Violence and Security

IS Resurgence in Syria Prompts US Offer of Cooperation with Russia

May 04, 2020

A resurgence of IS operations in parts of Syria under the control of the Damascus government has prompted the United States to propose some collaboration with Russia in degrading the Islamist terror group’s capacity.
IS Use Ramadan & COVID-19 to Gain Ground Globally

April 29, 2020

International counter-terrorism experts are warning that IS, plus other Islamist extremist groups, are using the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and COVID-19 pandemic as opportunities to gain ground globally, as evidenced by a spate of Islamist terror attacks across Eurasia and Africa.
France Is Shaken by Another Lone Wolf Attacker Loyal to Islamic State

April 29, 2020

French anti-terrorism officials are investigating the Islamic State loyalties of the perpetrator of a lone-wolf vehicle attack that injured two Paris policemen, the latest episode in a series of deadly Islamist extremist attacks that have shaken the country since 2015.
German Court Begins Trial of IS Militant for Genocide and War Crimes Against Iraq's Endangered Yazidi Minority

April 28, 2020

A German court has begun the trial of an Islamic State (IS) militant accused of participating in the jihadist group's effort to exterminate the small and vulnerable Yazidi religous minority in Iraq.
UK Counter-Terrorism Officials Warn COVID-19 Pandemic Increases Risks of Islamist Recruitment and Radicalization

April 28, 2020

Experts managing the UK's signature counter-terrorism program, Prevent, are raising concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic is creating hospitable conditions for a rise in recruitment and radicalization to Islamist terror organizations and other extremist groups.
Jihadi Groups in Africa Adapting to COVID-19 Crisis with Ideological and Operational Opportunism

April 22, 2020

Islamist extremist groups are already making ideological and operational adjustments to COVID-19 conditions across Africa, using the pandemic to increase their recruits to a commitment to expanding sharia law and to expand the scope and impact of jihadist violence designed to overthrow existing state governance structures on the African Continent.
IS Militants in Philippines Show Resilience with Deadly Attack on Soldiers

April 22, 2020

Islamic State (IS) militants ambushed soldiers in the Philippines carrying out a security and counter-terrorism operation on one of the country's southern islands, killing and wounding more than 25 security personnel in an attack that underscored the resilience of the local Islamist extremist Abu Sayyaf faction that is fighting to impose sharia law across the Pacific island nation.
Africa's Sahel Shows Continent's Vulnerabilities to Jihadist Groups

April 22, 2020

Africa's Sahel region is a key locus for violence by a range of jihadist groups warring against fragile and/or authoritarian states, pointing to the entire Continent's vulnerability to Islamist militants who claim that sharia law and Islamist ideology are the only antidotes to the political and socioeconomic travails of Africa.
Saudi Arabia Uses Executions to Silence Critics of Wahhabi Regime

April 15, 2020

According to a report issued by British human rights organization Reprieve, Saudi Arabia’s Islamist theocratic leadership uses executions as a tool of choice to silence critics of the Wahhabi regime, with a doubling in the execution rate to reach a total of 800 individuals in the last five years.
AP Study Shows Systemic Sexual Abuse of Children in Pakistan’s Islamic Studies Schools

April 15, 2020

An Associated Press (AP) News Agency study of Pakistan’s Islamic studies schools (madrassas) documents the systemic sexual abuse of male and female children by Islamic clerics and teachers, as well as evidence of widespread failure of police and courts to arrest and persecute accused perpetrators.