Violence and Security

Questions Raised About Islamist Activist Networks in Canada

January 30, 2015

Canadian media are raising questions about the links between Islamist civic activism and possible funding streams to radical Islamist organizations in the Mideast, based on alleged fundraising ties between the Muslim Association of Canada ("MAC"), which conducts educational, religious, and cultural activities throughout the country, and Mideast organizaitons designated as terrorist groups by the Canadian government.
Islamist Infighting in Turkey Costs Christian Safety

January 29, 2015

Three jailed suspects accused of involvement in the brutal murders of three Christians in southeastern Turkey nearly eight years ago have been set free by the Turkish courts, on claims that the accused perpetrators have been caught in internecine fighting between the country's Islamist government and the anti-government, Islamist Gulenist movement.
Central Asia Emerges as Ripe Recruiting Ground for Jihad

January 29, 2015

A newly released report from the respected International Crisis Group details the aggressive recruiting methods and problematic nexus of local conditions combining to make the post-Soviet Central Asian Republics ripe recruiting ground for a jihadis arc from the Mideast to Central Asia.
Paris Attack by Islamic Terrorists Deepens Commitment to Muslim-Jewish Cooperation in London

January 28, 2015

The recent terrorist attacks in Paris by radical Islamists linked to al-Qaeda have led to renewed commitment to interfaith collaboration by London's Muslim-Jewish Forum, a local initiative that views the Paris events as responsible for catalyst for the recent uptick in both anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim episodes and sentiments in Europe.
Clashes Between Police and Islamic Rebels Threaten Fragile Peace in Philippines

January 28, 2015

The eruption of violent clashes between Philippines police forces and fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front ("MILF") has frozen progress on legislation to grant autonomy to the Muslim-dominated Bangsamoro region in the southern part of the country, jeopardizing the fragile peace process that had halted decades of fighting and giving renewed traction to the radical Islamist separatists of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters ("BIFF").
Government Collapse in Yemen Renews Questions about Strategies to Counter Violent Islamist Extremism

January 28, 2015

The collapse of Yemen's government last week under pressure from diverse Islamist extremist-terrorist forces (Iran-backed Houthis and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP) has reignited debates about military versus educational and policing responses for countering violent extremism in weak states.
Western Europe Sees Steady Rise in Radical Islamist Fighters to Mideast

January 28, 2015

The latest reports by European security experts detail steady increases in radical Islamist fighters leaving from Western European countries for Mideast military fronts, amounting to 20 percent of the foreign fighters in the ranks of violent extremist militants now at war in Iraq and Syria.
Boko Haram Jihad Spreading from Nigeria to Other African Countries

January 26, 2015

Nigeria's President is calling on the leadership of neighboring Chad, Ghana, and Niger to develop a West African multilateral military force to combat the spreading jihadi footprint of the extremist Islamist group.
Muslim Leaders Called to Denounce Islamism as Totalitarian Deviation from Islam

January 21, 2015

Some Muslim public intellectuals are calling on Muslim leaders to explicitly condemn Islamism as a totalitarian deviation from Islam's teachings and to reject combating Islamophobia as a justification for keeping silent about violent extremist Islamism.
Islamic State Takes Japanese Hostages in Mideast

January 21, 2015

The Islamic State ("IS") is demanding a $200 million ransom, a boost to the Islamist extremist group's coffers, in order not to behead two Japanese hostages taken as revenge for Japan's participation in the international coalition against the IS jihadi campaign in Syria and Iraq.