In September, three years will have passed since the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat - GSPC) joined al-Qaeda. A sharp rise in terrorist attacks has been noticeable since 2007, when the GSPC changed its name... MORE

Niger Delta militants in speedboats launched a devastating attack on Nigeria’s rapidly decaying energy infrastructure on July 13 by seizing and destroying a major oil distribution point in Lagos, a city of 16 million people. The assault was the first time militants from the Delta... MORE

The release of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Amir of Jama'at-ud-Da'wa (JuD), from detention last month in Pakistan has raised eyebrows in the West as well as India. He was released from house arrest on June 2 when the Lahore High... MORE

Despite the arrest on April 23 of a man identified by Iraqi authorities as Abu Omar al-Husayni al-Baghdadi, the elusive leader of the “Islamic State of Iraq” (ISI), audio messages keep emerging from an unseen individual who identifies himself as the authentic Abu Omar al-Husayni... MORE

Established in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend the Islamic Republic against domestic and foreign threats, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been accused of playing a decisive role in the re-election of the incumbent President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Fars News Agency, June... MORE

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Afghanistan’s Taliban strongly condemned French President Sarkozy’s declaration that the burka, a sign of “enslavement” and “debasement,” is “not welcome in the territory of the French Republic” (Aujourd'hui en france, June 19; La Croix, June 19). Both groups... MORE

In light of the ethnic violence in China’s Xinjiang province, various jihadi internet forums focused on the handling of the turmoil by China’s security forces. A vast region comprising nearly a sixth of China’s total land mass, Xinjiang is home to a number of Central... MORE

As the security situation in Afghanistan worsened, there was an increase in Taliban attacks in south and central Afghanistan, especially in Wardak province, 30 kilometers west of Kabul. The government and international forces decided to distribute arms to local people to defeat the Taliban and... MORE

A trial of six people accused of terrorism and other serious crimes began on June 24 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Two Lebanese citizens, Karaki Ali Muhammad and Najmaddin Ali Hussein, were charged with treason, revealing secret information abroad, espionage, preparation of acts of terrorism, drug trafficking... MORE

Salafi-Jihadi ideologue Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi gave his first interview since his release from prison on March 12, 2008 to the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood associated al-Sabeel weekly newspaper on June 4. Local media reported that security authorities in Jordan had set a condition that he would... MORE