Author Archives: Lisa Lundquist

Nigeria

| April 15, 2014

Boko Haram militants abducted over 200 schoolgirls last night in the city of Chibok in Borno state after storming and robbing their school, killing two soldiers, and burning 170 homes. Visiting the site of yesterday’s bombing in an Abuja suburb, President Jonathan said that “the issue of Boko Haram is temporary.” Lawmakers and workers evacuated […]

Libya

| April 15, 2014

Masked gunmen in Tripoli kidnapped Jordan’s ambassador, Fawaz al Itan, and shot his driver; the kidnappers are said to be demanding the release of Libyans imprisoned in Jordan. The Interior Ministry plans to step up security in Benghazi and Tripoli. The trial of Saif and Saadi Ghaddafi and 35 other former regime officials was postponed […]

Philippines

| April 14, 2014

During a daylong battle in Basilan that began as an attempt to capture Abu Sayyaf commander Puruji Indama, three Islamist rebels and two soldiers were killed, and 29 soldiers were wounded. Abu Sayyaf is also suspected in the kidnapping of two people in Malaysia on April 2. Security forces killed two members of an Abu […]

Thailand

| April 14, 2014

Authorities arrested three members of a Hezbollah cell in Thailand, including Thai citizen Y. Ayyad, a facilitator for the group in East Asia, and Lebanese nationals D. Farhat and B. Bahsoun. Two large groups of illegal Muslim immigrants arrested over the past several months in Thailand are thought to be Chinese Uighurs on their way […]

Syria

| April 14, 2014

Regime forces recaptured the ancient Christian town of Maaloula, which had fallen to the Al Nusrah Front and rebels in December. Three journalists from Hezbollah’s al Manar news were killed near Maaloula and two others were wounded when their car was attacked by Islamist “terrorists.” The Syrian National Coalition urged the US to take action […]

Lebanon

| April 14, 2014

Police arrested Hussain Ismail, the head of a car theft ring in the Bekaa valley, after a shootout in which he and an associate, and two police officers, were wounded. A group called the Free Sunni Brigades claimed the firing of three rockets from Syria into Lebanon near Labweh. The military prosecutor issued arrest warrants […]

Somalia

| April 14, 2014

During a five-hour battle that broke out when Shabaab militants attacked a convoy in Bakool carrying food for Ethiopian troops, at least 11 people were killed. The Somali military claimed to have killed “dozens of militants.” Residents reported that hundreds of soldiers are pursuing the Shabaab fighters in Bakool following the attack.

Mali

| April 14, 2014

President Keita warned that Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the wanted jihadist leader who is said to have set up operations in Libya, constitutes a threat to peace in the region. Keita also said Mali is willing to enter reconciliation talks with rebel groups such as the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) so long as […]

Nigeria

| April 14, 2014

A car bomb detonated at a busy bus station in a suburb of Abuja, the nation’s capital, killing at least 88 people and wounding over 200. Boko Haram is suspected in the attack, in which 16 buses were destroyed. Boko Haram militants also killed at least 60 people yesterday in attacks in two villages near […]

Belgium

| April 14, 2014

Authorities confirmed that four young women left the cities of Antwerp and Sint Niklaas in March for Syria, ostensibly to provide humanitarian aid relief. One of the women has reportedly informed her family that she got married after arriving in Syria.

United Kingdom

| April 14, 2014

The Department for Education as well as the Birmingham City Council have widened their parallel investigations of an alleged plot by Islamist radicals to take over local schools, and are now looking at 25 schools in the area. Former staff at the schools have alleged that boys and girls were segregated, non-Muslim staff were bullied, […]

United States

| April 13, 2014

UN Ambassador Samantha Power said that recent reports of a poison gas attack in Syria are “unsubstantiated” so far. In a Pentagon briefing on April 8, General David Rodriguez, head of US Africa Command, said: “The network of Al Qaeda and its affiliates … that link Africa with North and South America, Europe, the Middle […]

Iraq

| April 13, 2014

Suspected ISIS suicide car bombings killed four people and wounded eight in Baqouba, and killed six people and wounded 15 in Dibis. Two members of a policeman’s family were killed and two others were wounded in an attack in Sulaiman Bek. A policeman was killed at a checkpoint in Tikrit. Security forces in Baghdad arrested […]

Syria

| April 13, 2014

President Assad claimed that the Syrian conflict has reached a turning point in terms of the regime’s military achievements and national reconciliation. The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front clashed with regime forces in Hama, Aleppo, and Reef Dimashq. The Islamic Front also battled regime forces in Deraa, Idlib, and Homs. The Islamic State […]

Libya

| April 13, 2014

Wanted terrorist Mokhtar Belmokhtar has reportedly taken refuge in Libya, where he continues to plan attacks across the Sahel region. Newly appointed Prime Minister al Thinni announced his resignation after gunmen attacked his house last night and stole his car, but he agreed to serve until the GNC names his replacement. In Tripoli, two prisoners, […]

Mali

| April 13, 2014

Islamists from Al Mourabitoun, a group formed by the merger last year of Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s group and MUJAO, released a video showing an Algerian diplomat who has been held hostage since April 2012. Al Mourabitoun also denied reports that wanted terrorist Oumar Ould Hamaha was killed last month in Mali by a French airstrike.

Morocco

| April 13, 2014

Police announced the dismantling of a terrorist cell involved in funneling Moroccan fighters to al Qaeda-linked forces in Syria, including the Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, and Sham al Islam. The cell members, who operated in a number of Moroccan cities, are being held while the investigation continues.