Violence and Security

Human Rights Group Reports Atrocities by Islamist Extremists in Syria and Iraq

July 11, 2014

According to a detailed report by the internationally respected nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch, massive atrocities and summary executions have been committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (“ISIS”).
Islamist Advance in Iraq Cleanses Christian Presence

July 11, 2014

The capture of ever-greater parts of Iraq by the extremist terror group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (“ISIS”) has been accompanied by the continuing cleansing of Iraq's ancient Christian presence by Islamists.
Social Media Give Platforms to Jihadi Recruiters

July 11, 2014

The striking military advances of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (“ISIS”) in Syria and Iraq have been supported by measurable successes in the use of social media tools – Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter – as platforms for global recruitment of youth to Islamist extremist ideologies and jihadi violence.
Saudi Support for Islamist Extremists Causes Blowback

July 11, 2014

Saudi Arabia's Islamic theocracy provided support to the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (“ISIS”) in an effort to overthrow the Alewite al-Assad regime, but now the Sunni monarchy fears the political blowback from ISIS's criticisms of the monarchy as corrupt and illegitimate.
OIC and EU Condemn Anti-Muslim Violence in Sri Lanka

July 11, 2014

Officials from both the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (“OIC”) and the European Union (“EU”) have denounced the recent communal violence by Buddhist militants against Muslim-majority towns in Sri Lanka, where Buddhist-Muslim violence has been rare.
Shifting Islamist Alliances in Mideast Open U.S.-Iran Possibilities

July 11, 2014

The ascent of Sunni jihadi groups supported by U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey is creating a shift in Islamist alliance structures that, paradoxically, might lead to a U.S.-Iran channel aimed at recalibrating the Mideast's Sunni-Shiite balance.
Jihadi Advance Cleansing Christians from Iraq

July 11, 2014

Iraq's remaining Christians are being forced to flee the country or to become internally displaced, in the face of violence being perpetrated by the jihadi group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (“ISIS”) as it imposes sharia law in captured territories en route to Baghdad.
Global Islamist Terrorism Targets Muslims and Non-Muslims

July 11, 2014

The militant Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab's attack days ago in Kenya bears all the markers of al-Qaeda attacks on voters in Afghanistan's recent elections and the current ISIS assault in Iraq, with Islamist terrorists targeting Muslims and non-Muslims alike for failing to conform to sharia law.
OIC Foreign Ministers Meet in Saudi Arabia to Discuss Islamic Strategy

July 11, 2014

Foreign Ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (“OIC”) are gearing up to meet in Saudi Arabia against the backdrop of unprecedented, globalized Islamist violence and are planning to discuss strategic issues in conflict zones involving Muslims.
Boko Haram's Islamist Terror in Nigeria Creating Cycles of Refugees and Human Trafficking

July 11, 2014

Boko Haram's campaign to use violence to bring about a sharia state in Nigeria has morphed from a homegrown terror movement into a regional problem creating refugee flows, human trafficking of women, and girls kidnapped by the Islamist terror group.