Shamima Begum, who joined ISIS and returned to the UK, loses first stage of appeal over her British citizenship

Shamima Begum, the British born woman who, at the age of 15, left the UK to join the Islamic State, and then asked to return in 2019, has lost the first stage of appeal over her citizenship. In the midst of fierce public debate then, Former Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of her UK…

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Germany grapples with return of pro-Kurdish fighters from Syria

Much public concern and political squabbling in Europe has focused on returnees from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq. Above all, anxieties have been centred on the potential security risks posed by former fighters and supporters of the so-called Islamic State. Over 1,000 German citizens and residents had joined the self-declared caliphate in the Levant;…

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German army, intelligence agencies, and CDU party embroiled in far-right network

The elite KSK brigade of the German Army is a notoriously secretive military unit: composed of 1,000 hand-picked soldiers, it is tasked with conducting covert operations, hostage rescue abroad, and counter-terrorism interventions. In recent weeks, however, the KSK – the abbreviation stands for Kommando Spezialkräfte – has been dragged into the spotlight: after two soldiers…

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Clumsy government satire seeks to discourage German Muslims from turning to Salafism

North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), the most populous of Germany’s 16 federal states, has rolled out a new anti-terrorism programme: a satirical YouTube channel called Jihadi Fool. Run by the state’s domestic intelligence agency, the Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz, the channel’s videos are supposed to “fight fire with fire” and drive home “the absurdity of radicalisation, terrorism and…

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Anti-Islamic extremist Martin Sellner, linked to Christchurch shooter, permanently banned from entering the UK.

Martin Sellner, an anti-Islamic extremist, has been permanently excluded from entering the UK. Sellner is the Austrian leader of Generation Identity, an organisation which is being investigated in Austria over links to the Christchurch shooting suspect. Austrian authorities have been investigating Sellner’s connections to Brenton Tarrant, who is currently on trial for the murder of 51…

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