Eye on Extremism

May 11, 2023 

CNN: Hundreds Of Rockets Fired At Israel Amid Deadly IDF Airstrikes In Gaza 

“Israel’s army and Palestinian militants exchanged heavy cross-border fire on Wednesday, with hundreds of rockets launched from Gaza towards Israel after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out deadly strikes on what it says are Islamic Jihad organization targets along the strip. The latest violence came after Israeli military airstrikes earlier in the week killed three leaders of the Palestinian militant group and 10 other Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza and led to threats of retaliation. In a new update early Thursday, the IDF said it had targeted another Islamic Jihad commander who was a ‘central figure’ in the Palestinian militant group. ‘We just targeted Ali Ghali, the commander of Islamic Jihad’s Rocket Launching Force, as well as two other Islamic Jihad operatives in Gaza,’ the IDF said in a tweet, adding that Ghali was ‘responsible for the recent rocket barrages launched against Israel.’”  

RFI: France To Ban All Far-Right Extremist Demonstrations 

“Facing questions from parliament on Tuesday, Darmanin said police authorisation of an annual Paris rally to commemorate the 1994 death of a far-right militant Sébastien Deyzieu was ‘unacceptable’. Around 600 people dressed in black, some of whom were masked, marched in the French capital on Saturday carrying black flags marked with the Celtic cross, a symbol used by white nationalists and far-right extremists in Europe. Left-wing politicians and activists criticised what they said were double standards given police have repeatedly banned so-called ‘casserolade’ protests – people bashing pots and pans – against the government’s unpopular pension reform during several of President Emmanuel Macron’s visits around the country. Police also refused permits for demonstrations near war memorials in Paris and Lyon that Macron visited on Monday to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Darmanin said he had asked police chiefs to ban all future far-right extremist rallies, adding that it would be up to courts to determine if they could be held.”  

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United States  

Fox News: Virginia Terrorism Suspect Reportedly Married To 'Empress Of ISIS' 

“A northern Virginia man arrested on terrorism charges has a husband-wife relationship with another American who was dubbed by authorities as an ‘empress of ISIS’ for her work to establish an all-female battalion of the Islamic State, prosecutors said Wednesday. Mohammed Chhipa, 33, of Springfield, Virginia, was arrested last week on charges that he provided support to a terrorist group. Prosecutors allege that he transferred nearly $200,000 in cryptocurrency, with some of that money traced back to the Islamic State, to support Chhipa's stated goal of helping smuggle female ISIS members from detention camps. Other funds remain unaccounted for.”  

Fox News: Antisemitic Incidents, Hate Crimes On The Rise In California, According To Report 

“More than 500 antisemitic acts targeting Jewish people, including assault, vandalism and harassment, were committed in California last year, an increase of more than 40% from 2021, underscoring a proliferation of hate crimes and extremism in the state, according to a report released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL also cited increasing collaboration among extremist and white supremacist groups in a report detailing a wide range of hate crimes and violence. California saw at least six murders by members of extremist groups in 2021 and 2022 — the most in the nation — with three being linked to white supremacist groups, the report found. The report on California comes after the Anti-Defamation League released another report, in collaboration with Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, that shows antisemitic incidents are at a new high worldwide, with the upward trend intensifying in the U.S.”  

Syria 

Menafn: Turkish Intelligence Nabs 4 Wanted IS Terrorists In Syria 

“Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) captured four wanted IS terrorists in Syria, including senior militant who acted as the terrorist group's so-called former governor, security sources said Wednesday, trend reports citing daily sabah. The terrorists were nabbed in an operation following extensive work and were handed to security forces, the sources said. IS' former so-called Türkiye governor Shahap Varish, who was on the Red Category of the Interior Ministry's Wanted List, was among those detained in the operation. The terrorist was behind a number of foiled terrorist attacks planned against Turkish security forces.”  

Middle East 

Outlook India: Israel: Rockets Fired Into Israel After Air Strikes Kill Terrorist Commanders 

…“’Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a Palestinian Islamist terrorist group sponsored by Iran and Syria...PIJ is dedicated to eradicating Israel and establishing an autonomous Islamic Palestinian state in the lands currently comprising Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. PIJ believes that the land of Palestine is consecrated for Islam, that Israel usurped Palestine, and, therefore, that Israel is an affront to God and Islam and that Palestine’s re-conquest is a holy task,’ says think-tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP). CEP notes that Hamas also has a similar committed. Additionally, Hamas participates in the political processes.”  

  
AFP News: Policeman Killed In Damascus Car Bombing Claimed By IS 

“A Syrian policeman was killed and four others wounded on Wednesday in a car bomb attack on a Damascus police station that was claimed by the Islamic State group. 

The Syrian interior ministry said a vehicle exploded at the Barzeh police station in the north of the capital, killing a lieutenant colonel and wounding four others. ‘Investigations are ongoing to discover the circumstances of the incident,’ it added in a statement, posting images of a mangled, burnt-out vehicle. The IS group later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its members had ‘managed to plant and detonate an explosive device on a vehicle inside a police station’, in a statement on its Telegram channels.”  

Reuters: Egypt Starts Mediating An End To Israel-Gaza Strikes, Rockets 

“Israel hit Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza for a second day on Wednesday and Palestinian militants launched hundreds of rockets across the border, setting off sirens as far away as Tel Aviv, while Egypt began efforts to mediate an end to the fighting. The second round of cross-border fire in a week came after Israel launched strikes on Tuesday against three Islamic Jihad commanders it said had planned attacks against Israelis, following months of escalating violence. Cairo, which has mediated in previous rounds of fighting, had begun brokering a ceasefire, Islamic Jihad spokesman Dawoud Shehab said. Israel was examining Egypt's proposals, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told public broadcaster Kan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks that Islamic Jihad had sustained a serious blow, but cautioned: ‘The campaign is not over yet.’”  

Mali 

AFP News: Six Troops Killed In Rare West Mali Attack: Local Sources 

“Six Malian soldiers have been killed and nine wounded after a rare attack in the country's west, police and local sources told AFP on Wednesday. The troops died on Monday near the town of Kita, 130 kilometres (80 miles) from the capital Bamako, a police source said, without specifying the nature of the ambush or the perpetrators. 

A local official confirmed the toll and blamed ‘terrorists’, a term often used in Mali to refer to jihadists. Rebels affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have waged a bloody insurgency against the state for more than a decade, but no one had claimed responsibility for the attack by Wednesday evening.”  

Africa 

AFP News: Niger Says It Has Picked Up 1,400 Boko Haram Followers 

“Nearly 1,400 followers of Nigeria's notorious Boko Haram jihadist group have been intercepted fleeing into Niger following clashes with a rival Islamic State group, according to the army. The exodus into southeastern Niger started in March, when the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) pursued Boko Haram in its forest hideout of Sambisa, northeastern Niger. Niger's armed forces have so far picked up 1,397 people, many of them women and children, according to a statement from the army's southeastern region, seen by AFP. They have been handed over to the Nigerian military authorities, it said. ‘Around 30 terrorists’ who refused to surrender were killed, it added.” 

Germany 

The National: Two Terrorist Suspects Arrested Over 'Hezbollah Activity' In Germany 

“Germany on Wednesday arrested two suspected members of Hezbollah for their alleged involvement with the Iran-backed Lebanese group. Lebanese citizen Hassan M and German-Lebanese dual national Abdul-Latif W are accused of organising Hezbollah activities in northern Germany. They were held on arrest warrants that accuse them of belonging to a foreign terrorist group. Anti-Israel Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist organisation in Germany and all its activities were banned in 2020.”  

Europe 

Iran International: Swedish Parliament Votes To Designate Iran’s IRGC As Terrorist 

“The Swedish Parliament voted in favor of designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization today [May 10]. It followed the execution this week of Swedish-Iranian Habib Chaab (Asyud) which saw Sweden's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summon Iran's charge d'affaires in protest of the execution, one of hundreds since the start of the year. Iran's relations with Sweden have been strained since July when a Swedish court sentenced a former Iranian jailor, Hamid Nouri, to life imprisonment over executions of political prisoners in 1988. The European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution in January calling on the EU and member states to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group.”  

Australia 

Australian Associated Press: Experts Slam Premier Over Terrorism Link To Detainees 

“Aboriginal, legal and health experts have condemned Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan's comments comparing detainees with terrorists after a riot at the notorious Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre. The major disturbance started after a number of detainees breached their cells on Tuesday night and gained access to the grounds of the centre before climbing onto the roof. Mr McGowan said the behaviour of the youths was a ‘form of terrorism’ and activists should not make excuses for them. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar told AAP the Premier's response wasn't good enough.” 

India 

The Hindu: NIA Cracks Down On Newly-formed Militant Outfits In J&K 

“The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday raided 16 locations in Jammu and Kashmir in its latest crackdown on newly-formed militant offshoots, including The Resistance Front (TRF) and People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which claimed the responsibility for the twin attacks in Rajouri that left 10 soldiers dead.  An NIA spokesman said the raids were carried out at 16 locations, 12 in the Kashmir Valley and four in the Jammu division, to investigate the activities of overground workers and cadres ‘involved in collection and distribution of sticky bombs and magnetic bombs, improvised explosive devices [IEDs], cash, drugs and small weapons’. The raids continued till late Tuesday evening. The premises of several locals were searched in Anantnag, Srinagar, Budgam, Shopian, Kulgam and Baramulla districts of the Kashmir Valley and Poonch, Rajouri and Kishtwar districts of the Jammu division.”  

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