Briefs
Murder in Paris: Parsing the Murder of Female PKK Leader Sakine Cansiz
Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez, three female members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Parti Karkerani Kurdistan – PKK) were murdered in Paris on the night of January 9 (The Kurdistan Tribune, January 10). The three victims held varying levels of seniority. Sakine Cansiz... MORE
A Post-Mortem Analysis of Mullah Nazir: The “Good Taliban” Killed in a CIA Drone Strike
A CIA Predator or Reaper drone killed the powerful South Waziristani Taliban leader Mullah Nazir and five to seven of his top deputies on the night of January 2 near Angor Adda, South Waziristan. The incident is a contentious start to the 2013 drone campaign... MORE
Who’s Who in the Jordanian Opposition: Part One
Inspired by the Arab Spring, the Salafi-Jihadists of Jordan have taken to the streets for the first time and have been holding demonstrations in several cities, including Amman, Ma’an, Salt, Irbid and Zarqa, to demand the release of their imprisoned colleagues and the implementation of... MORE
A Tale of Defection: The Story of Syrian Major General Abdulaziz al-Shalal
In a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood action movie, Syrian Major General Abdulaziz al-Shalal snuck across the Syrian border into neighboring Turkey on the night of December 21, 2012, trekking across the dangerous Cilvegozu border and the town of Reyhanli in Turkey’s southern Hatay province... MORE
A Profile of Alghabass ag Intallah: Reasserting Traditional Tuareg Leadership at the Expense of Ansar al-Din
Alghabass ag Intallah, a young Tuareg politician and tribal leader, has placed himself in a position where he can play a crucial role in determining the future of the ongoing conflict in northern Mali. Ag Intallah’s January 23 split from the Islamist Ansar al-Din of... MORE
The Public Face of MS-13: An In-Depth Look at Leader Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano
The Juzgado Primero de Instrucción (First Court of Instruction), in the small Salvadoran municipality of Soyapango, convicted Borromeo Enrique Henríquez Solórzano to 30 years in prison on June 3, 1998 for the double homicide of Roberto Carlos Hernandez and José Virgilio Gonzalez (Diario Oficial, October 3,... MORE
A Portrait of Uzbekistan’s Dissident Cleric In Exile: Obidhon Nazarov
In late August, a series of drone strikes in Northern Waziristan were reported to have killed a number of jihadist leaders. Most media attention focused on the possible demise of Badruddin Haqqani, son of the fabled mujahideen leader, with conflicting reports about whether he had... MORE
A Profile of Syrian Jihadist Omar Bakri Muhammad
Omar Bakri Muhammad (a.k.a. the "Tottenham Ayatollah") is a self-proclaimed advocate of jihadism who has recently called for jihad in Syria against the Assad regime. Bakri, who was expelled from the UK in 2005 for “glorifying terrorism,” said that al-Qaeda plans to wage war against... MORE
Egypt’s Threat from Within: Who’s Who In The Madinat Nasr Cell
Amidst new political turmoil in Egypt, the investigation continues into the extent of the radical Islamist network disrupted by an October 24 police raid on the militants’ armory in the Cairo suburb of Madinat Nasr. [1] A number of those arrested during the Madinat Nasr raid... MORE
December 2012 Briefs
AQIM LEADERS MOKHTAR BELMOKHTAR AND ABDELMALEK DROUKDEL SPLIT Mokhtar Belmokhtar is an Algerian-born former commander of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). In July, he was reported to have been killed or seriously injured in the battle of Gao, in which AQIM supported the Movement... MORE