DEVELOPING: @Facebook takes down 3 separate networks "for violating our policy against foreign or government interference"
"These networks originated in Russia" per post by @ngleicher
"Although the people behind this operation took steps to conceal their identities & coordination, our investigation connected these clusters to the #Russia|n military including military intelligence services" per @Facebook
Per @Facebook, the 3 networks include 214 user, 35 pages, 18 group & 34 @instagram accounts
The focus was "primarily on #Syria and #Ukraine... A small portion of this activity focused on the UK & the US"
Posts were in English, Ukrainian, Russian & Arabic, per @Facebook
Some of the activity involved "fictitious personas...posing as journalists to contact news organizations, purporting to be locals in countries they targeted, and managing Groups and Pages..."
"These clusters also focused on driving people to their off-platform sites & other social media platforms where, among other themes, they promoted content related to past alleged leaks of compromising information" per @Facebook
Despite the fake accounts and fake personas, "The operation had almost no following on our platforms when we removed it" per @Facebook's @ngleicher
"The people behind this activity posted off-platform articles primarily in English and Turkish about global news and current events" per @Facebook
Focus included "presidential and parliamentary elections in Hong Kong, Spain, the UK, and the US"
A final cluster of 23 FB accounts, 6 pages & 8 @instagram accounts linked to #Russia "posted primarily in Russian & English abt news & current events, including....socio-economic issues in the US, & US political candidates on both sides of the political spectrum" per @Facebook
"The network included and amplified the Strategic Culture Foundation, which often highlights Western conspiracy theorists and obscure fringe thinkers"
As @DFRLab notes, @StateDept's Global Engagement Center highlighted the Strategic Culture Foundation in an August 2020 report, saying it is "directed by #Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and closely affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs"
Per @DFRLab, the Strategic Culture Foundation (Фонд стратегической культуры) page was active, "posting an original post every couple of hours"
It also "promoted the idea that the United States is going to face massive public unrest during the presidential election"
Another account, that of “Andrey Fomin" - a founder/editor of Oriental News - "primarily was used to amplify articles by Oriental News and other pro-Kremlin outlets, such as Sputnik News and RT" per @DFRLab, which said its last post was from March 2018
The idea that accounts like that of Andrey Fomin would amplify #Russia|n media, like Sputnik & RT, is in line with warnings from @CISAKrebs
In general, the pages removed by @Facebook "included links from other external websites...Among these websites was globalresearch.ca — the Centre for Research on Globalization — a pro-Kremlin & anti-NATO site, & infowars.com" per @DFRLab
"Global Research" was also named in the August 2020 @StateDept Global Engagement Center report on #Russia influence ops...
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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"
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
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
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"
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"
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
"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