As Rohingya refugee camps near the Naf river (which partially separates Bangladesh and Myanmar) become hubs for organized crime and militants, Bangladeshi authorities fear spillover effects for Bangladesh and for the region more broadly. Refugee camps have mushroomed along Bangladesh's southeastern border since August 2017... MORE

In early November, the U.S. Department of the Treasury levied sanctions on associates and companies of Farhad Hoomer, an alleged South African Islamic State (IS) cell leader who had already been sanctioned in March (Treasury.gov, March 1). According to U.S. authorities, Hoomer headed an IS... MORE

On December 12, Islamic State (IS) militants assaulted Chinese nationals and Taliban officials inside a Kabul hotel. IS’s Amaq News Agency claimed the attack shortly afterwards and eventually released photos and a video of the attackers while claiming that IS in Khorasan Province (ISKP) fighters... MORE

The End of an Era: Has JNIM Finally Superseded AQIM? On December 23, the Group for Supporters of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) released a video showing speeches about jihad by Abu Iyad al-Tunisi and Yahya Abu al-Humam when they were together in a hideout (Twitter... MORE

The Myanmar junta and the Rakhine nationalist Arakan Army (AA) have agreed on an informal ceasefire in Rakhine State (Mizzima, November 29). This truce, which came into effect at the end of November, occurred despite a sharp escalation in fighting in the months following the... MORE

A breakaway group of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which is headed by a student-turned-leader named Bashir Zaib, kidnapped two junior officers of Pakistan's military on September 25 in the restive southwestern Balochistan province. The abductees were a junior military officer and an intelligence officer... MORE

On November 30, the Islamic State (IS) announced that its “caliph,” Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (Abu al-Hassan), was killed and another leader, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qureshi (Abu al-Hussein), was the new caliph (alarabiya.net, November 30). This was the second time in only one year that... MORE

Philippines Security Forces Halt Islamic State Attacks after Mindanao Bus Bombing On November 27, Philippine police conducted an operation at an Islamic State in Southeast Asia Province (ISEAP) hideout in Maguindanao, Mindanao and killed two ISEAP members (akhbaralaan.com, November 28). The operation served as a... MORE

On September 28, a Chinese national was killed and two others were injured when an unidentified assailant opened fire at a dental clinic in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. Chinese-origin Pakistani dentists, Dr. Richard Hu and his wife Phen Teyin, sustained... MORE

On November 16, a new tactical group and militant contractor in Idlib governorate, Syria was announced on various social networks and messaging platforms through a video called “Tactical Accessories” (Muhojir UZ, November 16). The propaganda of this new group, Muhojir Tactical, is managed by two... MORE