CEP Mentions
IrishDentist: Terrorism: Abu Abdul Qader, “The Emir” Of The Islamic State In Iraq, Eliminated
“... However, experts warn that without continued pressure, the group may attempt to regroup and continue guerrilla-style attacks in Iraq and Syria, and the complete withdrawal of the US contingent from Iraq planned for 2025 risks becoming a boomerang as happened in Afghanistan in 2021. According to data from the United States Central Command, published in January 2024, ISIS has around 2,500 active fighters between Iraq and Syria, of which around 1,000 are in Iraq. Speaking of Syria, according to data from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) ISIS carried out at least 16 attacks in September in the governorates of Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Raqqa and Deir Ez Zor. These attacks killed at least 32 pro-Assad soldiers and one civilian and wounded at least 21 others.”
Focus Online: Terror In Ankara: Turkish Security Situation Remains Volatile
“The attack on the Turkish arms company TUSAS in Ankara once again shows the ongoing violence between the Turkish government and the PKK. The security situation remains tense. Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler comments on this. Attack on TUSAS: Another round of violence. The attack on the Turkish arms company TUSAS in Ankara is just another round in the Turkish government's fight against the PKK. Since the terrorist organization was founded in 1978, it has not been possible to achieve a lasting end to the group's terrorist operations in the country.”
Syria
CBS: U.S.-Allied Kurds In Syria Say 12 Killed In Strikes As Turkey Responds To Attack On State-Run Defense Firm
“Statement posted FridayTurkey launched airstrikes late Wednesday in Kurdish-held parts of Syria and Iraq in retaliation for a deadly attack at a state-owned defense manufacturer in Ankara that saw two attackers kill five people and wound more than a dozen others. The Turkish government quickly blamed the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a "nefarious" attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries headquarters outside the capital and, two days later, the PKK claimed the attack. Video verified by CBS News Confirmed showed damage to electrical infrastructure in Kobani and Qamishli, the de-facto capital of the semi-autonomous region controlled by Kurdish-majority forces in northeast Syria.”
Turkey
The New York Times: What We Know About The Militant Attack In Turkey
“Two armed militants attacked the headquarters of Turkey’s state-run aerospace company on Wednesday, killing five people and injuring 22 others in what the government called a terrorist attack. The attackers were killed. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a militant group that has been fighting the Turkish state for decades, said on Friday that it was responsible for the attack. In the days following the assault, Turkey’s government has bombed sites that it said belonged to the group and its affiliates in neighboring Iraq and Syria. One of those groups said strikes in Syria on Thursday hit infrastructure and the security forces, killing 12 people, including two children.”
Pakistan
Reuters: Pakistan Militant Attack Kills 10 Frontier Police, Sources Say
“At least 10 Pakistani frontier police were killed in a militant attack on an outpost near the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, police sources said. Thursday's attack, claimed by Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), comes as Pakistan battles a resurgence of militant attacks in its rugged northwest, as well as a growing ethnic separatist insurgency in the south. Three senior police sources confirmed the attack, saying a large group of militants stormed the outpost, killing members of the frontier constabulary security force. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is a sensitive one. The attack was confirmed by Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, chief minister of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in a statement on Friday that condemned it, but did not state the number of deaths.”
Lebanon
Reuters: UNHCR: Israel's Border Air Strikes Hindering Refugees Fleeing Lebanon For Syria
“Israeli air strikes overnight on the main border crossing to Syria had left Lebanon's main crossing point to its neighbour unable to function, hindering refugee attempts to flee a country where a fifth of the population is already internally displaced, the UN's refugee agency said. Rula Amin, the UNHCR's Amman-based spokesperson, said she was unaware of any warning being given before the strike, which landed 500 metres from the main border crossing. Some 430,000 people have crossed from Lebanon to Syria since Israel's campaign started, she said. "The attacks on the border crossings are a major concern," she said. "They are blocking the path to safety for people fleeing conflict."”
Middle East
Reuters: Israeli Army Chief Sees Possibility For 'Sharp Conclusion' To Hezbollah Conflict
“Israel's military chief said there was a possibility for a "sharp conclusion" to the conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, the military said on Thursday. "In the north, there's a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion. We thoroughly dismantled Hezbollah's senior chain of command," Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said in a video statement from a security assessment in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.”
Associated Press: Massive Displacement From Israel-Hezbollah War Transforms Beirut’s Famed Commercial Street
“Inside what was once one of Beirut’s oldest and best-known cinemas, dozens of Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war spend their time following the news on their phones, cooking, chatting and walking around to pass the time. Outside on Hamra Street, once a thriving economic hub, sidewalks are filled with displaced people, and hotels and apartments are crammed with those seeking shelter. Cafes and restaurants are overflowing. In some ways, the massive displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from south Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs has provided a boost for this commercial district after years of decline as a result of Lebanon’s economic crisis. But it is not the revival many had hoped for.”
BBC: Gaza Ceasefire Talks To Resume In Coming Days
“Negotiations over a potential Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal are set to resume in Doha in the coming days, officials from the US, Israel and Qatar have said. A spokesperson for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an Israeli delegation will travel to Qatar on Sunday. It is not yet clear whether Hamas has agreed to participate in the talks. The US believes the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week - seen as one of the group's most extreme figures - may open the door to an agreement, though Hamas has accused Israel of being the primary block to any deal. “With Sinwar gone,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told journalists, “there is a real opportunity to bring [the hostages] home and to accomplish the objective.” That objective, Mr Blinken said, was to reach a deal "so that Israel can withdraw, so that Hamas cannot reconstitute, and so that the Palestinian people can rebuild their lives and rebuild their futures".”
Egypt
Reuters: Egypt Hosts Hamas Talks In Cairo To Revive Gaza Ceasefire, Report Says
“An Egyptian security delegation met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo as part of efforts to resume the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Thursday, citing an unnamed official source. Egypt and Qatar have acted as mediators between Israel and Hamas in months of talks that broke down in August without an agreement to end fighting that began when the Palestinian militant group launched attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV said later on Thursday citing sources that a Hamas delegation, headed by chief negotiator and deputy Hamas Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo to meet with the head of general intelligence agency, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he welcomed Egypt's willingness to advance a deal for the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip.”
Africa
Reuters: In Ghana, Sahel Jihadis Find Refuge And Supplies, Sources Say
“Islamist militants fighting in Burkina Faso are discreetly using Ghana's north as a logistical and medical rear base to sustain their insurgency, seven sources told Reuters, a move that could help them expand their footprint in West Africa. The sources, who include Ghanaian security officials and regional diplomats, said Ghanaian authorities appeared to be mostly turning a blind eye to the insurgents crossing over from neighbouring Burkina Faso to stock up on food, fuel and even explosives, as well as getting injured fighters treated in hospital. But they said that approach, while so far sparing Ghana from the kind of deadly Islamist attacks that have plagued its neighbours, risks allowing militants to put down roots in the country and recruit in some marginalised local communities. Ghana shares a 600 km (372 mile) border with Burkina Faso, the country at the heart of an insurgency that has killed thousands, displaced millions and, according to some experts, turned the Sahel region into the epicentre of global terrorism as factions loyal to al Qaeda and Islamic State expand their presence.”
United Kingdom
BBC: Far-Right Extremist Jailed For Terrorist Offences
“A far-right extremist has been jailed for 12 years after posting videos of an extreme right-wing nature on social media. Gabriel Budasz, 24, of Drove Road in Weston-super-Mare, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday. He had been found guilty of terror offences, after police seized books, masks and memorabilia of an extreme right-wing nature, as well as a 3D-printed firearm from his home in August 2023. Judge Forster told the defendant: "You have no interest as to how your actions could have affected others." Prosecutors seized Budasz's mobile and computer devices and found he used a number of social media sites under different usernames to post extreme right-wing material. The court heard Budasz was living in supported accommodation, where he made videos that were broadcast on social media.”
Europe
The Washington Post: A Deadly Attack At A Police Station In Bosnia Is An Act Of Terrorism, Prosecutors Say
“An attack by a teenager who broke into a police station in northwest Bosnia — killing one officer and wounding another — was described as an act of terrorism by authorities on Friday. The assault happened around 9 p.m. in the town of Bosanska Krupa on Thursday. The assailant, born in 2009, went into the local police station and stabbed the officers in a “totally unprovoked” attack, police said. Prosecutors working to determine the motive and all the circumstances of the attack characterized it as a terrorist assault. They said the injured officer has been hospitalized and is in a stable condition.”
Associated Press: Ukrainian Father-Son Pair Sentenced To 20 Years In Belarus Prison For Terrorism
“A father and son from Ukraine were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment each in Belarus after being convicted of preparing terrorist acts. A court in the city of Gomel decreed the conviction and sentencing on Wednesday of Serhiy Kabarchuk and his son Pavlo. Both were arrested in February for allegedly assembling a store of weapons and explosives. State television later ran footage in which the Kabarchuks said they were acting under the direction of Ukraine’s SBU security service. Many observers claim that such televised confessions in the authoritarian country are made under duress. Belarus has long borders with both Ukraine and Russia. Russian troops are based in Belarus and have been deployed into the Ukraine-Russia war from there. Belarus also hosts an unspecified number of Russian tactical nuclear weapons. Ukraine made no immediate comment on the convictions.”
Southeast Asia
Reuters: Four Killed In Militant Attack In India's Kashmir
“At least four people, including two soldiers, were killed when militants ambushed an army vehicle in India's restive Kashmir on Thursday night, officials said, the fourth attack in the region in a fortnight and the second this week. The attacks come close on the heels of a government formed by an opposition alliance taking over in the territory where separatist militants have fought security forces for decades and thousands of people have been killed. At least nine soldiers were killed in two separate militant attacks in the region in July. Thursday's attack occurred in the Bota Pathri area near Kashmir's border with Pakistan, officials said, adding that two army porters were also killed in the incident and three soldiers injured. "A massive search operation has been launched against the militants responsible for the attack...Additional reinforcements have been sent to the area," said an army official who declined to be named.”
China
Reuters: China To Offer Taliban Tariff-Free Trade As It Inches Closer To Isolated Resource-Rich Regime
“China will offer the Taliban tariff-free access to its vast construction, energy and consumer sectors, Beijing's envoy to Afghanistan said on Thursday, as the ailing resource-rich but diplomatically-isolated regime looks to build up its markets. Beijing has sought to develop its ties with the Taliban since they took control of Afghanistan in 2021, but like all governments has refrained from formally recognising the Islamic fundamentalist group's rule amid international concern over its human rights record and those of women and girls. But the impoverished country could offer a wealth of mineral resources to boost Beijing's supply chain security although it risks becoming a haven for militant groups threatening China's Xinjiang region and huge investments in neighbouring Pakistan.”
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