Syria: Islamic State Frees 22 Assyrian Christians

The Islamic State has released 22 of the dozens of Assyrian Christians it abducted this year from villages in northeastern Syria, a monitoring group said Tuesday. It was not clear how many Assyrians remained in the hands of the Islamist militants, but Rami Abdulrahman, head of the monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, put the number at more than 150. 

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, seized more than 200 Assyrians in February when its fighters overran more than a dozen villages near the northeastern city of Hasaka. The head of an Assyrian group in Sweden, Afram Yakoub, confirmed the release and said all of the freed captives were elderly. Mr. Abdulrahman said a ransom had been paid, but Mr. Yakoub denied the claim. “We believe they released them because of health issues and because they are old,” Mr. Yakoub, chairman of the Assyrian Federation of Sweden, said. In March, the group released 19 other captives.

Read More

ISIS preparing to attack India: Report

WASHINGTON: The ISIS is preparing to attack India to provoke an Armageddon-like confrontation with the US according to an internal recruitment document of the feared group which also seeks to unite the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban into a single army of terror. 

An investigative story published on Tuesday by the USA Today and reported by American Media Institute refers to a 32-page Urdu document obtained from a Pakistani citizen with connections inside the Pakistani Taliban. 

"The document warns that 'preparations' for an attack in India are underway and predicts that an attack will provoke an apocalyptic confrontation with America," the report said. 

"Even if the US tries to attack with all its allies, which undoubtedly it will, the ummah (Muslims) will be united, resulting in the final battle," it added.

Read More

श्रीनगर: फिर लहराए गए PAK, ISIS और लश्कर के झंडे

आतंकी याकूब मेमन को फांसी दिए जाने के विरोध में शुक्रवार को जम्मू कश्मीर में एक बार फिर पाकिस्तान का झंडा लहराया गया. जुमे की नमाज के बाद कुछ युवकों ने मस्जिद के बाहर पाकिस्तान, आतंकी संगठन इस्लामिक स्टेट (IS) और लश्कर-ए-तैयबा के झंडे लहराए.

श्रीनगर के डाउन टाउन इलाके में पहले भी पाकिस्तान और आईएसआईएस के झंडे लहराए जा चुके हैं. ऐसा पांचवी बार था कि जुमे की नमाजे के बाद झंडे लहराए गए. हुर्रियत कॉन्फ्रेंस के प्रमुख मीरवाइज उमर फारूक ने याकूब की फांसी को राजनीतिक साजिश करार दिया था.

एक संगठन के प्रमुख आशिया अंद्राबी नेतृत्व में याकूब की फांसी के खिलाफ निकाले गए मार्च में भारत विरोधी और पाकिस्तान के समर्थन में नारे लगाए गए.

Read More

लीबिया में ISIS आतंकियों ने दो हैदराबाद और दो कर्नाटक के लोगों को किया अगवा

आतंकी संगठन इस्लामिक स्टेट (ISIS) ने एक बार फिर दुस्साहसिक वारदात को अंजाम देते हुए लीबिया में चार भारतीयों को अगवा कर लिया है.

सूत्रों के मुताबिक, आतंकियों ने गुरुवार शाम लीबिया के त्रिपोली से चारों को अगवा किया है. ये सभी पिछले एक साल से वहां की यूनिवर्सिटी में पढ़ा रहे थे. लीबिया के सिर्ते में इस्लामिक स्टेट आतंकियों ने कब्जा कर रखा है.

Read More

Isis in Iraq: Video footage shows militants 'destroying ancient artefacts' in Mosul

Isis followers have released a propaganda video showing sledge-hammer wielding militants destroying artefacts in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, in another example of the group's attempt to wipe out what it deems to be heretic.

Armed with hammers and drills in the Mosul Museum, the five-minute clip shows Isis members desecrate several large statues which are hundreds of years old.

The video, which has not been verified but appears to be genuine, then shows a black-clad man at a nearby archaeological site inside Mosul, drilling through and destroying a winged-bull Assyrian protective deity that dates back to the 7th-century BC.

Read More

Jihadi John: From ordinary schoolboy to world's most wanted man

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about ‘Jihadi John’, the world’s most wanted man, is just how ordinary he actually is.

‘Jihadi John’ - the barbaric executioner of Western hostages held in Syria - has been unmasked as a computer studies graduate who grew up in a leafy and affluent suburb of west London.

His real name is Mohammed Emwazi, the eldest of six children, who took pride in his appearance, wore nice clothes, and appears - on the face of it at least - to have been a diligent student. He doesn’t even have a criminal record.

Nevertheless over the course of six years following his graduation, Emwazi undertook a journey that transformed him from benign teenager to the most demonic of killers, a blood-thirsty murderer who beheaded hostages, including Britons David Haines and Alan Henning, broadcast to the world in propaganda videos for the Islamic State.

Read More