There have been 77 attacks that killed 318 people since the Ramadan holiday began on May 17, a radical Islamist watchdog site says.
Like this one, in which 10 people “including children were beheaded in a village in northern Mozambique in a weekend attack blamed on suspected Islamists.”
And this one, in which 20 “innocents at a fair are massacred by Jihadists” in Mali.
And this one, in which a gunman yelling Allah Akbar shot dead two female police officers and a civilian outside a school in Belgium.
While Islamic terror attacks happen all year round, they tend to spike during the holy month. The Middle East Media Research Institute says martyrdom is “doubly rewarded” during Ramadan, and killing infidels is always celebrated among radical Islamists.
“The commandment of jihad, which is of supreme importance at all times, assumes even greater importance during this holy month and gains precedence over all other commandments. … On Ramadan Allah grants fighters special strength, despite — or rather by virtue of — their fasting. Those who gain martyrdom during the month of Ramadan are doubly rewarded in Paradise,” the institute says.
Ramadan is only halfway through; the holy month runs until June 16.