United States
Voice Of America: Research Warns White Supremacists Are Building A Shadow Militia
“... New research, presented Friday by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), warns the past several months have seen a proliferation of small, loosely affiliated combat sports and fitness clubs — known as Active Clubs — that publicly advertise fitness, self-improvement and brotherhood. But behind the scenes, researchers say, club members are pushing a white supremacist narrative geared at preparing members to take part in a potential race war. “They are trying to build a militia undercover,” said Alexander Ritzmann, a CEP senior adviser and the author of the new report. “The underlying assessment is there is no leadership in the U.S. for targeted violence, for a strong national event or leadership. But once such a thing occurs, you need soldiers.” Ritzmann and his colleagues warn that more than 100 of the Active Clubs have been created since late 2020, and that at least 46 are currently active in 34 U.S. states. They further identified another 46 clubs in 14 countries across Europe and 12 clubs in Canada.”
Rolling Stone: This Activewear Brand Wants To Be Lululemon For Fascists
“... The Active Club movement is growing exponentially. A new report by the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project, reveals that there are at least 46 active clubs across 34 states in the U.S. The “transnational” network also has chapters in 15 countries, including Canada, and across Europe, with 23 chapters in France alone. Alexander Ritzmann, who conducted the CEP research, describes the groups as “trying to build a militia” in plain sight. They foreground a broad ideology of “white unity” — both to prevent infighting and to appear less threatening to law enforcement. The exact purpose of the fight-training remains ambiguous, but Ritzmann insists this is on purpose, following the philosophy that a violent white supremist movement needs more “fighters than thinkers.” The endgame, he warns, is for these Active Clubs to be the tip of the fascist spear when the next “Day X” — think: a redux of a Jan. 6 — requires the services of a fighting force: “It’s about building that militia for the day a leader shows up … that needs some sort of army.”
Syria
Associated Press: US-Backed Kurdish Forces Impose Curfew In Eastern Syria After New Clashes With Rival Arab Militia
“U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces imposed a curfew after clashes erupted again on Monday in eastern Syria, where their fighters had battled for weeks with rival Arab militiamen, Syrian media and activists reported. The fighting in a region where hundreds of American troops are deployed has pointed to dangerous seams in a coalition that has kept on a lid on the defeated Islamic State group for years. The reports say the Syrian Democratic Forces imposed the open-ended measure in several towns in Deir el-Zour province, including the town of Ziban, close to the Iraqi border where the Americans are based. Hundreds of U.S. troops have been there since 2015 to help in the fight against the militant Islamic State group. The oil-rich province is home to Syria’s largest oil fields. Al Mayadeen, a pan-Arab TV station, said several fighters from the Kurdish-led forces were killed after Arab gunmen took over several parts of Ziban on Monday. Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some of the Arab fighters had crossed from government-held areas.”
Iran
Reuters: Iran Says It Defused 30 Bombs In Tehran, Detained 28 People, Tasnim Reports
“Authorities in Iran have neutralised 30 bombs meant to go off simultaneously in Tehran and detained 28 terrorists linked to Islamic State, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, citing the intelligence ministry. "Some of the members are of Islamic State (IS) and the perpetrators have a history of being affiliated with Takfiri groups in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Kurdistan region of Iraq," Iran's intelligence ministry added in a statement. The militant group has claimed several attacks in Iran, including deadly twin bombings in 2017 that targeted Iran's parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. More recently, IS claimed responsibility for an attack on a Shia shrine last October, where 15 people were killed in the southwestern city of Shiraz."
Turkey
Reuters: Turkish Police Detain 10 Accused Of Islamic State Links, Minister Says
“Turkish police detained 10 people believed to be linked to Islamic State and have arrested five of them, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday. Yerlikaya said Turkey's MIT intelligence agency, police, and counter-terrorism squads carried out an operation in the western coastal city of Izmir after intelligence showed the suspects had hidden supplies in the city. The authorities discovered explosive gels, materials used to make explosives, as well as weapons and ammunition hidden in the mountainous region of Izmir's Bornova district, Yerlikaya added. "As a result of the operation, 10 suspects were detained. Of these, five were arrested and judicial control rulings were made for five others," the minister said on social media platform X. Under judicial control rulings, the suspects may leave police detention but they have certain conditions and oversights imposed on them. Footage from the operation, shared by Yerlikaya on X, showed several police cars in a mountainous area, with police searching inside of a small cave for the hidden materials. It also showed authorities searching a house and detaining the suspects. Reuters could not independently verify the footage.”
Middle East
Reuters: Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinians In West Bank Raid, Hamas, Emergency Workers Say
“Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a fighter of the Islamist Hamas group, during a raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank on Sunday, emergency workers and Hamas said, while in Gaza Israeli strikes hit security posts for a second day. In the latest round of violence, Israeli forces raided the Nur Shams camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarm in the early hours of Sunday morning, setting off an hours-long gun battle with Palestinian fighters, witnesses said. The Israeli military said it conducted "counterterrorism activity" in the camp, dismantling an operational command centre equipped with computers and surveillance cameras and uncovering dozens of explosive devices and bomb-making components. "During the activity, suspects opened fire and hurled explosive devices at the forces, who responded with live fire. Hits were identified," the military said in a statement, adding that an Israeli soldier was moderately wounded.”
Haaretz: Hamas Operative Arrested On Suspicion Of Spying For Israel, Lebanese Media Report
“Lebanese media outlets reported on Friday that a member of Hamas’ military wing had been arrested on suspicion of being involved in transferring intelligence about the organization to Israel. According to a report in the daily Al-Akhbar, which is identified with Hamas and Hezbollah, Khalil Abu Ma’azeh was recruited by the Mossad while living in Beit Lahia, in the Gaza Strip. After he moved to Turkey, he provided Israel with information about the organization for two years, the reports said. According to the report, Abu Ma'azeh served in the Iz al-Din al-Qassam brigades, making it into the top echelons of Hamas, mainly in its engineering division. Allegedly, due to his dire financial straits, Abu Ma'azeh agreed to provide Israel with information about the activities of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, its branches in Lebanon, and vital aspects related to the development of weapons and other war materiel.”
Somalia
Voice Of America: Fleeing Militants Pose Challenge To Somalia’s Security
“As Somalia's army and allied clan militias continue to drive al-Shabab fighters out of locales in central Somalia, analysts warn the country could still face security threats from Islamist militants on the run. Somalia’s National Army is in the middle of a military offensive against al-Shabab. Since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared a "total war" against the militants in August 2022, al-Shabab fighters have withdrawn from some of the group’s central Somalia strongholds under military pressure from the army, the militias and international partners’ airstrikes. Despite the significant breakthrough in the government's campaign against the al Qaida-linked group, Somali security analysts believe one of the major challenges that the country faces is the presence of fleeing militants who, despite losing their bases of operation, continue to pose a serious threat to national security.”
Reuters: Somalia Asks UN To Delay Peacekeeper Drawdown After 'Significant Setbacks'
“Somalia has asked the United Nations to pause a planned drawdown of 3,000 African Union peacekeepers for three months to allow its security forces time to regroup after a militant attack forced them to withdraw from several recently captured towns. The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which is mandated by the U.N. Security Council, took over from another AU mission in April last year. On June 30 ATMIS concluded the first phase of the drawdown of 2,000 troops and was due to enact a second troop withdrawal by Sept. 30, reducing its military personnel to 14,626. In a Sept. 19 letter to the U.N. Security Council seen by Reuters, National Security Adviser Hussein Sheikh Ali said the government's year-long campaign to liberate areas from al Shabaab militants in the central regions of the country had suffered "several significant setbacks" in recent weeks.”
Africa
Reuters: Uganda Says It Will Mediate Between Somalia And Breakaway Somaliland
“Uganda said on Saturday it would mediate between Somalia and the breakaway region of Somaliland to facilitate reunification after a more than three-decade split. President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda agreed to take up the role after a visit on Friday by a special envoy from Somaliland, Jama Musse Jama, according to a presidency statement. "President Museveni agreed to be the unification facilitator between Somaliland and Somalia," it said. Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for independence. It has been mostly peaceful while Somalia has undergone civil war. "We don't support secession because strategically, it is wrong," Museveni was quoted in the statement as telling the envoy. Reunification would potentially strengthen the Horn of African country's capability to tackle challenges including an insurgency by the Islamist group al Shabaab.”
Bloomberg: Uganda Says It Killed Islamic State-Linked Rebel Chief In Congo
“Uganda President Yoweri Museveni said a rebel leader of the Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces was killed in a raid by the air force in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Meddie Nkalubo, blamed for a series of bombings in the Ugandan capital of Kampala in 2021, was among “a lot of terrorists” killed in the Sept. 16 raid carried out more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Ugandan border, Museveni said Saturday in an emailed statement. ADF began its operations in western Uganda in the late 1990s before fleeing to eastern Congo from where they have launched a series of terror attacks in Uganda. In September 2020, the group’s leader Muhsin Baluku said the ADF had been disbanded and become an autonomous Islamic State province. The U.S. State Department refers to ADF as ISIS DRC and has designated it a terrorist organization. Islamic State claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in Uganda in 2021, including bombings that left seven people dead.”
United Kingdom
Daily Star: Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs Growing Worldwide As Weight-Lifting Thugs Prepare For Violence
“…Data on the groups seen by Vice has been gathered by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) which published a report that claims: “Since the creation of the first Active Club in late 2020, at least 100 Active Clubs have been created in the U.S, Canada, and Europe.” Alexander Ritzmann, the report’s author and senior advisor to the CEP, told the outlet: "This is an unprecedented growth. I've never seen a network in right-wing extremism grow so fast. Usually, it takes years to build a transnational network. It’s concerning.””
BBC: Canada-India Row Puts Spotlight On Sikh Activism In UK
“Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, was well known for his support of the creation of a breakaway Sikh homeland, Khalistan. He died from a sudden illness in Birmingham in June, and some of those close to him insinuate there was foul play involved. West Midlands Police say they thoroughly reviewed the case and there were no suspicious circumstances and that there is no need to re-investigate. But British Sikhs have long talked about feeling under undue pressure, as the Indian government has openly demanded that the UK authorities do more to stamp out "extremism" within the community. Gurpreet Johal is a lawyer and Labour councillor from Dumbarton. He says he entered politics because of what happened to his family. Six years ago, Gurpreet's brother Jagtar - a well known pro-Khalistan and Sikh rights activist - went to India to get married. Mr Johal's family says that in the town of Rami Mandi in Punjab, he was forced into an unmarked car. He has been in prison ever since accused of extremist activities.”
Germany
The Times Of Israel: Germany Bans Prominent Neo-Nazi Group: ‘Clear Signal Against Racism And Antisemitism’
“The German government banned the neo-Nazi group Hammerskins Germany on Tuesday and raided the homes of dozens of its members. The group is an offshoot of an American right-wing extremist group and plays a prominent role across Europe. The Hammerskins Germany is an offshoot of the Hammerskins Nation founded in the United States in 1988, according to Berlin’s Interior Ministry. It plays a prominent role in the right-wing extremist scene in Europe. Worldwide, members of this association refer to themselves as “brothers” and see themselves as an elite “brotherhood” practicing their subcultural way of life. The group also sees itself as the elite of the right-wing extremist skinhead scene, according to the ministry. “The ban of the Hammerskins Germany is a hard blow against organized right-wing extremism,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said, adding that the ban included the association’s regional chapters and its sub-organization Crew 38.”
Japan
Hot Cars: The Toyota Land Cruiser's Evolution In Photos, From 1951 To Today
“…The CEO of the Counter Extremism Project was even quoted as stating, ‘Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have effectively almost become part of the terrorist brand.’”
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