“A trial of senior figures of the terrorist group PKK accused of extortion,
terrorist financing and terror propaganda began in Paris Tuesday. Nine among 11
suspects, who are Turkish citizens, appeared before the criminal court in the
French capital. Investigators believe that France, alongside EU neighbors,
offers a staging ground for PKK activities. Organized cells are believed to be
active among France's up to 150,000 Kurdish community and among the 100,000 in
the Netherlands and the million-strong community in Germany. The terrorist
group, which emerged about four decades ago as a far-left faction claiming to
be fighting for Kurdish rights, exploits the communities in Türkiye and abroad
to draw recruits.”











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Eye on Extremism



April 5, 2023



Daily Sabah: Top PKK Members Go On Trial In France For Terror Financing
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“A trial of senior figures of the terrorist group PKK accused of extortion,
terrorist financing and terror propaganda began in Paris Tuesday. Nine among 11
suspects, who are Turkish citizens, appeared before the criminal court in the
French capital. Investigators believe that France, alongside EU neighbors,
offers a staging ground for PKK activities. Organized cells are believed to be
active among France's up to 150,000 Kurdish community and among the 100,000 in
the Netherlands and the million-strong community in Germany. The terrorist
group, which emerged about four decades ago as a far-left faction claiming to
be fighting for Kurdish rights, exploits the communities in Türkiye and abroad
to draw recruits.”



Reuters: Up To 1 Mln People 'Disappeared' In Iraq In Last Half Century - UN
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“Up to 1 million people have been "disappeared" in Iraq during a tumultuous
last half century spanning the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein, U.S.-led
military occupation and the rise of Islamic State militants, the United Nations
said on Tuesday. The U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances urged Iraq,
which has one of the highest numbers of missing people in the world, to seek
victims and punish perpetrators. But that was hampered by the lack of
definition of enforced disappearance as a crime in Iraqi law, its report said.
‘The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances urged Iraq to immediately
establish the basis to prevent, eradicate and repair this heinous crime,’ it
said. There was no immediate reaction from an Iraqi government spokesperson or
the interior ministry. Up to 290,000 people, including some 100,000 Kurds, were
forcibly disappeared by Hussein's ‘genocidal campaign’ in Kurdistan between
1968 and 2003, the U.N. report said.”



United States



Fox News: VA Man Who Was Convicted Of Terrorism As Teen Sent Back To Prison
After Meeting With Taliban Supporter
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“A northern Virginia man convicted on terrorism charges as a teenager has
been sent back to prison for a year after violating conditions of his release
by meeting with convicted Taliban supporter John Walker Lindh and others linked
to terrorism. Prosecutors had sought a two-year term at a hearing last week in
U.S. District Court in Alexandria for Ali Shukri Amin of Dumfries, citing a
wealth of evidence that Amin immediately began meeting and corresponding with
convicted terrorists after he was released from prison in 2020. The terms of
Amin's release barred him from meeting with known extremists. Amin was just 17
years old when he pleaded guilty in 2015 to helping the Islamic State group by
using social media to support them. He also admitted helping a classmate,
18-year-old Reza Niknejad, travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.”



Turkey



Daily Sabah: Turkish Operations Eliminate Dozens Of PKK Terrorists In March
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“The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have taken out nearly 100 members of the PKK
terror group last month, according to official figures released Wednesday. As
part of domestic security operations, a total of 80 terrorists, four of whom
were so-called high-ranking officials, were eliminated across the country, the
Interior Ministry informed. Of the four senior officials, one was on the red
wanted list while one was grey-listed, another green, and the fourth was a
non-listed fugitive. The ministry also revealed a total of 50 terrorists were
eliminated in some 7,393 wide-scale domestic operations carried out across 26
regions from Oct. 1, 2022, until April 5. The National Defense Ministry too
announced the elimination of five PKK/YPG terrorists in northern regions of
neighboring Syria and Iraq this week.”



Middle East



i24 News: Israeli Forces Hit Hamas Targets In Gaza In Response To Rocket Fire
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“Israeli forces on Wednesday morning attacked two Hamas sites for the
production and storage of weapons in response to the launch of rockets from the
enclave into Israeli territory overnight. ‘Fighter jets recently attacked a
site for the production of weapons and another for the production and storage
of weapons used by the terrorist organization Hamas in the central Gaza Strip,’
the military spokesperson said. ‘The attack was carried out in response to the
launch of rockets overnight from the Gaza Strip into Israel,’ it added, noting
that Hamas ‘bears responsibility for what is happening in Gaza’ and will ‘pay
the price for the security violations against the State of Israel.’ According
to preliminary reports, a total of 18 rockets were fired into Israeli territory
overnight. A number of Israeli towns bordering Gaza were attacked several
times. There are no reports of casualties, but an industrial building was
reportedly damaged by a rocket in the town of Sderot.”



Nigeria



Al Jazeera: Gunmen In Nigeria Seize Eight Students In Latest Abduction
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“Gunmen in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state kidnapped eight secondary school
students coming from school along with an unknown number of others, authorities
said on Tuesday, the latest in a wave of such abductions. Armed gangs operating
mostly in remote parts of northwest Nigeria have carried out violent attacks
against villagers, schools and motorists, abducting hundreds for ransom. Samuel
Aruwan, the commissioner for internal security in Kaduna, said gunmen on Monday
abducted the eight students from Awon Government Secondary School in the Kachia
local government area. It was not immediately clear where the students were
taken to, but the kidnappers often keep victims in the forests and only release
them when a ransom is paid.”



Somalia



Garowe Online: Al Shabab Infighting Escalates: Attack On Senior Foreign
Leader's House In Jilib City
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“In a surprising development, the Al Shabab terrorist group has attacked the
house of one of its own'senior leaders, Jabir, in Jilib city, situated in the
Central Juba region. Jabir is an influential member of the group and is known
to have originated from Kenya. His residence is located in the fish market of
Jilib district in the Middle Juba region. According to reports, militants under
the command of Mahad Karatey launched an assault on Jabir's house. Somali
national TV confirmed that there was a direct confrontation between two
factions of the Al-Shabaab in the center of Jilib city. The infighting led to
the death of five Al-Shabaab militants, while eight others were injured.”



Africa



The Star: Traditional Leader In Cameroon Kidnapped By Suspected Boko Haram
Militants
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“Suspected members of the terror group Boko Haram have abducted a traditional
leader in Cameroon's Far North region, according to security and local sources.
The traditional leader of Hidjelidje village was abducted after militants of
the terror group raided the village late Monday, a military official in the
region said. ‘They did not shoot. They just came and kidnapped the leader.
Obviously, it was a targeted attack. Villagers are progressively fleeing the
village,’ the official who asked not to be named told Xinhua by phone. Raids on
civilian communities in the region in recent weeks have displaced several
families, especially in the Logone and Chari division where the attacks have
become frequent, according to security reports by the local police.”



France



AFP News: France Arrests Teenager Suspected Of Attack Plan
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“France's domestic intelligence service on Tuesday arrested a 15-year-old,
suspected of preparing an attack in the name of Islamic State ideology, a
source close to the case told AFP. The DGSI intelligence service became aware
of the teenager because ‘he was clearly convinced by the theories of Islamic
State’, the source said. The teen was apprehended in the early hours of Tuesday
in his home in Rosenau, a village of 2,400 inhabitants in the east of the
country. ‘He was determined to make explosive devices,’ the source said.”



Europe



Associated Press: Swedes Arrest 5 Suspected Of Terror, Ties To Quran Burning
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“Five men have been arrested ‘on suspicion of aiding and abetting terrorist
offenses,’ Sweden’s SAPO domestic security agency said Tuesday, adding the case
was related to the burning of a Quran in January in Stockholm and that an
attack is not imminent. In a statement, Susanna Trehörning, deputy head of
SAPO’ s counterterror unit said that the case had ‘international links to
violent Islamist extremism.’ Swedish public radio said the suspects had links
to the Islamic State group. Trehörning said that Tuesday’s arrests came
following ‘extensive intelligence and investigative work ‘after the protests
that were directed at Sweden in connection with the high-profile burning of the
Quran in January and where there are international calls for attacks.’ She told
Swedish broadcaster SVT that the suspects were in ‘a planning phase’ and that
they ‘had not immediately thought of doing anything here and now.’



CNN: Suspect Charged With Terrorism Offenses Over Killing Of Russian Military
Blogger Vladlen Tatarsky
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“Russian authorities have formally charged Daria Trepova with terrorism
offenses over the killing of Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
Trepova, 26, was charged under the criminal code pertaining to a ‘terrorist act
committed by an organized group that resulted in the deliberate infliction of
death on a person’ and the ‘illegal carrying of explosive devices committed by
an organized group,’ according to a court statement published Tuesday. Tatarsky
died in an explosion at a cafe in the center of St. Petersburg on Sunday, where
he was appearing as a guest of a pro-war group. Investigators allege that
Trepova, acting at the behest of Ukraine, brought a ‘statuette filled with
explosives’ to the venue and handed it to Tatarsky.”



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