“An operation waged by the Somali National Army [SNA] has left three Al-Shabaab
militants dead in Somalia, state media confirmed, following the commencement of
the follow-up military exercises in central regions where President Hassan
Sheikh Mohamud has been visiting. The Ministry of Information confirmed that
the operation was conducted in Galmadug state, where the Somali National Army
has been combing after a successful first phase of operations a few months ago,
which left over 3,000 militants dead, including those across the borders in
HirShabelle. The operation, which took place last night in West El-lahelay,
targeted Olol Ali Guled, who was the head of the al-Shabaab’s insurgent militia
in Galmudug. Shuuke Ali Dheeg and Isse Barre, the two other wanted al-Shabaab
members, were also eliminated, state media reports. According to the Ministry
of Information, the operation was “professionally planned and executed” and it
“broke the back of all terrorists, especially those hiding in Galmudug”. The
three al-Shabaab leaders were behind several criminal activities in the region,
including attacks on civilians and security forces, the statement read.”











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Eye on Extremism



September 8, 2023



Garowe Online: Senior Al-Shabaab Leaders Killed In Somalia
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“An operation waged by the Somali National Army [SNA] has left three
Al-Shabaab militants dead in Somalia, state media confirmed, following the
commencement of the follow-up military exercises in central regions where
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been visiting. The Ministry of Information
confirmed that the operation was conducted in Galmadug state, where the Somali
National Army has been combing after a successful first phase of operations a
few months ago, which left over 3,000 militants dead, including those across
the borders in HirShabelle. The operation, which took place last night in West
El-lahelay, targeted Olol Ali Guled, who was the head of the al-Shabaab’s
insurgent militia in Galmudug. Shuuke Ali Dheeg and Isse Barre, the two other
wanted al-Shabaab members, were also eliminated, state media reports. According
to the Ministry of Information, the operation was “professionally planned and
executed” and it “broke the back of all terrorists, especially those hiding in
Galmudug”. The three al-Shabaab leaders were behind several criminal activities
in the region, including attacks on civilians and security forces, the
statement read.”



The Times Of Israel: Germany Arrests 2 Syrian Rebel Jihadists Over Alleged
Terror Ties
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“German prosecutors Thursday announced the arrests of two Syrians suspected
of belonging to foreign terrorist organizations, including the alleged leader
of a rebel group which joined Islamic State. Amer A. and Basel O. were detained
in Kiel and Munich on Wednesday and placed in pre-trial detention, federal
prosecutors said in a statement. Amer A. is alleged to have founded the “Liwa
Jund al Rahman” in 2013 in the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor. His fighters
“repeatedly engaged in hostilities against the Syrian army,” it said. In June
2013, Amer A.’s fighters joined other jihadist groups in an attack on the
eastern village of Hatlah that killed up to 60 Shiite residents. Survivors were
forced to flee “by intentionally stoking fears of death — also by means of
arson and looting,” prosecutors said. Amer A. is suspected of having committed
a war crime “by means of forced displacement” that “meant the end of all Shiite
presence in Hatlah.” In 2014, Amer A. joined the IS jihadist group and placed
his fighters and financial resources under IS authority, according to
prosecutors.”








Recent CEP Press Releases

* Extremist Content Online: Christchurch Manifesto Translated Into 41
Languages With Use Of Google Technology
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* 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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United States



Bloomberg: US Business Works With Taliban To Rebuild Afghanistan Economy
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In a sign of thawing relations, a US delegation for the first time co-hosted a
business conference with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan to work on a plan to
rebuild the economy and address acute poverty in the face of reduced
international aid “Our commitment is we’re going to help to elevate private
sector activities,” Jeffrey Greico, the president of Washington-based
Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce, said at the conference in Kabul on
Wednesday. “As private sector representatives, we need to help develop
Afghanistan from a very significant infrastructural standpoint.” A spokesman
for the US Department of State confirmed to Voice of America the delegation’s
trip to Kabul, adding that the US is working to “rebuild” the country’s
economy. The Taliban administration has enacted “investor-friendly laws,”
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, said at
the conference, urging American and Afghan investors to tap into the country’s
mineral resources, including lithium.

The conference follows a meeting in Doha on July 30 between a delegation led
by US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Taliban leaders to
address areas for confidence building.”



Reuters: Exclusive: US Military Repositions Some Troops In Niger, Pulls
Non-Essential Personnel
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“The Pentagon is repositioning some troops and equipment within Niger and will
withdraw a small number of non-essential personnel "out of an abundance of
caution," U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, the first major American
military movement in Niger since a coup in July. The officials, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, declined to say how many personnel would be departing
and how many were repositioning within Niger from Air Base 101 in Niamey, the
capital, to Air Base 201 in the city of Agadez. Before this movement, there
were 1,100 troops in the West African country. "This consolidation represents
prudent military planning to safeguard U.S. assets while continuing to address
the threat of violent extremism in the region," one of the officials said.
"This does not change our overall force posture in Niger, and we continue to
review all options as we assess a way forward," the official added. "The
movement of U.S. assets has been coordinated with and approved by the
appropriate authorities." The officials declined to give more details on the
reason for the repositioning. It is generally easier to evacuate people from a
single location, though there is no evidence that is imminent.”



Canada



Voice Of America: Canada Shows Scant Interest In Bringing Home IS Fighters
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“Canadian officials have so far shown little interest in repatriating any of
the Canadian nationals still imprisoned among the former Islamic State fighters
in Kurdish-run prisons in Syria, illustrating the wider problem confronting
their U.S.-backed captors. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),
which spearheaded the struggle to drive IS from its self-declared caliphate in
2019, is still holding more than 10,000 members of the extremist group in its
desert prisons, including an estimated 2,000 foreign nationals. An estimated
50,000 additional wives, children and other IS sympathizers are being held in
sprawling and squalid camps. But repeated SDF appeals for the foreign fighters
to be repatriated and placed on trial in their home countries have largely
fallen on deaf ears. Canada, which contributed troops to the anti-IS effort,
has so far brought home no IS fighters and only a handful of women and
children. Even that has been controversial, due in part to fears of importing
terrorism onto Canadian soil. Phil Gurski, a former Canadian intelligence
officer who follows the issue, is among those who worry about what will happen
if the extremists return.”



Syria



Global Investigative Journalism Network: Reporter’s Guide To Investigating War
Crimes: Environmental And Property Damage
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“…There are also regional monitoring sites that are often quite accurate, such
as the Rojava Information Centre in northeast Syria, the Counter Extremism
Project in central Syria, and conflict tracking projects from Bellingcat and
the Centre for Information Resilience on Ukraine and Myanmar. Similar projects
can be found in different geographical regions in the world.”



Pakistan



Reuters: Main Pakistan-Afghan Border Crossing Closed For Second Day After
Clashes
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“Pakistan's main border crossing with Afghanistan was closed for a second day
on Thursday, leading to a build-up of trucks laden with goods, after clashes
between security forces from the two countries. The busy border crossing had
closed on Wednesday after Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces started firing at
each other, according to local officials. Abdul Basir Zabuli, a spokesman for
the Taliban-led police in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, where the
crossing lies, said that authorities from both countries were trying to
determine the reason for the clash. The Torkham border point is the main point
of transit for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked
Afghanistan. Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said hundreds of trucks laden with fruit,
vegetables and other goods were stuck due to the closure. "The traders are
suffering heavy losses after the border in Torkham was closed on Wednesday
following a firing incident there," he told Reuters. The entire flow of trade
had been affected and loading of goods in the southern port of Karachi had been
disrupted.”



Mali



Associated Press: Al-Qaida-Linked Insurgents In Mali Kill 49 Civilians And 15
Soldiers In Attacks, Military Says
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“Two attacks by al-Qaida linked insurgents in the restive north of Mali on
Thursday killed 49 civilians and 15 government soldiers, the country’s military
junta said. A passenger boat near the city of Timbuktu on the Niger River and a
Malian military position in Bamba further downstream in the Gao region were
targeted, according to a statement from the military junta read on state
television. It said the attacks have been claimed by JNIM, an umbrella
coalition of armed groups aligned with al-Qaida. The Malian government killed
about 50 assailants while responding to the attacks, the announcement said. It
said also declared three days of national mourning from Friday to honor the
civilians and soldiers killed in the attacks. Al-Qaida affiliated and Islamic
State-linked groups have almost doubled the territory they control in Mali in
less than a year, the United Nations said in a report last month, as they take
advantage of a weak government and of armed groups that signed a 2015 peace
agreement.”



Africa



Reuters: Cameroon Militants Set Cars On Fire, Shoot Passengers In Village
Attack
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“Armed militants stopped cars, shot at passengers and set vehicles on fire
during an attack on a village in Anglophone Cameroon's South West region on
Thursday, residents and a Reuters reporter said. Separatists in minority
English-speaking parts of Cameroon have been fighting to carve out an
independent state called Ambazonia since 2017. They carry out attacks,
kidnappings and killings in the North West and South West regions.
Concerned-looking resident gathered around the blackened and bullet-ridden
remains of a charred car in the village of Muea, in the South West region, on
Thursday as two men pulled out a body wrapped in a blanket. Sobbing relatives
identified and took away two bodies, according to a Reuters reporter at the
scene. Residents said the attackers arrived early in the morning, on the week
schools reopened after the summer break, and that several people were killed.
Insurgents began fighting the Cameroonian military in 2017 after civilian
protests calling for greater representation for the Francophone country's
English-speaking minority were violently repressed.”



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