“U.S. airstrikes hit several Islamic State camps in the Syrian desert on
Monday, killing up to 35 of the group’s operatives, the United States Central
Command said in a statement on Wednesday. The strikes targeted multiple senior
leaders in the early evening, the statement said, and there were no known
civilian casualties. U.S. officials did not immediately respond to an inquiry
about the identities of the officials targeted. The United States has
dispatched warships and air defense systems to the region, where Israel is at
war with Hezbollah and Hamas, backed by Iran, and Iran and Israel have
exchanged blows directly. Syria, allied with Iran and Hezbollah, has also been
entangled in the conflict, adding to international unease about the already
unstable region.”











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Eye on Extremism



October 31, 2024



The New York Times: U.S. Military Says It Killed Up To 35 Islamic State
Militants In Syria
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“U.S. airstrikes hit several Islamic State camps in the Syrian desert on
Monday, killing up to 35 of the group’s operatives, the United States Central
Command said in a statement on Wednesday. The strikes targeted multiple senior
leaders in the early evening, the statement said, and there were no known
civilian casualties. U.S. officials did not immediately respond to an inquiry
about the identities of the officials targeted. The United States has
dispatched warships and air defense systems to the region, where Israel is at
war with Hezbollah and Hamas, backed by Iran, and Iran and Israel have
exchanged blows directly. Syria, allied with Iran and Hezbollah, has also been
entangled in the conflict, adding to international unease about the already
unstable region.”



Reuters: Lebanon, Israel Could Agree To Ceasefire Within Days, Lebanese Prime
Minister Says
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“Lebanon's prime minister expressed hope on Wednesday that a ceasefire deal
with Israel would be announced within days as Israel's public broadcaster
published what it said was a draft agreement providing for an initial 60-day
truce. The document, which broadcaster Kan said was a leaked proposal written
by Washington, said Israel would withdraw its forces from Lebanon within the
first week of the 60-day ceasefire. It largely aligned with details reported
earlier by Reuters based on two sources familiar with the matter. Lebanese
caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he had not believed a deal would be
possible until after Tuesday's U.S. presidential election. But he said he
became more optimistic after speaking on Wednesday with U.S. envoy for the
Middle East Amos Hochstein, who was due to travel to Israel on Thursday.”



CEP Mentions



The Cipher Brief: The Houthis Are Deeply Unpopular In Yemen – And That’s An
Opportunity
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“It has been widely acknowledged that the Houthi attacks against Israel and
international shipping that followed Hamas’s deadly October 7th attacks last
year, were used to defuse a domestic crisis. Shortly before that terrible day,
the Houthis were facing unprecedented opposition at home due to growing
resentment over their misrule. That changed in the aftermath of the October 7
attacks, and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Since the Houthis started
bombarding Israel and international shipping one year ago, the group has
promoted massive public rallies in Yemen to celebrate its “resistance”
throughout the territory under their control. It has been generally assumed
that the Houthi offensive had redirected public anger, but recent public
opinion polls tell a different story.”



I24: How Qatari Money Influences France's Anti-Israel Policy
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“... According to experts from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), France has
opted for a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of this alliance
is transparent - in early 2024, the emirate has committed to investing 10
billion euros in the French economy. The hidden part is much larger and is
growing silently as Qatar's significant investments in the French sports and
luxury sectors gradually increase. The Qatari government owns luxury hotels in
Paris, Cannes and Nice, a stake in Bernard Arnault's famous French brand, LVMH.
The Qataris own the Printemps department store and a majority stake in Paris
Saint-Germain. In 2022, France became the second European destination for
Qatari investments after the United Kingdom, with assets of more than 25
billion euros, and we are only talking about direct purchases by Qatari
entities.”



Vijesti: Far-Right Group Uses Sports To 'Create Paramilitary'
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“... Aleksandar Ritzman, a researcher at the international organization
Counter-Extremism Project and an advisor to the Radicalization Awareness
Network at the European Commission, said that "he has never seen any network in
right-wing extremism spread so quickly." He says AC is a "sophisticated
operation" and warned that if the movement is "allowed to continue to operate
and multiply, the likelihood of targeted political violence will increase." He
said that its goal is to "create a kind of paramilitary that hides behind the
image of a sports club, while actually preparing for organized violence." "When
the violence starts, members and groups will not subsequently publish a
manifesto," he said. "This is different from the other kind of extreme
right-wing terrorism, where manifestos with all sorts of explanations and
theories are published after an attack."”



United States



Washington Examiner: Arizona Man Accused Of Shooting Democratic Campaign
Office Charged With Terrorism
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“The man accused of shooting several times at a Democratic campaign office in
Arizona has been charged with terrorism. A grand jury has indicted Jeffrey
Kelly, 60, with one count of terrorism, three counts of discharge of a firearm
at a structure, three counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm, and one count
of criminal damage. He was arrested after his alleged involvement with multiple
shootings at an Arizona campaign office and a separate scare involving a
mysterious white substance. “Kelly first used a CO2 powered gun, then escalated
to firearms for the second and third shootings. Over the course of the three
shootings, Kelly fired more than twenty times, causing damage to the building’s
windows, front doors, and walls,” the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said in
a news release.”



Syria



Associated Press: US Airstrikes Target Multiple Sites In Syria, Killing Up To
35 Islamic State Militants
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“The U.S. military has struck a number of Islamic State group camps in Syria
this week, killing as many as 35 militants, U.S. Central Command said
Wednesday. The airstrikes in the desert of central Syria were done Monday
evening and targeted multiple locations and senior leaders of the group. The
attacks came on the heels of a number of joint operations with Iraqi forces
that targeted IS militants in Iraq. Pentagon officials have said that the
Islamic State group remains a threat in the region, but it is no longer as
powerful as it was 10 years ago when the militants swept across Iraq and Syria,
taking control of large swaths of the two countries. U.S. Central Command said
the latest strikes in Syria will disrupt the group’s ability to plan, organize
and conduct attacks against civilians and U.S. and allied forces in the region.”



Turkey



Associated Press: Mayor From Turkey’s Main Opposition Party Is Detained Over
Alleged Ties To Kurdish Militants
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“A mayor from Turkey’s main opposition party was detained Wednesday on
suspicion of being a member of a banned Kurdish militant group, state-run media
reported. Ahmet Ozer, mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district and a member of the
Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was arrested by anti-terrorist police over
alleged connections to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The arrest comes
as Turkey is debating a tentative peace process to end a 40-year conflict
between the PKK and the Turkish state that has led to tens of thousands of
deaths. Ozer, 64, is a former academic originally from Van in eastern Turkey.
He was elected mayor of Esenyurt, a western suburb on Istanbul’s European side,
in March local elections. The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that the
Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said an investigation showed Ozer had
maintained contacts with PKK figures for more than 10 years.”



Afghanistan



Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Taliban Further Restricts Women's Voices
With Ban On Praying Aloud In Front Of Other Women
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“The Taliban has extended restrictions on Afghan women's voices by banning
them from praying loudly or reciting the Koran in front of other women. The
move — which comes after the hardline religious group in August forbade women
from speaking in public — has sparked further condemnation from activists and
rights organisations. During an event in eastern Logar province on Sunday, Vice
and Virtue Minister Khalid Hanafi said: "It is prohibited for a grown woman to
recite Koranic verses or perform recitations in front of another grown woman."
He said that uttering expressions like "subhanallah", another word central to
the Islamic faith, was also not allowed. A woman was not permitted to perform
the call to prayer, he told the gathering. "So, there is certainly no
permission for singing." Nobody from the Vice and Virtue Ministry was
immediately available to clarify the official's remarks or confirm if the
prohibition would also become part of the morality laws.”



Pakistan



Associated Press: 3 Pakistani Soldiers And 8 Militants Killed During A Raid On
Insurgents’ Hideout
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“Three soldiers and eight militants were killed after Pakistani security
forces backed by military helicopters raided a hideout in a former stronghold
of insurgents in a restive province bordering Afghanistan on Wednesday, police
said. A local militant commander was believed to be among those killed in the
operation in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police
official Zahid Ullah said. The military said a major was among the soldiers
“martyred” during the intelligence-based operation, adding that its forces were
going after other militants in the area “to wipe out the menace of terrorism.”
Authorities often carry out such operations against the Pakistani Taliban, who
are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. The TTP — an ally of the Afghan
Taliban despite being a separate group — has stepped up its assaults in the
region since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.”



Yemen



Business Insider: A Familiar-Looking Houthi Torpedo Could Be Derived From
Captured US Tech, Analysts Say
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“The Houthi rebels in Yemen have a new torpedo to show off — and it looks
familiar. The militant group published videos on Sunday and Monday touting its
new weapon, named Al Qar'iah, or "Calamity." The Yemeni group is not known for
its technical daring, and experts assessing the video saw echoes of captured US
weaponry, a naval drone that was taken whole in 2018. Without assessing one in
detail, it is impossible to say how the Calamity came to be. But it would be in
keeping with other examples of US equipment being reverse-engineered into the
arsenals of its foes, especially those tied to Iran. Martin Kelly of the UK
advisory firm EOS Risk Group said the torpedo could be derived from a US REMUS
600 drone lost in 2018. Footage the group released around the time the
waterborne drone was lost appears to show them seizing it, with names of
Western defense companies still visible on its body.”



Middle East



The Washington Post: Israel Orders Baalbek Evacuation As Hezbollah Chief Vows
To Fight
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“The Israeli military broadened its air campaign in Lebanon on Wednesday,
striking the northeastern city of Baalbek after ordering residents to flee, as
the new leader of Hezbollah, in his inaugural speech, said the group is
prepared to fight “a long war” with Israel. “We are not betting that the war
will end tomorrow,” Naim Qassem said in his first televised address since
assuming the role Tuesday, replacing his slain predecessor, Hasan Nasrallah.
“We are able to continue for days, weeks and months.” His remarks came as chaos
was unfolding in Baalbek, an ancient city and UNESCO World Heritage site in
Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. In the morning, the Israeli military ordered Baalbek’s
roughly 80,000 residents to leave, saying in a post on X that the Israel
Defense Forces would “act forcefully against Hezbollah interests in your city
and villages.””



United Kingdom



Reuters: Former UK Soldier Accused Of Helping Iran Tells Jurors He Is Against
Tehran
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“A British soldier accused of passing sensitive information to people linked
to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and of then breaking out of prison
told jurors on Wednesday that he and his family were opposed to the Iranian
government. Daniel Abed Khalife allegedly collected sensitive information
between May 2019 and January 2022, prosecutor Mark Heywood told jurors at the
start of the trial at London's Woolwich Crown Court. Khalife, who is no longer
a member of the British armed forces, is also accused of leaving a fake bomb on
a desk and absconding from his barracks in 2023, and then escaping from prison,
sparking a brief nationwide manhunt. The 23-year-old is standing trial charged
with gathering information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iran – an
offence under the Official Secrets Act. Khalife has denied all the charges.”



Europe



Associated Press: Russian Bomb Hits Residential Building In Ukraine’s 2nd
Largest City, Killing 12-Year-Old Boy
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“Russian forces struck a residential building in Ukraine’s second-largest
city of Kharkiv early Thursday, killing a 12-year-old boy and injuring scores
of others. Regional head Oleh Syniehubov said the boy was fatally injured when
the building was hit by a Russian 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) glide bomb. “He
was freed from under the rubble with severe head injuries and fractures,”
Syniehubov wrote on his messaging app channel. “Doctors performed resuscitation
measures for more than half an hour. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save
the child.” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that at least 35 people
suffered injuries in the attack and others could be still trapped under the
rubble, including a missing 15-year-old boy.”



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