Islam

By RFE/RL | – Human Rights organizations warn that the Islamic State (IS) extremist group has targeted minority communities in Iraq in a “systematic strategy to remove them permanently” from large parts of the country. In a report launched on February 27, four nongovernmental organizations detailed summary executions, forced conversions, rape, and other abuses suffered […]

Islam

Jewish Jihad on Palestinians: Israeli Squatters burn mosque near Bethlehem

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Extremist Jewish settlers set fire overnight Tuesday to a mosque in the southern West Bank town of al-Jaba west of Bethlehem, locals told Ma’an. As worshipers arrived around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to prepare for the dawn prayer at al-Huda mosque, they saw smoke and flames rising from inside the building. Worshipers alerted […]

Featured

Yemen: Saudi backs Sunni revolution against Shiite Houthi Rebels linked to Iran

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Yemen Voice reports that Wahhabi Saudi Arabia has launched an all out political offensive against the Shiite Houthi rebels who have taken over the north of the country. The Houthis took the capital last September but kept the government in place until recently, when they made a full […]

Antisemitism

Muslims form ‘Ring of Peace’ around Oslo Synagogue, after Denmark Attack

contributors

Reuters | – “Norwegian Muslims form a human shield around a synagogue in Oslo, offering symbolic protection after an attack on a synagogue in neighboring Denmark. Gavino Garay reports.” Reuters: “‘Human shield’ wraps around Oslo synagogue”

Egypt

Egypt: Sisi’s struggle with the Muslim Brotherhood and his Strikes on ISIL/ Daesh in Libya

contributors

By Henry Clements | (Informed Comment) – Egyptian president Abdel Fatah El-Sisi wants to rally the international community against terrorism in the Middle East. In a televised speech earlier this week he asserted, “Egypt and countries across the world are facing a fierce battle with terrorist organizations that adopt extremist ideology and share the same […]

Featured

Iraq: Kurds repel ISIL/ Daesh w/ help of the Shiite Militiamen they Distrust

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – In a bold move, Daesh (i.e. ISIL or ISIS) fighters moved Monday on Kirkuk and Erbil, two cities patrolled by the Iraqi Kurdistan paramilitary, the Peshmerga (those who stand before death). Erbil is the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Kirkuk is an oil city and is disputed among Turkmen, […]

Iraq

Iraq: Sunni Sheikh Killed trying to Mediate between Shiite, Sunni Extremists

contributors

By Erin Evers | (Human Rights Watch) In Latifiyya, a small town 20 miles south of Baghdad, fighting has been raging since long before the armed conflict that erupted when the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) took over Mosul. For at least two years state security forces and government-backed militias have been battling Sunni […]

Iraq

Iraqi Gov’t AWOL: It’s Shia Militias vs. the Islamic State

contributors

VICE News | – “Last summer, the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) swept from Syria into northern Iraq, routing Iraqi security forces and seizing the city of Mosul. Soon afterward, the group declared the establishment of a dubious “caliphate” in the area it controls and rebranded itself the Islamic […]

Iran

2nd Iranian Commander killed in Iraq defending Samarra Golden Dome

contributors

By RFE/RL | – A commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been killed in Iraq, Iranian media reported. The Tasnim news agency, said to be affiliated with IRGC, says Reza Hosseini Moghadam was in Samarra to confront militants of the Islamic State (IS) when he was killed on February 7. “He [Moghadam] […]