International Crisis Group
-
The Saudi Missions and the Mobs: Who Controls the Iranian Street?
-
New Risks on Nigeria’s Shiite Fault Line
On 12 and 13 December, Nigerian government troops clashed with members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN). Their battle in the city of Zaria, in north central Kaduna state, reportedly killed more than 100 people, including some senior movement members, and threatened wider violence.
Crisis Group’s Senior Nigeria Analyst Nnamdi Obasi provides some insight into what happened, the relationship of the Shiite group with the government and with Sunni radicals, and whether the Nigerian government risks a second Boko Haram-style insurgency.
FULL Q&A (Via Crisis Group)
Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Source: Crisis Group
-
Wave of bombings further tests Iraq’s stability | AP via Washington Post
By Adam Schreck
Lt. Col. Saad Maan Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, insisted that the border move is solely a technical matter and is unrelated to the prevailing tensions in the country. He did not elaborate, but he said the crossing should reopen within 48 hours.
Iraq temporarily shut the same crossing in January, weeks after anti-government demonstrations erupted along the desert highway heading to the checkpoint.
The International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental organization, recently warned that the standoff between Sunnis and the central government has begun a dangerous slide toward confrontation.
Photo: DVIDSHUB/Flickr
