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Eye on Extremism
February 10, 2016
CNN:
Top Intelligence Official: ISIS To Attempt U.S. Attacks This Year
“Top U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday that ISIS was likely to
attempt direct attacks on the U.S. in the coming year and that the group
was infiltrating refugees escaping from Iraq and Syria to move across
borders. ISIS ‘will probably attempt to conduct additional attacks in
Europe, and attempt to direct attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2016,’ Lt.
Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency,
testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Director of National Intelligence
James Clapper, who was also at the Senate Armed Services Committee
hearing, estimated that violent extremists were active in about 40
countries and that there currently exist more terrorist safe havens ‘than
at any time in history.’”
Fox:
Top Intel Official Confirms ISIS Made, Used Chemical Weapons
“The nation’s top intelligence official confirmed Tuesday that the
Islamic State has succeeded in making and deploying chemical agents in
Iraq and Syria -- calling it the first such attack by an extremist group
in more than two decades. The confirmation of mustard gas use came
during Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's testimony before
the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he spoke to the Islamic
State's growing sophistication online and in the battlefield. He did not
elaborate on where and when the chemical attacks occurred, though there
has been mounting evidence the terror group was experimenting with
chemical weapons.”
New
York Times: ISIS, In A First, Says It’s Behind Attack In Capital Of Syria
“A car bomb tore up a vegetable market and a police officers’ club in
Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Tuesday, according to a witness and to
regional news reports, striking an area that had been quiet for about two
years under a local agreement between the Syrian government and
insurgents. The Islamic State, using its official media channels, claimed
responsibility for the blast, which the witness said had wounded dozens
in Masaken Barzeh, a neighborhood on the northern edge of the city. It
was the first attack in Damascus itself to be claimed by the Islamic
State, although the group said it was behind an assault last month on the
Sayeda Zeinab shrine, on the outskirts of the capital, that left dozens
dead.”
Reuters:
Turkey Detains 34 People With Explosives, Suicide Vests At Syrian Border
- Media
“The Turkish military detained 34 people and seized up to 15 kg of
explosives and four suicide-bomber vests as they tried to enter Turkey
from Syria, Turkish media reported the army as saying on Wednesday. The
private Dogan news agency and other media outlets said the group,
consisting of four men, 10 women and 20 children, was detained on Tuesday
night in the Oguzeli district of southeastern Gaziantep province, across
the border from an area controlled by Islamic State militants.”
Reuters:
U.N. Fears For Hundreds Of Thousands If Syria Troops Encircle Aleppo
“Hundreds of thousands of civilians could be cut off from food if
Syrian government forces encircle rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the United
Nations said on Tuesday, warning of a new exodus of refugees fleeing a
Russian-backed assault. The army aims to secure the border with Turkey
and recover control of Aleppo, a senior adviser to Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad told Reuters, adding that she did not expect diplomacy to
succeed while foreign states maintain support for insurgents. The U.N. is
worried the government advance could cut off the last link for civilians
in rebel-held parts of Aleppo with the main Turkish border crossing,
which has long served as the lifeline for insurgent-controlled
territory.”
The
Blaze: Israeli Military Chief Hints At Secret Engineering Work To Combat
Hamas Tunnel Threat
“Israel’s military chief of staff said Tuesday that Israel is quietly
working — mostly in secret — to combat the threat of Hamas attack
tunnels. Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot made his remarks following the collapse
of at least four tunnels since the end of January. The multiple cave-ins,
which have killed at least 12 Hamas members, over such a short period of
time has raised questions as to whether Israel was involved. The top IDF
commander did not say if Israel had caused the recent tunnel collapses,
Hamas had attributed the phenomenon to recent rainy weather.”
Voice
Of America: Al-Qaida, Yemeni Forces Clash In Aden
“Yemeni forces and al-Qaida militants battled Tuesday in Yemen's
southern port city of Aden, leaving several people dead. The fighting
took place in the Mansoura district. Residents there said the
Yemeni troops were backed by aircraft from a Saudi-led coalition that has
been fighting on behalf of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi for nearly a
year. The government is trying to establish control over Aden after
pushing out Houthi rebels late last year. The Houthis still control
Yemen's capital, Sana'a, and other parts in the north.”
Sputnik:
Copenhagen Sees 66% Rise In Suspected Radicals
“Municipal authorities received 100 reports in 2015 about people who
showed signs of radicalization, compared to 60 notifications in 2014.
Eighteen of those reports turned out to have cause, Anna Mee Allerslev
told the local broadcaster DR. ‘It is a daunting figure for such a small
city as Copenhagen. It is too many when you look at our population and
compare it with other European and Western cities,’ Allerslev noted. In
all of the 18 cases that were investigated, the residents in question
were found to have propagated a radical interpretation of Islam, the
Danish broadcaster said. There was no information given on the background
of the individuals involved.”
New
York Times: British Effort To Identify Potential Radicals Spurs Debate
Over Profiling
“The boy’s teachers were growing increasingly concerned. He was
speaking admiringly in school of Jihadi John, the notorious British
executioner with the Islamic State, and expressing a desire to travel to
Syria. Twice, the teachers referred the boy — a teenager from Blackburn,
in northern England — to a government program called Prevent set up to
spot early signs of extremism and intervene before it was too late. On
both occasions, the boy — struggling with his studies after his parents
separated and socially withdrawn because of a degenerative eye disease
that blurred his vision — refused to participate in sessions intended to
keep him from becoming radicalized.”
International
Business Times: France State Of Emergency Extended After Parliament Vote
Following ISIS Paris Attacks
“Following approval from the lower house of Parliament or the
Assemblée Nationale, the French Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve a
law that extended the state of emergency order set to expire Feb. 26 for
at least another three months, according to a tweet from a
reporter with French newspaper Le Monde. The order was first put in place
following attacks on Paris last November and it gives law enforcement
expanded powers that the government claims will allow for a crackdown on
terror cells in the nation. The constitutional change will give the
government more power in security situations, and French President
Francois Hollande has led the charge on supporting this amendment. Around
75 percent of all members of the lower house abstained from voting, and
numbers on attendance in the Senate was not immediately available.”
United
States
Washington
Post: Pentagon Will Boost Number Of U.S. Military Advisers In Southern
Afghanistan
“The Pentagon will deploy dozens of additional U.S. military advisers
to southern Afghanistan in coming weeks, a U.S. military official said,
part of an effort to rebuild the Afghan army unit that has faced a bloody
fight in Helmand province. The advisers will be deployed to train the
215th Corps, the Afghan army unit based in Helmand, the official said.
The poppy-rich province was once home to about 30,000 coalition troops
and major operations run by U.S. Marines, but nearly all U.S. troops
there withdrew by the end of 2014. In recent months pitched battles have
been fought there, some of which involve U.S. Special Operations troops
working alongside Afghanistan commandos.”
Jerusalem
Post: Obama To Propose $200 Million To Battle ISIS In Africa
“President Barack Obama is proposing about $200 million in new
military spending to confront Islamic State in north and west Africa, US
defense officials said ahead of Tuesday's budget rollouts for the next
fiscal year. US officials declined to specify to which nations the
funding would be directed. The disclosure comes as the United States and
its allies discuss ways to halt the spread of the Sunni militant group in
Libya and elsewhere in Africa from its self-declared caliphate in Syria
and Iraq.”
Syria
Andalou
Agency: Russian Airstrikes Kill 15 In Syria’s Idlib: Local Sources
“Fifteen civilians were killed and another 17 injured on Tuesday when
Russian warplanes struck a handful of opposition-held villages in Syria’s
Idlib province, local Civil Defense sources told Anadolu Agency.
According to the sources, Russian warplanes targeted residential areas in
four villages in Idlib. Firas Faham, a local media activist based in
Idlib province’s city of Maarat al-Nuuman, told Anadolu Agency that
thousands of Syrians who had recently fled Aleppo due to fierce Russian
airstrikes had since come to Idlib seeking refuge.”
RT:
Summary Executions, Torture, Makeshift Courts In Syria: UN Reveals
Horrific Details
“Parties to the Syrian conflict, including anti-government armed
groups, as well as Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State, have committed
‘serious violations’ of the rights of detainees, including torture and
killing, according to United Nations investigators. The 25-page report,
‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in Detention,’ covers from the
beginning of the conflict in March 2011 until last November. It is based
on 621 interviews, more than 200 of which were with former detainees who
witnessed one or more deaths in custody. According to the special UN
Commission of Inquiry on Syria, anti-government armed groups and Al-Nusra
fighters are ‘responsible for murder, torture and other forms of ill
treatment of detainees.’”
The
Guardian: Syria Airstrike Hits Médecins Sans Frontières-Supported
Hospital
“An airstrike hit a hospital in southern Syria that is supported by
Médecins Sans Frontières, killing three people and wounding six, the
medical charity has said. ‘The strike on Tafas field hospital, some 12 km
(seven miles) from the Jordanian border, took place on the night of 5
February,’ MSF said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that a nurse was
among the casualties. ‘It caused partial damage to the hospital building,
and put its heavily used ambulance service out of action.’ ‘The hospital
is the latest medical facility to be hit in a series of airstrikes in
southern Syria, which have been escalating over the past two months.’”
Iraq
Rudaw:
Iraqi Army Says Ramadi Cleared Of All ISIS Remnants
“The Iraqi army announced on Tuesday that it has regained full control
of the city of Ramadi in western Iraq after weeks of battling remnants of
Islamic State militants. An army statement said that counterterrorism
forces, local police and Shiite militia took part in several operations
to drive ISIS militants from three main quarters of the city and
surrounding areas among them Sajariyya, Jubiyya and Hasibah. The militants
had remained in the city and fought the Iraqi security forces after it
was declared free from the extremist group at the end of December.”
Middle
East
Times
Of Israel: Israeli Jogger Lightly Wounded In West Bank Stabbing
“An Israeli man was moderately injured Tuesday afternoon in a stabbing
attack outside the West Bank settlement of Neve Daniel, south of
Jerusalem. His condition was later adjusted to lightly wounded. The
injured man, named as Tomer Ditur, 28, from the nearby Etzion Bloc
settlement of Rosh Tzurim, arrived at the gate of Neve Daniel with stab
wounds, according to the IDF. The stabber reportedly fled the scene. IDF
troops were searching the area, the army said.”
Haaretz:
Dozens Of Ultra-Orthodox Men Attack Military Police Officers In Ashdod
“Dozens of ultra-Orthodox men attacked Military Police soldiers in the
city of Ashdod on Monday night, upon the officers' arrival in their
neighborhood to arrest a draft dodger. Police was alerted to
the scene, dispersed the crowd and evacuated the officers. No
casualties were reported, and the police made no arrests. Police
said that when the assailants spotted the army vehicle, surrounded
it, shouted at the soldiers inside, threw stones at the car and
eventually overturned it.”
Arutz
Sheva: Eight ISIS, Taliban Recruits Joined Galloway Convoy To Gaza
“A brutal ISIS torturer wasn't the only jihadist terrorist who
traveled with former British MP George Galloway to Gaza, it has been
revealed. According to a recent report, Alexander Kotey left the UK on
Galloway's ‘Viva Palestina’ convoy to Gaza in 2009, and from there
eventually made his way to Syria to join the Islamic State terror group.
The 32-year-old Muslim convert was recently unmasked, along with
31-year-old Aine Davis, as among a group of four British ISIS ‘jailers’
who held western hostages and tortured them brutally, before some were
executed by fellow Briton Mohammed Emwazi, a.k.a ‘Jihadi John.’ But he
was not alone. As many as eight Muslim extremists who would later be convicted
of or involved in terrorist activities joined the convoy, according to
The Times. Among them were Amin Addala and Reza Afsharzadegan, both known
associates of Emwazi from west London; and Stephen Gray, a former member
of the Royal Air Force who attempted to join ISIS.”
Libya
The
Guardian: West 'Can't Fight Isis In Libya Without A Unity Government'
“Islamic State (Isis) in Libya has become a threat to all of Europe
and western military intervention may now be required, but only so long
as the Libyans can first form a coherent national government, Sir Peter
Ricketts, David Cameron’s former national security adviser, has warned.
Ricketts, who has just ended a stint as UK ambassador to France, said
there was a ‘very remote’ chance UK combat forces would be used, and said
airstrikes on their own would be of no use. Western powers have been
considering whether any military intervention, such as training Libyan
security forces, can help prevent Isis gaining a permanent foothold in
the oil-rich country.”
Al
Bawaba: Tunisia Increases Military At Border As Libya Concerns Grow
“The meeting of the security co-ordination and monitoring unit, on
Tuesday, in the government palace in Kasbah, was devoted to the
examination of the security situation in the country and the latest
developments in Libya in light of the proliferation of Daech group in
this country and the attempts of infiltration of the terrorist elements
on the Tunisian soil. Chaired by Prime Minister Habib Essid, the unit
highlighted the efforts exerted to prevent and fight against terrorism,
commending, on this occasion, the success of the anticipatory operations,
hunting down militants in addition to thwarting several ‘terrorist
plans’. According to a statement of the Prime Ministry, the security
co-ordination and monitoring unit decided the strengthening of the
military and security presence on the border. ‘The terrorist threat on
the national security requires to show vigilance and not hampering the
efforts of the security forces and the army in their fight against
terrorism,’ the same statement reads.”
Nigeria
NAIJ:
Over 50 Killed As Gunmen Besiege Zamfara
“Leadership reports that over 50 persons were killed in the bloody
operation that took place in the wee hour of the night. According to a
witness, the assailants stormed the community when most residents were
already asleep. The witness said the armed bandits also set houses ablaze
during the raid. Another resident who gave his name as Salisu Musa told
newsmen that the assailants came prepared to wreak havoc as each of the
motorcycles they came with were mounted by three passengers.”
Newsweek:
Nigerian Secret Police Arrest ‘Isis Recruiter’ In Kano
“Nigeria’s secret police say they have arrested a recruiter for the
Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in northern Nigeria and broken up an
extremist cell plotting attacks in the country. The State Security
Service (DSS) said they arrested Abdussalam Enesi Yunusa in Kano,
northern Nigeria, on January 17, in a statement reported on Tuesday by
Nigeria’s Premium Times. Prior to his arrest, Yunusa, an undergraduate
student in Niger state, western Nigeria, had made arrangements to travel
to Libya to join an ISIS training camp along with at least three other
Nigerians he recruited to the group. Yunusa listed at least two other
ISIS agents operating in Nigeria and two members of his cell already
undergoing training in Libya.”
NAIJ:
Nigeria Troops Kill Boko Haram Terrorists, Rescue Hundreds
“The Nigerian troops currently battling Boko Haram terrorists in
Nigeria’s northeast have reportedly made significant successes in the war
against insurgency. The acting public relations director of the Army,
Colonel Kukasheka Usman, who made this disclosure during a press briefing
on Tuesday, February 9, 2016, informed that the troops at different
locations made sure of victory as they destroyed enclaves of the
insurgents, killed some of the terrorists and rescued hundreds of men,
women and children.”
Asia
Al-Arabiya:
Indonesia Jails Seven For Supporting ISIS
“An Indonesian court on Tuesday handed down prison terms to seven men
accused of supporting ISIS amid a security crackdown on the militant
group’s suspected sympathisers in the world’s most populous
Muslim-majority nation. Indonesia has been on high alert since a bomb and
gun attack in the capital Jakarta last month claimed by ISIS stamped the
group’s presence in the region for the first time. Eight people were
killed, four of them the attackers themselves. ‘What was proven was the
defendants’ intent to conspire in, assist, and prepare terrorism-related
activities,’ presiding judge Syahlan, who only goes by one name, said,
adding that it was not necessary to prove they had actually carried out
any attacks.”
Times
Of India: NIA Seeks Assistance Of Facebook, Twitter In ISIS Case
“National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought the assistance of
social networking giants like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, to identify
the activities of the ISIS and its members promoting the ideology of the
terror group. NIA said they have sent requests to various social media
sites including, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, KIK and Surespot,
to obtain the datas under Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). This was
revealed today by the probe agency before a Delhi court while seeking extension
of NIA's custody of three terror suspects -- Sheikh Azhar Ul Islam,
Mohammed Farhan Shaikh and Adnan Hassan, who were arrested after being
deported from UAE for their alleged ISIS links.”
Arabic
Language Clips
Combating
Terrorism Financing
Mogaz
News: Member Of Parliament Hails Closure Of Terrorist Financing Sources
In Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Abdullah Zinedine, a member of the Egyptian Parliament,
hailed the decisions taken by the Saudi authorities to close two
associations belonging to the international arm of the Muslim
Brotherhood. These associations are accused of exploiting donations they
receive to finance terrorist operations carried out by the Brotherhood's
"Qualitative Committees." The Egyptian politician, in a
statement issued Tuesday, stressed that all Arab and Islamic countries
should pursue the same approach taken by Saudi Arabia and Egypt in
dealing with all Brotherhood-affiliated associations and educational
centers. These measures are needed to dry up the Brotherhood's sources of
funding after it was proved that many donations are being used to finance
terrorist activities.
The
Seventh Day: The Money Of Terrorists
There is one question that is always asked in relation to the
terrorist operations in Sinai: Who is funding the armed terrorist
factions and standing behind them? These groups are executing terrorist
operations against Egyptian soldiers in Sinai despite the fact that the
Egyptian army is combating them. The answer is simply that the financial
resources of terrorist groups are available and plentiful; they are still
receiving funds from abroad. Smuggled arms continue to reach them all the
way up in central Sinai. This is because they are maintaining ties with
other and more deadly groups in Gaza and on the border with Libya.
ISIS
Alyaoum24:
Two Moroccan Females Inside The Largest Terrorist Cell Ever To Provide
ISIS With Logistics
A Spanish report, quoting security sources, claimed that the two
Moroccan females arrested on Sunday by the Spanish authorities, along
with five other ISIS suspects, belong to the largest cell ever tasked
with supplying ISIS from North Africa and Europe with its logistical needs
for the battlefields in Syria and Iraq. The cell-members were detained in
Ceuta, Alicante and Valencia. In this context, a source from the Spanish
Interior Ministry revealed that the cell members had exploited
humanitarian aid activities as a cover to send military equipment to
areas of conflict in Iraq and the Levant.
Muslim
Brotherhood
Veto:
Brotherhood Dissident: Delivery Of Financial Aid From Terrorist
(Brotherhood) To Its Supporters Goes On
Sameh Eid, a dissident Brotherhood leader and researcher on Islamic
movements, claims that the group's supporters received a major blow
following the cutback in financial aid granted to them. He stressed,
however, that the Brotherhood continues to deliver such aid. Eid asserted
that Brotherhood-affiliated students at Egyptian universities who had
previously received around 2,000 pounds ($256) a month are now getting
only 500 pounds ($64). This is because the Brotherhood is having
difficulty in fulfilling all its financial obligations to its supporters.
The researcher added that this money comes from wealthy Brotherhood
financiers in Egypt, as well as funds received from the group's
international arm abroad.
Almogaz:
Confessions By Those Accused Of Setting Fire To Al-Munib (Police)
Station: We Received Funding From The Brotherhood… And Aljazeera TV
Documented
The full details of the cases of 26 juvenile defendants belonging to
the Muslim Brotherhood have been unveiled. They are accused of setting
fire to Al-Munib police station, a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, and two
branches of telecom companies. They are also suspected of attacking a
café in January 2015. Their cases were forwarded to the military court by
the Southern Giza General Prosecution Office for Juveniles. During his
interrogation a suspect, identified only as "Mahmoud Kh,"
admitted his involvement in the incidents and his affiliation with the
Brotherhood. He also admitted that he and others had received money to
carry out their crimes. He disclosed the names of two individuals who had
given him the money: Mustafa Hassan and Khaled Rezeq, two leaders of the
Brotherhood from the Tersa district of Giza. The suspects also provided
details on the delivery mechanism of these funds.
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