
Briefs

In the Name of the Father: Ahmad Massoud’s Continuing Struggle Against Taliban Rule in Afghanistan
The 33-year old Ahmad Massoud is the leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF), which is an Afghan insurgent group waging an insurgency in the northern Panjshir Valley against the Taliban government in Kabul. Massoud, an ethnic Tajik, denounces the present Taliban government, which came... MORE

A Profile of Chief al-Shabaab Financial Facilitator: Khalif Adale
Al-Shabaab commander, Khalif Adale, whose real is name is Khalif Mohammed Warsame, is one of the key financial architects of the Somalia based al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa. In October, the U.S named Adale as one of the militant group’s key financial intermediaries and imposed... MORE

Al-Qaeda’s Turning Point: Will Saif al-Adl or Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi Succeed Aymen al-Zawahiri?
On July 31, a U.S drone strike killed al-Qaeda (AQ) leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul, Afghanistan. Al-Zawahiri appears to have lived in a house linked to the family of the powerful Taliban Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani (al-Jazeera, August 5). Several hours after the news of... MORE

Abu Muhammad al-Tajiki and the Making of a Model ISKP Martyr
A notable trend exists of Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) martyrs becoming internet icons in the South and Central Asian pro-Islamic State (IS) online ecosystem. Abu Muhammad al-Tajiki joined these ranks on June 18 when he conducted a suicide bombing against Kabul’s Gurdwara Karta-e-Parwan... MORE

At War with Pakistan: The Assassination of TTP Commander Omar Khalid Khorasani and its Impact on the “Pakistani Taliban”
After the fall of the Afghan government in August 2021, Taliban-ruled Afghanistan once again emerged as a safe haven for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the “Pakistani Taliban.” Despite serious complaints from the Pakistani government, the Afghan Taliban have taken few measures to dislodge... MORE

The Mysterious Tukur Mamu Arrested: Boko Haram Conspirator or Simple Newspaper Editor?
On September 9, the Nigerian security services announced that military equipment was found in the home of Kaduna-based Desert Herald newspaper editor, Tukur Mamu (premiumtimes.com, September 9). This followed Mamu’s detainment in Cairo International Airport and deportation back to Nigeria, where he was arrested at... MORE

Zhasulan Dyuisembin: An In-Depth Look at a Kazakh Foreign Fighter’s Journey to the Ukrainian Army
On June 2, the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan (KNB) launched a criminal case in absentia against a Kazakh national for participating in the war in Ukraine (Inform Buro, June 2). The KNB statement did not reveal any information about the identity and allegiances of... MORE

A Profile of Bashir Zaib: The Radical Leader of the Baluch Liberation Army in Pakistan
Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan region has been experiencing bloodshed and a dramatic surge in attacks by Baluch separatist and nationalist militants seeking separation from Pakistan. There has been a series of well-organized ambushes and suicide attacks on law enforcement agencies and Chinese nationals inside and outside... MORE

The Rise of Filipino New People’s Army Propagandist Ka Juanito Magbanua
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its New People’s Army (NPA) militant wing have been waging a guerrilla war against the Republic of the Philippines for over 50 years (CPP, December 1, 2021). The CPP and NPA are national organizations, but they are... MORE

A Post-Mortem Analysis of ISKP Senior Military Commander Saad Emirati
Saad Emirati was a senior founding military commander of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) who died in 2016 after leading the ISKP war against the Afghan Taliban, the U.S army, and Afghan armed forces in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. However, little was known... MORE