“The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the arms
embargo on Yemen’s Houthi rebels and an asset freeze and travel ban on Houthi
leaders and top officials until Nov. 15. The British-drafted resolution also
extends the mandate of the U.N. panel of experts monitoring the sanctions until
Dec. 15. In February 2022, the Security Council expanded an arms embargo on
Houthi leaders to include all Houthis, saying they have threatened the peace,
security and stability of the war-torn country. After Wednesday’s vote, the
council met behind closed doors to hear briefings by Hans Grundberg, the U.N.
special envoy for Yemen, and Joyce Msuya, the assistant secretary-general for
humanitarian affairs.”











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**NOTE: CEP’s Eye On Extremism will be suspended Monday, February 20 in
observance of Presidents’ Day. It will resume Tuesday, February 21.**



Eye on Extremism



February 17, 2023



Associated Press: UN Votes Unanimously To Extend Sanctions On Yemen’s Houthis
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“The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the arms
embargo on Yemen’s Houthi rebels and an asset freeze and travel ban on Houthi
leaders and top officials until Nov. 15. The British-drafted resolution also
extends the mandate of the U.N. panel of experts monitoring the sanctions until
Dec. 15. In February 2022, the Security Council expanded an arms embargo on
Houthi leaders to include all Houthis, saying they have threatened the peace,
security and stability of the war-torn country. After Wednesday’s vote, the
council met behind closed doors to hear briefings by Hans Grundberg, the U.N.
special envoy for Yemen, and Joyce Msuya, the assistant secretary-general for
humanitarian affairs.”



Reuters: U.N. Seeks $1.3 Billion For Nigerians Affected By Insurgency
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“The United Nations on Thursday appealed for $1.3 billion to provide
assistance to six million Nigerians who are suffering the impact of a
long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast of the country. The militant
Boko Haram group and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, have
been fighting Nigerian security forces in the northeast for over a decade,
displacing more than 2 million people and killing hundreds of others, aid
agencies say. Matthias Schmale, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator
for Nigeria said the ‘large-scale humanitarian and protection crisis shows no
sign of abating’. The number of children suffering from acute malnutrition was
projected to increase to 2 million this year, up from 1.74 million last year,
the U.N. said. ‘Women and girls are the hardest hit,’ Schmale said when
launching the financial appeal in northeastern Adamawa state.”



United States



WMTW ABC: Waterville 19-Year-Old Suspected Of Plotting ISIS-Inspired Chicago
Terror Attack To Enter Plea Deal
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“A plea deal is in the works in Maine’s first ISIS-related terrorism case.
19-year-old Xavier Pelkey is charged with conspirng to provide material support
for terrorism for allegedly plotting with other teens to attack a mosque in
Chicago and of building homemade explosive devices that were found in his
Waterville home. On Thursday, Pelkey's defense attorney filed a motion with
U.S. District Judge Lance Walker, in Bangor federal court, to delay his trial,
again, until April, and revealed he and federal prosecutors are nearing a plea
agreement. ‘The parties anticipate scheduling a plea in this matter, but are
still finalizing the agreement,’ wrote Christopher MacLean, Pelkey's defense
attorney. Pelkey was arrested last February, and this continuance, unopposed by
the government, is the fifth trial delay.”



Iran



Reuters: Iran Denies U.S. Claims Linking Tehran To Al Qaeda's Leader - Foreign
Minister
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“Iran denied U.S. claims that Al Qaeda's leader Seif al-Adel is based in the
country, foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian wrote on Twitter on Thursday,
a day after Washington aligned itself with a U.N. statement locating Adel in
Iran. ‘I advise the officials of the White House to stop the failed game of
Iran-phobia, making news about the leader of Al-Qaeda and linking him to Iran
is laughable,’ Amirabdollahian wrote. Seif al-Adel, a former Egyptian special
forces officer who is a high-ranking member of al Qaeda with a $10 million U.S.
bounty on his head, is now the ‘uncontested’ leader of the militant group,
according to a new U.N. report on the organisation. The U.S. State Department
said on Wednesday it aligned with U.N. assessments that Seif al-Adel is based
in Iran.”



Iraq



AFP News: Four Iraqi Soldiers Killed In Raid On Suspected IS Fighters
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“Four Iraqi soldiers were killed Thursday during a counter-terrorism
operation north of Baghdad, security forces said, as the majority-Shiite
country marks a key religious rite. Clashes broke out in Tarmiya, an
agricultural area about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the capital where Islamic
State group fighters operate. The raid came as hundreds of thousands of
pilgrims descended on the Kadhimiya shrine in north Baghdad of Mussa Kadhim,
seventh of the 12 imams revered by Shiites. An army unit launched a ‘raid on a
hideout of IS terrorists’, the Iraqi government's security media cell said,
adding that ‘three terrorists were killed, one of whom was wearing an explosive
belt’.”



Afghanistan



CNN India: Islamic State Group Threatens To Launch Attack Against Pakistan
Embassy In Afghanistan | Exclusive
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“Days after calling Pakistan a cancer state, the Islamic State of Khorasan
Province (ISKP) has threatened to launch attacks against the Pakistan embassy
in the Afghanistan capital, sources told CNN-News18. The Islamic State group
has said that it is planning to attack Pakistan Embassy and consulates in the
Taliban-ruled country. Following the terror threat, an alert has been issued
and the Afghanistan intelligence agency has started operations against the
ISKP, sources said. The threat comes after ISKP, in its magazine, called
Pakistan a ‘cancer’ for Islamic existence and is run at the behest of the
United States.”



Pakistan



Dunya News: Terrorist Of Banned Outfit Killed In Encounter With CTD In Kalabagh

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“A terrorist of banned outfit was killed in an exchange of fire with Counter
Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel in Kalabagh area of District Mianwali on
Thursday night, Dunya News reported. According to CTD Spokesperson, terrorists
opened fire at a team of CTD Mianwali in Kalabagh. The CTD personnel retaliated
and returned the fire. The exchange of fire between CTD and terrorists lasted
for 20 minutes during which one terrorist was killed while two of his
accomplices managed to escape.”



La Prensa Latina: Woman Killed, Several Injured In Pakistan Train Bombing
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“A Baloch militant group claimed Thursday that it bombed a train in Pakistan,
killing a woman and injuring several others. However, authorities were unsure
of the nature of the explosion inside the train traveling from Balochistan’s
Quetta to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) – the two restive provinces of
Pakistan. Pakistan Railways spokesperson Babar Raza said the explosion hit the
Jaffar Express train near eastern Punjab province’s Chichawatni city. ‘The
blast occurred in bogie number four of economy class near the washroom at 7.10
in the morning,’ Raza said. ‘One woman who belonged to Faisalabad was killed
while seven other passengers were wounded.’”



The Kashmir Walla: Taliban Suicide Bomber Killed In Pak’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Province
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“A Taliban suicide bomber was killed during an intelligence-based operation
by the government forces in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
bordering Afghanistan, police said. The operation was conducted in the Spinkai
area of south Waziristan district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province after
intelligence confirmed the presence of the suicide bomber belonging to the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Upon receiving information about the presence
of the bomber, the forces rushed to a village in the district and encircled the
suspected compound. The bomber was killed after the explosives wrapped around
his body exploded during an exchange of fire with the government forces.”



Lebanon



i24 News: Hezbollah’s Nasrallah Threatens Israel, Warns U.S. Against Stirring
'Chaos’
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“Hassan Nasrallah, chief of Lebanon’s Islamist terror group Hezbollah, on
Thursday warned the United States against stirring ‘chaos’ in the crisis-hit
country, threatening that doing so would spread to the entire region, including
Israel. In a speech commemorating slain Hezbollah leaders, Nasrallah condemned
any ‘conspiracies by the U.S. against Lebanon, saying his Shiite militant
movement would ‘extend its hand against Israel, and whoever expects us to stand
idly by is mistaken.’ ‘I till the Americans that if they want to sow chaos in
Lebanon, you will lose everything. Those who bet that pain and suffering will
make our environment abandon its principles and achievements are delusional,’
he said.”



Middle East


Associated Press: Israel Demolishes West Bank Home Of Palestinian Attacker
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“Israeli forces demolished the home on Thursday of a Palestinian behind a
deadly shooting in the occupied West Bank, as tensions and unrest surge in the
region. The military said the demolition was carried out after an Israeli court
rejected appeals to spare the residence. The home, in the flashpoint West Bank
city of Hebron, was demolished in a controlled explosion. A flash and then grey
tufts of smoke were seen emerging from the apartment in the early morning
hours. Israel says home demolitions are meant to deter future attackers but
critics say they amount to collective punishment against the families of
assailants and only exacerbate tensions with Palestinians.”



The National News: 59 Women And Children Repatriated To Kyrgyzstan From Camps
In Syria, US Military Says
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“Fifty-nine women and children have been repatriated from Syrian conflict
areas to Kyrgyzstan, the US military said on Thursday. ‘Yesterday, 59 women and
children were repatriated to the Kyrgyz Republic from internally displaced
persons camps in north-east Syria,’ US Central Command said in a statement. ‘We
are grateful to the leadership of the Kyrgyz Republic for working to resolve
the ongoing humanitarian crisis resulting from the dismantling of the so-called
ISIS caliphate.’ The US military asserted that the successful repatriation,
rehabilitation and reintegration of residents of the camps in north-eastern
Syria back to their countries of origin is the only long-term solution to the
crisis.”



Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty: Notorious Tajik Islamic State Recruiter
Sentenced To 21 Years In Prison In Dushanbe
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“A notorious Islamic State recruiter from Tajikistan, Parviz Saidrahmonov
(aka Abu Dovud), was sentenced to 21 years in prison in November on terrorism
charges in Dushanbe, Tajik Supreme Court officials said on February 16.
According to the officials, the 35-year-old Saidrahmonov was extradited from
Turkey in September and sentenced on November 11 on charges of organizing a
terrorist group, extremism, and recruiting mercenaries to fight in a foreign
country. There were no official reports about Saidrahmonov's trial or an
explanation for why the Supreme Court announced the sentencing three months
after it was handed down. Some media reports cited sources as saying that
prosecutors had sought life in prison for him. Saidrahmonov, who was also
suspected of having links to terrorist attacks in Sweden, Russia, and
Tajikistan, was a migrant worker in Russia when he left in 2014 for Iraq, where
he joined the ranks of the Islamic State terrorist organization.”



Egypt



Egypt Today: Egypt Blacklists Members Of ‘Ansar Beit Al Maqdis’ Terrorist Group

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“The Egyptian authorities put 149 members of the banned group Muslim
Brotherhood on the terrorist list for five years in accordance with the Law of
Regulating Terrorist Entities and Terrorists. The members are facing charges of
belonging to the terrorist group ‘Ansar Beit Al Maqdis’ and the decision of
blacklisting was published on Thursday in the official gazette ‘Al Waqaie Al
Masryia’ to intact on the following day. The convicts were charged with
establishing a terrorist group ‘Ansar Beit Al Maqdis’ which embraces extremist
ideology under the pretext of not applying Islamic law. They were charged with
committing premeditated murder of police officers and personnel, civilians, and
children, sabotaging and damaging public facilities, natural gag pipelines, and
gas stations, and possessing and using explosives.”



Somalia



CNN: US Strike Kills 5 Al-Shabaab Fighters In Somalia, US Africa Command Says
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“A US strike in Somalia killed five al-Shabaab fighters on Wednesday, US
Africa Command said in a statement. The strike was carried out at the request
of the Somali government and was a ‘collective self-defense strike,’ according
to AFRICOM. The strike was carried out approximately 300 miles north of the
Somali capital of Mogadishu. No civilians were injured or killed, AFRICOM said,
citing the remote location of the operation.”



Africa



Reuters: Ethiopia Commission Accuses Oromiya Rebels Of Killing 50 People
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“At least 50 people were killed in Ethiopia's Oromiya region this month in an
attack by a banned rebel group, the state-appointed human rights commission
said on Wednesday. Oromiya is home to Ethiopia's largest ethnic group and has
experienced unrest for many years, rooted in grievances about political
marginalisation and neglect by the central government. The killings on Feb. 2
mainly targeted internally displaced persons in the town of Ano, about 380 km
(235 miles) west of the capital Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian Human Rights
Commission (EHRC) said in a report. The report, which cited families of the
victims, witnesses and government bodies, blamed the attack on the Oromo
Liberation Army (OLA), without providing a reason for the alleged attack.”



United Kingdom



Reuters: UK Counter-Terrorism Police Turn Focus To China, Russia And Iran
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“Britain's counter-terrorism police chief said on Thursday his officers are
increasingly dealing with threats from hostile states such as Russia, China and
Iran in a shift in focus away from Islamist extremism. The Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks on the United States and deadly incidents in Britain made tackling
Islamist plots the priority for counter-terrorism police, with resources
focused on the threat from home-grown and foreign-based militants. Matt Jukes,
the head of counter-terrorism at London's Metropolitan Police, said there has
been a shift in emphasis as foreign states try to corrupt or intimidate people
and are involved in murder and kidnap plots in Britain. ‘The requirement for us
to play a law enforcement part in countering the threats from hostile states is
unprecedented,’ Jukes told reporters at New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan
Police's headquarters.”



Europe



European Eye On Radicalization: EER-CEP Webinar: Tackling Domestic Extremism
In The West
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“European Eye on Radicalization (EER) was pleased to host a joint event with
the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) recently about how Western states have
handled domestic extremists and terrorists, the far-Right and Islamists.
Alexander Ritzmann, a Senior Advisor to CEP and the Radicalisation Awareness
Network (RAN), as well as an Associate Fellow of the German Council on Foreign
Relations (DGAP), spoke first about the financing of far-Right extremists,
particularly in Germany. Ritzmann began by noting that CEP has been working to
map the far-Right networks, beginning with a November 2020 report commissioned
by the German Federal Foreign Office, ‘Violent Right-Wing Extremism:
Transnational Connectivity, Definitions, Incidents, Structures, and
Countermeasures,’ and this has led on to further studies of the financial and
online infrastructure of these extremists. A ‘follow the money’ approach is
difficult with far-Right extremists, says Ritzmann, unlike with Islamists,
because of the way they are structured, and this has led to a narrative that
suggests the far-Right does not have sophisticated finances.”



Al Mayadeen: Ukrainian Soldier Wearing ISIS Patch Caught On Danish TV News
Report
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“Danish broadcaster DRTV published footage of a Ukrainian soldier in his
military uniform wearing what appeared to be a patch of the logo of the Islamic
State (IS) terrorist organization. During a news report covering the updates on
Ukraine, the TV reporter caught on video two Ukrainian servicemen wearing their
military uniforms, one of which was wearing the patch. Russia's Foreign
Intelligence Service said on (SVR) said the US defense is recruiting fighters
to plot and execute terrorist attacks on Russian soil and that of CIS countries
(such as Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Uzbekistan). ‘According to credible data
received by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia, the US military is
actively recruiting militants from jihadist groups affiliated with the Daesh*
and Al-Qaeda* to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia and the CIS countries.
Particular attention is paid to attracting people from the Russian North
Caucasus and Central Asia to cooperation,’ the SVR statement read.”



Southeast Asia



The Straits Times: Indonesia’s Anti-Terrorism Squad Defused Bomb Ahead Of Bali
G-20 Summit: Sources
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“About a month before world leaders gathered in Bali for the Group of 20
(G-20) summit in mid-November, Indonesia’s anti-terrorism squad Densus 88
defused a fully assembled bomb during a raid in Banten province on Java island,
according to two government sources. The bomb was meant to target the summit,
one of the sources told The Straits Times, though the tight security around the
venue made it highly improbable for any militant group to penetrate the island.
‘If anyone had been caught at the border crossing to Bali and the bomb
exploded, it would have led to foreign delegates departing Bali quickly, ahead
of the summit,’ the source said. Densus 88 conducted five raids in September
and October in Central Java and Banten provinces, acting on tip-offs from the
public as well as gathered intelligence, according to the sources.”



South Korea



The Korea Times: Foreigners Caught Funding Terrorist Group Using Cryptocurrency
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“Two foreign nationals residing in Korea have been arrested for funding an
al-Qaida-linked terrorist group using cryptocurrency, police said Thursday. A
31-year-old Uzbek man and a 29-year-old Kazakh man were sent to the Supreme
Prosecutors Office on Jan. 17 on charges of breaking the anti-terrorism and
anti-terrorist funding acts, according to the National Office of Investigation
of the National Police Agency. The funds were delivered to Katibat al Tawhid
wal Jihad, or KTJ, an anti-Syrian government terrorist group affiliated with
al-Qaida, via a cryptocurrency broker, the police said. The United Nations
designated KTJ as a terrorist group in March 2022. Seven other foreigners who
funded KTJ with the two suspects were deported in December last year, police
said. The case marks the first time foreigners here have been caught funding a
terrorist group in cryptocurrencies, investigators said.”



Technology



VICE News: Facebook Auto-Created Pages For ISIS And Al-Qaeda: Study
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“Facebook has auto-created the pages of designated terrorist organizations
including ISIS and al-Qaeda for years, according to a new report. The Tech
Transparency Project (TTP) investigation comes less than a week before the
Supreme Court hears a landmark case, which examines the responsibility of tech
companies for policing terrorism online, and shows how the presence of terror
groups continues to linger on Facebook despite years of pressure to remove that
content. In the years since the rise of ISIS, the company has taken measures to
try and stem the problem of extremism on its platform. But TTP, a tech industry
watchdog group, found that a tech ‘quirk’ on Facebook unknowingly
auto-generated landing pages for terror organizations when users list them
under things like their work, education, local businesses, interests, or even
locations—and no page already exists for it.”



POLITICO: Digital Bridge: Munich Security Conference — Online Content On Trial
— Kids’ Privacy Rights
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“…If you’re looking for two good opposing views on the issue, I would read
this amicus brief from the American Civil Liberties Union and this one from the
Counter Extremism Project. For the uber-wonks among us, I would also recommend
watching this debate from leading policy content/platform experts. Word of
warning: none of this is easy. When does an algorithm shift from providing
someone with information they are looking for to pushing them down a rabbit
hole of nasty material? How do you stop companies from over-censoring for fear
of lawsuits versus allowing hate speech to pop up in people’s YouTube
recommendations?”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

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