Violence and Security

Human Rights Groups Report Jihadist Targeting of Christians in Syria

July 23, 2019

Respected international human rights organizations have reported that jihadists from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra group operating in northern Syria continue to target Christian minority women, as illustrated by the recent rape and death-by-stoning of a middle-aged Christian woman.
US Sanctions Underscore Islamist Extremism in the Americas

July 23, 2019

The imposition of financial sanctions by the US government against a Hezbollah fugitive alleged to have masterminded a lethal attack against a synagogue in Argentina is a reminder of the malign activities of the Iran-backed group and other Islamist radical organizations in the Americas.
Taliban Edge Closer to Regaining Authority in Afghanistan

July 23, 2019

The complexities of the Afghanistan peace talks may unintentionally leave the Taliban and other jihadist groups in power in the geopolitically critical country.
Captured Operative Explains Totalitarian Structure of IS

July 18, 2019

A recently captured Turkish operative of the Islamic State (IS) described the totalitarian structure of the Islamist organization as rooted in the role of Muslim clerics and Koranic sources that justify no internal dissent and the use of beheadings and other forms of capital punishment against Christian and Jewish “infidels.”
Pakistan Serves as Incubator for Jihadist Groups

July 18, 2019

Pakistan’s arrest of the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terrorist attacks against the Indian city of Mumbai has shed new light on the geopolitically critical Southwest Asian country as an incubator and haven for some of the world’s most dangerous jihadist groups and ideologies.
Military Defeat of IS Did Not End Islamist Extremism

July 18, 2019

Observers should not mistake the military defeat of the Islamic State (IS) caliphate in Iraq and Syria for the termination of radical Islamism, since data show that the causal factors in extremism and the foreign-fighter phenomenon remain strong worldwide.
African Jihadist Footprint Prompts US Sanctions

July 18, 2019

The expanding footprint of jihadist activities in Africa has provoked the US government to designate individuals from Mali and Morocco as terrorists in an effort to staunch the steady growth of Islamist extremist operations in the African Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa.
France Sees Mixed Results in Islamist Deradicalization Programs

July 17, 2019

Measurable outcomes indicating the mixed results of French government programs designed to combat Islamist deradicalization by ideological training in strict secularism are pushing policy experts to reconsider the optimal approaches to avoiding Islamist extremism in Europe.
Al-Shabaab Extremists Wreak Havoc in Lethal Attack in Somalia

July 17, 2019

Islamist extremist group al-Shabaab continued its jihadist campaign in Somalia with a suicide-bombing attack that left Somali political leaders, journalists, and foreign tourists dead in one of the county’s main commercial centers.
Tunisia Bans Islamic Face Coverings in Aftermath of Lethal Violence

July 17, 2019

Tunisia’s Prime Minister has issued an executive order banning the full Islamic face veil (niqab) in public institutions, following a niqab-disguised suicide bomber perpetrating the third in a sequence of lethal Islamic State attacks in the North African country.