James Brandon
James Brandon is a political and security risk analyst. He was Director of Research at the Quilliam Foundation, a UK-based think-tank, from 2008-2011, and was a journalist for print, broadcast and online media between 2002-2007, reporting on terrorism and Islamism from around the Middle East and Europe. He has an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and is an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) at Kings’ College, London. He currently works for a leading political risk and security consultancy and is based in Singapore and London. He has been quoted widely in the international media and has conducted research projects for a wide range of western governments.
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Articles by James Brandon
2 Years Later—Analyzing the 2017 London Bridge Attack
The vehicle ramming and knife attack carried out by three jihadists on London Bridge on June 3, 2017, killed eight people and injured 48, ending only when the police shot
Ireland Faces Conundrum of Jihadist Returnees
During the past few months, the mainly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have captured several jihadists of Irish nationality, forcing Ireland to confront the fact that up to several dozen of
Cathedral Attack in Southern Philippines Shows Resilience of Pro-Islamic State Groups
Militants in the southern Philippines carried out one of the largest attacks in over a year on January 27 when they conducted a twin bombing on the main cathedral in
Dangerous Amateurs: Indonesia’s New Generation of Jihadists
Shortly after 7 AM, on Sunday May 13, a woman on a motorcycle, Puji Kuswait, with two young girls also riding on the vehicle, approached Santa Maria Catholic Church, a
The Threat From British Jihadists After the Caliphate’s Fall
Since the emergence in 2013 of the Islamic State of Syria and al-Sham, later Islamic State (IS), followed by its declaration of a caliphate, the British government has estimated that
Party for Free Life in Kurdistan: The PKK’s Iranian Wing Bides Its Time
In response to Iraqi Kurdistan’s referendum on independence in early October, members of Iran’s Kurdish minority—an estimated population of six to eight million people—held widespread public celebrations, including in the
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AL-SHABAAB ATTACKS IN SOMALIA SUGGEST NEW HARDLINE STRATEGY Al-Shabaab, the Somali Islamist militant group, has conducted a range of attacks during the last few weeks, significant both in their scale
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CAN TUNISIA'S JIHADISTS CAPITALIZE ON COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC CRISIS? Two militants were killed and at least one member of the Tunisian security forces was injured on February 1 during clashes in
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AL-SHABAAB ATTACK KEEPS PRESSURE ON KENYAN MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT On January 15, the Somali militant group al-Shabaab carried out one of its most significant attacks on the forces of the
Ireland’s Foreign Fighters
Since the start of the Syrian uprising in 2012, around 30 to 50 Irish citizens are believed to have traveled to the country to join various Sunni rebel groups. At
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FRESH MILITANT VIOLENCE IN PHILIPPINES ILLUSTRATES CONTINUING JIHADIST PRESENCE James Brandon Armed members of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) kidnapped and killed nine Christian farmers in the southern Philippines island
Europe’s Jihadist Pipeline to Syria
As previous papers have outlined, the Islamic State poses a range of different threats to different people. One is a more or less conventional threat to the state structure in
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SOMALI ISLAMIC STATE SUPPORTERS LAUNCH REPORTED ATTACK IN PUNTLAND James Brandon Supporters of the Islamic State group reportedly carried out one of their first attacks in Somalia this month, in
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JORDAN ‘GREEN ON BLUE’ ATTACK LIKELY SHOWS ISLAMIC STATE REACH James Brandon A Jordanian police officer, Captain Anwar Abu Zaid, shot dead two U.S. nationals, two Jordanians and one South
A Portrait of the Islamic State’s British Propagandist Ifthekar Jaman
Since the start of the Syrian civil war, British police estimate that at least 700 British Muslims are believed to have traveled to that country to fight for various jihadist
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BANGLADESH ATTACKS SHOW INCREASING ISLAMIC STATE INFLUENCE James Brandon In the last six weeks, Bangladesh has been hit by a near-unprecedented series of Islamist militant attacks targeting foreigners and local
Saudi Arabia’s Yemen Intervention: A High Risk Gamble?
Saudi Arabia’s ongoing armed intervention in Yemen, which began overtly in March with airstrikes in support of Yemen’s internationally-recognized president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, has since become a coalition effort,
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BERLIN KNIFE ATTACK, WAVE OF ARRESTS UNDERLINES GERMAN RADICALIZATION THREAT James Brandon A known radical Islamist stabbed and wounded a policewoman in Berlin on September 17, and was subsequently shot
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EGYPTIAN ARMY’S KILLING OF TOURISTS HIGHLIGHTS WESTERN DESERT THREAT James Brandon The Egyptian military, on September 15, killed 12 civilians, including at least two Mexican tourists, in an attack on
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AL-SHABAAB ATTACK ON PEACEKEEPERS CANNOT HIDE GROUPS’ DISARRAY James Brandon The Somali Islamist militant organization al-Shabaab carried out one of its most lethal attacks in years on September 1, when
Rise of Islamic State Reignites British Radicalization Threat
During much of the 1990s and 2000s, the United Kingdom was the undisputed hub of much of the jihadist radicalization and activism in Western Europe. This was caused by a
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LIBYA FACES DEEPENING CHAOS James Brandon Overshadowed by events in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere in the Middle East, Libya has slipped deeper into chaos in recent weeks. This trend was
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BOKO HARAM SURVIVES REGIONAL OFFENSIVES AND STRIKES BACK James Brandon Rumors of the demise of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram appear to have been greatly exaggerated, as indicated by
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ALGERIAN ATTACK UNDERLINES THREATS ARISING FROM INTER-JIHADIST COMPETITION James Brandon At least nine Algerian soldiers were killed in an attack on July 17 when their patrol was ambushed by al-Qaeda
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HOUTHI INCURSIONS, IRANIAN PROPAGANDA TARGET SAUDI ARABIA’S NAJRAN PROVINCE James Brandon During the last month, a series of developments in Najran, both a province and its capital city in southwestern
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KURDS IN NORTHERN SYRIA STRIKE MAJOR BLOW AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE James Brandon The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (Yekineyen Parastina Gel—YPG) militia struck an important blow against the Islamic State militant
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AL-SHABAAB VIOLENCE IN SOMALIA AND KENYA UNDERSCORES GROUP’S RESILIENCE James Brandon A series of fresh low-level attacks by the al-Shabaab militant group in parts of southern Somalia and northern Kenya
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FRESH UK TERRORISM CONVICTIONS AND ARRESTS UNDERLINE GROWING THREAT James Brandon A spate of fresh incidents involving UK-based jihadists underlines the significant threat that the UK continues to face from
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GERMANY THWARTS TERRORIST ATTACK, BUT JIHADIST THREAT CONTINUES TO GROW James Brandon On April 30, German police in northeastern Hesse state reportedly thwarted a terrorist attack against a bicycle race
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Fresh Saudi Arrests Illustrate Evolving Jihadist Threat James Brandon A Saudi interior ministry spokesman said on April 24 that a recently arrested 23-year-old Saudi man, Yazied Muhammad Abdul Rahman Abu
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AQAP REBOUNDS IN YEMEN AMID AIRSTRIKES James Brandon Early on April 2, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters launched a surprise attack in al-Mukalla, eastern Yemen’s main port and
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GARISSA UNIVERSITY ATTACKS HIGHLIGHT AL-SHABAAB’S RESILIENCY Kathryn Basinsky The Garissa University attacks have demonstrated al-Shabaab’s resiliency despite growing evidence that international efforts against al-Shabaab have been paying off. In the
Hot Issue: War in Yemen: Sectarian Strife or Family Feuds?
Executive Summary The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on March 24 began launching airstrikes against Yemen’s Zaydi Shi’a Houthi movement (who refer to themselves as Ansar Allah—the supporters of God) and
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HOUTHIS OPEN DOOR TO GREATER IRANIAN ROLE IN YEMEN James Brandon Internal sectarian and political divisions have continued to deepen in Yemen in recent weeks, creating fresh instability and uncertainty.
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KURDISH, IRAQI OFFENSIVES PUT THE SQUEEZE ON THE ISLAMIC STATE’S STRATEGIC LINES OF COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN RAQQA AND MOSUL James Brandon Following the Islamic State’s defeat by mainly Kurdish ground forces,
A Portrait of Djamel Beghal: An Inspiration for Charlie Hebdo Jihadists
Investigations into the January 2015 Paris attacks have drawn fresh attention to Djamel Beghal, a shadowy 49-year-old French-Algerian veteran of Europe’s first generation of jihadists. Formerly based in the UK
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BELGIUM: TRIAL UNCOVERS EUROPE’S FORGOTTEN JIHADISTS James Brandon One of Europe’s largest ever Islamism-related anti-terrorism trials concluded on February 11 with the conviction of Fouad Belkacem, the leader of Sharia4Belgium,
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ISLAMIC STATE DEFEAT IN KOBANE HIGHLIGHTS LONG STRUGGLE AHEAD James Brandon The Islamic State endured one of its most significant and high-profile defeats to date in January when it was
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FRANCE ATTACKS UNDERLINE GROWING JIHADIST PRESENCE IN EUROPE James Brandon On January 7, two Islamist gunmen launched an attack on the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in
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SAUDI ATTACKS UNDERLINE GROWING JIHADIST CHALLENGE James Brandon Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said on January 5 that three border guards had been killed in clashes with four attackers near the
From Obscurity to Dominance: The Continuing Rise of Yemen’s al-Houthi Movement
During the last three years, the Houthi movement has accomplished a remarkable transformation, evolving from an obscure family-led Zaydi Shi’a guerrilla movement in Sa’ada governorate, one of Yemen’s most remote
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AIRSTRIKES, GROUND OFFENSIVES PUT ISLAMIC STATE ON THE BACK FOOT James Brandon During the last two weeks, a series of mainly military developments have inflicted significant damage on the Islamic
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FRENCH JIHADISTS NAMED AFTER ISLAMIC STATE KILLINGS James Brandon The videotaped execution of 18 Syrian soldiers and the U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig by the Islamic State organization garnered fresh
A Profile of Zuheir Salim: A Leading Strategist in the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood
As Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria shows further signs of weakening, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has begun maneuvering to take advantage of the regime’s expected collapse. In light of this,
UK Charity Funding Arms and Training for Bangladeshi Terrorists
Bangladeshi police reported in March that they had discovered an apparent bomb-factory in a madrassa in the district of Bhola, a relatively remote part of southern Bangladesh. Police reported the
Islamist Movements Recruiting in the West for the Somali Jihad
Last month, U.S. media reported that up to 20 American citizens of Somali origin recently travelled from Minnesota to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, a hardline jihadist group that presently controls
Iran’s Kurdish Militants Under Pressure from Joint Turkish-Iranian Assaults
Until recently, the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (Parti Jiyani Azadi Kurdistan – PJAK), an armed Kurdish separatist group active in Iran, was beginning to emerge as a genuine
The Next Generation of Radical Islamist Preachers in the UK
In the last few years the British government has imprisoned, exiled or deported most of Britain’s most high-profile jihadist preachers such as Abu Hamza, Omar Bakri and Abdullah Faisal. In
White British Converts to Islam Pose Suicide-Bombing Threat in UK
Until recently, the idea of white British converts to Islam carrying out suicide bomb attacks in towns in England’s quiet, rural southwest would have been dismissed as fiction or fantasy.
Jordan’s Jihad Scholar al-Maqdisi is Freed from Prison
On March 12, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi—born Isam Muhammad Tahir al-Barqawi in 1959—was released from a Jordanian prison after almost three years imprisonment without trial (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, March 13). Maqdisi has
The Pakistan Connection to the United Kingdom’s Jihad Network
Recent weeks have seen increasing international interest in the connections between jihadis in the UK and their counterparts in Pakistan. Attention has focused on how such groups and individuals could
PJAK Faces Turkish-Iranian Storm
The last year has seen steadily increasing violence between Turkey and the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). On October 21, 2007 a group of PKK fighters killed 12 Turkish soldiers and
Hizb-ut-Tahrir Under Increasing Pressure in the UK
In recent months, Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HT), a global Islamist group which aims to re-establish the caliphate, has come under increasing pressure in the United Kingdom from several sources: through the high-profile
UK Plot Highlights Growing Arab Radicalism
The arrests of seven men and one woman in connection with the two attempted car bombings in London and an attack on the Glasgow airport have highlighted the spread of
PKK Survives EU Arrests
In early February 2006, French and Belgian police arrested more than a dozen senior members of the PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party), a militant group fighting for greater political, social and
PJAK Claims Fresh Attacks in Iran
In recent months, fighters from the Iranian Kurdish group, the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), have clashed several times with Iranian government forces. At the end of
The PKK and Syria’s Kurds
In January, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) appointed "Doctor Bahoz," the nom de guerre of Fehman Huseyin, a Syrian Kurd, to lead the People's Defense Forces (the HPG), putting him
Kirkuk’s Referendum Revives Fears of Ethnic Violence
Last week, the Iraqi government called for the implementation of Article 140 of the country's permanent constitution, which calls for the "normalization" of the situation in Kirkuk (Asharq al-Awsat, February
Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s Growing Appeal in the Arab World
Hizb-ut-Tahrir (or Hizb al-Tahrir) is an ostensibly non-violent Islamic political movement dedicated to the recreation of a global caliphate. Although founded in Jordanian-ruled Jerusalem in 1953, it has traditionally been
The Evolution of the PKK: New Faces, New Challenges
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was founded in 1974 to mobilize Turkish Kurds to fight for independence from Turkey. During the 1980s and 1990s, the PKK fought a guerrilla campaign
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Emerges as a Rival to the PKK
On August 28, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (also known as the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, Teyrêbazên Azadiya Kurdistan, or TAK) set off several bombs in the Turkish cities of Marmaris, Istanbul
Mount Qandil: A Safe Haven for Kurdish Militants – Part 2
The following information and assessments are based upon the author's first-hand observations from his March 2006 visit to Kurdish camps on Mount Qandil. Part 1 of this article can be
Mount Qandil: A Safe Haven for Kurdish Militants – Part 1
The following information and assessments are based upon the author's first-hand observations from his March 2006 visit to Kurdish camps on Mount Qandil. In recent months, Turkey has renewed its