Eye on Extremism, August 23, 2016

Eye on Extremism

August 23, 2016

Counter Extremism Project

Abcnet.Au: Digitally Disrupting The Terrorists: CEP Spokesperson Tara Maller Discusses CEP's New Technology That Will Allow Internet And Social Media Companies To Quickly Remove Extremist Content From Their Platforms
The Washington Post: Marine Gunships Enter The Fight Against The Islamic State In Libya
“After nearly a month of airstrikes against the Islamic State fighters dug in around the Libyan city of Sirte, U.S. helicopter gunships have been dispatched to help root out the extremist group from some of the denser parts of the city. A U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations, said Marine AH-1W SuperCobra helicopters participated in strikes against the Islamic State over the weekend. According to a U.S. Africa Command release, U.S. forces conducted nine strikes from Friday to Sunday, targeting Islamic State fighting positions and vehicles. The Islamic State fighters have retreated ‘to the densest, most built-up part of the city,’ the official said. ‘[The AH-1] is a platform that lends itself well to that kind of mission.’”
The Guardian: Kurdish Militias Fight Against Syrian Forces In North-East City Of Hasaka
“US-backed Kurdish forces have fought against the Syrian army and militias in the north-east of the country for a fifth consecutive day, threatening to open a new front in the five-year war. The clashes left at least two dozen civilians dead and caused people to flee to the surrounding countryside, days after the Syrian army began using planes and artillery to attack Kurdish areas in Hasaka. As regional dynamics and alliances shift, the fighting in this previously obscure city could undermine a the Obama administration’s campaign – of which the Kurds are a key component - to degrade and destroy Islamic State. It also risks bringing the US into a more direct confrontation with Syria in defence of its Kurdish allies and American personnel based alongside them.”
BBC: Turkey Kurdish Wedding Bomber 'May Not Have Been Child'
“Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says authorities do not know if a suicide bomber who attacked a Kurdish wedding killing 54 people was a child. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after Saturday's attack in Gazantiep that the bomber was 12-14 years old. Turkey has linked the bomber to so-called Islamic State (IS), but Mr Yildirim said ‘a clue has not yet been found concerning the perpetrator’. His statement came as Turkey's military targeted IS militants in Syria. Television reports said howitzers had been used against IS near the border town of Jarablus. Turkish artillery had also hit US-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG positions north of Manbij in Syria, broadcaster NTV said. A coalition including YPG has been pushing IS out of Syrian towns, including Manbij, recently.”
Associated Press: IS Struggles To Retain Grip As It Loses Ground In Iraq
“As the Islamic State group loses ground in Iraq, the militants are showing strains in their rule over areas they still control, growing more brutal, killing deserters and relying on younger and younger recruits, according to residents who fled battleground territories. The accounts point to the difficulties the extremist group faces as Iraqi forces, backed by the United States, prepare for an assault on Mosul, the largest city still in the militants' hands. For months, Iraqi troops, militias and Kurdish fighters have been clawing back territory town by town, making their way toward the northern city. In the latest areas recaptured, Iraqi troops over the past month took a clump of villages near a key military base south of Mosul that they plan to use as a hub for the assault.”
Voice Of America: Turkey’s Failed Coup Stokes Historical US-Turkish Tensions
“Accusations of U.S. involvement in last month's failed coup in Turkey continue to dog relations between the countries. In rare political consensus, the allegations are crossing Turkey’s deep political divide. ‘There is a very strong belief in Turkey amongst many that America is somehow involved in this coup,’ says Turkish political columnist Semih Idiz of Al Monitor website. ‘There is a long-standing tradition of anti-Americanism both in the left-wing and in the right-wing in Turkey, and especially amongst Islamists.’ Newspapers across Turkey’s political spectrum are pointing fingers at Washington for at least being involved in the coup attempt.”
BBC: Turkey Strikes IS And Kurdish Positions In Syria Ahead Of Offensive
“Turkey has bombarded so-called Islamic State (IS) targets in northern Syria amid reports Syrian rebels are to launch an offensive against the group. Artillery positions inside Turkey fired on IS as well as Kurdish YPG militia targets in the towns of Jarablus and Manbij. Some 1,500 Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are thought to be in the Turkish town of Gaziantep waiting to attack. This follows a bomb attack on a wedding there that killed more than 50 people. The BBC's Mark Lowen in Gaziantep says the imminent offensive may have spurred the suicide bombing, thought to be the work of IS.”
Reuters: Nigerian air force says kills top Boko Haram militants, leader believed wounded
“Nigeria’s air force said it had killed some senior Boko Haram militants and possibly fatally wounded their overall leader in a raid on the Islamists' northeast heartland. Government planes attacked the fighters in the village of Taye inside the Sambisa forest in Borno State on Friday night, the air force said, adding it had only just confirmed details of the raid. ‘Their leader, so called “Abubakar Shekau”, is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders,’ the statement by army spokesman Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman added. The military has reported Shekau's death in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements. There was no immediate reaction from the group.”
The Jerusalem Post: 'Explosives Found At Lebanon Border Were Part Of Hezbollah Terror Plot'
“A bag full of explosives located in a wooded area of Metulla near the Lebanese border last month was smuggled into Israel by Hezbollah, the defense establishment now believes. Defense sources estimate that the explosives were smuggled into Israel from Lebanon with the intention of being used in a terror attack. A Hezbollah ‘courier’ was likely supposed to collect the explosives, however a local farmer found the bag first, spoiling the plot. Authorities originally believed that the explosives belonged to local criminals, however an investigation led to the assessment that Hezbollah was the actual culprit. The Shi'ite terror organization regularly attempts to smuggle explosives and drugs over the border into Israel. The majority of these attempts are thwarted by intelligence information and the alertness of IDF patrols in the area.”
Fox News: FBI Reportedly Investigating Whether Virginia Stabbings Were ISIS-Inspired
“Federal authorities are reportedly investigating a weekend stabbing in Virginia to see whether the attacker may have been trying to behead a victim and whether the attack was inspired by the Islamic State. Wasil Farooqui, 20, was charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding in the stabbing attack Saturday that left two people wounded. ABC News reported Monday that the FBI have been aware of Farooqui and are familiar with the case.”
The New York Times: Fake ISIS Attack In Prague, Intended As Protest, Causes Panic
“Sporting detachable beards, the men drove a Hummer onto Old Town Square in Prague on Sunday, wielding fake submachine-style BB guns and waving an Islamic State flag. Accompanied by a camel and a goat, they shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ and fired guns without pellets. Mr. Konvicka is an anti-immigration activist, and his stunt — which had been preapproved by City Hall — was intended to sound the alarm about what he views as the threat posed by Islam to the Czech way of life. But he evidently did not anticipate how it would be received. The faux occupation stirred panic among tourists, including a group of visitors from Israel. Dozens of onlookers, including some with children, ran for cover, knocking over chairs at restaurants. Several tourists suffered bruises.”

United States

Associated Press: US Commander Skeptical Of Cooperation With Russia In Syria
“The top U.S. commander for the fight against the Islamic State group said Monday that he is skeptical of any additional military cooperation with Russia in Syria. And he said he believes he can get the mission done without it, outlining new plans to accelerate the pace and scope of the U.S.-led coalition operations to retake the key Islamic State-held cities of Raqqa and Mosul within the next year. In a wide-ranging telephone interview from Baghdad, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said that any decision to cooperate with Moscow is one for the Obama administration to make.”
Voice Of America: 100 US Troops Deployed After Taliban's 'Tactical Victories' In Afghanistan
“The Taliban has made ‘tactical victories’ in Afghanistan, and its military campaign in a troubled southern province has prompted deployment of around 100 American troops to defend its capital at risk of falling to the Islamist insurgency, a spokesman for U.S. forces said Monday. Fierce battles have been raging in several districts of the southern Helmand province and territorial victories there have brought the Taliban closer to its capital, Lashkar Gah. Cleveland said that recent deployment of U.S. forces in the city is meant to train, advise and assist Afghan partners to enable them to better plan counteroffensives and retake lost areas. But he ruled out the possibility of the city's fall to the Taliban.”

Syria

Reuters: Russia Says Future Use Of Iran Air Base Depends On Syria Circumstances
“The Russian military said on Monday its aircraft operating from an Iranian air base to conduct strikes in Syria had completed their tasks, but left open the possibility of using the Hamadan base again if circumstances warranted. Iran's Foreign Ministry said Russia had stopped using the base for strikes in Syria, bringing an abrupt halt to an unprecedented deployment that was criticized both by the White House and by some Iranian lawmakers. Last week, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used Nojeh air base, near the city of Hamadan, in north-west Iran to launch air strikes against armed groups in Syria. It was the first time a foreign power had used an Iranian base since World War Two. Russia and Iran are both providing crucial military support to President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and jihadi fighters in Syria's five-year-old conflict.”
CBS News: Five Years Into Syria War, Battlefield Is At Its Most Chaotic
“A new front opened up in Syria’s civil war when Syrian regime planes bombed Kurdish fighters, and the two sides battled street-to-street on the ground in Hasaka, in the country’s northeast. The Kurdish group is backed by the U.S. in the fight against ISIS and American special forces operate in the region, so the U.S. scrambled fighter jets to protect them. But that risks a direct clash in the air with the Syrian regime, which the U.S. has strenuously tried to avoid. Five years into Syria’s civil war, this multi-sided conflict is more chaotic than ever. It’s also again spilling into neighboring countries like Turkey, where on Saturday a suicide bomber targeted a wedding party. More than 50 where killed, including at least 22 children.”

Iraq

CNN: Iraq Stops Would-Be Child Bomber For ISIS
“Dramatic video has emerged of Iraqi police stripping an explosive belt from a child suspected in a suicide bombing attempt for ISIS. The footage appears to show security personnel restrain a visibly upset boy while they carefully cut the belt from the youth's torso in Kirkuk. Once the belt has been removed, the boy is scooped up and taken away. Kurdistan 24, a broadcast news station based out of Irbil, Iraq, aired Sunday's capture. Authorities said they believe the 15-year-old came to Kirkuk a week ago from Mosul, ISIS' most significant stronghold outside Syria.”
Reuters: Iraq Used Torture To Extract Confessions From Convicts, Amnesty Says
“Amnesty International on Monday condemned the hanging in Iraq of 36 men convicted of a mass killing of soldiers, saying some of their confessions were extorted under threats and torture. The watchdog called on the Iraqi authorities to establish a moratorium on executions and to hold ‘fair and transparent’ trials for those accused of involvement in the massacre. The hangings were carried out on Sunday, at a prison in southern Iraq, state television said. Those executed were convicted in the deaths of as many as 1,700 soldiers, mostly Shi'ites, two years ago. The soldiers were killed after they fled from Camp Speicher, a former U.S. military base just north of Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, when it was overrun by Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group, in 2014. U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces and Iranian-supported Shi'ite militias recaptured the region last year.”

Turkey

Reuters: In Iraq, Nigeria And Now Turkey, Child Bombers Strike
“Saturday's attack at the wedding in Gaziantep marked not only Turkey's deadliest this year, but also the first time in Turkey that militants may have deployed a child bomber in a way already used to deadly effect in wars from Africa to Syria. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has long used children. One 14-year-old bomber on a bicycle hit the Kabul NATO base in 2012 killing six people; two years later a teenager blew himself up at French cultural center in the Afghan capital. Researchers and officials say Islamic State and other militants are now increasingly using the same tactics, perhaps to build ranks depleted by losses, preserve adult fighters or simply catch security forces off guard.”

Afghanistan

Voice Of America: Afghan, India Leaders Vow To Deepen Cooperation In Fighting Terrorism
“The leaders of Afghanistan and India have vowed to continue their joint efforts to ‘overcome terror and extremism’ facing the two nations. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated the resolve Monday during a video conference inaugurating the newly-restored Storay (Star) Palace, which is the office of the Afghan president in Kabul. Lack of proper maintenance and decades of war damaged the nearly century old building, which is seen as a symbol of Afghanistan’s foreign diplomacy. India's government funded the nearly $6-million restoration project. India is funding several infrastructure-related projects in war-ravaged Afghanistan. It has poured around $2 billion into Afghan reconstruction efforts, making it one of the largest donors to the war-ravaged nation.”

Yemen

Daily Mail: ISIS Assassins Murder A 'Military Chief' In Yemen In A Gangland-Style Drive-By Shooting
“This is the shocking moment ISIS assassins murdered a military chief in Yemen in a gangland-style drive-by shooting. Pictures show a fanatic pointing a gun with a silencer attachment out of the window of a car before shooting a man in the back of the head in the war-torn city of Aden, Yemen. The victim, dressed in white, falls to the ground before the gunman fires another shot. ISIS militants claim the images show the assassination of a colonel - though this has not yet been verified. Yemen has for two years been gripped by a war pitting the internationally recognised government against Shi'ite rebels who control the capital, Sanaa, and are allied with forces loyal to a former president. The country is also home to active Al Qaeda and Islamic State group affiliates.”

Egypt

Haaretz: Egypt: Russia's Putin Willing To Host Israeli, Palestinian Peace Talks
“Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed a willingness to host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for talks in Moscow, Egyptian media reported on Monday. Sissi's remarks came as Israeli and Palestinians officials reported unsuccessful efforts on the part of European officials to try and arrange a similar summit. ‘The Russian president has informed me that he has invited Palestinian President [Abbas] and Prime Minister Netanyahu for a meeting in Moscow,’ Sissi said. ‘Egypt supports these efforts and both sides are urged to participate and respond positively to the initiative for the sake of finding light at the end of the tunnel for Palestinians and establishing their state alongside Israel.’”

Middle East

BBC: Israel Launches Gaza Strikes After Rocket Attack On Sderot
“The Israeli military says its aircraft and tanks attacked targets in the Gaza Strip overnight in response to rocket fire by Palestinian militants. Palestinian officials said two people were hurt as sites belonging to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were hit. Shells also reportedly damaged a water tower in the town of Beit Hanoun. Earlier, a rocket launched in Gaza landed near a house in the Israeli town of Sderot without causing any injuries. Israel and militants in Gaza led by Hamas, which dominates the coastal territory, fought a 50-day war in the summer of 2014. Since then, a ceasefire has largely held, but some small jihadist groups have defied the agreement and periodically fired rockets at Israel.”
Bloomberg: Palestinians Try Elections Again, 10 Years Later
“The Palestinians are holding their first election in a decade in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, giving Hamas militants an opening to entrench their influence in President Mahmoud Abbas’s stronghold. Risking a humiliating reprise of his Fatah party’s unexpected defeat in 2006 parliamentary balloting, Abbas has challenged Hamas to face off against his Fatah party in municipal elections on Oct. 8. The group -- labeled a terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and European Union -- sees an opportunity to extend its influence beyond its Gaza bastion to Abbas’s West Bank base, a Hamas co-founder said. The Palestinians haven’t held legislative elections since Hamas’s 2006 upset victory, and Abbas has ruled by fiat since his four-year term expired in 2009. Because Hamas boycotted the last municipal balloting in 2012, the local vote is the closest thing in a decade to a referendum on his rule.”
The Times Of Israel: Israeli Teen Stabbed In Jerusalem In Apparent Altercation
“An Israeli teenager was stabbed in the back in central Jerusalem on Monday night, police said, in what was likely a non-terror related incident. Initial reports on the stabbing raised fears of a renewal of the attacks that rocked the capital last year, but as police investigated the case, it became clear that the incident was ‘criminally motivated,’ not terrorism, police said. The 17-year-old victim arrived at a shop on Shivtei Yisrael Street in the capital, with a stab wound to the back, according to police. He received treatment at the scene from the Magen David Adom ambulance service, before being taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in light to moderate condition.”

Libya

Daily Mail: Anti-IS Forces Seize More Ground In Libya's Sirte
“Fighters of Libya's unity government, backed by US air strikes, have recaptured more ground from jihadists holed up in the centre of the coastal city of Sirte, loyalist forces said Monday. ‘Our forces have retaken the internal security building used as a prison by the Islamic State (IS)’ group, as well as a courthouse, the Al-Naga district and Dubai Street, the operations centre for fighters loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) said. A statement said ‘the new victory’ was achieved in clashes which raged throughout Sunday in the face of ‘desperate resistance by the jihadists’. S sniper positions were ‘neutralised’ in two US air strikes and ‘our forces destroyed two booby-trapped cars... without loss in our ranks,’ it said.”
Reuters: Libya's Eastern Parliament Votes Against U.N.-Backed Government In Tripoli
“Opponents of Libya's U.N.-backed unity government dealt the beleaguered body a blow on Monday by voting to reject it in a rare session of the eastern-based parliament, though the government's supporters dismissed the move as unconstitutional. The Government of National Accord (GNA), the product of a U.N.-backed deal signed in December, has been seeking endorsement for months as it tries to extend its influence and authority beyond its base in Tripoli, in western Libya. Western powers have been counting on the GNA to tackle Libya's security vacuum - including the presence of Islamic State - revive oil production, and stem the flow of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. But power-brokers in the east say it is trying to undermine the military.”

United Kingdom

NBC News: Cops Without Guns Dominate As London Awaits 'Likely' Attack
“While America's police have become increasingly militarized, the British tradition of unarmed ‘bobbies-on-the-beat’ has endured. Despite top officials warning that a terrorist attack in the U.K. is ‘highly likely,’ more than 90 percent of the Metropolitan Police officers tasked with protecting the city's 8.5 million residents do not carry guns. A recent string of attacks — in cities including Paris, Brussels, Nice and Istanbul — has forced authorities across Europe to re-assess their approaches to tackling terrorism. But while police forces on the continent and in the U.S. routinely arm their officers, London's so-called ‘Met’ has largely avoided that. Even with a recently announced boost in officers carrying guns on the U.K. capital's streets by the end of this year — from 2,200 to 2,800 — they will make up just 8.8 percent of the force.”

Germany

The Hill: German Security Plan Tells Citizens To Stockpile Goods In Case Of Attack
“The German government will tell its citizens to stockpile food and water in case of an attack or catastrophe for the first time since the end of the Cold War, according to reports.  People will be required to stockpile enough drinking water to last five days, Reuters reported after the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper published a report on the plan. The country is on high alert after two Islamist terrorist attacks and a shooting rampage by a teenager deemed mentally disturbed last month. The plan will be discussed by the Cabinet on Wednesday and presented by the minister that afternoon, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry told Reuters.”

Europe

Associated Press: Italy, German, French Eye Beefed Up EU Defense After Attacks
“The leaders of Italy, France and Germany vowed Monday to boost joint European security efforts in the wake of Islamic extremist attacks as they made a symbolic bid to relaunch the European Union after Britain's vote to leave. From the deck of the Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi, which is spearheading the EU's migrant rescue and anti-smuggling effort, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Holland also promised new economic prospects to young people — albeit without any specific proposals or details. The three leaders travelled to the sun-soaked island of Ventotene to pay tribute to one of the founding fathers of European unity, Altiero Spinelli, and show common cause going into a bigger EU-wide summit next month in Slovakia.”

ISIS

The Seventh Day: ISIS Plans To Recruit Egyptians
“Full details of investigations initiated by the Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution, led by its chief Tamer El-Fergany, reveal that ISIS has been using new measures to attract young people and takfiris, who endorse extremist ideas, to its armed battalions participating in the bloody battlefields of four Arab countries, namely, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. The investigations were carried out as part of case No. 672 of the year 2015, publicly known as "ISIS Egypt." Investigators found that the terror group deals with Egypt differently, given the tightened security grip in the country. Thus, ISIS launched special taskforces in charge of recruiting young people who seek to join its ranks and travel outside Egypt for this purpose. In addition, ISIS also formed another taskforce to support terrorists in Sinai.”
Innfrad: Libya: Funds Of Citizens Looted By ISIS Uncovered
“Brigadier General Mohammed al-Ghasri, Spokesman of the "Al-Bunyan Al-Marsoos" (Solid Structure) operations room in western Libya, said his forces had found quantities of gold and money, weapons and laptops at the headquarters of ISIS's Diwan al-Hisbah (Islamic Police) and the "Islamic Finance House" in the city of Sirte. Al-Ghasri asserted in a statement to the Libyan media on Monday that these funds had been looted by the terror organization from citizens, especially those who were forced to leave their homes and flee to the outskirts of Sirte.”

Muslim Brotherhood

Al Wafd: Egyptian TV Host Accuses Muslim Brotherhood Of Launching An "I Am Not Paying" Campaign
“Egyptian television host Ahmed Moussa claimed the Muslim Brotherhood is standing behind the "I am not paying" campaign, which rejects money collection by the state. Moussa added during his TV show on Sunday night that the campaign calls for the non-payment of taxes and utility bills. He maintained that the goal of the campaign is to destroy the country. Moussa stressed the Muslim Brotherhood's internet pages promote this campaign. He urged citizens not to respond to these calls in order to "protect the state."
Elbalad: Expert Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Plot To Cause Bankruptcy For National Newspapers In Egypt
“Dr. Hassan Abu Taleb, from the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, emphasized that the national press institutions in Egypt are currently facing financial and administrative crises. He claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood had a scheme for printing textbooks in their publishing houses with the aim of bringing national institutions to the brink of bankruptcy. Abu Taleb noted that the scheme was designed to reduce the role of the press in the provision of service to the readers. He added that this crisis is the reason behind his resignation from Dar Al Hilal Publishing House.”

Houthi

Abarah Press: Houthis Recruited Protesters In Exchange For 2000 Riyal And Qat Package
“A Gulf newspaper reported that the Houthis in Yemen recruited demonstrators to attend the Seventy Square, two days ago. The demonstrators were brought from several provinces, each receiving 2000 riyals ($9.3) and a package of Qat.”