Eye on Extremism: August 25, 2026
Top Stories
Reuters: US removes Syria from terrorism sponsor list, lifting major investment obstacle
The United States removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, lifting what Damascus says was the last major impediment to investing in the country as Washington deepens ties to the new Syrian government.
An official from the US-backed Board of Peace says in a statement that “all militant activity” in Gaza, including kite flying, must stop, and that Israel must comply with the ceasefire in the Strip, after Jerusalem threatened a forceful response if the Hamas terror group revives a tactic of launching incendiary kites over the border.
CEP Mentions
BR24: Merz threatens after drone incident: perpetrators "will pay for it"
Hans-Jakob Schindler of the transatlantic think tank Counter Extremism Project believes that, given the complexity of the suspected attack, it is very likely a state actor is behind it. Russia is the prime suspect, Schindler told BR.
Analysis
Eurasia Review: TTP: The Thorn In Pakistan’s Throat – Analysis
On August 19, 2026, a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist, Abdullah, was killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Bajaur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). On August 17, 2026, five Fitna-al-Khawarij (FaK, a state term for TTP) terrorists, including Ayub aka Ayubi, a highly wanted terrorist with a PKR 9 million bounty on his head, were killed during an IBO in the Domel area of Bannu District in KP.
The report calls the graphic accounts of the rape of Israeli women on October 7, 2023, "fabricated" and intended to depict Palestinian men "as barbaric and depraved."
United States
The criminal trial of a former Libyan intelligence official charged in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 was postponed by a federal judge Monday after defense attorneys said they received new evidence over the weekend from prosecutors.
The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, distanced himself Monday from progressive commentator Hasan Piker, who suggested that some pro-Israel rhetoric may lead to backlash against American Jews.
Forward: The far right is more dangerous to Jews than the far left. A historian explains why.
When Jewish leaders speak out these days, it’s often to blast the anti-Israel actions of one Democratic Socialists of America politician or another. Given all the attention — and the millions of dollars raised within the Jewish community to help defeat these candidates — you’d think the greatest existential threat to American Jews was coming from the left. But a new book by historian Steven Ross is here to tell you: You’d be mistaken.
A Detroit pastor’s claims that Dearborn is operating under “Sharia law” have ignited a fresh round of political and cultural debate in Michigan, as the city continues to face anti-Islam protests and scrutiny over the role of religion in public life.
CBS 6 News: Source cites mental illness as FBI says woman sought ISIS help to attack NY Capitol
Federal authorities say a woman arrested last week sought help from ISIS as part of an alleged plot to attack the New York State Capitol, raising new questions about her background and what led up to the case.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) said Monday that death threats against its office increased after White nationalist agitator Jake Lang appeared before the Dearborn City Council early last week.
Camp Modin has filed for an emergency protection order against a neighboring property owner in the wake of a shooting incident that sent the Maine Jewish summer camp into lockdown in early August. The August 7 incident began with an angry verbal confrontation over a damaged tractor and quickly escalated into gunfire, forcing hundreds of children and staff members to shelter while roughly 20 rounds from a semi-automatic rifle were discharged in various directions, including toward a basketball court at the back of the camp.
A rally was held in Surfside to thank local police and Flanigan's restaurant after a man accused of attacking a Jewish couple was arrested and fired from his job. The #EndJewHatred movement organized the event, calling Flanigan's decision to fire the suspect a model for other companies to follow.
SILive: NYPD investigating antisemitic graffiti amid rising hate crimes on Staten Island
Police are investigating a report of antisemitic graffiti discovered two weeks ago in Meiers Corners amid a rise in hate crimes this year on Staten Island. A 50-year-old man told police that he found four swastikas etched into his fence near Oakville and Soren streets on Aug. 10 at about 5 p.m., according to a statement from the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.
Canada
Fox News: Muslim Brotherhood foothold in Canada is 'well advanced,' antisemitism expert warns
Charles A. Small, founding director and president of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, told Fox News Digital that Muslim Brotherhood "entryism" is "well advanced" in Canada.
A protest speaker said that Zionists rape, kill, and eat children, and he invoked other conspiracy theories at a demonstration in the Jewish neighborhood of Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West in Toronto yesterday.
Dominican Republic
Jerusalem Post: Dominican Republic announces adoption of IHRA antisemitism definition
The government of the Dominican Republic will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, Dominican President Luis Abinader said Monday at the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s sixth-annual Latin American Forum Against Antisemitism in Santo Domingo.
Denmark
Denmark's left-wing prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has sent shock waves throughout the European left after recent comments about the Scandinavian nation's — and the continent's — failure to deal with radical Islam among migrant communities.
Poland
Polish far-right leader Grzegorz Braun has been charged with denying Nazi crimes, a criminal offence in Poland that carries a prison sentence of up to three years. The charges relate to statements last year in which Braun, who has a long history of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, suggested that the gas chambers at Auschwitz, which was the Nazis’ main killing centre during the Holocaust, are “fake”.
United Kingdom
The National: London launches back-to-school online extremism training
Pupils returning for the new school year in London are to be trained in detecting and resisting the spread of extremism online. Instruction on how to challenge anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hate is part of a new initiative by Sadiq Khan, mayor of London.
Counter Terror Business: Record funding to help Londoners fight hate and extremism
The Mayor of London has announced record new funding to help Londoners stand up to hate and extremism following a rise in antisemitic and anti Muslim hate. Since the beginning of 2026, the Community Security Trust has recorded a 24 per cent increase in the number of antisemitic incidents in London. Meanwhile, Tell Mama has reported increases in anti-Muslim hate in the capital, with more incidents in the first six months of 2026 than in all of 2023 and the British Muslim Trust reported nine separate mosque attacks in London in the last 12 months.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Afghanistan Will Not Submit To Pakistan, Says Taliban Minister
Taliban Rural Rehabilitation and Development Minister Abdul Latif Mansoor says Pakistan supported the group’s war against the United States, but Islamabad should not expect the Taliban to accept “servitude” in return.
The Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organisation says the Taliban publicly flogged 2,745 people, including women, across Afghanistan between February 2022 and April 2026, documenting 634 separate public flogging incidents.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Detains Local Artist For Mourning NRF Commander Hasib Panjshiri
Sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence detained local singer Sayed Ghafar Agha at his home in Kabul’s 15th district after he posted a video mourning the death of NRF commander Hasib Panjshiri.
Kabul Tribune: Badakhshan Fighting Raises Risks for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
In Nusay district, Badakhshan province (northeast Afghanistan), fighting began around August 11 between Taliban forces and followers of Juma Khan Fateh, a local Taliban commander of ethnic Tajik origin who had resisted efforts to disarm his network. The Armed Conflict Location and Events Data Project (ACLED) identifies the immediate trigger as an attempt to remove military equipment and vehicles from areas under Fateh’s control, amid longer-running tensions over disarmament, local authority, and control of gold mining.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Leader Dismisses Controversial Governor Of Badakhshan
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid says the group leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has dismissed Mohammad Ismail Ghaznawi as governor of Badakhshan. According to him Rahmatullah Najib, a deputy interior minister, is appointed as his replacement.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Hamas and groups affiliated with the terrorist organization must end extrajudicial executions of suspected collaborators with Israel, Amnesty International demanded on Friday, accusing the organization of unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, and reprisals against Palestinian families.
The most senior Israel Defense Forces officer in the West Bank warned during a closed-door security assessment on Monday that mounting settler violence could ignite a broader escalation in the territory, Channel 12 reported.
Reuters: Gaza parents urged to stop kids flying kites after Israel warning to Hamas
Gaza parents have been warned to stop their children flying kites in the war-ravaged enclave, after Israel threatened a forceful response if the Hamas militant group revives a tactic of launching incendiary kites over the border.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the hunt for terrorists involved in the October 7, 2023, onslaught continues in the Gaza Strip, despite calls by the US-led Board of Peace to limit strikes to “immediate threats.”
Times of Israel: AFP says West Bank settlers attacked its journalists
Israeli settlers in the West Bank attacked AFP journalists reporting on tension with Palestinians, in violence that left at least five people injured, the reporters and medics say.
Israel
The Board of Peace (BoP) has conveyed a message to Hamas in recent days through Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators, demanding that the terrorist organization halt the launching of kites and all other activity directed at Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered the dismantlement of a vocational training center run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in the East Jerusalem area of Kafr Aqab, hours after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced the move.
Times of Israel: ‘Hair-raising’: Oct. 7 bereaved families say Israel again downplaying Hamas threat
A damning independent report published Monday, citing soldiers and security officials, alleged that “warning lights” that went unheeded in the run-up to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack were once again flashing, but that individuals in the security establishment were afraid to speak up about the country’s unpreparedness.
Syria
AFP: Sharaa says Syria ‘shakes off a dark stain’ with removal from US terror list
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa hailed early on Tuesday the removal of his country from the state sponsors of terror list by the United States, a major sanctions relief step.
Arab News Pakistan: Saudi Arabia welcomes US decision to remove Syria from terrorism list
Saudi Arabia welcomed on Tuesday the United States’ decision to remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, the Foreign Ministry said.
The New Arab: Syria struggling to deal with attacks on security forces
Although the intensity of military confrontations has declined across most of Syria, attacks targeting security and military forces continue to occur, following a pattern of smaller, asymmetric operations. These range from bus bombings and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to individual assassinations and ambushes.
Yemen
Arab News: Houthis interrogate UNICEF worker after more than 800 days in detention
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis began questioning a Yemeni UN health worker on Monday after holding him for more than 800 days, as his wife accused his captors of torturing him and attempting to force him to confess to espionage.
Yemen Online: Houthis Announce Strike on Saudi Oil Tanker, Military Build-Up in Hadramout
Yemen’s Houthi movement announced Monday that its forces targeted a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea and carried out military operations against troop concentrations in Hadramout province, eastern Yemen. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a statement broadcast by the group’s Al-Masirah TV that the Saudi tanker “Amzan” was struck north of the Red Sea off Yanbu with a ballistic missile, causing a fire onboard.
Yemen Online: Houthis Shell Four Villages in Yemen's Hudaydah, Sparking Civilian Panic
The Houthi armed group launched a heavy bombardment on Monday targeting four residential villages north of Hays district in Yemen’s Hudaydah governorate, firing more than 20 mortar shells that damaged homes and triggered widespread fear among residents.
Caliber: Newspaper: Houthis plan to expand Red Sea blockade of Saudi Arabia
The Houthi-controlled authorities in Yemen are reportedly planning to intensify military pressure on Saudi Arabia, including by expanding a maritime blockade in the Red Sea, according to the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, which cited a military source familiar with the situation.
Nigeria
Reuters: Nigeria's president orders rescue after mass kidnapping
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered the military and other security agencies on Tuesday to launch an immediate rescue operation after scores of people were kidnapped by gunmen in north-central Niger State last week.
Truth Nigeria: Jihadist Mob War: Lakurawa Punishes Rival Mahmuda in Borgu Mosque Attacks
Hundreds of Lakurawa fighters stormed Borgu communities during Friday prayers, opening fire on worshippers accused of following a rival jihadist faction. A disturbing video released by Lakurawa shows hundreds of kidnapped Muslims — infants, women, and elderly men — held in a forest clearing.
Vanguard: Terrorists now using crowdfunding networks to raise funds — NFIU
The 2026 Annual Nigeria Financial Intelligence Report has revealed that terrorists and extremist groups are increasingly using crowdfunding networks to raise funds for their criminal activities.
South Sudan
Two U.N. peacekeepers from Ethiopia killed in South Sudan ambush
Two U.N. peacekeepers from Ethiopia were killed and seven other people injured in an ambush on Monday in South Sudan's Jonglei State, bringing to nine the number of peacekeepers killed in the line of duty worldwide this year, the United Nations said.
Japan
Japan Times: Japan to set up expert panel on anti-terrorism
The government on Monday compiled an action plan to address terrorism involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive, or CBRNE, materials.
Philippines
Manila Times: DICT highlights ways to fight violent extremism
THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it is intensifying its efforts against Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) and other harmful online content.
Australia
A prominent member of the Victorian chapter of the far-right white supremacist National Socialist Network has died amid claims he took his own life. Timothy Lutze, 36, was facing charges relating to the alleged attack on Melbourne’s indigenous encampment Camp Sovereignty which occurred during a controversial March for Australia protest in August last year.
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