On October 25, the Iraqi Ba’ath party of the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced the death of its leader, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri. Almost no details were given about the circumstances surrounding the death of al-Douri, who was 78, but the announcement implied that he... MORE

The global jihadist group al-Qaeda is experiencing an unprecedented crisis, having lost several key members of its central leadership this year. The latest prominent al-Qaeda figure to be killed is Abu Muhammad al-Masri, one of two deputies to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Reports about his... MORE

On November 13, the French Defense Minister Florence Parly officially announced the killing of Ba Ag Moussa, who she defined as the "military leader of the Group for Supporters of Islam and Muslims [JNIM—Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen; Groupe de soutien à l'islam et aux... MORE

On September 5, the Taliban announced its 21-member team that would engage in negotiations with Afghan government representatives at Doha, Qatar. The Taliban’s ”Chief Justice,“ Mawlawi Abdul Hakim, an “ultraconservative” and “hardline cleric,” was appointed chief of the negotiating team. He replaced Sher Mohammad Abbas... MORE

Shaykh Abukar Ali Adan—a hardliner within al-Shabaab, the Somali-based Islamist militant group—is believed to have risen to the organization’s top leadership position, after the current emir transferred power to the organization’s former military leader. In August this year, reports emerged that Shaykh Ahmed Diriye a.k.a.... MORE

In late September, a special Indian National Investigating Agency (NIA) counter-terrorism court in Ernakulam, Kerala, sentenced Islamic State (IS) terrorist Subahani Haja Mohideen (a.k.a. Abu Jasmine al-Hindi) to life imprisonment (NIA, September 28; The Hindu, September 28). He was one of the early Indian-origin extremists... MORE

Introduction On August 3, Tajikistan’s Minister of Internal Affairs Rahimzoda Ramazon announced that Gulmurod Khalimov was killed in an airstrike in Syria. This was later confirmed by Tajikistani nationals returning from Syria (Sputniknews.ru, August 3). Later, however, Rakhimzoda stated that he would not believe the... MORE

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has historically been an Algeria-based and Algerian-led jihadist group. Nevertheless, AQIM has empowered, in particular, Malians by allowing them to lead AQIM’s Mali-based sub-affiliate, Group of Supporters of Islam and Muslims (Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin—JNIM). In addition, although... MORE

Abu al-Yaqzan al-Masri is one of the most active jihadist scholars in Syria. Until last year, he was a senior member of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of al-Nusra Front. Al-Masri became the Shara’e (religious guide) of the military... MORE

On June 14, two senior al-Qaeda leaders were reportedly killed in a suspected U.S. drone strike in Syria’s Idlib province while traveling in their car (Alaraby.com, June 15). According to video circulated on social media, the vehicle was struck with a R9X, a version of... MORE