Reader links post for March 27 – 2016

Daily Links Post graphic

In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

113 Replies to “Reader links post for March 27 – 2016”

  1. REVEALED: Elite SAS teams primed to act on terror attack on UK soil at a moment’s notice (express, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/655840/ISIS-attacks-UK-SAS-helicopters-attack

    “TERROR attacks across Britain will be met by the wrath of a new airborne SAS reaction force on standby 24/7.

    Helicopters will fly members of the elite Special Forces regiment to scenes of attacks at a moment’s notice.

    If terrorists are at large, the heavily-armed soldiers will be sent in to trap and eliminate them on the direct order of Home Secretary Theresa May…”

  2. Islamic State ‘ID maker involved in BOTH Brussels and Paris attacks’ SNARED by police (express, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/655867/ISIS-ID-maker-police-caught-brussels-paris-Djamal-Eddine-Ouali

    “AUTHORITIES have caught a wanted Algerian man suspected of being involved in the heinous Brussels and Paris terror attacks committed by the Islamic State.

    Djamal Eddine Ouali is believed to have forged fake ID’s for ISIS jihadis who killed hundreds in terror strikes across the European capitals.

    Belgian authorities reportedly issued a warrant for Ouali’s arrest before he was caught by anti-terror police in Southern Italy.

    It is believed Ouali’s suspected terror links were uncovered during an apartment raid in Brussels last October, along with key documents that included photos and aliases for the terrorists involved in the Paris attacks.

    The 40-year-old could be extradited to Belgium in the coming days as the nation fights back against the ISIS insurgents who wreaked havoc in the nation’s capital…”

  3. Trump says Saudi Arabia WOULDN’T EXIST without the US and threatens to stop buying its oil (express, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/655873/Donald-Trump-Oil-Saudi-Arabia-Islamic-State-ISIS-Daesh-Republican-Presidential-America

    “DONALD Trump has declared Saudi Arabia would not exist “without the cloak of American protection” as he threatened to stop the US from buying its oil.

    The brazen presidential hopeful said he would pull oil trade with the Sunni Kingdom unless the country’s government provides troops to fight the Islamic State.

    Outlining his foreign policy, the Republican frontrunner also said America should be reimbursed by the countries it provides protection – including Saudi Arabia.

    The billionaire’s candid comments came after the New York Times asked him if he would halt oil purchases from US allies unless they provided ground-based troops against the depraved death cult – also known as Daesh.

    He said: “The answer is, probably yes.”

    “We’re not being reimbursed for the kind of tremendous service that we’re performing by protecting various countries.

    “Now Saudi Arabia’s one of them.”

    The 69-year-old’s also claimed “Saudi Arabia wouldn’t exist for very long” without the US, despite being one of the world’s largest oil exporters.

    He said: “If Saudi Arabia was without the cloak of American protection, I don’t think it would be around.”…”

    • This just bought him a lot of votes, it has been a long time since we had a President that knows that alliances are two way streets, for way too long we have had allies that thought we were their hired mercenaries but we were the ones doing the paying.

      • That’s exactly right.
        I’ve read articles from Gulf countries in Arab publications in English for years – well before the internet – that we’re gaining from serving as their defense umbrella.

        Arms sales, sure, but lots of countries supply those. Their requirements maintain the demand for soldiers during times of peace in our own country. We benefit because the military offers employment opportunities for young men who can then to go to college. That their employment of such mercenaries has improved race relations, all a net gain for the USA.

        • What you said was the gain for the US was bull but there is one gain, the US has blooded troops, people who have seen combat and know how to handle combat. This is a tremendous advantage in a fight, this and the constant improvement and testing of military equipment. This is why the ratio of dead Americans to dead as—–s is always so high in our favor.

          When we have to do a crash rebuild of our military (as I fully expect we will) the vast number of combat vets will save a lot of lives because they know what works in combat and what doesn’t.

          • True, the experience will help us, but they’ve been chewing on this forever. They really consider us contaminated mercenaries, rather like maids from Sri Lanka and construction workers from Nepal.

            Our presence in the penisula to liberate Kuwait from Saddam befouled the holy Arabian Peninsula. That was a big beef shared by BinLadin and other Saudi salafists.

            • So they have decided to teach us “Mecs” a lesson, well they are awakening the sleeping giant and are about to learn the difference between the US acting nice and how we fight wars of survival. They won’t like what is coming down the pike because it is way past bad.

  4. ‘Don’t stigmatize Muslims’ (saudigazette, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/world/americas/dont-stigmatize-muslims/

    “Washington — US President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans not to stigmatize Muslims following this week’s deadly attacks in Brussels, saying that doing so is “counterproductive” in the fight against militants.

    In his weekly media address, Obama said Muslim-Americans are “our most important partners in the nation’s fight against those who would wage violent jihad.

    “That’s why we have to reject any attempt to stigmatize Muslim-Americans, and their enormous contributions to our country and our way of life,” Obama said.

    “Such attempts are contrary to our character, to our values, and to our history as a nation built around the idea of religious freedom. It’s also counterproductive,” he said.

    “It plays right into the hands of terrorists who want to turn us against one another — who need a reason to recruit more people to their hateful cause.”

    Obama made his remarks as the global community continues to reel from Tuesday’s attacks in Belgium, claimed by the Daesh group, which killed 31 dead, including two Americans, and wounded 300.

    “At least 14 Americans were injured, and we pray for their full recovery, along with everyone else affected by these attacks,” Obama said.

    The remarks by the Democratic president follow controversial statements in the wake of the Brussels bombings by the two top Republicans vying to succeed him in the White House.

    Texas Senator Ted Cruz demanded this week that police “patrol and secure” Muslim neighborhoods in the US in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks, and reiterated an earlier call to suspend the relocation of Syrian refugees to the country.

    Donald Trump, meanwhile, repeated his demand for the government to temporarily bar all Muslims from entering the US.

    The billionaire real estate baron first called for a ban on entry into the US by Muslims back in December, following a deadly shooting attack in San Bernardino, California.”

    • This can be done but with the safety equipment build into the plants it would be hard.

  5. Judge bans a British father from taking his son to church… because his mother is a Muslim
    A British father has been banned from taking his son to a church
    The boy’s Muslim mother won a controversial court order preventing the boy from attending
    Father has been warned that he could be denied access if he breaks rule

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3511018/Judge-bans-British-father-taking-son-church-mother-Muslim.html#ixzz446DMO7Pa
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  6. Organisers cancel Sunday’s Brussels attacks ‘March Against Fear’

    Brussels (AFP) – The organisers of a “March Against Fear” planned for Sunday to mark the Brussels terror attacks said they had cancelled the event after the authorities asked them to do so because of security fears.

    “We understand this request. The security of our citizens is an absolute priority. We join the authorities in proposing a delay and ask people not to come this Sunday,” the organisers said in a statement on Saturday.

    http://news.yahoo.com/organisers-cancel-sundays-brussels-attacks-march-against-fear-160850318.html#

    • Bill played the same card when he was running and then ignored his seeming uncontrollable curiosity.

  7. Just watching BFM TV and there is a march by the extreme right whatever that may mean which has disrupted the laying of teddy bears and the ripping up of Israeli flags in Brussels and the outrage of the journalists is greater than how they reacted to the bombs. I tried to look at the marchers at this extreme right and it was very difficult work out whether they were on the right or not. I small something rotten in all of this…

  8. 53 dead, over 100 injured in a suicide blast outside park in Pakistan’s Lahore
    LAHORE: A blast killed 53 people outside a public park in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, the capital of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political heartland of Punjab.
    At least 100 people were injured, reported Pakistan newspaper Dawn quoting rescue officials.
    “The explosion was a suicide attack and took place in a children’s park,” said Iqbal Town Superintendent of Police Dr Muhammad Iqbal. A large number of families, especially women and children, were present at the spot on Sunday evening.
    Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people, is plagued by a Taliban insurgency, criminal gangs and sectarian violence. Punjab is its biggest and wealthiest province.
    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/53-dead-over-100-injured-in-a-suicide-blast-outside-park-in-Pakistans-Lahore/articleshow/51573694.cms

    ** they didn’t write here, but it was attack aimed at killing Christians. The families in the part celebrated Easter

  9. PAKISTAN LAHORE – At least 30 people have been killed and 200 others wounded in a bomb blast in Lahore’s Gulshan Iqbal Park.

    Rescuers say the blast occurred at the central gate of the park near the motorcycle parking stand.

    They say they have ferried the dead and the wounded to the Jinnah Hospital, Shaikh Zayed Hospital and other nearby hospitals. An emergency has been declared in all hospitals of the provincial capital.

    According to doctors at the Jinnah Hospital, many injured are in critical condition and fear the death toll may rise.

    The area has been cordoned off. Police say they are trying to determine the nature of the blast.

    Employees of the park say the park was packed with people since it was Sunday and Easter Day.

    Witnesses said there were pools of blood and scattered body parts in the park, where a large number of families, especially women and children, were enjoying their weekend.

    Rescue 1122 spokesman confirmed that an emergency call was received at around 6:44pm and that 23 ambulances are present at the site.

    http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/03/28/national/six-killed-over-30-wounded-in-lahores-gulshan-iqbal-park-blast/

  10. Greece: Refugees try to ‘breach’ Macedonian border in Idomeni

    Refugees gathered along the railway track as a line of riot police stood in their path to monitor the gathering. At one point, refugees swelled against the wall of police but were pushed back by the authorities.

  11. PAKISTAN – Tension grips Islamabad as protesters enter Red Zone

    ISLAMABAD: Police fired tear gas on Sunday at thousands of stone-throwing supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, a month after he was hanged for killing a provincial governor for alleged blasphemy.

    The supporters of Qadri gathered in Islamabad’s twin city Rawalpindi in the afternoon to mark his Chehlum, before turning toward the heavily-barricaded capital which was patrolled by hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers.

    Riot police carrying batons and shields fired tear gas to try to prevent them pushing closer to the city centre, leading to a clash.

    Rangers officer Colonel Amanullah and other security personnel were injured in stone pelting from protesters.

    Demonstrators torched many CDA vehicles and private cars on their towards Parliament House.

    A metro bus station at China Chowk was set on fire by the demonstrators. They also set ablaze three motorcycles parked at the metro station.

    http://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2016/03/tension-grips-islamabad-as-protesters-enter-red-zone/

    Rangers called in as situation in Islamabad gets out of control

    SLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Rangers have been summoned to control the situation in Islamabad after the police were unable to control charged crowd roaming around chanting slogans and throwing stones in the federal capital, Dunya News reported.

    According to details, the charged mob has even breached the highly guarded Red Zone and now the Rangers have been called in to control the situation.
    The mob set ablaze the Metrobus station in Islamabad and also torched at least three motorcycles parked inside the station along with containers blocking roads.

    The militant elements are busy harming the public property while the series of breaking and entering in various shops is also ongoing.

    The tension in the federal capital is on the rise in Islamabad’s D-Chowk area where the charged mob is busy surrounding and torching public property.

    Reportedly, the crowd has entered the Red Zone after breaching high security and is also clashing with the police and Rangers.

    http://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/329508-Rangers-called-in-as-situation-in-Islamabad-gets-o

  12. Japan: ‘No one is illegal’ – Protesters welcome refugees in Tokyo

    Around 100 pro-refugee protesters marched through the Shibuyu area of Tokyo, Sunday, to show their support for refugees and call on the Japanese government to accept more asylum seekers into the country.

    [ nice comments on the youtube page ]

  13. Brussels: What the US Presidential Candidates Had to Say
    As Clarion Project follows each candidates remarks on Islamist extremism, we take a look at how they reacted to news of the March 23 terror attacks.

    Presidential Candidates respond to the Islamic State terror attacks in Brussels

    See Clarion Project’s profile on each candidate’s position on Islamic extremism

    Democrats
    Hillary Clinton

    I think it’s a mistake – George W. Bush said it – that to do anything that implies that we are at war with an entire religion … with 1.4, 1.2 billion people. It is not only wrong, it is dangerous. YoU know, right here at home, we need to be reaching out and including Muslim Americans and communities where they live in our first line of defense. We don’t need them to feel that “if they hear something or see something” that they can’t report it. WE want them to be part of our protecting the United States, and the same goes for Europe.

    https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/brussels-what-presidential-candidates-have-say#

    • After spending over 16 years vilifying W she is now holding him up as an example.

  14. Senator Proposes Bill To Take in Christian Refugees from ISIS
    Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) brought forward a bill to expedite the process of claiming asylum for minorities fleeing ISIS persecution.

    Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) is pushing a bill that would expedite the asylum process for Christians and other minority groups fleeing the Islamic State.

    The Religious Persecution Relief Act, officially launched on March 17, 2016, “would grant religious minorities fleeing persecution at the hands of ISIS and other groups in Syria priority status so they can apply directly to the U.S. resettlement program,” instead of their going through the U.N. refugee agency.

    Tom Cotton spoke out about his new bill in a radio interview on March 22. He also noted that Secretary of State John Kerry has recently designated the Islamic State’s campaign of religious persecution and mass murder as genocide.

    https://www.clarionproject.org/news/senator-proposes-bill-take-christian-refugees-isis

  15. Into the Fray: Bombs in Brussels (or ‘It’s Islam Stupid’ revisited)

    One out of six people all over the world is a Muslim… [T]rying to say anything in general about this huge community – 1.5 billion people – will be wrong… The vast majority of these populations are not involved… with violence and terror all over the world…. I don’t think there is anything essential that connects between this huge and historically important religion and all the terrorism that’s going on –

    * Islam is to terrorism as rain is to flooding
    * Eerie sense of inevitability
    * Horrors of intra-Muslim strife
    * The majority of Muslims…
    * Attempts at apologetics: The ‘colonialism’ canard
    * No cries of ‘Kill for Krishna’?
    * Modernity as culprit?
    * Grim, gory future?

    http://jewsdownunder.com/2016/03/26/fray-bombs-brussels-islam-stupid-revisited/

      • OT-
        Richard, here’s homework just for you!

        I think I told you about the various Bible-study schedules before. Lots of people study passages according to a schedule of bite-size chunks, generates discussions, it’s kinda fun.

        Right now I’m studying the Prophet Nahum [Nathan], and I found an article you might like. It describes the Assyrian empire of Prophet Nahum’s time.

        The Discomfiting but Urgent Message of the Prophet Nahum
        http://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2016/03/the-discomfiting-but-urgent-message-of-the-prophet-nahum/

        • That is interesting, especially when you take into consideration the relation between the physical area of the Capital of Assyria and the current location of ISIS. I will have to do more reading and thinking on this.

          Thank You very much.

          • The very important Book of Jonah is read on the afternoon on Yom Kippur. It’s in Aramaic and quite difficult with the cantillation. Also because it’s fairly late in the fasting period.
            It’s an considered a great honor that my father was asked to chant it for many years, even after retirement at extremely advanced age. He used to start practicing in early summer.

  16. DAILY MAIL -Police are investigating after poster with the slogan ‘Attention! Rapeugees not welcome’ appears outside a hospital

    A5 sticker with the caption ‘Stay Away’ spotted near South Shields hospital
    It features a drawing of a woman running from a mob armed with knives
    ‘Disgusting’ poster was created by the group the Northern Patriotic Front
    Police say they have removed one sticker and inquiries are ongoing

    blurred pic :

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3511282/Police-investigating-poster-slogan-Attention-Rapeugees-not-welcome-appears-outside-hospital.html

    ====================================================
    Anger as racist poster calling refugees rapists is put up outside hospital

    A ‘disgusting’ racist poster put up outside a hospital has been reported to police.

    The sticker, carrying the words ‘Attention! Rapeugees not welcome’ and ‘Stay away’, was put up by a group called the Northern Patriotic Front.

    It was found outside South Tyneside District Hospital in South Shields.

    metro ( dot ) co ( dot ) uk/2016/03/27/anger-as-racist-poster-calling-refugees-rapists-is-put-up-outside-hospital-5778485/
    ===================================================
    The Independent – Posters declaring ‘rapeugees not welcome’ appear outside UK hospital

    The sign also depicts a woman running away from a knife-wielding group

    Posters suggesting refugees are rapists have been put up outside a UK hospital, causing locals to be “angered”.

    The A5 stickers, stating the words “Attention! Rapeugees not welcome” and “Stay away!”, were made by a group called the Northern Patriotic Front.

    The group describes itself as a “movement is designed to campaign in the north east of England against immigration and asylum seekers and all that comes with this”.[…]

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/posters-declaring-rapeugees-not-welcome-appear-outside-uk-hospital-a6955271.html

    • And the resistance grows, if as I suspect the poster was printed on a computer printer I hope they didn’t register the computer and printer.

  17. Pope’s Easter message condemns failure to help migrants (BBC, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35907274

    “Pope Francis has condemned those who fail to help migrants, during his traditional Easter speech in Rome.

    The Pope said migrants often met “rejection from those who could offer them welcome and assistance”.

    He also condemned terrorism as “a blind and brutal violence” that should be fought with “weapons of love”.

    The Pope was delivering his “urbi et orbi” (To the city and the world) message to thousands amid tight security in St Peter’s Square…”

    • Vatican, Rome under heavy security during Easter Triduum

      March 25, 2016

      The City of Rome has redoubled security precautions in the wake of the Brussels bombings, with special vigilance around the Vatican during the Easter Triduum.

      Police have announced that sensitive areas throughout the city are under 24-hour surveillance, and the 150,000 people who are expected at the Vatican for Easter celebrations will be required to pass through extra screening at they enter St. Peter’s Square. Law-enforcement officials in Rome have called upon military units to reinforce the police presence.

      However, the Vatican has denied that Italian police will be on patrol inside the Vatican during the Easter Triduum, alongside the Vatican’s own gendarmarie. Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, told reporters that although there is close cooperation between the Vatican security officials and their Italian counterparts, “this statement has no foundation.”

      https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=27904

      http://oi67.tinypic.com/zkg909.jpg

  18. Dutch Arrest Frenchman Suspected in Planning Attack (abcnews, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dutch-arrest-frenchman-suspected-planning-attack-37964685

    “Dutch police arrested a 32-year-old Frenchman in the port city of Rotterdam on Sunday at the request of French authorities who suspect him of “involvement in planning a terror attack,” prosecutors said.

    Residents were evacuated from homes near addresses on two streets that were raided Sunday by anti-terror police, who also took three other men into custody.

    French officials requested the arrest Friday after the suspect emerged during an investigation, according to a statement from the Dutch national prosecutor’s office.

    Spokesman Wim de Bruin declined to give more details about the alleged plot, saying it was a French investigation….”

  19. Al Jazeera network to cut 500 jobs (BBC, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35907272

    “The Qatar-based Al Jazeera media network has announced that it is cutting 500 jobs.

    It said the job reduction would affect posts worldwide but most of the losses would be in Qatar.

    Acting director general Mostefa Souag said the decision was “difficult” but the group was “confident it is the right step”.

    Al Jazeera, funded by the Qatari government, was founded in 1996 and has more than 70 bureaux worldwide.

    A statement from Al Jazeera described the latest move as “a workforce optimisation initiative” in response to “the ongoing transformation of the media landscape”….”

  20. We fear we will be next, says family of newsagent who was stabbed to death by another Muslim in a religiously motivated attack after posting Happy Easter message (dailymail, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3511002/We-fear-says-family-newsagent-stabbed-death-posting-Happy-Easter-message.html

    “The family of a Muslim shopkeeper stabbed to death after posting an Easter message online say they now fear for their lives.

    Newsagent Asad Shah, 40, was killed at his shop in Glasgow on Thursday, hours after writing on Facebook: ‘Good Friday and very happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation.’

    A 32-year-old Muslim man was arrested on Friday and last night remained in police custody in connection with the attack, which officers confirmed was ‘religiously motivated’.

    It has been reported that detectives probing the murder believe the killer may have travelled from 200 miles away to launch the attack.

    Mr Shah’s family, originally from Pakistan, are members of the Ahmadiyya Islamic sect, which preaches ‘love for all, hatred for none’, but is seen as sacrilegious by orthodox Muslims.

    Yesterday, close relatives of Mr Shah revealed they are ‘fearful for their own security’ in the wake of his death.

    Speaking to The Mail on Sunday on the condition that their names are not published, they paid tribute to a ‘much loved’ husband, brother and uncle…”

  21. ISIS warn they will INVADE London and leave our streets ‘filled with blood’ (express, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/655943/ISIS-pledge-BLOW-UP-Eiffel-Tower-invade-London

    “ISLAMIC State (ISIS) threatened unleashing a rampage of terror “everywhere” in Britain that will leave the streets of London “filled with blood”.

    The sick jihadis said the attack will come “from where you don’t expect” in a sinister propaganda video comes just days after the Brussels terror attacks.

    ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Belgian capital which struck an airport and metro station – leaving 31 dead at 300 injured….”

  22. Pro-Qadri supporters clash with police near parliament (tribune, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1073844/police-clash-with-supporters-of-mumtaz-qadri/

    “ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army deployed troops on the streets of the capital Sunday after thousands of stone-throwing supporters of Mumtaz Qadri who was hanged last month clashed with police in chaotic scenes.

    Qadri was executed on February 29 for killing a Punjab governor over his call for blasphemy reform in what analysts said was a “key moment” in Pakistan’s long battle against religious extremism.

    An estimated 25,000 supporters of the former police bodyguard gathered in Islamabad’s twin city Rawalpindi in the afternoon to offer prayers, before turning toward the heavily-barricaded capital, which was patrolled by hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers.

    Riot police carrying batons and shields fired tear gas to try to prevent them pushing closer to the city centre. Some protesters set fire to a container while chanting slogans….”

  23. What could French political culture have to do with Islamist violence? (france24, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.france24.com/en/20160326-france-belgium-radicalisation-jihad-reasons

    “French political culture may play a key role in Islamist radicalisation, according to two American researchers who study Sunni extremist movements in the world.

    The recent attacks in Brussels and those in Paris in January and November 2015 underscore an unsettling truth. “Jihadists pose a greater threat to France and Belgium than to the rest of Europe,” wrote William McCants and Christopher Meserole of the Brookings Institution in an article called “The French Connection” published on March 24 in bimonthly magazine Foreign Affairs.

    According to the two researchers, “As strange as it may seem, four of the five countries with the highest rates of radicalisation in the world are Francophone, including the top two in Europe (France and Belgium).”

    There are an estimated 1,700 French and 470 Belgian individuals who have travelled to join the Islamic State group and other violent extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, according to a report by the Soufan Group published in December 2015. The Soufan Group also reported that France and Belgium have the highest number of fighters per capita.

    After examining the country of origin of Sunni foreign fighters in Syria and the locations of Sunni terror attacks, McCants and Meserole came to a “surprising” conclusion: the single most predictive radicalisation characteristic was the fact that a country was Francophone – defined as a country with French as a national language.

    This proved to be a better predictor for radicalisation than the average GDP of a country or the quality of the national education system. It was also a better predictor than the level of education or the personal wealth of the jihadist fighter in question or even their amount of access to the internet.

    These observations led McCants and Meserole to conclude that French political culture seem strongly linked to comparatively high rates of radicalisation.

    “The French approach to secularism is more aggressive than, say, the British approach. France and Belgium, for example, are the only two countries in Europe to ban the full veil in their public schools,” the authors wrote.

    Based on research comparing the number of jihadist fighters with the total Muslim population in the country, Belgium has a higher percentage of radicalisation per capita than either the UK or Saudi Arabia, even if more jihadist fighters have theoretically gone to Syria and Iraq from these two countries.

    McCants and Meserole also underlined two other important factors in radicalisation: the relationship between high unemployment rates among young people and urbanisation. A combination of urbanisation rates between 60 and 80 percent and youth unemployment rates between 10 and 30 percent also seem to show an increase in Sunni radicalisation.

    “We suspect that when there are large numbers of unemployed youth, some of them are bound to get up to mischief. When they live in large cities, they have more opportunities to connect with people espousing radical causes. And when those cities are in Francophone countries that adopt the strident French approach to secularism, Sunni radicalism is more appealing,” they write.

    For the authors, this could explain why certain Parisian banlieues, the Molenbeek neighbourhood in Brussels and Tunisia’s Ben Gardane have had disproportionately high rates of radicalisation.

    The authors however want to remain cautious. “Our report is still preliminary and hasn’t been vetted well by peers yet. It’s also based on a very small dataset and should be taken cautiously. That said, we went public with our results early because our initial findings suggest a strong relationship, one we can’t fully explain, between Francophone countries and foreign fighter radicalisation,” Meserole told France 24.”

  24. ISIS militants among 46 killed in latest clearance operations: MoD (khaama, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/isis-militants-among-46-killed-in-latest-clearance-operations-mod-0452

    “At least 46 militants including loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in the latest clearance operations conducted by the Afghan national security forces.

    The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the operations were conducted in the past 24 hours in Helmand, Nuristan, Badakhshan, Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.

    According to an operational update by MoD, at least 18 militants were killed and a vehicle along with three bikes were destroyed while 17 landmines were dismantled during the operations in Sangin disrict of Helmand.

    MoD further added that 7 militants were killed including a commander of the group and 10 others were wounded in Nuristan operations conducted in Du’ab district.

    At least 15 ilitants were killed and 5 others were wounded in separate operations conducted in Jurm district of Badakhshan and center of Kunduz province, MoD said, adding that 6 militants including 2 ISIS loyalists were killed during the raids in Achindistrict of Nangarhar and Domanda area of Paktika.

    According to MoD, at least three soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces also lost their lives during the same operations.

    The anti-government armed militant groups including the Taliban insurgents have not commented regarding the reports so far.”

  25. Mother of two killed on adultery charges in Jawzjan (khaama, Mar 27, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/mother-of-two-killed-on-adultery-charges-in-jawzjan-4768

    “A mother of two children has been executed allegedly for having immoral contacts with a man disregarding her husband in northern Jawzjan province.

    Officials say the woman was accused and handed over to Taliban by her in-laws.

    Shakib, governor of Faizabad district told Pajhwok Afghan News that the woman was gunned down in Mimlik village on Saturday night.

    Taliban spokesperson has also confirmed the killing but rejected involvement of his group in the incident.

    Mujahid said Taliban had received a complaint from the woman’s husband accusing her for having wrong character but she was not killed by them.

    According to Mujahid, the woman was executed by her husband….”

  26. Obama to lead delegation at opening of largest mosque in the US

    America’s largest mosque complex, officially known as Turkish-American Culture and Civilization Center, was built with Turkish funding under the supervision of the Turkish religious foundation (Diyanet). The $100 million mega mosque in Lanham, Maryland, will soon be open for Muslim worshipers in the Washington, DC area, as Erdogan and Obama are expected to open the mosque.

    http://www.yenisafak.com/en/video-gallery/news/turkey-builds-100-million-mega-mosque-in-maryland-us-2074171