“Ten al-Shabaab members were killed by airstrikes conducted by US Africa
Command in Somalia in the overnight hours of Saturday, the Defense Department
announced. ‘At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa
Command conducted three collective self-defense airstrikes overnight in a
remote area near Afmadow, approximately 105 kilometers north of Kismayo,
against al-Shabaab terrorists,’ US Africa Command said in a statement Sunday.
The initial assessment of the Somali National Army and US Africa Command found
that 10 members of the terrorist group were killed and there were no civilian
casualties, per the statement. Al-Shabaab is the largest and most active al
Qaeda network in the world, according to the US Africa Command. The group
controlled a vast area of Somalia before being pushed back by government
counteroffensives last year, according to Reuters.”











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Eye on Extremism



July 10, 2023



CNN: US Airstrikes Kill 10 Al-Shabaab Members In Somalia
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“Ten al-Shabaab members were killed by airstrikes conducted by US Africa
Command in Somalia in the overnight hours of Saturday, the Defense Department
announced. ‘At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa
Command conducted three collective self-defense airstrikes overnight in a
remote area near Afmadow, approximately 105 kilometers north of Kismayo,
against al-Shabaab terrorists,’ US Africa Command said in a statement Sunday.
The initial assessment of the Somali National Army and US Africa Command found
that 10 members of the terrorist group were killed and there were no civilian
casualties, per the statement. Al-Shabaab is the largest and most active al
Qaeda network in the world, according to the US Africa Command. The group
controlled a vast area of Somalia before being pushed back by government
counteroffensives last year, according to Reuters.”



AFP News: Suspected Jihadists Kill 22 In Burkina Faso: Sources
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“Suspected jihadists killed 22 civilians in two attacks in the north and west
of Burkina Faso, security and local sources said Saturday. Sixteen civilians
from volunteer auxiliaries backing up the army were killed on Friday in the
deeply troubled north, a security source said, adding that some of the
attackers had also suffered ‘losses’. A resident said two other civilians also
perished in the attack in a village near Boulsa, the main town in the
Namentenga province, adding that the attackers also torched homes, motorcycles
and the local market. A second security source said four civilians from another
volunteer auxiliary group died in an attack in the town of Fo in the west on
Friday. Fo has been repeatedly targeted by jihadists in the past weeks and most
of the inhabitants have fled.”




CEP Expert Analysis

* West Africa's Terrorism Challenge: Development Of Al-Qaeda In The Western
Sahel Region
<[link removed]>
* West Africa's Terrorism Challenge: Status Of ISWAP And ISGS In West Africa
And Sahel
<[link removed]>
* Civilian Counterterrorism Forces and the Fight Against Extremism: A Review
of Nigeria, Somalia, and Burkina Faso
<[link removed]>
* Extremism in Erdogan's AKP
<[link removed]>
* Security Risks Emanating From Afghanistan
<[link removed]>



Syria



Associated Press: US Drone Strike Kills An Islamic State Group Leader In
Syria, The Defense Department Says
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“A U.S. drone strike killed an Islamic State group leader in Syria hours after
the same MQ-9 Reaper drones were harassed by Russian military jets over the
western part of the country, according to the Defense Department. Three Reapers
had been flying overhead searching for the militant on Friday, a U.S. defense
official said, when they were harassed for about two hours by Russian aircraft.
Shortly after that, the drones struck and killed Usamah al-Muhajir, who was
riding a motorcycle in the Aleppo region, said the official, who was not
authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity
to describe details of the military operation. The official said al-Muhajir was
in northwest Syria at the time of the strike, but that he usually operated in
the east.”



Associated Press: A Drone Strike In Syria Kills 1 Militant With Islamic State
Links And Wounds A Passerby
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“A drone strike believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition
in northern Syria Friday killed one man with Islamic State links and wounded a
passerby, a paramedic group and an opposition war monitor said. The Syrian
Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said the man was killed while
riding a motorcycle. It added that a passerby was also wounded. Rami
Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,
said the man targeted by the drone was a militant linked to the Islamic State
group. The Observatory said the attack occurred on the road connecting the town
of al-Bab with the village of Bazaa.”



Iran



Reuters: Six Killed As Attackers Storm Police Station In Southeast Iran
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“Two police officers and four attackers were killed on Saturday when gunmen
and suicide bombers stormed a police station in the mostly Sunni city of
Zahedan in Iran's restive southeast, state television reported. Zahedan,
capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, was scene of some of the bloodiest
protests during a wave of nationwide unrest last year triggered by the death of
a young Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police. A militant group
operating in the area called Jaish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, claimed
responsibility for Saturday's attack in a social media post, saying it was in
retaliation for the deaths of protesters killed by security forces on Sept. 30,
2022. It said the police station targeted was ‘one of the main perpetrators of
the Bloody Friday calamity in Zahedan’. State television said ‘all four
terrorists’ had died in the raid.”



CNN: Two Men Executed In Iran Over Deadly Attack On Shiraz Shrine
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“Iran on Saturday executed two men it accused of carrying out a deadly attack
on a shrine in Shiraz in October 2022, according to state-run news agency IRNA.
Iran’s Supreme Court had rejected an appeal filed for the two men, Mohammed
Ramez Rashidi and Sayed Naeem Hashemi Qatali, IRNA quoted Fars Province Chief
Prosecutor as saying. Thirteen people were killed, and 40 others injured in the
attack that took place at Shahcheragh Shrine in the city of Shiraz in southern
Iran on October 26, 2022, according to IRNA. The attack took place on a
Wednesday evening, one of the busiest times for the shrine. At the time, ISIS
claimed responsibility for the attack and released a statement on its
affiliated Amaq news agency saying that one of its members ‘targeted groups of
Sunni refusal infidels inside the shrine with his machine gun, causing the
death of tens of them.’”



Iraq



Kurdistan24: Five ISIS Militants Killed In Kirkuk Province: Iraqi Counter
Terrorism Service
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“The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) announced on Friday the killing of
five ISIS militants during an operation in the Altun Kupri sub-district of
Kirkuk Province. CTS operations will continue to drive out ISIS remnants in the
country, according to the statement. Previously, five suspected ISIS militants
were killed by Iraqi forces on June 26 in a similar operation. Although ISIS
was declared territorially defeated in 2017 by the then-Iraqi government, it
has demonstrated a capability of launching small-scale attacks against security
forces and civilians, particularly in the remote areas of the north and west.
The group, which once controlled a third of the country following its rapid
rise in 2014, has displaced over a million people and claimed the lives of
thousands of security forces and civilians.”



Turkey



Anadolu Agency: Turkish Police Nab 22 Daesh/ISIS Terrorists In Capital
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“Turkish police have arrested 22 foreign nationals affiliated with the
Daesh/ISIS terrorist organization during an anti-terror operation in the
capital Ankara, security sources said on Monday. Police teams conducted an
anti-terror operation to arrest 27 suspects over their links to the terrorist
group, according to the sources who requested anonymity due to restrictions on
speaking to the media. The operation was initiated over the suspicion that the
suspects were in contact with members of the Daesh/ISIS in conflict zones and
carried out activities for the terrorist organization in the past years, the
sources said. The arrests were made in the operation carried out across Ankara,
and the remaining suspects are sought by the police, the sources added.”



Pakistan



Samaa: KP CTD Busts Terrorist Group Planning Attack In Muharram
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“The CTD said the arrested group includes more than 10 terrorists belonging
to a banned organization. The terrorists were arrested from different areas of
the province, including Peshawar and Hangu. The arrested terrorists also
include target killers. Further interrogation of the terrorists is going on,
the CTD added. On Saturday, the Doaba police in a successful operation arrested
four terrorists, including a commander of the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP). The operation was conducted in the mountainous area of Torawari
village.”



Voice Of America News: Pakistan Cautiously Lauds Afghan Taliban's Moves To
Counter Cross-Border Terrorism
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“Pakistan is optimistic Afghanistan's Taliban will effectively combat
cross-border terrorism to emulate the kind of cooperation that U.S. President
Joe Biden recently hinted at between the de facto Afghan rulers and Washington,
a senior diplomat said Saturday. Asif Durrani, Pakistan's special
representative on Afghanistan Affairs, told VOA in an exclusive interview that
the Taliban government had recently initiated certain moves to address his
country's cross-border terror concerns and those of other neighbors, including
China. But it is premature to speculate on the outcome, he cautioned. Pakistan
has experienced a dramatic surge in terrorist attacks since the Taliban
returned to power in Kabul nearly two years ago. The violence has become a
daily routine, killing hundreds of Pakistanis, including many security forces.
Islamabad maintains the attacks are being orchestrated by Afghanistan-based
fugitive leaders and fighters of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which
is waging a deadly insurgency against the Pakistani state.”



Middle East



The National: Lebanon-Israel Border Tensions Rise Amid New Allegations Of
Hezbollah Outposts
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“Israeli military officials say Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah is
openly manning new military outposts along the Blue Line, an area patrolled by
UN peacekeepers following Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon 23 years
ago. Tensions have been mounting in the region since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah
conflict in which more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and 44 Israelis were
killed. A total of 121 Israeli soldiers and about 250 Hezbollah fighters also
died in the conflict. The remarks by soldiers to Bloomberg confirm the growing
stand-off after Israel complained to the UN about the construction of 27
outposts last month, saying they breached a post-war UN Security Council
resolution.”



Jewish News Syndicate: IDF Thwarts Terror Attack In Samaria
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“Israeli forces thwarted a Palestinian terrorist attack near Neve Tzuf (aka
Halamish) in the Binyamin region of Samaria on Monday. According to preliminary
reports, the terrorist was armed with a bomb and a firearm, which he aimed at
troops stationed at a checkpoint on Route 450. The forces shot and
‘neutralized’ the terrorist, with paramedics later declaring him dead. There
were no other injuries reported.”



Arab News: Three Men Wanted On Terrorism Charges Killed In Exchange Of Fire
With Jordan Police <[link removed]>



“Jordanian Public Security Department, or PSD, said on Sunday that three men
wanted on terrorism charges were killed in an exchange of fire with police on
the kingdom’s southeastern borders. PSD said that two of the three men killed
in a police shootout on Saturday were inmates who had recently escaped from a
rehabilitation center. The third man was a member of the ‘Al-Husseiniya cell’
and a ‘most wanted’ fugitive who was involved in the killing of Col. Abdul
Razzaq Al-Dalabeeh on Dec. 16 last year in the southern city of Maan, which was
rocked by demonstrations against increasing fuel prices. Amer Sartawi, PSD
spokesperson, said that police had identified the hideout of the escaped
inmates in a remote area with rough topography on the Kingdom’s southeastern
borders with Saudi Arabia and Iraq.”



Nigeria



Sahara Reporters: Top Boko Haram Commander, Lieutenant Surrender To Nigerian
Military
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“A top commander of the Jamā'at Ahlis-Sunnah lid-Da'wahti wa'l-Jihād also
known as Boko Haram, Khaid Malam Ali and his lieutenant, Bunu Umar have
surrendered to the troops of Operation Hadin Kai in Borno State, Northeast,
Nigeria. A top commander of the Jamā'at Ahlis-Sunnah lid-Da'wahti wa'l-Jihād
also known as Boko Haram, Khaid Malam Ali and his lieutenant, Bunu Umar have
surrendered to the troops of Operation Hadin Kai in Borno State, Northeast,
Nigeria. SaharaReporters on July 6, 2023, reported that ISWAP terrorists killed
many Boko Haram fighters, including their women and children during a fresh
clash in Sambisa Forest in Borno State, northeast Nigeria. This was disclosed
by a popular counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in Lake Chad,
Zagazola Makama in a Twitter post said the two terrorist groups clashed against
each other on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.”



Leadership Nigeria: Troops Kill 51 Terrorists, Arrest 168 Others
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“Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said troops deployed on internal security in the
North East, North West, North Central and South East have neutralised 51
insurgents, arrested 168 other terrorists, collaborators and rescued 89
kidnapped civilians in three weeks. The Defence Media Operations disclosed this
in an update on military operations across the country covering between 15 June
– 6 July 2023. According to the brief read by Brig-Gen. Abdullahi Ibrahim, 967
terrorists comprising 82 adult males, 354 adult females and 531 children
surrendered to troops in the North East while one terrorist surrendered in the
North West zone. In the North East, he said the troops neutralized 24 Boko
Haram Terrorists/Islamic State of West Africa Province terrorists, captured 10,
apprehended 39 collaborators and logistics suppliers and rescued 35 kidnapped
civilians.”



Somalia



Garowe Online: Somalia: Al-Shabaab Suffers Huge Blow As 40 Militants Die In
Army Raid
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“Over 40 Al-Shabaab militants have been killed in the latest operation by the
Somali National Army [SNA], state media reports, in what defines the resilience
of the troops in liberating the country, which has struggled with instability
for over three decades. According to state media, the Somali National Army used
aerial and ground combats in dealing with the militants a huge blow, with help
from international partners. The US Africa Command and the African Union
Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] troops have been closely assisting the
national army. The assault engineered by the Danab Special Forces, was executed
in Welmaro village about 40 kilometers from Afmadow in Lower Jubba. The state
media did not give much information about the incident but there are deliberate
efforts to neutralize the militants.”



Africa



North Africa Post: Terror Groups In Africa, A Breeding Ground For Attacks In
The West
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"…The same warning was expressed by Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of
the international non-profit organization Counter Extremism Project, which
monitors and evaluates the propaganda of Islamist terrorist groups in Africa.
Schindler argues that as these groups grow more strengthened, they will end up
not focusing exclusively on gaining control over areas in the region, “but they
are all still part of this global strategy, which means attacks on the West are
a priority.”



BR 24: Terrorist Groups In Africa: Breeding Ground For Attacks In Europe?
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“…Terrorist groups like IS and al-Qaida have an easy time in these camps.
Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the international non-profit
organization Counter Extremism Project, warns of this. This monitors and
evaluates the propaganda of Islamist terrorist groups in Africa. According to
Schindler, growing stronger would mean ‘that these groups do not concentrate
exclusively on gaining control over areas in the region, but are all still part
of this global strategy, which means that attacks on the West are a priority’.
Many associate IS primarily with countries like Syria or Iraq. But experts like
Schindler say that Africa is increasingly becoming a hotspot for Islamist
terrorism - and that attacks could be called for from there: ‘It's still
possible to use people from the conflict regions in Europe as an instrument, to
radicalize them and then possibly even to to motivate attacks.’”



France



RFI: France's Internal Security Chief Warns Againt Rise In Far-Right Violence
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“In an interview with Le Monde newspaper, Nicolas Lerner, France's Director
General of Internal Security stressed, ‘Since the spring, we have witnessed a
very worrying resurgence of violent actions and intimidation by the
ultra-right, some of which are a clear break with the democratic framework.’
Lerner – who has been head of the DGSI since 2018 – pointed in particular to
attacks against the two mayors who resigned after one had his home was burnt
down, while the other faced intimidation from the far-right over the
installation of reception centres for asylum seekers and refugees. The senior
civil servant has voiced his concern over the ‘trivialisation of the use of
violence and the temptation to try to impose one's ideas through fear or
intimidation’ in the ultra-right movement, which ‘numbers around 2,000 people’.
Lerner also pointed out that ten planned terrorist attacks by the ultra-right
have been foiled since 2017.”



Europe



Der Standard: Bandidos Weapon Discovery Raises Calls For More Surveillance
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“…A report by the Counter Extremism Project, an international non-profit
organization, on transnational connections shows how closely interwoven
neo-Nazis from Object 21, a group that was believed to have been smashed after
arrests in 2013, and the biker milieu were years ago between right-wing
extremism, terrorism and organized crime from March 2023. In addition to
right-wing extremist alliances, the group also cooperated with biker gangs from
Bavaria. Also with the Hells Angels Germany, the rival of the Bandidos. The
right-wing extremists' shift from the Hells Angels to the Bandidos could have
something to do with connections to Switzerland.”



Russia



The Intercept: Russian Militia Has Links To American Neo-Nazi And Anti-Trans
Figures <[link removed]>



"…Kacper Rekawek, an expert on the flow of foreign fighters to the war in
Ukraine and a nonresident research fellow at the Counter Extremism Project,
says that while there are neo-Nazis from abroad in Ukraine, the problem
shouldn’t be overblown. “It’s certainly not as bad as the Russian propaganda
wants us to believe,” said Rekawek. “The caution is warranted, and what I see
is there is excitement amongst those far-right types, online and offline.”
According to Rekawek, there are very few neo-Nazi foreigners fighting on the
front lines, while groups like CasaPound in Italy, another fascist and
nationalist political organization, have sent “observation” missions to
Ukraine."



India



The Print: Suspected Al Qaida Terrorist Ikramul Haque ‘Wanted’ In India,
Arrested In B’desh
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“India’s ‘most wanted’ Al Qaida terrorist, Ikramul Haque alias Abu Talha was
arrested in Bangladesh along with his wife in a raid recently, Bangladesh daily
Prothomalo reported. Ikramul Haque was apparently arrested from the Sabuj Bagh
area of the capital Dhaka. He was arrested on May 30, soon after the Counter
Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) officials of Dhaka came to know
that Abu Talha, the top leader of the Dawah wing of the international terrorist
organization Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), got involved in
militancy while studying in Deoband, India. Ikramul Haque was apparently
arrested from the Sabuj Bagh area of the capital Dhaka. Quoting CTTC as saying,
Prothomalo reported that CTTC, the crime unit of Dhaka said Ikramul and his
wife Faria Afreen were arrested from the city’s Madartek area on 30 May and are
now in jail. The duo were remanded several times.”



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