Latest Terrorism Focus Articles
Afghanistan Deployment puts Germany in al-Qaeda’s Crosshairs
Speaking in accented but fluent German, Abu Talha al-Alamani made al-Qaeda’s most direct threat to the German nation yet in a recent video, saying that Germans were “naive and gullible” if they thought they could “emerge unscathed” from being the third-largest troop provider in the... MORE
Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba Chooses Between Kashmir and the Global Jihad
In a surprising shift of tactics, the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist organization has toned down its violent Kashmir-centric agenda, claiming it will pursue a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir problem. The radical group, blamed for many terror attacks in India, including November’s assault on Mumbai,... MORE
Kashmir’s al-Badr Mujahideen Hard Hit by Indian Offensive
India’s military has intensified operations against the Pakistan-sponsored Kashmiri Mujahideen groups still active in Indian-administered Kashmir. In recent days, a top-ranking commander of the militant al-Badr movement, Abu Tamim, was killed in an encounter with Indian security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir... MORE
Taliban Target Karachi and Peshawar Links in NATO’s Afghanistan Supply-Chain
The announcement yesterday by General David Petraeus that the United States had reached agreements with Russia and several Central Asian nations for a new (and costly) U.S.-NATO supply route into Afghanistan came as the struggle for control of the supply routes through Pakistan continues. While... MORE
Al-Awda Party and the Ba’athist Dream of Return in Iraq
Iraq’s al-Awda party first emerged in the weeks following the demise of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime in 2003. Al-Awda means “the return” in Arabic, in this case the “return” of the Ba’athists. In those days, pro-Ba’athist graffiti appeared in some areas in Iraq, with slogans... MORE
Rocket Attacks from Lebanon Threaten Dangerous Escalation of Gaza War
Israel’s invasion of Gaza and the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe has raised concerns about the potential for a dangerous escalation in regional hostilities. On January 8, three Katyusha rockets fired from southern Lebanon struck Nahariya, a city located in northern Israel, approximately 8 km from the... MORE
India’s Assam State Reels under New Year’s Terrorist Offensive
India’s northeastern state of Assam has endured a series of terrorist incidents, including bomb blasts, attacks on trains, and a fierce gun fight between security forces and terrorists, all within the first ten days of the New Year. On January 1, terrorists suspected of belonging... MORE
Turkey Addresses PKK Challenge with Kurdish Language Reforms
For many years the Turkish state has insisted that no ethnic minority problems exist in Turkey. According to the official discourse, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan – PKK) is a manifestation of terrorism and Kurdish unrest, resulting from poverty and underdevelopment, in the... MORE
A Mujahideen Bleed-Through from Iraq? Part Four – The Case of Palestine and Israel
As discussed earlier in this series of articles, the entry of Sunni mujahideen from Iraq into Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon has been a fairly visible process and tracking it – at least in outline form – is an achievable task. Likewise, the goal of the... MORE
Is the PKK Sabotaging Strategic Energy Infrastructure in a Search for a Superpower Partner?
A recent trend has emerged of attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan – PKK) on the energy infrastructure that carries oil and natural gas to markets in the West. As early as 2006, PKK leader Murat Karayilan rejected the idea of attacking... MORE