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Eye on Extremism
August 19, 2016
Counter
Extremism Project
MSNBC:
CEP Spokesperson Tara Maller Discussed The Nature Of Intelligence
Briefings That Presidential Candidates Receive And How They Differ From
The Daily Intelligence Briefings Presented To The President Each Morning.
Haaretz:
Report: U.S. Transfers Nukes From Turkish Airbase To Romania
“The U.S. has started transferring American nuclear weapons stationed
at an airbase in southeastern Turkey to Romania, the independent Euractiv
website reported on Thursday. The reported move comes after a U.S.-based
think tank said on Monday that the stockpile at Incirlik airbase, which
consists of some 50 nuclear bombs, was at risk of being captured by
‘terrorists or other hostile forces.’ The Romanian Foreign Ministry
strongly denied that any U.S. nuclear weapons were transferred to
Romania. While critics have long been alarmed about the nuclear
stockpile at Incirlik airbase, the aftermath of the failed military coup
in Turkey on July 15 has sparked renewed fear.”
BBC:
Terror Deaths In Western Europe At Highest Level Since 2004
“The start of 2016 saw the highest number of terrorism deaths in
Western Europe since 2004, BBC research has revealed. The first seven
months of the year saw 143 deaths, which is also the second worst
seven-month period since 1980. The Madrid train bombings in March 2004
left 191 people dead. However, researchers pointed out that the 1970s saw
several years with higher terrorism death tolls, so Western Europe is not
‘in a downward spiral’. And only 6% of worldwide terrorism deaths in the
first seven months of 2016 happened in Western Europe, with many more
attacks in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Nigeria.”
Reuters:
Islamic State Suicide Bombings Hit Libyan Forces In Sirte
“Suicide bombings against Libyan forces battling to oust Islamic State
from their former North African stronghold of Sirte killed at least 12
fighters and wounded about 60 there on Thursday, a hospital spokesman
said. Forces, mainly composed of fighters aligned with a U.N.-backed
government in Tripoli, have been closing in on the center of Sirte, where
militants now control a shrinking residential area. Since Aug. 1 the
United States has been conducting air strikes to support them. As of
Wednesday it had carried out 62 strikes, most recently against fighting
positions and a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, the U.S.
Africa Command said.”
BBC:
Syria Conflict: Government Jets 'Bombs Kurds In Hassakeh'
“Syrian government jets have reportedly bombed Kurdish-held areas of
the north-eastern city of Hassakeh for the first time since the civil war
began in 2011. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported
that Kurdish security forces had been targeted. The Syrian military has
not commented, but sources said the Kurds had seized government buildings
in Hassakeh and nearby Qamishli. Both sides were later reported to have
agreed a ceasefire. However, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party's Popular
Protection Units (YPG) militia said it would ‘not be silent’ over what it
called an act of flagrant aggression.”
NPR:
Bombings In Turkey Kill At Least 10, Wound More Than 200
“A series of bombings in eastern Turkey left at least 10 people dead
and more than 200 wounded. Two car bombings targeted law enforcement; a
third attack struck a military vehicle carrying soldiers, The Associated
Press reports. The first car bomb hit near a police station in the city
of Van, near the border with Iran. It left at least two officers and one
civilian dead and at least 70 people — mostly civilians — wounded, the AP
reports. State-run media reports one suspect is in custody, NPR's Peter
Kenyon reports. He says officials are suggesting Kurdish militants were
behind the attack.”
New
York Times: When Women Fight ISIS
“Two years ago this month, the Islamic State attacked the Yazidis, a
Kurdish religious minority who live around Sinjar Mountain in Iraq. The
militants came down on unprotected villages like Byron’s wolf on the
fold, slaughtering the men and taking away thousands of women and
children to be sold as sex slaves. Any Yazidis who could escape fled
higher into the mountains without food, adequate clothing or even, in
some cases, shoes. They remained trapped there for days, in harsh
conditions and with little international support. Those who had
originally promised to protect them, the pesh merga soldiers of Masoud
Barzani’s political party in Iraqi Kurdistan, had melted away in their
hour of need.”
Charlotte
Observer: Documents Link Young Charlotte-Area Suspect To Top ISIS Leader
In Syria
“A new indictment alleges that a Charlotte-area teenager communicated
directly with a notorious Syria-based terrorist while planning his first
act of violence on behalf of the “Islamic State of North America.”
According to the court document, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says that
Justin Sullivan of Morganton promised ISIS member Junaid Hussain that he
would make a video of his terrorist attacks that ISIS could use as
propaganda.”
Reuters:
Germany Treads Cautiously In Court Case To Ban Far-Right Party
“The NPD denies that it is behind violence, and says it is being
unfairly targeted as a group over the behavior of some individuals.
Reuters was not able to verify independently any relationship between the
party and Bauer's former groups. The upper house of parliament is trying
to impose just such a ban. It has lodged a court case which alleges the
NPD is inspired by the Third Reich, believes in ethnic German supremacy
and incites people to torch refugee hostels. The Constitutional Court is
expected to rule in coming months. Germany recorded 1,408 violent acts
carried out by right wing supporters last year, a more than 42 percent
rise from the previous year, and 75 arson attacks on refugee shelters, up
from five a year earlier, according to an annual report by the BfV
domestic intelligence agency published in June.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Hezbollah’s Conundrum: Fighting Other Jihadists, Not
Israel
“Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last weekend addressed a rally to
celebrate the group’s 2006 ‘divine victory’ against Israel, thundering
for more than an hour about the impending demise of the Zionist enemy.
But it’s not against Israel that young men in the audience here have been
fighting of late. The predicament for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed
Shiite militia that used to command widespread admiration in the region
for confronting Israel, is that its battle today is almost exclusively
against fellow jihadists, albeit of a Sunni kind, and increasingly
further away from home turf in Syria’s foreign battlefields.”
The
New York Times: Nigeria Is Freeing Children From Boko Haram, Then Locking
Them Up
“Here in northeastern Nigeria, soldiers are fighting a brutal battle
with Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group that has terrorized the
region for years with its campaign of murder, kidnapping, rape and
thievery. But in its aggressive hunt for Boko Haram fighters, the
Nigerian military has ensnared and detained scores of civilians,
including toddlers and infants, for weeks or months. And sometimes,
activists say, innocent people are never heard from again. Nearly 150
people have died this year in just one of the detention centers, Giwa
barracks, where Ms. Ali was held with her family, according to Amnesty
International.”
The
Guardian: Twitter Suspends 235,000 Accounts In Six Months For Promoting
Terrorism
“Twitter has suspended 235,000 accounts in the last six months for
violation of its policies regarding the promotion of terrorism and
violent threat, the company said Thursday, adding to 125,000 suspensions
in the six months before that. In a blog post on Thursday, the company
said that ‘there is no one ‘magic algorithm’ for identifying terrorist
content on the Internet. But’, the post continued, ‘we continue to
utilize other forms of technology, like proprietary spam-fighting tools, to
supplement reports from our users and help identify repeat account
abuse’. Salaam Bhatti, the national spokesperson for True Islam, a group
which has partnered with Twitter in identifying extremist content, said:
‘This is a great step in the right direction.’”
Syria
Commentary:
In Syria, Russia And The United States Fight For The Middle East
“Two years into Washington’s war against Islamic State, it may finally
be winning. At the same time, however, its influence over events in the
broader Middle East seems perhaps terminally in decline. What happens in
the coming months and years in Syria will be key to the future shape of
the region. No country has challenged U.S. policymakers more – and the
Obama administration has faced heavy criticism. This month, however, has
seen what feels like the first good news for the United States from Syria
since the uprising began. But the battle for the future of Syria – and,
indeed, the Middle East – is much more complex than the fight against
Islamic State. And there are powerful forces – particularly Vladimir
Putin’s Russia, Iran and what remains of Bashar al-Assad’s government –
that also want to call the shots.”
The
Washington Post: Russia Proposes 48-Hour Cease-Fire In Syria To Allow
Delivery Of Humanitarian Aid
“Russia said Thursday it would stop attacks on Aleppo for
48 hours next week to allow delivery of humanitarian aid, indicating
it would also prevent the Syrian government from bombing there, provided
the United States could guarantee a similar pause by the ‘so-called
moderate opposition.’ The Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Maj. Gen.
Igor Konashenkov, said Russia’s other ‘condition’ for implementing the
temporary cease-fire was that separate routes would be established for
U.N. convoys to bring aid to rebel-controlled eastern Aleppo and to the
western side, held by the government. The Obama administration, which has
been pushing for a more widespread cease-fire, said it would not ‘turn up
our nose’ at the 48-hour offer.”
CNN:
Little Boy In Aleppo A Vivid Reminder Of War's Horror
“His name is Omran Daqneesh. The image of him, bloodied and covered
with dust, sitting silently in an ambulance awaiting help, is another
stark reminder of the toll of the war in Syria. He is young -- one
witness puts him at five years old, as old as the Syrian war itself. But
his chubby arms and legs and the way he clings to the man who pulled him
from the rubble of his bombed-out home suggest he is younger, maybe still
a toddler. Aleppo, in northern Syria, has been besieged for years during
that country's civil war. Thousands of people have been killed there, including
4,500 children, and many lives have been upended. Omran's family is among
them.”
Iraq
The
Wall Street Journal: America Leaves Its Allies To Battle Each Other In
Iraq
“U.S. allies in the Middle East are training their guns on each other,
and this could unravel the fragile global coalition against Islamic
State. Iraqi Kurdistan has been a longstanding and reliable ally of the
U.S. The friendship began in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War after the
U.S. imposed a no-fly zone in the region. Washington was short on friends
in Baghdad, Damascus and Tehran, but Iraqi Kurds, grateful for their
rescue from Saddam Hussein ’s genocidal intentions, readily embraced
America. Since then, the Iraqi Kurds have proved themselves to be staunch
allies and a stabilizing force in their neighborhood, helping to defuse
conflicts. Now, however, the Kurds are locked between American allies
unfriendly toward Kurdish aspirations of independence and their growing
ties with the U.S. military.”
Turkey
Reuters:
Turkey's Erdogan Links Coup Suspects, PKK To Bomb Attacks
“Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused followers of a
U.S.-based Islamic cleric he blames for last month's coup attempt of
being complicit in attacks by Kurdish militants in Turkey's southeast
which killed 10 people. His linking of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
militants to those suspected of being behind the July 15 coup attempt
came as Turkish authorities arrest or dismiss tens of thousands in a
post-coup purge that some Western allies worry that Erdogan is using to
target broader dissent. Erdogan has blamed a network led by Fethullah
Gulen, a cleric in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, for the
failed rebellion launched by rogue soldiers.”
Afghanistan
RT:
Taliban Active In More Parts Of Afghanistan Than Before US Invasion –
Intel Agency
“Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan are now operating in more
territories than they were prior to the 2001 US campaign, a report by
private intelligence agency Stratfor cautions. The paper also warns of
the Taliban’s closer ties with Islamic State. Despite partial success by
the Afghan military, their action is being ‘overshadowed by the Taliban's
much larger gains elsewhere,’ Stratfor says in its latest assessment. The
agency warns that the ‘Taliban now operates in more territories in
Afghanistan than it has in 2001’ when the US started its military
campaign in the country to drive the group out. A major point of concern
is Afghanistan’s largest province of Helmand, which is almost completely
under the control of insurgents.”
Middle
East
The
Times Of Israel: Co-Founder Of Hamas Military Wing Issues Startling
Apology To Palestinians
“A Palestinian terrorist who co-founded Hamas’s notorious military
wing in 1991 and was directly involved in the killing of Israeli
soldiers, published a startling Facebook post in which he apologized to
fellow Palestinians for his activities. He also indicated that he now
considers the Islamist terror group, which he did not mention by name, to
be ‘the devil,’ sowing hatred and bringing destruction to the Palestinian
people. He made no apology for terrorism and violence directed against
Israel. Muhammad Nazami Nasser was one of the founders of the Izz ad-Din
al-Qassam Brigades, which has been responsible for years of terrorism
against Israel and is headed by terror chief Mohammed Deif. In 1989,
Nasser was one of the Hamas team that kidnapped and murdered Israeli
soldiers Avi Sasportas and Ilan Saadon. Those attacks marked the first
time Hamas had kidnapped and killed Israeli soldiers.”
Libya
Time:
Inside ISIS’ Last Bastion In Libya
“‘They are like ghosts.’ That’s how a Libyan sniper described ISIS
fighters in Sirt to Lorenzo Meloni. The Italian photographer recently
returned from the front in the group’s last stronghold in Libya, as
pro-government forces battle for control. Meloni arrived in Misrata in
mid-June and was on the outskirts of Sirt the next day. Many buildings
there had been destroyed by mortars or airstrikes over the years, perhaps
never restored after the fighting in 2011. The photographer, who is
represented by Magnum Photos, has spent significant time in Libya in
recent years. He documented the revolution that ousted the ex-dictator
Muammar Gaddafi, the civil war that followed and the migrant-smuggling
crisis. He has no parallels for what he experienced in Sirt. Not with an
enemy like ISIS."
United
Kingdom
BBC:
Going Undercover Against Extremism
“A long-running undercover police operation in the Bedfordshire town
of Luton, which has contributed evidence to two recent counter-terrorism
trials, helped build up an incredibly detailed picture of the depths of
loathing for Britain felt by the men at the heart of the investigation.
With a fake name, fake wife, fake home and fake business in Luton, he was
on a high-risk mission to record hundreds of encounters with supporters
of a banned jihadist network that can be linked to dozens of
counter-terrorism cases over more than a decade. Over the course of two
major trials, Kamal's evidence from Luton has contributed to the
conviction of a man who planned to kidnap and kill a US serviceman
outside his air force base in Suffolk. In the follow-up trial, three men
were convicted at the Old Bailey this week for inviting support for the
self-styled Islamic State group.”
Germany
The
Washington Post: Angela Merkel Says Germany’s Terror Problem Predates The
Refugee Crisis
“Speaking at a campaign event late Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel pushed back against those who linked
recent extremist-inspired terrorist attacks in Europe
with refugees who have reached the continent. ‘The phenomenon of the
Islamist terrorism of ISIS is not a phenomenon that has come to us
through refugees but rather one which we've already had here before,’
Merkel told a crowd in her home state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
using an acronym to refer to the Islamic State extremist group. It's a
bold statement from a leader whose refugee policies have been hit hard by
terrorist attacks in recent months.”
Europe
BBC:
Islamic State Group Claims Responsibility For Moscow Police Attack
“The so-called Islamic State group has said it was behind an attack
carried out on traffic police outside Moscow on Wednesday. Both
attackers, reportedly from Central Asia, were shot dead after wounding
two policemen. The gunmen were wielding firearms and axes and attacked
police in Balashikha, east of Moscow. IS made the claim via Amaq, a news
agency linked to the group. Also on Wednesday Russian special forces
killed four suspected militants in a shoot-out forces during a raid on an
apartment block in St Petersburg. Russia has long been battling extremism
in the North Caucasus. Most Russians who have gone to fight for IS in
Syria come from this area.”
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