United States
Sun Journal: Hate Groups Are On The March In Maine
“…“If their message is ‘white people are superior,’ the pool is smaller. So, they look for on-ramps to recruitment,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher with the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project.”
Dawn: US Retains Ability To Counter Terrorism In Pak-Afghan Region: State Dept
“The United States has said that it retains the ability to conduct its own operations against terrorism in the Pak-Afghan region and does not depend on the Taliban’s promises to keep terrorists out of Afghanistan. US State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller made these comments while responding to a question about recent terrorist attacks inside Pakistan from militant hideouts in Afghanistan. Last week, terrorists attacked a military installation in Zhob, Balochistan, and killed nine soldiers. Soon after the attack, the military’s media wing, ISPR, issued a statement, expressing ‘serious concerns’ on the presence of terrorist ‘safe havens’ in Afghanistan and asked Kabul not to allow militants to use their territory for carrying out attacks inside Pakistan. The statement also reminded the interim Afghan government that the Doha agreement binds them to do so. The agreement, signed in Doha, Qatar, between the US and Afghan Taliban in February 2020, ultimately led to the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan on Aug 15, 2021.”
Iran
Associated Press: Militants Kill 4 Highway Policemen In Southeast Iran, State TV Says
“Militants shot and killed four highway policemen Sunday in southeast Iran, state media reported. State TV said the officers were on a routine mission on a road linking Khash and Taftan towns some 1200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran, in restive Sistan and Baluchistan province, when they were ‘attacked by terrorists,’ a reference to separatist groups. The province has witnessed multiple clashes between Iranian security forces and drug smugglers as well as a Sunni separatist group affiliated with the extremist group al-Qaida, known as Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice. Sistan and Baluchistan province is a well-known route for drug and human trafficking from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Europe and Arab nations in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere.”
Iraq
Anadolu Agency: Türkiye 'Neutralizes' 5 PKK Terrorists In Northern Iraq
“Turkish security forces ‘neutralized’ five PKK terrorists in northern Iraq near the Turkish border, the National Defense Ministry said on Saturday. The terrorists were targeted in an airstrike in the Operation Claw-Lock zone in Metina, the ministry said in a statement. Turkish authorities use the term ‘neutralize’ to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured. PKK terrorists often hide out across the border in northern Iraq to plot terror attacks in Türkiye.”
Iraqi News: Iraqi Security Arrests 404 Terrorists, Drug Dealers Within A Week
“The Iraqi Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency (FIIA) announced on Saturday that its officers had arrested 404 terrorists and drug dealers within a week, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. A statement issued by the FIIA clarified that 86 terrorists and 318 drug dealers were arrested last week. The FIIA also announced that 998 suspects involved in different crimes were arrested. Additionally, 126 different weapons and 12 improvised explosive devices were seized.”
Russia
ARD Frontal: Power Struggle Over The Wagner Group
"Interview with CEP Senior Director Hans-Jakob Schindler."
Turkey
Reuters: Turkey Urges Sweden To Act Over Terrorism For NATO Membership Support
“Turkey will act to ratify Sweden's NATO membership bid in conjunction with cooperation from Stockholm in the fight against terrorism, President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Friday as saying. Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, abandoning policies of military non-alignment that had lasted through the Cold War. Their applications must be approved by all members of the alliance. Having held up ratification of Sweden's NATO bid for more than a year, Erdogan unexpectedly agreed after the alliance's summit in Lithuania this month to forward it to Turkey's parliament when the legislature reconvenes in October. ‘Turkish parliament's working schedule will determine the process of Sweden's NATO membership (ratification),’ Erdogan told reporters on a flight returning from Gulf countries and northern Cyprus, according to a readout from his office.”
Afghanistan
Arab News: Kabul Denies Daesh Fighters Making Inroads Into Afghanistan, Warns Iran Against Raising ‘False Alarms’
“Afghanistan’s foreign ministry on Saturday denied Iranian allegations about the transfer of Daesh fighters to the landlocked country from Iraq, Syria and Libya, warning Tehran against raising ‘false alarms’ with regard to Afghanistan. The statement came a day after the Iranian foreign minister, Amir Hossein Abdollahian, said the shifting of Daesh leaders and fighters of Daesh, or the so-called Islamic State (IS), had become one of the main challenges of the interim Afghan government. He raised concerns that any instability in Afghanistan would directly affect the border region between the two countries. Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesman for the Afghan foreign ministry, rejected the Iranian foreign minister’s allegation and said Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities had meticulously fought against Daesh both during and after the end of Afghanistan’s “occupation” by the United States-led forces.”
Al Jazeera: Taliban Rejects Iran Claim Leaders Of ISIL Sent To Afghanistan
“The Taliban has rejected a claim by Iran’s foreign minister that the leaders of the ISIL (ISIS) armed group had been sent to Afghanistan. ‘If Iran has any intelligence that Daesh members have been transferred to Afghanistan, we hope [they] share it so the Afghan security forces can take the necessary steps,’ Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said on Twitter on Saturday using a common Arabic name for the ISIL group. ‘The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has meticulously fought against Daesh both during & after the end of the occupation,’ he added. Balkhi also urged Iranian authorities to take a constructive stance on economic, political, and social issues.”
Pakistan
Dawn: 665 Militant Attacks Reported In KP Since June 2022: Police
“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have said 665 militant attacks, including 15 suicide bombings, were reported in the province between June 18, 2022, and June 18, 2023. They also reported 382 gun attacks, 107 grenade blasts, 145 IED explosions, 15 rocket and missile hits, and two vehicle-borne IED attacks in the province during that period. According to the list of ‘Motive Wise Terrorism Incidents’ compiled by the provincial police, 140 militant activities, including eight suicide blasts, 37 IED and three hand grenade explosions, five rocket attacks and 85 firing incidents were reported in North Waziristan tribal district alone. The list, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said 81 militant attacks took place in Dera Ismail Khan district and they included 70 firing incidents, seven IED and two grenade explosions, and one suicide and rocket attack each.”
Anadolu Agency: Amid Rise In Militant Attacks, Pakistan's Military Chief Meets US Commander
“Commander of the US CENTCOM, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, met with Pakistan's army chief Gen. Asim Munir on Monday to discuss a variety of issues, including the region’s security situation. The meeting, which comes on the heels of increasing attacks allegedly carried out by Afghanistan-based militants on Pakistani security forces in recent months, was held at the army headquarters in the northeastern garrison city of Rawalpindi, said a statement from the army's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations. It also follows Munir's recent visit to Washington's arch-rival Iran. ‘During the meeting matters of mutual interest, regional security situation, and defense cooperation were discussed,’ the statement added. The two reiterated the desire to further enhance bilateral relations between the two armies in ‘all fields.’”
Yemen
Associated Press: Gunmen Riding On A Motorcycle Open Fire, Killing A Worker For The World Food Program In Yemen
“Gunmen shot and killed the head of one of the World Food Program’s offices in southwestern Yemen on Friday, the humanitarian organization said. No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, WFP said that Moayad Hameidi, a Jordanian, was shot by gunmen in the city of Taiz not long after he arrived in the country to assume the role as head of its office in that city. It added he died shortly after reaching a hospital. Hameidi was shot by two armed assailants on a motorbike, according to a statement issued by a local security committee on Friday. No further information was given.”
Middle East
Fox News: Iranian Hornet's Nest Of Terror Groups Surround Israel Amid Calls For New US Sanctions
“Amid President Biden’s pledge to Israel President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday that America’s commitment to the security of the Jewish state is ‘ironclad,’ a new think tank report reveals the U.S. has declined to designate a number of Iranian-backed entities as terrorist organizations. Just weeks ago, Israel deployed nearly 2,000 troops to root out Palestinian terrorists who are backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to Brig. Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi, a former deputy commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ Gaza Division. Avivi told Fox News Digital, ‘For the last year and a half, Iran stated clearly that its main strategy is to make the Samaria region another Gaza.’ Samaria is the biblical Hebrew name for a part of the West Bank. The entire West Bank is also known in Israel by its biblical name Judea and Samaria.”
The Times Of Israel: Hamas Raids Islamic Jihad Mosque In Gaza, Arrests Prominent Cleric
“Police in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip swarmed a mosque and arrested a prominent religious figure affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group this week. Sheikh Yahya Mansour’s hand was broken by police during the arrest on Tuesday, while PIJ members and other civilians were wounded in the raid on Rafah’s Al Awda mosque, a PIJ stronghold, the Tazpit Press Service reported, citing eyewitnesses. Unnamed Gaza sources told TPS that the raid was part of a broader strategy by Hamas to take control of mosques in the enclave and subjugate PIJ. Mansour later claimed in a video that the Hamas members ‘wanted to kill me.’”
Africa
AFP News: 'Vigilance Is Key': Al Shabaab Threat Rising In Kenya's Northeast
“In Kenya's rural northeast, roadside bombs and beheadings that killed two dozen people last month appear to be part of a troubling escalation of violence by Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists, analysts say. A regional economic powerhouse and a popular tourist draw, Kenya has not suffered a high-profile jihadist attack since 2019, when 21 people lost their lives at a hotel and surrounding offices in Nairobi. The recent attacks have been small-scale and focused on minor targets, but have raised fears that Al-Shabaab jihadists, who have been blamed for the assaults, are turning their attention to Kenya as they suffer losses in their native Somalia. Estimated to have between 7,000 and 12,000 fighters, Al-Shabaab has in recent months faced a multi-pronged counterterrorism offensive by the Somali National Army and US-trained ‘lightning’ commandos supported by clan militias known as ‘macawisley’. The militants, who have waged war against the fragile government in Mogadishu for over 15 years, have recently carried out several attacks along Kenya's long and porous frontier with Somalia.”
United Kingdom
The Guardian: Terrorist Anders Breivik’s Manifesto Was Listed For Sale On Waterstones Website
“The notorious manifesto of far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway’s worst peacetime atrocity, was listed for sale by Britain’s biggest book chain, Waterstones. Investigators found Breivik’s manifesto on the website last Wednesday before it was removed after the bookseller was informed. Breivik killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo before heading to a youth camp on the island of Utøya, where he killed 69 people, mostly teenagers, in a gun attack in July 2011. The right-wing extremist launched his 1,500 page anti-Muslim manifesto hours before committing his attacks.”
BBC: Man Admits Sharing Far-Right Terrorist Documents
“Alfie Stevens, 24, of Surrey Quays, pleaded guilty to three charges of dissemination of a terrorist document during a hearing at the Old Bailey. The offences related to posts Stevens made to two groups on the encrypted Telegram app on 27 January 2021. He shared two documents in a group called Band Of Brothers. He also posted one of them in a group named White Race Camp. The charges stated that at the time he intended his actions to be a ‘direct or indirect encouragement’ of terrorism or was ‘reckless to whether his conduct had such an effect’. Mr Justice Jeremy Baker adjourned Stevens' sentencing to 13 October for a psychological and pre-sentence report to be prepared.”
Daily Mail: MI5 Foil IS Plot To Target Isle Of Wight Festival For Terror Outrage On 90,000 People
“MI5 operatives have foiled a plot from Islamic extremists to unleash terror at the Isle of Wight Festival. Last year, a tip-off led officers from Britain's intelligence agency to believe a 15-year-old boy was thought to be setting up an attack on the festival which is attended by about 90,000 every year. According to claims made by the Sun, the youth was 'inspired' by the Islamic State. A security source revealed: 'The threat of a mainland terror attack of scale is still an active and live threat.' It comes after counter-terrorism police this week revealed they have foiled 39 recent terror incidents, including attacks on Pride and Members of Parliament.”
India
The Times Of India: 21 Terrorists Killed In J&K Encounters In June-July
“The months of June and July have been the deadliest for terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, with 21 killed in encounters with security forces between June 1 and July 20. In the first five months of this year, 14 terrorists were neutralised. After a decline in the number of terrorists killed in J&K between January and April — with four fatalities recorded in January, three in February, one in March and nil in April — the graph started rising in May with six terrorist fatalities, before shooting up to 13 in June. Till the 20th day of this month, eight fatalities of terrorists were recorded.”
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