Iraq
Iraq militias may be committing war crimes
Human Rights Watch said that militias allied with Iraqi forces are committing systematic abuses against Sunni civilians that are "possibly war crimes."
Tag: sectarian war
Greater Middle East
Yemen’s Houthi rebels: Iran’s proxies?
Claims that the Houthi uprising in Yemen is an Iranian plot ignore that the Houthis' brand of Shia is heretical to Iran's ayatollahs—and that Yemen's Shi'ites have real grievances.
Africa
UN issues report on CAR war crimes
The UN released its report finding that acts committed by armed factions in the Central African Republic constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity, but not genocide.
Greater Middle East
Jihadis declare open season on school children
The Taliban massacre of children at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, was shortly followed by a deadly Qaeda attack on a schoolbus stopped at a Houthi rebel checkpoint in Yemen.
Iraq
Iraq: Shi’ite pilgrims defy threats at Karbala
Despite—or perhaps partly because of—threats and deadly attacks from ISIS militants, a record 15.5 million Shi'ite pilgrims have converged on Karbala for Arbaeen.
Greater Middle East
Yemen: Saudis suspend aid as Houthi power grows
A failed US commando raid on al-Qaeda in Yemen comes as Saudi Arabia has suspended aid to the country in response to the growing power of Shi'ite Houthi militants.
Iraq
Bedfellows get stranger in war on ISIS
Iran launched air-strikes against ISIS targets in Iraq, the Pentagon admitted. Meanwhile, it appears that NATO ally Turkey opened its territory to ISIS forces attacking Kobani.
Iraq
Global terrorism survey finds surging attacks
A study by UK-based Institute for Economics and Peace finds there were nearly 10,000 terrorist attacks in 2013, 44% more than the year before.
Greater Middle East
Saudi Arabia: mourners repudiate sectarian terror
Hundreds of thousands from across Saudi Arabia converged on a village for the funeral for victims of a sectarian attack, chanting "Sunnis and Shi'ites, we are brothers!"
Greater Middle East
Lebanon: Sunni militants battle army in Tripoli
Clashes erupted between the Lebanese army and Sunni gunmen in the northern city of Tripoli following the arrest of a suspected ISIS leader in an army raid.
Iran
Iran, Pakistan battle at Baluchistan border
Pakistani and Iranian forces exchanged mortar fire along their border in the divided region of Baluchistan, after days of Baluch militant attacks both sides of the line.
Greater Middle East
Saudi Arabia sentences Shi’ite cleric to death
Sh'iite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was convicted of sedition and other charges in Saudi Arabia and sentenced to death—posing greater sectarian tensions in the Gulf states.