Tag: Islamic extremism

French church attack survivor describes ordeal

September 29, 2016 Europe, France, Islamic extremism, Jacques Hamel

An 87-year-old man forced to video the graphic murder of his priest in a church in northern France two months ago has spoken of his ordeal. Guy Coponet was stabbed three times – including once in the throat – and left for dead, after two young Islamists had used him . . . Read More

Jordanian writer killed after Facebook ‘blasphemy’

September 26, 2016 Jordan Amman, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Jordan

A Jordanian writer charged with offending Islam after sharing a satirical cartoon on his Facebook page has been killed. Nahid Hattar was hit by three bullets outside the court in the capital, Amman, where he was standing trial, the BBC reported. The cartoon shows Allah catering for the whims of . . . Read More

DR Congo: 7 killed by suspected Islamist militants

September 23, 2016 Democratic Republic of the Congo ADF, Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Islamic extremism, Joseph Kabila, Uganda

A fresh attack in the volatile region of Beni, in eastern DR Congo, has left at least seven dead. The night raid on 22 Sep., which targeted communities in Kasinga, about 5km from the town of Beni, was carried out by suspected Islamist militants from the ADF-NALU group, local sources . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christian boy, 16, arrested for Kaaba ‘blasphemy’

September 20, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Faisalabad, Gojra, Islamic extremism, Kasur, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Pakistan Muslim League, Pentecostals

The boy is alleged to have "defamed" the Kaaba in Mecca

Nabeel Masih, 16, is alleged to have “defamed” the Kaaba in Mecca, the building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque.Amalia Sari / Flickr / CC A 16-year-old Christian boy has been accused of committing blasphemy by “liking” and sharing a post on Facebook which “defamed and disrespected” . . . Read More

Iranian Christian back in prison again

September 19, 2016 Iran Apostasy, Converts, Iran, Islamic extremism, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Prisons, Saeed Abedini

On 17 Sep., Maryam Naghash Zargaran was returned to prison after her medical treatment was again cut short. Her friends and family reported that she was again unable to receive adequate treatment during her time at home. Amnesty International has in its prisons. Amnesty mentioned Zargaran, an Iranian Christian who . . . Read More

Rising Islamist militancy across Sahel belt threatens African Christianity

September 8, 2016 Agadez, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Beatrice Stockly, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Muammar Gaddafi, Niger, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg, West Africa

More than 70 churches, as well as Christian homes, schools and orphanages,were burned down by Islamists in Niger in January 2015.World Watch Monitor As the world focusses on potential military advances against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, it risks overlooking another vast region where militant Islam is . . . Read More

Copt teens flee Egypt after blasphemy convictions

September 5, 2016 Egypt Blasphemy, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Upper Egypt

Four Coptic teenagers sentenced to five years in prison for “blasphemy against Islam” have escaped from Egypt, via Turkey, to apply for religious asylum in Switzerland. They flew out of Istanbul on 1 Sept. under special “humanitarian” visas granted by the Swiss government. Since early April, they had lived in . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor and family granted asylum in US after 9-year ordeal

September 2, 2016 Uzbekistan Andijan, Asylum seekers, Central Asia, Fergana Valley, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam Karimov, Islamic extremism, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Migrants, Refugees, Soviet Union, USA, Uzbekistan

Finally, their journey is over. Three years since fleeing Uzbekistan – following four years in a labour camp, house arrest and death threats – Pastor Dmitry Shestakov has arrived in the United States, where he and his family have been granted asylum. It’s been almost 10 years since Shestakov was . . . Read More

‘ISIS on a mission to exterminate Christians’

August 26, 2016 Al-Qaeda, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Idlib, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, London, Mosul, Salafism, Syria

Shiraz Maher, senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London, in a 2015 photo.Morten Brakestad / Stortinget / Flickr CC The so-called Islamic State will not stop until it has “exterminated” all other religious groups, according to a former Islamic extremist . . . Read More

Report: Pakistan school textbooks riddled with religious ‘hate material’

August 25, 2016 Pakistan Balochistan, Education, Islamic extremism, Jamaat-e-Islami, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Taliban

A young girl does her school work in Karachi, Pakistan, in a 2011 photo.UN Photo / John Isaac / Flickr CC A report by Pakistan’s National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) says the government has failed to keep its promise to eradicate religious “hate material” from textbooks used . . . Read More

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