IS - Page 12

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region has taken credit for a suicide bombing outside the Supreme Court in the Afghan capital of Kabul that left at least 20 people dead and dozens of others wounded, a testament to the jihadist group’s growing influence and the dangerous threat it presents.

Contents: Investigation reveals depraved new atrocities by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad; Epicenter of Syrian conflict moves from Aleppo to Idlib and al-Bab

Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists not only destroyed but also dug tunnels underneath the shrine that is said to have housed the tomb of the Prophet Jonah, a key figure in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

Islamic State (IS) has targeted hundreds of ‘refugees’ and migrants heading towards Europe, calling on them to wage Jihad on the West and offering to their pay people smugglers if they join.

One of the Islamic State’s most prominent decapitators, allegedly responsible for beheading more than 100 people, has been stabbed to death in the outskirts of northern Iraq’s city of Mosul, reports Iraqi News, citing the Arabic-language al-Sumaria News.

Contents: Trying to keep up in a world in a state of hysteria; Leading Muslim government advisor in Myanmar (Burma) is assassinated; Ethnic cleansing of Myanmar’s Rohingyas threatens regional stability

Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists are expanding their territory in some parts of Syria, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

The U.S. military is alarmed that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq is using commercially available drones to drop small bombs with “pinpoint accuracy” in and around Mosul, the jihadist group’s last major stronghold in the country.

U.S. President Donald Trump, during a phone conversation in December, allegedly told his Afghan counterpart that he would mull over expanding the American military footprint in war-torn Afghanistan.

Contents: Russia, Iran, Turkey sign farcical Syria peace agreement; Syria peace conference sees a return to ‘proximity talks’; The aftermath of the destruction of Aleppo

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis is leading an internal Pentagon review of options to propose to President Donald Trump to intensify the war against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and ultimately defeat the jihadist group.

The Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG), the armed wing of the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) that controls large swathes of northern Syria, has declared that it is “not bound” by any decisions made during the current Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan.

Turkey has arrested more than 1,600 people accused of being linked to the failed military coup in July 2016, including 1,218 suspected followers of the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Iraq has launched an investigation into alleged violations of human rights and other abuses against civilians purportedly committed by some of the country’s service members and their allies, including Iran-backed Shiite fighters.

Contents: Trump may permit US military cooperation with Russia in Syria; Russia will build major naval base in Tartus Syria

Some officials from Pakistan and state sponsor of terrorism Iran have met with Taliban jihadists in the terrorist group’s stronghold of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, reports TOLO News, citing provincial Gov. Hayatullah Hayat.

Huge oil fires lit by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) across northern Iraq as it fled U.S.-backed Iraqi forces last month are still raging, making locals ill and causing an environmental hazard.

The majority of Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) commanders in Mosul, the terrorist group’s last major stronghold in Iraq, have been killed by the U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces and their allies, an Iraqi general tells Reuters.

A discussion about President Barack Obama’s legacy cannot ignore his policies in Afghanistan, where security conditions continue to deteriorate primarily at the hands of the Taliban, Afghans have suffered record casualties, and U.S. military fatalities have dramatically increased under his watch.

The Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia has voiced optimism about the desire expressed by incoming President Donald Trump to restore U.S. influence across the globe, contain Shiite powerhouse Iran, and fight the Sunni jihadist group Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

Esteban Santiago told the FBI that he carried out an attack on Fort Lauderdale on behalf of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), Michael Ferlazzo, an FBI special agent, reportedly testified at the attacker’s bond hearing Tuesday.

Two children, suspected to be 7 and 12 years old and believed to be linked to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) branch Boko Haram, reportedly carried out twin suicide bombings Monday that left at least five people dead and 15 others injured at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) in the capital of northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State.

Iraqi-led forces, backed by the United States military, have reportedly pushed the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) out of its strategic base in northern Iraq’s Mosul University complex.

A Hindu man says he “escaped death” during the July 2016 attack by five armed jihadists on a restaurant in Dhaka by “reciting the Quran,” reports BBC, noting that had the Islamist militants found out his religion, he would have shared the fate of the 29 people who lost their lives.

The crowded Syrian skies are an accident waiting to happen between U.S. and Russian warplanes, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has learned from American pilots.

Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, with two weeks left in office, issued an exit memo that concedes the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) “cannot be won overnight.”

The number of U.S.-led coalition advisers in Iraq has nearly doubled in size to 450, a move that reflects the intensified offensive to retake Mosul, the last major Islamic State (ISIS/ISIS) stronghold in the country.

Turkey, a member of the international coalition against the Islamic State, requested air support when its air force came under fire, but the U.S.-led alliance did not carry out strikes and provided a “visible show of force” instead, according to the Pentagon.

The body of the Turkish policeman who shouted “Allahu Akbar” after shooting and killing the Russian ambassador to Turkey last month remains unclaimed. His family has refused to accept his remains, the state-run Anadolu Agency has learned from judicial sources.

An FBI program is making it possible for U.S. military drones to apprehend and kill computer specialists, including social media experts, hackers, recruiters, and propagandists working for the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

Contents: Video emerges from Burma (Myanmar) showing police beating Rohingya Muslims; Syrian opposition groups suspend negotiations of peace talks

An Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL)-linked group is urging “lone wolves” in the West to carry out attacks during the ongoing holiday season on “public venues including cinemas, malls and even hospitals,” and they are also advising Muslims to avoid locations hosting festivities in order to stay safe, reports The Foreign Desk (FD).

Various analysts have predicted that the U.S.-backed offensive to liberate Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) could carry on until around mid-2017, Rudaw has learned.

Contents: Istanbul Turkey New Year’s terror attack compared to Paris and Orlando attacks; Terror attacks expose deep divisions in Turkey’s society

The young women married to two of the Islamic State’s most notorious executioners are arrested while trying to sneak into Europe after their husbands’ demise.

Contents: Russia and Turkey announce a new ceasefire in Syria; Damascus Syria is without water after reservoirs were poisoned