Islamic State

World News

Boko Haram Reportedly Swears Allegiance To The Islamic State

2:14pm March 08, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The message purporting to be from the Nigerian extremist group was posted to Twitter pledging to follow the Caliph and to obey ISIS "in times of difficulty and prosperity."

The most recent propaganda videos from Boko Haram have higher production values than in the past and other similarities to ISIS-produced videos.

World News

Boko Haram Takes A Page From ISIS Propaganda Playbook

6:55pm March 05, 2015

by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

The Nigerian Islamist militant group has traded grainy videos for slick productions. This week, Boko Haram posted a video purportedly showing the bodies of two beheaded men accused of spying.

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A Shiite fighter sits on a military vehicle in the town of Hamrin in Salahuddin province on Thursday.

Thousands Reportedly Flee Battle In Tikrit

4:49pm March 05, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Iraqi army forces, Shiite militias and Kurdish peshmerga are battling to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown from Islamic State extremists.

Mohammed Emwazi is a Kuwaiti-born Londoner believed to be "Jihadi John," the central figure in the beheading videos released by the self-declared Islamic State. A British group, Cage, was in contact with Emwazi several years ago and claims that his treatm

World News

The British Group With A Very Different Take On 'Jihadi John'

8:29pm March 04, 2015

by Ari Shapiro

Cage is a controversial group founded by a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay. It has presented a sympathetic portrait of "Jihadi John," drawing criticism that it defends terror.

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ISIS Video Shows Extremists Smashing Priceless Artifacts

1:41pm March 02, 2015

by Alice Fordham

Bearded men wielding sledgehammers are seen shattering ancient statues and friezes in the Iraqi city of Mosul. One of the militants says God commanded them to remove the idols and statues.

A man looks at ancient Assyrian human-headed winged bull statues at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad on Saturday.

Iraq's National Museum To Open For First Time Since 2003 Invasion

2:14pm February 28, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The planned reopening was moved up following the release of a video showing self-declared Islamic State extremists destroying priceless ancient artifacts in the Mosul museum.

Then-U.S. ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill (right) tours the Mosul Museum of History in May 2009. This week the self-declared Islamic State posted a video online that showed militants going through the museum, pushing over statues and smashing artifact

World News

Remembering The Relics And Rich History Of Mosul, Before ISIS

2:03pm February 28, 2015

by Alice Fordham

When NPR's Alice Fordham visited Mosul in 2010, bird droppings and rain were the biggest threats to its archaeological sites. Now ISIS has destroyed artifacts that had endured for millennia.

Jordan's election laws make it impossible for any one political party to build a strong bloc in Parliament. Observers say that's one reason for the country's weakness — and for the growing appeal of the messages used by militants of the self-proclaimed

World News

For One Parliamentarian, A Stronger Jordan Is Key To Fighting ISIS

9:42pm February 26, 2015

by Robert Siegel

Arab youths dissatisfied with the present are looking longingly to the past, and Islam's glory days. That, and a dearth of opportunities, says Jordanian politician Rula Alhroob, make ISIS attractive.

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FBI Arrests 3 Men For Allegedly Plotting To Join Islamic State In Syria

2:43pm February 25, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

The three men from Brooklyn were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Two of the men had already purchased tickets to Istanbul.

An Iraqi child who fled fighting between the so-called Islamic State and Kurdish peshmerga is among the some 3,000 people living at the Baharka camp, near Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, on Jan. 16.

World News

Brutal ISIS Tactics Create New Levels Of Trauma Among Iraqis

3:47pm February 23, 2015

by Ari Shapiro

The self-styled Islamic State has made a practice of public beheadings and other horrific acts of violence. It's taking a huge toll on Iraqis, only a fraction of whom are getting the help they need.

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