
Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles

War Crimes Trials in Bangladesh Create Opening for Islamist Militants
Bangladesh, the world’s fourth largest Muslim country, has recently experienced an intense cycle of massive protest rallies marked by violent confrontations between moderate secularists and Islamic radical forces. The spark for these religious and political confrontations has been the ongoing trials for war-crimes committed by... MORE

Libya’s Sabha Oasis: Former Qaddafist Stronghold Becoming Regional Center of Insecurity
During the rule of the late Mu’ammar Qaddafi, Libya’s Sabha Oasis was an important regional security center, dominating Libya’s remote Fezzan region and the ancient trans-Saharan trade routes that connect sub-Saharan Africa to the Mediterranean coast. The Libyan airbase and garrison at Sabha gave Qaddafi... MORE

PKK Commanders Split with Imprisoned Kurdish Leader on Reconciliation with Ankara
After an almost 30-year-long struggle, the Turkish government is currently pursuing what could be an historic agreement with the Kurdish separatist Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (PKK). Past attempts at seeking a mutually acceptable solution have failed bitterly, thwarted by the lack of trust between the two... MORE

“Obliged to Unite under One Banner”: A Profile of Syria’s Jaysh al-Muhajireen wa’l-Ansar
A video posted on YouTube in the last week of March documented the unification of two Syrian armed groups; the Katibat al-Khattab (Army of Khattab Brigades) and the Katibat Jaysh al-Muhammad (Army of Muhammad Brigades), with the Katibat al-Muhajireen (KaM - the Brigade of Migrants).... MORE

Private Approval, Public Condemnation: Drone Warfare’s Implications for Pakistani Sovereignty
The latest contribution to the debate over the U.S. drone campaign in Pakistan came from Ben Emmerson, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights after three days of meetings with Pakistani officials in mid-March. When the meetings were over Emmerson’s office issued... MORE

Royal Army of Sulu Seeks to Restore the Sultanate in Malaysia’s Sabah State
The Royal Army of Sulu (RAS) is a militant organization with an estimated 200 to 400 members that seeks to reinstitute the control of the historic Sultanate of Sulu over Malaysia’s Sabah State, in the northeastern region of the island of Borneo. RAS fighters claim... MORE

Ahrar al-Sham: A Profile of Northern Syria’s al-Qaeda Surrogate
The uprising against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s rule entered its third year in March. The process of disaggregating the political and armed currents that are struggling against the Ba’athist regime, however, remains an exercise in futility. Despite ardent efforts by the numerous opposition factions to... MORE

Facing the “Permanent Arab Spring”: Terrorism and Russia’s Evolving Threat Assessment
The extensive and ever-proliferating literature on terrorism since 2001 remains overwhelmingly West-centric in character. Much less is written or known about terrorist threats in areas where the West is not engaged, such as the Russian North Caucasus region. Neither has Russia been able or willing... MORE

Islamist Militias Take to the Streets as Egyptians Look for Solutions to Internal Security Crisis
Though it lacks the compelling and convenient images produced in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during Egypt’s dramatic January, 2011 revolution, Egypt has been plunged into what has been variously described as a counter-revolution, a continuation of the 2011 revolution or an attempt by Islamist forces to... MORE

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Calls on North African Jihadists to Fight in Sahel, Not Syria
After more than two months of the French-led operation against Islamic militants in northern Mali, there are signs that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is starting to feel the heat. AQIM has not only suffered heavy losses among its top leaders in Mali, but... MORE