Eye on Extremism
October 1, 2024
NBC News: Israel Launches Invasion Into Southern Lebanon Targeting Hezbollah
“Israel’s military forces crossed the border into southern Lebanon on Monday to conduct what its military described as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The offensive, which is aimed at pushing Hezbollah forces farther away from the Israeli border, is expected to last for days, not weeks, U.S. officials said. Israel informed the U.S. that the intention of the incursion into southern Lebanon is to push Hezbollah forces farther from the Israeli border and target their infrastructure, including stockpiles and weapons, according to a U.S. official, a Biden administration official and a source familiar with the planning. The offensive will be limited in duration and scope, possibly lasting for days, not weeks, the sources said, adding that the geographic reach will be limited.”
Fox News: Israel Launches Limited Ground Operations In Lebanon As War Against Hezbollah, Terrorist Groups Continue
“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began a limited, localized ground operation targeting Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah on Monday evening, marking a new chapter in the Israel-Hamas war. The developments came in the wake of the IDF's successful attacks against Hezbollah, killing several of the organization's key figures over the weekend. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was one of the most notable fatalities. The Israeli military also confirmed that Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council, was eliminated by IDF forces. Shortly before Monday's operation, the IDF imposed a closed military zone on northern Israeli border communities including Metula, Misgav Am, and Kfar Giladi. The incursion began after the Israeli military launched airstrikes on central Beirut on Sunday, marking the first time in the year-long war that the central part of the Lebanese capital was targeted.”
CEP Mentions
DW: What Are Israel's Goals As Lebanon Offensive Begins?
“Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Berlin-based Counter Extremism Project breaks down Israel's four stated objectives for its land incursion into southern Lebanon. He told DW that keeping the Israeli operation against Hezbollah "limited, localized and targeted" will pose a challenge.”
BBC: Far-Right Group Using Sports To 'Build Militia'
“... Alexander Ritzmann, a researcher with international organisation The Counter Extremism Project and an adviser to the European Commission’s Radicalisation Awareness Network, said he had "never seen a network in right-wing extremism grow so fast". He said AC was a "sophisticated operation" and warned if the movement was "allowed to continue to operate and multiply, the likelihood for targeted political violence will increase". He said its objective was "to build some sort of militia that hides behind the image of a sports club, while actually preparing for organised violence". "When they commit violence, members and groups will not publish a manifesto afterwards," he said. "This is different from other kinds of extreme right terrorism, where, after the attack a manifesto with all kinds of explanations and theories is published."”
Daily Mail: Israel ‘Warns US A Limited Invasion Could Start Today’ As Terrified Lebanese Brace For War And Netanyahu Warns ‘Nowhere In The Middle East’ Is Out Of Reach Of His Forces
“Israel has warned Washington that a limited ground operation to clear out Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon could start imminently, a US official said today. The official said that the operation could start as soon as today. Israel has vowed to continue to fight with Hezbollah after 'eliminating' its secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, and other leading senior officials, in an airstrike in Beirut on Friday, and is now gesturing towards an invasion. […] Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and former Ambassador of the UK to Yemen, told MailOnline: 'If you look at the Hezbollah leadership roll call, they are mainly dead, many of them in the past week or so. 'It's not clear to me whether there is an heir apparent. And would they want primarily a fighter or a political or religious leader?'“
Iraq
Reuters: US Forces Accounted For After Reported Rocket Attack In Baghdad, Official Says
“Multiple Katyusha rockets were fired near Baghdad International Airport, two Iraqi military officials told Reuters early on Tuesday, but a U.S. official disputed reports that U.S. military forces were targeted in the incident. "All military personnel are accounted for and military forces were not targeted as had been reported," the U.S. defense official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The incident was a reminder of the soaring tensions in the Middle East, as speculation swirled about whether Iran and Iran-backed groups would make good on threats to retaliate after a series of Israeli major blows against Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah. Two Iraqi security sources said an initial investigation showed three rockets were fired, including one that landed near buildings used by Iraqi counter-terrorism forces, causing damages and fire to some vehicles but no casualties."
Afghanistan
Voice Of America: Taliban Asserts New Gains Against Afghan-Based IS Offshoot Amid Skepticism
“The Taliban said Monday that their security forces had killed and captured several “key members” of a regional Islamic State affiliate for plotting recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, alleging that the suspects had crossed over from Pakistan. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, listed the claims and so-called successes against Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, locally known as Daesh, in a formal statement without providing evidence to support them. The assertions came after the country’s three immediate neighbors and Russia jointly urged the de facto Kabul government this past Friday to take “visible and verifiable actions” against transnational terrorist groups, including IS-K, on Afghan soil. Mujahid said the IS-K operatives in question had been involved in several recent attacks in Afghanistan.”
Yemen
Associated Press: Drone Boat Hits Ship In Red Sea As Missile Strikes Another In Likely Assaults By Yemen Houthi Rebels
“An explosive-loaded drone crashed into one ship Tuesday in the Red Sea as a missile exploded against another, the British military and private security officials said, marking the latest suspected attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The attacks likely are the rebels’ first assaults on commercial shipping in weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict. They come as Israeli ground forces entered Lebanon after days of Israeli airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top officials, and earlier explosions of sabotaged electronic devices used by the Shiite militia. The Houthis threatened “escalating military operations” targeting Israel on Monday after they apparently shot down a U.S. military drone flying over Yemen. The first attack took place some 110 kilometers (70 miles) off the port city of Hodeida.”
Middle East
Associated Press: Israeli Military Warns Several Lebanese Communities Near The Border To Evacuate
“The Israeli military on Tuesday warned nearly two dozen Lebanese border communities to evacuate, hours after launching what it said was a limited ground incursion against the Hezbollah militant group. The warning, posted by the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesman on the social media platform X, specified around two dozen communities in southern Lebanon and asked people to evacuate north of the Awali River, some 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border. That is farther than the Litani River, which marks the northern edge of a U.N.-declared zone that was intended to serve as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after they fought to a monthlong stalemate in the 2006 war. The army had earlier warned people not to travel south of the Litani, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of the border. The border region, which has largely emptied out over the past year as the two sides have traded fire.”
Reuters: Israeli Bombardment Kills At Least 21 In Gaza As Fighting Rages
“Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 people in Gaza on Tuesday, local medics said and fighting ramped up, as the Israeli military said it had been targeting command centres used by its Islamist militant foe Hamas. Palestinian health officials said at least 13 people, including women and children, were killed in two Israeli strikes on two houses in Nuseirat, one of the enclave's eight historic refugee camps. There has been no immediate comment by the Israeli army on the two strikes. Another strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City killed at least seven people, medics added. The Israeli military said in a statement the air strike targeted Hamas militants operating from a command centre embedded in a compound that had previously served as Al-Shejaia School.”
Somalia
Voice Of America: Exclusive: AFRICOM Chief Says Islamic State Doubles Size In North Somalia
“Islamic State in Somalia has approximately doubled in size over the past year, the chief of U.S. Africa Command told VOA. “I am concerned about the northern part of Somalia and ISIS growing in numbers,” AFRICOM commander Gen. Michael Langley said in an exclusive interview, using an acronym for the terror group. Langley declined to provide the United States’ estimate of how man Islamic State fighters are in Somalia, other than to say that the group’s had grown about “twofold” in the past year. Previous estimates have put the number of Islamic State fighters in north Somalia at about 200 fighters. The AFRICOM commander also warned about the possibility of Islamic State increasing its foreign fighter presence in Somalia. Somali Brigadier General Abdi Hassan Hussein, the former intelligence and police commander of Puntland, where Islamic State is located in the north, told VOA earlier this year that the number of Islamic State foreign fighters there alone is estimated in the hundreds.”
Mali
Bloomberg: Barrick Says It Reaches Deal With Mali After Reports Staff Were Detained
“Barrick Gold Corp. and Mali’s military leadership have agreed to resolve a dispute over the company’s assets in the West African nation. “Barrick and the government of Mali have agreed to find a global resolution to the existing claims and disputes between the government and Barrick’s Loulo and Gounkoto gold mining companies,” the Toronto-based miner said in an emailed statement on Monday. Details of the agreement will be made public once the terms of the settlement have been finalized, according to the statement, which follows a Reuters report of the arrest of four Barrick employees. Mali’s junta in 2023 adopted a new mining code that could see the government increase its stake to 35% in existing gold mines. Mining companies operating in Mali, including Barrick – the world’s second-largest miner and one of Mali’s top gold producers, has come under pressure from the military junta that took power in 2020, to adhere to the new law.”
France
Reuters: France Says It Is Sending Helicopter Carrier To Eastern Mediterranean
“A French helicopter carrier will arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in the next five to six days and take up position in case a decision is taken to evacuate foreign nationals from Lebanon, a French army spokesperson said on Tuesday. Western nations have been weighing their options on how to get nationals out of Lebanon safely if a full-scale war breaks out there, with Cyprus and possibly Turkey seen as offering sanctuary to tens of thousands of people. Israel said intense fighting had erupted with the Hezbollah movement in south Lebanon after its paratroops and commandos launched raids there, at the start of a ground incursion that followed airstrikes against Hezbollah's leadership. France, which has about 20,000 citizens in Lebanon, sent its Dixmude helicopter carrier from the naval port of Toulon to the region on Monday, the French army spokesperson said.”
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