Eye on Extremism May 25, 2016

Eye on Extremism May 25, 2016 New York Times: Taliban Name New Leader After Confirming Predecessor Died in U.S. Strike “The Taliban broke their silence early Wednesday over the death of their leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, confirming in a statement that he had been killed in an American drone strike. Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, a deputy to Mullah Mansour, was selected as the new leader of the Taliban, and Sarajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub were chosen as his deputies, the movement’s leadership council said in the statement. Mullah Yaqoub, believed to be no older than 25, is the son of the previous Taliban chief, Mullah Muhammad Omar, whose death was acknowledged in July 2015.” Fox News: Human Remains Suggest Explosion Brought Down Egyptair Plane, Forensics Official Says “Human remains recovered from the crash site of EgyptAir Flight 804 showed burn marks and were ‘very tiny,’ suggesting an explosion brought down the plane, a senior Egyptian forensics official told the Associated Press Tuesday. Meanwhile, a U.S. official briefed on the latest intelligence told Fox News, ‘All signs continue to point to terrorism.’ The official who spoke to the AP claimed he personally examined the remains of some of the plane's 66 passengers and crew at a Cairo morgue. He said all 80 pieces brought to Cairo so far are small and that ‘there isn't even a whole body part, like an arm or a head.’ He added that at least one part of an arm had signs of burns -- an indication it might have ‘belonged to a passenger sitting next to the explosion.’ The U.S. official speaking to Fox News said American satellites could have missed a potential explosion over the eastern Mediterranean.” Daily Mail: Bronx Man Who 'Used ISIS Beheading Videos As Motivation While He Worked Out' Arrested On Terror Charges During FBI Dawn Raid “A homegrown terrorist suspect was arrested in his Bronx home in a dawn raid Tuesday on charges of providing material support to ISIS and passport fraud. Sajmir Alimehmeti, 22, was rejected twice trying to enter the United Kingdom after his camouflage clothing, nunchakus and Islamic State flag images on his cellphone raised suspicions. The New York City man is also said to have put on ISIS decapitation videos to keep himself 'motivated' while he worked out, according to the criminal complaint. According to court papers, Alimehmeti tried this month to provide advice and assistance to a person he thought was traveling from New York to Syria to train and fight with the Islamic State. Federal investigators allege that the 22-year-old has spent the past two years trying to get to Raqqa, which he referred to as the 'heart' of ISIS's operation.” Reuters: U.S.-Backed Syrian Alliance Launches New Attack Near Islamic State Capital “A U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian militias launched a new offensive against Islamic State fighters near their de facto capital of Raqqa city on Tuesday, a monitoring group and an official said. The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance is the main Syrian partner for the U.S.-led alliance battling the Islamic State group that controls large areas of northern and eastern Syria. Its most powerful component is the Kurdish YPG militia. Aided by U.S.-led air strikes, the YPG has driven Islamic State from wide areas of northern Syria over the last year or more, though its advances have recently slowed. There has been no indication of when a full assault on Raqqa city might take place. A Kurdish official contacted by Reuters declined to say whether it was a target of the latest offensive.” BBC: Syria Conflict: IS 'Destroyed Helicopters' At Russian Base “New satellite imagery appears to reveal extensive damage to a strategically significant airbase in central Syria used by Russian forces after a reported attack by so-called Islamic State (IS). Four helicopters and 20 lorries were destroyed in a series of fires inside the T4 base last week, the images from intelligence company Stratfor suggest. The cause of the fires is unconfirmed. The Russian military has denied reports that it had lost helicopters at the base as a result of an IS attack. A news agency linked to IS, Amaq, was the first to report the incident, without saying what had caused the fires, says BBC Arabic Syria correspondent Rami Ruhayem.” Daily Caller: Experts Fear A US Arms Shipment To Libya Could End Up In ISIS Hands “The Obama administration is pushing for the United Nations to end a 2011 embargo on arms shipments to Libya in order to save the current regime from falling to the Islamic State, but some experts caution a U.S. arms shipment may end up in the hands of terror groups. In an effort to prevent the spread of ISIS, which metastasized after the U.S. toppled the Gadhafi regime, the Obama administration is looking to provide weapons and training to the Government of National Accord (GNA), which is a United Nations-endorsed state entity located in western Libya. The problem, according to U.S. Africa Command chief Army Gen. David M. Rodriguez, is it’s unclear which groups the Obama administration should support since assessing their allegiance to the GNA in Libya is incredibly difficult. To make matters worse, U.S. intelligence on the ground is patchy.” Newsweek: Extremist Cells Likely Stockpiling Explosives In EU For Attacks: Europol “Extremist cells in the European Union are likely stocking up on explosives for future attacks on European soil, a prominent EU security official said Monday. Manuel Navarrete Paniagua, the head of the European Counter Terrorism Centre at Europol, the EU’s police agency, told members of the EU parliament that intelligence gathered from EU member states suggests that extremists are attempting to stock up on their caches of explosive material as plots continue to be formed within the political bloc. ‘We have some information reported by the member states that terrorists groups are trying to establish large clandestine stockpiles of explosives in the European Union to be used eventually in large scale home attacks,’ he said in a briefing of the Europol report on EU extremism scheduled to be released within the next month.” RT: Refugee Reaction? Extremist Violence ‘Explodes’ In Germany In 2015, Far-Right Crimes Spike By Third “Crime statistics released by Germany’s Interior Ministry on Monday reveals that 2015 beats all yearly records in terms of politically-motivated crimes and acts of violence. Authorities believe the figures reflect a deepening polarization of German society. Although most of the recorded crimes are non-violent and deal with spreading extremist propaganda and inciting hatred, instances of violent crimes have also gone through the roof. Total growth of politically motivated crimes has shown a 19 percent surge compared to the previous year, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. An absolute majority (22,690) out of the total 38,981 politically-motivated crimes registered in 2015 were committed by far-right radicals, their activity growing by a third (34.9 percent). More than twice as little crimes (9,605) have been committed by the far-left troublemakers (18 percent growth).” The Washington Post: What’s Driving Silicon Valley To Become ‘Radicalized’ “Like many Silicon Valley start-ups, Larry Gadea’s company collects heaps of sensitive data from his customers. Recently, he decided to do something with that data trove that was long considered unthinkable: He is getting rid of it. The reason? Gadea fears that one day the FBI might do to him what it did to Apple in their recent legal battle: demand that he give the agency access to his encrypted data. Rather than make what he considers a Faustian bargain, he’s building a system that he hopes will avoid the situation entirely. In Silicon Valley, there’s a new emphasis on putting up barriers to government requests for data. The Apple-FBI case and its aftermath have tech firms racing to employ a variety of tools that would place customer information beyond the reach of a government-ordered search.” The New York Times: How Kosovo Was Turned Into Fertile Ground For ISIS “Every Friday, just yards from a statue of Bill Clinton with arm aloft in a cheery wave, hundreds of young bearded men make a show of kneeling to pray on the sidewalk outside an improvised mosque in a former furniture store. The mosque is one of scores built here with Saudi government money and blamed for spreading Wahhabism — the conservative ideology dominant in Saudi Arabia — in the 17 years since an American-led intervention wrested tiny Kosovo from Serbian oppression. Since then — much of that time under the watch of American officials — Saudi money and influence have transformed this once-tolerant Muslim society at the hem of Europe into a font of Islamic extremism and a pipeline for jihadists. Kosovo now finds itself, like the rest of Europe, fending off the threat of radical Islam. Over the last two years, the police have identified 314 Kosovars — including two suicide bombers, 44 women and 28 children — who have gone abroad to join the Islamic State, the highest number per capita in Europe.” Syria The Washington Post: U.S.-Backed Offensive In Syria Targets Islamic State’s Capital “A Kurdish-led force backed by U.S. airstrikes launched an offensive on Tuesday to seize territory around the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the first ground attack to directly challenge the Islamic State’s control of its self-proclaimed capital. Although the operation appears to have relatively limited goals, it will serve as an early test of a coalition being forged with U.S. help between local Arab fighters and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, to take on the militant group in its most symbolically significant stronghold. A few thousand Kurdish and Arab fighters — grouped under the umbrella of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes — began moving south from the existing front line about 30 miles north of Raqqa, according to a statement from the SDF and the U.S. military.” Newsweek: Russia Calls For Syria Truce After Attacks “Russia’s Ministry of Defence has called for a temporary truce to begin in two Syrian towns following a series of extremist attacks in the country that killed at least 150 people on Monday. Although militant group Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the blasts in the northern cities of Tartus and Jableh on Monday, Russia has called for calm in southern Syria, where it claims its observers have also observed militant groups mounting a push. The Ministry of Defence claimed Syrian government forces were not taking part in military operations in the towns of Daraya and Eastern Ghouta, outside Damascus. Russian officials reported militant group the al-Nusra Front was preparing an advance on the region.” Iraq USA Today: Iraq Hasn't Asked For Extra Help In Fallujah “Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday that Iraq's government has not made requests for extra help to support a recently launched offensive to recapture Fallujah from the Islamic State, a battle that will be a key test for Iraq’s U.S.-backed military. ‘The commanders there have not brought any request from the Iraqis,’ Carter said during a visit to a submarine base here. ‘We’re always willing to doing additional things.’ Carter said the United States is already providing extensive military support for Iraq’s military, including providing arms, surveillance, intelligence and advisers. The U.S.-led coalition has struck targets around Fallujah in recent days.” CNN: U.N. Fears For 10,000 Families Trapped In ISIS-Held Falluja As Iraq Army Advances “The United Nations says it fears for the safety of an estimated 10,000 families trapped in Falluja as Iraqi forces press in to retake the city from ISIS. Fierce fighting has been raging around Falluja since Iraq's military launched an offensive Monday to reclaim the traditionally Sunni-dominated city, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad, from the terror group. And with tens of thousands of residents unable to flee the clutches of ISIS, the U.N. fears that civilians will pay a heavy toll for the liberation of the city. Iraq's air force has airdropped thousands of leaflets on Falluja instructing residents to leave and promising them passage through ‘safe corridors’ established by the military to camps outside the city.” Turkey Reuters: Four Turkish Soldiers Killed By Roadside Bomb In Southeast - Security Sources “Four Turkish soldiers were killed and another four wounded on Tuesday by a roadside bomb thought to have been planted by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in the southeastern province of Van, security sources said. The PKK has waged an insurgency for more than three decades in the largely Kurdish southeast, to push for autonomy. Violence has surged since the collapse of a ceasefire last July.” BBC: Migrant Crisis: Turkey Could Block EU Deal Over Visas “Turkey's parliament will block a deal with the EU on migrants if Turks do not gain visa-free access to the bloc, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says. Access to the EU's passport-free Schengen area was a key demand by Turkey in an agreement struck in March. But the EU says Turkey still needs to meet certain conditions, including changes to its terror laws, before access can be granted. The agreement is aimed at halting the mass movement of people into Europe. Mr Erdogan has also said funds promised by the EU have not yet been released. Under the agreement, Turkey has to meet 72 conditions to earn visa-free access to the Schengen area by the end of June. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met Mr Erdogan on Monday, said there might not be enough time for it to be completed.” Afghanistan Associated Press: Official: Roadside Bombing In Southern Afghanistan Kills 5 “An Afghan official says at least five civilians were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in southern Kandahar province. Samim Khpolwak, the governor's spokesman, says the explosion, which took place in Shah Wali Kot district early on Tuesday, also wounded four people. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Kandahar is regarded by the Taliban as their heartland. It had been largely peaceful for some years until a recent resurgence in insurgent violence. In neighboring Helmand province, police chief Noor Agha Kemtoz says the Taliban shadow governor, Abdul Manan, was killed by Afghan security forces in Marjah district late on Monday.” Reuters: Afghanistan Says Taliban Shadow Governor In Helmand Killed “A senior Taliban leader identified by Afghan authorities as a shadow governor of the southern province of Helmand has been killed by security forces, officials said on Tuesday, although the Taliban immediately denied the report. The report came days after Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a U.S. airstrike in south western Pakistan. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand, said Mullah Muzamel had died of injuries sustained during an air strike in Marjah district late on Sunday. ‘First he was wounded and later that night he died of his wounds,’ Zwak said. Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said in a tweet that Muzamel had been killed in a special forces operation along with two of his commanders.” The New York Times: Shaken, Taliban Begin Effort To Replace Dead Leader, Mullah Mansour “For the second time in less than a year, senior Taliban leaders have convened in the Pakistani city of Quetta to deliberate how to replace a dead supreme leader. Unlike last summer’s gatherings, where some leaders arrived in convoys of hundreds of vehicles to choose Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour as the successor to their founding leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, Taliban figures described the tone of the meetings over the past three days as decidedly low-key, and even shocked. They described how the American drone strike that was said to have killed Mullah Mansour in Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province on Saturday also destroyed the perception that the protection they had received for years in their Pakistani havens could be permanent.” Yemen Reuters: Yemen University Bomb Kills Gardener, Injures Two Students “A bomb at Sanaa University killed a gardener and wounded at least two students on Tuesday, police and medical sources said, in a relatively rare attack on the Houthi-ruled Yemeni capital. A police official at the scene said the explosion appeared to have targeted an exhibition organized by the Houthi's Ansarullah group, which controls most of northern Yemen. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing. Islamist militants have exploited Yemen's 14-month civil war which has pitted the Iran-allied Houthis against supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is backed by a Saudi Arab coalition, to strike at both sides at will.” Egypt Newsweek: Metrojet Crash: Why The Insider Threat To Airport Security Isn't Just Egypt's Problem “Aviation security experts point out that the insider threat is not limited to airports in regions with a history of poverty, radicalism and conflict. In 2007, four men were arrested for conspiring to blow up the fuel tanks and pipeline at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport. One of the suspects was a former cargo worker at JFK. In 2010, British Airways staffer Rajib Karim was arrested in Newcastle, England, for plotting an aircraft bombing; he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2011. In 2013, a 58-year-old Muslim convert and avionics technician Terry Lee Loewen was nabbed in an FBI sting operation after attempting to explode a car bomb at the Wichita, Kansas, airport. And in 2014, Eugene Harvey, a baggage handler at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, was busted for helping an accomplice smuggle at least 125 guns by loading them onto flights between Atlanta and New York. All of those incidents took place at airports that employ some of the most sophisticated security technology and procedures in the world. Deadly attacks don’t have to be carried out by suicide bombers—or even by passengers.” Libya Deutsche Welle: Europe Sees Spike In Migrants Crossing From Libya “Some 3,000 migrants crossing from Libya to Europe were saved from rickety boats on Tuesday, the Italian coast guard said, bringing the total rescued in the past 48 hours to 5,600. The Italian coast guard, EU naval assets and Frontex, as well as a boat from a NGO and two tugs boats from an oil platform were involved in 23 operations. Separately, the Libyan coast guard has intercepted about 1,400 migrants on boats in its territorial waters since Sunday and brought them to camps in the country. European officials are concerned that with the onset of better weather a fresh flood of migrants will try to make the dangerous journey from Libya to Europe. So far this year, more than 37,000 people have been intercepted in the Mediterranean and taken to Italian ports. That number is slightly less than the same time last year. The majority of those using Libya as a springboard to reach Europe are from sub-Saharan Africa.” Nigeria Voice Of America: Sambisa Forest: An Ideal Hiding Place For Boko Haram “Boko Haram militants are believed to be holding hundreds of captives in Nigeria's Sambisa forest, including more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped in 2014. The armed forces of Nigeria and Cameroon are trying to free the hostages, but the forest is a good place for militants to hide and a dangerous place for soldiers to operate. The Sambisa forest reserve in northeastern Nigeria has been a key Boko Haram hideout for years. Colonel Boubakar Bakary, one of Cameroon's senior military officers, commanding troops fighting Boko Haram around the forest, says Sambisa is very dangerous because it is one of Boko Haram's main remaining strongholds.” United Kingdom The Guardian: Anti-Radicalisation Chief Says Ministers' Plans Risk Creating 'Thought Police' “The police chief leading the fight to stop people becoming terrorists has said government plans targeting alleged extremists are so flawed they risk creating a ‘thought police’ in Britain. Simon Cole, the police lead for the government’s own Prevent anti-radicalisation programme, said that the plans may not be enforceable and risk making police officers judges of ‘what people can and can not say’. His comments in a Guardian interview expose opposition in part of Britain’s security establishment against the planned Conservative government bill which was unveiled last week in the Queen’s speech.” BBC: Islamic State Group Recruited Practising NHS Doctor “An NHS doctor left his family in the UK and joined the Islamic State militant group in Syria, the BBC has learned from leaked IS recruitment papers. Dr Abuanza is a Palestinian doctor with British citizenship who spent seven years working for the NHS. He is the first practising NHS doctor known to have joined the Islamic State group. Security minister John Hayes said IS ‘target vulnerable people’. He added: ‘They also target children, but they target professionals too. They are trying to corrupt British people of all types, encouraging them to murder and maim their neighbours and to go and fight in Syria.’” Daily Mail: More Bomb Threats Hit British Schools As Sixteen More Are Closed Just A Day After 27 Were Evacuated  “At least 16 schools have been evacuated today after a series of chilling bomb threats were made. Police said 'significant enquiries' were underway after a 'number of schools' across the UK had to be evacuated and closed this morning following threats to bomb, shoot and behead children. Schools in Devon, North Wales, Northern Ireland, South Lanarkshire and across central Scotland have all been either shut or 'cordoned off' amid fears for pupils following the anonymous threats. The South West Counter Terrorism Unit - the national lead for such alerts - has now launched a nationwide investigation into the threats which it is treating as 'malicious hoax communications'. As part of its enquiries, the unit is speaking with law enforcement agencies in the US, police said.” France Associated Press: French President In Anti-Extremism Talks With Al-Azhar Imam “The French president has met with the grand imam of the prestigious Sunni Muslim center of learning Al-Azhar to share views on the fight against extremism. The presidency said Francois Hollande detailed France's priorities on the issue and that French authorities welcomed Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib efforts to combat radicalism. Earlier Tuesday, the Cairo-based grand imam went to the Bataclan concert hall to pay tribute to the victims of the attacks carried out by Islamic extremists that left 130 dead on Nov. 13. A French government plan presented this month includes the creation of de-radicalization facilities in every region by 2017.” Europe The Times of Israel: Woman Hurt In Stabbing At Amsterdam Kosher Restaurant “A woman was lightly wounded Monday in a stabbing incident at a kosher restaurant in Amsterdam. The woman was stabbed in her arm after 9 p.m. local time at Grand Café Rimon, the local television station AT5 reported. She was treated at a local hospital. Police arrested the alleged assailant, telling AT5 they had no indication the attack was a hate crime. Witnesses detained him until police arrived, the news site NH reported. Police were not immediately willing to say whether they believe the suspect and the victim knew each other.” The Wall Street Journal: Terror Attacks, Air Crashes Weaken Appetite For European Travel “A spate of terror attacks and airliner disasters across Europe and its periphery is starting to catch up with the region’s travel industry. Tourism officials and airline executives typically brace for a sudden drop in flight and hotel bookings after a terror-related incident or headline-grabbing aircraft accident. Those booking typically rebound quickly, though, often in just a matter of weeks. This time, however, things were starting to look different even before EgyptAir Flight 804 disappeared from the radar Thursday and plunged into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people aboard. Each time bookings seemed poised to start ticking back up, another deadly incident struck, extending the dismal streak.” Arabic Language Clips Financing of Terrorism Alkhaleej: Kuwait's Parliament Approves Amendment To The Financing Of Terrorism (Act) Kuwait's Parliament yesterday forwarded to the government a draft law amending Article 16 of Law No. 106 of 2013 dealing with combating money laundering and terror financing. This came following its approval in the first and second readings by consensus of the MPs attending. The parliament's budgets committee stated that the goal of the amendment of the 2013 law is to determine the status of the Kuwaiti Financial Investigation Unit's budget, in order to enable it to carry out its functions as an independent legal body which enjoys full financial and administrative independence. ISIS Gulf Eyes: ISIS Bars People In The Province Of Raqqa From Leaving The Areas Under Its Control With the imminent battle to liberate the Syrian city of Raqqa from ISIS's grip, fears are mounting among residents, particularly after the terror organization banned their departure from the areas under its control. Many Raqqa residents have tried to exit the city to the rural areas of Aleppo, which are not subject to ISIS's control. Meanwhile, private sources have revealed attempts by the leaders of ISIS to extort the money of residents in exchange for allowing them to leave Raqqa. A resident identified as Abu Hassan was quoted as saying, "I paid 100,000 Syrian pounds ($455) in exchange for ISIS's permission to leave the city of Raqqa." Muslim Brotherhood Fielkhabr: A Jordanian Official: Government Does Not Want The Brotherhood To Participate In The Elections A Jordanian official stressed that his government does not want the Muslim Brotherhood to take part in any future parliamentary or municipal elections. The official added that the government is still committed to the closure of the offices of the "Islamic Action Front (IAF)," the political arm of the unlicensed Brotherhood in the kingdom, despite numerous calls to re-open them. The official noted that this reiterates the government's stance towards the Brotherhood. He explained that this governmental policy shuts the door in the face of the Brotherhood, which is offering a new bargaining chip – participation in the parliamentary elections, which they had boycotted for nearly 20 years, in exchange for re-opening the offices of IAF and the group. The official emphasized, "The remarks by IAF Secretary General Mohammed al-Zayoud in a press release issued Monday, that the government practices systematic exclusion of the party from the political process in Jordan, make it clear that the government does not want the Brotherhood in the political process." Albosala: Brotherhood (In Jordan) Sues (Department) Of Land And Recently Licensed Society The Muslim Brotherhood group filed a lawsuit at Amman Court of First Instance against the Department of Land and Survey and its director, as well as the newly licensed Brotherhood Society, to prove its rights and keep its properties registered under its name. Lawyer Bassam Freihat noted in a statement that the lawsuit, filed by the Muslim Brotherhood group which demands the return of its property and validation of its ownership rights to it, came after a judicial warning sent by the group to the Department of Land and Survey and its director. In this warning, the group demanded cancelation of registration of its property under the name of the newly licensed Brotherhood Society. Houthi Ababiil Net: Houthi Militias Deduct Large Amounts Of Remittances To Finance Their War Effort The militias of Houthis and ousted Yemeni president Ali Saleh do not only loot funds of Yemenis in the homeland. They have also gotten their hands on money sent to Yemen by Yemeni expatriates from all around the world, especially in the US and the Gulf countries in favor of their so-called "war effort." Malek Alamari, a Yemeni citizen, claimed that since these militias took over the country they have deliberately stifled the economy by preventing foreign exchange trading in Yemen, either by hiding or looting it. He claimed, for instance, that his family in America sends him $1,000 a month via Western Union or MoneyGram. However, he never gets this transfer in US currency but in the Yemeni riyal. Alamari explained that not long ago, the dollar exchange rate was 270,000 riyals, but he received the transfer based on the old rate of 215,000 riyals. This discrepancy of 55,000 Yemeni riyals is used by the Central Bank to finance the war effort of the Houthi militias, he asserted.