“Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Sunday it had launched rockets at Israeli military
industry complex in the northern city of Haifa in an initial response for pager
and walkie talkie blasts; the Iran-backed group posted on its Telegram channel.”











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Eye on Extremism



September 30, 2024



Associated Press: US Airstrikes On Syria Kill 37 Militants Affiliated With
Extremist Groups
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“Two U.S. airstrikes in Syria killed 37 militants affiliated with the Islamic
State group and an al-Qaeda-linked group, the U.S. military said Sunday. It
said two of the dead were senior militants. U.S. Central Command said it struck
northwestern Syria on Tuesday, targeting a senior militant from the
al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Deen group and eight others. They say he was
responsible for overseeing military operations. On Sept. 16, a “large-scale
airstrike” on an IS training camp in an undisclosed location in central Syria
killed 28 militants, including “at least four Syrian leaders,” Central Command
said. “The airstrike will disrupt ISIS’ capability to conduct operations
against U.S. interests, as well as our allies and partners,” the statement
read. There are some 900 U.S. forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number
of contractors, mostly trying to prevent any comeback by the extremist IS
group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large
swaths of territory.”



Reuters: US Boosts Air Support And Hikes Troop Readiness To Deploy For Middle
East
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“The U.S. military said on Sunday it was increasing its air support
capabilities in the Middle East and putting troops on a heightened readiness to
deploy to the region as it warned Iran against expanding the ongoing conflict.
The announcement came two days after President Joe Biden directed the Pentagon
to adjust U.S. force posture in the Middle East amid intensifying concern that
Israel's killing of the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah could prompt Tehran to
retaliate. "The United States is determined to prevent Iran and Iranian-backed
partners and proxies from exploiting the situation or expanding the conflict,"
Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said in a statement. He also
cautioned that if Iran or groups Tehran backs "use this moment to target
American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take
every necessary measure to defend our people."”




CEP Expert Analysis

* Extremist Content Online: Extreme Right Celebrates Anti-Muslim Immigrant
Riots on Telegram and X
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* Counterpoint Brief: US Designates Nordic Resistance Movement Specially
Designated Global Terrorist Organization
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* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in August 2024
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* CounterPoint Brief: EU Arrests Members of Newly-Designated Terrorist Group
The Base
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* CounterPoint Brief: U.S. and Iraqi Forces Target ISIS Leadership in Iraq
and Syria
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CEP Mentions



Bloomberg: Israeli Killing Of Hezbollah Leader Draws Support From Biden
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“... Born in Lebanon in 1964, Safieddine has been part of Hezbollah since it
was founded in 1982, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy
group based in Washington. The US designated Safieddine a “specially designated
global terrorist” in 2017. Nasrallah, who was 64, started leading Hezbollah in
the early 1990s and was close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader,
becoming integral to Tehran’s network of proxy forces in the Middle East.
Hezbollah is considered the crown jewel in what’s often referred to as Iran’s
“axis of resistance” against Israel and US forces in the region, which also
includes Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen. Nasrallah had been living in hiding
since 2006, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating 34-day war. He last
appeared in public years ago, though he did several televised speeches.”



BBC: Hezbollah Says It’s Ready For A Ground Offensive As Israel Continues Air
Strikes
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“… Just as Israel has come under attack from drones and missiles fired by
Iran’s allied militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, so has Israel struck
out at targets in all those countries. Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former British
ambassador to Yemen and now a senior adviser with the Counter Extremism
Project, tells the BBC: "The Houthis have continued to try to attack Israel and
have known intent to try to upgrade their capabilities to make their attacks
more effective". He says there is little cost to Israel here "because they are
not attacking a legitimate sovereign entity". This year Israel has struck
targets in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Gaza, the West Bank and is widely believed to
be behind the assassination of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in
Tehran in July. With the firm backing of the US and its warships poised
offshore, Israel has set course to take on almost all its enemies at once.”



Daily Mail: Iran May Hit Back At British And US Targets In Middle East After
Israel Killing Of Hezbollah Chief - As Region Risks Being Plunged Into Wider
War, Experts Warn
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“... Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and
former Ambassador of the UK to Yemen, told MailOnline: 'Any successful upgrade
of Houthi capabilities would also likely draw a kinetic Israeli response.' He
added that such a deal could 'draw clearer lines of alliances' between an axis
of Russia and Iran against the West. Despite calls from its allies to
de-escalate and leave Lebanon, Israel seemed intent on continuing its press
into Lebanon. This morning the IDF announced it was mobilising three reserve
battalions to bolster the defences of its central command. Israel's Chief of
Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Saturday that the elimination of Nasrallah
was 'not the end of our toolbox.' He said that the strike targeting Hezbollah
leadership was the result of a long period of preparation and they would
'reach' anyone who threatens Israel. He added that the army is 'at full
readiness in all of our fronts'.”



Tagesspiegel: Khamenei In Safe Place: “A Targeted Killing Would Be A Direct
Declaration Of War On Iran”
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“First Ismail Haniya, then Hassan Nasrallah – and soon Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei? After Israel killed the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah since the end
of July, the Iranian regime fears that it could now be the turn of the
85-year-old revolutionary leader in Tehran.… Security expert Hans-Jakob
Schindler calls the action unusual. After the killings of Hamas leader Ismail
Haniya and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the Iranian regime must assume
that its security measures, which were long considered adequate, are no longer
sufficient. “Israel has been interested in eliminating Nasrallah for years, but
has been hesitant to attack Nasrallah directly,” says the expert from the
international Counter Extremism Project. There have already been threats: While
the Israeli Air Force was preparing its attack on Nasrallah's bunker in Beirut
on Friday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to the UN
General Assembly in New York that "the long arm of Israel" could reach any
place in Iran . His "message to the tyrants of Tehran" was: "If you attack us,
we will attack you."”



DW News: How Nasrallah Transformed Hezbollah In 32 Years As Chief
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“Hezbollah has confirmed the death of Hassan Nasrallah. During his three
decades as leader, Hezbollah became one of the most powerful paramilitary
groups in the Middle East. Here's a look back on his life.”



United States



PBS: U.S. Troops Will Leave Some Bases In Iraq Under Deal To End Mission
Fighting Islamic State
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“The U.S. announced an agreement with the Iraqi government Friday to wrap up
the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic
State group by next year, with U.S. troops departing some bases that they have
long occupied during a two-decade-long military presence in the country. But
the Biden administration refused to provide details on how many of the
approximately 2,500 U.S. troops still serving in Iraq will remain there or
acknowledge it will mark a full withdrawal from the country. “I think it’s fair
to say that, you know, our footprint is going to be changing within the
country,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Friday
without providing specifics. The announcement comes at a particularly
contentious time for the Middle East, with escalating conflict between Israel
and two Iranian-backed militant groups — Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza
— threatening a broader regional war.”



Associated Press: Biden Says He’ll Speak With Israeli Leader, Vowing All-Out
War In The Middle East Must Be Avoided
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“President Joe Biden said Sunday he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be
avoided. “It has to be,” Biden told reporters as he boarded Air Force One for
Washington. “We really have to avoid it.” The president’s statements come as
Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday. He would
not say when he planned to speak with Netanyahu. The Iran-backed Hezbollah
sustained a string of deadly blows to its command structure, including the
killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as part of a wave of
increasingly brazen Israeli strikes meant to undercut the group’s capacity to
attack its territory. Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have been
forced to evacuate near the Israel-Lebanon border as Hezbollah has launched
near-daily rocket volleys at Israel over the past 11 months and Israel has
countered with its own strikes.”



Syria



Reuters: Syrians Mourn Hezbollah Leader Killed In Israeli Strike
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“Flags flew at half-mast in Damascus on Sunday and residents said they were
still shocked after the killing of Hezbollah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,
whose fighters helped Syria's army reclaim large parts of the country during
its brutal civil war. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's
southern suburbs on Friday, amid a significant escalation in the hostilities
between Hezbollah and the Israeli military playing out in parallel with the
Gaza war. Syria announced three days of national mourning, with President
Bashar al-Assad saying on Sunday that Nasrallah would "remain in the memory of
Syrians". In Damascus, residents expressed disbelief over Israel's killing of
Nasrallah. "He can't die. He always dreamed of martyrdom, and while this is
fitting, it's still so hard to accept," said Marwa Barkouka. "He remains alive,
not just as a martyr but because he lives inside us. We grew up with him here."”



Iran



Reuters: Iran Vows Response To Guards Deputy Commander Killing In Lebanon
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“Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that the killing by
Israel of an Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander in Beirut was a
"horrible crime" that would not go unanswered. Brigadier General Abbas
Nilforoushan was killed in the Israeli strikes on Beirut on Friday in which
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah also died. "There is no doubt that this
horrible crime committed by the Zionist regime (Israel) will not go
unanswered," Araqchi said in a statement addressed to the commander of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Hossein Salami. Earlier on
Sunday, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that
Iran-alligned armed groups would carry on confronting Israel with Tehran's help
following the killing of Nasrallah, Iranian state media reported. An alliance
known as the Axis of Resistance, built up over decades with Iranian support,
includes the Palestinian group Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Yemen's Houthis,
and various Shi'ite Muslim armed groups in Iraq and Syria.”



Pakistan



Voice Of America: Militants Kill 7 Workers, Kidnap 20 In Southwestern Pakistan

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“Pakistani authorities said Sunday suspected insurgents killed at least seven
workers and abducted 20 others at gunpoint in two attacks overnight in the
country’s southwestern Balochistan province. The violence occurred in the
Panjgur and Musakhail districts of the sparsely populated insurgency-hit
province, which is rich in natural resources. Police said that gunmen attacked
a home in Panjgur at around midnight Saturday, spraying its occupants with
bullets before fleeing on motorcycles. They added that the gunfire wounded one
person and that the victims were laborers from the eastern Punjab province. The
second attack took place early Sunday when a group of armed men stormed a gas
and oil exploration company’s site in Musakhail. Dheeraj Kalra, the local
assistant police commissioner, told VOA by phone that the assailants opened
fire, vandalized equipment, took 20 workers as hostages, and then escaped.”



Lebanon



Associated Press: An Israeli Airstrike Hits Central Beirut For The First Time
In Nearly A Year Of Conflict
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“The first apparent Israeli airstrike on central Beirut in nearly a year of
conflict leveled an apartment building early Monday. It came after Israel hit
targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people, as Hezbollah sustained
heavy blows to its command structure, including the killing of its leader,
Hassan Nasrallah. The airstrike hit a multistory residential building,
according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene. Videos showed
ambulances and a crowd gathered near the building in a mainly Sunni district
with a busy thoroughfare lined with shops. The airstrike killed at least one
person and wounded 16, an official with Lebanese Civil Defense said, speaking
on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
He said the person killed was a member of the al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the
Islamic Group, a Sunni political and militant group that is allied with
Hezbollah.”



Middle East



Reuters: Hamas Says Nasrallah 'Assassination' Will Only Strengthen Resistance
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“Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Saturday it mourned Lebanon's
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah following his killing in an Israeli
airstrike, saying his death would only fuel the fight against Israel. "Crimes
and assassination by the occupation will only increase the determination and
the insistence of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon to go forward with
all their might, bravery and pride on the footsteps of the martyrs...and pursue
the path of resistance until victory and the dismissal of the occupation,"
Hamas said in a statement. His death marks a heavy blow to Hezbollah as it
reels from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks. It is also a huge blow to
Iran, given the major role he has played in the Tehran-backed regional "Axis of
Resistance." The 'Axis of Resistance' refers to groups including Hezbollah that
are backed by Iran and have been waging attacks on Israel since war erupted
between their ally Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7.”



Associated Press: Israel-Hamas War Latest: Israel Strikes Houthi Targets In
Yemen
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“Hezbollah on Sunday confirmed the death of high-ranking official Nabil Kaouk
in an Israeli airstrike, a day after the Lebanese militant group acknowledged
the killings of multiple commanders, including longtime leader Hassan
Nasrallah. Israel struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the militants’
recent attacks, and is continuing to carry out strikes on Hezbollah targets in
Lebanon. Meanwhile, the number of people displaced by the conflict from
southern Lebanon has more than doubled and now stands at more than 211,000,
according to the United Nations. Hezbollah and Israel have traded near-daily
strikes since the Israel-Hamas war started after the Gaza-based Palestinian
militant group stormed into Israel almost a year ago on Oct. 7, sparking fears
of regional war. An apparent Israeli airstrike hit central Beirut early Monday,
for the first time in nearly a year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah,
witnesses said.”



Somalia



Reuters: At Least Six Killed By Bomb Blasts In Somalia
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“At six people were killed and 10 injured on Saturday by bomb explosions in
Somalia's capital Mogadishu and a town in the country's Middle Shabelle region,
police and witnesses said. It was not immediately clear who had carried out the
attacks, although Islamist militant group al Shabaab frequently orchestrates
bombings and gun attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa
country. The blast in Mogadishu involved a bomb-rigged car that was parked on a
road near the National Theatre in Mogadishu, about one kilometre away from the
president's office. It detonated, killing five people and injuring seven, a
policeman at the scene, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised
to speak to the press, told Reuters. The casualty figures were confirmed by
another policeman in the area. A police spokesperson did not pick up a Reuters'
call seeking comment.”



Africa



Voice Of America: Attacks By Islamic Extremists Are Rampant In Africa's Sahel
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“Extremist attacks in Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara in
Africa, have proliferated in recent months: Last week, Islamic militants
attacked Bamako, the capital of Mali, for the first time in almost a decade,
demonstrating their capacity to carry out large scale assaults. And last month,
at least 100 villagers and soldiers were killed in central Burkina Faso during
a weekend attack on a village by al-Qaida-linked jihadis, as they were forcibly
helping security forces dig trenches to protect security outposts and villages.
Here's what we know about the security situation in Sahel: A region
characterized by uprisings and coups. Over the last decade, the region has been
shaken by extremist uprisings and military coups. Three Sahelian nations, Mali,
Niger and Burkina Faso, are now ruled by military leaders who have taken power
by force, on the pledge of providing more security to citizens.”



United Kingdom



Reuters: UK Calls Again For Immediate Ceasefire In Lebanon
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“British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he had spoken with Lebanon's
Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday, following an Israeli airstrike on
Beirut which killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. "We agreed on the
need for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the bloodshed. A diplomatic
solution is the only way to restore security and stability for the Lebanese and
Israeli people," Lammy said in a statement on social media platform X. Earlier
in the week Lammy told the United Nations' General Assembly that there should
be an immediate ceasefire between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel and that a
full-blown war was not in the interest of the people in the region. Britain's
foreign ministry has advised its nationals to leave Lebanon as soon as
possible.”



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