Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
Yemen and the U.S.: Different Approaches to the War on Terrorism
Following the introduction of a new two-year plan to eliminate religious-based political extremism in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh made an official visit to Washington from April 30 to May 3. While in the United States, President Saleh discussed security and counter-terrorism efforts with President... MORE
Guide to the Armed Groups Operating in the Niger Delta – Part 1
During the course of the last year in Nigeria's oil-rich but turbulent Niger Delta region, armed men kidnapped more than 150 foreigners, killed unknown numbers of Nigerian armed forces personnel, crippled the oil production of Africa's largest oil exporter by nearly a quarter and detonated... MORE
Turkey’s Coming Offensive Against the Iraqi-based PKK
The creation of a largely autonomous and peaceful "Kurdistan" in northern Iraq is often trumpeted as a major success in post-Baathist Iraq. Any progress made, however, toward an independent nation for the stateless Kurds creates great uneasiness in Turkey, Syria and Iran, all of which... MORE
Divisions Within the Iraqi Insurgency
With so many actors in the Iraqi insurgent theater, it is hard to keep track of the various permutations of militant Islamic groups and their alliances. It is going to become all the more difficult given recent splits and conflicts between and within indigenous Iraqi... MORE
The Threat of Islamist Terrorism to Germany
The recent al-Qaeda threat to Germany over its forces in Afghanistan coupled with the arrest of four Arab men accused of supporting al-Tawhid—a terrorist organization believed to have links to al-Qaeda—have convinced German authorities of the rising jihadi threat to Germany. Even though the terrorism... MORE
The Leading Factions Behind the Somali Insurgency
The U.S.-supported Ethiopian invasion that expelled Somalia's Islamist government last December is rapidly deteriorating into a multi-layered conflict that will prove resistant to resolution. Resistance to Ethiopian troops and the Ethiopian-installed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is inspired by nationalism, religion, economic factors and clan loyalties,... MORE
Guide to the Armed Groups Operating in the Niger Delta – Part 2
Part 1 of this article can be found in Issue 7 of Terrorism Monitor. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) first burst onto the international stage in December 2005, when it blew up Shell's Opobo pipeline in Delta state. It followed... MORE
Dressed in Black: A Look at Pakistan’s Radical Women
Radical women in Pakistan are increasingly being used by male jihadi groups and extremists, including religious political parties, to serve their interests and promote their cause. This year's protests by women clad in black burqas of the Jamia Hafsa seminary in front of the Lal... MORE
Kuwaiti Cleric Hamid al-Ali: The Bridge Between Ideology and Action
Hamid bin Abdallah al-Ali is an influential Salafi cleric in Kuwait. He is designated by the U.S. government as a global terrorism financier and supporter, yet his website is registered in Vancouver in Washington state. Figures such as al-Ali are critical to the education and... MORE
Transforming Pakistan’s Frontier Corps
While the jury is still out on whether General Pervez Musharraf's limitations in overpowering the Taliban in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas are primarily an outcome of "incapacity" or "unwillingness" (or both), the United States has committed itself to helping Pakistan transform its Frontier Corps into... MORE