The Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab is using death threats to coerce civilians into surrendering children from their community ages 8 to 15 “for indoctrination and military training,” reveals the Human Rights Watch (HRW) group.
There is a shared policy of state-sanctioned killings behind the stark religious divisions between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, the region’s greatest rivals.
Video footage disseminated on social media appears to support reports that Afghan migrants in state sponsor of terrorism Iran have been recruited by the Shiite country’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to fight in Syria on behalf of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Contents: Latest Syria peace plan officially fails; Shifting alliances across the Mideast
Contents: Mass exodus from Aleppo continues amid reports Russians are using cluster bombs; United Nations demands that Turkey admit tens of thousands of Syrian refugees; Turkey border ‘buffer zone’ could result in clash with Syrian army
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has issued a report accusing Shiite militias in Iraq of using child soldiers to fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). The terrorist group is widely known for also using this practice.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the Russian government used advanced cluster munition in an airstrike near Aleppo, Syria.
The United Nations security council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution to investigate if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against innocent civilians. However, the honeymoon did not last long when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blasted these claims.
Buddhist monks in Myanmar have called for a government-enforced ban on headscarves in schools across the country. “When [Muslims] live in Myanmar, they need to obey the laws and regulations of the country. We are not targeting or attacking their religion,” U Pamaukkha, a monk calling for this ban, said.
In light of escalating terrorist activity in its western Xinjiang region, the Chinese legislature is considering its first terror-specific criminal code—which, in its current form, would make any speech the government deems to “undermine public security” a criminal violation.
The Saudi Arabian government released Mayssa al-Amoudi and Loujain al-Hathloul from jail after 72 days after being imprisoned for driving. Women are not allowed to drive in the country.
Journalists in post-Gaddafi Libya are being threatened and even murdered “with impunity” for doing their job, according to a report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo announced the country will stop administering virginity tests for female civil servants at the Institute of Public Administration. Students attend the college to train for civil and regional administration jobs.
