In Their Own Words:
We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].
Mar. 2023Eye on Extremism: April 16, 2024
NBC: Kabul Airport Bomber Was An ISIS Operative Freed From Prison By The Taliban
“The man who detonated a bomb outside the Kabul airport in August 2021, killing 170 Afghans and 13 American service members, was an Islamic State operative who had been held in a coalition detention facility in Afghanistan but was freed by the Taliban, according to a new U.S. military review that has identified him for the first time. Some service members who were at the airport that day claimed they had spotted the suicide bomber at the site and were ordered not to engage. But the review found that those service members had the wrong man in their sights, and the strike was not preventable. “There was no opportunity to engage the bomber prior to the attack,” said a senior U.S. military official, who was involved in the supplemental review. The bombing at Abbey Gate took place during the U.S. military’s chaotic exit from Afghanistan. Thousands of people had converged on the airport in a desperate effort to flee after the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country.”
“Extremist-linked rebels attacked villages in eastern Congo over the weekend, killing at least 11 people, torching vehicles and taking possessions, a local official said. The attacks occurred Saturday and were reported by the local mayor on Sunday. Allied Democratic Forces rebels with ties to the Islamic State group have long operated in the border area near Uganda. The United Nations said earlier this month that almost 200 people have been killed there this year. In one area, 11 bodies were recovered from four different places in the commune of Mulekera, according to the mayor, Ngongo Mayanga. Mulekera is near Beni town in North Kivu province. Eastern Congo has been ravaged by conflict for decades as more than 120 armed groups fight for control of valuable mineral resources and some try to protect their communities. Mass killings by rebels are frequent. The violence has led over 7 million people to flee their homes, the U.N. has said.”
CEP Mentions
iMEdD Lab: Direct Analysis: "Iran's Objective Likely Not A Militarily Successful Attack"
“...Dr Schindler served as Germany’s diplomatic representative in Iran from 2005 to 2011 and currently is the Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project in New York and Berlin. Speaking to iMEdD, he highlights that the recent strike by Tehran, which occurred just the day before yesterday, disrupts the status quo between the two nations and he further explains that despite successfully intercepting the assault, Israel has suffered a significant loss of crucial strategic capability. “Going forward, Israel will have to expect potential Iranian attacks on its territory any time it attacks Iranian proxies or any significant Iranian military or intelligence personnel in the region. This means, at this moment, Israel has lost an important deterrent capability against Iran. Clearly Iran is no longer sufficiently deterred by Israel not to attack directly, ” asserts Dr. Schindler.”
“…In the midst of frustration and legitimate political discourse over concerns with U.S. immigration policy, there has been a surge in the use of violent language consistent with the Great Replacement Theory to promote violence against immigrants at the U.S. southern border. As defined by the Counter Extremism Project, the “great replacement theory” states non-white immigrants are replacing white populations. While various ethno-nationalist groups who adhere to the great replacement theory state they are non-violent, others use the Great Replacement Theory to justify violence, as evidenced by the 2019 New Zealand Mosque shooter who named his manifesto “The Great Replacement.” The surge in the use of violent online language to describe immigrants at the U.S. southern border normalizes dehumanizing language that promotes the bigoted “great replacement theory,” which not only foments discord amongst the U.S. population but also may lead to violence.”
United States
ABC: Review Finds US Troops Did Not Spot ISIS-K Suicide Bomber Before Abbey Gate Attack
“Members of a Marine scout sniper team who believed they could have taken out the suicide bomber ahead of the catastrophic attack at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport during the final days of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan were mistaken, a review ordered by U.S. Central Command has determined. "Over the past two years, some service members have claimed that they had the bomber in their sights and they could have prevented the attack. We now know that is not correct," a member of the supplemental review team, which was tasked with building on the military's initial investigation by taking into account newer information and claims that have surfaced, told reporters in a recent briefing. In another significant revelation, members of the team identified Abdul Rahman al-Logari as the terrorist responsible for killing 13 American service members and some 170 Afghans when on Aug. 26 2021 he detonated a suicide vest laden with 20 pounds of military-grade explosives near the airport's Abbey Gate. The blast sent a mass of 5-millimeter ball bearings ripping through the densely-packed crowd. This is the first time U.S. officials have confirmed al-Logari was the bomber.”
Voice Of America: Biden Meets Iraqi PM Amid Escalating Mideast Tensions
“As U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Iraq’s prime minister Monday, all eyes were on Iran, which over the weekend made a historic first strike on Israel. That attack has inflamed concerns of a wider regional war — a situation that effectively eclipsed the leaders’ already-planned Oval Office meeting, where they wanted to discuss their mutual fight against Islamic State, economic issues and Iraq’s progress toward energy independence and modernization. “The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the enduring strategic partnership between Iraq and the United States, and discussed their visions for comprehensive bilateral cooperation under the 2008 U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement,” the two leaders said in a joint statement after Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met with Biden. Meanwhile, White House officials disputed reports that Iran delivered a clear warning before the strike. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby called such reports “nonsense.””
Iran
“Iran’s direct attack on Israel over the weekend upended decades of its shadowy warfare by proxy, something Tehran has used to manage international repercussions for its actions. But with both economic and political tensions at home boiling, the country’s Shiite theocracy chose a new path as changes loom for the Islamic Republic. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will mark his 85th birthday Friday, with no clear successor in sight and still serving as the final arbiter of every decision Iran makes. Coming to power in the wake of Iran’s devastating eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, Khamenei preached for years about “strategic patience” in confronting his government’s main rivals, Israel and the United States, to avoid open combat. That saw Iran invest more deeply in regional militia forces to harass Israel — such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip or Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia — and contain the U.S., like with the militias that planted devastating improvised explosives that killed American troops during the Iraq war. That’s extended even into impoverished Yemen, where Iran’s arming of the Houthi rebels empowered their takeover of the capital and checkmated a Saudi-led coalition still trapped in a yearslong war there.”
Iraq
“Five years ago, ISIS was defeated by a global coalition and its local partners in the controlled territory of Baghuz, Syria. This marked the final territorial defeat of the terrorist organization in its last remaining Iraqi stronghold. o the cooperation between the international community’s military and economic investments and Iraqi security forces. By July 2017, Mosul was once again under Iraqi government control. However, the country still had to regain stability after years under ISIS' grip. Today, despite being almost fully liberated from the ISIS threat, Iraq still faces problems, particularly repatriating the 1.1 million people who were internally displaced by ISIS. They currently live in refugee camps or have been forced to resettle elsewhere due to continued fighting among various local militias. “In Sinjar [Iraq], Turkey and local militias, which are considered to be affiliated with the PKK, are still fighting. Other places in southwest Baghdad are still under the control of the militias, and those areas are practically depopulated. People are not allowed to go back home, and they make up about 3% of Iraq’s population,” Omar al Nidawi, a Middle East analyst focusing on Iraqi political, security, and energy affairs, told The Media Line.”
Reuters: Iraqi Leader Calls For Restraint In Middle East
“Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called for restraint in the Middle East on Monday during talks in Washington as tensions soar between Iran and Israel after Tehran's weekend strikes. "We encourage all the efforts of stopping the expansion of the area of conflict, especially the latest development," Sudani said at the White House at the start of a meeting with President Joe Biden. The meetings come as U.S. ally Israel weighs its response to Iran's missile and drone attack, with the United States and Europe urging restraint. Iraq is a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran. Iraqi airspace was a main route for Iran’s unprecedented drone and ballistic missile attack on Israel, and Iraqi officials say Iran informed them, as well as other countries in the region, ahead of the attack. Sudani is leading a delegation that met officials across Washington on Monday, including Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. "In the spirit of partnership our views may be divergent about what’s happening in the region," Sudani said through a translator as he sat next to Biden in the Oval Office.”
Pakistan
“Pakistan’s prime minister called for closer cooperation between Saudi Arabia and his cash-strapped Islamic nation to enhance Saudi investment in his country, a government statement said Tuesday. Shehbaz Sharif made his remarks during a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan who arrived Monday in the capital, Islamabad, to discuss a range of issues, including how to help Pakistan overcome its economic crisis. The previous week, Sharif met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, one of Pakistan’s closest allies and a leading supplier of oil to Islamabad. According to Pakistani officials, Prince Mohammed had assured Pakistan that Saudi Arabia would invest $5 billion in Pakistan. On Monday, Sharif said the visit by Prince Faisal and the high level delegation showed the “strong commitment of both countries to the strengthening of bilateral relations focused on mutually beneficial economic cooperation.””
Lebanon
The National: Will Lebanon Pay The Price For Iran-Israel Escalation?
“Israel has pledged to retaliate after Iran's unprecedented air attack on Saturday, creating fears that Lebanon may pay the price for the escalation, depending on the scale and targets of Israel's response. One risk is that Israel could retaliate by striking Iran-backed Hezbollah, or that an extended Iran-Israel war would resulted in Hezbollah intervening at scale, analysts and diplomatic sources have told The National. The hundreds of missiles and drones that Iran launched from its territory, despite causing little damage, have reshuffled old lines between the two foes, who until now have mostly operated against each other in the shadows with unclaimed assassinations and acts of sabotage. Iran's operation, launched in response to a suspected Israeli attack on Iran's consulate in Damascus on April 1, which killed two senior generals in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was described as “completely successful” by the Iranian commander Gen Mohammad Bagheri.”
Middle East
“Israel’s military chief said Monday that his country will respond to Iran’s weekend attack, but he did not elaborate on when and how as world leaders urged against retaliation, trying to avoid a spiral of violence in the Middle East. The Iranian attack on Saturday came in response to a suspected Israeli strike two weeks earlier on an Iranian consular building in the Syrian capital of Damascus that killed two Iranian generals. It marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at Israel in the attack. The Israeli military said that 99% of the drones and missiles were intercepted, by Israel’s own air defenses and warplanes and in coordination with a U.S.-led coalition of partners. Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Monday that Israel is considering its next steps but that the Iranian strike “will be met with a response.””
“The Israeli military renewed warnings on Monday for Palestinians not to return to northern Gaza, a day after witnesses and medical officials said Israeli troops opened fire and killed five people among throngs of displaced residents trying to walk back to their homes in the devastated area. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from the north after Israeli forces first launched their offensive there soon after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. In the months of fighting since, vast parts of the north have been flattened, including much of Gaza City. After months of Israeli restrictions on aid to the north, some 300,000 who remained there are on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations. Still, many Palestinians have wanted to go back, saying they are sick of the conditions they endured in displacement. For months, families have been crammed into tent camps, schools-turned-shelters and homes of relatives throughout the south of the Gaza Strip. Some also fear remaining in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town, as Israel says it plans to attack it eventually to root out Hamas.”
Reuters: Israeli Military Official Says Four Israeli Soldiers Wounded By Blast In Lebanon
“Four Israeli soldiers were wounded in an explosion hundreds of metres inside Lebanese territory, an Israeli military official said on Monday. It appeared to be the first such incident to become known since the Gaza war erupted in October, leading to months of exchanges of fire between Israel and Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah. Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters planted explosive devices in the Tel Ismail area near the border on the Lebanese side. It said that when a patrol of Israel's Golani Brigade crossed into Lebanon and arrived at the area where the devices were planted, Hezbollah detonated them, leading to deaths and injuries. Earlier on Monday, the military said four soldiers were injured, one severely, as a result of an explosion of an unknown source during overnight activity along the northern border and that the incident was under review. Israeli shelling since Oct. 7 has killed around 270 Hezbollah fighters and around 50 civilians, security sources say, and displaced some 90,000 people in southern Lebanon.”
Somalia
Garowe Online: Somali Pirates Confirm Taking $5 Million Ransom To Release Bangladeshi Ship
“The Somali pirates who were arrested by Puntland authorities received $5 million ransom before releasing a Bangladeshi merchant ship, several weeks after they intercepted it along the Indian Ocean, amid rising cases of piracy. MV Abdullah was released before the pirates were intercepted by the Puntland Marine Police Force (PMPF) who have tightened the fight against the pirates in Somalia’s 3,333 KM coastline, which is also subject to Al-shabaab terror attacks. The vessel was en route from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates when hijacked approximately 600 nautical miles east of Mogadishu in March. The ransom was given a few days ago with those delivering dropping it using a small aircraft "After confirming the money's authenticity, we distributed it among our teams and then escaped, steering clear of government forces," Abdiashid Yusuf, one of the pirates purportedly involved in the incident, told Reuters.”
United Kingdom
BBC: Isle Of Wight Festival Terror Plot: Teen Jailed For Seven Years
“The teenager from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was planning to attack people he believed had insulted Islam. He also shared terrorist publications with others, Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said. He was found guilty in February of preparation of terrorist acts. The jury at Kingston Crown Court also found him guilty of three counts of dissemination of terrorist publications and having a bladed article in a public place. The trial heard the FBI discovered messages relating to an alleged attack that was due to take place in July 2022. The boy developed an "Islamic extremist mindset" in late 2021 and repeatedly researched the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2022, according to prosecutor Serena Gates. His internet search terms included "gun Isle of Wight", "fast lorry", "how many people are going to Isle of Wigh [sic] fest", "Isle of Wight Festival gate" and "Isle of Wight Festival gate names".”
Europe
EU Observer: EU To Blacklist Israeli Settlers, After New Sanctions On Hamas
“EU states are planning to impose for the first time visa-bans and asset-freezes on six extremist settlers on Friday (19 April) in a bid to chill Israeli aggression. The decision is to be quietly adopted by a "written procedure" in the EU Council, diplomatic sources said — instead of by EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday or EU foreign ministers meeting next Monday. The move comes amid a fresh surge in anti-Palestinian violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, following the death of a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd. The new sanctions are part of wider diplomatic efforts to curb Israeli aggression in Gaza and to slow settlement expansion in the hope of reviving the two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The US, Israel's staunch ally, and individual European countries, Belgium, France, and the UK, have already sanctioned violent settlers. But Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, backed by Ireland and Spain, pushed for the EU-level move to increase pressure, amid hints that the concerted Western pushback was just a first round of sanctions if Israeli behaviour didn't change.”
Australia
Reuters: Australia Says Assyrian Church Stabbing Was Terrorist Act
“Australian police on Tuesday said a knife attack on an Assyrian church bishop and some followers in Sydney was a terrorist act motivated by suspected religious extremism, as the country reeled from a second stabbing incident in three days. At least four people were wounded in the attack, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church, when a man lunged at him with a knife during a service live-streamed on Monday. The incident at the western Sydney suburb of Wakeley triggered clashes outside the church between police and an angry crowd of the bishop's followers who demanded the attacker be handed over to them. Police arrested a male teenager at the scene and were forced to hold him at the church for his own safety. "We believe there are elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism," New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said during a press conference. "After consideration of all the material, I declared that it was a terrorist incident."”
Russia
Reuters: Russia Adds Director And Playwright To 'Terrorists And Extremists' List
“Russian theatre director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been added to an official list of "terrorists and extremists" as they await trial on charges of "justifying terrorism". The pair were arrested in May last year. The charges against them relate to an award-winning play about Russian women who married Islamic State fighters. The "terrorists and extremists" register is published online and run by Rosfinmonitoring, a state agency which is empowered to freeze the assets of people and entities on the list - even if they have yet to be convicted of a crime. Berkovich, 38, and Petriychuk, 43, are among many thousands of people and entities who have been similarly designated in a crackdown on perceived subversive activity that intensified after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Kremlin does not comment on individual cases but says Russia is engaged in an existential struggle with the West and needs to robustly uphold its laws and defend itself.”
India
The Hindu: Firing Between Assam Rifles, Militants In Assam
“An encounter took place between Assam Rifles personnel and suspected militants in Assam’s Tinsukia district on April 16,” a defence source said. “An incident involving suspected militants took place in the morning. We are awaiting details,” he said. "We are yet to receive inputs from the spot and we can share further details only later," the source said. A police source in Tinsukia said Assam Rifles vehicles were fired upon near Namdang in Margherita. The vehicles were coming from Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh towards Margherita. Local TV channels showed Army helicopters purportedly reaching the spot of the incident as additional forces were also despatched.”
Technology
NBC News: Verified Pro-Nazi X Accounts Flourish Under Elon Musk
“Elon Musk’s X is a thriving hub for Nazi support and propaganda, with paid subscribers sharing speeches by Adolf Hitler or content praising his genocidal regime. NBC News found that at least 150 paid “Premium” subscriber X accounts and thousands of unpaid accounts have posted or amplified pro-Nazi content on X in recent months, often in apparent violation of X’s rules. The paid accounts posting the content all consistently posted antisemitic or pro-Nazi material. Examples included praise of Nazi soldiers, sharing of Nazi symbols and denials of the Holocaust.”
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
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