“Britain’s Foreign Office has blocked a plan that would have led to Iran’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) proscribed as a terrorist
organisation, according to a report. The government department cited the need
to keep communication channels with Tehran open as relations between the two
countries continue on a downward spiral. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was
told by MPs in the House of Commons this week there had been a ‘major
groundswell’ in requests for the Sunak government to designate the IRGC as a
terrorist organisation. Mr Cleverly said the Revolutionary Guard’s ‘malign
impact’ was felt across the region and the world, but stopped short of saying a
proscription was in the pipeline. Campaigners, analysts and politicians from
across the political spectrum have urged the Conservative government to place
the IRGC in the same category as Al Qaeda and ISIS.”











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Eye on Extremism


February 3, 2023



The National: UK 'Blocks Plans' To Proscribe Iran's Revolutionary Guard As
Terrorist Group
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“Britain’s Foreign Office has blocked a plan that would have led to Iran’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) proscribed as a terrorist
organisation, according to a report. The government department cited the need
to keep communication channels with Tehran open as relations between the two
countries continue on a downward spiral. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was
told by MPs in the House of Commons this week there had been a ‘major
groundswell’ in requests for the Sunak government to designate the IRGC as a
terrorist organisation. Mr Cleverly said the Revolutionary Guard’s ‘malign
impact’ was felt across the region and the world, but stopped short of saying a
proscription was in the pipeline. Campaigners, analysts and politicians from
across the political spectrum have urged the Conservative government to place
the IRGC in the same category as Al Qaeda and ISIS.”



Washington Post: Killing Of Top ISIS Militant Casts Spotlight On Group’s Broad
Reach In Africa
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“The killing of a senior Islamic State operative by U.S. troops in a Somali
cave complex last week has cast a spotlight on a shadowy financial network
stretching from the Horn of Africa to the continent’s southern tip that Islamic
State-affiliated groups have used to extend their reach, experts and
intelligence officials said. The operation by U.S. Special Forces targeted
Bilal al-Sudani, who Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said “was responsible for
fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s
operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan.” Ten others were also killed in
the Jan. 25 raid.”



United States



NBC Bay Area: US Releases Ex-Al Qaeda Courier from Guantanamo Bay Prison
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“U.S. military officials said Thursday they have freed and sent to Central
America a onetime Al Qaeda money courier who had completed his sentence, ending
an imprisonment that included torture at clandestine CIA sites and 16 years at
the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Majid Khan, a Pakistani citizen who grew
up outside Baltimore, arrived in Belize on Thursday under a Biden
administration agreement with that government. This was the first time since
the Obama administration that U.S. officials have been able to reach agreement
with a stable third-party country willing to take Guantanamo prisoners whom the
U.S. no longer considers a threat. Khan's lawyers said he should have been
freed last February under a pretrial agreement.”



Associated Press: Extremist Israeli Group Halts Fund-Raising Effort In US
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“An Israeli group that assists Jewish prisoners convicted in some of the
country’s most notorious hate crimes has halted its fund-raising efforts
through a U.S.-based Jewish charity following an investigation by The
Associated Press and the Israeli nonprofit news organization Shomrim. The
fund-raising through the Lakewood, New Jersey-based World of Tzedaka had
allowed American donors to make tax-exempt contributions to the hard-line
Israeli group, and suggested that Israel’s far right was making new inroads
into the U.S. World of Tzedaka confirmed that it was no longer working with
Shlom Asiraich, while a fund-raising link on the Israeli group’s website that
connected donors to the American nonprofit has stopped working. ‘We don’t do
any business with them anymore, so we don’t have anything else to do with
them,’ said Yaakov Cohen, who identified himself as a manager for World of
Tzedaka. Shlom Asiraich, or ‘The Well-Being of Your Prisoners,’ has been
raising money in Israel since at least 2018.”



New York Post: Ex-Eagle Scout James Bradley Sentenced To 11 Years For Trying
To Join ISIS
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“A former Boy Scout arrested in New Jersey while boarding a Yemen-bound ship
so he could join ISIS in the war-torn country was sentenced to 11 years in
federal prison on Thursday. James Bradley, 21, and his lawyers had pleaded in
court filings for a sentence of time-served, arguing he had been deradicalized
through work he completed with a non-profit group after his arrest in 2021. But
Judge Paul Engelmayer, in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, said that
request was a ‘complete non-starter.’ ‘I cannot foresee the future, none of us
can,’ Engelmayer said as he imposed the 11-year sentence, adding that the
non-profit workers who ‘deradicalized’ Bradley ‘don’t have crystal balls.’ ‘The
gravity of the offense is hard to get around,’ he added.”



Al Arabiya News: American Sniper, Weapons Trainer For ISIS On Trial In US
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“He had been brought from the battlefields of Syria to a New York lockup, a
US citizen charged with serving as a sniper and weapons trainer for ISIS. And
even in jail, Ruslan Maratovich Asainov kept a makeshift version of the
militants’ black flag right above the desk in his cell, according to trial
testimony this week. ‘What’s the big deal? It’s mine. It’s religious,’
then-jail lieutenant Judith Woods recalled him saying when she went to
confiscate the hand-drawn image in 2020. Years after the fall of the extremist
group’s self-proclaimed governance, the trial is a reminder of the enduring and
far-reaching fallout of a war that drew tens of thousands of foreign fighters
to Syria and Iraq. Their home countries are still contending with what should
become of them.”



Syria



United Press International: U.S. Central Command Detains 227 ISIS Members,
Kills 11 In January
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“U.S. Central Command executed 43 operations targeting Islamic State
operatives in Iraq and Syria in January as it escalates efforts to stabilize
the region. CENTCOM recapped the first month of 2023 in a report released
Thursday detailing the progress made by U.S. and ally forces. Across 43
operations, the coalition -- which includes the Syrian Democratic Forces and
Iraqi Security Forces -- killed 11 ISIS operatives and apprehended 227, CENTCOM
reports. "While our efforts have degraded ISIS, the group's vile ideology
remains uncontained and unconstrained," said Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla,
commander of CENTCOM.”



Asharq Al-Awsat: ISIS Carried Out 15 Operations In Syrian Desert In January
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"The ISIS group carried out 15 attacks in Syria’s desert (Badia) in January,
killing 21 regime soldiers and members of proxy militias, including 12
Iranian-backed Syrian and non-Syrian militants, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights revealed on Thursday. It said one ISIS member was killed in those
attacks. “ISIS continues its attacks in different areas controlled by the
Syrian regime and its allies in the Syrian desert in Homs, Deir Ezzor and
Al-Raqqa,” the Britain-based group said on its website. On January 4, the
Observatory said two Afghan members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
were killed by a landmine planted in a house near a shopping center designated
for Iran-backed militias in the Al-Jamaiah neighborhood, west of Palmyra."



Iran



Associated Press: Satellite Photos: Damage At Iran Military Site Hit By Drone
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“Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press on Friday showed damage
done to what Iran describes as a military workshop targeted by Israeli drones,
the latest such assault amid a shadow war between the two countries. While Iran
has offered no explanation yet of what the workshop manufactured, the drone
attack threatened to again raise tensions in the region. Already, worries have
grown over Tehran enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels,
with a top United Nations nuclear official warning the Islamic Republic had
enough fuel to build ‘several’ atomic bombs if it chooses. Meanwhile, Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose earlier tenure as premier saw
escalating attacks targeting Iran, has returned to office and reiterated that
he views Tehran as his country’s top security threat. With State Department
spokesperson Ned Price now declaring Iran has ‘killed’ the opportunity to
return to its nuclear deal with world powers, it remains unclear what diplomacy
immediately could ease tensions between Tehran and the West.”



Afghanistan



Al Arabiya: Taliban ‘Beat And Detain’ Afghan Educator Who Spoke Out On Women’s
School Ban
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“Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have ‘beaten and detained’ an academic who
voiced outrage on live television against their ban on women’s university
education, his aide said Friday. Veteran journalism lecturer Ismail Mashal
caused a storm by tearing his degree certificates to shreds on TV in December,
protesting the edict ending women’s higher education. In recent days, domestic
channels showed Mashal carting books around Kabul and offering them to
passers-by. ‘Mashal was mercilessly beaten and taken away in a very
disrespectful manner by members of the Islamic Emirate,’ Mashal’s aide Farid
Ahmad Fazli told AFP, referring to the Taliban government. A Taliban official
confirmed the detention.”



Pakistan



Associated Press: Pakistani Troops Kill 2 Militants In Raid Near Afghan Border

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Yemen
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“Troops raided a militant hideout in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold
near the border with Afghanistan on Friday, triggering a shootout that killed
two insurgents, the military said. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif
summoned the country’s opposition leader to forge a response to the recent
surge in violence, including a mosque bombing that killed 101 people. Troops on
Friday recovered a cache of weapons in a militant hideout in North Waziristan,
a district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said
in a statement. The militants killed during the raid had been involved in past
attacks on security forces, it added. The statement provided no further
details, and the identities of the slain militants were not immediately known.
Troops routinely carry out such raids to trace and arrest the Pakistani
Taliban, who are also known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.”



Republic World: Four Militants Killed In Pakistan's Restive Northwest;
Weapons, Ammunitions Recovered
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“Pakistani security forces have killed four terrorists in two separate
encounters in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said on Friday.
Heavily-armed militants attacked a police mobile van on Thursday in the Nisatta
village of Charsadda district. A police team, acting on information received on
the suspects' hideout, rushed to the Gujarabad area of the district. In a gun
battle between the police and the terrorists, three militants were killed.
Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the possession of the militants,
Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanobar Khan said, adding that those killed
were actively involved in terrorist activities against the security forces.”



Middle East



Reuters: Israel To Chad: Need To Curb Iran, Hezbollah Clout In Sahel
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“Chadian President Mahamat Deby, in Israel to open an embassy on Thursday,
heard his hosts' concern about what they described as the clout of their
arch-foes Iran and Hezbollah in Africa's Sahel region. Israel only confirmed
Deby's visit on Wednesday, a day after he arrived. The trip included a rare
stop at the Mossad intelligence headquarters - a sign that bilateral ties
re-established five years ago have national security importance. Chad's embassy
is in Ramat Gan, a town abutting Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's office said. "This is a great day, an historic day for Chad and for
Israel, too," Deby said in a videotape of the inauguration.”



The Jerusalem Post: Lebanese Man Recruits Palestinians On Tiktok To Help With
Terrorism <[link removed]>



“A Lebanese citizen who was once a Hezbollah activist has been using TikTok
to recruit Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to help him carry
out terror attacks, the Shin Bet revealed on Thursday. The man, whose real name
is Salah Sawati, is known as Abu Asan. The Israel Security Agency revealed
three different TikTok accounts he was using to contact the people he targeted.
As part of the investigation, the Shin Bet arrested two east Jerusalem
residents who were in contact with Abu Asan. The two allegedly gathered
intelligence and sent him photos of places in Israel for him to target for his
terror attacks.”



Egypt



Times Of Israel: Report: Egypt Invites Hamas, Islamic Jihad Officials To Cairo
To Broker Calm
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“The Egyptian government has reportedly invited senior officials from Hamas
and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip to visit Cairo in a bid to calm
tensions with Israel. Overnight, several rockets were fired at Israel from
Gaza, with the IDF striking the Strip in response, days after the deadliest
Palestinian attack on Israelis in 15 years took place in Jerusalem. The head of
the PIJ media office, Dawoud Shehab, told Palestinian media yesterday that Ziad
al-Nakhala had received an invitation from Egyptian officials to meet. The
Palestinian Safa news agency reports that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has also
been invited to visit Cairo next week.”



Nigeria



NPR: Gunmen Destroy 800 Ballot Boxes In Nigeria, The Latest In A Series Of
Attacks
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“More than 800 ballot boxes were destroyed by armed gunmen, who attacked an
office of the electoral commission in southeast Nigeria on Wednesday. It's the
latest in the series of attacks on the electoral commission's offices across
the region, blamed on armed pro-Biafra separatists groups. Biafra was the
country separatists hoped to create but was quashed during Nigeria's bloody
civil war. In recent years, pro-Biafra militants have caused widespread terror,
attacking government and security posts, and more recently, electoral offices.
It's raising fears for whether the election can hold as planned. Insecurity is
a huge issue in Nigeria, with a militant Islamist insurgency in the north east,
banditry in the north west and a rise in kidnapping for cash countrywide.
Voters in Africa's most populous country are due to head to the polls at the
end of this month.”



Africa



Associated Press: Pope Heads To South Sudan To Urge Peace As Fighting Kills 27
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“Pope Francis opened the second and final leg of his African pilgrimage by
heading to South Sudan on Friday, hoping to encourage the young country’s
stalled peace process and draw international attention to continued fighting
and a worsening humanitarian crisis. Francis had one final appointment Friday
in Kinshasa with Congo’s bishops before flying to the South Sudanese capital,
Juba. There, he joins the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the
moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields, in a novel
ecumenical push for peace. Together, the three represent the religious
leadership of the overwhelmingly Christian country, the world’s youngest, which
gained independence from the majority Muslim Sudan in 2011 but has been beset
by civil war and conflict. The Christian leaders are aiming to give a joint
call for South Sudan’s political leaders to put aside their differences and
work for the good of their people.”



Greece



Associated Press: Jailed Leader Of Greek Far-Right Party Faces Election Ban
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“Greece’s government is seeking to ban a far-right political party led by a
jailed former lawmaker from participating in a general election later this
year, with a legislative initiative that has gained cross-party support. Ilias
Kasidiaris, 42, founded the Greek National Party two years ago. He is currently
serving a sentence of 13 years and six months in prison for membership in a
criminal organization as a former leading member of Golden Dawn, a political
party of neo-Nazi origins linked to multiple violent street attacks. Parliament
on Friday published a proposed legal amendment that would disqualify
Kasidiaris’ party from election participation on the grounds that its leader
has been convicted of serious offences and that the party wouldn’t “serve the
free functioning of (Greece’s) democratic constitution.” Lawmakers are due to
vote on the amendment on Tuesday.”



Russia



Associated Press: US Seeks To Expel Russian Mercenaries From Sudan, Libya
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“The United States has stepped up pressure on Middle East allies to expel the
Wagner Group, a military contractor with close ties to Russia’s president, from
chaos-stricken Libya and Sudan where it expanded in recent years, regional
officials told The Associated Press. The U.S. effort described by officials
comes as the Biden administration is making a broad push against the
mercenaries. The U.S. has slapped new sanctions on the Wagner Group in recent
months over its expanding role in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The group is owned
by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President
Vladimir Putin. The Pentagon has described it as a surrogate for the Russian
Defense Ministry. The Kremlin denies any connection. The Biden administration
has been working for months with regional powers Egypt and the United Arab
Emirates to pressure military leaders in Sudan and Libya to end their ties with
the group, according to more than a dozen Libyan, Sudanese and Egyptian
officials. They asked for anonymity to speak freely and because they were not
authorized to discuss the issue with the media.”



Southeast Asia



India Today: NIA Gets Mail Threatening Terror Attack In Mumbai By Person With
Taliban Links
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“The National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) Mumbai office on Thursday received
an email threatening that a person would carry out a terror attack in the
financial capital. The email claimed that a person linked to the Taliban would
carry out the attack in Mumbai, as reported by PTI. Following the threat, the
city police and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) were alerted.
According to the police, the email address used to send the threat message had
"CIA" in it and the sender claimed that a person having links with the Taliban
would carry out an attack in the city. The IP (internet protocol) address of
the sender has been traced to Pakistan, said a police official. An
investigation into the matter has been launched.”



Australia



Australian Federal Police: Tamworth Man Jailed For Advocating Terrorism Online
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“A NSW man who advocated for violent terrorist acts in a series of racist and
extremist messages on social media has been sentenced to two years and seven
months’ in prison. The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) arrested the
man, 37, at his home in Tamworth in November, 2021 following an investigation
into online posts including videos featuring nationalist, racist and
violent-extremist messaging. The man, who was a prolific social media user,
pleaded guilty to advocating online for acts of serious violence, including
murder, to be committed against groups of people, which he identified by race,
political viewpoints and occupation, including police officers and politicians.
He pleaded guilty to: one count of advocating terrorism contrary to section
80.2C(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth); and one count of improperly storing
more than 8000 rounds of ammunition, contrary to section 40(1) of the Firearms
Act 1996 (NSW). AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Colin Hunt said the JCTT
continued to disrupt attempts by Australians calling for religious and
ideologically motivated violence.”



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