“The U.N.’s most powerful body must support governments seeking to legally
declare the intensifying crackdown by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on women and
girls “gender apartheid,” the head of the U.N. agency promoting gender equality
said Tuesday. Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, told the Security
Council that more than 50 increasingly dire Taliban edicts are being enforced
with more severity including by male family members. That is exacerbating
mental health issues and suicidal thoughts especially among young women and is
shrinking women’s decision-making even in their own homes. “They tell us that
they are prisoners living in darkness, confined to their homes without hope or
future,” she said. Under international law, apartheid is defined as a system of
legalized racial segregation that originated in South Africa. But a growing
consensus among international experts, officials and activists says apartheid
can also apply to gender in cases like that of Afghanistan, where women and
girls face systematic discrimination.”











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Eye on Extremism



September 27, 2023



Politico: As Mental Health Worsens Among Afghanistan’s Women, The UN Is Asked
To Declare ‘Gender Apartheid’
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“The U.N.’s most powerful body must support governments seeking to legally
declare the intensifying crackdown by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on women and
girls “gender apartheid,” the head of the U.N. agency promoting gender equality
said Tuesday. Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, told the Security
Council that more than 50 increasingly dire Taliban edicts are being enforced
with more severity including by male family members. That is exacerbating
mental health issues and suicidal thoughts especially among young women and is
shrinking women’s decision-making even in their own homes. “They tell us that
they are prisoners living in darkness, confined to their homes without hope or
future,” she said. Under international law, apartheid is defined as a system of
legalized racial segregation that originated in South Africa. But a growing
consensus among international experts, officials and activists says apartheid
can also apply to gender in cases like that of Afghanistan, where women and
girls face systematic discrimination.”



Voice Of America: Pakistan Claims Capture Of 4 Islamic State Operatives
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“Authorities in northwestern Pakistan said Tuesday that a counterterrorism
operation resulted in the arrest of four regional Islamic State-affiliated
operatives. The area’s counterterrorism department said the operation was
carried out in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It
identified the detainees as Afghan nationals associated with Islamic
State-Khorasan, or IS-K. The statement said that the men plotted attacks in the
city, targeting members of religious minorities and security forces. IS-K took
credit for a suicide bombing of a minority Shiite mosque in Peshawar in January
of this year, killing nearly 100 worshipers. Tuesday's arrests came hours after
the military said its forces had raided a suspected "terrorist" hideout near
the Afghan border and killed three militants in the ensuing clashes. A key
militant commander was said to be among those killed in the pre-dawn raid in
the Khyber border district, a former stronghold of the outlawed
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* Financial Strategies of Right-Wing Extremist Organizations and Actors in
the United Kingdom and Germany
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* Transnational Linkages Between Violent Right-Wing Extremism, Terrorism, and
Organized Crime
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* ISIS Women in Court: Marcia M. – A Tactical Admission?
<[link removed]>
* An Important Step X / Twitter Can Take to Fight Antisemitism on Their
Platform Right Now
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* CEP-KAS: Sahel Monitoring August 2023
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United States



Associated Press: Abduction And Terrorism Trial After Boy Found Dead At New
Mexico Compound Opens With Mom’s Testimony
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“Federal prosecutors presented tearful testimony Tuesday from the mother of a
sickly toddler who was whisked away from his Georgia home by relatives without
her permission to a remote desert encampment in northern New Mexico where he
died. Four family members, including the boy’s aunts, are facing kidnapping or
terrorism charges, or both, that stem from an August 2018 raid in search of the
3-year-old boy at a squalid encampment near the Colorado line. Authorities said
they found the suspects living with 11 hungry children without running water at
the encampment encircled by berms of tires with an adjacent shooting range
where guns and ammunition were seized. The badly decomposed body of Abdul-Ghani
Wahhaj was eventually found in an underground tunnel at the compound.
Abdul-Ghani’s mother, Hakima Ramzi, recounted her love and devotion to a
cheerful son who lived with severe developmental disabilities and frequent
seizures — and her shock when husband, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, and his sibling
accused her of casting spells on the boy.”



Pakistan



Associated Press: Pakistani Raid On A Militant Hideout Near Afghanistan Leaves
3 Militants Dead, The Military Says
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“Pakistani troops raided a suspected militant hideout in a former Pakistani
Taliban stronghold near the border with Afghanistan, triggering a shootout that
killed three militants, the military said Tuesday. A militant commander was
among those killed in the shootout late on Monday in Khyber, a district of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to a military statement. The military
did not provide any additional details, saying only the targeted militants had
attacked Pakistani troops in the past. The Pakistani Taliban — also known as
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP — are a separate group but allied with the
Afghan Taliban, who two years ago seized Afghanistan as U.S. and NATO troops
were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of
war. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban,
who have stepped up attacks against police and troops.”



Yemen



Reuters: Yemen Flare-Ups Jeopardise Peace Negotiations
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“Both sides in Yemen's eight-year war have accused each other of attacks that
break a relative lull in fighting and jeopardise peace talks that had been
gathering momentum. Yemen's Houthi movement has battled a Saudi-led coalition
since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and left 80% of
the population dependent on aid. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said
the coalition killed 12 of the group's soldiers in the last month along the
Saudi border. "While we consider incidents of truce violation to be regrettable
... we stress the importance of entering into a phase of serious peace," he
told Reuters. The Iran-aligned Houthis were responding to accusations of
killing two Bahraini army personnel and wounding several others on Monday in a
drone attack on Saudi Arabia's southern border. The Saudi-led alliance
condemned that and said it followed other Houthi attacks on a power
distribution unit and a police station near the border."Such repeated hostile
and provocative actions are not consistent with the positive efforts that are
being made to seek an end to the crisis," coalition spokesperson General Turki
al-Malki said.”



Middle East



Associated Press: Israel Strikes Militant Sites In Gaza As Unrest Continues,
No Casualties
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“Israeli airstrikes hit several targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the
country’s military said, after Palestinian protesters flocked for the 12th
straight day to the enclave’s frontier with Israel — demonstrations that have
devolved into violent clashes with Israeli security forces. There were no
reports of casualties in Gaza from the Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli army
said that it used a drone, helicopter and tank to strike multiple posts in
northern and southern Gaza belonging to the strip’s militant Hamas rulers in
response to what it described as “violent riots” at the separation fence
between Gaza and Israel. The protests involve Palestinians throwing stones and
explosive devices, burning tires and, according to the Israeli military,
shooting at Israeli soldiers. Palestinian health officials reported that
Israeli forces shot and wounded 11 protesters during Tuesday’s rally.”



Somalia



Wall Street Journal: A Rare Success Emerges In The War On Terror
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“There finally came a point when al-Shabaab militants went too far, and
Somali farmers and herders just wouldn’t take it anymore. It started in
Hiiraan, a region of a half-million people in central Somalia. Islamist
insurgents from al-Shabaab, the Somali branch of al Qaeda, had controlled much
of the area for a decade. In May 2022, they dialed up the repression. They shot
a well-known clan elder. They dragooned local teens into their ranks of suicide
bombers and fighters. And during the longest drought in living memory,
al-Shabaab taxed herders three or four cows each time they brought their
parched livestock to drink at public wells. That set off a chain of events that
has at last given the U.S. and its allies the upper hand in a 16-year campaign
against one of the most potent and intractable Islamist insurgencies in the
world. One of the American military campaigns unleashed by the Sept. 11
attacks, the fight against al-Shabaab has been marked by years of setbacks and
stalemates. Now Somalia has become a surprising bright spot in the global
battle pitting the West and allied countries against insurgents who use terror
tactics in the name of political Islam.”



Germany



The Independent: Dawn Raids Across Germany As Neo-Nazi Group Banned For
‘Disgusting’ Targeting Of Children
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“Germany banned yet another neo-Nazi group and conducted raids at the homes
of dozens of its members, according to reports. The authorities raided the
houses of at least 39 members in the early hours on Wednesday after the
country’s interior minister Nancy Faeser banned the group “Artgemeinschaft”
accused of spreading Nazi ideology. Across 12 states, at least 26 homes
belonging to the members of the group were searched. The authorities said that
the group has about 150 members nationwide, including children and adolescents.
“This is another hard blow against right-wing extremism and against the
intellectual arsonists who continue to spread Nazi ideologies to this day,” Ms
Faeser said. “This right-wing extremist group has tried to raise new enemies of
the constitution with its disgusting indoctrination of children and young
people.” This is the second neo-Nazi group to be banned in about a week. Ms
Faeser banned “Hammerskins Deutschland” which had roots in the United States
about a week ago.”



India



Bloomberg: India’s Top Diplomat Says Canada ‘Permissive’ Toward Extremists
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“India’s minister of external affairs urged the United Nations to reform and
listen to more countries on Tuesday, while also warning nations that “political
convenience” must not determine responses to terrorism or violence. S.
Jaishankar did not directly mention the discord between Canada and India, in
which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the Indian government of
backing the murder of a prominent Sikh activist in his country. India, in turn,
has alleged Canada is harboring extremists pushing for an independent Sikh
nation. “Respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal
affairs cannot be exercises in cherry-picking,” Jaishankar told the UN General
Assembly in New York.

“When reality departs from the rhetoric, we must have the courage to call it
out. Without genuine solidarity, there can never be real trust. This is very
much the sentiment of the Global South.” While it’s not clear whether
Jaishankar was referring to Canada in his remarks, the Indian government has
repeatedly accused Canada of ignoring evidence of extremism among its large and
politically powerful Sikh diaspora. Trudeau has said his government doesn’t
condone violence but it must defend Canadians’ right to freedom of expression
and peaceful protest.”



The Tribune: Terrorist, 5 Aides Held As Cops Bust Cross-Border Arms Racket
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“The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested one
Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist and his five associates, including two women and a
juvenile, allegedly involved in a cross-border arms racket. Baramulla SSP Amog
Nagpure said the police had arrested an LeT terrorist and five associates in
Baramulla and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including grenades
and pistols. “The process of arrests started after two suspects were detained
in September in Uri. The five terror associates arrested include two women and
a juvenile as well,” Nagpure said. The chain of events leading to this
revelation began with the detention of two suspicious individuals in Uri on
September 14. Zaid Hassan Malla and Muhammad Arif Channa were caught attempting
to evade a police checkpoint. Little did the authorities know that this
encounter would unveil a complex network involved in smuggling arms and
ammunition across the border.”



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