CONTROVERSIAL GATHERING OF ISLAMIC SCHOLARS REFUTES AL-QAEDA’S IDEOLOGICAL CORNERSTONEAl-Qaeda and related Islamist militant groups have long relied on the works of a 14th century Syrian-born Islamic scholar for the ideological underpinnings of their radical approach to religion and politics. Shaykh Taqi al-Din ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328)... MORE

SOMALI SUFIS ENTER GOVERNMENT AS AL-SHABAAB CONTINUES ITS WAR ON THE DEADFollowing an earlier campaign of grave desecrations and exhumations in southern Somalia, al-Shabaab militants have now turned their attention to the graves of respected Islamic scholars and Sufi leaders in Mogadishu. Heavily armed detachments... MORE

DEAD END FOR DULMATIN  On March 9, 2010 Indonesia’s most wanted man was killed in a shootout with the country’s elite counter-terrorist unit, Detachment-88. Jemaah Islamiyah’s (JI) Dulmatin (a.k.a. Ammar Usman), believed to be the trigger man behind the 2002 Bali bombings which left 202... MORE

MILITANTS REVIVE NIGER DELTA INSURGENCY WITH BOMBING “FROM THE PIT OF HELL”Nigeria’s Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) made clear its complete rejection of the amnesty program and a peaceful approach to solving the problems of the Niger Delta region on March... MORE

BRIGADIER DESCRIBES AL-QAEDA OPERATIONS IN YEMENAs head of the Yemeni Army’s Moral Guidance Directorate and editor-in-chief of the Ministry of Defense’s 26 September Weekly Political Review (www.26september.info), Brigadier General Ali Hasan al-Shatir is one of the most influential figures in Yemen’s security structure. In a... MORE

SOMALIA’S HIZB AL-ISLAM PLEDGES TO RETAKE TERRITORY LOST TO AL-SHABAAB RIVALSSenior Hizb al-Islam commander Shaykh Ahmad Madobe has declared that Hizb al-Islam is preparing plans to expel rival Islamist militia al-Shabaab from territories in the Juba region of south Somalia (AllPuntland.com, March 1; Shabelle Media... MORE

GAZA SALAFISTS DEMAND SUBMISSION OF HAMAS “APOSTATES” In a recent interview, a commander of the Masadat al-Mujahideen, a Gaza-based Salafist militant group, described his movement’s confrontation with Hamas, demanding that the Islamist movement “repent” its apostasy and stop fighting the Salafists “on behalf of the... MORE

NEW MILITARY STRATEGY AGAINST TERRORISM IN MAURITANIATaking Algeria’s lead in securing its southern borders in the Sahara/Sahel region against terrorists, smugglers, drug traffickers and kidnapping gangs, the Mauritanian Army has announced the creation of a new military zone along Mauritania’s northeastern border with Algeria and... MORE

AL-QAEDA IDEOLOGUE RULES ON PERMISSIBILITY OF MASS-CASUALTY MARKET BOMBINGSAl-Qaeda’s al-Fajr Media Center has released a religious ruling on the permissibility of mass-casualty attacks in public places like markets. Written by Shaykh Atiyatullah, the ruling came in response to an inquiry into the October 28, 2009... MORE