Latest Briefs
BRIEFS
KURDISH REBEL LEADER REACHES OUT TO ARABS, THREATENS ISRAEL Last week a London-based Arabic-language internet daily carried an interview with Fehman Hussein, a Syrian Kurd and long-time PKK militant who now leads the Hezen Parastina Gel (People’s Defense Force, or HPG), the armed wing of... MORE
Pakistan’s Taliban Battle Military for Frontier Arms Bazaar and Strategic Tunnel
Darra Adam Khel is a familiar name to all those who have any acquaintance with Pakistan's lawless tribal frontier region of seven tribal districts, or agencies. The town takes its name from the Adam Khel clan of the Pashtun Afridi tribe native to this region.... MORE
Al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq Absorbing Fighters from Other Jihadist Groups
Members of Iraq’s Islamist internet forums have been delighted lately to report a possible alliance between al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and the Ansar al-Islam group of Kurdish Sunni insurgents. A forum participant recently posted details of a joint operation by al-Qaeda and Ansar... MORE
Attacks on Oil Industry Are First Priority for al-Qaeda in Yemen
Over the past six months, al-Qaeda in Yemen’s strategy has become increasingly clear. It aims to strike at both Yemen and Western countries— particularly the United States—by attacking them at their most vital and vulnerable points: oil and tourism. For Yemen the danger is clear.... MORE
Iraqi Jihadi Offers Online Lessons on Ambush Techniques
As part of the military, intelligence and religious information exchanged through Iraqi jihadist internet forums, one jihadi recently posted a training lesson for militants in the battlefield entitled “Allurement is a technique mastered by the enemy.” The posting offers methods of luring U.S. forces into... MORE
BRIEFS
LEADER OF UZBEK MILITANTS CALLS FOR JIHAD IN PAKISTAN Tahir Yuldash, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), has called for jihad against the government of Pakistan from his refuge in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). In a video recording believed to have... MORE
Jihadis Analyze U.S. Plans to Evacuate Forces from Iraq
Since the beginning of the year, jihadi internet forums have carried many postings concerning the future of U.S. forces in Iraq and American plans to change the current military/political status quo in Iraq. These postings come despite a declaration from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki... MORE
BRIEFS
UK PRIME MINISTERS THREATENED BY “AL-QAEDA IN BRITAIN” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former PM Tony Blair were among the targets mentioned in a January 24 internet threat attributed to “al-Qaeda in Britain.” The English-language posting to the forum of jihadi website al-ekhlaas.net demanded... MORE
Is France Next on al-Qaeda’s Hit List?
The latest cyber-terror “chatter” has prompted fears that France is once again in al-Qaeda’s sights. Spared from terror atrocities since the 1995-1996 wave of bombings that shocked the country, France seems braced for the worst, stepping up its national security alert system while investigating multiple... MORE