“The U.S. military has resumed flying drones and manned aircraft out of air
bases in the Niger more than a month after a coup temporarily halted all those
activities there, the head of U.S. Air Forces for Europe and Africa said
Wednesday. Since the July coup, the 1,100 U.S. forces deployed in the country
have been confined inside their military bases. Last week the Pentagon said
some military personnel and assets had been moved from the air base near
Niamey, which is the capital of Niger, to another in Agadez. Niamey is about
920 kilometers away from Agadez. In response to a question from the Associated
Press on how the U.S. was able to continue its counterterrorism missions
without those flights, Gen. James Hecker, the top Air Force commander for
Europe and Africa, said in recent weeks some of those intelligence and
surveillance missions have been able to resume due to U.S. negotiations with
the junta.”











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Eye on Extremism



September 15, 2023



Associated Press: US Military Resumes Drone Flights And Manned
Counterterrorism Missions Out Of Niger Bases
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“The U.S. military has resumed flying drones and manned aircraft out of air
bases in the Niger more than a month after a coup temporarily halted all those
activities there, the head of U.S. Air Forces for Europe and Africa said
Wednesday. Since the July coup, the 1,100 U.S. forces deployed in the country
have been confined inside their military bases. Last week the Pentagon said
some military personnel and assets had been moved from the air base near
Niamey, which is the capital of Niger, to another in Agadez. Niamey is about
920 kilometers away from Agadez. In response to a question from the Associated
Press on how the U.S. was able to continue its counterterrorism missions
without those flights, Gen. James Hecker, the top Air Force commander for
Europe and Africa, said in recent weeks some of those intelligence and
surveillance missions have been able to resume due to U.S. negotiations with
the junta.”



NBC News: Number Of People On Terrorist Watchlist Stopped At Southern U.S.
Border Has Risen
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“This year U.S. border agents have encountered a “growing number of
individuals” on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist trying to enter the country via
the southern border, according to the Homeland Threat Assessment released
Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security. As of July, 160 migrants whose
identities match those on the Terrorist Screening Dataset had been apprehended
by Customs and Border Protection trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border during
fiscal year 2023, compared to 100 in fiscal year 2022. Fiscal years end on
Sept. 30. The number of all people, including U.S. citizens, on the terrorist
watchlist who had been stopped at the southern border as of July this fiscal
year was 216, compared to 165 in all of fiscal year 2022. The number of border
crossers on the watchlist was higher in fiscal year 2019, at 280.”




Recent CEP Press Releases

* Counter Extremism Project Applauds New Prevent Guidelines
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* Twenty-two Years After 9/11 Terror Attacks, Al-Qaeda Threat Remains
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* 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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United States



Associated Press: Florida Man Who Hung Swastika Banner On Highway Overpass Is
Arrested
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“A Florida man who authorities described as being a member of an extremist
group has been arrested in displaying a banner with swastikas on a highway
overpass, a violation of a new state law that makes it a crime to display
images onto a structure without permission. The law was passed earlier this
year in response to the distribution of antisemitic literature and the
projection of racist and antisemitic words on buildings. The man from Cape
Canaveral was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Brevard County Jail on an
arrest warrant from Orange County in Orlando. According to the arrest warrant,
the man, along with others dressed in black and camouflage, displayed the
banner with swastikas and a “white power” flag over an overpass that crossed
Interstate 4 in Orlando in June.”



Iraq



Al Arabiya News: Iraq Sentences ISIS Member To Death Over 2014 Pilgrim Bombing
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“An Iraqi court on Thursday sentenced an ISIS member to death after
convicting him of involvement in a 2014 suicide bombing that killed 17
pilgrims, the judiciary said. The attack in Taji district north of Baghdad
targeted a “mawkeb,” one of the many stalls providing free food and drinks to
pilgrims during Shia Muslim festivals. The pilgrims had been heading on foot to
Samarra, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, to commemorate the
anniversary of the death of Hassan al-Askari, one of 12 imams revered by Iraq’s
Shia majority. A criminal court in Baghdad on Thursday sentenced “a terrorist
to death for the explosion of a mawkeb in 2014” during the pilgrimage in
Samarra, the judiciary said on its website.”



Yemen



Associated Press: Delegation From Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Flies Into Saudi
Arabia For Peace Talks With Kingdom
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“A delegation from Yemen’s Houthi rebels has flown into Saudi Arabia for
talks with the kingdom on potentially ending the yearslong war tearing at the
Arab world’s poorest nation, officials say. It remains unclear what terms now
are being discussed between Riyadh and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have
held Yemen’s capital of Sanaa since September 2014. But the trip comes after
regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran reached a Chinese-mediated détente
earlier this year and as there’s been a flurry of diplomatic activity between
the different parties in the proxy war. This latest effort appears to have
begun with a visit Monday to Oman by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
the assertive son of King Salman who launched the kingdom-led war back in March
2015. Oman long has served as an interlocutor between both Iran and the Houthis
during the war.”



Africa



Associated Press: UN Envoy For Sudan Resigns And Warns That The Conflict Could
Be Turning Into Full-Scale Civil War
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“The U.N. special envoy for Sudan who was declared unwelcome by the country’s
military rulers resigned Wednesday in a final speech to the U.N. Security
Council, warning that the conflict between Sudan’s rival military leaders
“could be morphing into a full-scale civil war.” Volker Perthes, who had
continued to work outside Sudan, said the fighting shows no sign of abating,
with neither side appearing close to “a decisive military victory.” He also
said the violence in Sudan’s western Darfur region “has worsened dramatically,”
with civilians being targeted based on their ethnicity. Tensions between
Sudan’s military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid
Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, burst into open
fighting in mid-April.”



Associated Press: Niger’s Junta Released A French Official Held For 5 Days
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“A French official detained in Niger last week has been released, the French
government said Thursday. The arrest heightened tensions between France and
Niger, where military officers deposed an elected president last month and
ordered French officials to leave. France’s Foreign Ministry said in a
statement that Stephane Jullien, counselor for French citizens abroad, was
released Wednesday, five days after he was arrested. It didn’t provide details
about the release, or about the reason for his arrest. The French government
had urged his liberation. Military officers in Niger overthrew and detained
elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July and last month ordered the French
ambassador to leave the country. France, Niger’s former colonial ruler, has
refused to heed the order, saying that the junta isn’t the country’s legitimate
authority.”



The Nation: Teachers Demand To Be Guarded By KDF For Fear Of Al-Shabaab
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“Non-local teachers posted in northern Kenya have demanded security from the
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) before returning to their posts after their request
for transfers to other regions was rejected. Through the Kenya Union of Post
Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), they had demanded to be transferred out of
the region, citing frequent attacks by suspected al-Shabaab terrorists. “The
expatriate teachers face serious security threats from al-Shabaab, which has
killed 40 teachers in the past decade and four in the past two months alone,”
said Kuppet Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nthurima. The Teachers Service
Commission (TSC) classifies northern Kenya as a “hard-to-staff” region, where
schools are understaffed and vacancy notices usually attract few applicants.”



United Kingdom



CapX: Suella Braverman Is Right – Prevent Should Be About Stopping Potential
Terrorists, Not Treating Them As Victims
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“…My organisation, the Counter Extremism Project contributed a submission to
the review, which delivered its analysis in February this year. Shawcross
delivered a pretty devastating critique of the way we manage people reported to
be at risk of being drawn into ideological violence. He said the strategy had
lost focus on its core mission – to stop people getting into terrorism.
Motivation was looked at through the lens of vulnerability, not agency. Double
standards applied to the interpretation of Islamist and extreme right wing
ideologies, the former being tightly prescribed, the latter on a mission creep
that threatened to stifle legitimate political discourse.”



India



The Hindu: Islamic State Terror ‘Conspirator’ Held At Delhi Airport
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“The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested an alleged key
Islamic State terror conspirator after he arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi
International (IGI) Airport from Nairobi in Kenya. Arafath Ali had been
absconding since 2020, and has been operating from abroad to promote the
anti-India terror agenda of the banned outfit. He was taken into custody the
moment he landed at the airport. He has been accused of indulging in Islamic
State propaganda activities and planning terrorist acts, according to the NIA.
The agency, through a statement, said Arafath Ali was a resident of Shivamogga
in Karnataka. He was allegedly involved in “the identification, radicalisation
and recruitment of gullible Muslim youth into the ISIS fold while working from
abroad”.”



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