Latest Briefs
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
May 2016 Briefs (Free)
ON THE FRONT LINES IN EASTERN LIBYA Nicholas A. Heras The international coalition to combat the Islamic State (IS) has begun to expand its operations inside Libya in order to contain the growing power of the militant Salafist organization. Several coalition countries, led by the... MORE
April 2016 Briefs (Free)
CAPTAIN HASSAN IBRAHIM: DEFACTO AMBASSADOR FOR SYRIA'S SOUTHERN FRONT Nicholas A. Heras A coalition of moderate armed opposition groups in southern Syria, primarily organized within al-Jabhat al-Janoobiyya (Southern Front), are confronting the Islamic State affiliate Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk in the southwestern area of Dara’a governorate... MORE
BRIEFS
Germany: Do Terrorists Want to Target Europe’s Nuclear Facilities? Alexander Sehmer German newspapers reported this month that documents about a German nuclear facility were found at the Brussels apartment of alleged Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam. However, German authorities quickly denied the existence of such material.... MORE
BRIEFS
SOMALIA: PUNTLAND CLASHES SHOW GROWING AL-SHABAAB THREAT Government forces in Somalia claim to have killed more than 100 al-Shabaab fighters in a major clash in Puntland, located in the country’s northeast. A further 59 fighters were captured—among them, several foreign fighters including three Kenyans (Daily... MORE
BRIEFS
BELGIUM: THE SCALE OF THE THREAT FACING EUROPE Alexander Sehmer Belgian counterterrorism forces are under particular scrutiny following the attacks in Brussels that left at least 31 people dead and hundreds more injured. The attacks on the morning of March 22— which consisted of three... MORE
March 2016 Brief (Free)
REBEL LIBYAN COLONEL SALAH AL-DIN BADI EMERGES AS KEY OPPONENT TO UN-BROKERED UNITY GOVERNMENT Nicholas A. Heras The United Nations brokered a national unity government in Libya, formed with the intention of ending the bitter political divisions in the country and coordinating the country’s disunited... MORE
BRIEFS
PAKISTAN: MILITANT SYMPATHIES AMONG THE MIDDLE CLASS Alexander Sehmer Pakistani police arrested a Karachi-based dentist named Usman Khan on February 14 in connection with last year’s Safoora bus attack, which killed 45 and wounded 13 more. Under interrogation, Khan reportedly told the authorities that he... MORE