After four extremists stormed the Crocus City Hall, a music venue in Krasnogorsk on the outskirts of Moscow, with assault rifles and incendiary devices, the world was shocked as footage emerged of crowds fleeing the scene amid a hail of bullets and bodies. Confirming the carnage as its handiwork, Islamic State (IS) media outlets claimed … Read more
The devastating March 22 terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, on the outskirts of Moscow, allegedly carried out by four citizens of Tajikistan, vividly demonstrates the threats posed by Central Asian jihadi terrorism and Sunni Islamist extremism. The shooting at the concert hall sadly confirmed a security alert issued by the U.S. … Read more
On March 9, Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB) confirmed media reports that two Kazakh citizens had been killed by law enforcement in Russia. Two days earlier, on March 7, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had stopped an Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) cell from carrying out a terrorist attack targeting a synagogue. … Read more
Although Turkey regards the post-Soviet countries of Central Asia as its strategic allies, viewing them as “brothers with common historical, linguistic, and cultural ties,” and confidently assumes the role of a “big brother” (Büyük Abi) to politically and economically integrate the vast Turkic world, it has paradoxically encountered security threats from Central Asian Salafi-Jihadi groups … Read more
Despite Gaza’s great distance from Central Asia, the Israel-Hamas war has had an impact on the religious and security landscape in the region. While al-Qaida-affiliated Central Asian Sunni extremist groups in Syria and Afghanistan limited their engagement to expressing support for Palestinian Muslims through ideologically strong statements, the Tajik militants of the Islamic State Khorasan … Read more
A protracted Israel-Hamas war may have negative consequences in some Southeast Asian nations, in terms of terror recruitment, radicalization, and cyberattacks, according to experts. The armed conflict in the Middle East has entered its second month after a surprise incursion by Hamas into southern Israel on October 7 resulted in the killing of over 1,200 … Read more
A man comforts another mourning for his relative, who was killed in the bomb explosion at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/Arshad Butt Advertisement A powerful bomb exploded in a crowd of people celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 52 people and … Read more
Advertisement The recent announcement of a new Filipino leader of the Islamic State (IS) terror group in Southeast Asia has generated a buzz in the online sphere. Esmael Abdulmalik, also known as Abu Turaife, the leader of the Turaife faction, one of the two pro-IS factions of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) terror group … Read more
Advertisement An Afghan branch of the Islamic State group on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed at least 54 people at a pro-Taliban party’s election rally, in one of the region’s worst attacks in recent years. Islamic State in Khorasan Province claimed in a statement posted on its Amaq website. … Read more