Violence and Security

End to Caliphate Is No End to IS

October 25, 2017

Western security and intelligence experts warn that the military defeat of the Islamic State (IS) with the fall of the Caliphate capital at Raqqa does not mean the end of IS because the jihadi group’s leadership has prepared contingency plans for a shift to ongoing guerrilla operations in the Mideast and Africa and to core soft-target terror attacks in European and American cities.
Observers Support UNSC Approach to Violent Islamism

October 25, 2017

Think tank experts argue that turning back the tide of Islamist extremist ideology and violence depends on channeling resources into the UN Security Council's (UNSC) sustaining peace programs designed to remedy the intersecting root causes of poverty, lack of education, and human-rights violations on which Islamist groups thrive for recruitment and radicalization.
Jihadis Launch Suicide Attacks on Afghan Mosques

October 25, 2017

Twin suicide bombing attacks against a Shiite and Sunni mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul killed more than 60 people, underscoring the impunity with which myriad jihadi groups, including the Taliban and local affiliates of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, are operating in the geopolitically crucial region of Southwest Asia.
IS Ideologues Seek to Sustain Global Salafist Support

October 25, 2017

Islamic State (IS) leadership is using Islamic religious concepts of territory and martyrdom to reframe the military defeat in the caliphate heartland of Iraq and Syria as a victory for faithful Muslims worldwide.
Al-Shabab Attacks Renew Debate over Defeating Somalian Islamism

October 25, 2017

The recent deadly terror bombings in Somalia have renewed debate among African policymakers concerned with the resilience of the Islamist extremist group al-Shabab, provoking renewed interest in an Africa-led military coalition with Euro-American actors and a Somali-led political approach to incorporating non-violent Islamists into the country's politics and judicial institutions.
US Jury Convicts Chelsea Bomber

October 20, 2017

A US federal jury has convicted a New Jersey man, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, of all charges related to last year's bombing in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, with overwhelming material evidence that also suggested Rahimi was inspired by jihadist leaders whose works were mentioned in his personal journal.
Fall of IS Stronghold of Raqqa Ends Caliphate in Syria

October 20, 2017

US-backed militia have captured the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State's (IS) de facto capital in Syrian territory, marking the formal defeat of the caliphate in Iraq and Syria and dealing a symbolic blow to the jihadi forces that had planned their Mideast expansion.
UN Agent Calls for Free Access to "Pluralistic" Media

October 20, 2017

UN Human Rights Council Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas has called for the "democratization" of the media, signaling that governments must eliminate the dissemination of "fake news" to guarantee citizens' “free access to pluralistic information and opinion.”
Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar Creates Opening for Global Jihadis

October 20, 2017

The continuing crisis of ethno-religious cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim community by the government of Myanmar has provoked a call by Mideast Islamist extremist groups, as well as Islamist governments in Qatar, Turkey, and Iran, to make Southeast Asia the next major front for global jihad.
As IS Retreats, Al-Qaeda Regroups in Syria

October 20, 2017

The full range and resilience of Islamist radical groups is on display in the war against the al-Assad regime in Syria, as the military defeat and retreat of the Islamic State (IS) has caused a constellation of al-Qaeda affiliates to replace IS in fighting to make Syria a sharia state.