Shia Muslims Population

According to Pew Research Institute, A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 1.6 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of…

Afghanistan: Deaths as suicide bombers hit Shia mosque

An attack at a Shia mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul killed at least four people and wounded eight more on Thursday, security officials said. Two suspected attackers tried to enter the city’s Al Zahra mosque but were blocked by police, setting off a gun battle, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.

Two conferences spotlight Muslim world’s struggle to counter militancy

Two conferences this week spotlight the Muslim world’s struggle to come to grips with extremism and militancy. The conferences, the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh and a gathering in East Java of youth leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s largest Muslim movement, laid bare the difficulty of reforming cultures in the battle against extremism, called into question the commitment of Muslim states to combat radicalism and political violence, and put on display US President Donald J.

Conflict in the Middle East threatens Pakistan and lynchpin of China’s One Belt, One Road

Increasingly caught up in the Middle East’s multiple conflicts, Pakistan is struggling to balance relations with rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran amid concern in Islamabad that potential US-Saudi efforts to destabilize the Islamic republic could turn its crucial province of Balochistan, a lynchpin in China’s One Belt, One Road initiative, into a battleground.

The Shiʿa Afghan Community: Between Transnational Links and Internal Hurdles

This article aims to present a political analysis of the relationship between the Shiʿa community in Afghanistan and the new political system that emerged after the US military intervention of 2001.

Kabul: Suicide blast at Shia mosque, casualties feared

See also Washington Post.
See also BBC.

Little girl prepares to have her scalp slashed open in Islamic ritual

See also Wall Street Journal (subscriber only)
The Evening Standard (UK)
Huffington Post
The Independant (UK)
[Seemingly larger amount of coverage in the Western media this year than in previous years. If others have urls of sites to be added to this list, do send them to me.-Ed.]

Afghanistan: New attack kills 14 worshipers at a mosque

See Washington Post

Ashura festival attack kills Shia Muslims at Afghan mosque – BBC News

See also alJazeera

Stealth Sectarianism