Islamic militants

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It's Coup Part II for Burkina Faso
It's Coup Part II
for Burkina Faso

It's Coup Part II for Burkina Faso

Paul-Henri Damiba, who ousted the ex-president in January, has himself been ousted by soldiers

(Newser) - In January, Paul-Henri Damiba led a military coup that ousted Burkina Faso President Roch Kabore, citing widespread discontent at Kabore's inability to quell relentless attacks by Islamic groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State that have killed thousands. Now, it appears Damiba, who took over as the West Africa...

Inmate's Wife Killed After He Attacks Guards During Visit

French authorities believe she smuggled in a knife

(Newser) - A woman's visit to her Islamist husband in a French prison ended in a bloodbath that sparked walkouts in prisons around the country. Authorities say inmate Michael Chiolo attacked and seriously injured two guards with a ceramic knife that his wife had apparently smuggled in Tuesday, the BBC reports....

Sword-Wielding Men Storm Indonesia Police HQ

Officers shot, killed 4 after latest militant attack

(Newser) - Indonesian police have shot dead four sword-wielding men who attacked a police headquarters in Sumatra, killing one officer in the latest in a spate of militant attacks across the Muslim-majority country. National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto says the men attacked officers Wednesday after driving a minivan into Riau province's...

Egypt: 55 Police Officers Killed in Shootout

They were raiding a militant hideout west of Cairo

(Newser) - Egyptian security officials say at least 55 policemen, including 20 officers and 34 conscripts, have been killed in a shootout during a raid on a militant hideout near Cairo. The officials said Saturday that the exchange of fire took place late Friday in the al-Wahat al-Bahriya area in Giza governorate,...

Tourist Kidnapped by al-Qaeda Freed 6 Years Later

Swede Johan Gustafsson had been held in Mali

(Newser) - A Swedish man kidnapped by Islamic militants in northern Mali nearly six years ago has been released from captivity, the Swedish government confirmed Monday. There was no immediate word on the fate of a second hostage, from South Africa, who was also seized in Timbuktu. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom...

Militants Behead Sailor Who Was Kidnapped Twice

Kantner survived pirate abduction in 2008

(Newser) - A German man who resumed sailing around the world after being released by Somali pirates in 2008 has been murdered by militants in the Philippines who kidnapped him a second time . The extremist group Abu Sayyaf has released video of the beheading of 70-year-old Juergen Kantner, who was kidnapped while...

Bangladesh Unravels 3-Year Mystery of Machete Killers

2 militant Islamist groups are behind the attacks, authorities say

(Newser) - Since 2013 in Bangladesh, at least 39 activists, bloggers, foreigners, and religious minorities have been fatally struck down by mysterious machete-wielding figures on motorbikes. Now, authorities say they finally know who is behind the attacks, the New York Times reports. The chief of the police counterterrorism unit says that an...

Hard Times Hit ISIS: Fighters' Wages Cut in Half

Campaigns targeting caliphate's revenues are apparently working

(Newser) - Islamic State militants have seen their monthly salaries cut in half down to $400 for foreign fighters and $200 for those in Syria, according to leaked documents out of Raqqa. The internal government documents were released in November or December, reports Time . "Because of the exceptional circumstances that the...

Japanese Journalist Apparently Beheaded in New ISIS Video

Militant with British accent shown killing hostage Kenji Goto

(Newser) - An online video released today purported to show an Islamic State militant beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto , ending days of negotiations by diplomats to save the man. The video, released on militant websites and highlighted by militant sympathizers on social media sites, bore the symbol of the Islamic State group'...

2K Feared Dead in Nigeria Attacks

Extremist group Boko Haram said to assault 16 towns

(Newser) - Islamic militants in Nigeria have murdered at least a few hundred people—or perhaps more than 2,000—in attacks that began last weekend and continued again Wednesday, CNN reports. The extremist group Boko Haram began the assaults by storming into several villages, including Baga along the Chad border, in...

Man Shouting 'God Is Great' Runs Down Pedestrians

Driver injures 11 in Dijon, France

(Newser) - A driver shouting "God is great" allegedly ran over pedestrians in France today and injured 11, two of them seriously—the day after police killed a knife-wielding man who ran into a French police station shouting the same slogan, AFP reports. Authorities have arrested a 40-year-old suspect with a...

ISIS Gets Its First Major Affiliate

Egypt militant organization forges alliance with Islamic State

(Newser) - ISIS has garnered its first major international ally in the form of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, an Egyptian militant group the New York Times calls the country's most dangerous. That organization pledged obedience to ISIS yesterday, the Times reports. Until now, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has largely targeted only Egypt's...

One of Nigeria's Missing Girls Is Found

'Traumatized' young woman either escaped or was released

(Newser) - Though talks are underway with Boko Haram militants to secure the release of more than 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, one may have escaped on her own. A woman, identified as one of those kidnapped by the al-Qaeda-linked group in April, was found "heavily traumatized and not very stable" Wednesday,...

Prisoner Swap for Kidnapped Girls? Militants in Talks

Boko Haram seeks return of 30 commanders: CNN

(Newser) - Boko Haram militants have been meeting with officials to discuss the possible release of some 200 girls kidnapped in April, CNN reports. Talks between two top Boko Haram figures and officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross and Nigeria's government hinge on the possibility of a prisoner...

Iraq Loses Control of Its 2nd-Largest City

Police abandon Mosul to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

(Newser) - Fighters believed to be with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took control of the city of Mosul today, as police and military forces fled their bases, leaving weapons, vehicles, and even their uniforms behind for the taking, the New York Times reports. The militants have seized the provincial...

Boko Haram: We'll Sell Kidnapped Girls at Market

AFP obtains video featuring group's leader

(Newser) - Islamist militant group Boko Haram has acknowledged in a video obtained by AFP that it's behind the kidnappings of more than 200 girls in Nigeria last month. "I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," leader Abubakar Shekau says. He adds that...

Militants in Egypt Hit New Target: S. Korean Tourists

Bus carrying foreigners bombed near Israel border, killing 4

(Newser) - An explosion on a bus carrying South Korean tourists in Egypt yesterday left three South Koreans and the Egyptian driver dead, al Jazeera reports. At least 13 others were wounded in the attack on the bus, whose riders, a South Korean church group, had visited a Greek Orthodox monastery in...

Militants: We Have a 'Present' for Olympic Visitors

Threat sparks Sochi security fears

(Newser) - A chilling threat for visitors to next month's Sochi Olympics: Islamic militants say they have a "present" ready for those attending the Games in southern Russia. The threat was made in a video that surfaced yesterday, sparking serious security fears with the event less than three weeks away,...

Benghazi Attack Didn't Involve al-Qaeda: Report

Anti-Islam video did help spark violence: NYT investigation

(Newser) - A major New York Times investigation sheds new light on the debate over the attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Initially, officials' accounts suggested an anti-Islam video had sparked the violence on Sept. 11, 2012, but Republicans have argued that al-Qaeda was involved, citing a " cover-up ."...

NC Man Charged With Trying to Join al-Qaeda in Syria

Pakistani native had online relationship with undercover FBI worker

(Newser) - A North Carolina man was on his way to Lebanon to join an al-Qaeda-linked group when he was arrested, federal prosecutors say; his father says there's "no truth" in the allegations. Pakistan-born Basit Javed Sheikh, 29, is a legal permanent US resident, the News & Observer reports. He...

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