Al-Qaeda’s Somalia-based affiliate, al-Shabaab, has suffered major setbacks in its battle against the internationally backed Somali government since 2007, when African Union troops entered the war-torn country. The militant group has lost key towns and territory, including the capital, Mogadishu, and the port city of... MORE

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) emir Abu Mohammed al-Joulani has for several years been actively rebranding himself and his group as an anti-Bashar al-Assad Syrian nationalist group and distancing the group from its al-Qaeda origins (Frontline, February 1, 2021). However, regardless of al-Joulani’s public disassociation from... MORE

Historically, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were among the most effective al-Qaeda affiliates globally. After announcing its formation and affiliation with al-Qaeda in 2007, AQIM conducted frequent suicide bombings and ambushes of Algerian security forces, while AQAP... MORE

The town of Menaka, Mali has been a battleground for jihadists since the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) captured the town in 2012. At that time, MUJWA was an offshoot from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) led by Malian Arabs... MORE

Ansar al-Islam (AAI) is a jihadist group that formed in September 2001 in Iraqi Kurdistan from the merger of two small groups: Jund al-Islam, which was then led by Abu Abdullah al-Shafi’i, and a splinter group of the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan, which was led... MORE

In recent weeks, Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) has been active in northern Afghanistan, which has prompted the Taliban to conduct a series of counter-terrorism operations against ISKP hideouts (Asia Plus, April 6). The location of these operations, the fact that Tajik and Uzbek... MORE

On February 17, the police chief’s office in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, was stormed by militants armed with grenades and automatic weapons. However, security forces killed at least three attackers after four civilians had already been killed inside the building (The News, February 17). The... MORE

On April 5, Densus 88, the Indonesian elite counter-terror unit, announced that four Uzbek nationals were arrested in Indonesia after traveling to that country from Turkey, passing through Abu Dhabi and Malaysia (kompas.com, April 5). They had all left Syria ahead of a media push... MORE

As China has expanded its economic influence in Africa, its expatriates have often become targets of terrorist and militant attacks—and occasionally worker revolts. However, China’s lack of colonial history in Africa, non-engagement in unpopular counter-terrorism operations, and the perception that China is less wealthy than... MORE

On March 20, al-Qaeda’s Sahelian affiliate, Group for Supporters of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) released two hostages, Olivier Dubois and Jeffery Woodke (from France and the US, respectively). The former was a journalist abducted in northern Mali in 2021 and the latter was an aid... MORE