The Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has made another deadly attack on a Christian church in Nigeria.
The terrorists bombed Saint Charles Catholic Church in Kano, Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least 5 people and wounding 8 others. The bombing happened shortly after the ending of Sunday mass as the crowd was beginning to leave the building. Police estimate the weapon was an IED thrown from across the road.
The attack was one of two attempted in Kano on Sunday. A woman wearing a homicide bomb vest was surrounded and isolated by police, detonating her device where she could not cause damage. Five officers were slightly wounded when she detonated the device.
In a surprising show of support to the Christian community of Kano, Muslim officials cancelled the city’s celebrating of the Eid festival marking the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Government officials say that Boko Haram has started receiving weapons and training from other al-Qaeda related groups like Al-Shabab in Somalia.
The Islamic extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has declared that the land they have taken from the Syrian and Iraqi government is now their own country ruled by Islamist law.
In an audio released for the first day of Ramadan, the group says the new nation runs from Aleppo in northwest Syria through Diyala province in northeast Iraq. The group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was named the “imam and khalifah for Muslims everywhere.”
The group said that all Muslim groups around the world should pledge allegiance to them.
Experts in the region say the declaration by ISIS could have a backfiring impact on their goal for an Islamic state.
“Now the insurgents in Iraq have no excuse for working with ISIS if they were hoping to share power with ISIS,” analyst Aymenn al-Tamimi, told The Associated Press. “The prospect of infighting in Iraq is increased for sure.”
Other middle east observers believe this is a tipping point in the power struggles among Islamic extremists groups worldwide, as the ISIS is now positioning itself to replace al-Qaeda. The two groups have a contentious relationship after al-Qaeda denounced al-Baghdadi in February.
Christians throughout Iraq have suddenly found their lives in danger as Islamic extremists attempt to overthrow the government.
The Al-Qaeda related group Islamic State of Iraq has launched a military style offensive against the Iraqi government, taking over the cities of Mosul and Maiji. The cities allow them to control the nation’s largest oil refinery and over $425 million in gold stored in the Mosul central bank.
In addition to the attempt to overthrow the government, they have been killing Christians who refuse to convert to Islam.
“What we are living and what we have seen over the last two days is horrible and catastrophic. The priory of Mar Behnam and other churches fell into the hands of the rebels this morning … and now they have come here and entered Qaraqosh five minutes ago, and we are now surrounded and threatened with death … pray for us,” Fr. Najeeb Michaeel wrote online from Mosul.
“Many thousands of armed men from the Islamic Groups of Da’ash (another name for ISIS or ISIL) have attacked the city of Mosul for the last two days. They have assassinated adults and children. The bodies have been left in the streets and in the houses by the hundreds, without pity. The regular forces and the army have also fled the city, along with the governor.”
After the last decade of attacks from Islamists, the number of Christians in Iraq has fallen from 1.5 million to less than 400,000.
In their latest round of terror and blasphemy against Christ, terrorist group al-Qaeda has taken to hanging murder victims on crosses for public display.
A Syrian opposition group said that al-Qaeda based Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant killed dozens in the Syrian city of Ar-Raqqah and then hung the bodies on crosses with messages warning against standing up against Islamists.
Abu Ibrahim Alrquaoui, the head of a group called Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Slowly, says the move is the latest attempt by the Islamists to control the region through fear tactics.
“They want to stay in control,” Alrquaoui told Fox News. “Everything they do is to scare people. That’s why they kill people publicly.”
Jihadists across Syria have been resorting to the tactic of hanging victims on crosses for the last few months. Most of the victims are not actually left to die hanging on the crosses but are rather shot in the head after being lifted up.
The head of terrorist group Al Qaeda is calling on members worldwide to kidnap Americans to use for bargaining chips for the release of Muslim terrorists.
Ayman al-Zawahiri told the As-Sahab news service that Muslims should kidnap Westerners, especially Americans, so that they can be exchanged for what he called “captives” in Western prisons.
Al-Zawahiri spoke specifically of Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the “blind sheikh”, that is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.
“I ask Allah the Glorious to help us set free Dr. Omar Abdel-Rahman and the rest of the captive Muslims,” al-Zawahiri said, “and I ask Allah to help us capture from among the Americans and the Westerners to enable us to exchange them for our captives.”
Al-Zawahiri also called on warring Muslim factions in Syria to come together in unity to overthrow the “criminal al-Assad regime.”
The Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda is calling on its members to launch terrorists attacks in their home countries.
The terror group released a statement in the latest copy of their magazine Inspire that calls for a series of car bombings in countries that they feel are working against Allah.
The magazine piece specifically calls on jihadists to launch attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. The article also specifically calls for attacks in “crusading” countries Great Britain and France.
“Choosing the place and time is a crucial factor to success in any operation,” the magazine reads. “Choose targets in your own country. You know the enemy better, you are within … The important thing is that you target people and not buildings.”
The bombers are used to making attacks during “election seasons” and between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
The article also gave instructions on how to make a simple bomb.
A National Guard reservist has been arrested and charged in Federal court with attempting to carry out terror attacks for Al-Qaeda.
Nicholas Teausant, 20, was charged Monday with attempting to provide material to support a foregoing terrorist organization.
Teausant reportedly told an undercover FBI agent that he had been planning a terror attack on a Los Angeles area subway system in January but called it off because the FBI had been tipped to the attack. He then said he was going to attempt to join Al-Qaeda in Syria to fight against the Syrian government.
Teausant was arrested attempting to sneak into Canada so he could board a flight to Syria.
Teausant was listed in court as a student at San Joaquin Delta Community College and a member of the National Guard.
His family told reporters on Monday that “he’s not a terrorist. He’s not evil.”
The official media outlet for the terrorist group al-Qaeda is planning an English language magazine aimed at “Western Jihadists.”
In a video posting to YouTube, the group quotes American Muslim leader Malcolm X and then introduces the new magazine they call “Resurgence.”
The media group, al-Sahab, is the same group that has been releasing videos and messages from Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri for years. They also help produce another magazine written for middle eastern jihadists with instructions on carrying out attacks and preparations for the assaults.
Observers say the announcement gives further proof of a break between senior Al-Qaeda leadership and groups in Syria and Iraq that had aligned with the international terror network.
The group is also trying to re-establish itself as the world leader when it comes to Islamic jihadism.
The Muslim Brotherhood is now a terrorist organization in another major Middle Eastern country.
The group, already a terrorist organization in Egypt, is now officially a terrorist organization in Saudi Arabia.
The move is seen as a response by the Kingdom to the possibility that Muslim Brotherhood extremists from Syria will attempt to return to Saudi Arabia after the civil war ends.
In addition to the Brotherhood, Saudi officials also listed the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as terror groups. The two groups are affiliated with al-Qaeda and have been proven to conduct terrorist attacks in Syria and Iraq.
The new Saudi declaration would make adopting their ideaology or promoting them in any way within the Kingdom would result in significant prison terms.
Amnesty International opposed the designation, saying that Saudi Arabia was trying to silence dissent, not stop terrorist groups from conducting actions in their nation.
Islamic terrorists in Syria are forcing Christians to sign documents agreeing to pay hundreds of dollars or be killed for refusing to convert to Islam.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda related terrorist group, has obtained a level of control in parts of Syria that they are giving Christians the options to convert to Islam or pay money to not be killed.
The agreement says that any Christian who doesn’t want to be killed has to pay four gold dinars twice a year, which amounts to about $500 American dollars per six months. The agreement says that middle class Christians will pay half the total and poor pays one quarter of the cost.
The agreement also puts heavy restrictions on Christians regarding their worship. While they will be able to worship, they cannot build new churches or replace any churches that are destroyed by government troops, Islamic terror groups or even ordinary Muslims.
Christians are also prohibited from stopping any Christian from converting to Islam who wishes to do so. They also cannot engage in commerce involving pork.
