Category Archives: Islamic State

US repatriates two dozen westerners from Islamic State camp in Syria

Posted on by

Group includes 11 US citizens, including five minors, but tens of thousands of people remained detained five years after defeat of IS

The United States has repatriated two dozen western citizens, half of them Americans, from Islamic State prison camps in north-eastern Syria where tens of thousands have languished.

The operation is the largest ever of US citizens and comes as rights groups warn of dire conditions in the camps still in use some five years after the ultra-violent extremist movement lost its last territory in Syria.

Continue reading...

IS commander wanted for deaths of US forces in Niger killed in operation

Posted on by

Malian state forces confirm death of Abu Huzeifa, who was believed to have helped carry out 2017 attack

A senior Islamic State group commander, wanted in connection with the deaths of US forces in Niger, has been killed in an operation by Malian state forces, the country’s army said.

Abu Huzeifa, known by the alias Higgo, was a commander in the group known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. The state department had announced a reward of up to $5m for information about him.

Continue reading...

US to withdraw from Niger after security pact fails in strategic victory for Russia

Posted on by

Biden administration to rethink counter-terrorism strategy after breakdown of pact allowing US forces on soil to fight jihadists

The US will withdraw more than 1,000 military personnel from Niger in a move that will force the Biden administration to rethink its counter-terrorism strategy and amounts to a strategic victory for Russia.

The decision comes a month after the west African country’s ruling military junta revoked a security pact with Washington that had allowed American forces on its soil to help fight jihadist terrorism.

Continue reading...

Man who helped procure gun used in Strasbourg terror attack jailed for 30 years

Posted on by

Audrey Mondjehi, 43, found guilty of terrorism-related charges relating to 2018 attack that killed five

A former security guard who helped procure the gun used to kill five people and injure 11 others in a terrorist attack on Strasbourg’s Christmas market in 2018 has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Audrey Mondjehi, 43, was found guilty of a series of terrorism-related charges, including abetting murder in relation to a terrorist plot and associating with terrorist elements, after he helped to find a weapon for Chérif Chekatt, who later opened fire with a 19th-century revolver at the market in the city’s historic centre.

Continue reading...

Moscow concert hall attack: fear death toll higher after reports of 100 missing

Posted on by

State investigations say they have received numerous reports as officials repeat claims that Ukraine and west involved in assault

The final death toll from the Moscow concert hall terrorist attack could be much higher than 140 confirmed dead, with Russian state investigations saying they have received 143 reports about people who had gone missing.

The investigative committee said in a statement that 84 bodies had so far been identified.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: 200,000 without power in Ukraine since Friday; Nato could ‘shoot down Russian missiles near borders’ – as it happened

Posted on by

Attack on energy infrastructure on last week still causing blackouts; Poland’s deputy foreign minister warns Russia of consequences if missiles enter territory. This live blog is closed

The Kremlin has refused to be drawn on whether it believed there was a link between the Ukrainian leadership and Friday’s Moscow concert hall attack, in which at least 139 people were killed.

Asked during a call with reporters whether there was a direct link between Ukraine and the attack, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “I have nothing to add to what has already been said on this topic.”

Continue reading...

Terrorism and the battle for the truth in Moscow – podcast

Posted on by

Footage of four gunmen appears to support Islamic State’s claim that it masterminded the worst terrorist attack in Russia in two decades. But the Kremlin has put Ukraine in the frame. Andrew Roth reports

The attack on Crocus concert hall near Moscow was the worst act of terrorism carried out in Russia in more than 20 years. More than 130 people were killed after gunmen stormed the venue on Friday night.

Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility for the attack and provided additional video footage of the massacre.

Continue reading...

Four suspects in Moscow concert hall terror attack appear in court

Posted on by

Footage of gunmen reinforces Islamic State’s claim to have masterminded worst terror attack on Russia in two decades

Four suspects have appeared in court in Moscow charged over the terrorist attack on the Crocus City concert hall on Friday that left 137 people dead.

The men were officially identified as citizens of Tajikistan, the Tass state news agency said, and were remanded in custody for two months at Sunday’s hearing.

Continue reading...

Islamic State’s deadly Moscow attack highlights its fixation with Russia

Posted on by

The ISKP regional affiliate has a haven in Afghanistan and carried out recent bombings in Iran, suggesting it has capacity for major atrocities

Speculation about who carried out the shooting at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow has quickly indicated that the terror attack will have outsized political implications in Russia and abroad.

A claim has surfaced that the attack was carried out by Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) a regional affiliate of the IS terrorist organisation. IS has been implicated in some of Russia’s largest recent terror attacks, including the 2017 bombing in the St Petersburg metro that killed 15 and injured 45.

Continue reading...

At least 115 killed and scores wounded in Moscow concert hall attack

Posted on by

Islamic State claims responsibility after gunmen in combat gear opened fire and reportedly set off explosives at Crocus City Hall

At least 115 people have been killed and 145 wounded in Russia’s worst terror attack in years, as gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire and detonated explosives in a major concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow.

Russian media say authorities have detained 11 people.

Continue reading...

Asio boss defends undercover police operation targeting boy with autism

Posted on by

Mike Burgess says security agencies ‘don’t radicalise people’ and stands by actions of police in case of 13-year-old with Islamic State ‘fixation’

The Asio chief has insisted security agencies “don’t radicalise people” but admitted “dealing with minors is incredibly difficult” after court findings criticising an undercover operation targeting a 13-year-old child with autism.

Guardian Australia revealed last month that the boy, known by the pseudonym Thomas Carrick, was granted a permanent stay on terror-related charges last October, after a magistrate found police “fed his fixation” with Islamic State during the operation and “doomed” his efforts at rehabilitation.

Continue reading...

Four men go on trial over Strasbourg terror attack in 2018

Posted on by

One accused of terrorism and three of helping Chérif Chekatt procure weapons for deadly assault at Christmas market

Four menhave gone on trial today accused of involvement in the 2018 terrorist attack on Strasbourg’s Christmas market, in which a gunman killed five people and injured 11 others in an assault that was later claimed by Islamic State.

Chérif Chekatt, 29, who was born and raised in the city, opened fire with a 19th-century revolver on 11 December in the historic centre.

Continue reading...

Yazidi woman held by IS for 10 years freed by Kurdish fighters in Syria

Posted on by

Iraqi, 24, rescued with her children from al-Hawl camp after being abducted then raped and forced into marriage

US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria have liberated a Yazidi woman who had been held for a decade by Islamic State (IS), where she was raped and forced to marry extremists.

The 24-year-old woman was rescued with her son and daughter during a security operation by Kurdish fighters in Syria’s al-Hawl camp, which houses tens of thousands of people, mostly the wives and children of Islamic State fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces said on Monday.

Continue reading...

Islamic State claims responsibility for Iran bombings that killed at least 84

Posted on by

Afghan affiliate of IS claims responsibility for blasts in memorial crowd as Tehran tightens security on its eastern borders

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on a crowd in southern Iran marking the anniversary of the death of the senior Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Suleimani.

At least 84 people died when two blasts ripped through the crowd near Suleimani’s tomb in the city of Kerman, four years after he was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad. Suleimani had been a staunch enemy of IS, which resents the damage he did to its cause in Iraq and Syria.

Continue reading...

Nobel laureate sues French concrete maker Lafarge over alleged Islamic State support

Posted on by

Nadia Murad and 430 US citizens of Yazidi background suing conglomerate over payments it made to terrorist group

About 430 Americans of Yazidi background and Nobel laureate Nadia Murad accused French conglomerate Lafarge of supporting brutal attacks on the population through a conspiracy with the Islamic State, according to a complaint reviewed by AFP.

The civil suit, filed in a New York court by attorneys that include human rights lawyer Amal Clooney references a $778m US Department of Justice fine and guilty criminal plea in October 2022 by Lafarge, which was acquired by Swiss company Holcim in 2015.

Continue reading...

Britain to repatriate woman and five children from Syrian camps

Posted on by

However, human rights group says UK lagging behind other western nations in repatriating families who lived under IS

Britain has agreed to repatriate a woman and five children from camps in Syria, the second time the UK has allowed an adult to return since the end of the ground war against Islamic State more than four years ago.

The release was announced by the Kurdish administration that controls north-east Syria – but a human rights group and a former minister accused the UK of lagging behind other western nations in allowing families who lived under IS to return.

Continue reading...

Bombing of Catholic mass in southern Philippines leaves four dead

Posted on by

Police say explosion at Mindanao State University gymnasium in Marawi could be revenge by pro-Islamic State militants

Philippine forces were on high alert after a bomb killed four people and wounded many more during a Catholic mass in a university gymnasium in the south of the country, an attack the authorities called Islamist terrorism.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the senseless and most heinous acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists,” said the president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “Extremists who wield violence against the innocent will always be regarded as enemies to our society.”

Continue reading...

Australia has no legal obligation to repatriate 31 women and children held in Syrian camp, court rules

Posted on by

Most of the Australians have been held in the Roj detention camp in north-east Syria for four years

The federal government does not have a legal obligation to repatriate 31 Australian women and children who have been forcibly held in a Syrian detention camp for four years, a court has ruled.

The Australians are the wives, widows and children of slain or jailed Islamic State fighters. Most have been held in the squalid Roj detention camp in north-east Syria for four years. None have been charged with a crime or currently face a warrant for arrest.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Shamima Begum a victim of trafficking when she left Britain for Syria, court told

Posted on by

Lawyers argue Home Office failed to properly consider whether Begum had been groomed before stripping her of UK citizenship

Shamima Begum’s lawyers argued before the court of appeal on Tuesday that it was unlawful to deprive her of British citizenship because she was a victim of trafficking when she left the UK for Islamic State territory in Syria at 15.

Samantha Knights KC, her barrister, told the start of a three-day hearing that the Home Office and a lower court had failed to properly consider whether she was groomed – and called for the decision to be overturned.

Continue reading...

Al-Qaida and IS call on followers to strike Israeli, US and Jewish targets

Posted on by

Israeli military offensive in Gaza offers opportunity to extremist groups in west and Middle East, experts say

Al-Qaida and Islamic State (IS) have called on their followers to strike Israeli, US and Jewish targets, raising the prospect of new terrorist violence in the Middle East or the west.

In a series of statements over the past two weeks, affiliates of al-Qaida congratulated Hamas on its “invasion of Israel”, a reference to the terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, on 7 October.

Continue reading...