Reuters: Pakistan Arrests Al-Qaeda Leader Listed By United Nations

“Pakistani counter-terror officials have arrested an Al-Qaeda leader, Amin ul Haq, who figures on a U.N. sanctions list, they said on Friday, describing him as a close associate of the dead Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. Pakistan's first Al-Qaeda arrest in many years comes as the counter-terrorism department (CTD) in its most populous province of Punjab registered a legal case against Haq, accusing him of planning to sabotage key installations there. It did not identify his exact plans or the installations. "In a significant breakthrough in the fight against terrorism, CTD, in collaboration with intelligence agencies, successfully apprehended Amin ul Haq, a senior leader of Al-Qaeda," the department's spokesperson said in the statement. "His name is included in a U.N. list of terrorists," it added. Pakistan's interior (home) ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”

Reuters: French Police Arrest Knife-Wielding Assailant On Terrorism Charges

“French police arrested on Friday a man on terrorism charges accused of trying to murder a taxi driver with a knife while expressing support for Palestinian militant group Hamas, a source at the terrorism prosecutor's office said. France is on its highest state of security as it gears up to host millions of visitors, athletes and world leaders during the Paris Olympic Summer Games, kicking off on July 26. The man, already known by authorities as someone who had been radicalized, stopped a taxi on Tuesday night while brandishing a gun in the city of Le Mans, and asked to be taken to an isolated area near Ferte-Bernard. He then forced the driver out of the car, bound him and attacked his neck with the blade, the source said.”

CEP Mentions

Long War Journal: Partnering With Terrorists To Fight Terrorists

“The UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team has released its latest report on Afghanistan and the myriad of jihadist activity therein. To discuss, Bill is joined by former director of this team at the UN and longtime friend of the show Edmund Fitton-Brown. Edmund is now a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and previously served as the UK’s ambassador to Yemen.”

Pakistan

Associated Press: The Bodies Of 4 Pakistanis Killed In The Attack On A Mosque In Oman Have Been Returned Home

“The bodies of four Pakistanis killed in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Oman this week have been repatriated and handed to their families, officials said Friday. Relatives of the victims were present when the Pakistan International Airlines flights landed at the Islamabad and Lahore airports. Airline spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said the bodies were repatriated at orders from the government and handed to the victims’ relatives for burial. Later, hundreds of mourners attended the funerals of the victims in their home cities. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Shari condemned the attack in a meeting with Oman’s ambassador in Islamabad. On Monday, gunmen stormed a mosque in Oman’s capital, Muscat, that was packed with worshippers holding special prayers on the eve of the Shiite mourning festival of Ashoura.”

Yemen

Associated Press: Drone Strike By Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Kills 1 Person And Wounds At Least 10 In Tel Aviv

“An Iranian-made drone sent by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck Israel on Friday, leaving one person dead and at least 10 wounded in a neighborhood near the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. The aerial strike rumbled through the center of the city, causing shrapnel to rain down and spreading shards of glass over a large radius. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack and Israel’s military said it believed the drone — an Iranian Samad-3 upgraded to travel long distances — originated in Yemen. “We are holding an investigation today and in the coming days to understand exactly from where the threat was fired and what are the needed responses to defend the country and what are the attacking responses against who is threatening the state of Israel,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for Israel’s military. The Houthis have launched drones and missiles toward Israel throughout the country’s war with Hamas.”

Lebanon

Reuters: Israel Says Strike Kills Elite Hezbollah Unit Field Commander

“A field commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces was killed in an Israeli strike on south Lebanon, the Israeli military and two security sources said on Thursday, the latest senior member of the group to be killed in months of tit-for-tat strikes across the border with Israel. Habib Maatouk had replaced another commander in the elite unit, Ali Ahmed Hassin, who was killed in April in an Israeli strike, the security sources said. The Israeli military said it had killed a Radwan Force operations unit commander it named as Ali Jaafar Maatuk, along with another commander responsible for Radwan Force operations in the Hajir region. It said additional Radwan Force fighters were also killed in the strike. Maatouk was killed in one of several strikes on the neighbouring border villages of Safad El Battikh and Jmaijmeh, the sources said. Eighteen wounded were taken to nearby Tebnine government hospital, its director Mohammed Hamadi told Reuters.”

Middle East

The Washington Post: Israel Says Gaza War Winding Down Despite Rise In Deadly Civilian Strikes

“Israel says the most intense phase of its war against Hamas is nearing an end. Yet for civilians in Gaza, bone-tired and packed into ever-shrinking spaces, the violence seems unceasing. Over the last week, Israel has unleashed a wave of airstrikes across the besieged Strip — some likely carried out with American-made weapons, experts say — that Palestinians and humanitarian workers likened in intensity and lethality to those in the early weeks of the nine-month war. The wounded have poured into Gaza’s few barely functioning hospitals, where doctors say they do not have the resources to treat melted skin and missing limbs. Analysts say it is part of an Israeli strategy to ramp up pressure on Hamas in ongoing diplomatic negotiations aimed at securing a cease-fire and the release of the more than 100 hostages still held by the group. Dozens of captives are still alive, Israeli officials say, though no one knows exactly how many.”

Associated Press: Israel’s Netanyahu Makes Surprise Gaza Visit As Far-Right Politician Tours Flashpoint Jerusalem Site

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to troops in southern Gaza on Thursday, saying it was essential that Israel keep control of a strip of territory along the territory’s border with Egypt, just days before he was set to give a speech to the U.S. Congress. In his comments at Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, Netanyahu sounded a tone of triumph in the campaign against Hamas — and underscored the differences that still remain in monthslong attempts to reach a cease-fire. A U.S.-backed outline for a deal calls for an eventual full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for a full release of hostages by Hamas, something a continued Israeli grip on the Rafah border crossing and nearby border strip would appear to contradict. Netanyahu’s visit to Rafah was announced hours after Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.”

Reuters: Israel Bombards Central Gaza As Tanks Advance Deeper In Rafah

“Israeli forces bombarded the Gaza Strip's historic refugee camps in the centre of the enclave and struck Gaza City in the north on Thursday, killing at least 21 people, and tanks pushed deeper into Rafah in the south, health officials and residents said. A barrage of Israeli airstrikes killed 16 in Zawayda town, Bureij and Nuseirat camps and the overcrowded city of Deir-Al-Balah, the last major urban centre in Gaza not to be invaded by Israeli forces, health officials said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to address the U.S. Congress next week, made a surprise visit to Israeli troops in the area around Rafah, telling them that military pressure combined with a demand to bring back 120 hostages still held in Gaza was producing results. "This double pressure is not delaying the deal, it is advancing it," he said, according to a statement from his office.”

Somalia

Bloomberg: Somalia Region Wants UN To Reinstate A 31-Year-Old Arms Embargo

“Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland wants the United Nations to reinstate an arms ban lifted seven months ago, saying easier access to weaponry is fueling clan conflict. With a weak central government and no credible institutions, Somalia lacks mechanisms to track arms in the country that’s effectively been at war for more than three decades, according to Abdi Farah Said, the interior minister of Puntland. In December, the UN Security Council lifted a ban that had been in place since 1992, recognizing Somalia’s right to equip its military as a peacekeeping force prepares to leave the country. “Lifting the arms embargo for Somalia was a big mistake because the country is divided and fragmented,” according to Said. “We need that decision by the UN to be reconsidered.” Government spokesman Farhan Jimale declined to comment. Puntland’s view follows the death of at least 13 people on Tuesday in a clash between clan militia and security forces escorting two truckloads of weapons through central Somalia.”

France

Reuters: France Races To Head Off ISIS-K threat To Paris Olympics

“Tajik journalist Temur Varki received a disquieting call from Paris police in late March, days after Islamic State militants from his homeland allegedly carried out a massacre in Moscow. The two officers questioned him about France's tiny community of immigrants from Tajikistan, an impoverished former Soviet republic in Central Asia. "Who do you know? How many? Where?" Varki recalled the officers asking, with one of them speaking Russian, a commonly used language across Central Asia. Varki, a political refugee in France who has worked for outlets including the BBC, told the police callers he knew a handful of Tajiks in the country, mainly fellow emigres and dissidents. "But I don't know any jihadists," he told them. Ahead of the Paris Olympics that begin on July 26, French security services have been racing to address an intelligence blind spot and forge deeper ties with Tajiks and other Central Asians in the country, according to more than a dozen people with knowledge of the drive.”

India

DW: Kashmir: What's Behind The Recent Militant Attacks In Jammu?

“Ashok Sharma's town is gripped in fear. He is a local contractor who lives in Hiranagar, a town in the Jammu region of India-administered Kashmir. Recent militant attacks in the area have created a sense of paranoia among the locals. Many residents are now too afraid to leave their homes at night. "For the past few weeks, we have witnessed numerous attacks, each leaving behind a trail of death and terror," he told DW. "I fear that one day, these militants will force us to leave this place." At least four Indian soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a gunfight with suspected rebels in the forests of the Doda district in the Jammu Division, the army said on Tuesday. The attack comes a day after the Indian army said it killed three suspected militants as they tried to cross from the Pakistan-controlled side of the highly militarized dividing line.”

Technology

Wired: Fortnite Has A Political Violence Problem

“In the hours after former US president Donald Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, a new Fortnite game appeared: Donald Trump vs Assassin. The game was quickly removed, but several other games that include antisemitism and political violence remained on the gaming platform, according to a new report from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) shared exclusively with WIRED. The games identified by the GPAHE were built using Fortnite Creative’s “Islands” feature, which allows users to design their own maps, or gameplay areas. One of them replicated the Jasenovac concentration camp in what is now Croatia where tens of thousands of Jews, Romani, and Serbs were murdered during World War II.”