“A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of
Aden on Wednesday killed three of its crew members and forced survivors to
abandon the vessel, the U.S. military said. It was the first fatal strike in a
campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel’s war on Hamas in
the Gaza Strip. The attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier
True Confidence further escalates the conflict on a crucial maritime route
linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping.
The Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the U.S. began an
airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn’t halted their attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday that it would confiscate a $50 million
cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. aboard a
tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It is the latest twist in a yearslong
shadow war playing out in the Middle East’s waterways even before the Houthi
attacks began.”











<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>



Eye on Extremism



March 7, 2024



Associated Press: Houthi Missile Attack Kills 3 Crew Members In Yemen Rebels’
First Fatal Assault On Shipping
<[link removed]>



“A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of
Aden on Wednesday killed three of its crew members and forced survivors to
abandon the vessel, the U.S. military said. It was the first fatal strike in a
campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel’s war on Hamas in
the Gaza Strip. The attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier
True Confidence further escalates the conflict on a crucial maritime route
linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping.
The Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the U.S. began an
airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn’t halted their attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday that it would confiscate a $50 million
cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. aboard a
tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It is the latest twist in a yearslong
shadow war playing out in the Middle East’s waterways even before the Houthi
attacks began.”



Associated Press: IS Militants Kill At Least 18 People In An Attack On
Villagers Collecting Truffles In Eastern Syria
<[link removed]>



“Islamic State militants attacked villagers collecting truffles in eastern
Syria on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and leaving dozens injured and
missing, opposition activists and pro-government media said. The attack against
the truffle hunters was one of the deadliest strikes by the Islamic State group
in the area in more than a year. It took place in a desert area near the town
of Kobajeb in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq. Some of
the truffle gatherers may have been kidnapped, opposition activists said.
Despite the militant group’s defeat in Syria in March 2019, IS sleeper cells
still carry deadly attacks in Syria and neighboring Iraq, across a wide swath
of territory where the extremists had once run an Islamic caliphate. Since
truffle hunters work in large groups in remote areas, IS militants in previous
years have repeatedly preyed on them, emerging from the desert to kill many and
abduct others to be ransomed for money. Separately, in Syria’s rebel-held
northwest, an al-Qaida-linked group released more than 400 detainees from its
jails after days of protests demanding their freedom.”



United States



Associated Press: Judge Sentences 4 Defendants In US Terrorism And Kidnapping
Case To Life In Prison, Appeals Planned
<[link removed]>



“A U.S. judge on Wednesday sentenced four family members to life in prison for
convictions stemming from a federal terrorism and kidnapping case that began in
2017 with the search for a toddler who went missing from Georgia and was later
found dead when authorities raided a squalid compound in northern New Mexico.
The sentencing comes months after jurors convicted the four defendants in what
prosecutors had called a “sick end-of-times scheme.” The defendants were
unsuccessful in their arguments that the severity of the sentences violated
their constitutional rights. That will be just one of the arguments they plan
to bring up when appealing their convictions. At trial, they suggested that the
case was the product of “government overreach” and that they were targeted
because they are Muslim. The fifth defendant — Jany Leveille, a Haitian
national — avoided being part of a three-week trial last fall by pleading
guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and being in
possession of a firearm while unlawfully in the United States. Under the terms
of her plea agreement, she had faced up to 17 years in prison.”



Yemen



CBS: Ship Sunk By Houthis Likely Responsible For Damaging 3 Telecommunications
Cables Under Red Sea
<[link removed]>



“The U.S. assesses that three sea cables under the Red Sea damaged last week
were likely severed by the anchor of a ship as it was sinking after an attack
by the Houthis. "Those cables were cut mostly by an anchor dragging from the
Rubymar as she sank," White House national security communications adviser John
Kirby told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin in an
interview Wednesday. The U.K.-owned commercial ship Rubymar sank Saturday
morning after taking on water when it was hit by a Houthi missile on Feb. 18.
As it was sinking, its anchor likely severed three of the cables that provide
global telecommunications and internet data internationally. Telecommunications
firm HGC Global Communications said last week in a statement that the incident
"had a significant impact on communication networks in the Middle East," and it
was rerouting affected traffic while also utilizing the other Red Sea cables
that were still intact. The Houthis have been attacking commercial ships since
November to protest the war in Gaza, but the Rubymar is the first ship that has
sunk after being attacked.”



Middle East



Times Of Israel: IDF Soldier Killed, 13 Wounded In Battles With Hamas In
Southern Gaza
<[link removed]>



“An Israeli soldier was killed and another 13 were wounded on Wednesday during
fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, bringing the toll of slain troops in the
ground offensive against Hamas since late October to 247. The soldier was named
as Staff Sgt. David Sasson, 21, of the Oketz canine unit, from Ganot Hadar.
Among the 12 wounded in the same battle against Hamas operatives, five
sustained serious injuries, according to the Israel Defense Forces.”



Associated Press: Pressure Grows On Israel To Open More Aid Routes Into Gaza
By Land And Sea As Hunger Worsens
<[link removed]>



“Efforts to get desperately needed humanitarian aid to war-wracked northern
Gaza gained momentum Wednesday with the European Union increasing pressure for
the creation of a sea route from Cyprus to Gaza and British Foreign Minister
David Cameron saying that Israel’s allies were losing patience. While aid
groups say all of Gaza is mired in a humanitarian crisis, the situation in the
largely isolated north stands out. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still
living there have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The U.N.
says that one in six children younger than 2 in the north suffers from acute
malnutrition. Amid the global pressure to alleviate the crisis, two Israeli
officials said Wednesday the government will begin allowing aid to move
directly from its territory into northern Gaza and will also cooperate with the
creation of the sea route from Cyprus.”



Nigeria



BBC: Nigeria's Boko Haram Crisis: Dozens Of Women Feared Abducted In Gamboru
Ngala <[link removed]>



“The victims were mostly women who lived in a camp in Gamboru Ngala town after
fleeing their homes because of attacks by the insurgents, locals said. The
abductions occurred when the group went to collect firewood to cook or sell,
they added. The United Nations condemned the reported kidnappings and called of
for the unconditional release of abductees. Mohamed Malick Fall, the UN's
Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said that while the exact number is
unknown it is estimated more than 200 people were abducted. He said in a
statement on Wednesday that the incident was "a stark reminder that women and
girls are among those most affected" by the Islamist insurgency in north-east
Nigeria. While sympathising with the families of the victims, Mr Fall urged
authorities to provide more livelihood opportunities for displaced persons in
camps to reduce the risks they face. The largest mass abduction by Boko Haram
occurred when more than 270 schoolgirls were seized from their dormitory in
Chibok town, also in north-eastern Borno state, in 2014.”



Africa



Associated Press: Draft UN Resolution Calls For Cease-Fire In Conflict-Torn
Sudan During Upcoming Muslim Holy Month
<[link removed]>



“Britain has circulated a draft U.N. resolution calling for an immediate
cessation of hostilities in conflict-wracked Sudan ahead of the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan, which begins soon. The draft, obtained late Wednesday by The
Associated Press, expresses “grave concern over the spreading violence and the
catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels
of acute food insecurity, particularly in Darfur.” With Ramadan expected to
begin around Sunday, depending on the sighting of the new moon, the council is
expected to vote quickly on the resolution, likely on Friday. Sudan plunged
into chaos last April, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by
Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by
Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital,
Khartoum.Fighting spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas,
but in Sudan’s western Darfur region it took on a different form, with brutal
attacks by the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces on ethnic African civilians.
Thousands of people have been killed.”



Associated Press: New Attacks By IS-Linked Group In Mozambique Leave Over 70
Children Missing. Thousands Have Fled
<[link removed]>



“A surge of new attacks by an Islamic State-affiliated group in Mozambique’s
Cabo Delgado province has left more than 70 children missing, with fears they
may have drowned in a river or been kidnapped by militants as thousands of
families fled, local authorities and a group of aid agencies said. Around 30
families now seeking shelter in Nampula province to the south have asked police
to help locate their children, according to a report released Wednesday by the
Protection Working Group, a network of non-governmental organizations and
United Nations agencies. The attacks have hit areas that had been relatively
untouched since the start of the jihadist insurgency in Cabo Delgado in 2017.
They may mark a new stage in a crisis that aid agencies say forced more than a
million people to flee their homes during nearly seven years of violence.
Thousands were killed. Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s northernmost province that
borders Tanzania, was thrust into the international spotlight in 2020 and 2021
when insurgents were accused of carrying out mass beheadings, including of
children.”



Reuters: Junta-Led Sahel States To Form Joint Force To Fight Insurgents
<[link removed]>



“Junta-led Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali have agreed to set up a joint force
to tackle security threats across their territories, Niger's armed forces chief
Moussa Salaou Barmou said on Wednesday after a meeting with his counterparts.
The decision is the latest sign of closer alignment to emerge since the three
neighbours in West Africa's insurgency-torn central Sahel region severed
military ties with longstanding allies including France and formed a
cooperation pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). In a televised
statement, Barmou said the new task force would be "operational as soon as
possible to meet the security challenges," but did not give further details on
the size or remit of the force. Violence in the region fuelled by the
decade-long fight with Islamist groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State has
worsened since the three countries' militaries seized power in a series of
coups from 2020 to 2023.”



Russia



Politico: Chess Champ Garry Kasparov Calls Inclusion On Moscow’s Terrorist
List An ‘Honor’
<[link removed]>



“Russia’s financial monitoring agency has added ex-world chess champion Garry
Kasparov to its list of “terrorists and extremists.” The listing, by
Rosfinmonitoring, restricts client bank transactions, requiring users to get
approval every time they access their accounts. Kasparov to expressed his
amusement, calling the citation an “honor that says more about Putin’s fascist
regime than about me. “Today would be a good day to add Russia, Putin and all
his cronies to the state sponsors of terror list,” he added, referring to a
U.S. list of countries found to have “repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism.” After ending his chess career in 2005, Kasparov
became active in the Russian opposition, but left the country in 2013 to avoid
persecution. He is now one of the most outspoken opponents of Putin’s regime in
exile. In 2015, Kasparov published a book prophetically titled “Winter is
Coming,” arguing that Putin and other “enemies of the free world” must be
stopped.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

DONATE NOW
<[link removed]>
 




Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>