Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Sep 1, 2020 21 tweets 21 min read Read on X
NEW: US making "limited progress" in degrading #ISIS #alQaida in #Africa, per @DoD_IG report

"In East Africa, #alShabaab moved freely & launched attacks in #Somalia & #Kenya...In the #Sahel & LakeChad regions, violence continued at high levels & expanded to new territories"
"In North #Africa, ISIS-#Libya resumed small-scale attacks in the southern desert region of #Libya" per @DoD_IG Sean O'Donnell "The ongoing civil war...intensified as more foreign fighters and mercenaries deployed to Libya to fight on both sides of the conflict"
MORE: Spread of #COVID19 across #Africa "did not appear to slow VEO (violent extremist organizations) activity" per @DoD_IG O'Donnell "The pandemic exacerbated many of the underlying conditions that foster VEO growth, including economic and food insecurity"

#Africa #terrorism
.@DoD_IG notes differences btw @UN, @USAfricaCommand on #COVID19 impact

Per UN, #Sahel terrorists "capitalized on the virus to undermine state gvt authority through “unrelenting” attacks on national & int'l forces"

AFRICOM "did not observe any changes in extremist violence"
US non-military aid to #Africa hampered due to #coronavirus

"Several administrative hurdles, including additional layers of approval at the White House...slowed @USAID’s COVID19 programming" per @DoD_IG Image
Those also hurdles for @USAID included "restrictions on the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for overseas projects, & inconsistent guidance on the branding and marking of assistance" per @DoD_IG report
Pace of US airstrikes vs #alShabaab slowed in 2nd quarter of 2020 - @USAfricaCommand telling @DoD_IG it launched 7 airstrikes in #Somalia from April-June as opposed to 33 from January-March
.@USAfricaCommand says there have been a total of 46 airstrikes vs #alShabaab in #Somalia as of August 28
US counterterror ops in North #Africa "remained limited" from April-June, per @DoD_IG, noting @USAfricaCommand "has not had a physical presence in Libya since April 2019 due to the unpredictable security environment"
#ISIS attacks in May, June were first by the group in #Libya in more than a year, per @DoD_IG
Concerns that more #foreignfighters w/links to terror groups are fighting in #Libya|n cival war, tho "it is possible they were fighting for financial & personal reasons rather than for ideological motivation" per @DoD_IG, citing @USAfricaCommand
.@USAfricaCommand also noted "increasing reports of theft, sexual assault, and misconduct by #Syria|n fighters" per @DoD_IG
US now estimating there are +7,000 #Syria|n fighters in #Libya, per @DoD_IG

2,000 are getting support from #Russia, the rest sent by #Turkey

That's a slight increase from the abt 6,300 Syrian fighters US officials estimated were in Libya last quarter
#Russia supporting about 3,000 mercenaries in #Libya via the #Wagner Group - a slight increase from the 1st quarter of 2020, @USAfricaCommand tells @DoD_IG
#Russia also providing "illicit financial support" to #Libya|n National Army (#LNA)
In #Somalia "#alShabaab attacks continued at historically high levels & remained steady during the quarter despite the COVID-19 pandemic" per @DoD_IG citing data from @ACLEDINFO

April-June: 608 violent incidents

January-March: 568 incidents
.@USAfricaCommand says #alShabaab #IED attacks down slightly, possibly due to presence of #AMISOM, #Somali forces along main supply routes in #Mogadishu, per @DoD_IG
#alShabaab force strength estimated to be between 5,000-10,000 fighters, per @DoD_IG citing both @USAfricaCommand & @DefenseIntel
.@USAfricaCommand tells @DoD_IG decrease in airstrikes vs #alShabaab for 2nd quarter of 2020 due to adverse weather patterns and resource allocation issues
US believes #Turkey-backed #Syria|n mercenaries "have bolstered" #Libya's Gvt of Nat'l Accord (#GNA) but warns they pose a long-term risk

The Turkish-backed Syrians are "inexperienced, uneducated, & motivated by promises of considerable salary" @USAfricaCommand tells @DoD_IG
.@USAfricaCommand also warned of increased reports of theft, sexual assault & other misconduct-which could spark a backlash from the #Libya|n public

Several dozen military trainers from Sadat, a private Turkish military company responsible for training & supervision, per @DoD_IG

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More from @jseldin

Sep 13
BREAKING: US says #Russia's RT has "moved beyond being simply a media outlet"

Intelligence gathered from RT employees shows RT carries out in information & covert influence operations, & military procurement for the #Kremlin
US designating the following #Russia|n people/entities:

-Broadcaster ROSSIYA SEGODNYA & Dir Gen Dimtry Kiselev
-TV-NOVOSTI
- ANO EVRAZIYA &Gen Dir Nelli Parutenko

"Covert influence activities are not journalism" per @StateDept on #Russia's RT, others
US alleges #Russia|n intelligence embedded a #cyber unit within RT "focused primarily on influence and intelligence operations all over the world"

US also charges RT crowdfunded to acquire lethal aid for Russian force in Ukraine
Read 14 tweets
Sep 5
NEW: US charges American TV presenter for Channel One #Russia & his wife in scheme to evade US sanctions

@TheJusticeDept unsealed the indictment vs 76yo Dimitri Simes & 55yo Anastasia Simes Thursday

They have a home in #Virginia but "remain at large...believed to be in Russia"
Dimitri & Anastasia Simes each charged w/1 count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 1 count of violating the IEEPA & 1 count of conspiracy to commit int'l money laundering

Per @TheJusticeDept, it's a maximum of 20 years per count
Dimitri Simes alleged to have violated sanctions by "serving as a presenter & producer of programming, & by receiving over $1 million, a personal car & driver, a stipend for an apartment in #Moscow... a team of 10 employees from Channel One Russia" per DOJ
Read 6 tweets
Aug 7
US, coalition actions to deter attacks on shipping by the #Iran-backed #Houthis in #Yemen

"We've degraded their capabilities" @US5thFleet VADM George Wikoff tells @CSIS from HQ in #Bahrain

"Have we stopped them? No"
"Our mission remains to disrupt their capabilities" per @US5thFleet's VADM Wikoff

Says it is "very difficult to find the center of gravity" w/which to pressure the #Houthis
"It's the #Houthi's choice" per @US5thFleet's VADM Wikoff "They can stop this any time they want"
Read 7 tweets
Aug 3
BREAKING: @Secdef Lloyd Austin yanks plea deals for 9/11 terror attack mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, 2 others

@DeptofDefense memo released tonight also relieves the official in charge of the military commissions of her oversight in the case Image
The @DeptofDefense first announced the plea deals earlier this week, though details of the deal were not made public
Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash & Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi were charged in June 2008 & then again in May 2012 for their alleged roles in planning the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on #NewYork's World Trade Center & the Pentagon
Read 4 tweets
Aug 1
JUST IN: US issues new National Counterintelligence Strategy

Updated strategy, signed by @POTUS Thursday, based on 3 pillars, per @NCSCgov:

-outmaneuver/constrain foreign intelligence entities
-protect US strategic advantages
-invest in the future Image
"Foreign intelligence and security services & their proxies persist in seeking to acquire our most
sensitive information, technology, and intellectual property" per @POTUS in the just-released strategy

"Non-state actors are following suit"
Foreign intelligence entities "also seeking to take advantage of the proliferation of commercially available tools to conduct surveillance; collect vast amounts of previously unavailable personal data;
& position themselves to disrupt our infrastructure..." per @POTUS
Read 7 tweets
Jun 4
Some nuggets from @FBI Dir. Christopher Wray's appearance Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies...
#ArtificialIntelligence & #Election2024-"We are, of course, seeing & I've been warning about this for some time, the role of AI to enhance efforts that our foreign adversaries have already been engaged in" per @FBI's Wray
"It's not that it [#ArtificialIntelligence] changes fundamentally what it is our adversaries want to do...it allows them to amplify to do it, to make it more sophisticated, more deceptive, cheaper, faster" per @FBI's Wray
Read 18 tweets

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