Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
Array of security challenges face Yemen’s new leader – Abd Rabbu Mansur al-Hadi
In the opening days of his presidency, Yemen’s new leader Abd Rabbu Mansur al-Hadi has as his priorities the restructuring of the military and the expulsion of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and allied militant Islamist group Ansar al-Shari’a from the restive southern province... MORE
The Looming Storm in Pakistan’s Kurram Agency
Security has worsened significantly in Pakistan’s Kurram Agency this year. In the latest incident, Pakistani fighter jets responded to a series of attacks by bombing militant positions in the Kurram and Orakzai tribal agencies on March 1, killing an estimated 22 Islamist fighters (Dawn [Karachi],... MORE
BRIEFS
AL-QAEDA EXPANDS TO PUNTLAND IN ANTICIPATION OF OIL BOOM Under military pressure from Kenyan forces, the African Union Mission in Somalia and various Somali militias and government forces campaigning in its traditional area of operations in southern Somalia, al-Shabaab has announced an expansion into Puntland,... MORE
Gulf States Consider Political and Military Union to Counter Iranian Security Threat
With growing talk of a political confederation of the Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister, Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, has raised the possibility of transforming the existing Peninsula Shield Force [PSF] into a “unified Gulf army” able to... MORE
Who is Sayf al-Adel?
Recent reporting that Egyptian authorities have arrested one of al-Qaeda’s iconic figures, Sayf al-Adel, at the Cairo International Airport resurrects a number of tantalizing questions that can be answered only as more information becomes available. [1] It is difficult to understand how a man who... MORE
Negotiating an Endgame in Afghanistan: Qatar Hosts the Taliban
As the insurgency in Afghanistan rages on, recent events appear to confirm earlier reports pointing to a U.S. interest in taking the once inconceivable step of engaging the Taliban in negotiations (see Terrorism Monitor, November 25, 2008; Terrorism Monitor Brief, February 11, 2010). Washington is... MORE
Iranian Crisis Spurs Saudi Reconsideration of Nuclear Weapons
Rising tension in the Persian Gulf over the Islamic Republic of Iran’s purported ambition of developing nuclear weapons could lead to a nuclear arms race between Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On December 5, 2011, one of the most important members of the... MORE
BRIEFS
DESPERATE MEASURES: SOMALIA’S AL-SHABAAB JOINS AL-QAEDA In what he described as “good news” that would “annoy the Crusaders,” al-Qaeda leader Shaykh Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the incorporation of Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants as an official new chapter of al-Qaeda on February 9. [1] Al-Shabaab leader Shaykh Ahmad... MORE
Have the Niger Delta’s MEND Militants Resumed Operations in Southern Nigeria?
Even as Nigeria struggles with a wave of religiously-inspired violence in its northern states, there are now indications that a relatively dormant insurgency in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern states may be restarting in an attempt to take advantage of Nigeria’s precarious security situation. Jomo Gbomo, a... MORE
The Strange Death of Dr. Khalil Ibrahim and the Future of the Darfur Insurgency
Khartoum scored a major victory in its nearly nine-year-old conflict with Darfur rebels with the December 24 killing of Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, leader of Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the best armed and most organized of the Darfur rebel groups. Khalil rose to the... MORE