Fact:
On January 23, 2019, two car bombs exploded outside of a mosque in Benghazi, Libya, killing 41 people and injuring 80 others. No group claimed responsibility for the blast, but remnants suggested an ISIS affiliate was responsible.
Eye on Extremism: November 27, 2023
“The fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed 17 more hostages, including 14 Israelis and the first American, in a third exchange under a four-day truce that the United States said it hoped would be extended. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. Most hostages were handed over directly to Israel, waving to a cheering crowd as they arrived at an air force base. Others left through Egypt. Israel’s army said one was airlifted to a hospital, and the director of Soroka Medical Center said Elma Avraham, 84, was in life-threatening condition as “a result of an extended period of time when an elderly woman was not taken care of as needed.” The youngest hostage released was Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen whose parents were killed in the Hamas attack that started the war on Oct. 7. “What she endured was unthinkable,” U.S. President Joe Biden said of the first American freed under the truce. He did not know her condition and did not provide updates on other American hostages. Biden said his goal was to extend the cease-fire deal as long as possible.”
Reuters: Afghan Embassy In India Shuts Down Citing Lack Of Support, Taliban Pressure
“Afghanistan's embassy in New Delhi has closed as diplomats appointed by the Afghan government ousted by the Taliban two years ago failed to secure visa extensions from their Indian hosts, the outgoing ambassador said in a statement on Friday. India does not recognise the Taliban government which seized power in 2021, and had allowed Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and mission staff to stay in place, issuing visas and handling trade matters. In September, however, the ambassador and senior staff left for Europe and the U.S. to seek asylum, and the embassy said it was suspending operations. An embassy statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday said that period in limbo was over, and the embassy was shutting and the keys had been given to the host government. It also said that pressure from both the Indian government and the Taliban had forced the decision. "Unfortunately, despite an eight-week wait, the objectives of visa extension for diplomats and a shift in the Indian government's conduct were not realised," ambassador Mamundzay said in the statement. "Given the constant pressure from both the Taliban and the Indian government to relinquish control, the embassy faced a difficult choice," the statement added.”
CEP Mentions
“…Al-Ghandour had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life and was involved in a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.”
United States
Reuters: US Forces Attacked 4 Times In Iraq, Syria Within Hours
“U.S. forces were attacked four times in Iraq and Syria on Thursday with rockets and armed drones, but there were no casualties or damage to infrastructure, a U.S military official said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said U.S. and international forces were attacked at two sites in northeastern Syria with multiple rockets and a one-way attack drone. In Iraq, multiple one-way drones were launched at the Ain Al-Asad airbase west of Baghdad and a drone was launched at a base housing U.S. forces near Erbil airport in northern Iraq. A group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which analysts say is a catch-all for several Iran-aligned Iraqi armed groups, had claimed attacks on those locations earlier in the day. The attacks come the day after the U.S. struck the Iran-aligned Kataeb Hezbollah (KH) armed group south of Baghdad in an attack that KH said had left eight members dead. The attack was condemned by the Iraqi government as escalatory and a violation of sovereignty. U.S. officials said the United States had struck Iran-aligned groups after an escalation in their attacks that have targeted U.S. and international forces dozens of times since Oct. 17, 10 days after the Israel-Hamas war began. As of Thursday, there had been 36 attacks in Iraq and 37 in Syria, the U.S. military official said.”
BBC: Right-Wing Figures Slammed For Rushing To Brand Niagara Blast A Terrorist Attack
“Right-wing figures have been slammed for rushing to brand a deadly Niagra Falls car explosion that killed two people a terrorist attack. A New York couple, who have not been identified, were killed on Wednesday night when their car crashed at a border crossing between the US and Canada, leading to an explosion. The couple, who lived in western New York, were reportedly on their way to a Kiss concert in Toronto but the gig was cancelled. Their car was travelling at speed when it hit a curb on the US side of the border and became airborne before exploding, according to the FBI field office in Buffalo, New York. The blast initially sparked fears of a terrorist attack and prompted Canadian and New York officials to briefly shutter four border bridges between the two nations and ground planes at nearby Buffalo Airport. A Fox News report cited “high-level police sources” who linked terrorism to the crash and believed the two people travelling in the car packed it “full of explosives,” a claim the network later retracted. Senator Ted Cruz also claimed the incident was a terror attack, tweeting: “This confirms our worst fear: the explosion at Rainbow Bridge was a terrorist attack.””
Syria
“Syrian government forces shelled a northwestern village Saturday killing at least 10 people, including seven children, as they picked olives, a paramedic group and relatives of the victims said. The shelling of the village of Qawqafeen, in Idlib province, is the latest violation of a truce reached in March 2020 between Russia and Turkey, who back rival sides in Syria’s 12-year conflict that has killed half a million people. Syrian government officials have not commented on the strike. Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded over the past years in violations of the truce that ended a monthslong Russian-backed government offensive on northwestern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria. The shelling of the farm was reported by the Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets. The White Helmets said it treated one woman who was wounded and handed over the bodies of the dead to their families. Omar Qadda, whose cousin, Abdallah Saeed, was killed in the strike along with Saeed’s children, sister and sister’s children, said he was nearby when the shells landed and rushed to the scene.”
Associated Press: Syria Says An Israeli Airstrike Hit The Damascus Airport And Put It Out Of Service
“An Israeli airstrike Sunday hit the international airport in the Syrian capital of Damascus and put it out of commission, Syrian state media said. Israel has struck Syria’s Damascus and Aleppo international airports several times since the onset of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza on Oct. 7. Israel has also struck parts of western Syria after rocket fire landed on the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said Israel fired missiles from the direction of the Golan Heights, striking Damascus International Airport and other areas in the Damascus countryside causing material damage. There was no mention of casualties. Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes came just hours after the airport resumed flights after a monthlong hiatus following a previous Israeli strike. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years. It does not usually acknowledge its airstrikes on Syria. However when it does, it says it is targeting Iranian-backed groups there that have backed President Bashar Assad’s government.”
Pakistan
BBC: Pakistan Charging Refugees $830 To Leave
“The exit fee applies to people who arrived without a visa. In October Pakistan announced that it would deport 1.7 million undocumented foreigners from the country if they did not leave by 1 November. Most are Afghans, including hundreds of thousands of people who fled Afghanistan when the Taliban retook power in 2021. Those who have expired visas will be charged depending on how long they have overstayed. An exit fee does not apply to anyone travelling back to Afghanistan. Many Afghans who arrived in Pakistan when Kabul fell to the Taliban have faced delays getting documentation, according to groups like Amnesty International. Pakistan is not a party to the Refugee Convention and has said it does not recognise any of the Afghans living in its borders as refugees. A senior diplomat in Pakistan told the BBC that the fee was particularly worrying when it was being applied to people who were being relocated on humanitarian grounds. "In many countries, if you overstay your visa you have to pay or you get booted out," they said. "The problem is charging those we are taking on humanitarian visas. Not necessarily the people we are taking because they worked for us, but who UNHCR sees as having a humanitarian need. It sets a very bad precedent."”
“Pakistan’s military said its forces raided a militant hideout in a former stronghold of local Taliban in the country’s northwest near the border with Afghanistan, triggering an intense shootout that killed eight militants In an overnight statement, the military stated that the intelligence-based operation took place on Sunday in the South Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and that troops seized weapons and ammunition from the hideout. No further detail was given about the militants’ identities. But blame usually falls on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban who also often target troops across the country. This has caused a spike in tensions between the two countries with Pakistan demanding the Taliban administration stop the TTP from using Afghan soil to launch attacks.”
Lebanon
“The militant Hezbollah group fired more than 50 rockets at military posts in northern Israel on Thursday, a day after an Israeli airstrike on a home in southern Lebanon killed five of the group’s senior fighters. The waves of rockets sent over the border represented one of the most intense bombardments since Hezbollah started attacking Israeli posts in the country’s north at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. Hezbollah has said that by heating up its actions on the Israel-Lebanon border, it is easing pressure on the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s crushing aerial, ground and naval offensive has left more than 13,300 Palestinians dead and caused wide destruction in the sealed-off enclave. The war was triggered by an Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that left about 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians, and resulted in about 240 hostages getting taken to Gaza. An agreement for a four-day cease-fire in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages held by the militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, was set to take place Thursday but it was later announced in Qatar, which was a main mediator, that the truce would go into effect Friday morning.”
Middle East
Reuters: Palestinian Militants In West Bank Say Two 'Collaborators' Executed
“Palestinian militants in the West Bank said they had killed two men accused of collaborating with Israeli authorities and hung their bodies up as a warning, underlining growing fears of increased radicalisation as the war in Gaza continues. A statement from the Tulkarm Brigades, a group based in the West Bank city of Tulkarm that is associated with the Fatah faction, said there was "no immunity for any informant or traitor". "We are on the lookout for him and we will hold him accountable," it said, referring to any such person. Footage shared on the Tulkarm Brigades Telegram channel showed a man apparently confessing to working with Israeli security services and providing details of his activities. Other footage, which could not be verified by Reuters, showed two dead bodies and bodies hung from a wall and an electricity pylon in front of angry crowds. The Tulkarm Brigades statement said anyone who had been working with Israeli security services had until Dec. 5 to come forward and repent. The Independent Commission for Human Rights, a Palestinian rights group, issued a statement criticising extrajudicial killings but said Israeli authorities were responsible for recruiting Palestinian agents.”
Reuters: Netanyahu's Two-Front War Against Hamas And For His Own Political Survival
“Inside Israeli defence headquarters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu monitored the first release of Hamas-held hostages while outside, their families in a Tel Aviv square gathered around Benny Gantz, his leading challenger for the top job. On camera Gantz, a former army chief and opposition leader who joined Netanyahu's war cabinet last month, pointedly asked a TV crew to leave him alone with the families. Photos published later showed him hugging individuals in the crowd. Facing a huge wave of criticism over his failure to prevent the shock Hamas infiltration of Israel on Oct. 7, Netanyahu has largely avoided the limelight while conducting a two-front war, one against Hamas and the other for his own political survival. Netanyahu, 74, has long maintained an image as a security hawk, tough on Iran and backed by an army that ensured Jews would never again suffer a Holocaust - only to experience on his watch the deadliest single incident in Israel's 75-year-old history. Israelis have shunned some of Netanyahu's fellow cabinet ministers, blaming them for failing to prevent the Palestinian Hamas gunmen from entering from Gaza, killing 1,200 people, abducting 240 more and engulfing the country in war.”
Nigeria
Reuter: Gunmen Kill One, Kidnap At Least 150 In Nigeria's Northwest, Residents Say
“At least 150 people, including women and children, were abducted with one person killed in a coordinated attack by gunmen on four villages in Nigeria's northwest Zamfara state, residents said on Saturday. Kidnapping for ransom has become rife in northwestern Nigeria in recent years where armed gangs, often referred to locally as bandits, have targeted villages, schools, and travellers, demanding millions of naira in ransom and making it unsafe to travel by road or to farm in some areas. The Zamfara police spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the attack, which took place late on Friday. Residents told Reuters that gunmen on dozens of motorcycles stormed the villages of Mutunji, Kwanar-Dutse, Sabon-Garin Mahuta and Unguwar Kawo in the Maru local government area of the state. Dankandai Musa, a resident of one of the villages, told Reuters he managed to slip away unnoticed during the chaos. But 20 members of his household were taken. "I managed to escape after they were regrouping us and the people from the three other villages that were attacked," he said. "I fled while they were dragging us to the bush."”
Somalia
Reuters: Somalia Joins East Africa Trade Bloc As It Eyes New Opportunities
“The East African Community trade bloc admitted Somalia as its eighth member on Friday, a move Somali authorities and businesses hope will boost the country's war-ravaged economy. The EAC common market - which consists of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda - was set up in 2010 and currently comprises almost 300 million people. "Somalia officially joins the East African Community, reinforcing ties and opening new doors for progress and partnership," Daud Aweis, Somalia's minister for information, culture and tourism said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. With the new member the bloc has expanded its market and also gained an additional new coastline stretching over more than 3,000 km (1,800 miles) that holds potential for offshore resources like oil and gas. In turn the bloc's large population and existing customs union and common market are a draw for investors that Somalia can now tap into. Although the EAC has over the decades made progress in economic integration, like many other trade blocs it has struggled to overcome barriers to commerce like red tape, political instability, poor infrastructure and trade disputes.”
Africa
“Militants from a shadowy extremist organization with ties to the Islamic State Group killed at least 14 farmers in Congo’s hard-hit eastern region, a local official said Saturday. The Allied Democratic Forces attacked Mamove village in North Kivu province on Friday night where they beheaded the farmers working on their fields, said Samson Simara, a delegate of the provincial governor. “This death toll could rise because other farmers are missing,” he told local media, adding that the militants also burned down several houses in the village. Armed violence in eastern Congo has been simmering for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities, but it spiked in late 2021 when another rebel group, that goes by M23 and had been largely dormant, resurfaced and initiated attacks to seize land. The attacks have heightened tensions ahead of Congo’s presidential election in December, with many residents in affected communities afraid for their safety. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who seeks reelection, has said rebel-controlled territories might not participate in the December vote for security reasons.”
United Kingdom
BBC: Student Faces Deportation After Terror Threats To Dundee University
“Somtochukwu Okwuoha claimed he had enlisted Isis to help bomb the university and told staff he planned to target the city in a chemical attack. The international energy studies student was found guilty of seven charges and was remanded in custody. The 26-year-old will be sentenced next month. Sheriff William Wood will also consider the Crown's motion for an order to deport Okwuoha to Nigeria. A trial heard that Okwuoha told university staff he planned to carry out mass murder on the Dundee University campus. Witnesses described how Okwuoha claimed he had a military background and was capable of making bombs and unleashing a deadly virus on the city. Keith Mackle, 58, now retired director of student services, told Perth Sheriff Court he became aware of "serious concerns" in the autumn of 2021. He said staff members received emails making terrorist threats. One said: "Expect a massive bomb explosion at the University of Dundee. I have contacted Isis terrorists to plant bombs on campus. "I can assure you staff and students will die in great numbers. 9/11 will be a joke compared to what will happen. "Blood will spill and flesh will be scattered."”
Germany
Associated Press: Four Local Employees Of Germany’s Main Aid Agency Arrested In Afghanistan
“Taliban authorities in Afghanistan arrested four local employees of Germany’s main government-owned aid agency, according to the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. “I can confirm that the local employees of GIZ are in custody although we have not received any official information on why they are detained,” a ministry spokeswoman told the Associated Press in a statement late Saturday. “We are taking this situation very seriously and are working through all channels available to us to ensure that our colleagues are released,” she added. The German Agency for International Cooperation, or GIZ, is owned by the German government. It operates in around 120 countries worldwide, offering projects and services in the areas of “economic development, employment promotion, energy and the environment, and peace and security,” according to the agency’s website. The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, after the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from the country. Many foreign missions, including the German embassy in Kabul, closed down their offices. The Taliban initially promised a more moderate approach than during their previous rule from 1996 to 2001 but gradually reimposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.”
Europe
Bloomberg: Dutch Extremist Wilders Channels Donald Trump’s Politics Of Division
“When far-right leader Geert Wilders delivered his victory speech after the shock Dutch election result, he emphasized a willingness to compromise with other parties. But his campaign had hit on all the familiar themes of his long crusade against the migrants that he says are destroying his country’s culture. People don’t forget those kind of diatribes, and many voters who backed other parties are worried that the Netherlands is about to lurch into the kind of populist politics that characterized Donald Trump’s presidency in the US. Just like Trump, Wilders cultivates an eye-catching splash of hair and, in the final days of the campaign, he had taken to wearing red ties rather than his usual blue, as if to emphasize the visual similarities. As he soaked up the attention in the aftermath of his victory, he was happy to entertain the comparison. “People have come up with so many names for me,” he told reporters on Thursday. “Some say I am the Dutch Trump, others call me Geert Milders” — a jibe that suggests his views have suddenly and conveniently become more mild since he began trying to form a coalition. “The truth is somewhere in the middle,” he suggested.”
Associated Press: With Antisemitism Rising As The Israel-Hamas War Rages, Europe’s Jews Worry
“As he sits in Geneva, Michel Dreifuss does not feel all that far away from the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza. The ripples are rolling through Europe and upending assumptions both global and intimate — including those about his personal safety as a Jew. “Yesterday I bought a tear-gas spray canister at a military-equipment surplus store,” the 64-year-old retired tech sector worker said recently at a rally to mark a month since the Hamas killings. The choice, he says, is a “precaution,” driven by a surge of antisemitism in Europe. Last month’s slayings of about 1,200 people in Israel by armed Palestinian militants represented the biggest killing of Jews since the Holocaust. The fallout from it, and from Israel’s intense military response that health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza say has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, has extended to Europe. In doing so, it has shaken a continent all too familiar with deadly anti-Jewish hatred for centuries. The past century is of particular note, of course. Concern about rising antisemitism in Europe is fueled in part by what happened to Jews before and during World War II, and that makes it particularly fearsome for those who may be only one or two generations removed from people who were the victims of riots against Jews and Nazi brutality.”
Reuters: Gaza War Increases Risk Of Islamist Attacks In Europe, Security Officials Say
“European security officials are seeing a growing risk of attacks by Islamists radicalised by the Israel-Hamas war, with the biggest threat likely to come from "lone wolf" assailants who are hard to track. More than 10 intelligence and police officials in five European countries including Britain, Germany and France told Reuters they are increasing surveillance of Islamist militants. This will put a further burden on resources already stretched by dealing with perceived threats from Russia, China and Iran, in what London police chief Mark Rowley calls "one of the most challenging convergence of threats I have ever seen." A British security official said the war in Gaza was likely to become the biggest recruiter for Islamist militants since the Iraq war in 2003, and that calls for attacks on Jewish and Western targets had risen in Europe. A German source briefed by intelligence services said the threat to civilians was the highest in Germany's recent history, with dangers coming from Islamist militants, far-right groups and Russia. Two Islamist militant attacks in France and Belgium last month killed three people, and these two countries, Austria, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have raised their terrorism threat alert levels. Italy has reimposed border controls with Slovenia, citing the risk of militants entering the country.”
Technology
Reuters: Focus: New Crypto Front Emerges In Israel's Militant Financing Fight
“A new front has emerged in Israel's fight against the funding of Iran-backed militant groups from Hamas to Hezbollah: A fast-growing crypto network called Tron. Quicker and cheaper than its larger rival Bitcoin, Tron has overtaken its rival as a platform for crypto transfers associated with groups designated as terror organizations by Israel, the United States and other countries, according to interviews with seven financial crime experts and blockchain investigations specialists. A Reuters' analysis of crypto seizures announced by Israeli security services since 2021 reflects the trend, showing for the first time a sharp rise in the targeting of Tron wallets and a fall in Bitcoin wallet seizures. "Earlier it was Bitcoin and now our data shows that these terrorist organizations tend to increasingly favor Tron," said Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO of New York-based blockchain analysis firm Merkle Science, citing Tron's faster transaction times, low fees, and stability. Merkle Science says it counts law enforcement agencies in the United States, Britain and Singapore as clients. Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF), which is responsible for such seizures, froze 143 Tron wallets between July 2021 and October 2023 that it believed were connected to a "designated terrorist organization" or used for a "severe terror crime," the Reuters analysis found.”
ABC: Amid Israel-Hamas Conflict, 'Information War' Plays Out On Social Media, Experts Say
“In the wake of Hamas' unprecedented surprise attack inside Israel, a battle is being waged on the streets of Gaza, with guns and tanks following Israel's retaliatory bombing campaign. But at the same time, another clash is happening -- one using tweets and shares. TikTokers, Instagram users and others posting online from both sides of the war -- including those witnessing the conflict up close in Gaza -- are battling it out to win the social media war and influence public opinion worldwide, experts told ABC News. "It's particularly relevant in this instance. The military battle with Hamas and Israel is predetermined; Hamas can't defeat the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and [the] IDF can't obliterate Hamas. So, you have a wider battle, let's call it an information war," David Patrikarakos, a war correspondent and author of the book "War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Shaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century," told ABC News. Citing a disparity between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian social media posts, Max Boot, a military historian and a foreign policy analyst, told ABC News he believes, "Israel is losing the information war because it's the battle of victimhood."”
Associated Press: Pentagon’s AI Initiatives Accelerate Hard Decisions On Lethal Autonomous Weapons
“Artificial intelligence employed by the U.S. military has piloted pint-sized surveillance drones in special operations forces’ missions and helped Ukraine in its war against Russia. It tracks soldiers’ fitness, predicts when Air Force planes need maintenance and helps keep tabs on rivals in space. Now, the Pentagon is intent on fielding multiple thousands of relatively inexpensive, expendable AI-enabled autonomous vehicles by 2026 to keep pace with China. The ambitious initiative — dubbed Replicator — seeks to “galvanize progress in the too-slow shift of U.S. military innovation to leverage platforms that are small, smart, cheap, and many,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in August. While its funding is uncertain and details vague, Replicator is expected to accelerate hard decisions on what AI tech is mature and trustworthy enough to deploy - including on weaponized systems. There is little dispute among scientists, industry experts and Pentagon officials that the U.S. will within the next few years have fully autonomous lethal weapons. And though officials insist humans will always be in control, experts say advances in data-processing speed and machine-to-machine communications will inevitably relegate people to supervisory roles.”
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
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