Latest Briefs
Shia Popular Mobilization Units in a Post-Islamic State Iraq: A Look at Peace Brigade Commander Shaykh Kazim al-Issawi
The military campaign to conquer the northwestern Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) is advancing toward completion. At present, approximately 80 percent of the city — Mosul is Iraq’s second largest city and the Islamic State’s Iraqi capital — has been captured... MORE
Saharan Jihadist Leaders Establish New Alliance
As the Islamic State loses ground in Iraq and Syria and its regional offshoots also weaken, al-Qaeda’s affiliates are regaining momentum. In Syria, the al-Qaeda affiliate group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra and, from July 2016, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham) has managed... MORE
A Look at the Commander of the Zintan Military Council: Who Is Osama al-Juwaili?
The international effort spearheaded by the United States and the European Union (particularly Italy) continues to secure widespread recognition of the Government of National Accord (GNA) as the legitimate state authority in Libya (U.S. Department of State, March 22; Al-Wasat [Tripoli], February 14; Al-Wasat [Tripoli],... MORE
Commanding the Jaysh al-Nasr Coalition: A Review of the Ascendancy of Major Muhammad Mansour
Since the fall of armed opposition controlled areas of the strategic northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo to the al-Assad government and its allies in December 2016, the non-militant Salafist component of the broader armed opposition movement has been severely weakened. In response to the initiation... MORE
In Brief: Fighting on Two Fronts: A Look at a Syrian Opposition Commander Muhammad Jumu’a Abd al-Qadr Bakur
Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS, Conquest of the Levant Front) engaged in fierce skirmishes with several armed opposition organizations throughout northwest Syria at the end of January (Arabi 21 [Aleppo], January 26; al-Hayat, January 24). JFS claims that these clashes were in response... MORE
In Brief: A Snapshot of Two Rebel Commanders Vying for Survival in Damascus Governorate (Free)
At the conclusion of 2016 and entering 2017, two of the most powerful militant Islamist armed organizations remaining in Syria, Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (Movement of the Free Ones of the Levant-HASI) and Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam-JAI), are under intense pressure. JAI, which is... MORE
Resisting Al-Assad’s Advance: A Look at Two Rebel Commanders Inside Aleppo (Free)
Omar Abd al-Razaq The military forces and adjutant militias under the command of the al-Assad government, supported by Russian airstrikes and predominately foreign sectarian Shia militias mobilized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are making significant progress in the campaign to seize the opposition... MORE
A Look At Iraq’s Battlefield Parliamentarians: The Hashd Shaabi Commanders Leading The Fight Against Mosul (Free)
In October, the multi-force operation to capture Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) was launched. The operation is supported by the Iraqi Security Forces, the predominately ethnic Kurdish Peshmerga forces mobilized by the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG), the predominately sectarian Shia militias of... MORE
The Coming Fight for Mosul: Snapshots of Two Key Sunni Arab Commanders (September 2016 Briefs – Free)
Nicholas A. Heras The campaign to recapture Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul, located in the northwestern Iraqi province of Ninewah on the border of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Syria, from Islamic State (IS) will reportedly begin by the end of October (Rudaw... MORE