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

MAURITANIA’S IMPRISONED ISLAMISTS DEBATE JIHAD WITH RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS ON PUBLIC TELEVISIONBuoyed by the successful transition of power after recent elections and the reconciliation of the government and opposition, Mauritania is now taking the unprecedented step of broadcasting a televised debate on the meaning and merits... MORE

RECLUSIVE LEADER OF HAQQANI NETWORK SPEAKS TO PRESS AS U.S. URGES HIS ELIMINATIONSirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the dangerously effective and independently operated “Haqqani Network” of Taliban insurgents, terrorists and suicide bombers gave a rare interview to al-Jazeera on January 19. Based in the Miran Shah... MORE

ARMED OPPOSITION GROUPS REDEPLOY IN WAKE OF CHAD-SUDAN BORDER SECURITY PACTRecent talks in N’djamena seem to confirm both Sudan and Chad have realized that their use of proxies in a long-standing dispute is a dangerous game that threatens the existence of both regimes.An agreement was... MORE

TALIBAN MILITARY COMMANDER IN ZABUL PROVINCE DISCUSSES TACTICS AND STRATEGYThe sparsely inhabited Afghan province of Zabul is nevertheless a strategic concern for U.S. and Coalition forces in Afghanistan, due to its location and majority Pashtun population. Zabul shares a border with Pakistan to the south... MORE

MYSTERY SURROUNDS DEVASTATION OF KARACHI MARKETS AFTER ASHURA BLASTThe terrorist bombing that struck an Ashura Shiite religious procession in downtown Karachi on December 28 was followed by a wave of arson attacks that destroyed most of the commercial market district of that city. The apparent... MORE

FALLOUT FROM MOGADISHU GRADUATION BOMBING RIPPLES THROUGH EXTREMISTS AND GOVERNMENT ALIKEThe sight of the black flag of the highly feared al-Shabaab organization being burned in the streets of Mogadishu by enraged Somalis was not something the leaders of the radical Islamist group hoped to see... MORE

TALIBAN PREDICT PRESIDENT OBAMA’S “COLONIAL STRATEGY” WILL LEAD TO AMERICAN COLLAPSEIn the midst of extensive coverage of President Obama’s decision to send another 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the Taliban’s response was little noticed. A formal statement from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was carried... MORE