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Jihad

Jihad is an Arabic word that means striving or struggling with a praiseworthy aim. The term has been used by terrorist groups in connection with their attacks on Western societies.

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All Content on this topic

Courtroom illustration of Tyler Vilus

French IS jihadi sentenced for crimes in Syria

The defendant had appeared in an "Islamic State" video that showed prisoners being executed.
PoliticsJuly 4, 2020
Prisoners in Hasakah jail in November 2019

IS prison riot in northern Syria highlights Kurds' plight

A recent prison riot demonstrates just how tense the situation has become in Syria's Kurdish regions.
CrimeApril 4, 2020
Kenia Wahlen Präsident Uhuru Kenyatta bei Stimmabgabe

AfricaLink on Air - 14 January 2020

Kenyan teachers desert the northern region over security threat +++ Nigeriens want French troops out of Sahel region
PoliticsJanuary 14, 202029:59 min
Gipfeltreffen in Bamako Mali

AfricaLink on Air - 13 January 2020

France meets G5 Sahel leaders to discuss spread of jihadist+++Opposition in Guinea Conakry intensifies election boycott
PoliticsJanuary 13, 202029:59 min
Bildergalerie George Weah, designierter Präsident Liberia | Wahlkampf 2005

AfricaLink on Air - 30 December 2019

Liberia's anti-government protest postponed +++ Malawian expectant mothers frustrated over shortage of health facilities
PoliticsDecember 30, 201929:59 min
How a German family ended up in 'IS' territory in Syria

How a German family ended up in Syria's 'IS' territory

Hundreds of EU citizens who joined "IS" abroad are in detention in northern Syria. Among them are Aicha and her kids.
SocietyDecember 27, 2019
Rockets being fired from Gaza

Israel-Gaza truce breaks down

Israeli jets have struck Islamic Jihad targets in response to rocket fire from Gaza.
ConflictsNovember 15, 2019
Anti-missile systems in Israel

Israel ends hostilities with Islamic Jihad

Israel announced an end to military operations in the region.
ConflictsNovember 14, 2019
A rocket fired from Gaza

Israel, Iran politics make war with Gaza more likely

Israeli PM Netanyahu's electoral woes and Iranian regional interests could make the recent escalation in Gaza spiral.
PoliticsNovember 13, 2019
A Palestinian woman inspects a house destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip

Gaza violence continues into second day

Violence has flared in the Gaza Strip after Israel assassinated an Islamic Jihad leader in an airstrike.
ConflictsNovember 13, 2019
Rocket attacks in Gaza

Israeli airstrike kills Islamic Jihad commander

Minutes after the Iranian-backed group confirmed the death of Abu el-Atta, rockets were fired towards Israel.
ConflictsNovember 12, 2019
The al-Hol refugee camp in Kurdish-held northeastern Syria

Coming home after the 'caliphate'

Most European countries refuse to repatriate their citizens who joined 'IS' — not Kosovo, where the state guides them.
ConflictsOctober 2, 2019
The Hotel Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou in flames

Burkina Faso threatened with famine

International agencies warn that more suffering is ahead for Burkina Faso if jihadists are not quickly stopped.
PoliticsSeptember 10, 2019
John Walker Lindh

'American Taliban' released from prison

But concerns remain as to whether John Walker Lindh has abandoned his radical ideology.
SocietyMay 23, 2019
Israel's Kerem Shalom boder corssing with Gaza Strip

Israel reopens Gaza crossings

Israel reopened its crossings with the Palestinian territory after a decrease in tensions with Gaza Islamists.
ConflictsMay 12, 2019
Smoke from an air strike near Gaza City's main port

Israel's Netanyahu vows to keep up 'massive strikes' on Gaza

The clashes included the first Israeli fatalities from rocket fire since 2014.
ConflictsMay 5, 2019
Quadriga-Bilder - Totale

IS terror: How dangerous are the returnees?

As IS fighters and their families return to Germany, fears of a new jihad grow.
PoliticsApril 11, 201926:00 min
Autor Rainer Hermann

IS may fall, but will not vanish

Rainer Hermann
IS has lost nearly all its territory. But proclaiming its end is myopic, writes guest contributor Rainer Hermann.
ConflictsMarch 17, 2019
Masood Azhar

What is Jaish-e-Mohammed?

The militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed an attack on Indian forces in Kashmir that killed at least 40.
PoliticsFebruary 15, 2019
A surveillance camera behind a prison fence

Spain dismantles 'Islamic State' ring in jails

A jihadist network spanning 17 prisons had attempted to radicalize inmates and establish a "prison front."
Law and JusticeOctober 2, 2018
Franziska Giffey surrounded by young people

Minister renews call for political education

Germany's youth minister has renewed a call for legislation that boosts teaching on democracy.
PoliticsSeptember 5, 2018
Smoke rises after Israeli fighter jets carried out an airstrike on a building in Gaza City

Palestinians killed in Gaza explosion

The blast comes hours after a truce between Israel and Palestinian militants was announced.
SocietyJuly 15, 2018
Police block access to Avenue de Caserne in Etterbeek during a reconstruction of the Maelbeek terrorist attack, Brussels,

Dutch police use DNA to bust 3 IS suspects

Authorities in the Netherlands have detained three men using DNA evidence found on arms at a hideout in France.
Law and JusticeJune 19, 2018
A picture taken from Gaza City on May 29, 2018, shows a smoke billowing in the background following an Israeli air strike on the Palestinian enclave.

Israel bombs Gaza after Hamas attacks

The fighting is the worst episode of violence since Israel and Hamas fought a brief war in 2014.
PoliticsMay 30, 2018
Members of al-Qaida in Syria gesture

With IS in tatters, al-Qaida renews call for jihad

The move is an attempt to capitalize on the demise of its main competitor, the "Islamic State," according to experts.
TerrorismMay 16, 2018
Anschlagsserie auf Kirchen in Indonesien

How Indonesian women are lured to jihad

The recent deadly attacks in Indonesia have raised concerns about women's role in dangerous militant networks.
PoliticsMay 14, 2018
Syrian air bombardments against East-Ghouta

The rebel groups fighting in eastern Ghouta

DW takes a look at the various rebel groups fighting with the Syrian government outside Damascus.
PoliticsFebruary 20, 2018
The city of Raqqa in ruins, with bombed-out buildings as far as the eye can see.

Stopping a post-caliphate jihad

The unanimous view at the Munich Security Conference was that the terror group "Islamic State" remains a threat.
ConflictsFebruary 18, 2018
Fokus Europa Albanien

Albania's young IS fighters

Preachers of hate recruited over 100 young Albanians to fight for IS in Syria and Iraq.
SocietyFebruary 8, 201804:22 min

Africa Link on Air - 11 December 2017

AU warns returning African jihadists pose serious threats +++ UN returns bodies of 15 Tanzanian peacekeepers from DRC
CrimeDecember 11, 201729:59 min
Indien Bombay Massenhochzeit von Muslimen

'Love jihad' in India?

Controversy has broken out over an Indian anti-terror body's investigation of "love jihad." Murali Krishan reports.
SocietyNovember 1, 2017
Souad Mekhennet

Souad Mekhennet: the journalist who speaks to jihadis

German-born Mekhennet has focused her investigative career on diving into militant islamist networks.
PoliticsOctober 17, 2017
IS suspects being arrested

Catalonia and its jihadis

Radical Islamists are more active in Barcelona than in most other Spanish cities, for several reasons.
TerrorismAugust 18, 2017
Spanien Barcelona Lieferwagen fährt in Menschenmenge

Sowing hatred

Jihadi terrorism in Europe aims to strengthen recruiting networks, says DW's Luis García Casas.
TerrorismAugust 18, 2017
Afghanistan Taliban Kämpfer

70 years of proxy jihad

70 years since the partition of India, the jihadist network has become so huge that it threatens both states.
PoliticsAugust 14, 2017
external

@dwnews - Taliban launch women's magazine

SocietyAugust 12, 201703:46 min
Mudhoon Loay Kommentarbild App

IS jihadism could live on

Loay Mudhoon
The "caliphate" of "IS" may soon fall in a physical sense, but its spirit of terror remains, says DW's Loay Mudhoon.
TerrorismJuly 16, 2017
The shadow of a person behind prison bars

France: Holy war behind bars

French prisons may be turning into hotbeds of jihadism.
SocietyJune 29, 201704:49 min
Iran Teheran - Terrorangriff im Parlament

'Iran cannot portray itself as victim of terrorism'

Analyst Paulo Casaca tells DW the recent attacks in Iran are a result of Tehran's own policy of supporting militancy.
PoliticsJune 8, 2017
external

London attack suspect appeared in jihad documentary

One of the alleged London Bridge attackers was known to police, having appeared in a documentary on jihadist extremists.
June 6, 201700:45 min
Brasilien Soldat patrolliert Rio de Janeiro

Eight men sentenced for plotting Rio 2016 attack

Authorities described the group as an "amateur cell" and downplayed any ties to the so-called "Islamic State."
TerrorismMay 5, 2017
Aiman az-Zawahiri Videobotschaft

Al Qaeda weakened, not finished

Six years after bin Laden's death, al Qaeda is being overshadowed by IS, which is expanding in South Asia.
PoliticsMay 1, 2017
Indien Uttar Pradesh "Anti-Romeo Squad"

Immoral thuggery

The so-called "anti-Romeo" squads in India have morphed into vigilante gangs attacking innocent civilians.
PoliticsApril 18, 2017
Filmszene "Der Himmel wird warten", von Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar

Film: French teenagers lured by a jihadist network

Heaven will Wait: New French movie on the Islamist radicalization of two young girls.
CultureMarch 24, 2017
China startet Anti-Terror-Kampagne in Xinjiang

Istanbul attack and the Uighur connection

In a DW interview, analyst Siegfried O. Wolf explains why the Uighur issue has expanded beyond China's borders.
ConflictsJanuary 6, 2017
Berlin Anschlag - Fahndungsfoto Anis Amri

A well-trodden trail of jihad

Anis Amri showed many signs of radicalization before carrying out the terror attack in Berlin.
TerrorismDecember 23, 2016
Jordanien Polizisten und kanadische Touristin bei Angriff in Kerak getötet

Karak: An attack on Jordan

An attack on a popular tourist attraction in Jordan highlights just how vulnerable the country is.
TerrorismDecember 20, 2016
Ratko Mladic in Den Haag

Mladic defended his people from 'jihad': lawyers

Ratko Mladic's lawyers have said the former Serb military commander should be acquitted of genocide charges.
PoliticsDecember 9, 2016

The IS network: Terror in Europe

The so-called "Islamic State" claims that a broad terror network exists in Europe. Intelligence specialists investigate.
ConflictsNovember 14, 2016
Mubin Shaikh

A jihadist's U-turn

Canadian-born Mubin Shaikh went from a pious believer in jihad to working in intelligence.
PoliticsOctober 28, 2016