“The drones that attacked a U.S. military compound in southeast Syria on Aug.
15 were launched by Iranian-backed militants in central Iraq, U.S. offic











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Eye on Extremism


August 31, 2022



The Wall Street Journal: Drone Attack On Syria Base Came From Iraqi Militants,
U.S. Officials Say
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“The drones that attacked a U.S. military compound in southeast Syria on Aug.
15 were launched by Iranian-backed militants in central Iraq, U.S. officials
say, posing a challenge for the White House as it seeks to navigate Baghdad’s
tumultuous politics. The Iraqi militia’s alleged involvement was briefly made
public last week when a U.S. military command in the Middle East tweeted a map
showing that the attack had been launched from Iraq and providing photographs
of remnants of the Iranian drones. But officials at the White House’s National
Security Council and the Pentagon expressed concerns about the disclosure. The
Defense Department instructed that the tweet be deleted “due to operational
sensitivities in the region,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Defense Department
spokesman, told The Wall Street Journal. U.S. officials say the information in
the tweet was accurate and that the drones were launched from Iraq’s Babil
province in an area controlled by Kataib Hezbollah, a militia with close ties
to Tehran. A screenshot taken by The Wall Street Journal showing a
since-deleted tweet by the U.S.-led command that is helping Iraqi and Syrian
forces fight Islamic State militants.”



ABC News Australia: Inquiry Into Far-Right Extremism In Victoria Makes 12
Recommendations To Counter Spread
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“The findings of a six-month inquiry into the re-emergence of far-right
extremism in Victoria have been released, highlighting issues such as
decreasing public trust in mainstream media and government and young people
engaging with extremism. Key points: A parliamentary inquiry has made 12
recommendations to the government to counter far-right extremism in Victoria.
The government will have six months to respond to the recommendations. The
inquiry heard that minors are increasingly the subject of terrorism
investigations. Chaired by Northern Metropolitan member Fiona Patten, a
committee investigated the spread of far-right extremism in Victoria since
2015, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and possible preventative measures to
stop radicalisation. “This report, its findings and recommendations are not the
complete answer to the problems caused by extremism nor all the answers to
combating it,” Ms Patten said. “They should be seen as a starting point. More
work is required to understand extremism and further ways to prevent it.” The
committee made 46 findings and 12 recommendations, based off submissions from
dozens of interest groups and stakeholders around the state. The government has
six months to respond in writing to the recommendations.”



Iraq



Egypt Today: Group Of Daesh Terrorists Arrested In Iraq's Kurdistan Over
Publishing Leaflets
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“A group of Daesh terrorists were arrested Tuesday over publishing leaflets
containing expiatory phrases in Bazian area, announced Asayish Directorate,
west of Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan province. Over the past period, it has been
noticed the existence of leaflets and slogans promoting Daesh ideologies in
several public places in Bazian area, the directorate said in a statement
carried by Alsumaria TV. Four terrorists have been arrested and they confessed
to carrying out terrorist acts against governmental institutions in the area in
order to undermine internal peace, it added.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: Fears, Uncertainty Torment West With Taliban In Charge Of
Afghan Security
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“A year after the last U.S. troops left Kabul, there appears to be little
consensus on whether the world, and the West in particular, is any safer from
the terrorist groups that call Afghanistan home. One of the most polarizing
developments in the debate came on July 31 of this year, when a U.S. airstrike
— the first in Afghanistan since U.S. forces departed on August 30, 2021 —
targeted a safe house in downtown Kabul, killing al-Qaida terror group leader
Ayman al-Zawahiri. U.S. officials said al-Zawahiri had moved to the Afghan
capital months earlier, residing in a house owned by members of the Taliban’s
ruling coalition and that Taliban officials were aware he was there. “The
United States does not need a permanent troop presence on the ground in harm’s
way to remain vigilant against terrorism threats or to remove the world’s most
wanted terrorist from the battlefield,” White House National Security Council
spokesperson Adrienne Watson wrote in a memo issued Monday. A recently
declassified U.S. intelligence assessment also downplays the threat from
al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida in particular “does not have a capability to
launch attacks against the U.S. or its interests abroad from Afghanistan,”
according to the assessment, which added that the group “has not reconstituted
its presence in Afghanistan since the U.S. departure in August 2021.”



Fox News: US Withdrawal From Afghanistan 'Weakened' NATO Prior To Putin's
Invasion: Experts
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“NATO allies had no choice but to follow the U.S. out of Afghanistan, which
gave the impression that member states had “no backbone” for another conflict,
experts told Fox News Digital. “It was clear to all experts that [the
withdrawal] meant the great danger of the Taliban taking power in Afghanistan,”
Dr. August Hanning, former German state secretary of the Federal Interior
Ministry and director of Federal Intelligence Services, explained. “But the
prevailing mood in Germany was that government, Parliament and public were
tired about the mission and the poor results of the mission in Afghanistan.
Therefore, this announcement was also associated with a feeling of relief.” The
Taliban assumed control of Kabul – and the country as a whole – after President
Biden ordered a hasty withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan that
ended on Aug. 30, 2021. Allies told Fox News Digital that the U.S. provided
little advance warning, leaving them to scramble and figure out their own
plans. Even in the event that some allies had wanted to remain in the country,
it would not have been possible without the U.S. presence. “We had no choice:
We couldn't possibly have remained without the Americans,” Col. Richard Kemp, a
British Army officer who commanded U.K. forces in Afghanistan in 2003, told Fox
News Digital. “We're a comparatively small army. We don't have the necessary
support to be able to make it have any effect, really, in Afghanistan on our
own.”



Newsweek: A Year After U.S. Exit, Afghan Rebel Groups Are Waging War On
Taliban Rule
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“One year since the departure of the final U.S. military plane from Kabul
marked the end of a 20-year war effort in Afghanistan, the Taliban's reign over
the country remains powerful, but not undisputed. While jihadi groups such as
the Islamic State (ISIS) present a threat to the Taliban's Islamic Emirate on
one front, a number of rebel groups are also locked in combat with rulers of
Afghanistan, who are still unrecognized by the international community. The
actual strength of these organizations remains a matter of dispute, especially
given their geographical and geopolitical isolation, but their common goal of
overthrowing the Islamic Emirate makes them a lingering challenge for the
Taliban's project to legitimize and secure their lasting control over
Afghanistan. Newsweek spoke with five such groups, nearly all of whom claimed
to be made up mostly of former Afghan National Security Forces personnel now
fighting against the Taliban in support of a democratic Afghanistan without any
international backing. Each warned that, rather than posing as a force for
stability, the Taliban had opened the floodgates to other militant groups
including ISIS, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic Union of Uzbekistan, the East Turkestan
Islamic Movement, Jamaat Ansurallah (sometimes referred to as the Tajik
Taliban), and the Pakistani Taliban.”



Yemen



Associated Press: Rights Groups Urge Yemen’s Houthis To End Taiz Blockade
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Sixteen rights groups urge Yemen’s Houthi rebels to end their siege of the
country’s third-largest city, as the internationally recognized government said
an overnight rebel attack killed at least 10 troops. The groups, including
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, say in a joint statement that the
Houthi blockade of Taiz has severely restricted freedom of movement and impeded
the flow of essential goods, medicine and humanitarian aid to the city’s
residents.



Middle East



Associated Press: Gaza Aid Worker Gets 12 Years On Israeli Terror Charges
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“An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced the Gaza director of a major
international charity to 12 years in prison after the court earlier convicted
him of terrorism charges in a high-profile case in which independent
investigations found no proof of wrongdoing. Mohammed el-Halabi, the Gaza
director for the international Christian charity World Vision, was arrested in
2016 and accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars to the Islamic
militant group Hamas that rules the territory. The trial, and his prolonged
detention, have further strained relations between Israel and humanitarian
organizations that provide aid to Palestinians. The sentence is likely to
continue to affect those ties. The trial sheds light on the way Israel's legal
system handles sensitive security cases, with the defense team given only
limited access to evidence, which was also not made public. Critics say the
courts too often side with the evidence brought forward by Israel's security
establishment. “It's inconceivable,” el-Halabi's lawyer, Maher Hanna, said of
the length of the sentence. “They insist that injustice will persist throughout
the whole process.” Both el-Halabi and World Vision have denied the allegations
and an independent audit in 2017 also found no evidence of support for Hamas.
Australia, which was the biggest single donor to World Vision’s humanitarian
work in Gaza, came to similar conclusions in its own review.”



Associated Press: Olympics Attack Victims’ Families Close To Deal With Germany
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“The families of 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian attackers at the
1972 Munich Olympics are close to reaching a deal with the German government
over a long-disputed compensation claim, German and Israeli media reported
Wednesday. Earlier this month, the families had threatened to boycott Monday’s
50-year anniversary ceremony in Munich organized by German authorities because
they said the amount they had been offered was too low. Several media reported
Wednesday that Germany increased its offer to the families to around 28 million
euros (dollars), but that a final deal, while close, had not yet been signed.
German media have reported that during negotiations over the last few weeks,
the German government initially offered 10 million euros to the families, which
would include the payments already made. The government has not publicly
revealed how much money it has offered.”



Nigeria



Punch Nigeria: Army Kills Terrorist, Arrests Three Suspects In Kaduna
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“The Nigerian Army on Tuesday said the General Officer Commanding One
Division, alongside a team of operational commanders, arrested three terrorists
and killed one during a gun duel in Kaduna State. The patrol team led by
Major-General Taoreed Lagbaja was on a fighting patrol in some communities in
state when the terrorists reportedly engaged the team in a gun duel and were
overpowered. A statement by the Army spokesperson, Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu
said 18 motorcycles and arms and ammunition were recovered from the terrorists.
The statement read, “A fighting patrol led by the General Officer Commanding
One Division Nigerian Army, Major-General Taoreed Lagbaja, accompanied by a
team of operational commanders and operatives have cleared bandits in Buruku,
Udawa, Manini, Birnin Gwari, Doka, Maganda, Kuyello and Dogon Dawa communities
in Kaduna State, while on a fighting patrol on Monday, August 29, 2022. “In the
fire fight that ensued during the engagements, the patrol team overpowered the
bandits with superior fire power, neutralising one of them, while three others
were captured alive as some of the criminal elements escaped with gunshot
wounds. The patrol team also recovered one AK 47 rifle, 27 rounds of 7.62 mm
special ammunition and 18 motorcycles.”



Africa



Reuters: Militants Kill At Least 40 Villagers In East Congo Attacks
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“Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 40 civilians in a string of
attacks on several villages in east Democratic Republic of Congo between
Thursday and Monday, a local human rights group and a hospital worker said
Tuesday. Assailants believed to be members of the Allied Democratic Forces
(ADF) first targeted a group of villagers from North-Kivu province that had
crossed into neighboring Ituri province to look for arable land near the Ituri
River on Aug. 25. Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the local group
Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CRDH), said ADF fighters had
executed more than 40 men, women and children in five villages since Thursday.
“All this under the eyes of the authorities,” said Munyanderu. “We are dying
here but nothing is being done.” War-displaced women feed and play with their
children. Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 40 civilians in a string
of attacks. Congolese policemen are seen at the border between Rwanda and
Democratic Republic of Congo. The ADF is one of several armed groups wrangling
over resources and attacking civilians in Congo’s east. A wounded FARDC (Armed
Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) soldier.”



AFP: Burkina Says 28 Rebels And One Soldier Died In Army Ops
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“A soldier has been killed and at least 28 “terrorists neutralized” in two
military operations in the north and east of Burkina Faso, the army said
Monday. The landlocked Sahel state is in the grip of a seven-year-old
insurgency that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced some 1.9 million
people to leave their homes. The fighting has been concentrated in the north
and east, led by jihadists suspected to have links with Al-Qaeda or the Islamic
State group. The army announced that on Sunday troops launched a
counter-offensive after rebel harassment around the northern town of Sebba. Two
rebel bases were dismantled and several clashes took place, leaving “at least
18” dead, as well as one soldier, a statement said. Also on Sunday, special
forces backed by the air force laid assault to a “major terrorist base” near
Soam in the east. “The base was totally destroyed and at least 10 terrorists
were neutralized,” the statement said, meaning they were killed. “Others fled
and are now being pursued by deployed units,” it added. Weapons, vehicles, and
communication equipment were recovered, according to the army, which urged
people to “strengthen cooperation with the defense and security forces by
informing on terrorists who try to melt into their midst.”



All Africa: West Africa: Ghana Appeals To U.S. To Help Fight Terrorism In West
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“President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appealed to the United States
Government to help West African deal with the threat of terrorism and violent
extremism. Speaking with a US Bi-partisan Congressional delegation that paid
him a visit at the Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo said the threats posed
by the expanding Islamic network were detrimental to the socio-economic
development of the region. He told the delegation that the growing threat of
terrorism in the region was a result of the US decade-long fight against
terrorism in the Middle East and other parts of the world. The delegation is in
the country to evaluate US Government's projects and USAID programmes and
investments. The President said the terrorism phenomenon further heightened in
the region when the US fought and drove hardened Jihadist groups from the
Middle East a decade ago, and the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
Terrorism groups, which were originally confided in countries bordering the
Sahel regions, took advantage of the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi's regime and
penetrated the West African region such as Mail to find refuge from the US
fight against them in the Middle East.”



Europe



Atalayar: Boogaloo Bois Arrive In Ukraine
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“…For this group, however, the main reason for participating in the war would
not be to help the Ukrainian army against the Russian offensive, but to gain
military experience. “Some right-wing extremists have seen the war in Ukraine
as an opportunity to gain combat experience that would otherwise not be
available to them,” Joshua Fisher-Birch, a far-right expert and analyst at the
Counter Extremism Project, tells VICE. This military experience not only serves
to enhance the capabilities of the fighters travelling to Ukraine themselves,
but also “to pass those skill sets on to other members,” Fisher-Birch notes.
The group - characterised by being heavily armed and wearing Hawaiian shirts -
began to gain notoriety in 2020 for its strong and violent opposition to the US
government and its measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to
being in the media spotlight, their plans and protests against the authorities
also put the Boogaloo Bois in the crosshairs of US national security services.
After the demonstrations against the COVID-19 confinements came the Black Lives
Matter protests. Despite the fact that many of their members identify as white
supremacists and neo-Nazis, the Boogaloo Bois tried to present themselves as
allies of BLM activists, denouncing police brutality against African-American
citizens.”



Technology



The Washington Post: Ready Or Not, Mass Video Deepfakes Are Coming
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“…Yet some critics are horrified by this celebratory moment on a top-rated
television show. Video deepfakes, they say, blur a line between fiction and
reality that’s barely clear now. If disinformation-peddlers can have so much
success with words and doctored images, imagine what they can do with a full
video. “We’re quickly entering a world where everything, even videos, can be
manipulated by pretty much anyone who wants to,” said Hany Farid, a professor
at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert on deepfakes. “What
can go wrong?” The unveiling on what for most weeks this summer is the
most-watched show on network television comes at the end of a frenetic summer
in the world of deepfakes, which use the deep-learning of artificial
intelligence to create fake media (supporters prefer “synthetic” or
“AI-generated”). While many Americans were blissfully engaging in quaint
analogue activities like going to the beach, a start-up named Midjourney
offered “AI art-generation,” in which anyone with a basic graphics card could
with a few keystrokes create stunningly real images. To spend even a few
minutes with it — there’s Gordon Ramsay burning up in his Hell’s Kitchen;
here’s Gandalf shredding on a guitar — is to experience a technology that makes
Photoshop look like Wite-Out. Midjourney has gathered more than a million users
on its Discord channel. Three weeks ago, a start-up named Stable AI released a
program called Stable Diffusion.”



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