United States
MSNBC: The Pentagon Is Failing At Its Anti-Extremism Efforts In A Big Way
“A damning new report from the Defense Department's inspector general shows major failures in military screening practices meant to weed out extremists during the recruitment process. A press release from the inspector general's office summarized the report’s findings Monday: This report highlights that the military service recruiting organizations generally screened applicants for extremist and criminal gang behavior using applicant interviews, screening questionnaires, tattoo reviews, and background investigations. However, we identified a number of instances where military service recruiters did not complete required screening steps in accordance [with] military service guidance. For example, military service recruiters did not always administer screening questionnaires or forms, provide evidence of fingerprint check results, or provide evidence that a background investigation was initiated.”
Iran
Al Jazeera: Iran’s Shiraz Shrine Comes Under Second Deadly Attack In Months
“A holy shrine in Iran’s southern city of Shiraz has come under a second deadly attack in less than a year with another gunman breaking into its grounds and opening fire. Yadollah Bouali, the provincial commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), told state media that one shooter entered the Shah Cheragh shrine through its southern gate on Sunday at 7pm (15:30 GMT) to carry out a “terrorist” operation, revising earlier reports indicating two shooters. The assailant, who was arrested at the scene, shot four people killing one, he said, adding the shooter carried an assault rifle and eight magazines with 240 bullets, 11 of which he managed to get off before being subdued. Videos online showed people running in panic outside the shrine and shutting down their shops. Images showed bullet holes in walls and windows and blood on the ground.”
Iraq
Rudaw: Nine Years On, Yazidis Grieve ISIS Massacre In Kocho
“Nine years ago, Kache Amo along with 11 others miraculously survived the genocide campaign that the Islamic State (ISIS) committed in their village of Kocho in Shingal, which eventually became the symbol of the group's barbaric atrocities against Yazidis. Amo had been rounded up for death together with hundreds of other men in Kocho. He still has trouble comprehending how he managed to dodge the bullets by hiding among the corpses of his neighbors, friends, and relatives. Ever since he witnessed the tragedy unfold with his eyes, the Yazidi man has been traumatized and haunted by grief.”
Pakistan
Radio Free Europe: The Azadi Briefing: Taliban, Pakistan Continue To Wrangle Over Militants
“Erstwhile allies Pakistan and Afghanistan's hard-line Islamist rulers continue to spar over the Taliban's alleged support to militants fighting Islamabad. "It is the responsibility of the security and intelligence agencies of Pakistan to carry out their duties properly and not to blame Afghanistan," chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on August 9 His statement was an apparent response to an August 7 speech by General Asim Munir. The head of Pakistan's powerful military said Islamabad was concerned "over sanctuaries available to banned outfits and the liberty of action they enjoy on Afghan soil," vowing that his country will dismantle terrorist organizations. "The involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist incidents in Pakistan is detrimental to regional peace," Munir said.”
Yemen
Asharq Al-Awsat: Qaeda Assassinates Yemeni Senior Security Commander In Abyan
“A high-ranking security commander and his companions were assassinated in the Mudiyah district in the Abyan governorate in a suspected al-Qaeda attack. The roadside bomb detonated while the convoy was passing near the village, days after the launch of a new campaign targeting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorists. Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that an explosive device targeted the convoy of the commander of the Security Belt Forces in Abyan, Abdullatif al-Sayyid, killing him along with about five of his companions, including a tribal leader. The convoy was en route to an area with regular clashes with Qaeda fighters.”
Middle East
i24 News: Hezbollah Terrorist Throws Molotov Cocktail Into Israeli Territory
“No Israelis were hurt in the attempted attack A Hezbollah terrorist hurled a Molotov cocktail over the Israeli-Lebanese border on Sunday. No one was hurt in the incident, the Israeli military said. The border guards fired warning shots in the air. The incident, which occurred near the Israeli town of Metula, comes amid heightened tension with the Lebanese terrorist group and several incidents on the Lebanese border. In recent months, several clashes have broken out between Lebanese civilians rioting at the border, egged on by the Shiite Lebanese terrorist organization, and Israeli troops. Hezbollah also stationed terrorists in close proximity to the border earlier this year before dismantling these outposts.”
Times Of Israel: IDF Informs Terrorist’s Family Their Home Is Set For Demolition
“The Israeli military informs the family of Khaled Mustafa Sabah, one of two Hamas terrorists who carried out a deadly shooting attack at a West Bank gas station in June, that their home is slated for demolition. On June 20, Sabah and Muhannad Faleh Shehadeh opened fire at diners at a hummus restaurant and at motorists at an adjacent gas station near the West Bank settlement of Eli, killing four Israelis and wounding four others. Shehadeh was shot dead at the scene by an armed civilian, while Sabah fled in a car stolen from the gas station, and was killed some two hours later by special forces. The Israel Defense Forces measured both their homes in the West Bank town of Urif a day after the attack, in the first step before a potential demolition.”
Mali
AFP: ‘Armed Terrorist Groups’ Kill 6 Soldiers In Mali
“Six Malian soldiers have been killed in an attack by “armed terrorist groups” in the north of the country, according to an army report. An early army statement on the incident had said one soldier was killed and four wounded in the attack in Ber on Friday. The death toll has risen to six, it said on Saturday, while “in their rout armed terrorist groups abandoned 24 bodies.” They also left behind AK-47 assault rifles and motorbikes, the army said.”
Africa
Washington Post: As ISIS Affiliate Expands In Central Africa, Escapees Recount Horrors
“Deep in Congo’s forested ravines, a local affiliate of the Islamic State has been growing increasingly deadly — seizing children to swell its ranks, honing its bombmaking skills, and launching ferocious attacks on villages, churches and clinics — without attracting much international attention. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has also widened its recruitment from elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East and has plugged itself into foreign financing networks that help fund its campaign of bombings, according to investigators from the United Nations and the U.S.-based Bridgeway Foundation. This year has been the group’s bloodiest yet. The ADF was founded decades ago in neighboring Uganda with the aim of overthrowing that country’s government, which eventually pushed the group’s fighters over the border into the forested mountains of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The group’s ambitions broadened after its founder was arrested in 2015 and a new leader, former religious judge Musa Baluku, took over. Desperate for funds, Baluku vowed allegiance to the Islamic State.”
Anadolu Agency: At Least 13 Killed In Boko Haram Terrorist Attacks In Nigeria
“Members of the Boko Haram terrorist group killed 13 people in two separate attacks in northeast Nigeria, local media reported Sunday. The terrorist organization carried out a predawn attack on Saturday on a military base in the village of Wulari in Borno state, killing three soldiers in a fierce gun battle. Late on Saturday, they rounded up 10 farmers and shot them dead while they were working in their field in the village of Maiwa, also in Borno. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives in mass acts of violence organized by Boko Haram, which has existed in Nigeria since the early 2000s.”
Europe
Sky News: Omagh Attack: Memorial Service Takes Place In Northern Ireland On 25th Anniversary Of Deadly Bombing
“Families of those killed in Northern Ireland's worst single terrorist atrocity have taken part in a memorial service on its 25th anniversary. The car bombing by dissident republicans in the town of Omagh on 15 August 1998 claimed 29 lives, including a woman pregnant with twins, her 18-month-old daughter and her mother - several generations of one family. Three hundred others were injured. At the service, the names of all the victims and their ages were read out. Sixteen of those who died were under 25.”
Reuters: Britain Warns Of Possible Terrorist Attacks In Sweden
“Britain on Sunday warned citizens going to Sweden of possible terrorist attacks following Koran burnings by anti-Islam activists that have outraged Muslims. In updated travel advice, Britain's foreign ministry said Swedish authorities had successfully disrupted some planned attacks and made arrests. "You should be vigilant at this time," it said, adding that "terrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in Sweden" with places visited by foreigners potential targets. In a statement acknowledging Britain's changed travel advice, Sweden's National Security Advisor Henrik Landerholm reiterated the increased threats to Sweden since the burnings.”
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