In response to an article posted in an Islamist internet forum entitled "Bin Laden...The Puzzling Disappearance," forum users spent a week discussing the possible reasons behind the disappearance of Osama bin Laden from the international spotlight (https://www.tajdeed.org, May 20). The article was authored by the... MORE

TURKEY-IRAQ BORDER TENSION ESCALATES On Friday, June 1, the Turkish military announced that plainclothes troops operating inside of northern Iraq were harassed by Kurdish forces in the city of Sulaymaniyah and that, as a result, the acts would receive a response "at the highest level"... MORE

There is evidence that al-Qaeda is being squeezed out of Baghdad by the troop surge and has already been driven out of its traditional stronghold in Anbar province. In response, Al-Qaeda in Iraq has attempted to make Diyala province their new headquarters. Diyala has always... MORE

During the past year, reports have revealed the routes through which foreign fighters from North Africa make their way into and out of the Iraq theater of conflict. Previously, the route through Syria has been identified as the preferred avenue, although Turkey has also been... MORE

- Stepashin and Kadyrov Comment on Chechen Reconstruction Sergei Stepashin, head of the Audit Chamber, the federal budgetary watchdog agency, said during a visit to Grozny that the absence of financing and a lack of proper coordination in the restoration of buildings and property in... MORE

ROJ TV CLAIMS TURKEY BUILDING UP MILITARY PRESENCE ON IRAQI BORDER A May 18 broadcast on Roj TV, a Denmark-based satellite channel supportive of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), claimed that the Turkish military has increased its operations in southeast Turkey and on the border... MORE

In November 2002, the United States dealt a devastating blow to Al-Qaeda in Yemen when it assassinated Abu Ali al-Harithi with a missile from a Predator drone. One year later, in November 2003, Yemeni forces arrested al-Harithi's replacement, Muhammad al-Ahdal, on a tip from an... MORE

BOMBS CREATE PANIC IN THAILAND'S SONGKHLA PROVINCE Thai General Phanlop Pinmani has warned that the insurgency in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani has now broken down into a full scale guerrilla war (Thai Rat, May 17). According to the general, the... MORE

The May 22 suicide bomb attack in Ankara contains elements that are potentially worrisome for the Turkish government, its people and tourists visiting Turkey. If bombings of the same modus operandi continue, a strong, dependable U.S. local ally in the Iraq theater of operations as... MORE

- Servicemen Wounded, Rebels Killed in Chechnya Fighting Kavkazky Uzel reported on May 24 that a contract serviceman was injured in a shootout with rebel fighters on the outskirts of the Gudermes district village of Koshkeldy. Another Russian army serviceman was injured in a shootout... MORE