“Niger was waiting on Monday for a response from the West African regional bloc
after coup leaders ignored a deadline to reinstate the ousted president - a
move the bloc has warned could lead to military intervention. The Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said it will issue a statement on
its next steps, responding to the junta's refusal to stand down by Sunday, as
foreign powers said they hoped for a peaceful resolution. The bloc has taken a
hard stance on the July 26 power grab, the region's seventh coup in three
years. Given its uranium and oil riches and its pivotal role in a war with
Islamist militants, Niger holds economic and strategic importance for the
United States, Europe, China and Russia.”











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Eye on Extremism



August 7, 2023



Reuters: Niger Awaits West African Bloc's Response After Junta Rejects
Ultimatum
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“Niger was waiting on Monday for a response from the West African regional
bloc after coup leaders ignored a deadline to reinstate the ousted president -
a move the bloc has warned could lead to military intervention. The Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said it will issue a statement on
its next steps, responding to the junta's refusal to stand down by Sunday, as
foreign powers said they hoped for a peaceful resolution. The bloc has taken a
hard stance on the July 26 power grab, the region's seventh coup in three
years. Given its uranium and oil riches and its pivotal role in a war with
Islamist militants, Niger holds economic and strategic importance for the
United States, Europe, China and Russia.”



Anadolu Agency: In Blow To Terrorist PKK, Turkish Military Seizes Thousands Of
Weapons, Pieces Of Ammunition
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“A large cache of weapons and ammunition belonging to the terrorist group PKK
was seized across the border at hideouts in northern Iraq, Türkiye’s National
Defense Ministry announced on Friday. In a statement, the ministry said a
search and sweep operation in northern Iraq had resulted in the seizure of
10,800 pieces of AK-47 infantry ammunition, 720 pieces of 7.62 mm PKMS machine
gun ammunition, 120 pieces of DShK heavy machine gun ammunition, and 11 DShK
heavy machine gun barrels. Turkish security forces also seized eight hand
grenades, one DShK heavy machine gun tripod, two DShK heavy machine gun bodies,
and one DShK heavy machine gun control handle, as well as four AK-47 infantry
rifle buttstocks.”




CEP Expert Analysis

* Afghanistan Terrorism Report: June 2023
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* West Africa's Terrorism Challenge: Development Of Al-Qaeda In The Western
Sahel Region
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* West Africa's Terrorism Challenge: Status Of ISWAP And ISGS In West Africa
And Sahel
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* Civilian Counterterrorism Forces and the Fight Against Extremism: A Review
of Nigeria, Somalia, and Burkina Faso
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* Extremism in Erdogan's AKP
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United States



Boston.com: This New England Neo-Nazi Group Is Getting Bigger And Scarier,
Experts Say. Most Troubling: Military Vets Fill Its Ranks.
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“…Others include Christopher Pohlhaus, who served four years in the Marine
Corps before moving to Maine with the dream of somehow turning it into an
all-white ethnostate. Pohlhaus accompanied NSC-131 at an October 2022 protest
in Lewiston aimed at the city’s sizable Somali community. In one video,
published by Pohlhaus on Telegram and captured by the New York-based Counter
Extremism Project, the veteran — who had moved to Maine less than a year
earlier — demands the East African immigrants — who have lived in Maine for
decades — leave “my state.” Pohlhaus has since accumulated some 120 acres of
rural property in the state, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s
Hatewatch blog.



Syria



AFP News: Syria Jihadist Attacks Kill 6 Soldiers In Northwest: Monitor
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“Six members of Syrian regime forces were killed Sunday in attacks on
government positions in the conflict-torn country's northwest, the last main
bastion of armed opposition, a war monitor said. "Six regime forces, including
two officers, were killed and two others wounded" in three attacks by jihadist
group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions, the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said. The attacks targeted regime positions in Latakia
province, said the Britain-based group which relies on a vast network of
sources on the ground. Swathes of Idlib province as well as adjacent parts of
Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces are controlled by HTS, which is led by
Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate.”



Prensa Latina: Syrian And Russian Aviation Destroyed Terrorist Headquarters In
Syria
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“The headquarters of the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant
terrorist group, formerly al-Nousra Front, located near the provincial capital
of Idlib, was destroyed by a joint attack conducted by the Russian Aerospace
Forces and the Syrian Air Force,” announced General Vadim Kulit, deputy
director of the Russian Center for Reconciliation based at the Hmeimim base in
the Latakia province. According to the officer, the extremists based in this
stronghold were involved in organizing and carrying out sabotage and terrorist
attacks against Syrian government forces and the civilian population. General
Kulit recalled that the radicals launched four attacks in the last 24 hours,
causing the death of a soldier and injuring another four; an anti-tank guided
missile was used against a vehicle of the Syrian Armed Forces in one of these
attacks.”



Iraq



Medya News: Anniversary Of The Yazidi Genocide Proves Need For ISIS Trials
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“The third of August is recognised as the starting date of the genocide
conducted against the Yazidi people by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Sinjar, a
district in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. Nine years later, on the anniversary
of this tragic event, we are encouraged to commemorate the thousands whose
lives were taken by ISIS, the women and children who were kidnapped and forced
into sexual slavery. Nine years after the 2014 genocide, survivors still mourn
their loved ones. In many cases the bodies of victims have been lost in
unmarked mass graves denying their families the ability to give them a proper
burial. But remembering is not enough. Despite the fact nine years have passed,
justice has not been brought to those who suffered under ISIS. Bodies of
victims are still lost inside unmarked mass graves, abducted women still wait
to return to their families, thousands of ISIS members who perpetrated these
atrocities have still not faced any trial for their crimes.”



Middle East



Times Of Israel: Terrorist Kills Patrolman In Tel Aviv, Is Shot Dead By 2nd
Officer
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“A Tel Aviv municipal patrol officer was killed in a terror shooting in a
bustling area of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, police and medics said. The
gunman, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, was shot dead
by the patrol officer’s colleague. Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said the
two Tel Aviv municipal security officers approached a suspect they saw walking
at the corner of the Montefiore and Nachalat Binyamin streets, where dozens of
restaurants, cafes, and bars are packed on Saturday evenings. The suspect
initially refused to answer their calls, and as the pair got off their
motorcycles, the Palestinian man pulled out a handgun and opened fire, hitting
one of the patrolmen, according to law enforcement officials.”



Africa



Associated Press: US And UN Should Impose More Sanctions On Sudanese Leaders
For Alleged Atrocities, Rights Group Says
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“A leading human rights group called Friday on the United States and the
United Nations to impose further sanctions on those in Sudan “responsible for
the atrocities” in the troubled Darfur region, where evidence of scorched-earth
attacks is mounting. The northeast African country plunged into chaos in April
when monthslong tensions between the military, led by Abdel Fattah Burhan, and
the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo,
exploded into open fighting in the capital of Khartoum, and elsewhere. In
Darfur, the scene of genocidal war in the early 2000s, the conflict has morphed
into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias targeting African
communities in the western region, U.N. officials say.”



United Kingdom



BBC News: Man From Weston-Super-Mare Charged With Terrorism Offences
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“A man from Somerset has appeared in court charged with terrorism offences.
Gabrielle Budasz, 23, pleaded guilty to collecting information of a kind likely
to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism at
Westminster Magistrates court on Saturday. Counter Terrorism Policing South
East said the charges were linked to extreme right-wing ideology. Mr Budasz, of
Drove Road, Weston-super-Mare was remanded in police custody.”



France



New Statesman: The Islamist Roots Of French Disorder
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“The most destructive, spectacular and costly riots in France’s recent
history, surpassing even the infamous unrest of 2005, are over. To the
Anglophone media and its audiences they were an expression of the anger felt
among the children of France’s former overseas possessions – a generational
resentment fuelled by experiences of poverty, discrimination and painful
colonial legacies. Others have noted the opportunistic, even recreational
quality of rioting, but the anger – the rage – against France among parts of
its youth is real and goes deeper than one specific event. Socio-economic woes
are crucial in explaining this tide of feeling. Yet any analysis which takes
this into account but omits the specific and sustained delegitimisation of
France contained within that feeling is incomplete.”



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