THE KREMLIN COMES AROUND ON THE TALIBAN
Slowly but surely, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban is navigating an increasingly permissive global environment. When the Islamist movement swept back into power in Kabul on the heels of the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021, it faced broad international isolation. Over time, however, more and more countries have opted to reestablish diplomatic contacts with Kabul's new rulers. Russia is among them. Back in the Fall, a new bill in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, put forward a bill temporarily removing the Taliban from the country's terrorist list. That measure, intended to "facilitate dialogue and cooperation with the group," was subsequently approved by Russian president Vladimir Putin in late December.
The reasons are practical. At a recent meeting of the intelligence and security chiefs of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, Alexander Bortnikov, director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), argued in favor of practical cooperation with the group. "In light of the Taliban's measures against ISIS, I believe it is possible to establish constructive cooperation with the Afghan authorities and their special services in this area," the Interfax news agency has quoted Bortnikov as saying. The Kremlin is also said to be considering possible collaboration with the Taliban to better combat drug and arms trafficking. (The Moscow Times, November 26, 2024; AMU TV, December 28, 2024)
SYRIA'S CRISIS EQUALS NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ISLAMIC STATE
The rapid collapse of the Assad regime last month as a result of a surprise offensive by opposition forces has created a potential power vacuum in Syria - one that Islamist forces are primed to fill. A particular worry, a new analysis from the Washington Institute notes, is that Syria's post-Assad chaos could create new opportunities for the Islamic State to reconstitute by accessing detention camps in the northeast of the country. That is where the U.S.-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) "control more than twenty-six camps and prisons holding approximately 50,000 IS-affiliated individuals (41,000 in camps, 9,000 in prisons)," writes Islamism expert Devorah Margolin.
Now, with Assad gone, these facilities have the potential to become significant IS targets, as the jihadi group seeks to make up lost ground. "For years, IS has encouraged supporters to attack these facilities and free the detainees, whom the group views as vital to spreading its ideology, improving its operational success, and facilitating its resurgence," Margolin notes, And, "[d]espite longstanding international pressure to ease this risk by repatriating these individuals to their countries of origin, progress remains dangerously slow five years after the IS 'caliphate' collapsed." (Washington Institute, December 9, 2024)
[EDITORS' NOTE: The repatriation of foreign jihadis is shaping up to become a significant priority of the incoming Trump administration. Sebastian Gorka, President-elect Trump's pick to serve as counterterrorism czar at the U.S. National Security Council, has argued publicly that America's counterterrorism allies must make a more serious "commitment" to repatriating foreign extremists as part of their collaboration with Washington.]
UNWRA HAS A RADICALISM PROBLEM
Over the past year, as Israel has prosecuted its war against Hamas in Gaza, it has become acutely aware of just how of much of a problem the UN's dedicated agency for the Palestinians, known as the United Nations Relief & Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA), truly is. While allegations that UNWRA has helped incubate extremism have swirled for some time, documents found by the Israeli military during the course of military operations in the Gaza Strip have provided concrete evidence that at least 24 people employed at UNRWA-funded and -operated schools were members of, or associated with, Hamas and other militant groups. "A majority were top administrators at the schools — principals or deputy principals — and the rest were school counselors and teachers, the documents say,' reports the New York Times. "Almost all of the Hamas-linked educators, according to the records, were fighters in the Qassam Brigades." (New York Times, December 8, 2024)
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