The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Islamic State

  • U.S widens sanctions on Islamic State, al-Qaeda

    The United States has expanded sanctions against affiliates of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group operating across the Middle East and North Africa, reflecting the spreading threat of extremism far beyond the groups’ traditional strongholds in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

    The State Department designated the IS branch in Libya as a foreign terrorist organization, freezing its assets and restricting its members from entering the U.S.

    The U.S also named IS branches in Libya, Yemen and Saudi Arabia as global terrorists, joining other IS branches in Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula already on the list.

    The action prohibits Americans from doing business with the groups and targets any property they may have within U.S jurisdiction.

    The State Department said they became branches in 2014 when their oath of allegiance was accepted by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the IS leader.

    In a related move, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on six individuals for supporting or fundraising for IS or al-Qaeda, including al-Qaeda’s branch operating in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

    Those sanctions also targeted the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria that — like the U.S — opposes Syrian President Bashar Assad.

  • Islamic State: U.S to arm Libyan government

    The United States and other world powers have said they are ready to arm Libya’s United Nations-backed unity government to help it fight the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group.

    Speaking in Vienna, U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, said world powers would back Libya in seeking exemption from a UN arms embargo.

    He said IS was a “new threat” to Libya and it was “imperative” it was stopped.

    Last month, the Libyan government warned that IS could seize most of the country if it was not stopped soon.

    Mr Kerry said: “The GNA [Government of National Accord] is the only entity that can unify the country. It is the only way to ensure that vital institutions fall under representative and acknowledged authority.

    “It is the only way to generate the cohesion necessary to defeat Daesh [IS].”

    The North African country has been in chaos since NATO-backed forces overthrew long-time ruler, Col Muammar Gaddafi, in October 2011.

    Until recently it had two rival governments competing for power, and there are still hundreds of militias, some allied to IS.

    Western nations hope the unity government will take on IS, which has a foothold in Sirte – the home town of Gaddafi.

    The militant group has launched a series of suicide bombings and attacks on oil facilities in the country.

     

  • Boko Haram, Islamic State ties alarming – UN Council

    Boko Haram, Islamic State ties alarming – UN Council

    The United Nations Security Council has said it is alarmed by ties between Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants and the Islamic State (IS) group.

    In a statement, it said Boko Haram – which pledged allegiance to IS in 2015 – continued to “undermine the peace and stability” in West and Central Africa.

    Meanwhile, a senior United States official said there were reports of Boko Haram fighters joining IS in Libya, the BBC reports.

    Nigeria is to host a summit on Saturday on fighting Boko Haram.

    President Muhammadu Buhari will welcome counterparts from Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger for the gathering in Abuja, along with French President Francois Hollande, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond and U.S Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

    In the statement, the 15-member UN Security Council expressed “alarm at Boko Haram’s linkages with the Islamic State.”

    It also voiced its support for President Buhari’s “crucial initiative” to hold the security summit in Abuja.

    Meanwhile, Mr. Blinken – who is already in Nigeria – said he was concerned by reports that Boko Haram militants were going to Libya, where IS influence has grown in recent months.

    “We’ve seen that Boko Haram’s ability to communicate has become more effective,” he said.

    “They seem to have benefited from assistance from Daesh [IS].”

  • 64 killed in Baghdad market bombing

    A car bomb at a crowded Baghdad market has killed at least 64 people, officials said, in one of the worst recent attacks in the Iraqi capital.

    At least 87 others were wounded in the blast in the Shia Muslim district of Sadr City during the morning rush hour, the BBC reports.

    So-called Islamic State (IS) said it had carried out the attack.

    The Sunni Muslim group, which controls swathes of northern and western Iraq, has frequently targeted Shia, whom it considers heretics.

    Many of the victims included women and children, Iraqi police and medical sources said.

    Several of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

    Pictures showed vehicles and the facades of several buildings heavily damaged.

    In an online statement, IS said it had targeted Shia militiamen.

     

  • UN discovers ‘more than 50’ IS graves in Iraq

    A United Nations envoy has said more than 50 mass graves have so far been found in parts of Iraq that were previously controlled by so-called Islamic State (IS).

    Jan Kubis told the UN Security Council that it was “evidence of the heinous crimes” IS had committed.

    The graves have been discovered in recent months as territory has been re-captured from IS, the BBC reports.

    Most recently, graves found in the city of Ramadi in April may contain the remains of up to 40 people.

    Mr. Kubis said the international community should “take steps to ensure the accountability” of IS fighters.

    The Iraqi army re-captured parts of Ramadi from IS in December 2015. It had been held by the militants since May of the same year.

    Some pockets of resistance continued in the city until February 2016, when it fell completely under government control again.

     

  • IS rockets kill children in Turkey

    Rockets fired from northern Syria have killed four Syrians, three of them children, in the Turkish border town of Kilis, local officials said.

    The five Katyusha rockets came from part of Syria controlled by Islamic State (IS) militants, the Kilis governor’s office said.

    Turkish artillery fired back at IS positions across the border, Turkey’s Hurriyet news daily reported.

    Kilis has a Syrian refugee camp and shells have landed from Syria before, the BBC reports.

    Four of the rockets hit residential areas of Kilis – a town where an estimated 120,000 Syrian refugees outnumber local Turks.

    A Turkish citizen and five other Syrians were also wounded in the rocket fire.

     

  • Islamic State claims responsibility for Brussels attacks

    Islamic State Militants were responsible for Tuesday’s attacks on Brussels International Airport, the extremist group’s Amaq Agency has said.

    Amaq, one of the group’s multiple media outlets, said that Islamic State fighters, opened fire inside the Belgian capital’s Zaventen airport before detonating suicide bomb while one suicide attacker targeted the Maelbeek metro station.

    The brief report, published first on Amaq’s English-language website, described Belgium as “a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State.”

     

  • U.S planes attack Islamic State camp in Libya

    United States warplanes have carried out attacks on militants from the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Libya, killing at least 38 people.

    The strikes hit an IS training camp in Sabratha, around 70km west of Tripoli.

    U.S officials said it was “likely” that the strikes had killed senior Tunisian extremist, Noureddine Chouchane.

    Chouchane has been linked to two attacks that took place in Tunisia last year, including an attack that killed 30 Britons, the BBC reports.

    The IS group has been active in Libya for over a year, and the U.S estimates it has up to 6,000 fighters there.

    Libya remains in chaos more than four years after the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, and is being fought over by a number of groups, including the self-styled IS.

    The BBC says British bases were involved in the attack but that no British assets, such as warplanes, were involved.

    The mayor of Sabratha put the death toll at 41, and said the majority of those killed were Tunisians.

  • Turkey arrests 10 Islamic State recruiters in Ankara

    Turkey arrests 10 Islamic State recruiters in Ankara

    Turkish police on Monday arrested 10 people in the capital Ankara, accused of being recruiters for the Islamic State extremist group.

    The police said in Ankara that the arrests followed a crackdown on Islamic State in the country, amid growing concerns over terrorist activities.

    Turkey blamed Islamic State for a suicide bombing this month in Istanbul which killed 10 German tourists.

    “The group is also being held responsible for a twin attack in Ankara in October, which left more than 100 people dead.’’

    Islamic State has not claimed either attack.

  • Iraq recaptures Ramadi from Islamic State

    The Iraqi city of Ramadi has been “liberated” from so-called Islamic State, the country’s military has declared.

    The Army Spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasul said forces had achieved an “epic” victory and that the Iraqi flag had been raised over the government complex there, the BBC reports.

    Some reports indicate there are still pockets of resistance in the city.

    Ramadi’s recapture would mark a major reversal for the jihadist group. The jihadists had seized it in May, in an embarrassing defeat for the army.

    Iraqi government forces had been fighting to retake it for weeks.

    Troops managed to capture the government compound on Sunday, flushing out or killing Islamic State (IS) fighters and suicide bombers who had been holding out in the buildings.

    Despite the declaration of victory, the head of military operations in Anbar, Gen. Ismail al-Mahlawi, said retreating IS militants still controlled parts of the city.

    The operation to recapture Ramadi, about 55 miles (90km) west of Baghdad, began in early November.

    It was backed by United States-led coalition air strikes. But it made slow progress, mainly because the government chose not to use the powerful Shia-dominated paramilitary force that helped it regain the mainly Sunni northern city of Tikrit, to avoid increasing sectarian tensions.