Halima Adan Ali, a 34-year-old female Islamist militant has recently been revealed to be a financier, supporter, and recruiter of the Middle East-based Islamic State (IS). Her name is emerging at a time when the role of women as facilitators of terrorist activities has become... MORE

In February, the Taliban named Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai as the head of its 14-member team that would participate in negotiations with U.S. Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad (Pajhwok, February 12). Stanikzai has led the Taliban team not only in several rounds of... MORE

While it was no surprise that the Sudanese military took action to protect themselves by deposing President Omar al-Bashir in the midst of nationwide protests, what is surprising is who has emerged as Sudan’s de facto leader. Nearly illiterate and widely accused of war crimes... MORE

Over the past year, there has been an increased awareness of, and attention to, the activities of Iran's intelligence services and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to target Iranian dissidents and leaders of diaspora movements that are based in Europe (The National [Abu Dhabi],... MORE

The separatist movement in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province is one of South Asia’s oldest irredentist movements. Separatist tendencies based on irredentist ideals have surfaced repeatedly in Pakistan’s Sindh and Baluchistan provinces. Sindhi nationalism is a blend of irredentism and socialist leanings. The movement has its... MORE

The Egyptian military dealt a serious blow to the Islamic State’s (IS) Egyptian province, Wilayat (province) Sinai, when an airstrike killed influential spokesman Muhammad Ahmad Ali al-Islawi, a.k.a Abu Osama al-Masri, last year. Al-Masri’s death was confirmed on November 5, 2018, when the North Sinai-based... MORE

Since the outbreak of the Libyan revolution in 2011, the city of Misrata has assumed a central role in shaping the country’s revolutionary and post-revolutionary dynamics. Home to some of Libya’s most potent militias and a dynamic economic and trade center, groups from the city... MORE

On February 12, the Taliban announced the 14-member team who would negotiate with U.S. Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Doha, Qatar later that month. Among the names in its list was Anas Haqqani, son of the late Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder and leader of the... MORE

A military airstrike in southern Somalia on March 22 killed Shaykh Ahmed Iman Ali, a.k.a Zunira, a deadly and influential Kenyan-born al-Shabaab militant leader. Ali, who was a fast-rising militant leader within al-Shabaab, or Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, died alongside another 40 middle-level commanders. The strike is... MORE

Although Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau publicly declared a jihad only as late as 2010, 2002 is widely recognized as the year the Nigerian jihadist group was founded. The group’s leader then was Shekau’s predecessor, the Salafist cleric Muhammed Yusuf, who himself was aligned with... MORE