Moscow on Islamic State targets in Syria.” CNN: Largest-Ever US Military Aid Package To Go To Israel “The Obama administration is upping aid to Israel as part of the largest pledge of military assistance in US history. Israel is set to get about $38 billion over 10 years, according to congressional and administration sources, up from the approximately $30 billion decade-long deal that expires in 2018. The Memorandum of Understanding sealing the arrangement will be signed Wednesday at the State Department. Talks to reach an agreement took months, unfolding behind closed doors at a time when US-Israel ties were strained by tensions between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli frustration over the nuclear pact with Iran.” Syria Newsweek: Syria Truce Leads To Significant Decrease In Violence “Syria has seen a significant drop in violence in the 24 hours since a cessation of hostilities came into effect, the U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday. Although there was some violence after sunset on Monday, by early morning the guns had fallen almost entirely silent, and U.N. aid trucks should be able to move very soon if the Syrian government issued authorization letters, he said. ‘Today calm appears to have prevailed across Hama, Latakia, Aleppo city and Rural Aleppo and Idlib, with only some allegations of sporadic and geographically isolated incidents,’ de Mistura told reporters in Geneva. Damascus and central Syria were also calm but there were some reports of clashes between government and opposition forces around Harasta and fighting in Quneitra between government forces and the Nusra Front, a group that is excluded from the ceasefire and which has renamed itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.” CNN: Syrian Ceasefire Appears To Hold, But Aid Deliveries Are On Standby “A nervous calm appears to have descended on Syria on the first full day of a ceasefire, but aid has not yet been able to reach besieged populations. Aid agencies stand poised to distribute much-needed assistance but say they are awaiting guarantees of security from all parties before beginning their deliveries to hundreds of thousands of desperate Syrians. The Syrian Foreign Ministry says it refuses any entry of humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo, a priority for aid agencies, unless it is coordinated through the Syrian government and United Nations -- especially aid coming from Turkey, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported"             BBC: Syria Conflict: Life Returns To Jarablus After IS Flees “They stand on the central roundabout in Jarablus, exposed to the whole town: three iron posts where enemies were executed. Bodies, or body parts, were nailed to them, beside a black billboard reading ‘Martyrs' Square’. This is where so-called Islamic State (IS) meted out its justice. It is just one of the vestiges of brutality during the jihadists' control. We were allowed in by the Turkish authorities to see Jarablus, recently liberated by rebel soldiers from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), backed by the Turkish military. It was recaptured within a day; IS appeared to have largely withdrawn before the troops arrived. On the short drive across the border from Turkey, the impact of war is clear: some buildings lie in rubble, destroyed by airstrikes or heavy fighting.” The Wall Street Journal: Syrian Government Sieges Drive Out Sunni Population “The Syrian government is pressing a systematic effort to alter the country’s demographics and tighten President Bashar al-Assad ’s grip on power, United Nations officials and opposition figures said. The government is pushing to seal deals for the surrender or evacuation of rebel strongholds despite the U.S.- and Russia-sponsored cease-fire, which began Monday and appeared to take firmer hold on its first full day Tuesday. Both sides traded accusations of violations, but residents and activists said battlefields were noticeably calmer than the day before. The Assad government has long used sieges—sometimes to the point of starvation—to force local populations to agree to cease-fires, surrender and evacuations, leading to the displacement of thousands of people.” Turkey Reuters: Turkish Air Strikes Kill Three Suspected PKK Militants In Southeast “Turkish air strikes killed three suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group on Tuesday in the southeastern town of Semdinli near the borders with Iran and Iraq, Turkish security sources said. The air strikes came a day after suspected PKK militants detonated a car bomb near local government offices in the city of Van further north, wounding 50 people including four police officers and four Iranian citizens. Southeastern Turkey has suffered numerous bombings since the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy in the region, abandoned a ceasefire in 2015. The PKK is considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union, as well as by Turkey.” Reuters: Kurdish Militants Claim Car Bombing In Southeast Turkey “Kurdish militants claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a car bombing in Turkey's southeastern city of Van a day earlier and said it was partly a response to the removal from office of two dozen mayors from Kurdish-run municipalities. The blast, close to local government offices, wounded around 50 people, including four police officers and four Iranian citizens thought to have been visiting during the Muslim Eid holiday, officials said. The bombing came a day after Turkey appointed new administrators in 24 Kurdish-run municipalities, most of them in the largely-Kurdish southeast, after removing their mayors over suspected militant links, triggering protests.” The Wall Street Journal: Turkey Formally Asks U.S. To Arrest Fethullah Gulen “Turkey has requested that U.S. authorities detain the Turkish Muslim cleric living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses of masterminding a failed coup that killed at least 271 people in July, according to the state Anadolu news agency. The request comes amid a complex and lengthy extradition process that Turkey is pursuing to have Fethullah Gulen, a onetime ally of the Turkish leader, stand trial in his homeland on charges including leading a terrorist organization, organizing a coup attempt and a variety of financial misdeeds. Mr. Gulen vigorously denies any wrongdoing and says that he is opposed to violence and that the charges against him are part of a political vendetta that started after his supporters in Turkey’s civil service and media in 2013 started investigating and publishing corruption allegations against politicians close to the president.” Yemen ABC News: Photos Of Malnourished Children Show Horrors Of Yemen's Forgotten War “Photos from Yemen show that malnourished children are some of the victims of an overlooked conflict: Yemen’s 18-month-long civil war. President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, supported by an alliance of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, is fighting against the Houthi group and supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The conflict intensified after U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait last month ended without an agreement. The war has led to a lack of food and jobs and is deeply affecting the country’s economy, health system and the health of children.” Middle East Reuters: Record New U.S. Military Aid Deal For Israel To Be Signed In Days: Sources “The United States and Israel have reached final agreement on a record new package of at least $38 billion in U.S. military aid and the 10-year pact is expected to be signed this week, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The deal will represent the biggest pledge of U.S. military assistance made to any country but also involves major concessions granted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to officials on both sides. Those include Israel’s agreement not to seek additional funds from Congress beyond what will be guaranteed annually in the new package, and also to phase out a special arrangement that has allowed Israel to spend part of its U.S. aid on its own defense industry instead of on American-made weapons, the officials said.” The Jerusalem Post: Netanyahu Aide: Hamas Rejects Israeli Offer For Prisoner Exchange Deal “Hamas rejected calls for a prisoner exchange deal in return for the bodies of IDF soldiers along with Israeli nationals held in Gaza, a representative from the Prime Minister's Office said Tuesday. IDF Col. (Res.) Lior Lotan, said at a conference at the Institute for Policies Against Terror that Hamas is responsible for the fact that two Israeli civilians and the remains of two IDF soldiers have not been returned to their families. Lotan placed responsibility on the Hamas leadership for preventing a deal to return the bodies of Lt. Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who both fell in the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, along with the return of two Israeli citizens who crossed into the Gaza Strip. In a rare reference to the issue, Lotan said Hamas has rejected unprecedented proposals offered by Israel to return 19 Hamas prisoners arrested by IDF forces in 2014 and another 19 bodies of Hamas operatives killed during combat, in exchange for the Israeli soldiers' remains.” The Wall Street Journal: Israel Targets Syrian Army Position After Cross-Border Fire “Israel hit artillery positions in Syria on Tuesday in what its military said was a response to a shell that struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Israel denied the Syrian army’s claim that it brought down an Israeli plane and a drone after they targeted one of its positions in Quneitra province on the border near the Golan Heights. The Israeli military said two surface-to-air missiles fired by the Syrian military failed to hit its aircraft early Tuesday. ‘At no point was the safety of [Israeli military] aircraft compromised,’ it said. The Israeli military said it would respond to any cross-border shellfire, reaffirming a longstanding policy of holding Damascus responsible for any fire on Israeli territory that originates on Syrian soil.” Libya Associated Press: Western Nations Urge Libya General To Give Up Oil Terminals “The United States and five Western nations have called upon forces loyal to a Libyan general to withdraw from three eastern oil terminals seized earlier this week, drawing a rebuke Tuesday from the internationally recognized parliament. The U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain said the U.N.-brokered government based in the capital, Tripoli, is the ‘sole steward of these resources,’ adding that ‘Libya's oil belongs to the Libyan people.’ ‘We also call on all forces to avoid any action that could damage Libya's energy infrastructure or further disrupt its exports,’ said the joint statement, issued late Monday. It also warned against ‘illicit oil exports.’” United Kingdom RT: British ‘White Widow’ Reportedly Training Women Jihadists To Attack West “British ‘jihadist bride’ Sally Jones is reportedly heading a new wave of all-female Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) cells with their children in tow, helping them to prepare revenge attacks on the West. The so-called ‘white widow’ is a former punk rocker from Kent who converted to Islam and traveled to Syria with her 11-year-old son Joe ‘JoJo’ Dixon to marry terrorist hacker Junaid Hussain. He was killed in a US drone strike in Raqqa last year. Jones, 47, has apparently since been leading the female wing of the Anwar al-Awlaki battalion, which is made up of foreign fighters and designed to carry out terrorist attacks abroad. Jones, who now goes by the name of Umm Hussain al-Britani, trains the soldiers in combat and strategies for ‘suicide missions against western targets,’ according to an IS defector who spoke to the Mirror.” BBC: Teen From West London Charged With Terror Offence “A teenager from west London has been charged with a terrorism offence. The 19-year-old from Hounslow is accused of preparing to commit acts of terrorism between 12 April and 9 September this year. He has been remanded in custody and is due before Westminster Magistrates' Court later. He was arrested last Thursday with two others who have been bailed, Scotland Yard said.” BBC: Man Arrested On Suspicion Of Terror Offences In Kensington “A man has been arrested by officers in London on suspicion of terror offences. The 61-year-old was arrested at about 16:10 BST in Kensington, south London on Monday. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing an article for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism, the Met said. He remains in custody and a search is under way at an address in south London.” CNN: Britain's Libya Intervention Based On Slippery Intel, Inquiry Finds “Britain's military intervention in Libya was based on ‘inaccurate intelligence’ and ‘erroneous assumptions,’ a report released Wednesday found, pointing the finger at former Prime Minister David Cameron for failing to develop a sound Libya strategy. The United Kingdom and France led the international intervention in Libya in 2011 with the aim of protecting civilians from forces loyal to then-leader Moammar Gadhafi. ‘The consequence was political and economic collapse, inter-militia and inter-tribal (warfare), humanitarian and migrant crises, widespread human rights violations and the growth of ISIL in North Africa,’ the report said, using an alternative name for the ISIS militant group, which has gained control of parts of Libya.” Germany The Wall Street Journal: Three Suspected ISIS Fighters Detained In Germany “German police on Tuesday detained three men believed to be members of Islamic State, officials said, in what is believed to be the first arrests of a group of foreign fighters sent to Germany by the extremist group. The three men traveled to Germany on Syrian passports last November, possibly to carry out an attack, and have connections to the militants who carried out suicide bombings and mass shootings for Islamic State in Paris the same month, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said. The men—ages 17, 18 and 26—appear to have used the same human traffickers and obtained their passports from the same illegal workshop in the Middle East, Mr. de Maizière said.” Reuters: Top German Companies Say Refugees Not Ready For Job Market “Germany's blue-chip companies will have to explain to Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday why they have managed to hire fewer than 100 refugees after around a million arrived in the country last year. Merkel, fighting for her political life over her open-door policy, has summoned the bosses of some of Germany's biggest companies to Berlin to account for their lack of action and exchange ideas about how they can do better. Many of the companies say a lack of German-language skills, the inability of most refugees to prove any qualifications, and uncertainty about their permission to stay in the country mean there is little they can do in the short term.” France  Daily Mail: ISIS Executioner 'Orchestrating Atrocities In France'  “An ISIS killer thought to be orchestrating attacks in France has scolded male jihadists for not carrying out enough atrocities after an all-women terror cell was crushed by police. Officials believe French extremist Rachid Kassim, who has appeared in ISIS beheading videos, is a 'key instigator' directing hundreds of recruits using encrypted messaging apps. The 29-year-old fanatic, from a town north of Lyon, has emerged as the link among at least four plots to attack France since June - including an all-female gang arrested over a car packed with explosives left close to Notre Dame cathedral.” The Jerusalem Post: France's 'First All-Female ISIS Cell' Allegedly Sought To Strike Eiffel Tower “Authorities have reportedly uncovered the first all-female Islamic State cell in France after several suspects were detained over alleged plans to attack the Eiffel Tower. The four-woman cell's purported leading member was arrested last week in connection to an explosives-laden car found near another Paris landmark - the Notre Dame cathedral. The leading suspect, an alleged 29-year-old mother-of-three was named as Ornella Gilligman. She reportedly told French authorities that her jihadi cell had preferred to target the iconic Eiffel Tower, and not in fact the cathedral. The other three members of France's purported first all-female ISIS cell were supposedly named as Ines Madani, 19, Sarah Hervouet, 23, and Amel Sakaou, 39. As of Sunday, authorities were still questioning the three.” Europe Reuters: Italy Ready To Open Hospital In Libya, Deploy 300 Soldiers And Staff “Italy is ready to set up a military hospital and deploy medics, soldiers and support staff in Libya at the request of the United Nations-recognized government in Tripoli, Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said on Tuesday. A 100-strong ‘force protection’ unit will protect the hospital at the western city of Misrata, which will be staffed by 65 doctors and nurses and 135 support staff. ‘We are ready,’ Pinotti told a parliamentary commission on the situation in Libya, which lies less than 500 km (310 miles) from Sicily in southern Italy. Libyan forces aligned with the U.N.-backed government have been facing stiff resistance from holdouts at Islamic State's former stronghold of Sirte for months.” Syria All4syria: Assad's Regime To Appropriate Gulf State Investments To Finance The War “Some sources have expressed fears that the government of Bashar al-Assad will issue decisions to seize investments in Syria owned by {institutional} investors from the Gulf states and from the their private sector. Informed sources in the Syrian capital, Damascus, claimed that decisions are being discussed by the Syrian regime to expropriate investments by Gulf states in an attempt to finance the troubled {Syrian} economy. The sources, which asked not to be identified, added: "Decisions may come on several levels. They may start off by cancelling Gulf investments or seizing real estate and financial projects.” Combating the Financing of Terrorism The New Arab: Jordanian Banks Undertake Self-Assessment Regarding Risks Of Money Laundering And Terror Financing “The Central Bank of Jordan requested that all banks operating in the country start conducting self-assessments of risks related to money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which each bank is facing. The Central Bank, in a circular issued to banks {in the kingdom}, outlined the need to take essential and effective measures to reduce those risks. The Central Bank also stressed the need to update this assessment on an annual basis, at least. The assessment, which should also be updated to reflect any change in the risks that the bank may be exposed to, must be delivered to the Central Bank in April of each year. This comes as part of the strict measures being implemented by Jordan to tackle money laundering and potential terrorist financing, especially at this stage.” ISIS Akhbar Alaan: Former ISIS Leader Reveals Group's Methods To Cut Expenses “Former head of an ISIS diwan (governmental administrative office) in Raqqa said that the international coalition's air strikes targeting oil fields in regions under the organization's control, in addition to {hitting} its "banks", have inflicted heavy financial losses on it. This has forced ISIS to reduce most of its expenditures. The former official in the terror organization, who was identified only as "Abu Moaz" following his defection, maintained that ISIS has been undergoing financial hardships which have affected the equipping and arming of its fighters during warfare, consequently leading to its string of defeats. Abu Moaz added, "For example, each Wali {governor} used to own {a fleet of} several vehicles, but ISIS confiscated all the vehicles and left each Wali with just one car. Of course, not only were the governors affected, but also the Emirs saw the number of their cars reduced. Salaries of fighters were also cut, and there are no compensations for fighters. {Families of} dead militants do not receive stipends. ISIS has economized on everything, even on the food in prisons. Prisoners used to receive three meals a day in ISIS security prisons or Hisbah Islamic police prisons; they now serve prisoners just one meal a day.” Houthi 7adramout.Net: Yemen: Houthis 'Encourage' Businessmen And Traders To Supply Funds “Reliable sources in Sana'a revealed that Houthis and loyalists of the former {Yemeni} president have been pressuring businessmen and merchants to 'encourage' them to supply large amounts of money to the Central Bank. This move is designed to alleviate the repercussions of the unprecedented liquidity crisis. The sources confirmed that the businessmen and merchants were forced to provide an amount totaling 35 billion riyals ($140 million) in exchange for the right to enjoy reduced customs and taxes, which will be paid at the official dollar exchange rate at the Central Bank. This rate does not exceed 250 riyals against the dollar.”