Worldcrunch
MISRATA — This Libyan coastal city is bearing the brunt of the ongoing offensive to defeat the Islamic State in its nearby stronghold of Sirte. Flooded with hundreds of injured people streaming in from the fighting, its recently renovated central hospital is buckling under the pressure. With only 120 beds, two operating rooms, and a […]
SHEIKH ZUWAYED — In front of a house located in this bedouin town in the North Sinai, a masked man sits next to his companions, each of whom are holding a weapon. The man proudly speaks about their “Death Squad,” the name they have given to their armed civilian troop. The residents of the area […]
-OpEd- As I walk through central London, I see many women wearing burqas passing me by. And as I’ve always felt in that sort of situation, I was uncomfortable. Physically and morally uncomfortable. They say you’re not supposed to feel such things. Nor to write about them. What right, indeed, do I have to impose […]
Spread between Syria and Iraq, the Saudi-financed tribal army engages the Islamic State head-on.
Terrorists and mass murderers are often seen as maniacs. But that may hide an uncomfortable truth: You don’t have to be insane to commit atrocities.
PARIS — Arnaud Danjean, member of the European Parliament for the French opposition party Les Républicains, spoke to Les Échos about the aftermath of the Nice attack and France’s ongoing fight against terrorism. Les Échos: Every attack evokes a feeling of powerlessness, especially in the wake of one as “low-cost” as the one in Nice, […]
Following attacks in Paris, Brussels, Istanbul, and now Nice, Europe must unite to combat the Islamist terror campaign.
The Monday edition of Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star features photos of the suspected attackers of the Gulshan café siege in the capital Dhaka that killed 22 people, including 17 foreigners. In this second day of a two-day national mourning in Bangladesh, the newspaper published the photos of the suspected attackers that have were first […]
-Analysis- The “caliphate” of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi will not last. His self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS), announced two years ago, is on the defensive. It will vanish as quickly as the morning mist on the Euphrates River. But what about jihadism, Islamist terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Syria — all factors that feed this Middle […]
As battlefield losses pile up for the Islamic State terror group, al-Qaeda eyes both the Sinai and Cairo for new attacks — and new recruits.
How a former fighter lost both his brothers: one to Bashar Al-Assad’s forces and the other to the Islamic State
ISIS has launched a radio program on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, airing programs that target jobless youths and encourage them to adopt extremist views and join the fight in Syria.
The sixth-century Saint Catherine’s Monastery is a treasured Christian pilgrimage site in a region increasingly controlled by ISIS.
Top German security officials say criminals and violent Islamists are using the asylum crisis to recruit refugees. They especially target minors traveling alone.
Joachim Gerhard’s two sons joined the terror group ISIS, severed ties with home and may very well be dead. None of that will stop this German father’s quest to bring his boys home.
The siege of Madaya began in July, but global pressure on the Syrian government to allow humanitarian access didn’t begin to build until nearly 30 people had died of starvation. Why did it take so long?
German behavioral scientist Johannes Siebert is on a Pentagon team researching the motives of ISIS followers. Not all are driven by religion, and some even see themselves as humanitarians.
Many now blame the U.S.-led Iraq invasion of 2003 for the spread of terror in the Middle East. But what would the region look like today, if the Iraqi dictator hadn’t been ousted?
Iranian foreign policy is still a major question mark, even as Western delegations stream through Tehran in the wake of a nuclear deal that promises an end to sanctions and international isolation. But there is no denying that Iran is a major regional power, which holds the real potential of becoming a working partner with […]
BANGALORE — Here in the Indian capital of global call centers, the Dalai Lama was the feature guest at the Arab-Asian Chamber of Commerce” Peace for Economy conference. In an interview with La Stampa on the sidelines of the conference, the highest authority of Tibetan Buddhism extended an olive branch to the West’s current Enemy […]
The Islamic State has been significantly weakened, at least from a military point of view, in Iraq and Syria. But the final blow keeps being postponed, even as jihadists strike in the heart of the West.
Tunisia is the birthplace of the Arab Spring democratic uprising, and the only to have seen democracy survive. But it is both a source and victim of homegrown terrorists.
NEW YORK — French President Francois Hollande pledged a “pitiless” war on ISIS after Friday’s Paris massacre. Russian President Vladimir Putin says his nation is focused on “finding and punishing the perpetrators” who downed a Russian passenger jet over Egypt. U.S. President Barack Obama says the goal is to “degrade and ultimately destroy this barbaric terrorist organization.” How? That’s the question none of these men seems willing to answer. Here’s one idea that, while not optimal militarily, might hedge the political risk: Form a broad alliance, akin to the one that pushed Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991, […]
The terror group has made its Syrian headquarters in the northern city of Raqqa, where those doing business with it report mounting ISIS financial difficulties and flagging morale.
MOUNT ALFAF — Seven eagles are swirling in the blue sky above Mar Mattai, Iraq’s oldest monastery. Can they see Mosul? The northern Iraqi city that has been occupied by ISIS since last year is only 20 kilometers away. Perched alongside Mount Alfaf, this orthodox Syriac monastery founded in the 4th century by hermit Matthew […]
The bloody Syrian stalemate unites Russia and the West, in a shared urgency to defeat ISIS. But the Syrian dictator, also an ISIS foe, should not be seen as a lesser evil.
After Syria, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere, ISIS tries to take root in the Palestinian enclave governed by the Islamists of Hamas. Internecine conflicts get ugly fast.
A popular hot spot for European summer vacationers, the Greek island of Kos is now also a prime destination for undocumented immigrants from places like Syria and Pakistan.
-OpEd- Caliphate, Islamic State, ISIS, Sunnistan, Jihadistan … Whatever name we give it, an entity is emerging in the heart of the Middle East, a sprawling swath of territory located between Mosul and Baghdad (Iraq) in the east, and Aleppo and Damascus (Syria) in the west. Inside this zone, as borders are disappearing and populations […]
ABU GHRAIB — This city’s streets are deserted. It would seem certain that the residents of Abu Ghraib fear the Da’ish, the Arabic word for ISIS, as fear has been the dominant emotion since the terrorists began conquering territory in Iraq. And now, the terror organization is defending their gains with brute force. A uniformed […]
LONDON — At London’s Ladbroke Grove Tube station, a very steep set of stairs leads down to street level. If you turn right at the foot of the stairs it is only a short stroll to the famous Portobello Market and the even more famous Nottinghill, with its pubs and clubs, designer shops and cream […]
The ISIS terror group has devoted the cover of its official propaganda magazine Dabiq to its ambitions in Africa — Tunisia in particular, as the photo of Tunis’ Great Mosque of Kairouan suggests. In the magazine’s eighth issue, entitled “Shari’ah alone will rule Africa,” the jihadist organization once again claims responsibility for the March 18 […]
RAS BAALBEK — There’s a 140-kilometer strip of land on top of the mountains just north of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley that marks the border with Syria. It’s here that ISIS has dug in, appropriating a remote corner of Lebanon where the terror group has accumulated militants, resources and hostages to gear up for an impending […]
Governments are taking Twitter to task for inadvertently helping jihadists “recruit, incite and horrify.” But they’re forgetting what a valuable law enforcement resource the platform is too.
In Hebron, military intelligence recently broke up what it claims was an ISIS cell. Some say there’s real cause for concern. Others see the crackdown as a convenient way to justify Israel’s occupation of the area.
Some Nigerians have lost hope that the state military can stem the Islamist insurgency. This group of vigilantes has stepped in, relying on ‘speical powers’ to help see the enemy.
A policy of war abroad, mixed with tighter border controls at home, won’t meet the challenge.
One slipped away, the other killed his way out of ISIS after witnessing too much brutality from the jihadist group. But as they tell their dramatic stories, sharp differences emerge.
The driving force of multiple and competing jihadist groups here is the dream of returning to the three original Arab states, and overthrowing the King and his Palestinian wife.
Boys in the eastern city of Raqqa are forced into military training, and say their ISIS instructors show them how to decapitate blond-haired, blue-eyed dolls with kitchen knives.