Anti-terrorism officials in the Horn of Africa are on high alert following the killing of Shaykh Aden Hashi Ayro, the military leader of al-Shabaab, the youth wing of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia, in a May 1 strike by U.S. ship-launched Tomahawk missiles... MORE

MOSUL SUICIDE BOMBER FORMER PRISONER IN GUANTANAMO PRISON Three suicide bombers struck on April 26 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where U.S. and Iraqi government forces are struggling against well-established al-Qaeda militants. The first attack involved a suicide car bomber who targeted a... MORE

A previous issue of Terrorism Monitor discussed a document issued by Sayed Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif, an imprisoned founder of the Egyptian Jihad organization and a prominent jihad theoretician better known as "Doctor Fadl." The work, called Tarshid al-amal al-jihadi fi misr wa al-alam (Rationalizing the... MORE

SLAUGHTER IN MOGADISHU MOSQUE INFLAMES SOMALI CONFLICT A new wave of heavy fighting broke out in Mogadishu on April 19 that lasted for over 48 hours and left more than 80 dead. More residents continue to pour out of the city past Ethiopian tanks awaiting... MORE

A previous issue of Terrorism Focus examined jihadi attempts to produce anthrax and concluded that without the proper aerosol equipment, jihadis are unlikely to launch a biological attack in the foreseeable future (Terrorism Focus, March 11). Though the problem of aerosolization has not yet been... MORE

MYSTERIOUS MURDERS OF TUAREGS NEGOTIATING WITH AL-QAEDA KIDNAPPERS IN MALI The bodies of three brutally executed men were found in the desert region of Kidal in northern Mali last week. The victims turned out to be two Tuareg negotiators and a driver, assigned to mediate... MORE

This issue of Terrorism Focus will conclude the look at the terrorist training lessons of Shamil al-Baghdadi, posted on a pro-al-Qaeda website (ek-ls.org, March 22). Episodes five and six of the training discuss the perpetration of “quality terror attacks”—high-impact, high-risk operations that include tourist abductions,... MORE

IRAQI AL-QAEDA TRAINER IN WAZIRISTAN RELEASES VIDEO An important but elusive al-Qaeda operative based in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region has released a videotape calling for jihad against the United States and its allies until final victory (The News [Islamabad], April 9). The veteran Iraqi jihadi,... MORE

The last issue of Terrorism Focus discussed the first two of six terrorist training lessons posted on a pro-al-Qaeda jihadi forum (Terrorism Focus, April 1). These lessons, dealing with the creation of a terrorist cell, also briefly touched on the subject of assassination techniques. This... MORE

GERMAN FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN WARNED OF ATTACKS BY GERMAN ISLAMISTS Germany’s Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) announced on April 3 that “potentially threatened institutions in Afghanistan,” including bases of the German Bundeswehr, had been warned of possible terrorist attacks from two German citizens (DDP,... MORE