Jihadists are quick to take heed of any strategic or policy changes taking place in the United States or any state with forces fighting terrorism. Recently, the resignation of the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, was seen as a victorious sign for... MORE

Having committed itself to the battle against the “far enemy,” al-Qaeda’s leadership issued in March its most explicit call yet to Muslims living in the United States to independently plan and execute terrorist attacks on American soil. In a video entitled “A Call to Arms,”... MORE

Two commanders of the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) were arrested in the Pakistani port of Karachi on June 11, charged with plotting suicide attacks in the city of 18 million people. Only days later, four militants attacked a Karachi court house with firearms and grenades to successfully... MORE

Some time has passed since the May 30 death of al-Qaeda's chief of operations in Afghanistan and third-in-command Mustafa Abu al-Yazid. Surprisingly, however, no eulogy has been issued by al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Yazid and al-Zawahiri shared the same cell in Egypt for being... MORE

The Algerian-based al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) organization is facing new challenges to its leadership and its mission as a result of Algerian counterterrorist measures. The loss of a number of AQIM’s commanders to defections or arrest during security sweeps is beginning to have... MORE

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi recently gave an interview to the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in which he discussed the Taliban’s relations with al-Qaeda, the sources of opium production in Afghanistan, and the impact of the arrest of the second man in the Taliban leadership,... MORE

The secessionist movement in southern Yemen has become increasingly violent in recent months and has gained considerable momentum since it first attained a loose organizational structure in 2007. The prospect of a renewed civil war ensuing between southern forces and the central government in Sana’a,... MORE

A recent article appearing on jihadi websites insists that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) members will "carry out Osama bin Laden’s orders” to capture and execute U.S. nationals if jihadist captives in the United States receive death sentences. Sada al-Malahim, the magazine of al-Qaeda... MORE

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) launched Operation Moshtarak in the Nad Ali and Lashkar Gah Districts of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in mid-February. The intent was to wrest it from Taliban control and create a “bubble of security” for local governance, described in an ISAF... MORE