Tag: struggle within Islam

Renewed conflict along Durand Line

BaluchistanIn an ongoing counter-insurgency operation dubbed "Azm-e-Istehkam" (Resolve for Stability), Pakistani security forces carried out deadly raids on militants of two "terrorist" networks designated by the propaganda terms "Fitna al-Khawarij" and "Fitna al-Hindustan." The prior, roughly translating as "heretical faction," refers to jihadist formations operating along the border with Afghanistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The later, translating as "Indian faction," refers to ethnic Baloch rebels in Balochistan province—implying that they are backed by India, which Delhi denies. Islamabad also accuses the Taliban regime in Afghanistan of backing both groups of insurgents, and the fighting follows a new round of Pakistani air-strikes across their international border, known as the Durand Line. (Map: PCL)

ICC unseals warrants for senior Taliban officials

ICCThe International Criminal Court unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of persecuting women and girls in Afghanistan, acts that the Court's prosecutors say constitute crimes against humanity. The named figures are Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Education Minister Habibullah Agha and Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadim. (Photo: Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons)

Iranian officials named for crimes against humanity

Iran protestsAmnesty International named 87 Iranian security and Interior Ministry officials who it says should face criminal investigation for crimes against humanity committed during the 2022 crackdown on the Woman Life Freedom protests, and urged the UN Security Council to refer Iran's situation to the International Criminal Court. The 1,161-page report, titled "Architects of Atrocities," documents 377 fatalities among protesters and bystanders between September and December 2022, of whom 56 were children, along with widespread torture, rape, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary imprisonment. (Photo: Taymaz Valley, Ottawa, via Wikimedia Commons)

Iran execution wave violates international law

executionsHuman Rights Watch and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran issued a joint report charging that Iranian authorities are unlawfully executing protesters and political dissidents on a weekly basis. In a "relentless attack on the right to life," Iranian authorities have arbitrarily executed at least 59 men on politically motivated and vague "national security charges" following grossly unfair trials within the last five months. Those executed included at least 32 in connection with protests, including this January's mass protests and the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests. Several of the executed were teenagers, aged 18 or 19, with many others in their early 20s. Five were hanged in public squares using truck-mounted cranes to instill fear and deter further public dissent, a practice that human rights organizations denounce as a violation of international laws prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. (Photo: ICHRI)

Iran: intensified persecution of Bahá’í

Baha'iUN human rights experts raised alarm over reports of torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention of members of Iran's Bahá'í religious minority amid the ongoing US-Iran war. The UN experts say that approximately 57 Bahá'ís are currently detained or imprisoned in Iran. They report claims of arbitrary and incommunicado detention, physical and psychological abuse, and coerced confessions. Some detainees were reportedly subjected to mock executions to pressure them into making confessions that were subsequently broadcast throughout Iranian state media. The prosecutions have focused on national-security charges, including "propaganda against the state," "acting against national security," and espionage. (Photo: Baha'i followers in Brazil protest repression in Iran. Via Wikimedia Commons)

Pakistan launches new offensive on Baloch rebels

BaluchistanPakistani authorities say that more than 100 insurgents have been killed in Balochistan province over the past week as security forces intensify a large-scale campaign against the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and other militant groups. The campaign, dubbed "Operation Shaban," was launched after a series of attacks on security personnel. The army, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Police have been deployed in coordinated aerial and ground assaults across the province. (Map: PCL)

Iran-linked terrorism conspiracy case in Bahrain

BahrainBahrain's High Criminal Court held its first hearing in a national security case involving 19 defendants accused of forming and operating a terrorist organization linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Prosecutors allege the group sought to destabilize Bahrain's political order, obstruct government institutions, undermine national unity, and ultimately overthrow the constitutional system. The defendants are also accused of efforts to spread political messaging aligned with wilayat al-faqih, the governance theory of Iran's cleric-led political system. (Photo: Pixabay via Jurist)

Syria

Syria: ‘Barrel Bomb Mufti’ on trial

muftiThe trial of Syria's former grand mufti, Ahmed Bareddin Hassoun, opened at the Palace of Justice in Damascus. Hassoun led Syria's official religious establishment under the Bashar Assad dictatorship. He is accused of incitement to murder and abusing his position as a mufti to provide religious cover for the crimes of the regime, as well as participation in war crimes and crimes against humanity. He famously issued fatwas justifying the bombing of civilians and called the regime's use of indiscriminate barrel bombs "liberation," winning him the epithet "Barrel Bomb Mufti." He also issued a fatwa in 2017 authorizing the execution of detainees held at the notorious Sednaya Prison, where the Assad regime killed thousands, many through torture and starvation. (Photo: SANA via Arab News)

Nigeria: gender-based violence against minorities

ChibokUN rights experts condemned Nigerian authorities in response to ongoing reports that mass killings, kidnappings, forced conversion, sexual violence, and enforced disappearances are disproportionately targeting women and girls in Christian and minority religious communities. (Photo: Hilary Matfess/IRIN)

ICC orders reparations for Timbuktu war crime victims

TimbuktuThe International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered an order on reparations for the victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz in Timbuktu between April 2012 and January 2013, when the Malian city was occupied by jihadist forces. Al Hassan was convicted by the ICC in 2024, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He is to bear financial liability for €7,250,000 in reparations to impacted communities and individuals. (Photo: WikiMedia Commons)

Syria

Fighting again erupts in Syria’s Suwayda

SuwaydaClashes broke out in Syria's southern as-Suwayda province between the central government's Internal Security Forces and Druze armed groups affiliated with the region's self-declared "National Guard." Fighters from the Guard's "501 Knights of Hamza" battalion attempted to advance toward government lines in the governorate's western countryside under heavy cover fire, including from truck-mounted machine-guns and rocket-launchers. Government forces responded with mortar fire. Since the fall of the Bashar Assad dictatorship in December 2024, Israel has occupied large areas of eastern as-Suwayda, and is believed to have dropped arms to Druze fighters in the region. The province has been effectively divided since fighting broke out last year between Druze militia and central government forces and their local Bedouin allies. (Map: Google)

Iraq: women’s rights defender assassinated

OWFIProminent Iraqi women's rights defender Yanar Mohammed was killed outside her Baghdad residence by two unidentified men. No group has claimed responsibility for the assassination. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani has ordered an investigation. International human rights organizations are urging authorities to identify the perpetrators and halt a continuing pattern of targeted attacks on activists in the country. Mohammed was co-founder and director of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI). She was widely recognized for her work supporting women facing gender-based violence, which included establishing a network of safe houses across several Iraqi cities. (Photo via Facebook)