CEP Eye on Extremism 9/19/2022

Eye on Extremism September 19, 2022   Reuters: Taliban Release American Engineer Frerichs In Prisoner Swap   “Afghanistan's Taliban freed on Monday American engineer Mark Frerichs in exchange for an Afghan tribal leader linked to the Taliban who the United States had held on drugs charges since 2005, the group's acting foreign minister said. Frerichs was exchanged at the airport in the capital, Kabul, with Bashir Noorzai, acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told a news conference in the city. Noorzai was detained by the United States on suspicion of smuggling more than $50 million worth of heroin into the United States and Europe. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is ready to solve problems by negotiation with all including the United States," Muttaqi said, referring to the Taliban. Frerichs is an engineer and U.S. Navy veteran from Lombard, Illinois, who worked in Afghanistan for a decade on development projects. He was abducted in February 2020. The United States has no official representation in Afghanistan and U.S. government officials elsewhere were not immediately available for comment.”   ABC News: Failed Rocket Attack Targets US Military Base In Syria, CENTCOM Says   “There was a failed rocket attack on the U.S. military base known as Green Village in northeast Syria on Sunday, the U.S. Central Command said. Three 107mm rockets were launched but "failed to strike U.S. or Coalition forces or equipment," CENTCOM said in a statement. "A fourth rocket along with rocket tubes was found at the launch point, approximately 5 kilometers away," it added. This is the same base where a recent attack by Iran-backed militants resulted in retaliatory fire and airstrikes by Apache helicopter gunships on those militants. It's unclear who launched the attack Sunday. U.S. forces are investigating the incident.”   United States   NBC New York: 14-Year-Old On Long Island Arrested For Online Terrorist Threat Against School: Police   “Police on Long Island arrested a 14-year-old boy they said made a school threat on social media. Suffolk County Police arrested the teenager Thursday night after he allegedly said on social media that he was going to bring weapons to the R.C. Murphy Junior High School in Stony Brook and harm students and faculty. Following an investigation, detectives arrested the 14-year-old at home. Police say he was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for evaluation and was charged with making a terrorist threat. No weapons were found in the teen’s home.”   Syria   AFP: Kurdish Forces End 3-Month Operation Against ISIS Supporters In Syria’s Al-Hol Camp   “Kurdish forces in northeast Syria on Saturday announced the end of a three-week operation against ISIS supporters inside the overcrowded and increasingly lawless camp of al-Hol. They arrested more than 200 people, including dozens of women, discovered tunnels used by extremists and seized an arsenal of weapons. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The internal security forces of the area’s semi-autonomous Kurdish administration carried out the massive sweep of the camp, which houses tens of thousands of relatives of suspected ISIS members. The number of murders inside the camp had risen recently, as had fears that al-Hol was becoming the hub from which the terrorist organization was planning its resurgence. “The operation was launched following the increasing crimes of killing and torture committed by ISIS,” a Kurdish statement said. The UN says more than 100 people have been murdered since the start of 2021 in al-Hol, which lies in a remote area near the border with Iraq and is home to Syrian and Iraqi families, as well as around 10,000 of others, mostly women and children, originating from further afield. The Kurdish security forces said ISIS had relied heavily on women and children in al-Hol, most of whom had been there for more than three years, to spread the group’s extremist ideology.”   Reuters: Turkish Troops, Militants Clash On Syrian Border, Turkey's Defence Ministry Says   “Militants carried out an attack with a rocket launcher on a Turkish military post near the Syrian border on Sunday, killing one soldier and wounding another, Turkey's defence ministry said. It did not identify the militants, but Turkish forces are in conflict in that region with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group and which is a key part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The ministry said that after the attack on the post at Suruc, in Sanliurfa province, Turkish forces retaliated. “Targets were identified in the area and immediately fired upon, with 12 terrorists neutralised according to initial information,” the statement said. The term neutralised usually means killed. It added that operations were continuing in the area.”   Middle East   The Times Of Israel: Police To Boost Jerusalem Presence Amid Terror Alerts Ahead Of Holidays   “Police said Sunday that they were preparing to boost security in Jerusalem to keep Israelis and tourists safe as tens of thousands of people were expected to visit the capital during the upcoming Jewish High Holidays. Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turgeman said that police had received intelligence alerts of potential terror attacks in the city during the holidays, and that 2,000 officers would be deployed to protect major events during the period, while the number of cops on motorbikes will be doubled to decrease police response time to any potential incidents. Police will focus operations on events in Jerusalem’s Old City and the Western Wall, including the traditional prayers of supplication, or selichot, in the lead-up to the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and Yom Kippur, in addition to the priestly blessings during the week of Sukkot and the large crowds expected for Simhat Torah. Several roads in the vicinity of the Old City will be closed during the selichot and Rosh Hashanah events as necessary, and vehicles will be forbidden from entering the Old City during those times. Religious festivities tend to be a tense time in Jerusalem, as throngs of people descend on the city and its holy sites, increasing the likelihood of clashes between followers of different faiths.”   Nigeria   Sahara Reporters: Terrorists Attack Communities In President Buhari's State, Kill One, Kidnap About 50   “As the security situation in Katsina State continues to exacerbate, Islamic terrorists have reportedly invaded Bakiyawa community in the Batagarawa Local Government Area of the state killing one and abducting about 50 persons. The terrorists who have been terrorising forests in the Batsari Local Government Area were reported to have launched the attack on Wednesday night, going from house to house. AIT reports that apart from the abductions and killing, four people were injured. Katsina is the home state of Nigeria's President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, however, it has become a hotbed of terrorist activities in recent years. The recent attack according to the media outlet took place at about 11 pm when the residents had gone to sleep. The terrorists reportedly arrived in the community riding about 40 motorcycles and shooting indiscriminately. Then they went from house to house, demanding money, and asking for the breadwinners of the families. It was gathered that about 60 animals were also rustled, while the terrorists faced no resistance as they operated freely for about three hours. A source told AIT that a nursing mother who was one of the abductees, later returned with some others, after trekking in the forest for about two hours.”   Somalia   Voice Of America: Somalia President Sees Progress In Fight Against Al-Shabab, Seeks More US Support   “Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said that his country is seeing gains in the fight against the Somali-based, al-Qaida-affiliated Islamist militant group al-Shabab, following recent clashes in central Somalia between the Somali National Army supported by pro-government local clan militias and al-Shabab. “We see a strong momentum against al-Shabab and want to sustain it to defeat a group that has proven to be remorseless and [like the] mafia, which has attained economic autonomy through intimidation and the murder of innocent people,” Mohamud said. In a speech to the Somali diaspora community in the Washington area Friday, he said his government is organizing a strong military front in the southern Jubaland state of Somalia. “There is ongoing preparation to liberate al-Shabab from middle-Juba region in southern Somalia, the only region in the country where the militants control its entirety,” Mohamud sad. He said his government’s new approach is being encouraged by the resistance of local clan militia, who keep fighting al-Shabab in the central Somali regions of Hiran and Galguduud. “Once they could not tolerate the intimidation, the extortion and the abduction of their children, now some local clans say they have started fighting al-Shabab. Therefore, we want to support our people to live in peace and dignity,” Mohamud said.”   Africa   AFP: Niger Army Kills 7 Suspected ‘Terrorists’: Ministry   “Seven suspected “terrorists” have been killed and some 30 accomplices of the Boko Haram jihadist group arrested over the past two weeks in southeastern Niger, the defense ministry said Thursday. The ministry, in its weekly bulletin on military operations, said the seven suspects were killed in the town of Gueskerou, near the Nigerian border. The army also dismantled kidnapping gangs in N’Guigmi, further north and near the Chadian border. The weekly report added that the army had, on September 9, intercepted 30 foreign nationals transporting goods for elements of the Boko Haram jihadist group. Six people described as “Boko Haram accomplices” were also arrested during a military offensive in the Diffa region close to the Lake Chad basin, a strategic area where the borders of four countries converge — Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. The Niger army gave no details of those arrested, but local sources said they were Nigerian nationals. Meanwhile, the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Niamey reported the movement of more than 2,000 displaced people, mostly women, and children, from the islands of Lake Chad to safe areas after “threats from non-state armed groups.” Niger, the world’s poorest country by the benchmark of the UN’s Human Development Index, has been hit hard by the jihadist insurgency that began in northern Mali in 2012.”   Canada   National Post: Spy Who Smuggled Teens To Join Islamic State While Working For Canada Could Be Returning Here   “A man arrested after smuggling British teenagers into Syria to join Islamic State fighters at the same time he was spying for Canada may be returning to Canada — just as he said he was promised when he began work as a double agent. The involvement of a purported spy for Canada in smuggling British school children into Islamic State (IS) territory — while Canada was part of a military coalition fighting the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq — is already a scandal. Mohammed Al Rashed was released from a Turkish jail on Aug. 5 after his 2015 arrest, sources told Britain’s Daily Telegraph and Canada’s Globe and Mail, and may be granted political asylum in Canada. Al Rashed was jailed there for terrorism and smuggling offences. In his defence, Al Rashed told Turkish authorities he was spying on IS for the West and had built a relationship with Canadian officials in 2013 when he sought asylum in Canada. He told police he was offered Canadian citizenship in return for information on IS, according to contemporary reports. Turkey will not allow Al Rashed, who is a Syrian national, to remain in the country, leaving few options that include returning him to Syria, where he could be in danger because of his work with either Western intelligence, Islamic State, or both, or fulfilling Canada’s purported promise of protection.”   The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If you value what we do, please consider making a donation. DONATE NOW