The US Embassy denied reports that it was attacked last night; US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is visiting Tripoli. Jordan’s ambassador to Libya is still being held hostage; he was kidnapped last week reportedly by a Libyan al Qaeda affiliate that is demanding the release of Mohamed Dersi, a Libyan serving a life […]
Tackling Radical Islam Needs Religious Focus: Tony Blair
Rival factions Hamas and Fatah announced plans to form a unity government in the next five weeks. US officials warned that the new government must recognize Israel and renounce violence, two conditions Hamas has never accepted. At least three people were hurt when an Israeli airstrike targeted a suspected terrorist.
Hole in Afghan budget stirs unease as West starts packing bags
A senior police officer was assassinated in Cairo, and another officer died in a clash with militants near Alexandria. The Pentagon plans to deliver Apache helicopters to Egypt to help “counter extremists who threaten US, Egyptian, and Israeli security.”
A bomb placed under a car in Cairo killed a senior police officer. Near Alexandria, a shootout between security personnel and wanted militants left one police officer dead as well as a militant. Three members of Ansar Jerusalem were allegedly killed during clashes with security personnel yesterday in North Sinai. A probe into the February […]
Former prime minister Tony Blair gave a wide-ranging address in which he called rising Islamist extremism the most pressing challenge of the current age, and said Western countries must face the core ideological issue, “take sides,” and support pluralistic societies in the growing battle against those who seek to impose a “closed-minded” Islamist polity. His […]
Attack on Journalist Spurs New Dispute in Pakistan
The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front battled regime forces in Reef Dimashq and in Latakia. Jaysh al Muhajireen wal Ansar, composed mainly of non-Syrians, fought alongside Al Nusrah in Aleppo. The Islamic Front clashed with regime forces in Homs, which rebels are trying to hold; Aleppo; Reef Dimashq; Damascus, where they set off […]
Gunmen opened fire overnight on a bus transporting soldiers in North Sinai. Gunmen also opened fire on security personnel in Nasr City; no injuries were reported. Defense Minister Sobhi praised the country’s security forces for their efforts. The Interior Minister recently said that Ajnad Misr is an offshoot of Ansar Jerusalem and was formed by […]
Miserable Syrians in Jordan say they’d rather go home
Security Eroding in Northern Afghanistan after German Withdrawal
North Korea believed to be readying new nuclear tests
France to unveil plan to fight Syrian jihadist threat
The Saudi-Brotherhood divide
The Special Court in Riyadh sentenced three terrorists from the 85-member Turki al Dandani group to death, and handed out prison sentences ranging from two to 26 years to 40 others. Two days ago, five terrorists received death sentences for bombings in 2003.
Syrian rebels make last stand for Homs
A spokesman for the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) said that French national Gilberto Rodrigues Leal, held hostage in Mali since late 2012, has died. Security sources said French forces have killed 30 Islamist militants in northern Mali in April; reportedly among them is Abou Ourabe, an Algerian commander in al […]
Parliamentarian Abdelaziz Isaq Mursal was shot dead outside his home in Mogadishu by gunmen who drove away after the attack. Shabaab has claimed yesterday’s murder of MP Isaq Mohamed Riino in a car bombing. The governor of Nugal warned the media to avoid “disheartening reports.”
Mohammed Abdi Adan, a sharia law graduate, was accused of facilitating terrorism and remanded into custody after authorities found video clips of the police training college in Nairobi in his possession. Police are investigating Sheikh Iman Ali, one of three jihadist clerics in Mombasa suspected of recruiting youth for Shabaab. Authorities arrested over 650 people […]
In Benghazi, a special forces member escaped assassination, and a bomb destroyed a beauty salon and several cars. Security forces in the city raided the Souq Jinihin market, where they confiscated large quantities of weapons and ammunition as well as drugs and alcohol. At least three people have been killed in recent clashes in Sebha.
Interior Minister Cazeneuve will submit an antiradicalization plan to address the threat of jihadism at home and abroad; some 700 French citizens or nationals are thought to have fought in Syria. President Hollande was urged to allow more Syrian refugees into France.
Sunni clerics at a mosque in West Java denounced Shiites as heretical and vowed to take any measures to prevent the spread of Shiite teachings. A video was posted on jihadist forums featuring wanted terrorist leader Abu Warda Santoso, the head of the Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (East Indonesian Mujahideen), who incited Muslims to kill members […]
The State Department said it had received indications that chlorine gas was used in an attack in Syria this month, which the US is investigating with the assistance of the UN and the OPCW. A court ordered the Justice Department to release parts of a classified document that provided justification for the killing of al […]
Lebanon’s Sufi orders threatened by rise in Salafism
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham killed more than 30 Iraqis in a series of bombings and attacks across the country. In Suwayrah, a suicide bomber killed five policemen and seven civilians at a checkpoint. And in Madaina a suicide car bomber killed three soldiers and two civilians at a checkpoint.
The Assad regime slated a presidential election for June 3; requests for nomination will be accepted until May 1. Mortar shells landed 100 meters from the Parliament in Damascus, killing five people. Rebels led by the Al Nusrah Front launched a counteroffensive in Homs, where they were joined by the Islamic Front. The Al Nusrah […]
The US killed more than 30 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a pair of drone strikes yesterday and today. AQAP bomb maker Ibrahim al Asiri was targeted in one strike, and a training camp in another. AQAP warned tribes in Azzan not to join the anti-al Qaeda Popular Committees.
Kamal Ezzedine, who had been accused of “violence” toward the military, was shot and wounded after opening fire on security forces at a checkpoint in Arsal. A gunman shot and killed a bodyguard for Fatah al-Islam official Bilal Badr in the Ain al Hilweh refugee camp.
The Yahya Ayyash Brigades, named after a deceased Hamas bomb maker, first appeared in mid-January 2014 when it took credit for rocket fire during the funeral of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.