Violence and Security

Islamist Militants to Iraqi Christians: Convert, Pay, Die, or Flee

July 23, 2014

Jihadi fighters from The Islamic State (formerly, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) have seized the fourth-century Mar Behnam Monastery near Mosul, offering monks there the same ultimatum being imposed by Islamist militants on Christians throughout the region: conversion to Islam, payment of a protection fee as second-class subjects, death, or flight from home.
Islamic State Targets Syrian Regime to Expand Caliphate Footprint

July 23, 2014

The Islamic State, the political regime that declared a new caliphate headquartered in Iraq, is ratcheting up its military actions in Syria, towards the goal of overthrowing the al-Asad regime and consolidating an Islamic theocracy in what were once the states of Syria and Iraq.
Polarization and Violence in Libya After Islamist Election Failures

July 23, 2014

The drubbing of Islamists in Libya's recent Parliamentary elections has provoked further political polarization in the country and has been met by intensified violence from militia forces led by a former Qaddafist general calling for economic and security reforms in Libya.
OIC Chief Condemns ISIS Attacks on Christians in Iraq

July 21, 2014

The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation ("OIC") Iyad Ameen Madani has condemned the targeted attacks and atrocities by The Islamic State of Iraq and Sham ("ISIS") against Iraqi Christians as a contradiction of Islam and of the principles of the OIC.
Mideast Public Opinion Indicates Concerns with Militant Islam

July 18, 2014

The expansion of radical Islamist groups and militant Islamist violence in Africa and Asia is viewed as a serious concern by a broad range of Muslim-majority countries from North Africa to South Asia, according to recent public opinion date released by the Pew Research Project.
Boko Haram Committing Comprehensive Violence Against Civilians in Nigeria

July 18, 2014

Human Rights Watch has compiled reliable data showing that the extremist Islamist group, Boko Haram, has committed widespread violence and atrocities against civilians in Nigeria, as part of its standard terror tactics aimed at imposing sharia law throughout the country.
Islamism Provoking Societal Divisions and Security Threats in Britain

July 18, 2014

Political, media, and security sources in Britain are voicing serious concerns about the societal divisions and security threats associated with the spread of sharia-based practices among segments of Britain's Muslim citizenry and the activities of British jihadi fighters returning from Syria.
Islamist Extremist Group Continues Violent Campaign for Sharia State in Somalia

July 14, 2014

The Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for two recent bomb attacks in Mogadishu, one deadly, as part of the group's ongoing campaign to make Somalia into a sharia state.
Turkey's Islamists Get Bad Grades in Freedom House Report

July 14, 2014

Renowned think-tank Freedom House's recently released 2014 global report on freedom downgraded Turkey's Islamist government to unfree for turning away from liberalization, with massive crackdowns on civil and political liberties.
Lebanon's Islamist Factions at Odds over Syria Conflict

July 14, 2014

Lebanon's Muslim Brotherhood (the Islamic Group) has come out against sending foreign fighters to Syria, a reflection of deepening divisions in Lebanon's Islamic confessions over positioning in the region's Islamist balance-of-power struggles.