"The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three
U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella
group of Iran-backed militias, as President Joe Biden weighs his options to
respond to the strike. Iran threatened to “decisively respond” to any U.S.
attack on the Islamic Republic after the U.S. said it held Tehran responsible.
The U.S. has signaled it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Mideast in
the wake of the Sunday drone attack that also wounded more than 40 troops at
Tower 22, a secretive base in northeastern Jordan that’s been crucial to the
American presence in neighboring Syria."











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Eye on Extremism



February 1, 2024



Associated Press: US Blames Group Of Iran-Backed Militias For Deadly Drone
Attack In Jordan As It Weighs Reprisals
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"The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three
U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella
group of Iran-backed militias, as President Joe Biden weighs his options to
respond to the strike. Iran threatened to “decisively respond” to any U.S.
attack on the Islamic Republic after the U.S. said it held Tehran responsible.
The U.S. has signaled it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Mideast in
the wake of the Sunday drone attack that also wounded more than 40 troops at
Tower 22, a secretive base in northeastern Jordan that’s been crucial to the
American presence in neighboring Syria."



Reuters: Pakistan Election Candidate Shot Dead In Tribal District - Police
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“A national assembly candidate in Pakistan's election next week was shot dead
on Wednesday in a tribal district along the Afghan border, police said, in the
second killing of a candidate linked to jailed former leader Imran Khan's party
this month. Rehan Zaib Khan, an independent candidate in the Feb. 8 election
who had claimed to be supported by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),
and four aides were shot in Bajur district, police officer Rasheed Khan said.
Rehan Zaib Khan died at a local hospital and his aides were in a critical
condition, he said."



CEP Mentions



Jewish News Syndicate: America Must Wake Up To The Danger Of The UK-Banned
Hizb Ut-Tahrir
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“The United Kingdom just banned Hizb-ut Tahrir (HT), an extremist Islamist
group with affiliates in at least 32 countries, including the United States,
that calls for re-establishing the Islamic Caliphate and implementing Sharia
(Islamic law). Given its outsized role in radicalizing several convicted
terrorists, including notorious ISIS executioner “Jihadi John,” HT Britain has
a far more notorious reputation than its still-active Transatlantic cousin, HT
America.”



DW: Germany's Middle East Policy Has Reached A Dead End
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“Germany can only keep repeatedly raising this, Hans-Jakob Schindler, analyst
for the Middle East at the nonprofit organization Counter Extremism Project,
told DW. Israeli resettlement plans for the Gaza Strip, which two Israeli
cabinet ministers publicly support, would be "the surest way to securely anchor
Islamist extremism in the future in Gaza, and probably among Palestinians in
general," Schindler believes.”



United States



Voice Of America: Kataib Hezbollah Should Take US Warning ‘Seriously,’ White
House Says
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“National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby warned that Kataib
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group based in Iraq, should take "seriously" the
Biden administration's determination to respond to Sunday's drone attack by
Iran-backed militants that killed three American soldiers on a U.S. base in
Jordan. VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara spoke with Kirby
following Kataib Hezbollah's Tuesday announcement that it is suspending all
military operations against American troops in the region. Kirby also discussed
the war in Gaza and other challenges the U.S. is facing around the world."



Iran



Voice Of America: While Small In Number, Tajik Fighters An Asset For Islamic
State-Khorasan
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“The Iranian government has traced this month's twin suicide bombings in
Kerman city to ethnic-Tajik fighters of the Islamic State Khorasan Province
who, experts say, are "fairly small" in number but play "an important part" in
the group's military activities. The Afghanistan-based branch of the Islamic
State (IS-K) claimed responsibility for the January 3 blasts that killed at
least 95 people attending the commemoration of the death of Qassem Soleimani,
the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, who was
killed in a January 2020 U.S. drone attack in Iraq."



Voice Of America: Islamic State Trying To Rise Under The Radar
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“The Islamic State terror group, whose name once inspired fear across swaths
of the Middle East and beyond, may be seeking to regain its reputation, pushing
a new campaign it says is focused on killing the group’s enemies wherever they
can be found. Starting with its claim of the terror attack on the Iranian city
of Kerman on January 3, killing nearly 90 people, Islamic State social media
accounts have quickly pumped out claims for some 100 other attacks across
Africa, the Middle East, and South and East Asia. “The Islamic State calls on
its soldiers and eager Muslims to renew their activities,” the group’s
spokesman said in a speech released along with the initial claims of
responsibility, according to a translation by JihadoScope, a company that
monitors terrorist activity on social media. “Invade their homes, kill them,
and inflict harm upon them in every possible way,” the spokesperson added.”



Yemen



Al Arabiya: US Destroys 10 Houthi Attack Drones, Control Station In Yemen
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“American forces carried out strikes in Yemen against 10 attack drones and a
ground control station belonging to the Iran-backed Houthis, the US military
said Wednesday.A US warship also shot down an anti-ship missile fired by the
Houthis and later downed three Iranian drones, Central Command (CENTCOM) said."



Lebanon



Associated Press; Israel And Lebanon Are Prepping For A War Neither Wants,
But Many Fear It’s Becoming Inevitable
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“The prospect of a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah
militia terrifies people on both sides of the border, but some see it as an
inevitable fallout from Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. Such a war
could be the most destructive either side has ever experienced. Israel and
Hezbollah each have lessons from their last war, in 2006, a monthlong conflict
that ended in a draw."



Middle East



Reuters: Israeli Military: Troops Killed Dozens Of Gaza Militants In Past Day
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“Israel's military said on Thursday that its troops killed "dozens of
terrorists" over the past day in battles that raged across the Gaza Strip. In
the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where Israel has been focusing its
offensive in recent weeks against the Hamas Islamist group, the military said
its troops engaged in close-quarter combat and directed air strikes. It also
reported fighting in central and north Gaza.”



Reuters: Israeli PM Says UN Agency For Palestinians Must Close, Israeli
Warplanes Strike Gaza
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“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Wednesday for the closure
of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) as his forces conducted more air
strikes in Gaza amid diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire and release of hostages
in the enclave. Israel has accused some UNRWA staff of involvement in the Oct.
7 Hamas assault in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza."



Somalia



Voice Of America: UN, Somalia Launch $1.6 Billion Appeal For Humanitarian Aid
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“The United Nations and the Somali government have launched a $1.6 billion
appeal to address humanitarian challenges in Somalia. The 2024 Humanitarian
Needs Action Plan seeks to provide life-saving support to over 5 million
Somalis this year. The U.N. says climate shocks, conflict, widespread poverty
and disease outbreaks continue to drive humanitarian needs in the Horn of
Africa country. The appeal comes as Somalia struggles to deal with long dry
spells followed by heavy rains and deadly flash floods."



Germany



Associated Press: German Domestic Spy Agency Has Its Former Head, Now A
Hard-Right Politician, Under Scrutiny
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“Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has put its former head, who has
become a hard-right politician since being removed from the job several years
ago, under scrutiny. Hans-Georg Maassen posted a letter from the BfV agency to
his lawyer on his website Wednesday after public broadcaster ARD and media
outlet t-online reported that the authority he led from 2012 to 2018 now has
him in its files on right-wing extremism."



Europe



PBS: International Court Of Justice Rejects Most Of Ukraine’s Terror Financing
And Discrimination Case Against Russia
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“The United Nations’ top court on Wednesday rejected large parts of a case
filed by Ukraine alleging 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 International Court of
Justice ruled that Moscow violated articles of two treaties — one on terrorism
financing and another on eradicating racial discrimination — but it rejected
far more of Kyiv’s claims under the treaties.”



Technology



Bloomberg: Binance Sued By Hamas Hostage, Families Of Victims In Attack
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“An American mother who was taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza and the relatives
of two men killed following the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack, sued crypto
giant Binance for allegedly facilitating the violence. Judith Raanan, who was
released with her daughter on Oct. 20, and relatives of Itay Glisko and Dr.
Daniel Levi Ludmir, who were murdered by Hamas, filed the lawsuit against the
digital assets exchange, as well as Iran and Syria, in federal court in
Manhattan on Wednesday.”



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