Tag: Islamic State group

Young Iraqi film students tell their own stories from Mosul

by Tony Gamal-Gabriel Agence France-Presse MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) – A budding Iraqi filmmaker yells “action!” as an actress clambers over rubble in Mosul’s Old City, proud students of a nascent film school in the former jihadist bastion. Mosul still bears the scars of the brutal reign of the Islamic State group, who overran the northern Iraqi city in 2014 and imposed their ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law. They destroyed everything from centuries-old churches to musical […]

Ferry disaster shines spotlight on corruption in Iraq

by Ammar Karim Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – A governor on the run, officials summoned to court and candidates accused of bribing councilors: the Mosul ferry disaster has brought renewed attention to the scourge of corruption in Iraq. Nationwide horror over the March 21 capsizing of the overloaded riverboat in the northern city of Mosul, which claimed 100 lives, mostly of women and children, has given way to a clamor for provincial officials to be […]

NY suspect confesses IS inspired, ‘felt good’ after attack

by Jennie MATTHEW / Thomas Urbain in Paterson Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – The Uzbek immigrant behind New York’s worst attack in 16 years confessed to acting in the name of the Islamic State group and “felt good” about the killings, having planned an assault for a year, investigators said Wednesday. The shocking details emerged after federal agents questioned Sayfullo Saipov in a Manhattan hospital, injured with a police bullet to the abdomen after […]

Eiffel Tower goes dark for Las Vegas victims

Paris, France (AFP) — The Eiffel Tower went dark on Monday night in tribute to the victims of the attacks in Las Vegas and Marseille. At least 59 people were killed and hundreds wounded Sunday when a gunman opened fire on a concert in Las Vegas in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. Earlier Sunday, a man knifed two young women to death outside the main train station in Marseille, France’s second-biggest city. […]

3 Indonesian fishermen missing off Philippines: govt

Three Indonesian fishermen have gone missing in waters off the southern Philippines, Manila said Saturday, an area that has seen repeated kidnappings for ransom by Islamist militants. Authorities said the three Indonesians went missing on Wednesday in waters bordering the Philippines and Malaysia but the circumstances of their disappearance were still unknown. “They are missing but we don’t have confirmation yet on who took them and where they were taken,” regional military commander Major General […]

Obama pays last presidential holiday visit to Hawaii marine base

Kaneohe, United States | AFP | US President Barack Obama on Sunday visited American troops at a Hawaii military base, the last time he will participate in his holiday tradition as commander-in-chief. Obama and the first lady Michelle visited the Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, close to where the presidential couple are vacationing with their daughters. Speaking weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s scheduled inauguration, Obama called his time as commander-in-chief “the privilege of […]

Libyan forces push into last IS-held areas of Sirte

by Mahmud Turkia SIRTE, Libya (AFP) — Forces loyal to Libya’s UN-backed unity government on Sunday pushed into the last areas of Sirte held by the Islamic State group in what was the jihadists’ coastal stronghold. The battle for the hometown of Libya’s slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi was launched more than three months ago by forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord. IS captured the Mediterranean city in June 2015, sparking fears they […]

Philippine Muslim extremists stage mass jailbreak

MARAWI, Philippines (AFP) — Muslim extremists who support the Islamic State group staged a daring jailbreak in the southern Philippines, freeing 23 detainees in the latest in a series of mass escapes, officials said Sunday. About 50 heavily armed members of the Maute group raided the local jail in the southern city of Marawi on Mindanao island on Saturday and freed eight comrades who were arrested barely a week ago, police said. Fifteen other detainees, […]

AFP chief Visaya: No ISIS in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) —  There are no members of the jihadist terror group ISIS in the Philippines. This was stressed by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya Thursday in a message to the PNA. Visaya made this statement in response to claims made by acting Davao City Mayor Paolo Duterte who earlier said that ISIS militants are threatening the city. The younger Duterte said that he has already […]

IS blasts in Syria regime heartland kill more than 148

by Rim Haddad and Maher Al Mounes DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — More than 148 people were killed Monday in bombings claimed by the Islamic State group in northwestern Syria, the deadliest attacks to date in the regime’s coastal heartland. Seven near-simultaneous explosions targeted bus stations, hospitals and other civilian sites in the seaside cities of Jableh and Tartus, which until now had been relatively insulated from Syria’s five-year war. The attacks on strongholds of President […]

IS releases video of ‘citizen executions’ in Iraq

BAGHDAD , Iraq (AFP) — The Islamic State group has released a video showing five alleged “spies” being shot dead in Iraq by young men from a crowd assembled for the execution. The 12-minute video released on social media on Wednesday mimics a participatory television show, in which members of the public are interviewed and invited to take part. Produced by the group’s branch in Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, the video […]

94 dead in triple Baghdad car bombings claimed by IS

by Salam Faraj BAGHDAD , Iraq (AFP) — Three car bombs in Baghdad, including a huge blast at a market in a Shiite area, killed at least 94 people Wednesday, the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital this year. The attacks, all claimed by the Islamic State group, came with the government locked in a political crisis that some have warned could undermine the fight against the jihadists. The worst bombing struck the frequently targeted […]