Eye on Extremism
December 12, 2024
The Washington Post: Afghan Blast Kills Key Minister, Shocking Taliban
“Senior Taliban minister Khalil Haqqani was killed in an attack Wednesday, the Taliban’s chief spokesman said, marking the highest-profile government casualty since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan three years ago. Haqqani was the acting minister for refugees and a key member of the Haqqani network, which led a violent insurgency against the United States and its allies before the U.S. withdrawal in 2021. He was killed in a blast at the Ministry of Refugees in Kabul, according to two government officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. While the Haqqanis have long been a dominant force within the Taliban, they had appeared to lose influence recently amid speculation about a rift between regime leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting interior minister and a nephew of Khalil Haqqani.”
Reuters: UN General Assembly Overwhelmingly Demands Immediate Gaza Ceasefire
“The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted on Wednesday to demand an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the immediate release of all hostages. The ceasefire demand in the resolution - adopted with 158 votes in favor in the 193-member assembly - was expressed in more urgent language than one urging an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza that the body "called for" in October 2023 then "demanded" in December 2023. General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war. The United States, Israel and seven other countries voted against the ceasefire resolution, while 13 countries abstained.”
CEP Mentions
WTOP News: 459 | Two Big Stories: FBI Director Resigns; And How Was Bashar Al Assad’s Regime In Syria Overthrown So Quickly?
“FBI Director explains his decision to resign. Dr. Hans Jakob Schindler details how Hayat Tahrir al Sham overthrew Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria overthrown so fast.”
WTOP News: The Hunt: Former Terror Disciple Now Controls Destiny Of Syria
“A rebel group that was born out of al-Qaida overthrew Syria President Bashar al-Assad within 10 days. Hayat Tahrir al Sham are now in control of the country, and Assad is in Russia. In this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green,” Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, explains why it all happened so quickly and completely.”
Daily Mail: Syria's Never-Ending Conflict: Nation Already Faces A NEW Civil War As ISIS Carry Out Fresh Massacres And Turkish-Backed Fighters Clash With Kurds, Threatening To Drag In US And Israel
“Islamist rebel group Ha'yat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) officially ended Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's longstanding regime earlier this week, naming a leader of a new transition government days after Assad fled Damascus to seek refuge in Moscow… Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project, told MailOnline that a best-case scenario could see HTS work with other factions to achieve stability. 'Will there be democracy? Probably not in the Western sense - but some kind of consultative system, possibly involving elections, could emerge,' he said. 'HTS seem clear that they want Islamic governance but also show awareness of minority rights. It is not clear that they will fall into the Taliban trap of ignoring domestic and international opinion, women's rights and other key issues.'”
Syria
Associated Press: Syrians Flock To Morgues Looking For Loved Ones Who Perished In Assad’s Prisons
“Mohammad Chaeeb spoke softly into his phone, telling a relative the grim news: He found his brother at the morgue. “I saw him and said my goodbyes,” he said. His gaze lingered on the blackened body of Sami Chaeeb, whose teeth were bared and whose eye sockets were empty. It looked as if he had died screaming. “He doesn’t look normal. He doesn’t even have eyes.” The dead man was jailed five months ago, disappearing into a dark prison system under the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. His body is just one of many found in Syrian detention centers and prisons since Assad’s government fell last weekend. Some of the prisoners died just weeks ago. Others perished months earlier.”
Reuters: Dutch Woman Jailed For 10 Years For Keeping Yazidi Slave In Syria
“A Dutch court on Wednesday sentenced a woman to 10 years in prison for joining Islamic State in Syria and keeping a Yazidi woman as slave. Prosecutors had asked for an 8-year sentence for the Dutch woman, 33-year old Hasna Aarab, but the District Court in The Hague said the gravity of slavery as a crime against humanity required a stronger punishment. Judges said it was clear that Aarab had actively participated in the enslavement of a Yazidi woman between 2015 and 2016, while she lived in Raqqa with her young son and her Islamic State fighter husband. The Yazidi woman, identified only as Z., had been forced to work in their household, where she was also sexually abused.”
Reuters: Syrian Rebel Leader, After Assad's Ouster, Puts His Own Stamp On The State
“Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa's Islamist group is stamping its authority on Syria's state with the same lightning speed that it seized the country, deploying police, installing an interim government and meeting foreign envoys - raising concerns over how inclusive Damascus' new rulers intend to be. Since Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group swept Bashar al-Assad from power on Sunday at the head of a rebel alliance, its bureaucrats - who until last week were running an Islamist administration in a remote corner of Syria's northwest - have moved into government headquarters in Damascus. The appointment of Mohammed al-Bashir, the head of the regional government in HTS' enclave of Idlib, as Syria's new interim prime minister on Monday underlined the group's status as the most powerful of the armed groups that battled for more than 13 years to end Assad's iron-fisted rule.”
Afghanistan
Associated Press: Tight Security For Taliban Minister’s Funeral As Islamic State Group Claim Deadly Suicide Attack
“Tight security measures were in place Thursday for a Taliban minister’s funeral in Afghanistan after he was killed in a suicide bombing claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group. Cabinet member Khalil Haqqani was the most high-profile casualty of an assault in the country since the Taliban seized power three years ago. He died in a blast Wednesday at the Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation in the capital, Kabul, along with five others. Haqqani is the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting interior minister and the leader of a powerful faction within the Taliban. The U.S. placed a bounty on both their heads. In a statement carried by the Amaq News Agency, the Islamic State Khorasan Province -- an affiliate of the Islamic State group -- said one of its fighters carried out the suicide bombing.”
Lebanon
Associated Press: Migrant Workers In Lebanon Are Trying To Return Home After Alleged Abuses And Then War
"Isatta Bah wakes up from a nap in a crowded shelter on the outskirts of Beirut, clutching her baby, Blessing. The 24-year-old from Sierra Leone spends her days waiting for an exit visa that could put her and her 1-year-old on a plane back to the West African nation. She wants to reunite with her family after what she called exploitative work conditions and sexual violence, along with the recent horrors of war in Lebanon. “My experience in Lebanon is not good for me. I am really tired,” Bah said. “I want to go home.” Hundreds of migrant workers in Lebanon are waiting to be repatriated after the ceasefire ending the 14-month war between the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel went into effect last month.”
Voice Of America: Israeli Troops Withdraw From Southern Lebanon Village Under Ceasefire Deal
“Israeli forces withdrew Wednesday from a strategic town in southern Lebanon and were replaced by Lebanese troops as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah. The withdrawal from Al-Khiam came two weeks after the start of the ceasefire brokered by the United States and France. "This is an important first step in the implementation of a lasting cessation of hostilities and lays the foundation for continued progress," Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the development "a fundamental step towards strengthening the army's deployment in the south, in implementation of the ceasefire decision." The ceasefire halted months of intensified fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included Israeli ground operations inside Lebanon and airstrikes that killed multiple Hezbollah leaders.”
Middle East
Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Israeli Airstrikes Kill 28 In Gaza, Including 7 Children, Health Officials Say
“Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman, hours after the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. One of the strikes overnight and into Thursday flattened a house in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken. Two other strikes killed 15 men who were part of local committees established to secure aid convoys. The committees were set up by displaced Palestinians in coordination with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. On Wednesday, the U.N. General Assembly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and expressing support for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban.”
Somalia
Bloomberg: Oil-Rich Somali Region Plans New Offensive Against Islamic State
“The semi-autonomous region of Puntland is planning a new offensive to combat a growing Islamic State insurgency in Somalia’s mountainous north. The Islamist group, designated as a terrorist group by the US, has more than doubled in size this year, with as many as 1,200 combatants holed up in the Bari mountains east of the Puntland capital, Bosaso, according to a local security official. The US military has expressed concern about Islamic State’s growing presence in the region. “It’s a huge threat, and Puntland intends to dislodge it from its hideouts, once and for all,” Mohamed Mubarak, the head of the Puntland Security Coordination Office, said in an emailed response to questions on Wednesday. Islamic State in Somalia is headed by Abdulkadir Mumin, who formed the offshoot of Islamic State when he left the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group nine years ago.”
Reuters: Somalia, Ethiopia Agree To Work Together To Resolve Somaliland Port Dispute
“Somalia and Ethiopia said they would work together to resolve a dispute over Addis Ababa's plan to build a port in the breakaway region of Somaliland, which had drawn in regional powers and threatened to further destabilise the Horn of Africa. The two countries' leaders said they had agreed to find commercial arrangements to allow landlocked Ethiopia "reliable, secure and sustainable access to and from the sea" after talks on Wednesday mediated by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting was their first since January when Ethiopia said it would lease a port in Somalia's breakaway northern region of Somaliland in exchange for recognising the area's independence. Mogadishu rejected the deal and threatened to expel Ethiopian troops who were stationed in Somalia to fight Islamist insurgents.”
Technology
Reuters: Trump Crypto Venture Partners With Platform Linked To Middle East Militants
“A crypto venture recently unveiled by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his new Middle East envoy, billionaire Steve Witkoff, has partnered with a crypto platform that authorities and financial experts say has been used by criminals and Iran-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. World Liberty Financial Inc , founded by the Witkoff family two months before November’s U.S. election with Trump as a financial beneficiary , presents concerns over ethics and conflicts of interest, say six specialists in U.S. government ethics. Among their biggest concerns is World Liberty’s new partner: Tron crypto platform.”
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