“The U.S. has asked the Persian Gulf state of Qatar to expel Hamas’s political
leadership if the group doesn’t agree to a Gaza cease-fire deal in high-stakes
talks under way in Cairo, an official from the region said. Qatar, which has
hosted the group’s political wing since 2012, is ready to carry out the request
when asked, the official said. The State Department declined to comment. The
move is a sign of the heavy pressure the U.S. is putting on Hamas and Israel to
pause a conflict that Palestinian health officials say has killed more than
34,000 people in Gaza. Concerns about the heavy toll on civilians have spilled
over into U.S. domestic politics, sparking a wave of protests on college
campuses that are threatening President Biden’s fragile bid for a second term.”











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Eye on Extremism



May 6, 2024



The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Presses Qatar On Hamas As Gaza Talks Come Down
To The Wire
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“The U.S. has asked the Persian Gulf state of Qatar to expel Hamas’s political
leadership if the group doesn’t agree to a Gaza cease-fire deal in high-stakes
talks under way in Cairo, an official from the region said. Qatar, which has
hosted the group’s political wing since 2012, is ready to carry out the request
when asked, the official said. The State Department declined to comment. The
move is a sign of the heavy pressure the U.S. is putting on Hamas and Israel to
pause a conflict that Palestinian health officials say has killed more than
34,000 people in Gaza. Concerns about the heavy toll on civilians have spilled
over into U.S. domestic politics, sparking a wave of protests on college
campuses that are threatening President Biden’s fragile bid for a second term.”



Associated Press: A Suspected Islamic State Group Attack On Pro-Government
Force In East Syria Kills At Least 13
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“Suspected members of the Islamic State group attacked three posts for Syrian
government forces and pro-government gunmen early Friday killing at least 13,
an opposition war monitor and pro-government media reported. The attack wounded
others who were taken to hospitals in the central province of Homs, according
to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said 15 were killed in the
attacks on three posts near the central town of Sukhna and blamed IS. The
conflicting casualty counts could not immediately be reconciled. Athr Press and
Sham FM, both pro-government media outlets, said 13 soldiers and pro-government
gunmen were killed in the attacks and that IS gunmen were behind it. They gave
no further details. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the
attack but the area was once a stronghold of the extremist group that was
officially defeated in Syria in March 2019.”




CEP Expert Analysis

* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in March 2024
<[link removed]>
* CEP Report: Central Syria’s ISIS Insurgency In 2023
<[link removed]>
* CEP Statement Calling For U.S. Sanctions Against Qatar, DIMDEX Conference,
And Al Thani Royal Family
<[link removed]>
* Extremist Content Online: The Base Calls For Members of Other White
Supremacist Groups to Join
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* CEP Webinar: Cruel And Unusual Punishment – How The Houthis Target Women,
Journalists And Religious Minorities
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United States



The Independent: NYPD Mocked For Displaying Textbook On Terrorism Studies As
Proof Of Outside Agitators At Columbia
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“A top New York Police Department official was mocked online after pointing to
a “book on terrorism” as evidence of “outside agitators” at Columbia
University’s protests against the war in Gaza. NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz
Daughtry told Newsmax on Friday that authorities recovered a “book on
terrorism” from Columbia’s Hamilton Hall. Showing thebook to the camera, he
said, “There is somebody —whether they paid or not paid — but they are
radicalizing our students.” Mr Daughtry was holding up a book titled,
“Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction,” which is written by renowned British
historian Charles Townshend. “There is somebody behind this,” Mr Daughtry said,
before saying police were investigating the “mastermind behind the scenes.”
This isn’t the first time he has boasted such claims, suggesting an outside
force was responsible for the “radicalization” of student protesters.”



United Kingdom



Mirror: Foreign Office Issues Urgent Warning To Anyone Travelling To Turkey
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"Brits have been advised against "all but essential travel" to parts of
Turkey, in an update from the Foreign Office. There are three areas that the
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office lists as places to avoid at all
costs due to a "heightened risk of terrorism". These include the Sirnak city,
Hakkari Province as well as anywhere along the border of Turkey and Syria. The
FCDO provides advice about risks of travel to help British nationals make
informed decisions. The government department regularly updates its advice for
travel to any of 226 nations and territories in a bid to help people make
informed decisions and stay safe, and the FCDO issued a new alert to anyone
with plans to visit Turkey. It issued advice against "all but essential travel"
to the specific areas in the country. A spokesperson added: "The FCDO advises
against all travel to within 10km of the border with Syria due to fighting and
a heightened risk of terrorism"."



Iran



Associated Press: The UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Travels To Iran As Its
Monitoring Remains Hampered
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“The head of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog will travel Monday to Iran,
where his agency faces increasing difficulty in monitoring the Islamic
Republic’s rapidly advancing nuclear program as tensions remain high in the
wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war. Rafael Mariano Grossi already has
warned Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make
“several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. He has acknowledged the agency
can’t guarantee that none of Iran’s centrifuges may have been peeled away for
clandestine enrichment. Those challenges now find themselves entangled in
attacks between Israel and Iran, with the city of Isfahan apparently coming
under Israeli fire in recent weeks despite it being surrounded by sensitive
nuclear sites. Grossi is likely to attend an Iranian nuclear conference there
while on his two-day trip to Iran.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: Taliban Face Rare Public Uprising Against Their Rule In
Northeastern Afghanistan
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“Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban leaders have threatened to militarily
suppress unprecedented violent public protests in a northeastern border region
against a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation. The unrest erupted last Friday
when the Taliban’s anti-narcotics forces began destroying poppy fields in
Badakhshan province, prompting angry farmers to resist it with the support of
local residents. Multiple sources confirmed Sunday that Taliban security forces
used firearms to disperse the demonstrators, killing two of them during the two
days of protests. Videos circulating on social media showed residents chanting
slogans against reclusive Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who has
banned poppy cultivation across Afghanistan through a religious decree. VOA
could not ascertain the authenticity of the footage independently.”



Daily Mail: How Special Forces Chief 'Blew The Whistle On SAS War Crimes In
Afghanistan': Top Officer 'Told Police Soldiers Under His Command Were
Murdering Prisoners Of War - Despite Fears Of Threats To His Family'
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“A high-ranking officer in the British special forces told police the SAS
were committing war crimes by murdering prisoners in Afghanistan, it emerged
today. Known only as N1466 the officer risked the safety of his family when he
claimed 'cancer had infected' a particular unit of the SAS. Between 2009 and
2013 he was responsible for all SAS overseas operations- meaning he focused on
British military activity in Afghanistan. According to a Sunday Times
investigation the officer tipped police off about a safe which held a dossier
of evidence from a SAS soldier detailing allegations of murder. The officer's
actions caused a massive inquiry with 6,000 classified documents being
disclosed by the Ministry of Defence. Within the files are witness accounts
from serving soldiers, emails to Number 10 warning of the crisis, as well as
diares of police investigators. Foreign Secretary David Cameron was the Prime
Minister in the years the allegations relate to.”



Pakistan



Associated Press: Double Land Mine Blasts Kill One Person And Wound At Least
18 In Pakistan’s Southwest
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“Double land mine blasts killed one person and wounded at least 18 on
Thursday in Pakistan’s southwest, a police officer said. The first mine
exploded when a truck was passing through a valley in coal-rich Duki district
in Baluchistan province. The second detonated when counter-terrorism officials
and civilians were examining the initial blast site, said district police
officer Asif Haleem. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
But Baluch separatist groups have previously struck security personnel or
infrastructure in the southwest. They initially wanted a greater share of
provincial resources, but later initiated an insurgency for independence from
the central government. Also on Thursday, an Islamabad-based think tank said
that militant assaults killed 70 people nationwide in April, mostly in
northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and
Security Studies also said the country experienced 323 militant attacks in the
first four months of the year, resulting in 324 deaths.”



Yemen



Reuters: Yemen's Houthis Say They Will Target Ships Heading For Israel
Anywhere Within Range
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"Yemen's Houthis will target ships heading to Israeli ports in any area that
is within their range, military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised
speech on Friday. "We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the
Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach," he said. The Iran-aligned
Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in
the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the
Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for the Palestinians in the
Gaza war. This has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more
expensive journeys around southern Africa and has stoked fears that the
Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilise the Middle East.”



Lebanon



Associated Press: Israeli Strike Kills 4 Civilians In Southern Lebanon, State
Media Says
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“An Israeli airstrike Sunday in the town of Mays al Jabal in south Lebanon
killed four civilians and wounded several others, Lebanese state media and the
town’s municipality reported. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported
that the strike took place “while a number of the town’s residents were
inspecting their homes and shops and the damage they sustained” in previous
strikes. Those attacks came over seven months of near-daily clashes between the
Hezbollah militant group and Israeli forces against the backdrop of Israel’s
war against Hezbollah ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said
its jet targeted military infrastructure in the southern Lebanese town
belonging to Hezbollah, which has clashed with Israeli troops since Oct. 8.
Hezbollah on Sunday said it conducted at least 10 attacks targeting Israeli
military positions and surveillance gear near the tense Lebanon-Israel border,
while the Israeli military said it identified some 40 missiles that crossed
into Israeli territory but did not cause any casualties.”



Qatar



The Washington Post: U.S. Tells Qatar To Evict Hamas If It Obstructs Israeli
Hostage Deal
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“The United States has told Qatar that it should expel Hamas if the group
continues to reject a cease-fire with Israel, an agreement the Biden
administration deems vital to easing the upheaval gripping the Middle East, a
U.S. official told The Washington Post. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
delivered the message to Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in
April, according to the official, who like others interviewed for this report
spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.”



Middle East



The New York Times: Cease-Fire Talks Between Israel And Hamas Again At An
Impasse
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“The latest round of negotiations between Israel and Hamas hit an impasse on
Sunday as mediators struggled to bridge remaining gaps and a Hamas delegation
departed the talks in Cairo, according to two senior Hamas officials and two
other officials familiar with the talks. An Israeli official also confirmed the
negotiations had stalled and described them as being in “crisis.” For months,
the negotiations aimed at achieving a cease-fire and a release of hostages have
made little progress, but signs the two sides were coming closer to an
agreement appeared over the last week. Israel backed off some of its long-held
demands and a top Hamas official said the group was studying the latest Israeli
offer with a “positive spirit.” But the setback over the weekend meant
Palestinians living in miserable conditions in Gaza would not experience an
imminent reprieve and the families of hostages held by militants would have to
wait longer for the freedom of their loved ones.”



Reuters: Israel Begins Evacuating Part Of Rafah, Hamas Decries 'Dangerous
Escalation'
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“Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah on Monday in what
appeared to be preparation for a long-threatened assault on Hamas holdouts in
the southern Gaza city where more than a million people uprooted by the war
have been sheltering. Instructed by Arabic text messages, telephone calls, and
flyers to move to what the Israeli military called an "expanded humanitarian
zone" 20 km (7 miles) away, some Palestinian families lumbered out under chilly
spring rain. Soon after midday in Gaza, several explosions were heard in east
Rafah, residents and Hamas media said, with an air strike targeting some houses
where lines of smoke and dust sprung up. A senior official of Hamas, the
militant Palestinian group that governs Gaza, said the evacuation order was a
"dangerous escalation" that would have consequences. "The U.S. administration,
alongside the occupation, bears responsibility for this terrorism," the
official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters, referring to Israel's alliance with
Washington.”



Africa



The Washington Post: In The Village, It’s Too Dangerous To Dance. But A Bigger
Stage Awaited.
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"The musicians and dancers traveled in a military convoy to reach the
competition, moving in armored cars with soldiers at the ready through parts of
the country where Islamist extremists have banned their violins, drums and
dance moves. There was a dancer whose close friend had been killed for
listening to a radio while he farmed. A violinist who no longer dared to play
at the marriages and baptisms in the villages where he used to make his living.
A young dancer who could no longer go to concerts with her friends in
neighboring villages. The traditional dance troupe members had journeyed from
Burkina Faso’s Sahel administrative region, one of the most dangerous areas in
a country racked in recent years by violence committed by Islamist extremists.
At this national festival, the troupe would face off against teams from across
Burkina Faso. At stake was pride and money. For the Sahel team, it was also
about resistance.”



Germany



DW: Germany: Thousands Protest After Attack On EU Lawmaker
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“Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the streets of Dresden and Berlin on
Sunday to protest right-wing extremism and political violence following
Friday's attack on the Social Democrat (SPD) lawmaker Matthias Ecke, a member
of the European Parliament. Ecke was assaulted in Dresden while hanging up
posters ahead of June's European parliamentary elections. He was beaten so
severely that he required emergency surgery and remains hospitalized. "It is
very clear that this willingness to use violence did not occur in a vacuum,"
said SPD co-chair Saskia Esken before the Sunday demonstrations. Police said
roughly 1,000 people gathered in front of Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate to
voice support for democracy and stand against right-wing extremism. In Dresden,
police and organizers estimated the number of participants to be around 3,000.”



Australia



Reuters: Australian Police Shoot Boy Dead After Stabbing With 'Hallmarks' Of
Terrorism
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“Australian police said on Sunday they had shot dead a boy after he stabbed a
man in Western Australia's capital Perth, in an attack authorities said
indicated terrorism. There were signs the 16-year-old, armed with a kitchen
knife, had been radicalised online, state authorities said, adding they
received calls from concerned members of the local Muslim community before the
attack, which occurred late on Saturday night. The attack, in the suburb of
Willetton, had "hallmarks" of terrorism but was yet to be declared a terrorist
act, police said. "At this stage it appears that he acted solely and alone,"
Western Australia Premier Roger Cook told a televised press conference in the
state capital Perth, regarding the attacker. The victim, stabbed in the back,
was stable in hospital, authorities said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said
he had been briefed on the incident by police and intelligence agencies, which
advised there was no ongoing threat.”



Southeast Asia



The Times Of India: Search On After Terrorist Attack kills IAF Corporal In J&K
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“Combined teams of Army, paramilitary, and J&K police fanned out in a massive
combing operation Sunday in the mountainous forested terrain of J&K’s Poonch
district, following the terrorist attack the previous afternoon on two IAF
vehicles that left Corporal Vikky Pahade dead and wounded four of his
colleagues. IAF mourned the loss of Corporal Pahade, a 33-year-old resident of
Nonia-Karbal village in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district, who was supposed
to return home to celebrate his son’s birthday on May 7. He had joined his unit
on April 18 after visiting his family for his sister’s wedding. A group of
terrorists led by Abu Hamza, a foreigner affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),
is suspected to be behind the attack. Hamza is also accused of masterminding
the killing of govt employee Mohammad Razaq on April 22 in Rajouri district.
Police have announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for information about him. He
is suspected to be operating in the dense jungles of Poonch and Rajouri
districts.”



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