A new interactive map of Hezbollah’s activities has shown all the attacks,
financing and plots by the terror group revealing for the first time its va

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


August 4, 2020

 

The National: Interactive Maps Reveal Full Extent Of Hezbollah's Global Reach
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“A new interactive map of Hezbollah’s activities has shown all the attacks,
financing and plots by the terror group revealing for the first time its vast
global reach. Researchers, the police and the public will be able to view the
group’s activities across the world in a resource that includes information
taken from declassified CIA and FBI files. The document is the painstaking work
of former FBI agent Dr Matthew Levitt who hopes will it will demonstrate the
nature of Hezbollah to European countries that have yet to fully proscribe it
as a terrorist organisation. If the map proves successful it could also be used
as a template to help the fight against other terror groups such as Al Qaeda
and ISIS as well as international criminal gangs. The ‘Lebanese Hezbollah
Select Worldwide Activity’ is the first-ever publicly available, interactive
map and timeline of Hezbollah-related activities and counter-terrorism action
taken against it. Dr Levitt said he committed to the project because during
forums and seminars on Hezbollah there was always a lack of information.
“Discussion about Hezbollah’s covert enterprises was rendered virtually
impossible by the dearth of publicly available material on the group’s covert
activities,” he said.”

 

Voice Of America: Attacks, Abuses On The Rise In Africa’s Sahel Region
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“While global attention remains centered on the coronavirus, a U.S. special
envoy is sounding the alarm about crises in Africa’s Sahel region, especially
the political unrest in Mali, and the growing number of alleged human rights
violations and abuses in the troubled region. Amid the world focus on the
coronavirus pandemic, another force is bringing death and destruction to the
vast, arid region of Africa known as the Sahel.  J. Peter Pham, the U.S. top
envoy to the region,  says recent developments there are of great concern.  “In
the last quarter, by our count — that's the quarter ended June 30th — there
were 270 attacks by extremists in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. That number
represents an almost 40 percent increase from a year earlier. So that's
significant. That's worrisome as a trend,” he said. U.N. peacekeepers and U.S.
forces have worked for several years on a multibillion-dollar peacekeeping
mission in the region, though the Trump administration has publicly questioned
the value of the costly mission and pushed to cut budgets and troops numbers in
Africa. Pham says this is fundamentally a governance problem, not a military
one.”

 

Modern Diplomacy: ISIS And The Militant Jihad On Instagram
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“The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] is notorious for its slick
propaganda videos and effectiveness at online recruitment, particularly on
social media, of men and women all over the world to fight for and live under
their Caliphate. Now with the territorial defeat of ISIS, its recruiters
continue to be prolific online, encouraging supporters to hope and work toward
the Caliphate’s return and to seek revenge on those who destroyed it by
mounting attacks at home. While ISIS’s activity on Facebook and Twitter, as
well as encrypted apps like Telegram, has been studied extensively, there is a
dearth of information about their activity on Instagram, a platform
increasingly used by young people vulnerable to ISIS recruitment. This article
provides a brief examination of ISIS supporters’ activity on Instagram, even in
the face of takedown policies, and also briefly discusses the possibilities of
using a counter narrative video ad campaign on the platform to intervene in and
prevent ISIS recruitment. ISIS has long been noted for its superior use of
social media, resulting in an unprecedented recruitment of foreign terrorist
fighters (FTFs). As of 2020, over 45,000 FTFs had traveled from all over the
world to fight with ISIS or live under the ISIS Caliphate in Syria and Iraq.”

 

United States

 

Fox News: Cruz, Ahead Of Antifa Hearing, Describes Riots In US Cities As
‘Organized Terror Attacks’
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“Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is aiming to highlight the role Antifa and
like-minded groups are playing in riots across the country, convening a Senate
hearing Tuesday on the issue while alleging that radical left-wing groups are
engaging in “organized terror attacks” designed to tear down government
institutions. “Across the country, we’re seeing horrific violence, we’re seeing
our country torn apart. Violent anarchists and Marxists are exploiting protests
to transform them into riots and direct assaults on the lives and safety of
their fellow Americans,” Cruz told Fox News in an interview. On Tuesday, Cruz
will chair a hearing of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the
Constitution to investigate groups such as Antifa, which, while active for
years, have recently escalated their presence in the wake of George Floyd's
death in police custody. The hearing is called “The Right of the People
Peaceably to Assemble: Protecting Speech by Stopping Anarchist Violence.”
Speakers will include Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli,
journalist Andy Ngo and law professor Jonathan Turley. It comes after two
months of protests and violent riots hit downtown Portland, where rioters have
attacked the Hatfield Courthouse and clashed with federal law enforcement
protecting it.”

 

The Nation: Homeland Security Is Quietly Tying Antifa To Foreign Powers
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“Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intelligence officials are targeting
activists it considers “antifa” and attempting to tie them to a foreign power,
according to a DHS intelligence report obtained exclusively by The Nation. The
intelligence report, titled “The Syrian Conflict and its Nexus to the
U.S.-based Antifascist Movement,” mentions several Americans, including a
left-wing podcast host who traveled to Syria to fight ISIS. The report includes
a readout of these individuals’ personal information, including their Social
Security numbers, home addresses, and social media accounts, much of the data
generated by DHS’s Tactical Terrorism Response Teams. As the intelligence
report states, “ANTIFA is being analyzed under the 2019 DHS Strategic Framework
for Countering Terrorism (CT) and Targeted Violence.” Dated July 14, the
document, marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY and LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE draws on a
blend of publicly available information and state and federal law enforcement
intelligence. It was provided to The Nation by a source who previously worked
on DHS intelligence.”

 

Syria

 

The Wall Street Journal: Israel Strikes Syrian Military Sites After It
Reported Foiling Border Attack
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“The Israeli military said its aircraft struck a number of targets in southern
Syria belonging to the Syrian military on Monday in relation to a failed attack
on Israeli territory a day earlier that was carried out near their shared
border. Israeli helicopters, jet fighters and drones struck Syrian observation
posts, intelligence-collection systems, antiaircraft artillery facilities and
command-and-control systems in Syrian army bases, the Israeli military said in
a statement on Monday night. Syria’s official state news outlet Sana said that
Israel had fired rockets at its installations near the town of Quneitra on
Monday night and that the fallout for the Syrian Armed Forces was limited to
material damage. Earlier, the Israeli military said that its troops late Sunday
night fired at four people planting improvised explosive devices on the
Syria-Israel border. An Israeli special-forces unit thwarted plans for the
apparent attack near the security fence that separates the Israel-controlled
and Syria-controlled Golan Heights, Israeli military spokesman Jonathan
Conricus said early Monday. The Israeli unit opened fire on the men, backed up
by artillery and air support, Mr. Conricus said. The Israeli military estimated
that all four men had been killed.”

 

Associated Press: 18 Killed In Clashes In Northwestern Syria
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“Clashes between opposition groups and pro-Assad fighters in northwestern
Syria on Monday thwarted regime’s advance and left 12 pro-regime men dead, a
Britain-based war monitoring group said. Another 17 pro-regime fighters were
wounded while on the opposition-led side six fighters died, said the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights. The forces loyal to Bashar Assad had launched an
attack with artillery and heavy gunfire in Syria’s last major opposition
bastion, said the war monitor. But the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) alliance,
headed by ex-leaders of Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and their allies
reportedly thwarted the advance. Four HTS and two other opposition fighters
were killed in the clashes in a rural area of Latakia province, the monitor
said. The HTS-led alliance also controls large areas of Idlib province and
slivers of territory in neighboring Aleppo and Hama. The region they hold is
home to some 3 million people, nearly half of whom have been displaced from
other parts of the country. Syria’s 9-year-old war has killed more than 380,000
people and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population. The
opposition-held area is a regular target of attacks by regime forces and their
Russian and Iranian allies.”

 

Iran

 

U.S. News & World Report: Fighting Terror On The Battlefield Of Banking
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“The United States government rightly labels Iran as the world's leading
state-sponsor of terrorism. Its clerical regime – or the Velayet e-Faqih
(Guardianship of Islamic Jurist) – exercises direct or indirect control over
most of the country's largest financial and commercial institutions to
allegedly train, finance and equip a global network of proxy forces in the
Middle East, South Asia, Africa and Latin America. During the time of the last
shah, Iran's historical claims over Bahraini sovereignty ended in 1971 at the
United Nations, supported by a poll taken of the Bahraini population voicing
overwhelming support toward independence. Nonetheless, Bahrain continues to be
a target of Iran's efforts to expand its sphere of influence and hegemony since
the revolution. More ominously, the Iranian regime has consistently used all
the tools of its national power to destabilize our nation, which though
territorially small, serves as a critical linchpin in the security architecture
of the Middle East. Fortunately, Bahrain has two things working in its favor:
Our leadership and people have rejected the Iranian regime's theo-fascist
doctrine. And we have a resolute ally in the United States. In partnership with
U.S. agencies, Bahrain recently took down a key node of Iran's global money
laundering network.”

 

Asharq Al-Awsat: Kabul Calls On Tehran To Prevent Pro-Taliban Activities
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“Afghan Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Sadiq Siddiqui called on Iran Monday to
prevent Taliban activities in Tehran, in the first comment after some Afghans
were seen in pictures waving the Taliban flag at a park in Iran's capital.
Iranian authorities confirmed to local media outlets that the security forces
arrested Monday a number of Afghans after they waved the Taliban flag at the
Mellat Park during celebrations for the Eid al-Adha holy festival this past
weekend. The Afghan government said that such pro-Taliban propaganda should be
stopped by these countries as it will harm peace efforts in the country. He
called on the neighboring countries to support the peace process that the
Afghan government and the people of Afghanistan are leading. According to
Iranian state-run news outlets, the head of Tehran’s police force, Ali
Zolghadiri said all of the individuals who participated in this incident have
been detained. Jila Bani Yaghoob, an Iranian journalist-blogger and women's
rights activist, said the Iranian security forces also arrested Mohammed Arif
Ahmadi, an Afghan social media activist living in Tehran who was responsible
for posting the photos online.”

 

Iraq

 

UnHerd: When Will The Yazidis Get Justice?
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"Nearly 250,000 Yazidis languish in IDP camps and many women and children are
still unaccounted for. In perhaps the cruellest twist, long after the group’s
territorial defeat some women and children are still stuck living among their
tormentors in the camps of Northern Syria. Survivors live with the physical and
mental scars of Islamic State’s atrocities. Some women mutilated themselves to
deter their captors from rape, others involuntarily re-enact their sexual abuse
in horrifying, writhing seizures. Despite the ongoing torment, it is the lack
of justice that has left the bitterest taste for many Yazidis. 40,000
foreigners joined Islamic State. Some 6,000 from Western Europe and several
hundred more from North America and Australasia answered Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s
“Caliphate” call, yet so far not one successful conviction has taken place and
only a handful of cases have made it to court for the atrocities committed
against Yazidis – a genocide, according to the UN."

 

Turkey

 

The New York Times: Turkish Aggression Is NATO’s ‘Elephant In The Room’
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“The warships were escorting a vessel suspected of smuggling weapons into
Libya, violating a United Nations arms embargo. Challenged by a French naval
frigate, the warships went to battle alert. Outnumbered and outgunned, the
French frigate withdrew. But this mid-June naval showdown in the Mediterranean
was not a confrontation of enemies. The antagonists were France and Turkey,
fellow members of NATO, sworn to protect one another. A similarly hostile
encounter between Turkey and a fellow NATO member happened just two weeks ago,
when Turkish warplanes buzzed an area near the Greek island of Rhodes after
Greek warships went on alert over Turkey’s intent to drill for undersea natural
gas there. Turkey — increasingly assertive, ambitious and authoritarian — has
become “the elephant in the room” for NATO, European diplomats say. But it is a
matter, they say, that few want to discuss. A NATO member since 1952, Turkey is
too big, powerful and strategically important — it is the crossroads of Europe
and Asia — to allow an open confrontation, alliance officials suggest. Turkey
has dismissed any criticism of its behavior as unjustified.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The New York Times: 29 Dead After ISIS Attack On Afghan Prison
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“A militant assault on a prison complex in eastern Afghanistan ended on Monday
after a 20-hour gun battle, leaving 29 people dead and officials scrambling to
recapture hundreds of prisoners, including many from the Islamic State and the
Taliban. The attack at the prison in Jalalabad City was claimed by the Islamic
State. It began on Sunday night when a brief cease-fire between the Afghan
government and the Taliban was still in place. Its timing underscored the
complexity of a conflict that is growing deadlier by the day, even as peace
talks continue. Gen. Yasin Zia, the chief of the Afghan army who arrived in the
city to lead the last stretch of the operations, said ten assailants were
involved in the attack and all were killed. The security perimeter was first
breached with a car-bomb before attackers with assault rifles streamed in and
started a gun battle with prison guards. At least 29 people had been killed and
48 others wounded, according to Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the
governor of Nangarhar Province. The casualties included civilians, inmates and
security forces, he said.”

 

Reuters: Pompeo, Taliban Negotiator Discuss Afghan Peace Process: Taliban
Spokesman
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“U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a video meeting on Monday with the
Taliban’s chief negotiator, Mullah Baradar Akhund, to discuss the state of the
Afghanistan peace process, an insurgent spokesman said. The discussions
included the issue of Taliban prisoners whose release by the Afghan government
the insurgents are demanding, Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban spokesman in Doha
said on Twitter. The Taliban want the prisoners freed before they join talks
with government officials and other Afghans on a political settlement to
decades of war, The State Department did not immediately respond to a request
for comment. “Both sides talked about the inception of intra-Afghan
negotiations” and they “emphasized that the release of the remaining prisoners
are essential for commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations,” Shaheen wrote.
The meeting between Pompeo and Baradar, the Taliban’s Doha-based deputy leader,
came as Afghan security forces ended a siege of a major prison in eastern
Afghanistan by Islamic State militants in which hundreds of prisoners escaped.
It was not immediately known if the escapees included any of the prisoners
whose release the Taliban is demanding. The release of the Taliban prisoners
has become a major hurdle to the convening of intra-Afghan peace talks, which
were to have started by March 10.”

 

Pakistan

 

The Nation: The Reincarnation Of Terrorism
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“India’s futile and senseless efforts to weaken and subordinate Pakistan
continue relentlessly. Its state-sponsored export of terrorism to Pakistan from
Afghanistan and Iran persists. Its proteges, the various terrorist groups and
their sleeper cells in Pakistan persevere as potent, latent threats. India’s
foremost strategic objective was to establish its hegemony in the region.
Pakistan was to be reduced to the status of a vassal state. It was to be
isolated diplomatically, browbeaten into submission militarily, destroyed
economically and forced into unrelenting internal turmoil. To that end, the
disruption, delay and/or destruction of the CPEC-BRI too, acquired critical
urgency for India. India has historically adopted an unremitting
multidimensional approach to harm Pakistan. On the internal (and economy) front
it succeeded in motivating some unscrupulous political elements into opposing
the indispensable Kalabagh Dam. Had it been constructed at the planned time it
would have massively boosted Pakistan’s economy and prosperity of the people.
However, some of our so-called political stalwarts fell for the Indian guile
and intrigue and opposed it on pseudo-nationalist grounds. It hurt Pakistan
economically.”

 

Middle East

 

Agence France-Presse: Israeli Jets Strike Hamas Targets In Gaza: Military
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“Israeli fighter jets carried out strikes on Hamas facilities in the Gaza
Strip after a “rocket” was fired from the Hamas-controlled enclave toward the
Jewish state, its military said Monday. Israel said Sunday night a “projectile”
fired from Gaza had been intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-rocket system. It
was the first to be fired from the Palestinian coastal enclave since the first
week of July, and set off sirens, the Israeli army said. In response, “our
fighter jets and & aircraft just struck subterranean Hamas terror facilities in
Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. A spokesperson for the
regional council of Shaar Hanegev, the area where the sirens sounded, said the
projectile launched from Gaza had not caused any damage or casualties. Israel
and Islamist movement Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. Despite a truce
in recent months, they have periodically exchanged fire, with militants in the
strip lobbing rockets into Israel and the Jewish state responding with strikes
against targets inside Gaza.”

 

Somalia

 

Voice Of America: Suicide Bombing Attack On Mogadishu Restaurants Kills At
Least Three
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“Media reports say a suicide bombing attack killed at least four people,
including the bomber at a Mogadishu restaurant, which is popular with security
forces and government workers. Several others were injured in Monday's attack
on the Lul Yamani restaurant, in the Somali capital. Police say the attacker
detonated the explosives at the entrance to the restaurant after being stopped
by a restaurant security guard. There was no immediate claim of responsibility,
but the Islamist al-Shabaab militant group is suspected of being involved
because its history of targeting security forces.”

 

Africa

 

United Nations High Commission For Refugees: UNHCR Outraged By Attack On Camp
Hosting Displaced People In Cameroon, At Least 18 People Killed
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“Some 1,500 people, including terrified residents of the hosting village, have
fled to the nearby town of Mozogo for safety. UNHCR is deploying an emergency
mission to assess the situation and evaluate the protection and health needs of
those affected. Local communities in this impoverished area are often the first
responders to those fleeing growing insecurity and violence in the area which
covers Lake Chad and north-east Nigeria. They are sometimes related and they
share with them the few resources they have. Against the background of growing
insecurity, UNHCR anticipates enhanced community protection, shelter, water and
sanitation will be needed as the country responds to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNHCR calls on all actors to respect the civilian and humanitarian character of
IDP camps, and to respond promptly to the urgent needs of people who have fled
violence and suffered multiple displacements. This attack follows a significant
rise in violent incidents in Cameroon’s Far-North Region in July, including
looting and kidnapping by Boko Haram and other armed groups active in the
region. The Far North region, tucked between Nigeria’s Borno and Adamawa states
and Lake Chad, currently hosts 321,886 IDPs and 115,000 Nigerian refugees.”

 

Europe

 

Reuters: Russia Says Suspected Mercenaries Detained By Belarus Were Going To
Latin America
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“A Russian diplomat said on Monday a group of more than 30 suspected Russian
mercenaries detained in Belarus last week were only passing through Minsk and
were on their way to an unnamed Latin American state. Belarusian authorities
have said they suspect the men entered their country to plot “acts of
terrorism” and destabilise it before an Aug. 9 presidential election. Russian
officials have dismissed the accusation and described the men as employees of a
private security firm. The Russian state says it does not use mercenaries. The
standoff could further strain relations between Minsk and its traditional ally
Russia, which soured after the neighbours failed to agree on an oil supply
contract for this year. “Their final destination was one of the states in the
Latin American region,” the diplomat, Kirill Pletnyev, was quoted as saying on
Monday by the Russian RIA news agency. Belarus granted Pletnyev consular access
to the detained men, RIA added. His quotes did not name the Latin American
country or give any more details on the identity of the men. Russia has close
relations with a number of Latin American countries including Venezuela, and
sent dozens of military personnel to Caracas last year, describing them as
military specialists.”

 

Associated Press: Albania Transfers IS Terror Cell Suspect To Germany
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“Albania has transferred to Germany a Tajik man accused of being part of a
cell of the Islamic State group that allegedly planned to attack U.S. military
facilities in Germany, prosecutors said Tuesday.The suspect, identified only as
Komron B. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on his arrival at
Frankfurt airport on Monday, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Four
other Tajiks were arrested in Germany in mid-April and their alleged leader was
taken into custody in March 2019. Prosecutors said Komron B. and the other
suspects joined IS in January 2019 and founded a cell in Germany on the group's
instructions, initially intending to travel to Tajikistan and fight that
country's government. They then allegedly changed plans and decided to carry
out attacks in Germany, either on U.S. military facilities or on individuals —
including an unidentified person living in Germany who they considered critical
of Islam. As part of their efforts to raise money for their plans and for IS,
one of the cell's members traveled to Albania to carry out a contract killing
for $40,000 but the plan failed, prosecutors said. He and another suspect who
had traveled with him then returned to Germany. Komron B. was arrested in
Albania on April 29.”

 

New Zealand

 

Australian Associated Press: Mosques Terrorist Costing NZ Millions
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“Jacinda Ardern isn't ruling out the possibility the convicted Christchurch
mosques terrorist may serve his time in Australia, but says New Zealand must
make sure “justice is done here first”. Freshly released Cabinet papers have
revealed the high cost of housing the Australian man who shot and killed 51 New
Zealanders in the country's worst mass shooting on March 15 last year. A total
of $NZ3.59 million ($A3.33 million) has been approved for the first two years
of Brenton Tarrant's stay at Auckland's Paremoremo Prison. Additionally,
$NZ790,000 ($A733,000) has been set aside this year for screening incoming and
outgoing mail for high-risk inmates. That measure has been directly attributed
to an unfortunate incident last year when one of Tarrant's letters - reportedly
sent to a contact in Russia - was posted on a notorious forum online. Ms Ardern
said the bill to house the Grafton-raised terrorist was unfortunately
necessary. “It is a high cost case,” she said. “Obviously we've already seen
what happens if we don't monitor closely, for instance, the correspondence that
that individual is is engaging in, and of course some of the other precautions
we need to put around the terrorist.”



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