Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Eye on Extremism August 16, 2016

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Eye on Extremism

August 16, 2016

Counter Extremism Project

Fortune: Nusra: Only The Name Has Changed
“Ms. Shain is director of research for the Counter Extremism Project, an international non-profit that combats extremist ideology. Abu Muhammad al-Golani, leader of the Nusra Front, appeared on video July 28 to announce his group’s formal separation from al-Qaeda and its rebranding as the ‘Levantine Conquest Front.’ Don’t believe it. The separation was as loving a political divorce as any, with al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri giving the Nusra Front formal permission to leave al-Qaeda as needed in order to preserve rebel ‘unity.’ Now, the Nusra Front remains the second-strongest insurgent group in Syria, as ideologically aligned with al-Qaeda as ever, and separated by ISIS chiefly by its willingness to play the long game. For that reason, we need to sustain U.S. sanctions on the Nusra Front and recognize its name change for what it is: smoke and mirrors.”
New York Times: Russia Uses Iran As Base To Bomb Syrian Militants For First Time
“Russia used Iran as a base from which to launch air strikes against Syrian militants for the first time on Tuesday, widening its air campaign in Syria and deepening its involvement in the Middle East. In a move underscoring Moscow's increasingly close ties with Tehran, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used Iran's Hamadan air base to strike a range of targets in Syria.”
Daily Beast: ISIS Leaves Behind Booby Trapped Hospitals In Liberated Town
“Even after its liberation from the so-called Islamic State, this city in northern Syria remains draped in jihadist black banners. Anything and everything might be rigged with explosives, and often it is, so people don’t rip down flags without thinking first. As I visited the scene of battle repeatedly over the weekend, the sound of explosions rocked the city again and again. Sometimes, I was told, they were blasts carried out to get rid of booby traps and IEDs. Sometimes they were bombs people missed until it was too late.”
BBC: Syria Conflict: Bus Blast Kills Rebels Near Turkey Border
“More than 30 Syrian rebel fighters are reported to have been killed in a suicide bombing on a bus near the Atmeh border crossing with Turkey. Sources told Turkish media that the attacker detonated an explosive vest on the bus at the entrance to a camp for displaced people late on Sunday. The death toll was likely to rise, activists monitoring the conflict said. A news agency linked to the jihadist group Islamic State reported that one of its militants was behind the attack. Syrian opposition Orient TV reported that those killed were from ‘numerous’ rebel factions, all of which are opposed to IS.”
Bloomberg: Taliban Takes Key North Afghan District As Fighting Surges
“Taliban militants captured a key district about 100 miles north of Afghanistan’s capital, which itself was hit by a bombing on Monday, a blow to the government in Kabul that’s coming under further pressure from a renewed surge in fighting. Following days of heavy clashes with Afghan security forces, the Dahan-I-Ghori district in northern Baghlan province came under Taliban control, said Mahmood Haqmal, a spokesman for the province. Soon after its capture, the militants set some shops and fields ablaze, Haqmal said by phone on Monday. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed also confirmed the takeover in an e-mailed statement. The increasingly bloody conflict against the Taliban, now in its 15th year, forced U.S. President Barack Obama last month to slow troop withdrawal plans.”
Business Insider: Leaked ISIS Documents: The Majority Of Recruits Knew Nothing About Islam
“A recent series of leaked Islamic State documents have revealed that most of ISIS’ recruits had a rudimentary knowledge of Shariah law — the legal system that governs people of the Islamic faith. The thousands of IS documents shed light on over 4,000 recruits that made their way into Syria during ISIS’ heyday. These documents, after being analyzed by the Associated Press, showed that 70% of recruits had just a “basic,” the lowest possible category, knowledge of Shariah, while 24% had an “intermediate” knowledge, and 5% “advanced.”
Newsweek: U.S. Turkey Airbase Nukes At Risk Of Seizure From 'Terrorists': Report
“Some 50 nuclear weapons owned by the United States and stored at a Turkish air base near the Syrian border are in danger of falling into the hands of ‘terrorists or other hostile forces,’ a think tank said in a new report released on Monday. The Incirlik air base in southern Turkey is situated just 110 kilometers, or 70 miles, from the northern border of Syria, which is now in its sixth year of a deadly civil war. Washington has stored approximately 50 nuclear bombs at the base that the U.S. uses to conduct airstrikes and drone strikes against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).”
Mirror: Iraq To Hang 36 ISIS Fighters For Massacre Of 1,700 Captives Who Were Told They Were Going Home
“Thirty-six Islamic State fighters are set to be executed in Iraq this week for the notorious massacre of 1,700 soldiers. The Iraqi president has approved the mass hanging despite protests from human rights groups. Some of the soldiers in Camp Speicher survived the onslaught on 12 June 2014 and told horror stories of how their colleagues were rounded up for slaughter. During the horrifying killing, ISIS militants packed hundreds of men into trucks and told them they would be returned to their families – but instead they were taken to a nearby riverbank, lined up and mercilessly shot at close range.”
The Times Of Israel: 3 Years Later, Palestinian Arrested For Attacking Cop
“Nearly three years after a police officer was wounded in a stabbing attack in the central West Bank, security forces arrested a Palestinian man believed to have committed the crime, Israeli officials announced Monday. On December 23, 2013, the 30-year-old officer was directing traffic outside the Adam settlement, north of Jerusalem, when he was attacked and moderately wounded. The assailant fled the scene, leaving the knife buried in the officer’s back. The police and IDF searched the area for the attacker, but were unable to locate him — until now, according to the Shin Bet security service. On July 19, Israeli forces arrested Mehmed Younis Ali Abu-Hanak, 21, in his hometown of al-Abidiya, outside of Bethlehem. During his interrogation, Abu-Hanak admitted to carrying out the attack, saying he’d done so ‘out of a desire to end his difficult life,’ the Shin Bet said in a statement.”
CNN: Chibok Girl's Parents React To First Glimpse Of Daughter In Two Years
"Esther Yakubu gazes longingly at the familiar grainy photograph of her daughter and sings a favorite tune as she thinks of her. But two long years after Maida and more than 200 of her classmates were kidnapped by Boko Haram, another image is now foremost in her mind: that of the teenager at gunpoint, pleading for her freedom. ‘Seeing my baby standing with a terror[ist] with ... ammunition around his neck is not easy for a mother,’ says Esther. ‘But I also give thanks to God almighty. They say most of the girls are dead but mine is alive.’"
Vocativ: ISIS Fans Single Out Women In Freed Town For Burning Their Niqabs
“For supporters of the Islamic State watching the offensive in Manbij that freed the Syrian city from its grip, nothing irked them more than the sight of the once captive female population tearing off and burning their niqabs, the black, head-to-toe covering worn by the most conservative Muslim women. Not the images of men cutting off their mandatory beards, or the victorious fighters (men and women) being welcomed with open arms into the city after two years of life under ISIS. Users on ISIS forums circulated the images of the disrobing women with declarations that ISIS “should exterminate these whores,” Vocativ has found. Others on the sites wrote “these are some of the whores you find in every city in the world, even in Saudi Arabia.”
The Jerusalem Post: Facebook Closes Another Hamas Leader's Account In Campaign Against Incitement
“Facebook closed the account of Hamas leader Ismail Radwan on Monday, continuing its campaign against Hamas leaders who use the social-media channel to promote violence. Just last week Facebook closed the accounts of Hamas leader Salah Bardawail and Islamic Jihad leader Khaled al-Batsh. Facebook also closed in July the accounts of the deputy chairman of the Hamas politburo Musa Abu Marzouk, Hamas leader Ezzat al-Rishq (who is Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal’s confidante), as well as a number of Hamas student leaders. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassim responded to the account closures, telling Ma’an, a Palestinian news agency, that they amount to an Israeli terror operation against social media platforms. Qassim added that Hamas believes Israel wants to blind the public from its ‘crimes.’”

United States

PBS: 15 Years After 9/11, National Security Is Stronger — But So Are The Threats
“In a nutshell, the way we have responded to the terrorist attacks, to 9/11, which, you know, changed everything, is sort of a microcosm of what we are as a country today. A lot of it was heroic, ingenious, people going beyond the cause of duty, doing really great things. And then a lot of it was actually quite the opposite, a lot of Beltway boondoggles, billions of dollars wasted because government contractors promised technology and solutions that they couldn’t produce. A lot of unsung people, tens of thousands of people going to work every day at the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, places like TSA, the Border Patrol, really obsessed with the job of keeping us safe. And the only time we notice them is when something goes wrong. And that makes it a tough job.”
CNN: Defense Officials See Gains Against ISIS
“The Pentagon believes that the US-led anti-ISIS coalition has seized the offensive and made significant progress in taking back key territory from ISIS, US defense officials told CNN Monday. Officials are pointing to the recent declaration that a coalition of US-backed Syrian fighters has been able to free the ISIS stronghold of Manbij, Syria. That comes as the US military now estimates some 45,000 ISIS personnel have been killed by the coalition since operations began in mid-2014, 25,000 since last September. Yet last week a Republican congressional investigation concluded that CENTCOM intelligence painted an overly optimistic picture of the anti-ISIS campaign at least from mid 2014 to 2015.”

Syria

The Wall Street Journal: U.S.-Backed Forces Aim At Another Syrian Town
“After expelling Islamic State militants from the Syrian city of Manbij, U.S.-backed forces are turning to another town in an area along the Turkish border that the extremist group has used to funnel fighters in and out of the country. As the Syrian Democratic Forces prepared to defend their hold on Manbij, they announced the formation of a military council for Al-Bab, signaling that this was the next target in their campaign. Al-Bab is about 30 miles to the west of Manbij. Taking the town of Al-Bab from Islamic State would be an important step toward cutting off the group’s access to a 60-mile corridor along the border. The focus on Al-Bab also signals that it could be some time before an assault begins on Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria.”
The New York Times: Under Pressure Over Aleppo Siege, Russia Hints At Seeking Deal With U.S.
“Acknowledging an unfolding disaster in Syria’s besieged city of Aleppo, where roughly two million people are trapped, Russia conceded on Monday that daily three-hour halts in fighting that it had proposed last week were insufficient, possibly opening the door to longer pauses. Russia also suggested that it was close to an agreement on a military collaboration with the United States to attack Islamic State fighters in the Aleppo area as part of a solution. Such a joint effort would be a new level of cooperation between the two powers in seeking a way out of the five-year-old Syria war, in which the Russians and Americans basically back opposite sides.”

Iraq

Reuters: New Iraq Oil Minister Says Solution To Conflict With Kurds Possible
“Aug 15 Iraq's new oil minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi on Monday said a solution to the Iraqi government's conflict over oil with the Kurdish self-ruled region was possible. ‘There are solutions to the existing problems between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government about the oil file,’ he told Baghdad-based Sumaria TV. The conflict centres on the Kurdish region's crude oil exports which Baghdad wants to bring under its control. Luaibi, a former head of South Oil Company, spoke after he was sworn in as minister in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's overhauled cabinet. OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, Iraq produces about 4.6 million barrels of crude oil per day, most of it from the southern region overseen by South Oil Company. About 500,000 barrels per day are exported from the Kurdish region independently from Baghdad.”
Reuters: Kurdish Forces Open New Front On Islamic State Capital Mosul
“Kurdish Peshmerga forces on Monday said they had secured a river crossing point enabling them to open a new front against Islamic State and further tighten their grip on the militants' capital Mosul. Backed by air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition, Kurdish fighters reached Kanhash, the western side of the Gwer bridge, the target of an offensive that started on Sunday. The militants damaged the bridge, across the Grand Zab river and to the southeast of Mosul, two years ago as they swept through northern and western Iraq. Repairing the bridge would allow Peshmerga and other anti-IS forces to move toward Mosul from a new front. ‘Control over Kanhash Heights give the Peshmerga strategic advantage over nearby enemy positions and the main road linking Mosul,’ tweeted Masrour Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Region Security Council.”

Turkey

Reuters: Six People Killed In PKK Car Bombing In Turkey's Southeast: Deputy PM
“A car bomb killed six people including four police officers and a child outside a police station in southeastern Turkey on Monday, according to senior government officials who blamed the attack on Kurdish militants. Twenty-one people, some of the police officers, were wounded in the bombing on a busy road between the city of Diyarbakir, the region's largest, and the district of Bismil, Deputy Prime Ministers Numan Kurtulmus said. The blast blew out the police station's windows and left the building's twisted metal frame exposed through the concrete and its roof partially collapsed, footage on CNN Turk television showed. There was also a crater in the ground outside. The dead included a civilian adult and a child of one of the police officers killed. Turkey's southeast has suffered some of the most intense fighting in decades since a ceasefire between the Turkish state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) collapsed in July 2015.”
Voice Of America: Police Raid Courthouse As Turkey Crackdown Continues
“Police raided Istanbul’s main courthouses as a crackdown continues in the aftermath of last month’s failed coup attempt. The purge is straining relations with Western allies, who Turkish officials say appear more concerned by the crackdown than the failed coup that killed 240 people. Police sealed off all entrances to three of Istanbul’s main courthouses as security forces sought to arrest more than 170 members of the judiciary. Offices of the courthouses were searched, and dozens of people were detained. Those held are accused of being followers of the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who prosecutors claim were behind the last month’s coup attempt. Gulen denies any involvement in July’s attempted military take over.”
CNN: What Turkey's Crackdown Looks Like One Month On
“A month on from the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, which claimed the lives of 240 people and 40 coup plotters, authorities have cracked down on a large number of people who, they say, are linked to the attempted uprising. Each of the figures below represents one person who has been affected in the post-coup crackdown. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended the actions, saying they are necessary to root out enemies of the state. But many in the international community have condemned the purge as a ‘witch hunt’ and expressed concern that his government have used the coup attempt to target opposition and jail dissidents.”
Time: The Coup May Have Failed But Fear Still Rules Turkey
“After it became clear that the bloody coup had failed there was huge relief, at least initially. But, like the acrid smell, fear still hung in the air. While large orchestrated rallies celebrating the defeat of the attempted coup brought an almost festive atmosphere at night, the mood on the streets during the day remained tense. Taut lips and furrowed brows had replaced the local shopkeepers’ usual smiles. Many others remained at home, watching and waiting nervously, unsure what would come next. Had the risk of a coup been averted? Could there be another violent attempt to seize power? In the days after the failed coup, as the government crackdown began and the state of emergency was announced, the gnawing fear did not subside – it merely transformed. Over the month since the attempted uprising, more than 23,000 people have been detained and nearly 82,000 have been suspended or removed from their jobs.”

Afghanistan

Newsweek: Islamic State Threat Persists In Afghanistan
“The killing of the Islamic State group’s leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan has dealt a major blow to the jihadists, but despite a U.S.-backed scorched earth offensive the regional franchise is far from over, observers said on Saturday. Hafiz Saeed Khan was killed in a U.S. airstrike in eastern Nangarhar province last month, the Pentagon announced on Friday, as Afghan forces mount an operation against the militants after they claimed the deadliest attack in Kabul for 15 years. The death of Khan, the second prominent militant to be killed in a U.S. regional strike in recent months, is a setback to the group’s efforts to expand beyond its heartland of Syria and Iraq into Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Fox News: At Least 2 Wounded In Bombing Near US Embassy In Afghanistan
“At least two people were wounded Monday in a bombing that unfolded outside the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, an Afghan official told The Associated Press. ‘I'm certain no U.S. or NATO forces were wounded,’ Col. Michael T. Lawhorn, a Kabul-based U.S. military spokesman, told Fox News. Faredoon Obiadi, chief of the police's criminal investigations department, said an army officer was one of the two wounded. Monday's attack took place at a main square that was also close to the country's Supreme Court. Obiadi said a so-called sticky bomb attached to a military vehicle triggered the blast. No group claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Taliban have stepped up attacks across Afghanistan. Separately, authorities on Monday confirmed the Taliban have overrun a police headquarters in the Dahna-e-Ghori district in northern Baghlan province.”

Libya

Newsweek: Libya Warns Italy Of ISIS Cell In Milan As Europe Remains On High Alert
“Libyan authorities have alerted Italy to the existence of an Islamic State militant group (ISIS) cell in Milan with links to a prominent extremist commander in the North African country. After forces allied to the U.N.-backed unity government in Libya, the country’s agents seized documents that revealed the existence of the cell near the northern Italian city, Italian media reported on Sunday. The extremists are reportedly linked to a 47-year-old Tunisian ISIS commander known as Abu Nassim, who had previously lived in Italy but left to wage jihad in Afghanistan and Syria, according to The Local news site. Nassim, real name Moez Ben Abdelkader Fezzani, moved to Italy in 1989 but left in 1997, before joining al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.”

Germany

Reuters: One Wounded In Cologne Attack; No Sign Of Terrorism: Police
“A man was seriously wounded in an attack in Cologne city center in the early hours of Monday, police and the public prosecutor's office said, adding that there were no signs of a terrorist motive. The 34-year-old was taken to hospital with stab wounds and head injuries, police and prosecutors said in a statement. Eyewitnesses said several people were involved in an argument. Police, who received emergency calls around 3.45 a.m. (0145 GMT), found traces of blood and shattered glass at the scene and said they were investigating whether several spent gun cartridges they found were also linked to the incident.”
The Wall Street Journal: Germany Calls On Russia, Syria To Allow Aid Into Aleppo Under U.N. Auspices
“Germany on Monday called on Russia and the Syrian government to allow food, water and medical supplies into the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo under the monitoring of the United Nations. The announcement by Russia that it would suspend military operations for three hours a day to allow aid into the city was ‘cynical,’ the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said, adding the measure wouldn’t prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the war-torn country’s biggest city. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Yekaterinburg, Russia, earlier Monday, to discuss the situation in Aleppo. Mr. Steinmeier has called for U.N.-controlled humanitarian corridors into the city and aid to be airdropped, according to the German Foreign Ministry.”

ISIS

Buratha News Agency: Call To Oversee Private Banks To Stop ISIS Financing
“The Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee, on Monday, called on the Iraqi government to monitor the performance of some private banks and audit money transfers into and out of the country. It stressed that some of these banks are working to receive or remit funds, some of which may go to finance ISIS. Committee member Mithal al-Alusi stated that "the Ministry of Finance and the regulatory security services are accountable for controlling the flow of money to private banks, some of which goes to finance the criminal ISIS (group) and other terrorist factions in Iraq.”

Muslim Brotherhood

Almogaz: While Muslim Brotherhood leaders are amassing gold and riches others are paying the price
“Former Muslim Brotherhood leader, Tharwat el-Kherbawy, claimed that many Muslim Brotherhood members have started to realize their reckless behavior. They now understand that the group's leaders have been exploiting the "piously religious" for their own gain. They see that while the leaders are reaping the profits, it is the (ordinary) members who are always footing the bill. El-Kherbawy added, "Some leaders in Turkey and Europe have accumulated gold and great wealth, while ordinary members are fed with ideas that they are waging jihad for the sake of God and religion.”
Mehwar: Chairman Of Resala Charity Association Denies Rumors Of Membership In The Muslim Brotherhood
“The total revenues of Resala Charity Association have dropped to an average of 200 million pounds ($22.7 million) a year since 2013, compared to 300 million pounds ($ 34 million) previously. This is a decline of nearly 33%. Dr. Sherif Abdel Azeem, Chairman of the Resala Board, explained that the decline in revenues was caused by the rumors being spread about Resala's affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and augmented by the deteriorating economic situation of citizens whom the Association relies on for donations. Abdel Azeem expected the downward trend to continue this year as well. He stressed that the Association has no political affiliation, be it the Muslim Brotherhood or other political groups. He noted that since its inception in 1999, Resala exists only to serve society. Regarding its funding sources, Abdel Azeem said that it relies entirely on individuals who donate between 10 to 50 pounds ($1.10 to $ 5.70) per month. These donors represent the middle class and not the affluent. He also maintained that all donors come from Egypt and that there is no foreign funding.”

Hezbollah

Lebanondebate: Financial Officer Embezzles A Million Dollars From Hezbollah Funds
“An informed source confirmed that a Hezbollah financial official under the alias of "Mohammed Fadlallah" was arrested for embezzling $1 million from the group's coffers. The case was handled discreetly without going to trial, due to his having family ties with one of Hezbollah's senior leaders. The source added, "Cases involving embezzlement, theft of money and property, attempts by some influential (Hezbollah) figures to flee to Europe, bearing large sums of money belonging to the group or the Lebanese state, have started to unfold. Hezbollah, however, does not hesitate to use force to protect its influential members, even if they have stolen public money." According to the same source, Mohammed Fadlallah falsified invoices, in exchange for which he received vast sums of money exceeding $1 million.”

Houthi

Albawabh News: Houthis' Wealth Exceeds Yemen's Budget
“Faisal Almagedi, (Egyptian) specialist in Yemeni affairs, claimed there is not a single Arab country that supports the Houthi group, due to its direct and indirect ties with Iran. He maintained that the Houthis control $11 billion, which is more than the total budget of Yemen. Almagedi pointed out that the Yemeni people feel that Egypt has a positive influence on their country, and the Egyptian army is accepted by all Yemeni parties. He said, "The battle in Yemen must be decided with ground forces of the Arab countries." Almagedi added that the Yemeni national army has a strong desire to decide matters militarily on the ground, but claimed that Iran is backing the Houthi group, which has taken control of all state institutions.”

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