The fact that pressure from Algerian security forces may be forcing some serious reorganization is hinted at by a cryptic note posted on the Al-Ma'sada jihadist website. The note purports to be from the Tanzim al-Qaeda fi Bilad al-Berber, or ‘The organization of al-Qaeda in... MORE

A plot to bomb the Christian festival of the Black Nazarene, due to take place in the Philippine capital Manila, was foiled on January 7. According to a report in the Manila Times, a group of 14 suspected Islamic militants were arrested assembling bombs. During... MORE

Exchanges on jihadiist forums indicate anxiety over reports circulating of Al-Zarqawi's capture at Ba'aquba. The report first emerged on January 4 carried by the United Arab Emirates newspaper Al-Bayan. There have been no official declarations on his arrest, but media outlets throughout the Middle East... MORE

A security sweep in Germany gave indications that the radical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, a group linked with al-Qaeda and the Jordanian terrorist Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, is spreading its influence outside Iraq. On January 12, according to a report in the German daily Spiegel (www.spiegel.de)... MORE

Life sentences handed out by courts in Cambodia on December 29 against three Islamists, on charges of plotting attacks against the British embassy in the capital Phnom Penh, have cast light on the growing reach of Islamic radicalism in Southeast Asia. Two of the convicts... MORE

The Islamist news site Mufakkirat al-Islam reported on January 14 how there has been a sharp increase in distribution of leaflets in Baghdad, al-Ramadi, al-Samawah specifically targeting the Japanese forces there and demanding their withdrawal from Iraq. The leaflets noted that instead of heeding an... MORE

Information from a recent court case in Jordan illustrates the vulnerability of U.S. personnel in the country, irrespective of any connections with military or diplomatic functions. On January 9 a total of 16 Jordanians were charged with plotting attacks against the U.S. and Israeli embassies... MORE

Evidence of the contentious issue of al-Qaeda presence in Lebanon may have come to light with the warning on a jihadist forum spotted by Focus on January 13. Posted on the al-Ma'sada forum (www.alm2sda.net) by the "Auxiliaries of the Organization of al-Qaeda in Lebanon," the... MORE

Afghan Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostam survived an assassination attempt on January 20 in a mosque while at Eid al-Adha prayers in Shibirghan, Northern Afghanistan. Posing as a beggar, the suicide bomber, who had strapped explosives to his body, blew himself up as he was... MORE

A car bomb and an arson attack in the Tajik capital Dushanbe have placed the administration on edge in the run-up to the parliamentary elections due at the end of February. On January 31, a Volga sedan parked outside the Emergencies Ministry blew up, killing... MORE