Militant Leadership Monitor – August 2015
The August 2015 issue of Militant Leadership Monitor begins with three briefs. Nicholas Heras first looks at Shaykh Hammoud Saeed al-Mikhlafi, a key ally of Saudi Arabia against the Houthis in Taiz. Then, Matthew Czekaj discusses Poland’s first suicide bomber with the Islamic State, Jacek S. (a.k.a. Abu Ibrahim al-Almani). Recently assassinated FSA commander Lieutenant Colonel Jamil Ra’dun, a recipient of U.S. military aid, is covered by Heras. Almir Daci, the Islamic State’s Albanian recruiter, is profiled by Ebi Spahiu. The man behind the murders of Bangladeshi secular bloggers, Shafiur Rahman Farabi, is then sketched by Animesh Roul. Wladimir van Wilgenburg offers a post-mortem analysis of Mullah Shwan, the Islamic State’s Kurdish mastermind. Finally, Dario Cristiani updates his portrait of Mokhtar Belmokhtar in light of the most recent allegations that he was killed in an airstrike.