“A doctor says the death toll in a pair of suicide car bombings in Somalia
early Wednesday has risen to at least 20, including nine members of the same
family. Dr. Yahye Abdi with the hospital in Mahaas district told The Associated
Press that more than 50 people were admitted for treatment after the
explosions. Police have said the attackers targeted a military facility in the
Hiran region, which is at the heart of the government’s offensive against
al-Shabab extremists. The attack occurred after the dawn prayer. Al-Shabab
claimed responsibility for the attack. Mahaas is at the center of the ongoing
offensive against al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked group of thousands of fighters
that has controlled parts of central and southern Somalia for years. The
government has vowed to defeat it this year.”











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Eye on Extremism


January 5, 2023



Associated Press: Death Toll In Somalia Twin Bombings Rises To At Least 20
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“A doctor says the death toll in a pair of suicide car bombings in Somalia
early Wednesday has risen to at least 20, including nine members of the same
family. Dr. Yahye Abdi with the hospital in Mahaas district told The Associated
Press that more than 50 people were admitted for treatment after the
explosions. Police have said the attackers targeted a military facility in the
Hiran region, which is at the heart of the government’s offensive against
al-Shabab extremists. The attack occurred after the dawn prayer. Al-Shabab
claimed responsibility for the attack. Mahaas is at the center of the ongoing
offensive against al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked group of thousands of fighters
that has controlled parts of central and southern Somalia for years. The
government has vowed to defeat it this year.”



Reuters: U.N. Security Council To Meet On Taliban Ban On Female Aid Workers
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“The United Nations Security Council is due to meet privately next week to
discuss a decision by Afghanistan's Taliban-led administration to ban female
humanitarian aid workers, diplomats said Wednesday. The closed-door meeting was
requested by the United Arab Emirates and Japan for Jan. 13. The UAE announced
the request in a tweet. The ban on female aid workers was announced by the
Islamist Taliban-led administration on Dec. 24. It followed a ban imposed
earlier last month on women attending universities. Girls were stopped from
attending high school in March. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths is due to visit
Afghanistan in the coming weeks to meet with Taliban officials. At least four
major global groups have suspended operations because they said they were
unable to run their programs without female staff. The United Nations has said
that 97% of Afghans live in poverty, two-thirds of the population need aid to
survive, and 20 million people face acute hunger.”



United States



WTOP: The Hunt: The New Year’s Eve Terror Attack In Times Square
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“What have authorities learned about the event? 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, says it could’ve
been much worse.”



Syria



The National: Terrorist Who Posed With Bodies In Syria Jailed Years After MI6
Failure
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“Al Qaeda-linked terrorist Bherlin Gildo has been jailed for four months in
Sweden for international crimes committed in Syria which saw him pose with
corpses. His conviction comes seven years after a trial against him in the UK
collapsed amid allegations Britain’s security and intelligence agencies would
have been deeply embarrassed had it gone ahead. Gildo, also known as Nathan
Benoitzon, has been convicted of international law crimes by having, together
with others, subjected several people from the opposing side in Syria to
humiliating and degrading treatment, according to Swedish newspaper Expressen.”



Daily Mail: 'ISIS Bride', 31, Who Returned To Australia From Syria Is Charged
With Flying To Terrorist Strong-Hold Two Months After She And Her Kids Were
Rescued From Refugee Camp
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“A Sydney woman has been charged just months after being rescued from a
Syrian refugee camp for reformed Islamic State fighters and eight years after
she allegedly left Australia to fight for the militant group with her husband.
Mariam Raad, 31, was arrested after search warrants were issued in the NSW
country town of Young and the western Sydney suburb of Parklea on Thursday
morning. Police will allege Ms Raad travelled to Syria in early 2014 to join
her husband Muhammed, who left Australia in 2013, to join the fight for Islamic
State. She was charged with entering and remaining in parts of Syria that were
under the control of the Islamic State terrorist organisation. Muhammad Zahab,
a former Sydney maths teacher was a prolific Islamic State recruiter and lured
dozens of his family members to Syria before being killed in 2018. Police
allege Ms Raad knew her husband's activities with Islamic State and, of her own
free, will joined him.”



Voice Of America: Rockets Target Coalition Forces In Syria
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“Two rockets targeted coalition forces in northeastern Syria on Wednesday,
according to U.S. Central Command, a day after Iran and Iraq commemorated the
third anniversary of the death of Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani in
Baghdad. “The attack resulted in no injuries or damage to the base or coalition
property,” CENTCOM said. CENTCOM spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn told VOA the
107-millimeter rockets targeted an area known as “Mission Support Site Conoco”
at 9 a.m. local time in Syria. Syrian Democratic Forces later went to the site
where the rockets were fired from and found a third, unfired one. "Attacks of
this kind place coalition forces and the civilian populace at risk and
undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region,"
CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino said. No one has claimed responsibility.
Iran-backed militias have previously carried out rocket and drone attacks
against U.S. and coalition forces in both Syria and Iraq. One year ago, U.S.
forces thwarted attacks on January 3 and 4 by suspected Iranian-backed
militias.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: Taliban Spokesperson Says Court Due To Rule On Media Licenses

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“The Taliban have said that a court on Thursday is expected to issue a ruling
on whether licenses should be revoked for several media outlets. Abdul Haq
Hammad, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture,
told Voice of America the move is focused on 10 media outlets and news agencies
deemed to be spreading “propaganda and rumors against” the regime. If the court
rules to revoke the licenses, the media outlets will no longer be able to work
in the country. “They will not be able to open their office or have reporters
in the country. This will be illegal,” Hammad said. But Afghan journalists and
media associations see the move as an attempt to further curtail press freedom.
Conditions for media have deteriorated since the Taliban's return to power,
with news outlets shuttering, and a large number of female journalists leaving
the profession.”



Reuters: Afghanistan's Taliban Administration In Oil Extraction Deal With
Chinese Company
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“Afghanistan's Taliban-led administration is to sign a contract with a
Chinese company to extract oil from the Amu Darya basin in the country's north,
the acting mining minister said on Thursday. The contract would be signed with
Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co (CAPEIC), officials told a news
conference in Kabul. It will be the first major public commodities extraction
deal the Taliban administration has signed with an foreign company since taking
power in 2021. It also underscores neighbouring China's economic involvement in
the region even though the Islamic State militant group has targeted its
citizens in Afghanistan. "The Amu Darya oil contract is an important project
between China and Afghanistan," China's ambassador, Wang Yu, told the news
conference. China has not formally recognised the Taliban administration but it
has significant interests in a country at the centre of a region important for
its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.”



Associated Press: Afghan Taliban Kill 8 In Raids Of IS Hideouts In Afghanistan
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“Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban killed eight Islamic State militants and
arrested nine others in a series of raids targeting key figures in a spate of
attacks in Kabul, a senior Taliban government spokesman said Thursday.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban government, said the raids in the
capital city and western Nimroz province on Wednesday targeted IS militants who
organized recent attacks on Kabul’s Longan Hotel, Pakistan’s embassy and the
military airport. Eight IS fighters, including foreign nationals, were killed
and seven others arrested in Kabul, while a separate operation in western
Nimroz province resulted in two more IS arrests, Mujahid said. “These members
had a main role in the attack on the Chinese hotel and paved the way for
foreign IS members to come to Afghanistan,” Mujahid said in a tweet. The
Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing near a
checkpoint at the Afghan capital’s military airport Sunday. IS said that attack
was carried out by the same militant who took part in the Longan Hotel assault
in mid-December.”



Pakistan



Reuters: Pakistani Militants Claim Killing Of Two Intelligence Officials
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“Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban on Wednesday claimed the killing
of a senior official of Pakistan's premier intelligence agency and another
officer, the latest in a resurgence of jihadist violence shaking the country.
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers were shot dead outside a hotel
in Punjab province on Tuesday, police said. The TTP, an umbrella group of
militants that associates itself with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, ended a
months-old ceasefire with the Pakistani government last year and launched a
spate of attacks across the country. "Yesterday, a secret squad of TTP killed
ISI Deputy Director Multan Naveed Sadiq along with his colleague Inspector
Nasir Butt at Bismillah Highway in Khanewal District of Punjab," TTP spokesman
Muhammad Khorasani said in a statement to media.”



Middle East



The Jerusalem Post: Fmr. Hezbollah Member Spied For Israel After Mossad
Blackmail – Report <[link removed]>



“A former member of Hezbollah was arrested in September in Lebanon on
suspicion of spying for the Mossad, and was blackmailed into doing so on threat
of the release of videos showing him engaged in sexual relations, the Lebanese
Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday. According to the report, in June
2021, the former Hezbollah member, identified as Mohsen S., met a woman who
said she was Belgian at a cafe in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The
next day, they met at her house and had sex. A few days later, the woman
disappeared and would not answer his calls. A week after the woman disappeared,
Mohsen received a video clip on his phone showing him in intimate situations
with the woman. Mohsen responded by sending question marks and received no
answer except for a message reading "Rejoice, sweetheart." A short time
afterward, he received a call from the number, with a man telling him that he
was "a friend who wanted help" and that he was from the Mossad.”



Nigeria



Sahara Reporters: Islamic State Claims Responsibility For Killings In Kogi
Church Last October, Brags About 15 Successful Attacks
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“Terrorists group, Islamic State (IS) has claimed that its fighters hit a
church in Kogi State in October 2022, killing two persons. The group made the
claims through an Instagram page. SaharaReporters had in October 2022 reported
that gunmen suspected to be terrorists attacked the church service at the
Celestial Church of God in the Felele area of Lokoja, the Kogi State capital,
killing two persons and injuring three worshippers. Witnesses had said the
terrorists, who were fully armed, attacked the church during the service and
started shooting sporadically which made everyone to scamper for safety. It was
learnt that two people died on the spot, while the injured were taken to the
Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja. The IS group which made this claim on behalf of
the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), claimed to have carried out
the attack, while boasting that it had carried out 15 successful attacks in the
state alone in 2022.”



Daily Trust: ISWAP Commander Behind Kogi Explosion During Buhari’s Visit
Arrested – DSS
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“The Department of State Services (DSS) says it has arrested a high commander
of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abdulmumin Ibrahim Otaru aka Abu
Mikdad, in connection with the explosion around the palace of the Ohinoyi of
Ebiraland in Kogi State. Four persons were killed in the incident that occurred
last Thursday when President Muhammadu Buhari visited the state to commission
some projects executed by Governor Yahaya Bello. The DSS in a statement on
Wednesday by its Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunanya, said one of Otaru’s
associates, Saidu Suleiman was also apprended. Afunanya noted that the ISWAP
commander sustained a gunshot injury on his left foot while attempting to
escape adding that he is receiving treatment at an undisclosed facility.”



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