Religion
Islamic State Attacks on Religious Minorities ‘Genocide,’ Canadian Ambassador Says
In this Feb.17, 2011 file photo, hundreds of newly trained al-Shabab fighters perform military exercises in the Lafofe area some 18 kilometers (12 miles) south of Mogadishu, Somalia. U.S. military forces targeted the Islamic extremist al-Shabab network in an operation Monday, Sept. 1, 2014 in Somalia, the Pentagon said. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)
(The Star) – The explosion of ethno-religious hatred, forced expulsions and gruesome murders by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria has risen to the level of genocide, says Andrew Bennett, Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom.
“ISIS is a barbaric terrorist group that has taken Sunni Islam and warped it, distorted it, twisted it and usurped it for its own barbaric goals of establishing a so-called caliphate,” Bennett said in an interview in Toronto on Monday, referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as the group was previously known.
Although the factors are complex, he added, “it is religiously motivated and religion is at the centre of this conflict.”
Last week, Ottawa announced the deployment of “several dozen” members of the military who will join U.S. forces in advising the Iraqi government on becoming more effective in fighting the militants, who have killed, pillaged and terrorized their way through Iraq and Syria in an effort to revive the Muslim conquests that began in the 7th century after the Prophet Muhammad’s death.
