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

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 international notoriety for the militant group when it was posted online on November 16. In... MORE

HOUTHI REBELS SEIZE YEMENI PORT Kathryn Basinsky On October 14, Houthi rebels captured the Yemeni city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast. Hodeidah is the second largest port in Yemen as well as the country’s fourth largest city. According to one account, the rebels... MORE

REAPPEARANCE OF ‘SLAIN’ DAGESTANI MILITANT DISPROVES FSB CLAIMS Mairbek Vatchagaev Practically every month, Moscow boastfully announces that it has killed a leader of one of the territorial branches of the Islamic underground armed resistance. Statistics regularly provided by Russian authorities concerning the insurgency raise doubts... MORE

ABU MUHAMMAD NAMED NEW DAGESTANI AMIR OF CAUCASUS EMIRATE Mairbek Vatchagaev Earlier this year Abu Muhammad, who became the new head of the Caucasus Emirate in the North Caucasus in March, made his first public address where he outlined his group’s new priorities following the... MORE

MODI GOVERNMENT REVEALS NEW INITIATIVES AGAINST THE NAXALITE INSURGENCY Kathryn Basinsky While Narendra Modi, India’s new prime minister, has been in office a little over 100 days, a number of new initiatives have been announced to further the fight against the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, which has... MORE