Violence and Security

Terror Attack on Westminster Underscores Power of Islamist Ideas

April 12, 2017

The Islamic State's (IS) online recruiting magazine, Rumiyah, last year ran an article exhorting loyalists to carry out exactly the kind of vehicle suicide attack perpetrated recently against civilians on London's Westminster Bridge by a British convert to Islam, a signal the power and content of religious ideas must be taken seriously in policy design for countering violent Islamism.
Jihadist Networks Inside Turkey Threaten Regional Stability

April 12, 2017

The Islamic State (IS) is the kingmaker in a complex network of jihadist groups which have consolidated their physical and online activities in Turkey, as that country's tacit support for Islamist extremism has created opportunities for domestic terror attacks and for Turkey to be used as a platform for threatening regional security in the Mideast and Europe.
China’s Counter-Extremist Measures May Boost Terrorist Recruiting

April 12, 2017

Chinese government officials legalized a broad spectrum of social and religious restrictions on the country's large Uighur Muslim minority as a policy for countering the spread of Islamist extremism, but human rights organizations warn that the repression may catalyze Islamist radicalization among Uighurs.
Russia Arrests IS Sympathizers Suspected in St. Petersburg Bombing

April 12, 2017

After identifying the main suspect in the suicide bombing of the St. Petersburg metro as a Russian passport-holder from Kyrgyzstan, a poor Central Asian country with high recruitment levels for Islamist extremist movements, Russian security officials arrested seven Central Asian migrants suspected in the metro terror attack as Islamic State (IS) sympathizers and accomplices.
Pakistani Taliban Ratchet up Sectarian Violence

March 31, 2017

A Shiite mosque in Pakistan suffered high casualties in another terror attack by the Pakistani branch of the Afghan Taliban (TTP), as the banned Islamist extremist group continues to ratchet up Sunni-Shiite sectarian tensions in an effort to establish Sunni militant sharia rule throughout the two Southwest Asian countries.
Study Signals Challenge of Islamism to World Order

March 31, 2017

A new report by the Brookings Institution suggests that Islamism, an intellectual system that privileges the religious community of the Muslim "umma" over loyalty to the nation-state, may present a far greater long-term challenge to international order than the threats posed by Islamic terror entities like the Islamic State or al-Qaeda.
IS Uses Water Claim to Delegitimize Opponents

March 31, 2017

Islamic State (IS) ideologues are spreading rumors and social media reports that anti-IS forces are aiming to capture the massive Tabqa dam on the Euphrates to use water as a weapon against Syrian citizens loyal to IS fighters battling to maintain control over Raqqa, the de facto caliphate capital located near the Tabqa facility.
Italian Police Arrest Kosovo Islamists Planning Venice Attack

March 30, 2017

Italian police have arrested three Kosovar jihadis connected to Islamist radical networks stretching from Southern Europe to the Mideast for plotting an attack on Venice's famed Rialto Bridge, a high-casualty soft target the group had selected as a copycat to the Islamic State "lone-wolf" attack last week in London.
Islamist Militants Organize Jihad in West Africa

March 30, 2017

Mali is the latest battle ground for Islamist militants groups expanding their jihadi activities across West Africa.
Advocates Seek Collection of IS War Crimes Evidence

March 30, 2017

International human rights advocates are raising alarm bells about the urgency of collecting forensics evidence for use in the prosecution of what are believed to be unprecedented war crimes committed by Islamic State (IS) forces in Iraq and Syria.