“The U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on online media site Gaza Now and its
founder Mustafa Ayash for allegedly supporting Hamas. U.S. Treasury’s Office of
Foreign Assets Control says that after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas against
Israel — the online entity began a fundraising effort in support of the
militant organization. Gaza Now’s Arabic channel has more than 300,000
followers on social media channel X, formerly known as Twitter, and a large
following on the encrypted chat platform Telegram. Included in the sanctions
are firms Al-Qureshi Executives and Aakhirah Ltd., and their director Aozma
Sultana, who are alleged to have partnered on multiple fundraising efforts
alongside Gaza Now. The sanctions were imposed in collaboration with the U.K.’s
Office of Foreign Sanctions Implementation. Treasury Under Secretary Brian
Nelson said in a statement that the U.S. and its partners “will continue to
leverage our tools to disrupt Hamas’ ability to facilitate further attacks.””











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Eye on Extremism



March 28, 2024



*Eye On Extremism will be suspended on Friday March 29 and Monday April 1 for
Good Friday and Easter. It will continue Tuesday April 2.



Associated Press: US Sanctions Online Media Site Gaza Now And Its Founder For
Allegedly Supporting Hamas
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“The U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on online media site Gaza Now and its
founder Mustafa Ayash for allegedly supporting Hamas. U.S. Treasury’s Office of
Foreign Assets Control says that after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas against
Israel — the online entity began a fundraising effort in support of the
militant organization. Gaza Now’s Arabic channel has more than 300,000
followers on social media channel X, formerly known as Twitter, and a large
following on the encrypted chat platform Telegram. Included in the sanctions
are firms Al-Qureshi Executives and Aakhirah Ltd., and their director Aozma
Sultana, who are alleged to have partnered on multiple fundraising efforts
alongside Gaza Now. The sanctions were imposed in collaboration with the U.K.’s
Office of Foreign Sanctions Implementation. Treasury Under Secretary Brian
Nelson said in a statement that the U.S. and its partners “will continue to
leverage our tools to disrupt Hamas’ ability to facilitate further attacks.””



Garowe Online: Al-Shabaab Strikes Key Town In Central Somalia
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“Heavy fighting was reportedly in Somalia on Wednesday, multiple sources
confirmed, following an Al-Shabaab raid in Harardhere town, a strategic region
in the fight against the militants who are fighting to control the country.
According to sources, heavy fighting erupted in the town after the militants
targeted military officers, resulting in casualties on the Al-Shabaab side.
Local government officers faced the militants in the early morning battle. The
fighting reportedly started after soldiers on patrol clashed with al-Shabaab
fighters in Bacaadka area near Harardheere. The town was recaptured from
al-Shabaab early last year, records in our possession indicate. Since the start
of Ramadan, the militants have heightened attacks across the country, leading
to deaths of several officers and innocent civilians. The government has
activated security forces to help restore peace and stability across Somalia.
On Tuesday, Al-shabaab launched a vicious attack on government soldiers in
Daaru-Nicma village in Middle Shabelle region. Tuesday's attack was at least
the third time al-Shabaab fighters attacked the village since last year.”



CEP Mentions



WTOP News: The Hunt: Investigating the Crocus City Hall attack
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"Russia is continuing to blame the U.S. and Ukraine for the terror attack on
the Crocus City Hall concert venue last Friday that killed 137 people. On this
episode of “The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent JJ Green,” Dr.
Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, says
because of Moscow’s “blame game,” we may never know the truth.”



United States



Associated Press: Talks Resume On Bringing Israeli Officials To The US To
Discuss Gaza Operation, The White House Says
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“Talks have restarted aimed at bringing top Israeli officials to Washington to
discuss potential military operations in Gaza, after Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu canceled a planned visit this week because he was angry about the
U.S. vote on a U.N. cease-fire resolution, the White House said Wednesday. “So
we’re now working with them to find a convenient date that’s obviously going to
work for both sides,” said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. No date has been
finalized yet. One U.S. official said strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and
national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi would be among the delegation to come
to Washington. The official were not authorized to speak publicly about the
sensitive discussions and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity. An Israeli official said the White House had reached out with the
goal of setting a new meeting. The official was not authorized to talk to the
media and spoke on condition of anonymity. Netanyahu’s office said the prime
minister “did not authorize the departure of the delegation to Washington.””



Iraq



Reuters: Iraq Signs 5-Year Gas Supply Deal With Iran, Says State Media
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“Iraq signed a 5-year gas supply deal with Iran, with pumping rates of up to
50 million cubic meters per day according to the needs of Iraqi power stations,
state media reported on Wednesday.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: Can Afghan Taliban Fight Pakistani Military?
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“Two and a half years into their reign, the Afghan Taliban have cemented their
ultra-conservative rule across the war-torn country but have yet to turn their
fighting force into a traditional military. VOA spoke to analysts who say the
former insurgent force does not need to pattern itself after a standard
military to effectively counter a mounting security threat from an Islamic
State affiliate and tackle growing tensions with neighboring Pakistan.
According to an annual analysis of global militaries by the International
Institute for Strategic Studies, the Afghan Taliban have 150,000 active
fighters. Military chief Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat told Reuters last year that the
regime plans to increase the force by another 50,000, but he did not specify
the time frame for doing so. Since coming to power, the Taliban’s de facto
government has not publicly released a defense budget. To formalize their
defense forces, they have created three battalions under Special Forces and
eight infantry corps.”



The Independent: The Women’s Rights Activist Abducted, Jailed And Tortured By
The Taliban
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“A year ago on Wednesday, prominent Afghan educator Matiullah Wesa was
abducted from a mosque by the Taliban, tortured and taken to a facility run by
the Islamist group’s intelligence and security agency. He would spend the next
seven months incarcerated. Wesa’s only offence was becoming too popular online,
with viral social media posts celebrating his door-to-door campaign promoting
education for girls in the crisis-hit country. The Taliban has enforced a
brutal misogynist regime in Afghanistan, banishing women and girls from
schools, offices and public spaces, since taking control of the country by
force in August 2021. The Taliban finally let Wesa go in October last year, but
only after a sustained campaign on his behalf by the UN, Human Rights Watch,
Amnesty International and several other international institutions, as well as
celebrities including Angelina Jolie. Wesa, one of the last pro-education
activists in the country, has now recovered from the physical wounds suffered
in his time in Taliban detention but his fear of the country’s hardline
Islamist rulers remains.”



The Economist: The Islamic State’s Branch In Afghanistan Is At War With The
World
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“No government formally recognises the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, partly
because its restrictions on female education are the world’s most oppressive.
Yet even the Taliban are not radical enough for the Islamic State Khorasan
Province (iskp), an offshoot in Afghanistan of the group that established a
“caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014. iskp propagandists rubbish the Taliban
as sell-outs to the West because, among other sins, they meet non-Islamic
diplomats and allow unbelievers to supply aid. During its nine-year existence,
iskp has mainly killed Afghans. The group’s global ambitions burst into view on
March 22nd, when at least four gunmen killed 139 people at a concert in Moscow.
American officials blamed iskp for the attack; Russia later arrested suspects
from Tajikistan. If the charges are proved they will underscore the group’s
expanding record of strikes beyond Afghanistan. It cultivates a long list of
enemies, including America and China. In January its recruits hit a church in
Turkey and carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Iran in decades. Two
of the suspects spent time in Turkey before travelling to Russia. The Turkish
government says that it has made a wave of arrests.”



Yemen



Associated press: An Airstrip Is Being Built On A Yemeni Island During The
Ongoing War, With ‘I LOVE UAE’ Next To It
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“As Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue to target ships in a Mideast waterway,
satellite pictures analyzed by The Associated Press show what appears to be a
new airstrip being built at an entrance to that crucial maritime route. No
country has publicly claimed the construction taking place on Abd al-Kuri
Island, a stretch of land rising out of the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the
Gulf of Aden. However, satellite images shot for the AP appear to show workers
have spelled out “I LOVE UAE” with piles of dirt next to the runway, using an
abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates. Both the Gulf of Aden and the Red
Sea to which it leads have become a battleground between the Houthis and
U.S.-led forces in the region as Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip rages
— potentially allowing a nation to project its power into the area. The
construction comes as the presence of troops from the Emirates in the Socotra
island chain to which Abd al-Kuri belongs — and that of the separatist force it
backs in southern Yemen — have sparked clashes in the past.”



Lebanon



Reuters: Lebanon's Hezbollah Says It Launched Dozens Of Rockets In Response To
Israeli Strikes On South Lebanon
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“Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Wednesday it launched dozens of rockets at Kiryet
Shmona, a northern Israeli town close to the Lebanese border, in response to
deadly Israeli strikes on south Lebanon on Tuesday.”



Associated Press: Israeli Strikes In Lebanon Kill 16, Militant Rockets Kill 1
Israeli As Cross-Border Violence Soars
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“A series of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed 16 people and a
barrage of rockets fired by the militant group Hezbollah killed one Israeli
man, making Wednesday the deadliest day in more than five months of fighting
along the border. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, concerns
have grown about further escalation along the Israel-Lebanon frontier. Tens of
thousands of people on both sides have been displaced by the violence.
Wednesday’s Israeli strikes targeted a Lebanese Sunni political and militant
organization, the Islamic Group, which has joined the Shiite militant group
Hezbollah in its fight against Israel. Two Hezbollah fighters were also killed,
as was a local commander with the Amal Movement, another Shiite group. The
first Israeli airstrike hit a paramedic center affiliated with the Islamic
Group, killing seven of its members in the village of Hebbariye after midnight.
Muheddine Qarhani, head of the Emergency and Relief Corps, told reporters at
the scene that the paramedic center had been set up late last year. He said he
was surprised a medical group had been targeted.”



Qatar



CNBC: Qatari Royal Reportedly Invested $50 Million In Pro-Trump News Channel
Newsmax
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“Right-wing news outlet Newsmax received an investment of roughly $50 million
from a Qatari royal between 2019 and 2020, The Washington Post reported, citing
documents seen by the paper and confirmations from representatives of both
Newsmax and the royal investment firm. Former Qatari government official Sheikh
Sultan bin Jassim Al Thani invested in Newsmax through Heritage Advisors, a
London-based investment fund that he owned, according to the report. At the
time, Qatar was under an economic and diplomatic blockade by a coalition of
neighboring Arab states, led by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
These nations accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, which Doha stringently
denied. According to the Post’s reporting on Tuesday, Newsmax was looking for
investors to compete with the likes of Fox News. The paper cited sources
employed at Newsmax at the time as saying that they were urged to soften news
coverage of Qatar — a claim that the outlet rejects.”



Middle East



Associated Press: Doctors Visiting A Gaza Hospital Are Stunned By The War’s
Toll On Palestinian Children
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“An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was
prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is
having on Palestinian children still left them stunned. One toddler died from a
brain injury caused by an Israeli strike that fractured his skull. His cousin,
an infant, is still fighting for her life with part of her face blown off by
the same strike. An unrelated 10-year-old boy screamed out in pain for his
parents, not knowing that they were killed in the strike. Beside him was his
sister, but he didn’t recognize her because burns covered almost her entire
body. These gut-wrenching casualties were described to The Associated Press by
Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive-care doctor from Jordan, following a
10-hour overnight shift at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the town of Deir
al-Balah. Haj-Hassan, who has extensive experience in Gaza and regularly speaks
out about the war’s devastating effects, was part of a team that recently
finished a two-week stint there.”



Nigeria



The Independent: Nigerian Parents Finally Get A Chance To See Their Children
Who Spent More Than 2 Weeks In Captivity
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“Parents of more than 130 Nigerian schoolchildren who were rescued after more
than two weeks in captivity said they saw them on Wednesday and that they
couldn’t hold back tears of joy during the long-awaited reunion. The meeting,
three days after the children were freed, took place at a government facility
in the city of Kaduna, where the children are staying while receiving medical
support, the parents and a teacher told The Associated Press. The parents said
they cried and danced as they hugged their children for the first time since
March 7, when motorcycle-riding gunmen seized them from their school in the
remote town of Kuriga in the northwestern Kaduna state, and forced them to
march to nearby forests amid gunfire. “I am very happy and filled with joy,”
Shittu Abdullahi, whose 14-year-old daughter was among those kidnapped, said
after the meeting. It was unclear when the children — who range in years from
under 10 to 15 — would be allowed to go home. The local authorities have not
responded to queries from the AP about the case. The parents said the
government has promised to do so this week.”



Africa



Punch Newspaper: Five Terrorists Killed In Borno, Benue, Katsina
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“Troops of the Nigerian Army in collaboration with hybrid forces have killed
no fewer than three terrorists in operations conducted in Borno and Katsina.
This was as the police in Benue State said two bandits were killed. Also during
the operations, rustled cattle and weapons were recovered from the terrorists.
A statement posted on X by the Nigerian Army on Wednesday said the troops and
the hybrid forces engaged the terrorists in a gun duel and overpowered them.
“Nigerian Army troops deployed for counter-terrorism operations in the North
East in conjunction with Hybrid Forces, on Wednesday, March26, 2024,
neutralised one terrorist and recovered arms, ammunition, and rustled cattle
during a clearance operation on identified Boko Haram/Islamic State of West
Africa Province enclaves within the Gori general area in the Gwoza Local
Government Area of Borno State.”



Germany



DW: Syrian Passports: How German Money Funds War Crimes In Syria
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“Even at high school, Adam Yasmin was political. When pro-democracy protests
began in Syria back in 2011, Yasmin organized after-school demonstrations in
his hometown of Jableh — despite the obvious danger posed by security forces
loyal to the country's dictator, Bashar Assad. As Syria's peaceful revolution
devolved into a brutal civil war, Yasmin was arrested and tortured. He was 16.
"I was in prison for seven months and it was the worst experience of my life,"
he told DW. "And all because we called for freedom, democracy and the abolition
of this dictatorial regime." When he was released Yasmin fled, eventually
ending up in Germany. Now 27, he lives in Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, is
completing his degree and speaks fluent German. Just over a year ago, he
applied for German citizenship and was told he needed one more thing before
that could happen: A Syrian passport.”



Russia



Reuters: Russian Investigators To Study Request To Probe Western Involvement
In 'Terrorism'
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“Russian state investigators said on Wednesday they would study a request from
parliamentarians to investigate what they called the "organisation, financing,
and conduct of terrorist acts" against Russia by the United States and other
Western countries. The director of Russia's FSB security agency said on Tuesday
that he believed Ukraine, along with the United States and Britain, were
involved in an attack on a concert hall just outside Moscow that killed at
least 139 people. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron posted on X:
"Russia’s claims about the West and Ukraine on the Crocus City Hall attack are
utter nonsense." Islamic State took responsibility for the Moscow shooting.
Washington and Paris have said they have intelligence confirming the Islamist
militant group was behind the attack.”



Reuters: Russia Says It Is Hard To Believe Islamic State Could Have Launched
Moscow Attack
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“Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that
it was "extremely hard to believe" that Islamic State would have had the
capacity to launch an attack on a Moscow concert hall last Friday that killed
at least 143 people. Zakharova repeated Moscow's assertions, for which it has
not yet provided evidence, that Ukraine was behind the attack on the Crocus
City Hall, the deadliest Russia has suffered in 20 years. Russia's Emergencies
Ministry published a list of names showing 143 people had died in last Friday's
mass shooting. Earlier official tallies had put the death toll at 139. Islamic
State has claimed responsibility for the massacre and U.S. officials say they
have intelligence showing it was carried out by the network's Afghan branch,
Islamic State Khorasan. Ukraine has repeatedly denied it had anything to do
with the attack. But Zakharova said the West had rushed to pin responsibility
on Islamic State, also known as ISIS, as a way of deflecting blame from Ukraine
and the Western governments that support Kyiv.”



The Economic Times: The Islamic State Group Claimed The Moscow Attack. The
Kremlin Is Still Blaming Others.
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“Even before the deadly toll of the attack on a Moscow concert hall Friday
became clear, officials in Russia linked it to the war against Ukraine and a
broader conflict with the West. Ninety minutes after first reports of the
attack, Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and the deputy chair of the
Kremlin's security council, darkly hinted at "terrorists of the Kyiv regime."
The claim of responsibility by the Islamic State group did little to temper the
Kremlin's narrative, which has unspooled in a torrent of unsupported
accusations and baseless, even fanciful conspiracy theories spread across
social media. When President Vladimir Putin said "radical Islamists" had
carried out the attack, he called it "just an element in a series of attempts
of those who have been at war with our country since 2014," an explicit
reference to Ukraine and the upheaval that year that led to the illegal
annexation of Crimea. "They need a 'Big Lie,'" said Nina Khrushcheva, a
professor of international affairs at the New School in New York, who has
written extensively on Russian politics and propaganda.”



China



Politico: How China Ended Up Financing The Houthis’ Red Sea Attacks
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“China is unwittingly helping Iran choke off ship traffic in the Red Sea,
impairing global trade flows and damaging Beijing’s own interests in the
process, Western intelligence officials say. China’s illicit purchases of
Iranian oil are indirectly financing the recent string of attacks by Yemen’s
Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and have had a chilling effect on shipping. About
15 percent of global trade flows through the corridor that leads from the Gulf
Aden through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, linking Asia and Europe. China
buys about 90 percent of Iran’s oil, including crude sold by the Quds Force,
the paramilitary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that is
responsible for Tehran’s foreign military operations. Quds Force trains and
funds Iran’s terror proxies across the Middle East, for example, including both
Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The Houthis “are attacking
international routes, and the first country hurt by it is China itself,” one of
the officials said. “I’m not sure they’re aware they’re cutting off the branch
their sitting on.””



Voice Of America: China Says 'Deeply Rooted' Ties With Pakistan Unaffected By
Terror Attack
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“China said Wednesday it had asked Pakistan to "speed up the hunt" for those
behind the previous day's terrorist attack that killed five Chinese workers and
their local driver. The foreign ministry spokesman told a news conference in
Beijing that both countries were working closely to ensure "effective steps"
were taken to protect the safety and security of Chinese personnel in Pakistan.
Lin Jian said that Islamabad "promised to thoroughly investigate the incident,
provide timely updates on the progress of the investigation, (and) strengthen
security measures for Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions." A suicide
bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a convoy of Chinese engineers in a
mountainous northern Pakistani district on Tuesday, killing five of them and
their local driver. Security personnel inspect the site of a suicide attack in
the Shangla district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on March 26,
2024. Five Chinese nationals working on a construction site were killed along
with their driver by a suicide bomber.”



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