Briefs
Abu Okash al-Iraqi: AQ’s Arab Broker in North Waziristan
The North Waziristan Agency (NWA) became a vortex of foreign and local militants after they fled Afghanistan, following the post-9/11 invasion of the country led by the U.S. coalition and took refuge in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. These foreign militant groups... MORE
Ranjit Debbarma: A Close Up View of the Leader of the All Tripura Tiger Force
The outgoing chief of the Tripura state police, Pranay Sahay, informed the public during a briefing on October 11 that the top militants of the state are still operating from neighboring Bangladesh, but their strengths are fast dwindling due to the positive approach of the... MORE
The Face of Hindu Extremism: Mumbai’s Bal Thackeray
Background Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, envisioned India to operate as an inclusive, secular democracy. Secularism was a core value in the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885, long before independence from the British Crown. Nehru’s secularist ideology, ideally, attempted to prevent... MORE
Puntland’s Shaykh Muhammad Atam: Clan Militia Leader or al-Qaeda Terrorist?
No roads penetrate the mountains of the Galgala district of Puntland’s Bari Region. Though it lies almost directly south of the bustling port of Bosasso, Puntland’s commercial capital, the moderate climate and cave-riddled hills of the relatively inaccessible Galgala region form a natural base for... MORE
From Germ Warfare to Restaurateur: The Life of Malaysia’s Yazid Sufaat
Introduction Yazid Sufaat, a former captain in the Malaysian Army, was arrested under Kuala Lumpur’s Internal Security Act (ISA) in December 2001. He was directly tied to two of the hijackers involved in the 9/11 attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon; is known... MORE
Qari Hussain Mahsud: The Father of FATA’s Suicide Bombers
Since the rise of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in 2003, dozens of its militant commanders have made strong imprints on the militant landscape in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Qari Hussain Mahsud maintains a unique status due to his capability to wreak havoc in Pakistan combined... MORE
If a Rebel Falls in the Forest: The Steady Evisceration of the FARC Leadership in Colombia
New Developments on the Colombian Battlefield The elimination of senior FARC leadership continues to intensify under the new Colombian presidency of Jose Manuel Santos. Aggressive tactics against the senior command structure of Colombia’s Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) rebels have not let up since... MORE
The Gubden Wolf: A Profile of Dagestan’s Late Magomedali Vagabov
Since the end of 2009, reports coming from the republic of Dagestan in Russia’s North Caucasus region have mentioned the name of the Gubden-based rebels’ leader, Magomedali Vagabov, more often than ever before. Background Known among the North Caucasus rebels as Amir Sayfullah of Gubden... MORE
Shouting Jihad from the Mountaintops: A Biography of al-Badr Mujahideen’s Bakht Zameen
“Jihad is in my blood. It runs through my arteries and veins. If you take jihad out of me, I will become as soulless as anybody. I inherited jihad from my father. My father led [tribal] mujahideen into Kashmir on the call of the Kashmiri... MORE
Germany’s Imam Mamoun Darkazanli: Al-Qaeda’s Alleged Financier and Logistician
Background Police in Hamburg shut down the notorious al-Quds mosque, renamed the Taiba mosque in 2008, led by German-Syrian national and voluntary imam Mamoun Darkazanli. Darkazanli (a.k.a. Abu Ilyas al-Suri) has been a suspected al-Qaeda operative, primarily as a financier and logistician, in the European... MORE