Violence and Security

IS Gangs Operate Unfettered in Rural Iraq

March 07, 2019

Islamic State (IS) roving gangs remain a serious threat to long-term stability in Iraq, particularly in the country’s rural and provincial areas where the Baghdad government has failed to move decisively to provide a regular security presence and to provide for urgent development and reconstruction needs.
Al Shabaab Militants Lay Siege to Hotel in Mogadishu

March 07, 2019

Militants from the al Shabaab Islamist extremist group have laid siege to a hotel in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia, as the high casualties are the most recent in the jihadist group’s ongoing battle to impose sharia law across the country.
Islamist Radicalism in Philippines Shows Links to Global Jihad

March 07, 2019

High-casualty suicide bombings by local IS-affiliates early this year in the Philippines signal a discernible pattern in the country’s growing Islamist presence and recruitment of foreign jihadists for suicide violence to complement local Islamist efforts toward radicalization and disruption.
Hijab for Runners Catalyzes Renewed Debate in France

March 07, 2019

A European sporting goods retailer has halted the planned sale in France of a hijab designed for Muslim women runners in response to social and political pushback, catalyzing renewed debates in France about the political Islamist associations and security challenges of the hijab versus the religious freedom aspects of the head covering.
Germany Plans Citizenship Reforms to Deal with Returning IS Fighters

March 06, 2019

Germany’s Interior and Justice Ministries have agreed to changes to the country’s Nationality Act to address the complex legal and security dimensions of German citizens seeking repatriation after fighting with the Islamic State (IS).
IS Final Retreat Reveals War Crimes

March 06, 2019

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces pushing to defeat the remaining core of Islamic State (IS) fighters holed up on the Syria-Iraq border are discovering evidence of caliphate war crimes in the form of mass graves of victims of the IS regime.
Beheading in Tunisia Raises Concerns over Possible Jihadist Revival

March 06, 2019

The case of a recent beheading of a Tunisian construction worker in the country's rural, mountainous region has raised red flags in the economically fragile North African state about a local jihadi resurgence possibly fueled by the return of foreign fighters from the Syrian caliphate front.
Returning Teen Terrorists Pose Challenge for Europe

March 06, 2019

European states are developing a range of deradicalization and rehabilitation programs, together with legal frameworks, in an effort to address a long-term challenge for European stability caused by the return of teenagers to their home countries after fighting and supporting the Islamic State.
UN Report Blames Taliban for Spike in Afghan Civilian Casualties

March 05, 2019

A new UN report identifies the Islamist extremist Taliban as the primary source of a 2018 spike in civilian casualties in Afghanistan over the last decade's war.
US-Taliban Talks Raise Complex Issues Related to Islamist Terrorism

March 04, 2019

The agenda of the latest round of US negotiations with the Afghan Taliban in Qatar will focus on a US military withdrawal from the long war in Afghanistan conditioned on Taliban guarantees against harboring Islamist terrorists and on the Taliban’s willingness to cooperate with the current country’s government.