“The United Nations on Wednesday urged Israel and the Palestinians to
‘immediately’ end violence as intra-Palestinian tensions erupted following a
deadly Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian Authority
security forces in the West Bank city of Nablus fired tear gas at mourners
attending the funeral of a Hamas militant killed in Tuesday's raid, amid a
surge in violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ‘We are in the midst of
a cycle of violence that must be stopped immediately,’ UN Middle East peace
envoy Tor Wennesland said in a statement. ‘The Security Council has spoken with
one voice, calling on the parties to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain
from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric.’”











<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>



Eye on Extremism



March 9, 2023



AFP News: UN Urges 'Immediate' End To Israeli-Palestinian Violence
<[link removed]>



“The United Nations on Wednesday urged Israel and the Palestinians to
‘immediately’ end violence as intra-Palestinian tensions erupted following a
deadly Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian Authority
security forces in the West Bank city of Nablus fired tear gas at mourners
attending the funeral of a Hamas militant killed in Tuesday's raid, amid a
surge in violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ‘We are in the midst of
a cycle of violence that must be stopped immediately,’ UN Middle East peace
envoy Tor Wennesland said in a statement. ‘The Security Council has spoken with
one voice, calling on the parties to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain
from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric.’”



Reuters: Islamist Militants Suspected Of Killing At Least 36 In East Congo
Village
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“Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 36 people in an overnight
attack on a village in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a local
official and the head of a civil society group said on Thursday. The sources
said the assailants were believed to be members of the Allied Democratic Forces
(ADF), a Ugandan armed group based in east Congo that has pledged allegiance to
Islamic State and wages frequent deadly raids on villages. The attack targeted
the village of Mukondi, around 30 km (19 miles) south of the city of Beni in
North Kivu province, an area plagued with rebel activity, which has been under
military administration since 2021 in an attempt to restore order. Provincial
governor Carly Nzanzu Kasivita said on Twitter early on Thursday that at least
36 people had been killed in the attack, which started on Wednesday evening.”



United States



Associated Press: Al-Qaida Suspect Transferred From US Prison To Saudi Arabia
<[link removed]>



“U.S. military officials said Wednesday they had returned a suspected
al-Qaida operative long held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to
his home country, Saudi Arabia. Ghassan al Sharbi’s transfer was the latest
aimed at emptying the Guantanamo military prison of those detainees who are no
longer facing possible prosecution or who have finished their sentences
following the U.S. military’s global roundup of extremist suspects after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. U.S. officials over the years
depicted al Sharbi as a loyal al-Qaida supporter and collaborator. Al Sharbi
featured in a now famous memo by a Phoenix FBI agent — little heeded at the
time — who correctly warned months before the 9/11 attacks that Middle Eastern
students appeared to be taking flying lessons for the purpose of attacks
involving civil aviation. The U.S. says al Sharbi fled to Pakistan after the
Sept. 11 attacks for training in bomb-making. He was arrested there the next
year, allegedly tortured in custody, and sent to Guantanamo.”



New York Post: Marine In Kabul Airport Blast Says He Was Told Not To Shoot
ISIS Bomber
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“A Marine who survived the deadly bombing at Kabul’s airport during the 2021
US withdrawal from Afghanistan told lawmakers Wednesday he was told not to kill
a suspected ISIS terrorist who he believes was responsible for later killing 13
of his fellow service members and countless Afghans. Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews
recounted to the House Foreign Affairs Committee how his team deployed to Hamid
Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021, and were tracking a man who
intelligence officers believed was a suicide bomber ‘throughout the entirety’
of the day leading up to the explosion. ‘Intel guys confirmed the suicide
bomber … described as clean-shaven, brown-dressed, black vest and traveling
with an older companion,’ he said. ‘I asked intel guys why he wasn’t
apprehended sooner since we had a full description. I was told the asset could
not be compromised.’”



Dayton 24/7 Now: Columbus Man Pleads Guilty To George W. Bush Assassination
Plot
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“A Columbus man who was charged last year with a plot to assassinate former
President George W. Bush pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday. Shihab
Ahmed Shihab Shihab was arrested by federal agents last year. Prosecutors said
he exchanged money as part of an attempt to illegally smuggle Iraqi foreign
nationals via the Mexican border to the U.S. to assassinate the 43rd president.
The Department of Justice said Shihab, who lived in Columbus and Indianapolis,
originally entered the United States in September 2020 on a visitor visa. In
March 2021, he filed a claim for asylum with United States citizenship. Agents
with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force said Shihab admitted to wanting to
smuggle foreign nationals associated with ISIS to kill the former president in
retaliation for Iraqi deaths during ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom.’”



Syria



Daily Sabah: US Continues To Back YPG/PKK Terrorists In Syria: Diplomatic
Sources
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“The United States continues to support the PKK's Syrian offshoot YPG
terrorists in Syria, diplomatic sources said Wednesday. ‘Our colleagues invited
the (US) ambassador (to Ankara Jeff Flake). We have given the necessary
warnings and messages,’ the sources told the reporters in the capital Ankara.
The remarks came after Flake was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on
Monday over chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley's recent
visit to regions occupied by the YPG/PKK terror group in northeastern Syria,
where US State Department spokesman Ned Price claimed that Milley ‘met only
with U.S. troops while in Syria.’ ‘But this is a fact: Regardless of whether or
not this meeting is held, the U.S. continues to support this terrorist
organization,’ Turkish diplomatic sources stressed.”



Iraq



Iraqi News: Iraqi F-16 Fighter Jets Hunt 3 ISIS Terrorists
<[link removed]>



“The Iraqi security announced on Wednesday that three terrorists belonging to
ISIS were killed in air strikes in the northern part of the country. The Iraqi
Ministry of Defense mentioned in a statement that the Air Force carried out
three air strikes targeting a terrorist group in the outskirts of Salah Al-Din
governorate. The statement added that the air strikes were carried out by F-16
fighter jets in the Tuz area in eastern Salah Al-Din, and resulted in the
killing of three terrorists. The Iraqi forces carry out continuous operations
against the terrorist group of ISIS, most of which are concentrated in the
outskirts of cities and remote areas where terrorists are hiding.”



Turkey



Anadolu Agency: Ankara Condemns Anti-Türkiye Activity By PKK/YPG Terrorist
Group In European Parliament
<[link removed]>



“Ankara ‘strongly condemned’ an anti-Türkiye activity by ringleaders, and
supporters of the PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist group in the European Parliament
building, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. ‘It is unacceptable
to allow such an activity that targets our country's integrity, and serves the
propaganda of a terrorist organization that is listed as a terrorist
organization by the European Union,’ a ministry statement said. This situation
once again reveals the ‘hypocrisy and insincerity of the European Parliament in
the fight against terrorism,’ it added. Türkiye expects EU institutions and
member states to stand by it in its fight against terrorism, which poses a
threat to international security, the statement said.”



Daily Sabah: Turkish Forces Persuade 2 PKK Terrorists To Surrender
<[link removed]>



“The Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday that two members of the PKK
terrorist group fled the organization and surrendered to security forces within
the last 24 hours. The ministry said the PKK members were convinced to turn
themselves in to the Habur police station in the eastern Şırnak province thanks
to the efforts of gendarmerie forces and police. The terrorists joined the PKK
between 2015 and 2017 and were based in Iraq and Türkiye. With the latest
addition, the number of terrorists who surrendered since the beginning of 2023
has risen to 16.”



Afghanistan



AFP News: Taliban Governor Of Afghan Province Killed In Suicide Attack
<[link removed]>



“The Taliban governor of Afghanistan's Balkh province, known for fighting
against Islamic State jihadists, was killed in a suicide attack at his office
on Thursday, officials said. The killing, a day after he met top government
officials visiting from Kabul, makes Mohammad Dawood Muzammil one of the
highest-ranking figures slain since the Taliban stormed back to power in 2021.
Violence across Afghanistan has dramatically dropped since the Taliban seized
control, but the security situation has again deteriorated with IS claiming
several deadly attacks. ‘Two people, including Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the
governor of Balkh, have been killed in an explosion this morning,’ local police
spokesman Asif Waziri told AFP, adding that the blast happened on the second
floor of his office, in the provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif. ‘It was a
suicide attack. We don't have information as to how the suicide bomber reached
the office of the governor,’ he said, adding that two people were also wounded.
Authorities deployed extra security at the governorate, who forbade journalists
from taking photos, an AFP correspondent reported from near the site of the
blast.”



Reuters: UN Warns Of Aid Cuts Over Taliban Crackdown On Women's Rights
<[link removed]>



“The U.N. envoy in Afghanistan warned on Wednesday that a Taliban
administration crackdown on women's rights is likely to lead to a drop in aid
and development funding in the country, where women fear being cut from public
life as much as violent death. The United Nations has made its single-largest
country aid appeal ever, asking for $4.6 billion in 2023 to deliver help in
Afghanistan, where two-thirds of the population - some 28 million people - need
it to survive, said Roza Otunbayeva. But she told the U.N. Security Council
that providing that assistance had been put at risk by Taliban administration
bans on women attending high school and university, visiting parks and working
for aid groups. Women are also not allowed to leave the home without a male
relative and must cover their faces. ‘Funding for Afghanistan is likely to drop
if women were not allowed to work,’ Otunbayeva said. ‘If the amount of
assistance is reduced, then the amount of U.S. dollar cash shipments required
to support that assistance will also decline.’”



Pakistan



Voice Of America News: Clashes Between Pakistan Police, Ex-PM Khan’s
Supporters Leave 1 Dead, Several Injured
<[link removed]>



“Pakistani police Wednesday fired tear gas at demonstrators armed with sticks
who are supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan in the eastern city of
Lahore, resulting in the death of at least one protester in ensuing clashes.
Khan had planned to address an election rally of his opposition Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party in the capital of the country's most populous
Punjab province, but authorities banned all kinds of public gatherings earlier
in the day for unspecified ‘security threats.’ Police sealed off all roads
leading to Khan's residence in Lahore and subsequently unleashed a crackdown on
PTI workers attempting to reach the venue. Television video showed police
firing tear gas shells and detaining several people, with some of them
bleeding. One detainee could be seen being severely beaten by baton-armed
police officers. He later died in custody, Khan said on Twitter.”



Pakistan Today: Six Terrorists Killed In North Waziristan IBO: ISPR
<[link removed]>



“The security forces on Wednesday killed six terrorists in an
intelligence-based operation (IBO) in North Waziristan’s Datakhel area, said
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement. According to the
military’s media wing, the killed terrorists remained actively involved in
terrorist activities against the security forces and civilians. The forces also
recovered weapons and ammunition from the killed terrorists, it said. ‘Locals
of the area appreciated the security forces’ response and expressed their full
support to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the area,’ the ISPR added.
Last week, security forces gunned down one terrorist during an
Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) in the general area of Mir Ali, North
Waziristan district. During the conduct of the operation, intense fire exchange
took place between own troops and terrorists. Resultantly, one terrorist was
killed.”



Middle East



Associated Press: Palestinian Police Fire Tear Gas, Disperse Militant Funeral
<[link removed]>



“Palestinian security forces on Wednesday fired tear gas canisters and flash
grenades at angry Palestinian protesters during a funeral for a militant in the
occupied West Bank. It was a rare encounter that highlighted deep public
dissatisfaction with the Palestinian self-rule government. Palestinians
gathered in the northern West Bank city of Nablus for the funeral of Abdul
Fattah Kharushah, a 49-year-old Hamas militant killed in an Israeli raid
Tuesday. Kharushah had been wanted for killing two Israeli brothers in the
nearby town of Hawara. It was the latest bloody raid into the flashpoint Jenin
refugee camp, leaving five other Palestinians dead and over two dozen wounded.”



The National: Israeli Troops Kill Three Palestinians Near Jenin In West Bank
<[link removed]>



“Undercover Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in the occupied West
Bank in an overnight attack. The troops opened fire on a vehicle in the town of
Jaba, south of Jenin, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Another man was
arrested and the contents of his house ‘completely destroyed’, it reported. The
shooting comes two days after Israeli forces killed six Palestinians in a Jenin
raid, prompting militants in Gaza to fire rockets at Israel.”



Nigeria



AFP News: Jihadists Kill 37 Fishermen In North Nigeria, Say Militia
<[link removed]>



“Jihadists in northeast Nigeria's Borno state have killed at least 37
fishermen, militia sources and a local told AFP on Thursday, in the latest
violence in the region. Boko Haram insurgents who operate in the area alongside
rivals linked the Islamic State group, ISWAP, often target locals to steal or
because they accuse them of spying for the military or militiamen fighting
them. On Wednesday evening, a dozen fighters believed to be with Boko Haram
opened fire on a group of fishermen outside Guggo village, 18 kilometers (12
miles) from the town of Dikwa, three sources said. ‘We have recovered 37 bodies
last night along the river bank and nearby bushes,’ militia leader Babakura
Kolo told AFP.”



Punch Newspapers: Katsina Police Repel Terrorists’ Attack, Kill One
<[link removed]>



“Operatives of the Katsina State Police Command in the early hours of
Wednesday repelled a terrorists’ attack at the Jabiri area in Funtua Local
Government Area of the state. The operatives killed one terrorist, arrested
another and recovered one AK-47 in the encounter. The command’s spokesman,
Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident this evening. According to him, the police
had received a distress call around 1 a.m. on that day that the terrorists had
attacked the household in large numbers and were shooting indiscriminately.”



Somalia



Garowe Online: Somalia: Al-Shabaab Militants Neutralized In Jubaland State
<[link removed]>



“The Al-Qaeda-linked group, Al-Shabaab was on Tuesday morning neutralized in
Jubaland, a top government official said, hours after the group had claimed
running over a military Forward Operating Base in the state, killing ‘several’
soldiers. The militants raided the military Jana Cabdalle in Jubaland, in an
attack that come several weeks after the local forces conquered the village,
although without a significant struggle. Jubaland is mainly controlled by both
government and African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS| forces.
Mohamud Sayid Aden, the Vice President of Jubaland state, maintained that the
militants had been repulsed by the military after they attacked a camp within
the village which is approximately 60 kilometers west of Kismayo, the regional
administrative capital of Jubaland.”



Voice Of America News: Somali Military Court Executes 13 Militants, 5 Soldiers
<[link removed]>



“A military court in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in Somalia, executed
13 militants Wednesday who were members of the al-Shabab and Islamic State
terror groups. The court said five Somali soldiers were also executed for
killing civilians in Puntland. The court gave no details on the killings. A
sixth soldier, who was also found guilty, was spared the death penalty after
his family pledged to pay so-called blood money to the victim's family.”



Voice Of America News: Somalia’s Lower House Passes Historic Anti-Terrorism Law

<[link removed]>



“The lower house of Somalia’s Parliament on Wednesday approved a new
anti-terrorism law that aims to provide a legal framework that will help
government security agencies to better fight and eradicate terrorism in
Somalia. Members of Parliament approved the bill 133-3 — with 7 abstentions —
on Wednesday after weeks of debate in what Somalia’s intelligence director,
Mahad Mohamed Salad, called a crucial law to make the Horn of Africa country a
safer place. ‘This law is vital for our war against terrorism, and it comes at
a time when we most needed it to perform our national responsibility in
preventing terror acts and eradicating terrorism,’ said Salad. ‘Today, a law
that would be a shield for women and children from terrorist attacks, and a
sharp sword for government security agencies to eradicate the terrorists have
successfully passed this house,’ said Abdiladif Sanyare, a Somali lawmaker who
supported the bill. Critics of the law say they are concerned about the
legislation’s overly broad definition of who is a terrorist, warning that
ratification of the law could grant government security agencies excessive and
unchecked power. Hassan Abdi Isma’il is one of the lawmakers who expressed
reservations about the legislation during debates.”



Africa



Prensa Latina: Burkina Faso Army Eliminates 110 Extremist Elements
<[link removed]>



“According to these sources, quoted by the AIB News Agency, after these
air-ground actions the government forces have recovered valuable war material,
including explosive devices, supplies and means of transport. The military
operations were carried out in areas threatened by insecurity, the report
stated. Burkina Faso authorities announced the day before the establishment of
a night lockdown in the North region and the provinces of Koulpelogo and Bam so
as to facilitate the action of the armed forces in its struggle against
extremist groups. Humanitarian organizations indicated that the violence
perpetrated in this African territory since 2015 by groups affiliated to the
Al-Qaeda network and the Islamic State entity, among other radical
organizations, caused about 10 thousand deaths and around two million people
displaced.”



Morocco World News: Morocco Dismantles Three-Member Isis Cell
<[link removed]>



“Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) announced on
Thursday the dismantling of a three-member ISIS cell, which was plotting terror
attacks to undermine the country’s security and stability. BCIJ in cooperation
with the special forces of the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance
(DGST) arrested the three suspects in separate and simultaneous operations in
Souk El Arbaa, a town in the Khenifra province, Tetouan, and Larache, in
northern Morocco. According to BCIJ, security services have seized several
materials at the houses of the suspects, including bladed weapons, manuscripts
advocating ISIS extremism, inciting violence, as well as papers retracing ISIS
activists in the Sahel region. Police also seized digital materials and media
that will be subject to the necessary technical investigations. Preliminary
data shows that the suspects, aged between 19 and 29, pledged their allegiance
to ISIS and planned a series of terrorist projects before fleeing to join ISIS
camps in the Sahel region.”



United Kingdom



BBC: Terror-Accused Man Posted Image Of Severed Head On Twitter, Jury Told
<[link removed]>



“A man posted an image of a terrorism victim's severed head on Twitter while
encouraging others to decapitate anyone who insulted Islam, a trial has heard.
Ajmal Shahpal is alleged to have praised the killer of a French teacher for
being ‘as brave as a lion’. He is also said to have called for anyone who
insults Islam to ‘be killed immediately’. The 41-year-old, of Birkin Avenue in
Radford, Nottingham, is on trial at Birmingham Crown Court. He denies two
counts of encouraging others to commit, prepare, or instigate acts of terrorism
and two alternative charges of the same offence being reckless as to whether
such acts would be encouraged.”



BBC: London's Counter-Terror Prevent Referrals Buck UK Trend - Meeting
<[link removed]>



“Most of London's anti-terrorism referrals are for ‘Islamist activity’,
bucking a national trend, London's Police and Crime Committee has heard. Latest
figures from Prevent show there were more than three times the number of
referrals compared to right-wing extremism, the meeting heard. London Assembly
members were putting questions to the Met Police and the Mayor's Office for
Policing And Crime. Met Police Commander Dom Murphy said: ‘Our focus is where
the threat exists.’ Prevent is a key part of the UK's counter-terrorism
strategy and places public bodies, including schools and the police, under a
legal duty to identify people who may turn to extremism, and intervene in their
lives before it is too late. But in a recent highly critical independent
review, Prevent was said to have ‘apparently failed’ repeatedly to identify
attackers.”



Europe



Euronews: Brussels Terror Threat 'Unlikely' After European Commission Receives
Alarming Emails
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“A terrorist attack in Brussels is ‘unlikely’, according to the Belgian
Federal Police, after the European Commission received two threatening emails,
warning of an ‘explosion’ on the city's metro. When approached by Euronews on
Wednesday, both the Federal Police and Federal Prosecutor's Office said that
the ‘threat was taken seriously’, but that ‘nothing was found’ during a sweep
of the Brussels underground line. This came after the US embassy in Belgium
released a security alert warning of a ‘threat of a possible metro attack to be
conducted today’. They urged people to ‘use caution when travelling in and
around Brussels and avoid crowds.’”



Southeast Asia



Philippine News Agency: 4 BIFF Extremists Yield In Sultan Kudarat
<[link removed]>



“Four more members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) have
surrendered to military authorities in Sultan Kudarat province, bringing with
them their high-powered war matériel, a military official said Thursday. Brig.
Gen. Michael Santos, the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade commander, welcomed the
four extremists back to the fold of the law Wednesday afternoon at the
headquarters of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion (7IB) in Bagumbayan town. ‘A
better future awaits you. I admire your decision to come out of a useless
ideology and restore your faith in the government,’ Santos said in a statement,
referring to the surrenderers who belonged to the BIFF Karialan faction. Lt.
Colonel Frederick M. Chicote, 7IB commander, said the group also turned over
three M79 grenade launchers, an M14 rifle, a Garand rifle, seven 60mm mortar
rounds, and improvised bombs.”



India



ABP Live: 2 LeT Terrorists Arrested In Kashmir's Baramulla, Arms And
Ammunition Recovered
<[link removed]>



“Two militant associates of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (TRF) were arrested at Kunzer
in North Kashmir's Baramulla district for allegedly possessing arms and
ammunition, an official release from Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Tuesday,
as per ANI. According to the press release, the police recovered a large number
of arms and ammunition which included two AK 47 Magazines- 2 No’s, 15 AK 47
rounds, and 20 Blank posters of banned LeT (TRF). The forces of Baramulla
Police and 176 Battalion CRPF jointly launched a search operation in Monchkhud
village of Kunzer following specific information regarding the presence of
terrorists. During the search, two suspected persons were apprehended and
identified as Khurshid Ahmad Khan, and Reyaz Ahmad Khan- both residents of
Zandpal Kunzer.”



The Pioneer: ISIS Threatens To Hit BJP, Military, Sell Women, Kids
<[link removed]>



“The outlawed international Islamist terror group ISIS has threatened the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian police establishment and the
military with a bloody revenge for their actions against its mujahidin
(terrorists). In its latest propaganda magazine Khurasan, the ISIS asserted
that Islamists in South India have taken up arms to wage a war against kufr
(unbelievers in Islam) and its people. It claimed that the threat against the
BJP, the police, and the military has been due to the ‘transgressions crossing
all limits.’ Also, the hatred of Islam and its adherents has been shown in
words and deeds, the propaganda article claims. The terror outfit has also
opposed the imprisonment of its mujahidin and the imposition of curfew in
Kashmir.”



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