“Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada said Wednesday that
Afghan soil will not be used to launch attacks against other countries, and











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Eye on Extremism


July 7, 2022



Associated Press: Taliban Leader: Afghan Soil Won't Be Used To Launch Attacks
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“Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada said Wednesday that
Afghan soil will not be used to launch attacks against other countries, and he
asked the international community to not interfere in Afghanistan’s internal
affairs. The Taliban say they are adhering to an agreement they signed with the
United States in 2020 — before retaking power — in which they promised to fight
terrorists. Since their takeover last year, they have repeatedly said
Afghanistan would not be used as a launching pad for attacks against other
countries. “We assure our neighbors, the region and the world that we will not
allow anyone to use our territory to threaten the security of other countries.
We also want other countries not to interfere in our internal affairs,”
Akhundzada said in an address ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. The Taliban
were ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in 2001 for harboring Osama bin Laden,
mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The religious group
captured power again in mid-August, during the chaotic last weeks of the U.S.
and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan. The international community has been wary
of any recognition or cooperation with the Taliban, especially after they
restricted the rights of women and minorities — measures that harken back to
their harsh rule when they were last in power in the late 1990s.”



Reuters: Islamic State Claims Raid On Nigerian Prison, 440 Inmates On Run
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“Islamic State claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a raid on a Nigerian
prison in the capital Abuja which freed around 440 inmates, raising fears that
insurgents are venturing from their enclaves in the northeast. Shuaib Belgore,
permanent secretary at the interior ministry, told journalists outside the
Abuja prison - which has 900 inmates - that a security officer was killed
during Tuesday night's raid and three others were injured. He said suspected
Boko Haram attackers came for members who were held in the prison. “They came
specifically for their co-conspirators, but in order to get them ... some of
them are in the general (prison) population so they broke out and other people
in that population escaped as well but many of them have returned,” Belgore
said. A total of 879 inmates fled, the prison service said in a statement, with
443 still at large and the rest recaptured. Four inmates were dead and 16
others injured, it said. “They have reported themselves to the police, some we
have successfully retrieved from the bushes where they were hiding,” Belgore
said. The raid highlights Nigeria's security challenges, which is spreading
from the northern regions where armed insurgents and gangs are rife. Outside
the prison, the charred wreckage of several vehicles with bullet holes were
seen on Wednesday morning, attesting to gunbattles in the vicinity during the
raid.”



United States



Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City Man Charged With Terrorism, Leaving
Explosive Devices At Two Locations
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“An Iowa City man has been charged with terrorism after police say he left a
backpack with incendiary materials and an attached fuse at the Guidelink Center
on Tuesday, leading to the evacuation of that building and, later, a downtown
apartment complex. The Johnson County Sheriff's Office issued a news release
Wednesday afternoon that said it had arrested and charged Nezzy Underscore
Conway, 23, with possession of an incendiary or explosive device, a Class C
felony, and an outstanding warrant for 4th degree criminal mischief for failing
to appear in an unrelated incident. Conway is also being charged by University
of Iowa Police with terrorism, a Class B felony, and possession of an
incendiary or explosive device from a related investigation. A criminal
complaint filed Wednesday by UI police alleges that, at 9:16 a.m. Tuesday, law
enforcement was called to the College of Public Health for a possible
incendiary device placed in an exterior electrical outlet that appeared to be
singed from where someone attempted to set it on fire. Law enforcement from the
Iowa City Police Department and Johnson County Metro Bomb Squad respond to a
call after evacuating the Capitol House Apartments on Tuesday at 320 S. Dubuque
St. in Iowa City. The device was attached with a bright yellow or green tape,
the same that was later found in a backpack left at the Guidelink Center and in
Conway's apartment.”



Iran



Reuters: Iran TV Says Several Foreigners, A UK Diplomat, Detained For Alleged
Spying
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“Iran's Revolutionary Guards have detained several foreigners, including
Britain's second most senior envoy in Tehran, for alleged acts of spying such
as taking soil samples in restricted areas, state television reported on
Wednesday. It did not elaborate on when they were arrested or whether they were
still under arrest. Britain said the reports were "completely false". "These
spies were taking earth samples in Iran's central desert where the
Revolutionary Guards' aerospace missile exercises were conducted," state TV
said. Iranian state TV showed what it said was footage of Giles Whitaker and
his family in central Iran where the British diplomat appeared to be taking
ground samples. The TV said it was near an area that a missile test was taking
place by the Guards.”



Iraq



Kurdistan 24: Iraqi Forces Kill 2 ISIS Suspects In Makhmour
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“The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) killed two suspected ISIS militants on Mount
Graw in Makhmour on Tuesday, according to the Iraqi Security Media Cell. The
Nineveh Joint Operations Command carried out the raid in the mountainous area
in the Sargaran area of the disputed district of Makhmour. The military media
did not elaborate on the suspects' identities but stated the operation was a
“pre-emptive” one. The raid occurred shortly after Iraqi and Peshmerga
commanders met in Makhmour to strengthen joint security efforts to fill the
security vacuum in the area that ISIS was exploiting. Iraqi Air Force F-16
fighter-bombers also carried out two airstrikes on Mount Hamreen against
suspected ISIS hideouts on Tuesday. According to the Security Media Cell, the
strikes destroyed “two caves” that are believed to be used by the militants.
While ISIS lost all the territory that once made up its self-styled caliphate,
the group is still capable of launching attacks against security forces and
civilians. During a meeting with US Senator Lindsey Graham on Tuesday,
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani discussed the “ISIS resurgence”
and the threat it poses to the stability and security of the area. The
country's security forces regularly launch air and ground operations against
the group in Iraq's west and north.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: US Says ‘It's Too Early’ To Consider Recognition Of Taliban
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“The United States says no foreign government is contemplating legitimacy for
Taliban rule in Afghanistan, even as the insurgent-turned-Islamist group next
month will mark the first year of its return to power in Kabul. “I think
there’s actually a global consensus to include Moscow and Beijing and Iran,
that it’s too early to look at recognition,” Donald Lu, U.S. assistant
secretary of state for South and Central Asia, told VOA in an interview. “Yes,
some countries are beginning a very slow process of normalization of relations.
No one is talking about formal recognition,” Lu said. The U.S. diplomat noted
that international discussions instead were focused on seeking an engagement
with the Taliban that can help improve the situation on the ground in
Afghanistan in terms of the rights of women and girls, and security. “We, as
partner countries, should also be working with authorities in Afghanistan to
create a better world for Afghan people … to try to influence what is happening
in Afghanistan for the betterment of the people of Afghanistan, but also a
stable region.” The Taliban seized power last August when U.S. and NATO
partners withdrew their final troops, ending almost two decades of foreign
military intervention in the country.”



Middle East



The Times Of Israel: Palestinian Arrested Over Suspected Bnei Brak Terror
Attack, Says Shin Bet
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“The Shin Bet security agency said on Wednesday that a Palestinian man who
allegedly attacked and seriously hurt a Bnei Brak resident a day earlier had
been arrested. Early Tuesday morning, Yitzhak Dahan, 47, was wounded in a
suspected terror attack on a pedestrian bridge between the ultra-Orthodox city
and neighboring Givat Shmuel. His condition has since improved. The Shin Bet
did not say where or when the suspect was arrested and further details relating
to the attack were barred from publication due to a court-imposed gag order.
Dahan told Channel 12 news on Wednesday that he passed the alleged assailant at
the entrance to the bridge as he saw him reaching into a bag. “And after a few
seconds, he came up behind me and inflicted blows on my head with something,
probably metal,” Dahan said. Citing unsourced assessments, Channel 12 said the
weapon could have been a hammer or an axe. Dahan was taken by medics to the Tel
Hashomer hospital in Ramat Gan, which said he was suffering from a wound to his
head. The suspected terror attack came following a string of deadly incidents
between mid-March and the beginning of May that left 19 people dead. The most
deadly attack — in which five people were killed — occurred in Bnei Brak.”



Africa



Financial Times: Niger: The West’s xxxxxx Against Jihadis And Russian
Influence In Africa
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“Standing in a landscape of sand and scrub that rolls to the horizon, General
Mahamadou Abou Tarka dabs sweat from his forehead and points north to Niger’s
frontier with Mali and west to Burkina Faso. “There’s a vacuum on the other
side,” he says, referring to the lawless regions in the countries abutting
Niger’s restive Tillabéri region. Across the invisible border, the Malian and
Burkinabe states barely function, the general says. Swaths of territory have
been overrun by terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda and Islamic State. “Mali is
a failed state. Burkina is failing,” says Abou Tarka who, as head of Niger’s
High Authority for the Consolidation of Peace, advises his civilian government
on the fight against a hydra-headed terrorist threat, much of it spilling over
hundreds of miles of unpoliced frontier. “As for Nigeria,” he gestures in the
direction of the huge country to the south. “We say we have a border with
Boko-Haramia,” he says, in a biting reference to the Boko Haram fundamentalists
who, until recently at least, frequently swept across the frontier to attack
villages in Niger. The world’s poorest country, according to the UN’s human
development index, Niger is rarely considered a geopolitical linchpin. But that
is exactly what it has become as successive dominoes fall, terrorism spreads
and Russian influence grows in the Sahel, a sub-continental-sized belt of
semi-desert stretching thousands of miles across Africa.”



Africanews: Niger: Six Soldiers Killed In New Attack Near Chad
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“Six Nigerien soldiers were killed and 14 wounded on Monday night in an
attack by “fifty” suspected jihadists on the military post of Blabrine
(south-east Niger), near the border with Chad, the Ministry of Defence
announced. The provisional balance sheet also shows “17 dead on the enemy
side”, while “weapons and ammunition have been recovered by the armed forces
combing the area”, the ministry said in a statement read on public radio on
Tuesday evening. It did not specify the identity of the attackers, who are
often identified as jihadists from Boko Haram or the Islamic State in West
Africa (ISWAP) group, which was formed in a split from the Nigerian Boko Haram
group. According to the ministry, the attack was carried out “on the night of
Monday 4 to Tuesday 5 July” at “around 1am” but “the reaction (of the soldiers)
made it possible to repel the attack and to rout the enemy”. This is the second
attack in three days in south-eastern Niger, after the one on Sunday in which a
soldier died in an assault by “Boko Haram elements” in Garin Dogo, near
Nigeria. Blabrine is located in the department of N'Guigmi (Diffa region) and
borders Chad. Its military base has been targeted several times since 2015 by
“terrorist” attacks. In May 2020, 12 Nigerien soldiers were killed and ten
injured in an attack attributed to Boko Haram, according to an official report.”



Canada



The Conversation: The Proud Boys Disbanded Over A Year Ago, But Far-Right
Extremism Still Exists In Canada
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“In February 2021, the Canadian government designated the far-right group,
the Proud Boys, as a terrorist entity. At the time, it was argued that the
designation was an important step in clearly demarcating the boundary between
acceptable and inappropriate behaviour, particularly in an increasingly
polarized political environment. More difficult to determine, however, was how
being listed would affect the group. Given the hearings currently being
conducted by the U.S. House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack are set to
focus some attention on the Proud Boys, now seems like an opportune moment to
re-examine the potential threat posed by the group. Despite being a recognized
as a terrorist entity, social media accounts associated with Proud Boys Canada
remained active throughout early 2021. Suddenly, three months after its
listing, the group issued a statement announcing that it had officially
disbanded. In a final act of defiance, the notice maintained that Proud Boys
Canada “were never terrorists or a white supremacy group.” Some members refused
to accept the decision to dissolve; indeed, former Canadian Proud Boys remain
active. Offline, the network’s activities have been restricted to sticker and
poster campaigns, with no evidence of violence perpetrated by former Canadian
Proud Boys.”



Europe



Reuters: Belgium Provisionally Clears Contentious Iran Prisoner Swap Treaty
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“Belgian lawmakers gave initial clearance on Wednesday to a prisoner exchange
treaty with Iran that could lead to the release of an Iranian diplomat
convicted of planning to bomb a rally of an exiled opposition group. The
foreign relations committee of Belgium's lower house debated the treaty for
more than six hours over two days before finally approving it. The measure
still needs to be put before the full 150-member lower house of parliament,
most likely in the next two weeks, but the chamber normally follows votes of
its committees, given they have similar party compositions. The prisoner
exchange might secure the release of a Belgian aid worker who was detained in
Iran in February and could help Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who
has taught in Belgium and been sentenced to death in Iran.”



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