Jihad – European Affairs Magazine

Four soldiers killed in attack attributed to Jihadists

19 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

According to several sources four malian servicemen were killed during an attack imputed to Jihadists in the region of Timbuktoo. The attack aimed at a camp of the malian army at Gourma Rharous, a locality of difficult access, situated in some 120 km east of Timbuktoo. The attack intervened in the neighborhood of 05:00 am (the hour GMT). The army lost four servicemen ( parachutists’ elite unit) and calcined vehicles were visible in the camp. According to a statement made by MINUSMA, the strength of the UN would have displayed its attack helicopters on the scene in support for the malian police army and facilitated the medical evacuation of the wounded persons by air traffic. The UNO army force also states an attack arisen on Tuesday against a vehicle of one of its logistic convoy, ” there was an improvised explosive, in approximately 30 km in the South of Tessali.”

Mali: ten soldiers killed in jihad attack

7 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

At least 10 soldiers from Mali have been killed durign an attack on a military base neightbouring Burkina Faso. The responsible for the attack are probably jihadists linked to Al Qaeda. Since 2012 the northern part of Mali is under jihadist’s and Tuareg rebel’s control.

Sexual jihad: Isis’ s new weapon

11 Agosto 2015 BreakingNews @en/Middle East - Africa di

19 women executed days ago in Iraq for refusing the “jihade marriage”. Isis militants, with no shame, kidnap and rape to satisfy their needs in the name of Allah.

“Sexual jihad” is the term that describes forms of sexual violence and human trafficking justified by political and religious ideology used by Isis militants to terrorize women. All women, all over the Middle East, No matter what their religion or conditions are. They could be married or unmarried, believe in other religions than the Islamic one, agree with the “sexual jihad” ideology or refuse it. Days ago, in the iraqi city of Mosul, Isis executed 19 women because they refused to take part to the cruel practice of the so-called sexual jihad. The distribution of women and money often generates internal conflicts inside Isis militants, creating a long series of cruelty. “As Iraq descends into war, women are not only on the frontlines: they are the battlefield. But – the Iraqi Woman’s Freedom Organisation said – here is the part that too many media reports have missed: they are not just victims; they are critical first responders”. The beginning of those effects dates back when the Usa occupied Iraq.

The Usa Government imposed new rules, instead of the secular Iraqi government bureaucracy and destroyed the balance of powers Who might have been wrong but were effective for the Iraqi society. The new system allocates political power according to religious sect, turning a theological difference into a dangerous political divide. Slowly, sectarian militias made their way and launched campaign of terror in which women were involved as victims. Violence at home and in the streets was frequent and continuous. Now, the iraqi women are living in another, similar, nightmare. “Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is fanning those flames by rejecting calls for unity – says The Womens’ Freedom Organisation – and resurrecting the militias that only a few years ago turned public hospitals into torture chambers and raped women who stepped out of line”.

Isis kidnaps women from their homes and uses them to satisfy the needs of the militants. The “sexual jihad” is another kind of weapon to control communities. Some women, after being kidnapped, committed suicide. In Syria and Egypt the situation seems to be different. The concept of sexual jihad has surfaced in those countries during their political turmoil. It says that during the crisis, women have offered sexual comforts to fighters to boost their morale. Those women come also from Britain, Australia and Malaysia. They flew to Syria, Egypt, Iraq to serve as ‘comfort women’ for Isis militants. In Iraq, women have no chance to choose. The most at risk are displaced families without husbands or fathers to lead the women. What really happens is that reports of forced “jihad marriage” are rampant across ISIS occupied territory.

China, Maitra: “Xinjiang is not a religious, but an economical issue”

11 Maggio 2015 Asia @en di

European Affairs interviewed Ramtanu Maitra (analyst with the US-based Eir magazine. He contributes regularly in three Indian defense quarterlies: Aakrosh, Agni and the Indian Defence Review. He used to write on South Asia in the Asia Times online) to speak about Beijing “will have to move westward in order to bring over land oil and gas from Central Asia and Arabia”. And Xinjiang where Islam that “is surely not a major issue for the Uyghurs”.

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For the Uyghurs, do the issues of independence and religion go hand in hand?

“Religion is surely not a major issue for the Uyghurs. They do not seem to be ready to lay down their lives to protect their religion. But when a number of other factors that disturb them come into play against a powerful front, such as the Han-led Beijing, religious identity is displayed. Particularly since adherents of Islam, many of whom are victims of colonial West in the past, have begun to assert themselves in recent years, to display religion on their shirtsleeves is surely considered an effective weapon. Beijing has shown little competence in dealing with the Muslims and does not seem to realize that to dishonor Muslims, even in China where Muslims are a very small minority, it could mean localized trouble that Beijing may have to curb by using state’s authority, which often overlooks compassion and legality. Not allowing the Uyghurs, even to a handful of them who are in the workforce, not to fast during the Ramadan is a policy which could bring together the more assertive Uyghurs and get them in direct contact with more aggressive Muslims who are in the lookout to declare Jihad against any non-Islamic country”.

“I think most Uyghurs are not interested in seeking independence. There could be a few who do so, but majority of the Uyghurs just do not want to get swamped by the Hans. Since Beijing has adopted the policy of developing at least a minimal infrastructure in the western China ( read: Xinjiang) in order to gain an access to Central Asia, South Asia and Southwest Asia, it has brought in , and will be bringing in more in the future, many Hans from east of Xinjiang. These Hans are skilled, better paid and have come to settle down in Xinjiang to raise their families”.

“All these are issues with the Uyghurs, who really want to be left alone. However, that is not going to happen. While many Uyghurs will take it lying down this demographic change, undermining their absolute majority in Xinjiang ( not that different from what happened or what is happening in Tibet) over the years, some will stand up indignantly declaring it as a state policy to obliterate their identity, culture, their way of life and impose upon them the culture to be obedient to the Hans. The latter group of Uyghurs may talk about independence, but they cannot, like the Tibetans, can build up a case to justify their independence from China, a massive power. At the same time, many Uyghurs, who, and whose forefathers, had lived a hard life, welcome the developments that Beijing is bringing into Xinjiang. There is no way the rebellious Uyghurs can bring under one umbrella the entire community on a very abstract cause such as independence from China”.

Has the repopulation of Xinjiang, through the shifting of the Han there in the last 15 years, had a contrary effect with respect to Beijing’s aim to suppress the Uyghurs requests?

“Beijing’s policy to bring in Hans into Xinjiang during the last 15 years is not to undermine the Uyghurs. As I have pointed out earlier, China needs to develop an infrastructure to gain access to its West where seas of oil and gas exists that Beijing could use effectively to sustain and grow its economy. The process has unleashed migration of many Hans to Xinjiang, the Uyghur land, one may call it. The process has also modernized ,and will continue to modernize further, strips of Xinjiang. Uyghurs will draw benefit from all that, but they will also have to come into a daily contact with the Hans, many of whom have little understanding of Islamic do’s and don’t’s, their culture and the isolationist attitude of the Uyghurs. Some Hans may even go as far as trying to prove a phony Han superiority over the Uyghurs. These differences may result in clashes and conflicts from time to time, but there is no reason to believe that over many years, these two ethnic groups will not be able to live side by side”.

“Going back to answering your question, I believe Beijing’s policy is not to suppress the Uyghurs but loaded with non-compassion, Beijing saw no reason to make real social efforts to integrate the Uyghurs with the rest of China. On the other hand, if China wanted to suppress the Uyghurs, why didn’t Beijing bring in the Hans into Xinjiang between 1950 and 2000? They did not bring in the Hans into Xinjiang, because China was not involved then in its newly-adopted Silk Road economic policy”.

Does the fact that over 200 Chinese have gone to combat in Syria since 2012 make China one of the most at-risk countries as regards the Jihadi threat?

“No. This is ridiculous. If thousands of Islamic radicals have not posed a serious threat to 64 million Brits, why 200 radicals would pose any sort of problem to a nation of 1.2 billion? It will not. But what China does not want is being forced to use his hammer to deal with the Uyghurs. China wants a “peaceful rise”, that is its constant refrain. Violent acts to curb the Uyghur uprisings, however small those could be, would be played up by the western media in bold headlines and will be seized upon by the powers-that-be in the West to showcase that China, in essence, is ruthless, intolerant to other religious groups and will readily exercise force when it cannot get its way”.

The passage of the new Silk Road and the presence of oil and gas resources. Is economics the real driver behind Beijing’s anti-Islam policy in Xinjiang?

“A yes-and-no is my answer to that question. China will have to move westward in order to bring over land oil and gas from Central Asia and Arabia. But China will also need to bring in many mineral reserves in order to keep its factories churning out varieties of products. But it is not going to be an one-way road. China, with its very broad and capable production base, will actively seek markets in Central Asia, Southwest Asia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Crimea Europe et al. Already in Kyrgyzstan almost every item that is sold in the market carries the label: “Made in China”. That is the “yes” part of my answer”.

“The “no” part of the answer is that China is not doing this as an anti-Islam policy in Xinjiang. All the countries in China’s west who are expected to provide China an access to their valuable energy sources and many mineral reserves, with the exception of Russia and Georgia, are all Muslim nations. The “Stan” nations, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the entire Arabia are Islam-dominated nations. Beijing has so far been less than sensitive to the Uyghurs, at least as of now, but it is not foolish. It knows which side of the bread is buttered and who provides and butters it”.

Giacomo Pratali

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