The Washington Post: Tensions Between Pakistan And Afghanistan Escalate Amid Border Clashes 

“When Kabul fell to the Afghan Taliban in 2021, the head of Pakistan’s intelligence service was one of the first foreign guests to visit the new regime, telling reporters that “everything will be okay.” But less than 3½ years later, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have dramatically deteriorated. In the most severe confrontation between the countries so far, Pakistani airstrikes killed 46 people in eastern Afghanistan in late December, according to the Afghan government. Pakistani officials said the strikes targeted militants of the Pakistani Taliban. The Afghan government said women and children were among the victims of the strikes. The cross-border escalation reflects growing frustration in Islamabad over the rise in deadly attacks carried out inside Pakistan and attributed to the Pakistani Taliban.”

The Wall Street Journal: Israel, Hezbollah Fighting Stretches A Cease-Fire Deal To The Limit

“An Israel-Lebanon cease-fire that calmed months of cross-border bloodshed is being strained as the two sides accuse each other of violations and the U.S. races to make sure the deal holds. Israel still has troops on the ground in Lebanon and has continued to regularly strike Hezbollah infrastructure and weapons depots. In a complaint to the United Nations Security Council, Lebanon accused Israel of some 800 land and air attacks since the cease-fire came into effect on Nov. 27. Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls much of southern Lebanon, of maintaining fighters and weapons including rockets in the south that threaten its security, also in violation of the two-month truce.”

CEP Mentions

The Atlanta Voice: Op-Ed: Why Has ISIS Not Yet Claimed The New Orleans Vehicle Attack?

“... “There’s no question it was IS inspired,” said Edmund Fitton-Brown, senior adviser to the Counter Extremism Project. “So why would they not grab it gratefully? It seems an unmissable opportunity to claim a direct hit on the ‘biggest Satan.’” Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at King’s College London, said: “It would be very unusual for ISIS not to claim this attack, given that the attacker openly declared his allegiance to the group and even put an ISIS flag on his truck.” The group’s hierarchy, traditionally based in Syria and Iraq, is perhaps reeling from persistent US airstrikes, recently bolstered by the French, both Neumann and Fitton-Brown said.”

NDTV World: The Shadowy Financier Said To Control Islamic State Network

“His orange henna-dyed beard and striking eyewear would make him easy to pick out in a crowd, but Abdul Qadir Mumin has remained elusive. The Somali leader of the Islamic State (IS) group has in all likelihood risen to the status of strongman of the entire organisation, even if he lacks the official title, analysts say. While observers wonder who is behind IS-designated caliph Abou Hafs al-Hachimi al-Qourachi -- the would-be leader of all Muslims -- or whether such a person actually exists, Abdul Qadir Mumin may already be running IS's general directorate of provinces from Somalia… "That would create some kind of uproar within the community of supporters and sympathisers of IS," said Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter-Extremism Project (CEP) think tank.”

Tagesspiegel: Rapprochement In The Hostage Deal? This Is How Israel And Hamas Could Reach An Agreement

“Liri Albag sits in front of a camera in a dark room. Pale, frightened, dressed in a green overall. The 19-year-old speaks for about three and a half minutes. The young woman has to interrupt again and again because she has to cry. She has been in the hands of Hamas for 450 days, says Liri Albag, mentioning the change of year from 2024 to 2025. But there is no evidence that the Israeli soldier is alive. She is one of the hostages still in the hands of the Islamists… From Hans-Jakob Schindler's point of view, the fact that Hamas decided to publish Liri Albag's video in such a sensitive situation can be explained primarily by negotiating tactics. "With such videos of the hostages, Hamas always aims to put pressure on the Israeli government through their families and the public in order to persuade it to make concessions in the negotiations," says the senior director of the international Counter Extremism Project.”

Frankfurter Rundschau: Special Funds For The Fight Against IS Terror? Expert Calls For Even More

“Berlin - Solingen was a turning point in Germany. On August 23, a man in the city in North Rhine-Westphalia killed three people with a knife and injured eight others , four of them critically. The attack was presumably an Islamist terrorist attack, and the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the act… Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project also sees a growing danger from IS terror for Europe and Germany . However, a special fund alone will not provide a solution, Schindler warned in an interview with the Münchner Merkur . "Money alone is not a solution. The legal basis must first be created, only then can the money from a special fund be used effectively," said Schindler.”

United States

Fox News: Feds Release New Photo Of New Orleans Terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar As FBI Seeks More Tips

“FBI New Orleans released a new photo showing Shamsud-Din Jabbar riding a bicycle through the city's French Quarter back in October, during a possible scouting mission before the terror attack in which he drove a pickup truck through a crowd of pedestrians on New Year's and opened fire on police. The attack killed 14 revelers and injured more than 30 others. Jabbar died in a shootout with responding officers. The photo shows Jabbar riding a bicycle and wearing what could be a pair of Meta smart glasses, which investigators say he used to stream and record videos. It was taken on Halloween – another holiday where Americans are known to step outside in droves to celebrate.”

Yemen

The Business Standard: Yemeni Houthis Claim Strike At US Aircraft Carrier In Red Sea

“"The Yemeni missile and drone forces carried out a joint military operation, having attack the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier in the northern part of the Red Sea with two cruise missiles and four drones," the spokesman said, according to the Al Masirah TV channel. According to Saree, during the Houthi strike, the US aircraft carrier group was preparing to attack the Houthi-controlled Yemeni territory. "The operation made it possible to disrupt the attack," he added. After the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis warned that they would launch strikes on Israeli territory while barring ships associated with the Jewish state from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until Tel Aviv ceased its military operation against Palestinian radical group Hamas in the embattled enclave.”

Middle East

Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Israeli Strikes Kill 17 People In Gaza, Nearly All Of Them Women Or Kids

“Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza killed at least 17 people late Tuesday, nearly all of them women or children, the territory’s Health Ministry and hospital officials said. Five kids were killed as they sheltered together in the same tent, said Ahmed al-Farra, director of the children’s ward at nearby Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Their bodies were among the eight children and five women brought to the hospital after strikes on tents, homes and a vehicle. Two bodies were unidentifiable. The Israeli military said it targeted militants who had taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, without providing evidence. Israel said it took steps to lessen the risk of hurting civilians and blamed Hamas for the civilian casualties.”

Reuters: Hamas Stands By Demand For End To Gaza War Under Hostage Deal, As Trump Deadline Nears

“Hamas stood by its demand on Tuesday that Israel fully end its assault on Gaza under any deal to release hostages, and said U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was rash to say there would be "hell to pay" unless they go free by his Jan. 20 inauguration. Officials from the Islamist group and Israel have been holding talks with Qatari and Egyptian mediators in the most intensive effort for months to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. The outgoing U.S. administration has called for a final push for a deal before Joe Biden leaves office, and many in the region now view Trump's inauguration as an unofficial deadline. But with the clock ticking, both sides accuse the other of blocking a deal by adhering to conditions that torpedoed all previous peace efforts for more than a year.”

Associated Press: Hostages In Gaza Endure Another Winter As Their Families Plead For A Ceasefire

“ When Luis Har was kidnapped by Hamas-led militants on the warm morning of Oct. 7, 2023, he was forced into Gaza wearing shorts and a T-shirt. As his captivity stretched into weeks and then months, the cold, wet winter set in, bringing along with it a dread he had never endured before. “I felt a penetrating cold in my bones,” said Har, 71, who was rescued in mid-February in an Israeli military raid. With no heating in the apartment where he was held, the cold from the floor permeated his thin mattress at night. Fighting outside shattered the apartment windows, sending in rain and wind. While Har is spending this winter warm and free, dozens of hostages still in captivity are not. Their families and supporters are desperate for a ceasefire deal to bring an end to their 15-month-long nightmare.”

Technology

Bloomberg: US Pulls Back From Disrupting Violent Extremism On Social Media

“The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have scaled back efforts over the past two years to disrupt violent extremists’ online activities, according to current and former US officials and internet radicalization specialists who fear the trend will accelerate under the incoming Trump administration. FBI and DHS officials are requesting fewer content takedowns and sharing less threat-related information with social media companies, according to a US official, two former US officials and three researchers who work with the agencies, all of whom requested anonymity to preserve government relationships. In particular, the agencies have largely stopped flagging networks of white supremacist accounts that try to recruit or radicalize new followers, according to the researchers.”