Eye on Extremism: October 29, 2026
Top Stories
Reuters: Iran’s hidden web of military agencies is slipping hardware past the US blockade
Iran has harnessed a military-financial complex of 5,000 agencies to bring in components, explosives and heavy-duty trucks critical to its drone and missile programs. Even during the war, deliveries reached Iran by land, sea and air.
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Warns Gulf of Possible Short, Intense Renewal of Iran War After Midterms
The U.S. has told several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign after the U.S. midterm elections, people briefed on the conversations said.
CEP Mentions
BR24: Sabotage? Investigations against two Belarusians in Bavaria
For Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the transatlantic research organization Counter Extremism Project (CEP), the recent arrests demonstrate the extent of Russian sabotage networks. Germany is “not only a target, but also, in a sense, an operational base and retreat for some parts of these networks,” Schindler told BR.
Alongside “terror-financing” through “blood antiquities,” Constanza Musu shows the insidious impact of “art for war” and how it devastates our physical and cultural footprint. Her third domain is highly original and exceptionally well-researched. The author agrees with the counter extremism expert, Hans-Jakob Schindler, that it is “both an analysis and a warning.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Allegations of Islamism - Is Marburg honoring the wrong person here?
Security expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) speaks with Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Two Belarusians are suspected of planning an arson attack in the greater Nuremberg area. New details have now emerged: The perpetrators were carrying fuel, and their target was likely a power line or railway line in western Middle Franconia. CEP Senior Director Hans-Jakob Schindler comments on the attack to NN.de.
Analysis
Arab citizens cannot be approached as potential partners only when their votes become necessary, while the harder conversation about their place in the country is postponed until another election.
United States
New York Times: Justice Dept. Turns Civil Rights Group’s Informant Against It
Lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center say that federal prosecutors capitalized on the informant’s money problems and exposure to indictment to persuade him to assist the government.
Fox 4 KDFW: Texas man sentenced to 25 years for smuggling meth into prisons using drones
A Little Elm man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to what federal prosecutors describe as a conspiracy involving drones used to drop methamphetamine and cellphones at a Texas prison. The contraband was allegedly resold to inmates by members of a white supremacist gang.
The FBI waited until an autistic Egyptian teenager turned 18, then sent a paid informant to groom him into an alleged ISIS-inspired attack plot using propaganda the bureau produced itself, his lawyer has told a federal court.
Canada
CBC: London police hate crime unit investigates video of man confronting woman wearing hijab
The London Police Service’s hate crime unit is investigating an incident involving a man who told a woman wearing a hijab that Muslims do not belong in Canada.
United Kingdom
Courthouse News: British far-right activist convicted of harassing journalists
A jury on Wednesday convicted the British far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by Tommy Robinson, of two counts of harassment causing fear of violence in a case involving two MailOnline journalists who said his messages and social media posts made them fear violence.
The Ferret: Scottish neo-Nazi fight club hosted activist who threatened to rape poltician’s wife
The founder of a Canadian “extremist, militia-like organisation” visited far right allies in Scotland. Critics question why a “dangerous individual" was allowed to enter the country.
Germany
Reuters: German police arrest two suspected of planning sabotage attacks for Russia: Media
Police have arrested two Belarusian nationals suspected of planning sabotage attacks on behalf of Russia in southern Germany, Spiegel magazine said on Wednesday, citing security sources. The suspects allegedly planned to start fires near a railway line and a power transmission line, Spiegel said.
Italy
Italien.news: Suspected Terrorist: 22-Year-Old Planned Attacks in Milan
The Carabinieri arrested a 22-year-old man in the province of Milan. An arrest warrant was issued against him on suspicion of training for terrorist purposes. The young man is alleged to have developed detailed plans for attacks on a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic place of worship in the Milan area.
ANSA: Girl put into care after allegedly contacting ISIS, spreading jihadist propaganda
State police on Thursday executed a warrant to put an Albanian girl living in the Sicilian province of Ragusa into a care home over allegations she contacted ISIS and spread jihadist propaganda online. The girl allegedly posted videos of summary executions of prisoners by Islamist terrorists, material glorifying Daesh, and manuals on self-training and the manufacture of homemade explosives.
France
Le Monde: Violent far-right groups stormed French streets during October 24 protests
On social media, far-right identitarian and revolutionary nationalist activists responded to the violence that occurred over the weekend of October 17 by calling for the defense of local shopkeepers, while spreading racist rhetoric.
The New Arab: France launches probe into calls to kill Muslims on X
French prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into death threats against Muslims and racist hate speech broadcast during a live discussion on social media platform X, according to French media reports on Tuesday.
Reuters: Macron accuses French far right of fomenting spread of racism
President Emmanuel Macron has accused far-right politicians including in Marine Le Pen's National Rally of fostering an “atmosphere of racism” across France, days after a racially motivated killing in a Paris suburb.
Iraq
Shafaq: Suspected ISIS militants kidnap civilian in Kirkuk’s Hawija
ISIS militants abducted a civilian from Al-Sayha village in Kirkuk’s Hawija district late Wednesday, taking advantage of poor visibility caused by adverse weather, a local source told Shafaq News on Thursday.
Reuters: Three French nationals jailed for life in Iraq for Islamic State ties
Three French nationals were sentenced to life in prison in Iraq on Thursday for belonging to Islamic State, with their lawyers and French embassy representatives present at the hearing, a court statement said. The three were among 47 French Islamic State suspects transferred from detention facilities in northeast Syria to Iraq last year.
Shafaq: Iraq’s Albu Nimr tribe marks ISIS massacre anniversary
Members of Iraq’s Albu Nimr tribe, a Sunni Arab clan targeted by ISIS for resisting the group in the western province of Al-Anbar, marked the 12th anniversary of the massacre of hundreds of their relatives on Wednesday, renewing calls for compensation and a memorial honoring the victims.
Serbia
Asharq Al-Aswat: Serbia: ‘ISIS Supporter’ Killed after Attacking Guard Outside Israeli Embassy
Serbian police killed an attacker outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade on Wednesday after an officer was targeted in a "terrorist attack", outgoing Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said. "A minor whose identity has yet to be established... attacked a member of the police with two knives," Dacic said, also raising the terrorism threat to its highest level.
Afghanistan
UN News: Afghanistan opium production jumps fivefold as farmers find ways round Taliban ban
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that the area planted with opium poppy grew by 330 per cent, to more than 43,000 hectares, up from about 10,000 hectares in 2025. Estimated production rose by 400 per cent, from about 300 tonnes to just under 1,500 tonnes.
After the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, Basir Arian had set up an online English study programme for girls when they were banned from attending school. When he was summoned to the Taliban headquarters, he knew he had to go. To defy them meant death. The torture left him devastated and sure he had to leave the country.
KabulNow: Taliban Detains Two More Civilians in Panjshir as Crackdown Intensifies
The Taliban have detained two more civilians in Afghanistan’s Panjshir province, local sources said, as the group intensifies its crackdown on residents of the province following an explosion in the area claimed by an anti-Taliban group.
Iran
Iran targets art, sports events where women defy hijab rules
As growing numbers of Iranian women appear in public without headscarves, authorities are pursuing organizers of cultural and sporting events over alleged violations of mandatory hijab rules.
Pakistan
Reuters: Pakistan court jails prominent rights couple for 10 years, family says
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday sentenced prominent human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison in a security breach case, her family said. Mazari, who has won international recognition for speaking out against the disappearances of political activists and for defending minorities and journalists, and Chattha have drawn support from rights groups that have condemned their imprisonment.
Mali
At least 13 civilians were killed in an overnight drone strike by Mali’s military earlier this week near the border with Mauritania, local human rights activists and a separatist armed group said Wednesday.
Australia
ABC News: NT teen charged with collecting documents likely to facilitate terrorist act
A teenager has been remanded in custody in the Northern Territory after being charged with a series of terrorism and extremism offences. Police sources told the ABC the teenager — who cannot be legally identified — had allegedly expressed support for both the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and white supremacist Brenton Tarrant.
Nine News: Teenager charged with terror, extremist offences
A teenager from Darwin could face years in prison after being charged with terrorism and extremism charges. The boy was allegedly in charge of social media channels where he allegedly shared and talked about violent extremist material.
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