Eye on Extremism: August 21, 2025
Top Stories
Eastleigh Voice: UN calls for unity, support on day of remembrance for terrorism victims
The United Nations has called on everyone to listen, support, and act alongside victims of terrorism to build a more inclusive and peaceful future. This is as the world marks International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism today. It was set aside by a General Assembly resolution to honour and support the victims and survivors of terrorism and to promote and protect the full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Associated Press: Islamic State extremists exploit instability in Africa and Syria, UN experts say
Islamic State extremists are exploiting instability in Africa and Syria and remain a significant threat in Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe, U.N. counterterrorism experts said Wednesday. The militant group is now using advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, and social media, which poses a new challenge, the experts told a U.N. Security Council meeting.
CEP Mentions
Welt TV: Left-Wing Extremist Networks in Germany
Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director, CEP is interviewed on a left-wing extremist camp that is meeting in Frankfurt over the coming days. The camp brings together all the main players of left wing-extremist networks in Germany.
Analysis
Washington Institute: To Halt the Jihadist Advance in Somalia, Work with Turkey and the UAE
The empowered al-Qaeda affiliate is also still bent on attacking U.S. interests around the world. Last year, a federal court convicted an al-Shabab operative in New York of plotting a “9/11-style attack,” and in 2023, U.S. authorities charged an American citizen arrested in Kenya for attempting to join al-Shabab to attack the United States. Moreover, the UN has reported a budding tactical relationship in which the Yemeni Houthis transfer weapons and know-how to al-Shabab, while the Somali group agrees to ramp up piracy to support Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping. Seizing more territory in Somalia gives al-Shabab additional resources and infrastructure for such activities abroad.
CTC Sentinel: The Dangers of Overreliance on Generative AI in the CT Fight
The explosive rise in generative artificial intelligence (AI) use has sparked debate over its applicability in military domains such as counterterrorism (CT). This article critically evaluates the role of large language models (LLMs) in CT, arguing that their utility remains limited and potentially detrimental when applied indiscriminately. After providing a high-level overview of the mathematical foundations of LLMs, the article demonstrates how these tools can produce misleading or confidently incorrect outputs.
Jerusalem Post: An impossible dilemma: Will Israel take a partial deal or fight Hamas to the end?
Hamas’ earlier willingness to consider a partial deal—releasing half of the hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire—has complicated matters. Netanyahu must now decide whether to reject such a deal and gamble that occupying Gaza City will force Hamas’ surrender. Families of the hostages are also split. Some believe intensified military pressure will bring their loved ones home; others fear it could doom them to death inside tunnels beneath the city.
A massacre of Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has shone a spotlight on extremist groups operating across central Africa. This type of massacre is not new. Extremist groups, some of them linked to the Islamic State or ISIS, have been operating across parts of Africa for many years.
United States
Reuters: FBI warns of Russian hacks targeting US critical infrastructure
Hackers associated with some of Russia’s most prolific cyber espionage units have over the last year been leveraging a vulnerability in older Cisco software to target thousands of networking devices associated with critical infrastructure IT systems, the FBI and Cisco said on Wednesday. Hackers working within the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Center 16 are extracting “device configuration information en masse, which can later be leveraged as needed based on then-current strategic goals and interests of the Russian government,” Cisco Talos researchers Sara McBroom and Brandon White wrote in a threat advisory, opens new tab published to the company’s blog.
A speechwriter who joined the Department of Homeland Security in March has in the past promoted the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory that is widely considered antisemitic and compared conservatives in the United States to Jews in Nazi Germany. The baseless theory alleges that a shadowy cabal is working to replace white people with non-white immigrants; in a prominent version of the theory, which is frequently repeated, the cabal is Jewish. The theory has inspired multiple extremist attacks, including the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and a shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in 2022, and the Anti-Defamation League considers the version prevalent in the United States to be antisemitic.
Jerusalem Post: Crown Heights residents defy radical antisemitic, anti-Chabad rally in New York
A protest by a radical anti-Chabad group held in Crown Heights on the Tuesday anniversary of a 1991 antisemitic riot was met with defiance by African-American residents and Jewish neighborhood watch groups. Crown Heights Bites Back organized the rally ostensibly as a vigil for Gavin Cato, a seven-year-old from the Guyanese immigrant community who was killed in a 1991 traffic accident by a driver attempting to follow Chabad leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s motorcade. A three-day riot ensued, in which two people were killed and Jewish homes and stores were attacked.
MSNBC: Trump is turning the FBI away from investigating terrorism and corruption, sources say
The FBI was once known for taking down gangsters like Bonnie and Clyde. But in recent years, its targets have been more like the Boston Marathon bombers. After the Sept. 11 attacks, then-Director Robert Mueller reorganized the bureau around national security and intelligence, with the top priority stopping another terrorist attack on American soil. Now the Trump administration is changing that, as Trump-appointed FBI Director Kash Patel is moving to reorder the agency’s priorities with little input from Congress or the public.
New York Times: International Criminal Court Criticizes New U.S. Sanctions Against It
The International Criminal Court on Wednesday condemned a decision by the Trump administration to impose further sanctions on its judges in retaliation for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders and investigating the U.S. military.
WJBC: White nationalist rally flyer sparks concern in Bloomington
A white nationalist rally could occur later this month in Bloomington, according to a flyer posted around the city and on social media. Facebook communities linked to the Twin Cities as well as the Illinois subreddit posted images of the pink flyer with a white nationalist symbol on top. The flyer claims there will be a march in the downtown area during the Farmer’s Market on Aug. 30.
Canada
CBC: Investigation underway into video of Canadian soldiers doing Nazi salutes
Canada's military says it's investigating a group of soldiers caught on video doing Nazi salutes. It comes after the arrests of two other members on terrorism charges, but one researcher told CBC News it's hard to know if extremism in the ranks is getting worse or just being reported more often.
Austria
Jerusalem Post: Jewish family kicked out of Vienna Uber, driver calls them 'child murderers'
A Jewish family was violently ejected from an Uber taxi in Vienna last week when the driver discovered that some of the passengers were from Israel, the Antisemitism Reporting Center of the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG) announced on Monday.
Germany
Basically, the classification of the AfD and an AfD ban procedure are two different things. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution acts as an authority, as an "early warning system for democracy". An AfD ban, on the other hand, can only be issued by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe after a complex procedure, and it can also be assumed that the Federal Constitutional Court will examine the "very strict legal consequences" of a party ban even more closely than the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, says law professor Markus Ogorek. The report from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution alone would probably not be sufficient for an AfD party ban procedure. However, it could "serve as an important basis of argumentation and facts" for such proceedings.
Radio Bremen: Bremen police search apartments of suspected neo-Nazis
The items seized on Tuesday morning included knives, machetes, daggers, brass knuckles, telescopic batons and propaganda material. According to the police, the men and women, aged between 19 and 30, were members of a group called "weserems.aktion" and had become conspicuous since the end of last year. The group is classified as neo-Nazi and right-wing extremist by the Bremen Office for the Protection of the Constitution. "According to the information available, the group's actions are directed against the left-wing extremist scene in Bremen, which it aims to provoke", it says.
Telegraph: Neo-Nazi changes gender to serve sentence in women’s prison
A German neo-Nazi will be allowed to start serving an 18-month sentence in a women’s prison after he used a new government policy to register a change in gender. Sven Liebich, who has been photographed at far-Right rallies wearing a Nazi-style uniform, will be sent to the Chemnitz women’s prison in Saxony, according to FAZ, a German newspaper.
BBC: German controversy surrounds jail term for transgender far-right extremist
A controversy has broken out in Germany about whether a trans right-wing extremist should serve a prison sentence in a women's or a men's facility. In July 2023, Marla-Svenja Liebich was sentenced by the Halle District Court in Saxon-Anhalt to a total of one year and six months in prison without parole for extreme right incitement to hatred, defamation, and insult.
Deutsche Welle: The ongoing fight against racism in German football stadiums
Racism reared its ugly head again during the first round of the German Cup. Despite the efforts of the foobtall association, clubs and fan groups, it seems virtually impossible to completely eliminate the problem.
Jewish News Syndicate: German court: Holocaust memorial can deny entry to visitors wearing keffiyehs
A German court has ruled that the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial may lawfully refuse entry to visitors wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, upholding the site’s right to restrict political messaging on its grounds.
Russia
Citizen Tribune: Online behaviour under scrutiny as Russia hunts 'extremists'
Just like his peers, Russian teenager Artyom spends "half his life" online -- something that could soon become risky as a ban on searching for "extremist" content comes into force. Since launching its offensive in Ukraine in 2022, Russia has drastically restricted press freedom and freedom of speech online. But the new legislation takes digital surveillance even further.
United Kingdom
Telegraph: BBC wrong not to call Hamas terrorists, says former head of news
The BBC was wrong not to use the word “terrorist” to describe Hamas in its coverage of the Oct 7 attacks, the broadcaster’s former head of news has said. James Harding, who led the BBC’s news output between 2013 and 2018 and is now editor-in-chief of the Observer, took aim at the corporation for its decision not to use the term, arguing that “journalists shouldn’t censor words, but use them accurately”.
Telegraph: New Guildford pub bombing suspects identified
New forensic evidence has identified several prime suspects in the Guildford pub bombings and other IRA attacks in Britain during the Troubles. Four soldiers and one civilian were killed in the 1974 attacks at two Surrey pubs chosen because they were popular with British Army personnel from the nearby Pirbright barracks.
Gaza Strip
Jerusalem Post: Further Hamas ambushes to kidnap IDF soldiers expected, IDF officials say
IDF Southern Command officials assessed on Wednesday that more attacks similar to the one in the Khan Yunis sector, which surprised troops from the Kfir Brigade, are expected. Although the IDF claimed that Hamas no longer functions as a military force in areas captured by Israel, an organized-level terrorist attack was nevertheless carried out on Wednesday. Military sources estimated that evening that Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip would attempt to launch attacks on IDF posts in the buffer zone.
Naharnet: Hamas says Gaza conquest plan shows Israel's 'blatant disregard' for mediation
Palestinian militant group Hamas said Wednesday that Israeli military plans to conquer Gaza City showed its "blatant disregard" for efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the nearly two-year conflict.
Jewish News Syndicate: Hamas ‘death culture’ beyond comprehension, says founder’s son
Hamas’s embrace of “death culture” is beyond comprehension for much of the world, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the eldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, the founder of the terrorist group, told JNS on Tuesday.
Yousef spoke at a closed-door briefing hosted in Tel Aviv by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA), titled “Exposing and Expelling Hamas – The Ideology Behind October 7 and Hostage Warfare.”
Iran
CTC Sentinel: Tehran’s Homeland Option: Terror Pathways for Iran to Strike in the United States
The 12-day Iran war may be over, but the threat of Iranian reprisal attacks now looms large, and will for the foreseeable future. European authorities exposed plots in Sweden and Germany even as the war was being waged, and Israeli authorities issued a warning over potential attacks in the United Arab Emirates a couple of weeks later, specifically citing heightened concerns in the wake of the war with Iran. Iranian operatives or their agents could also attempt to carry out attacks inside the United States, leveraging what U.S. counterterrorism officials have describe as a “homeland option” developed over years.
Reuters: Iran holds military drills after big losses in war with Israel
Iran on Thursday launched its first solo military exercises since its June war with Israel, state media reported, seeking to reassert an image of strength after suffering heavy losses. Navy units of Iran's regular armed forces fired missiles and drones at open water targets in the Indian Ocean under the "Sustainable Power 1404" drill, state television reported.
Israel
New York Times: Israel Approves Settlements, a Blow to Faded Hopes for a Palestinian State
Israel gave final approval on Wednesday to a settlement project in the heart of the occupied West Bank that supporters and critics alike say will deal a major blow to the contiguity of territory that Palestinians hope will be part of a future independent state. The project, known as E1, was delayed for more than two decades, often following pressure by the United States. But the Trump administration has been far less critical of settlements than previous administrations, or most of the international community, which generally considers them to be illegal and obstacles to Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Reuters: Israel says it has taken first steps of military operation in Gaza City
Israel’s military announced the first steps of an operation to take over Gaza City on Wednesday and called up tens of thousands of reservists while the government considered a new ceasefire proposal to pause nearly two years of war. "We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," Brigadier General Effie Defrin, Israel's military spokesperson, told reporters.
Reuters: Israel maintains military pressure on Gaza City ahead of planned offensive
The Israeli military maintained its pressure on Gaza City with heavy bombardments overnight, residents said, ahead of a Thursday meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers on plans to seize the enclave's largest city. The military a day earlier called up 60,000 reservists in a sign that the government was pressing ahead with the plan, despite international condemnation. Although one military official said that most reservists would not serve in combat and that the strategy to take Gaza City had not yet been finalised.
Jerusalem Post: Hamas breach exposes IDF's pre-Oct. 7 mentality after 22 months of war
On Wednesday, Hamas fighters penetrated an IDF military defensive position around Khan Yunis. Although in the end, only three IDF soldiers were wounded and 15 Hamas terrorists were killed, and the military regained control of the position relatively rapidly, the very fact of Hamas penetrating deep into the position 22 months after the IDF thought it had learned the lessons of being overconfident on defense on October 7, 2023, has shaken the defense establishment. How did Hamas pull it off?
Times of Israel: IDF acknowledges ‘failure’ in Hamas attack on south Gaza army encampment
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that it was a “failure” that Hamas gunmen managed to breach an army encampment — including a building where troops were stationed — the previous day in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, despite the soldiers managing to fight back and successfully repel the attack, killing around 15 of the operatives. According to the findings of an IDF probe of the incident, the Hamas operatives emerged from a tunnel some 40-50 meters from the military post, which served troops of the Kfir Infantry Brigade and the 188th Armored Brigade’s 74th Battalion.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Palestinian camps in Lebanon to start disarming today
Armed Palestinian groups in Lebanese refugee camps will start handing over their weapons to the authorities on Thursday, a joint committee said, following a deal reached in May. "Today marks the beginning of the first phase of the process of handing over weapons from inside the Palestinian camps," Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee chairman Ramez Dimashkieh said in a statement.
Times of Israel: IDF strikes Hezbollah targets as UNIFIL, Lebanon army find tunnel in south Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday night said it struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced its observers and Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers located a tunnel, apparently belonging to the terror group. Among the targets struck by Israel were weapon depots and a rocket launcher, according to the military. The presence of the Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon was a violation of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, the IDF said, referring to a November 2024 truce deal.
Naharnet: Aoun says Lebanon committed to implementing disarmament decision
President Joseph Aoun stressed Thursday that “the decision taken by Cabinet on arms monopoly has been informed to all brotherly and friendly countries and the U.N.” “Lebanon is committed to implementing it in a manner that preserves the interest of all Lebanese,” Aoun added, in a Baabda meeting with Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki.
Naharnet: Hezbollah vowed to keep things calm at least until August end, report says
Hezbollah is not against a vote in Cabinet on disarming it, local MTV news channel said, adding that according to its sources, the group is against setting a timetable for its disarmament. Cabinet had tasked this month the army with developing a plan to disarm Hezbollah by year end and tackled a U.S. proposal that includes a timetable for Hezbollah's disarmament.
Syria
Reuters: Senior ISIS member killed in US military operation in Syria, official says
A pre-dawn U.S. military raid in northwestern Syria early on Wednesday targeted and killed a senior member of the Islamic State group, a U.S. official told Reuters. It was the second known raid in northern Syria by U.S. troops since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December. The Islamist-led government that replaced him has pledged to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State and is part of an anti-ISIS alliance that includes the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group. The U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the raid killed a senior ISIS member who was seen as a candidate to be the leader of ISIS in Syria.
Times of Israel: Four IDF soldiers lightly wounded by blast of old munitions in southern Syria
Four soldiers were lightly injured by a blast apparently caused by an old Syrian grenade during operations in southern Syria on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said. The military said the troops were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Turkey
Reuters: Turkish ports raise new barriers to Israel-linked ships, sources say
Turkish port authorities have begun informally requiring shipping agents to provide letters declaring that vessels are not linked to Israel and not carrying military or hazardous cargo bound for the country, according to two shipping sources. The move is another step Turkey has taken against Israel after it last year severed trade with the country, worth $7 billion annually, over its war in Gaza with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Bangladesh
Business Standard: Extremism must not be allowed to grow, warns Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has warned that a form of extremism is on the rise in Bangladesh and must not be allowed to grow, as it poses a threat to the country's very spirit and existence.
India
IOL: Al-Qaeda affiliate suspected in Dehli blast
A powerful bomb placed in a briefcase outside the High Court in New Delhi killed at least 11 people and wounded 76 on Wednesday in an attack authorities said was claimed by a South Asian militant group linked to al-Qaeda. The bomb dug a crater three to four feet deep near the main reception counter where passes are issued for lawyers and visitors to enter the sprawling sandstone building before the main security checkpoint.
Pakistan
Pakistan on Wednesday highlighted a global policy blindspot at the United Nations Security Council that was allowing right-wing and fascist movements to fuel extremist violence without attracting the same level of scrutiny as Muslim groups, despite posing serious threats in various parts of the world.
Sri Lanka
Tamil Guardian: UN expert slams Sri Lanka’s targeting of Tamil journalist under anti-terror probe
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, has expressed concern over the interrogation of Tamil journalist and human rights defender Kanapathipillai Kumanan by Sri Lanka’s Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division (CTID). “Hearing disturbing news from #SriLanka: HRD & journalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan was interrogated by the Counter Terrorism & Investigation Division for documenting Tamil community issues, peaceful protests & land rights. This inquiry targets legitimate journalism, international engagement & the protection of human rights,” Lawlor said in a statement on X.
Congo
BBC: DR Congo rebels killed 140 civilians despite peace process, rights group says
M23 rebels killed at least 140 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last month in one of the worst atrocities by the armed group since its resurgence in late 2021, Human Rights Watch has said in a report. This is despite a peace process, brokered by the US and Qatar, to end the conflict in the region. Witnesses told the advocacy group that the Rwanda-backed rebels "summarily executed" local residents, including women and children, largely from the Hutu ethnic group in the Rutshuru area, near the Virunga National Park.
Mali
Reuters: Al Qaeda-linked group says 21 soldiers killed in widescale attacks in Mali
Al Qaeda-linked militants killed 21 soldiers during coordinated attacks in Mali on Tuesday, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization that tracks online reports by Islamist militants. Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) said it captured two soldiers, seized 15 military vehicles and more than 50 weapons during the "widescale" operation. Mali's army declined to provide a toll on Wednesday but said its outposts in Farabougou and Biriki-Were came under "simultaneous attack" early on Tuesday, according to a military statement.
Sudan
Reuters: Sudan's warring factions trade blame over strike on aid convoy in Darfur
The warring parties in Sudan's civil war have traded blame for an attack on a U.N. World Food Programme convoy trying to bring aid to an area of North Darfur where fighting and blockades have led to deadly hunger. The convoy was hit north of the city of al-Fashir, the army's only holdout in the wider Darfur region where an estimated 300,000 remaining residents have been subject to a long siege by the rival Rapid Support Forces as fighting rages.
Technology
USA Today: Two students found each other in online hate communities. Both became school shooters
An investigation charts how two school shooters followed similar arcs. They joined online extremist chats and months later carried out attacks of their own.
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