Despite the Islamic State fall and coronavirus crisis the first week of Ramadan deadlier than 2019
Islamic terrorists, mainly the Taliban, were responsible for 185 fatalities and 188 injuries during the first week of Ramadan, a time when extremists believe martyrdom and jihad are exceptionally rewarded in paradise, a Breitbart News tally revealed.
That means, on average, terrorists killed about 26 people each day during the first full seven days of the holiest week for Muslims — April 24 to 30. During that same period, there were 60 terrorist attacks that took place in 13 countries, resulting in a total of 373 casualties, including fatalities and injuries.
That translates to over 50 casualties each day during the holiest month for Islam adherents.
As it has done in the last three years, Breitbart News will provide regular updates on the carnage during Ramadan, which began at sunset on April 23 in most countries and will last through sundown on May 23.
The first full day of fasting fell on April 24, the first day Breitbart News began its count.
While several countries and regions have put their citizens on some form of lockdown, including Kabul, the coronavirus pandemic plaguing the globe has not slowed the war in Afghanistan.
So far, the deadliest group during the ongoing month of Ramadan is the Afghan Taliban, responsible for 130 deaths, or nearly 70 percent of all fatalities during the first week. Afghan Taliban jihadis are also behind over 75 percent (144) of all injuries.
As a result of the Taliban’s relentless attacks, Afghanistan is so far the deadliest country of the holy month, home to 40, or about two-thirds, of all 60 documented assaults during the first week of Ramadan.
The Taliban rejected a U.S.-backed Ramadan truce offered by Afghanistan, reportedly saying a ceasefire is “not rational” as they ramp up attacks on the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and civilians.
At the end of February, the United States and the Taliban narco-jihadis signed an agreement calling for the conditions-based withdrawal of American and foreign military forces.
Even as the Taliban ramps up attacks, the first phase of the withdrawal of foreign forces is already underway, a U.S. reconstruction watchdog noted last week. America is reportedly working on bringing the number of American troops in the war and pandemic-ravaged country to well below 10,000. American troops invaded Afghanistan in October 2001.
Despite the demise of its so-called caliphate in March 2019, the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and its affiliates continue to wreak havoc, responsible for 36 deaths and five injuries during the first days of Ramadan, primarily in Iraq.
“The terrorist activities of Daesh [Islamic State] have increased during Ramadan [Muslims’ holy month],” Nihad Mohammed, a spokesperson for the police in Iraq’s Diyala province, declared.
The jihadi group continues to operate outside the Middle East. On April 27, an ISIS-linked man in France rammed his car into two police motorcyclists, seriously injuring them.
There was also one ISIS-linked attack each in Egypt, the Philippines, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Although to a much lesser extent, other jihadi groups have also been carrying out attacks during Ramadan, including Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Iran-allied Shiite Houthis in Yemen, and the al-Qaeda-linked Hayyat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).
Even with the fall of the ISIS caliphate in 2019, the first week of Ramadan this year is deadlier than in 2019. Jihadists killed at least 165 people and injured another 145 in the first week of that year.
Jihadist groups and other Islamists are known to urge their members and supporters to engage in jihad on Ramadan, believing that martyrs will get extra rewards in paradise. Despite these attempts, the vast majority of Muslims solely abide by Ramadan’s fasting tradition: abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking, having sex, and other physical needs each day, starting from before the break of dawn until sunset.
Breitbart News primarily gleans its tally from the Religion of Peace website in coordination with news and government reports.
Given that news outlets and governments fail to report many of the terrorist attacks in real-time, the casualty total for the first week is subject to change.
Government officials may also update some of the casualty totals as some of the injured victims succumb to their injuries.
All the terrorist attacks so far during Ramadan 2020, as documented by Breitbart News, include:
April 24 — Badghis, Afghanistan — Taliban kills 13 local policemen and takes eight other prisoners in the village of Laman in Qala-e-Naw City.
April 24 — Ghor, Afghanistan — Taliban kills one civilian in the village of Teghah-e-Timor in Firoz Koh.
April 24 — Diyala, Iraq — Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) kills at least two members of the pro-government Sunni militia forces Al-Hashd Al- Shayari.
April 24 — Borno, Nigeria — Suspected Boko Haram jihadists kill five, including three policemen, and wound “several others” in the state capital of Maiduguri.
April 24 — Faryab/Ghazni, Afghanistan — Taliban kills three civilians in northern Faryab province, one other in eastern Ghazni, wounds a total of 25 others, including women and children.
April 24 — Deir Ezzor, Syria — ISIS kills official in charge of fuel and his nephew in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria.
April 25 — Badghis, Afghanistan — Taliban mortar kills a woman, wounds a child in the village of Kamengi Oliya in Qadis District.
April 25 — Jowzjan, Afghanistan — Taliban kills two pro-government militia members and wounds four others in the Hyderabad village of Faizabad District.
April 25 — Faryab, Afghanistan — Taliban kills a 70-year-old man in the village of Sufi Qala located in the Qaisar district.
April 25 — Faryab, Afghanistan — Taliban improvised explosive device, or IED, kills a child and injures an adult civilian in Almar district.
April 25 — Faryab, Afghanistan — Taliban kills one and wounds ten civilians, including women and children, in Kohi village of Qaisar district.
April 25 — Uruzgan, Afghanistan — Taliban kills four policemen and wounds three others.
April 25 — Dhalea, Yemen — Iran-backed Houthi rebels kill five pro-government forces, wound 11 others in the al-Husha district.
April 25 — North Waziristan, Pakistan — Unknown jihadis kill two soldiers who reportedly “embraced martyrdom,” wound five in Khaisura and Dossali
April 25 — Logar, Afghanistan — Taliban kills 7 members of the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF), and kidnaps four others in Barak-e-Barak district. The ANDSF includes police and army units.
April 26 — Parwan, Afghanistan — Taliban kills police officer in the Matak area of Charikar District.
April 26 — Herat, Afghanistan — Taliban kills two police officers, wounds another in the village of Qasr-e-Naser in Pashtun-Zarghun District.
April 26 — Faryab, Afghanistan — Taliban kills one soldier and is linked to killing one civilian and wounding three others in Shirin Tagab district.
April 26 — Logar, Afghanistan — Taliban kills five police officers and takes four other prisoners in Baraki Barak district.
April 26 — Uruzgan, Afghanistan — Taliban kills three police officers, wounds two in the Nachin area of Tarin Kot.
April 26 — Mogadishu, Somalia — Al-Qaeda-affiliate al-Shabaab kills four and wounds three in the Halane base that houses American and European troops.
April 26 — Takhar, Afghanistan — Taliban kills seven, wounds three government-backed militiamen in Khwaja Bahauddin district.
April 26 — North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — Fighters from the ISIS-linked Armed Democratic Force (ADF) kill six, including one woman, in the town of Malambo.
April 26 — Al Anbar, Iraq — ISIS kills Walid district councilman, kidnaps his son, wounds two other family members.
April 26 — Mogadishu, Somalia — Al-Shabaab assassinates a businessman.
April 27 — Diyala, Iraq — ISIS wound two policemen.
April 27 — Jowzjan, Afghanistan — Taliban kills two soldiers, wounds three in Mingajik District.
April 27 — Takhar, Afghanistan — Taliban Red Unit kills four pro-government militia members, wounds two others in Laala Gozar village of Yangi Qala District.
April 27 — Badghis, Afghanistan — Taliban marksman kills two police officers and wounds another as they were bringing water from a well in the village of Mirza-Ali in Qadis District.
April 27 — Kunduz, Afghanistan — Taliban kills two soldiers, wounds another in Seh Chinara area of Chardara District.
April 27 — Kunduz, Afghanistan — Taliban kills one police officer, wounds another in the Aqi Bai village of Imam Sahib District.
April 27 — Herat, Afghanistan — Taliban jihadis on motorcycle kill one member of the primary intelligence agency in Afghanistan, the National Security Directorate (NDS) in Golran District.
April 27 — Paktia, Afghanistan — Taliban kills four police officers in Gardez City.
April 27 — Faryab, Afghanistan — Taliban abducts and kills three civilians in Maimana City.
April 27 — Colombes, France — ISIS-linked man rammed his car into two police motorcyclists, seriously injuring them.
April 28 — Herat, Afghanistan — Taliban kills one soldier, wounds another in the village of Noorzayeha in Koshk-e-Kohneh District.
April 28 — Kirkuk, Iraq — ISIS suicide attack wounds three security forces.
April 29 — Central District, Israel — Palestinian teen stabs 62-year-old Israeli woman in the town of Kfar Saba in what authorities described as a terror attack.
April 29 — South Cotabato, Philippines — Jihadis from the ISIS-linked Ansar Al-Khilafah kill two police officers in an outskirt village in Polomolok.
April 29 — Kabul, Afghanistan —Taliban kills three civilians and wounds 15 others in the Reshkhor area of Char Asyab district.
April 29 — Kunduz, Afghanistan — Taliban kills three soldiers, wounds another, and kidnaps an additional soldier in the Zakhil-e-Qadim area of Kunduz city.
April 29 — Logar, Afghanistan — Taliban kills two soldiers, wounds another in Kharwar District.
April 29 — Badghis, Afghanistan — Taliban kills one pro-government militiaman, wounds another in the village of Kharistan in Moqor District.
April 29 — Faryab, Afghanistan — Taliban kills two police officers in the Hadbakhshi area of Khan Charbagh District.
April 29 — Faryab, Afghanistan — Taliban kills one soldier, one civilian woman, wounds 15 civilians, one soldier in Shirin Tagab district.
April 29 — Herat, Afghanistan — Taliban kills two soldiers in the village of Khawja-Jir in Koshk-e-Robatsangi District.
April 29 — Herat, Afghanistan — Taliban kills two soldiers in the village of Chah-Rig in Ghoryan District.
April 29 — Samangan, Afghanistan — Taliban kills nine pro-government militiamen and wounds nine others.
April 29 — Kunduz, Afghanistan — Taliban kills four police officers and wounds three others in the Aqi Bai and Naw Abad villages of Imam Sahib District.
April 29 — Badakhshan, Afghanistan — Taliban kills three police officers, one pro-government militiaman, two members of territorial army, and wounds eight others.
April 30 — Ghazni, Afghanistan — Taliban roadside bomb kills two men, two women, one child in the Nazar Khan area of Andar District.
April 30 — Kunduz, Afghanistan — Taliban Red Unit kills three police officers, wounds seven on the highway connecting Khan Abad District to Kunduz City.
April 30 — Takhar, Afghanistan — Taliban Red Unit kills five pro-government militiamen, wounds five others in the Laala Gozar village of Yangi Qala District.
April 30 — Sinai, Egypt — An ISIS improvised explosive device (IED) kills up to ten soldiers near the southern city of Bir al-Abd.
April 30 — Diyala, Iraq — ISIS snipers wound two policemen.
April 30 — Dhaka, Bangladesh — Unknown terrorists target house of Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami leader, killing a child and wounding 11.
April 30 — Helmand, Afghanistan — Taliban IED kills the head of the intelligence office of Nawa district and his bodyguard.
April 30 — Deir Ezzor, Syria — ISIS IED strikes a bus carrying Syrian soldiers, killing six Syrian soldiers.
April 30 — Aleppo, Syria — Al-Qaeda-linked Hayyat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) kills a civilian, injures five others.
April 30 — Idlib, Syria — HTS kills a Kurdish civilian.
Source: Breitbart
