Afghan Forces Kill Up to 50 IS Fighters
Authorities in eastern Afghanistan say counterterrorism army operations have killed up to 50 Islamic State militants, including three senior commanders. The overnight deaths occurred in the district of Achin, an IS stronghold in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan. A regional military spokesman told VOA’s Afghan service on Wednesday there were 12 foreign militants […]
Massive Bomb Strike Divides Afghan Opinion with Critics Questioning Motives
U.S. use of a massive bomb against Islamic State extemists in Afghanistan has proven divisive in the region, winning support from political and military authorities in Kabul but strong condemnations from former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan. In a series of three tweets, Karzai said, “I vehemently and in strongest words […]
Q&A: Islamic State has fewer than 1,000 fighters in Afghanistan. So why did Trump drop the ‘mother of all bombs’?
On Thursday night, the U.S. military unleashed a 20,000-pound bomb — one of the largest non-nuclear weapons in its arsenal — on a tunnel complex the Pentagon said was used by Islamic State fighters in eastern Afghanistan. It was a dramatic escalation of American operations against the militant group’s affiliate in South Asia. It also […]
BDS activists defy US moves to curb Palestine advocacy
Washington, DC – In the United States, far away from Israel, there is a related storm a-brewing. In recent months, state legislatures have been passing bills that target supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) that seeks to pressure Israel into ending its occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories, and to grant its […]
36 IS militants killed in US bombing, Afghan defence ministry says
Kabul (dpa) – 36 militants were killed after the US dropped a massive bomb on an Islamic State cave complex in Achin district of Nangarhar province Thursday night, the Afghan defence ministry said on Friday. The ministry said no civilian casualties were inflicted in the bombing, but an important Islamic State command centre had been […]
Schauble: Muslims ‘Have To Accept Our Way Of Life’
German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has said that Muslims “have to accept our way of life” if they are to be welcome in Germany. Speaking at a panel discussion on Wednesday he said that migrants who don’t like European culture have made “the wrong decision” in coming to the continent, Politico reported. “There are better […]
Boko Haram feeds off corruption in Nigeria
There is a stereotype of bustling internet cafes in Lagos full of opportunist young men earnestly trying to dupe recipients into supplying their credit card details. Three thousand miles away, a very different breed of Nigerian scammer can be found in the cafes of Knightsbridge, central London, funded by the very tax dollars that are […]
Egypt identifies Alexandria church bomber as fugitive with militant ties
A relative of one of the victims reacts after a church explosion killed at least 21 in Tanta, Egypt, April 9, 2017. Egypt on Wednesday named the suicide bomber who attacked a cathedral in Alexandria as 31-year-old Mahmoud Hassan Mubarak Abdullah, describing him as a fugitive with links to militant cells that carried out…
2 Chicago Men Arrested For Supporting ISIS
Police in Chicago arrested two men Wednesday from north suburban area of Zion on federal charges for conspiring to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS. The men Joseph D. Jones and Edward Schimenti also pledged their alliance to the militant group, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office […]
VOA Exclusive: Dozens More US Troops Deployed to Somalia
Dozens of American soldiers have deployed to Mogadishu to train and equip Somali and AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) forces fighting extremism in that country, U.S. military officials told VOA. The troops’ arrival marks the first presence of American military forces in Somalia, other than a small unit of counterterrorism advisers, since March 1994 […]