Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
Jordan’s Jihad Scholar al-Maqdisi is Freed from Prison
On March 12, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi—born Isam Muhammad Tahir al-Barqawi in 1959—was released from a Jordanian prison after almost three years imprisonment without trial (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, March 13). Maqdisi has long played a pivotal role in defining jihadist ideology. After taking part in the Afghan... MORE
Under Pressure – The PKK Launches 2008 Campaign
On April 2, the Turkish General Staff (TGS) issued a statement claiming to have killed 16 militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for the loss of three Turkish soldiers during two days of fierce fighting in the province of Sirnak on Turkey’s border with... MORE
Targeting the Khyber Pass: The Taliban’s Spring Offensive
Taliban Deputy Leader Mullah Bradar Muhammad Akhand announced “a new series of operations” under the code name “Operation Ebrat” (Lesson) on March 27. The Taliban’s spring offensive is “aimed at giving the enemy a lesson through directing powerful strikes at it, which it can never... MORE
Tribes and Rebels: The Players in the Balochistan Insurgency
As the violence on Pakistan’s northwest frontier dominates the headlines, a lesser-known insurgency has gripped Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan. Bomb blasts and rocket attacks have become almost daily events in this region: A ten-week period in 2008 saw 76 insurgent-linked incidents reported, claiming the... MORE
The Haqqani Network and Cross-Border Terrorism in Afghanistan
There has been an increase recently in alleged missile strikes inside Pakistani territory by U.S. forces operating across the border in Afghanistan. The attacks come at a time when there is a growing call in the United States for strikes on Pakistani territory to take... MORE
India’s Intelligence Services Struggle with War on Terrorism
A diffuse but highly networked group of terrorists, driven by a dangerous cocktail of extremist ideology and a simmering sense of anguish and revenge, currently pose a serious threat to India's economic and social structure. The militants exploit gaping holes in India’s counter-terrorism architecture and... MORE
Unwelcome Guests: The Turkish Military Bases in Northern Iraq
Following the Turkish military’s raid on northern Iraq in late February, the little-known and poorly understood presence of Turkish military bases in Kurdish Iraq has become a major issue in relations between the two countries. On February 26, the parliament of the Kurdistan region of... MORE
Britain’s Prison Dilemma: Issues and Concerns in Islamic Radicalization
The increasingly rapid tempo of arrests and convictions of terrorist plotters by the British security services has had the concurrent effect of increasing the number of terrorist prisoners now incarcerated in the United Kingdom’s penal system. This influx of hardened terrorists into the system has... MORE
A Military Analysis of Turkey’s Incursion into Northern Iraq
The recently concluded eight-day Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq marks the beginning of a new phase in Turkey’s nearly 24 year-old struggle against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Despite the Turkish military’s claims to have inflicted high casualties and severe damage to the PKK’s... MORE
Oil Industry at the Heart of the Zaghawa Power Struggle in Chad
It was only a few years ago when the African nation of Chad was being promoted as a groundbreaking example of a new model of transparent oil revenue distribution that would relieve poverty and initiate development. Tribalism and kleptocratic rule would no longer be part... MORE