The Syrian army and loyalist militiamen Sunday retook full control of Albu Kamal from the Islamic State group, a military source said, ousting the jihadists from their last urban stronghold in Syria.

The military source in Deir Ezzor told AFP that &quot;Syrian troops and allied forces took full control of Albu Kamal, and are removing mines and explosives left by Islamic State&quot; in the town on the Iraqi border.&nbsp;

Albu Kamal has changed hands several times, with government forces announcing its capture earlier this month but losing it to a blistering Islamic State counter-attack a week ago.

&quot;Syrian troops and allied forces took full control of Albu Kamal, and are removing mines and explosives left by Islamic State,&quot; the military source in Deir Ezzor told AFP on Sunday.&nbsp;

&quot;IS put up fierce resistance and tried to use explosives and suicide bombers, but besieging the city allowed the army to clinch the offensive and take full control of the city,&quot; the source added.

State news agency SANA also reported the advance in Albu Kamal, saying the &quot;Syrian army and its allies eliminated the last Daesh (Islamic State) terrorist pocket in the town.&quot;

A string of territorial defeats across northern and eastern Syria had left Albu Kamal as the last significant Syrian town held by Islamic State.&nbsp;

Syria&#39;s army announced on November 9 that it had ousted Islamic State from the town, but the jihadists launched a lightning offensive and retook it.

A week later, the army and allied Iraqi, Lebanese, and Iranian fighters broke back into Albu Kamal and steadily advanced through the town.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed on Sunday that Syrian troops and their allies had captured Albu Kamal.&nbsp;

&quot;Islamic State fighters withdrew from the city towards the Euphrates River,&quot; Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

&quot;There is no more fighting in the town, but there are clashes around Albu Kamal,&quot; he said.

The monitor said more than 80 fighters were killed in the three days of ferocious push to retake the town, including 31 pro-regime forces and at least 50 Islamic State jihadists.&nbsp;

Islamic State seized large areas of both Syria and neighbouring Iraq in a lightning 2014 campaign, but this year has lost much of the territory it once held.

The loss of Albu Kamal caps the group&#39;s reversion to an underground guerrilla organisation with no urban base.&nbsp;

Albu Kamal has changed hands several times, with government forces announcing its capture earlier this month but losing it to a blistering Islamic State counter-attack a week ago

The Syrian army and loyalist militiamen Sunday retook full control of Albu Kamal from the Islamic State group, a military source said, ousting the jihadists from their last urban stronghold in Syria. The military source in Deir Ezzor told AFP that "Syrian troops and allied forces took full control of Albu Kamal, and are removing mines and explosives left by Islamic State" in the town on the Iraqi border. Albu Kamal has changed hands several times, with government forces announcing its capture earlier this month but losing it to a blistering Islamic State counter-attack a week ago. "Syrian troops and allied forces took full control of Albu Kamal, and are removing mines and explosives left by Islamic State," the military source in Deir Ezzor told AFP on Sunday. "IS put up fierce resistance and tried to use explosives and suicide bombers, but besieging the city allowed the army to clinch the offensive and take full control of the city," the source added. State news agency SANA also reported the advance in Albu Kamal, saying the "Syrian army and its allies eliminated the last Daesh (Islamic State) terrorist pocket in the town." A string of territorial defeats across northern and eastern Syria had left Albu Kamal as the last significant Syrian town held by Islamic State. Syria's army announced on November 9 that it had ousted Islamic State from the town, but the jihadists launched a lightning offensive and retook it. A week later, the army and allied Iraqi, Lebanese, and Iranian fighters broke back into Albu Kamal and steadily advanced through the town. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed on Sunday that Syrian troops and their allies had captured Albu Kamal. "Islamic State fighters withdrew from the city towards the Euphrates River," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. "There is no more fighting in the town, but there are clashes around Albu Kamal," he said. The monitor said more than 80 fighters were killed in the three days of ferocious push to retake the town, including 31 pro-regime forces and at least 50 Islamic State jihadists. Islamic State seized large areas of both Syria and neighbouring Iraq in a lightning 2014 campaign, but this year has lost much of the territory it once held. The loss of Albu Kamal caps the group's reversion to an underground guerrilla organisation with no urban base.

Syria army, allies, retake Albu Kamal from Islamic State: Military source

A Singaporean member of the dreaded ISIS group has challenged Britain&#39;s Prince Harry to fight the jihadists and threatened to send him to &quot;hellfire&quot;.

The man identifying himself as Abu Uqayl appeared in a three-and-a-half minute video in which he encourages would-be terrorists to fight for ISIS in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

&quot;To Harry, you come to Singapore and tell such stories to gain sympathy for the London terror attacks. Why don&#39;t you come here and fight us if you&#39;re man enough so that we can send you and your Apaches (helicopters) to hellfire,&quot; says Uqayl in the video.

The reference is to the fact that the 33-year-old prince flew Apache attack helicopters in Afghanistan when he served as a soldier in the British Army in the past.

The fifth in line to the British throne had visited Singapore soon after an ISIS-claimed terror attack in London in June during which three knifemen had used a van to ram pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people in restaurants and pubs around Borough Market area of London.

In his speech, Harry had made a reference to the attack, which had claimed eight lives and injured 48 others.

Singaporean authorities have identified the man in the video as 39-year-old Megat Shahdan bin Abdul Samad, who left the city-state to work in the Middle East in 2014.

&quot;Our security agencies have been aware for some time now of the presence in Syria of a Singaporean, Megat Shahdan bin Abdul Samad, 39, and have been monitoring his activities,&quot; the country&#39;s Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

&quot;It is believed that the person in the video calling himself &#39;Abu Uqayl&#39; is Shahdan.&quot;&nbsp;

Prince Harry is currently in Toronto, Canada, at the Invictus Games a sporting event he founded for injured war veterans.

A Singaporean member of the dreaded ISIS group has challenged Britain's Prince Harry to fight the jihadists and threatened to send him to 'hellfire'

A Singaporean member of the dreaded ISIS group has challenged Britain's Prince Harry to fight the jihadists and threatened to send him to "hellfire". The man identifying himself as Abu Uqayl appeared in a three-and-a-half minute video in which he encourages would-be terrorists to fight for ISIS in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. "To Harry, you come to Singapore and tell such stories to gain sympathy for the London terror attacks. Why don't you come here and fight us if you're man enough so that we can send you and your Apaches (helicopters) to hellfire," says Uqayl in the video. The reference is to the fact that the 33-year-old prince flew Apache attack helicopters in Afghanistan when he served as a soldier in the British Army in the past. The fifth in line to the British throne had visited Singapore soon after an ISIS-claimed terror attack in London in June during which three knifemen had used a van to ram pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people in restaurants and pubs around Borough Market area of London. In his speech, Harry had made a reference to the attack, which had claimed eight lives and injured 48 others. Singaporean authorities have identified the man in the video as 39-year-old Megat Shahdan bin Abdul Samad, who left the city-state to work in the Middle East in 2014. "Our security agencies have been aware for some time now of the presence in Syria of a Singaporean, Megat Shahdan bin Abdul Samad, 39, and have been monitoring his activities," the country's Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement. "It is believed that the person in the video calling himself 'Abu Uqayl' is Shahdan." Prince Harry is currently in Toronto, Canada, at the Invictus Games a sporting event he founded for injured war veterans.

ISIS challenges Prince Harry to a fight

An attack on an Indonesian church killed a toddler on Monday, police said, the latest assault on a religious minority in the Muslim-majority country, news agency AFP reported.

An attacker wearing a t-shirt with the word &quot;jihad&quot; on it threw explosives at the church on Borneo island on Sunday.

The Molotov cocktail thrown by the man on the motorbike injured four small children including the two-year-old Intan Olivia Marbun.

The youngsters, aged between two and four, had been playing in the car park of the church in the city of Samarinda at the time of the attack, reported AFP.

&quot;Unfortunately the doctors could not save the victim. She died early this morning,&quot; local police spokesman Fajar Setiawan told AFP. The two-year-old had suffered severe burn injuries.

The spokesman added that the other children were being treated in hospital. &quot;We hope they can come home soon,&quot; said Setiawan.

The 32-year-old suspected attacker has been arrested. He is a former terror convict from the West Java town of Bogor who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison over a 2011 terror attack and was released in July 2014, Press trust of India reported.

A &nbsp;teenager obsessed with the Islamic State stabbed a priest in a church in August. He also tried to detonate a homemade bomb. Four civilians and four attackers were killed in a suicide bombing and gun attack in Jakarta in January.

Indonesia, the world&#39;s most populous Muslim nation, has carried out a sustained crackdown on militant networks since the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, PTI said

(With inputs from agencies)

The attacker wearing a t-shirt with the word 'jihad' threw explosives at the church on Borneo island, killing one child and wounding three

An attack on an Indonesian church killed a toddler on Monday, police said, the latest assault on a religious minority in the Muslim-majority country, news agency AFP reported. An attacker wearing a t-shirt with the word "jihad" on it threw explosives at the church on Borneo island on Sunday. The Molotov cocktail thrown by the man on the motorbike injured four small children including the two-year-old Intan Olivia Marbun. The youngsters, aged between two and four, had been playing in the car park of the church in the city of Samarinda at the time of the attack, reported AFP. "Unfortunately the doctors could not save the victim. She died early this morning," local police spokesman Fajar Setiawan told AFP. The two-year-old had suffered severe burn injuries. The spokesman added that the other children were being treated in hospital. "We hope they can come home soon," said Setiawan. The 32-year-old suspected attacker has been arrested. He is a former terror convict from the West Java town of Bogor who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison over a 2011 terror attack and was released in July 2014, Press trust of India reported. A teenager obsessed with the Islamic State stabbed a priest in a church in August. He also tried to detonate a homemade bomb. Four civilians and four attackers were killed in a suicide bombing and gun attack in Jakarta in January. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has carried out a sustained crackdown on militant networks since the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, PTI said (With inputs from agencies)

Indonesia: 2-year-old killed in church attack, suspect arrested

Turkey yesterday went back on claims that a child bomber linked to Islamic State (IS) jihadists carried out a deadly suicide bombing close to Syria, saying it had no clue who was behind the attack. 
 
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Ankara could not confirm who was the perpetrator of the attack on a Kurdish wedding in the city of Gaziantep which left 54 dead, apparently contradicting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who had said it was a child bomber acting on IS orders. 
 
&quot;We do not have a clue about who the perpetrators behind the attack were. Early information on who did the attack, in what organisation&#39;s name, is unfortunately not right,&quot; Yildirim told reporters in Ankara. 
 
His comments were in stark contract with those by Erdogan who said on Sunday that the bomber was a child aged between 12-14 acting on orders of IS jihadists. Yildirim described as &quot;rumours&quot; whether the attack was conducted by a child or an adult, while insisting security agencies would continue their work to find out who was responsible. 
 
&quot;Those who were behind the attack will be revealed, there is no doubt about this.&quot; 
 
The Hurriyet daily said DNA tests were under way to ascertain the bomber&#39;s identity, nationality and gender. 
 
&#39;Strikes on IS, PYD&#39; 
 
Earlier Turkish press reports said security forces believed the attack had been timed as retaliation by jihadists for offensives both by Kurdish militias and pro-Ankara Syrian opposition forces against IS in Syria. 
 
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, hundreds of rebel fighters were preparing inside Turkish territory to launch an offensive on the IS-held Syrian town of Jarablus. 
 
Without explicitly confirming the rebel offensive, foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey backed anyone fighting against IS and would itself fight the group &quot;to the end&quot;. 
 
&quot;Our border must be completely cleansed from Daesh,&quot; he said in televised remarks, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group. 
 
CNN-Turk and NTV channels later reported that Turkish armed forces launched artillery strikes on separate targets of IS jihadists and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Kurdish militia in northern Syria. 
 
Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey fired on IS targets in the town of Jarablus and PYD targets around the area of Manbij, the reports said. 
 
Dead mainly under 18 
 
Media said the majority of those killed were children or teenagers, with 29 of the 44 victims identified so far aged under 18. The death toll rose to 54 after three more died in hospital in the early morning, the Dogan news agency reported. 
 
Sixty-six people were still in hospital, 14 of them in a serious condition. Television pictures showed fire brigade workers hosing down the area of the attack with water in a clean-up. 
 
The leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples&#39; Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas said in a statement that &quot;all of those killed were Kurds&quot;. The bride and groom - a couple from the strongly Kurdish region of Siirt to the southeast - were rushed to hospital but not seriously wounded. 
 
The attack followed a string of strikes blamed on IS and Kurdish militants in recent months but if IS launched the attack, it would be the first significant jihadist action in Turkey since a failed July 15 coup. 
 
Hurriyet said the type of bomb used - stuffed with 2-3 centimetre shards of iron and detonated with C-4 explosives - was similar to that used in previous suicide bombings against pro-Kurdish gatherings blamed on IS in the border town of Suruc and at Ankara train station last year. The authorities were also looking for two individuals said to have accompanied the suspected suicide bomber into the wedding party but who then left the scene. 
 
All 44 victims identified so far were laid to rest in harrowing ceremonies in Gaziantep on Sunday, with relatives throwing themselves on the coffins in grief, an AFP correspondent said. 
 
The hillside graveyard was pock-marked before the ceremony with the holes of dozens of freshly dug graves for the victims. 
 
One mother, Emine Ayhan, lost four of her five children in the bombing while her husband is in intensive care, the Yeni Safak daily said. 
 
According to the list of victims in Turkish media, the youngest - named as Gurbet Akcan and Muhammet Yagiz - were both aged four. 
 
(AFP)

Turkish PM said Ankara could not confirm who was the perpetrator of the attack after President Erdogan said it was a child bomber

Turkey yesterday went back on claims that a child bomber linked to Islamic State (IS) jihadists carried out a deadly suicide bombing close to Syria, saying it had no clue who was behind the attack. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Ankara could not confirm who was the perpetrator of the attack on a Kurdish wedding in the city of Gaziantep which left 54 dead, apparently contradicting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who had said it was a child bomber acting on IS orders. "We do not have a clue about who the perpetrators behind the attack were. Early information on who did the attack, in what organisation's name, is unfortunately not right," Yildirim told reporters in Ankara. His comments were in stark contract with those by Erdogan who said on Sunday that the bomber was a child aged between 12-14 acting on orders of IS jihadists. Yildirim described as "rumours" whether the attack was conducted by a child or an adult, while insisting security agencies would continue their work to find out who was responsible. "Those who were behind the attack will be revealed, there is no doubt about this." The Hurriyet daily said DNA tests were under way to ascertain the bomber's identity, nationality and gender. 'Strikes on IS, PYD' Earlier Turkish press reports said security forces believed the attack had been timed as retaliation by jihadists for offensives both by Kurdish militias and pro-Ankara Syrian opposition forces against IS in Syria. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, hundreds of rebel fighters were preparing inside Turkish territory to launch an offensive on the IS-held Syrian town of Jarablus. Without explicitly confirming the rebel offensive, foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey backed anyone fighting against IS and would itself fight the group "to the end". "Our border must be completely cleansed from Daesh," he said in televised remarks, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group. CNN-Turk and NTV channels later reported that Turkish armed forces launched artillery strikes on separate targets of IS jihadists and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Kurdish militia in northern Syria. Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey fired on IS targets in the town of Jarablus and PYD targets around the area of Manbij, the reports said. Dead mainly under 18 Media said the majority of those killed were children or teenagers, with 29 of the 44 victims identified so far aged under 18. The death toll rose to 54 after three more died in hospital in the early morning, the Dogan news agency reported. Sixty-six people were still in hospital, 14 of them in a serious condition. Television pictures showed fire brigade workers hosing down the area of the attack with water in a clean-up. The leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas said in a statement that "all of those killed were Kurds". The bride and groom - a couple from the strongly Kurdish region of Siirt to the southeast - were rushed to hospital but not seriously wounded. The attack followed a string of strikes blamed on IS and Kurdish militants in recent months but if IS launched the attack, it would be the first significant jihadist action in Turkey since a failed July 15 coup. Hurriyet said the type of bomb used - stuffed with 2-3 centimetre shards of iron and detonated with C-4 explosives - was similar to that used in previous suicide bombings against pro-Kurdish gatherings blamed on IS in the border town of Suruc and at Ankara train station last year. The authorities were also looking for two individuals said to have accompanied the suspected suicide bomber into the wedding party but who then left the scene. All 44 victims identified so far were laid to rest in harrowing ceremonies in Gaziantep on Sunday, with relatives throwing themselves on the coffins in grief, an AFP correspondent said. The hillside graveyard was pock-marked before the ceremony with the holes of dozens of freshly dug graves for the victims. One mother, Emine Ayhan, lost four of her five children in the bombing while her husband is in intensive care, the Yeni Safak daily said. According to the list of victims in Turkish media, the youngest - named as Gurbet Akcan and Muhammet Yagiz - were both aged four. (AFP)

Turkey backtracks on 'IS child bomber' claims, PM says 'no clue' about attacker

An Oslo court on Wednesday jailed two jihadists of Pakistani and Chechen origin for six and seven and a half years, respectively, for joining the&nbsp;Islamic State&nbsp;in Syria. 
 
Adam Idrisovich Magomadov, a 23-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, and Hasan Ahmed, a 46-year-old Norwegian of Pakistani origin, were convicted of belonging to IS and of &quot;terror conspiracy&quot;. 
 
The two men, who had been living in Southeastern Norway, travelled together to Syria in August 2014, a little more than a month after the IS declared a caliphate in an area straddling Iraq and Syria. 
 
While there, the two took part in IS training programmes, vowed allegiance to the group, and bore weapons in its name, the court found. Magomadov was handed a heavier sentence because he stayed in Syria longer. 
 
The court found it likely that he had taken part in combat, that he had maintained ties with IS after returning to Norway, and that he, like his co-accused, planned to return to Syria. 
 
Ahmed, whose son Ishaq was also sentenced to eight years in prison in Norway last year for joining IS, will appeal the conviction, while Magomadov had not yet decided, their lawyers told public broadcaster NRK. Their sentences were in line with those requested by the prosecution. 
 
(AFP)

The two took part in IS training programmes, vowed allegiance to the group and bore weapons in its name

An Oslo court on Wednesday jailed two jihadists of Pakistani and Chechen origin for six and seven and a half years, respectively, for joining the Islamic State in Syria. Adam Idrisovich Magomadov, a 23-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, and Hasan Ahmed, a 46-year-old Norwegian of Pakistani origin, were convicted of belonging to IS and of "terror conspiracy". The two men, who had been living in Southeastern Norway, travelled together to Syria in August 2014, a little more than a month after the IS declared a caliphate in an area straddling Iraq and Syria. While there, the two took part in IS training programmes, vowed allegiance to the group, and bore weapons in its name, the court found. Magomadov was handed a heavier sentence because he stayed in Syria longer. The court found it likely that he had taken part in combat, that he had maintained ties with IS after returning to Norway, and that he, like his co-accused, planned to return to Syria. Ahmed, whose son Ishaq was also sentenced to eight years in prison in Norway last year for joining IS, will appeal the conviction, while Magomadov had not yet decided, their lawyers told public broadcaster NRK. Their sentences were in line with those requested by the prosecution. (AFP)

Pakistani and Chechen-origin jihadists jailed in Norway

French priest Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered in an attack by two jihadists on his Catholic church in a Normandy town, will be laid to rest today. 
 
According to his diocese, the funeral for the 85-year-old priest will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral of the northern city of Rouen, where Muslims and Christians came together to mourn his death at a mass on Sunday.&nbsp;He will then be buried in a ceremony attended only by close family members, at a location which has not been revealed. 
 
Hamel became the latest victim of a terror attack in France when two 19-year-old jihadists stormed his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray last Tuesday and slit his throat at the altar.&nbsp;Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were shot dead by police after a tense hostage drama in which a worshipper was left seriously wounded. Three other hostages escaped unharmed. 
 
The attack stunned France&#39;s religious communities, sparking fears of tensions in a country with a population of some five million Muslims.&nbsp;However, the two communities have largely rallied together, with churches opening their doors to Muslims on Sunday for a moving tribute to Hamel, and against radical Islam. 
 
Pope Francis said Islam could not be equated with terrorism.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s not true and it&#39;s not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism,&quot; he said, defending his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal murder. 
 
&quot;If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics.&quot; 
 
The church attack came just two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a massive crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, leaving 84 dead and injuring more than 300 people.&nbsp;The repeat attacks in France have raised tough questions about security failures, but also about the foreign funding of many mosques. 
 
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday that authorities have shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls considered to be preaching radical Islam since December.&nbsp;&quot;There is no place ... in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques, and who don&#39;t respect certain republican principles, notably equality between men and women,&quot; the minister said. 
 
(AFP)

Father Jacques Hamel's funeral will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral in the northern city of Rouen

French priest Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered in an attack by two jihadists on his Catholic church in a Normandy town, will be laid to rest today. According to his diocese, the funeral for the 85-year-old priest will be held at the 11th-century Gothic cathedral of the northern city of Rouen, where Muslims and Christians came together to mourn his death at a mass on Sunday. He will then be buried in a ceremony attended only by close family members, at a location which has not been revealed. Hamel became the latest victim of a terror attack in France when two 19-year-old jihadists stormed his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray last Tuesday and slit his throat at the altar. Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were shot dead by police after a tense hostage drama in which a worshipper was left seriously wounded. Three other hostages escaped unharmed. The attack stunned France's religious communities, sparking fears of tensions in a country with a population of some five million Muslims. However, the two communities have largely rallied together, with churches opening their doors to Muslims on Sunday for a moving tribute to Hamel, and against radical Islam. Pope Francis said Islam could not be equated with terrorism. "It's not true and it's not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism," he said, defending his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal murder. "If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics." The church attack came just two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a massive crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, leaving 84 dead and injuring more than 300 people. The repeat attacks in France have raised tough questions about security failures, but also about the foreign funding of many mosques. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday that authorities have shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls considered to be preaching radical Islam since December. "There is no place ... in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques, and who don't respect certain republican principles, notably equality between men and women," the minister said. (AFP)

Funeral to be held for French priest slain by jihadists

Bangladesh has launched a clampdown on social media sites spreading jihadist propaganda after an attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 20 hostages were murdered, saying the country&#39;s young were being radicalised online. 
 
Authorities said the deadly siege at an upmarket cafe popular with foreigners had been an &quot;eye-opener&quot;, exposing the role of social media in recruiting young men to jihadist groups. 
 
&quot;Social media has become a fertile ground for recruiting militants,&quot; the head of the telecoms regulator Shahjahan Mahmood told AFP. 
 
&quot;The attack was an eye-opener for us. They (jihadist groups) attract the young men through social media.&quot; 
 
The Islamic State group, which has claimed Friday night&#39;s attack, has long used social media to recruit fighters and incite individuals around the world to commit terrorist attacks. 
 
Mahmood said the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had ordered YouTube to remove videos of &quot;radical preachings&quot;, including those of the firebrand cleric Jashim Uddin Rahmani. 
 
He was sentenced to five years in jail last December after his speeches were found to have incited Islamist militants to kill the atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in early 2013. 
 
Shortly after the cafe siege, it emerged that several of the Bangladesh attackers were young, tech-savvy men from wealthy families and had easy access to social media. 
 
The father of 22-year-old Rohan Imtiaz, one of the suspected attackers killed when commandoes stormed the cafe, has said he believes his son may have been radicalised online. 
 
Imtiaz reportedly posted an appeal on Facebook last year urging all Muslims to become terrorists and quoting a controversial Indian preacher who has been banned in Britain, Canada and Malaysia. 
 
&quot;He was a practising Muslim. So many people are. Maybe he was radicalised through the internet,&quot; his father Imtiaz Khan Babul told AFP. 
 
&quot;But I never checked what he was browsing...Someone may have brainwashed him.&quot; 
 
Bangladesh police issued a stern warning Wednesday that anyone caught sharing jihadist propaganda online would be punished in the wake of the unprecedented attack in Dhaka. 
 
&quot;Uploading, sharing, commenting or liking any video, images or speech in the social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in support of the Islamic State or militancy is a punishable offence,&quot; Deputy Inspector General of police AKM&nbsp;Shahidur Rahman said. 
 
&quot;If anyone is found to have engaged in such activities, tough legal action will be taken against that person.&quot; 
 
Photos of carnage&nbsp; 
Survivors of the cafe siege have told how the young attackers seized mobile phones from hostages and forced them to provide their passwords so they could send out photographs of the carnage that were quickly disseminated by IS. 
 
Some reports said they had brought laptops, and ordered cafe workers to switch on the wifi. 
 
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are already working around the clock to take down jihadist accounts, but they often pop up again under different names. 
 
Experts say IS supporters are also turning to smaller social media platforms like Telegram, a messenger app, to disseminate their propaganda. 
 
Facebook and Twitter have removed some posts and Mahmood, of the telecoms regulator, said the government would bring in tougher laws to tackle radicalism on social media. 
 
Bangladeshi police have set up a special email address and urged people to report any suspicious online activities following last week&#39;s attack. 
 
Meanwhile the head of the country&#39;s elite security force appealed to Bangladeshis to be vigilant over the use of social media sites as a recruiting tool, and to report missing relatives. 
 
&quot;If there are any missing family members, please tell us, don&#39;t be afraid that law-enforcing agencies will take your sons away,&quot; said Benazir Ahmed. 
 
&quot;Their lives and other lives can be saved if they are found.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube already work hard to take down jihadist accounts, but they often pop up again under different names

Bangladesh has launched a clampdown on social media sites spreading jihadist propaganda after an attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 20 hostages were murdered, saying the country's young were being radicalised online. Authorities said the deadly siege at an upmarket cafe popular with foreigners had been an "eye-opener", exposing the role of social media in recruiting young men to jihadist groups. "Social media has become a fertile ground for recruiting militants," the head of the telecoms regulator Shahjahan Mahmood told AFP. "The attack was an eye-opener for us. They (jihadist groups) attract the young men through social media." The Islamic State group, which has claimed Friday night's attack, has long used social media to recruit fighters and incite individuals around the world to commit terrorist attacks. Mahmood said the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had ordered YouTube to remove videos of "radical preachings", including those of the firebrand cleric Jashim Uddin Rahmani. He was sentenced to five years in jail last December after his speeches were found to have incited Islamist militants to kill the atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in early 2013. Shortly after the cafe siege, it emerged that several of the Bangladesh attackers were young, tech-savvy men from wealthy families and had easy access to social media. The father of 22-year-old Rohan Imtiaz, one of the suspected attackers killed when commandoes stormed the cafe, has said he believes his son may have been radicalised online. Imtiaz reportedly posted an appeal on Facebook last year urging all Muslims to become terrorists and quoting a controversial Indian preacher who has been banned in Britain, Canada and Malaysia. "He was a practising Muslim. So many people are. Maybe he was radicalised through the internet," his father Imtiaz Khan Babul told AFP. "But I never checked what he was browsing...Someone may have brainwashed him." Bangladesh police issued a stern warning Wednesday that anyone caught sharing jihadist propaganda online would be punished in the wake of the unprecedented attack in Dhaka. "Uploading, sharing, commenting or liking any video, images or speech in the social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in support of the Islamic State or militancy is a punishable offence," Deputy Inspector General of police AKM Shahidur Rahman said. "If anyone is found to have engaged in such activities, tough legal action will be taken against that person." Photos of carnage Survivors of the cafe siege have told how the young attackers seized mobile phones from hostages and forced them to provide their passwords so they could send out photographs of the carnage that were quickly disseminated by IS. Some reports said they had brought laptops, and ordered cafe workers to switch on the wifi. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are already working around the clock to take down jihadist accounts, but they often pop up again under different names. Experts say IS supporters are also turning to smaller social media platforms like Telegram, a messenger app, to disseminate their propaganda. Facebook and Twitter have removed some posts and Mahmood, of the telecoms regulator, said the government would bring in tougher laws to tackle radicalism on social media. Bangladeshi police have set up a special email address and urged people to report any suspicious online activities following last week's attack. Meanwhile the head of the country's elite security force appealed to Bangladeshis to be vigilant over the use of social media sites as a recruiting tool, and to report missing relatives. "If there are any missing family members, please tell us, don't be afraid that law-enforcing agencies will take your sons away," said Benazir Ahmed. "Their lives and other lives can be saved if they are found." (AFP)

Bangladesh clamps down on social media spreading jihadist propaganda

Heavy fighting between the Islamic State group and rebels gripped a town in northeastern Syria Saturday, a monitor and an activist said, after a lightning assault by the jihadists cut a main supply route. 
&quot;Heavy clashes took place overnight between IS fighters and rebels inside the walls of Marea town,&quot; the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. 
IS swept through rebel-held territory early Friday in a shock offensive in Aleppo province, cutting off the main road between Marea and Azaz, 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the northeast near the Turkish border.&nbsp; 
The surprise advance came as the jihadist group faced an offensive by a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance in its own heartland of Raqa province further east. 
Maamoun Khateeb, a journalist and activist from Azaz, told AFP that IS attacked Marea early Saturday mainly from the east and north using tanks and two car bombs. 
The advance has besieged around 15,000 residents remaining inside Marea, he said.&nbsp; 
Human rights groups have warned that the IS advance in Aleppo has left tens of thousands of displaced Syrians trapped along the closed Turkish border. 
To the east in Raqa province, warplanes from the US-led coalition conducted air strikes on IS positions north of Raqa city, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. 
But the Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting the jihadist group north of its de facto Syrian capital had made no strategic progress on the ground, he said. 
Syria`s war has killed more than 280,000 people and displaced millions since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

Heavy fighting between the Islamic State group and rebels gripped a town in northeastern Syria Saturday, a monitor and an activist said, after a lightning assault by the jihadists cut a main supply route.

Heavy fighting between the Islamic State group and rebels gripped a town in northeastern Syria Saturday, a monitor and an activist said, after a lightning assault by the jihadists cut a main supply route. "Heavy clashes took place overnight between IS fighters and rebels inside the walls of Marea town," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. IS swept through rebel-held territory early Friday in a shock offensive in Aleppo province, cutting off the main road between Marea and Azaz, 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the northeast near the Turkish border. The surprise advance came as the jihadist group faced an offensive by a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance in its own heartland of Raqa province further east. Maamoun Khateeb, a journalist and activist from Azaz, told AFP that IS attacked Marea early Saturday mainly from the east and north using tanks and two car bombs. The advance has besieged around 15,000 residents remaining inside Marea, he said. Human rights groups have warned that the IS advance in Aleppo has left tens of thousands of displaced Syrians trapped along the closed Turkish border. To the east in Raqa province, warplanes from the US-led coalition conducted air strikes on IS positions north of Raqa city, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. But the Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting the jihadist group north of its de facto Syrian capital had made no strategic progress on the ground, he said. Syria`s war has killed more than 280,000 people and displaced millions since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

IS-rebel clashes rock northeast Syria town

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