“The U.S. response to a drone attack that killed three American service members
in Jordan last weekend will be carried out "over the course of several days"
and striking "multiple targets," a U.S. official told ABC News Tuesday. "These
are going to be very deliberate targets -- deliberate strikes on facilities
that enabled these attacks" on U.S. forces, said the official, speaking on
condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive details. Officials would
not say whether any of the targets would be inside or outside Iran. Leaving the
White House Tuesday morning, President Joe Biden said he had decided how the
U.S. would respond to the attack by Iran-backed militants, but gave no more
details.”











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Eye on Extremism



January 31, 2024



ABC News: US Readies Retaliatory Strikes For Drone Attack By Iran-Backed
Militants
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“The U.S. response to a drone attack that killed three American service
members in Jordan last weekend will be carried out "over the course of several
days" and striking "multiple targets," a U.S. official told ABC News Tuesday.
"These are going to be very deliberate targets -- deliberate strikes on
facilities that enabled these attacks" on U.S. forces, said the official,
speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive details.
Officials would not say whether any of the targets would be inside or outside
Iran. Leaving the White House Tuesday morning, President Joe Biden said he had
decided how the U.S. would respond to the attack by Iran-backed militants, but
gave no more details.”



Reuters: Yemen's Houthis Threaten More Attacks On US, British Warships
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“Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group said on Wednesday it would keep up attacks
on U.S. and British warships in the Red Sea in what it called acts of self
defence, stoking fears of long-term disruptions to world trade. In a statement,
the group's military spokesperson said all American and British warships
participating in "aggression" against its country were targets. The U.S. and
Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, and returned the
militia to a list of terrorist groups as turmoil from the Israel-Hamas war
spreads through the region. The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of
Yemen, have been attacking ships in and around the Red Sea, saying they are
acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war. That conflict has
spilled over into other parts of the Middle East. Lebanon's Iran-aligned
Hezbollah has traded fire with Israeli troops along the border and Iraqi-armed
groups have attacked U.S. forces in Iraq.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* Violence-Oriented Right-Wing Extremist Actors in Russia: Club of Angry
Patriots- Part 2
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* Follow Britain’s Lead On Banning Hizb Ut-Tahrir
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* CounterPoint Brief: U.K. Declares Hizb ut-Tahrir a Terrorist Group
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* CounterPoint Brief: Retaliatory Strikes Launched Against Houthi Targets
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* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in December 2023
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CEP Mentions



The National: European Prosecutors Adopt Harsher Sentences Towards Female ISIS
Returnees
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“... In May 2023, there were 96 radicalised women in prison and 307 men
compared to 36 women in December 2016 and 350 men. This is mostly due to the
French government systematically placing women repatriated from camps in
North-East Syria in pre-trial detention. The complexity of these women, often
depicted in the media as “naïve or monsters”, must be better understood to shed
light on how they should best be treated by judicial and correctional
institutions in Europe, the book said. Women’s traditional roles within ISIS
have made it hard for some returnees to understand why they were prosecuted,
wrote Sofia Koller, a senior research analyst at the Counter Extremism Project,
a non-profit organisation based in New York. In the chapter on Germany, Ms
Koller quotes one woman as saying: “I only cooked, had babies, was sitting the
whole day in a madafa [a women’s guest house] and then married the next one.”



United States



Reuters: US Shoots Down Missile Fired By Houthis Toward Red Sea, Pentagon Says
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“Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired one anti-ship cruise missile from Yemen
toward the Red Sea on Tuesday, the U.S. military's Central Command said, adding
that a U.S. destroyer in the area shot it down. No injuries or damage were
reported, the Central Command said.”



Iraq



Reuter: Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah Says It Suspends Attacks On US Forces
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“Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the
suspension of all its military operations against U.S. troops in the region, in
a decision aimed at preventing "embarrassment" of the Iraqi government, the
group said. "As we announce the suspension of military and security operations
against the occupation forces - in order to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi
government - we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways,"
Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement.
Three U.S. troops were killed in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border on
Sunday that the Pentagon said bore the "footprints" of Kataib Hezbollah, opens
new tab, though a final assessment had not yet been made. A Pentagon
spokesperson declined to comment on the group's statement, adding: "Actions
speak louder than words." The U.S. has vowed to respond to the attack.”



Middle East



Reuters: Disguised Israeli Forces Kill 3 Palestinian Militants In Raid On West
Bank Hospital
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“Israeli commandos disguised as medical workers and Muslim women burst into a
hospital in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday and killed three Palestinian
militants, one of them lying paralysed in bed, witnesses and authorities said.
The Israeli military said the three militants were killed in a joint undercover
operation by the army, Shin Bet security service and border police in the Ibn
Sina hospital in Jenin, one of the most volatile cities in the West Bank.”



Reuters: Hamas Official Says It Has Received New Proposal For Three-Stage Truce

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“Hamas said on Tuesday it had received and was studying a new proposal for a
ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza, presented by mediators after talks
with Israel, in what appeared to be the most serious peace initiative for
months. A senior Hamas official told Reuters the proposal involved a
three-stage truce, during which the group would first release remaining
civilians among hostages it captured on Oct. 7, then soldiers, and finally the
bodies of hostages that were killed. The official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, did not indicate how long the stages would last or what was
envisioned to follow the final stage. But it was the first time since the
collapse of the only brief truce of the war so far, in late November, that
details were released of a new proposal being considered by both sides. The
ceasefire proposal followed talks in Paris involving intelligence chiefs from
Israel, the United States and Egypt, with the prime minister of Qatar. In a
mark of the seriousness of the negotiations, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said he
was going to Cairo to discuss it, his first public trip there for more than a
month.”



Somalia



Associated Press: Somalia’s Intelligence Agency Says It Blocks Whatsapp Groups
Used By Al-Qaida-Linked Militants
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“Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency said Tuesday it has for
the first time managed to shut down 20 WhatsApp groups allegedly operated by
the extremist group al-Shabab for extortion and intimidation. NISA in a
statement said its cyber division had identified what it described as the
virtual hubs for illicit activities by East Africa’s al-Qaida affiliate. The
agency said it also disabled data services for approximately 2,500 phone
numbers associated with them. Somalia is seeking to disrupt al-Shabab’s
communication channels and financial transactions as part of a “total war”
declared against the group that for years has controlled parts of the country
and carried out attacks in the capital, Mogadishu. African Union peacekeeping
troops have been drawing down their presence in the Horn of Africa nation with
the goal of handing over security responsibilities to Somali forces that have
been waging the offensive declared by the president in 2022.”



Africa



Associated Press: Militants In Eastern Congo Kill 12 Villagers As Country’s
Leader Rules Out Talks With Rwanda
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“Militants killed at least 12 villagers in a spate of attacks in eastern
Congo, a local official and a civil society leader said as the country’s
president ruled out dialogue with neighboring Rwanda over a related conflict.
The killings in Congo’s North Kivu province took place on Tuesday and were
carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces, armed militants believed to be
linked to the extremist Islamic State group. The militants attacked three
villages in the Beni territory, according to Kinos Katuho, the president of the
local Mamove civil society organization. Eastern Congo has struggled with armed
violence for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable
mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. The armed
groups have long waged campaigns of violence in the mineral-rich region and
have been accused of mass killings.”



Europe



The Washington Post: The UN's Top Court Is Set To Rule On Ukraine's Allegation
That Russia Bankrolled Separatist Rebels
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“The United Nations’ top court plans to rule Wednesday on Ukraine’s
allegations that Russia bankrolled separatist rebels in the country’s east a
decade ago and has discriminated against Crimea’s multiethnic community since
its annexation of the peninsula. The legally binding final ruling is the first
of two expected decisions from the International Court of Justice linked to the
decadelong conflict between Russia and Ukraine that exploded into a full-blown
war almost two years ago.”



Associated Press: Belarusian Journalist Accused Of Being In An Extremist Group
After Covering Protests Gets Prison
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“A Belarusian journalist was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday on an
extremism charge related to his work covering protests, the latest move in a
sweeping government crackdown on dissent. The Minsk City Court convicted
photojournalist Alyaksandr Zyankou on charges of “participation in an extremist
group,” an accusation widely used by authorities to target opposition members,
civil society activists and independent journalists. Zyankou has been in
custody since his arrest in June, and his health has deteriorated behind bars,
according to the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists. “It’s
absurd that they sentenced a photographer to three years in prison for
fulfilling his professional duty of taking pictures,” said the association’s
head, Andrei Bastunets. “The situation with freedom of speech in Belarus is the
worst in Europe.”



China



Voice Of America: China's President Receives Afghan Ambassador; Taliban Seek
Recognition From Russia, Iran
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“Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday received the credentials of
ambassadors from several countries, including neighboring Afghanistan, in what
amounts to the first official recognition of the interim Taliban government by
a major nation. Xi welcomed Bilal Karimi, the Taliban-appointed Afghan
ambassador, in a formal ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, along with
ambassadors from Cuba, Pakistan, Iran and 38 other countries. "China has
understood what the rest of the world has not," Zabihullah Mujahid, the
Taliban's chief spokesperson, said Tuesday at an event on the social media
platform X. "We are not in a unipolar world," Mujahid said while calling on
Russia, Iran and other countries to take similar steps and upgrade bilateral
diplomatic relations with Kabul. Xi told the new ambassadors that China is
seeking deep friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with their
countries, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.”



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