“Seven people were killed in two separate incidents when vehicles ran over
improvised explosives in north-east Kenya, with police saying in one of the
cases that they suspected members of al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab were
responsible. Four died in the first incident late on Tuesday when a vehicle was
escorting a convoy of buses between the towns of Banisa and Mandera. Another
security team from Banisa was attacked when it responded. ‘Upon reaching the
scene, they were attacked by suspected Al Shabaab’ fighters, Mandera police
station said in a report late on Tuesday. ‘The officers managed to repulse and
flush them out, and rescued the two (wounded) and retrieved the bodies.’ In the
second incident, three people were killed when a public service vehicle hit
another improvised device on the road at Elele Settlement in the same region,
the area's Elwak Wargadud Division police station said in a report on
Wednesday.”











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Eye on Extremism



June 22, 2023



Reuters: Seven Killed In North-East Kenya As Vehicles Run Over Explosives
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“Seven people were killed in two separate incidents when vehicles ran over
improvised explosives in north-east Kenya, with police saying in one of the
cases that they suspected members of al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab were
responsible. Four died in the first incident late on Tuesday when a vehicle was
escorting a convoy of buses between the towns of Banisa and Mandera. Another
security team from Banisa was attacked when it responded. ‘Upon reaching the
scene, they were attacked by suspected Al Shabaab’ fighters, Mandera police
station said in a report late on Tuesday. ‘The officers managed to repulse and
flush them out, and rescued the two (wounded) and retrieved the bodies.’ In the
second incident, three people were killed when a public service vehicle hit
another improvised device on the road at Elele Settlement in the same region,
the area's Elwak Wargadud Division police station said in a report on
Wednesday.”



The National: Taliban Demands For Recognition At Odds With Their Actions, Says
UN Envoy
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“It will be ‘nearly impossible’ for the Taliban to gain recognition from the
international community unless they revoke decrees curtailing women's freedoms,
the top UN envoy to Afghanistan said on Wednesday. Speaking to the Security
Council, Roza Otunbayeva, the special representative of the Secretary General
in Afghanistan, said the Taliban are trying to win acceptance while
simultaneously enacting ‘punishing restrictions’ on girls and women. ‘In my
regular discussions with the de facto authorities, I am blunt about the
obstacles they have created for themselves by the decrees and restrictions they
have enacted, in particular against women and girls,’ she said. ‘We have
conveyed to them that as long as these decrees are in place, it is nearly
impossible that their government will be recognised by members of the
international community.’”



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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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Middle East



Reuters: Israeli Drone Hits Palestinian Militants As West Bank Violence Surges
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“An Israeli drone killed three militant gunmen in the West Bank on Wednesday,
in a rare strike that came hours after settlers attacked Palestinian towns,
torching cars and buildings in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen a day
earlier. The strike near the flashpoint city of Jenin came amid a surge in
violence over recent days in the occupied West Bank, where for over a year the
military has been conducting regular sweeps leading to repeated clashes with
Palestinian fighters. The Israeli military (IDF) said a squad of militants was
identified in a vehicle after they carried out a shooting attack near the town
of Jalamah. A statement by the Islamic Jihad militant group said two of the men
were Islamic Jihad fighters while the third was from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
armed wing of the Fatah movement.”



Somalia



AFP News: Jihadists Strike Military Base In Somalia As AU Force Starts Drawdown

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“A military base in Somalia came under attack by Al-Shabaab jihadists on
Wednesday,police and witnesses said, just as the African Union announced it was
beginning a drawdown of troops in the violence-wracked nation. Almost
simultaneous suicide bomb blasts targeted the base in the southern city of
Baardhere, which hosts both Ethiopian and Somali troops, triggering heavy
gunfire, the sources said. There was no immediate information about any
casualties from the attack, which was claimed by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda
affiliate that has been waging a bloody insurgency against the fragile central
government for more than 15 years. ‘The first explosion which is presumed to
have been carried by a suicide bomber targeted the entrance of the ADC military
base in Baardhere where Ethiopian forces are stationed and train Somali
troops,’ local police officer Abdi Bare said.”



Anadolu Agency: Casualties Feared As Twin Blasts Rock Somalia’s Town
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“Multiple casualties are feared after two huge bomb blasts rocked Somalia’s
southwestern town of Bardhere in the Gedo region on Wednesday. The explosions
targeted a base housing the Somali national army and Ethiopia’s forces serving
under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), according to
State Minister for Environment and Climate Change Adan Aw Hirsi. ‘Our soldiers
thwarted the first VBIED (Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Device) but
unfortunately the second one hit,’ he said in a short statement on Twitter. ‘Al
Shabaab and (those) who financed them to undertake these specific attacks will
not be able to intimidate us,’ he added. Residents in Bardhere told Anadolu
over the phone that heavy gunfire took place after the explosions. No group has
yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the al-Shabaab terror group
claimed responsibility for recent attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.”



Garowe Online: Somalia Army Kills Al-Shabaab Terrorists
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“Elite forces within the Somali National Army [SNA] dubbed Danab have killed
13 suspected Al-Shabaab militants, even as the country prepares for the second
and perhaps final assault on the Al-Qaida linked group, which has wreaked havoc
on innocent civilians and members of security forces. At Lower Jubba region on
Tuesday, state media reported, the Al-Shabaab militants were dealt a huge blow
with the militants losing a total of 13 fighters. The crackdown left several
others injured, Ahmed Abdullahi Nur, the 16th Battalion commander confirmed,
while acknowledging support from locals. According to Nur, seven AK47 rifle
guns and one RPG were recovered from the militants during the special
operation. However, as a tradition, he did not reveal the number of casualties
on the SNA soldiers, who have been fighting against the militants awaiting full
takeover of security responsibilities. The security forces have vowed to
intensify both air and ground operations to flush out Al-Shabab militants who
have been attacking the locals and collecting illegal levies from the
residents. Somalia has trained over 20,000 soldiers who will take over from the
African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] troops.”



Germany



WION: German ISIS Terrorist, Who Enslaved Yazidi Girl, Jailed For Nine Years
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“A court in Germany's Koblenz, over 600 km southwest of Berlin, has jailed a
woman for more than nine years for keeping a Yazidi woman as slave as well as
aiding and abetting war crimes and genocide as a member of the ISIS. The
37-year-old German defendant, identified as Nadine K, was also found guilty of
crimes against humanity. Nadine K was reportedly a member of the ISIS between
December 2014 and March 2019. Nadine travelled to Syria to join the ISIS with
her husband. In 2015, the couple moved to Mosul in Iraq, then back to Syria.
From April 2016, the pair kept as a slave a Yazidi woman who had been
imprisoned by ISIS since 2014, according to an Al Jazeera report.”



India



Free Press Kashmir: Two Militant Associates Arrested In Anantnag, Say Officials

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“Armed forces have arrested two militant associates in Bijbehera area of
south Kashmir’s Anantnag district and recovered cash and ammunition from the
duo, officials said on Thursday. Official sources said that a joint team of
Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF have arrested two militant
associates identified as Abrar Ul Haq Katoo son of Mushtaq Ahmed Katoo, a
resident of Arwani Bijbehara and Tauseef Ahmad Bhat, son of Mushtaq Ahmed Bhat,
a resident of Shetipora Bijbehara. They said Rs 1 lakh, 12 AK 47 rounds and one
grenade has been recovered from their possession. (KNO)”



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