After demonstrating their strength through increasing suicide bombings, car bomb attacks, kidnappings and ambushes, insurgents in Afghanistan have now taken a step forward in an attempt to weaken the Afghan government. The new step is their complete control over Afghan districts. This process began three... MORE

The appearance on video of al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri at the end of April issuing a call to rebellion in Pakistan—the second recording of the al-Qaeda leader in a matter of weeks—forces attention back to this important arena for the jihadist program. On April 29, the... MORE

On April 27, Washington announced a decision to place two Pakistan-based Islamic charities operating in the United States on its terrorism watch list. The organizations implicated are the Jamaat ud-Dawa (JUD, the Call Group) and its public services branch Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK—People's Services Administration). Both... MORE

EGYPT CLAIMS TO HAVE KILLED MASTERMIND OF THE DAHAB BOMBINGS Egyptian authorities announced on May 9 that they killed Nasser Khamis el-Mallahi, the alleged mastermind of the April 24 triple bombings in the Sinai resort town of Dahab (al-Jazeera, May 9). El-Mallah, the leader of... MORE

AL-QAEDA OPERATIVE MARWAN HADID AL-SURI KILLED IN PAKISTAN On April 20, Pakistani forces killed al-Qaeda operative Marwan Hadid al-Suri after stopping him at a roadblock at Khar in Bajaur Agency of FATA (Daily Times, April 23). According to Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, the... MORE

On April 25, after breaking a silence of almost four months, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi issued a 34-minute proclamation (dated four days earlier) posted directly to the internet. The video preamble opens with al-Zarqawi denouncing the absence of the "Lions of Monotheism" and warning against collaborators,... MORE

Hopes of restored stability in war-ravaged Somalia have been dashed as warlords and Islamists skirmish across battle-lines in Mogadishu. The new Transitional Federal Government (TFG), once expected to restore order to Somalia, has been sidelined as many of its warlord cabinet ministers rush to join... MORE

EXPLOSIONS ROCK EGYPT According to initial news reports, three explosions rocked the Egyptian Sinai resort city of Dahab on the night of April 24 (Haaretz, April 24). Two of the bombs targeted two separate restaurants, while the third exploded in a supermarket. The attacks came... MORE

As news circulated on the arrest by Saudi authorities in Riyadh of yet more terrorist suspects in connection with the failed attack on the Abqaiq oil facilities last February, chatter on the jihadi forums has turned to considering whether the al-Qaeda organization is still functioning... MORE

On April 19, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior announced the capture of 22 members of a jihadist group that calls itself al-Ta'efa al-Mansoura (the Victorious Sect), and said that the group was planning to launch terrorist attacks against tourist locations and a gas line and... MORE