Category Archives: Islamic State

Russian special forces kill Islamic State-linked hostage-takers

Posted on by

Men linked to militant group took two guards hostage at facility in southern city of Rostov

Russian special forces have freed two guards and killed six men linked to Islamic State who had taken them hostage at a detention centre in the southern city of Rostov, the prison service said.

State media said that some of the men had been convicted of terrorism offences and were accused of affiliation with IS, which claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall in March.

Continue reading...

Battlefield deaths from global conflicts hit 30-year high, study finds

Posted on by

Since 2021, the overall number of deaths, including of civilians, has risen to the highest level in three decades, Peace Research Institute Oslo reports

Deaths from civil conflicts and battles across the world over the past three years have risen to the highest level in three decades, according to a new report.

Research by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (Prio) showed that while the number of battlefield deaths fell compared with the previous two years, since 2021 the overall number of conflict-related deaths, including of civilians, has risen to the highest level in 30 years.

Continue reading...

Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly tourist attack in Afghanistan

Posted on by

Taliban says four arrested over attack at Bamiyan heritage site that killed three Spanish visitors and an Afghan

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack by gunmen in Afghanistan’s central Bamiyan province that killed three Spanish tourists on Friday.

The Taliban’s interior ministry spokesperson, Abdul Mateen Qani, said on Sunday that four people had been arrested over the attack. One Afghan citizen was also killed and four foreigners and three Afghans were injured in the attack, he added.

Continue reading...

Accused Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash ‘enticed’ by sermon at Melbourne mosque, court told

Posted on by

Notorious alleged jihadi changed from a peaceful convert after being influenced by an ‘inflammatory’ brand of Islam, a magistrate has heard

An accused Australian jihadi was “enticed” by a radical Islam sermon delivered on the day of his conversion and was influenced by members of the mosque, a court has been told.

Once branded Australia’s most-wanted alleged terrorist, Neil Christopher Prakash faced Melbourne magistrates court on Monday accused of six terrorism-related offences.

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

Continue reading...

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...