United States
The Jerusalem Post: US Laser-Focused On Striking Terror Groups In Northwest Syria - Analysis
“Over the last three weeks, the US has been laser-focused on decimating the leadership of a small Al Qaeda affiliate that has forces in northwest Syria. The US has carried out several strikes against Hurras al-Din. The group is present in areas between Idlib and Afrin and has operated there for several years, often close to the Turkish border. Idlib was run by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). HTS swept to power in Damascus on December 8 as the Assad regime fell from power. The US has used this period to focus on getting rid of terror threats that could emerge in the vacuum in Syria. On February 21, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that its “forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, killing Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a senior leadership facilitator of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate.””
The Guardian: US White Supremacist Groups Emboldened With ‘Ethnic And Racial Hatred’ As Trump Stokes Immigration Fears
“From under the floorboards of a large, white building in Maysville, Kentucky, African American slaves making the arduous, secret escape from the south would hide one final time. Freedom, across the Ohio River to the north, was in clear sight. The Underground Railroad term was thought to have first been coined in Maysville, when Tice Davids, a slave, escaped a life of cruelty in 1831 by swimming across the roiling Ohio River. For tens of thousands of people such as Davids, the river was the final barrier to freedom, separating the free state Ohio from slavery in the south. But today, more than 150 years since the legal end of slavery, shards of a hateful past appear to live on.”
Syria
Alarabiya News: Syria’s Foreign Minister To Visit Turkey On Monday, Two Sources Say
“Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani will visit Ankara on Monday for talks with Turkish officials, two sources familiar with the plan told Reuters. The visit coincides with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holding talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in the Turkish capital.”
The Guardian: Missing Australian Member Of Islamic State Found Alive In Syrian Prison
“An Australian member of Islamic State who was wounded in the extremist group’s final battle and whose fate was not publicly known has been discovered alive and in custody in a prison in north-eastern Syria. Mustafa Hajj-Obeid, 41, who is one of a cohort of accused IS members whose Australian citizenship was stripped and then restored in 2022 after a legal challenge, has been reported as missing for the past six years since the military defeat of IS. He was encountered by the Guardian – with his head shaved and wearing a brown jumpsuit – by chance during a rare tour of Panorama prison, a detention centre for accused IS members run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Permitted to speak for only a few minutes through a small grate in a cell housing about two dozen men, Hajj-Obeid told the Guardian he had no idea if his family in Australia were aware he had survived. “I really don’t know,” he said. “I know nothing, seriously.””
Reuters: Israel Won't Allow HTS Forces In Southern Syria, Netanyahu Says
“Israel on Sunday said it will not tolerate presence of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in southern Syria, nor any other forces affiliated with the country's new rulers, and demanded the territory be demilitarized. Former Al Qaeda affiliate HTS took control of Damascus on December 8 in a stunning offensive, ending then-president Bashar al-Assad's rule and prompting a wary Israel to move forces into a U.N.-monitored demilitarized zone within Syria. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will keep its positions there as a defensive measure and for as long as is necessary. "We will not allow forces of the HTS or the new Syrian army to enter the territory south of Damascus. We demand full demilitarization of southern Syria, in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Sweida," Netanyahu said at a military graduation ceremony. "And we will not tolerate any threat to the Druze sect in southern Syria," he added. The Druze, who practice an offshoot of Islam, are a minority group in Syria as well as Israel.”
Iraq
Reuters: U.S. Piles Pressure On Iraq To Resume Kurdish Oil Exports, Sources Say
“U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is piling pressure on Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart or face sanctions alongside Iran, eight sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. An advisor to the Iraqi prime minister denied in a statement there had been a threat of sanctions or pressure on the government during its communications with the U.S. administration. A speedy resumption of exports from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region would help to offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports, which Washington has pledged to cut to zero as part of Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran. The U.S. government has said it wants to isolate Iran from the global economy and eliminate its oil export revenues in order to slow Iran's development of a nuclear weapon. Iraq's oil minister made a surprise announcement on Monday that exports from Kurdistan would resume next week. That would mark the end of a near two-year dispute that has cut flows of more than 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Kurdish oil via Turkey to global markets.”
Afghanistan
Voice Of America: Rubio highlights emerging terror threat in Afghanistan
“U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested late Thursday there are ungoverned regions in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan that provide opportunities for extremist groups to operate. The comments came in an interview with former CBS correspondent Catherine Herridge on X, where Rubio was asked if intelligence indicates that al-Qaida and Islamic State had set up safe havens in Afghanistan, posing a threat comparable to the one preceding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “I wouldn’t say it’s the pre-9/11 landscape, but I think anytime you have governing spaces that are contested that you don’t have a government that has full control of every part of their territory, it creates the opportunity for these groups,” Rubio said.”
Associated Press: Afghan Women’s Radio Station Will Resume Broadcasts After Taliban Lift Suspension
“An Afghan women’s radio station will resume broadcasts after the Taliban lifted their suspension over alleged cooperation with an overseas TV channel. Radio Begum launched on International Women’s Day in March 2021, five months before the Taliban seized power amid the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops. The station’s content is produced entirely by Afghan women. Its sister satellite channel, Begum TV, operates from France and broadcasts programs that cover the Afghan school curriculum from seventh to 12th grade. The Taliban have banned education for women and girls in the country beyond grade six.”
BBC: British Couple In Their 70s Arrested By Taliban
“A British couple in their 70s have been arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were returning to their home in Bamiyan on 1 February when they were detained. The couple have been running training projects in Afghanistan for 18 years and their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, told the BBC she had not heard from her parents in more than two weeks. It is not known exactly what the couple were arrested for but projects run by them include one training mothers and children, which had apparently been approved by the local authorities despite a ban by the Taliban on women working and on education for girls older than the age of 12.”
Pakistan
Associated Press: Pakistan Security Forces Kill 6 Militants In A Raid In The Northwest
“Security forces in Pakistan acting on intelligence raided a militant hideout in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s northwest on Friday, triggering an intense shootout in which six militants were killed, the military said. The raid was carried out in Karak, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, the military said in a statement. An operation was underway to eliminate any other militants found there. The military provided no further details about the killed militants, but such operations are often conducted against the Pakistani Taliban, which are also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. The TTP is an ally of the Taliban in Afghanistan and has stepped up its assaults in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.”
Middle East
The Times Of Israel: Terrorist Behind Deadly Bombing Falls To His Death A Week After Release Under Gaza Deal
“Nael Obeid, a Hamas terrorist notorious for his role in the deadly 2003 Cafe Hillel bombing in Jerusalem, fell to his death near his home in East Jerusalem after being freed in a hostage-prisoner exchange a week ago. Obeid went free on February 15 as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which has seen Israel free hundreds of terrorists, many of them convicted for deadly attacks, in return for hostages taken on October 7, 2023. The cause of his fall was not immediately clear. He was pronounced dead at Hadassah Medical Center near Mount Scopus on Saturday afternoon, according to local Palestinian media. Obeid helped plan one of the most infamous suicide bombing attacks during the Second Intifada, which killed seven people and wounded 57 others at Cafe Hillel in the capital’s Emek Refaim Street.”
Jewish News Syndicate: Israel Nabs Terrorists Who Wounded Jewish Shepherds In Samaria
“Israeli security forces have arrested two Palestinian suspected of having wounding Israeli civilians in southern Samaria over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday. “IDF, Israel Security Agency [Shin Bet] and Israel Police forces operated overnight in the town of Deir Dibwan in the Binyamin Brigade [deployment area], arresting two suspects in the attack and injury of two Israeli civilians the day before yesterday in the Michmash area of the Binyamin Brigade,” the military said in a joint statement with the two agencies. The suspects will be interrogated by the IDF and the Shin Bet. The army said on Saturday that several Arab terrorists armed with clubs, knives and rocks attacked two Jewish shepherds in a pasture in the Michmash area before fleeing back toward Deir Dibwan.”
Associated Press: Israel Delays Release Of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Humiliating’ Handovers Of Hostages
“Israel says the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is delayed “until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies” at handovers of Israeli captives in Gaza. The statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office came early Sunday as military vehicles that normally move in advance of the buses carrying prisoners left the open gates of Ofer prison, only to turn around and go back in. The release of 620 Palestinian prisoners had been delayed for several hours and was meant to occur just after six Israeli hostages were released on Saturday. It was meant to be the largest one-day prisoner release in the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase. Israel’s announcement abruptly put the future of the truce into further doubt.”
Mali
Associated Press: Mali Army Opens An Investigation Into Deaths Of Civilians Blamed On Soldiers
“Mali’s army said it’s investigating soldiers who were accused by separatist Tuareg rebels of killing at least 24 civilians earlier this week, in a rare probe of human rights abuses since the military took power in 2020. The Front for the Liberation of Azawad, the Tuareg independence movement in the north of the country, accused soldiers and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group of intercepting two civilian transport vehicles bound for Algeria from Gao on Monday, and “coldly executing” at least 24 people among the passengers. The general staff of the Malian armed forces, without referring to the killings, on Wednesday denounced “intoxicating campaigns” against the army."
Africa
Associated Press: Congo’s President Says He’ll Create A Unity Government As Violence Spreads
“Congo’s president says he is going to launch a unity government as violence spreads across the country’s east and pressure mounts over his handling of the crisis. In some of his first statements since Rwandan-backed rebels captured major cities in eastern Congo, President Felix Tshisekedi told a meeting of the Sacred Union of the Nation ruling coalition on Saturday not to be distracted by internal quarrels. “I lost the battle and not the war. I must reach out to everyone including the opposition. There will be a government of national unity,” said Tshisekedi. He didn’t give more details on what that would entail or when it would happen. M23 rebels — the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control and influence in eastern Congo — have swept through the region seizing key cities, killing some 3,000 people. In a lightning three-week offensive, the M23 took control of eastern Congo’s main city Goma and seized the second largest city, Bukavu.”
Fox News: 70 Christians Beheaded In African Country By ISIS-Aligned Militants, Groups Say; World Mostly Silent
“Seventy Christians have been beheaded with machetes or large knives, according to multiple groups that monitor terrorism and persecution, by Islamist militants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – and yet the world remains mostly silent. The 70 Christians were first rounded up by Islamist rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces, a group affiliated with the terror group Islamic State, or ISIS, according to Open Doors U.S., which monitors Christian persecution around the world. The Christians, reportedly all from the Lubero district, were forced out of their homes allegedly early in the morning of Feb. 13, with the rebels shouting, "Get out, get out." They were taken hostage, and moved to a small Christian church in the village of Kasanga. There, inside the building that had until then been considered a sanctuary, they were first tied up, and then all 70 were beheaded, the groups say.”
France
POLITICO: Macron Condemns Deadly Mulhouse Attack As ‘Islamic Terrorist Act’
“French President Emmanuel Macron condemned a deadly attack in the city of Mulhouse in eastern France on Saturday, describing it as an “Islamic terrorist act.” “Following the terrorist attack in Mulhouse, I wanted to express my condolences to the victims’ families and express the solidarity of the entire nation,” Macron said late Saturday. He said there was “no doubt” that the incident was “a terrorist act,” specifically “an Islamic terrorist act.” The attack took place on Saturday in Mulhouse, in the Alsace region, when a man armed with a knife killed one person and injured several others. “Horror has just gripped our city,” Mulhouse Mayor Michèle Lutz said in a post on Facebook.”
Reuters: Explosive Projectiles Thrown At Russian Consulate In France
“Three projectiles were thrown over the perimeter wall of Russia's consulate in the southern French port city of Marseille on Monday, two of which exploded, Marseille police said. The incendiary devices were thrown into the gardens of the consulate in France's second-largest city by population. Investigators were analysing the contents of the three soda bottles that were used as projectiles. The Kremlin said that Russia was pressing France over security measures following the incident, which Moscow said appeared to be an act of terrorism. Russia demanded a full French investigation, state news agency TASS reported. No-one was injured, police added. Earlier, consulate staff had been kept indoors while bomb disposal officers conducted checks.”
Germany
The New York Times: The Unabashedly Provocative Youth Driving Germany’s Far Right
“The Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, with its anti-immigrant and nationalist platform, has long been the pariah of German politics. Its members have been fined for Nazi slogans and labeled extremist by the government. Ahead of Sunday’s national parliamentary election, a new band of influencers has found a voice among voters by bringing a more youthful edge to the party known for its provocations and controversies. They welcome the scorn of protesters, journalists and the mainstream political parties. Some of them still trade jokes about Hitler and Jews, along with the occasional Sig Heil salute.”
Europe
Reuters: Global Consensus On Human Rights Is Crumbling, UN Rights Chief Says
“The U.N. human rights chief on Monday warned that a system of global protections built in the decades after World War Two has never before been under so much strain, calling for an effort to reinforce it or risk suffering the atrocities of the past. "The global consensus on human rights is crumbling under the weight of authoritarians, strongmen and oligarchs," United Nations High Commissioner Volker Turk told a high-level meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. "We need an all-out effort by everyone, to make sure that human rights and the rule of law remain foundational to communities, societies and international relations. Otherwise, the picture is very dangerous," he said.”
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