Mairbek Vatchagaev Muslim al-Shishani is the nom de guerre of Murad Margoshvili, commander of the Junud al-Sham (“Soldiers of Syria”) insurgent group operating in Syria. Al-Shishani is a Georgian national, but he is also an ethnic Kist, a member of the Chechen sub-ethnic group that... MORE

Nicholas A. Heras There is currently a nascent campaign supported by the U.S.-led multinational anti-Islamic State (IS) Coalition to build a local, Syrian Sunni Arab armed opposition movement against IS in the core areas of its control in eastern Syria (Terrorism Monitor, March 18; MLM... MORE

Halla Diyab The Islamic State’s (IS) construction of a revolutionary jihadist-love culture and its perpetuation of a narrative that stands in deep contrast to the barbaric atrocities of the group demonstrates the organization’s attempts to romanticize the jihadist experience to gain sympathy and support from... MORE

Chantelle Berman He was one of Saddam Hussein’s key advisers and the leader of a militia temporarily tied to the Islamic State (IS). Now he is reportedly dead, reportedly killed in April 2015 in Salahuddin province (Al Arabiya, April 17, 2015). Since 2011, topics of... MORE

Muhammad Mansour Muhammed Rabee al-Zawahiri, a younger brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, was released from Egyptian prison on March 17. A court had acquitted him on October 15 of charges related to forming an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group called “al-Zawahiri cell” in Egypt, as well... MORE

Andrew McGregor The rise to power of Mu’ammar Qaddafi (1969-2011) in Libya led to major changes in the observation of Islam in a deeply conservative Sunni Muslim North African nation. While establishing Shari’a as the basis of Libyan legislation, Qaddafi sought to disrupt the dominant... MORE

Jacob Zenn The Libyan uprising that broke out in 2011 was followed by a civil war that has lasted five years. During this time, the Islamic State has set up three “provinces” in Libya, although al-Qaeda and other rebel groups have maintained a strong presence... MORE

Zainul Abid Muhammal al-Madhuni is an Islamic State commander operating from the Libyan city of Sabratah, which is presently controlled by militias. He was born in 1953 and grew up in Ain Zara, located in central Tripoli, though he holds an Iraqi passport under the... MORE

Nathaniel Barr The Islamic State’s Syria and Iraq-based leadership has taken an active role in overseeing and supporting the group’s operations in Libya since pro-Islamic State jihadists first gained a foothold in the country in mid-2014. The Islamic State (IS) leadership has encouraged migration (hijrah)... MORE

Jacob Zenn One of the newest groups to emerge in the Sahelian jihadist landscape since 2015 is the Macina Liberation Front (FLM). Its leader, Amadou Kouffa, however, is unlike other leaders in the region. He does not crave publicity or appear in “jihadist videos” to... MORE