Eye on Extremism: October 30, 2025
Top Stories
Wall Street Journal: Al Qaeda Is on the Brink of Taking Over a Country
Al Qaeda militants are moving closer to seizing the capital of the West African nation of Mali, which, should the city fall, would become the first country in the world run by the U.S.-designated terrorist group. The rapid advance of the jihadists in Africa comes after Islamist groups took power in both Afghanistan and Syria, but, if they take Bamako, it would be the first time militants with direct and current connections to al Qaeda achieve such a feat.
Reuters: Afghanistan and Pakistan restart peace talks in Istanbul, sources say
Afghanistan and Pakistan have resumed peace talks in Istanbul, four sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, a day after Islamabad said the discussions had ended in failure. Three of the sources said the nations had recommenced talks at the request of mediators Turkey and Qatar, to ensure they do not resume border clashes that have killed dozens this month.
CEP Mentions
Euro News: Hybrid war or holy war: Do IS and Russia share the same playbook?
Russia targets not only nationalists but also those on the margins of society. The ideal "low-level agent" is either ideologically motivated or seeking financial security, Dr Hans Jakob Schindler, head of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), explained.
Aftonbladet: Nazis charged after night of violence – "fed with blows"
The network is inspired by the conspiracy theory of a people exchange and wants to see a strengthened “racial awareness” among whites. A warrior ideal is advocated and members are urged to prepare for a coming race war, according to a report by American extremist researchers in Just Security. The concept has spread quickly and is now present in at least 20 countries with over 100 groups globally and in most American states, according to the organization The Counter Extremism Project.
Analysis
Times of Israel: Giving Hamas hope, Gaza’s future rests on three somewhat contradictory documents
The first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza is still in effect, but it remains so only because of a concerted diplomatic effort from the United States. Four senior officials from the Trump administration came through Israel last week to make sure the ceasefire did not collapse, even after a deadly Hamas attack on IDF soldiers in Rafah last week and the terror group’s failure to hand over most of the slain hostages it was holding.
United States
Reuters: US government shutdown stalls FBI investigations
FBI investigations have been slowed or stalled by the second-longest U.S. government shutdown in history, leaving the bureau without funds to pay informants or make undercover drug or gun buys, gaps that an FBI spokesperson said are putting national security at risk. The FBI does not provide detailed public information about how its $10.7 billion budget is spent and it is not clear how much of the total has been held up due to the shutdown, according to five current and three former FBI employees.
Jerusalem Post: Syracuse University chancellor: Iran 'encouraged' campus protests
Iran fostered protests at Syracuse University, the institution's chancellor, Kent Syverud, said at a Monday Alums for Campus Fairness panel, which also saw Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier assert that third-party-organized networks had exacerbated the campus unrest.
Columbus Jewish News: Neo-Nazi flyers spotted around Ohio State campus
Flyers promoting neo-Nazism were recently discovered and removed from The Ohio State University’s Columbus campus, according to Benjamin Johnson, assistant vice president of media and public relations at the university. A photo shared on X by StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) showed the flyers bearing the phrase “We are everywhere” alongside Nazi symbols, including a swastika.
The Guardian: Met museum sued by family over allegedly Nazi-looted Van Gogh painting
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is being sued by the heirs of a Jewish couple over a Vincent van Gogh oil painting they say was looted by the Nazis. The suit alleges the couple, Hedwig and Frederick Stern, bought the painting, Olive Picking, in 1935, the year before they were forced to flee their home in Munich.
Fox News: Antisemitic attacker faced 30-year sentence, gets less than 1½ years in plea deal
Tarek Bazrouk could have faced up to 30 years in prison for antisemitic attacks but will instead serve 17 months. The 20-year-old Palestinian American, who prosecutors say supports Hamas and Hezbollah, was charged with multiple federal hate crimes. He was accused of punching and kicking Jewish protesters at several pro-Israel rallies over a nine-month period in New York City, starting last year. He pleaded guilty to one count in a plea deal.
A conservative magazine at Harvard University was suspended by its board of directors Sunday amid scrutiny over an article published in September that closely resembled the rhetoric of Adolf Hitler. In its September print issue, the Harvard Salient published an article by student David F.X. Army that read “Germany belongs to the Germans, France to the French, Britain to the British, America to the Americans,” echoing the words Hitler used in a January 1939 speech to the Reichstag in which he forecasted that another world war would lead to the annihilation of Jews.
Sentinel: Reputed Aryan Brotherhood leader stabbed to death by inmates with Nazi tattoos
A reputed leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang was stabbed to death last week at Salinas Valley State Prison in Monterey County, authorities said. Todd "Fox" Morgan, 57, was attacked Thursday morning in a recreation yard by three inmates, officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement.
Fairfax County Public Schools, a district in Northern Virginia with almost 183,000 students in nearly 200 schools and centers, condemned videos that two Muslim Student Association chapters posted depicting staged kidnappings of those who refused to attend chapter meetings.
WBPF News: Man accused of sending antisemitic texts enters pretrial diversion program in Florida
A South Florida man accused of sending antisemitic text messages entered a pre-trial diversion program. According to court documents, Adam G. Elshazly, 44, entered a pretrial intervention program on May 8.
Canada
Global News: Halifax youth allegedly involved in extremist online group has court date Thursday
A Halifax youth facing child pornography charges for allegedly being involved in an online extremist group has a court date this morning. Halifax police accuse the youth of being a member of an international extremist group that coerces children into harming themselves and engaging in sexual activity on camera.
Europe
Reuters: Dutch election: Wilders' losses do not herald decline of European far-right
As he celebrated his party’s election surge, Dutch centrist leader Rob Jetten declared voters had "turned the page" on Geert Wilders, an anti-immigration campaigner and a leading figure of European right-wing populism for two decades. A closer look suggests otherwise. Although Wilders' Freedom Party is set to lose seats and return to opposition, it still set to tie Jetten's D66 as the biggest faction in the Dutch parliament.
France
Associated Press: A French trial examines Holocaust Memorial graffiti believed linked to Russia
Three Bulgarian men are on trial in Paris this week for alleged involvement in spray-painting blood-red hands on the city’s Holocaust Memorial, an act of vandalism that French intelligence services link to a campaign by Russia to destabilize France and other Western societies.
Politico: For first time ever, French parliament backs text pushed by Le Pen’s far right
France’s National Assembly on Thursday adopted a text put forward by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally for the first time in history, raising questions about the risk of normalizing the far-right party.
Germany
The Guardian: German dentists hold memorial recognising sadistic practices of profession under Nazis
German dentists have offered a belated acknowledgment of their profession’s brutal practices under the Nazis, admitting broad “systemic” involvement in crimes at concentration camps, including sadistic tooth extractions, human experiments, forced sterilisations and murder.
Reuters: On the rise in Germany, far-right AfD deepens ties to Trump administration
Germany's far-right AfD party, long shunned at home, is courting support in Washington, leveraging ties to MAGA personalities who have risen to senior roles in the Trump administration. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), classified as extremist by Germany's domestic intelligence service and ostracised by mainstream parties, has held meetings with senior U.S. State Department officials in recent months — a rare move for a far-right opposition party in an allied country, according to a current and a former U.S. official and a German government source.
AFP: German neo-Nazi rappers push hate speech, disinfo on TikTok
Far-right German-language rappers are flouting hate speech rules by spreading extremist rhetoric and disinformation on platforms such as TikTok, an AFP investigation found.
Italy
Fox News: Hamas victim memorial featuring Shiri Bibas and sons targeted by vandals in Milan, Italy
A memorial mural dedicated to Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 10 months, who were kidnapped and brutally killed by Hamas terrorists while in captivity, was vandalized earlier this month during a memorial service for the victims of the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
Netherlands
Wall Street Journal: Dutch Hard-Right Leader Geert Wilders Set to Exit Power
Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders’s hard-right Freedom Party was on the brink of losing power after elections in the Netherlands on Wednesday, indicating that Europe’s populist politicians who draw strong support while in opposition can struggle once they are in government.
Sweden
AFP: Swedish hate-crime trial to focus on far-right 'fitness clubs'
Prosecutors say the four suspects were members of an "Active Club" -- loosely structured groups that meet in gyms and aim to promote white nationalist ideology. Robert Rundo, the founder of the US neo-Nazi Rise Above Movement (RAM), came up with the idea for the clubs while on the run in Europe. His group was also involved in the deadly 2017 Charlottesville riots.
United Kingdom
BBC: Cardiff priest admits sending racist messages
A Catholic priest who admitted discussing bombing mosques and shooting black people in the head in neo-Nazi online chatrooms has been sentenced to a 12-month community order. Father Mark Rowles, 57, admitted three counts of sending menacing or offensive messages using the Telegram app in May and June 2024.
Jerusalem Post: Leeds man sentenced in synagogue bomb hoax case just days after Manchester attack
A man who made a hoax bomb call to a Leeds synagogue just a few days after the Manchester Yom Kippur attack has been sentenced to 10 months in jail. Markel Ible called Sinai Synagogue in Roundhay on October 6, claiming to have left a bomb at the premises that would explode the next day. The call came just days after Jihad al-Shamie carried out a terror attack in Manchester that resulted in the death of two Jews.
The Telegraph: The Jewish academics living in fear of anti-Semitic hate mobs
The London School of Economics (LSE) event on October 16 – a discussion about sexual violence committed during the October 7 attacks (and other wars), led by Israeli academic Ruth Halperin-Kaddari – was the source of the fury. Within minutes of the venue being announced – for safety reasons, just a few hours before the talk began – an online call for an “emergency rally” spread rapidly across the university. Even the Feminist Society joined in the push.
The Telegraph: ‘Palestine Action vandal’ leads anti-Israel protest using prison phone
An activist who is accused of targeting an RAF base with Palestine Action has led anti-Israel protesters outside his jail using a phone from behind bars. Videos have emerged showing Muhammad Umer Khalid speaking via a phone from inside Wormwood Scrubs to protesters outside the jail with his voice amplified by a microphone. In one clip, he is seen leading a call-and-response with the demonstrators outside.
Russia
The Telegraph: Exploding Shahed drone toys sold to Russian children
Exploding toy replicas of deadly Shahed drones are being sold in Russia to children as young as three, The Telegraph can reveal. Ozon, one of Russia’s biggest e-commerce platforms, has listings for a hand-launched “toy airplane” that mimics the design of the long-range Iranian-made drone, which last week hit a nursery containing 48 children in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Afghanistan
India Today: Taliban releases video of Pak ISIS fighter detailing Lashkar-linked training
The Afghan Taliban have unveiled a confession video of a captured Pakistani ISIS fighter, shedding light on cross-border terror recruitment and training linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba. This revelation exposes the intricate networks facilitating infiltration and radicalisation across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Gaza Strip
Though ostensibly backed by Israel, the militias are not included in the White House’s comprehensive peace plan, which calls for a panel of technocrats to helm Gaza’s postwar future instead of Hamas, and it’s unclear if they can continue to hold any territory in the Strip once Israel pulls back. The PA has refused to acknowledge any ties with the militias, though it has engaged in talks with Hamas on the makeup of the technocratic committee, signaling that the terror group may continue to play a role in the Strip’s future.
Times of Israel: Qatari PM indicates Hamas violated Gaza ceasefire with deadly attack on IDF
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani indicated on Wednesday that Hamas violated the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday when it attacked IDF soldiers and killed a reservist. Al-Thani stopped short of specifically blaming Hamas, referring instead to “the Palestinian party.”
Jerusalem Post: Red Cross retrieves two hostages’ remains, en route to IDF troops in Gaza
The Red Cross has collected the remains of two hostages from Hamas and is en route to Israeli territory, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Thursday. This comes after Hamas stated that it will hand over the remains of two Gaza hostages at approximately 4 p.m. The IDF announced the handover at 4:46 p.m.
The Associated Press has analyzed a video released by Israel accusing Hamas of staging the discovery of remains of a hostage in Gaza. The video shows a white body bag being thrown out of a damaged building into a dug out area.
Iran
Iran International: Khamenei backed 2009 vote-rigging and crackdown, reformist cleric says
Iranian reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi accused Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of endorsing alleged rigging in the disputed 2009 presidential election and backing the deadly crackdown on the Green Movement protests which followed.
Iraq
Iraqi News: Iraq arrests ISIS terrorist involved in attacks on security forces
The Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) announced on Tuesday that it arrested an ISIS terrorist accused of planning attacks that killed 19 members of the Iraqi security forces. The INSS said in a statement that the terrorist, nicknamed Abu Mohammed, was arrested in Baghdad in a security operation by Iraqi security forces following extensive intelligence efforts that tracked his activities through several places until he was taken into custody, the state-run news agency (INA) reported.
Israel
Less than half of Israelis believe that Hamas is likely to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip and hand power over to a multinational ruling body, a survey conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute revealed on Monday.
A Palestinian terrorist who had been released several months ago during the hostage deal agreement earlier in 2025 was arrested on suspicion of production and distribution of explosives, Israel Police announced on Thursday.
Naharnet: Report: Netanyahu, Katz to hold security talks on Lebanon, Egyptian efforts
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz will hold a meeting with top security officials on Thursday evening to discuss “the latest developments on the border with Lebanon in addition to Hezbollah’s growing threats,” an Israeli media report said.
An American teenager held in an Israeli prison without trial for more than eight months will remain in detention for at least another week and a half, despite growing pressure from US lawmakers for his release. Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Palestinian-American from Palm Bay, Florida, was arrested by Israeli forces in February 2025 after being accused of throwing rocks at Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Ibrahim has told lawyers that he confessed to the accusations out of fear after he was beaten and threatened with more beatings.
Lebanon
Jerusalem Post: Lebanese president orders army to confront Israeli incursions after border raid
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun instructed the army commander on Thursday to confront any Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border overnight and killed a municipal employee, Lebanese state media reported.
Times of Israel: IDF troops raid southern Lebanon town before dawn, kill municipal employee
Israeli troops raided a town in southern Lebanon overnight and killed a municipal worker who was sleeping in the municipality building, Lebanese state media said Thursday morning. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the incident, saying it had opened fire on a suspect during an operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure in the town of Blida.
Naharnet: Hezbollah lauds Aoun's stance on Blida attack, urges govt. to 'act differently'
Hezbollah on Thursday condemned the "cold blooded" killing of a Blida municipality worker in an Israeli ground incursion, commending President Joseph Aoun for instructing the army to confront such raids. Charging that “the Zionist aggression against our country is happening with U.S. partnership and collusion,” Hezbollah said Washington grants the green light to “every Israeli escalation and every aggression with the aim of pressuring Lebanon to implement a malicious agenda and schemes that do not serve its national interest and do not preserve its sovereignty and strength elements.”
Israel killed Hussein Ali Tohmeh, a Hezbollah operative responsible for the terrorist group’s logistical support in the Qana region of southern Lebanon, on October 14, the IDF reported Wednesday.
Yemen
Yemen Online: AQAP Releases Video Alleging Spy Network in Yemen, Warns Against Espionage
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen, released a video on October 28, 2025, titled Sabil al-Rashad ("The Path of Guidance"). The hour-long production warns Yemenis against espionage and showcases AQAP’s claimed ability to detect and expose alleged informants working for foreign intelligence services, including the United States.
Yemen Online: Houthis Discuss Revival of Saudi-Backed Peace Roadmap with UN Envoy in Yemen
The Houthi Rebels in Yemen has held talks with the United Nations Special Envoy, Hans Grundberg, to explore ways to resume implementation of the Saudi-backed peace roadmap aimed at ending the country’s decade-long conflict.
Houthi militias have launched a wave of security raids in parts of Taiz Governorate following the reported defection of a prominent tribal sheikh who had previously aligned with the group. Local sources say the campaign targeted homes and gathering places of individuals suspected of sympathizing with the dissident leader, sparking fear and unrest in affected communities.
Pakistan
Afghanistan International: Senior Pakistani Taliban Commander Killed Near Afghan Border
Pakistan’s military said on Thursday that Qari Amjad, also known as Mufti Muzahim, a senior leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was killed during a security operation in Bajaur district near the Afghan border. In a statement, the Pakistani army said the operation took place overnight between 29 and 30 October, after security forces detected movements by a TTP group attempting to infiltrate across the Pakistan–Afghanistan frontier.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's second-in-command Amjad was among four militants killed by security forces while attempting to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the army said on Thursday (September 30, 2025). The militants were trying to infiltrate on Wednesday (October 29) night when their movement was intercepted by the security forces in Bajaur district, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army.
Somalia
Long War Journal: Somalia reports death of Shabaab co-founder in ‘precision airstrike’
The Somali government stated on Monday that another co-founder of Shabaab is dead. The individual, identified as Mahmoud Abdi Hamud, better known as Jaafar Gurey, was reportedly killed in a “precision airstrike” on October 26 in Bu’aale, a town in Somalia’s Middle Juba region that is a significant stronghold of the Al Qaeda branch.
Sudan
Sudan’s brutal two-year war has entered a new, dangerous phase. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces this week seized control of the entire Darfur region, after ousting the rival Sudanese army from its last stronghold there. The fighting for control of Sudan has killed over 40,000 people and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with over 14 million displaced.
Aid workers worried Thursday that only a trickle of the people believed to have fled a paramilitary force that seized a city in Sudan’s Darfur region have reached safety, as hundreds reportedly have been killed in the attack and while making their escape.
Australia
Region: Man makes Nazi salute in public before going on road rage rampage
The first person to be charged in the ACT with making a Nazi salute in public has also admitted to being behind the wheel in several road rage incidents where he rammed other cars off the road. Michigan Addison Bullock punched his neighbour in the head in 2023, was filmed performing a Nazi salute in Queensland in October 2024, then committed several driving offences in Canberra from October 2024 to February 2025.
Jewish News Syndicate: An Australian Jewish author’s triumph over antisemitism
After facing a flood of antisemitism in the publishing world, Australian writer Linda Margolin Royal brought her Holocaust story to Jerusalem, turning adversity into triumph. Royal, a former advertising copywriter in Australia, flew to Israel to launch her bestselling debut novel, The Star on the Grave, at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, on Sept. 30.
Technology
The Guardian: Extremists exploit political ‘trigger events’ to recruit people online, says study
Extremists are exploiting political violence on online platforms to recruit new people to their causes and amplify the use of violence for political goals, according to a new report that monitored social platforms after recent attacks. Researchers at New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights tracked social media feeds for several months this year, including in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
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