“Yemen’s Houthi rebels stormed the headquarters of the United Nations’ Human
Rights Office in the capital, Sanaa, seizing documents, furniture and vehicles,
a senior U.N. official said Tuesday. The seizure was the latest move in a
crackdown by the Houthis on people working with the U.N., aid agencies and
foreign embassies. The crackdown comes as the Iranian-backed rebels have been
targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in
the Gaza Strip. The rebels took over the U.N. Human Rights Office’s premises in
Sanaa on Aug. 3, after forcing U.N. Yemeni workers to hand over belongings,
including documents, furniture and vehicles, U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker
Türk said in a statement. “Ansar Allah forces must leave the premises and
return all assets and belongings immediately,” Türk said, using the official
name of the Houthis.”











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Eye on Extremism



August 13, 2024



Associated Press: Yemen’s Houthis Seized UN Rights Office In Sanaa, UN
Official Says
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“Yemen’s Houthi rebels stormed the headquarters of the United Nations’ Human
Rights Office in the capital, Sanaa, seizing documents, furniture and vehicles,
a senior U.N. official said Tuesday. The seizure was the latest move in a
crackdown by the Houthis on people working with the U.N., aid agencies and
foreign embassies. The crackdown comes as the Iranian-backed rebels have been
targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in
the Gaza Strip. The rebels took over the U.N. Human Rights Office’s premises in
Sanaa on Aug. 3, after forcing U.N. Yemeni workers to hand over belongings,
including documents, furniture and vehicles, U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker
Türk said in a statement. “Ansar Allah forces must leave the premises and
return all assets and belongings immediately,” Türk said, using the official
name of the Houthis.”



Associated Press: US Beefs Up Posture In Middle East, Warns An Iran-Backed
Attack On Israel Could Come This Week
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“U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine
to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier
strike group to sail more quickly to the area, as the U.S. on Monday said it
believes Iran or its proxies may launch a strike against Israel as soon as this
week. The moves, announced by the Defense Department Sunday, come as the U.S.
and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement
that could help calm soaring tensions in the region following the assassination
of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah
commander in Beirut. Officials have been on the lookout for retaliatory strikes
by both Iran and Hezbollah for the killings, and the U.S. has been beefing up
its presence in the region. John Kirby, the White House national security
spokesman, said Iran’s response to the killings “could be this week,” but that
“it is difficult to ascertain at this particular time if there’s an attack by
Iran or its proxies what it could look like.””



CEP Mentions



Progres News: Extremists Volunteering In Soup Kitchens: How Ideologies Have
Evolved To Attract Australians
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“...The Counter Extremism Project has also warned of the threat from “active
clubs”, which were created in the United States in 2020 to “make fascism fun”.
“They are often founded by members of established openly extreme-right Neo-Nazi
groups to attract members from mainstream society,” the project’s senior
adviser Alexander Ritzmann told a Senate inquiry into right-wing extremist
movements in Australia this year. The organisation explained in a submission
that active clubs recruit people through focusing on brotherhood, fitness and
self-defence, and were started as a way of avoiding scrutiny from authorities.
They don’t display obvious Nazi symbols in public and are asked to avoid
threatening behaviour. But the Counter Extremism Project said there was
increasing evidence to suggest the network’s main objective was the creation of
“shadow militias” that could be called upon for violent action.”



Syria



Associated Press: U.S.-Backed Syrian Fighters Say They Killed 18
Pro-Government Gunmen In Rare Attack In Eastern Syria
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“U.S.-backed Syrian fighters carried out a rare attack Monday in eastern
Syria, striking at three posts manned by pro-government gunmen and claiming
that they killed 18 of them in a major escalation near the border with Iraq.
The renewed clashes in Syria’s eastern oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour came
amid high tensions in the region following last month’s killings of a top
commander of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group in Beirut and the political
leader of the Palestinian Hamas group in Iran. Israel was blamed for both
attacks, and Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate. The Syrian government,
which is backed by Russia and Iran, has vowed for years to liberate eastern
Syria from U.S. forces who have been deployed in the area since 2015 to help
fight the Islamic State group. Monday’s attack by members of the Arab-led Deir
el-Zour Military Council — part of the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces — came days after clashes and shelling between the SDF and
pro-government gunmen left more than a dozen people dead.”



Turkey



Reuters: Turkish Airstrikes Kill 17 Kurdish Militants In Northern Iraq,
Ministry Says
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“Turkey's military conducted airstrikes in northern Iraq and "neutralised" 17
members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the defence ministry
said on Monday. Turkey, which typically uses the term neutralised to mean
killed, has been carrying out a cross-border operation called Claw-Lock in Iraq
as part of its offensive against PKK militants. The PKK, which has been waging
an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is designated a terrorist
organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.”



Afghanistan



Reuters: Three Killed In Pakistan, Afghanistan Border Clash, Kabul Says
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“Three Afghan civilians were killed in a border clash between Pakistan and
Afghanistan security forces, a spokesman for the Taliban administration in
Kabul said on Tuesday. The clashes took place late on Monday near the
southwestern border crossing of Torkham after Pakistani border forces opened
fire on Afghan border forces, said Mufti Abdul Mateen, the spokesman for
Afghanistan's interior ministry. The Pakistani forces targeted civilian homes,
killing a woman and two children, he said. Pakistan's military did not
immediately respond to a request for a comment. Three Pakistani paramilitary
troops were wounded in the fighting, said a security official who declined to
be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media. Clashes often break
out between the neighbouring security forces along the border, which was drawn
up decades ago during British colonial rule and long been disputed.”



Yemen



Associated Press: A Ship In The Red Sea Is Targeted In A Third Attack By
Suspected Houthis
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“A ship in the Red Sea came under attack at least three times Tuesday in an
assault that included the use of a bomb-carrying drone boat, likely the latest
in a campaign by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the Israel-Hamas war, officials
said. The attacks come as the rebels’ main sponsor, Iran, weighs possible
retaliation against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail
Haniyeh in July, which has renewed fears of a wider regional war in the Middle
East. Already, the Houthi assaults have disrupted the $1 trillion annual flow
of goods through the maritime route crucial to trade among Asia, Europe and the
Middle East, while also sparking the most intense combat for the U.S. Navy
since World War II. The ship was first attacked as an explosive was detonated
near it, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center
said. Then a small vessel “acting suspiciously” flashed a light near the ship
and came close, actions that were followed by a second blast, the UKMTO said.”



Middle East



Reuters: Hamas Armed Wing Says One Israeli Hostage Killed, Two Women Captives
'Seriously Wounded'
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“One Israeli male hostage was killed by his guard and two women captives were
seriously wounded in two separate incidents in Gaza, the spokesperson for
Hamas' armed al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said on Monday. Abu Ubaida blamed
the incident on what he described as Israeli "massacres" against Palestinians.
"The enemy government [Israel] bears full responsibility for these massacres
and the resulting reactions that affect the lives of Zionist prisoners," Abu
Ubaida said in a statement posted on Telegram. He said a committee has been
formed to investigate, and findings will be announced later, adding efforts are
underway to save the two wounded hostages. It was the first time Al-Qassam has
said its guards killed hostages. The group has often attributed previous
killings of hostages to Israeli bombardment.”



Europe



Associated Press: Israel-Hamas War Latest: Iran Rejects European Leaders’ Call
To Refrain From Any Retaliatory Attacks
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“Iran rejected a call Tuesday by three European countries demanding it to
refrain from any retaliatory attacks that would further escalate regional
tensions. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a joint statement Monday endorsing
the latest push by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an
agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. The European leaders also called for the
return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of
humanitarian aid, and asked that Iran and its allies to refrain from
retaliation that would further escalate regional tensions after the late-July
killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Mediators have
spent months trying to get the sides to agree to a three-phase plan in which
Hamas would release the remaining hostages captured in its Oct. 7 attack in
exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, and Israel would withdraw from
Gaza. Talks were expected to resume Thursday."



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