A “gruesome” massacre against farmers in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 110 people, the United Nations has said, raising tolls initially indicating 43 and then at least 70 dead, the killings took place in the early afternoon of Saturday in the village of Koshobe and other rural communities in the Jere local government area near Maiduguri, the capital of the conflict-hit Borno state. “Armed men on motorcycles led a brutal attack on civilian men and women who were harvesting their fields,” Edward Kallon, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, said in a statement on Sunday, at least 110 civilians were … Continue reading 110 civilians killed in ‘gruesome’ Nigeria massacre

Australia has cancelled the citizenship of an Algerian-born Muslim scholar who was convicted of leading a “terrorist” cell that planned to bomb a football match in Melbourne in 2005, according to Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton. Abdul Nacer Benbrika is the first person to be stripped of his citizenship while still in Australia. “If it’s a person who’s posing a significant terrorist threat to our country, then we’ll do whatever is possible within Australian law to protect Australians,” Dutton told reporters in Brisbane on Wednesday. Benbrika was convicted on three “terrorism” charges, he was jailed for 15 years for … Continue reading Australia cancels Muslim scholar’s citizenship in a local first

A terrorist attack has killed at least 14 people and 45 people wounded when two explosions ripped through a marketplace in the city of Bamiyan in central Afghanistan, according to officials. Zabardast Safai, the police chief of the eponymous province said on Tuesday the explosives were hidden at the side of a road in Bamiyan, home to many members of the mainly Shia Hazara ethnic minority. The victims included 12 civilians, including children, and two traffic police officers, according to the interior ministry, the blasts ripped through the marketplace in the evening rush hour. Spokesman Tariq Arian said two magnetic … Continue reading 14 people killed in twin bomb blast in Afghanistan

Greek police arrested a Syrian Islamic State suspect on Thursday after a brawl at a migrant camp where he has been staying with his wife and children and said he was believed to have been involved in a number of … Continue reading Greek police arrest Islamic State suspect after migrant camp brawl

In what can only be described as a barbaric act, more than 50 people have been beheaded in northern Mozambique by militant Islamists, state media report, the militants turned a football pitch in a village into an “execution ground”, where they decapitated and chopped bodies, other reports said. Several people were also beheaded in another village, state media reported. The beheadings are the latest in a series of gruesome attacks that the militants have carried out in gas-rich Cabo Delgado province since 2017. Up to 2,000 people have been killed and about 430,000 have been left homeless in the conflict … Continue reading More than 50 people have been beheaded in Mozambique by Islamist militants

Three men are to go on trial in Spain over the deadly attacks that killed 16 people in and around Barcelona in 2017, the trio are accused of helping the perpetrators, who were all shot dead by police, carry out the attacks that left some 140 people injured. One of the perpetrators rammed a van into pedestrians in Barcelona’s Las Ramblas tourist area, before a twin attack was launched in a nearby town. The men will appear in Spain’s top court in Madrid on Tuesday, two stand accused of belonging to the jihadist cell that orchestrated the attacks, while the … Continue reading Suspects in Barcelona terror attack face trial

At least 22 people have been killed by gunmen who stormed Kabul University before engaging security forces in an hours-long battle on Monday, a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said the attack was eventually stopped when three gunmen were killed, a regional Islamic State group claimed responsibility in a statement. The attack began shortly before the expected arrival of government officials for an Iranian book fair and continued for several hours, a further 22 people were wounded by the attackers. Tuesday has been declared a national day of mourning by the government. The Taliban denied involvement and condemned the … Continue reading 22 people now confirmed dead in Kabul University attack

An American hostage kidnapped in Niger earlier this week has been freed in a raid by US special forces, the Pentagon has announced. Philip Walton was abducted on Monday from a village close to the border with Nigeria, he was taken across the border into Nigeria and rescued on Saturday. Jihadist and criminal groups are known to operate in the area. It’s thought at least six hostages are currently being held captive in the Sahel area. Mr Walton was abducted from the village of Massalata, where he had been living with his wife and child for two years, his father … Continue reading American hostage rescued by US special forces in Niger

Using intimidation and violence, Somalia-based Islamist militant group al-Shabab raises as much revenue as the country’s authorities, a report says. The militants collect at least $15m (£11m) a month, with more than half the amount coming from the capital, Mogadishu, the Hiraal Institute said, some businesses pay both the jihadists and the internationally recognised government. Al-Shabab has been fighting that government for more than a decade. The group controls much of southern and central Somalia but has been able to extend its influence into areas controlled by the government based in Mogadishu, the report describes as “brutal” the way the … Continue reading Al-Shabab collects more revenue than the Somali government

At least five people have been killed and more than 20 wounded after an explosion in a residential building in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, rescue officials say. Confirming the death toll, an official with the Edhi rescue service told reporters that the explosion had taken place near the city’s Maskan intersection, adjacent to the University of Karachi. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, a senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters, television footage from the scene of the explosion showed the building had partially collapsed, rubble and debris scattered on the road … Continue reading Five dead in Karachi building blast

The MI5 chief said that eight of the 27 late-stage terrorist attack plots have been right-wing extremist in nature. The new head of MI5, the UK’s domestic security service, has warned that nearly 30% of the major terror plots it has disrupted at a late stage since 2017 have been from far-right extremists. Ken McCallum said that the pan-European threat from the far right was increasing with bitty, but meaningful international connectivity, in his first engagement with reporters since taking the job in March, McCallum said far-right extremism was not on the same scale as Islamist extreme terrorism, but it is growing, … Continue reading UK security chief reveals that 30% of terror plots, disrupted by MI5 were by far right groups

At least 13 Somali troops have been killed by the al-Shabab armed group near the district of Afgoye, northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, a military official has said, for more than 10 years, the group has been fighting to topple Somalia’s Western-backed central government and establish its own government based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law. We left Afgoye district and attacked al-Shabab in the farms outside Afgoye, Major Mohamed Ali told the Reuters news agency, describing Wednesday’s incident in the district about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Mogadishu. We killed four militants and chased al Shabab, Ali said … Continue reading 13 Somali soldiers killed in al-Shabab attack near Mogadishu