Islamist groups

‘The Inevitable Caliphate? A History of the Struggle for Global Islamic Union, 1924 to the Present’ by Reza Pankhurst (Hurst, £18.99, 280 pages)

A British government report on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has been delayed as ministers and officials disagree over its findings, the Financial Times reported on Aug. 17, citing official sources.
   

The number of Turkish citizens fighting under the umbrella of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is slightly more than 1,000, according to Turkish officials, who admit that they are unable to learn the exact number. The estimated number of armed ISIL fighters is around 12,000 to 15,000, which shows that Turks make up just less than 10 percent of the jihadist group.

Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an overnight suicide bombing in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad which killed 33 people, one of the deadliest recent attacks in the Iraqi capital.
   

Egypt's foreign ministry on July 20 summoned Turkey's charge d'affaires over criticism of Cairo's handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in neighbouring Gaza.
      
Turkey and Egypt withdrew their ambassadors last year after the military ousted Egyptian Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who had forged closer ties with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Egypt's foreign minister accused Qatar, Turkey and Hamas on July 17 of conspiring to undermine Cairo's efforts to bring about a ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group and Israel in Gaza, Egypt's state news agency reported.

The ISIL jihadists whose sweeping Sunni militant offensive has captured swathes of Iraq have declared an "Islamic caliphate" in their territory as Iraqi forces battle to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown Tikrit.

Jihadists groups in Iraq, Kenya and Nigeria have killed dozens of pepole since the start of the World Cup, mirroring their actions four years ago It’s not just football fans whose football fever soars during a World Cup. So does that of militant Islamists and jihadists with deadly consequences.

More than 1,000 people -- at least three-quarters of them civilians -- were killed this month as Islamist militants swept through large swathes of northern and western Iraq, the United Nations said Tuesday.
      

The Turkish government has updated its official terrorist organization list, removing the al-Nusra Front from the group listed under the title “al-Qaeda in Iraq.” However, the changes published in the Official Gazette on June 18 kept al-Nusra listed as a “terrorist organization.”