“Heavy fighting has been reported in central Somalia after al-Shabab militants
stormed a government military camp in the town of Masagaway on Tuesday, the
second attack in days. Security sources who are following the situation say
deadly fighting ensued between government forces and al-Shabab following the
militant attack. According to one security official involved in the efforts
against al-Shabab, the militants raided a military camp at dawn. The camp is
manned by troops trained in Eritrea and local fighters. He said the militants
managed to enter the camp and remove three vehicles.”











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Eye on Extremism



May 31, 2023



Voice Of America News: Deadly Battle Underway In Central Somalia After
Al-Shabab Attack
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“Heavy fighting has been reported in central Somalia after al-Shabab militants
stormed a government military camp in the town of Masagaway on Tuesday, the
second attack in days. Security sources who are following the situation say
deadly fighting ensued between government forces and al-Shabab following the
militant attack. According to one security official involved in the efforts
against al-Shabab, the militants raided a military camp at dawn. The camp is
manned by troops trained in Eritrea and local fighters. He said the militants
managed to enter the camp and remove three vehicles.”



Associated Press: 8 Killed In Northern Cameroon By Boko Haram Fighters,
Regional Official Says
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“Extremist fighters killed eight people including soldiers in multiple
attacks in northern Cameroon on Tuesday, a regional official said. Fighters
with Boko Haram killed three customs officers, three soldiers and two civilians
in separate attacks in the towns of Mora and Zigage on the border with Nigeria,
said Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the region. ‘The Boko Haram fighters are in
huge numbers along the border with Nigeria and we are counting on collaboration
between the military and civilians to stop this new wave of attacks,’ he said.
Several people were wounded and have been hospitalized, Bakari said. Boko Haram
is a homegrown extremist group in Nigeria that launched an insurgency in 2009
to fight against Western education and to establish Islamic Shariah law in the
country’s northeast.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* Afghanistan Terrorism Report: April 2023
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* ISIS Women in Court: Marcia M. – A Perfect Cover?
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* CEP-KAS: Sahel Monitoring April 2023
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* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in April 2023
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* Accounts for White Supremacist Active Clubs Allowed to Remain on Instagram
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Syria



Daily Sabah: US Sends HIMARS To YPG/PKK Terrorists In Northern Syria
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“The U.S. transferred the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) – a
light multiple rocket launcher mounted on a standard Army Medium Tactical
Vehicle (MTV) to the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG terrorists in Syria,
sources said Tuesday. HIMARS was transferred to the U.S.base in northern
Syria’s Deir el-Zour province, TRT Haber cited sources as saying. U.S. forces
have increased their efforts to reinforce their bases in Hassakeh, Deir el-Zour
and Raqqa since last year, after their military points in the region were
targeted by foreign terrorist groups backed by Iran. The PKK is a designated
terrorist organization in the U.S., Türkiye and the European Union.
Washington’s support for its Syrian affiliate, the YPG, has been a major strain
on bilateral relations with Ankara.”



Prensa Latina: Syrian Army Destroys Terrorist Headquarters
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“The sources said the airstrikes destroyed three headquarters of the Ansar
Tawhid and Houras Al-Din groups in the town of Sarjeh in southern Idlib, and at
least six members of these groups, including leaders, were killed in the raids.
Over the past few days, Army detachments attacked rallies of the Levant
Liberation Board, formerly Al-Nousra Front, in response to hostile actions by
the extremists who used shells against military points. The extremist groups
entrenched in Idlib escalated their attacks and violations to the de-escalation
zone regime in place in that governorate. During its operations in 2020 the
national Army managed to release 56 percent of this governorate, but the
jihadists still control the rest, where they are holding hundreds of thousands
of civilians as human shields.”



Iraq



Associated Press: UN Urges Iraq To Deliver On Reforms And Combat Corruption --
And Backs It Fight Against Terrorism
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“The U.N. Security Council encouraged Iraq’s recently formed government to
deliver on reforms and combat corruption in a resolution adopted unanimously
Tuesday that backs the country’s ongoing fight against the Islamic State,
al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The resolution, which extends the U.N.
political mission in Iraq for a year, welcomes last October’s confirmation by
Iraq’s Council of Representatives of a new government and Cabinet led by Prime
Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani after a more than year-long political
stalemate that was punctuated by outbreaks of street violence. Twenty years
after the U.S. invasion toppled longtime dictator Saddam Hussein and divided
the unified country in the heart of the Arab world, Iraq is still seeking
stability. In 2014, lslamic State fighters seized Iraqi cities and declared a
self-styled caliphate in a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq. The
group was formally declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year
bloody battle that left tens of thousands dead and cities in ruins, but its
sleeper cells continue to stage attacks in different parts of the country.”



Turkey



Anadolu Agency: Türkiye Expects Stockholm To Stop PKK Terrorists From
Operating In Sweden
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“Türkiye on Tuesday called on Stockholm to take action against PKK terrorists
in Sweden. ‘It is completely unacceptable that PKK terrorists continue to
operate freely in Sweden -which has applied for NATO membership,’
Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter. Altun's remarks came a
day after supporters of the PKK/YPG terrorist organization in Stockholm
projected on the facade of the parliament building an image of a rag
symbolizing the terror group. ‘We expect the Swedish authorities to investigate
this incident, hold accountable those responsible, and stop self-identified
members of PKK —which the EU recognizes as a terrorist entity— from operating
on Swedish soil,’ Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter. The
PKK/YPG supporters also shared on social media videos containing provocations
against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf
Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom.”



Lebanon



Associated Press: Palestinian Officials Say Israeli Strike On Eastern Lebanon
Kills 5 Militants, Israel Denies Role
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“An Israeli airstrike targeting positions of a Syria-backed Palestinian group
in eastern Lebanon early Wednesday killed five Palestinian militants and
wounded 10 others, two Palestinian officials said. An Israeli official speaking
on condition of anonymity denied the country had any role in the incident.
Israel does not typically respond to foreign reports. Anwar Raja of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, told The Associated
Press in Damascus that the Israeli strike hit positions in the Lebanese eastern
town of Qusaya near the border with Syria. He said two of the wounded are in
critical condition.”



Middle East



Reuters: Five Members Of Palestinian Militant Group Killed In Blast On
Lebanese-Syrian Border
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“Five members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant
group were killed in an overnight explosion near Lebanon's border with Syria,
security sources told Reuters on Wednesday, with the group blaming Israeli air
strikes. An Israeli source told Reuters the Israeli military was not involved
in the Syria-Lebanon border blast. Lebanon's army declined to comment. A PFLP
statement on Wednesday said five of its members were killed in Israeli bombing
on a site controlled by the group near the border. The group's spokesman in
Damascus Anwar Raja told Reuters an Israeli strike on the Lebanese town of
Qusaya had killed five members, including fighters, and wounded 10.”



Africa



AFP News: Attacks Kill 40 In Burkina Faso, Including Army Volunteers
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“Two attacks attributed to jihadist insurgents have killed around 40 people
in western Burkina Faso, including volunteers in a civil defence militia,
sources said on Tuesday. Around 20 people died on Saturday when an armed convoy
was targeted near Bourasso close to the Malian border, the regional government
said, while a security source and local resident said around 20 others were
killed in an attack in the same region on Sunday.”



Associated Press: At Least 17 Civilians Killed By Extremist Rebels In Eastern
Congo
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“At least 17 people were killed by extremist rebels in eastern Congo’s North
Kivu province, local authorities said. Civilians were killed by fighters with
the Allied Democratic Forces — believed to be linked with the Islamic State
group — in the Bambuba-kisiki area in Beni territory, said Sabiti Njiamoja, a
deputy to the local governor, on Monday. ‘We buried 10 bodies on Sunday. The
victims are civilians killed by ADF between Thursday and Friday in Kainana.
Seven others were found on Monday,’ he said. Conflict has been simmering for
decades in eastern Congo, where more than 120 armed groups are fighting. Most
are vying for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some
groups are trying to protect their communities.”



United Kingdom



BBC: Luton Man Jailed Over Bomb-Making Manual And 'Assassin Guide'
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“Mohammed Adnan Saleem, 22, of Montrose Avenue, Luton, had saved several
banned documents, including a bomb-making manual and a file on explosives. He
was convicted in March on three counts - brought under the Terrorism Act 2000 -
at the Old Bailey in London. The Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (EROS)
said Saleem ‘held a dangerous extremist mindset’. Saleem was arrested in May
2020 during an investigation led by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit
(ERSOU).”



Germany



Al Arabiya: Germany Arrests Seven Suspected Supporters Of ISIS
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“German authorities have arrested seven suspected supporters of ISIS as part
of an investigation into terrorist financing, prosecutors said on Wednesday. At
the same time, authorities conducted 19 raids in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bremen,
Hamburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as in
one property in the Netherlands, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a
statement. The individuals arrested are suspected of belonging to an
international network that solicited financial donations for ISIS in Syria
through platforms including Telegram and subsequently transferred them to the
group or its intermediaries. At least 65,000 euros ($71,552.00) were
transferred in this manner, prosecutors said, adding that the money was used to
support ISIS members imprisoned in Syria, in some cases allowing them to escape
from prison camps.”



Europe



Fox News: Underage ISIS Terrorist Planned Bomb Attack In Northern Italy,
Authorities Allege
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“Italian authorities have arrested a minor suspected of being a supporter of
the ISIS terror network who was allegedly planning an explosive attack in the
area where he lived, police said Tuesday. The minor, identified as an Italian
citizen of foreign origin, was arrested in the province of Bergamo on suspicion
of association with the aim of terrorism, terrorist training, extolling the
virtues of terrorism and instigation to commit a crime. Italian authorities
said others in the network of young ISIS supporters were arrested last week in
Europe and the United States, but did not provide further details.”



Reuters: Threat Of Terrorist Attack In Netherlands Has Increased -Gov't Agency
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“The threat of a possible terrorist attack in the Netherlands has increased
in recent months, the country's anti-terrorism agency NCTV said on Tuesday. The
NCTV said there were increasing signs of jihadist groups plotting possible
attacks in Europe, including in the Netherlands. The overall threat level
remained at three on a scale of five, the NCTV said, meaning that an attack is
plausible.”



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