Eye on Extremism, June 13, 2016
Counter Extremism Project
BBC: Orlando Shooting: Latest Attack On LGBT Community
Mark Wallace, CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, said it was difficult to know how many LGBT men and women had been killed by IS, but the practice was well documented. ‘The targeting, persecution and killing of LGBT [people] in Isis-controlled territory is extensive. LGBT people have been suffering at the hands of extremists in various cultures and parts of the world for some time.’ Though Mr Wallace said he did not want to diminish the suffering of the gay community, he added that the attacks in Orlando were about much more than an opposition to homosexuality. ‘Isis and extremist ideology hate all of us,’ he says. ‘It's really an attack on all of us. It's an attack on the way we live - our openness.’”
Voice Of America: Orlando Shooting Renews Focus On How To Identify, Stop Extremist Attacks
“Marielle Harris, a senior researcher at the Counter Extremism Project, told VOA it is unclear yet how much direct support the shooter may have had, but either way the situation is mutually beneficial with his ability to act on behalf of a powerful organization and Islamic State getting to claim an attack that has dominated Western media. She said it is important to look at the internet's role in radicalization, and that social media companies need to be much more proactive. Harris also stressed that in addition to visible interactions, another major issue is extremists connecting on Facebook or Twitter and then moving to encrypted platforms that are much harder to trace. She highlighted a CEP initiative that uses the hashtag #CEPDigitalDisruption to flag extremist accounts for removal, and monitors posts in English, French, German, Turkish and Arabic.”
The Daily Caller: ISIS Anti-Gay Jihad Long Overlooked
Seems that way given the scant media attention to the group’s murderous persecution of gays since they rose to power. And today folks from President Obama on down have tried to obscure the Orlando shooter’s obvious affinity for ISIS and, by extension, its virulently anti-gay religious beliefs. But a little-noticed report issued this month by the neocon Counter-Extremism Project lays out the gruesome details of how ISIS treats homosexuals. Basically, just like Omar Mateen, except they prefer hurling gays from rooftops instead of shooting them outright.
International Business Times: Orlando Nightclub Shooting: Gunman Named As US Citizen Omar Mateen
“The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) issued a statement on 12 June in response to the deadly Sunday morning attack at the nightclub. ‘The Counter Extremism Project strongly condemns today's horrific terror attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which killed more than 20 people and wounded many others. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Orlando community and the friends and families of all those impacted by this tragedy.’”
MSNBC: How Will America Defeat Extremist Messaging?
“Tara Maller of the Counter Extremism Project joins MSNBC's Brian Williams to provide updates on the shooting at the Orlando nightclub, and explains how the United States might prevent future mass shootings.”
CNN: Orlando Shooting: 50 Killed, Shooter Pledged ISIS Allegiance
“An American-born man who'd pledged allegiance to ISIS gunned down 50 people early Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando, the deadliest mass shooting in the United States and the nation's worst terror attack since 9/11, authorities said. Mateen carried an assault rifle and a pistol into the packed Pulse club about 2 a.m. Sunday and started shooting, killing 50 people and wounding at least 53, police said. After a standoff of about three hours, while people trapped inside the club desperately called and messaged friends and relatives, police crashed into the building with an armored vehicle and stun grenades and killed Mateen.”
Reuters: 'Road Of Death' To Aleppo Pounded As Air Strikes Cut Off Rebel Areas
“The opposition-held sector of Syria's divided city of Aleppo has been cut off from the outside world in recent days by an escalation of air and artillery strikes on the only road in, putting hundreds of thousands of people under effective siege. A government campaign to fully capture Aleppo would most likely bury what little hope remains of reviving a diplomatic effort to end the five-year-old civil war, after talks and a ceasefire sponsored by the United States and Russia fell apart earlier this year. Aleppo, Syria's largest city before the war when it had more than 2 million people, has been divided for years into rebel and government sectors, and capturing all of it has been one of President Bashar al-Assad's biggest goals.”
Reuters: Thousands Flee Falluja Using First Safe Exit Route Secured By Iraqi Army
“The Iraqi army said on Sunday it had secured the first safe exit route for civilians to leave Islamic State's besieged stronghold Falluja, and a Norwegian aid group said thousands of people had already used it to flee in the first day it was open. While it pressed on with its offensive in Falluja, the army also launched a fresh advance in the direction of the northern city of Mosul, Islamic State's de facto Iraqi capital, under cover of airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition. The assaults by the Iraqi army are taking place at the same time as advances against Islamic State by U.S.-backed fighters and Russian-backed Syrian government forces in Syria, at the opposite end of the militants' self-proclaimed caliphate.”
BBC: Libyan Forces 'Retake Sirte Port From IS Militants'
“Libyan forces say they have retaken control of the port in the city of Sirte, after fierce fighting with militants from so-called Islamic State. Sirte is the most significant IS stronghold outside Iraq and Syria. Air and missile strikes have hit IS positions this week, officials said. A spokesman said troops were moving closer to the city centre. The forces, aligned to the UN-backed unity government in Tripoli, began the battle to retake the city last month. A spokesman, Ahmed Hadia, told the BBC IS forces had weakened, but ‘not totally broken down’. He said the troops were encircling part of the city.”
NBC News: Europol Boss Rob Wainwright: ISIS Is 'Animal Caged In The Corner'
“Mass-casualty attacks by ISIS show the group has been debilitated and has resorted to lashing out like a ‘caged’ animal, a top law enforcement official said. Europol director Rob Wainwright told NBC News that the attacks in Brussels and Paris are a sign military efforts in Iraq and Syria are squeezing the Islamist group. Following these setbacks, the group ‘needed to somehow regain the initiative,’ Wainwright said in a recent interview. ‘We're starting to see [it is] like an animal caged in the corner [that's starting] to sort of lash out, and I think it might be part of the slow, long decline of the organization.’ Following a military effort backed by a U.S.-led bombing campaign, ISIS has lost around one-quarter of its territory in Iraq and Syria, the research group IHS said in March.”
Reuters: U.S.-Backed Forces Push Deeper Into Islamic State Territory In Northern Syria: Monitor
“U.S.-backed Syrian forces made new territorial gains against Islamic State on Saturday, moving closer to another of its major strongholds in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory said the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), bringing together Kurdish and Arab fighters, were now almost 17 km from the city of al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold north east of Aleppo. The SDF on Friday cut off the last route into the encircled town of Manbij from al-Bab after over a week of advances around that area, allowing it to lay siege to the large town from all directions, the monitor said. The Observatory said nearly 160 Islamic State fighters had died in battles with the SDF around Manbij and more than 20 SDF fighters had been killed.”
Newsweek: Homemade ‘Carlo’ Gun Becoming Weapon Of Choice For Palestinian Attackers
“What had been termed the ‘Blade Intifada’ by the international media because of a series of stabbing attacks, the wave of assaults by Palestinians against Israelis since October 2015 is now being characterized by a series of deadly gun attacks. Palestinians are turning to a much-cheaper alternative to a Kalashnikov. The rise of the ‘Carlo’ poses a unique challenge to Israeli security services. While a Kalashnikov can be bought for up to $20,500, a ‘Carlo’ can cost as little as $780. These guns are composed of separate parts, such as scrap paintball guns and pipes, then filled with ammunition to turn it into a live and deadly weapon. Amateurs can make such guns with ease and blacksmiths, some of whom have been raided by Israeli forces in the West Bank for their involvement in weapon-making, can easily put such a weapon together. The parts are welded together, and blueprints for making the weapons can be easily found on the web.”
Telegraph: Multi-Million Pound Foreign Aid Grant Spent On Encouraging Terrorism
“A multi-million pound foreign aid project aimed at promoting Palestinian state building and peace has instead encouraged terrorism and led to an increase in violence, The Telegraph can disclose. The Department for International Development (DFID)’s ￡156.4 million grant providing financial aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) led to civil servants being ‘more likely’ to commit acts of terrorism, an independent evaluation suggested. An official report found that the five-year project encouraged public sector employees to engage in ‘active conflict’ since their salaries were paid to their families even if they were convicted and imprisoned for criminal acts, including terrorism.”
The Wall Street Journal: Afghanistan’s Taliban Push Into New Media
“Before the Taliban were toppled from power in the U.S.-led invasion of 2001, the hard-line Islamist group banned television, cinemas and photography as un-Islamic. When they came together again as an insurgency to fight the Afghan government and its foreign backers, they communicated in terse battlefield updates shared through their website and later on Twitter . They also sent the occasional wordy missive to journalists. Now, the Taliban are active on a variety of media platforms. They recently began releasing audio files with songs and news updates, and launched a smartphone app for their Voice of Jihad website, available in multiple languages. Their videos, once grainy, are sleek and widely shared.”
United States
Time: What To Know About ISIS’ Role In The Orlando Shooting
“The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the mass shooting attack in an Orlando gay club on Sunday that left more than 50 people dead. ‘The attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter,’ the group said in a report on its official Amaq news agency. The claims underline a pattern in which ISIS seeks to inspire sympathizers to carry out attacks—with or without operational support from the group—and then claims responsibility for the carnage after the fact. In such plots, the connection to ISIS as a central organization may exist only in the attacker’s mind, but the resulting violence is no less lethal.”
NPR: What We Know So Far About The Orlando Shooting Suspect
“Omar Mateen, 29, walked into a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday morning and opened fire, according to law enforcement. He was killed after a long standoff with police but not before he allegedly carried out the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. We will no doubt learn much more about Mateen in the coming days. But here is what we know so far: Mateen, 29, was born in New York in 1986. The FBI's Ronald Hopper said Mateen first drew their attention in 2013, when he made ‘inflammatory comments’ to co-workers about having ties to terrorism. ‘In the course of the investigation, Mateen was interviewed twice,’ Hopper said. ‘Ultimately we were unable to verify the substance of his comments and the investigation was closed.’”
NPR: Obama Expands U.S. Military's Authority To Target Taliban In Afghanistan
“President Obama has given U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan new authority to target the Taliban. Pentagon officials say the president is authorizing commanders to order airstrikes to support major Afghan offensives, NPR national security editor Phil Ewing reports, adding that the airstrikes must be ‘the deciding factor’ in helping an offensive succeed. Previously, commanders had been authorized to issue airstrikes to defend U.S. troops or ‘prevent major overruns of Afghan troops by the Taliban,’ Phil says. Defense officials tell Phil the president is also authorizing U.S. commanders to deploy troops along with regular Afghan infantry forces — not just Afghan special operations forces, which the military is currently assisting.”
Syria
Deutsche Welle: Hundreds Flee Besieged IS Bastion In Syria
“Around 600 civilians fled Manbij on foot before US-backed forces ‘transported them to safer areas,’ the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday. The US-supported Kurdish-Arab alliance, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), encircled Manbij on Friday, capturing dozens of villages near the Turkish border and severing a major supply route for ‘Islamic State’ (IS). The Britain-based Observatory, a monitoring group which gets its information from a network of sources on the ground, said that tens of thousands of Syrians were still trapped in the town, and that food supplies were running low. It said at least 223 IS militants and 28 SDF soldiers had been killed - as well as 41 civilians - since the US-backed offensive began at the end of May.”
The Wall Street Journal: Syria Hit By Twin Explosions Near Damascus
“Two bombs went off Saturday near the Syrian capital, killing at least eight people and wounding over a dozen others in the latest attack to hit the predominantly Shiite area in recent months, state TV and an opposition activist group said. Syrian State TV said the blasts in the Sayyida Zeinab area just south of Damascus killed eight people and wounded 13 others. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the two explosions. The Sayyida Zeinab suburb is home to a shrine by the same name, one of the most renowned in Shiite Islam. The heavily guarded shrine to Sayyida Zeinab, the daughter of the first Shiite imam, Ali, and granddaughter of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, receives thousands of Shiite pilgrims each year.”
Iraq
Reuters: Iraqi Forces Gain Ground Against Islamic State South Of Mosul
“Iraqi troops advanced against Islamic State south of Mosul on Sunday as the U.S.-led coalition intensifies its campaign against the militants on multiple fronts across their self-proclaimed caliphate. Officers involved in the operation said Iraqi forces had moved toward the village of Haj Ali in tanks and armored vehicles under cover of coalition air strikes and artillery fire, capturing another village on the way. ‘In the beginning they resisted but when they saw the force they withdrew,’ said an Iraqi officer speaking from the newly recaptured village of Kharaib Jabr, adjacent to Haj Ali. Haj Ali sits on the eastern bank of the Tigris river, opposite the Islamic State hub of Qayara, where there is an airfield that is set to serve as a staging ground for future operations to recapture Mosul, about 60 km (40 miles) north.”
The Washington Post: After More Than $1.6 Billion In U.S. Aid, Iraq’s Army Still Struggles
“In the days before his death last month, Col. Ihab Hashem al-Araji confided that his battle against the Islamic State too often felt like a suicide mission, despite the more than $1.6 billion in U.S. arms and training that have flowed to the Iraqi army over the past two years. He had even begun taking a white funeral shroud to the battlefield with him. To support his forces advancing on enemy-held Fallujah, Araji had requested a U.S.-supplied M1 Abrams tank but said he was asked to pay $2,000 in bribes to secure it. Instead, he was given a run-down Russian one, which arrived without a driver trained to use it.”
Turkey
Reuters: Turkish Jets Kill 13 Kurdish PKK Militants: Military Sources
“Turkish warplanes killed 13 suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants on Saturday in the southeast province of Diyarbakir, military sources said. The rebels were spotted by an unmanned aerial vehicle in the Lice region, north of the provincial capital Diyarbakir, the sources said. Warplanes also struck PKK targets in the nearby provinces of Siirt and Hakkari and in some areas of neighboring northern Iraq where the PKK has bases, the army said. Two soldiers were killed and four wounded in clashes with PKK militants in Hakkari province on Friday, the army said. Southeastern Turkey, home to most of Turkey's 15 million Kurds, has been wracked by violence since the collapse of a ceasefire in July 2014 and the PKK's resumption of its three-decade armed campaign for greater autonomy.”
Reuters: After Threats, Security Concerns For German Mps With Turkish Roots
“German lawmakers of Turkish origin who have been threatened after parliament declared the 1915 massacre of Armenians a genocide have been warned not to travel to Turkey and will get increased police protection, media reported on Saturday. The resolution in Germany's parliament this month labeling the 1915 killings by Ottoman forces as genocide has added to tensions between Berlin and Ankara. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that the 11 lawmakers of Turkish origin who voted for the resolution should be given blood tests, and has accused them of having ‘tainted blood’ and of being terrorists. The leader of Germany's Green party, Cem Oezdemir, who pushed for the resolution, has also received death threats.”
Afghanistan
Fox News: Al Qaeda Leader Appears To Pledge Allegiance To Taliban In Afghanistan
“The leader of Al Qaeda has reportedly backed Afghan Taliban in a move to boost the group’s efforts after President Barack Obama approved the expansion of the U.S. military’s role in battle-torn nation. According to Reuters, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the he would ‘pledge allegiance’ to Taliban guerrillas fighting in Afghanistan in an online audio recording. ‘As leader of the Al Qaeda organization for jihad, I extend my pledge of allegiance once again, the approach of Osama to invite the Muslim nation to support the Islamic Emirate,’ he said in a 14-minute recording.”
Deutsche Welle: 'Islamic State' Kills Six Officials In Attack On Police Base In Afghanistan
“Afghan officials said that one of the six officers to be killed by IS gunmen was a district police chief in the eastern Nangarhar province, where militant strikes have recently increased. Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the insurgents attacked the administrative headquarters in Haska Mina district at 2 a.m. on Saturday. The attack comes a day after three worshippers were killed and 70 wounded in a bomb attack on a mosque in the province. ‘An attack deliberately targeting civilian members of a community praying together in a mosque can never be justified and highlights the perpetrators' intent to destroy lives, and spread terror among the civilian population,’ the UN said in a statement.”
Egypt
Associated Press: Egypt Says Time Running Out To Find Egyptair Black Boxes
“Egyptian investigators say time is running out in the search for the black boxes from an EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean last month, killing all 66 people on board. In a statement Sunday, they say that searches by ships in the area will intensify, given that only around five days remain before the batteries of the flight's data and cockpit voice recorders expire and they stop emitting signals. The boxes could reveal whether a mechanical fault, a hijacking or a bomb caused the disaster. Finding them without the signals is possible but more difficult. Since the plane disappeared from radar en route to Cairo from Paris, only small pieces of debris and human remains have been retrieved from the crash site. No group has claimed an attack.”
Middle East
The Economist: A Brutal Attack In Tel Aviv Shatters Israel’s Relative Peace
“The Max Brenner restaurant in Tel Aviv’s Sarona neighbourhood was packed with diners on June 8th when two cousins from Yatta in the West Bank ordered drinks, drew makeshift submachineguns and opened fire. Four Israeli civilians were killed and six injured by the time the two shooters, one of whom was affiliated with Hamas, were overpowered. The attacks were the first in exactly three months to have killed any Israelis. A wave of violence by Palestinians aimed at Israeli civilians began in late September before petering out after six months. At its height, there were on average two attacks every day. Last month saw only a handful.”
The Jerusalem Post: UN: 2015 Was Most Violent Year In West Bank, Israel In The Last Decade
“Last year saw the highest number of Palestinian and Israeli casualties in the West Bank and Israel since the UN began recording such data a decade ago, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report issued early Monday morning. The 19-page report titled ‘Fragmented Lives’ took aim at Israel’s continued military rule of the West Bank as well as its hold on east Jerusalem by looking at the impact on Palestinian lives on the ground. The report’s primary focus was 2015, which was marked by the wave of Palestinian violence against Israelis that claimed the lives of 25 victims as of December, and the response of Israeli forces. Of that number, 94 Palestinians were killed executing attacks and ‘alleged attacks’ against Israelis, the UN said.”
Libya
Reuters: Suicide Bomber Hits Field Hospital Near Libya's Sirte
“A suicide bomber killed three people at a field hospital for forces fighting Islamic State in their Libyan coastal stronghold of Sirte on Sunday, a security source said, and medical staff appealed for help in treating the wounded. The bomber also wounded seven others and caused extensive damage to the hospital, about 50 km (30 miles) from the front line, the source said. Two other attempted suicide bombings just outside the center of Sirte did not cause casualties, he said. Brigades aligned with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord have made rapid advances over the past month. This week they entered Sirte, engaging Islamic State militants in street battles keeping up air strikes against them.”
Nigeria
Associated Press: Dozens Of Nigerian Army Officers Fired Over Corruption
“Nigeria is firing dozens of senior officers accused of corruption and the theft of billions of dollars meant to buy arms to fight the Boko Haram Islamic insurgency, the army and an officer privy to the list said Saturday. The officer said more than 50 officers have been sacked. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the matter is sensitive and he was not authorized to speak publicly. Army spokesman Col. Sani Kukesheka Usman said only that ‘quite a number’ were sacked Friday, mainly major generals, brigadier generals, colonels, lieutenant colonels and one major. Others were found to have played partisan roles in the 2015 elections in the south of the country that favored former President Goodluck Jonathan. He lost to former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, who made fighting endemic corruption and Boko Haram a cornerstone of his campaign.”
Germany
Deutsche Welle: German Citizens Who Fought With 'IS' Under Surveillance In Euro 2016
“German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told the ‘Bild am Sonntag’ newspaper that security forces have received many tip-offs regarding possible attacks at Euro 2016, but added that there had been no concrete indications a terrorist attack was imminent during the tournament. ‘There are officially some 500 threats that we have in our sights,’ he told the mass-market paper. ‘That is very extensive, but subject to change.’ Germany has been on high alert for several months since the attacks last year in Paris and this year in Brussels. It's not known exactly how many German citizens are fighting or have fought in Syria or Iraq with IS, but estimates put the number in the hundreds.”
France
Associated Press: France Vows To Expel Foreign Hooligans
“France's government vowed Sunday to expel foreign football hooligans, saying their violence during the European Championship is distracting police from the fight against terrorism. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he instructed local officials to issue expulsion orders for ‘all foreign supporters whose behavior disturbs public order. Their actions distract the police from their primary mission, which is to protect our country from the terrorist threat,’ he said. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that 116 people had been arrested since Friday in incidents connected to the tournament, with 63 of them still being held in prison and the rest released. Three people had been expelled from France and five others barred from entering France, the ministry said.”
Arabic Language Clips
Financing of Terrorism
Annahar: 228 Complaints Against Terrorist Financing And Money Laundering In Saudi Arabia
Recently released information indicates that Saudi citizens have become more cooperative in the fight against terrorism and extremism. During the past five years they filed 228 complaints to relevant authorities concerned with terrorist financing and money laundering. Some of these complaints resulted in lawsuits submitted against suspects. This new information reflects the strict measures being taken by the Saudi authorities to combat extremism and the response of members of the Saudi society towards them. The adopted measures include a ban on militants' travel to conflict zones, warning of suspicious, random fundraising for charities, and determining the official channels through which it is permitted to collect donations. The measures also include the establishment of a permanent committee to study and implement the UN Security Council resolutions issued in accordance with Chapter VII of the United Nations' Charter. This committee comprises representatives from 11 governmental entities.
Muslim Brotherhood
Cairo Criminal Court resumed the trial of eight defendants, including four in prison, three on the run and one who was released, in the case of violent incidents in Helwan. The eight are accused of assuming leadership of a special cell originating from the Muslim Brotherhood. The court heard the first witness, Mostafa Mahmoud, a National Security officer, who has been investigating the case. The witness claimed that the Brotherhood was established in violation of provisions of the law and is guilty of instigating riots against the regime. He stressed that the Brotherhood received funding and support from foreign entities to perpetrate its terrorist acts, which include the assassination of Egyptian Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat. He disclosed that the group has opened its channels of communication to any extremist organization wishing to help it achieve its goal of applying pressure on the Egyptian state.
North Cairo Criminal Court decided to add 215 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to the blacklist of terrorists for three years, based on the Egyptian Terrorist Entities Law. One should recall that according to the decision, these individuals will be included on travel ban blacklists. Additionally, their passports will be revoked or a ban will be imposed on the issuance of a new passport. These individuals are stripped of their "good reputation" which is a necessary precondition for assuming public functions or positions. They also lose the right to be elected to the parliament. Moreover, their assets will be frozen should it be proven they were used to carry out terrorist activities.
Egypt Today: Parliamentarians Open Fire On IPSOS Company After Mekameleen TV Scandal
Members of the Egyptian Parliament lashed out at IPSOS market research company after it issued a report on TV ratings of satellite channels viewed in Egypt. TV stations with high ratings have the chance to gain higher advertising revenues. The report by IPSOS placed Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Mekameleen TV, based in Turkey, among the most watched channels. Parliament members claimed this report is a "clear threat" to Egypt's national security. Deputy Tamer Abdelkader, a member of the parliamentary media committee, noted that the findings of IPSOS's study on the TV channels are "unconvincing." He wondered, "How is a Muslim Brotherhood channel among the most watched channels, despite the lack of audience?!"