Tag: jihadist

At Least 64 Killed, 320 Injured In Kabul Diplomatic Quarter Blast

A massive blast rocked Kabul’s diplomatic quarters during the morning rush hour on Wednesday (May 31) the latest attack to hit the Afghan capital.

Afghan officials said at least 64 people have been killed or wounded by a suicide car bombing, according to AFP.

A huge plume of smoke could be seen rising from the area but it was not clear what the target was and there was no immediate confirmation of any casualties.

Witnesses said dozens of cars were blocking roads and some wounded people could be seen.

FRENCH AND GERMAN EMBASSIES DAMAGED

The French and German embassy in Kabul were also damaged in Wednesday’s car bomb attack, said French minister Marielle de Sarnez, who added there were no signs at this stage of any French victims.

“There has been some material damage in the French embassy, as well as in the Germany embassy,” de Sarnez, who is France’s European affairs minister, told Europe 1 radio on Wednesday. She added she had no information on any possible casualties at the two missions.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack came as the resurgent Taliban are stepping up their annual “spring offensive”.

Huge blast in Kabul’s diplomatic quarter on Wednesday AFP/AFP

The Islamic State group has also claimed responsibility for several recent bombings in the Afghan capital, including a powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy that killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on May 3.

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has warned of “another tough year” for both foreign troops and local forces in Afghanistan, where more than one third of the country is outside of government control.

The blast was the latest in a long line of attacks in the Afghan capital. Kabul province had the highest number of casualties in the first three months of 2017 thanks to multiple attacks in the city, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.

Source:http://www.channelnewsasia.com

May 31, 2017
Ominous signs of an Asian hub for Islamic State in the Philippines

Dozens of foreign jihadis have fought side-by-side with Islamic State sympathizers against security forces in the southern Philippines over the past week, evidence that the restive region is fast becoming an Asian hub for the ultra-radical group.

A Philippines intelligence source said that of the 400-500 marauding fighters who overran Marawi City on the island of Mindanao last Tuesday, as many as 40 had recently come from overseas, including from countries in the Middle East.

The source said they included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and one man with a Turkish passport.

“IS is shrinking in Iraq and Syria, and decentralizing in parts of Asia and the Middle East,” said Rohan Gunaratna, a security expert at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“One of the areas where it is expanding is Southeast Asia and the Philippines is the center of gravity.”

Mindanao has been roiled for decades by bandits, local insurgencies and separatist movements. But officials have long warned that the poverty, lawlessness and porous borders of Mindanao’s predominantly Muslim areas mean it could become a base for radicals from Southeast Asia and beyond, especially as Islamic State fighters are driven out of Iraq and Syria.

Although Islamic State and groups affiliated to the movement have claimed several attacks across Southeast Asia in the last two years, the battle in Marawi City was the first long drawn-out confrontation with security forces.

On Tuesday, a week after the fighting began, the government said it was close to retaking the city. As helicopters circled, troops cleared rebel positions amid explosions and automatic gunfire, moving house by house and street by street.[nL3N1IW1FS]

Last year, Southeast Asian militants fighting for Islamic State in Syria released a video urging their countrymen to join the cause in the southern Philippines or launch attacks at home rather than attempting to travel to Syria.

Jakarta-based terrorism expert Sidney Jones passed to Reuters some recent messages in a chatroom of the Telegram app used by Islamic State supporters.

In one, a user reported that he was in the heart of Marawi City where he could see the army “run like pigs” and “their filthy blood mix with the dead bodies of their comrades”.

He asked others in the group to pass information on to the Amaq News Agency, a mouthpiece for Islamic State.

Another user replied, using an Arabic word meaning pilgrimage: “Hijrah to the Philippines. Door is opening.”

The clash in Marawi City began with an army raid to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of Abu Sayyaf, a group notorious for piracy and for kidnapping and beheading Westerners.

Abu Sayyaf and a relatively new group called Maute, both of which have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, have fought alongside each other in Marawi City, torching a hospital and a cathedral, and kidnapping a Catholic priest.

The urban battle prompted Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to impose martial law across the whole island of Mindanao, an area roughly the size of South Korea with a population of around 21 million.

FIGHTERS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

The head of the Malaysian police force’s counter-terrorism division, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, named four Malaysians who are known to have traveled to Mindanao to join militant groups.

Among them were Mahmud Ahmad, a Malaysian university lecturer who is poised to take over the leadership of Islamic State in the southern Philippines if Hapilon is killed, he said.

Security expert Gunaratna said that Ahmad has played a key role in establishing Islamic State’s platform in the region.

According to his school’s research, eight of 33 militants killed in the first four days of fighting in Marawi City were foreigners.

“This indicates that foreign terrorist fighters form an unusually high component of the IS fighters and emerging IS demography in Southeast Asia,” Gunaratna said.

According to an intelligence brief seen by Reuters, authorities in Jakarta believe 38 Indonesians traveled to the southern Philippines to join Islamic State-affiliated groups and about 22 of them joined the fighting in Marawi City.

However, an Indonesian law-enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the actual number of Indonesians involved in the battle could be more than 40.

Indonesia officials believe some militants might have slipped into Marawi City under the cover of an annual gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat just days before the fighting erupted. The Tablighi Jamaat is a Sunni missionary movement that is non-political and encourages Muslims to become more pure.

An Indonesian anti-terrorism squad source told Reuters that authorities have beefed up surveillance at the northern end of the Kalimantan and Sulawesi regions to stop would-be fighters traveling by sea to the southern Philippines and to prevent an influx of others fleeing the military offensive in Marawi City.

“The distance between Marawi and Indonesian territory is just five hours,” the source said. “It should not get to the point where they are entering our territory and carrying out such (militant) activities.”

Source: http://www.todayonline.com

May 31, 2017
Singaporeans Among Foreign Fighters Involved In ISIS-linked Insurgency In Southern Philippines’ Marawi

Foreign Muslim militants, including some from Singapore, are involved in the days-long clashes in a key city in the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao, the military said on Friday (May 26).

“There are… Malaysians, Singaporeans… in the fight that has been ongoing in Marawi. We are continuously verifying that there have been a number of them who have been killed,” Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said at a news briefing here.

About a hundred militants seized large parts of Marawi, a mainly Muslim city of over 200,000, some 814km south of the capital Manila, on Tuesday (May 23), after security forces raided a suspected hideout of Isnilon Hapilon, named by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as its top man in South-east Asia.

An army brigade, backed by helicopter gunships and armoured vehicles, has been sent to dislodge them, but as of Friday morning, they remained holed up in parts of Marawi.

The crisis in Marawi forced President Rodrigo Duterte to place the whole of Mindanao under martial rule.

Asked at Friday’s briefing about the presence of foreign fighters in Marawi, Solicitor-General Jose Calida said: “Malaysians, Indonesians, from Singapore, and other foreign jihadists… And that’s bothersome.

“Before, it was just a local terrorist group. But now, there is now an ideology. They have subscribed to the ideology of ISIS. They have pledged allegiance to the flag of ISIS. They want to create Mindanao as part of the caliphate.

“What’s happening in Mindanao is no longer a rebellion of Filipino citizens. It has transmogrified into an invasion by foreign terrorists who heeded the clarion call of the ISIS to go to the Philippines, if they find difficulty in going to Iraq or Syria,” added Mr Calida, as he explained why Mr Duterte had to declare martial law.

Brig-Gen Padilla reported that at least 31 militants have been killed in Marawi so far. Twelve have been identified, and six of these were foreigners, he added.

He said, however, that the names of those killed had yet to be validated.

“This is for validation. I do know there are some Indonesians and Malaysians (among those killed). But specifically, for the others, we don’t know yet. The information we have is initial. We are still validating,” he said.

The only Singaporean known to have joined Islamic extremists in the Philippines was Abdullah Ali, alias Muawiyah, who was believed to have gone to Mindanao with Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir.

Brig-Gen Padilla insisted that the siege in Marawi has been ISIS-inspired, but that the Islamic group is not orchestrating it, despite the presence of foreign fighters.

“The groups trying to ally with (ISIS) are feverishly trying to comply with requirements that have been set for them to be validly a part (of ISIS), which they have not been able to. This is the reason why many of these activities of violence, radicalism and extremism have been aimed precisely at that aspect,” he told reporters.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com

May 26, 2017
Austere Brand Of Islam On Rise In Europe, Stirring Concerns

PARIS — Its imams preach austere piety, its tenets demand strict separation of sexes — and some of its most radical adherents are heeding the call of jihad. Salafism, an Islamic movement based on a literal reading of the Quran, is on the rise in France, Germany and Britain, security officials say, with Salafis sharply increasing their influence in mosques and on the streets.

The trend worries European authorities, who see Salafism as one of the inspirational forces for young Europeans heading to Syria or Iraq to do battle for the Islamic State group. Experts, however, point out that the vast majority of Salafis are peace-loving.

In Germany, there are currently about 7,000 Salafis in the country — nearly double the 3,800 estimated four years ago, the Interior Ministry said last month. About 100 French mosques are now controlled by Salafis, a small number compared to the more than 2,000 Muslim houses of worship, but more than double the number four years ago, a senior security official told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. France does not do head-counts by religious practices or origins.

In Britain the numbers are on the rise, too. Seven per cent of Britain’s 1,740 mosques are run by Salafis, according to Mr Mehmood Naqshbandi, an expert on Britain’s Muslims and counter-extremism adviser to the British government who keeps a database of the various currents of Islam in Britain. He says those numbers are steadily growing, especially among young people — and that a quarter to half of British Muslims under 30 “accept some parts or all of the Salafi theology.”

Today, the Internet is largely seen as the main route for youth to quickly radicalise. But radicalisation can be cultivated in places where Muslims socialise, like mosques. And there, said the French security official, it is Salafis who are considered the principle purveyors of radical ideology.

Experts say Salafis in France have been waging a campaign of stealth to take over mosques. First they develop a following, then begin criticizing the imam in order to win control over the faithful, security officials and moderate Muslims say. Youth and converts to Islam are considered the most vulnerable to such messages.

Experts of Islam divide Salafis into three groups: the traditional brand of “quietists” who eschew politics; those who become politicised; and the hardcore worshippers who follow the call of jihad.

Today, Salafism has become a buzzword for danger. In Germany, authorities consider all Salafis as extremists, and security officials in Europe believe there is a direct line from the peaceful version to the version that embraces jihad — and risks tempting the fragile into fanaticism.

“The bridge is short,” said Mr Alain Rodier, a former intelligence officer who is now a terrorism specialist.

Salafism, in principle, should not be a cause for concern, said Mr Naqshbandi, the British expert. But, he said, the very simplicity of its message means anyone can warp it to his own ends.

“People who want to pursue militant political Islam have a set of tools available … which they can twist to argue their case,” Mr Naqshbandi said. He called the Islamic State group, which champions Salafism, the prime example of how the theology can be abused.

Those who practice Salafism — which comes from the word “salafs,” or ancestors — seek to emulate the Islam of the prophet Muhammad and his early followers, which they consider the purest form of the religion. Salafis, who are Sunni Muslims, are easily identifiable. Men wear beards and robes above the ankle and women often cover their faces.

A mosque outside Lyon won an unusual case last week against a Salafi worshipper taken to court after months of tension. Faouzi Saidi, 51, was convicted of troubling public order inside a house of worship and fined. He admitted to criticizing the imam for what he claimed were theological lapses, but claimed he only once held “parallel prayers” in a corner with a group of followers.

The case was thought to be the first in France by Muslims against a Muslim invoking a 1905 law to guarantee secularism — used by the government to pass bans on headscarves and face-covering veils.

France has worked to put a safety ring around Islam since deadly January terror attacks in Paris, seeking to stifle the spread of extremism in areas considered fertile terrain. Authorities have notably started taking down Internet sites that glorify terrorism and are pressing ahead with a training program to instill imams with French values.

Critics say police often infringe upon the freedom of worship in their mission to monitor Salafi extremists. “It would be naive to think there is never a risk,” said Samir Amghar, a specialist on Salafism. But to consider that every sign of ultraconservative Islam presents a danger “risks stigmatising a large majority of Muslims.”

And some Salafis say that the common image of their lives as being one of rigid worship — with no enjoyment — is a myth.

Mr Olivier Corel, a Salafi who reportedly figured in the religious life of Mohammed Merah — who killed three children, a rabbi and three paratroopers in 2012 — went skiing with his wife in the Pyrenees in January.

“We have fun. We have fun. We have fun,” his wife told the AP by telephone, before hanging up.

Mr Rachid Abou Houdeyfa, a Salafi imam in the western French city of Brest known for his You Tube sermons of do’s and don’ts, created one video showing himself and a buddy in a pleasure boat and titled it “Can One Have Fun?”

“We’re going swimming,” he said before diving into the water.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 22, 2015
At Least Two Singaporeans Went to Syria to Join ISIS

SINGAPORE: The escalation of violence in Syria and Iraq over the last three months, as well as the expansion of the Islamic State (IS) threat beyond the two countries’ borders, have raised the security threat posed to Singapore. Two Ministers took turns to address concerns raised by Members of Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 7).

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean shared the Government’s assessment of the situation, while Foreign Affairs Minister, K Shanmugam said that countering the terrorism threat has to ultimately be “in the arena of ideas”.

COUNTERING EXTREMIST IDEOLOGY

Mr Shanmugam said as many as 15,000 people from about 80 countries could have joined IS and other radical groups fighting in Syria and Iraq. This is the largest mobilisation of foreign fighters since the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s – the conflict that ultimately created the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

This region is not immune to the threat, with many joining in the fight in Syria and Iraq, he said. To combat the threat, Mr Shanmugam raised three points.

Firstly, international solidarity and action will send a strong signal to the IS that the world has rejected its extremist agenda.

Secondly, IS in both Iraq and Syria must be dealt with as one entity. He said any overall strategy must include a political solution to end the conflict in Syria, and political will to develop an inclusive and tolerant government in Iraq.

Lastly, military force alone will not be enough. “Military force is necessary to blunt IS on the ground but missiles and rockets alone cannot and will not bring peace,” said Mr Shanmugam. “This brings me to my third point – the true fight has to be in the arena of ideas. We have to counter the extremist ideology which is used to recruit foreigners to terrorism and fuel their violent agenda.”

He added that the threat posed by IS was real and everyone must do their part to combat global terrorism.

THE THREAT TO SINGAPORE

Mr Teo elaborated on the threat of the IS closer to home. IS continues to actively recruit foreign fighters – including Southeast Asians – and its brutality is not confined to beheadings of Westerners, but also to the killing of other Muslims and minority communities in Syria and Iraq, Mr Teo told Parliament.

A United States-led coalition of more than 40 countries, including several Arab states, is now taking counter-action against IS, he added.

“We currently have no information of any specific threat to us resulting directly from beheadings of IS and the anti-IS strikes,” Mr Teo said. “However, our assessment remains that the expansion of the IS threat beyond Syria and Iraq has raised the threat not only to countries who are part of the US-led coalition but also to Singapore.”

As with the threat from Al-Qaeda, he said, “even if Singapore is not itself a target, foreign interests here may be targeted. This House may recall that Al Qaeda, working with the Jemaah Islamiyah Group, had planned to bomb the US and other embassies in Singapore in 2002”.

There are also reports that some Malaysians and Indonesians who have fought for IS have formed a militant group called Katibah Nusantara Lid Daulah Islamiyyah, or Malay Archipelago Unit for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

“If this group expands in Southeast Asia, it will pose a regional terrorism threat like the JI terrorist network, which had also aimed to set up a Southeast Asian Islamic Archipelago that encompassed Singapore, through the use of violence and terrorism,” Mr Teo said.

LOCAL SECURITY MEASURES IN PLACE

The DPM said Singapore’s security agencies are working with its security partners to monitor the situation in Syria and Iraq closely though the exchange of information, and will cooperate with them to counter the threat posed by foreign terrorists to Singapore.

There are also measures to prevent Singaporeans from getting involved in the violence there or from carrying out activities in support of IS, he said, such as co-sponsoring the UN Security Council resolution on foreign terrorist fighters.

“Any Singaporean who assists, supports, promotes or joins violent organisations like IS would have demonstrated a dangerous tendency to support the use of violence. Such a person poses a real threat to Singapore’s national security, and will be dealt with in accordance with our laws,” he said.

“Our approach will be carefully calibrated to the specifics of each case. Where necessary, the Internal Security Act (ISA) will be used in order to pre-empt and neutralise these terrorism threats to the security of our citizens and our country.”

In response to a question by Workers’ Party MP Low Thia Khiang, Mr Teo said that there are at least two known Singapore citizens who have gone to Syria to take part in the fight, though their exact whereabouts are unknown.

He added that authorities will continue to investigate anyone who expresses support for terrorism or an interest to pursue violence.

LOCAL COMMUNITY HAS PART TO PLAY

The Deputy Prime Minister also called on everyone to play a part in protecting Singapore against the terrorism threat. This includes alerting the authorities early to prevent family and friends from becoming radicalised.

There are also various community initiatives to counter IS’ radical rhetoric, he noted. The Religious Rehabilitation Group, for example, plans to produce online videos to debunk IS’ ideology to better reach out to Internet-savvy youths who are most at risk of being radicalised via social media, he said.

Mr Teo also mentioned a meeting was organised in July, with various community leaders, for them to understand what the Muslim community is doing to counter the threat.

“The threat is always there, but it’s something which we have to continue to work hard together, to bring people together, and help them understand the problem, and that our Muslim community is taking proactive and real steps to deal with this issue,” he said.

“All members of the public can also play their part by being alert to suspicious persons, objects and activities. A timely call to the authorities could well save many innocent lives. By working together, we can make Singapore a safer place for everyone,” Mr Teo added.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/rise-of-islamic-state/1401872.html

October 9, 2014