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On Monday, 20 February 2023, Islamic State Greater Sahara (ISGS) insiders shared a map of militant extremist areas of operation in the Sahel, which not only confirmed what TRAC has been reporting over the past year, but also offered some unexpected insight.
Of particular note is the mention of al-Mourabitounes, a group that has not been heard from for over five years. In 2017, the group joined forces with Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin / Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), so it is very unlikely that they would still hold any territory.
Another group of interest is Katiba Hanifa, a group that was always thought to be an ISGS Katiba (fighting unit). Islamic State insiders spoke about the group as if they were their own Katiba and the group was last seen in Niger in the Tillaberi region, a highly strategic area for ISGS. However, the map that was shared suggests that Katiba Hanifa is actually a JNIM Katiba, although the group has never been claimed or mentioned by official JNIM propaganda as being a part of the faction.
The Kidal region is also noteworthy. The yellow denotes Ansar Addine [Ansar Dine] a jihadi group led by the JNIM leader Iyad Ag Ghaly. Kidal is also the homeland of the various Azawad militias who on 9 February 2023 merged to form the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CAM).
This is especially important because on 21 January 2023, the Azawad militias in the Menaka and Gao regions swore allegiance to JNIM, as both regions are highly contested between JNIM and ISGS. ISGS has hundreds of fighters in this region and the allegiance of Azawad militia to JNIM gives JNIM the numbers they need to fight ISGS in the area, since JNIM has incurred major losses against ISGS in the last year partly due to being outnumbered from Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) sending in massive reinforcements.
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The area controlled Ansarul Islam, shown in purple on the map to the left, confirms what TRAC reported in April 2022 as a large swath of land between Mail and Burkina Faso.
Additionally, the area of ISGS, in black, has greatly expanded, from the contested (striped light and dark orange on the map to the right) areas to complete control on the IS insiders map on the left.
And last, but not least, it is important to note the spillover into Togo, Ghana and Guinea, countries which have historically been more stable than Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria and Niger. Just two weeks ago, Ghana and Togo saw jihadist attacks on the Burkina Faso border. Islamic State insiders also hinted about expansion into Mauritania.
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TRAC Insight:
Right Wing Extremism / Accelerationists Circulate Meme on Attacking Power Substations with Weaponized Drones
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Top and bottom halves of the meme that was circulated | |
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On 14 February 2023, Accelerationists circulated a meme on social media that advocated for attacks on power substations with weaponized drones. The meme is intentionally presented as satire - a comic-style explosion and a 'kid' worrying about how to 'play Switch (Nintendo) and record drag queen shows' if the whole power network is taken out. It would be a categorial mistake to not take the humor seriously, as racists of all flavors hide in plain sight by using humor. It also allows for plausible deniability, if caught, the meme creator could claim that no one could have ever taken the instructional advice seriously.
The importance of the meme is the depiction of the use of weaponized drones to take down electrical substations. Terrorgram affiliated telegram channels have already shared an instructional video on how to make a 3D-printed weaponized drone, demonstrating its effectiveness for future attacks. Homemade drones are extremely difficult to track. Attacking electrical substations with weaponized drones would be a game changer that would potentially cause more damage than the previous substation attacks of late 2022 into 2023.
Between September and December 2022, several attacks were carried out across the United States, including in Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington, leaving thousands of utility customers without power for hours or even days. Additionally, since late December 2022, there have been copy cat attacks in Brazil.
Attacks on electrical grids are at an all time high globally. The right-wing extremism meme is inspired by the RWE mantra "There is no political solution." Since mid-2019 there have almost 30 different instructional guides on targeting power towers, electrical substations and electrical grids from far-right extremists, mostly from the Terrorgram Collective. Attacks on power grids is a popular target frequently used by Islamic State but the advocation of the target by the extreme far-right reaches further into the West.
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TRAC Incident Report:
Protests Torch Five Banks Due to Naira Note Scarcity, Sagamu Town, Sagamu LGA, Ogun State, Nigeria
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Samples of old and new Naira bills | |
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On 20 February 2023, protestors in the town of Sagamu, Sagamu LGA, Ogun State, Nigeria razed five banks: Union Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Keystone Bank and GT Bank, effectively taking out the entire banking system of the town. While it has been claimed that it will be some time before full banking services will be returned to the town, the police have vowed that safety will be ensured, especially amid polling for the elections. However, the protests prove that law enforcement's capacity to handle a mass demonstration is thin.
The razing of banks in Ogun State is the second of these violent incidents in five days. The previous burning and looting of Union Bank in Niger Delta, Nigeria, revealed boiling tensions over the lack of new Naira notes, which the government insists was intended to curb the jihadis and bandits in the region, as well as manage inflation and combat counterfeiting operations. However, Bandits have been flaunting owning thousands and thousands of new Naira notes, leaving citizens incensed because they cannot find the new Naira notes to exchange their old ones.
This new monetary policy has people on edge just four days prior to presidential elections in the country and the amount of unrest certainly does not bode well for the elections going smoothly. Although the Central Bank of Nigeria reversed a portion of the policy, keeping the old N200 notes in circulation until April 10 2023, this has not assuaged angered Nigerian citizens who fear that their money is already worthless.
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TRAC Incident Report:
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Militants Suicide Bombing and Armed Assault the Police Headquarters, Killing 5 and Injuring 19,
Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan
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Released statement by TTP claiming responsiblity for the attack. | |
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On 17 February 2023, just shortly after 7:00 pm local time, a commando of three Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants arrived in a vehicle and stormed the office of the Karachi police chief, opening fire and hurling hand grenades, initially causing the death of four, including two police officers, one Ranger official, and one civilian. In addition, 19 others, mostly police officers were injured in the attack. A fifth officer later succumbed to his injuries on 21 February 2023.
The day following the incident, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) released a statement through their media outlet Umar Media, claiming responsibility for the attack.
The extremists who took over the 5-story building, were neutralized after three and half hours. According to police sources, one of the attackers blew himself up on the building’s fourth floor (which was confirmed by TTP's statement), while the other two were shot dead on the roof. The nearby Saddar police station also came under attack at the same time. The entire city’s police force, along with the Rangers and the Quick Response Force (QRF) responded to the emergency.
Although it is not the first time that police stations have been assaulted by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, this attack on the police headquarters in Karachi represents an escalation in the group's tactics. The fact that TTP was able to hold the 5-story building for over three hours in the heart of the city should be of grave concern to Karachi security.
Authorities now believe that the assault on the headquarters was assisted by an insider at the station; especially given the assailants were able to cut through the barbed wire fencing without being detected by the CCTV cameras. This suspicion has been asserted by TRAC on numerous other occasions when the TTP had successfully infiltrated high-security areas.
It is also worth noting that this attack came only one day before a Pakistan Super League cricket game that was scheduled for 18 February in Karachi. In this regard, TRAC does not rule out that TTP intended to attract international media attention.
Even though suicide attacks by TTP are quite uncommon, this would be the sixth TTP suicide bomber attack in about 55 days. TRAC suspects that the three suicide bombers were after the Karachi chief of police, who was not in the city when the attack took place.
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TRAC Incident Report: Police Arrest Suspected BLA Female Suicide Bomber in Satellite Town, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan | |
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TRAC Incident Report:
An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Was Found on Railway Tracks Behind St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, in Holmesburg Neighborhood, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
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TRAC Incident Report: Libyan Forces Seize Weapons Set to be Smuggled to Egypt Through Jaghbub Oasis, South of Tobruk City, Butnan, Cyrenaica, Libya | | | | |
