Displaying items by tag: IS

Friday, 22 February 2019 09:57

IS bride 'potentially very dangerous'

The head of MI6 says that after spending four years with a bloodthirsty terror group, Shamima Begum is ‘potentially very dangerous’, because once someone has been in that environment they will have treacherous skills and connections. A ‘very significant level of resource’ is required to ‘make sure she doesn’t represent a threat’. The Home Office plans to strip her of British citizenship, stating that as her parents are Bangladeshis she can apply for Bangladeshi citizenship. The Syrian Kurdish forces are calling on the UK to take responsibility for its own citizens. If they are not taken back, the Kurds could try them in their own courts for partaking in IS activities. This push-and-pull keeps Shamima and many others in legal limbo, unwanted by either group. See

Published in British Isles
Friday, 22 February 2019 09:28

Syria: what next?

In 2014 Abu Jaber's al-Shaitat tribe stood up to challenge IS in their oil-rich lands. IS hunted 700 - 1,000 men, shot some and beheaded others, filming their slaughter as a lesson for others. The 90,000 members of the al-Shaitat tribe in villages along the Syria-Iraq border were defeated. IS was at its peak, holding an area the size of Britain. Abu Jaber went on the run. Now is the moment that he has waited for - he wants revenge. IS’s defeat is of great global significance. However, for the sons, nephews and cousins of the al-Shaitat men who were massacred, it is an intimate affair. The victory has levelled towns and villages, leaving hundreds of civilians dead. We can pray for God to send mission workers to the area to help with rebuilding homes and transforming the lives of communities; giving hope, healing wounded souls and creating spaces for healthy rebirths.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 07 February 2019 23:48

Egypt: 'Sinai is our Vietnam'

Servicemen in the Sinai peninsula are ill-equipped and under-trained. Since the insurgency began, Egypt's propaganda narrative has portrayed its fighters as religious, disciplined, ‘born to kill’ fighting machines. Men aged 18 to 30 must serve in the military for eighteen months, followed by a nine-year obligation to serve if called for duty. IS militants are trained in guerrilla and desert warfare and house-to-house combat, and have military experience in Gaza, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Egypt’s fighting forces are conscripts with 45 days in boot camp. Moataz, a medic now discharged from military duty, still has nightmares about his service and visits a psychiatrist. He said, ‘Body parts were everywhere in a scene that I will never forget. The rest of the bodies were firstly wounded and then executed by gunfire. Some bodies had more than 20 bullets in their heads. To us and many other conscripts, Sinai was our Vietnam.’

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 21 December 2018 11:06

Syria: Trump’s meandering policy

On 19 December, a week after his special coalition envoy to defeat IS said that US troops would be in Syria for the foreseeable future, Donald Trump has ordered a complete, rapid withdrawal of 2,000 military personnel. He tweeted, ‘We have defeated IS in Syria, my only reason for being there.’ Earlier this year he said, ‘I want to get out. I want to bring our troops home and start rebuilding our nation’. He has always said the money spent on the struggle would be better spent at home. Britain has distanced itself from Trump’s perception of the situation, which has also led to the resignation of his defence secretary James Mattis (see). US allies and Kurdish militias feel abandoned, as this decision hands Iran and Russia more leverage across the country. A group of Kurdish and Arab units raised by Washington specifically to fight IS said that the move would have ‘dangerous implications for international stability’. See

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 16 November 2018 00:25

Egypt: seven Christians killed in bus shooting

A terrorist attack on three buses carrying Egyptian Christians left at least seven dead and 19 injured on 2 November. The buses were travelling to a well-known Christian historical site near Minya. Six of the seven who died came from the same extended family. A number of news outlets reported that ‘local IS affiliates’ have claimed responsibility for the attack. In a similar attack at the same place by IS in May 2017, 29 Christians were murdered.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 21 September 2018 09:18

Iraq: a) Mosul divided

Bad blood and a thirst for revenge divide people in Mosul, the former IS capital. Many local residents welcomed the jihadists who promised protection from corruption, jobs and security. The promises proved false, but thousands in Mosul still pledged allegiance to IS; some driven by IS propaganda, others by hunger or simply fear. Currently men who worked as IS enforcers or officials are still living in Mosul. Local police pursue them nightly, raiding houses and questioning families of suspected IS members. Some police and civil defence workers who have had relatives killed by IS are now working out their hatred and revenge on unconfirmed suspects, and many residents face suspicion and abuse due to guilt by association.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 24 August 2018 11:09

Egypt: suicide attack on church foiled

IS terrorists have mounted a number of attacks on churches in Egypt in the last two years, but on 11 August tight security foiled an attempted suicide attack on a church in Mostorod, north of Cairo. Security guards stopped the attacker from entering the church grounds to target worshippers. The bomber then detonated his explosives about 250 metres from the church, killing himself and a passer-by. Egyptian security services subsequently made seven arrests in relation to the attack. At the time of writing, no organisation has claimed responsibility. Please pray for the friends and relatives of the deceased.

Published in Praise Reports
Thursday, 07 June 2018 23:39

Vicar of Baghdad - Met drops investigation

The Metropolitan Police has dropped an investigation into Rev Canon Andrew White - known as the Vicar of Baghdad - who was accused of sending money to IS extremists. He had allegedly done this in order to secure the release of some Yazidi women being held as sex slaves in Syria and Iraq. He had always insisted that the captives had been freed thanks to successful negotiations, utilising his contacts in the region - and not by any illegal payments. Speaking on Premier's News Hour with a touch of sarcasm, the 54-year-old said, ‘I have had this police investigation hanging over my head because I did the awful thing of trying to get back sex slaves from IS’. Canon White was also suspended from the charity he founded for relief and reconciliation, please pray for his reinstatement.

Published in Praise Reports
Friday, 18 May 2018 10:21

Indonesia: one family bombs three churches

IS has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in three Indonesian churches, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens of others. According to police, the suicide bombers were all members of the same family: a mother and two daughters aged nine and 12 detonated their bombs in one church, while the father and two sons, aged 16 and 18, targeted two other churches. The Santa Maria Catholic Church was attacked first, then the Surabaya Centre Pentecostal Church and the Diponegoro Indonesian Christian Church. The fact that a family, including children and teenagers, carried out these attacks is part of what makes them so shocking. A family should be a place of love and safety - and yet this one was used to inspire hatred and violence. But there is another family that we are a part of: God’s worldwide family of the church. Our brothers and sisters in Surabaya need our prayers and support today. Many are grieving, many are injured, many are scared.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 16 February 2018 09:24

Canada: returning Islamists

Prime minister Justin Trudeau believes the IS combatants returning to Canada will be ‘a powerful voice for deradicalisation’. Many Canadians believe his desire to reintegrate IS fighters is unreasonable. Canada’s ‘Centre for Community Participation and De-radicalisation’ has no director or centre for de-radicalisation. It is not clear if Canadian law can force returning fighters to submit to such a programme. A similar programme in France failed. Trudeau said, ‘We know that someone who has turned away from that hateful ideology can be an extraordinarily powerful voice for preventing radicalisation in future generations.’ However observers do not think that Canadian mosques and Islamic schools will open their doors to anyone who previously engaged in terrorism. Trudeau’s assumptions seem to omit the prospect of justice for the victims of IS genocide and war crimes. See

Published in Worldwide
Page 4 of 6