An Egyptian court has indicted Yehia Elsayed Ibrahim Moussa—a.k.a. Yehia Moussa—for being the mastermind behind the murder of Egypt’s Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat on June 29, 2015. Moussa is a Muslim Brotherhood member who lives in exile in Turkey, and his indictment is the result... MORE

Prominent Iraqi Shia militia leader Aws al-Khafaji was arrested by men from the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), the umbrella organization of the predominantly Shia armed groups. He was captured during a raid on his militia’s main office in Baghdad in early February. Several sources suggested... MORE

French commandos tore through the desert north of Timbuktu on February 21, in hot pursuit of a leading jihadist who had been detected as part of a three-car convoy by a Reaper surveillance drone. As the commandos caught up, the militants opened fire. Five French... MORE

Apparently, al-Qaeda finds it difficult to lure in fresh Islamist militants amid the rise of the Islamic State (IS) in 2014 and the establishment of its self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate. This is not the case in South Asia. Al-Qaeda Central remains strong in the region, and... MORE

In August 2016, the Islamic State designated Abu Mus'ab al-Barnawi as the new leader of its Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) (Jihadology, August 3, 2016). Abubakar Shekau, in turn, was dropped from that position, leading him to revive Jamā'at Ahl al-Sunnah li-l-Da'wah wa-l-Jihād... MORE

Egyptian authorities have finally heaved a sigh of relief after Libyan security forces arrested the most wanted Egyptian militant, Hisham Ali Ashmawy Mosaad Ibrahim (a.k.a. Abu Omar al-Muhajir al-Masri) “alive” on October 8 in the city of Derna, located 165 miles west of Libya’s border... MORE

Until recently, the top leadership of the rising Islamist Mozambican militant group, Ansar al-Sunna, had been a matter of speculation. However, in mid-August, the country’s police chief released several names of suspected Islamists who the country’s security and intelligence agencies believe are ringleaders of the... MORE

At the end of July 2018, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced his intention to regain control of Idlib. Speaking to the Russian media, al-Assad said that after “we have liberated Ghouta, we will finish the liberation of the south-western part of Syria.” Adding that “Idlib... MORE

Ever since Boko Haram began to conquer territory in northeastern Nigeria in 2013, Man Chari has been an important leadership figure—specifically, the “military amir.” He was also the right-hand man to Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in the months before Shekau’s pledge of loyalty to the... MORE