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Jeff Seldin Profile picture
@jseldin
Jun 5, 2020 • 10 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
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NEW: @Facebook takes down 324 Pages, 71 accounts, 5 Groups, 31 @instagram accounts originating in #Kurdistan region of #Iraq

"This network used fake accounts...to post in Groups, impersonate local politicians & political parties, & manage Pages masquerading as news entities"
"Our investigation connected this activity to individuals associated with #Zanyari Agency, part of the intelligence services of the #Kurdistan Regional Government in #Iraq|i Kurdistan" per @Facebook
about.fb.com/news/2020/06/m…
Per @Facebook, the posts in Kurdish & Arabic, contained "criticism of non-Kurdish politicians and public figures,the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Change Movement and the opposition party New Generation"
Other posts spread "alleged ties between some politicians and #Turkey, the Libyan civil war, and #ISIS" per @Facebook "A small portion of this activity included posts about local response to the #coronavirus pandemic"
The accounts, traced back to #Zanyari Agency and the Kurdistan Regional Government intelligence service, has about 4.4 million followers, per @Facebook

The fake accounts also spent about $270,000 for ads on Facebook, paid for mostly in US dollars
MORE from @Graphika_NYC

The accounts "typically supported the Kurdish political party the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) & its co-leader Lahur “Sheikh Jangi” Talabani & criticized the governing Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) & its leaders from the Barzani family"
For context, the #Zanyari Agenci is one of two intelligence agencies in Iraqi Kurdistan and reports to Lahur Talabani, and is aligned with the PUK
The fake accounts ran "a consistent undercurrent of commentary that criticized the KDP & the Kurdish regional government" per @Graphika_NYC Image
"Often, the content that they shared was originally posted by one member of the network posing as a news outlet and then amplified by other assets" per @Graphika_NYC "This pattern has been observed in many other influence operations..."
More from @Graphika_NYC report here: public-assets.graphika.com/reports/graphi…

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More from @jseldin

Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Feb 13, 2025
ISIS-Somalia has dug in - operating out of Buur Dhexaad, described by the UN sanctions monitoring team as "a strategic base secured by natural caves and defensive structures safe from aerial and ground offensives"
ISIS-Somalia leader Abdul Qadir Mumin has also sought to limit unnecessary exposure while focusing on boosting the affiliate's finances thru increased extortion campaigns, per the UN report
Some of that money has been poured into advanced weaponry and drones

ISIS-Somalia has "employed unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and limited explosive deployment" per the UN. with an aim at "building suicide unmanned aerial vehicles"
Read 5 tweets
Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Feb 13, 2025
NEW: "Growing confidence" that the global leader of ISIS is Abdul Qadir Mumin, also the head of ISIS-Somalia, per new UN sanctions monitoring team report

"But doubts continued to be expressed by other Member States"
If Somalia's Mumin is ISIS leader Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, "it may signify a deliberate pivot towards a more decentralized operational structure, further from the core conflict zone" per the UN report
Of the 9 regional offices set up by ISIS, only 2 remain active in Africa:

- the al-Karrar office in Somalia, which serves as a key financial hub
- the al-Furqan office in Nigeria

per UN report
Read 14 tweets
Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Jan 30, 2025
HAPPENING NOW: Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing for Tulsi Gabbard to serve as US Director of National Intelligence
"It’s fair to say Ms. Gabbard’s nomination has generated a bit more interest and attention than do most nominees before this committee" per Senate Committee Chairman, Tom Cotton
"But I want to stress that Ms. Gabbard has been and will be treated with the exact same respect, consideration, and professionalism that we have extended to every other nominee" per Cotton
Read 65 tweets
Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Jan 10, 2025
NEW: US intelligence agencies pushing back vs claims health ailments linked to Havana Syndrome were caused by a foreign adversary

"The intelligence does not link a foreign actor to these events. Indeed, it points away from their involvement" per a US intelligence official
"5 elements of the intelligence community continue to assess that it's very unlikely of foreign actors responsible" per the US intelligence official

BUT 2 intelligence agencies have reevaluated - "shift from unlikely w/low confidence to roughly even chance with low confidence"
The US intelligence official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, describe the shift in view about the possible involvement of foreign adversaries as "subtle" - "They have a low confidence in their judgments"
Read 9 tweets
Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Nov 20, 2024
NEW: Islamic State-Somalia getting boost from an "influx of foreign fighters"

A just-issued UN sanctions monitoring team report warns the foreign fighters "have expanded and enhanced the group’s capabilities against al-Shabaab"
Influx of foreign fighters to IS-Somalia " has coincided with the re-emergence of the Al-Karrar office as a
key administrative and financial hub for [ISIS] globally" per the UN report
IS-Somalia being led by "a cadre of former al-Shabaab
militants based in the Bari region of Puntland" per UN report

Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud is the emir of IS-Somalia, per report, "responsible for [ISIS] operations in Somalia"
Read 11 tweets
Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Nov 15, 2024
NEW: Senate Democrats ask @DeptofDefense @TheJusticeDept to look at Elon Musk's reported contact w/Russian officials - "determine whether this behavior should force a review of Mr. Musk’s
continued involvement in SpaceX’s varying contracts" w/the US government Image
Image
"Communications between Russian government officials and any individual with a security
clearance have the potential to put our security at risk" per @SenatorShaheen @SenJackReed

"We urge you to take appropriate action immediately"
Musk's alleged contacts with Russian officials was first reported by @WSJ, which cited current and former U.S., European and Russian officials
Read 5 tweets

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