“A suicide bomber struck at a center of Taliban power Wednesday, setting off a
blast at a government ministry in the Afghan capital of Kabul and killing at
least four people. The explosion went off in the afternoon as workers and
visitors were praying inside a mosque of Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry, which
is responsible for security and law enforcement in the country. At least 25
worshippers were injured, a Taliban official said. The attack inside a
fortified compound dealt a serious blow to the Taliban, who have been trying to
project control and strength since they seized power in August 2021. There was
no immediate claim of responsibility, but the extremist group Islamic State,
the main Taliban rival, has carried out a series of attacks, including in
mosques, as part of a long-running insurgency. Targets have included Taliban
patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shiite minority. Wednesday’s attack took
place around 1:30 p.m. at the Interior Ministry compound on a main road next to
Kabul’s international airport. Abdul Nafi Takor, a ministry spokesman, said the
blast went off during prayers. He said four worshippers were killed and 25
wounded The Emergency Hospital in Kabul said it began receiving patients at
around 2 p.m. with injuries and burns. Some of those wounded “reported seeing a
man detonate a device,” said the hospital’s acting country director, Dejan
Panic.”











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Eye on Extremism


October 6, 2022



Associated Press: Suicide Bomber Strikes At A Center Of Taliban Power, Kills 4
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“A suicide bomber struck at a center of Taliban power Wednesday, setting off a
blast at a government ministry in the Afghan capital of Kabul and killing at
least four people. The explosion went off in the afternoon as workers and
visitors were praying inside a mosque of Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry, which
is responsible for security and law enforcement in the country. At least 25
worshippers were injured, a Taliban official said. The attack inside a
fortified compound dealt a serious blow to the Taliban, who have been trying to
project control and strength since they seized power in August 2021. There was
no immediate claim of responsibility, but the extremist group Islamic State,
the main Taliban rival, has carried out a series of attacks, including in
mosques, as part of a long-running insurgency. Targets have included Taliban
patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shiite minority. Wednesday’s attack took
place around 1:30 p.m. at the Interior Ministry compound on a main road next to
Kabul’s international airport. Abdul Nafi Takor, a ministry spokesman, said the
blast went off during prayers. He said four worshippers were killed and 25
wounded The Emergency Hospital in Kabul said it began receiving patients at
around 2 p.m. with injuries and burns. Some of those wounded “reported seeing a
man detonate a device,” said the hospital’s acting country director, Dejan
Panic.”



AFP: Remaining Hostages Freed In Nigeria Train Attack
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“The remaining passengers taken hostage in March after gunmen bombed and
attacked a train in northwest Nigeria have been freed, government and security
officials said on Wednesday. Gunmen blew up the tracks and attacked the train
traveling between the capital, Abuja, and Kaduna, killing eight people and
kidnapping dozens in one of the most high-profile attacks this year. “All 23
kidnapped victims of the ill-fated Kaduna train mishap released,” Transport
Minister Mu'azu Jaji Sambo said on Twitter. A team had secured the release and
took custody of passengers “held hostage by Boko Haram terrorists following the
attack on the Abuja to Kaduna train,” a statement from a military committee
said, without giving details on how they were freed. Kaduna state security
commissioner Samuel Aruwan confirmed the hostage release. Security is a major
concern for Nigerians as the country prepares for February elections to replace
President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army general who is stepping down after
two terms leading Africa's most populous country. No group claimed the March 28
train attack, though officials have blamed jihadis cooperating with heavily
armed criminal gangs who terrorize parts of northwest and central Nigeria with
looting raids and mass abductions.”



Syria



Reuters: Syrian TV Says Rare U.S. Raid In Government-Held Zone Kills One
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“Syrian state television said on Thursday that U.S. special forces carried
out a rare operation in a government-held village in the country's northeast,
killing one person and capturing others. The operation took place in an area of
Hasakeh province, which is partly held by government forces and partly held by
U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters. The United States has carried out previous raids
in Syria to target members of the Islamic State group, but Thursday's operation
would be the first known raid in a government-held area. Syrian state
television's Telegram channel said helicopters had descended on the village of
Muluk Saray but it did not say who the individual killed was. Several residents
of the area confirmed the raid to Reuters. One said that U.S. helicopters
landed in the village after midnight and told residents by loudspeaker to stay
indoors and keep their lights off. The resident said the operation lasted
several hours and that there was no exchange of fire with the U.S. troops.”



Iran



WTOP: The Hunt: Iran’s Cross-Border Attacks Inside Northern Iraq
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“On this episode of The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J.
Green, Dr. Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism
Project, explains what’s at stake.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: IS Ramps Up Attacks In Afghanistan, Taliban Claim Key Arrest
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“Amid an intensified terror campaign by the Islamic State Khorasan (ISK)
group in Afghanistan which has killed dozens of civilians this week, Taliban
authorities claim they have captured the group’s liaison for Europe. On
Tuesday, the Taliban’s intelligence agency released a video confession of an
alleged ISK member who says he helped foreign nationals join the terrorist
group in Afghanistan. “I had invited 10 to 15 people and one of them has come
to Afghanistan,” says the Afghan man in the video. The man also claims he
collected funds for ISK from three European countries. “I collected $15,000
from Ukraine, 5,000 euros from Germany, and about 1,500 euros from Spain.” The
release of the Taliban video comes at a time when ISK has perpetrated several
deadly attacks in the Afghan capital over the past few weeks. At least 50
people, mostly schoolgirls, were killed and more than 100 wounded in an
explosion at an educational center in Kabul on Friday. The victims were Shiite
Muslims. ISK has declared a religious war against Shiites. On Wednesday, a bomb
blast at a mosque near the interior ministry in Kabul killed at least four
worshippers and wounded 25 others, Taliban authorities confirmed. Rejecting
foreign counterterror cooperation, the Taliban claim they are capable of
routing ISK in the country on their own.”



Middle East



AFP: Palestinian Killed By Israeli Army In West Bank: Palestinian Ministry
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“A Palestinian was shot dead and at least two others wounded Wednesday by
Israeli forces during an operation near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the
Palestinian health ministry said. Alaa Zaghal, 21, “died of a bullet wound to
the head fired by the occupation (Israeli) army”, a statement read. Two
journalists were also hurt during the clashes, an AFP journalist at the scene
witnessed. Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, said the two journalists
were employees of state television network Palestine TV. The Israeli army said
it had attempted to arrest Salman Amran, 35, describing him as a “Hamas
operative” who was “previously imprisoned for being a part of a Hamas military
network which planned attacks”. “Soldiers surrounded the residence of the
suspect. The suspect shot at the soldiers while barricaded inside the
residential building,” the army said in a statement. The clashes ended when
Amran “turned himself in”, it added. Local residents said the army had
surrounded a house inside the village, which lies east of Nablus. The operation
came as Hussein al-Sheikh, Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, visited Washington for talks with US National Security Advisor
Jake Sullivan. The White House on Tuesday said that Sullivan had “stressed the
need to take steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank by countering
terrorism and incitement.”



Somalia



AFP: Death Toll From Somalia Bombings Hits 30: Governor
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“The death toll from a triple bombing by the Islamist group Al-Shabaab in
central Somalia earlier this week has risen to at least 30, a local official
said on Wednesday. Another 58 people were injured when three cars packed with
explosives were detonated in Beledweyne, a city at the heart of recent
offensives against the Al-Qaeda-linked militants who control swathes of
Somalia. “We have confirmed that thirty people died in the recent attack,” said
Ali Jeyte Osman, the governor of Hiraan region where Beledweyne is the capital.
The health minister of the wider Hirshabelle state, and a deputy district
commissioner, were among those killed when suicide bombers targeted local
government offices in the city. Witnesses described massive damage in the
aftermath of the attacks claimed by Al-Shabaab, which has waged a bloody
insurrection against the central government for 15 years. Somalia's recently
elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud condemned the attack, which comes as
national forces, backed by local militias and international allies, wage an
aggressive counterinsurgency campaign against the Al-Qaeda affiliate. Mohamud
last month urged citizens to stay away from areas controlled by Al-Shabaab as
government forces supported by local clan militias launched offensives in
Hiraan.”



Africa



AFP: Moroccan, Spanish Police Raid ‘Jihadists,’ Arrest 11
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“Moroccan and Spanish police have dismantled a jihadist cell suspected of
links to the Islamic State group, officials said Tuesday. The operation led to
the arrest of 11 people in raids on Tuesday morning: nine in the Spanish
enclave of Melilla on Morocco’s northern coast, and another two in the nearby
town of Nador, according to a Moroccan police statement. Spanish security
sources said 10 people had been arrested in Melilla and another in the southern
Spanish city of Grenada. The Moroccan police said the two suspects held in
Nador, aged 34 and 39, were remanded in custody and that mobile phones and a
computer had been seized. The detainees were suspected of “promoting extremist
ideology” online “in order to recruit people in terrorist organizations,” the
same source said. Morocco and Spain officially revived their security
cooperation in April after mending fences following a year-long diplomatic row
over the Western Sahara. The Moroccan police regularly announce operations
against jihadist cells, and reports having arrested more than 3,500 people in
relation to “terrorism” since 2002.”



AFP: Suspected Rebels Kill 10 In East Dr Congo
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“Rebels from a notorious militia killed at least 10 civilians in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo, local sources said Wednesday, while some 20
others are missing after the attack. Suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)
militants entered the village of Vido in North Kivu province on Tuesday night
and killed 10 people, including an Anglican pastor, according a local
civil-society leader Patrick Musubao. “More than 20 people are missing,” he
added, blaming the attack on the ADF. Didi Isaya, a local official, also blamed
the ADF and said that fighters had torched 25 houses in the attack. He told AFP
that authorities had found 11 dead civilians. The ADF -- which the Islamic
State group claims as its Central African offshoot -- is among the most violent
of more than 120 armed groups active in eastern volatile DRC. It has been
accused of slaughtering thousands of Congolese civilians and carrying out bomb
attacks in neighbouring Uganda. The DRC and Uganda launched a joint offensive
against the ADF in November 2021, but the militia continues to wreak havoc
across swathes of territory. Both armies are currently conducting joint
operations in the area around the town of Beni -- where the village of Vido is
located. Rebel attacks in the area have resumed recently after several weeks of
calm.”



Africanews: Burkina Faso: 37 Dead In September Attack On Gaskinde - Army
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“The attack committed by jihadists at the end of September in Gaskindé in
northern Burkina Faso, killed 37 people, 27 soldiers, and ten civilians,
announced Wednesday at the headquarters of the Burkinabe army. “The combing and
search operations carried out” since the attack “has resulted in the following
toll: 10 civilians killed, 27 soldiers killed, 29 wounded, including 21
soldiers, seven civilians, and a volunteer for the defense of the country”, a
deputy of the army, according to the headquarters, which said that three people
are “still missing”. The 27 soldiers killed will be buried Friday in
Ouagadougou. An earlier report said at least 11 soldiers were killed and about
50 civilians were missing. On September 26, a supply convoy bound for the town
of Djibo, the capital of the Sahel region in the north of the country, was
attacked by gunmen. In a statement posted on social media and authenticated by
the U.S. SITE jihadist monitoring center, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic and
Muslim Support Group (GSIM) claimed responsibility for the ambush. The
army-escorted convoys supply northern towns under blockade by jihadist groups
that have recently blown up bridges on major highways. The town of Djibo, which
had not seen a road supply convoy arrive for some 40 days, according to the
transporters' union, was supplied by helicopter on Tuesday with 70 tons of
food, according to the army.”



United Kingdom



The Telegraph: Manchester Arena Terrorist Is Moved To New Prison Amid Staffing
Crisis
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“The Manchester Arena bomb plotter and other dangerous terrorists have had to
be moved after one of only three specialist “separation” units to prevent them
radicalising other inmates was shut due to staff shortages. The move raises
fears that the prison service is running short of the experienced officers
needed to provide the 24/7 high-security supervision of category A prisoners,
according to penal sources. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed on
Wednesday it had been forced to temporarily close the separation unit at HMP
Woodhill in Milton Keynes where Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester
Arena suicide bomber, has been held. The unit - a “jail within a jail” with its
own elite prison officers - is designed to keep the most serious terrorist
offenders and preachers of hate away from other inmates because of fears that
they could spread their extremist message. It means that the highly-trained
officers can be switched to guarding other dangerous category A prisoners at
Woodhill amid fears of unrest and increased violence across the rest of the
prison due to the staff shortages. The Telegraph revealed last month that jail
chiefs took the rare step of moving category A prisoners from HMP Woodhill
because of the staffing shortages.”



Germany



AFP: Germany Repatriates 12 Citizens From Syrian Jihadist Camp
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“Germany on Wednesday said it had resolved “almost all known cases” of its
citizens stuck in Syrian jihadist camps, after announcing the repatriation of
12 people. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock released a statement announcing
that seven children and four women returned to Germany on Wednesday night from
the Roj camp in northeastern Syria. A teenage boy who had been taken to Syria
aged 11 was also part of the group. “I am relieved that this action has allowed
us to close almost all the known cases,” Baerbock said. “I am especially
relieved because the children are not responsible for their parents' fateful
choices,” she added, deeming it impossible to leave them “without a future in
the camps of northeast Syria”. The German foreign ministry said the women and
the teenager will have to “answer for their acts” and were detained upon their
arrival in the country. It added that there was only one instance where an
agreed repatriation had not been carried out yet, and that the mothers did not
wish to return in the other cases. The ministry said six operations have led to
76 minors and 26 women being repatriated from northeastern Syria to Germany to
date. The return of relatives of captured or killed jihadist fighters from
Syria and Iraq has been a thorny issue for European countries since the fall of
the Islamic State group's so-called “caliphate” in 2019.”



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