Awoken by gunshots in the middle of the night, Fatima Amadou was shocked by what she saw among the attackers: children.
Guns slung over their small frames, the children chanted “Allahu akbar,” as they surrounded her home in Solhan town in Burkina Faso’s Sahel region. Some were so young they couldn’t even pronounce the words, Arabic for “God is great,” said the 43-year-old mother.
Début juin, dans la région du Sahel au Burkina Faso, le village de Solhan était victime d’une attaque meurtrière perpétrée par un groupe armée. Ce groupe était majoritairement composé d’enfants et d’adolescents âgés entre 12 et 14 ans.
Les profils de la violence perpétrée par les groupes islamistes militants d’Afrique évoluent. Ils continuent néanmoins de semer le chaos à un niveau record, causant, en moyenne, 14 évènements violents par jour.
Un examen des données sur les évènements violents attribuables aux groupes islamistes militants en Afrique pendant le premier semestre de 2021 et leur évolution au cours de la dernière décennie met en relief la menace grandissante qu’ils posent. Cependant, il existe des différences considérables dans les niveaux et les types de violences perpétrés. Voici des points clés à retenir :
Iranian political analyst Emad Abshenas, the editor-in-chief of Iran Diplomatic Newspaper, said that unlike Rouhani’s team, President-elect Raisi’s administration does not seek to reach a fundamental resolution of all disagreements with the U.S., but only to have the sanctions lifted. He made his remarks in a show that aired on Sky News Arabiya (UAE) on July 24, 2021. Abshenas said that he does not think that Raisi’s team wants to obtain nuclear weapons, although Iran has all the technology to manufacture a bomb, and if it wanted to, it could do so at any time. Abshnenas also said that “even before the JCPOA, (Iran) had the ability to manufacture ten nuclear bombs.” He added that Iran’s first priority will be resolving disagreements with the neighboring countries and getting closer to “the countries of the East” like Russia and China instead of getting closer to Europe and the United States.
Iranian political analyst Emad Abshenas, the editor-in-chief of Iran Diplomatic Newspaper, said that Israel uses commercial vessels to smuggle spies, collaborators, terrorists, and weapons, therefore if Israeli ships want to enter the region, Iran will not only target them but will “destroy” them.
Protesters chanted: “Cannons, tanks, rockets, the mullahs should get lost” in a protest staged in Tehran, video of which was posted on Kian Sharif’s Twitter account on July 26, 2021. Protesters also chanted: “Not Gaza, not Lebanon, I will give my life only for Iran” in another video posted on the same day on the Twitter account of Iran News Wire. In the video, protesters further chanted: “Death to the dictator!” and “From Tehran to Khuzestan, unite, unite!” On July 31, 2021, videos of another protest were posted on the Irankargar YouTube channel, in which protesters burned tires and blocked a road. Protesters also chanted: “Death to the Rule of the Jurisprudent!” and “The country has no water, the massacre continues!” The protests in Tehran come following protests in Khuzestan and elsewhere, for more information, see MEMRI TV clip no 8989.
On 17 December 2010 a young Tunisian, Mohamed Bouazizi, immolated himself as a sign of protest in the small town of Sidi Bouzid. This dramatic, isolated act led to mass protests across Tunisia and much of North Africa, Yemen and Syria, eventually dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’.
Ten years on, several leaders have been ousted, but the hopes of those who joined the mass protests are shattered. The political and economic gains from the Arab Spring have been far fewer than initially expected. A striking example is the 25 July move by Tunisian President Kais Saied to dismiss the prime minister and suspend Parliament for a month. The decision came in the wake of widespread protests leading to clashes with security forces.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration will launch a new program to resettle certain Afghans as refugees in the United States, an administration official and two knowledgeable sources said on Sunday.
The U.S. State Department was expected to announce the setting-up of the so-called Priority Two refugee program on Monday, the three sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ismail Haniyeh was elected Sunday to a second four-year term as chairman of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip. The 59-year-old leader and father of 13 has been the de facto leader of the Gaza Strip and head of the Islamist organization’s political bureau since May 2017. He was a close assistant to Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin before the cleric was killed by Israeli forces in a targeted strike in 2004, and became prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in an upset victory over the long-dominant Fatah party. In a brief civil war against Fatah, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, leading to an Israeli and Egyptian military blockade of the Strip.
Guerilla fighters from the Islamic State group attacked a checkpoint in the northern Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, killing at least five Egyptian troops, government officials said.