SITE Intelligence Group

Islamic State: The Coronavirus Pandemic is a Punishment for Our Enemies

CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State (IS) said the coronavirus pandemic was divine punishment for its enemies, according to an audio broadcast on Thursday, where the jihadists also vowed more attacks.

The person on the tape, which was posted on one of the militants' websites but could not be verified by Reuters, identified himself as IS spokesman Abu Hamzah al-Quraishi.

Blast at Syrian camp near Turkish border kills 35

At least 35 Syrians were killed and many more wounded in a blast on Oct. 6 at a camp at the town of Atmeh near the border with Turkey.

A blast occurred at around 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 6 at the refugee tent camp in Atmeh, which lies across the border from Turkey's southern district of Reyhanlı, which killed at least 35 Syrians and wounded multiple others, Doğan News Agency reported. 

Yemen hit by deadly car bomb, air strikes as talks fail

A car bomb near a mosque in Sanaa kills two people, as Saudi-led warplanes bombarded second city Aden, after peace talks end without agreement The explosion in Sanaa, controlled by Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels, went off outside the Kobbat al-Mehdi mosque as Shiite Muslims emerged from midday prayers, witnesses and security sources said.

ISIL militants plan to march on Baghdad: SITE monitors

Militants who have seized a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq now plan to march on the capital Baghdad, a U.S.-based monitoring group said June 11.

In a lightning offensive, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants seized Tikrit earlier, its latest success following a spectacular assault late June 9 on Mosul, a city of two million.