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Tag: ISIS

  • Jordan Preacher Lashes Out Against Islamic State Militants Over Death Of Jordanian Pilot

    Jordan Preacher Lashes Out Against Islamic State Militants Over Death Of Jordanian Pilot

    AMMAN — A prominent jihadi preacher lashed out today (Feb 6) against Islamic State militants for burning to death a Jordanian pilot, saying this is “not acceptable in any religion”.

    Mr Abu Mohammed Maqdesi, considered a spiritual mentor for many al Qaeda militants, spoke a day after being released from more than three months in detention in Jordan.

    His release and harsh criticism of the Islamic State group come at a time when the Jordanian government is trying to win broad popular backing for intensified airstrikes against the militants in response to the killing of the pilot.

    Earlier this week, Islamic State militants released a video showing the pilot, Lt. Muath Kaseasbeh, being burned to death in a cage.

    In an interview with the Jordanian TV station Roya, Maqdesi said that such an act “is not acceptable by any religion and by anyone”.

    The cleric indicated that he had been involved in back-channel talks to arrange a possible prisoner swap to win the release of the pilot, who was captured after his plane crashed over Syria in December. Jordan offered last week to swap an al Qaeda prisoner for the pilot, but said after the release of the video that it became clear that the pilot had already been killed in early January.

    Maqdesi said he believed the militants were never serious about arranging a swap.

    “During my communication, they lied and they were evasive,” he said. “They acted like they were interested (in a swap), but in fact they were not interested.”

    He also criticised IS for declaring a caliphate last year in the areas under its control in Syria and Iraq. Maqdesi said a caliphate, or state run according to Islamic law, is meant to bring Muslims together, but that the militants have been a divisive force.

    A decade ago, Maqdesi was considered a mentor of the al Qaeda branch in Iraq, a precursor to the Islamic State group. However, the cleric fell out with his protégés over their methods, including attacks on fellow Muslims.

    Jordan arrested the cleric in October, after he criticised Jordan’s participation in a US-led military coalition against Islamic State. Jordan, which borders Syria and Iraq, joined the coalition in September.

    In the wake of the killing of the pilot, Jordan said it would intensify its attacks. Yesterday, dozens of fighter jets struck Islamic State weapons depots and training areas, the military said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • IS Militants Selling Abducted Iraqi Children As Sex Slaves And Crucifying Or Burying Others Alive

    IS Militants Selling Abducted Iraqi Children As Sex Slaves And Crucifying Or Burying Others Alive

    Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are selling abducted Iraqi children at markets as sex slaves, and killing other youth, including by crucifixion or burying them alive, a United Nations watchdog said on Wednesday.

    Iraqi boys aged under 18 are increasingly being used by the militant group as suicide bombers, bomb makers, informants or human shields to protect facilities against U.S.-led air strikes, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said.

    “We are really deeply concerned at torture and murder of those children, especially those belonging to minorities, but not only from minorities,” committee expert Renate Winter told a news briefing. “The scope of the problem is huge.”

    Children from the Yazidi sect or Christian communities, but also Shi’ites and Sunnis, have been victims, she said.

    “We have had reports of children, especially children who are mentally challenged, who have been used as suicide bombers, most probably without them even understanding,” Winter told Reuters. “There was a video placed (online) that showed children at a very young age, approximately eight years of age and younger, to be trained already to become child soldiers.”

    Islamic State is a breakaway al Qaeda group that declared an Islamic caliphate across parts of Syria and Iraq last summer. It has killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes, in what the United Nations has called a reign of terror.

    On Tuesday, the group, which is also known as ISIL, released a video showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burned alive.

    The U.N. body, which reviewed Iraq’s record for the first time since 1998, denounced “the systematic killing of children belonging to religious and ethnic minorities by the so-called ISIL, including several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive”.

    A large number of children have been killed or badly wounded during air strikes or shelling by Iraqi security forces, while others had died of “dehydration, starvation and heat”, it said.

    ISIL has committed “systematic sexual violence”, including “the abduction and sexual enslavement of children”, it said.

    “Children of minorities have been captured in many places… sold in the market place with tags, price tags on them, they have been sold as slaves,” Winter said, giving no details.

    The 18 independent experts who worked on the report called on Iraqi authorities to take all necessary measures to “rescue children” under the control of Islamic State and to prosecute perpetrators of crimes.

    “There is a duty of a state to protect all its children. The point is just how are they going to do that in such a situation?”, Winter said.

     

    Source: http://english.alarabiya.net

  • Islamic State Terrorists Ransack Library In Mosul Iraq

    Islamic State Terrorists Ransack Library In Mosul Iraq

    BAGHDAD — When Islamic State group militants invaded the Central Library of Mosul earlier this month, they were on a mission to destroy a familiar enemy: other people’s ideas.

    Residents say the extremists smashed the locks that had protected the biggest repository of learning in the northern Iraq town, and loaded around 2,000 books — including children’s stories, poetry, philosophy and tomes on sports, health, culture and science — into six pickup trucks. They left only Islamic texts.

    The rest?

    “These books promote infidelity and call for disobeying Allah. So they will be burned,” a bearded militant in traditional Afghani two-piece clothing told residents, according to one man living nearby who spoke to The Associated Press. The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation, said the Islamic State group official made his impromptu address as others stuffed books into empty flour bags.

    Since the Islamic State group seized a third of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, they have sought to purge society of everything that doesn’t conform to their violent interpretation of Islam. They already have destroyed many archaeological relics, deeming them pagan, and even Islamic sites considered idolatrous. Increasingly books are in the firing line.

    Mosul, the biggest city in the Islamic State group’s self-declared caliphate, boasts a relatively educated, diverse population that seeks to preserve its heritage sites and libraries. In the chaos that followed the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein, residents near the Central Library hid some of its centuries-old manuscripts in their own homes to prevent their theft or destruction by looters.

    But this time, the Islamic State group has made the penalty for such actions death. Presumed destroyed are the Central Library’s collection of Iraqi newspapers dating to the early 20th century, maps and books from the Ottoman Empire and book collections contributed by around 100 of Mosul’s establishment families.

    Days after the Central Library’s ransacking, militants broke into University of Mosul’s library. They made a bonfire out of hundreds of books on science and culture, destroying them in front of students.

    A University of Mosul history professor, who spoke on condition he not be named because of his fear of the Islamic State group, said the extremists started wrecking the collections of other public libraries last month. He reported particularly heavy damage to the archives of a Sunni Muslim library, the library of the 265-year-old Latin Church and Monastery of the Dominican Fathers and the Mosul Museum Library with works dating back to 5000 BC.

    Citing reports by the locals who live near these libraries, the professor added that the militants used to come during the night and carry the materials in refrigerated trucks with Syria-registered license plates. The fate of these old materials is still unknown.

    The professor said Islamic State group militants appeared determined to “change the face of this city…by erasing its iconic buildings and history”.

    Since routing government forces and seizing Mosul last summer, the Islamic State group has destroyed dozens of historic sites, including the centuries-old Islamic mosque shrines of the prophets Seth, Jirjis and Jonah.

    An Iraqi lawmaker, Hakim al-Zamili, said the Islamic State group “considers culture, civilization and science as their fierce enemies”.

    Al-Zamili, who leads the parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, compared the Islamic State group to raiding medieval Mongols, who in 1258 ransacked Baghdad. Libraries’ ancient collections of works on history, medicine and astronomy were dumped into the Tigris River, purportedly turning the waters black from running ink.

    “The only difference is that the Mongols threw the books in the Tigris River, while now Daesh is burning them,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. “Different method, but same mentality”.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Islamic State Claims Second Japanese Hostage Beheaded

    Islamic State Claims Second Japanese Hostage Beheaded

    The Islamic State group claimed in a video that it has beheaded a second Japanese hostage, drawing international condemnation and outrage from a visibly upset Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who denounced it as a “heinous and despicable” act.

    The apparent killing of 47-year-old Kenji Goto — the second beheading of a Japanese hostage in a week — was announced in a video released online that included no mention of a Jordanian pilot also being held by IS, whom the jihadist group has threatened to kill.

    Goto, a respected freelance journalist, is seen in an orange outfit — similar to those worn by Guantanamo Bay inmates — kneeling next to a standing masked man who speaks with a British accent and blames the Japanese government for his “slaughter”.

    The man, dressed head-to-toe in black with his face covered, appears to be the same IS militant who has featured in the group’s previous execution videos.

    The executioner addresses Abe, saying the murder was the result of “reckless” decisions by the Japanese government and would mark the beginning of “the nightmare for Japan”.

    The brief video ends with the image of a body dressed in orange with a decapitated head on top of it.

    Abe vowed to “never forgive terrorists” after news of the video broke early Sunday morning in Japan.

    “I am extremely angry about these heinous and despicable terrorist acts. We will never forgive terrorists,” the premier, who appeared on the verge of tears, told reporters.

    “We will cooperate with the international community to make them atone for their crimes.”

    Goto’s distraught mother said she “can’t find the words” to describe her son’s death.

    “I can’t find the words to describe how I feel about my son’s very sad death,” a sobbing Junko Ishido told reporters.

    Goto’s brother Junichi Goto said he had been holding out hope, “But that’s not possible anymore,” he was quoted as saying by public broadcaster NHK.

    US President Barack Obama led international condemnation of the “heinous murder”.

    “Through his reporting, Mr Goto courageously sought to convey the plight of the Syrian people to the outside world,” Obama said.

    A spokesman for UN chief Ban Ki-moon also condemned the “barbaric murder”, and said the death “underscores the violence that so many have been subjected to in Iraq and Syria”.

    – Negotiations ‘deadlocked’ –

    Tokyo and Washington said they were working to confirm the video’s authenticity.

    “After an extensive review, we believe it’s highly probable” it is real, government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said in response to a reporter’s question.

    British Prime Minister David Cameron denounced the apparent killing as “a further reminder that ISIL (IS) is the embodiment of evil, with no regard for human life.”

    French President Francois Hollande also condemned the “brutal murder”.

    The apparent execution came after Japan said negotiations to win Goto’s release in a prisoner exchange had stalled.

    IS had vowed to kill Goto and Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh by sunset Thursday unless Amman handed over an Iraqi female jihadist.

    On Saturday morning Abe had renewed orders for officials to maintain close cooperation with Jordan in a bid to secure Goto’s release.

    “The government has been working with the utmost efforts on the issue — I deeply regret that this is the result,” Abe told reporters on Sunday.

    But “Japan will never yield to terrorism… (and) is firmly resolved to fulfil its responsibility in the international community’s fight against terrorism”.

    Last week IS claimed responsibility for the beheading of another Japanese man it had been holding, self-described contractor Haruna Yukawa, after the expiration of a 72-hour deadline during which the jihadists had asked Tokyo to pay a $200 million (175 million euro) ransom.

    Jordan has demanded evidence that its pilot, who crashed in Syria on December 24, was still alive before freeing would-be suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi, who is on death row

    The latest video made no mention of Kassasbeh’s fate.

    – ‘Proof of life’ –

    Jordan has offered to free Rishawi, who was convicted for her part in triple-hotel bombings in Amman in 2005 that killed 60 people, if IS releases the pilot.

    The government has been under heavy pressure at home and from Japan — a major aid donor — to save Kassasbeh as well as Goto.

    On Thursday, government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said Rishawi was still in Jordan and would only be released if IS gave it “proof of life”.

    IS had set the Thursday sunset deadline for Rishawi to be released at the Turkish border in return for Goto but there was no news of a swap by nightfall.

    Friday morning Jordan’s military said it was still awaiting proof that Kassasbeh was safe.

    The pilot’s father Safi Kassasbeh begged Amman to save his son’s life “at any price”.

    “We believe in God and we will accept whatever he has in store for us,” he said.

    Goto’s wife Rinko also broke her silence this week to plead for her husband’s return.

    “My husband is a good and honest man who went to Syria to show the plight of those who suffer,” she said.

    “I beg the Jordanian and Japanese governments to understand that the fates of both men are in their hands.”

    IS has imposed a brutal version of Islamic law in territory it controls in Syria and Iraq and has executed since August two US journalists, an American aid worker and two British aid workers.

     

    Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

  • Teo Chee Hean: No Indication Of Heightened Threat To Singapore From ISIS

    Teo Chee Hean: No Indication Of Heightened Threat To Singapore From ISIS

    There is no indication of a heightened threat to Singapore specific to the Republic’s support to the coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), said Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean in Parliament on Wednesday (Jan 29).

    However, the violence in Syria and Iraq continues and raises the overall threat level in every country, as ISIS still attracts extremists and encourages its overseas supporters to carry out attacks on home soil, using all means available, Mr Teo said.

    He was responding to a question posed by MP Alex Yam Ziming on whether there were heightened threat to Singapore, and whether additional measures are required to address issues of self-radicalisation.

    ADDRESSING IDEOLOGY

    On the second question, Mr Teo said self-radicalisation is a problem as it can lead to “lone-wolf” attacks.

    “We have had instances of Singaporeans becoming self-radicalised even before the Syrian conflict. ISIS has, however, worsened the threat through its widespread and effective use of social media to radicalise and recruit foreign fighters and supporters,” he said.

    There is growing international recognition of the need to “deal upstream with the ideology that fuels jihadist terrorism”, said Mr Teo, who added Singapore will be hosting the East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration in April this year.

    “The Symposium will share best practices among participating countries and build capability to counter the terrorists’ radical ideology,” he said.

     

    Source: www.channnelnewsasia.com