Potential ISIS Return Next Year | Spotlight on the Kurdish Question | Cryptocurrency for Terrorists, and more

spilled over with protests and tribute rallies to the victims where demonstrators have chanted: “Our martyrs do not die” in Kurdish and demanded “truth and justice”. The community wants justice for the 2013 unsolved murder of three activists who belonged to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), proscribed by Turkey and its Western allies as a “terrorist” organization.

Paris Shooting: 3 Killed, Suspect ‘Extreme Right-Wing Activist,’ Mayor Says  (Brian Bushard, Forbes)
At least three people were killed when a gunman opened fire on a Kurdish community center and a hair salon in Paris, France, local officials said Friday morning, as police investigate whether the shooting was a hate crime and as protests flare up near the site of the attack. Three more people were injured, including one in “absolute emergency,” in the attack, which took place in the city’s rue d’Enghien, a bustling area known for its shops and restaurants, which also has a large Kurdish population, French outlet France24 reported. Local police said they arrested the 69-year-old alleged shooter—who was also injured in the attack—describing him as a Caucasian man who had been known for two previous attempted murders, in 2016 and 2021. The alleged shooter had recently been released from prison after being charged with racist violence for attacking migrants living in a tent camp in Paris with a knife last December, according to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. Witnesses told French outlet AFP the gunman first approached the Kurdish cultural center before he went to a salon next door. No official motive has been giving for the shooter, whose name has not yet been released publicly. The alleged gunman is believed to be an “extreme right-wing activist,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted, saying he targeted Kurdish people in the attack, while Mathilde Panot, the head of France’s left-wing Unbowed party, tweeted, “the racist extreme right must be neutralized.

Cryptocurrency Becomes Mainstream Option for Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorism, Austrac Says  (Henry Belot, Guardian)
Australia’s financial intelligence agency has warned Russian paramilitary groups are soliciting cryptocurrency donations to buy weapons and that Australians have donated to terrorist organizations overseas. Senior executives at Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) also said cryptocurrency has become a “standard part of the money-laundering tool kit” for organized crime groups in Australia. The agency’s deputy chief executive and head of intelligence, John Moss, said crypto was no longer considered a “niche option” for criminal activity and had become more mainstream. “We are now seeing more traditional money laundering being displaced into cryptocurrency, particularly to send money offshore,” he said. Moss said Russian groups have been soliciting digital currency donations on social media to buy weapons, drones and armor for the conflict in Ukraine. In July, global consultants Chainalysis estimated approximately $2.2m in cryptocurrency had been sent to Russian paramilitary groups, which have posted images of arms bought on social media. “This shows how easy it is to use crypto as a fundraising source and when you mix it with social media, you get a big reach. You’ve got a technology that’s easy to use and if you’re flexible in the type of cryptos you take, you can do quite well out of it,” Moss said.