The US government wants to ruin Bitcoin over Christmas

A person uses a smartphone app and a computer to transact Bitcoin. 

Image source: escapejaja/Adobe

By Chris Smith @chris_writes BGR
December 23rd, 2020 

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed new Bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulations on Friday, December 18th, at 4:20, just as Bitcoin’s price was heading to a record high.

The US government is looking to have private digital wallet holders identify themselves to exchanges when making transactions with Bitcoin and other digital assets.

Comments on the proposed Bitcoin legislation are open for 15 days, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.

Players in the industry and the EFF are already criticizing the government’s rushed timetable.

Bitcoin, the king of the cryptocurrency universe, has done what every hardcore fan and expert said it would do. Bitcoin reached a new all-time high, surpassing $24,000 for a single coin recently — add it to the list of strange things that happened in 2020. The accomplishment is all the more spectacular not because Bitcoin needed nearly three years to top its former record, but that one single coin was trading for less than $4,000 in early March when pandemic fears crashed every single market, including cryptocurrencies.

But the outgoing US government cooked up a very unpleasant surprise for American crypto users that might ruin Bitcoin and nearly every other digital currency. And it has the potential to harm international users as well.

Bitcoin was developed as a response to banks, which were largely responsible for the 2008 economic crash. The digital coin doesn’t need oversight from a central bank, and transactions happen directly between individuals. Everything is recorded in a digital ledger, the blockchain, with other people “witnessing” and confirming transactions with the help of complex mathematical equations. Bitcoin doesn’t depend on any company to work and therefore provides another exciting functionality. It offers anonymity, making it practically impossible for anyone to track your actions online when transacting a digital coin.

The same concepts apply to all the other blockchain projects that come with associated digital coins.

The ability to bypass central banks is something financial institutions might not appreciate. But that second feature, the anonymity, is what governments do not appreciate. There is a good reason for that. Bitcoin can be used to fund illicit actions, including terrorism, drug deals, and similarly nefarious actions. The vast majority of users do not engage in any of that, But law enforcement can’t actually track the ones that do because of said anonymity features.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has just proposed new regulations that, if approved, would allow the US government to track everyone using Bitcoin. Trump’s outgoing government is in a hurry to adopt the new measures before the Biden administration comes in. That’s currently only a 15-day comment period open that counts Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. The regulations were filed at 4:20 PM ET on Friday, December 18th, The Verge reports.

They concern digital wallets, which are used to store cryptocurrencies. Private wallet owners will have to identify themselves to exchanges, like Coinbase, when they want to send more than $3,000 per transaction. The exchange also has to collect information about two private wallet holders doing business and store all that information. On top of that, daily transactions exceeding $10,000 will have to be reported. Exchanges will have to run more or less like banks if these regulations are adopted, which is hardly what people developing decentralized blockchain-based ecosystem would want.

Exchanges already encourage users to get verified by identifying themselves, but that’s optional up to a point. Having them verify personal digital wallets would add a whole layer of complexity to their jobs. Not to mention that exchanges do get hacked as well. In addition to digital assets, hackers might also be interested in stealing more user data that could serve additional purposes.

Things can get even worse. Because the government would know who owns a private wallet, and all the transactions are recorded inside the blockchain, they would have access to all the transactions associated with that address since the dawn of Bitcoin, or whatever coin you might be using.

If passed, the regulations could also impact international crypto exchanges and inspire similar measures from other governments.

There will be ways to hide your tracks if the transaction passes, like setting up multiple private wallets to obfuscate transactions. But this would add a layer of complexity to one’s crypto habits as well. Any mistakes resulting from these complications can’t be undone. Regulation or not, blockchain transactions are still decentralized.

Coinbase is already protesting the FinCEN decision to allow only 15 days for comments. The exchange is asking for a 60-day review period. The EFF has also pointed out that the US is looking to increase its surveillance over digital transactions:

These developments are an assault on the ability to transact privately online and an attempt to extend the widespread financial surveillance of the traditional banking system to cryptocurrency. Financial records contain a trove of sensitive information about people’s personal lives, beliefs, and affiliations. […]

EFF is concerned about the U.S. government’s attempts to expand [financial] surveillance to encompass cryptocurrency transactions.

Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it he was sharing his views on tech stuff with readers around the world. Whenever he's not writing about gadgets he miserably fails to stay away from them, although he desperately tries. But that's not necessarily a bad thing

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LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for BITCOIN (plawiuk.blogspot.com)

US targets ripple crypto creators

Ripple is a crypto currency rival to the likes of bitcoin and ethereum—but regulators are turning the screw

The US financial watchdog is chasing the firm behind a major crypto currency, accusing it of failing to respect regulations on offering unregistered digital assets.

HOW CAN YOU REGULATE UNREGULATED MARKETS? YOU CAN'T SO YOU CALL IT A CRIME, YOU CAN DO THAT AS THE STATE.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission charged that Ripple Labs, which markets the XRP token, had raised $1.3 billion in the form of "digital asset securities."

XRP is a rising star in the digital currencies sphere behind bitcoin, and US regulators are racing to tighten oversight of the highly volatile sector.

Whereas bitcoin is produced by a decentralised network of 'miners', Ripple's XRP token is mainly controlled by the firm that bears its name.

The SEC maintains that former Ripple head Christian Larsen and current chairman Brad Garlinghouse "failed to register their offers and sales of XRP or satisfy any exemption from registration."

Following the SEC statement, the value of XRP tokens slid by 21.77 percent to 33 US cents per unit.

The slump left Ripple's market capitalisation based on units in circulation at $16.8 billion.

That compares with $69.6 billion and $440 billion respectively for main crypto rivals ethereum, and bitcoin which surpassed $23,000 per unit in recent days.

Garlinghouse criticised regulators for viewing XRP as a security and not a form of currency, thereby subjecting the digital unit to a welter of regulations.

"Let me be clear: Ripple, Chris and I may be the ones named in the filing, but this is an assault on crypto at large," Garlinghouse said in a statement.

Garlinghouse said the SEC move put Ripple at a disadvantage to its rivals, which he said benefited from having earned the SEC's "seal of approval," to the point that "they're creating an unfair advantage to companies here in the US."

"We remain confident after reviewing the SEC's complaint today that we are on the right side of the law and of history," Garlinghouse said.


Explore further Cryptocurrency rivals snap at Bitcoin's heels

© 2020 AFP

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LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for BITCOIN (plawiuk.blogspot.com)

THE VERY DEFINITION OF A TRUST
Google, Facebook, coordinated antitrust response: report

Google and Facebook deny wrongdoing in their accords on digital advertising cited in a reported draft of an antitrust complaint

Google and Facebook worked together to help fend off an antitrust investigation into the two tech giants which dominate digital advertising, according to a media report citing a draft of a state lawsuit.

The Wall Street Journal, which cited a draft version of the complaint filed by 10 US states without redactions in the public version, said Tuesday the two firms agreed to "cooperate and assist each other" in responding to an antitrust probe.

The case filed last week was among three separate actions filed by state and federal antitrust enforcers against Google. A separate case has been filed against Facebook over its acquisition of two rival messaging applications.

Facebook dismissed the allegations, saying agreements between the two firms were not aimed at harming competition but offered choices and benefits for advertisers and publishers.

"Any allegation that this harms competition or any suggestion of misconduct on the part of Facebook is baseless," a Facebook spokesperson said.

Google did not immediately respond to an AFP query. But the Journal quoted the tech firm as saying there was nothing improper or exclusive about its arrangement with Facebook.

The claims "are inaccurate. We don't manipulate the auction," the Google spokesperson said.

According to the Journal, the unredacted draft suggested Facebook would win "a fixed percentage" of advertising auctions and that an internal Facebook document described the deal as "relatively cheap" when compared with direct competition.

Google's documents, which were also not cited in the final version of the suit, suggested the deal would "build a moat" to avoid direct competition with Facebook, according to the report.


Explore furtherFacebook antitrust suits seek to divest Instagram, WhatsApp

Russia's parliament backs law to block US social media apps

The bill's authors said YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram had failed to remove hundreds of URL pages containing prohibited content, as required by Russian law.

CONTENT LIKE LGBTQ RIGHTS, ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, PUSSY RIOT,  BOURGEOIS DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS, ETC

A man walks along the Manezh Square with the State Duma building, Russian Parliament's lower chamber, left, in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 30, 2016 (AP)

Russia could gain powers to restrict access to US social media giants if they "discriminate" against Russian media and levy big fines on platforms that do not delete banned content, under bills passed by the parliament's lower house on Wednesday.

The authors of the two bills said infractions by YouTube and Facebook demonstrated the need for the legislation, which is part of a push to increase Russia's internet "sovereignty" and has fuelled fears of creeping China-style controls, which is also prevalent in the US.

The first bill would allow Russia to restrict or fully block websites following what lawmakers said were complaints from state outlets that their accounts were being treated with prejudice by Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

Twitter began labelling the accounts of several Russian media outlets with the description "state-affiliated media", along with those of their senior staff and some key government officials in August, a move decried by Russia at the time.

The second bill would allow Russia to fine internet providers and sites between 10% and 20% of their previous year's Russia-based turnover for repeatedly failing to remove banned content.

The bill sets a maximum fine of 8 million roubles ($106,130) for the first time sites fail to delete content calling for extremist activity, information about recreational drugs and child sexual abuse.

The bill's authors said YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram had failed to remove hundreds of URL pages containing prohibited content, as required by Russian law.

The two bills are expected to become law, although they still need to be approved by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Sites such as YouTube have become vital resources for Kremlin critics who say they are effectively banned from state television that is broadcast across Russia's 11 time zones.

Google, Twitter and Facebook did not immediately respond to request for comment from Reuters.

Is Russia’s drive towards internet 'sovereignty' just a new Iron Curtain?

Cornell University to extract energy from manure to meet peak heating demands

by American Institute of Physics

An integrated biorefinery approach utilizing agriculture waste biomass to produce renewable biomethane along with other co-products (for soil amendment, nutrient recovery, and transportation biofuels). Credit: Nazih Kassem, with images from Cornell University, Department of Energy

Cornell University is developing a system to extract energy from cattle manure to meet the campus's peak demands for heat in the winter months. In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, scientists involved with the project give a detailed analysis of the issues required to make this work, including scientific, economic, and energy policy considerations.


The university is already involved in an initiative to develop renewable energy sources and services, with the goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 100% by 2035. These goals are proving difficult to achieve in cold regions, such as Ithaca, New York, where the university is located, since over six months of winter heating is needed for its buildings and laboratories.

Heating needs are a significant portion of Cornell's energy usage, and a challenge occurs at peak heating times. The university is developing a geothermal project that provides heat from hot water extracted 3-4 kilometers underground. This will provide adequate base-level heating but would be economically unattractive to meet peak demand.

To meet the need for more heat in the depths of winter, the investigators are proposing a system to convert cattle manure from the school's dairy farms, which house 600 cows, to methane and other products. The method employs a three-stage process, where the manure is first biologically digested with microbes to produce biogas, a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane.

This is followed by a second stage that converts the digested manure into a type of biocrude oil plus a substance called hydrochar that makes a good soil amendment.

The final stage combines the carbon dioxide generated in the first step with hydrogen gas produced by renewable electrolysis of lake water to biologically generate renewable natural gas, RNG. This final product can be injected into the natural gas grid for New York state, in much the same way electricity from wind turbines and solar panels is returned to the electrical grid.

"The proposed system will produce about 909 million liters of RNG per year," said author Nazih Kassem. "This can provide 97% of the total annual peak heating demand. The remainder can be met by purchasing natural gas, increasing Cornell's dairy herd size, or using campus eateries' food wastes for co-digestion. Adding 19 more dairy cows would result in enough RNG production to meet the average annual peak heating demand."

The investigators' detailed economic analysis revealed the importance of state policies regarding the RNG price and other issues.

"If New York state were to adopt policies to create a carbon market and enable competitive RNG pricing, then the proposed biomass peak heating system would show profitability," Kassem said.

Explore further New York State can achieve 2050 carbon goals: Here's how

More information: "Sustainable district energy integrating biomass peaking with geothermal baseload heating: A case study of decarbonizing Cornell's energy system," Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (2020). aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0024841

Journal information: Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

Provided by American Institute of Physics

Pilot redundancies dodged as Lufthansa inks deal with union

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

German airline Lufthansa said Wednesday it has reached a deal with a union that heads off any forced redundancies of pilots to March 2022, as the aviation giant struggles to stay solvent in the pandemic.

Under the deal affecting 5,000 pilots, a short-time programme putting them on curtailed work hours will be extended through 2021, along with accompanying cuts in salaries.

Collective pay increases will also be suspended during this time, according to the agreement with the union Cockpit (VC).

The deal would help the airline save more than 450 million euros ($547 million), said Cockpit.

The measures apply to pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Aviation Training and a subgroup of Germanwings pilots.

"I am pleased about the further substantial contribution of the cockpit employees to help manage the crisis," said Michael Niggemann, human resources and legal affairs chief at Lufthansa.

"We want to use the time covered by this crisis collective accord to agree on sustainable structural solutions with VC in response to the changed conditions and to be able to avoid layoffs even after the crisis agreement has expired."

The airline, which received a nine-billion-euro bailout from Germany, said in November that 27,000 jobs were at risk following a collapse in demand sparked by the pandemic.

It posted a loss of two billion euros for the third quarter.


Explore further Lufthansa ground staff agree deal to avoid layoffs

© 2020 AFP

#KASHMIR IS #INDIA'S #GAZA

Anti-Modi political alliance in Kashmir win big in local polls

Over 51 percent of nearly 6 million eligible voters across the region’s 20 districts cast their ballots, the Election Commission said, but it comes as many politicians and prominent leaders remain locked up indefinitely

.

Indian militants stand outside a counting centre for the District Development Council (DDC) polls in Srinagar on December 22, 2020 (AFP)

An alliance of political parties opposed to India's policies in Kashmir has won a majority of seats in local elections, the first since New Delhi revoked the disputed region’s semi-autonomous status in a controversial move and took direct authoritative control last year.

The alliance favours self-governance in Kashmir and won 112 out of a total of 280 seats in District Development Council elections, which were held in a staggered eight-phase process from Nov. 28 through December 19.

The New York Times reported that the election was called suddenly and only gave parties a week to register candidates before the first round of the eight-phase polling began, and it came as Kashmiri politicians and public figures remain in detention.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, won 74 seats. Independent candidates won 49 seats.

The BJP has a very small base in the Kashmir Valley, the heart of the decades-old minority region where it got only three seats. Most of the other BJP seats come from four Hindu-majority districts in the Jammu area where it has significant support.

Over 51% of nearly 6 million eligible voters across the region’s 20 districts cast their ballots, the Election Commission said, calling the vote “the biggest festival of democracy.” Results for a few remaining seats will be announced later.

The election is part of a process in which residents directly elect their village representatives, who then vote to form development councils for clusters of villages. Members for the larger District Development Councils are also directly elected but they have no legislative powers and are only responsible for economic development and public welfare.

India has repeatedly called such polls a vital grassroots exercise to boost development and address civic issues and a way to uproot corruption. Indian authorities have kept a tight grip on Kashmir since revoking its autonomy in August last year and have arrested most separatist leaders, who in the past have called for a boycott of elections.

New Delhi has annulled Kashmir's constitution, split the area into two federal territories — Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir — and removed inherited protections on land and jobs.


Modi’s party flew some of its top national leaders to the troubled region and organised dozens of rallies to bolster its campaigning and broaden its base mainly in the Kashmir Valley. The BJP declared the results as a referendum in favour of its August 2019 changes.

“I feel this is the new beginning of Indian politics,” said Shahnawaz Hussain, the BJP national spokesman.

Many of the BJP opponents in the alliance accused the government of preventing them from campaigning and detaining some of them. Officials have denied the allegations.

One of those arrested before the vote for alleged links with Kashmir’s main rebel group was alliance candidate Waheed Ur Rehman Parra. He defeated his BJP rival. Parra’s party and family have denied police allegations.

Omar Abdullah, Kashmir’s former top elected official and an alliance leader, told reporters that the alliance was “born in adversity” and accused Modi’s party of throwing “the entire weight of the government of India behind their effort to defeat us.” He said the vote signaled rejection of the Indian government’s constitutional changes in Kashmir.

India’s main opposition Congress party won 26 seats.

“Undeterred by the denial of democratic rights, the voters of the Kashmir Valley have firmly rejected the BJP and its misguided Kashmir policy,” its top leader and former home minister P. Chidambaram said.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both rivals claim the region in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of sponsoring Kashmiri militants, a charge Pakistan denies. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

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READ MORE: Bodies of Kashmir men killed by Indian army exhumed

READ MORE: India throws open disputed Kashmir 'for sale'

READ MORE: After Article 370: Kashmir’s mental health time bomb

READ MORE: Local elections test Modi's influence in disputed Kashmir

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Video of police gunning down mother and son sparks outrage in Philippines

Footage shows Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca shooting Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank at point-blank range outside their house in Paniqui after a heated confrontation.

Protest in observance of Human Rights Day in Manila, Philippines, December 10, 2020. (Reuters)

A video showing a mother and son being gunned down by police in the Philippines has sparked outrage across the Southeast Asian country.

Local media reported Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank were shot by Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca on Sunday outside their house in Paniqui after a heated confrontation.

President Rodrigo Duterte said he had his mouth "left wide open" when he saw the video on Monday.

Duterte made the comments in his weekly televised message to the Southeast Asian nation on Monday evening, calling the killing "brutal" and "senseless".

Duterte called on police to act according to the law and asked national police to detain the officer without bail.

The suspect was later charged with homicide.

READ MORE: UN office denounces human rights violations in Philippines

'I will finish you now'

The heated exchange between the Gregorios and officer Nuezca, who was in civilian clothes, seemed to be about a boga, "a homemade noisemaker constructed from PVC piping that is traditionally played at Christmas time," the New York Times reported.

According to the report, tensions escalated between the suspect's daughter and Sonya before the former officer is heard saying “I will finish you now."

Nuezca is then seen shooting the mother and son in the head at close-range with his handgun.

Twitter users took to the platform to express their condolences for the victim's families and their frustrations against police violence and extrajudicial killings.

Using the hashtags #JusticeForGregorioFamily, #StopTheKillingPH and #PulisAngTerorista they demanded justice.

Duterte's ties with police

Last month, Duterte cleared his newly appointed police chief of any violation of Covid-19 rules when he celebrated his birthday in May during one of the world's strictest lockdowns.

In a national address, Duterte defended police chief Debold Sinas, promoted on November 9 to national police commander from Manila police boss, and noted his appointee's achievements despite a social media stir over perceived special treatment.

Sinas had led anti-drug operations in which thousands of people were killed.

"If he has (committed) any offence, he is pardoned already. I do not see any wrongdoing with moral implications and malice," Duterte said, adding that Sinas was not at fault for receiving a surprise festivity.

Sinas has been under investigation by the justice ministry for celebrating his birthday with fellow officers in May despite coronavirus curbs and at a time police were arresting thousands of people for quarantine violations.

He has apologised for "causing anxiety to the public."

READ MORE: Philippines' Duterte threatens martial law-like virus crackdown

Amnesty urges UN probe of 'systematic' Philippine drug war killings

‘They are now killing judges in the Philippines’

Philippines' Duterte hit by new ICC complaint over deadly drug war

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Afghan women's rights activist Freshta Kohistani shot dead

Her murder follow a similar pattern seen in recent weeks, in which prominent

 Afghans have died in targeted killings in broad daylight, several of them in the capital.

Afghans pray for TV anchor and human rights advocate 

Malala Maiwand who was shot and killed by gunmen during 

her funeral ceremony in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, 

Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. (AP)

Gunmen on motorbike shot dead a women's rights activist and her brother north of Afghanistan's capital Thursday, officials said, as a wave of assassinations ravages the violence-wracked country.

Freshta Kohistani, aged 29, was the second activist to be killed in two days after a prominent pro-democracy advocate was gunned down in Kabul on Wednesday.

Their murders follow a similar pattern seen in recent weeks, in which prominent Afghans have died in targeted killings in broad daylight, several of them in the capital.

"Unknown gunmen on a motorbike assassinated Freshta Kohistani in Kohistan district of Kapisa province," interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told reporters.

Kapisa provincial governor Abdul Latif Murad told AFP that the shooting had taken place near Kohistani's home and that her brother was also killed in the attack.

No group has claimed the attack so far.

READ MORE: Kabul bomb blast kills deputy governor

Kohistani, who had campaigned for veteran leader Abdullah Abdullah during last year's presidential election, had enjoyed a relatively large following on social media, and regularly organised civil society events in Kabul calling for women's rights.

Abdullah said Kohistani was killed in a "terrorist attack".

In a Facebook post, he described Kohistani as "brave and fearless" activist who was at the forefront of civil and social life in Afghanistan.

"The continuation of such assassinations is unacceptable," said Abdullah, who leads the country's overall peace process.

Days before her death, Kohistani, who is survived by her husband and one child, wrote on Facebook that she had asked for protection from the authorities after receiving threats.

She had also condemned the ongoing wave of assassinations of journalists and other prominent figures.

"Afghanistan is not a place to live in. There is no hope for peace. Tell the tailor to take your measurement (for a funeral shroud), tomorrow it could be your turn," she tweeted in November.

The wave of assassinations have triggered fear across the country, especially in Kabul.

"The security situation is deteriorating day by day," said Ahmad Jawed, a government employee in Kabul.

"When we leave our homes in the morning, we are not sure we will return home alive by evening."

READ MORE: Bomb blast kills journalist in southern Afghanistan

Journalists, politicians and rights activists have increasingly been targeted as violence surges in Afghanistan, despite peace talks between the government and the Taliban.

On Wednesday, Mohammad Yousuf Rasheed, who led an independent election monitoring organisation, was ambushed and shot in morning rush-hour traffic in Kabul along with his driver.

His murder came a day after five people, including two doctors working for a prison on the outskirts of Kabul, were killed by a car bomb.

A prominent Afghan journalist was also shot this week while on his way to a mosque in the eastern city of Ghazni.

Rahmatullah Nekzad was the fourth journalist to be killed in Afghanistan in the last two months, and the seventh media worker this year, according to the Kabul-based Afghan Journalists Safety Committee.

Nigeria school abductions sparked by cattle feuds, officials say

Boko Haram reportedly claimed the kidnappings but parents are less concerned about who was behind the abductions as they reconsider sending their children back to school.

Habubakar Liti (L), Bello Ibrahim (C) and Isah Nasir, recently released students, arrive back home carrying boxes containing their school belongings in Ketare, Nigeria. December 19, 2020. (AP Archive)

The abduction of 344 schoolboys in northwest Nigeria had the appearance of a militant attack. There was even a video purporting to show some of the boys with members of Boko Haram, the radical outfit behind the 2014 kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls in the northeast.

But four government and security officials familiar with negotiations who secured the boys’ release told Reuters the attack was a result of inter-communal feuding over cattle theft, grazing rights and water access – not aimed at spreading extremism.

The mass abduction of children in Katsina state would mark a dramatic turn in the clashes between farmers and herders that have killed thousands of people across Africa's most populous nation in recent years, posing a challenge to authorities also battling a decade-long insurgency in the northeast.

Officials in Katsina and neighbouring Zamfara, where the boys were released after six days, said the attack was carried out by a gang of mostly semi-nomadic ethnic Fulanis, including former herders who turned to crime after losing their cows to cattle rustlers.

"They have local conflicts that they want to be settled, and they decided to use this (kidnapping) as a bargaining tool," said Ibrahim Ahmad, a security adviser to the Katsina state government who took part in the negotiations through intermediaries.

Such groups are known more for armed robberies and small-scale kidnappings for ransom.

Cattle herders in the northwest are mainly Fulani, whereas farmers are mostly Hausa. For years, farmers have complained of herders letting their cows stray on to their land to graze, while herdsmen have complained their cows are being stolen.

Negotiations

Dozens of gunmen arrived on motorcycles at the Government Science Secondary School on December 11 in the town of Kankara in Katsina. They marched the boys into a vast forest that extends from Katsina into Zamfara.

Officials in both states told Reuters they established contact with the kidnappers through their clan, a cattle breeders' association and former gang members who participated in a Zamfara amnesty programme.

The intermediaries met the kidnappers in Ruga forest on several occasions before they agreed to release the boys, according to Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle and security sources including Ahmad.

The gang accused vigilante groups, set up to defend farming communities against banditry, of killing Fulani herders and stealing their cows, Matawalle and Ahmad said. They also made similar accusations against members of a Katsina state committee set up to investigate cattle theft, Ahmad added.

He said he was not aware of any such incidents, but said a police investigation had been launched. No ransom was paid for the boys' release, according to officials in both states.

Reuters could not reach the gang for comment. A spokesman for the herders’ association, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders' Association of Nigeria, declined to discuss the negotiations.

READ MORE: Families of kidnapped Nigerian boys fear they might join Boko Haram

Boko Haram members with a different agenda?

Gangs such as these have carried out attacks across the northwest, making it hard for locals to farm, travel or tap rich mineral deposits in some states. They were responsible for more than 1,100 deaths in the first half of 2020 alone, according to rights group Amnesty International.

Boko Haram, based in the northeast, has sought to forge alliances with some of them and released videos this year claiming to have received pledges of allegiance, said Jacob Zenn, a Nigeria expert at the U.S.-based Jamestown Foundation think tank.

A man identifying himself as Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the schoolboys' kidnappings in an unverified audio recording. Soon after, the video started circulating on social media.

However, one boy who spoke in the video later told Nigeria’s Arise television that he did not believe the kidnappers when they told him to say he was being held by Boko Haram.

"Sincerely speaking, they are not Boko Haram... They are just small and tiny, tiny boys with big guns,” said the boy, who did not give his name.

Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed also dismissed Boko Haram's claim at a December 18 news conference, saying: "They just want to claim that they are still a potent force.

"The boys were abducted by bandits, not Boko Haram," Mohammed said.

Independent security experts said the kidnappers appeared to have drawn inspiration from the militants and may have received advice, but most were sceptical of any direct involvement.

Cheta Nwanze, lead partner at Lagos-based risk consultancy firm SBM Intelligence, said direct Boko Haram involvement was unlikely because of the "logistics of getting to an area that is unfamiliar" to them.

"It’s beyond their current capabilities," he said. "The northwest is an ungoverned area controlled by other groups."

Second kidnapping

Tension between farming and herding communities has been growing in the northwest, where population growth and climate change have increased competition for resources, analysts said.

The day after the boys were returned to their families in Kankara and other towns, another gang briefly abducted some 80 students who were returning from a trip organised by an Islamic school.

The kidnappers released the children after a gunfight with police and a local vigilante group, state police said.

"All the bandits were Fulanis and are over 100 in number," Abdullahi Sada, who led the vigilantes, told Reuters.

He said some of his men were armed with bows and arrows while others had guns made by local blacksmiths.

He denied any knowledge of attacks by vigilantes against Fulani herders, saying: "I have no idea of any such thing happening in my area."

Nastura Ashir Shariff, who chairs the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), an influential civil society group, blamed a scarcity of police for such clashes, saying communities were taking law enforcement into their own hands.

Whoever was responsible for the Kankara kidnappings, Ummi Usman, whose 14-year-old son Mujtaba was among those captured, said she was not sure whether to send him back to school.

"He is still in extreme fear whenever he remembers what they went through at the hands of their abductors," she said. "Some of them were threatening the students that they will be back."