Briefs
Raising the Militant Flag in Kashmir: Asiya Andrabi’s Separatist Fight
Often labeled as a firebrand female Islamist by the media outlets in India and Pakistan, Asiya Andrabi, the founding leader of the now proscribed Kashmiri separatist women’s organization Dukhtaran-e-Milat (DeM, Daughters of the Nation), has been waging a pro-Pakistan secessionist movement since the early 1980s... MORE
Breaking the Female Militant Mold: A Look at AQAP’s Wafa al-Shihri (a.k.a. Um Hajr al Azadi)
The involvement of Saudi women with jihadist militancy is rare, and there are few examples of female militants carving out a new role, one different from the kind of feminine behavior usually sanctioned in jihadist circles. Among those few women is Wafa al-Shihri (a.k.a. Um... MORE
The Defection of Shaykh Mukhtar Robow: Where Does This Leave al-Shabaab?
Shaykh Mukhtar Robow (a.k.a. Abu Mansur), a former spokesman and top commander of al-Qaeda’s East Africa affiliate al-Shabaab, is the latest militant leader to defect to the Somali government. In a move that comes months after the United States quietly dropped the $5 million bounty... MORE
Beyond al-Baghdadi? A Profile of Mohamed Ben Salem al-Ayouni
On July 11, just days after the Iraqi army recaptured the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it had confirmed information regarding the fate of the Islamic State leader (IS) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was allegedly killed (al-Jazeera,... MORE
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s Next Generation Commander: Yousaf Mansoor Khurasani
Few Islamist terrorist organizations in Pakistan are as resilient as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). The violent sectarian outfit surfaced in 1990, after the assassination of Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, an anti-Shia, ultra-orthodox Deobandi cleric and founder of sectarian political party Sipah-e-Sahaba (Army of the Companions). And since the... MORE
Iraq’s Powerful PMU Commander: Hadi al-‘Ameri
On July 29, Iraqi Prime Minister Hadier al-‘Abadi revealed that the predominately Shia volunteer force known collectively as al-Hashed al-Sha’abi (PMU, Popular Mobilization Units) will take part in the imminent military operations to push out Islamic State (IS) from its stronghold in the city of... MORE
Bringing the Battle to Turkey: A Profile of Islamic State Recruiter Mustafa Dokumacı
In 2015, three terror attacks carried out by Islamic State (IS) took place in Turkey, in the cities of Diyarbakır, Suruç, Ankara, on June 5, July 20 and October 10, respectively. All three attacks were primarily directed at Halkların Demokratik Partisi (HDP, Peoples’ Democratic Party)-affiliated... MORE
The Maute Brothers’ Path to Militancy in the Islamic State Inspired Fighting in Mindanao
On May 23, 2017, Islamic State (IS) forces invaded the town of Marawi in Mindanao, Philippines. At first, it was unclear whether reports of the invasion were an exaggeration. However, after the fighting persisted for more than one month, with over 200 Maute militants and... MORE
The Carousel of Rebellion and Reintegration: A Profile of Northern Mali’s Colonel Hassan ag Fagaga
From the moment of its independence in 1960, Mali was almost doomed to failure as a post-colonial state created from the territories of French West Africa. With its odd, bow-tie shape incorporating a larger but sparsely populated Muslim Sahel-Saharan region in the northeast and a... MORE
Breaking With Kashmiri Militant Tradition: A Profile of Mujahideen Taliban-e-Kashmir Commander Zakir Musa
Zakir Rashid Bhat (a.k.a. Zakir Musa), a former Hizb-ul Mujahideen (HuM, Party of Holy Warriors) commander, has been in the news lately for virtually redefining the long-standing Kashmir militant movement. With his incendiary messages, often interwoven with violent Islamist preaching, he is now calling for... MORE