Latest Briefs
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A Profile of Emirati Proxy and South Yemen Separatist Abu al-Yamama al-Yaefi
The strategic port city of Aden in southern Yemen has experienced significant instability since the start of 2018. In late January, Aden was the site of increasingly bitter infighting between forces loyal to the government of Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and forces loyal to... MORE
Leadership Decapitation Unlikely to Undermine AQIM in the Long Run
On January 20, Tunisian security forces killed Bilel al-Kobi, an Algerian terrorist affiliated with the Tunisian offshoot of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Oqba bin Nafaa (OBN). Al-Kobi was considered to be one of the closest aides of Abdelmalek Drukdel, the emir of AQIM.... MORE
Gaza’s Most Wanted: A Look at HISN General Secretary Hashim Ashour Salem
On January 31, the U.S. Department of State designated the Gaza-based Palestinian organization Harakat al-Sabireen Nasiran li-Filasteen (HISN-Movement of the Patient Ones for Palestinian Victory) as a terrorist organization (U.S. Department of State, January 31). HISN is a controversial organization that is believed to be... MORE
Attacks in Kabul Highlight Taliban-Islamic State Tensions
Over the last two months, a spate of terrorist attacks has struck the Afghan capital of Kabul. Islamist insurgents carried out at least five strikes in Kabul in January and, in December 2017, a suicide bomb attack at a cultural center in the Afghan capital... MORE
33rd Brigade Secretary General Sayyid Maytham al-‘Alaq: The PMU’s Rising Star in Basra
The Hashd Sha'abi (PMU-Popular Mobilization Units) continue to conduct operations against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq's southwestern desert border areas with Syria (al-Hurra [Baghdad], January 30). One of the PMU organizations participating in these operations against the remnants of the IS is Liwa 33... MORE
Libya: Militants Assassinate Mayor of Misrata
On December 17, 2017, Mohamed Eshtewi, the mayor of Misrata, was kidnapped and killed on his way home from the Misrata airport after returning from an official trip to Istanbul. In the incident, his brother Ahmed, who was in the car with him, was also... MORE
Iraqi PMU Commander Shaykh Wanas Naji al-Jabara al-Jabouri: Holding the Line in Salah al-Din
On December 9, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi declared that the Islamic State (IS) organization was defeated in Iraq (al-Hurra [Baghdad], December 30; al-Arabiyya [Dubai], December 9). Despite Prime Minister al-Abadi's declaration, during the month of December, Iraqi security forces, including constituent groups within the... MORE
Kenyan al-Shabaab Commander Flees Over Fears of Execution
Shaykh Ahmed Iman Ali, a middle level commander within al-Shabaab of Kenyan origin, has fallen out with the top leaders of the Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa. Shaykh Ali is reportedly on the run after a dispute with Shaykh Abu Ubaidah (a.k.a. Ahmed Diyire),... MORE
Marshaling Palestinian Support for al-Assad: A Look at Major General Muhammad Tariq Al-Khudra
The forces loyal to the al-Assad government continue to conduct major combat operations in and around the Syrian capital city of Damascus. In particular, they have imposed a siege on the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, which is the last major opposition stronghold near the... MORE
Belmokhtar Condemned to Death in Absentia as Northern African Jihad Regains Momentum
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, one of the historical key leaders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the broader Northern African jihadism, has been sentenced to death in absentia by the Criminal Court in Oran, Algeria. Officially, the court found him guilty of forming and leading... MORE