**NOTE: Eye On Extremism will be suspended on Wednesday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth. It will resume Thursday, June 20.**
Eye on Extremism
June 18, 2024
Bloomberg: Mayorkas Detects Uptick In Foreign Terrorist Threats To US
“The Biden administration sees increased foreign terrorist threats to the US compared to a year ago, thanks to renewed efforts by the Islamic State militant group and Middle East unrest tied to the Israel-Hamas war. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department has noticed “a resurgence in recruiting of ISIS, ISIS’s public communications and efforts to galvanize individuals to divide us,” using a common acronym for the Sunni Muslim insurgent group. The warning about global threats marks a recent shift for Mayorkas and the department, which had focused on domestic violent extremism as the most pressing — and lethal — threat facing Americans over the past few years. Mayorkas said that while his concern that domestic violent extremists are the greatest threat to the nation “certainly persists,” worry about foreign terrorism is rising - hearkening back to the early days of DHS, which was formed after the Sept. 11 attacks.”
Business Insider: Killings Show ISIS Remains A Threat In Syria's Desert 5 Years After Losing Its Caliphate
“The Islamic State terror group may have lost its territorial caliphate, once equal in size to the United Kingdom, years ago, but its militants are still killing soldiers and civilians in the Syrian desert. In two attacks on Wednesday, ISIS militants reportedly killed a total of 19 Syrian government troops in the Homs desert in central Syria, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. Wednesday's attacks followed another attack on a Syrian army convoy in Homs' eastern countryside, killing five soldiers on Monday. ISIS killed an estimated 84 Syrian soldiers and 44 civilians in central Syria in March, making it the most violent month in the ISIS desert campaign since late 2017. Another attack on May 3 killed an estimated 15 pro-government fighters. Another four Syrian troops were killed in another desert attack in late April.”
CEP Mentions
T-Online: "You Can't Turn Germany Into A Military Camp"
“.... This was demonstrated by a fight between both fan groups in the run-up to the high-risk match between England and Serbia in Gelsenkirchen. Michael Mertens was on site himself and the encounter was "short and violent", he reports. The police quickly separated the problem fans. The situation was more difficult than at the last major football event, the 2006 World Cup. At that time, smartphones with the capabilities we have today did not exist. People were more dependent on companions to find their way around. Today, everyone can do it themselves. Groups are therefore harder to monitor. […] Tragic events with a connection to the European Championship – but for terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, this is no cause for concern. "The incidents are within the range of what was to be expected," he stresses. Such acts are difficult to prevent.”
United States
The New York Times: U.S. Treasury Imposes New Sanctions To Cut Off Weapons To Houthis In Yemen
“The United States imposed new sanctions on Monday aimed at cutting off weapons, supplies and funding to the Iranian-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen and have been striking commercial ships in the Red Sea to show support for Palestinians in Gaza. “The United States remains resolved to use the full range of our tools to halt the flow of military-grade materials and funds from commodities sales that enable these destabilizing terrorist activities,” Brian E. Nelson, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. The sanctions were placed on two individuals and five entities that have facilitated weapons procurement for the Houthis, as well as an individual, a company and a vessel that have helped with commodities shipments, “the sale of which provides an important funding stream to the Houthis that aids in their weapons procurement,” the Treasury statement said.”
Iraq
Daily Mail: Islamic State 'ordered Terrorists To Shoot Real Madrid Footballers And Attack Their Stadium With Explosives', As Police In Spain Arrest Nine People
“Islamic State terrorists were ordered to shoot at Real Madrid players, according to reports from Spain after the Civil Guard dismantled one of the organisation's propaganda centres. According to Spanish outlet El Confidencial, the self-styled I'lam Foundation - one of the biggest Propaganda sources connected with Islamic State - was taken down by the Spanish Civil Guard Information Service. The report claims that the operation uncovered a number of orders directed at Real Madrid, the Santiago Bernabeu and Los Blancos fans. A post was circulated on the now dismantled network, which includes the imagery of a person in a balaclava or hood aiming a gun at what looks to be a stock picture of a coach. The image is accompanied by the message: 'My dear brother. Wait in a place near the arrival point of the players. Aim at them along with their supporters.'”
Afghanistan
Associated Press: Reclusive Taliban Leader Warns Afghans Against Earning Money Or Gaining ‘Worldly Honor’
“The Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader on Monday warned Afghans against earning money or gaining worldly honor at a time when the country is in the grip of humanitarian crises and isolated on the global stage. Hibatullah Akhundzada gave his warning in a sermon to mark the festival of Eid al-Adha at a mosque in southern Kandahar province, weeks before a Taliban delegation goes to Doha, Qatar for U.N.-hosted talks on Afghanistan. This is the first round of talks the Taliban will attend since they seized power in August 2021. They weren’t invited to the conference of foreign special envoys to Afghanistan in the first round, and they snubbed the second round because they wanted to be treated as the country’s official representatives. No government recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, whose aid-dependent economy was plunged into turmoil following their takeover.”
Yemen
Business Insider: Video Shows The Houthis Attack A Merchant Ship With A Naval Drone Seemingly Disguised As A Slow Fishing Boat
“New video footage appears to show the moments before a Houthi naval drone — seemingly disguised as a slow-moving fishing boat — struck a commercial vessel in the Red Sea last week. The Iran-backed rebels on Wednesday scored a hit on the M/V Tutor with an uncrewed surface vessel, causing severe flooding and damage to the engine room of the bulk cargo carrier, and forcing the crew to abandon the ship. A video purporting to show the attack began circulating around social media on Sunday. In it, armed security guards aboard what was identified as the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned Tutor can be seen observing what seems to be the crude-looking naval drone — likely packed with explosives — as it slowly approaches the ship unobstructed.”
Reuters: US-UK Forces Launch Strikes On Yemen's Hodeidah And Kamaran Island, Houthi-Run TV Says
“U.S. and British forces have carried out at least six airstrikes on Yemen's Hodeidah International Airport and four strikes on Kamaran Island near the port of Salif off the Red Sea, Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen's Houthi movement, said on Monday. The strikes on Kamaran mark the first time U.S.-led coalition forces have targeted the island since airstrikes on Houthi targets began in early February. They follow the Iran-backed Houthis' first successful armed maritime drone strike and other missile assaults that damaged the Tutor and Verbena cargo ships last week. Both of the vessels are abandoned and adrift - with Tutor at risk of sinking, military and security experts said. The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza."
Lebanon
Politico: Israel-Hezbollah War ‘More Likely’ As Tensions Flare
“Today, U.S. special envoy AMOS HOCHSTEIN met with Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU and several of his advisers in an attempt to calm the border conflict, which has been ongoing throughout Israel’s war in Gaza. He was also scheduled to meet with opposition politicians YAIR LAPID and BENNY GANTZ afterward, before heading to Lebanon on Tuesday for talks. Hochstein’s deployment underscores the White House’s desire to calm the situation on Lebanon’s border, even if a broader agreement to end hostilities can’t be reached, former U.S. special envoy DAVID SATTERFIELD said during a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event today. The past week has been particularly tense. An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon killed one of Hezbollah’s most senior members, leading the militants to fire hundreds of rockets toward Israel. Today, Israel killed another senior Hezbollah member.”
Middle East
Reuters: Israeli Forces Deepen Rafah Invasion, Kill 17 In Central Camps
“Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday killed at least 17 Palestinians in two of the Gaza Strip's historic refugee camps and Israeli tanks pushed deeper into the enclave's southern city of Rafah, residents and medics said. Residents reported heavy bombardments from tanks and planes in several areas of Rafah, where more than a million people had taken refuge before May. Most of the population has fled northwards since then as Israeli forces invaded the city. "Rafah is being bombed without any intervention from the world, the occupation (Israel) is acting freely here," a Rafah resident and father of six told Reuters via a chat app. Israeli tanks were operating inside Tel Al-Sultan, Al-Izba, and Zurub areas in Rafah's west, as well as Shaboura at the heart of the city. They also continued to occupy the eastern neighborhoods and outskirts as well as the border with Egypt and the vital Rafah border crossing.”
Somalia
Voice Of America: Al-Shabab Reverses Somali Force Gains, Is Working With Houthis In Somalia
“Al-Shabab has reversed all Somali National Army gains made over the last two years and is now working with the Houthi militant group to expand its capabilities, according to senior U.S. defense officials. “They are working with the Houthis,” said a senior U.S. defense official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity. “It’s a bit of a surprise. … It’s quite concerning.” The official said that the Houthi militants in Yemen view this “nascent” collaboration as a means “to be taken more seriously” as they try to pose a threat to American and British vessels outside the Red Sea. The Houthis have attacked or threatened U.S. Navy and commercial vessels more than 190 times in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since Nov. 19, 2023, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday.”
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