Violence and Security

Islamism in Bangladesh Presents Policy Challenges

July 11, 2016

Effective responses to the increasing episodes of violence by radical Islamists in Bangladesh present a serious policy challenge to the country's political elites, who have failed to address the penetration of al-Qaeda and Islamic State operatives among returning Islamist fighters.
IS Supporters Release US Christian, Jewish Kill List

July 11, 2016

The most recent hit list of the United Cyber Caliphate, the Islamic State's cyber-hacker arm, calls on IS supporters to kill members of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues in the US.
Vandalism May Signal Islamist Violence in Latin America

July 11, 2016

Local human rights groups are concerned that the vandalism of a Jewish Maccabi Community Center and sports club in Argentina with an Islamic State marker, in addition to a series of related assaults, may signal the spread of Islamist extremism in Latin America.
Former US National Guardsman Arrested for Plotting IS Attack

July 11, 2016

Authorities in Virginia have arrested an ex-US National Guardsman who had made contacts in the Islamic State and was planning a terrorist attack in the US to conclude Ramadan.
Turkey's Support for Jihadis Produces Domestic Blowback

July 11, 2016

The Turkish government's support for jihadi recruiting, transit, and operations in Syria and Iraq has begun to produce significant domestic blowback in the form of growing indoctrination networks of Salafist Islamists and increasingly frequent, homegrown terrorist attacks.
Islamism Gives Bangladesh Nationalism a Violent Edge

July 11, 2016

The lethal attack by Islamic State supporters at a Dhaka restaurant reveals the growth of Islamism as an ideological tool for redefining nationalism in Bangladesh along exclusively religious lines, thereby producing attacks against groups deemed unacceptable to the country's jihadis.
IS Attack Pattern Indicates Global Traction of Islamist Ideology

July 06, 2016

The 2016 pattern of attacks by Islamic State loyalists functioning in "wolf packs" points to the internationalized ideological appeal of militant Islamism and the operational reach of a global caliphate, even as IS forces fight to retain control over their territorial core in the Mideast.
Al-Qaeda Threatens US Over Boston Terrorist Sentence

July 06, 2016

Al-Qaeda's chief, Ayman al-Zawahri, has warned that America will face the "gravest consequences" if the Chechen Muslim terrorist who perpetrated the Boston Marathon attack is executed according to the sentence handed down at his federal trial.
Attacks in Saudi Arabia Signal Escalation of Islamist Civil Wars

July 06, 2016

Security experts consider yesterday's series of violent attacks in Saudi Arabia - against a Sunni holy site, a Shiite city, and the US Consulate in Jeddah - as the likely work of the Islamic State, signaling a sharp escalation in IS's challenge to the extremist Saudi Wahhabi regime for the mantle of global Islamist leadership.
IS Shows Staying Power with Attacks on Baghdad

July 06, 2016

A string of brutal terror attacks by the Islamic State targeting Shiite civilian targets in Baghdad has underscored the Islamist extremist group's staying power in the face of recent military losses in other parts of Iraq.