“A suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle targeted a security convoy in
northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least nine soldiers and wounding 20
others, the military and three security officials said, a sign of increasing
militant violence. The attack happened in Bannu, a district of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, the military said in a statement.
It said five soldiers were wounded in the attack. However, security officials
put the number of wounded persons at 20. They spoke on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record. There was
no immediate claim from any group, but the suspicion is likely to fall on the
Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks on security forces since 2022.
Authorities say the insurgents have found sanctuaries and have even been living
openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened them.”











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**NOTE: Eye On Extremism will be suspended on Monday, September 4, in
observance of Labor Day. It will resume Tuesday, September 5.**



Eye on Extremism



September 1, 2023



Associated Press: A Suicide Bomber Has Attacked A Security Convoy In NW
Pakistan, Killing 9 Soldiers, Says Military
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“A suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle targeted a security convoy in
northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least nine soldiers and wounding 20
others, the military and three security officials said, a sign of increasing
militant violence. The attack happened in Bannu, a district of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, the military said in a statement.
It said five soldiers were wounded in the attack. However, security officials
put the number of wounded persons at 20. They spoke on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record. There was
no immediate claim from any group, but the suspicion is likely to fall on the
Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks on security forces since 2022.
Authorities say the insurgents have found sanctuaries and have even been living
openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened them.”



Reuters: U.S. Backed Kurdish-Led Forces In Eastern Syria Battle Arab Tribal
Unrest
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“U.S. backed Syrian Democratic Forces led by Kurdish forces poured
reinforcements in Syria's eastern Deir al Zor province on Wednesday to quell
widespread unrest by rebellious Arab tribal clans who rose up in arms after the
detention of an Arab renegade commander. Witnesses and local sources said at
least 40 fighters from both sides and another 15 civilians have been killed in
battles raging since Sunday in a string of towns in a strategic oil belt in the
heart of Arab tribal territory, east of the Euphrates River controlled by the
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Fighting erupted last Sunday after the SDF
arrested Ahmad Al Khubail, alias Abu Khawla, who headed its Deir al Zor
Council. He also was leading Arab commander with the SDF, a U.S. formed
alliance of militias whose backbone is the Kurdish YPG militia. In its first
comment on the situation, the SDF issued a statement saying Abu Khawla was
arrested and dismissed from his post for complicity in multiple crimes from
drug trafficking to failing to handle the Islamic State threat in the province.”




Recent CEP Press Releases

* Extremist Content Online: Far-Right Propaganda, Attack Footage Sweeps
Across Twitter
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* Extremist Content Online: Gumroad Fundraiser For Antisemitic Propaganda
Website Removed
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* Extremist Content Online: Twitter Allows Antisemitic Video To Generate
Nearly One Million Views
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* Hezbollah Position In Golan Heights Escalates Tensions With Israel On War's
Anniversary
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* Extremist Content Online: Pro-ISIS Propaganda Encourages Terror Attacks
Following Quran Burning
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Middle East



i24: IDF Conducts Operation To Map Home Of Terrorist Behind Maccabim
Checkpoint Attack
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“In a response to address the terror attack near the Maccabim checkpoint on
Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) undertook an operation on early
Friday morning to map the residence of the terrorist responsible for the
stampede attack. The attack at the checkpoint resulted in the death of IDF
Sergeant Maksym Molchanov. The IDF soldiers, stationed in the Ephraim Brigade,
carried out a thorough search in the village of Deir Amar. Their objective was
to locate the home of the individual responsible for the stampede attack near
the Maccabim checkpoint. Violent disturbances emerged during the operation,
with individuals in the area resorting to throwing stones and Molotov cocktails
at the IDF forces, according to a statement from the IDF spokesperson. In
response to these provocations, the forces took measures to disperse the
protests. The use of Ruger, a non-lethal weapon, was also employed. Some
injuries were reported as a result of these clashes.”



Nigeria



The Guardian: Tinubu Urges UN To Be Practical In Supporting Nigeria’s Fight
Against Terrorism
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“President Bola Tinubu has called on the United Nations to be more practical
in supporting Nigeria’s fight against terrorism. Tinubu made the call during a
meeting with the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office on
Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, at the State House on Thursday. The
president said that terrorism has had a ripple effect on global peace, the
displacement of people, and rising poverty. According to Tinubu, terrorism had
consistently reversed the gains in development and increase instability in
families and communities, but UN cooperation in dealing with it had always been
inconsistent in the context of the developing world.“We appreciate all that you
have been doing. We know that in the face of many demands and challenges, you
can still do much better. We can score you ‘A’ in collaboration but ‘B’ in
physical support. You have to do more because terrorism is an effective danger
to democracy; terrorism is also an effective danger to development,” Tinubu
said.”



United Kingdom



The Independent: ‘Neo-Nazi’ Ex-Prison Officer Jailed For Possessing Terrorist
Handbook
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“A “neo-Nazi” former prison officer has been jailed for 13 years for
possessing a white supremacist terrorist handbook with details of how to kill
people. Self-confessed National Socialist Ashley Podsiad-Sharp, 42, was
described by prosecutors as a “racist, homophobic, neo-Nazi terrorist”. The
lorry driver, who worked as an officer at Leeds Prison until his arrest, was
found guilty in May of possession of a document likely to be useful to a
terrorist. However, jurors at Sheffield Crown Court cleared Podsiad-Sharp, from
the Barnsley area, of disseminating a terrorist publication. The court heard
the document, called the White Resistance Manual, was found in an encrypted
“virtual safe” on his computer by counter-terror police. The 200-page document
said “democracy will be cast aside and votes will now be cast with bullets and
bombs” before setting out “various mechanisms for armed struggle”.”



Europe



Reuters: Norway To Close Its Mali Embassy As Security Deteriorates
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“Norway has decided to close its embassy in Mali by the end of the year due
to the deteriorating security situation in the West African country, the
foreign ministry said on Thursday. Norway's decision to shut its Bamako embassy
follows a U.N. Security Council agreement to end a decade-long peacekeeping
mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, after the military junta which seized power
in July asked the force to leave. "This will have consequences for the security
of Norwegian and other diplomatic missions and international organisations in
Mali," the foreign ministry said in a statement, referring to MINUSMA's
departure.



Associated Press: Belarus Journalist Jailed For ‘facilitating Extremism’ After
Collecting Data For Human Rights Group
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“A court in Belarus has sentenced a high-profile journalist to 3 1/2 years
for “facilitating extremist activities” and “discrediting Belarus” after she
provided data for a renowned human rights group, the Belarusian Association of
Journalists (BAJ) said Thursday. Larysa Shchyrakova — sentenced during a closed
trial in the city of Gomel — will serve her sentence in a high-security penal
colony and must pay a fine of 3,500 Belarusian rubles (about $1,100).
Belarusian authorities detained Shchyrakova in December 2022. Officials
initially placed her son in a state orphanage before transferring custody to
her ex-husband. Shchyrakova, 50, is the latest in a string of journalists
jailed in Belarus after covering the large-scale political repression that has
rocked the country since its last presidential elections three years ago.”



Reuters: Finland Charges Three With Racist 'Terrorist Crime'
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“Finnish prosecutors on Thursday indicted three men on the charge of
"terrorist crime", saying they were suspected of preparing to instigate armed
conflict between ethnic groups. "The defendants are suspected of having, due to
racist beliefs, prepared an armed conflict between ethnic groups in which
people were to be killed and social structures undermined through attacks in
which self-made weapons would be used," the prosecution authority said. It said
in a statement that they had found in an investigation that the suspects had
constructed and trained themselves to use weapons, although they had not got as
far as preparing a concrete act. The suspects, one of whom is in custody, have
contested most of the charges, the agency said without elaborating. The three
are suspected of having formed a right-wing extremist group and their weapons
were mainly 3D-printed, police had said earlier.”



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