Violence and Security

Former Boko Haram Captives Present Challenge to Nigeria

February 14, 2017

As the Nigerian military's growing success against Boko Haram results in the release of thousands of female captives, international nongovernmental organizations are reporting significant challenges in the social reintegration of women whom the Islamist militant group had used as sex slaves and terrorists.
IS Takes Jihad to West Through Homegrown Child Terrorists

February 14, 2017

Islamic State (IS) leaders are responding to the rollback against the caliphate in Iraq and Syria by opening a new jihadi front inside states in the West by deploying what Western security officials call a sophisticated, systematic, and increasingly successful recruitment and radicalization initiative aimed at converting children into homegrown terrorists.
Pakistan's Islamists "Rebrand" to Avoid US Crackdown

February 14, 2017

In a move widely viewed as an effort to help Pakistan, whose military-intelligence apparatus has deep ties to Islamist terror groups, avoid punitive measures under tightening US immigration and counter-terrorism laws, Jama’at-ud-Dawa, one of Pakistan's most violent Islamist groups, plans to "rebrand" itself by registering under another name as a political party.
Post-IS Syria Reveals Complex Threats to Mideast Order

February 14, 2017

While US national security experts view the campaign to defeat Islamic State (IS) forces in their Syrian capital of Raqqa as a critical first step to Mideast stability, the politics of this strategy are revealing the longer-term threats unleashed by IS to US vital interests in the region.
Taliban Use Ethnic Minorities to Expand Islamist Control

February 14, 2017

In a shift producing a notable expansion in the militant Islamist movement's control over Afghanistan, the Taliban is successfully expanding its recruitment efforts beyond core Pashtun tribes in Afghanistan to incorporate the country's ethnic minorities and Central Asian Islamists.
Jihadis Turn to Private Military Contractor Model

February 14, 2017

Extremist Islamists are adapting to their global aims a modern operations model in the form of jihadi private contractor (PMC) consulting firms that run fighter training and recruitment programs, with the pilot PMC, Malhama Tactical, originating in the Muslim-majority republics of the North Caucasus.
Militant Islamism Is on Rise in Belgian Society

February 14, 2017

According to a new report by Belgium's threat-assessment coordination body, the Organisation for Threat Analysis Coordination (OCAM), militant Islamist ideas and practices are spreading throughout Belgian society in mosque sermons and diverse media modalities.
Facebook Targets "Fake News" in Europe

February 14, 2017

Reuters reports that employees of the social media site Facebook are working with French and German news organizations to ensure users cannot post allegedly "fake news" stories on its platform to sway the upcoming elections in those countries.
UN Official: Refugee Policy Cannot Be Subject to Politics

February 14, 2017

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has expressed concern that "the refugee issue in the industrialised world – in Europe, the US, Australia – is very politicized" and called for countries to avoid measures, such as the travel barriers declared by the US, that weaken the global principle of "solidarity."
Irish Proposal Targets "Distasteful" Online Content

February 08, 2017

The Irish Independent reports that Ireland's Communications Minister Denis Naughten is advancing a proposal to create the post of Digital Safety Commissioner to remove "distasteful or abusive" content from social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.