The return of Muqtada al-Sadr to Iraq after more than three years of self-imposed exile and his unexpected January 21 departure for Iran only two weeks later have provoked speculation over the security implications of his activities in Iraq and his precise relations with Iran... MORE

Despite its absence and lack of impact on recent events in Tunisia, the Islamist shadow has hung over the revolution in Tunisia since its eruption in the town of Sidi Bouzid on December 17, 2010 led to the ouster of Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben... MORE

Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city and its commercial capital, is yet again in the throes of violence. With Karachi generating 68% of the government’s revenue and 25% of the country’s gross domestic product, the implications for Pakistan are serious. The first three weeks of 2011... MORE

The retired former chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, is one of the most controversial political figures in Pakistan. Despite his once extremely close ties with the American Central Intelligence Agency during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Gul has since... MORE

Two French citizens, Antoine de Léocour and Vincent Delory, were kidnapped on January 7 from a restaurant in the residential area of Plateu in Niger's capital, Niamey (L’Express, January 9). De Léocour had worked for several years in the country and was there to marry... MORE

Iraq’s director-general for anti-terrorism and organized crime operations, Major General Diya Husayn Sahi, recently told al-Arabiya TV that Iraqi citizen Taimur Abd al-Wahhab al-Abdali was given explosives training in the Iraqi city of Mosul for three months before his failed suicide bombing in Sweden last... MORE

Since responsibility for the “underwear bomber” and “toner bombs” was claimed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the focus on the growth of al-Qaeda-linked organizations in Yemen has intensified. The two failed attacks have led to substantial increases in U.S. military aid to Yemen... MORE

“Islam is the true religion. Thank you very much.” So declared Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, a 34-year-old Lebanese Australian former kick-boxer after he was convicted of participating in a plot to attack the Holsworthy Army base just outside Sydney (The Age [Melbourne], December 23, 2010; Australian... MORE

Fear of a Taliban resurgence is rising among the people of the Swat valley, less than one year after the Pakistan army cleared the picturesque area (Dawn [Karachi] Feb 26, 2009). Many in Swat believe the Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM - Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic... MORE

When Iran’s security forces announced in February 2010 that they had successfully captured Abdelmalek Rigi, the elusive commander of Jundallah (Soldiers of God), many observers wondered aloud about the impact Rigi’s capture might have on the Baloch insurgency. [1]Jundallah, an ethnic Baloch nationalist rebel group,... MORE