Tag: Islamic State

Islamic State regroups in Somalia, ‘without many obstacles’

February 22, 2018 Somalia Al-Shabaab, Catholics, Islamic State, Kenya, Mogadishu, Somalia, Somaliland, Wajir

A bishop responsible for the minimal Catholic presence in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, says the Islamic State group is gaining ground in the country. Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, who serves the Diocese of Mogadishu from outside the country, says the extremist group known for its brutality in Iraq . . . Read More

Imam calls for radical reforms to end extremism and safeguard Eastern Christians

February 21, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Ansar al-Sharia, Ansar Dine, Boko Haram, France, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Paris, Yazidis

Sexual slavery practised by Islamic State (IS) jihadists is condoned in literature that is available at Islamic institutions and should be burnt, a leading imam in France has said. Hocine Drouiche, vice president of the Conference of Imams of France and an imam in Nimes, said that the ideology behind the . . . Read More

Iraq archbishop invites Muslim nations to rebuild Christian villages destroyed by IS

February 20, 2018 Iraq Bashar Warda, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State

The Archbishop of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan has called for Muslim nations to help rebuild the Christian and Yazidi villages destroyed by Islamic State (IS). Archbishop Bashar Warda said: “It is not enough to say ‘ISIS does not represent Islam’. We need more.” Helping to rebuild what IS destroyed would . . . Read More

Church built to honour beheaded Copts, but families still waiting for bodies’ return

February 14, 2018 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Libya, Minya, Pope Tawadros II, Tunisia, Upper Egypt

Tomorrow, 15 February, will mark the third anniversary of the beheading of 20 Egyptian Copts and a Ghanaian Christian, carried out by IS on the Libyan coast. In remembrance of the 21 Christians, a new church is to be inaugurated in Upper Egypt’s Minya province, where the Egyptians came from. As . . . Read More

The Christian teenager IS turned into an atheist

February 9, 2018 Iraq Bartella, Iraq, Islamic State

Seventeen-year-old Ibrahim* found himself trapped in the northern Iraqi town of Bartella along with his elderly mother in 2014. The website of the US-based Public Radio International (PRI) tells the story of what happened to them after Islamic State jihadists had expelled all the other Christians and installed themselves as . . . Read More

Father Tom releases book about 18 months’ captivity in Yemen

February 7, 2018 Yemen Aden, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ansar al-Sharia, Catholics, Hodeidah, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Sana'a, Taiz, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

The Indian priest who spent 18 months in captivity in Yemen has released an autobiography. Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, who was freed in September 2017, has titled the book ‘By the Grace of God’. The priest, who is 58, presented his book during a meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of . . . Read More

Malaysia church attacks highlight growth of Islamic extremism

January 31, 2018 Malaysia Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kota Bharu, Kuching, Malaysia, Myanmar, Petaling Jaya, Philippines, Sabah, Thailand

Located within easy reach of three active centres of Islamic extremism – Mindanao in the Philippines, Arakan in Myanmar and the southern provinces of Thailand – Malaysia has become a breeding ground for IS recruitment, weapon smuggling and communication, according to the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research. . . . Read More

New IS branch discovered in Nigeria, as UK archbishop calls for end to violence

January 25, 2018 Nigeria Benue, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Justin Welby, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Plateau, Terrorism

A village head inside his destroyed home in one of the villages in Southern Kaduna that were attacked by Fulani herdsmen, in May 2017. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has called for an end to the ongoing violence in Nigeria. His statement comes as a new terrorist network has been discovered in the country – IS in West Africa (ISWA) – which recruits foreigners to act as Fulani herdsmen and attack local communities. . . . Read More

Philippines: Marawi hostage recalls escape from IS killers

January 23, 2018 Philippines Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Philippines, Teresito Suganob

Tuesday 23 May 2017 started like any other day for Henry*, a carpenter in the southern Philippines city of Marawi. He was working upstairs in his home when he heard a knock at the door. He left his tools in the sawdust and went downstairs. He opened the door to . . . Read More

Egypt church celebrates long-awaited official opening

January 15, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Minya, Pope Tawadros II

Members of the Holy Virgin and Mar Girgis church staged a sit-in to protest the closure of their church in October. (Photo: Watani)

A Coptic church in Minya, Upper Egypt, was officially allowed to open last week for the first time since it was built in 2015, and three months after clashes with local Muslims had forced it to close indefinitely. The Holy Virgin and Mar Girgis church in the village of Sheikh . . . Read More

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