Leader of the Islamic State Killed by Turkish Special Forces

A few weeks ago, US Central Command announced that an instrumental international IS operative was killed by a drone strike, dealing a huge blow to the terror organisation. Turkish special forces likely put the final nail in the coffin of the Islamic State when they announced that their special forces had killed IS leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi in Syria. Announced by President Recep Erdogan, the Turkish intelligence forces initiated the raid in the town of Jindares, in Aleppo, an area occupied by Turkish rebels. Qurashi's headquarters was a small house on the border of the town in a field of olive trees. (www.aljazeera.com, 2023b)

The death of the IS leader comes at a time of uncertainty on the Turkish-Syrian border. Not only is IS still operating, though on a smaller scale than they were in 2014, but there is also friction between the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Force. The group, who receives funds from the US, has been the target of Turkish air raids after an explosion occurred in Istanbul. The Turkish government blamed Kurdish groups and began to launch attacks on the SDF, even threatening ground attacks with troops. The leader of the SDF, per Epstein (2023), believes that the attacks from Turkey will only allow ISIS to thrive. He said, "There is no doubt that Daesh [A province of Islamic State] will benefit more than anyone else from this Turkish offensive."

In recent times, a multifaceted assault on Islamic States from all fronts has crippled the group to near destruction. Not only did the US kill an IS operative who was instrumental in the planning of attacks on Europe, but also counter-terror assaults from the Taliban have killed a senior member of the terror organisation. In late April, Taliban counter-terror operations against IS killed a senior leader of the group unexpectedly. The IS leader, whose identity has not yet been released, planned the Abbey Gate Airport bombing which killed nearly two hundred people, including Afghan civilians and US marines. (www.aljazeera.com, 2023a)

The Taliban may seem like an unlikely ally to the war on terror, but they are currently facing battles across the country with ISIL, the IS province in Afghanistan. The killing of such a high-profile individual may also open up diplomatic avenues for Western governments to begin talks with the Taliban government. It already seems as though the Taliban leadership is split, however, with US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tom West stating that he mainly deals with officials in Kabul, with the group's more radical leaders based in Kandahar.

Despite all the infighting and ill-relations between these countries, their efforts have crippled the Islamic State. With such high-profile losses in the past few months, it seems that the group will struggle to recover. The group has named Qurashi's replacement, but that seems futile with all the opposition they face.

Reference list

Epstien, J. (2022). US military confirms that another ISIS leader has been killed in Syria, revealing that he was taken out in a raid by local forces. [online] uk.movies.yahoo.com. Available at: https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/us-military-confirms-another-isis-211201491.html?guccounter=1 [Accessed 13 May 2023].

www.aljazeera.com. (2023a). ISIL leader behind Kabul airport bombing killed, Taliban says. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/25/isil-leader-behind-kabul-airport-bombing-killed-taliban-says?traffic_source=KeepReading [Accessed 13 May 2023].

www.aljazeera.com. (2023b). Suspected ISIL chief killed in Syria, says Turkish president. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/1/erdogan-says-turkey-has-killed-suspected-isil-leader#:~:text=President%20Erdogan%20discloses%20intelligence%20operation [Accessed 13 May 2023].

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 Who are the White Helmets of Syria?

[Source:IndieWire]

The White Helmets are a group that not many people know but have likely seen. Most of the population remembers seeing white helmeted aid workers during the mass news coverage of the Syrian crisis. Most, including myself, assumed these were United Nations troops and aid workers. I was not introduced to the White Helmet organisation till recently after I saw them seeking donations to aid the thousands of Turkish and Syrian people affected by the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake. As I looked into them more I found myself being drawn to their aid efforts but also the disinformation that clouds their reputation. 

The White Helmets, or the Syrian Civil Defence (SCD) as they are also known, started as a collective of much smaller local relief groups. Though the name Syrian Civil Defence makes the group sound like some local military group, the White Helmet's efforts began, and remained, purely to assist locals. As the Syrian Government lost control of their territory to Islamic State in 2012, civilians cried out for medical and rescue assistance. This is where the local organisations which would become the White Helmets began. Small, local groups would start to help trapped civilians, searching the rubble of bombed buildings for civilians. (Syrian Civil Defense, 2015) Gradually, these local groups, operating deep in IS-controlled territory began to receive training and funding from the wider international community. Western Nations and other NGOs began training the SCD in urban search and rescue to increase the group's success. The most notable and influential NGO to train the group was the Mayday Rescue Organisation, which was led by a man named James Le Mesurier, a former British Army captain. The smaller local groups would grow to over three-thousand members. In 2014, the SCD was formalised, with it establishing one hundred-eleven local centres over eight operational provinces, which included the IS hotbeds of Aleppo and Damascus. 

Whilst being active in the occupied territory of Syria, the White Helmets quickly became an enemy in the eyes of the Government. The group were targeted multiple times by the Syrian Government and Russian airstrikes. (Jan, 2015) As well as the threat of air attacks, the group also acted in areas occupied by the brutal Islamic State. Despite the dangers, the group set up crucial local infrastructures that would help over four million Syrians. (Winsor, 2023) Whilst the group supported the locals in IS-occupied Syria, the border media focus on them would soon shift to a much more negative one as the group became the target of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Terrorist Accusations

To the Syrian Government, the White Helmets were seen as a terrorist organisation. The aid the group offered to locals vilified them in the eyes of Assad and the Russian Government. The group began to be slandered in the media, with Russian state media claiming the group had links to Al-Qaeda. Through alt-right and pro-Russian online personalities, a conspiracy theory began that the White Helmets were a terrorist group masquerading as relief workers. Of course, there are no credible links between this aid group and Al-Qaeda. When this became apparent, the online conspiracy theories shifted. Instead of being linked to terrorism, the group was now portrayed as a UN puppet organisation that acted on Western interests. Alt-right internet personalities, such as Infowars' Alex Jones, even claimed that the White Helmets were funded by American billionaire George Soros and were carrying out gas attacks on Syrians. These claims were also completely bogus. The damage was done. The White Helmets became a controversial group, despite not actually being linked to the UN, American billionaires or Al-Qaeda. (Ellis, 2017) Completely separate from the claims of terrorism was the idea the group was not impartial, specifically tied to Turkey. This theory was proposed by the Kurdish Syrian Defence Force group. According to Kurdistan24 (2019), the White Helmets only entered the Afrin area of Syria after the Turkish Government took control of the region. urging them to believe that the White Helmets were working for the Turkish Government. In addition, many of the White Helmet members were formerly trained in Turkey, further bolstering the connection between the two. So, because of these proposed links to White Helmets became vilified in the Kurdish communities. Nicholas Heras, a leading security expert at the Center for New American Security, the SDF, and by extension the general Kurdish population, saw the White Helmets as a kind of 'trojan horse'. To them, the White Helmets were the puppets of the Turkish Government. 

The White Helmets Today

With the conflict in Syria over, the myth of a terrorist, Government aligned, gas-attacking White Helmets has essentially died out. They now act as a relief organisation, as they always have. Most recently, the group has been active in aiding the victims of the earthquake on the Turkish-Syrian border. In more recent times, the suspicious death of White Helmet co-founder James Le Mesurier has overshadowed the group. Le Mesurier would fall from his Istanbul apartment in 2019, killing him. Turkish authorities verified the death as a suicide, with there being no evidence of foul play during an autopsy. (Safi, 2019) Russian and Syrian-based media blamed Western intelligence services for his death, whilst conspiracy theorists online blamed Russian assassins. Even after his death, the White Helmets continue to be a heroic force in Syria, a country still in dire need of relief organisations that look after local communities with no resources. It's estimated that millions of Syrians were helped in some way by the help of the White Helmet organisation during the Syrian Civil War alone. To this day, they continue their relief efforts, helping those who need it most. 

Reference list

Catherine, J.J. (2019). Kurds say White Helmets not welcome to help fight fires in northeast Syria. [online] Kurdistan24. Available at: https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/15b19407-31f2-4709-ab99-580b6a66dc72 [Accessed 8 May 2023].

Ellis, E.G. (2017). Inside the Conspiracy Theory That Turned Syria’s First Responders Into Terrorists. [online] Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2017/04/white-helmets-conspiracy-theory/ [Accessed 9 May 2023].

Jan, M. (2015). Q&A: Syria’s White Helmets. [online] www.aljazeera.com. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/8/21/qa-syrias-white-helmets [Accessed 8 May 2023].

Safi, M. (2019). No signs of foul play in death of White Helmets founder, say Turkish police. The Guardian. [online] 13 Nov. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/13/no-signs-foul-play-death-white-helmets-founder-james-le-mesurier-turkish-police [Accessed 9 May 2023].

Syrian Civil Defense. (2015). Volunteers to Save Lives. [online] Available at: http://syriacivildefense.org/volunteers-save-lives [Accessed 8 May 2023].

Winsor, M. (2023). Who are the White Helmets? A group of ordinary Syrians doing the extraordinary. [online] ABC News. Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/International/white-helmets-group-ordinary-syrians-extraordinary/story?id=96971864#:~:text=The%20White%20Helmets%20says%20it [Accessed 9 May 2023].

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German Police Curb Radical Terror Plot 

In Berlin, a twenty-eight-year old male has been arrested on terrorist charges. The man, who was assisted by his brother, planned on using explosive belts to commit a terror attack against civilians. The suspect was apprehended by a police sting in Hamburg, where he was caught buying bomb making components. The two Syrian nationals are believed to be radical jihadists. 
Whilst this attack seems to be a lone wolf incident, with neither being linked to a terror group, it's important to note that the threat from Syrian terror groups has diminished immensley in the past few weeks. A succesful drone strike on Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, a pivotal leader in the planning of European attacks, has weakend the groups international capabilities immensely. 

Vision Counterterrorism Newsletter [10/04/2023 to 17/04/2023]

Here is what happened this week in counter-terrorism!

Popular Mobilization Forces Securing the Syrian Border [Source: AFP]

More Truffle Hunting Deaths are Linked to ISIS

During the truffle hunting season in Syria's Hama countryside, hundreds have disappeared or been found murdered by ISIS. This week more truffle hunters have been killed by the terror group. The truffle trade is highly lucrative but dangerous with many willing to risk death for financial gain. This week 26 were killed by ISIS in an area they were previously ousted from. In 2019, the Syrian Defence Forces and US Coalition Forces drove out the group after weeks of intense fighting in the town of Baghouz. (NPASyria, 2023) With the recent spike in disappearances, it's likely that ISIS will return to this area or already have. These 26 victims are more in the group's countless already killed or captured. It is uncertain whether Syrian counter-terror forces and repel ISIS once again or if the area is doomed to fall under their control. 

From Discord to Jail: How the Ukraine Intelligence Leaker Was Caught

After a truckload of confidential US intelligence documents about the Ukraine counter-offensive was leaked authorities rushed to find the culprit. The files included maps, military information and statistics surrounding US secret service involvement in the conflict. It appears as if these documents were first shared on a gaming Discord server, named Thug Shaker Central. Discord, an app meant for gamers to communicate whilst playing, is a rather strange place for confidential documents to be leaked. Discord offers no encryption like Telegram or Whatsapp, it is rather a public place for a professional leaker to dump files. (Strohm et al, 2023) Quickly, it became apparent that the culprit behind this leak was not a professional. This ruled out the idea that a foreign government or enemy group leaked such a document. The lack of anonymity allowed for a suspect to be quickly apprehended.

Only a few days after the leak, twenty-one-year-old Jack Teixeira was arrested. Teixeira was a US Air National Guardsman stationed in Massachusetts, who had recently been promoted to the intelligence division. Teixeira's capture was aided by reporters at the New York Times. According to them, (Scheffler, 2023) Teixeira was meticulously tracked through his digital footprint. After the documents were found on the gaming Discord group, reporter Aric Toller began live-tweeting his findings, leading to the Discord server being deleted. Thankfully, a former member of the group reached out to Toller. This former member revealed that the user posting the leaks to Discord was not the original leaker and that the documents had been posted elsewhere first. This former member also revealed  All they had were the initials O. G. Other members refused to identify the user and with the chat logs deleted, more clues were needed to conclusively find the leaker. NYT reporters found the former members' Steam Profiles. Steam, a website dedicated to playing and buying games keeps extensive data on users' interactions and messages. Investigators were able to look into Steam's data to find all the people the former member had interacted with. They narrowed down their search to a user called jackdjdtex. From this user name, reporters found an Instagram account which led them to Jack Teixeira. 

Jack Teixeira 

Teixeira now faces up to fifteen years in prison for leaking classified information he had obtained from his job in the Air National Guard. Many are asking why From all the reports, Teixeira has always been someone looking for attention and shock. According to CNN (Hicken, 2023), Teixeira had been in trouble multiple times throughout high school due to racist and offensive comments he made. After the 2017 Las Vegas Mass Shooting, he wore a shirt displaying an AR-15. Even in his Steam Profile, the one which led to his arrest, showed him posing with an assault rifle. Former classmates found his obsession with the US and his nationalist views odd. Strangely, for such a nationalistic person, Teixeira had betrayed a country he loved so much. He appeared in a Boston District Courton Friday, where he gave no plea. 

Though Teixeira's action may seem bizarre, it has much broader implications for the war in Ukraine. These documents have already made it to Pro-Russian Telegram servers. The entire Spring Counter-offensive in Ukraine may now be in jeopardy because of Teixeira's actions. 

A Call to Arms: Somalia Call for Russian Support

The Somali Opposition Leader, Sied Abdi Nur, has called for Russian forces to deploy in the country to counter the Western Presence within the country. Abdi Nur is an opponent of Western terror invention within the country, he has often blamed them for the still prominent threat of terrorism within the country. Nur is not just a politician but also a former soldier, who fought alongside US forces in the Battle of Mogadishu, which saw heavy casualties on both sides. In an interview with Russian Publication Sputnik, reported by Al Mayadeen English (2023), Abdi Nur said, "Russia can even participate in Somalian politics and can win, and Somalia would be at peace because we have got a solution where Russia can win without the West. The West does not want my country to be in peace; they create chaos, people kill each other, continue this war". This comes as the country is still wrought with infrastructural and terror issues, as well as an embargo. Since the 1990s, the country has been stuck in a devastating civil war, which has had interventions from United Nations and African Union Peace Keepers. 

With the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, it's unlikely Russia will deploy troops in Somalia. Not just due to their priority being the invasion of Ukraine, but also because they are unlikely to cooperate with Western forces in any capacity. 

References

Al Mayadeen English (2023). Somalian opposition MP calls on Russia to deploy forces in Somalia. [online] Al Mayadeen English. Available at: https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/somalian-opposition-mp-calls-on-russia-to-deploy-forces-in-s [Accessed 18 Apr. 2023].

Hicken, B.E.G.W. (2023). Man arrested in connection with intel leak: ‘Actions speak louder than words’ | CNN Politics. [online] CNN. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/14/politics/jack-teixeira-profile/index.html [Accessed 17 Apr. 2023].

NPA Syria (2023). ISIS kills 26 truffle hunters in Syria’s Hama. [online] North press agency. Available at: https://npasyria.com/en/96570/ [Accessed 17 Apr. 2023].

Scheffler, M. (2023). Finding the Pentagon Leak Suspect. The New York Times. [online] 16 Apr. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/briefing/pentagon-leak-suspect.html [Accessed 18 Apr. 2023].

Strohm, C., McBride, C., Mostue, A. and Goal, P. (2023). US Charges 21-Year-Old for Taking, Leaking Classified Documents. Bloomberg.com. [online] 14 Apr. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-14/us-charges-national-guardsman-over-classified-documents-leak [Accessed 17 Apr. 2023].

Vision Counterterrorism Newsletter [02/04/2023 to 10/04/2023]

It has been a very hectic and tragic week in counterterrorism with many major incidents occurring. Due to the significance of the events some topics will have seprate, more detailed articles written about them (that will be linked within this newsletter). There will still be a brief summary of events within this newsletter, as well as, wrtite-ups of other news from this week. 

Russian Police at the Scene of the Explosion [Source: NPR]

Suspect Arrested in Russian Blogger Explosion

On April 2nd Russian Military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in an explosion in St Petersburg. The rather bizarre explosion seems to have occurred during a meet-up with his subscribers. A woman handed him a gold bust of himself before promptly leaving. Unbeknownst to Tatarsky, the gift he was presented with would explode killing him and injuring 30 others. Tatarsky, real name Maxim Fomin, was extremely popular on Telegram, with over 560,000 followers on the app. The majority of Tatarsky's content was geared toward the ongoing war with Ukraine. The blogger was extremely Pro-Russian and would often travel to the frontlines to film with Russian soldiers. Tatarsky himself was from the disputed Donetsk Region, where he fought for Russian occupation of the area. In more recent times, he became a prominent critic of the Russian Ministry of Defence for their lack of success in the Ukraine war. He would chastise the officers of the war calling them, "untrained idiots". (Sauer and Roth, 2023) The location of this fan meetup also has multiple links to the Pro-Russian movement, including to Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Paramilitary Group. The Wagner Group has been assisting Russia with their war in Ukraine. The venue also held a weekly discussion called Cyberfront Z, referring to the Z symbol which has become synonymous with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Financial Times, 2023) All of these things make Tatarsky and the restaurant a prime location for a Pro-Ukrainian terror attack. However, many think that is not the case and that this may have been perpetrated by the Kremlin itself.

Tatarsky was not just a random blogger but had close links to the Russian Government. Last September, the blogger attended a ceremony at the Kremlin, where Putin laid out Russian annexation plans for Ukraine. Tatarsky was filmed at the event saying, "We’ll conquer everyone, we’ll kill everyone, we’ll loot whoever we need to, and everything will be just as we like it". The Kremlin understood the power of social media in the war and organised a task force to oversee the work of pro-military bloggers. Some believe that the Kremlin was responsible for the explosion. In a similar incident, last year, in August, the daughter of a prominent ultranationalist was killed in an explosion. The Russian Government blamed the Ukrainian Secret Service, others blamed the Kremlin. Some suspect that Tatarsky's criticism of Russia's military leadership was the reason for his assassination. Whilst both sides cast the blame onto one another, Prigozhin, the Wagner Group leader, blamed radical Ukranians, not the state government. 

A video posted to Mash, a Russian law enforcement Telegram group, showed the moment Tatarsky was handed the gold bust, which would later kill him. In the video, a blonde woman gives him the statue. She was quickly identified as Darya Trepova and arrested. The Russian Antiterror Committee believed that she was a member of the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation, an anti-Putin organisation. They claim the foundation worked in conjunction with the Ukranian secret service. Ukraine suspects that Trepova had been tricked into committing the attack by the Russian Government. (Sauer, 2023) Only a brief portion of her interrogation has been released, showing no real motive or reasoning by Trepova herself. There has only been speculation by both sides, with Russia claiming it was a Ukranian terror attack and Ukraine believing it was a domestic terror incident. 

We will keep you updated as this story breaks.

Tensions Reach a Boiling Point on the West Bank

Tensions in the West Bank have reached their worst since 2006. After Israeli police raided a Mosque a few days ago, retributory attacks from terror groups have reached a boiling point. This has resulted in multiple missile barrages from both sides. Clashes between Israel and its Arab neighbours have resulted in a new crisis in the Middle East.

The US Kill ISIS Leader in Syria

On the 3rd of April, the US launched a drone strike in Syria that killed its leader Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri. Al-Jabouri was key in planning attacks in Europe. Despite this being a huge blow to the organisation, ISIS still poses a large threat in Syria and surrounding Middle Eastern nations. Al-Jabouri was also crucial in organising the ISIS leadership hierarchy. (CENTCOM, 2023) With the death of al-Jabouri, the threat of international attacks from ISIS has diminished immensely. Now, the main focus for counter-terror forces in the middle east will be to launch attacks against national ISIS leaders, minimising the chances of an attack within the country. 

Possibility of an IRA attack

According to Northern Irish Police, there has been intelligence gathered that a terror attack is highly possible over the Easter weekend. This Easter marks 25 years since the groundbreaking Good Friday Agreement was reached. The Easter weekend is extremely significant to the terror issues in Ireland. The Easter Uprising is possibly THE most significant event in all of the Republic of Ireland's history. With this, it's believed an attack is extremely likely this easter weekend. 

More information about the possibility of attack and updates to the situation can be found here:

The raising of the Terror Threat in the UK due to the New IRA: https://visionmilitarynews.blogspot.com/2023/04/vision-counterterrorism-newsletter.html

Possibilty of an Easter Attack: https://visionmilitarynews.blogspot.com/2023/04/will-there-be-new-ira-attack-this.html

British Special Forces investigated for Unlawful Killings in Afghanistan 

After years of legal campaigning, the British Armed Forces have started an investigation into the unlawful killing of Afghan civilians and whether subsequent investigations were carried out properly. This comes after multiple legal challenges from victims' families. Their lawyers allege that 8 Afghans were killed by British Special Forces during a nighttime raid. This new enquiry will investigate all matters involving alleged unlawful killings by the Special Forces from 2010 to 2013. 

These investigations are not only based on the testimony from the victim's families but also from a BBC investigation which found the SAS had killed civilians whilst on night raids. The 2022 report found that the Special Air Service, one of the most prestigious military units in the world, would plant weapons on unlawfully killed civilians to frame them. When presented with this evidence, the Ministry of Defence would refuse to investigate further, arguing that the matters had already been thoroughly examined. Now, it seems like that wasn't the case, with a full reinvestigation of all suspected unlawful killings. 

An independent judge has been assigned to oversee the case. Leigh Day, the law firm representing the families, stated that knowledge of unlawful killings in Afghanistan was well-known but never reported to the military police. (Al Jazeera, 2023) To the families this news is bittersweet. For years they have had to live through such an ordeal and fight against this huge injustice. With this inquiry being opened, hopefully, the families can finally have answers. 

Reference List

Financial Times (2023). Russian pro-war blogger killed in St Petersburg restaurant blast. Financial Times. [online] 2 Apr. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/e0823df3-e5ec-4c44-a111-a0c311e3e107 [Accessed 8 Apr. 2023].

Sauer, P. (2023). Russian pro-war military blogger killed in blast at St Petersburg cafe. The Guardian. [online] 3 Apr. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/02/russian-pro-war-military-blogger-killed-blast-st-petersburg-vladlen-tatarsky [Accessed 8 Apr. 2023].

Sauer, P. and Roth, A. (2023). Russian police arrest woman over bombing that killed pro-war blogger. The Guardian. [online] 3 Apr. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/03/russian-police-arrest-woman-over-bombing-that-killed-pro-war-blogger-vladlen-tatarsky.

U.S. Central Command. (2023). Strike Kills ISIS Leader in Syria. [online] Available at: https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/3350738/strike-kills-isis-leader-in-syria/#:~:text=TAMPA%2C%20Fla. [Accessed 8 Apr. 2023].

www.aljazeera.com. (22AD). UK begins inquiry into ‘unlawful killings’ in Afghanistan. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/22/uk-launches-inquiry-into-british-army-killing-in-afghanistan [Accessed 2 Apr. 2023].