Tag: Terrorism

New IS branch discovered in Nigeria, as UK archbishop calls for end to violence

January 25, 2018 Nigeria Benue, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Justin Welby, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Plateau, Terrorism

A village head inside his destroyed home in one of the villages in Southern Kaduna that were attacked by Fulani herdsmen, in May 2017. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has called for an end to the ongoing violence in Nigeria. His statement comes as a new terrorist network has been discovered in the country – IS in West Africa (ISWA) – which recruits foreigners to act as Fulani herdsmen and attack local communities. . . . Read More

Indonesian children still in recovery mode one year after church bombing

December 14, 2017 Indonesia Borneo, Indonesia, Islamic State, Kalimantan, Samarinda, Terrorism, Trauma

Three-year-old Anita Sihotang is still too scared to leave her house. It has been just over a year since a terrorist threw a Molotov cocktail into the grounds of the church yard where she was playing in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province. The explosion killed one of her friends, two-year-old Intan . . . Read More

IS renews threat to Copts as Al-Azhar head says Islam ‘at war with itself’

November 14, 2017 Egypt Al-Azhar, Egypt, Islamic State, Pope Francis, Terrorism

Pope Francis welcomes Sheik Ahmed Muhammad Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, during a private audience in Vatican, 7 November 2017. (Photo: AFP PHOTO / OSSERVATORE ROMANO / Handout)

A pro-Islamic State (IS) group media outlet has issued a new threat against Egypt’s Coptic Christians, saying they must be attacked as “infidel fighters” and their churches must be blown up. The message, issued by the Wafa Media Foundation, said Copts did not accept dhimmitude – the condition of submission imposed . . . Read More

Film about Sultan and St. Francis shown in Egypt

October 24, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Terrorism

Francis of Assisi (l) and Mohammad Malik (r) meet, seeking peace in the midst of war. (Photo: a still taken from the movie trailer)

The film ‘The Sultan and the Saint’, about the relationship at the height of the Crusades between Sultan Malik Al-Kamel, a Muslim ruler, and Francis of Assisi (later to become one of Christianity’s most famous saints), has had its first showing in Egypt where, under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, inter-religious . . . Read More

Nigeria: outrage at Chibok kidnappings ‘inspired’ Boko Haram to use female bombers

August 16, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Nigeria, Terrorism

As another attack by female suicide bombers in Nigeria leaves 27 dead, a new report claims that Boko Haram only started using women and girls in bomb attacks in response to the global outrage triggered by the 2014 Chibok schoolgirl abductions. The Exploding stereotypes report, by the Combating Terrorism Center . . . Read More

Terrorist threat forces Egyptian Christians to cancel summer activities

July 13, 2017 Egypt Alexandria, Andrea Zaki, Asyut, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Ismailia, Minya, Suez, Tanta, Terrorism

The churches of Egypt are temporarily shutting down their summer activities. “I asked all our churches and conference centres to cancel their trips and events for the next three weeks,” Dr. Andrea Zaki, president of the Protestant Churches of Egypt, told World Watch Monitor. “There is news they could be . . . Read More

‘Moderate Muslims talking to jihadists, not interfaith dialogue, is how to tackle terrorism’

June 26, 2017 Egypt Islamic extremism, Terrorism

In an interview exploring how best to tackle terrorism, Egypt’s most senior Anglican said he doubts the effectiveness of interfaith dialogue, reports the Church Times. Dr Mouneer Anis, President-Bishop of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, said “dialogue is wonderful, but usually people who accept to sit and . . . Read More

Why the Uyghurs are under pressure in Xinjiang

June 15, 2017 China Communism, Syria, Terrorism, Turkey, Uyghurs, Xinjiang

As in July 2009 the Chinese government again shows its muscles in Xinjiang province, north-west China, during an anti-terror mass rally in February, this time in the southern city of Hotan. Tensions have flared up regularly in this area where the Uyghur people struggle for self-determination.

Both Muslims and Christians in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in north-west China find themselves under increased pressure from the Chinese authorities. An anti-terror mass rally in the southern city of Hotan in February, an increase in surveillance measures in public places, and the introduction of new anti-terror policies, are all . . . Read More

Nigeria: Bishop accuses authorities of inaction in face of ‘wave of terror’

May 2, 2017 Nigeria Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Kaduna, Kafanchan, Nigeria, Terrorism

Bishop Joseph Danlami Bagobiri from Kafanchan in Nigeria visiting ACN International office in Königstein, 19th April 2016.

A Catholic Bishop has accused the authorities in Nigeria of the suspected supply of arms to an Islamist terrorist network, which he claims has infiltrated federal and state governments. Bishop Joseph Bagobiri of Kafanchan, Kaduna state, said he believed that the government has done little or nothing to stem “a . . . Read More

Unauthorised Christian activity banned in Xinjiang

February 28, 2017 China China, Churches, Terrorism, Xinjiang

Chinese authorities in the north-western region of Xinjiang have banned all Christian activities not linked to state-approved churches, apparently in an “anti-terror” move. Zhu Xiaohu, a house-church member from the city of Wusu, was one of six Christians recently fined 1,000 yuan ($145). Their Bibles were also confiscated. “They want . . . Read More

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