“Nearly 70 people were killed and up to 50 others wounded during 24 hours of
fighting between Islamic State fighters and security forces from Somalia’s
Puntland region, officials said Wednesday. At least 15 Puntland soldiers and
more than 50 militants were slain in the fierce fighting around the Dharin and
Qurac areas of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, multiple
Puntland security officials told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to brief the media.”











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Eye on Extremism



February 6, 2025



Voice Of America: Scores Killed In Somalia In Clash Between Security Forces,
Islamic State
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“Nearly 70 people were killed and up to 50 others wounded during 24 hours of
fighting between Islamic State fighters and security forces from Somalia’s
Puntland region, officials said Wednesday. At least 15 Puntland soldiers and
more than 50 militants were slain in the fierce fighting around the Dharin and
Qurac areas of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, multiple
Puntland security officials told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to brief the media.”



The New York Times: Trump Proposes U.S. Takeover Of Gaza And Says All
Palestinians Should Leave
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“President Trump declared on Tuesday that the United States should seize
control of Gaza and permanently displace the entire Palestinian population of
the devastated seaside enclave, one of the most brazen ideasthat any American
leader has advanced in years. Hosting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of
Israel at the White House, Mr. Trump said that all two million Palestinians
from Gaza should be moved to countries like Egypt and Jordan because of the
devastation wrought by Israel’s campaign against Hamas after the terrorist
attack of Oct. 7, 2023. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do
a job with it too,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference Tuesday evening. “We’ll
own it and be responsible” for disposing of unexploded munitions and rebuilding
Gaza into a mecca for jobs and tourism. Sounding like the real estate developer
he once was, Mr. Trump vowed to turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.””



CEP Mentions



Fox News: Experts Slam UN Action Plan For Combating Antisemitism: ‘Phony
Exercise In Futility’
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“Last month, the United Nations (U.N.) released its "Action Plan to Enhance
Monitoring and Response to Antisemitism," partially in response to a "surge in
antisemitic incidents targeting Jews and Jewish institutions in Europe, the
United States of America and elsewhere… Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior advisor
to the Counter Extremism Project and a former U.N. Monitoring Team coordinator,
told Fox News Digital that "the CT[counterterrorism] strategy is a mess."
Though he said that some U.N. efforts to counter terrorism are effective, he
said that given the lack of agreement over what constitutes terrorism, the U.N.
particularly struggles with identifying groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the
Houthis as terrorists. "If something really dramatic happens, then often a
group will find it is being accused of being a terrorist group," Fitton-Brown
said, noting how the U.N. condemned the Houthis in the aftermath of their 2022
attack on Abu Dhabi airport but failed to designate them as a terror group. "On
Hezbollah, the U.N. has been hopelessly weak," he explained.”



The Telegraph: Politicians Are Hopelessly Naive To The Threat Of Islamist
Entryism
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“If you’ve been bewildered by the actions of certain British institutions of
late, you’re probably not alone. The discontent and distrust these bodies
attribute to pervasive mis-and-disinformation is at least partly driven by a
form of moral dislocation between the majority of the public, and the
increasingly ideologically homogeneous professionals who scold them and manage
their affairs. An underplayed component of this ideological drift has been the
role of domestic Islamism and its penetration of state and civil society
institutions. In short: entryism, a tactic long associated with the hard left.
Talk of Islamist entryism into Western institutions has historically been
trapped between outright denialism and over-the-top alarmism. The denialism is
at least understandable. A global network of secretive and well-heeled
professionals plotting to bring down liberal democracy from the inside to
install sharia on its ruins sounds like something straight from the paranoid
imagination of a right-wing shock jock at the height of the War on Terror. It
is, though, the exact aim of Islamists, in their own words.”



WTOP News: The Hunt: What We Know About The Mass Shooting In Sweden
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“After 11 people died in the worst mass shooting in Sweden’s history, we’re
learning more about what happened and the United States’ concerns about
terrorism. On 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, discusses another case of a lone actor carrying out a deadly
mass shooting.”



United States



ABC News: As The Super Bowl Nears, New Orleans Grapples With How Safe Is Safe
Enough
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“The anticipation surrounding Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans is not just about
which team will win, it's whether or not the city can pull the game off without
a serious security breach. New Orleans has hosted 10 Super Bowls in previous
years, but Sunday’s game at the Superdome is different. Just over a month
before Sunday's kick-off, the city was the target of a terrorist attack on New
Year's Day in which a driver racing down Bourbon Street killed 14 people,
injured 57 others, and heightened fears among locals that the city is
unprepared for the estimated 100,000 visitors expected to arrive this week.”



The New York Times: U.S. Is Holding Migrants In Cells That Once Held Al Qaeda
Suspects
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“The Trump administration is holding 10 migrants with suspected gang
affiliations in the same prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that has housed men
accused of being members of Al Qaeda, U.S. defense officials said on Wednesday.
The Pentagon made the disclosure as U.S. forces are preparing a tent city for
migrants, in compliance with an order from President Trump, on a separate
portion of the base. But the Defense Department said the first group of 10
deportees, who were brought to the base on Tuesday, were too dangerous for the
migrant site. Instead they were put in a vacant section of the military prison
that houses terrorism suspects and convicts, far from the area where other
deportees will be held by the Department of Homeland Security.”



Reuters: Trump Aides Defend Gaza Takeover Proposal But Walk Back Some Elements
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“President Donald Trump's top aides staunchly defended his push to transfer
Palestinians out of Gaza and have the U.S. take over the war-ruined enclave,
but they also backed away from elements of his proposal in the face of
international condemnation. A longtime New York property developer, Trump drew
rebukes on Wednesday from world powers Russia, China and Germany, which said it
would foster "new suffering and new hatred." Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia
rejected the proposal outright. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
said on Wednesday that Trump's proposal was "remarkable" and urged that it be
explored, even as he was not specific about what he believed Trump was
offering.”



Syria



Voice Of America: VOA Kurdish: Syrian ISIS Families In Al-Hol Waiting To
Return Home
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“Syrian Islamic State families at the al-Hol camp are waiting for the
implementation of a decision made by the self-ruled administration allowing
them to leave the camp. The camp administration says it is still waiting for a
response from the Damascus government to begin the process. The families say
they want to return, despite the destruction of their homes.”



Iran



Reuters: Iran Is Willing To Give Trump Diplomacy 'Another Chance', Senior
Iranian Official Says
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“Iran is ready to give the United States a chance to resolve disputes between
the arch foes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, a day after
President Donald Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on the country.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that U.S. concerns about
Iran developing nuclear weapons were not a complicated issue and could be
resolved given Tehran's opposition to weapons of mass destruction. "The
clerical establishment's will is to give diplomacy with Trump another chance,
but Tehran is deeply concerned about Israel's sabotage," said the senior
official. The official said Tehran wanted the United States to "rein in Israel
if Washington is seeking a deal" with the Islamic Republic. Trump said on
Wednesday he preferred a verified nuclear peace agreement with Iran, according
to a post on his Truth Social account.”



Pakistan



Reuters: China, Pakistan Pledge To Boost Cooperation On Infrastructure, Mining
Projects
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“China and Pakistan will upgrade and reconstruct Pakistan's railway network
and further develop its Gwadar port, while Chinese companies can invest in the
South Asian nation's offshore oil and gas developments, the official Xinhua
news agency reported on Thursday. The comments came as Pakistan's President
Asif Ali Zardari visits China from February 4-8, where he will also attend the
opening ceremony of the Asian Winter Games. Chinese investment and financial
support for Pakistan since 2013 have been a boon for the South Asian nation's
struggling economy.”



Associated Press: Pakistan’s President Says Extremist Attacks Won’t End
Friendship With China
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“Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said Wednesday that his country’s
friendship with China has “gone through ups and downs” but it won’t be broken
down by extremist attacks that have killed Chinese nationals. “Pakistan and
China will always be friends, all-weather friends,” he said at the opening of
talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “No matter how many terrors, how many
issues crop up in the world, I will stand, Pakistan people will stand, with the
people of China.” Thousands of Chinese work in Pakistan on road and other
infrastructure projects under China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road
Initiative, which aims to improve trade routes and deepen China’s ties with the
rest of the world. Chinese workers have been among those targeted in attacks in
recent years, including seven who died last year in two separate attacks that
raised renewed alarm in China.”



Middle East



Associated Press: ‘What Can I Do To Bring The Others Home?’ Hostages Freed
From Hamas Captivity Vow All Must Return
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“For the final two months of his captivity in Gaza, American-Israeli Keith
Siegel was forced to lie down at all times in a cramped room. For most of his
ordeal there was little electricity or running water, which made hygiene
impossible, he said. When he returned to Israel last week, gaunt and pale, the
first words to his family, according to his brother, Lee Siegel, were: “I’m
back, I’m home.” Then, he asked, “What can I do to help bring the other
hostages home?” Hostages are returning after 15 months in captivity as part of
a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and with their freedom, the first
details of their ordeals are emerging.”



Africa



Reuters: Jordan's King Rejects Trump's Gaza Takeover Plan
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"Jordan's King Abdullah said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex
land and displace Palestinians after a shock proposal by President Donald Trump
that the U.S. take over Gaza, an issue that strikes a raw nerve in the kingdom.
Trump said on Tuesday that under his plan Palestinians would be resettled
elsewhere and Gaza would be developed economically, an idea that elicited
widespread international condemnation. "His Majesty King Abdullah II stresses
the need to put a stop to (Israeli) settlement expansion, expressing rejection
of any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians," the Jordanian
royal court said in a post on X. The issue is especially sensitive for Jordan.”



United Kingdom



Reuters: UK Will Oppose Any Effort To Displace Palestinians, Minister Says
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“Britain will oppose any efforts to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to
neighbouring Arab states against their will, a foreign office minister said on
Thursday. "There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians, nor any
reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip," minister Anneliese Dodds told
parliament. Dodds' remarks come after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed
earlier this week resettling Palestinians and taking over Gaza to develop it.
He said he envisioned building a resort where international communities could
live in harmony. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump's
proposal was "remarkable" and urged that it be explored, even as he was not
specific about what he believed Trump was offering.”



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