Briefs
Escaping Justice Through Geopolitics in Pakistan: Jaish-e-Mohammed Leader Abdul Rauf Azhar
Mufti Abdul Rauf Azhar (Abdul Rauf) is the deputy leader of the Pakistan-based group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which was proscribed by Pakistan in 2002. The group is most notable for targeting Indian forces in Indian-administered Kashmir and claiming such attacks in the name of the “Kashmir... MORE
Akram al-Kaabi: The Anti-American Iraqi Shia Militia Leader Who Went to Moscow
In late November 2022, Iraqi Shia militia leader Akram al-Kaabi visited Russia and met with the Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov and other Russian officials. During his visit, al-Kaabi, who is the leader of the Iranian-backed al-Nujabaa (“The Noble Ones”) Shia militia, condemned the... MORE
The Mysterious Assassination of a Former al-Badr Commander in Karachi: The Case of Syed Khalid Raza
On the evening of February 26, two gunmen riding on a motorcycle assassinated Syed Khalid Raza (Khalid) in the Gulistan-e-Johar neighborhood of Karachi (Dawn, February 27). Khalid was known as an educator, but formerly was an Islamist militant commander in the al-Badr militant organization. His... MORE
The Deradicalization of Indonesian Jihadist Ali Fauzi
In a speech on radicalization, terrorism, and deradicalization at a workshop with the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Ali Fauzi, the youngest brother of three of the 2002 Bali bombers, once stated: “Everyone has the right to become a better person” (ITS News, August 2,... MORE
The Curious Case of Ahmed Muaz: How Islamist Groups Coopt Criminal Gangs to Advance Radicalism in the Maldives
In mid-December 2022, the Maldivian Presidential Commission on Deaths and Disappearances (DDCom) submitted its final report on the disappearance of a prominent progressive journalist, Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla. Almost eight years after Rilwan mysteriously vanished from the capital Male’s suburb of Hulhumale in August 2014, the... MORE
The Death of Daud Muzammil and ISKP’s Assassination Campaign Against the Afghan Taliban
Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), which operates in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, assassinated senior Afghan Taliban commander Daud Muzammil in a suicide attack on March 9 (Twitter.com/@Abdsayedd). This attack was ISKP's most significant blow to the Afghan Taliban since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan... MORE
The Conviction and Sentencing of International Terrorist Sajid Majeed Mir
Sajid Majeed Mir was previously the deputy head of the international operations wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a proscribed Pakistan-based militant group. The 44-year-old Mir has been a key player in the LeT, planning the expansion of the group's operations from Kashmir to other parts of... MORE
A Post-Mortem Analysis of ISKP’s Shaikh Jalaluddin
On August 16, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) published the seventh issue of its Pashto language magazine Khurasan Ghag (Twitter/TheKhorasanDiary, August 16, 2022). Like previous releases, this one was circulated by the Al-Azaim Foundation, which is the ISKP media mouthpiece in the broader South... MORE
The Lasting Impact of Kenyan al-Shabaab Suicide Bomber Zubayr al-Muhaajir
Zubayr al-Muhaajir is a Kenyan militant leader within the Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, al-Shabaab. On January 22, he coordinated and executed an attack along a street which housed the mayor’s office in Mogadishu. Al-Muhaajir died alongside five other attackers when a Somali elite... MORE
The Bizarre Biography of Algerian Jihadist Meraghni “Akil” El-Hadj Ali
Introduction January 16, 2023 marked ten years since the attack at In Amenas gas facility in Algeria, which has been—and perhaps will long remain—the last major “systematic” jihadist attack that the country suffered (Jeune Afrique, January 23, 2013). While jihadists belonging to both al-Qaeda and... MORE