“Fighters from the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ran riot in
east-central Sudan in a multi-day attack that killed more than 120 people in
one town, a doctors group and the United Nations said. It was the group’s
latest attack against the Sudanese military after suffering a series of
setbacks, losing ground to the military in the area. The war, which has been
going on for more than a year and a half, has wrecked the African country,
displacing millions of its population and pushing it to the brink of a
full-blown famine. RSF fighters went on a rampage in villages and towns on the
eastern and northern sides of the province of Gezira between Oct. 20-25,
shooting at civilians and sexually attacking women and girls, the United
Nations said in a statement Saturday, adding that they looted private and
public properties, including open markets.”











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Eye on Extremism



October 28, 2024



Associated Press: More Than 120 Killed In Paramilitary Rampage In East-Central
Sudan, UN And A Doctors Group Say
<[link removed]>



“Fighters from the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ran riot in
east-central Sudan in a multi-day attack that killed more than 120 people in
one town, a doctors group and the United Nations said. It was the group’s
latest attack against the Sudanese military after suffering a series of
setbacks, losing ground to the military in the area. The war, which has been
going on for more than a year and a half, has wrecked the African country,
displacing millions of its population and pushing it to the brink of a
full-blown famine. RSF fighters went on a rampage in villages and towns on the
eastern and northern sides of the province of Gezira between Oct. 20-25,
shooting at civilians and sexually attacking women and girls, the United
Nations said in a statement Saturday, adding that they looted private and
public properties, including open markets.”



Associated Press: An Israeli Airstrike Killed Journalists Covering The War In
Lebanon As They Slept
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“An early morning Israeli airstrike killed three journalists as they slept at
a guesthouse in southeast Lebanon on Friday, one of the deadliest attacks on
the media since hostilities broke out across the border a year ago. It was a
rare airstrike on an area that has been used by the media as a base for
covering the war. The 3 a.m. airstrike turned the site — a series of chalets
nestled among trees that had been rented by various media outlets covering the
war — into rubble. Cars marked “PRESS” were overturned and covered in dust and
debris, and at least one satellite dish for live broadcasting was totally
destroyed. The Israeli army did not issue a warning prior to the strike, which
it said targeted Hezbollah militant infrastructure. The military later said the
strike was being reviewed.”




CEP Expert Analysis

*
ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency In September 2024
<[link removed]>

*
CEP Report: Civilian Counterterrorism Militias Take Action, Introduce New
Challenges to Combatting Violent Extremism in Africa
<[link removed]>

*
CEP Policy Brief: Identifying and Disrupting Key Antisemitic Actors
<[link removed]>

*
Extremist Content Online: Extreme Right Celebrates Anti-Muslim Immigration
Riots on Telegram and X
<[link removed]>

*
Counterpoint Brief: US Designates Nordic Resistance Movement Specially
Designated Global Terrorist Organization
<[link removed]>




CEP Mentions



Ynet News: How Qatari Money Influences France’s Anti-Israel Policy
<[link removed]>



“... According to the experts of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France
has decided on a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this
alliance is transparent — at the beginning of 2024, the emirate pledged to
invest €10 billion into the French economy. The hidden part is much larger and
silently grows as Qatar’s significant investments in France’s sports and luxury
sectors gradually increase. The Qatari government owns luxury hotels in Paris,
Cannes and Nice, a stake in Bernard Arnault’s renowned French brand, Moët
Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Qataris own department store company Printemps abd own
the majority of the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club’s shares.”



DW: Israeli Strike 'Fairly Proportional'
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“DW spoke with Middle East security expert Hans-Jakob Schindler about the
risk of a further escalation in the Middle East after Israel’s retaliatory
strikes on Iran.”



The Sun: Deadliest Al Qaeda Attack You’ve Never Heard Of: 600 Civilians Dead
In Burkina Faso Fails To Make Global Headlines
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“... “Despite the seriousness of the situation and the significant
deterioration of the security situation that the attack demonstrated, it hardly
drew any media attention,” the senior director of the Counter Extremism
Project, Hans-Jakob Schindler, tells the Sun. Similarly, a second Jama’at
Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin attack occurred on September 17 in neighboring
Bamako, the Mali capital. More than 70 were slain and at least 200 more
injured, with little coverage in the Western press. According to Hans-Jakob
Schindler’s assessment, there are two main reasons why the terrorist situation
in West Africa is not getting much attention: One is that the conflict in the
Middle East has taken center stage, and the second is that over the past two
years, Western forces have withdrawn from the region almost entirely.”



I24: How Qatari Money Influences France’s Anti-Israel Policy
<[link removed]>



“... According to the experts of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France
has decided on a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this
alliance is transparent — at the beginning of 2024, the emirate pledged to
invest €10 billion into the French economy. The hidden part is much larger and
silently grows as Qatar’s significant investments in France’s sports and luxury
sectors gradually increase. The Qatari government owns luxury hotels in Paris,
Cannes, and Nice, a stake in Bernard Arnault’s renowned French brand, Moët
Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Qataris own department store company Printemps, owns
the majority of the Paris Saint-Germain football club’s shares.”



DW: Can Egypt Convince Israel And Hamas On A Temporary Truce In Gaza?
<[link removed]>



“Egypt has proposed a two-day truce in Gaza as a prelude to a longer
cease-fire. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Hamas to free four of the
Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. He proposed more
negotiations to follow that release within ten days.

Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at
least 45 people, mainly in the north of the strip. UN Chief Antonio Guterres
said he was shocked by what he called the "harrowing levels of death, injury
and destruction." Egypt proposes temporary truce in Gaza. DW speaks with
Hans-Jakob Schindler, Middle East security expert and Senior Director at the
Counter Extremism Project in Berlin”



The Telegraph: Rioter Dies In Prison After Being Jailed For Two Years
<[link removed]>



“A grandfather jailed for violent disorder and abusing police at an
anti-immigration riot this summer has become the first rioter to die in prison.
Peter Lynch, 61, described as a conspiracy theorist at his court hearing, is
believed to have taken his own life on Saturday night at HMP Moorland near
Doncaster in south Yorkshire, according to prison service sources. […] Ian
Acheson, a former prison governor and government adviser, said: “Any death in
custody is a tragedy. Not all can be prevented. “However, the profile of this
offender, rightly jailed for his role in rioting, suggests to me he ought to
have at least been considered as a suicide risk. “The investigation which must
take place after a fatal incident in a prison will need to explore this in
relation to his vulnerability and care.””



Spiked: Was Peter Lynch A Political Prisoner?
<[link removed]>



“Ian Acheson and Paul Embery discuss the rioter who has died in prison. This
is a clip from the latest episode of the spiked podcast.”



TalkTV UK: Rioter Dies In Prison After Being Jailed For Two Years
<[link removed]>



“Former prison governor Ian Acheson says the justice system is much worse than
just two-tier policing, after an asylum hotel rioter died in prison. "The first
thing I want to say to Mr. Lynch's family is that I've got huge amounts of
sympathy for them."”



The Telegraph: Britain Is Soft On Crime And Soft On The Causes Of Crime
<[link removed]>



“‘House arrest’ may be a term more usually associated with tinpot
dictatorships, but it has in fact been a key feature of our crime control
apparatus for years. Home Detention Curfew (HSC) was brought in under Labour in
1999. Now the Justice Secretary wants to extend that Blairite concept which
covered only the last six months of an offender’s custody to the whole
sentence. Will this make a difference in solving Britain’s omnishambles prison
crisis? […] Ian Acheson is a former prison governor and author of Screwed:
Britain’s prison crisis and how to escape it.”



The Spectator: Is Airbnb To Blame For Rising Crime In London
<[link removed]>



“Does Airbnb drive up crime in London? That’s the question posed of the
world’s most successful short-term rental service in new research by the
Cambridge Institute of Criminology. The UK’s holiday rental market is enormous,
projected to reach £3.5 billion this year. Airbnb eats up a sizeable chunk of
that revenue; millions on the move take advantage of what the platform has to
offer in the nation’s capital. And surely where there’s brass there’s muck?
Well, sort of. The research claimed a ‘positive association’ between areas of
London where there were high levels of Airbnb and increased criminality. […]
Professor Ian Acheson is a former prison governor. He was also Director of
Community Safety at the Home Office. His book ‘Screwed: Britain’s prison crisis
and how to escape it’ is out now.”



The Spectator: Mass Prisoner Releases Aren’t Working
<[link removed]>



“Today, over a thousand offenders will walk out of jail early as part of the
government’s ongoing emergency scheme to ease the pressure on our crippled
prison system. This time at least officials have dropped the pretence that no
dangerous criminals will walk free earlier than a judge decided they should
serve. Goodbye just deserts, hello justice by logistics. It remains to be seen
whether we’ll witness the previous disgraceful scenes of people celebrating
with champagne in front of our prisons. But our criminal justice system is so
hollowed out by complacency and incompetence, I wouldn’t bet against it
happening again. […] Professor Ian Acheson is a former prison governor. He was
also Director of Community Safety at the Home Office. His book ‘Screwed:
Britain’s prison crisis and how to escape it’ is out now.”



UnHerd: MI5 Must Rethink Islamic Terrorism
<[link removed]>



“MI5 has one hell of a job on its hands.” That was the warning yesterday from
the agency’s Director-General, Ken McCallum, in a speech which touched on
everything from Russian espionage to Iranian assassination plots, and from the
present competition with China to the violent echoes of last century’s conflict
in Northern Ireland. On counterterrorism, McCallum gave the “headline split” of
“75% Islamist terrorism, 25% extreme Right-wing.” Despite delving into the
shifting ideological configurations of the violence, McCallum underlined that
the threat of most concern is still that posed by al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
[…] Liam Duffy is a researcher, speaker and trainer in counter-terrorism based
in London.”



Iran



Associated Press: Attack On A Police Convoy In A Restive Southeastern Province
Of Iran Kills 10 Officers
<[link removed]>



“An attack on an Iranian police convoy Saturday in the country’s restive
southern province of Sistan and Baluchestan killed at least 10 officers,
authorities said. Details remain scarce over the attack in Gohar Kuh, some
1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Initially, reports simply described an attack by “miscreants” without more
information. But shortly after, Iranian state media said 10 officers had been
killed. HalVash, an advocacy group for the Baluch people of Afghanistan, Iran
and Pakistan, posted photos and video of what appeared to be a disabled truck
painted with the green stripe used by Iranian police vehicles. One graphic
photo shared by the group showed what appeared to be the corpses of two police
officers in the front seat of the truck.”



Associated Press: Analysis: Iran Faces Tough Choices In Deciding How To
Respond To Israeli Strikes
<[link removed]>



“It’s Iran’s move now. How the Islamic Republic chooses to respond to the
unusually public Israeli aerial assault on its homeland could determine whether
the region spirals further toward all-out war or holds steady at an already
devastating and destabilizing level of violence. In the coldly calculating
realm of Middle East geopolitics, a strike of the magnitude that Israel
delivered Saturday would typically be met with a forceful response. A likely
option would be another round of the ballistic missile barrages that Iran has
already launched twice this year. Retaliating militarily would allow Iran’s
clerical leadership to show strength not only to its own citizens but also to
Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the militant groups battling Israel that
are the vanguard of Tehran’s so-called Axis of Resistance.”



Turkey



Associated Press: Kurdish Militants Claim Responsibility For Deadly Attack On
Turkish Defense Firm
<[link removed]>



“A banned Kurdish militant group on Friday claimed responsibility for an
attack on the headquarters of a key defense company in Ankara that killed at
least five people. A statement from the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’
Party, PKK, said Wednesday’s attack on the premises of the aerospace and
defense company TUSAS was carried out by two members of its so-called “Immortal
Battalion” in response to Turkish “massacres” and other actions in Kurdish
regions. A man and a woman stormed TUSAS’ premises on the outskirts of Ankara,
setting off explosives and opening fire. Four TUSAS employees were killed
there. The assailants arrived on the scene in a taxi that they had commandeered
by killing its driver. More than 20 people were injured in the attack.”



Pakistan



Voice Of America: Clashes With Militants In Northwest Pakistan Kill 14
Security Force Members
<[link removed]>



“Pakistani authorities said Friday that clashes with militants killed at
least 14 security force officers and injured several others in a northwestern
province bordering Afghanistan. The violence took place in the
militancy-affected Khyber, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, where the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, frequently
ambushes military and police personnel and stages attacks against their
outposts. Local security officials in Khyber said a gunfight between TTP
assailants and security forces erupted Friday, resulting in the deaths of at
least two personnel and injuries to three others. They also reported the
killing of at least two militants. Separately, militants ambushed a police
vehicle in Bannu, killing a senior police officer and his guard.”



Voice Of America: Suicide Blast Kills At Least 8 In Northwest Pakistan
<[link removed]>



“Pakistani officials reported Saturday that a suicide bomber targeted a
security checkpoint in a volatile region near the border with Afghanistan,
killing at least eight people and injuring several others. The attack occurred
in the town of Mir Ali in Pakistan’s militancy-hit North Waziristan district.
At least two soldiers, four police officers and two civilians were said to be
among the dead. Multiple area security officials confirmed the casualties,
reporting that the bomber detonated a motorbike rickshaw filled with explosives
at the checkpoint. The explosion also injured five security personnel, with
local hospital sources describing the condition of some of them as “critical.”
Militants allied with the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, reportedly
claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing. It came a day after fierce
clashes with militants in districts surrounding North Waziristan killed at
least 16 Pakistani security force members and injured many others.”



Lebanon



Associated Press: Destruction Of Lebanon-Syria Border Crossings In Israeli
Airstrikes Creates Difficulties
<[link removed]>



“A stream of refugees fleeing Lebanon to Syria crossed a narrow makeshift
bridge on foot Sunday in the Qusair area of Syria’s Homs province after the
official border crossing was put out of commission by an Israeli strike two
days earlier. Only three functioning crossings remain between the countries,
which share a border 375 kilometers (233 mi) long. In late September, an
Israeli airstrike hit the border crossing of Matraba in Lebanon’s northeast,
forcing it to close. A few weeks later came a strike on Masnaa, the main
crossing between the two countries, putting it out of service. The Jousieh
crossing was struck on Friday. The Israeli military has accused the Hezbollah
militant group of using the crossings to move weapons and military equipment
from Syria to Lebanon.”



Middle East



The Wall Street Journal: Truck Hits Crowd At Israel Bus Stop, Injuring Dozens
<[link removed]>



“Nearly three dozen people were injured when a freight truck plowed into a
crowd at a bus stop in central Israel, in what police said they were
investigating as a terrorist attack. The truck rammed into the crowd as people
were getting off a bus, police said. At least six of the 35 injured were in
serious condition and five were in moderate condition, medical officials said.
Some of the injured were trapped under the bus when Israeli paramedics arrived.
The site of the attack was adjacent to a mall and near a military base in
Glilot, north of Tel Aviv. Glilot is home to the headquarters of Israel’s
Mossad spy agency, which Hezbollah and Iran have both claimed to target over
the past year in separate missile attacks. The driver of the truck was
“neutralized” by armed civilians at the scene, police said. It wasn’t
immediately clear if the driver was killed or injured.”



Reuters: Palestinian Authority Treads Tightrope In West Bank Crackdown On
Militants
<[link removed]>



“In the West Bank city of Tubas, the Palestinian Authority has been rounding
up militants who are spoiling for a fight with Israel and challenging its own
rule, seeking to show it can help shape the future for Palestinians after the
war in Gaza. President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority (PA) has poured
forces into Tubas, saying it aims to quash lawlessness and deny Israel pretexts
to raid the city in the occupied territory. His militant adversaries - Hamas
and Islamic Jihad - say the PA is serving Israel's agenda at a time when Israel
is going after their fighters in the West Bank as they battle Israel in Gaza,
sharpening old divisions between the militants and Abbas. Residents of Tubas
said clashes between the militants and the PA this month involved heavy machine
guns and bombs in some of the worst violence they can remember.”



Reuters: Israeli Defence Minister: Hamas, Hezbollah No Longer Effective
Proxies For Iran
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“Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Iran is no longer
able to effectively use its proxies Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in
Lebanon against Israel. "Over the past year, the security establishment led by
the Israel Defense Forces turned the tide of the war and had unprecedented
achievements in all arenas of fighting," he said in remarks to a memorial
ceremony in Jerusalem. Gallant said Hamas was no longer functioning as a
military network in Gaza, while Hezbollah's senior command and most of its
missile capabilities had been wiped out. He said both groups "are no longer an
effective tool" to be used by Iran.”



Egypt



Reuters: Egypt Proposes Short Gaza Truce With Small Hostage-Prisoner Exchange
<[link removed]>



“Egypt has proposed an initial two-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange four
Israeli hostages of Hamas for some Palestinian prisoners, Egypt's president
said on Sunday as Israeli military strikes killed 45 Palestinians across the
enclave. Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made the announcement as efforts
to defuse the devastating, more than year-long war resumed in Qatar with the
directors of the CIA and Israel's Mossad intelligence agency taking part.
Speaking alongside Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a press
conference in Cairo, Sisi also said that talks should resume within 10 days of
implementing the temporary ceasefire in efforts to reach a permanent one. There
was no immediate comment from Israel or Hamas but a Palestinian official close
to the mediation effort told Reuters: "I expect Hamas would listen to the new
offers, but it remains determined that any agreement must end the war and get
Israeli forces out of Gaza."”



Africa



Reuters: Ghana Rejects Reuters Report On Jihadis Finding Refuge In Its North
<[link removed]>



“Ghana's government on Saturday rejected Reuters reporting on Islamist
militants in Burkina Faso that found they are discreetly using neighbouring
Ghana's north as a logistical and medical base to sustain their insurgency. In
a statement on Saturday, Ghana's security ministry said there were no
"non-aggression policy" or tacit agreements with militant groups. "The ministry
strongly rejects the portrayal of Ghana as a 'supply line' for militants.
Ghana's counter-terrorism efforts are rightly commended by her partners in the
relentless regional and global fight against terrorism," the statement said. It
added that national security forces were actively engaged in counter-terrorism
efforts, particularly along Ghana's northern border. "The Government of Ghana,
through its State Security and Intelligence agencies, conducts continuous
operations to prevent any terrorist infiltration or cross-border movement of
militants and has been doing so over the years with notable successes," the
statement said.”



United Kingdom



The Guardian: How An English Extremist With A Hitler Tattoo Hid In Plain Sight
– And Plotted To Kill
<[link removed]>



“When neo-Nazi terrorist Callum Parslow walked into a countryside hotel on 2
April and stabbed an asylum seeker in the chest, it was not the first time he
had come to the attention of the police. The 31-year-old computer programmer
was on bail, having been arrested four months earlier for sending racist and
sexual messages to a black female journalist. The mindset that drove his attack
was clear. When police searched Parslow’s home in Worcester on 13 December,
they found a stockpile of Nazi memorabilia, including rings and medallions from
the Third Reich, two copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and numerous other
far-right books. The items were scattered through his bedroom, which had a huge
St George’s flag on the wall, 10 cans of cider on the desk and empty crisp
packets and milk cartons on the floor.“



Europe



A Deadly Attack At A Police Station In Bosnia Is An Act Of Terrorism,
Prosecutors Say
<[link removed]>



“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.
“Unofficially, the motive is an attack on the institution, i.e. the police
station as an authority with the aim of intimidating the population,” said
Chief Prosecutor Merima Mesanovic.“



Technology



Politico: Feds See Uptick In Online Chatter Among Extremists Preparing For
‘Civil War’
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“U.S. intelligence authorities are seeing a rise in online discussions among
domestic extremists about preparations for what they imagine to be an imminent
civil war, according to a Department of Homeland Security report. The
discussions — which largely take place in anonymous, unmoderated online forums
— are linked to the 2024 election and concerns about immigration. “Some
domestic violent extremists (DVEs) are reacting to the 2024 election season and
prominent policy issues by engaging in illegal preparatory or violent activity
that they link to the narrative of an impending civil war, raising the risk of
violence against government targets and ideological opponents,” the report from
the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis says. The report, dated Sept. 6,
2024, reflects widely held concerns that violence could mar the election.”



Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Social Platform X Suspends New Account
On Behalf Of Iran’s Supreme Leader
<[link removed]>



“The social platform X has suspended a new account on behalf of Iran’s
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that posted messages in Hebrew. The
account was suspended early Monday with a brief note appended to it saying: “X
suspends accounts which violate the X Rules.” It wasn’t immediately clear what
the violation was. The Elon Musk-owned social media company did not respond to
a request for comment from The Associated Press. The move came after Israel
openly attacked Iran for the first time this weekend. Khamenei said in a speech
on Sunday that Israel’s strikes — in response to Iran’s ballistic missile
attack this month — “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping
short of calling for retaliation.”



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