“Islamist terrorism is the main security worry ahead of the upcoming Paris
Olympics, the French capital's chief of police Laurent Nunez said on Friday.
France is on its highest level of security alert as the Games approach, with
the country additionally preparing for snap legislative elections at the end of
June. French authorities also recently foiled an attack on a sports stadium in
another French city. "Islamist terrorism remains our main concern," Nunez told
a press conference seven weeks before the Olympics opening ceremony, which will
be held on and along the River Seine on July 26. "There is no clear-cut threat
yet against the Games and our country but I'd like to remind you that at the
end of May, two individuals were arrested in Saint-Etienne and were plotting a
project aimed directly at the Olympic Games. "The terrorist threat remains just
as important as the protest threat posed by radical environmental groups, the
ultra left and the pro-Palestinian movement," Nunez said.”











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Eye on Extremism



June 21, 2024



Reuters: Islamist Terrorism Main Concern Ahead Of Paris Games, City’s Police
Chief Says
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“Islamist terrorism is the main security worry ahead of the upcoming Paris
Olympics, the French capital's chief of police Laurent Nunez said on Friday.
France is on its highest level of security alert as the Games approach, with
the country additionally preparing for snap legislative elections at the end of
June. French authorities also recently foiled an attack on a sports stadium in
another French city. "Islamist terrorism remains our main concern," Nunez told
a press conference seven weeks before the Olympics opening ceremony, which will
be held on and along the River Seine on July 26. "There is no clear-cut threat
yet against the Games and our country but I'd like to remind you that at the
end of May, two individuals were arrested in Saint-Etienne and were plotting a
project aimed directly at the Olympic Games. "The terrorist threat remains just
as important as the protest threat posed by radical environmental groups, the
ultra left and the pro-Palestinian movement," Nunez said.”



The New York Times: Qaeda Commander At Guantánamo Bay Is Sentenced For War
Crimes
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“A former Qaeda battlefield commander who admitted that his insurgents killed
17 U.S. and allied forces in wartime Afghanistan in the early 2000s will spend
eight more years in prison under a plea agreement disclosed on Thursday. The
prisoner, Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, 63, has been in U.S. custody since 2006 and
struck the deal two years ago. The military judge, Col. Charles L. Pritchard
Jr., officially disclosed the terms at Guantánamo Bay moments after a military
jury ordered Mr. Hadi to serve 30 years in prison, the maximum sentence in his
war crime case. The outcome was part of the arcane system called military
commissions, which allows prisoners to reach plea deals with a senior official
at the Pentagon who oversees the war court but requires the formality of a jury
sentencing hearing anyway.”




Recent CEP Press Releases

* Counterpoint Brief: US Designates Nordic Resistance Movement As Specially
Designated Global Terrorist Organization
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* CEP Applauds U.S. Designation Of Nordic Resistance Movement As A Specially
Designated Terrorist Organization
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* Extremist Content Online: Extreme Right Telegram Channel Promote
Homophobia, Transphobia, And Violence In Response To LGBTQ Pride Month
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* Extremist Content Online: TikTok Post Glorifying Christchurch Attacker
Receives Over 35,000 Views, Account Links To Telegram Content Celebrating
Attacker
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* Extremist Content Online: Patriot Front Affiliated Jiu-Jitsu Team
Advertises Recent Tournament Participants
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Iraq



Iraqi News: Iraqi Air Force Destroys Hideouts Used By ISIS Terrorists In Kirkuk

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“The Iraqi Air Force launched two air strikes on Thursday targeting hideouts,
tunnels, and caves used by the ISIS terrorists in the northeastern Iraqi
governorate of Kirkuk. The Iraqi Security Media Cell (ISMC) said in a statement
that Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out two air strikes at 6:30 a.m. after
receiving information from the Iraqi Directorate of General Military
Intelligence (DGMI), the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. Last November, the
DGMI announced the elimination of ISIS members and the arrest of others in
separate security operations in different Iraqi governorates. Additionally, the
Iraqi Air Force destroyed a hideout belonging to ISIS and killed two terrorists
in Salah Al-Din governorate, north of Baghdad. UN experts said in a report
issued last August that the ISIS group still commands between 5,000 and 7,000
members across its former strongholds in Syria and Iraq, according to the AP.”



The Guardian: Yazidi Survivors Of Sinjar Massacre Alarmed By Iraq’s Move To
Close Camps
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“The Iraqi government has been accused of making the survivors of the Sinjar
massacre fear for their future once more, almost a decade after the murderous
Islamic State campaign that forced tens of thousands of people to flee from
their homes. In January, the Iraqi council of ministers set a deadline of 30
July to close 23 displacement camps in Iraqi Kurdistan. The camps are home to
about 155,000 internally displaced people (IDP), mostly Yazidis, who were
slaughtered, kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery in their thousands at the
height of the violence in northern Iraq in 2014. The ministry of migration and
displacement (MoMD) is offering each family 4m Iraqi dinars (£2,400) towards
resettlement costs and is launching a job-creation programme.”



Afghanistan



The Washington Post: Taliban’s Opium Ban Imperiled By Climate Change As
Alternative Crops Struggle
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“Two years after the Taliban banned opium, Afghan farmers turning to
alternative crops are discovering that many no longer grow easily here because
of the impact of climate change, imperiling poppy eradication efforts. For
decades, farmers in southern Afghanistan relied on opium poppies to make a
living in their parched desert landscape. Even as prolonged drought dried out
rivers and turned fields so salty that they glowed white in the sun, the hardy
poppies flourished. The Taliban ended that after seizing power in Afghanistan
three years ago, banning opium on religious grounds. But farmers in the former
poppy heartland say they can’t make a living with typical alternatives like
wheat and cotton, which have tumbled in price as they’ve flooded the market
since the opium ban took effect.”



Pakistan



Reuters: Pakistan Police Hunt Mob That Lynched Local Tourist Accused Of
Blasphemy
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“Pakistani authorities have begun an investigation to identify and arrest
members of a mob that killed a local tourist accused of blasphemy, after they
ransacked a police station holding him in protective custody, officials said on
Friday. A mob beat the man to death on Thursday night after accusing him of
burning pages of the Koran. They set the police station in the country's
northwest ablaze and injured eight policemen, Malankand division's regional
police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur told Reuters. "After initially rescuing the
man from a crowd, the police took him to the station in Madyan, but
announcements from mosque loud speakers asked locals to come out," Gandapur
said, after which the mob stormed the station. Lynchings are common in
Pakistan, an Islamic republic where blasphemy can legally carry the death
penalty.”



Yemen



Bloomberg: Fending Off Houthis Requires Double The Fleet, EU Force Says
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“A naval force deployed by the European Union to protect vessels in the Red
Sea needs to more than double in size because of escalating attacks by
Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the head of the operation said. Four EU vessels have
been patrolling the waters off the coast of Yemen since February. In that time,
they’ve provided “close assistance” to 164 ships, shot down more than a dozen
unmanned aerial vehicles and destroyed four anti-ship ballistics missiles, Rear
Admiral Vasileios Gryparis said in an interview on Wednesday. The Yemen-based
Houthis began attacking vessels last year to pressure Israel and its allies
over the war in the Gaza Strip. Their campaign has roiled global shipping,
forcing many vessels to sail thousands of miles around southern Africa instead
— despite the EU operation and US and UK bombing that began in January.”



Middle East



Reuters: Why Pick On Us? Cyprus Perplexed By Hezbollah Threats
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“Cyprus reacted with incredulity on Thursday to warnings from Lebanon's
Hezbollah that the island could be dragged into conflict if tensions with
Israel blew up into a fully-fledged war. The EU member state closest to the
Middle East, Cyprus was caught off guard by comments from Hezbollah chief
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday that the island could be a target if it
permitted Israel to use its military facilities in the event of an attack on
Lebanon. "The Republic of Cyprus is in no way involved in war conflict,"
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides responded, describing Nasrallah's
comments as "not pleasant". The EU also weighed in. "Any threats against our
member state are threats against the EU," a spokesperson said. Lebanon's
government appeared to try to contain any possible fallout from Nasrallah's
comments.”



ABC: Netanyahu And White House Continue Public Disagreement Over Claim US
Withholding Weapons Amid Israel's War With Hamas
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“The public war of words between Israel and the U.S. continued Thursday with
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responding pointedly to the White House after
the Biden administration again denied his claim the U.S. is withholding weapons
from Israel amid its fight in Gaza with Hamas. His response came shortly after
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, in a call with
reporters on Thursday, called Netanyahu's claim "perplexing to say the least"
and two days after the White House bluntly said it "genuinely didn't know what
he's talking about." In a video he released earlier this week, Netanyahu
claimed "the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions"
Israel needed to fight Hamas. On Thursday, he said, "I am ready to suffer
personal attacks provided that Israel receives from the U.S. the ammunition it
needs in the war for its existence."”



Associated Press: The Latest | Armenia Recognizes A Palestinian State, And
Israel Summons Its Ambassador
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“Armenia said it would recognize a Palestinian state on Friday, prompting
Israel to summon its ambassador for what the Foreign Ministry described as a
“severe reprimand.” Dozens of countries have recognized a Palestinian state,
though none of the major Western powers has done so. Palestinians believe the
recognitions confer international legitimacy on their struggle, especially amid
international outrage over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Last month, Spain,
Ireland and Norway said they had decided to recognize a Palestinian state, and
since then Slovenia and the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda have
followed suit. On Thursday, a U.S.-built pier in Gaza began unloading
humanitarian aid again after being removed for a second time last week because
of rough seas, the U.S. military said.”



Somalia



Reuters: Exclusive: Somalia Asks Peacekeepers To Slow Withdrawal, Fears
Islamist Resurgence
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“Somalia's government is seeking to slow the withdrawal of African
peacekeepers and warning of a potential security vacuum, documents seen by
Reuters show, with neighbouring countries fretting that resurgent al Shabaab
militants could seize power. The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia
(ATMIS), a peacekeeping force, is committed to withdrawing by Dec. 31, when a
smaller new force is expected to replace it. However, in a letter last month to
the acting chair of the African Union Peace and Security Council the government
asked to delay until September the withdrawal of half the 4,000 troops due to
leave by the end of June. The letter has not been reported before. The
government had previously recommended, in a joint assessment with the AU in
March, reviewed by Reuters, that the overall withdrawal timeline be adjusted
"based on the actual readiness and capabilities" of Somali forces.”



France



Reuters: France: Won't Negotiate On Qaeda Hostage Terms
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“France will not negotiate on a demand by al Qaeda's north African wing for
90 million euros to release four French nationals held hostage since September,
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Monday. Kidnappers are demanding 90
million euros ($127 million) for the return of the hostages captured in Niger
and held hostage by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, sources close to mediation
efforts told Reuters. "We do not negotiate on these terms," said Juppe, who was
attending a regular meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels. The
kidnappers made the demand within the past few days, a Nigerien military
intelligence source said. A source close to the French nuclear group Areva
confirmed the ransom demand. French government sources declined to confirm
whether the government had received a ransom demand. One source said any such
demand would be "ridiculosly extravagant."”



Southeast Asia



The Economic Times: Countering ISIS Threat To Top SCO Summit Agenda
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“Countering threats from ISIS which is taking roots in Afghanistan and
spreading its network in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Iran, and
threatening to target India will top the agenda of the SCO Summit on July 3-4
in Astana. Recent arrests of terrorists in Kyrgyzstan and earlier in Tajikistan
have established ISIS links emanating from Afghanistan, according to persons
tracking the terrorist network in the Af-Pak region. The Indian establishment
is closely monitoring the spread of ISIS in Eurasia and its impact across the
border in India, ET has learnt. What has come to their notice is recent
literature of ISIS that aims to target India, ET has further learnt. The SCO
summit will give the Indian leadership an opportunity to engage with the
leaders of Central Asia besides Russia and make a strong pitch against the need
to counter terrorism and rising extremism. SCO is the only organisation that
has a dedicated centre.”



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