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Country Report on Terrorism 2018

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Country Report on Terrorism 2018 Country Reports on Terrorism 2018 October 2019 ________________________________ United States Department of State Publication Bureau of Counterterrorism Released October 2019 Country Reports on Terrorism 2018 is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (the “Act”), which requires the Department of State to provide to Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the criteria of the Act. - 1 - [This page intentionally left blank.] - 2 - COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM 2018 Table of Contents Glossary of Abbreviations Foreword Chapter 1 – Country Reports on Terrorism AFRICA Overview Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism Burkina Faso Cameroon Chad Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Mali Mauritania Mozambique Niger Nigeria Senegal Somalia South Africa Tanzania Uganda EAST ASIA and PACIFIC Overview Australia China Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand EUROPE Overview Albania - 3 - Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Cyprus Denmark France Georgia Germany Greece Italy Kosovo North Macedonia The Netherlands Norway Russia Serbia Spain Sweden Turkey United Kingdom THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Overview Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iraq Israel, West Bank and Gaza Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Overview Afghanistan Bangladesh - 4 - India Kazakhstan Kyrgyz Republic Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan WESTERN HEMISPHERE Overview Argentina Brazil Canada Colombia Mexico Panama Paraguay Peru Trinidad and Tobago Venezuela Chapter 2 – State Sponsors of Terrorism Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Iran Sudan Syria Chapter 3 – The Global Challenge of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorism Chapter 4. Terrorist Safe Havens (Update to 7120 Report) Terrorist Safe Havens Countering Terrorism on the Economic Front Multilateral Efforts to Counter Terrorism Long-Term Programs and Initiatives Designed to Counter Terrorist Safe Havens Chapter 5 – Foreign Terrorist Organizations Abdallah Azzam Brigades (AAB) Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB) Al-Ashtar Brigades (AAB) Ansar al-Dine (AAD) Ansar al-Islam (AAI) - 5 - Ansar al-Shari’a in Benghazi (AAS-B) Ansar al-Shari’a in Darnah (AAS-D) Ansar al-Shari’a in Tunisia (AAS-T) Army of Islam (AOI) Asbat al-Ansar (AAA) Aum Shinrikyo (AUM) Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) Boko Haram (BH) Communist Party of Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) Gama’a al-Islamiyya (IG) Hamas Haqqani Network (HQN) Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B) Harakat ul-Mujahideen (HUM) Hizballah Hizbul Mujahedeen (HM) Indian Mujahedeen (IM) Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) ISIS-Bangladesh ISIS-Greater Sahara Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) ISIL-Libya ISIS-Philippines ISIS Sinai Province (ISIS-SP) ISIS-West Africa Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis-Sudan (Ansaru) Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Jaysh Rijal Al-Tariq Al-Naqshabandi (JRTN) Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) Jemaah Islamiya (JI) Jundallah Kahane Chai Kata’ib Hizballah (KH) Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT) Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) Al-Mulathamun Battalion (AMB) National Liberation Army (ELN) Al-Nusrah Front (ANF) - 6 - Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Palestine Liberation Front–Abu Abbas Faction (PLF) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) Al-Qa’ida (AQ) Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Real IRA (RIRA) Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) Revolutionary Struggle (RS) Al-Shabaab (AS) Shining Path (SL) Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Chapter 6 – Legislative Requirements and Key Terms - 7 - Glossary of Abbreviations AMISOM African Union Mission in Somalia AML/CFT Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism API Advance Passenger Information AU African Union CVE Countering Violent Extremism EU European Union EUROPOL The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation FATF Financial Action Task Force FIU Financial Intelligence Unit FTO Foreign Terrorist Organization FTF Foreign Terrorist Fighter GCERF Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund GCTF Global Counterterrorism Forum ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization IED Improvised Explosive Device INTERPOL The International Police Criminal Organization ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria MONEYVAL Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO Nongovernmental Organization OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe PNR Passenger Name Record PREACT Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism PISCES Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System TSCTP Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership VBIED Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNSC United Nations Security Council UNSCR United Nations Security Council Resolution USAID United States Agency for International Development WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction - 8 - Foreword The United States and its partners made major strides to defeat and degrade international terrorist organizations in 2018. Together, we liberated nearly all the territory ISIS previously held in Syria and Iraq, freeing 110,000 square kilometers and roughly 7.7 million men, women, and children from ISIS’s brutal rule. These successes set the stage for the final destruction of the so- called “caliphate” in 2019. At the same time, the United States and its partners continued to pursue al-Qa’ida (AQ) globally, and the United States applied maximum pressure on Iran-backed terrorism, significantly expanding sanctions on Iranian state actors and proxies and building stronger international political will to counter those threats. Despite these successes, the terrorist landscape remained complex in 2018. Even as ISIS lost almost all its physical territory, the group proved its ability to adapt, especially through its efforts to inspire or direct followers online. Over the last year, ISIS’s global presence evolved with affiliates and networks conducting attacks in the Middle East, South and East Asia, and Africa. Additionally, battle-hardened terrorists headed home from the war zone in Syria and Iraq or traveled to third countries, posing new dangers. Hundreds of ISIS fighters were captured and detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a partner non-state actor. The United States led by example in repatriating and prosecuting American foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), and we pressed other countries to do the same. Meanwhile, homegrown terrorists, inspired by ISIS ideology, planned and executed attacks against soft targets, including hotels, restaurants, stadiums, and other public spaces. The December 2018 shooting at a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, which killed three people and wounded 12, demonstrated the ability of homegrown terrorists to strike in the heart of Western Europe. Iran remains the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism. The regime has spent nearly one billion dollars per year to support terrorist groups that serve as its proxies and expand its malign influence across the globe. Tehran has funded international terrorist groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It also has engaged in its own terrorist plotting around the world, particularly in Europe. In January, German authorities investigated 10 suspected Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force operatives. In the summer, authorities in Belgium, France, and Germany thwarted an Iranian plot to bomb a political rally near Paris, France. In October, an Iranian operative was arrested for planning an assassination in Denmark, and in December, Albania expelled two Iranian officials for plotting terrorist attacks. Furthermore, Tehran continued to allow an AQ facilitation network to operate in Iran, which sends fighters and money to conflict zones in Afghanistan and Syria, and it has extended sanctuary to AQ members residing in the country. AQ and its regional affiliates remain resilient and pose an enduring threat to the United States, our allies and partners, and our interests around the world. Given ISIS’s setbacks, AQ aims to reestablish itself as the vanguard of the global jihadist movement. Despite our sustained efforts since September 11, 2001, and the group’s leadership losses, AQ’s regional affiliates continue to expand their ranks, plot, and carry out attacks, as well as raise funds and inspire new recruits through social media and virtual technologies. AQ’s global network includes remnants of the group’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan, al-Nusrah Front in Syria, other AQ-linked - 9 - extremists in Syria, AQ in the Arabian Peninsula, AQ in the Islamic Maghreb, Jama’at Nusrat al- Islam wal-Muslimin, al-Shabaab, and AQ in the
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