“Afghanistan's Taliban confirmed Wednesday they had appointed a caretaker prime
minister to oversee daily affairs, saying the incumbent, Mohammad Hasan Akhund,
is unwell and needed time to recover. The new head of the all-male Taliban
cabinet, Abdul Kabir, is under terrorism-related United Nations sanctions,
along with several other senior members of his hardline government. He was
elevated from serving as the deputy prime minister for political affairs.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the power shift on Twitter. He
said that Akhund, 78, had been in the southern city of Kandahar for some time
undergoing treatment and resting, and he will return to Kabul soon to resume
his duties. ‘It's a routine matter in the governance process for a caretaker to
take charge to ensure the smooth running of the administrative affairs,’ wrote
Mujahid. ‘No one needs to worry about it, nor should they use it for
propaganda.’”











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Eye on Extremism



May 18, 2023



Voice of America News: UN-Blacklisted Taliban Leader Becomes Acting Afghan
Prime Minister
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“Afghanistan's Taliban confirmed Wednesday they had appointed a caretaker
prime minister to oversee daily affairs, saying the incumbent, Mohammad Hasan
Akhund, is unwell and needed time to recover. The new head of the all-male
Taliban cabinet, Abdul Kabir, is under terrorism-related United Nations
sanctions, along with several other senior members of his hardline government.
He was elevated from serving as the deputy prime minister for political
affairs. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the power shift on
Twitter. He said that Akhund, 78, had been in the southern city of Kandahar for
some time undergoing treatment and resting, and he will return to Kabul soon to
resume his duties. ‘It's a routine matter in the governance process for a
caretaker to take charge to ensure the smooth running of the administrative
affairs,’ wrote Mujahid. ‘No one needs to worry about it, nor should they use
it for propaganda.’”



Daily Sabah: Turkish Military Eliminates 5 YPG/PKK Terrorists In Northern Syria

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“The Turkish military eliminated five YPG/PKK terrorists who dug tunnels to
carry out an attack against Turkish soldiers in Operation Peace Spring area in
northern Syria, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said that the
military continues to take revenge of Turkish security forces killed by the PKK
terrorists. Three members of gendarmerie forces were killed and a village guard
was heavily injured during a counterterrorism operation in southeastern
Türkiye, the Interior Ministry reported on Tuesday. It is the highest number of
casualties in recent months in operations against the terrorist group, which
severely lost its support in Türkiye in the past two decades thanks to intense
counterterrorism operations.”



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approaches to combating terrorism in our society. Our frank discussions cover
the lifecycle of terrorism from propaganda and recruitment, to financing,
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or wherever you get your podcasts.




United States



Fox News: Border Patrol Arrest 16 People On FBI Terror Watch List In April At
Southern Border
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“Border Patrol agents encountered 16 people who are on the FBI’s terror watch
list attempting to enter the U.S. illegally at the southern border between
ports of entry in April, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
statistics. CBP stats show that 16 people — more than all four years of fiscal
years 17, 18, 19 and 20 combined — were stopped by Border Patrol agents in the
month of April. It means there have so far been 98 encounters at the southern
and northern borders between ports of entry in FY 23 so far. That’s the same as
all of FY 22. There were 16 in FY21, 3 in FY 20 and FY19, 6 in FY18 and two in
FY12. The numbers at the ports of entry themselves are much bigger, with 295 in
FY23 so far, compared to 380 last fiscal year. The watch list, officially
called the Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) is the government’s database that
‘contains sensitive information on terrorist identities.’”



Iraq



Iraqi News: Iraq Restricts ISIS Movement
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“The Iraqi Joint Operations Command confirmed it succeeded in restricting the
movement of ISIS groups in geographically complex areas through precise air
strikes. In statements revealing the escalating role of the Iraqi Air Force and
advanced security technology in the war against ISIS terrorist groups, the
spokesperson of the Joint Operations Command, Tahsin Al-Khafaji, explained to
the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that terrorists exist in geographically complex
areas where the movement of ground units is limited. ‘Air strikes carried out
by the Iraqi Air Force, based on intelligence information, paralyzed the
movement of terrorists in the most complex geographical areas,’ Al-Khafaji
said. Al-Khafaji explained that several ISIS leaders and terrorists have been
targeted since the beginning of the year until now, stressing that ISIS groups
are now incapable of protecting their leaders.”



Afghanistan



Associated Press: UK-Based Group Documents Rights Abuses Since Taliban
Takeover Of Afghanistan With ‘Witness Map’
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“A U.K.-based rights group on Thursday launched an interactive map
documenting rampant human rights abuses and violence against civilians since
the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan nearly two years ago. The documented
violations — committed by both the Taliban and militant groups such as the
Islamic State group — paint a harrowing picture of present-day Afghanistan. The
project by the independent, non-profit Center for Information Resilience is
meant to draw wider attention to the surge in abuses against civilians,
journalists, and ethnic minorities across the troubled country. With more than
1,300 data points of incidents since Aug. 17, 2021, the map is part of the
center’s Afghan Witness initiative.”



Pakistan



Dunya News: Security Forces Pip Two Terrorists In Bannu IBO
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“Security forces pipped two terrorists during an intelligence-based operation
(IBO) in the Jani Khel area of district Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Wednesday, The ISPR stated that
the IBO was conducted on the reported presence of terrorists in the area.
‘During the conduct of [the] operation, intense fire exchange took place
between own troops and terrorists. Resultantly, two terrorists were sent to
hell,’ it added. The military’s media wing said weapons and ammunition were
also recovered from the slain terrorists. ‘The killed terrorists remained
actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces and innocent
citizens,’ the ISPR said. The ISPR said locals of the area appreciated the
security forces' operation and assured of their full support in eliminating the
menace of terrorism.”



Nigeria



The Nation: 64 Islamic Scholars Killed By Boko Haram/ISWAP, Says Lemu
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“No fewer than 64 Islamic scholars have been killed by Boko Haram and Islamic
State West Africa Province (ISWAP) since the inception of the terrorists’
activities in Nigeria, an Islamic Scholar, Dr. Nurudeen Lemu, has said. Lemu
who is the Director Research and Training, Islamic Education Trust (Da’wah
Institute of Nigeria) said the scholars were killed because they opposed and
preached against the terrorists ideologies. He told The Nation in an interview
that today many scholars are afraid to counter the terrorists’ ideologies
because of fear of assassination by the extremist groups. Lemu said: ‘We have
some very knowledgeable ulamas and scholars, but the problem is that many
knowledgeable scholars who counter the arguments of Boko Haram/ISWAP have been
killed by them. When you know by talking against them they will kill you, why
will you talk? When the security personnel, politicians and soldiers are being
killed by Boko Haram, why should you risk your life?’”



United Kingdom



BBC: Former Prison Guard Denies Training Terrorists In Far-Right Fitness Club
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“Ashley Podsiad-Sharp told a Sheffield Crown Court jury he set up White Stag
Athletics Club to provide ‘a community’ for lonely men with extreme right-wing
views to lift weights and go hiking. The 42-year-old lost his job at HMP Leeds
in Armley after his arrest by counter-terrorism police in May 2022. He is on
trial for possessing and disseminating terrorist material. Giving evidence on
Wednesday, Mr Podsiad-Sharp, from the Barnsley area, described himself as ‘a
Christian and a national socialist’ who opposed multiculturalism and believed
there was no evidence Adolf Hitler had orchestrated the genocide of Jewish
people in the Holocaust. He admitted he thought ‘races have problems
interacting with each other’ and it was ‘better that we separate in some cases’
but insisted he denounced the use of violence to pursue this aim.”



The National: Young People's 'DIY Ideology' Poses New UK Radicalisation Threat
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“…‘We’re not seeing many cases of someone being radicalised to violence
merely by listening to Andrew Tate or similar misogynistic online influencers.
It’s more a case of those narratives and messages influencing existing
extremists to put more emphasis on what they believe the role of women should
be in society.’ Liam Duffy, an adviser to the Counter Extremism Project, said
Islamist extremists should be perceived as ‘more than a terrorist threat’. He
said the UK should not fall into complacency despite no deaths from terrorism
being recorded last year. ‘There are long, long periods between terrorist
attacks, between recruitment flows to overseas conflicts, where to our eyes
nothing happens,’ he said. ‘But that’s not the case. There is a lot happening
and we need to know what is happening.’”



Technology



WTOP News: The Hunt: More Extremist Content Showing Up Online
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“On this week’s episode of The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent
J.J. Green, Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Sr. Director at the Counter Extremism
Project, says some of the content discusses a ‘race war’ in the U.S.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
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