Fact:
On April 3, 2017, the day Vladimir Putin was due to visit the city, a suicide bombing was carried out in the St. Petersburg metro, killing 15 people and injuring 64. An al-Qaeda affiliate, Imam Shamil Battalion, claimed responsibility.
Eye on Extremism: April 30, 2025
Top Stories
Associated Press: Will a weakened Hezbollah in Lebanon disarm?
Israel’s latest airstrike on what it called a Hezbollah missile storage facility in Beirut’s southern suburbs came during increasing pressure for the Lebanese militant group to disarm. The disarmament of what has been the region’s most powerful non-state armed group has come to look increasingly inevitable. Hezbollah is severely weakened after a war with Israel in which much of its top leadership was killed, and after losing a key ally with the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a conduit for Iran to send arms. Israel and the U.S. are pushing for swift disarmament, but when and how it will happen - if it does - is contested. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has said he is committed to bringing all arms in the country under state control, but that it will happen through discussions around a national security plan and not through force.
Reuters: Switzerland to enact Hamas ban from May 15
A new Swiss law banning Hamas and related organisations will come into force on May 15, the government said on Wednesday, aiming to prevent the Palestinian militant group from using Switzerland as a safe haven by making entry bans or expulsions easier to arrange. The law, which was approved by parliament last December and came in the wake of Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, gives Swiss authorities "the necessary tools to take action against Hamas activities or support for the organisation in Switzerland," the government said.
CEP Mentions
Worldcrunch: Neo-Nazi Tweens? Inside Germany’s Growing Far-Right Youth Movement
Alexander Ritzmann of the Counter Extremism Project has been tracking the trend for years. He warns that some of these groups could morph into shadow militias, ready to act on “Day X.” That’s the term they use for the day a right-wing dictator takes power. Their historical model? The Sturmabteilung, or SA, the Nazi Party’s original paramilitary wing. Julian M.’s DJV crew in Berlin is modeled after it too. In October 2024, a DJV member messaged their leader saying he wanted to set up his own “SA-style subgroup.”
Deutschlandfunk Kultur: The difficult path back into society
CEP Senior Research Analyst Sofia Koller interviewed: “Is the reintegration of women who have turned their backs on the terrorist organization IS successful? Exit programs show that the willingness to change is high. Yet Islamists continue to attempt to influence young women through social media.”
Analysis
Egmont Institute: Stepping up Engagement in the Sahel: Russia, China, Turkey and the Gulf States
Over the past five years, since the latest wave of coups began in 2020, states in the Sahel have strategically realigned and shifted external partnerships. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger suspended their security collaboration with their long-term ally, France, following their respective coups between 2020 and 2023, and demanded for the immediate withdrawal of French troops while advancing a new narrative of sovereignty. In 2023 Mali’s regime ousted the decade-long, 13,000 troops-strong UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MINUSMA, while Niger expelled the EU’s two security and defense missions, one of which had been deployed since 2012. A few months later, Niger also broke off a decade-long defense partnership with the US. In a second wave of expulsion, yet different in manner and context, Chad, Senegal and Ivory Coast also suspended military collaboration with France in 2024.
In the last several days, a debate has emerged between the Israeli cabinet and the defense establishment over how to approach renewed fighting in Gaza. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir clashed over the issue during a security cabinet meeting last week. Zamir argued that the IDF should not be responsible for distributing aid in Gaza, with Smotrich responding, “If you are not capable, we will bring in someone capable.” Despite the heated exchange, the core debate appears to center on the timing, scope, and pace of operations, not the overall direction of the war. According to reports, the IDF favors a more incremental approach, seeking to gradually widen the IDF’s footprint rather than carry out a full-blown attack (which many in the cabinet reportedly prefer). Despite this, it seems the overall goal of securing full control of Gaza is shared, at least for now. What seems to be a new part of the Israeli calculus is a shift of focus from toppling Hamas to disarming the group. This, after Israel rejected the Arab League’s proposition in early March that advocated for a government of Palestinian technocrats to take control of Gaza. Israel sees such a plan as insufficient, believing that if Hamas can fire the shots, it will also call the shots in Gaza, even if it is not formally a part of the government.
United States
NOLA.com: Bourbon Street attacker acted alone, despite reports of arrest in Iraq, FBI says
The FBI said Tuesday that it continues to believe that the man who rammed a truck into revelers on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day acted alone, despite new reports that Iraqi officials arrested an alleged ISIS member overseas for inciting the attack. “The FBI's investigation into the New Year's Day terrorist attack in New Orleans remains active and ongoing," the agency said in a statement. "While we continue to work with our law enforcement partners, both in the U.S. and internationally, based on the information to date, we continue to believe that Shamsud Din-Jabbar acted alone in carrying out the attack on Bourbon Street."
Reuters: US backs Israel's ban on UNRWA Gaza aid operations at World Court
Israel cannot be forced to allow the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA to operate in Gaza, the United States said on Wednesday at a World Court hearing in The Hague. Israel last year passed a law that banned UNRWA from operating in the country, as it said the organisation had employed members of Hamas who took part in the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Reuters: First migrants charged for entering military zone on US border
The U.S. Department of Justice has begun the first prosecutions of migrants for illegally entering a military zone created along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, according to court filings. Some 28 migrants were charged in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Monday for crossing into the 170-mile-long (274-km-long) buffer zone patrolled by U.S. troops, according to court filings.
Times of Israel: In first since Trump’s return, PA intel chief to meet CIA officials in Washington
The Palestinian Authority’s intelligence chief Majed Faraj is slated to meet with CIA counterparts in Washington this week for the first time since Donald Trump returned to the White House, a US official and a Palestinian official told The Times of Israel. Contact between the Trump administration and Ramallah has been limited, but the US has maintained some of its funding for the PA’s security forces, despite a near-complete freeze on foreign assistance, the US official said. Faraj is in the US to undergo a medical procedure but is using the opportunity to tack on work meetings at Langley, as he seeks to boost his standing amid an ongoing shakeup within the PA that on Saturday saw President Mahmoud Abbas appoint longtime loyalist Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy, two other sources familiar with the matter explained.
NBC Chicago: Chicago businessman-turned-terrorist appears in India court wearing black hood
A convicted terrorist from Chicago appeared Monday in court in India, where he had been extradited and now faces the death penalty for his alleged role in the 2008 "Mumbai Massacre" by Pakistani extremists. Tahawwur Rana, a convicted terrorist from Chicago, lost an extradition fight and is now fighting execution in India. Rana faces a near-certain conviction on some of the same charges he managed to beat in Chicago. Rana, 64, is a Pakistani national and was a Rogers Park travel agent in 2008 when authorities said he helped plot a commando raid by terrorists on the city of Mumbai. It was a four-day siege of Mumbai by heavily armed terrorists who killed 166 innocent victims, including six people from the United States.
New York Times: Harvard Promises Changes After Reports on Antisemitism and Islamophobia
A Harvard task force released a scathing account of the university on Tuesday, finding that antisemitism had infiltrated coursework, social life, the hiring of some faculty members and the worldview of certain academic programs. A separate report on anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bias on campus, also released on Tuesday, found widespread discomfort and alienation among those students as well, with 92 percent of Muslim survey respondents saying they believed they would face an academic or professional penalty for expressing their political opinions. The findings, conveyed in densely packed reports that are hundreds of pages long, come at a delicate time for the university. Harvard is being scrutinized by the Trump administration over accusations of antisemitism, and is fighting the administration’s withdrawal of billions of dollars in federal funding.
Germany
Tagesspiegel: Berlin's Bebelplatz once again becomes the "Square of the Hamas Hostages"
From Tuesday, Berlin's Bebelplatz will once again be transformed into a memorial site for the Israeli Hamas hostages. Among other things, the square next to the State Opera House will be home to an oversized hourglass to commemorate the 59 hostages as their lives run out, as the German-Israeli Society Berlin and Brandenburg (DIG) announced in Berlin on Monday. In addition, a cage simulation and 59 empty chairs with portraits of the abductees will be set up. According to the DIG, the "Square of the Hamas Hostages" memorial project is intended to keep alive the memory of the 40 Israelis killed in hostage-taking and the 59 hostages still held hostage. According to the information provided, the "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv, which was erected in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art after the massacre on October 7, 2023, serves as a model.
DPA: Former aide of far-right German EU lawmaker charged with espionage
German prosecutors on Tuesday charged a former aide of far-right German politician and European Parliament lawmaker Maximilian Krah with spying for Chinese intelligence. Prosecutors in the south-western city of Karlsruhe said the former employee as well as an accomplice repeatedly passed on information on negotiations and decisions made in the European Parliament to a Chinese intelligence agency, while also spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany. Krah was the top candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in last year's European Parliament elections, but his campaign was plagued by scandal. The AfD was kicked out of the right-wing Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament after Krah made highly controversial comments defending members of the Nazi SS paramilitary in an interview with an Italian newspaper.
Ireland
The Irish rap group Kneecap denounced Hamas and Hezbollah after Micheál Martin, the Irish prime minister, called on them to “urgently clarify” their stances. The group is from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, and U.K. police have also announced that they are investigating the group. Martin’s call and the investigation come after the group ignited criticism and scrutiny with its anti-Israel performance at the U.S. festival Coachella earlier this month.
Romania
Reuters: Romanian presidential election could bring ultranationalist to power
Romanians vote on Sunday in a presidential election re-run that could propel ultranationalist George Simion to power, an outcome likely to cause unease in the European Union and NATO and unsettle investors. The hard-right eurosceptic leads opinion polls before the first round of voting in the EU and NATO member state, five months after the original vote was cancelled because of alleged Russian interference. Moscow has denied the allegations.
United Kingdom
The suspect in the Leeds crossbow attack wrote a Facebook manifesto espousing plans for “terrorism, revenge and misogynistic rage” that referenced the 2019 massacre in New Zealand, police believe. Owen Lawrence is suspected to have shot the women, aged 19 and 31, on Saturday in Headingley before turning a firearm on himself. Both women were taken to hospital, with one sustaining life-threatening injuries.
Reuters: UK prosecutors say knifeman who tried to enter Israeli embassy carried 'martyrdom note'
A man armed with two knives who tried to enter the grounds of Israel's London embassy was carrying a "martyrdom note" and told police he wanted to send a message to end the war in Gaza, prosecutors said after charging him with a terrorism offence. Abdullah Sabah Albadri, 33, appeared in the dock at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, having been charged with preparation of a terrorist act and two counts of possession of a bladed article.
Israel
I24News: Hamas offers to give up rockets, to 'be under Egyptian supervision' | LIVE BLOG
An Arab source told i24NEWS that Hamas has submitted to Egypt a proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip "in which it would give up its heavy weapons" such as rockets. Inn addition, it would give up on "tunnel digging, training, recruitment, development of warfare means and the like." Hamas would be willing to deposit its stockpile, which includes medium and long-range missiles, "under the supervision and control of Egypt," said the source, based on senior sources in Hamas. "However, the organization refuses to deposit what it calls 'personal weapons' and 'defensive weapons,' including sniper weapons, explosives, and short-range rockets."
Adi and Yael Alexander, parents of Hamas captive Edan Alexander, discuss their plan to meet with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and the Trump administration's insistence that bringing home Edan is a top priority.
Jerusalem Post: Ex-Mossad chief: Israel must stop Iran from getting a nuke, either by deal or attack
Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen, speaking at the Remembrance Day memorial hosted by the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem and the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization (IDFWO), said that the Iranian threat against Israel is a strategic and moral challenge. “It is a test of our unity, our resilience, and our unwavering determination to defend our people and homeland,” said Cohen.“The State of Israel must do everything in its power – diplomatically, politically, and if necessary, operationally – to ensure that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons,” he added. “Such weapons would pose an existential threat to our nation, our people, and the very future of the Jewish state. Just as our fallen stood bravely against danger, so too must we stand resolute against those who threaten the very existence of our nation,” Cohen said.
Reuters: UN chief urges 'irreversible action' on Israel, Palestinian two-state solution
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday pushed countries to "take irreversible action towards implementing a two-state solution" between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of an international conference in June. "I encourage Member States to go beyond affirmations, and to think creatively about the concrete steps they will take to support a viable two-state solution before it is too late," Guterres told a Security Council meeting on the Middle East.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Report: Army entered over 500 Hezbollah posts in Dahieh and south and north of Litani
The Lebanese Army has so far raided more than 500 Hezbollah posts south and north of the Litani River and in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanese governmental sources told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel.
Naharnet: Aoun: Decision of removing arms to be implemented across Lebanon but priority for South
President Joseph Aoun has stressed that “the decision of removing arms will be implemented across Lebanon but the priority is for the South.” “We’re in agreement with Speaker (Nabih) Berri over the issue of Hezbollah’s arms,” Aoun added, in an interview with Sky News Arabia broadcast as he departed to the UAE on an official visit.
Syria
Reuters: Minutes to leave: Syria's Alawites evicted from private homes at gunpoint
Early one evening in late January, 12 masked men stormed the Damascus home of Um Hassan's family, pointed AK-47 assault rifles in their faces and ordered them to leave. When they presented ownership documents, the men arrested Um Hassan's oldest brother and said they could only have him back once they had moved out. The family surrendered the house 24 hours later and picked him up, battered and bruised, from the local General Security Service headquarters, said Um Hassan, giving only her nickname for fear of reprisals.
Reuters: Israel says it carried out warning strike in defence of Druze in Syria
Israel said it carried out a warning strike against an extremist group that was preparing to attack Druze in Syria, following through on its pledge to protect the minority group as violence spread in Druze areas near Damascus on Wednesday. It marked the latest Israeli strike in Syria, where Israel views the Sunni Islamists who seized power in December as a rising threat at its border and has sent troops into the southwest and vowed to protect the Druze minority.
The Guardian: Deadly Syria clashes continue for second day outside Damascus
At least 16 civilians and security officials have been killed in clashes in a town near Damascus, Syria’s interior ministry reported, the second consecutive day of fighting in Druze-majority areas around Syria’s capital. Reports on Wednesday said fighting had started overnight in the town of Ashrafiah Sahnaya, south-west of Damascus, after unknown gunmen attacked a security checkpoint. An attack on the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana a day earlier left at least 10 people dead, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Turkey
Reuters: Turkey's Erdogan dismisses Kurdish calls for Syria decentralisation as a "dream"
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan dismissed demands by Syrian Kurdish groups for Syria to adopt a decentralised system of government, saying these were "nothing more than a dream" and had no place in the neighbouring country. Rival Syrian Kurdish parties, including the dominant Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast, agreed at a meeting on Saturday on a common political vision for the country's Kurdish minority. The call for a decentralised structure was rejected by Syria's Islamist leaders.
Yemen
New York Times: Britain Joins U.S. in Strike Against Houthis in Yemen
Britain’s military carried out a joint operation with U.S. forces against the Houthi militia in Yemen, officials said on Wednesday, in the first such strike since President Trump re-entered the White House and stepped up attacks on the Iran-backed group. There was no immediate comment from the American military about the operation, which the British Defense Ministry said early Wednesday was carried out overnight “to degrade Houthi capabilities and prevent further attacks against U.K. and international shipping.”
AFP: Pentagon: More than 1,000 targets hit in Yemen during air campaign against Houthis
US forces have struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since Washington launched the latest round of its air campaign against the Houthi rebels in mid-March, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The Houthis began targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in late 2023 and the United States responded with strikes against them starting early the following year.
India
Reuters: India shuts over half of Kashmir tourist spots in security review after attack
Over half of the tourist destinations in India's insurgency-torn Kashmir region were closed to the public from Tuesday, according to a government order reviewed by Reuters, in a move to tighten security after last week's attack on holiday-makers. The assailants segregated men, asked their names and targeted Hindus before shooting them at close range in the Pahalgam area, killing 26 people, officials and survivors said. India has identified the three attackers, including two Pakistani nationals, as "terrorists" waging a violent revolt in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation. Hindu-majority India accuses Islamic Pakistan of funding and encouraging militancy in Kashmir, the Himalayan region both nations claim in full but rule in part. Islamabad says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to a Kashmiri demand for self-determination. Tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours have increased since the attack, along with calls in India for action against Pakistan.
India Today: How Hafiz Saeed's hideout is different from that of bin Laden, Masood Azhar
Despite masterminding countless terror attacks in India and carrying a $10 million bounty by the US, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed continues to live an open, and apparently fearless, life in a posh locality in Pakistan's Lahore. Satellite images and footage exclusively accessed by India Today show the place in Johar town is unlike anything that one would associate with one of the most wanted terrorist leaders, living among civilians in the middle of Pakistan's second-largest city.
Pakistan
Reuters: Pakistan says intelligence suggests Indian military action likely soon
Pakistan said on Wednesday it has "credible intelligence" that India intends to launch military action soon, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours escalate following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir. In the April 22 attack, the Islamist assailants segregated men, asked their names and targeted Hindus before shooting them at close range in the Pahalgam area, killing 26 people, officials and survivors said.
India Today: Pahalgam attack triggers online protest against Pakistan army chief
he recent terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam has triggered a massive wave of outrage against Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir, with people accusing him of orchestrating the shooting that killed 26 people and injured 17 others. As gruesome details of the terror attack came out to shake the public conscience, Pakistanis defied a ban on X to start hashtags like #ResignAsimMunir, #PakistanUnderMilitaryFascism, #UndeclaredMartialLaw, and #BoycottFaujiDhanda on Friday, April 25.
China
Reuters: Explosion in residential area in China's Shanxi kills at least one, state media reports
At least one person was killed and 21 others injured when an explosion rocked a residential area in northern China's Shanxi province, creating clouds of smoke and shattering glass in nearby buildings, state media reported on Wednesday. The blast occurred at around 1:17 p.m. (0517 GMT) in Shanxi's Taiyuan city, state broadcaster CCTV said, adding the cause was being investigated.
North Korea
Reuters: North Korea conducts first test firing of its new warship's weapons system
North Korea earlier this week conducted the first test-firing of the weapons system of the new "Choe Hyon-class" warship it recently unveiled, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday. Cruise and anti-air missiles were launched and artillery fired as part of the test-firing attended by leader Kim Jong Un and senior officials, the report said.
Algeria
Associated Press: Algeria drafts wartime mobilization bill amid regional tensions
Algeria’s government proposed a law to streamline military mobilization amid tensions with neighboring countries Morocco and Mali, as well as former colonial ruler France. The text, set to be unveiled on Wednesday by the North African country’s minister of justice, was approved by government ministers earlier this month.
Benin
Bloomberg: Jihadist Attacks Put Benin on Track for Deadliest Month
Benin is headed for its deadliest month of Islamist violence since militants linked to al-Qaeda began making inroads in the West African country in 2021. Over the past four months, at least 294 civilians, soldiers and militants were killed in conflict-linked attacks in Benin, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data – a nonprofit that monitors political violence.
Mali
A national political conference launched by Mali’s military regime has recommended naming junta leader Gen. Assimi Goita, who seized power following coups in 2020 and 2021, as president. Members of the national dialogue, held Tuesday in the capital Bamako, also recommended “the dissolution of political parties and the abolition of the status of opposition leader.”
Nigeria
Improvised explosive devices detonated on a road in northeastern Nigeria killing at least 26 people in several vehicles, including women and children, police said Tuesday. An Islamic State group affiliate in the West African country claimed responsibility for the Monday attack.
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