Violence and Security

Islamist Groups Coordinate Response to Israel to Avoid Escalation

May 31, 2018

This week’s round of shelling between Israeli Defense Forces and the Gaza-based Palestinian Hamas and Iranian-supported Islamic Jihad indicated the two Islamist groups’ coordination of a proportionate response strategy aimed at avoiding an escalation in their conflict with Israel.
IS Grows in Libya as State Failure Continues

May 31, 2018

The ongoing, factionalized conflict for control of the post-Qaddafi Libyan state has created an open space for Islamic State (IS) fighters to reconstitute the terrorist movement and to use Libya as a platform for Islamist extremism and violence across Africa.
Belgian Officials Treat Liège Attack as Islamist Terrorism

May 30, 2018

Belgian authorities are investigating an incident in which an assailant killed two police officers and a passer-by and injured a hostage before being killed by police in Liège, Belgium, as a possible Islamist terror attack.
Taliban Targets Afghan Trump Supporters

May 30, 2018

In the aftermath of a Taliban assassination of an Afghan man who minted a medal thanking US President Donald Trump for getting tough on Pakistan for its support of Islamist terrorism, other Afghans who have shown similar support to Trump have fled and gone into hiding for fear of retribution by the Islamist extremist group.
Egypt Cracks down on "Storefront Mosques"

May 30, 2018

The Egyptian government has banned preaching during the month of Ramadan at 20,000 "storefront mosques" that proliferated under the previous Muslim Brotherhood government, in an effort to curtail the use of the informal mosques as a platform for Islamist extremism and to prevent mosques from promoting violent Islamist activities.
IS Shows Resiliency with Lethal Firefight in Syria

May 30, 2018

Islamic State (IS) fighters continue to demonstrate resiliency, even as their formal caliphate has been defeated, as evidenced in a recent firefight in eastern Syria that resulted in the death of Syrian government soldiers and Russian military combatants.
Kansas Court Awards $8 Million to Victim of Islamist Cult

May 30, 2018

A federal court in Kansas awarded $8 million in damages to a human trafficking and sexual exploitation victim of the United Nations of Islam, a cult whose leader split from the Nation of Islam and believes that he is Allah, with communities of followers around the US.
Algerian Court Orders Expulsion of Malian Islamist Militants

May 24, 2018

Algeria’s Supreme Court has ordered the expulsion of 105 Malians belonging to the Islamist militant group Ansar Eddine, as the country has become increasingly plagued by attacks from a range of jihadist groups including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Manchester Marks Anniversary of Terror Attack

May 23, 2018

Residents of Manchester, England held a one-year memorial on the anniversary of last year’s lethal suicide bombing by an Islamic State (IS) supporter at a rock concert, with the city’s mayor commenting on the continuing trauma caused by memories of Islamist terrorism in Manchester and other parts of the UK.
OSCE Seeks Legislative Policies on Foreign Fighters

May 22, 2018

At a recent conference in Rome, the chair of a panel of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on counter-terrorism, Makis Voridis, called for legislative action to limit the threats posed by returning foreign terrorist fighters through coordination, information-sharing, and breaking terror links with organized crime.