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Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
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Syrian Kurds Play the Russia Card in Pursuit of Autonomy
The ongoing political and security crisis in Syria has provided unexpected opportunities for Syria’s Kurdish community to initiate diplomatic discussions with Russia, China and Iran in its pursuit of regional autonomy, a near impossibility under the Assad regime before the outbreak of political violence as... MORE
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Hurdles to Peace: Afghanistan Beyond the Strategic Partnership Agreement
The Afghan-American “Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement” was signed by President Barack Obama and President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on May 2. The impact this agreement will have on the Afghan conflict is not yet clear. However, it could affect Afghanistan in one of two ways.... MORE
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Hot Issue — The Ansar al-Shari’a Insurgency in Southern Yemen: The View from the Ground
Executive Summary In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) newly-formed subsidiary Ansar al-Shari’a quietly captured the southern Yemeni town of Jaar, while popular protests engulfed President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s splintering government and military in Sana’a. By the time Saleh’s replacement, Vice President Abd... MORE
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German Trials Highlight the Role of the IMU as a Feeder for al-Qaeda Operations in Europe
Two separate trials are currently underway in Germany that have highlighted the particular role of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) as a feeder group for German jihadists who end up working alongside al-Qaeda. The first is a case in Koblenz involving Ahmad Wali Siddiqui,... MORE
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Low Level Boundary Dispute Intensifies as Iran and the UAE Contest Control of Strategic Gulf Islands
The April 22 visit of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Island of Abu Musa near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz has triggered new tensions between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (al-Jazeera, April 16; Gulf News April 16). The decades-long territorial... MORE
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Al-Shabaab Split Threatens to Open New Conflict Between Somalia’s Islamists
Despite recent celebrations of its merger with al-Qaeda, Somalia’s Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen movement has been suffering from a power struggle in its leadership for the past two years. Though attempts have been made to conceal it, the rift is believed to have contributed to al-Shabaab’s... MORE
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“The Sons of the Land”: Tribal Challenges to the Tuareg Conquest of Northern Mali
After the last month’s shocking developments in Mali, including a military coup, the collapse of the national security forces, the conquest of northern Mali by Tuareg rebels and the emergence of an Islamist group with apparent ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the... MORE
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Insurgency in Xinjiang Complicates Chinese-Pakistani Relations
China typically exercises caution when making public statements about terrorist attacks in Xinjiang. When China blames attacks on Pakistan-based terrorist organizations, such as the possibly defunct East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), it risks adding tensions to the Sino-Pakistani “all-weather” friendship. [1] However, when China blames... MORE
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Karachi’s Deadly Political and Sectarian Warfare Threatens the Stability of Pakistan’s Commercial Capital
Karachi is one of the most violent cities in the world where, according to Additional Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Akhtar Hassan Gorchani at least 396 persons have lost their lives in ethnic, sectarian, and political violence in the first three months of 2012. [1]... MORE