“A German court convicted a Syrian man Tuesday of torturing captives while he
was a member of the Islamic State group in Syria. The Berlin regional court
found Raed E. guilty of war crimes, membership of a foreign terrorist
organization and other offences. It sentenced the defendant, whose surname
wasn’t released in line with German privacy rules, to 11 years in prison.
Prosecutors said the 32-year-old joined IS in 2014 and participated in targeted
attacks on the Shueitat tribe in the Deir el-Zour region of eastern Syria. A
man who was detained and tortured by the defendant testified at the trial. The
defendant left Syria in 2015 and traveled to Germany, where he was arrested
last year. The ruling can be appealed.”











<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>





Eye on Extremism



July 12, 2023



Associated Press: German Court Convicts Syrian IS Member Of War Crimes For
Torturing Captives
<[link removed]>


“A German court convicted a Syrian man Tuesday of torturing captives while he
was a member of the Islamic State group in Syria. The Berlin regional court
found Raed E. guilty of war crimes, membership of a foreign terrorist
organization and other offences. It sentenced the defendant, whose surname
wasn’t released in line with German privacy rules, to 11 years in prison.
Prosecutors said the 32-year-old joined IS in 2014 and participated in targeted
attacks on the Shueitat tribe in the Deir el-Zour region of eastern Syria. A
man who was detained and tortured by the defendant testified at the trial. The
defendant left Syria in 2015 and traveled to Germany, where he was arrested
last year. The ruling can be appealed.”



Garowe Online: Al-Shabaab Intensifies Terror Attacks In Kenya
<[link removed]>



“The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab intensified attacks in Northern Frontier
Districts [NFD] within the Republic of Kenya, even with concerted efforts to
Dismember the terrorists who control large swathes of rural central and
southern Somalia. On Monday night, sources say, AlShabab killed three police
officers following an Improvised Explosive Device [IED] explosion within
Garissa County, one of the hotspots. At least eight police officers attached to
Special Operations Force were injured in the attack, officials said. The bomb
had been placed on the roadside in the Kiwanja area and the police vehicles
were on the move. Within just a week, at least 11 security officers have been
killed in Al-Shabaab-related attacks, posing questions about the safety of
localstwho are vulnerable to such attacks.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* Monero and the Extreme Right: A Developing Problem
<[link removed]>
* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in June 2023
<[link removed]>
* ISIS Women in Court: Nadine K. – Time to Reflect?
<[link removed]>
* Afghanistan Terrorism Report: May 2023
<[link removed]>
* CEP-KAS – Sahel Monitoring May 2023
<[link removed]>



Turkey



Committee To Protect Journalists: Terrorism Trial Of 17 Kurdish Journalists,
Media Worker Begins In Turkey
<[link removed]>



“In response to Tuesday’s opening of the trial of 17 Kurdish journalists and a
media worker on terrorism charges in a court in Diyarbakır, Turkey, the
Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: ‘Turkish
authorities must immediately release the defendants and drop the terrorism
charges, which are solely based on their journalistic work,’ said Özgür Öğret,
CPJ’s Turkey representative. ‘Turkish authorities should also take necessary
steps to ensure that pretrial arrest cannot be weaponized against the members
of the press.’ The journalists and media worker were charged with membership in
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). They are employed by local ARİ,
PEL, and PİYA production companies and produce Kurdish-focused shows and
content, which the indictment alleged were propaganda for PKK. The government
has designated PKK as a terrorist organization.”



Afghanistan



Reuters: Taliban Halt Swedish Activities In Afghanistan After Koran Burning
<[link removed]>



“The Taliban administration halted all activities by Sweden in Afghanistan on
Tuesday in response to the burning of a Koran in Stockholm last month, and a
major Swedish aid group said it was seeking clarification about the impact on
its programmes. ‘After the insulting of the holy Koran and granting of
permission for insulting of Muslim beliefs ...The Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan is ordering the stopping of all activities of Sweden in
Afghanistan,’ said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban
administration, in a statement. An Iraqi immigrant to Sweden burned a Koran
outside a Stockholm mosque last month, causing outrage in the Muslim world.
Swedish officials have deplored the act but said they could not prevent it
because of free speech rules. Sweden no longer has an embassy in Afghanistan
since the Taliban took over in 2021. The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan
(SCA) aid organisation said it was seeking clarification with Taliban
authorities on whether its operations would be affected.”



Pakistan



Associated Press: Militants Attack A Security Post In Southwest Pakistan And
Trigger A Clash That Leaves 8 Dead
<[link removed]>



“Five militants attacked a security post in southwest Pakistan in the early
hours of Wednesday morning, triggering an intense shootout that left four
soldiers, three attackers and a female passerby dead, officials said. The
newly-formed militant group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan claimed responsibility for
the attack in a statement, not providing further details. Hours after the
attack, Pakistan’s military said in a statement that ‘a group of terrorists
launched a dastardly attack’ in the garrison district of Zhob in the
southwestern Baluchistan province. The ‘initial attempt of terrorists to sneak
into the facility was checked by soldiers on duty,’ it read. The shootout left
three militants and four soldiers dead while five troopers were critically
wounded.”



Middle East



Iran International: Terrorist Attack On Israel’s Embassy In Baku Thwarted
<[link removed]>



“Azerbaijan's security agencies thwarted a terrorist attack on the Israeli
embassy in Baku, the latest in a wave of Iranian plots against Israeli targets
abroad. According to media reports, an Afghan citizen, Fawzan Mosa Khan, has
been arrested. In a video released by Azerbaijan's State Security Service, Khan
discussed how he would monitor the target of the attack. Photographs suggested
Musa Khan had been surveilling the Hyatt Regency hotel complex in Baku, where
the Israeli embassy is located. Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, recently
revealed new details about a terrorist cell directed by Iran which intended to
harm Israeli businessmen in Cyprus. Israel later said its agents in Iran
succeeded in capturing the suspect behind the IRGC-planned attack on its
nationals.”



Africa



KBC: Terror Groups In Africa: Breeding Ground For Attacks In Europe?
<[link removed]>



“...Can the triumphant march of the Islamists in Africa still be stopped?
Experts like Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project see fighting poverty
on the ground as a key to curbing the influence of IS and Co. “Wherever
governments are weak, where there is economic hardship, where there is
inequality, that is of course a recruitment potential for terrorist groups,”
says the senior director of the Counter Extremism Project.”



United Kingdom



BBC: Right-Wing Washington Terror Plotter Luke Skelton Jailed
<[link removed]>



“A right-wing extremist who scouted police stations for a terror attack has
been jailed for four years. Luke Skelton, 20, took pictures of targets and
wrote about starting a race war that would kill thousands of people, Teesside
Crown Court heard. He was found guilty of one count of preparing a terrorist
act. Prosecutors said he was dangerous but his lawyers argued his autism made
him vulnerable to radicalisation and he did not actually intend an attack.”



The Sun: MONSTER'S FREEDOM BID Fury As IS Terrorist Linked To The Manchester
Arena Bomber Could Be Free By Christmas
<[link removed]>



“Abdullah Ahmed Jama Farah, 28, was a lynchpin helping fanatics join up with
IS fighters in Syria. One was an associate of Manchester terrorist Salman
Abedi, who killed 22 and injured 250 in 2017. Jama Farah was jailed for seven
years in 2016, with an extra five months in 2021 for attacking a prison guard.
He was initially denied parole amid concerns about his behaviour. But his
latest bid for freedom is to go before the Parole Board in October. Campaigners
tonight slammed the move.”



India



News18: Al-Qaeda Suspects Planned Mass Attack Using Trucks, In Touch With Pak,
Kashmiri Handlers: UP ATS
<[link removed]>



“The two terror suspects from an Al-Qaeda affiliated group, arrested by the
Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) around last week, were planning a
massive attack for which they were ‘very much’ in touch with the Pakistani and
Kashmiri handlers, sources have told News18. The UP ATS has recovered a series
of videos from the social media account of arrested Saddam Sheikh, 38, where he
was being trained for a major attack. Most videos pointed that a mass attack
was being planned where trucks would be used as a weapon. UP ATS arrested
Rizwan Khan, 23, and Sheikh from Lucknow on July 2. Both the suspects were the
members of the terror outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), an al-Qaeda
affiliated Islamist militant group. ‘Both Rizwan and Saddam, who seemed to be
highly radicalised, were preparing themselves psychologically for the attack.
Rizwan was in touch with his handlers in Pakistan and Kashmir while Saddam was
being trained for the lone wolf attack in which he was planning to use his
vehicle as a lethal weapon,’ said Naveen Arora, additional director general,
ATS.”



Daily Excelsior: Cops Trace Out Exact Locations Of 40 Militants In Pak, Pojk;
Mobile Numbers Too Identified
<[link removed]>



“In a significant success for police, the officials in Doda, Ramban and
Kishtwar districts have succeeded in identifying ‘accurate locations’ of around
40 militants from these districts in Pakistan and PoJK where they are operating
as commanders of different militant outfits and trying to revive militancy
across Jammu region especially their native districts. ‘We have ‘exact
locations and addresses’ of 40 militants out of a total of 250 who are camping
in Pakistan and PoJK from the three districts and trying to radicalize youth of
Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban to lure them into militancy,’ police officials told
the Excelsior. The mobile and landline numbers being used by the militants have
also been identified, they said. At the same time, they said, Intelligence
agencies continued efforts to trace locations and addresses of other militants
and hopefully some more successes are expected shortly. ‘The process is on. Our
agencies are on the job. Shortly, we will be able to trace addresses and
locations of more militants,’ the sources said. This will be used by the Indian
Government (the Ministry of External Affairs) to convey to Pakistan that these
militants are operating from such locations in Pakistan and PoJK and trying to
revive militancy in otherwise peaceful districts.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

DONATE NOW
<[link removed]>
 




Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>