“Eight men from Tajikistan with potential ties to ISIS out of central Asia were
arrested over the weekend in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, three
people familiar with the matter told NBC News on Tuesday. The suspects had been
on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force radar and were arrested by personnel
with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, the sources
say. All eight men crossed through the southern border into the U.S., and their
criminal backgrounds checks came back clean when they crossed, say two
officials familiar with the matter. At least two of the men crossed the border
in spring 2023, and one of those men used the CBP One app, which the Biden
administration created to allow migrants to book appointments to claim asylum,
those officials say. The arrests were first reported by the New York Post.”











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Eye on Extremism



June 12, 2024



NBC: 8 Suspected Terrorists With Possible ISIS Ties Arrested In New York, L.A.
And Philadelphia, Sources Say
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“Eight men from Tajikistan with potential ties to ISIS out of central Asia
were arrested over the weekend in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, three
people familiar with the matter told NBC News on Tuesday. The suspects had been
on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force radar and were arrested by personnel
with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, the sources
say. All eight men crossed through the southern border into the U.S., and their
criminal backgrounds checks came back clean when they crossed, say two
officials familiar with the matter. At least two of the men crossed the border
in spring 2023, and one of those men used the CBP One app, which the Biden
administration created to allow migrants to book appointments to claim asylum,
those officials say. The arrests were first reported by the New York Post.”



Associated Press: Pakistani Army Kills 11 Militants In Raid In The Northwest
Following Bombing That Killed 7 Soldiers
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“Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout, killing 11 in an
overnight operation in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the
restive northwest, authorities said on Tuesday. The intelligence-based raid was
in retaliation to Sunday’s roadside bombing that killed seven soldiers in the
same Lakki Marwat district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bordering Afghanistan,
the military said in a statement. It added the operation is still ongoing “to
eliminate any other terrorist found in the area” and that security forces were
“determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism” in Pakistan. No one has
claimed Sunday’s attack, however, blame is likely to fall on Pakistani Taliban,
known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, an ally of the Afghan Taliban but is
a separate group. It has stepped up its assaults in the region since the
Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in May 2024
<[link removed]>
* The Houthis Fortify Their Regime by Targeting Yemen's Youngest
<[link removed]>
* 'We will dance again' – Remembering the horrors of October 7 at a powerful
new exhibition
<[link removed]>
* CEP-KAS: Sahel Monitoring March 2024
<[link removed]>
* Disinformation, Hate, and Polarization: The Attack on Slovakia's Prime
Minister
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CEP Mentions



Tagesspeigel: US Peace Plan for Gaza, Why Joe Biden Needs Success In The
Middle East Conflict
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"Is this the beginning of the end of the Gaza war? On Monday, the UN Security
Council adopted a ceasefire proposal in Gaza from US President Joe Biden. 14
countries agreed, only Russia abstained. Israel has been fighting the terrorist
organization Hamas for eight months, and the international community is
desperately looking for a way to end the war. The hope now is that the actors
involved - Israel and Hamas - will also support the plan. It could not only be
a step towards resolving the conflict in the Middle East, but could also be
important for Biden's election campaign. […] "While Hamas would give up its
guarantee of survival by releasing the hostages, Israel would have to release a
considerable number of Palestinian prisoners, which could be exploited by Hamas
for propaganda purposes," says Hans-Jakob Schindler of the international
Counter Extremism Project."



United States



Forbes: Chiquita Brands Found Guilty Of Funding Colombian Terrorist Group
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“June 10, 2024 marked a groundbreaking moment in the United States District
Court for the Southern District of Florida as a unanimous jury delivered a
verdict holding banana giant, Chiquita Brands International, Inc., liable to
pay $38.3 million in damages to the families of eight farmers and civilians
brutally murdered in Colombia by the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC),
also known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, between 1997 and
2004. The case represents a monumental win, following 17 years of litigation
that originally began in 2007. The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia was a
right-wing paramilitary group that was designated as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization (“FTO”) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (“SDGT”) by the
United States Government in 2001.”



Syria



Reuters: Iraqi Forces Kill Senior Islamic State Leader In A Raid In Syria
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“Iraqi security forces have killed a senior member of the Islamic State group
in Syria who was responsible for carrying out attacks against Iraqi government
forces, the Iraqi National Security Service said on Tuesday. Abu Zainab, an
Iraqi national, was killed in the Syrian city of Raqqa "during the past days"
in cooperation with U.S.-led coalition forces, it said in a statement. A
spokesperson for the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition did not respond to a request
for comment. The U.S.-led coalition is working with Iraqi security forces and
the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria against remnants of the
Islamic State group. In Iraq, the group was defeated in 2017 but IS militants
still wage regular attacks on police, the army and Iraqi state paramilitary
units.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: UN 'Hopeful' About Taliban's Presence At 'Doha III' Meeting
On Afghanistan
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“A United Nations diplomat has encouraged the Taliban to attend a conference
on Afghanistan later this month, stating that it would help return much-needed
global attention to the crisis-ridden country. Malick Ceesay, the head of the
Pakistan-based liaison office for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA), told an unofficial dialogue between religious scholars from the two
countries that the Ukraine war and Gaza hostilities had dramatically shifted
the international attention from Afghanistan. “And that’s a concern for the
United Nations. We don’t want Afghanistan to be forgotten,” Ceesay said at the
Tuesday meeting, hosted by the independent Center for Research and Security
Studies in the Pakistani capital. “We are hopeful that this time around, the
Islamic Emirate will send its representatives (to Doha) to be able to engage
with the international community in a constructive and effective manner,” the
U.N. diplomat said, using the official title of the Taliban government in
Kabul.”



Lebanon



Reuters: Hezbollah Fires Big Rocket Salvos At Israel After Senior Commander
Killed
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“Lebanon's Hezbollah fired big barrages of rockets at Israel on Wednesday in
retaliation for an Israeli strike which killed a senior Hezbollah field
commander, sharply escalating tensions in the conflict across the
Lebanese-Israeli border. The Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been trading
fire since the eruption of the Gaza war in October, in steadily intensifying
hostilities that have fuelled concern of a bigger confrontation between the
heavily armed adversaries. The Israeli strike in south Lebanon village of
Jouaiyya late on Tuesday killed three Hezbollah fighters alongside the senior
field commander identified by Hezbollah as Taleb Abdallah, also known as Abu
Taleb, three security sources said. He was the most senior Hezbollah commander
killed during eight months of hostilities, one of the sources said. The sources
said he was Hezbollah's commander for the central region of the southern border
strip. His funeral is due to be held later on Wednesday.”



Middle East



Reuters: UN Says Israel And Hamas Committed War Crimes; Gaza Truce Plan In
Balance
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“A U.N. inquiry found on Wednesday that both Israel and Hamas had committed
war crimes in the early stages of the war in Gaza, and that Israel's actions
also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian
losses. The findings were from two parallel reports by the U.N. Commission of
Inquiry (COI), one focusing on the Oct. 7 attacks and another on Israel's
response. Israel, which did not cooperate with the commission, dismissed the
findings as the result of anti-Israeli bias. Hamas did not immediately respond
to a request for comment. The war began on Oct. 7 when militants led by Hamas,
the Islamist group ruling Gaza, killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250
hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military retaliation has caused
the deaths of more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health
ministry, displaced most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, caused widespread
hunger, and devastated housing and infrastructure.”



Reuters: Hamas Responds To Egypt, Qatar On Gaza Ceasefire Plan; Source Says
Group Proposes New Timeline
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“Mediators Egypt and Qatar received a response from Hamas and Palestinian
groups to a U.S. ceasefire plan for Gaza, the Egyptian and Qatari governments
said on Tuesday as an official briefed on the matter said Hamas proposed a new
timeline. The statement from Egypt and Qatar did not disclose what the response
said, but the official, who declined to be identified, said Hamas proposed a
new timeline for a permanent ceasefire with Israel and withdrawal of Israeli
troops from Gaza, including Rafah. Asked about the response, a Hamas official,
who asked not to be named, said: "We reiterated our previous stance. I believe
there no big gaps. The ball is now in the Israeli courtyard." Egyptian
officials were not immediately available for further comment. The Egyptian
ministry said Doha and Cairo, along with the U.S., will continue their
mediation efforts until a deal is reached, adding that they will study the
response and coordinate the next steps with concerned parties."



Nigeria



Voice Of America: Nigerian Military Denies Maltreating Boko Haram Survivors
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“A new report by rights group Amnesty International accuses Nigeria's
military of inhumane treatment toward women and girls who survived Boko Haram.
Nigerian defense authorities reject the report's findings, saying that military
personnel operate within the scope of international laws of conflict. A
statement said the military has "self-regulating mechanisms to address any
proven case of misconduct" by its operatives. The report from Amnesty
International, titled "Help Us Build Our Lives," said women and girls who
survived Boko Haram captivity were subjected to further suffering, including
prolonged, unlawful detention by the military and inadequate support by
authorities for them to rebuild their lives. "We still stand by what we have
said," said Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International's Nigeria director. "We believe
that if somebody is saying that what you're saying is not true, he should
provide evidence. This research took more than a year and it is based on
interviews with over 126 people."”



Germany



The New Voice of Ukraine: Afghan Man Stabs Ukrainian Woman in Frankfurt
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"A 19-year-old Afghan man attacked a 41-year-old Ukrainian woman with a knife
in Frankfurt am Main on June 10, seriously injuring her, the German newspaper
Frankfurter Allgemeine reported on June 11. A woman was sitting on a park bench
near the river when the attacker quietly approached her from behind, grabbed
her shoulder, and stabbed her several times in the head and neck, according to
police. Although the woman managed to break free and run away, the man chased
her and continued to stab her. He only stopped when passersby noticed the
attack. Police quickly apprehended and arrested the attacker near the scene.
The Frankfurt District Court issued a warrant for his arrest, charging him with
attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. The victim had no prior relationship
with the assailant, and the motives for the attack remain unknown."



Southeast Asia



ABC: 8 Tajikistanis With Suspected Ties To ISIS Detained In US, Source Says
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“Eight individuals from Tajikistan with suspected ties to ISIS, who crossed
into the United States from the southern border last year and this year, have
been detained in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City, according to a
source familiar with the investigation. The suspects were initially allowed to
enter the U.S. after being vetted and no national security issues were
uncovered, the source said. Later, and in recent weeks, authorities uncovered
derogatory information indicating ties or affiliation with ISIS and the
suspects were sought and detained. Efforts are underway to deport the suspects
as currently authorities have not developed enough evidence to bring any
terrorism charges. "Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several
non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities," the FBI and the Department
of Homeland Security said in a statement.”



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