"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"
"Several administrative hurdles, including additional layers of approval at the White House...slowed @USAID’s COVID19 programming" per @DoD_IG
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
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
#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
.@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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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
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
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
"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
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