The Islamic State's Violent Ambitions

Most recent stories in The Islamic State's Violent Ambitions

• 

  The New York Times

  

  Jihad and Girl Power: How ISIS Lured 3 London Girls (Published 2015)

  The New York Times - Katrin Bennhold

  LONDON — The night before Khadiza Sultana left for Syria she was dancing in her teenage bedroom. It was a Monday during the February school vacation. Her niece and close friend, at 13 only three years younger than Khadiza, had come for a sleepover. The two girls wore matching pajamas and giggled as …

• 

  The New York Times

  

  ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape (Published 2015)

  The New York Times - Rukmini Callimachi

  QADIYA, Iraq — In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her — it condoned and …

• 

  The New York Times

  

  ISIS Destroys More Artifacts in Syria and Iraq (Published 2015)

  The New York Times - Rick Gladstone

  Islamic State militants indulged in new public displays of artifact destruction this week, sledgehammering a half-dozen statues said to have been stolen from the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. The militants also broke up a hidden 2,000-year-old lion statue they discovered in a Palmyra museum garden …

• “ISIS Allies Target Hamas and Energize Gaza Extremists”

  

  The New York Times

  

  ISIS Allies Target Hamas and Energize Gaza Extremists (Published 2015)

  The New York Times - Diaa Hadid

  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — One bomb hit a Hamas security checkpoint in northern Gaza. A few days later, another exploded in a trash can. Another blew up next to a Gaza City high-rise, and a small one targeted a chicken store owned by a Hamas intelligence official, Saber Siyam. The four attacks in …

• 

  The New York Times

  

  Terrorist Attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait Kill Dozens (Published 2015)

  The New York Times - Ben Hubbard

  BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a matter of hours and on three different continents, militants carried out attacks on Friday that killed scores of civilians, horrified populations and raised thorny questions about the evolving nature of international terrorism and what can be done to fight it. On the surface, …

• 

  The New York Times

  

  ISIS and the Lonely Young American (Published 2015)

  The New York Times - Rukmini Callimachi

  Alex, a 23-year-old Sunday school teacher and babysitter, was trembling with excitement the day she told her Twitter followers that she had converted to Islam. For months, she had been growing closer to a new group of friends online — the most attentive she had ever had — who were teaching her what …