ARABS AND TUAREG CLASH OVER NARCOTICS SMUGGLING IN NORTHERN MALIEmerging reports describe a major gun-battle between Bérabiche Arabs escorting a convoy of Moroccan cannabis through the Malian Sahel and a party of armed Tuareg nobles who appeared, in traditional fashion, to demand a fee for... MORE

UNCLAIMED NEW YEAR’S DAY BOMBING IN ABUJA RATTLES NIGERIA’S POWER STRUCTUREA New Year’s Eve bombing within the confines of a Nigerian military base in the capital city of Abuja has damaged Nigeria’s political stability, as various politicians and civil leaders seek to implicate each other... MORE

NIGERIA’S ONGOING PURSUIT OF DELTA MILITANT LEADERS The Nigerian military is pursuing John Togo, the leader of the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) even more doggedly following a multi-assault of three bomb attacks on oil stations in the country’s troubled Delta State (AFP, December 18,... MORE

RUSSIAN OPERATIONS IN TATARSTAN ELIMINATE MILITANT ISLAMIST CELLRussian security forces conducted a special operation in the Tatarstan village of Novoye Almetyevo against a group of three Islamist militants. The gunmen attracted the attention of security forces after firing on a wildlife enforcement officer who thought... MORE

AQAP DEPUTY LEADER AL-SHIHRI URGES SOLDIERS OF THE HOUSE OF SA’UD TO JOIN JIHADA new communiqué from the Saudi Arabian deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shihri (a.k.a. Sa’id Ali Jabir al-Kathim al-Shihri), urges troops in the service of... MORE

MURDER OF SOUTH SUDANESE REBEL LEADER PUTS JUBA’S AMNESTY PROGRAM AT RISKThe mysterious death of South Sudanese rebel commander Colonel Gatluak Gai (a.k.a. Galwak Gai) may jeopardize future attempts to rein in some seven other renegade commanders who refuse to join the new post-independence government... MORE

FORMER AQAP INTELLIGENCE CHIEF DESCRIBES EGYPTIAN ROLE IN AL-QAEDAA Kuwaiti daily recently published a transcript of the interrogation of Shaykh Ibrahim Muhammad Salih al-Banna (a.k.a. Abu Ayman al-Masri), the Egyptian former intelligence chief of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) who was arrested in early... MORE

INDONESIA’S CONTROVERSIAL SPECIAL FORCES REGAIN U.S. SUPPORT IN COUNTERRORISM STRUGGLEElite special military forces have played a critical role on the asymmetrical battlefield of the war on terrorism. While applying sophisticated equipment, highly trained personnel, refined intelligence gathering and unconventional tactics to counterterrorism efforts, many Special... MORE

AL-QAEDA USURPS YEMEN’S ADEN-ABYAN ARMYIn an effort to create insecurity in Yemen’s south in anticipation of a major Gulf region sporting event to be held in the area, the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has announced the creation of its own Aden-Abyan Army,... MORE

TUAREG REBELS JOINING BATTLE AGAINST AL-QAEDA IN THE SAHARA?On October 14 former Tuareg rebels under the command of Ibrahim Ag Bahanga attacked a heavily armed convoy of cocaine smugglers roughly 60 miles from the northern Mali town of Kidal. Some 12 people were killed in... MORE