Eye on Extremism, May 5, 2016
The Wall Street Journal: Rescue Mission In Iraq Led To U.S. Navy SEAL’s Death
“The U.S. Navy SEAL killed in Iraq this week died rushing to the rescue of Americans on a routine training mission who got caught up in a multipronged attack by Islamic State fighters, U.S. officials said. Petty Officer First Class Charles Keating IV was killed Tuesday during a firefight with Islamic State in Iraq, the third American service member to die in combat since the Obama administration began fighting Islamic State there in 2014. Petty Officer Keating was part of a quick reaction force deployed to rescue another group of American service members who were meeting with local forces in the area. His death outside the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul has raised questions about the role of American service members in Iraq and the nature of the U.S. mission.”
The Wall Street Journal: U.S., Russia Reaffirm Cease Fire In Aleppo, Syria
“The U.S. said it and Russia had arranged a cease-fire between the Syrian government and rebels in and around the city of Aleppo, where heavy fighting in recent weeks disrupted peace talks and threatened to spark a new wave of refugees. There were conflicting reports as to the timing and duration of the pause, although the situation in Aleppo was relatively calm Wednesday, a day after dozens of deadly attacks on both sides of the city, including at a maternity hospital. In Berlin, meanwhile, Staffan de Mistura, the U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, warned of more refugees if world powers didn’t succeed in calming the fighting around what was Syria’s biggest city before the war.”
Reuters: Syria Withholds Aid To Thousands, Risks New Siege In Aleppo - U.N.
“Syria's government is refusing U.N. demands to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands of people including many in Aleppo, the city at the centre of an eruption of fighting in the past two weeks, U.N. humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said on Wednesday. ‘We seem to be having new possible besieged areas on our watch, we are having hundreds of relief workers unable to move in Aleppo,’ he told reporters after chairing a weekly meeting of nations supporting the Syria peace process. ‘It is a disgrace to see that while the population of Aleppo is bleeding, their options to flee have never been more difficult than now.’ A partial ceasefire, sponsored by the United States and Russia, was struck in February but has virtually collapsed in recent weeks, with Aleppo bearing the brunt of the renewed bloodshed.”
Reuters: Iraq's All-Female Combat Unit Seeks Revenge On Islamic State
“When Islamic State swept into the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar in 2014, a few young Yazidi women took up arms against the militants attacking women and girls from their community. ‘They took eight of my neighbors and I saw they were killing the children,’ Asema Dahir told Reuters last month at a checkpoint near a front line north of Mosul. Dressed in military fatigues, the 21-year-old is now part of an all-female unit in the Kurdish peshmerga forces, which have played an important role in pushing back Islamic State in northern Iraq.”
Reuters: U.N. Peace Talks On Yemen Resume After Three-Day Suspension: Delegates
“U.N.-backed peace talks to end Yemen's civil war resumed on Wednesday after they were suspended by the Yemeni government for three days in protest at a Houthi assault on a military base near the capital Sanaa. Buttressed by a truce which had been largely holding since April 10, the talks in Kuwait had been inching ahead before their pause and the Houthis said Saudi Arabia had on Saturday released 40 Yemeni prisoners. U.N. special envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed tweeted a picture of delegates representing the main warring sides sitting around a U-shaped table and said talks on Wednesday would focus on cementing the shakey ceasefire.”
Reuters: Al Qaeda In Yemen Poses Growing Threat To Shipping: Naval Force
“Al Qaeda's Yemen branch remains a powerful force and poses a growing risk to merchant ships in vital waterways nearby despite efforts by Yemeni government forces and their allies to push back the group, a top officer in an international naval force said. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed on Saturday it had withdrawn from the southern Yemeni port of? Mukalla - a week after Yemeni government and Emirati soldiers seized the? city that was used by the Islamist militants to amass a fortune. Captain William Nault, Chief of Staff with the multi-national Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), told Reuters ?the gains by government forces were ‘heartening’ and a ‘setback’ for AQAP, but added the group still had capabilities due to the ongoing civil war.”
Voice Of America: US Worried Political Chaos In Iraq Will Hurt IS Fight
“The White House is urging Iraqi leaders to move swiftly to create a central government that will bridge sectarian divides and unite the country as it battles against Islamic State. Washington's alarm about Baghdad's growing political turmoil intensified after anti-government protesters stormed the fortified Green Zone and seized the parliament building over the weekend to demand an end to political bickering and corruption. ‘If there are no reforms, the whole government should be replaced,’ said one of the protesters, echoing a common cry. The Obama administration says Iraq needs a stable, central government to help push back Islamic State militants, who still occupy large swaths of the country.”
The New York Times: Israel Responds To Hamas Mortar Fire With Airstrikes In Gaza
“In response to mortar rounds fired by Hamas toward Israeli defense forces operating outside the Gaza Strip, Israel hit five targets in Gaza with airstrikes on Wednesday, a military spokesman said. Hamas’s military wing complained in a statement that Israeli forces had been excavating enormous areas east of Gaza. Israel has been using the excavations to help search for new warrens of tunnels that Hamas is believed to be digging beneath the border between Gaza and Israel. Israeli military commentators said that the mortar fire – a total of six rounds on Wednesday – was clearly intended to discourage Israeli attempts to find the tunnels.”
The Guardian: Neil Prakash, Most Senior Australian Fighting With Isis, Killed In Iraq Airstrike
“Neil Prakash, a senior Australian Islamic State operative behind a string of failed terrorist attacks in Melbourne and Sydney, has been killed in a US military airstrike in Iraq, the Australian government has announced. Shadi Jabar, the sister of the 15-year-old western Sydney boy who shot and killed police accountant Curtis Cheng last October, was killed in a separate strike in Syria, the government said on Thursday. A statement released by the attorney general and defence minister said Prakash was ‘a prominent Isil member and a senior terrorist recruiter and attack facilitator’ who had been linked to several plots for terrorist attacks in Australia and calls for lone-wolf attacks against the US.”
RT: Army Captain Sues Obama Over ISIS Fight
“An Army Captain is suing President Barack Obama, arguing that the war against Islamic State is illegal because it has not been authorized by Congress. ‘Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, when the President introduces United States armed forces into hostilities… he must either get approval from Congress within sixty day to continue the operation, in the form of a declaration of war… [the] President did not get Congress’s approval for his war against ISIS in Iraq or Syria… the war is therefore illegal.’”
International Crisis Group: Boko Haram On The Back Foot?
“In response to the regional campaign, Boko Haram is adapting to the new conditions, including by making greater use of women and children as suicide bombers to attack softer targets, though it can sometimes still launch large raids. It remains challenging to develop a clear picture of how the group has evolved over the past seven years and what motivates its leaders and rank-and-file. Many reports, as well as some books, are available, but most build on few first-hand sources, beyond statements and sermons by the movement’s leaders. Nigeria and its allies should more effectively collate and use information gathered from captured fighters, supporters and civilians in occupied areas.”
United States
CNN: Top U.S. Intel Official: ISIS Can Stage Europe-Style Attacks In U.S.
“ISIS has the capability to stage a Paris-style attack in the U.S. using local cells to strike in multiple locations and inflict dozens of casualties, according to the Obama administration's top U.S. intelligence official. ‘They do have that capacity,’ Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told CNN's Peter Bergen in an exclusive interviews on ‘AC 360’ on terrorism, Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda's most virulent offshoot -- ISIS. ‘That's something we worry about a lot in the United States, that they could conjure up a raid like they did in Paris or Brussels,’ where March attacks on a train and at an airport left 32 dead and 300 people injured, Clapper said. The November Paris attacks killed at least 130. However, President Barack Obama and some of his other security advisors spoke of the threat in less stark terms and emphasized efforts to protect the U.S.”
Newsmax: Terrorism Fears Grow Over Cuts In Refugee Screening
“The Obama administration is reportedly forging ahead with a ‘dangerously flawed’ plan to expedite the vetting of an expected 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, paring down the usual 18-24 month process to just three months. The Washington Free Beacon reports security-conscious lawmakers wary that current vetting procedures aren't enough to handle the influx are pressing the administration to rethink the plan. ‘We know the 18- to 24-month vetting process for Syrian refugees has severe vulnerabilities after FBI Director James Comey warned about the federal government's inability to thoroughly screen Syrian refugee applicants for terrorism risk — and after the Department of Homeland Security's investigative arm warned about ISIS's capability to print fake Syrian passports for terrorist infiltration,’ Illinois GOP Sen. Mark Kirk tells the Free Beacon.”
New York Times: Another Combat Death In Iraq May Presage Future U.S. Role
“The Islamic State fighters arrived on the outskirts of the northern Iraqi town of Teleskof before dawn. Launching a sophisticated attack from multiple directions, they used armored bulldozers to plow over a protective trench so their convoy of trucks — some laden with explosives — could drive deep into the town. Residents and some local soldiers quickly fled. A group of Navy SEALs who were in Teleskof called urgently for help. Roughly a dozen more SEALs arrived, rumbling into the town in S.U.V.s to join a firefight that would last much of the day. The long and bloody battle killed dozens of Islamic State fighters and one member of the SEALs, Special Warfare Operator First Class Charles Keating IV.”
Syria
“Young Syrian men are being pushed into joining Islamic State and other extremist groups such as Jabhat al Nusra (Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria) because of the collapse of job opportunities and the destruction of schools, rather than religious radicalisation, according to a new survey of young Syrians. The report by International Alert, a charity focused on peace-building, is based on interviews with 311 young Syrians, their families and other community members in Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. It found the main reasons that Syrians are joining extremist groups include the need to earn a living, regain a sense of control over their lives, the desire to avenge the death of family members, as well as a sense of moral or religious duty.”
“ISIS have executed an Al-Qaeda commander in Syria accusing him of being behind several assassination plots against the rival jihadi group. ISIS also posted several photos revealing the capture of an Assad regime soldier following fierce fighting near Palmyra. The militant group reportedly seized close to 80% of the Al-Sha'er Gas fields close to the ancient archaeological site, which was recently re-captured by government forces. The news comes as David Cameron called for ISIS atrocities against religious and ethnic minorities to be recognised as genocide. The Prime Minister told MPs he believed there is a 'very strong case' for labelling the terror group's actions as acts of genocide, adding he hopes they will be 'portrayed and spoken as such'.”
Iraq
Associated Press: Iraq Routed IS From Ramadi At A High Cost: A City Destroyed
“When Iraqi government forces backed by U.S.-led warplanes wrested this city from Islamic State militants after eight months of IS control, it was heralded as a major victory. But the cost of winning Ramadi has been the city itself. The scope of the damage is beyond any of the other Iraqi cities recaptured so far from the jihadi group. Photographs provided to The Associated Press by satellite imagery and analytics company DigitalGlobe show more than 3,000 buildings and nearly 400 roads and bridges were damaged or destroyed between May 2015, when Ramadi fell to IS, and Jan. 22, after most of the fighting had ended. Over roughly the same period, nearly 800 civilians were killed in clashes, airstrikes and executions.”
Turkey
Reuters: Turkey Could Send Ground Troops Into Syria In Self-Defense: PM
“Turkey is ready to send ground forces into Syria to tackle Islamic State militants if need be, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, as two more rockets fired by the group struck a border town. President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would respond to all rockets fired by Islamic State and vowed that the jihadists would suffer greater losses if they continued their aggression. Turkey has argued the case for ground troops in Syria in the past, although it has always said it would not mount a unilateral incursion unless its national security was threatened. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Davutoglu said United Nations resolutions give Turkey ‘legitimacy’ to enter Syria to fight Islamic State and others in the name of self-defense.”
Associated Press: Car Bomb Attack In Southeast Turkey Kills 1, Wounds 6
“Turkey's state-run news agency says a soldier was killed and six others were wounded in a car bomb attack against their outpost in southeastern Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said Wednesday Kurdish rebels detonated an explosives-packed vehicle outside a gendarmerie station in Mardin province. It blamed the attack on ‘terrorists’ linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Ankara and its Western allies designate the group as a terrorist organization. Turkey's southeast plunged into conflict last summer when a fragile peace process between the state and autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels.”
Afghanistan
Huffington Post: Peace Is At Hand In Afghanistan — Or Not
“The peace process in Afghanistan relies on an unholy trinity consisting of the Taliban, Pakistan and the United States. Sadly, Afghanistan doesn’t wield sufficient strength or influence to extricate itself from this war. Not that Afghan President Ghani hasn’t tried. In the aftermath of another deadly suicide attack on security personnel in Kabul on April 19, Ghani ordered security forces to strike ‘fear in the hearts of insurgents’ and drain their financial lifelines. His target is the Taliban, widely believed to be supported and protected by Pakistan. But President Ghani has made similar threats in the past. He has no means to pull it off. After almost two years in office, his country is breaking into pieces, and he doesn’t have the financial heft to support a military effort like that.”
Middle East
The Jerusalem Post: Security Forces Thwart Possible Stabbing Attack
“Border Police and Israel police thwarted a possible stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday according to police reports. A young girl carrying a bag roused the suspicion of several officers on duty in the area. Police called for the girl to stop and present identification but instead the girl began to run. Police caught the girl and upon searching her bag found a large knife. The 17-year-old girl, a resident of east Jerusalem was taken in by security forces for further questioning.”
Newsweek: Global Anti-Semitic Attacks Fell By Almost Half Last Year After 2014 Spike
“Violent attacks against Jews globally dropped by almost half in 2015, according to a study published on Wednesday. However, the Annual Report on Anti-Semitism—published by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University—warned of a notable increase in ‘institutional anti-Semitism’ and ‘slander against the Jewish people as a whole.’ Its publication came on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Worldwide, violent anti-Semitic attacks fell from 766 in 2014 to 410 in 2015, a 46 percent decrease. Still, there were worrisome patterns in some European countries, with anti-Semitic incidents in Britain the third-highest total ever recorded in 2015.”
The Jerusalem Post: Hamas Says Truce Reached With Israel To End Fighting Along Gaza Border
“Hamas late Wednesday said that it has reached understandings with the Israeli military regarding a cessation of hostilities on the Gaza frontier. The Palestinian Islamist group claimed that Egypt mediated a truce with Israel after 24 hours of escalation and tit-for-tat attacks, Arab press reports said. According to the terms of the understandings, the IDF will withdraw some of its troops while halting all operations along the security fence that separates Gaza from Israel. In exchange, Hamas will adhere to the cease-fire that has been in effect since the end of Operation Protective Edge.”
Libya
Associated Press: Morocco Arrests Suspect Linked To Islamic State Group
“Morocco's Interior Ministry says a person suspected of ties with the Islamic State group in Libya has been arrested. The ministry statement says the unidentified suspect had been wanted by authorities and was tied to a nine-member cell linked to the Libyan branch of IS dismantled on March 24. The suspect was arrested in Saidia, a northern coastal town near the Algerian border. According to the statement, the suspect left Morocco illegally six months ago to join IS in Libya, and re-entered illegally through Algeria.”
United Kingdom
Telegraph: Jailed 'Bank Of Terror' Gang May Have Raised More Than ￡1 Million For Isil
“A con artist who received a letter of support from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been jailed for his role in scamming pensioners of their life savings in what may have raised more than a million pounds for Isil. Mohamed Dahir was part of a sophisticated gang who duped their vulnerable and elderly victims in to handing over hundreds of thousands of pounds by posing at police officers investigating bank fraud. Dubbed the ‘Bank of Terror’, it is feared the group passed much of their haul on to Isil fanatics while many of their devastated victims have still not had their stolen savings refunded by the banks.”
BBC: Man Arrested Over Alleged Plan To Join Terrorist Group
“A man suspected of planning to travel to Syria to join a banned terrorist group has been arrested. The 20-year-old was arrested at a residential property in east London at about 07:00 BST. He was held on suspicion of preparing to go Syria to join a ‘proscribed organisation’. The force could not say which group. He has now been released on bail to a date early in June pending further inquiries. Detectives from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command unit are investigating.”
Europe
Deutsche Welle: 'No Salvation In War,' Says Returning IS Fighter
“In Germany, those who return from fighting for ‘Islamic State’ end up in court for supporting a terrorist organization. Fundamentally speaking, this should happen in Albania, too. Yet, contrary to the trials in Germany, there has not been a single case taken up there against a jihadi who returned from Syria, even though, according to Albanian law, the participation in an armed conflict outside of the country is punishable by years in jail. One returning fighter who has been living an inconspicuous life is Ebu Zaid (pictured at top). Zaid belongs to the hundreds of mostly young men from Albania and Kosovo that security officials there estimate to have gone to Syria to fight. Ebu is not an Albanian name, but it is the name the 28-year-old uses with DW when we meet in a Muslim restaurant in Tirana to get his story of jihad.”
Australia
Isis Members Can Now Be Stripped Of Australian Citizenship
“The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has placed Islamic State on a list of organisations whose members can be stripped of their Australian citizenship, clearing the way to begin revoking the nationality of accused terrorists. The government in December passed controversial amendments to citizenship legislation allowing those deemed to have joined a terrorist organisation to have their Australian nationality revoked, provided the move does not leave them stateless. It is not necessary to be a formal member of a terrorist organisation to lose citizenship under the law, only to undertake ‘terrorist-related conduct’.”
Arabic Language Clips
Counter-Terrorism
Alwatan: Tunisia Announces Exceptional Funding Of $96 Million For The Fight Against Terrorism
The Tunisian government announced on Wednesday an "exceptional" budget worth $96 million to be allocated for combating terrorism. Tunisian government spokesman Khaled Chouket said in a press statement following the Tunisian cabinet meeting, "The government has allocated special funds to the plan for the fight against terrorism worth $96 million. It will be directed primarily to satisfy the needs of security operations aimed at combating terrorism at the national level as well as in the border zones." He added that these funds "are not only for the military and security apparatuses but also for a range of ministries involved in the fight against terrorism, including the Ministries of Culture and Religious Affairs, which seek to combat extremist ideology."
The financing of terrorism encompasses intellectual, material and moral aspects. Terror financing from the intellectual aspect is the most significant factor in the emergence of terrorism. Dissemination of extremist ideology which contradicts the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet and invention of theories or statements supposedly based on the law of Islam are mere lies and falsehoods. These come in the form of twisting the real interpretation of the texts and presenting interpretations refuting the teachings of scholars of Islam or of listening to the advocates of revolution and sedition. This intellectual terror financing mainly targets the youth, with the aim of feeding them hatred, extremism, and animosity towards the societies they live in by portraying them as morally deficient.
ISIS
ISIS has adopted a new ploy to rob citizens and send a message that it’s still around and it’s ‘business as usual’ in the city of Mosul. Activists in this Iraqi city have reported deployment in the streets of Mosul of detachments composed of members of the so-called Islamic police and of the organization's traffic police, forcing car owners to replace their vehicles’ registration plates. They vowed that those who fail to do so will face heavy fines as well as detention. Hence, owners of civilian vehicles must now pay amounts ranging from 25,000 to 50,000 Iraqi dinars ($22.50 to $45) in exchange for the new plates, which are manufactured solely by ISIS.
Muslim Brotherhood
Time-Egypt: The Dollar Continues To Pose A Challenge And Rise In The Black Market
The dollar continues to pose a challenge and to rise in the Egyptian black market, due to the currency exchange companies’ activities and the smuggling of the dollar abroad by the Muslim Brotherhood. The rate of the US dollar increased during Wednesday's trading to a new high amid growing demand and lack of supply. Yesterday, the rate of the American currency exceeded the 11-pound benchmark for the second time in less than a month. It is noteworthy that until yesterday the dollar rate had declined sharply in the preceding days thanks to measures adopted by the Central Bank of Egypt and the UAE's decision to provide financial aid, which boosted Egypt's foreign currency reserves.
Houthi
Yemen's Council of Ministers heard at today’s meeting, presided over by Dr. Ahmed Obaid bin Daghr, a report submitted by the Ministers of Finance & Planning and International Cooperation concerning the neutrality of the Central Bank of Yemen amid violations committed by the Houthi militia. The report confirmed suspicions, however, that the Bank has been spending 25 billion riyals ($116 million) a month, withdrawn from the government account at the Sanaa-based Ministry of Finance, on the war effort of the Houthis and the militia of former Yemeni president Ali Saleh. In addition, the Bank has stopped paying salaries to those employees in the civilian and military apparatuses who oppose the views of these militias.