CEP Mentions
iMEdD News: “Do Whatever You Need To Do To Survive In Syria”: The Person Behind Assad’s Overthrow
“The Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has been at the forefront of international news over the past 24 hours following its advance on Damascus and the December 8, 2024 toppling of the Assad regime after five decades in power. HTS appears to be leading the coalition of rebel units in Syria that launched an offensive against government forces two weeks ago from the city of Idlib in the northwest of the country... Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, a diplomat with years of experience in Middle East affairs, former coordinator at the UN Security Council and now director of the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit organization with offices in New York and Berlin, tells iMEdD that it will take time to prove that the shift away from Islamic extremism advocated by HTS is sincere. “The group’s history is really also the current leader’s history,” says Dr. Schindler, highlighting al-Jolani’s role in the creation and development of the organization.”
United States
Associated Press: US Officials Have Been In Direct Contact With The Syrian Rebel Group That Ousted Assad, Blinken Says
“American officials have been in direct contact with the terrorist-designated rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday. Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Jordan, was the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that drove Assad from power and into asylum in Russia last weekend. Along with counterparts from eight Arab nations and Turkey and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations, Blinken signed off on a set of principles meant to guide Syria’s transition to a peaceful, nonsectarian and inclusive country.”
The Washington Post: Virginia Man Convicted Of Funding Islamic State In Terrorism Trial
“Mohammed Chhipa led a double life, by his own attorney’s telling, spreading online propaganda for the Islamic State with “bravado and bluster” while he was brooding in Northern Virginia as “a lonely, sad and deflated man” secretly being monitored by the U.S. government for a decade. Federal prosecutors said he then took a darker turn, fleeing the country after agents searched his Fairfax County home in 2019 and sending funds over the next three years to an Islamic State operative who had broken out of a refugee camp run by the Syrian Defense Forces and was working to free other women. After a week-long trial, a jury in U.S. District Court in Alexandria agreed Friday, convicting Chhipa on all charges, including conspiracy and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.”
Reuters: Blinken, In Turkey, Discusses Islamic State In Syria, Gaza Ceasefire
“U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan agreed on Friday on the need for continued efforts to counter any resurgence of Islamic State in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Washington's top diplomat also said that he discussed the imperative of Palestinian militant group Hamas saying "yes" to a Gaza ceasefire agreement in his talks with Turkey's president and foreign minister. A U.S. official said Hamas has softened its position in ceasefire talks. Blinken is touring the Middle East to establish a united front with Arab and Turkish allies on the set of principles that Washington hopes will guide Syria's political transition, such as inclusivity and respect for minorities. He said on Monday that Islamic State would try to use this period to re-establish capabilities in Syria, but the United States was determined not to let that happen.”
Syria
CBS News: U.S.-Backed Syrian Forces On Edge Amid Concern ISIS Could Try To Stage A Comeback On Heels Of Assad's Ouster
“CBS News was among the first news outlets to speak on Thursday with Travis Timmerman, an American who was feared dead by family and friends, days after he was freed from a notorious prison in Syria. He said he had spent seven months jailed by the regime of now-ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad before rebels broke down his cell door. But he was just one of the many thousands of people locked up over half a century of iron-fisted rule by Assad, and his father before him. Many remain missing, and the rebel forces, along with the families of those who've disappeared without a trace, have mounted a herculean effort since Assad fled to Russia on Sunday to find those who vanished. But there's one group of prisoners that Syria's still-evolving, rebel-led leadership wants to keep behind bars.”
Reuters: The Fall Of Assad In Syria: How It Happened And What Comes Next
“The rebels who ended the Assad family’s brutal rule in Syria began asserting control on Monday. They took up positions outside public buildings in Damascus and directed traffic in a show of their newly claimed authority. Major questions remained unanswered, including who would lead the new government. Euphoria around the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad over the weekend mixed with uncertainty about the future of the country and the intentions of the rebels who now hold the capital, Damascus. Here’s a guide to understanding how the rebels unseated Mr. al-Assad, and what may come next. In just over a week, Syrian rebel forces seized much of Syria’s northwest.”
Turkey
Reuters: Turkey Ready To Offer Military Training To Syria If New Administration Requests, Minister Says
“The new administration in Syria should be given a chance to govern following their constructive messages, and Turkey stands ready to provide military training if such help is requested, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler said. NATO member Turkey backed the Syrian rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad last weekend, ending a 13-year civil war. Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, two days after its intelligence chief visited the Syrian capital. "In their first statement, the new administration that toppled Assad announced that it would respect all government institutions, the United Nations and other international organisations," Guler told reporters in Ankara in comments authorised for publication on Sunday.”
Fox News: Turkey Seeks To Purge Pro-US Kurdish Force That Helped Defeat Islamic State In Syria
“Just hours after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussing the fight against the Islamic State in Syria, Turkey's foreign minister sent a shocking message to Washington by saying his country's goal is to eliminate the main fighting force of the Syrian Kurds, which defeated ISIS in tandem with the U.S.. According to Turkish media, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in a live broadcast on NTV that "the elimination of YPG is [Turkey's] strategic goal." He also noted the country's Kurds must be protected. Asked about Fidan's comments, the State Department referred Fox News Digital to comments made earlier on Friday after Blinken's meeting with Fidan in Turkey. The statement said, in part, "Secretary Blinken emphasized the importance of U.S.-Turkish cooperation in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS mission in Syria."”
Afghanistan
Voice Of America: Taliban Minister’s Killing Raises Concerns About IS Terror Group’s Expansion
“The recent assassination of a Taliban minister in Afghanistan by a local Islamic State offshoot has raised concerns about the terrorist network's expansion in the region, while signifying an escalation of the terror group’s conflict with the country’s de facto Taliban leaders. Taliban Minister of Refugees and Repartition Khalil-Ur-Rahman Haqqani was killed, along with several staff members, in a suicide bombing while he was exiting his office in the Afghan capital on Wednesday. Haqqani, 58, is the highest-profile target of Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, since the Taliban swept back to power in August 2021. The group has so far killed at least eight high-ranking Taliban officials and prominent figures in suicide bombings.”
Associated Press: UN Security Council Criticizes Taliban Ban On Afghan Women’s Medical Education
“The U.N. Security Council said Friday it was deeply concerned about the recent decision by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to ban women from medical education, which could leave millions of women and girls without health care in the future. The council criticized “the increasing erosion” of human rights under the Taliban, especially for women and girls who have been denied access to education beyond the sixth grade, economic opportunities, participation in public life, freedom of movement and other basics. Authorities previously had not confirmed reports that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered educational institutions to stop providing medical courses for women. In Afghanistan, women and girls can only be treated by female doctors and health professionals.”
Middle East
Reuters: Palestinian Security Forces Clash With Militants In West Bank
“At least one person was killed as Palestinian security forces clashed with Palestinian militants and set up checkpoints on Saturday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, residents and medics said. Gunshots and explosions could be heard in the city, where friction has risen in recent days between militant factions and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following raids by the PA. Residents identified the man who was killed as a militant though none of the factions immediately confirmed his affiliation. The PA's security branch said in a statement that its forces were undertaking a security operation to restore law and order to Jenin's historic refugee camp suburb, a stronghold of Palestinian militants alienated from the Palestinian leadership.”
Reuters: At Least 22 Killed In Israeli Gaza Strikes, Palestinian Medics Say
“At least 22 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday, medics said, while the Israeli military said it targeted gunmen operating from shelters and aid storages. At least 10 people were killed in an airstrike near the municipality building in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip where people gathered to receive aid, medics said. Casualties were being carried by foot, on rickshaws and private cars from the site of the attack to the hospital, medics said. The strike killed the head of the Hamas-run administrative committee in central Gaza, Diab Ali al-Jaru, a Hamas source said. The Israeli military said al-Jaru, who was also the mayor of Deir Al-Balah, was the target of the strike and that he had assisted Hamas militants. Four more people were killed in a separate strike in the area.”
Bloomberg: Palestinian Authority Mounts Rare, Lethal Raids In West Bank
“The Palestinian government has been carrying out a rare and lethal sweep against militants in a flashpoint West Bank city, saying it was needed to foil an imminent car-bombing and other attacks. The operation by the Palestinian Authority, targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in the city of Jenin, was launched on Dec. 5 but only announced this weekend as clashes escalated. Three Palestinians — at least two of them gunmen — have been killed and several PA security men wounded. “The security forces managed to prevent potential disasters for our people,” the PA military spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Anwar Rajab, said, accusing local gunmen of “ISIS-like practices and behavior.” The operation comes as the PA is seeking to bolster its credibility as an organization capable of strong governance, amid ongoing Israeli raids there and Donald Trump’s return to the White House.”
Africa
The New York Times: Security Strategy Of Recruiting Cheap Militiamen Backfires In Africa
“They were falling asleep on a thin mat that they had been sharing since they were married five years ago. Suddenly, the roar of motorcycles woke them up. Armed men then dragged Rainatou Diallo and her husband, Adama Diallo, out of bed and into their courtyard. Without a word, the men shot Mr. Diallo dead. As Ms. Diallo fled the village, one of many engulfed by violence in Burkina Faso, she recognized her husband’s masked killers: They were neighbors. Burkina Faso, a nation that once prided itself on tolerance and peaceful interethnic relations, is now home to one of the deadliest conflicts in West Africa. Since the current military leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, seized power in a coup in 2022, he has escalated a war against Islamist insurgents that has now killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly three million others.”
Associated Press: Gunmen Clash In A Libyan City And Fires Erupt At A Nearby Oil Refinery
“Clashes broke out Sunday between armed groups in a western Libyan city, trapping residents in their homes and causing fires in the country’s second largest oil refinery, officials said. The fighting in the coastal city of Zawiya, about 47 kilometers (about 30 miles) west of capital Tripoli, pitted gunmen loyal to the Shurafaa tribe against warlord Mohamed Kushlaf, according to local media. Kushalf was sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council in 2018 for his alleged involvement in human trafficking. It wasn’t immediately clear what triggered the clashes but they are not uncommon in western Libya, which is controlled by an array of lawless militias and armed groups allied with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s government. Oil-rich Libya has been divided for years between rival administrations in the east and west.”
France
Reuters: France To Send Diplomats To Syria On Tuesday
“France will send a team of diplomats to Syria on Tuesday to assess the political and security situation, the foreign ministry said, without specifying whom they would meet. Most EU governments welcomed Bashar al-Assad's fall but are considering whether they can work with the rebels who ousted him, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group that is designated a terrorist organisation by the EU. "A team of French diplomats will travel to Syria this Tuesday to mark France's willingness to support the Syrian people," the ministry said, adding that they would report back to the foreign minister after a series of contacts there. Since cutting ties with Assad in 2012, France has not sought to normalise ties with Syria's government and has backed a broadly secular exiled opposition and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.”
Europe
Associated Press: Four Men Arrested In North Macedonia During Anti-Terror Operation, Interior Minister Says
“Four men suspected of planning terrorist attacks were arrested Sunday in western North Macedonia, authorities said. Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said the arrests were made during raids on several locations in the western towns of Struga and Gostivar. The four men are suspected of being “part of terrorist organizations (and) have been under surveillance for a long time.” All are Macedonian nationals and were expected to face an investigating magistrate Sunday. Toshkovski did not specify what terrorist organizations the suspects were connected with. “We have reasonable suspicion that they are connected to groups supporting certain extremist and religious organizations,” he said.””
The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If you value what we do, please consider making a donation.
