Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban group has appointed a suspected terrorist who was held at the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay prison facility as acting defense minister. The Islamist rulers named ex-detainee Abdul Qayyum Zakir, a mullah or Muslim mosque leader, as a minister, reported the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel citing a Taliban source.
Three months after Israel and Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip waged a brutal 11-day conflict, the Israeli military is prepared for another round of fighting with the enclave, IDF chief Aviv Kohavi said this week.
Traumatized by the invasion of ISIS in 2014, Christians in Iraq remain nervous of outsiders, International Christian Concern reports. Constituting one of the oldest believing communities in the world, the Christians of Bartella near Mosul are reportedly wary of the influx of new arrivals to their district.
Following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban on August 15, Afghan Christians began fleeing to the mountains to escape the Islamist rulers, who reportedly have a hit-list of believers to kill and who are going door-to-door taking women and children, Fair Mission (FAI) reported.
Frail appearing U.S. President Joe Biden made clear Tuesday he would obey Afghanistan’s new Islamist Taliban rulers and withdraw American forces from the nation by the end of the month.
Israel confirmed Tuesday that it launched airstrikes against Gaza after incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian strip started fires in the country’s south. Militants of the ruling Hamas Islamist movement reportedly fired on the Israeli aircraft carrying out the raids, which destroyed a weapons manufacturing site and other targets.
While it has banned former U.S. President Donald J. Trump from its service, the social networking site Twitter continues to host accounts of high-profile officials linked to the Islamist Taliban group.
Embattled U.S. President Joe Biden says discussions are underway about keeping American forces in Afghanistan after his August 31 deadline for completing the U.S. withdrawal as thousands, including Christians, struggle to leave the Islamic nation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West not to interfere in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, amid signs that China and Russia are increasing their footprint there. The authoritarian leader said Western nations “must stop the irresponsible policy of imposing foreign values from abroad.”
In addition to being continually attacked by Islamic terrorists, Christians in Nigeria are persecuted by the government as well: a pastor’s son was shot to death in Borno state last week by government officials sent to demolish a church building, Christian Today reports.
Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets from the Gaza Strip toward the town of Sderot on Monday afternoon in what appeared to be the first such attack since May’s 11-day conflict in the Palestinian enclave, the military said.
Around two-thirds of Syria’s Christians have had to escape the war-torn country over the last 10 years, Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reports. Prior to the start of the civil war in 2011, Christians constituted between 8%-10% of Syria’s population; they now make up about 3%.
Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah, on Saturday warned that the Israeli army would be destroyed in any future war with the Lebanon-based terrorist organization, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar news agency reported.
Police in Canada are concerned about growing anti-Christian sentiments after dozens of churches were attacked, with at least ten churches destroyed by fires.
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) announced Monday that it will carry out an exercise along the Lebanese border tonight to better prepare for a possible escalation of tensions with the Lebanese terrorist group, Hezbollah.
Israel may be at the center of a diplomatic crisis after the White House raised concerns about reports that Pegasus spyware from Israeli firm NSO was illegally used to target journalists, human rights activists, and politicians, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Axios News reported on Wednesday.
Islamic terrorists have released 32 of more than 100 students they kidnapped from Nigeria’s Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna State on July 5, International Christian Concern reports. More than 1,000 students in Nigeria have been kidnapped this year alone.
The Dutch are facing social and political unrest over the government’s decision to return at least some of the dozens of mainly female Islamic State group fighters and their 56 children from Syria to the Netherlands. The government views it as a humanitarian and legal obligation. Still, populist parties fear the radicalized returnees may threaten Dutch security.
Israeli strikes reportedly killed a Hezbollah military commander and an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) senior official.
The future of the U.S. war in Iraq will come into focus Monday when President Biden meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the White House, with the two leaders expected to finalize a withdrawal plan that could fundamentally reshape America’s military role in the Middle East.