• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Syria: Islamic jihadists blow up Sufi shrine

Oct 14, 2013 12:48 pm By Robert Spencer

Obama hasn’t shown any concern about the Syrian jihadists’ rampant targeting of Christians. Will he be roused to speak a word against them, and maybe even to stop arming them, now that they have targeted other Muslims whom they deem insufficiently Islamic?

“Islamist militants destroy Sufi shrine in eastern Syria: activists,” from Reuters, October 13 (thanks to all who sent this in):

(Reuters) – A Sufi Muslim shrine was blown up in eastern Syria on Sunday, opposition activists said, blaming al Qaeda-affiliated militants who have joined in the increasingly sectarian civil war.

Militants placed explosives at the shrine of Sheikh Eissa Abdelqader al-Rifaiy in the rebel-held town of Busaira, 45 km (30 miles) east of the provincial capital of Deir al-Zor, and detonated them on Sunday morning, they said.

The activists contacted by Reuters said they suspected al Qaeda-linked fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were behind the explosion.

“The Islamic State has a base outside the town. The ease by which they got to the shrine indicates that their presence is growing,” activist Abu al-Tayyeb al-Deiri said from Deir al-Zor.

Video footage and a photo released by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group showed the shrine reduced to a field of shattered rock and twisted metal with trees and a small domed building in the background.

Several graves and other sites belonging to the Sufi sect, a mystical school of Islam opposed by puritanical Salafists from which al Qaeda draws its ranks, have been burnt or destroyed in the province in the past few months, opposition sources said.

The Observatory, which has a network of sources across Syria, said another shrine had been blown up in the same area last month.

Tension has been rising in Deir al-Zor between ISIL, composed largely of foreign fighters, and other rebel brigades drawn from eastern tribes, who turned against President Bashar al-Assad after a crackdown on protests in the revolt’s early months.

The 2-1/2-year conflict has become increasingly sectarian as rebels overwhelmingly from Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority fight to oust Assad, a member of the Shi’ite-derived Alawite sect.

Resentment of Alawite dominance of Syria’s political and security establishment under 40 years of Assad family rule was a major factor in the start of the rebellion.

Regional Shi’ite power Iran has backed Assad in the conflict while Saudi Arabia and other majority Sunni Gulf states have supported the rebels.

Shi’ite fighters from Lebanon and Iraq have entered the conflict on Assad’s side while foreign Sunnis have come to fight for the rebels.

Assad has cast himself as a bulwark against al Qaeda, whose affiliate ISIL has launched successful attacks against his forces, but which has been increasingly involved in clashes with other rebel groups in northern and eastern Syria.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Syria


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • gravenimage on Iranian top dogs approve bill to end UN nuclear inspections, increase enrichment
  • OLD GUY on Biden vows to surrender to Iran, then negotiate
  • Peter Clemerson on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Meena on India: Police make first arrest for ‘love jihad’ under new law
  • gravenimage on Uighur leader: ‘We’re actually quite worried’ about what Biden might let China get away with

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.