Terrorism Watch

Dar al-Iftaa has established an animation unit to respond to citizens’ religious questions on terrorism through short animated replies in an easy and attractive way as part of its continuous efforts to counter extremist thought, Al-Ahram news website reported. The new unit will present motion graphics in response to extremist ideas reiterated by terrorist groups. Coinciding with the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (Moulid) on November 20, Dar al-Iftaa’s new unit will present cartoons to respond to Muslims who forbid celebrating the Moulid. It will then present cartoons in response to extremists who accuse others of being infidels, as well as to clarify the ideas of jihad and caliphate in Islam. Ibrahim Negm, adviser to Egypt’s Grand Mufti, said that the unit was established as part of the suggestions put forward during the meeting of Dar al-Iftaa’s General Secretariat with its counterparts in the Muslim world, which was held in Egypt in mid-October, Al-Ahram reported. According to N

RAIPUR:  Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today said his government has made major gains in the fight against Maoism, and it won't be long before Left-wing extremism is completely wiped out from the state. When asked by NDTV's Prannoy Roy and team why the BJP had not succeeded in curbing Maoism in Chhattisgarh during its 15-year rule when former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao managed to bring peace in Punjab and Kashmir in just four, Mr Singh said: "True, we have governed this state since 2003, but Maoism isn't restricted to just Chhattisgarh. We are surrounded by six states."  Left-wing extremism remains a major problem in Chhattisgarh. A recent study showed civilian casualties in the state rising to a five-year high, with 43 dying in Maoist-perpetrated violence until September 23. Last week, at least five people were killed when  Maoists blew up a bus in Dantewada district . A few days later, a fierce gunbattle broke out between security forces and L

Once upon a time, Dr Clarke Jones was a guy who helped lock up terrorists. “I came from the national security world. I was with the military, police and intelligence for 17 years,” he says. Like all experts in counterterrorism, Jones had heard about Salafism, an ultra-conservative strand of Sunni Islam. “At every conference I attended, the Salafi community was described as being the heartland of terrorism.” But three years ago Jones, now a criminologist at the Australian National University, met someone who challenged his perspective. Mustafa Abu Yusuf was a senior adviser to Sheikh Mohammed Omran, the highest-ranked Salafi cleric in Australia. He invited Jones to visit the Hume Islamic Youth Centre, a mosque complex in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, which also has a gym, halal cafe, boxing ring and shop. Jones was curious. The centre has repeatedly been linked to terrorism. The men this week found guilty of plotting the 2016 Christmas terror attack at major Melbourne landmark

India and United Kingdom concluded the 12th Meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism on Friday. The meeting held in New Delhi was led by Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary (Counter-Terrorism), in MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and Jane Marriot, Director of the Joint International Counter-Terrorism Unit in UK. Discussions, held just days ahead of the tenth anniversary of the Horrific Mumbai terror strikes, focused on terror threats. They shared assessments on prevailing terrorist threats globally as well as in the region, including cross-border terrorism in the Af-Pak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) region, an Indian statement released on the subject said. “They exchanged views on current counter-Terrorism challenges including countering radicalisation and violent extremism, combating financing of terrorism and preventing use of internet for terrorist purposes,” the statement said. Condemning terrorism in all its manifestations both sides agreed to strengthen cooperatio

  COLOMBO:  If there is a threat to Pakistan’s stability and progress or even to its very existence, it is not from India, its arch rival since 1947.  New Delhi is yet to find a deterrent to the devastating terror strikes by Pakistan-based outfits. The threat is not from the financial crisis that the country is facing because it can recover from it with help from time tested friends like Saudi Arabia and China, and grudging assistance from the IMF. The threat is clearly from the growing power of extremist Islamic groups, which, ironically, have been fostered by the State’s long standing policy of appeasement aimed at gaining  peace in the short run, and political legitimacy in the long run in an avowedly “Islamic” Pakistan. Basically, the trouble lies not in the power of the Islamic extremists but in the weakness of governments. History shows that strong Pakistani governments have been able to rein in such groups,  and weak governments have given in to them and encouraged them in the

A top Republican Senator has urged US President Donald Trump to grant asylum and refugee status to Pakistani national Asia Bibi, a Christian woman recently freed from prison after her blasphemy conviction was overturned. Bibi, a 47-year-old mother of four, was released from Multan jail earlier this month after the Supreme Court in its landmark decision acquitted her of blasphemy charges. Senator Rand Paul said that he was worried that Bibi won’t survive and he personally took up the matter with President Trump last week. “I’ve been fighting for them to free Asia Bibi. I’ve talked to the President about granting her asylum and refugee status here,” Paul told CNN in an interview. A senior member from an American think-tank has also suggested that Bibi should request asylum. “President Trump should invite Ms Bibi to come to America and request asylum. To do so would be just, moral and wise,” Clifford D May, president of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies

China supports the Myanmar government’s efforts to protect domestic stability and approach to resolving the Rohingya issue, Premier Li Keqiang told the country’s leader  Aung San Suu Kyi , after US Vice President Mike Pence offered a strong rebuke. Pence on Wednesday voiced Washington’s strongest condemnation yet of Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims, telling Suu Kyi that “persecution” by her country’s army was “without excuse”. Read |  Mike Pence issues sharp rebuke to Myanmar’s Suu Kyi over “persecution” of Rohingya Meeting Suu Kyi on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Singapore, Li said China attaches great importance to its ties with Myanmar and would build on their tradition of friendship, China’s Foreign Ministry said late on Thursday. “The Chinese side supports Myanmar’s efforts in maintaining its domestic stability, and supports Myanmar and Bangladesh appropriately resolving the Rakhine state issue via dialogue and consultation,” the ministry cited Li a

On October 29,  Mouna Guebla, a  30-year-old unemployed English graduate  with no criminal record,  detonated a homemade explosive device   in downtown Tunis  and left 20 people - most of them police officers - injured.  However, the attack, makeshift in nature and  limited in scope, did not cause much of a disruption in the daily lives of Tunisians. After all, Tunisians have been living in a state of emergency since 2015 and are highly accustomed to the news of deadly attacks.  Last month's suicide bombing was only the latest in a string of similar attacks targeting civilians and security officers in Tunisia since 2015.  In March 2015, armed men  stormed the National Bardo Museum  in Tunis and killed 21 people. In June same year, another gunman killed 38 people  in the coastal resort of Sousse . In November 2015, a bus packed with Tunisian presidential guards in Tunis was blown up,  killing 12 people . More recently, i n November 2017, a man  attacked  two police officers

LONDON:  Six British men of Pakistani origin were on Friday sentenced to a combined total of 101 years in prison for sexually grooming and abusing young girls in the northern England town of Rotherham. Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, 37, Asif Ali, 33, Tanweer Ali, 37, Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, 39, Nabeel Kurshid, 35, Iqlak Yousaf, 34, and a seventh man who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been convicted after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court last month. The offences relate to the abuse of five girls, one as young as 13, who were passed around to be sexually abused by multiple offenders. One of the victims told the trial how she had sex with "at least 100 Asian men" by the time she was 16, while another described being gang-raped in a forest. "Each of the complainants in this case were groomed, coerced and intimidated. Each of them was groomed. Each of you, groomed. You can have been in no doubt that the complainants were vulnerable in the extreme," Judge Sarah

In the last few years, China has faced harsh scrutiny from numerous Human Rights Groups, including the United Nation Human Rights Council, for its  treatment   of religious minority population – the Uyghur Muslims – in Xinjiang district. Despite denial and obfuscation by Chinese officials, there are harrowing reports and firsthand accounts of blatant human rights violation inside the “re-education camps” designed to integrate the Uyghur community into the mainstream political narratives. On the other hand, Western Europe has opened its gates to hordes of migrants who are not shying away from expressing their dreams of establishing a  Caliphate in Europe , and subsequently, in rest of the world. From Angela Merkel to Theresa May and from Emmanuel Macron to Sadiq Khan, the apologia for Islamic radicalism does not seem to end anytime soon. And the  blasphemy laws  in accordance with Sharia law are also finding their way into the European Court of Human Rights as well. From Angela

Swelling by 17 percent last year, hate crimes in the United States marked the largest increase in more than a decade, according to a new report by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Released on Tuesday, the FBI report documented 7,175 hate crimes - at least 15 resulting in murders - across the country in 2017, although the number is likely higher because many agencies do not report such incidents. Of that total, nearly 60 percent of the incidents saw perpetrators target victims  based on their race,  ethnicity or ancestry, while one-fifth included individuals targeted owing to  anti-religious bias. Another 15.8 percent were targeted over their sexual orientation. Advertisement The total tally included a doubling of anti-Arab hate crimes and a large swell of anti-Semitic incidents. Racist graffiti is painted on the side of a mosque in Roseville, California [Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo]  More than 4,000 hate crimes were against people, while upwards of 3,00