“Taliban fighters in Afghanistan recently killed an Islamic State militant who
U.S. officials believe was responsible for the August 2021 suicide attack at
the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members. The attack at the
airport’s Abbey Gate, during the chaotic withdrawal of American forces from
Afghanistan that summer, also killed at least 170 Afghans and injured 40 other
U.S. troops, according to U.S. officials. The senior operative of the Taliban’s
sworn enemy, Islamic State Khorasan Province, also known as ISIS-K by the U.S.
government, was killed by Taliban fighters within the past few weeks. The
operative’s name remains classified, and U.S. officials provided little detail
about the person’s death, including where and how the person was killed, how
they knew the person’s identity, the nature of the person’s role in the attack.”











<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>



Eye on Extremism



April 26, 2023



Wall Street Journal: Taliban Said to Kill Islamic State Militant Behind Attack
That Killed 13 Americans
<[link removed]>



“Taliban fighters in Afghanistan recently killed an Islamic State militant who
U.S. officials believe was responsible for the August 2021 suicide attack at
the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members. The attack at the
airport’s Abbey Gate, during the chaotic withdrawal of American forces from
Afghanistan that summer, also killed at least 170 Afghans and injured 40 other
U.S. troops, according to U.S. officials. The senior operative of the Taliban’s
sworn enemy, Islamic State Khorasan Province, also known as ISIS-K by the U.S.
government, was killed by Taliban fighters within the past few weeks. The
operative’s name remains classified, and U.S. officials provided little detail
about the person’s death, including where and how the person was killed, how
they knew the person’s identity, the nature of the person’s role in the attack.”



Voice Of America News: Signs Emerge IS Struggling to Keep Up Fight in Iraq,
Syria
<[link removed]>



“…In Syria, the terror group "has generally increased or maintained a higher
tempo of attacks" since an initial jump in activity last August, according to
an assessment earlier this month by the Counter Extremism Project, a New York
and Berlin-based non-profit. "There are increasingly many similarities between
attacks over the past months and the period of initial ISIS expansion in late
2019 and early 2020," the CEP report added, though it cautioned the terror
group appears to be increasingly focused on attacking civilians as opposed to
security forces.”



United States



The Texan: Armed Antifa Members Arrested at ‘Family-Friendly’ Drag Brunch by
Fort Worth Police
<[link removed]>



“…All three are part of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, according to Ngo,
and have been bailed out through donations acquired through Twitter. As
described by the Counter Extremism Project, the Texas sect of the Elm Fork John
Brown Gun Club has taken a “hard anti-police position, casting all police as
mass shooters who harass minorities and seek out excuses to unload their
weapons.” Contemporary “Antifa,” short for “Antifascist,” members belong to
decentralized groups across the country.”



Iran



Al Jazeera: Iran Court Orders US, Obama To Pay $313m For ‘Terrorist’ Attacks
<[link removed]>



“An Iranian court has ruled the United States government and a number of
individuals and entities, including former President Barack Obama, must pay
compensation for 2017 attacks carried out by the armed group ISIL (ISIS). The
court in the capital issued the verdict on Wednesday based on complaints by
families of three people killed and six wounded during the June 2017 attacks in
Tehran, according to the official news website of the judiciary. The building
of the Iranian parliament and the mausoleum of the founder of Iran’s current
establishment, Ruhollah Khomeini, were targeted during the daylight assault
that killed 17 people in total. The court ruled $9.95m needs to be paid to
compensate for financial damages while $104m and $199m are for moral and
punitive damages, respectively, with the total nearing $313m.”



Iraq



Iraqi News: ISIS Attacks Decreased By 68% In Iraq
<[link removed]>



“The Global Coalition against Daesh (ISIS) reported a decline in the attacks
in Iraq and Syria during the first quarter of 2023 when terrorists are still
active despite their defeat. US Major General Matthew McFarlane, commander of
the anti-jihadist coalition, stated that ISIS attacks in Iraq declined by 68
percent from the beginning of 2023 till the first week of April compared to the
same period last year, i24 News reported. McFarlane also explained that the
attacks in Syria declined during the same period by 55 percent, i24 News
explained. The United Nations estimated in a February report that ISIS still
has ‘5,000 to 7,000 members and supporters’ across Iraq and neighboring Syria,
‘roughly half of whom are fighters,’ i24 News added.”



The Arab Weekly: Anguished Yazidis In Iraq Await Fate Of ISIS-Abducted
Relatives
<[link removed]>



“After paying nearly $100,000 in ransoms to free ten family members, Khaled
Taalou, a member of Iraq’s Yazidi minority, is still working to free other
missing relatives kidnapped by Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group fighters.
Despite his efforts, five more relatives, along with thousands of other
Yazidis, remain missing after being abducted by the jihadists. “We are still
looking. We do not lose hope,” the 49-year-old said. In August 2014, ISIS swept
over Mount Sinjar, the Kurdish-speaking minority’s historic home in northern
Iraq. They massacred thousands of Yazidi men, enlisted children and seized
thousands of women to be sold as jihadists’ “wives” or reduced to sexual
slavery.”



Nigeria



Daily Post Nigeria: How Boko Haram Vowed To Wipe Out Family Over Son’s Refusal
To Join Terrorist Group
<[link removed]>



“Over the years, the activities of daredevil Boko Haram terrorists have
continued to raise concern across the world as unsuspecting members of the
public, particularly northerners, continue to lose their lives and valuables to
the menace. It had seemed a temporary problem to vanish soon, but many years
down the line, Nigeria is still battling the security crisis. According to
reports, nearly one million homes and 5,000 classrooms have been razed in the
protracted onslaughts as the terrorists continue to kill citizens and destroy
both private and public facilities. While the terrorists are in top gear,
killing and destroying lives and properties, they also actively recruit young
men as foot soldiers to continue infiltrating the nooks and crannies of various
cities to perpetrate the bloodbaths.”



Mali



AFP: Al-Qaeda Group Claims Deadly Mali Attacks
<[link removed]>



“An Al-Qaeda affiliated jihadist group has claimed responsibility for a
suicide bombing in the centre of Mali saying dozens of soldiers and Russian
"mercenaries" were killed or wounded. The Support Group for Islam and Muslims
(GSIM) made the claim in a statement authenticated on Tuesday by the US Site
Intelligence Group, acknowledging the death of 15 of its fighters in the raid
at Sevare on Saturday. The Mali government had announced Sunday that 10
civilians and three soldiers died and dozens of jihadists were "neutralised",
meaning killed, in a wave of bloodshed the previous day that it described as a
resurgence of "terrorist incidents".”



Africa



Garowe Online: US Targets Mozambique’s ‘Al-Shababaab’
<[link removed]>



“The United States has pledged to continue supporting the government of
Mozambique in a bid to eliminate extremist groups within the northern province
of Cabo Delgado which has been the epicenter of turmoil for the last five years
as terrorists try to push for an Islamic state. Dafna Rand, the U.S. State
Department's director of the office of foreign assistance said Washington will
work with World Bank to help build schools and hospitals in the country
following chaos in the oil-rich province, adding that there is a need for
locals to embrace education. She said Washington also is trying to bolster the
military to better defend vulnerable communities. The group fighting in the
province is known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama [ASWJ] but locally, people refer to it
as Al-Shabaab but interestingly, there is no evidence if the group is related
to Somalia's Al-Shabaab or the moderate Sufi group ASWJ.”



The Star: Kenyan Arrested In Tanzania Charged With Terrorism In Nairobi
<[link removed]>



“A Kenyan man arrested in Tanzania was charged with terrorism. Shida Msanzu
who has been charged a second time with terror-related activities was Monday
April 24 accused of collecting information to conduct a terrorist act. He was
also accused of being in possession of items connected to commission of a
terrorism act. He appeared before senior principal magistrate Boaz Ombewa at
Kahawa West law court.”



Europe



The National: Former Syrian ISIS Security Chief On Trial In The Netherlands
<[link removed]>



“A Syrian man appeared before a Dutch court on Tuesday in a pretrial hearing
after being accused of serving as an ISIS security chief in his home country
between 2014 and 2018. Ayham S, 38, with a black beard, T-shirt and tattoos on
his upper arms, did not speak during the two-hour hearing at the Court of
Rotterdam, which he attended with the help of an Arabic translator. Prosecutors
believe that he acted as an ISIS “security chief” in the Palestinian camp of
Yarmouk near the Syrian capital Damascus. The camp, which has been ravaged by
fighting during the 12-year-long Syrian civil war, was stormed by ISIS in 2015
and retaken by government forces and allies in 2018.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

DONATE NOW
<[link removed]>
 




Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>