Latest Terrorism Focus Articles

The London Bombings: For al-Qaeda, Steady as She Goes

The 7 July 2005 detonation of four nearly simultaneous explosions in London's transportation system -- killing 55 and wounding 700 -- were the latest attacks in a campaign against U.S. allies announced by al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahairi in 2002. At that time, al-Zawahiri stated... MORE

Pakistan under pressure following the London attacks

Pressure continues to pile on Pakistan over the visit to Pakistan by the London bombers months before the attacks on July 7. Immigration officials have established that two of the four suspected bombers (both of Pakistani origin) — Shahzad Tanweer and Mohammed Siddiq Khan —... MORE

Thailand’s south deteriorating

With the declaration of emergency law in the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani, the Thai government has effectively underscored that the Muslim insurgency in the south, despite official rhetoric that it is calming down, has shown no signs of being brought under control. In... MORE

Zarqawi’s declining ideological support among Islamists

In the wake of the kidnapping and assassination of the Egyptian ambassador to Baghdad, Ihab al-Sherif, condemnation for the military policies of al-Qaeda in Iraq came from an unexpected source. The two major militant Islamist organizations in Egypt, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya and al-Gihad, launched an attack... MORE

Al-Qaeda extends threats to journalists and intellectuals outside Iraq

On July 17, al-Qaeda in Iraq issued a death threat to the Egyptian author Dr. Sayyid Mahmud al-Qimny, famous for his historical and anthropological works examining critically the origins of Islam. The text of the threatening letter, given in a report by the Arabic liberal... MORE

Osama bin Laden: Cornered in Kunar or Nuristan?

By:

The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and U.S efforts to capture and kill him have made many media headlines over the years, resulting in some plausible speculation and many figments of the imagination. But the June 28 U.S. military operation in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province... MORE

The conundrum of the London bombings

As Terrorism Focus went to press the identity of the perpetrators of the attacks on London commuters on July 7 — indigenous UK suicide bombers of Pakistani ethnic origin — had become established through forensic investigation and extensive analysis of CCTV footage. While there are... MORE

Islamist insurgents seek to contain PR disaster: notes of defeatism

News of ongoing discussions between the U.S. military and the Iraqi insurgents has rattled the jihadist groups in the country. Reports of such meetings go back to last February, when Time magazine highlighted a meeting between insurgents and two U.S. military officials. This was followed... MORE

New Jihadist Group Emerges in Syria

The Syrian news agency (SANA) reported on June 9 that security authorities had been engaged in a three-hour armed confrontation resulting in the death of Abu Umar, the leader of a cell of the previously unknown Tanzim Jund al-Sham lil-Jihad wal-Tawhid, (Organization of the Army... MORE