Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
Reviving the Iraqi Ba’ath: A Profile of General Muhammad Yunis al-Ahmad
The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq not only toppled Saddam Hussein, but it also put an end to three and a half decades of political domination by the Ba’ath party over Iraq. Despite a proliferation of political parties and militant organizations eager to take or at... MORE
Upcoming Changes to the Drug-Insurgency Nexus in Afghanistan
While there are many Taliban-controlled villages in Afghanistan that do not cultivate opium, there are few villages cultivating opium that are not under Taliban control. The concentration of opium production in a handful of southern provinces has placed Afghanistan’s opium economy almost completely under insurgent... MORE
Colombia’s FARC and the Basque ETA: Exploring the Tactical and Economic Partnership
A recent Spanish-Colombian counterterrorism investigation has confirmed the previously widespread belief that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC) and the Basque Homeland and Freedom group (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - ETA) have enjoyed mutually beneficial logistical and tactical connections.... MORE
Turkey Addresses PKK Challenge after Iraq Reaches Status of Forces Agreement with United States
The U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) came into force on January 1, creating a new environment for future Turkish air strikes on the PKK camps based in northern Iraq. The SOFA agreement makes it clear that “Iraqi land, sea, and air shall not be... MORE
UK Trial Exposes al-Qaeda Terrorist Network with Connections to Pakistan
In a trial that passed with remarkably little fanfare last December, a jury in Manchester, England, convicted Rangzieb Ahmed and Habib Ahmed (no relation) on charges of being members of al-Qaeda. In a released statement, the Crown Prosecution Service described Rangzieb Ahmed as “an important... MORE
The Changing Face of the Jihadist Movement in Libya
The LIFG began operations in the early 1990s, but it did not seem to have rushed into getting involved in attacks against the Libyan regime. Its priority is thought to have been building cells inside Libya. That does not seem to have been an easy... MORE
Islamist Movements Recruiting in the West for the Somali Jihad
Last month, U.S. media reported that up to 20 American citizens of Somali origin recently travelled from Minnesota to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, a hardline jihadist group that presently controls more than half of Somalia. One of the recruits is believed to have died while... MORE
NATO’s Khyber Lifeline
The recent spate of attacks on NATO’s supply convoys in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar and the adjacent Khyber Tribal Agency has not only tested Pakistan’s much-touted performance in the global war on terror, but has also compelled U.S-led forces in Afghanistan to dispense with... MORE
India’s Sikh Militants Forming Ties with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistani Intelligence
The recent Mumbai attacks have once again embittered relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals of South Asia - Pakistan and India. India has given Pakistan a list of "handlers" who are believed to be based in Pakistan and were in touch with the terrorists during... MORE
Somaliland Charges al-Shabaab Extremists with Suicide Bombings
With the completion of a month-long police investigation, Somaliland’s Interior Minister, Abdullahi “Irro” Ismail, has announced al-Shabaab extremists are responsible for the suicide bombings that killed more than 20 people in Somaliland’s capital of Hargeisa in late October. Al-Shabaab, originally the youth wing of Somalia’s... MORE