Eye on Extremism - July 15, 2016

Eye on Extremism July 15, 2016 Counter Extremism Project Deutsche Welle: Twenty Years In Prison For Austrian Hate Preacher “A criminal court in Graz, Austria, was determined to set an example on Wednesday when they sentenced a hate preacher who has adopted the name Ebu Tejma to 20 years in prison. He was sentenced on one count of membership in a terrorist organization and one of promoting terrorist activities. According to the Counter Extremism Project, Tejma is thought to have founded a Bosnian terrorist cell based in Vienna. Prosecutors accused him of using YouTube to radicalize young people and push them to join Islamist extremist movements across the world. Furthermore, he called on his followers to commit murder and genocide against non-believers.” Washington Post: Washington Post: Truck Rams Bastille Day Crowd In Nice, France, Killing At Least 84 “A truck rammed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera city of Nice on Thursday night, killing at least 84 people in an apparent terrorist attack in which the driver also opened fire on revelers before being shot dead by police. The truck struck the crowd after a fireworks display for the French national day on the Promenade des Anglais, a seaside walk in this southern French city. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced early Friday that in addition to the dead, another 18 people were in critical condition.” The Daily Beast: American Boy Among 80 Dead In Terror Attack In Nice, France On Bastille Day “The Bastille Day fireworks had just ended above the waters of the Mediterranean and the broad Promenade des Anglais of Nice was full of thousands of spectators, many of them children allowed to stay up for the annual celebration, when the killing began. The instrument of terror was an ordinary white truck. Its driver plowed through traffic barriers, then zigzagging through the crowd on the broad walkway while reportedly firing a weapon out of the window. Scores of people lost their lives, scores more were injured.” New York Daily News: Islamic State Advised Supporters To Run Over Western ‘Disbelievers’ In Cars Two Years Before Nice Attack  “An Islamic State spokesman may have foreshadowed the attack on a French Bastille Day celebration in Nice that killed at least 73 people Thursday. ISIS did not immediately claim credit for the horror touched off when officials said a cargo truck driver opened fire while ramming the truck into a crowd at the Promenade des Anglais. Yet pro-ISIS social media accounts immediately celebrated the horrific mass killing.The U.S. Department of State designated Adnani as a terrorist the month before his statement calling for attacks on the West and announced a $5 million reward for information on him in May 2015. The ISIS spokesman is believed to be ‘one of the group’s most influential emirs (leaders),’ according to the Counter Extremism Project.” Daily Mail: Pro-ISIS Groups Celebrate French Massacre With #Nice_Attack On Secure Messaging App Telegram As Bodies Still Lie In The Street “Pro-ISIS groups have begun celebrating the Nice massacre which has left at least 77 people dead and more than 50 injured - but the terror group is yet to officially claim responsibility. Scores of Bastille Day revellers were mown down by a truck after gathering to watch a fireworks display in the French city. Eyewitnesses say there was an exchange of gunfire in the aftermath of the terror attack before the driver was shot dead. A second suspect is currently on the run according to French authorities. One French media outlet, weekly news magazine Paris Match, is reporting that ISIS has claimed responsibility but as yet there has been no official confirmation.” Reuters: FBI Director Says Four Arrested In Last Month For Islamic State Plots “The FBI has arrested four people within the last month in order to disrupt Islamic State-inspired plots, FBI Director James Comey told a panel of U.S. lawmakers on Thursday. At the same hearing, U.S. National Counterterrorism Director Nicholas J. Rasmussen said Islamic State's ability to carry out attacks in Iraq, Syria has not significantly diminished even as the militant group has lost ground militarily.” Voice Of America: US Preparing For Islamic State's ‘Terrorist Diaspora' “Top U.S. counterterror and law enforcement officials are offering grim warnings about what awaits once the Islamic State terror group's self-declared caliphate ultimately collapses. Much of the U.S. and coalition strategy against IS has been predicated on the idea that without the ability to hold territory in Iraq and Syria, the terror group will falter, unable to make good on its promise of a utopian society. Yet as the fall of the IS caliphate looks to draw nearer, U.S. officials are increasingly cautious, saying the group will remain a dynamic and formidable threat for some time to come. As many as 40,000 foreign fighters from more than 120 countries are believed to have flocked to the conflict in Syria, with a majority of them joining IS while the group grew and saw its fortunes rise as it advanced across Iraq. Now, Comey and others worry the terror group is in a prime position to take advantage of the flow home.” Business Insider: One Of ISIS' Fiercest Enemies Is Finally Getting U.S. Help “For a long time one of ISIS’ fiercest opponents have been asking the US for aid, and after Tuesday they’ll finally be getting it. In a historic move, the US has officially agreed to $415 million in military assistance to the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq.” Reuters: Death Of Islamic State's Shishani May Damage Foreign Recruitment “The death of Islamic State's ‘minister of war’ may disrupt its operations, a senior U.S. military officer said on Thursday, and an Iraqi security expert said it could damage the group's important recruitment efforts in ex-Soviet republics. Abu Omar al-Shishani (the Chechen), a close military adviser to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in combat in the Iraqi district of Shirqat, south of Mosul, Amaq, a news agency that supports IS, said on Wednesday. It was the first confirmation of Shishani's death, which the Pentagon said in March had probably occurred as a result of a U.S. air strike in eastern Syria. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said on Thursday that Shishani had been the target of an attack on Sunday against an Islamic State leadership meeting near Mosul. Cook said the department was aware of reports Shishani had been killed but was not currently able to confirm that.” The Times Of Israel: Palestinian Convicted Of Double Stabbing Murder In Tel Aviv A Palestinian man who stabbed two Israelis to death in Tel Aviv last year was convicted by the Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday on two counts of murder and three of attempted murder after confessing to the charges. Raed Masalmeh, 36, a father of five from the Hebron-area town of Dura in the West Bank, previously pleaded not guilty to murdering Reuven Aviram and Aharon Yesiav in a Tel Aviv office building synagogue on November 19, 2015. Masalmeh had told investigators he was driven to carry out the attack for nationalistic reasons and said he wanted to die as a martyr. During a December court hearing in which he reenacted his crime, he expressed regret for his actions and cried.” NPR: How A Danish Town Helped Young Muslims Turn Away From ISIS “The rest of Europe came down hard on citizens who had traveled to Syria. France shut down mosques it suspected of harboring radicals. The U.K. declared citizens who had gone to help ISIS enemies of the state. Several countries threatened to take away their passports — a move formerly reserved for convicted traitors. But the Danish police officers took a different approach: They made it clear to citizens of Denmark who had traveled to Syria that they were welcome to come home, and when they did, they would receive help with going back to school, finding an apartment, meeting with a psychiatrist or a mentor, or whatever they needed to fully integrate back into society. As they see it, coming down hard on young, radicalized Muslims will only make them angrier and more of a danger to society. Helping them is the only chance to keep an eye on them and also to keep the peace in their town.” News.Com. AU: Why France Has Become The ‘Epicentre’ Of Terror Attacks In Europe “Terror has returned to the streets of France just as the country was about to breathe a sigh of relief. France has been under a state of emergency — which gives security and legal forces more power to conduct investigations and arrest suspects — for 19 months. It was due to be lifted on July 26 after the Tour de France cycling race but has instead been extended another three months following the Bastille Day attack in the French Riviera city of Nice on July 14. The mass murder of at least 84 people during Bastille Day celebrations has marked the third deadly terror attack in less than two years in France. In response to these attacks, France has become increasingly alarmed over its susceptibility to terrorist attacks and homegrown radicalisation, according to a new report by the Counter Extremism Project.” United States The Jerusalem Post: House Bills Proceed Targeting Hezbollah, Endorsing 'Robust' Military Aid To Israel “The House Foreign Affairs Committee encouraged the Obama administration to agree to a ‘robust’ decade-long defense package to Israel on Thursday. Negotiations over a new aid deal, likely to be worth $35-40 billion, are said to be in final stages. The resolution, passed with bipartisan support, ‘places Congress on record as supporting a robust long-term assistance package to our most important regional partner,’ said the committee's chairman, Congressman Ed Royce (R-California). The committee also encouraged the European Union to list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, and passed a resolution honoring the life of Elie Wiesel, famed author and Holocaust survivor, after his death earlier this month.” Voice Of America: Congress Urged To Cut Off Financial And Military Aid To Pakistan “The United States should cut off financial and military aid to Pakistan's government, a U.S. lawmaker said this week, because Pakistan's powerful military establishment and intelligence services have not broken off their links to terrorist groups. ‘Fifteen years have passed since September 11, billions of dollars have been spent and far too little change has occurred in Pakistan,’ according to Congressman Matt Salmon of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was speaking Tuesday at a hearing of the foreign-affairs group's Asia and Pacific subcommittee, which he chairs, titled: ‘Pakistan: Friend or Foe in the Fight against Terrorism.’” Reuters: U.S. Military Likely To Seek Additional Troops In Iraq – U.S. General “The U.S. military expects to seek additional troops in Iraq, even beyond the hundreds announced this week, as the campaign against the Islamic State advances, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command told Reuters. Votel, who oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, said the size of possible future increases were still being discussed within military circles. He did not offer details on the timing of any requests to President Barack Obama's administration. His remarks came just three days after Obama's administration announced a 560 troop increase as part of an effort to facilitate an Iraqi offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city. Most of those troops will work out of Qayara air base, which Iraqi forces recaptured from Islamic State militants last week. They plan to use Qayara as a staging ground for an offensive to retake Mosul.” Syria CNN: US, Russia Talk Syria Coordination Despite Pentagon Concerns “A U.S. proposal to deepen military cooperation with Russia in Syria has sparked a rift at the highest levels of the Obama administration, with the Pentagon openly challenging an idea that the top U.S. diplomat calls critical to moving Syria forward. Even as Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow negotiating a possible agreement that could lead to the U.S. sharing classified intelligence with Russia over military strikes both countries are conducting in Syria, the Pentagon is making it clear that Defense Secretary Ash Carter remains skeptical of Russian military activities in the war-torn country. Both the U.S. and Russia have aircraft that conduct operations over Syria, and the new agreement, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, could allow for targeting and carrying out joint air strikes against ISIS and al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda branch in Syria.” Reuters: Islamic State Fighters Say Bring Down Syrian Jet “Islamic State fighters brought down a Syrian jet near the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Thursday, a monitoring group and an agency linked to the radical militant group said. Amaq agency released video footage showing the flaming wreckage of a plane scattered across a stretch of barren rocky ground, as well as parts of a corpse in military uniform and a white helmet, hung out for display on a street. It said the body was that of the pilot. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organization which monitors Syria's war through a network of sources inside the country, said Islamic State had targeted and brought down the plane in the Thardah hills, about 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Deir al-Zor military airport.” Associated Press: Airstrikes Kill At Least 12 In Syria's Rebel-Held Aleppo “A series of airstrikes on rebel-held areas of Syria's divided Aleppo city killed at least 12 Thursday, anti-government activists and monitoring groups said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 12 people, including seven women and children, were killed when airstrikes hit the Salheen and Tariq al-Bab districts, in the rebel-held parts of Aleppo city. Fighting in the deeply contested city has intensified over the last week after government and allied troops closed off the Castello road, the lifeline to the rebel-held areas, effectively sealing off those districts where tens of thousands of people live. The U.N. estimates that 300,000 people depend on Castello road.” Fox News: Russian Jets Bomb US-Backed Rebels In Syria “For the second time in a month, Russian jets bombed US-trained rebels in Syria, this time conducting two separate strikes on Tuesday, multiple US military officials in Baghdad told Fox News. The rebels had been trained by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to officials. The first Russian strike Tuesday involved a flight of Russian Backfire bombers from Russia, likely from Mozdok airbase in Ossetia, Russia, the sources said. Tu-22M backfire bombers first appeared over Syria in November, less than two months after the start of their air campaign to support embattled President Bashar al-Assad. The strike killed an unknown number of rebels.” Iraq NPR: ISIS Juggles Losing Territory While Stepping Up Attacks In Iraq “By all accounts, ISIS, the Islamic State, is losing territory. But it seems to be stepping up terrorist attacks, especially in Iraq. Baghdad has been hit with a string of bombings over the last few months, including the deadliest attack since the American-led invasion in 2003. Iraqi forces recently retook the city of Fallujah, which is just about an hour from Baghdad by road. Some of the reason for trying to retake that city was political. That is to say, people were worried about Fallujah because it, of course, was - would have seemed to have been controlled by ISIS and a source of attacks. But ISIS also controls Mosul, which is Iraq's second largest city, which is - would seem to be really key to its place in the country.” Turkey Reuters: Clashes With Kurdish Rebels Devastate Turkish World Heritage Site “When the United Nations inscribed the Roman-era walls of this mainly Kurdish city on its World Heritage list last year, it crowned a decade of efforts to rehabilitate a war-torn region. Within weeks, a ceasefire with Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey shattered, unleashing some of the worst fighting in a three-decade conflict and laying waste to swathes of Diyarbakir's ancient district of Sur. Sur's ruin casts a pall over this week's World Heritage Committee meeting in Istanbul, which lists sites for the U.N. Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). ‘In a year, we went from UNESCO (listing) ... to destruction so complete, there is no chance of return,’ said Nevin Soyukaya, who helped draft the bid as head of the city's heritage office.” Reuters: Turkish Authorities Tighten Security Across Istanbul: Media “Turkish authorities have stepped up security across Istanbul, CNN Turk and other local media reported on Thursday, a day after France said it was closing its diplomatic missions in both Istanbul and the capital Ankara over security fears. Turkey is on high alert after a series of deadly bomb attacks this year, some claimed by Kurdish militants and others blamed on Islamic State. A triple suicide bombing at Istanbul's main airport last month killed 45 people. Police were individually checking all passengers before allowing them to ride the Marmaray railway that runs under the Bosphorus strait connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul, CNN Turk and the Hurriyet newspaper reported.” The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Compromises Won Turkey’s Backing For Kurdish-Led Offensive “Turkey agreed to back a pivotal offensive in Syria led by its Kurdish adversaries after intense U.S. lobbying that culminated in a secret May meeting, according to U.S. officials, an agreement that could lead to wider cooperation in the fight against Islamic State militants. The U.S. won Turkish backing for the assault on the Syrian city of Manbij with a series of political and tactical compromises to rein in the Kurds, Turkish, U.S. and British officials said. That included having U.S. special-operations forces and local Arabs play an important role in the fight and arranging for a mostly Arab council to rule the city if it was retaken, U.S. officials said.” Afghanistan Reuters: Former Afghan Spy Chief Says Letters Show Pakistan Supports Militants “The former head of Afghanistan's main intelligence agency released documents on Thursday which he said showed that Pakistani intelligence services helped leaders of the Taliban and the feared Haqqani network in 2014 and 2015. Rahmatullah Nabil stepped down from the National Directorate of Security (NDS) in December last year after opposing Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's efforts to improve relations with Pakistan and include Islamabad in peace talks with the Taliban. Nabil told a group of journalists in Kabul that he had released the documents to provide concrete evidence of Pakistan's collusion with the Taliban and the associated Haqqani group, which has been blamed for a series of kidnappings and high profile suicide bombings in the capital.” Newsweek: Afghanistan Has No Plans To Renew Peace Talks On Taliban Insurgency “Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has no plans to renew peace talks aimed at ending the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, according to a spokesman. Earlier this year, representatives from Pakistan, China and the U.S. met with Afghan officials to discuss the peace process, but the meeting proved fruitless. The group of four countries has met five times this year, although the Taliban refused to attend any of the discussions, the Associated Press reported. Haroon Chakhansuri, Ghani’s spokesman said that no future meetings are scheduled. Afghanistan has voiced its disappointment with Pakistan’s role in the talks before. Ghani’s administration has accused the country of sheltering Taliban leaders and not fully engaging in the peace process. Pakistan continues to deny that it harbors the Taliban.” Yemen Associated Press: Yemen's Rebels Head For Kuwait To Resume Talks “Yemen's Shiite rebels headed Kuwait on Thursday to resume UN-mediated talks, amid threats of boycott by the Saudi-backed, internationally-recognized government. Negotiators who will attend the talks are representatives of Ansar Allah, the political arm of the rebel Houthi movement, which has controlled the capital Sanaa since 2014. Previous peace talks failed to bridge the gap between the warring parties while a ceasefire that went into effect in April was marred with multiple breaches by both sides. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi demands implementation of the UN security council resolution which stipulates the withdrawal of militias from all cities. The Houthis demand a share of power in a new government. The Houthis are also pressing to transfer Hadi's presidential authorities to the new transitional government.” Voice Of America: Ahead Of Peace Talks, UN Presses To Reduce Yemen War's Effect On Children “Ahead of peace talks on Yemen scheduled to restart Friday in Kuwait, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pressed the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen to act to reduce the number of children being killed in the wartorn country. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that Ban hopes the coalition will be able to provide information about concrete actions being taken since the United Nations put the Saudi-backed authorities in Yemen last month on a so-called ‘list of shame,’ naming the worst violators of children's rights. The United Nations says the coalition was to blame for 60 percent of the 785 children killed in Yemen last year.” Fox News: Al Qaeda's Yemen Branch Takes Aim At US, 'Liberation' Of Palestinians “Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has unveiled a new special operations training video featuring jihadis taunting the U.S. and vowing to fight to capture Palestine and the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Video reviewed by The Foreign Desk shows militants at the Hamzah Zinjibari training camp being put through training exercises and are taught combat skills, while an Islamic cleric dressed in military fatigues emphasizes the ‘long game’ of jihad and how ‘thousands’ of militants have benefited from various terror training camps throughout Yemen. The 40-minute video was released by Al Malahen media, the publishing arm of AQAP, also known as Ansar Al Sharia, which originally formed as an offshoot in 2011 during Libya’s civil war and led the brutal attack on the U.S. Embassy in the Benghazi attack one year later which left four Americans dead.” Middle East Haaretz: Israel Freezes Postal Service To Gaza Over Alleged Weapons Smuggling “Israel is halting mail service to the Gaza Strip ‘in light of multiple attempts to smuggle banned items… used for terrorism against Israel,’ Yoav Mordechai, the coordinator of government activities in occupied territories, posted on Facebook on Thursday. Security officials confiscated drones, scuba diving equipment and weapons components, among items being sent in the mail to the coastal territory via the overland Erez crossing earlier in the day. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas had no immediate response. Several Gaza residents told Haaretz they see the decision as a continuation of Israel’s policy of collective punishment and further proof that Israel controls all of Gaza. They said the postal services are very limited anyway and handle mainly package deliveries.” Nigeria Voice Of America: Rights Group: Cameroon Abuses Human Rights In Fight Against Boko Haram “Amnesty International has accused authorities in Cameroon of committing numerous human rights abuses in their crackdown on militant group Boko Haram, including the killing of dozens of civilians, torture, and arbitrary mass arrests. The human rights group said officials have detained more than 1,000 people in ‘horrific conditions,’ resulting in an average of eight deaths each month from malnutrition, disease and torture in Maroua Prison in the Far North region of the country. Cameroonian officials criticized the report upon its release Thursday. Military spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said the country’s troops are well trained to do their jobs and do not abuse the rights of anyone.” United Kingdom Reuters: Truck Attacker Kills At Least 84 In Nice Bastille Day Crowd “An attacker killed at least 8 people and injured scores when he drove a truck at high speed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city of Nice late on Thursday, a local politician said. Counter-terrorist investigators were leading the probe, into the attack, local media said, and a local government official said weapons and grenades were found inside the truck. Police shot and killed the driver, who drove the 25-tonne, unmarked, truck for well over 100 meters along the famed Promenade des Anglais seafront, slamming into a mass of spectators late in the evening, regional government official Sebastien Humbert told France Info radio. The man had opened fire on the crowd, local government chief Christian Estrosi told local media, also citing the discovery of weapons and grenades after the driver was killed.” Telegragh: France 'Informed Of Planned Terror Attack On Rio Olympic Team' “A terrorist attack targeting the French delegation at the Rio 2016 Olympics has been foiled by security services, it has emerged. The head of French military intelligence said ‘partner agencies’ had issued an alert about the alleged plot by a Brazilian Islamist militant, according to a report into the Paris terror attacks in January and November, which killed 147. No other details about the plans were released and the information was not shared with Brazil’s intelligence agency Abin. The French inquiry report was published as security services in Rio de Janeiro prepared to stage a simulated attack this weekend to test counter-terrorism response plans. Some 500 officers, troops and first responders will be involved in the exercise at Deodoro station near one of the venue clusters in the north of the city on Saturday.” The Wall Street Journal: Truck Attack In France Shows Limits Of Global Hunt For Terrorism “The U.S. government has launched thousands of airstrikes, bombed oil facilities, redeployed its military, moved satellites, intercepted phone calls, blocked money transfers and made dozens of arrests in a bid to thwart Islamic State. But time after time, the terror group, its affiliates and sympathizers have found ways to break through a global ring fence, launching spectacular attacks that have killed hundreds of people in Europe and the U.S. The motives and perpetrators behind Thursday’s truck massacre in Nice, France, remained uncertain in the hours immediately following the attack.” Europe The Atlantic: Is Terrorism Getting Worse? “These days, terrorism seems not just more lethal and more common, but more widespread. The death toll in recent weeks speaks for itself: 22 people dead in Bangladesh, 49 gone in the United States, 44 gone in Turkey, 292 gone in Iraq, then another 37, another 12, yet another 12. In 2015, terrorist attacks occurred in almost 100 countries—up from 59 in 2013—according to the University of Maryland’s Global Terrorism Database, which the Institute for Economics and Peace relies on for its analysis. ISIS, for its part, appears increasingly to be training its sights on overseas targets as it loses territory in Iraq and Syria.”