Norway 2020
18/01/2020: Norway repatriated a 29-year-old Norwegian-Pakistani woman with her two children who left the country in 2013 to settle in the civil war-torn Syria, from the infamous al-Hol camp where several former foreign fighters and Islamic State (IS) sympathizers are detained in pitiful conditions. She is an unnamed widow of Norwegian-Chilean IS fighter, Bastian Vasquez. Although the decision to bring her back to Norway was taken on humanitarian grounds regarding the health of one of her children that was at stake, and even though she was taken into custody upon her arrival on suspicion of being a militant of the so-called Islamic State, her return backfired for the government as the Progress Party pulled out of the four party-coalition, thus depriving Prime Minister Erna Solberg of her parliamentary majority. (Source)
It was reported by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) that 20 out of the 200 Norwegians who traveled to Syria and Iraq back in the 2010's to settle in the IS Caliphate as fighters or sympathizers, remain in those countries. (Source)
04/02/2020: Norwegian authorities published their National Terrorist Threat Assessment with their prospectives for 2020. The threat of Islamism in Norway is expected to remain relatively low, with limited radicalization and few active supporters. However, certain factors, such as perceived offenses against Islam, could spur increased radicalization and potentially violence. IS remains a key influence on extremists in Norway, though it is weakened, and its sympathizers still hold a strong anti-Western stance. While the threat of terrorist attacks is considered low, developments in Europe, such as the growth of radical networks and the return of foreign fighters, could impact the situation in Norway. The internet plays a significant role in spreading radicalizing content, making detection more challenging. Offenses perceived as disrespectful to Islam, especially desecrations of the Quran, could intensify reactions and lead to attack planning targeting Norway. If an attack occurs, it is expected to be small-scale, carried out by one or two individuals, targeting symbolic or low-security locations. Attacks may involve stabbing, vehicles, firearms, or improvised explosive devices. Al-Qaeda continues to view Europe as a target, but its threat is considered less significant compared to IS in the coming year. (Source)
26/03/2020: Norway ultimately extradited Iraqi preacher Mullah Krekar aka Najmaddin Faraj Ahmad to Italy. The cleric who settled in Norway in 1991 as an UNHCR refugee, is considered a terrorist by the UN and the US and in July 2019 he was convicted by an Italian court of leading a Jihadist group. Indeed, Mullah Krekar played a prominent role in the leadership of the Ansar al-Islam group which recruited among the Kurdish diaspora accross the Nordics to dispatch terrorist fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan. Krekar would later pick up the pieces of the defunct Islamist group to kickstart his own movement: Rawti Shax. After several attempts to expel him, Norwegian Justice Minister Monica Maeland told journalists he had been extradited to Italy despite the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the dire Italian sanitary condition. (Source)
13/05/2020: Gilles de Kerchove, EU Counter-Terrorism coordinator, announced that the pandemic period will certainly be conducive to new terrorist attacks carried out by reassured and emboldened fighters. The health sector of European countries, more vital than ever in the context of the spread of the coronavirus, has been mentioned as a very likely target of “right-wing extremists and jihadists”. (Source)
26/05/2020: In compliance with Section 135 of the Criminal Code regulating Terrorism financing concerning persons who receive, send, or collect money with the knowledge that the funds will be used by a group or person whose purpose is to commit terrorist acts, the PST arrested a Syrian man in his 30's in Østfold under charges of funding IS activities abroad. Approximately 390,000 kroner was found under his bed's mattress along with an accounting book. The case, which is under investigation since 2018, involves two other individuals notably a man in his 40s who was deemed to be the main suspect and first imprisoned in June 2019 for allegedly having sent money on several occasions to an unnamed person with ties to IS. The suspect denies any wrongdoing and claims the money is meant for his family that he left behind in Syria. (Source)
12/06/2020: Norway published the National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing to elaborate its second national strategy to combat the financing of terrorism. It has been decided that the risk assessment must be updated every two years to comply with Norwegian authorities' claim that Norway has the best conditions for preventing, detecting and sanctioning crimes connected with money laundering and terrorist financing. The purpose of the updated strategy is to ensure the coordination of the overall national efforts against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by implementing new measures aiming at providing in turn the relevant agencies concerned with the necessary guidance and methods to achieve their respective goals. (Source)
17/06/2020: The Norwegian Government published the Norwegian Action Plan Against Radicalization and Violent Extremism to strengthen the country's preventive efforts in the face of evolving threats of radicalization and extremism. This action plan builds on previous strategies, notably the 2014 plan and integrates updated knowledge, lessons learned from terrorist incidents like the 2011 Utøya attacks, and insights from international cooperation. The main goal of the 2020 Action Plan is to prevent radicalization and violent extremism at an early stage, emphasizing cross-sectoral collaboration. It is based on the principle that prevention must be consistent with Human Rights and the Rule of Law.
The plan focuses on five key areas: Strengthening local preventive efforts: Municipalities play a crucial role, particularly through interdisciplinary collaboration (schools, police, health services, social services); Building knowledge and skills: the Government aims to increase competence among frontline workers (teachers, police officers, social workers) to better identify and handle signs of radicalization; Promoting inclusion and participation: efforts to prevent marginalization and social exclusion, especially among young people, are emphasized as crucial to reducing vulnerabilities to extremist ideologies; Combating hate speech and extremist propaganda online: recognizing the role of the internet and social media in radicalization processes, the plan calls for action against digital hate and disinformation; Improving the capacity to disengage individuals: the plan also strengthens support for “exit” programs, helping individuals leave extremist environments and reintegrate into society.
Some concrete measures include improved information-sharing protocols between agencies (while respecting privacy laws), better mental health support, specific programs for vulnerable youth, cooperation with NGOs and local communities, and international collaboration against online radicalization. The 2020 Action Plan underlines that prevention is a whole-of-society effort, requiring engagement from authorities, civil society, families, schools, religious communities, and individuals.(Source)
24/06/2020: The Syrian suspect that was arrested in May 2020 over charges of terrorism financing was released after being held in custody for four weeks. However, he is still charged and keeps denying any criminal activities. PST did not share any information about the reason why they will not request continued imprisonment of the accused. (Source)
10/09/2020: After years of extradition request by French authorities, Norwegian police arrested Walid Abdulrahman Abou Zayed Noreg in the town of Skien southwest of Oslo, for his suspected involvement in the 1982 attack on the Jewish Goldenberg restaurant located at Des Rosiers street in Paris where 6 people were killed by a grenade. As investigations and prosecution processes were poorly carried out at first by French authorities, Abou Zayed Noreg apparently managed to lose police forces and sneak into Norway in 1991. (Source)
25/09/2020: A Norwegian court approved the extradition request from France of Walid Abdulrahman Abou Zayed Noreg who was arrested sooner in September. Although the suspect appealed to this decision, his extradition was ultimately confirmed on November 27 and he was expelled to France on December 4, where he was charged for terrorist activities and put in custody by French authorities. (Source)
29/09/2020: Norwegian IS fighter Oleg Neganov, ex-Neo-Nazi turned Jihadist, was sentenced to eight years of jail in the city of Erbil in Iraq. He was of Russian background and moved to Norway in 2006. After quickly joining Far Right activists, he had a change of heart and ultimately converted to Islam in 2011 and pledged himself to IS in 2014 therafter. Henceforth, he went by the nickname "Amir Russi". After his arrest in February 2019, he was moved to Iraq and sentenced by a Kurdish court. Although he expressed interest in returning to Norway, Norwegian authorities did not proceed to any repatration attempt. (Source)
30/10/2020: In reaction to the terrorist attacks that occured in France and Austria, PST published an updated Terrorist Threat Assessment concluding that even though the threat level in Norway is still moderate, the threat from Islamism has intensified since this summer. Special attention was paid to growing tension between freedom of expression and what many Muslims consider as insults to Islam both in Norway and in Europe. Perceived insults to Islam as a central factor in radicalization to Islamist and religiously motivated terror were underscored. Al-Qaeda and IS have also recently issued several calls for Muslims in all countries to avenge insults. (Source)
05/11/2020: Considering the elements reported by the latest Terrorist Threat Assessment published by PST according to which threat from extremist Islamists has increased, the Norwegian Police Directorate will temporarily arm the police from November 5, 2020. The decision will cease to come into effect on June 21, 2021. (Source)
13/11/2020: In response to the terrorist attacks that crippled France and Austria, the European Interior Ministers published a Joint Declaration recalling European solidarity against terrorist threat and evoking new measures taken in the fight against terrorism notably the strengthening of the Schengen Area through the digital recording of entries and exits, and closer cooperation with third countries in order to combat terrorist threats. The digital domain was addressed in order to counter extremist propaganda in all its forms, the apology of violence and the financing of hatred and violent extremism. The strengthening of the external borders of the European Union was considered to protect against any intrusion by foreign fighters, in particular through the relevant functionalities of the Schengen Information System (SIS). (Source)