Daesh threat in Indonesia rises with Turkey’s incursion

Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian fighters gather near the village of Qirata on the outskirts of the northern city of Manbij near the Turkish border, on October 14, 2019. (AFP)
Updated 25 October 2019
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Daesh threat in Indonesia rises with Turkey’s incursion

  • Hundreds of Indonesians have ventured into Syria in recent years to join Daesh

JAKARTA: Security threats posed by ex-Daesh fighters have increased following a Turkish-led invasion of northern Syria, experts in Indonesia have told Arab News, pointing to a possible regrouping of existing networks and jeopardizing counter-terrorism efforts.

US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of troops from the Syrian border earlier this month cleared the way for Turkey to attack Kurdish forces which had previously fought in a coalition with the US against Daesh in northeastern Syria since 2014.

The Turkish offensive, which started on Oct. 9, has prompted fears of ex-Daesh fighters escaping Kurdish detention.

Hundreds of Indonesian militants had reportedly ventured into Syria in recent years to join Daesh, before the group’s once-sprawling self-declared caliphate collapsed.

A spokesman for the State Intelligence Agency, Wawan Hari Purwanto, told Arab News it was unclear how many Indonesians had escaped Syria but none of them had returned.

But prisoners were likely to try and return, according to terrorism expert Al Chaidar from the University of Indonesia. He said they may be attempting to link up with local groups of Daesh-inspired militants such as Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD).

Indonesia in recent years has been hit by attacks linked to JAD, including deadly suicide bombings last year in the country’s second-biggest city Surabaya.

“This will increasingly complicate the government’s handling of terrorist groups that have long been present in Indonesia,” he told Arab News. “There is the potential for increased terrorist threats at home.”

The world’s biggest Muslim-majority country has scrambled to tighten its anti-terrorism laws, leading to a sustained crackdown that netted hundreds of Daesh-inspired militants nationwide.

Those held in Syrian detention camps may be seeking to return with the help of smugglers, said the International Association of Counterterrorism and Security Professionals’ director for Indonesia, Rakyan Adibrata.

“Another possible way is to move to other countries and pretend to be human trafficking victims and then requesting travel documents in lieu of passport at Indonesian embassies in countries outside Syria,” he told Arab News, adding that prisoners may try to flee to Egypt, Pakistan, and other countries with porous borders.

Their return to Indonesia may also pose dangers that were not immediately related to the radical and violent Daesh ideology they had espoused. Adibrata described them as “not only ISIS (Daesh) followers, but also war survivors,” many of whom were possibly suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“They always feel they are in the enemy’s area,” Adibrata said, referring to the symptoms of PTSD, as he warned that in the context of Daesh-exposed fighters and their families “the impact will be way more serious.”


UN Security Council urges Rwanda forces to leave DR Congo

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UN Security Council urges Rwanda forces to leave DR Congo

  • M23 movement advances on several fronts in a troubled region rich in natural resources

NEW YORK: M23 fighters advanced on several fronts in DR Congo’s volatile east as the UN Security Council, for the first time, called on Rwanda to stop backing the armed group and halt the bloodshed.

The M23 movement, supported by some 4,000 Rwandan soldiers, according to UN experts, now controls large swaths of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a troubled region rich in natural resources.
Its rapid advance has sent thousands fleeing.
Fighters took control of the South Kivu provincial capital, Bukavu, last Sunday, weeks after capturing Goma, the capital of North Kivu and the main city in the country’s east.
Friday’s unanimously adopted UN Security Council resolution “strongly condemns the ongoing offensive and advances of the M23 in North Kivu and South Kivu with the support of the Rwanda Defense Forces.”
It also “calls on the Rwanda Defense Forces to cease support to the M23 and immediately withdraw from DRC territory without preconditions.”
The Security Council had previously called for an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” by all parties, but on Friday, all countries, including the three African members, pointed the finger at Kigali.
Recent gains have given M23 control of Lake Kivu following its lightning offensive in the east. According to the UN, the latest fighting has led to an exodus of more than 50,000 Congolese to Burundi, Uganda, and other countries.
The EU on Friday summoned Rwanda’s ambassador to demand Kigali pull out troops from the country and stop backing the armed group.
In a call with Kenyan President William Ruto, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for an immediate ceasefire, saying there was “no military solution to the conflict,” according to a State Department spokesperson.
Since the fall of Bukavu, the Congolese armed forces have been retreating without offering significant resistance.
“Almost no Congolese soldiers are fighting,” an observer said Friday, adding that the “only ones still fighting are the Wazalendo” pro-Kinshasa militia.
The North Kivu city of Masisi and its surroundings “are the scene of almost daily clashes” between the M23 and Wazalendo, medical charity Doctors Without Borders said.
The M23 is now moving toward the town of Uvira near the Burundi border on the northwestern tip of Lake Tanganyika — the main exit route for fleeing Congolese soldiers.
A source in Uvira’s municipality said Friday the military commander had taken “measures to secure the population and their property, adding that “undisciplined elements had been arrested.”
Residents said that Uvira was engulfed in chaos, with hundreds of soldiers and their families crossing the town on foot to reach the port.
At least 423 inmates from Uvira prison have escaped, and armed men robbed the bishop.
On the northern front, which has been relatively stable since December, M23 fighters are just 14 km from Lubero, a strategic town. Some Congolese soldiers have fled Lubero, but others were seen looting shops, according to local sources.
“The Congolese soldiers we met along the way robbed us of our phones, money, and other belongings,” said Aline Nyota, a displaced person who left Lubero to go further north.
“If you hesitate, they shoot.”
The Congolese army spokesman in the region urged fleeing soldiers to return “to their authorities” and to “avoid looting, extortion and rape.”
Traders in central Lubero have removed their goods, and schools are closed. A relative calm returned on Thursday evening with the intervention of Ugandan troops deployed in the region as part of a joint operation with the Congolese army.
Analysts have questioned how the Ugandan army would react if it were to encounter M23 fighters.
UN experts accuse Kampala of maintaining relations with the M23 while seeking to protect its influence in the area.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Friday denied his troops intended to fight the M23.

 


Philippines welcomes removal from money laundering ‘grey list’

A customer counts Philippine peso after selling US dollars at a money changer in Manila on September 8, 2008. (AFP)
Updated 7 min 45 sec ago
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Philippines welcomes removal from money laundering ‘grey list’

  • Marcos last year also banned offshore gaming operators, known locally as POGOs, that were said to be used as fronts by organized crime groups for human trafficking, money laundering, online fraud, kidnappings and even murder

MANILA: The Philippines on Saturday praised its removal from a global financial “grey list” of countries under increased monitoring for money laundering and terrorism financing, a status that can hamper global financial transactions.
The Southeast Asia nation had been on the Financial Action Task Force list, which identifies countries “working with it to correct deficiencies in their financial systems,” since 2021.
“The (Financial Action Task Force) removed the Philippines from its increased monitoring following a successful on-site visit and updated its statements on ‘high-risk and other monitored jurisdictions’,” the Paris-based group said after a Friday vote at its annual plenary.

HIGHLIGHT

The move would provide relief for more than 2 million Filipinos who work overseas and send remittances home each year.

The FATF, an international organization that coordinates global efforts to crack down on money laundering and terrorism financing, includes representatives from nearly 40 countries including the United States, China and South Africa.
In a statement Saturday, the Anti-Money Laundering Council in Manila hailed the FATF decision as a “milestone” that would bring a litany of benefits.
“The Philippines’ exit from the FATF greylist is expected to facilitate faster and lower-cost cross-border transactions, reduce compliance barriers, and enhance financial transparency,” it said.
The move would also provide relief for more than two million Filipinos who work overseas and send remittances home each year, the council added.
It singled out President Ferdinand Marcos’ 2023 signing of an executive order targeting money laundering and “counter-terrorism financing” as having played a key role in the decision.
Marcos last year also banned offshore gaming operators, known locally as POGOs, that were said to be used as fronts by organized crime groups for human trafficking, money laundering, online fraud, kidnappings and even murder.
But rights groups have accused the government of filing “baseless” charges against civil society groups to improve its standing with the FATF.
“This move by FATF, we are afraid, will be taken as a stamp of approval by the government and will thus very likely embolden them to continue, even intensify, the harassment,” Human Rights Watch senior researcher Carlos Conde told AFP on Saturday.
“While we recognize the need to stamp out money laundering — and FATF did acknowledge the supposed improvements the Philippine government did in this regard — there clearly is a need for the government to adhere to international human rights standards as it pursues this campaign.”

 


Macron says knife attack in east France was “Islamist terrorism“

Updated 22 February 2025
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Macron says knife attack in east France was “Islamist terrorism“

  • A man attacked local police officers in the city of Mulhouse shouting “Allahu Akbar“
  • “It is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism,” Macron told reporters

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday a knife attack that killed one and injured three in eastern France on Saturday was “Islamist terrorism,” after France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office confirmed it was investigating the case.
A man attacked local police officers in the city of Mulhouse shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest“) on Saturday afternoon, the PNAT prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

A passer-by was killed trying to intervene, while three police officers were injured, the prosecutor’s office added.
“It is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism,” Macron told reporters on the sidelines of the annual French farm show, adding that the interior minister was on his way to Mulhouse.
The suspect has been arrested, the prosecutor’s office said.


France says convict freed in May shootout arrested in Romania

Updated 22 February 2025
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France says convict freed in May shootout arrested in Romania

  • France tasked more than 300 investigators with finding Amra, and requested an Interpol red notice hoping for foreign assistance
  • “After a manhunt lasting several months, Amra has been arrested, finally!” Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said

PARIS: A French convict, on the run since being freed last May in an ambush that left two prison officers dead, has been arrested in Romania, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Saturday.
Mohamed Amra, accused of being a major drugs gangland figure, had vanished without a trace after an attack with military-grade assault weapons on a prison van carrying him in the northwestern Normandy region.
Three officers were wounded in the attack that was caught on CCTV and shocked France because of its extraordinary violence.
France tasked more than 300 investigators with finding Amra, and requested an Interpol red notice hoping for foreign assistance.
Amra, reportedly known as “La Mouche” (The Fly), has a long history of convictions for violent crimes that started when he was only 15.
He was also suspected of ordering hits while in prison.
At the time of his escape, Amra was facing two fresh charges, one for attempted murder and another for participation in a gangland killing in the southern city of Marseille on the French Riviera, a hub for drug trafficking and gang violence.
But despite the government labelling him “public enemy number one,” and the deployment of massive means, Amra was not captured as quickly as the authorities had hoped.
On Saturday, the government reacted with relief that the chase was over.
“After a manhunt lasting several months, Amra has been arrested, finally!” Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on X.
President Emmanuel Macron hailed Amra’s capture as “a formidable success.”


Londoners march in support of Ukraine to mark three years of war

Updated 22 February 2025
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Londoners march in support of Ukraine to mark three years of war

  • Protesters started at a statue of St. Volodymyr in west London and marched toward the Russian embassy, waving Ukrainian flags and signs of support
  • At the rally, one sign read “Ukraine defends peace for the entire Europe“

LONDON: Hundreds gathered in London on Saturday to march in support of Ukraine, ahead of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion on Monday and amid increasing tensions between Washington and Kyiv.
Protesters started at a statue of St. Volodymyr, a national saint of Ukraine, in west London and marched toward the Russian embassy, waving Ukrainian flags and signs of support.
The three-year long war was sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Britain has been a key backer of Ukraine since, sanctioning Moscow, providing financial and military support to Kyiv and opening its door to over 250,000 Ukrainian refugees.
At the rally, one sign read “Ukraine defends peace for the entire Europe,” while another said “If Ukraine falls, war will come to your house.”
“I’m not Ukrainian but I recognize the great danger they are in,” 68-year-old Briton Martin Vincent told AFP.
“We cannot abandon them it’s a duty for the UK to stand up with Ukraine,” the protester added.
Among the crowd were some Ukrainians, including Nataliya, a university student who did not want to share her last name for security reasons.
“I feel so homesick and so vulnerable right now. I don’t know If I’ll be able to come back to my country,” said Nataliya, wearing a floral crown in the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag.
“What’s next? Uncertainty and uncertainty,” she added.
Stella Robinson, 27, was “afraid of what might happen next” as well. “This is not only Ukraine, this is Europe.”
“We can’t turn a blind eye on the war just because Trump wants peace,” added Robinson, referring to recent diplomatic talks between the US and Russia on the future of the war that have sidelined Kyiv and its European backers.
“But what kind of a peace? Frankly, it’s terrifying,” added the law student.
British public support for Ukraine is strong, with 67 percent saying they both want Ukraine to win the war and care a “great deal or fair amount” that it does so, according to a YouGov poll from last week.
And eight in ten Britons said it is “unacceptable” for Ukraine not to be included in negotiations on the conflict, per the poll.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the start of the war, although the exact toll is unclear.