Middle East Christians Risking All, Preaching in Deadly Muslim Areas
Christians are continuing to share the Gospel even in highly dangerous areas in the Middle East where the Islamic State terror group remains on the minds of the people.
Islamic State
Egypt court sentences 17 to death for attacking Christians
An Egyptian military court on Thursday sentenced 17 Islamic militants to death for involvement in deadly attacks on Christians, a rights lawyer said.
How seriously should Israel take Syria’s Golan Heights threat?
Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem addressed the UN General Assembly on Saturday with a focus on what the regime intends to do about the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. He declared that Damascus aims to recapture the territory from Israel after Syrian regime forces have retaken areas opposite the Israeli border during a recent Russian-backed offensive.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launches missiles into Syria over parade attack
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Monday it launched ballistic missiles into eastern Syria targeting terrorists it blamed for a recent attack on a military parade.
Trump officials make clear troops won’t leave Syria anytime soon
Six months after US President Donald Trump said he wants US troops out of Syria, his top officials are hammering home what has become increasingly obvious: the US isn’t going anywhere.
Kenya: Al-Shabaab Executed Two Christian Bus Passengers
On September 14, al-Shaabab, a Somali-based terrorist organization, executed two Christians, according to International Christian Concern (ICC).
U.S.-backed Syrian forces launch offensive on last ISIS bastion
A major offensive launched by U.S.-backed Syrian forces in the country’s east will likely lead to the downfall of Islamic State’s last major stronghold, but will not spell the end of the extremist group, analysts believe.
Knife-wielding attacker wounds 7 in Paris
At least seven people were injured in an attack by a knife-wielding man in Paris on Sunday, officials said.
Israel considered intervening in Syrian civil war before Russia stepped in
Israel considered military intervention in the Syrian civil war before Russia stepped in to aid President Bashar Assad, senior officials admitted Wednesday.
US says it will stay in Syria until jihadists defeated, demands Iran leave
The Trump administration is now pledging the US will remain in Syria until the ‘enduring defeat’ of the Islamic State group, a move that could signal open-ended American involvement in the war-torn country.
Coptic Christians find strength in faith and community of asylum seekers in Virginia
Fayza Estephanos knows exactly how long it has been since she learned that two of her brothers were among 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped and beheaded by the Islamic State in 2015 — three years, six months.
U.S. strike kills ISIS leader in Afghanistan
The leader of ISIS in Afghanistan was killed in an airstrike on Saturday along with 10 other fighters, officials said.
Iraq’s neighbors siphon Fertile Crescent water supply for their own agriculture, power projects
The Islamic State hold on territory has been broken, but Iraq now faces another existential threat as it battles neighboring Iran and Turkey for access to an increasingly scarce flow of water to the once-flourishing Fertile Crescent running down the spine of the country.
Russia says drone attacks on its Syria base have increased
Russian air defense assets in Syria have downed 45 drones targeting their main base in the country, its military said Thursday, after an attack by the Islamic State group on a Syrian army base a day earlier killed seven troops.
U.S. welcomes Saudi Arabia’s pledge of $100 million for Syria
The United States on Thursday welcomed Saudi Arabia’s contribution of $100 million to help stabilize parts of Syria no longer held by Islamic State, which comes as the Trump administration looks to cut back on foreign aid.
‘There Are No Girls Left’: Syria’s Christian Villages Hollowed Out by ISIS
The number of Christians across the Middle East has been declining for decades as persecution and poverty have led to widespread migration. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, considered Christians infidels and forced them to pay special taxes, accelerating the trend in Syria and Iraq.
‘ISIS 2.0’: Semi-independent terror cells, loyal only to radical ideology, plot strikes around world
Osama Bin Laden has been dead for years and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s ‘caliphate’ in the Middle East has crumbled, but the global jihadist threat continues to boil as extremists retreat underground to plot terror strikes around the world.
UN report: Up to 30,000 Islamic State members in Syria, Iraq
The Islamic State extremist group has up to 30,000 members roughly equally distributed between Syria and Iraq and its global network poses a rising threat — as does al-Qaeda, which is much stronger in places, a United Nations report says.
Israel trying to prevent a massacre of Syrians on Golan Heights border
Israel has reportedly asked Russia to ensure that Syrian government forces do not harm or massacre civilians in the south of the war-torn country as they complete their takeover of the area bordering Israel’s Golan Heights from rebel groups.
Syria boots IS from Golan Heights, retaking full control of frontier with Israel
The Syrian government regained control of the frontier with the Israel’s Golan Heights for the first time in seven years on Monday, after Islamic State-linked militants gave up their last pocket of territory in the area.