Eye on Extremism, July 25, 2016
Counter Extremism Project
CNN: ISIS Attack On Afghan Rally A War Crime, UN Says
“The United Nations described a joint suicide bombing that killed 80 people in Afghanistan as a "war crime," saying those responsible for the attack on a peaceful demonstration will be held accountable. ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing in the capital Saturday. More than 260 people were wounded, according to Ismail Kawoosi, a spokesman for the Afghan Health Ministry.”
BBC: Baghdad Bomb Blast: 'Islamic State Behind Attack' That Kills 20
“So-called Islamic State has said it was behind a suicide bomb attack on a security checkpoint in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, that has killed more than 20 people and injured at least another 35. The attack targeted the entrance to the mainly Shia Muslim area of Kadhimiyah in north-west Baghdad. The Islamic State-linked Amaq news agency said the group had targeted soldiers in the area. An IS bombing on 3 July killed 281 people in Baghdad's Karrada district. The suicide bomber reportedly carried out Sunday's attack on foot. Both members of the security forces and civilians were among the dead. Security forces have surrounded the area and have increased inspections at other checkpoints in the capital.”
Radio Free Europe: Clashes Erupt In IS Stronghold In Northern Syria
“Islamic State (IS) fighters have clashed with U.S.-backed forces in a militant stronghold in northern Syria. The violence erupted after a 48-hour deadline given to IS militants to leave the encircled town of Manbij expired. There are growing fears for the fate of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Manbij, an IS stronghold that lies on a key supply route to the group's de facto capital of Raqqa. U.S.-supported Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have encircled Manbij but had avoided entering the town center in a bid to prevent civilian casualties. The U.S.-led coalition air strikes have been blamed for the killing of at least 56 civilians in and around Manbij on July 19.”
Bloomberg: Germany Tries To Make Sense Of Carnage As Terrorism Excluded
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel convened an emergency meeting of her security cabinet on Saturday as police ruled out any terrorist motive behind a teenage gunman’s rampage in Munich that left 10 people dead including the killer. Munich police said that a search of the home of the suspect, an 18-year-old German-Iranian who was born and raised in the city, yielded no evidence of any link to terrorism but showed that he had studied past shooting incidents. The attacker acted alone, and there is an apparent connection with the fifth anniversary of the murders committed by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway, they said.”
CBS News: Three Florida Men Charged With Trying To Help ISIS
“Three Florida men have been charged with trying to provide information to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Federal officials announced Friday Gregory Hubbard, aka Jibreel, 52, of West Palm Beach; Darren Arness Jackson, also known as Daoud, 50, also of West Palm Beach; and Dayne Atani Christian, also known as Shakur, 31, of Lake Park are under arrest.”
BBC: Ansbach Explosion: Syrian Asylum Seeker Blows Himself Up In Germany
“A failed Syrian asylum seeker has blown himself up and injured 12 other people with a backpack bomb near a festival in the south German town of Ansbach. The state of Bavaria's interior minister said the 27-year-old man had detonated the device after being refused entry to the music festival. About 2,500 people were evacuated from the venue after the explosion. Bavaria has been on edge since a knife rampage on a train claimed by so-called Islamic State last Monday. In that attack, in Wuerzburg, an axe-wielding Afghan asylum seeker teenager was shot dead after injuring five people.”
CNN: Turkey To Disband Presidential Guard Unit Following Coup Attempt
“Turkey is disbanding its elite presidential guard unit following an attempted coup that left hundreds dead this month, the Prime Minister said. Some of the soldiers who seized state broadcaster TRT during the attempted coup came from the presidential guard unit, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told Anadolu state news agency. The roundup of suspected coup plotters is not the only government response to the uprising. Under a new presidential decree following the attempted coup, suspects can be detained for as long as 30 days without charge and the government can listen in on all conversations they have with their lawyers. A three-month state of emergency declaration issued Thursday grants President Recep Tayyip Erdogan new powers to implement the detention measures.”
“Torn from her home in the dead of night and forced to marry a Boko Haram fighter, Noor tried to escape their evil clutches six times before she finally made it to safety – only to be accused of being a terrorist spy. More than a year after she was snatched from her family she is free, but not only does she have the child of the man she was forced to marry, she’s an outcast, branded a sympathizer of the very men she fought so hard to escape. ‘They wanted to beat me up and make me confess, and kill me because I was a Boko Haram wife,’ she told the MailOnline. Many of the girls have returned to their families pregnant, or with ‘Boko Haram babies’, and have been rejected by both their families and their communities – fearing they now have ‘bad blood’.”
Deutsche Welle: Report: Egyptair Jet Broke Up In Midair After Fire
“The officials told the US paper on condition of anonymity that it remained unclear whether the fire on board was triggered by mechanical malfunction or a criminal act. But it appeared the blaze - thought to be near or inside the cockpit - was sufficient to cause the Airbus A320 to break up in midair, they said. EgyptAir flight 804, crashed into the Mediterranean during a flight from Paris to Cairo on May 19, killing all 66 people on board. The New York Times said evidence from the plane's black boxes, along with analysis of the debris and human remains pointed to disintegration in the air, not when the jet impacted the sea.”
United States
Reuters: Spy Agencies Struggle To Spot Threats From Lone, Mentally Ill Attackers
“Recent attacks on civilians in the U.S. and Europe have exposed a gap in the intelligence community’s efforts to track suspected extremists and prevent mass killings, a half dozen American, British and French counterterrorism officials told Reuters. The attacks have a common theme of being carried out by actors with an apparent history of mental illness - but few if any direct links to extremist groups, the officials told Reuters. From both a legal and a strategic perspective, counterterrorism investigators globally are focused on plots by established violent groups with known ideologies, such as Islamic State. In the U.S., laws designed to protect citizens from intrusive government spying can limit investigations of individuals unless they have provable ties to foreign terror groups.”
Associated Press: After Obama's Green Light, Afghan Forces On The Offensive
“After two years of heavy casualties, the Afghan military is trying to retake the initiative in the war against militants with a new offensive against Islamic State group loyalists, an assault that will see American troops back on the battlefield working more closely with Afghan soldiers. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently announced a major assault against fighters loyal to the Islamic State group, who over the past year captured positions along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, mainly in Nangarhar province. That goal to uproot IS from Afghanistan has taken on new urgency in the wake of a deadly suicide bombing of a protest march Saturday in Kabul that killed at least 80 people.”
Reuters: Kerry's Syria Plan With Russia Faces Deep Skepticism In U.S., Abroad
“Skeptics in the U.S. government, European allies in the anti-Islamic State coalition and the main Syrian opposition, distrustful of Russia's intentions, are questioning Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest proposal for closer U.S.-Russian cooperation against extremist groups in Syria. Several U.S. military and intelligence officials called the plan naive, and said Kerry risks falling into a trap that Russian President Vladimir Putin has laid to discredit the United States with moderate rebel groups and drive some of their fighters into the arms of Islamic State and other extremist groups. Some European members of the coalition against Islamic State forces have expressed concern about sharing intelligence with Russia, which they say has been an untrustworthy partner in Syria.”
NBC News: Fort Myers Nightclub Shooting: 2 Dead, At Least 14 Others Reportedly Wounded
“At least two people were killed and more than a dozen others injured in a shooting outside of a Florida nightclub early Monday, officials said. Gunshots were fired in the parking lot of Club Blu in Fort Myers at around 12:30 a.m. ET. Police said ‘at least 14-16 people’ were wounded in the shooting, with their injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening. A person of interest was detained at another location, and shots were fired — lightly injuring another person — five blocks away from the nightclub, police said. Detectives had yet to determine a motive early Monday.”
Syria
Reuters: Syrian Government Says Ready For Further Peace Talks: State Media
“Syria's government said on Sunday it was ready for further peace talks with the opposition and that it was intent on a political solution to the five-year conflict. ‘Syria ... is ready to continue the Syrian-Syrian dialogue without any preconditions ... and without foreign interference, with the support of the United Nations,’ state news agency SANA quoted an official in the foreign ministry as saying. The U.N. hopes to convene a new round of intra-Syrian peace talks in Geneva in August, its Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said this week. Previous rounds of talks this year broke down as fighting escalated, particularly around Aleppo, where government forces recently cut off the only road into rebel-held areas of the divided northern city.”
Reuters: Islamic State Shuns Withdrawal Offer In Surrounded Syrian City
“Islamic State shunned an offer for its fighters to withdraw safely from the Syrian city of Manbij and clashes with U.S.-backed forces still raged after its expiry, a spokesman for Washington-backed forces said on Saturday. The jihadist group did, however, propose a deal to allow the safe passage of critically ill civilians to areas controlled by the U.S.-backed forces in exchange for allowing wounded IS fighters to leave the city, the spokesman said. The Syria Democratic Forces alliance, made up of Arab and Kurdish fighters and backed by the United States, made rapid advances against the jihadists last month after launching a campaign to flush them out of territory along the Turkish border, through which they had for years moved weapons and fighters. The SDF quickly surrounded Manbij, but the fight to take the city has been tougher, with slow advances inside it in recent weeks.”
Iraq
Reuters: Trench Cuts Off Iraq's Falluja From The North Following IS Defeat
“Iraqi forces are digging a trench on the northern outskirts of Falluja a month after taking it back from Islamic State, security officials said on Saturday, raising concerns about repopulating the deserted city. Displaced residents are waiting for Falluja's streets and buildings to be cleared of IS explosives before returning, while the troops that retook the city are gradually being replaced by local police and tribal fighters. Even as attention has shifted north recently to an expected offensive on Mosul, Iraqi forces have continued to pursue IS fighters, estimated in the several hundreds, in western Anbar province, where Falluja is located.”
CNN: 21 Killed In Baghdad Suicide Blast, Weeks After Deadliest In Years
“Terror once again struck the streets of Iraq's capital Sunday, after a suicide bombing killed at least 21 people in a residential neighborhood in northern Baghdad. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya, which also injured more than 35 others, Iraqi security officials said. The claim by ISIS was released by the terror group's media wing Amaq and on pro-ISIS social media accounts circulated by its supporters. Sunday's attack came just weeks after the deadliest terror attack in war-weary Baghdad in years, when a suicide truck bomb plowed into a busy shopping district killing almost 300 people.”
Turkey
Turkey Failed Coup: Tens Of Thousands In Pro-Democracy Rally
“Tens of thousands of people have joined a pro-democracy rally in Istanbul, condemning the nation's attempted coup. The rally was organised by the opposition party CHP but was backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK party, in a rare show of unity. Amid a sea of red flags, banners bore slogans such as ‘We defend the republic!’ The CHP's leader said ‘democracy won!’ but he also warned against the dangers of authoritarianism. Many of the CHP supporters gathered in Taksim Square waved flags with a picture of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Despite Turkey's political divisions, Istanbul's mayor and other AK party leaders joined the opposition demonstrators.”
Huffington Post: Turkey’s Attempted Coup: The Collapse Of The Ideal Islamic Democracy
“Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled Turkey for more than a decade. He should be enjoying his time of triumph. He towers above the political system, able to create and dismiss governments at will. The mayor turned prime minister turned president created a new, victorious Islamic movement. He eradicated the gaggle of old, squabbling secular parties. He promoted more business-friendly policies, generating prosperity for those previously left behind. And he won support from women, academics, and liberals as he defanged the military, which long was the ultimate arbiter of Turkish politics. Even if the latest coup attempt was well-intentioned, it is hard to see how it could have accomplished its professed ends. Today the public is well-organized and committed to democracy.”
Reuters: Turkey Ruling, Opposition Parties Rally Together After Coup
“Tens of thousands of supporters of Turkey's ruling and main opposition parties, usually bitter foes, rallied together on Sunday in support of democracy following a failed military coup as President Tayyip Erdogan tightens his grip on the country. Demonstrators held a cross-party ‘Republic and Democracy’ rally in Istanbul's central Taksim Square in a spirit of unity following the failed coup, in which at least 246 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured. In a rare move, pro-government channels broadcast a live speech from the podium by main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Erdogan will probably try to capitalise on the large size of the crowd of all political persuasions to try and reassert full control over the country, a NATO ally and an important partner in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State.”
Afghanistan
The Washington Post: Attack On Hazaras Raises Fears Of Sunni-Shiite Violence In Afghanistan
“Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday ordered a 10-day ban on public protests after a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State killed more than 80 people and wounded hundreds at a peaceful demonstration here Saturday. The protesters, mostly members of the Shiite ethnic Hazara minority, were demanding better access to electrical power in several rural provinces. But the devastating terrorist attack, the deadliest in Kabul since the overthrow of Taliban extremist rule in 2001, raised fears that sectarian violence could be unleashed in the Sunni-majority Muslim country, deliberately fanned by the eruption of mass carnage in the Afghan capital at the hands of the Islamic State, the Middle Eastern-based Sunni group known here as Daesh.”
BBC: Kabul Blast: Afghanistan Mourns Protest Bombing Victims
“Afghanistan is observing a day of national mourning after a suicide bomber killed 80 people and wounded 230 in an attack on marchers in Kabul. So-called Islamic State (IS), the Sunni Muslim militant group, has said it was behind Saturday's attack on members of the Shia Muslim Hazara minority. In a televised address, President Ashraf Ghani vowed to take revenge against those responsible. The UN mission in Afghanistan has described the attack as a ‘war crime’. Tadamichi Yamamoto, head of the UN assistance mission, said the attackers had specifically targeted a large number of civilians. On Saturday, the IS-linked Amaq news agency said two fighters had detonated explosive belts at a ‘gathering of Shia’ in Deh Mazang square.”
CNN: ISIS Claims Afghanistan Explosion That Kills Dozens
“ISIS is claiming responsibility for a joint suicide bombing Saturday that killed dozens of people during a peaceful demonstration by a minority group in Kabul, Afghanistan. So far, 80 bodies and more than 260 wounded people were taken to hospitals in Kabul, according to Ismail Kawoosi, a spokesman for the Afghan Health Ministry. Sayed Hamed, 30, attended the protest but left before the explosions. He was about two kilometers (1.2 miles) away. The attack, the worst in months in terms of casualties, drew attention to ISIS instead of the Taliban, which had been blamed for recent bombings.”
Yemen
Fox News: Possible Photo, Video Of Priest Abducted In Yemen Raises Hopes, Questions
“A new video surfaced of the Catholic priest widely reported to have been crucified on Good Friday by Islamist terrorists in Yemen, raising hopes as well as questions about his fate. The undated video of abducted Indian priest Tom Uzhunnalil show the Indian clergyman looking frail and weak as he was being beaten by his alleged captors, according to the Christian Post. The footage, along with a photograph of Uzhunnalil, was originally posted on his Facebook page by a ‘Yemeni friend’ of the abducted priest. The priest was abducted in March during a raid on a retirement home in Aden operated by Missionaries of Charity. Militants killed 16 civilians and four nuns in the attack.”
Saudi Arabia
Associated Press: Saudi Air Defense Forces Shoot Down Missile Fired From Yemen
“The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen says Saudi air defense forces have shot down a ballistic missile fired at the kingdom from Yemen. A statement carried on the official Saudi Press Agency says the missile targeting the southern city of Najran was intercepted at 9:30 a.m. local time Saturday. No damage or casualties were reported. The Saudi-led coalition backs Yemen's internationally recognized government against Shiite rebels and their allies who control territory including the capital, Sanaa.”
Middle East
Reuters: Putin, Netanyahu Discuss Cooperation Against Middle East Terrorism -Agencies
“Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a phone conversation on Saturday, discussed cooperation in fighting terrorism threats in the Middle East, Russian news agencies quoted the Kremlin as saying. Putin and Netanyahu agreed to continue contacts at various levels. The conversation was held at the initiative of the Israeli side, agencies quoted the Kremlin as saying.”
The Washington Post: Ten Years After Last Lebanon War, Israel Warns Next One Will Be Far Worse
“When Israeli army commanders describe how the next war against Hezbollah could unfold, they often search for words not used in military manuals. The future conflict, they warn, will be ‘ferocious’ and ‘terrible.’ For both sides, the Israelis fear. Yet far worse for Hezbollah and the civilians of Lebanon, they promise. Ten years after Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody but inconclusive 34-day war that left more than 1,000 soldiers and civilians dead in July and August of 2006, the Lebanese Shiite militant group has been transformed. Hezbollah is now a regional military power, a cross-border strike force, with thousands of soldiers hardened by four years of fighting on Syrian battlefields on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad. There are 7,000 Hezbollah fighters in Syria, Israeli commanders say.”
Libya
Reuters: Fourteen Bodies Found After 'Execution' In Benghazi, Libya
“Fourteen unidentified bodies with shot wounds to the head have been found in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a hospital official said on Friday. U.N. Libya envoy Martin Kobler said he was ‘shocked and dismayed by the summary execution,’ labelling it a war crime and calling for those responsible to be brought to justice. The bodies were recovered from Laithi, a neighbourhood that forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar captured this year from a loose alliance of Islamists and other opponents. Military officials from Haftar's forces refused to comment, saying the incident was under investigation. Benghazi has seen some of the heaviest violence of the sporadic conflict that developed after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in an uprising in 2011.”
United Kingdom
“More than half a million nurses, teachers, childminders and other frontline public sector workers have been put through a mass counter-terrorism training programme to help them spot and report potential extremists in their workplaces. The Home Office has confirmed that of the 550,000 now trained in the controversial Prevent strategy, at least 150,000 are public-facing NHS staff, such as doctors and nurses. They have all completed various online or classroom exercises to comply with a statutory Prevent duty that was forced on a wide range of public authorities by Theresa May as Home Secretary last year. Aimed mainly at tackling Islamist extremists and far right white supremacists, it is one of the biggest counter-terror awareness programmes ever undertaken by the UK Government.”
The Guardian: UK Must Be Involved In EU Anti-Terrorism Measures, Says Keith Vaz
“Ministers must decide as a matter of urgency how to maintain maximum UK involvement in EU anti-terrorism, intelligence and security policies after recent events in Germany, France and Belgium, the chairman of the home affairs select committee has said. Labour MP Keith Vaz told the Observer he had written to the new home secretary, Amber Rudd, asking her to appear before the all-party committee because ‘after the Munich attack and other attacks across Europe, it is even more important that these relationships continue.’ Vaz said the committee would launch a major inquiry in September, as soon as parliament returned after the summer break, into the ‘Brexit implications’ for security and anti-terror policies.”
Germany
Time: Why Germany—And The World—Is Arguing Over The Munich Shooter
“In reality, there seemed to be nothing obvious about the Munich shooters supposed links to Islamic radicalism. Even before the Munich police chief briefed reporters on the investigation Saturday afternoon, it seemed clear that the gunman was not a typical jihadi. For one thing, he ended his rampage by killing himself, which is forbidden under Islamic law. For another, his family hails from Iran, a Shiite Muslim nation that has been fighting the Sunni militants of ISIS ever since they declared their caliphate two years ago. A video posted online also appeared to show the gunman shouting ‘I am German!’ during his rampage – hardly the slogan of a would-be mujahid. These early indications seemed to square with what police found in the gunman’s apartment in the early hours of Saturday morning. Nowhere among his possessions did investigators uncover any Islamist literature, Chief Andrae said.”
“The tormented teenager who massacred nine people in Munich lured his teenage victims to their deaths using a bogus Facebook message, it emerged last night. Ali David Sonboly, a student obsessed by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, hacked into the account of an innocent Turkish girl and offered her friends free McDonald’s food if they came to the shopping mall. But the youngsters answering the invitation ended up running for their lives, as the disturbed 18-year-old opened fire on them with a semi-automatic pistol. Sonboly used Selina Akim’s account to offer the girl’s friends: ‘Come today at 4pm to Meggi [slang for McDonald’s] at the OEZ [shopping mall]! I will buy you what you want, but nothing too expensive.’ Whether he knew the girl or any of his victims was not clear last night, but Sonboly’s careful planning was obvious. His obsession with Nazi terrorist Breivik, drove him to emulate the bloody carnage of Oslo and Utoya island, exactly five years on.”
CNN: Suicide Bomb Rocks Ansbach, Germany
“An explosion in the southern German city of Ansbach was a suicide attack, according to the region's interior minister. The bomber died in the blast. A device was exploded by a 27-year-old Syrian national outside a music festival. He had been denied entry into the event due to the lack of a ticket, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said during a news conference early Monday. Twelve people were injured. The man, who has not yet been named, stood around the festival entrance for a short period before he blew himself up. The music festival and surrounding area were evacuated. Authorities said the bomber had previously applied for asylum in Germany but had had his application rejected. He was also known to police in Ansbach for previous offenses. German media outlets reported that he had previously attempted suicide.”
BBC: Germany Machete Attack: Syria Migrant Kills Woman
“A machete attack by a Syrian asylum-seeker has left one woman dead and two other people injured in Reutlingen, near Stuttgart. Police said the attack happened after an argument developed between the man and the 45-year-old Polish woman. Police said there was no indication that it was terrorist attack and it was more likely to have been ‘a crime of passion’. The incident comes amid tension after other bloody events in the past week. A shooting rampage in Munich on Friday left nine people dead while an axe attack on a train a week ago injured several people. The 21-year-old man arrested in Reutlingen was acting alone, police said.”
France
The Washington Post: Nice Now Has A Reputation As A Breeding Ground For Terrorists
We still don’t know much about why Tunisian-born French resident Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a truck through Bastille Day crowds in Nice on July 14, killing 84 people and injuring many more. The Islamic State has asserted responsibility for the attack. While many Americans know the city as a tourist destination, Nice now has a reputation as a ‘breeding ground’ for radicals. Of the nearly 2,000 French citizens who have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight or train there as jihadists, at least 55 have come from Nice and the surrounding area. Some report that the number is more than 100. Nice was once the home base of Omar Omsen, also known as Oumar Diaby, a recruiter who makes and distributes videos online encouraging Muslims to go to fight in Syria.”
Europe
The Wall Street Journal: Terror Attacks Weigh on Europe’s Travel Companies
“A cascade of terrorist attacks in Europe is driving away tourists at the height of the summer rush, casting a pall over hotel chains, airline companies and luxury retailers that are already grappling with Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Declines in airline and hotel bookings have spread into European cities and countries that hadn’t suffered recent attacks, analysts and companies say. That raises the specter that the violence–combined with a sluggish economy–could have a broader economic impact, affecting companies like Air France-KLM, AccorHotels SA and InterContinental Hotel Group PLC when they report earnings in the next two weeks.”
The Wall Street Journal: Europeans Ask if Violence Is Becoming Fact of Life
“In less than two weeks, Western Europe has witnessed the calm of everyday life repeatedly shattered by high-profile, indiscriminate acts of savagery, raising the sense that violence is becoming a new normal. After the Bastille Day massacre in Nice, then an ax attack on a German train and a shooting spree in Munich, unease on the continent grew with yet another violent act Sunday: A Syrian asylum-seeker allegedly slashed a woman to death with a long knife in southwestern Germany. Police detained a 21-year-old suspect but said he had no known connection to terror groups. The extremist group—which investigators say orchestrated the massacres in Paris and Brussels and inspired the truck attack in Nice—has promoted a particularly brutal form of terrorism: indiscriminate targets in civilian life, with the goal of killing as many people as possible.”
Arabic Language Clips
Terrorist Financing
The Russian Federal Security Service announced the opening of a criminal case against a resident of the Republic of Tatarstan, on suspicion of financing terrorism in Syria. The authority issued a statement on Friday saying that the Security Service branch in this republic, which is located in the Volga region, had opened the case on July 8th against Lenar Nizam Aldinov based on the article in the Russian Criminal Code dealing with participation in terrorist activity. The statement said that the case had been launched following collection of data indicating that the person in question had funded the illegal activity of armed groups in Syria.
The Saudi National Central Bureau of Interpol warned users of social media sites against electronic gangs that are committing crimes of extortion. These gangs raise money by offering sexual enticements. Interpol did not rule out the possibility that some terrorist groups are adopting this method as a novel source of income. The Saudi Interpol, through its official page, has recently warned Saudi users of social networking sites against being exploited by gangs outside the Kingdom, who are attempting to extort their money via Facebook and other social media sites.
ISIS
Alnour Radio: Al Hisbah Members In ISIS Organization Steal Money
ISIS has deployed barriers in Raqqa to search passersby. This is part of an arrest campaign among ISIS's Al Hisbah Authority in this Syrian city. It was launched after Al Hisbah officials embezzled large sums of money. Al Hisbah is ISIS's supreme authority for the collection of funds within the regions under the organization's control. In the past, Al Hisbah was not subject to supervision by higher authorities, which enabled a number of its officials to misuse funds and dispose of them through the purchase of real estate and cars. Several Al Hisbah officials were discovered transferring large sums of money abroad, a development which prompted the organization to create a supervisory agency.
On Sunday the head of "Al Anbar Salvation Council", Sheikh Hamid al-Hayes, accused whom he called "ISIS supporters" in Irbil province of paying money to secure the release of militants belonging to ISIS. Al-Hayes was quoted as saying, "We know that ISIS militants, either killed or detained, are being released in exchange for money paid by their supporters in Irbil." He stressed that (these payments) "are made by opening offices in the province or via countries that support the organization."
Muslim Brotherhood
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee, headed by Dr. Mohammed Yasser Abu El-Fotouh, seized the last branch of the "Roayah Eye Center", which is owned by the Muslim Brotherhood. A team composed of members of the Committee, escorted by a security force, arrived at the branch to examine the papers and documents it found there. The team seized all the contents. Then it was decided to seal off the branch after realizing that it was actually a residential apartment, comprising a lounge and two rooms, serving as an administrative office.
Ahmed Ayoub, Spokesman of the State-owned 'Land Recovery Committee', stated that during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt faced a flagrant violation of the country's capabilities and resources. He added that the group had seized lands at the time, for the benefit of its members, without any right to do so. Ayoub revealed the existence of a blacklist containing the identities of everyone who took control of state lands and refused to legalize their status. The official also stressed that no actual inventory exists for the lands that were seized. He explained that the entities that comprise the Committee review, on a daily basis, the documents related to the lands that were seized in order to take urgent and immediate action.
Egypt's State Lawsuits Authority, representing the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Interior, submitted an appeal to the Court of Administrative Justice at the State Council. It demands the invalidation of a previous ruling by the Administrative Court to revoke a decision on seizure of funds owned by former player for the Al Ahly soccer club and Egyptian national team Mohammed Abu Treika. The appeal demands a review to certify the seizure decision which was originally adopted by the Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee. The Court of Administrative Justice, presided over by Judge Abdul Majid Al Mokten, Vice President of State Council, decided to rule in favor of the lawsuit filed by the ex-player and cancel the earlier decision to seize funds owned by his company "Ashab Tours".
Egypt Today: The Story Of Ill-Gotten Money In The Pockets Of Brotherhood Broadcasters
Sources reveal that the co-founder of media outlets which incite against the Egyptian state, especially Ayman Nour, Chairman of the Board of the Brotherhood's Al Sharq TV channel, and media personality Moataz Matar, presenter of the main program on the channel, own personal fortunes worth millions of dollars. The sources noted that Ayman Nour recently funneled part of his resources to a European stock exchange under the names of his children. Meanwhile, Moataz Matar is currently looking into investing in clothing stores or restaurants. Tarek Abou El Saad, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader, was quoted as saying that Ayman Nour is not a businessman but a politician and, therefore, it is surprising how he was able to acquire the TV channel along with several Brotherhood-affiliated newspapers. He backs them all despite the fact he is not a businessman. Abou El Saad claimed that Turkey is behind the funding of Ayman Nour, providing him with the money necessary for these channels to persist in their incitement against Egypt.
Hamas
Addiyar: Qatar Pays Monthly Salary For Employees In Gaza ... Hamas Welcomes The Move
Qatar said it would pay the monthly salaries for public sector employees in the Gaza Strip to help improve the situation of thousands of civil servants who have not received full wages since 2013. The Hamas movement which runs the Gaza Strip welcomed this grant, saying it will help ease the wage crisis. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, stated that the grant, totaling 113 million Qatari riyals ($31 million), aims to "alleviate the suffering of our brothers in the Strip, and the suffocating financial siege which they face," according to comments published by the Qatar News Agency.
Al-Qaeda
Islam Today: Documents Confirm Iran's Harboring And Funding Leaders Of Al-Qaeda
New documents confirm the involvement of the Republic of Iran in supporting, financing and harboring the leaders of al-Qaeda, including its deceased spiritual leader Osama bin Laden. These actions serve Iran's own interests in the region. The documents divulge communiqués by bin Laden calling on his loyalists not to fight Iran. Activists assert that the documents reinforce the conviction that Iran is implicated in the formation of extremist organizations like al-Qaeda and ISIS and benefits from their actions, which affect the majority of Iran's neighboring countries without causing it any detriment. According to a report presented by Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath TV channel, Iran is currently harboring several al-Qaeda leaders targeted by US sanctions. These include Faisal Al Amri, a top al-Qaeda official and commander of one of its battalions; Yisra Muhammad Bayoumi, the financier of Al Nusra Front in Syria; as well as Abu Bakr Muhammad Ghumayn, who is in charge of the financial and administrative affairs of al-Qaeda members in Iran.