Violence and Security

IS Supporters Celebrate Coptic Church Attack in Cairo

December 12, 2016

Islamic State (IS) supporters celebrated online in the aftermath of an attack on the Coptic Orthodox Church's main cathedral in Cairo, the latest assault in a climate of violence and impunity against the largest remaining Christian community in the Middle East.
Defeat of IS in Libya Highlights Tunisian Islamism

December 09, 2016

Steady progress in defeating Islamist State (IS) forces in Libya is laying bare the problems of socio-political and security instability related to growing Islamist extremism in neighboring Tunisia, already a base for IS cells working to expand their footprint across North Africa and where IS militants have perpetrated multiple domestic terror attacks against civilian targets.
Israeli Security Follows Jihadi Radicalization Efforts

December 08, 2016

While slow inroads by Salafist groups may pose the greater threat for Islamist radicalization inside Israel, Israeli security services are closely watching efforts by Islamist jihadi groups to radicalize Israel's Arab citizens, who have largely rejected violent Islamism.
Court Sentences Man for IS-Inspired Assassination Plot

December 08, 2016

After a trial that pointed to the capacity of international Islamist extremist groups to use internet technologies to recruit individuals with a profile of social alienation and mental instability, a court sentenced an Ohio man who claimed Islamic State (IS) inspiration for his plot to assassinate US President Barack Obama and attack the US Capitol building to 30 years in prison.
Tech Companies Agree to "Extremist" Content Database

December 06, 2016

In an effort, according to the companies, to reduce online terrorist propaganda, a group of social media companies have agreed to establish a joint database through which they will automatically share extremist content that appears on one platform to facilitate its removal from other platforms.
EU Presses Tech Companies on "Hate Speech" Action

December 06, 2016

Arguing that action by social media platforms under their EU "Code of Conduct" pledge to stamp out "hate speech" has been insufficient, the European Commission has threatened social media companies with binding legislation requiring swift removal of hateful content if these businesses fail to voluntarily step up their anti-hate speech efforts.
UK Report Seeks Cultural "Cohesion" Strategy

December 06, 2016

A report on "community cohesion" in the UK from Dame Louise Casey asserts that government policies have not bridged the gap between some increasingly divided cultures in the country and calls for such strategies as an "integration oath" for migrants, promotion of the English language, and “women’s emancipation" in communities with "regressive cultural practices."
Evidence Points to Assad's Complicity with Jihadis

December 05, 2016

Evidence from a collection of US and Syrian intelligence materials pointing toward collusion between Syria's al-Assad regime and Islamist jihadi groups to divert US attention to Iraq and present Western governments with a choice between "the al-Assad regime or Islamist extremists" underscores the complexities of a resolution of the civil war in Syria.
Islamist Extremists Fill Afghanistan Power Vacuum

December 05, 2016

The fragility of state control over only 60 percent of Afghanistan's territory is creating a security vacuum increasingly filled by the expanding presence of the Taliban and other Afghan, Pakistani, and international Islamist extremists, making Southwest Asia a platform for global geopolitical instability created by jihadi groups.
Boko Haram Jihad Worsens African Humanitarian Crisis

December 05, 2016

UN refugee officials are warning that the recent uptick in attacks in the ongoing, seven-year jihadi campaign by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram is making it impossible to deliver urgent food and medical humanitarian assistance to the nearly 2.6 million displaced persons in the sub-Saharan African countries of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.