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

HAS QARI HUSSAIN MEHSUD FINALLY BEEN KILLED? Sources in the Pakistani media have been reporting that Qari Hussain Mehsud, [1] the “Ustad-e-Fidayeen,” may have finally been assassinated in an October 8 drone attack while traveling in a vehicle with four Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) comrades in... MORE

PHILIPPINES ADOPTS MORE MOBILE SEA-BASED STRATEGY AGAINST ABU SAYYAFThe Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are restructuring their campaign against Abu Sayyaf Islamist militants in Western Mindanao by adopting the fleet marine concept as a replacement for the Sulu Archipelago-based Joint Task Force Comet (Sun... MORE

RENEGADE OPPOSITION LEADER PREDICTS OIL WAR IN SUDANIn a recent interview with a pan-Arab daily, a leading Sudanese politician claimed a vote for secession by the oil-rich South Sudan in the upcoming January referendum will not be accepted by the Khartoum government, leading to a... MORE

TRIBAL DISPUTE MAKES OIL-RICH ABYEI REGION POTENTIAL FLASHPOINT FOR RENEWED SUDANESE CONFLICTThe future of the Sudan may lay in Abyei, a relatively small district on the border between Sudan’s North and South. Its status as part of either North or South Sudan will be determined... MORE

JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH’S MAS SELEMAT KASTARI EXTRADITED BACK TO SINGAPORE On September 24, Mas Selamat Kastari, the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Singapore, was extradited back to the city-state after his puzzling February 27, 2008, jailbreak there (AP, September 24). Selamat escaped the detention center... MORE

EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC GROUP IDEOLOGIST DR. NAJIH IBRAHIM SAYS TIME IS NOT RIGHT FOR ISLAMISTS TO SEIZE POWERDr. Najih Ibrahim, the principal theorist of Egypt’s al-Gama’a al-Islamiya (GI - Islamic Group), has outlined a new future for the GI, Egypt’s most notorious terrorist group in the... MORE

NIGERIAN SECURITY COMMANDERS DISMISSED AFTER BOKO HARAM MILITANTS BLAST THEIR WAY OUT OF PRISONThreats made in July by the new chief of northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram sect were fulfilled in recent days with a mass prison breakout of incarcerated sect members and what appears to... MORE

SAHARAN MERCENARY EMPLOYED BY AL-QAEDA FREED IN HOSTAGE EXCHANGEWhile mercenaries have played an important role in the war on terrorism from the beginning, the use of private forces has until recently been associated with counterterrorism efforts. However, since al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) began... MORE