Violence and Security

Reviews Question Success of USAID in Combating Extremism

June 13, 2018

Recent reviews of humanitarian programs supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in America's effort to use development as a means for countering Islamist radicalization and violence demonstrate mixed results and raise questions about the blowback against US spending on "countering violent Islamist extremism."
IS Seeks to Sabotage Afghan-Taliban Ceasefire

June 13, 2018

Islamic State (IS) cells carried out multi-city suicide bombings with high civilian fatalities in Afghanistan on Monday, signaling the Islamist terror group's continued efforts to bring a caliphate to Southwest Asia even in the context of the temporary ceasefire agreed between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Al-Shabaab Attacks US Peacekeepers in Somalia

June 13, 2018

American peacekeeping forces with the US Africa Command in Somalia suffered an attack from forces with the jihadist group al-Shabaab, the latest operation that underscores the resilience of Islamist extremist actors in the geopolitically crucial space of the Horn of Africa.
Afghan Government Announces Taliban Truce

June 08, 2018

Afghanistan’s government announced a one-week ceasefire in its military operations against Taliban forces, in an effort to develop a durable peace plan that will end the Islamist group’s battle to install sharia law across the country, although government forces will continue the battle against Islamic State cells active across the country.
Austria Cracks down on Mosques Funded from Abroad

June 08, 2018

Austria’s government announced that it is closing seven mosques, expelling seven imams, and investigating many others, based on evidence of political Islamist activities and foreign funding sources designed to support radicalization.
British Authorities Predict Constant Islamist Terror Threat

June 08, 2018

On the one-year anniversary of the London Bridge terror attack by Islamic State (IS) supporters, British security services announced that the UK terror warning level will remain severe for at least the next two years due to evidence of violent Islamist plots uncovered by state authorities as well as from ongoing investigations into 500 operations.
Prisons Are Key Space for Islamist Radicalization

June 06, 2018

Empirical evidence shows that prisons in the West and beyond are "criminal universities" for both the Islamist radicalization and terrorist training skills that pose serious threats to society.
Islamist Extremists Target Clerics Opposed to Suicide Bombing

June 06, 2018

Islamist extremist groups targeted Afghanistan's Ulema Council meeting in Kabul with a fatal suicide bombing hours after it issued an official Islamic legal ruling (fatwa) against suicide bombings as forbidden by Islam, as such extremists have ratcheted up their military operations throughout the Southwest Asian country in an effort to overthrow the government.
UN Agent Seeks Counter-terror Review Mechanism in Belgium

June 06, 2018

In a review of counter-terrorism policies in Belgium, UN Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin called on the government to establish a systematic de-radicalization regime in its prisons, alleviate fair trial concerns for its foreign-fighter citizens in other countries, and create an "independent oversight mechanism" to review rights issues relating to counter-terrorism.
NGO Warns of Broad Scope of French Terror "Apology" Law

June 06, 2018

An article from Human Rights Watch warns that a new French law criminalizing the act of "apology for terrorism," as a category of "hateful" speech, chills free speech by subjecting to a hefty fine and prison sentence anyone who speaks positively of terror groups or actions despite their lack of intention to incite violence and disagreement with the group's ideology.