Jihadist web forums released an audio recording by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Deputy Leader Sa’id al-Shihri (a.k.a. Abu Sufyan al-Azdi) on August 9 entitled “Ma’an li khali’ al-Sa’ud” (Together to Overthrow al-Sa'ud). The recording came as a response to a correspondence AQAP claimed... MORE

Houthi rebels operating in northern Yemen accepted the six conditions that were set by the government of Yemen for a cessation of hostilities on February 12. [1] In response to their acceptance of the six conditions, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared a ceasefire and... MORE

If the suicide bombings in Kampala during the World Cup finals were a sign of al-Shabaab’s plans to fight outside of southern Somalia, then Somaliland’s new ruling party must prepare for more attacks. Al-Shabaab leader Shaykh Ahmad Abdi Godane “Abu Zubayr” has made clear his... MORE

The rising tension and provocative rhetoric surrounding Iran’s alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons are a matter of public record. Yet, are there other agendas being played out amidst the larger confrontation between Iran and the West? One such agenda may be found in the mountainous... MORE

Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, gave a speech on August 7 at the Civil Services Institute in Kabul in which he discussed his government’s reliance on foreign consultants and the role of private security firms. He proposed cuts to the former, and in the case of... MORE

A senior al-Qaeda ideologue has issued a booklet addressing two of the most important issues for the jihadi community – the practice of takfir (labeling a group or individual as apostate or infidel) and the question of whether jihad is an individual obligation. Entitled Ajwibaton... MORE

The Bajaur Tribal Agency in northwest Pakistan continues to be a hotbed of militancy despite being officially declared a “conflict free zone” by the Pakistan Army.  Bajaur Agency has been under Taliban control since May 2007. The Pakistani military launched its first anti-Taliban operation in... MORE

Nobody in the Punjab security establishment was aware of how deep the Taliban had penetrated local society when the police and law enforcement agencies started a half-hearted operation against the Punjabi Taliban in the last days of June. The operation came in response to simultaneous... MORE

After barely two months of calm in the Thai capital following a bloody end to the April-May protests, a pair of explosions in Bangkok threaten to mark a new wave of political violence in the confrontation between the “Red Shirts” (supporters of the United Front... MORE

President Obama’s Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, by defining a goal of “disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al-Qaeda,” on the one hand gives direction to this otherwise directionless war, and on the other emphasizes targeting al-Qaeda over all other anti-terrorism efforts (Associated Press of Pakistan, August 2). Al-Qaeda, as... MORE