“Advanced weapons and technology left behind by US and Nato troops during their
withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 have been used by militants in Pakistan to
attack police and soldiers, security officials have said. The Tahrik-e-Taliban
in Pakistan and Baloch militants are among the groups that have obtained modern
weapons in Afghanistan. Experts have said the influx of arms has led to a sharp
rise in attacks. ‘The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has emboldened and
strengthened militant groups in the region,’ Rafiullah Kakar, a security expert
in Pakistan's Balochistan province, told The National.”











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



Eye on Extremism



May 5, 2023



The National: Pakistan Militants Launch Attacks With Advanced US Weapons Left
Behind In Afghanistan
<[link removed]>



“Advanced weapons and technology left behind by US and Nato troops during
their withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 have been used by militants in
Pakistan to attack police and soldiers, security officials have said. The
Tahrik-e-Taliban in Pakistan and Baloch militants are among the groups that
have obtained modern weapons in Afghanistan. Experts have said the influx of
arms has led to a sharp rise in attacks. ‘The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
has emboldened and strengthened militant groups in the region,’ Rafiullah
Kakar, a security expert in Pakistan's Balochistan province, told The National.”



Vanguard: Troops Kill 79 Terrorists In North West, Rescue 136 Abducted Victims
<[link removed]>



“The Nigerian Army, yesterday, said troops have neutralized 79 terrorists,
arrested so many terrorist informants, logistics suppliers, and gunrunners and
rescued many kidnapped victims in the North West, North Central, and North
East. It also said Troops of Operation, ‘Udoka’ fighting to rid the South East
of Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network, IPOB/ESN militants,
have raided a hideout of the proscribed group in Ihiala, Anambra State and
captured a cache of arms and ammunition. The army added that it discovered and
destroyed 41 illegal refining sites, 156 cooking ovens, 189 storage tanks, 12
dugout pits and 15 wooden boats. Director of Defence, Media Operations, Major
Gen Musa Danmadami said in Abuja, yesterday, ‘In the North West, troops
neutralized 25 terrorists, arrested 30 terorists informants, six terrorists
logistics suppliers, two gunrunners and rescued four kidnapped victims.’”



Turkey



Anadolu Agency: Türkiye 'Neutralizes' Nearly 50 Terrorists Over Past 10 Days
In Northern Syria, Iraq
<[link removed]>



“Pledging to continue Türkiye's efforts against all means of cross-border
threat and danger, the Turkish defense chief on Thursday said the country's
security forces have ‘neutralized’ nearly 50 terrorists over the past 10 days
in northern Syria and Iraq. ‘According to the news we just received, eight
terrorists were neutralized in northern Syria last night. Thus, the number of
terrorists neutralized in the last 10 days became nearly 50,’ said Minister for
National Defense Hulusi Akar at an event in central Kayseri province. Turkish
authorities use the term ‘neutralized’ to imply the terrorists in question
surrendered or were killed or captured.”



Daily Sabah: Türkiye Cracks Down On Daesh Network In Nationwide Operations
<[link removed]>



“Simultaneous raids in 23 Turkish provinces nabbed 74 suspects affiliated
with the Daesh terrorist group Friday. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the
southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakır issued arrest warrants for 92
suspects as part of an operation. Security forces raided 123 locations to
capture the suspects. A manhunt is underway for the arrest of suspects at
large. The operations were conducted in cooperation with the National
Intelligence Organization (MIT). Security forces confiscated a large cache of
pistols and rifles, as well as documents and other materials containing Daesh
propaganda during the raids.”



Pakistan



Reuters: Islamist Militants In Pakistan Kill Six Soldiers Near Afghan Border
<[link removed]>



“Islamist militants killed six Pakistani soldiers in an exchange of fire with
the military in a northwestern tribal district bordering Afghanistan, the army
said on Thursday. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of several Sunni Muslim militant groups,
claimed responsibility. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed condolences to
the grieved families. ‘No matter how long the battle, our valiant armed forces,
with the support of the nation, will root out terrorism in its entirety,’ he
said in a statement.”



Associated Press: Attacks Across Pakistan, Including School Shooting, Kill 14
<[link removed]>



“Gunmen stormed a school in Pakistan’s volatile northwest on Thursday,
killing seven teachers and gunning down another teacher from the school in a
separate attack. Earlier in the day, a shootout with militants elsewhere in the
region killed six Pakistani soldiers.

The violence underscores the challenges the government of Prime Minister
Shahbaz Sharif is facing amid a surge in militant attacks across the country in
recent months.

In Kurram, a district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that
borders Afghanistan, a group of gunmen stormed a government school where
students were taking exams. The seven killed teachers were members of
Pakistan’s minority Shiite community, which is frequently targeted by
militants. Another teacher from the same school, a Sunni Muslim, was gunned
down on the road in a separate attack earlier in the day in Kurram, according
to local police official Abbas Ali.”



Middle East



The Times Of Israel: Iran’s Raisi Meets With Top Hamas And Islamic Jihad
Officials, Urges Israel’s Defeat
<[link removed]>



“Iran’s president met senior Palestinian officials in Damascus and expressed
his country’s support Thursday as Tehran and Syria signed a series of
agreements.

Damascus-based Palestinian official Khaled Abdul-Majid told The Associated
Press that the delegation — which included top leaders from the Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups — briefed Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi on the
situation in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Iran has been a main
backer of some Palestinian factions, supplying them with weapons and money.
‘The Palestinian leaders thanked Iran for its support to the resistance and the
Palestinian cause,’ Abdul-Majid, who attended the talks, said after the
meeting. Abdul-Majid, who is a leader of the Syrian government-allied
Palestinian Resistance Factions Coalition, added that Raisi confirmed to the
Palestinian officials that Iran will continue supporting the Palestinians.”



Somalia



Garowe Online: Al-Shabaab Attacks Reduce By 70% In Somalia, Says Govt
<[link removed]>



“The number of Al-Shabaab attacks waged in Somalia has drastically reduced
over the last six months due to robust security arrangements, Prime Minister
Hamza Abdi Barre told the cabinet on Thursday, while lauding the army for their
‘invaluable sacrifices’. While addressing the cabinet, Barre, who is in charge
of the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said the attacks have
reduced by 70 percent, an indication that the country is slowly heading back to
safety should the operations against your group get sustained.According to him,
the government managed to secure the capital Mogadishu during the Holy month of
Ramadan. Previously, Al-Shabaab launched dangerous attacks in the city and
other urban centers, killing hundreds of people.”



United Kingdom



BBC: Barnsley Man Had 'Terrorist Manual' And 'Idolised Hitler', Trial Hears
<[link removed]>



“A man accused of possessing extreme right-wing material had a ‘terrorist
manual’ and ‘idolises Hitler’, a jury has been told. Ashley Podsiad-Sharp, of
Cudworth, Barnsley, had set up a club to train like-minded right-wing
extremists, Sheffield Crown Court heard. At his trial on Thursday, prosecutors
said the 42-year-old ‘lived and breathed’ racist views. Mr Podsiad-Sharp has
denied disseminating a terrorist document. He has also pleaded not guilty to
possession of a document containing information of a kind likely to be useful
to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”



Europe



AFP News: Belgium Arrests Iraqi Suspected Of Al-Qaeda 'War Crimes' In Baghdad
<[link removed]>



“Belgium police have arrested an Iraqi immigrant suspected of belonging to an
Al-Qaeda cell that carried out deadly car bombings in Baghdad in 2009-2010,
prosecutors said Friday. The man, identified by the initials O.Y.T., born in
1979, was detained on Wednesday when police raided an address in the town of
Hasselt, in eastern Belgium, on orders of an anti-terrorist judge, they said in
a statement. He was appearing in court on Friday on charges of ‘several murders
with terrorist intent, participation in the activities of a terrorist group,
war crimes and crimes against humanity’ to determine whether he would remain in
custody. He is believed to have been part of an Al-Qaeda cell ‘partly
responsible for several bombings in the Green Zone of Baghdad (Iraq) in 2009
and 2010, which killed at least 376 people and injured more than 2,300,’ the
statement said.”



Reuters: Belgium Arrests Seven Suspected Of Planning Terrorist Attack
<[link removed]>



“Belgian police have arrested seven people on suspicion of preparing a
terrorist attack, the prosecutor's office said on Thursday. The suspects had
discussed several scenarios for an attack in Belgium but had not yet decided on
the target, the statement said as well. ‘There was talk of the NATO buildings,
but at the moment those plans didn't seem very concrete,’ a spokesperson told
Belgian newspaper De Standaard. The prosecutor's office did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.”



India



Reuters: Two Indian Soldiers Killed, Four Injured In Operation Against
Militants In Kashmir
<[link removed]>



“Two Indian Army soldiers were killed and four injured during an operation
against militants in Kashmir on Friday, the army said. Indian defence forces
have launched various operations in the Rajouri sector of the Himalayan region
after unidentified shooters last month opened fire at an Indian Army vehicle,
killing at least five soldiers. In a statement, the army said that a search
team on Friday encountered a group of militants trapped in an area which is
‘thickly vegetated with rocky and steep cliffs’. ‘The terrorists triggered an
explosive device in retaliation,’ the army said, adding that the operation was
in progress. ‘The army team has suffered two fatal casualties with injuries to
four more soldiers including an officer.’”



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]>