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Showing posts from October 10, 2021

New database launched to counter extremism

  A new global counter-extremism database has been launched in London.  The EMAN Network, standing for Extremist Monitoring Analysis Network aims to "combat hate speech and extremist ideologies by profiling radical individuals and organisations of all faiths". Far-right extremists, anti-Semitic tweeters and those who propagate a violent interpretation of Islam and other religions, are all profiled in EMAN's database which currently holds around 150 entries. Each entry lists the actions or words of the alleged disseminators of hate speech that has brought them to the attention of the researchers, backed up in some cases with videos of their sermons. Even the former LBC broadcaster Katie Hopkins is included for her defamatory remarks about Muslims. So too are some obscure Sri Lankan and Burmese Buddhists.  Who is on the list? Of the 150 entries listed, 85 are Islamist Extremists, 10 are Jewish Extremists, nine are Christian fundamentalists, six are White Supremacists, three

Armenia Accuses Azerbaijan Of Serious Human Rights Violations At UN Court

  Armenia accused Azerbaijan of serious human rights violations as the two Caucasus states who fought a six-week war last year faced off at the UN court in The Hague on October 14. Armenian representative Yeghishe Kirakosian made the accusation as a hearing opened at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) into a request by Armenia for judges to impose urgent interim measures to prevent Azerbaijan breaching an international convention to stamp out ethnic discrimination. The case stems from last year's war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh that left more than 6,600 people dead. The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since the end of a separatist war the early 1990s. Kirakosian said Armenia wasn't asking the court to rule on the root causes of the war, but “seeks to prevent and remedy the cycle of violence and hatred perpetrated against ethnic Armenians." Addressing the court, Azerba

Nigeria confirms death of Iswap leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi

  Nigeria's military has announced the death of Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the head of the West African branch of the Islamic State group.  "He is dead and remains dead," said Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor. Gen Irabor did not give any details of the circumstances of Barnawi's death, which was first reported in September. The Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) has not commented on the claims. Iswap has been seen as the strongest jihadist group in Nigeria since the death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau earlier this year. Since then, thousands of Boko Haram fighters have surrendered both to the military and reportedly to Iswap. Who was Barnawi? Little is know about Barnawi, including his age and appearance. Born Habib Yusuf, it is believed he was the eldest son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf.  He was seen as a relatively moderate, shunning Boko Haram's more extreme policies like using children as suicide bombers, and the indiscriminate tar

Colombian nun held hostage by al Qaeda-linked extremists in Mali since 2017 is freed

A Colombian nun who was kidnapped more than four years ago by extremists in Mali has been released. Gloria Narvaez was abducted in February 2017 near the country's border with Burkina Faso. "May God bless you, may God bless Mali. I thank you very much." She added that while she was in captivity for nearly five years, she stayed in good health. "I thank the people of Karangasso very much for their prayers and all the efforts they made to obtain my release," she said. "And I ask forgiveness from all the Malians, all the people who were not well perhaps (because of me)." Kidnapping has proved lucrative for Islamist groups in West Africa's Sahel region, where they are waging an expanding insurgency against national armies, French forces and UN peacekeepers. The group that took Ms Narvaez is still holding several other hostages, including an American clergyman kidnapped in Niger and a French journalist. Mali has been trying to contain an Islamic extremi

Burgeoning Terrorism in Africa: A Critical Overview

  The spillover of terrorist activity from West Asia to Africa has had devastating consequences for the continent The burgeoning of terrorism in Africa has been incontestably connected to the developments in Afghanistan in particular, and west Asia in general, for the past few decades. This is especially so after the seizure of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan with Pakistan’s support on 15 August 2021; the Afghanistan-Pakistan region has a dangerous potential to be a powerful hub of terrorist organisations. Indeed, the Taliban regime during its last tenure (1996-2001) had provided a sanctuary to multinational terrorist outfits such as Al Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden. In its turn, the deadly terrorist assault of Al Qaeda had brought down the twin towers in New York on 9/11. Moreover, terrorists could establish a state for themselves, albeit for a short while, through the  Islamic State  (IS) in parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.  The IS, which had stemmed from the remnants of Al Qaeda,

Echos of Afghanistan: Is France at Risk of ‘Losing’ the Sahel?

The second last week of September was a bad week for the Islamic State. In just three days, the organisation lost two leading figures: one in the Sinai, where key commander Abu Hamza Al-Qadi surrendered to Egyptian security forces, and one in the Sahel. On 16 September, Emmanuel Macron announced the death of Abu-Walid Al-Sahrawi, leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), confirming the rumours circulating about his death since last August. The killing of the ISGS chief is arguably the most important operation carried out by French forces and their allies in the Sahel since the killing of Adelmalek Droukdel, leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in June 2020. Al-Sahrawi’s death represents further evidence of IS’ global crisis: except for its branch in Afghanistan (ISKP), the military capabilities of the group seem to have scaled back, at least in the short term. The killing of Al-Sahrawi represents not only a serious blow for the IS leadership, but it also ev

Mali Maestro’s Message Of Peace To Sahel Region’s Youngsters Drawn To Extremism

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  An ambitious project to raise awareness about rising insecurity and mass displacement in the Sahel has resulted in an original musical score from Mali songwriter Vieux Farka Touré.  NEW YORK, USA, October 14, 2021,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/-In partnership with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA ) Mr. Toure’s  A Song For The Sahel , highlights the crisis in many countries of the region, while also spotlighting its rich musical heritage. In an exclusive interview with UN News, the respected musician described how he no longer felt comfortable driving across the country to perform, as he used to do. Malians now “sleep with one eye open”, he said, in reference to the insurgency led by extremists, who have taken advantage of the lack of opportunities for the country’s youngsters. “The youth must show courage, strength and fight against this crisis,” he said. “Peace and solidarity are the tools. If peace is built now, our children tomorrow will thrive. “Mu

Failure to Warn: War Powers Reporting and the “War on Terror” in Africa

  Monday, Oct. 4th marks the fourth anniversary of the attack on U.S. forces at Tongo Tongo, Niger by ISIS-Greater Sahara that killed four U.S. soldiers. The attack surprised not only the American public but also members of   Congress , many of whom were apparently caught unawares by U.S. armed forces engaging in ground combat in Niger or Africa more generally. But why were members of Congress taken by surprise? After all, as a former U.S. official told Crisis Group (where I work), Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAF) “had been doing s**t like Niger for years,” meaning partnered operations that involved going on patrols and sometimes engaging in combat. Such “advise, assist, accompany” operations are one of the ways U.S. armed forces work “by, with, and through” partners. These operations were sometimes conducted in connection with a statute – 10 U.S.C. §127e – that authorizes the Pentagon to spend appropriated funds in support of foreign counterterrorism forces. According to a se