“Joint British-U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least
16 people and wounded 42 others, the rebels said Friday, the highest publicly
acknowledged death toll from the multiple rounds of strikes carried out over
the rebels’ attacks on shipping. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity to describe a then-ongoing attack, described the strikes Thursday as
hitting a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and
control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. They called it a response
to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. F/A-18 fighter
jets involved in the strikes took off from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other U.S. warships in the
region also participated.”











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Eye on Extremism



May 31, 2024



Associated Press: Houthi Rebels Say At Least 16 Killed And 42 Others Wounded
In Joint US-British Airstrikes In Yemen
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“Joint British-U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least
16 people and wounded 42 others, the rebels said Friday, the highest publicly
acknowledged death toll from the multiple rounds of strikes carried out over
the rebels’ attacks on shipping. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity to describe a then-ongoing attack, described the strikes Thursday as
hitting a wide range of underground facilities, missile launchers, command and
control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities. They called it a response
to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed militia group on ships in the
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. F/A-18 fighter
jets involved in the strikes took off from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, officials said. Other U.S. warships in the
region also participated.”



Reuters: Hamas Says It Is Ready For A 'Complete Agreement' If Israel Stops War
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“Hamas said on Thursday it had told mediators it would not take part in more
negotiations during ongoing aggression but was ready for a "complete agreement"
including an exchange of hostages and prisoners if Israel stopped the war.
Talks, mediated by among others Egypt and Qatar, to arrange a ceasefire between
Israel and the Islamist movement in the Gaza war have repeatedly stalled with
both sides blaming the other for the lack of progress. The latest Hamas
statement came as Israel pressed on with an offensive on the southern Gaza city
of Rafah, despite an order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top
U.N. court, to halt the attacks. "Hamas and the Palestinian factions will not
accept to be part of this policy by continuing (ceasefire) negotiations in
light of the aggression, siege, starvation and genocide of our people", the
Hamas statement read.”




Recent CEP Press Releases

* Extremist Content Online: Patriot Front Affiliated Jiu-Jitsu Team
Advertises Recent Tournament Participants
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* CEP Statement On International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia,
Interphobia And Transphobia
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* Extremist Content Online: More Neo-Nazi And Antisemitic Channels Discovered
Using Advertisements On Telegram To Collect Revenue
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* CEP Calls on Qatar Economic Forum Participants to Withdraw from Conference
Today
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* CEP Endorses IHRA Definition of Antisemitism
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CEP Mentions



Instinct: US Gov’t Warns Prides May Not Be Safe. Have Your Plans Changed?
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“...The Counter Extremism Project, a New York-based non-profit, has observed
that anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments are shared by both Islamist and far-right
extremists. Mark D. Wallace, the project’s chief executive, noted the
unsettling alliance between neo-Nazis and jihadis based on their mutual disdain
for the LGBTQ+ community. Domestic threats have also surged, with increased
protests and threats against LGBTQ+ communities in the US. The Anti-Defamation
League and GLAAD reported 145 incidents of anti-LGBTQ+ violence, harassment,
and vandalism during Pride Month in 2023. Have you ever felt unsafe at Pride?”



Iran



The National: Iran And Al Qaeda Accused Of Trying To Co-Opt US Pro-Palestine
Protests
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“Iran and Al Qaeda endorsed pro-Palestinian and anti-war student protests
this week, providing new challenges for the movement, which is calling for
university divestment from Israel. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
said in social media posts and a long video on Wednesday that “university
students in the United States of America … are standing on the right side of
history”. “You have now formed a branch of the resistance front and have begun
an honourable struggle,” said a letter quoted on his X account. Mr Khamenei's
message of support is in sharp contrast to how his own country dealt with
anti-government protests in 2022, after the death of a young woman in morality
police custody. The crackdown on the movement, which focused largely on women's
rights and demands for reform, led to mass arrests and even death sentences for
some protesters.”



Iraq



Barron’s: Iraq Hangs 8 Convicted Of 'Terrorism': Security, Health Sources
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“Iraqi authorities have executed eight people convicted of "terrorism" over
links to the Islamic State group, a security source in the country's southern
Dhi Qar province said Friday. The source told AFP that eight Iraqis "convicted
of terrorism and of being members of the Islamic State group were executed by
hanging" Thursday at Al-Hut prison in the city of Nasiriyah "under the
supervision of a justice ministry team". A local medical source confirmed that
the health department had received the bodies of eight executed people. Under
Iraqi law, terrorism and murder offences are punishable by death, and execution
decrees must be signed by the president. The eight Iraqis were hanged "under
Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law", the security source said, requesting
anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.”



Pakistan



Voice Of America: Pakistan Arrests 11 Militants In Deadly Attack On Chinese
Engineers
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“Eleven militants accused of being involved in carrying out the deadly March
suicide attack on Chinese engineers are in custody, according to Pakistani
officials. Following the arrests, Beijing urged Islamabad to continue the
investigation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that
China was attaching great importance to the progress made by Pakistan. "China
supports Pakistan in continuing to get to the full bottom of what happened and
hunting down and bringing to justice all the perpetrators," she said. The
suicide attack killed five Chinese engineers on March 26 along with their
Pakistani driver. They were on their way to work at the largest dam at Dasu in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistani officials said. A suicide bomber rammed
a vehicle filled with explosives into their convoy.”



Associated Press: Pakistan Sends Official To Kabul For Talks With The Afghan
Taliban On A Deadly March Suicide Attack
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“Pakistan has sent an official to Kabul to share the findings of its
investigation into a suicide bombing in March that killed five Chinese
engineers and a Pakistani driver with Afghanistan’s Taliban government, the
foreign ministry said Thursday. Pakistan says the attack was planned in
Afghanistan and that the bomber was an Afghan citizen, alleging that the Afghan
Taliban administration should be held accountable for the attack. Afghanistan’s
Taliban government has denied it was in any way responsible. According to a
statement, Khurram Agha, a top bureaucrat at the Interior Ministry in
Islamabad, shared the findings with Afghanistan’s deputy interior minister,
Muhammad Nabi Omari. It said Agha traveled to Afghanistan’s capital under Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s instructions. The March 26 attack took place as the
group of Chinese were heading to Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in
Pakistan, where they worked.”



Qatar



Associated Press: Qatar’s Offer To Build 3 Power Plants To Ease Lebanon’s
Electricity Crisis Is Blocked
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“Lebanon’s political class, fuel companies and private electricity providers
blocked an offer by gas-rich Qatar to build three renewable energy power plants
to ease the crisis-hit nation’s decades-old electricity crisis, Lebanese
caretaker economy minister said Thursday. Lebanon’s electricity crisis worsened
after the country’s historic economic meltdown began in October 2019. Power
cuts often last for much of the day, leaving many reliant on expensive private
generators that work on diesel and raise pollution levels. Although many people
have installed solar power systems in their homes over the past three years,
most use it only to fill in when the generator is off. Cost and space issues in
urban areas have also limited solar use.”



Middle East



Reuters: Israeli Airstrike On Rafah Kills 12 Palestinians, Gaza Medics Say
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“Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians in a dawn airstrike on Rafah
in southern Gaza on Thursday and fighting raged in several other areas of the
coastal enclave, Gaza medics said. Israel pressed on with its offensive on
Rafah a day after saying its forces had taken control of a buffer zone along
the nearby border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, giving it effective
authority over Gaza's entire land frontier. It said the buffer zone's capture
had cut off a route used by the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas to
smuggle arms into Gaza during more than seven months of war, which has laid
waste to much of the territory and raised fears of famine. Gaza medical sources
said the 12 Palestinians, whom it said were civilians, had been killed and an
unspecified number of others wounded in an Israeli airstrike as they tried to
recover the body of a civilian in the centre of Rafah.”



Africa



CBS: Inside A Huge U.S. Military Exercise In Africa To Counter Terrorism And
Russia And China's Growing Influence
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“On a dusty airport tarmac in the northern Ghanaian city of Tamale, military
special operatives from across Africa move stealthily. Shots ring out as they
converge on the airport and apprehend armed militants holding it hostage. It's
not a real attack, but just one of the exercises of "Flintlock," the U.S.
military's premier counterterrorism training event in Africa, which is now in
its 20th year. Special ops teams from the U.S. military's Africa Command, along
with NATO allies, are conducting drills alongside soldiers from countries
including Ghana, Ivory Coast, Chad, Mauritania, Nigeria, Libya and Morocco. In
the exercise CBS News witnessed, the elite forces were rescuing hostages from a
simulated attack on an airport. It's a very real scenario in the vast North
African region known as the Sahel, which is considered the epicenter of the
global fight against ISIS and al Qaeda franchises.”



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