“A US-funded assessment of Afghanistan’s central bank found that it lacks
independence from the Taliban administration and adequate safeguards against
money laundering and terrorism financing, a US watchdog has told the US
Congress. The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR), in a quarterly report to Congress on Tuesday, disclosed that the
assessment found flaws with the management of the central bank, known as Da
Afghanistan Bank, or DAB. The DAB “lacked independence from the Taliban regime
and had deficiencies in anti-money laundering and countering the financing of
terrorism”, SIGAR said the assessment showed.”











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





Eye on Extremism



August 9, 2023



Al Jazeera: Afghan Central Bank Lacks Independence From Taliban: US Watchdog
<[link removed]>



“A US-funded assessment of Afghanistan’s central bank found that it lacks
independence from the Taliban administration and adequate safeguards against
money laundering and terrorism financing, a US watchdog has told the US
Congress. The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR), in a quarterly report to Congress on Tuesday, disclosed that the
assessment found flaws with the management of the central bank, known as Da
Afghanistan Bank, or DAB. The DAB “lacked independence from the Taliban regime
and had deficiencies in anti-money laundering and countering the financing of
terrorism”, SIGAR said the assessment showed.”



Reuters: At Least Six Killed, 12 Hurt In Somalia Bus Explosion - State News
Agency
<[link removed]>



“At least six people were killed in an explosion targeting a passenger bus
travelling in a region outside Somalia's capital on Wednesday, the state news
agency said. Somali News Agency, citing Mohamed Ibrahim, governor of Lower
Shabelle region, said the attack happened on a road between Qoryoley and Marka
districts and that another 12 people had been injured. Ibrahim said a terrorist
attack had caused the explosion, the news agency said on X, formerly known as
Twitter. Ibrahim did not say which group was suspected to have carried out the
attack. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab has in the past taken responsibility for
similar attacks.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* Cyberterrorism – The Paradigm of Deterring, Detecting, and Defending
<[link removed]>
* Al-Shabaab Sets Sights on Kenya
<[link removed]>
* Lebanon, Hezbollah, and the Anniversary – and Failure – of Resolution 1701
<[link removed]>
* CEP-KAS: Sahel Monitoring July 2023
<[link removed]>
* Afghanistan Terrorism Report: June 2023
<[link removed]>



United States



The Seattle Times: Far-Right Patriot Front Members Sue Leftist Activist For
Allegedly Leaking Their Identities
<[link removed]>



“…The John Brown Gun Club, named after the 19th century slavery abolitionist,
promotes the abolition of police and other perceived symbols of oppression,
according to the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project, which tracks extremism on
the far right and far left. The gun club’s members have been seen acting as
armed security at protests, including at Seattle’s 2020 Capitol Hill Organized
Protest.”



The Hill: Pentagon Watchdog Finds Lapses In Screening Of Applicants Connected
To Extremist Groups
<[link removed]>



“A new Pentagon inspector general report found military recruiters have
failed to comprehensively screen applicants for their connections to political
extremist groups and criminal gangs. The 82-page report determined that while
military recruiters screen applicants, they did not complete all required steps
in the statistical sample reviewed by the Inspector General’s office. About 40
percent in the sample did not give the relevant screening questions or forms to
applicants, while 9 percent failed to identify possible signs of affiliation
through tattoos and body modification and another 9 percent failed to properly
conduct fingerprint identification.”



Syria



Daily Sabah: YPG/PKK Terrorists Abduct 3 Children In Syria
<[link removed]>



“The PKK terrorist group's Syrian offshoot YPG is accused of kidnapping three
children to forcefully recruit them as soldiers in northern Syria. Two
14-year-olds, known as M.A.H. and A.F, were abducted on Tuesday from the Manbij
district of Syria's Aleppo province, Redor al-Ahmed, spokesperson for the
opposition group, "Independent Kurdish Order," told Anadolu Agency (AA). He
said the terrorist group on Tuesday also kidnapped a 15-year-old Z.S. from the
Sheikh Maqsood district of Aleppo. The YPG/PKK abducts or detains young people
and children away from their families and trains them in training camps to
become fighters, which violates the agreement with the U.N.”



Iran



Washington Free Beacon: Taliban Deploys Hundreds Of Suicide-Bombers In Faceoff
With Iran
<[link removed]>



“The Taliban has deployed hundreds of suicide bombers to Afghanistan's border
with Iran amid an intensifying dispute over water access, Bloomberg reported.
Thousands of Taliban troops, including hundreds trained to blow themselves up,
were sent to the border since May, a source told the outlet. Iran and the
Taliban have moved toward a conflict over water from Afghanistan's Helmand
River, which Iran relies on. Afghanistan in 1973 agreed to provide a certain
amount of water from the river to Iran, but since the Taliban took over
Afghanistan after the Biden administration withdrew in 2021, Iran claims the
new regime has reduced the water supply. Amid soaring temperatures in the
Middle East this summer, Iran has become increasingly upset over the Taliban
government's failure to uphold the agreement. A border skirmish in May left at
least two Iranian troops and one Taliban fighter dead.”



Iraq



Iraqi News: Iraqi Air Forces Destroy ISIS Hideouts In Hamrin Mountains
<[link removed]>



“Iraqi warplanes destroyed ISIS hideouts in the Hamrin Mountains in
northeastern Iraq, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. The Joint Operations
Command mentioned in a statement on Tuesday that the Iraqi air force carried
out an air strike against the terrorists’ hideouts in the Hamrin Mountains. The
air strike destroyed a pick-up vehicle used by ISIS terrorists, a tunnel
excavator, and a network of tunnels used by terrorists for logistical support.
Iraq announced in late 2017 the liberation of all its territories from the grip
of ISIS, but the authorities are constantly launching security operations to
pursue remnants of the terrorist group that carry out attacks from time to time
in the country.”



Turkey



Daily Sabah: Türkiye Seizes Global ‘Lone Wolf’ Database Of Daesh
<[link removed]>



“Türkiye is now in possession of a valued database of the Daesh terrorist
group, containing names and information about 9,952 "lone wolf" terrorists
after a successful operation carried out in the past months by police in
Istanbul. The Sabah newspaper gained access to the details of the operation
that started in a cafe in Istanbul and ended with the capture of a suspect in
possession of the database at Istanbul Airport. The existence of the database,
which contains biographical information about lone wolf terrorists, from their
skills to their residence and ID information, its existence was known to most
intelligence agencies from the CIA and MI6 to Mossad. Intelligence agencies
assigned 40 agents in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan to track down the
database known to be in possession of Daesh members in those countries.”



Pakistan



AFP: Dozens Of Pakistanis Involved In Recent ISIS Attacks, Says Afghan Taliban
<[link removed]>



“Dozens of Pakistani ISIS militants have been killed or captured in
Afghanistan in the past year, Kabul’s Taliban authorities said Wednesday, days
after Islamabad blamed Afghans for involvement in suicide attacks on its
territory. Tensions between the neighbors have mounted recently over an uptick
in suicide attacks in Pakistan, with Islamabad claiming militants are
frequently helped by Afghans. Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
told AFP on Wednesday that in the past year, 18 people “eliminated by our
forces in Afghanistan” were Pakistani citizens. “They were Daeshis (members of
ISIS) and they were involved in various bombings and attacks,” he said, adding
that dozens of others were being held in Afghan prisons.”



Middle East



Reuters: Israeli Minister Brushes Off US Terrorism Label For Suspected Settler
Killing
<[link removed]>



“An Israeli official brushed off on Tuesday the rare U.S. use of the term
"terror attack" to condemn the killing of a Palestinian in the occupied West
Bank, as a court ruled one of the Jewish settlers held as suspects be released
to house arrest. With U.S.-sponsored peacemaking stalled for almost a decade,
Washington has watched worriedly as West Bank violence spirals, including with
settler revenge riots in which many Palestinians, among them U.S. dual
nationals, have suffered property damage. Israeli police arrested the two
settlers over the killing on Friday of a 19-year-old Palestinian near Burqa
village in what their lawyers say was a self-defence shooting by one of them at
a much larger group of rock-throwers.”



i24 News: Israel's Thwarts Attempted Drone Smuggling Into Gaza Strip
<[link removed]>



“The drones are suspected to have been intended for reconnaissance purposes
by terrorist groups operating within the Gaza Strip. Israeli security personnel
thwarted an attempt to smuggle 10 reconnaissance drones into the Gaza Strip,
Israel's Defense Ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday
morning. The drones were concealed within a black bag inside a minibus at the
Erez Crossing at the Gaza border, according to the statement.”



Ireland



CapX: For Northern Ireland’s Brave Police Force, This Data Breach Is A
Colossal Failure
<[link removed]>



“Northern Ireland is a small place. It’s even smaller if you’re one of the
6,625 men and women who police its semi-skimmed peace. Keeping law and order
while living and working in a place not much bigger than Yorkshire, and still
under a severe terrorist threat, is a risky occupation. That risk has been
hugely magnified by yesterday’s catastrophic data protection blunder by their
employers, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Responding to a
Freedom of Information Act Request, the organisation accidentally released the
personal details of all officers, along with 2,427 civilian support staff. This
data breach included the surname, initials, place of work and departments of
all staff. Readers unfamiliar with Northern Ireland may be forgiven for asking
‘so what?’ about information that they might assume was easily and legitimately
available anyway.”



The Independent: Northern Ireland Police Officers ‘Could Be Driven From Homes
And Jobs’ After ‘Monumental’ Data Breach
<[link removed]>



“Ian Acheson, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project, told The
Independent that “police officers in Northern Ireland don’t need much of an
excuse to look for another job at the moment”. “You’ve got to see this in
context – not just of the security situation and the severe threat from
dissident Republican terrorists – but also in relation to swingeing budget
cuts, which the chief constable has said will result in falling numbers of
officers,” Mr Acheson said. “So when you add that to the fact that their own
organisation cannot even protect them and their personal data from being
released, I think you’d get quite a big push factor there for people to say,
‘well, this is just not worth it for me’.”



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]>