SHAYKH MUHAMMAD AL-FARIS: ASSAD’S MAN IN QAMISHLI Nicholas A. Heras The Syrian military has begun a military campaign to reduce the power of Kurdish militias and to seize key transit routes between Syria and Iraq from the Islamic State in the strategic, northeastern governorate of... MORE

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. This was highlighted by President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi’s decision to relocate his government from... MORE

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, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, in the Syrian town of Kobane in late January, the militant... MORE

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 finally forced to withdraw from the Kurdish-majority Syrian town of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic).... MORE

JABHAT AL-NUSRA ACCUSES SHAYKH MUHAMMAD SA’AD AL-DIN AL-BARIDI OF DEFECTING TO ISLAMIC STATE Nicholas A. Heras The intra-opposition fighting within the Syrian civil war has taken a new turn. With the success of the Islamic State comes accusations that various leaders and their organizations are... MORE

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 central Paris. Having initially gone to the neighboring building, the attackers – armed with assault... MORE

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 Iraqi border, close to the town of Arar (Arab News, January 6). A ministry spokesman... MORE

NEW SALAFIST COMMANDER OMAR AL-ANSARI EMERGES IN SOUTHWEST LIBYA Nicholas A. Heras Shaykh Ahmad Omar al-Ansari, the leader of the Tuareg Salafist militia Katiba 315, is emerging as one of the most important commanders in the greater Sahara region of southwestern Libya. His organization is... MORE

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 State organization, as the power of the extensive international coalition ranged against it begins to... MORE

Leading the Fight against Islamic State: FSA Commanders Ahmad Absi Al-Su’oud and Hassan Mar’i Al-Hamadeh Nicholas A. Heras The al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (JN – Victory Front) recently conducted a successful campaign in the northwestern Syrian governorates of Idlib and Aleppo against the Syrian armed... MORE