Terrorism Watch

The newest War on Terror is the one nominally against Islamic extremism. To the revolutionary, violence is defense against an oppressive state. To the  jihadi , it’s the defense of Islam against infidel godless materialism. But how did this Islamic extremism find its footing?   Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī The notion that Islam was under attack by the West began with an obscure nineteenth century figure, Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī. His birthplace and real name are uncertain. Born in 1838 or 1839, probably in today’s Iran, al-Afghani watched Islamic lands fall helplessly under the military, cultural, and financial dominance of the Europeans. Al-Afghani believed that only the creation of a Pan-Islamic consciousness would reverse this domination. Yet personally, Al-Afghani didn’t reject Western material progress, and took almost no interest in theology. Some thought he seemed more at home in Europe than in the Middle East. In 1868, al-Afghani was initiated into a Masonic lodge in Egypt. He later

In an unprecedented admission, Nader Talebzadeh, head of the “New Horizon” organization, a front organization of the Revolutionary Guards ( IRGC ) and its  Quds Force , has revealed how Iran’s eliminated terror master Qassem Soleimani “used Improvised Explosive Device (IED)” bombs to target American forces in Iraq. Talebzadeh, who was so-called interviewing a member of the terrorist Quds Force, called Soleimani “The Shadow Commander.” “Who made so much trouble for them [American troops]? It was the same commander of shadows. Who trained [the regime’s terrorist proxy groups] and used the tactic of using roadside bombs, who were like stones? The Americans called these bombs IEDs. I remember how disturbed they were, how the U.S. media reflected this disturbance in 2003, after the U.S. occupied Iraq. Who disturbed them? Whose Idea was it? The IED is the abbreviation of Improvised Explosive Device, meaning inventory explosions, so the target couldn’t recognize whether it was a bomb or a sto

 Decision to be made at next joint summit of France and G5 Sahel countries in February in N'djamena, Chad's capital PARIS  France will reconsider its military strategy in the Sahel region and very likely reduce military deployment as part of Operation Barkhane after significant military successes in 2020, the defense minister said. “We will most likely have to adjust this device: a reinforcement by definition is temporary," Florence Parly told daily Le Parisien in an interview published on Monday, responding to a question of additional reinforcement of 600 soldiers which brought the strength of Barkhane forces to 5,100 troops last year. A decision on this will be taken at the next joint summit of France and the G5 Sahel countries in February in N'djamena, the capital of Chad, by President Emmanuel Macron and the head of the armies, she said. Parly added that the Barkhane forces achieved major military success last year after it neutralized several senior members of al-

A  UNICEF  report addressing the mistreatment of Palestinian children heavily criticized Israel and somewhat criticized Hamas, but ignored evidence against the Palestinian Authority. The report issued this past weekend covering the year 2019, did not address evidence from a February report by an NGO claiming that the PA uses school textbooks, television broadcasts, active recruitment and payment to terrorists after-the-crime serves to systematically incite and weaponize its child population into soldiers.   While other Israeli groups have also worked on this issue, Palestinian Media Watch’s ( PMW ) February 2019 and February 2020 reports are unique in tracing the PA’s recruitment step-by-step to explain why a substantial volume of Palestinian minors end up arrested by Israel. PMW brought the issue to The Jerusalem Post’s attention again on Tuesday. Contrary to conventional global media wisdom that Israeli occupation is causing innocent Palestinian minors to become violent, the PMW repo

 Number of PKK terrorists in Turkey down to 320 AFYONKARAHISAR, Turkey  The number of PKK terrorists in Turkey now stands below 320 as a result of effective counter-terrorism operations, the country’s interior minister said on Tuesday. Speaking at a meeting regarding witness protection, strategy and assessment, Suleyman Soylu said the PKK terror group used to recruit in thousands, and it once recruited 5,558 terrorists in a single year. However, the figures began to decline dramatically, thanks to successful anti-terror operations, he added. “We have improved our field results on all security fronts and turned positive results into a trend [...] Today, Turkey has been more than successful than ever before in its fight against terrorism,” Soylu said. The illegal drug trade is yet another front where Turkey has achieved a great success, the minister said, adding Turkish narcotics teams have confiscated a large amount of ecstasy pills and heroin. In 2018, Turkey caught double the amount o

FATF review scheduled for this year With the global money laundering and terror funding watchdog expected to undertake a review of India’s mechanisms to deal with suspicious transactions and financial crimes in 2021, State Bank of India’s compliance head has stressed the need for financial institutions to raise the bar on monitoring such activity   Source:  https://www.thehindu.com/business/india-must-raise-the-bar-on-anti-money-laundering-systems/article33466209.ece

The  US  blocked USD 63 million in funds of designated terrorist groups, including Pakistan-based outfits, in 2019 as part of its crackdown on foreign terrorist organisations, according to an annual report by the treasury department. The report released by the  US  Department of Treasury on Thursday states the  US  blocked USD 342,000 in funds of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), USD 1,725 of the Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM) and USD 45,798 of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen-al-Islami. All the three groups are Pakistan-based terror outfits. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen-al-Islami is a Islamic jihad group operating primarily in Kashmir. Another Pakistan-based Kashmir centric terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen has USD 4,321 blocked by the US in 2019 as against USD 2,287 the previous year, the report said. For the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, the US blocked USD 5,067 in 2019 as against a paltry USD 318 in 2018. The Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the leading US Government agency r

  Nearly five years after he was released on bail in the   26/11 Mumbai attacks case , Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operations commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi was arrested in Pakistan by its Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on charges of using terror funds. The timing of the arrest is significant as it comes ahead of meetings of the global watchdog  Financial Action Task Force (FATF)   in January and February, which will consider Pakistan ‘greylist’ status, meant for countries “under increased monitoring”. Source:  https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/mumbai-attack-mastermind-and-let-operations-commander-lakhvi-arrested-in-pakistan-official/article33479811.ece

Militant groups such as Taliban, al Qaeda and Daesh "are the main backers of drug trafficking" in Afghanistan, the counter-narcotics department of the Ministry of Interior said on Saturday. The ministry said the provinces such as Helmand, Nimroz, Farah and Badakhshan where the Taliban has more influence, poppy cultivation and drug processing "have been on the rise" compared to other places. “Three main groups including Al Qaeda, Daesh and the Taliban are the main networks in Afghanistan that are supporting (drug) trafficking in the country,” said Abdul Sami Popalzai, head of the counter-narcotics department of Ministry of Interior Affairs. Taliban rejected their involvement in the illegal drug trade, saying they are not in a position to prevent drug smuggling in areas under their influence.  “We basically control rural areas where there is agriculture. The people cultivate everything there... We cannot prevent them because we do not have an al

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 4 (ANI): Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates continued to regroup in erstwhile FATA in 2020, said Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), adding that the National Action Plan by the country's government has not been "fully successful" in countering terrorism. In a report, the PIPS stated that different militant, nationalist, insurgent and violent sectarian groups perpetrated 146 attacks across Pakistan, including three suicide blasts, which is a decline of over 36 percent from the previous year, Dawn reported. The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is a banned organisation in Pakistan, and its affiliates remained the major actors of instability in Pakistan in 2020 which perpetrated a combined total of 67 terrorist attacks or about 46 per cent of the total reported attacks in 2020, mainly in erstwhile FATA. FATA or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas was a semi-autonomous tribal region in northwestern Pakistan, which was merged

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of Pakistani minority Shiites blocked a key highway Monday on the outskirts the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta for a second straight day to protest the killing of 11 coal miners by the Islamic State group. The miners, members of the country’s minority Shiite Hazara community, were abducted by IS militants in southwestern Baluchistan province on Sunday, taken to a nearby mountain and shot. Six died at the scene and five, critically wounded, died on the way to hospital. Police video of the bodies revealed the miners were blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their backs before being shot. The attack took place near the Machh coal field, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan. The Sunni militant group has repeatedly targeted Pakistan’s minority Shiites in recent years. IS claimed responsibility quickly after the abduction of the miners. The protesters brought the coffins with the miners’ bodies to the Quetta

Al-Shabab claims responsibility for the blast near Somali capital Mogadishu that killed at least five people and injured 14. A suicide bombing near the Somali capital of Mogadishu killed at least five people including two Turks, the Turkish health minister said. Abdiasis Abu Musab, military operation spokesman for the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, said the armed group was behind the attack on Saturday. The Somalia-based group often targets the Somali capital Mogadishu with suicide bombings and other attacks, and it has exploded bombs against the Turkish military and other targets there in the past. Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that 14 people, including three Turks, were wounded and are being treated in a Mogadishu hospital named after Turkey’s president. He did not give the nationalities of the other three people who died. “We strongly condemn this heinous attack targeting the employees of a Turkish company that undertook the Mogadishu-Afgoye road co