A Norwegian court on Monday named Zaniar Matapour, a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin as the suspect in the deadly rampage at a gay bar in Oslo. The rampage killed two and injured 21. As per a Reuters report, the suspect has been described as an individual who suffers from mental illness and is a radicalised Islamist. The attack took place on Saturday (June 25th) when the city was scheduled to celebrate its annual pride parade.&nbsp;The initial conditions of Matapour's incarceration will be decided by a district court and as part of that process, he will have to go through a psychiatric evaluation.In addition to terrorism, Matapour is charged with murder and attempted murder. His defence strategy remains to be seen.&nbsp;The attack is being treated as "an act of Islamist terrorism," according to earlier statements made by Norway's domestic intelligence service PST, which is in charge of counterterrorism.

Watch |&nbsp;Oslo on extraordinary terror level alert after mass shooting in Norway's capital

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According to intelligence agencies, Matapour was a member of a network of Islamist radicals in Norway and had been known to them since 2015.

Speaking at a news conference PST's chief Roger Berg said that the agency had been keeping an eye on the suspect "since 2015 in connection with concerns about his radicalisation" and membership "in an Islamist extremist network."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/oslo-shooting-being-treated-as-act-of-islamist-terrorism-says-norwegian-authorities-491783">Oslo shooting being treated as 'act of Islamist terrorism', says Norwegian authorities</a>

The suspect was interviewed by intelligence services last month, but Berg said that at the time they did not believe the man had "violent inclinations."

According to&nbsp;Berg, the suspect "has a long history of violence and threats," and&nbsp;PST was also aware of the suspect's "difficulties with his mental health." he added.

The suspect's attorney, John Christian Elden, while talking to TV2 that there was no way to infer the objectives or reasons for the attack.

(With inputs from agencies)

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A Norwegian court on Monday named Zaniar Matapour, a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin as the suspect in the deadly rampage at a gay bar in Oslo. The rampage killed two and injured 21.

A Norwegian court on Monday named Zaniar Matapour, a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin as the suspect in the deadly rampage at a gay bar in Oslo. The rampage killed two and injured 21. As per a Reuters report, the suspect has been described as an individual who suffers from mental illness and is a radicalised Islamist. The attack took place on Saturday (June 25th) when the city was scheduled to celebrate its annual pride parade. The initial conditions of Matapour's incarceration will be decided by a district court and as part of that process, he will have to go through a psychiatric evaluation.In addition to terrorism, Matapour is charged with murder and attempted murder. His defence strategy remains to be seen. The attack is being treated as "an act of Islamist terrorism," according to earlier statements made by Norway's domestic intelligence service PST, which is in charge of counterterrorism. Watch | Oslo on extraordinary terror level alert after mass shooting in Norway's capital According to intelligence agencies, Matapour was a member of a network of Islamist radicals in Norway and had been known to them since 2015. Speaking at a news conference PST's chief Roger Berg said that the agency had been keeping an eye on the suspect "since 2015 in connection with concerns about his radicalisation" and membership "in an Islamist extremist network." Also read | Oslo shooting being treated as 'act of Islamist terrorism', says Norwegian authorities The suspect was interviewed by intelligence services last month, but Berg said that at the time they did not believe the man had "violent inclinations." According to Berg, the suspect "has a long history of violence and threats," and PST was also aware of the suspect's "difficulties with his mental health." he added. The suspect's attorney, John Christian Elden, while talking to TV2 that there was no way to infer the objectives or reasons for the attack. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Oslo gay bar attack: Radical Islamist under watch since 2015 named as suspect

French Prime Minister&nbsp;Jean Castex on Wednesday defended the anti-extremism bill combatting "radical Islamism" as the ''law of freedom''.

After a spate of attacks, which critics fear risks targeting all Muslims, France argues the legislation is needed to shore up the country's staunchly secular system but the plan has further stirred up social tensions over the consequences for Europe's largest Muslim community.

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"The enemy of the Republic is a political ideology called radical Islamism, which aims to divide the French among themselves," Prime Minister Jean Castex told Wednesday's edition of Le Monde.

France argues&nbsp;that rather than targeting Muslims the anti-extremism bill aims&nbsp;to "free Muslims from the growing grip of radical Islamism".

The legislation will be discussed at a cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace with Castex announcing the outcome in the early afternoon.

It&nbsp;has&nbsp;been criticised by Muslim leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while on Tuesday the US envoy on international religious freedom said he was concerned by the bill.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/france-gives-ultimatum-to-french-council-of-muslim-faith-344419">France gives ultimatum to French Council of Muslim Faith</a>

"There can be constructive engagements that I think can be helpful and not harmful," Ambassador Sam Brownback told reporters.

"When you get heavy-handed, the situation can get worse," he said.

'Strengthen republican values'

The text was originally titled the "anti-separatism" bill, using a term President Emmanuel Macron&nbsp;uses to describe ultra-conservative Muslims withdrawing from mainstream society.&nbsp;

Following criticism of that term, it is now called a "draft law to strengthen republican values", mostly secularism and freedom of expression.

The law was in the pipeline before the murder in October of Samuel Paty, a junior high school teacher who was attacked in the street and beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a class.

But the killing, committed by an 18-year old Chechen after a virulent social media campaign against the teacher, gave fresh impetus to the bill, prompted the inclusion of the specific crimes of online hate speech and divulging personal information on the internet.

Paty's death is one in a string of jihadist-inspired attacks in France this year including a knife assault outside the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and deadly stabbings at a church in the Mediterranean city of Nice.

The draft law sets out stricter criteria for authorising home schooling of children over three years old in a bid to prevent parents taking their children out of public schools and enrolling them in underground Islamic facilities.

Doctors, meanwhile, would be fined or jailed if they performed a virginity test on girls.

Polygamy is already outlawed in France, but the new law would also ban authorities from issuing residency papers to polygamous applicants.

It would also require city hall officials to interview couples separately prior to their wedding to make sure that they were not forced into marriage.

'Open provocation'

Macron has become a figure of hate in some Muslim countries, with some boycotting French products, after saying that the right to blaspheme would always be guaranteed in France and that Islam was "in crisis".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the draft law an "open provocation", while scholars at Egypt's prestigious Sunni Islamic institution, Al-Azhar, called Macron's views "racist".

Macron has also been forced onto the defensive by critical headlines in influential English-language media, such as the Financial Times and New York Times.

Muslims in France -- the former colonies of which include predominantly Muslim countries in north and west Africa as well as the Middle East -- are estimated at nearly four million, about six percent of the population.

Once, as is expected, the cabinet backs the draft law, it heads to parliament at the start of next year for what promises to be a heated debate.

France's state council, which advises the government and the National Assembly on future laws, has already signalled that some parts of the bill, especially on education, may clash with the principle of freedom of choice enshrined in the French constitution.

&nbsp;

French Prime Minister Jean Castex on Wednesday defended the anti-extremism bill combatting "radical Islamism" as the ''law of freedom''. After a spate of attacks, which critics fear risks targeting all Muslims, France argues the legislation is needed to shore up the country's staunchly secular system but the plan has further stirred up social tensions over the consequences for Europe's largest Muslim community.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex on Wednesday defended the anti-extremism bill combatting "radical Islamism" as the ''law of freedom''. After a spate of attacks, which critics fear risks targeting all Muslims, France argues the legislation is needed to shore up the country's staunchly secular system but the plan has further stirred up social tensions over the consequences for Europe's largest Muslim community. "The enemy of the Republic is a political ideology called radical Islamism, which aims to divide the French among themselves," Prime Minister Jean Castex told Wednesday's edition of Le Monde. France argues that rather than targeting Muslims the anti-extremism bill aims to "free Muslims from the growing grip of radical Islamism". The legislation will be discussed at a cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace with Castex announcing the outcome in the early afternoon. It has been criticised by Muslim leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while on Tuesday the US envoy on international religious freedom said he was concerned by the bill. Also read: France gives ultimatum to French Council of Muslim Faith "There can be constructive engagements that I think can be helpful and not harmful," Ambassador Sam Brownback told reporters. "When you get heavy-handed, the situation can get worse," he said. 'Strengthen republican values' The text was originally titled the "anti-separatism" bill, using a term President Emmanuel Macron uses to describe ultra-conservative Muslims withdrawing from mainstream society. Following criticism of that term, it is now called a "draft law to strengthen republican values", mostly secularism and freedom of expression. The law was in the pipeline before the murder in October of Samuel Paty, a junior high school teacher who was attacked in the street and beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a class. But the killing, committed by an 18-year old Chechen after a virulent social media campaign against the teacher, gave fresh impetus to the bill, prompted the inclusion of the specific crimes of online hate speech and divulging personal information on the internet. Paty's death is one in a string of jihadist-inspired attacks in France this year including a knife assault outside the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and deadly stabbings at a church in the Mediterranean city of Nice. The draft law sets out stricter criteria for authorising home schooling of children over three years old in a bid to prevent parents taking their children out of public schools and enrolling them in underground Islamic facilities. Doctors, meanwhile, would be fined or jailed if they performed a virginity test on girls. Polygamy is already outlawed in France, but the new law would also ban authorities from issuing residency papers to polygamous applicants. It would also require city hall officials to interview couples separately prior to their wedding to make sure that they were not forced into marriage. 'Open provocation' Macron has become a figure of hate in some Muslim countries, with some boycotting French products, after saying that the right to blaspheme would always be guaranteed in France and that Islam was "in crisis". Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the draft law an "open provocation", while scholars at Egypt's prestigious Sunni Islamic institution, Al-Azhar, called Macron's views "racist". Macron has also been forced onto the defensive by critical headlines in influential English-language media, such as the Financial Times and New York Times. Muslims in France -- the former colonies of which include predominantly Muslim countries in north and west Africa as well as the Middle East -- are estimated at nearly four million, about six percent of the population. Once, as is expected, the cabinet backs the draft law, it heads to parliament at the start of next year for what promises to be a heated debate. France's state council, which advises the government and the National Assembly on future laws, has already signalled that some parts of the bill, especially on education, may clash with the principle of freedom of choice enshrined in the French constitution.

Enemy of the Republic is political ideology called radical Islamism: French PM Castex

In a crackdown on politically-motivated Islamic activity, the Austrian government has launched an initiative to identify and register social and educational institutions that are the targets of Islamist-controlled organisations for political purposes.&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/police-in-austria-conducts-raid-on-dozens-of-addresses-linked-to-radical-islamists-341848">Also read | Police in Austria conducts raid on dozens of addresses linked to radical Islamists</a> 
 
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's cabinet agreed to the proposals that include the ability to keep individuals convicted of terror offences behind bars for life, electronic surveillance of people convicted of terror-related offences upon release and criminalizing religiously motivated political extremism.

'We will create a criminal offence called 'political Islam' in order to be able to take action against those who are not terrorists themselves, but who create the breeding ground for them,' Kurz tweeted after the Cabinet meeting.

Austria will order the closure of mosques that it deems a threat to national security. Austrian police on Monday raided more than 60 addresses allegedly linked to radical Islamists, with orders for 30 suspects to be questioned, prosecutors said.

These operations came a week after a convicted Islamic State group supporter killed four people in a shooting rampage in the heart of Vienna, but prosecutors said the raids were not linked to the attack.

The attack in Vienna followed an attack in Nice, France, in which four people were killed by a man of Tunisian origin.

In the wake of several assaults, France has also begun to close mosques and is cracking down on the organisations it suspects are spreading hate.

(With inputs from agencies)

In a crackdown on politically-motivated Islamic activity, the Austrian government has launched an initiative to identify and register social and educational institutions that are the targets of Islamist-controlled organisations for political purposes.

In a crackdown on politically-motivated Islamic activity, the Austrian government has launched an initiative to identify and register social and educational institutions that are the targets of Islamist-controlled organisations for political purposes. Also read | Police in Austria conducts raid on dozens of addresses linked to radical Islamists Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's cabinet agreed to the proposals that include the ability to keep individuals convicted of terror offences behind bars for life, electronic surveillance of people convicted of terror-related offences upon release and criminalizing religiously motivated political extremism. 'We will create a criminal offence called 'political Islam' in order to be able to take action against those who are not terrorists themselves, but who create the breeding ground for them,' Kurz tweeted after the Cabinet meeting. Austria will order the closure of mosques that it deems a threat to national security. Austrian police on Monday raided more than 60 addresses allegedly linked to radical Islamists, with orders for 30 suspects to be questioned, prosecutors said. These operations came a week after a convicted Islamic State group supporter killed four people in a shooting rampage in the heart of Vienna, but prosecutors said the raids were not linked to the attack. The attack in Vienna followed an attack in Nice, France, in which four people were killed by a man of Tunisian origin. In the wake of several assaults, France has also begun to close mosques and is cracking down on the organisations it suspects are spreading hate. (With inputs from agencies)

Austria government to ban ‘political Islam’, shut down mosques

The Islamic State militants, by several accounts, struck the tiny farming community on a plateau in northern Mozambique during an initiation rite to induct teenage boys into manhood.

Armed with machetes, the attackers beheaded as many as 20 boys and men in the village of 24 de Marco, according to a local media report that was confirmed on Wednesday by ACLED, an American crisis monitoring group that maps the exploding insurgency in Mozambique.

The atrocity in early November was just one episode in a brutal conflict unfolding in Cabo Delgado, a remote, resource-rich province of northern Mozambique. Insurgents who pledge allegiance to the Islamic State have grown dramatically in strength this year — seizing territory, capturing a port, and stepping up brutal attacks on civilians that often involve beheadings.

The deepening humanitarian crisis has displaced at least 355,000 people according to the United Nations — up from 90,000 in January.

The militants’ success is also a sign of a worrisome trend: As the Islamic State’s influence wanes in the Middle East, it is surging in pockets of Africa, with brazen offshoots gaining ground in western, central and, now, southern corners of the continent.

In a statement late Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “shocked” by reports from news agencies that up to 50 people had been beheaded in the district of Muidumbe, where the village of 24 de Marco is located, including women and children, and he called on Mozambique to mount an immediate investigation.

There was no immediate response from the government of President Filipe Nyusi, whose Makonde ethnic group comes from the same region.

“These decapitations, which remind people of Syria and Iraq, scare everyone,” said Eric Morier-Genoud, a professor of African history at Queens University Belfast, who specializes in Mozambique. “It’s a grim situation that is worsening quickly because the militants’ capacity seems to be growing.”

The insurgency, which started in 2017 with a group is known locally as Al-Sunna wa Jama’a, originally drew on a stew of local grievances in Cabo Delgado, a province of vast forests and immense mineral reserves, including graphite and ruby mines, along Mozambique’s border with Tanzania.

In 2019 the group became identified with the Islamic State’s Central Africa province, which also has a presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and this year escalated its campaign with increasingly brutal assaults on civilians and by snatching territory from the government.

Its biggest exploit came in August with the capture of the port of Mocimboa da Praia. Farther north, the group seized territory around Palma, a port that is the main base for international energy companies hoping to exploit Mozambique’s untapped offshore gas reserves, estimated to be the world’s second-largest.

Beheadings are a common feature of Islamic State attacks in Mozambique, said Zenaida Machado, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, who estimated that the majority of over 2,000 civilian victims of the conflict had been decapitated.

“They use machetes,” she said, referring to the militants. “Initially they had specific targets when they attacked a village — state officials, teachers, nurses, local chiefs. Now it’s random.”

Exact details on attacks are hard to establish because Mozambique has barred journalists and human rights researchers from the conflict zone, and most international aid agencies have fled.

After the Muidumbe attacks, Pinnacle News, a local news service, reported that militants had gathered the 20 bodies, along with victims from other sites, at a soccer pitch in Muatide village in a gruesome display intended to strike fear into the local community.

Days after the attack, an Agence France-Presse report cited a local aid worker who described the funerals for 15 boys who were killed in the initiation ceremony.

Of the 355,000 civilians displaced by conflict, about 100,000 have poured into the regional capital, Pemba, which has avoided the fighting. Others have taken shelter in a chain of islands off the coast of Cabo Delgado, an area that until recently was a destination for high-end tourism. Even there, though, they are not safe from attack.

Last month, according to local news reports, Islamic State fighters raided the island of Matemo, which has seen a major cholera outbreak, and attacked or kidnapped displaced people as they searched for food and other provisions.

Other refugees have drowned at sea after their overcrowded boats capsized, including 54 who perished on a craft bound for Pemba on Oct. 29 according to Zitamar, an independent news service that follows the insurgency closely.

And on Aug. 13, at least 40 refugees were killed after government forces opened fire on their boat, apparently mistaking it for an insurgent craft, ACLED reported.

The pandemic has exacerbated the crisis, with Cabo Delgado reporting the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Mozambique. The province’s infrastructure had been hit by tropical cyclone Kenneth in April 2019 — the strongest ever to hit the African continent — destroying key bridges that have been only partially rebuilt.

The beleaguered Mozambique security services have turned to foreigners to help fight back, with mixed results. In 2019 several Russians with the Wagner Group, a private military company linked to the Kremlin, were captured and killed, according to several reports, precipitating Wagner’s exit from Mozambique.

More recently Mozambique has turned to a South Africa-based military company, which introduced armed helicopters to the fight but has struggled to make inroads against militants hiding in the area’s dense forests.

Divisions inside Mozambique’s security services, which human rights groups have frequently accused of abuses against civilians in Cabo Delgado, have further hampered the counterinsurgency effort. Last month, some police officers in Pemba were disciplined after they refused to patrol following complaints the army was paid more.

The exact nature of the relationship between the insurgents and the Islamic State in the Middle East is unclear.

Islamic State publications often carry accounts of operations in Mozambique, as well as photos, and there have been reports of Islamic State trainers traveling to Mozambique.

But experts say it is unclear whether the insurgents in Mozambique are being directed from the outside, or if they are merely exploiting the power of the Islamic State brand in a franchise-style arrangement.

And while the militants claim to be targeting Christians, in practice they make little distinction between their victims, said Sam Ratner, a contributing editor at Zitamar News.

“ISIS propaganda says they burned a Christian village or killed Christian soldiers,” Ratner said. “But on the ground, we’re not seeing a lot of differentiation between Christians and Muslims. They do not appear to be targeting churches in particular, for instance.”

Meanwhile, the insurgency has begun to spill over Mozambique’s borders, alarming its neighbors.

In late October, Mozambique-based Islamic State militants attacked several villages in southern Tanzania, Tanzanian authorities said. Days later, residents of two villages in Mozambique reported rocket fire from inside Tanzania that injured 12 civilians.

The Mozambican government, at odds with Tanzania over its handling of the insurgency, did not publicly comment on the episode.

On Tuesday the president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, condemned the reported “acts of barbarity” in northern Mozambique and offered Zimbabwe’s help with the fight.

“The security of our region is paramount to the protection of our people,” he said.

The Islamic State militants, by several accounts, struck the tiny farming community on a plateau in northern Mozambique during an initiation rite to induct teenage boys into manhood.

The Islamic State militants, by several accounts, struck the tiny farming community on a plateau in northern Mozambique during an initiation rite to induct teenage boys into manhood. Armed with machetes, the attackers beheaded as many as 20 boys and men in the village of 24 de Marco, according to a local media report that was confirmed on Wednesday by ACLED, an American crisis monitoring group that maps the exploding insurgency in Mozambique. The atrocity in early November was just one episode in a brutal conflict unfolding in Cabo Delgado, a remote, resource-rich province of northern Mozambique. Insurgents who pledge allegiance to the Islamic State have grown dramatically in strength this year — seizing territory, capturing a port, and stepping up brutal attacks on civilians that often involve beheadings. The deepening humanitarian crisis has displaced at least 355,000 people according to the United Nations — up from 90,000 in January. The militants’ success is also a sign of a worrisome trend: As the Islamic State’s influence wanes in the Middle East, it is surging in pockets of Africa, with brazen offshoots gaining ground in western, central and, now, southern corners of the continent. In a statement late Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “shocked” by reports from news agencies that up to 50 people had been beheaded in the district of Muidumbe, where the village of 24 de Marco is located, including women and children, and he called on Mozambique to mount an immediate investigation. There was no immediate response from the government of President Filipe Nyusi, whose Makonde ethnic group comes from the same region. “These decapitations, which remind people of Syria and Iraq, scare everyone,” said Eric Morier-Genoud, a professor of African history at Queens University Belfast, who specializes in Mozambique. “It’s a grim situation that is worsening quickly because the militants’ capacity seems to be growing.” The insurgency, which started in 2017 with a group is known locally as Al-Sunna wa Jama’a, originally drew on a stew of local grievances in Cabo Delgado, a province of vast forests and immense mineral reserves, including graphite and ruby mines, along Mozambique’s border with Tanzania. In 2019 the group became identified with the Islamic State’s Central Africa province, which also has a presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and this year escalated its campaign with increasingly brutal assaults on civilians and by snatching territory from the government. Its biggest exploit came in August with the capture of the port of Mocimboa da Praia. Farther north, the group seized territory around Palma, a port that is the main base for international energy companies hoping to exploit Mozambique’s untapped offshore gas reserves, estimated to be the world’s second-largest. Beheadings are a common feature of Islamic State attacks in Mozambique, said Zenaida Machado, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, who estimated that the majority of over 2,000 civilian victims of the conflict had been decapitated. “They use machetes,” she said, referring to the militants. “Initially they had specific targets when they attacked a village — state officials, teachers, nurses, local chiefs. Now it’s random.” Exact details on attacks are hard to establish because Mozambique has barred journalists and human rights researchers from the conflict zone, and most international aid agencies have fled. After the Muidumbe attacks, Pinnacle News, a local news service, reported that militants had gathered the 20 bodies, along with victims from other sites, at a soccer pitch in Muatide village in a gruesome display intended to strike fear into the local community. Days after the attack, an Agence France-Presse report cited a local aid worker who described the funerals for 15 boys who were killed in the initiation ceremony. Of the 355,000 civilians displaced by conflict, about 100,000 have poured into the regional capital, Pemba, which has avoided the fighting. Others have taken shelter in a chain of islands off the coast of Cabo Delgado, an area that until recently was a destination for high-end tourism. Even there, though, they are not safe from attack. Last month, according to local news reports, Islamic State fighters raided the island of Matemo, which has seen a major cholera outbreak, and attacked or kidnapped displaced people as they searched for food and other provisions. Other refugees have drowned at sea after their overcrowded boats capsized, including 54 who perished on a craft bound for Pemba on Oct. 29 according to Zitamar, an independent news service that follows the insurgency closely. And on Aug. 13, at least 40 refugees were killed after government forces opened fire on their boat, apparently mistaking it for an insurgent craft, ACLED reported. The pandemic has exacerbated the crisis, with Cabo Delgado reporting the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Mozambique. The province’s infrastructure had been hit by tropical cyclone Kenneth in April 2019 — the strongest ever to hit the African continent — destroying key bridges that have been only partially rebuilt. The beleaguered Mozambique security services have turned to foreigners to help fight back, with mixed results. In 2019 several Russians with the Wagner Group, a private military company linked to the Kremlin, were captured and killed, according to several reports, precipitating Wagner’s exit from Mozambique. More recently Mozambique has turned to a South Africa-based military company, which introduced armed helicopters to the fight but has struggled to make inroads against militants hiding in the area’s dense forests. Divisions inside Mozambique’s security services, which human rights groups have frequently accused of abuses against civilians in Cabo Delgado, have further hampered the counterinsurgency effort. Last month, some police officers in Pemba were disciplined after they refused to patrol following complaints the army was paid more. The exact nature of the relationship between the insurgents and the Islamic State in the Middle East is unclear. Islamic State publications often carry accounts of operations in Mozambique, as well as photos, and there have been reports of Islamic State trainers traveling to Mozambique. But experts say it is unclear whether the insurgents in Mozambique are being directed from the outside, or if they are merely exploiting the power of the Islamic State brand in a franchise-style arrangement. And while the militants claim to be targeting Christians, in practice they make little distinction between their victims, said Sam Ratner, a contributing editor at Zitamar News. “ISIS propaganda says they burned a Christian village or killed Christian soldiers,” Ratner said. “But on the ground, we’re not seeing a lot of differentiation between Christians and Muslims. They do not appear to be targeting churches in particular, for instance.” Meanwhile, the insurgency has begun to spill over Mozambique’s borders, alarming its neighbors. In late October, Mozambique-based Islamic State militants attacked several villages in southern Tanzania, Tanzanian authorities said. Days later, residents of two villages in Mozambique reported rocket fire from inside Tanzania that injured 12 civilians. The Mozambican government, at odds with Tanzania over its handling of the insurgency, did not publicly comment on the episode. On Tuesday the president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, condemned the reported “acts of barbarity” in northern Mozambique and offered Zimbabwe’s help with the fight. “The security of our region is paramount to the protection of our people,” he said.

With village beheadings, Islamic State intensifies attacks in Mozambique

Austrian police launched raids on more than 60 addresses allegedly linked to radical Islamists in four different regions Monday, with orders given for 30 suspects to be questioned, prosecutors said.

The Styria region prosecutors' office said in a statement it was "carrying out investigations against more than 70 suspects and against several associations which are suspected of belonging to and supporting the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas organisations".

It stressed, "the operation has no connection to the terror attack in Vienna of November 2".

It comes after&nbsp;Austria's interior and integration ministers ordered the closure of "radical mosques" after&nbsp;a deadly attack by a jihadist in&nbsp;Vienna&nbsp;in which four people were killed.

Austria, a country of 8.9 million people, has roughly 600,000 Muslim inhabitants, most of whom are Turkish or have families of Turkish origin.

The Islamic religious community IGGO said freedom of religion was an important value, but it must also be protected from within its own ranks. It said it worked with the authorities to close the mosque.

After Friday prayers at a mosque in&nbsp;Vienna, Imam Salim Mujkanovic condemned the attack and said: "Today it was a call to the youths who might not have had such a tight link (to the extremists) via the internet or personally, but there is a danger that they might be involved in this in the future."

Austria has arrested 15 people in connection with the attack. A&nbsp;Vienna&nbsp;court ordered eight of them, aged 16-24, to be detained in custody, it said on Friday.

"They are strongly suspected of having contributed to the crimes of murder, belonging to a terrorist organisation and a criminal organisation by supporting the attacker in the run-up to the attack," the court said, adding that its ruling was initially valid until Nov. 20.

Police in Germany on Friday searched homes and businesses linked to four people believed to have had ties to the shooter, whom Austrian authorities have described as an Islamist terrorist.

Switzerland has also arrested two men who the authorities there said knew the attacker.

Austrian police launched raids on more than 60 addresses allegedly linked to radical Islamists in four different regions Monday, with orders given for 30 suspects to be questioned, prosecutors said.

Austrian police launched raids on more than 60 addresses allegedly linked to radical Islamists in four different regions Monday, with orders given for 30 suspects to be questioned, prosecutors said. The Styria region prosecutors' office said in a statement it was "carrying out investigations against more than 70 suspects and against several associations which are suspected of belonging to and supporting the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas organisations". It stressed, "the operation has no connection to the terror attack in Vienna of November 2". It comes after Austria's interior and integration ministers ordered the closure of "radical mosques" after a deadly attack by a jihadist in Vienna in which four people were killed. Austria, a country of 8.9 million people, has roughly 600,000 Muslim inhabitants, most of whom are Turkish or have families of Turkish origin. The Islamic religious community IGGO said freedom of religion was an important value, but it must also be protected from within its own ranks. It said it worked with the authorities to close the mosque. After Friday prayers at a mosque in Vienna, Imam Salim Mujkanovic condemned the attack and said: "Today it was a call to the youths who might not have had such a tight link (to the extremists) via the internet or personally, but there is a danger that they might be involved in this in the future." Austria has arrested 15 people in connection with the attack. A Vienna court ordered eight of them, aged 16-24, to be detained in custody, it said on Friday. "They are strongly suspected of having contributed to the crimes of murder, belonging to a terrorist organisation and a criminal organisation by supporting the attacker in the run-up to the attack," the court said, adding that its ruling was initially valid until Nov. 20. Police in Germany on Friday searched homes and businesses linked to four people believed to have had ties to the shooter, whom Austrian authorities have described as an Islamist terrorist. Switzerland has also arrested two men who the authorities there said knew the attacker.

Police in Austria conducts raid on dozens of addresses linked to radical Islamists