Sound cloud - Isaac Cohen 'The Jihad Complex' Episode 1: Many fronts, Many problems.

South Africa is as vulnerable as any other part of the world when it comes to the recruitment for terrorist groups.

South Africa is as vulnerable as any other part of the world when it comes to the recruitment for terrorist groups. (CapeTalk).

South Africa is as vulnerable as any other part of the world when it comes to the recruitment for terrorist groups.

This is according to Jasmine Opperman, Director of Trac Africa (Terrorism Research and Analysis).

Opperman says online platforms and social networks make the country increasingly vulnerable to threats of terrorism.

There have been reports of terror cells in the past. We are tracking Twitter accounts and two or three of them have expressed blatant support to terrorists organisations. — Jasmine Opperman, Director of Trac Africa.


5 phases involved in the recruitment to global terrorist groups. (Capetalk).

According to Cilliers each individual recruitment story is different and nuanced. However, generally, there are various phases involved in recruiting individuals to radical causes. These phases include the following:

1. The awareness phase: This is when an individual has the cause or movement brought to their attention.

2. The identification phase: This is when an individual begins to identify with the ideologies of a group and develops a sense of belonging.

3. The engagement phase: This is when the individual begins to engage in the political discourse. They start communicating and corresponding on the issues, often using digital technology.

4. The reinforcement phase: This is the point at which the individual feels validated and taps into virtual collective of like-minded thinking. This, according to Cilliers, is an accelerator of radical ideology.

5. The action phase: This is when the individuals behaviour begins to change and their thoughts are translated into action and other efforts.

The purpose of global terrorism is to create divides and othering. And the answer to terrorism is not retribution; it is to find a way of inclusion and bringing all societies together, because that is the counter ideology to the kind destructive radicalism we see globally.

Islamic State in agitprop video showing 70 Indonesian terrorist fighters hailing jihad.

Screenshot video

Islamic State in agitprop video showing 70 Indonesian terrorist fighters hailing jihad. (AsiaNews).

A two-minute video has surfaced showing more 70 Indonesian-speaking men in military fatigues and armed with rifles preparing for a field assignment with the Islamic State (IS) group.

In the video, the men seem to be in good spirits, and refer to themselves as the Ikhwan Nusantara, or the brothers of the archipelago – a reference to Indonesia, which is the world's largest archipelagic nation.

"Hoist the (IS) flag. We are all making the preparation to reach plentiful and eternal goodness," said the narrator, who later said they were in Jabal Khalifa, Syria.

The videographer also introduced some of the men as he walked around, giving their names.

The clip is the latest evidence for the existence of the Katibah Nusantara Lid Daulah Islamiyyah, or Malay Archipelago unit for IS. For analysts, it is proof that a significant number of Indonesians have joined the terrorist group.

Indonesian authorities estimate that there could be as many as 500 Indonesians in Syria fighting for the Islamic State group. Other sources believe the number could be higher. Counter-terrorism officials have verified 159 Indonesians as IS militants.

Indonesia, a country of some 250 million people, is the world’s most populous Muslim country. For years, it has promoted a moderate version of Islam.

In the recent past, the authorities have been able to eradicate some dangerous jihadi networks, like al Qaeda-affiliated Jamaah Islamiah.

However, the video is important. For Taufik Andrie, executive director of the Institute of International Peace Building in Jakarta, it constitutes "strategic propaganda” because “It shows the Indonesians having a place, a force there [i.e. Syria]. As such, it is an open invitation for “other pro-ISIS people in Indonesia to join,” he told The Straits Times.

By a moderate guess, at least 300 Indonesians have gone to Syria and the number goes up each month. Many of those who have slipped into Syria pretended to be tourists or students.

The emergence of the new clip comes as officials in Indonesia are getting tough on IS supporters, ready to charge as many as 14 men accused of either creating a website to promote the IS group, or funding and helping IS supporters to travel to the Middle East to join the so-called caliphate.

One of the men, Muhammad Amin Mude, 41, was arrested after police said they foiled his attempt to arrange for six people with fake passports to go to Syria.

"We see all of them as one group who have divided tasks among themselves. They are in one group with a wanted terrorist, Abu Jandal, who threatened to attack the government, [and] the prisons that house terrorists in Indonesia," said prosecutor Nana Riana.

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Exposure - Jihad: A British Story.

Exposure - Jihad: A British Story. (ITV). By DeeyaKhan.

In Exposure - Jihad: A British Story, I investigate the roots of Islamic extremism in the UK, speaking to many reformed extremists as well as ordinary young Muslims to answer the burning question of why some young British Muslims join fanatical jihadi cults like ISIS. Why is the message of extremism and jihadism appealing to young Muslims in the UK and Europe?

For Exposure, I spent two years travelling the UK, interviewing British citizens, whose lives had been consumed by extremism.

One of these was a pivotal figure: Abu Muntasir. Now a reformed and moderate imam, he is tormented by his violent past. He has been described as one of the founding fathers of the British jihadi movement. He fought in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Burma, and organised arms shipments.

He told me: “I inspired and recruited. I trained, I raised funds, I sent people for training, I went and fought myself, and it wasn’t just for a one-off - 15 to 20 years.” He worked to radicalise thousands of young Muslims and encouraged many young men to fight abroad.

I learned that Abu Muntasir created a movement of other young extremists, holding meetings and study circles across the UK, and preaching an extreme form of anti-Western Islam, promoting jihad and the idea of martyrdom.Read the full story here, Watch Part One the video here.

Canadian Watchdog Report rebukes RCMP for Islamist Engagement

Canadian Watchdog Report rebukes RCMP for Islamist Engagement. (TIP).

A new report by Canada's Point de Bascule takes the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to task for participating in a panel discussion Wednesday sponsored by the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at the University of Windsor. RCMP Superintendent Doug Best, who heads the Canadian law-enforcement agency's national security operations in Ontario, will appear alongside two Canadian Islamists.

"The upcoming event in Windsor is the latest example of an increasing and dangerous collaboration between Canada's security agencies and Islamists linked to the Muslim Brotherhood infrastructure," the Point de Bascule report says.

The program, "Violent Radicalization and It Impact on Muslims," also features two speakers with a history of supporting radical Islamists.

One of those speakers is Muhammed Robert Heft who recently met with Taliban officials in Qatar in hopes of getting the Taliban to stand against the Islamic State. The other radical Islamist is law professor Faisal Kutty has been a spokesman for two charities accused of al-Qaida ties.

The host organization, MSA, was founded in 1963 by Muslim Brotherhood members at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. It served as the organizational base from which the Islamist movement in North America sprang. A 2007 New York Police Department report found that extremists use MSAs as "forums for the development and recruitment of like-minded individuals."

Numerous individuals with MSA ties have been convicted or charged with terrorism-related offenses.
"However, if we look carefully at the organizations that they support and the goal that they pursue, they are indistinguishable from those defended by violent Islamists," said Marc Lebuis, director of Point de Bascule.

"In fact, Islamists waging violent jihad and those waging what they call themselves the "jihad of the tongue" are executing a good cop/bad cop routine in front of our very eyes."

The "jihad of the tongue" involves calling non-believers to Islam, and it can accompany a military or political struggle. Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi contends that this sort of jihad can be waged by "calling others to Islam, highlighting the merits of Islam and preaching in the language of the target audience."

Qaradawi also notes that this "collective jihad of da'awah (Islamic preaching)" precedes military jihad.

The Hamas Charter similarly endorses the jihad of the tongue as a prong of its offensive against Israel and the Jews, Lebuis said.

"Jihad is not confined to the carrying of arms and the confrontation of the enemy. The effective word, the good article, the useful book, support and solidarity - together with the presence of sincere purpose for the hoisting of Allah's banner higher and higher - all these are elements of the Jihad for Allah's sake," Hamas says in Article 30 of its 1988 charter.


Point de Bascule, a non-profit watchdog group that monitors the activities and operations of radical Islamic groups in Canada, warns that if those waging the "jihad of the tongue" on Canada's security infrastructure succeed, it will make the "task of neutralizing violent jihadists almost impossible."Read the full story here.

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