Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
PKK Survives EU Arrests
In early February 2006, French and Belgian police arrested more than a dozen senior members of the PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party), a militant group fighting for greater political, social and civil rights for Turkey's Kurdish minority. Initially, the arrests seemed a success for Turkey and... MORE
Internal Divisions Threaten Kurdish Unity
After years of infighting and repression by Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq's Kurds were finally able to seize the opportunity for autonomy and influence presented by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Since then, they have solidified the de facto autonomy that was established under the No Fly... MORE
Europe’s Emerging Counter-Terrorism Elite: The ATLAS Network
Special operation forces, or in police terminology special intervention teams, are an essential asset in any counter-terrorism operation. Their deployment can be needed during a terrorist incident or as a logical follow-up on gathered intelligence with the aim to arrest terrorists and prevent an attack.... MORE
Malaysia’s Role in Thailand’s Southern Insurgency
Against a backdrop of escalating communal and sectarian violence and warnings that militants could extend their attacks to Bangkok, Thai Prime Minister General Surayud Chulanont met with his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Badawi on February 11-12. The ongoing insurgency in the three southern provinces of Yala,... MORE
The Danger of Terrorist Black Holes in Southern Africa
On March 13, a South African intelligence official warned that a number of international terrorists may be spending time in South Africa, using the country as a safehaven (South Africa Press Association, March 13). Furthermore, in October 2004, the CIA reportedly identified 29 al-Qaeda leaders... MORE
Weapons and Tactics of the Somali Insurgency
After being driven from the Somali capital of Mogadishu to the port city of Kismayo by Ethiopian troops in late December, Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed urged "Islamic Courts fighters, supporters and every true Muslim to start an insurgency against the Ethiopian troops in... MORE
Retracing the Steps of JI’s Abdullah Sunata
The January 20 killings of the top leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Khaddafy Janjalani, and his aides under the Philippine military's "Oplan Ultimatum" have created a leadership vacuum. Yet the hunt is far from over. There are various other leaders of ASG... MORE
Cheney Attack Reveals Taliban Suicide Bombing Patterns
The information for this article came from a five-month study of suicide bombings from 2001 to 2007 in Afghanistan. No suicide bombing was listed in the study unless it was corroborated by numerous sources. Sources varied from coalition countries' press releases, open media, al-Qaeda/Taliban websites,... MORE
Moqtada al-Sadr’s New Alliance with Tehran
For the last three years, Tehran's relationship with the firebrand junior cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has undergone a significant change. During the early rise of the Sadrist phenomenon, the young cleric was viewed by Iranian officials, especially by the major clerics in the government, as the... MORE
Al-Suri’s Doctrines for Decentralized Jihadi Training – Part 1
The evolution toward smaller, more autonomous and decentralized organizational structures has been identified as a key trend in jihadi terrorism during the past few years [1]. Confronting amorphous structures and networks, which lack clearly identifiable organizational linkages and command structures and in which self-radicalization and... MORE