US: Coalition Airstrikes Kill 3 Senior Islamic State Leaders
U.S.-led coalition airstrikes have killed three senior Islamic State military officials in Syria and Iraq during the past month, the U.S. military said Friday. Mustafa Gunes, an external operations facilitator from Turkey, was killed by a coalition airstrike near Mayadin, Syria, on April 27. Gunes was linked to facilitating financial support for attacks against Western […]
Nearly 100 Afghan Soldiers Killed in a Week
A Taliban infiltrator has gunned down six government forces in southern Afghanistan, raising the number of army and police personnel killed by insurgents in the past week to nearly 100. Afghan and insurgent officials said Sunday the overnight “insider attack” incident took place at a security outpost in Zabul province where a police guard turned […]
What Ramadan Means And 5 More Facts About Islamic Month Of Fasting
Why is Ramadan called Ramadan? Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and lasts either 29 or 30 days, depending on when the new crescent moon is (or should be) visible. The Arabic term Ramadan connotes intense heat. It seems that in pre-Islamic Arabia, Ramadan was the name of a scorching hot […]
Muslims in U.S. Set for First Ramadan Under Trump
Regardless of whether the president even acknowledges the existence of Ramadan, Muslims across the United States are determined to make this year’s holiday mean more than ever. Related: Why did Trump neglect to mention American Muslims in his Saudi speech? For the next month, the holiest of the Muslim calendar, Muslims will be fasting—abstaining from […]
Teachers Say Teen is ‘Likely to Become a Terrorist’
Every year, as semesters are winding down and summer is fast approaching, teachers across the country print off paper certificates and give out student superlatives. Kids are voted “most likely to succeed,” praised for having “best smile” or named part of the “cutest couple.” But in Channelview, Texas, this week, one girl got an unusual […]
Two Influential Somali Clerics Reject Violence as Ramadan Begins
Based on confirmed sightings of Ramadan’s new moon crescent, millions of Muslims around the world are fasting on the first day of the holy month. According to Islam, the sighting of the new moon marks the beginning of the Muslim lunar month of Ramadan. Thirty-three countries, mainly those in which the majority of residents are […]
ISIS Calls for ‘All Out War’ on West During Ramadan
The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) called for an “all out war” on the West during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins Saturday, just days after it claimed the Manchester suicide bomb attack that left 22 people dead. The group’s spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, killed in a U.S. airstrike in August 2016, had […]
White House budget slashes program to fight violent extremism at home
The suspect in the Manchester bombing, Salman Abedi, wasn’t unknown to UK counterterrorism officials. In fact, members of the Libyan community where Abedi lived had reported him before, worried about some of the views he was expressing. That kind of keeping an eye out, as a community, is exactly what the “Countering Violent Extremism” program […]
Yazidi Woman Who Suffered IS Enslavement Lobbies Washington for Help
A Yazidi woman who suffered for 10 months as a sex slave under the Islamic State group (IS) came to Washington to push for help for the traumatized, displaced Yazidi community in northern Iraq and the hundreds of others who remain in IS bondage. Shireen Jardo, 25, met with several U.S. congressmen and federal officials […]
Portland victims of white supremacist killer identified
US police have identified the two men killed by a white supremacist on a train in Portland as they attempted to defend passengers the suspect was bullying. On Friday, Jeremy Joseph Christian – a 35-year-old who was known to authorities – stabbed to death 53-year-old Ricky John Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, after […]