Cyprus News Gazette

President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, expressed Greece`s support to Cyprus, addressing the annual reception held yesterday in the Presidential Mansion gardens to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the restoration of democracy following the dictatorship. The Greek military dictatorship run the country from 1967 to 1974.

July 24 is a date that also entails a sad anniversary, that of the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus, and Sakellaropoulou made a special reference to Cyprus ongoing tragedy.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Africa became the region hardest hit by terrorism in the first half of 2021 as the Islamic State and al-Qaida extremist groups and their affiliates spread their influence, boasting gains in supporters and territory and inflicting the greatest casualties, U.N. experts said in a new report.

The panel of experts said in a report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Friday that this is “especially true” in parts of West and East Africa where affiliates of both groups can also boast growing capabilities in fundraising and weapons, including the use of drones.

Several of the most successful affiliates of the Islamic State are in its central and west Africa province, and several of al-Qaida’s are in Somalia and the Sahel region, they said.

The experts said it’s “concerning” that these terrorist affiliates are spreading their influence and activities including across borders from Mali into Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger and Senegal as well as incursions from Nigeria into Cameroon, Chad and Niger in West Africa. In the east, the affiliates’ activities have spread from Somalia into Kenya and from Mozambique into Tanzania, they said.

One of “the most troubling events” of early 2021 was the local Islamic State affiliate’s storming and brief holding of Mozambique’s strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia in Cabo Delgado province near the border with Tanzania “before withdrawing with spoils, positioning it for future raids in the area,” the panel said.

Overall, the experts said, COVID-19 continued to affect terrorist activity and both the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, and al-Qaida “continued to gloat over the harm done by the coronavirus disease pandemic to their enemies, but were unable to develop a more persuasive narrative.”

“While ISIL contemplated weaponizing the virus, member states detected no concrete plans to implement the idea,” the panel said.

In Europe and other non-conflict zones, lockdowns and border closures brought on by COVID-19 slowed the movement and gathering of people “while increasing the risk of online radicalization,” it said.

The experts warned that attacks “may have been planned in various locations” during the pandemic “that will be executed when restrictions ease.”

The panel said that in Iraq and Syria, “the core conflict zone for ISIL,” the extremist group’s activities have evolved into “an entrenched insurgency, exploiting weaknesses in local security to find safe havens, and targeting forces engaged in counter-ISIL operations.”

Despite heavy counter-terrorism pressures from Iraqi forces, the experts said Islamic State attacks in Baghdad in January and April “underscored the group’s resilience.”

In Syria’s rebel-held northwest Idlib province, the experts said groups aligned with al-Qaida continue to dominate the area, with “terrorist fighters” numbering more than 10,000.

“Although there has been only limited relocation of foreign fighters from the region to other conflict zones, member states are concerned about the possibility of such movement, in particular to Afghanistan, should the environment there become more hospitable to ISIL or groups aligned with al-Qaida,” the panel said.

In central, south and southeast Asia, the experts said Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates continue to operate “notwithstanding key leadership losses in some cases and sustained pressure from security forces.”

The experts said the status of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri “is unknown,” and if he is alive several unnamed member states “assess that he is ailing, leading to an acute leadership challenge for al-Qaida.”

Source: Voice of America

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday that U.S. airstrikes targeting al-Shabab in Somalia over the past few days were undertaken because Somali forces are intensifying their offensive against the al-Qaida-affiliated terror group.

“Most recently what’s happened is our partner forces have increased their op[erational] tempo, and they have been pushing back on al-Shabab in a more significant way,” Austin told reporters traveling with him to Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

“The result of that is some engagements that were fairly intense, and we conducted those strikes to support our partner forces,” he added.

U.S. Africa Command targeted al-Shabab with two airstrikes on July 20 and July 23, following a nearly six-month hiatus that began when President Joe Biden took office.

The Somali military has been embroiled in a fierce struggle on the ground with al-Shabab in Galmudug state, the region targeted in both U.S. strikes.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told VOA and other reporters traveling aboard a U.S. military aircraft Friday that U.S. troops were not on the ground with Somali forces during the strikes but were conducting a remote advise-and-assist mission.

Further information was not provided because of “operational security.”

The U.S. military carried out 63 airstrikes against al-Shabab in 2019 and 53 airstrikes last year.

Another seven airstrikes were launched in the first 2½ weeks of 2021, before former U.S. President Donald Trump left office.

U.S. officials explained the slowdown by citing a Biden administration review of the military’s airstrike policy. Senior Somali officials concerned with the lack of strikes had warned it would allow al-Shabab “to come out of hiding.”

Late last month, Africa Command’s commander, General Stephen Townsend, told a virtual defense forum that the spread of terrorism across Africa “has continued relatively unabated,” singling out al-Shabab as a major concern.

“We see threats in Somalia to regional stability,” he said. “We even see threats there to the U.S. homeland.”

Source: Voice of America