SWISS JUND AL-KHILAFAH AMIR KILLED IN MIRANSHAH, PAKISTAN Jund al-Khilafah (JaK) is a terrorist group based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, which was founded by three Kazakhstani men from Atyrau (see Terrorism Monitor, September 13). Although JaK issued several propaganda videos about Kazakhstan in 2011... MORE

TURKISTAN ISLAMIC PARTY’S ABDUL SHAKOOR TURKISTANI KILLED IN FATA AIR STRIKE The amir of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), Abdul Shakoor Turkistani (see Militant Leadership Monitor, December 2011), was killed in an air strike on his training camp in the Shawal Valley of Pakistan on August 24, 2012.... MORE

Iqbal Bhatkal is a co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen (IM). The IM is the first Indian terrorist group which has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States. [1] Iqbal Bhatkal became the first IM leader whose name the Central Bureau of... MORE

Riyaz Ismail Shahbandari aka Riyaz Bhatkal is one of the top Indian jihadis and co-founders of the Indian Mujahideen (IM). He is the younger brother of IM ideologue, Iqbal Bhatkal, another co-founder of the IM. [1] Riyaz has been involved in several high profile terrorist... MORE

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) announced on August 4 that its leader Usman Odil had been martyred and his deputy, Usman Gazi, would replace him as Amir (commander) of the IMU (furqon.com, August 26, 2012). The announcement was preceded by press reports from Pakistan that said Usman Odil had... MORE

The Afghan newspaper Arman-e-Malli carried one of the first reports about members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) operating in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province in August, 2009. In January 2010, Kunduz governor Mohammad Omar, who was assassinated seven months later in a bombing at a mosque in... MORE

The Bajaur chapter of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been facing displacement from their native Bajaur Agency since August, 2008 due to a Pakistani military operation named “Sherdil” (Urdu for “Lion Heart”). It is also witnessing rising inter-Taliban and intra-Taliban group differences, coupled with leadership... MORE

Over 22 years of fighting for a variety of rebel-movements and national governments, General Bosco “The Terminator” Ntaganda has established himself as the leading warlord in the little-known Nord-Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Nord-Kivu region is at the heart... MORE

One of the principal power brokers in Yemen is Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar.  As leader of the Hashid tribal federation, the strongest and second largest in Yemen, al-Ahmar is an individual of unique power. It was via his ability to control both the levers of legitimating... MORE

The Haqqani Network (HN) has recently been receiving global attention for its active support to militant movements in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Tagged often as the “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the HN allegedly masterminded many sensational attacks in Afghanistan including the January 2008 Serena... MORE