News and Media

The violent right-wing extremist milieu in the United States and Europe has developed a distinctly transnational character in its activities and therefore presents an increasing security threat on both sides of the Atlantic.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded $10 million in federal grants to 29 organizations focused on countering the threat of extremism. The bulk of the awarded funding, which was made possible through DHS’s newly established Targeted Violence and and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) program, will be distributed to grantees that directly support initiatives seeking to counter white supremacist violence and far-right extremism.

Germany’s pioneering online content moderation law, the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG), will soon be upgraded . Amendments to the law, which include requiring tech companies to proactively report extremist content to law enforcement, simplifying the user’s ability to flag suspected illegal content, and mandating that companies disclose how they manage cases that occur on their platform and with what technology, are promising steps forward in Germany’s attempt to prevent online extremism from translating to real-world violence.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Last week, CEP researchers located nearly 100 ISIS nasheeds uploaded on the audio website Spreaker that included a link to a pro-ISIS website in its upload description. Additionally, the ISIS-affiliated media agency Amaq News released two short clips that claimed to show ISIS fighters firing mortar shells at a Popular Mobilization Forces facility in the western Anbar province of Iraq and the nighttime roadside bombing of a vehicle allegedly belonging to Kurdish forces in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor. Also, the pro-ISIS Al Battar Media Foundation released a video titled, “To the Awakening Groups in Mali,” which accused al Qaeda of allying with governments in Mali , Niger, Burkina Faso , and Algeria , against ISIS and celebrated alleged victories against the group. In addition, CEP researchers located an ISIS website on the .nl domain that contained ISIS propaganda material including the group’s Al-Naba weekly newsletter, statements from the group’s leadership, and content from the group’s print propaganda al-Himma library.

Ongoing negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government with support from the international community offer the prospect for stability in Afghanistan for the first time in nearly two decades. The talks could result in a significant reduction of the Taliban’s large-scale insurgency since the early 2000s. However, the country is still plagued by the operations of several international terrorist groups, some of which belong to the global network of al-Qaeda and others to ISIS .

This month, the Manchester Magistrates’ Court launched a public inquiry examining alleged failures to prevent the May 2017 Manchester Arena bombing , in which Salman Abedi killed 22 people and wounded 250 in a suicide bombing. The inquiry has partly focused on Abedi’s younger brother, Hashem Abedi , who in March was found “jointly responsible” for the attack and convicted on charges of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. Now, the inquiry has revealed new evidence that Hashem Abedi repeatedly consumed and participated in the spread of ISIS propaganda from his phone, including recruitment videos and literature, for several years prior to the attack. Salman Abedi was also known to use Hashem’s phone.

Last week, a man wielding a butcher’s knife stabbed two bystanders outside of the former offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo , where assailants affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) killed 12 people in January 2015 after the magazine published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. At the time, the shooting was the deadliest terrorist incident on French soil in 50 years.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. Last week, the eighth edition of the pro-ISIS web magazine “Voice of Hind” was released on multiple websites and declared to supporters that it is permissible for women, children, and the elderly to be killed in terrorist attacks. Also, ISIS released a new propaganda video, “To Be Absolved Before Your Lord 2,” through the group’s self-proclaimed Khorasan Province depicting combat footage between ISIS and Taliban forces as well as footage of slain Taliban fighters killed in action. In addition, a pro-ISIS chat on the RocketChat platform distributed approximately three dozen emails and login information for accounts with the virtual private network (VPN) service Nord.

As Somalis prepare for only their third general election in 60 years, al-Shabaab has been escalating its attacks throughout the country. More than a dozen deadly attacks were reported over the last week alone, underscoring al-Shabaab’s unrelenting campaign of violence despite ongoing U.S. airstrikes on the terrorist group.

A recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed that ISIS and its affiliates worldwide are using a vast web of monetary and cryptocurrency assets to finance its terrorist activities. Despite losing its territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS reportedly commands a deep cache of financial resources ranging “into the hundreds of millions of dollars.” Their enduring financial strength is increasingly stoking fear of a resurgence and underscores the challenges the United States and its allies face in dismantling the terror group in entirety.