Latest Terrorism Focus Articles
Al-Qaeda’s Top Ideologues Release New Statements on the Global Jihad
The past week produced messages from the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, who uses the name Abu Hamza al-Muhajir and may be an Egyptian by the name of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. While there is nothing startlingly new in... MORE
Arrests May Cause Partnership between Ansar al-Sunnah and al-Qaeda in Iraq
The month of September was rife with reports detailing the arrests and killings of senior al-Qaeda officials and their associates in Iraq. In September alone, coalition forces arrested one al-Qaeda leader and killed another, arrested the leader of Ansar al-Sunnah and two of his associates,... MORE
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Concerns Mount over Hezbollah’s Rearmament
As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) completes its withdrawal this week from southern Lebanon, there are fears in Israel that the Hezbollah movement is consolidating and even expanding its arsenal, in contradiction to UN resolution 1701, which calls for the Shiite group to disarm. Hezbollah... MORE
IMU Leader Yuldashev Issues Warning to Central Asian Governments
On the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) leader Tahir Yuldashev sent a direct threat to Central Asian governments. He warned, "The mujahideen haven't forgotten the Muslims executed in Andijan last year. We will avenge Muslims in Central Asia... MORE
GSPC Joins al-Qaeda and France Becomes Top Enemy
Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent September 11 threat to France, coupled with al-Qaeda's official integration with the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), is significant for two principal reasons. First, from al-Qaeda's perspective, it is a formal alliance with an "out-of-area" Islamist group... MORE
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Al-Qaeda Oil Attack Thwarted in Yemen
On September 15, Yemen's Interior Ministry announced that during a shootout it had blown up four cars laden with explosives, killing the four suicide bombers in the process before they could reach their intended targets. The foiled attack came within days of al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman... MORE
Al-Zawahiri’s September 11 Video Hits Main Themes of al-Qaeda Doctrine
On the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, al-Qaeda's media production unit presented a 70-plus-minute videotape of an interview with second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri [1]. Unlike videos issued to commemorate earlier 9/11 anniversaries, al-Zawahiri's video was not dedicated solely or even primarily to the actions... MORE
Khartoum’s Murdered Journalist: A Casualty in Islam’s Theological Civil War
The brutal decapitation of Khartoum newspaper editor Muhammad Taha earlier this month was part of a much larger inter-Islamic struggle reaching from the mountains of northwest Pakistan through Darfur, Tunisia, Paris and London. The murder took place against a local backdrop of street clashes between... MORE
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Iraqi Sufis Join the Fight Against Coalition Forces
Of all the Islamic trends, Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, is reputed to be the least prone to violence and more tolerant of other currents within Islam as well as other faiths. This is why the recent announcement by a group of Qadiri Sufis... MORE
Mahmud al-Hasani: A Profile of Iraq’s Rising Shiite Leader
The Arabic-language website of the Grand Ayatollah Mahmud al-Hasani, the rising Shiite leader of Iraq, speaks volumes about the man making headlines in Iraq and challenging the cleric-turned rebel Muqtada al-Sadr. All that is known about him is that he is anti-American, anti-Iranian, anti-Sunni and... MORE