A German court sentenced on February 24 the alleged “Islamic State leader of Germany” to a lengthy prison sentence. The trial against Salafist preacher Ahmad Abdelaziz Abdullah Abdullah, better known as Abu Walaa, lasted three-and-a-half-years and provides insights into radicalization and Islamic State (IS) recruitment... MORE

JNIM Conducts First Claimed Attack in Mali’s Sikasso Region Jacob Zenn Mali’s Sikasso Region borders Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, but has been devoid of the violence that has afflicted the rest of the country. Neither Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) nor Islamic State... MORE

Ansar al-Sunnah wa-Jamma (ASwJ) is the latest Islamist insurgency to emerge in southern Africa with links to Islamic State (IS), which has named the group Islamic State in Central African Province (ISCAP). ASwJ’s emergence in October 2017 with the two-day occupation of Mocimboa da Praia... MORE

Introduction  On April 2, Indian forces launched a counter-terrorism operation in a village in the Pulwama district of India-administered Kashmir, killing three people. They were allegedly involved in the murder of a policeman guarding the home of a local politician from India’s ruling party in... MORE

A February 2017 airstrike in Idlib, Syria targeted and killed Abu al-Khayr al-Masri, a deputy to al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Masri was one of the first foreign terrorists to have been killed using the U.S. military’s newest counter-terrorism weapon: the AGM-114R9X (R9X) Hellfire missile, often... MORE

Media Mystery Surrounds Islamic State Conquests in Mozambique Jacob Zenn On March 25, the Islamic State in Central African Province (ISCAP)’s Mozambique branch raided the town of Palma in northeastern Mozambique and was reported to have slaughtered civilians and killed several dozen soldiers. The attack... MORE

Two years ago, on April 21, 2019, eight suicide bombers affiliated with the Islamic State (IS)-linked local jihadist groups National Towheed Jamaat (NTJ) and Jammiyat-ul Millathu Ibrahim (JMI) carried out deadly terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, targeting luxury hotels and Catholic churches. The synchronized attacks... MORE

The start of 2021 was marked by Nigerian military offensives against Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Jamaat Ahl al-Sunna li-Dawa wal-Jihad (JASDJ), which are collectively known as “Boko Haram.” The military offensives codenamed Operation Tura Takai Bango were launched on January 3... MORE

On March 23, the Arakan Army (AA)—an ethnic armed organization (EAO) based largely in Myanmar’s Rakhine State—finally released a statement condemning the military’s seizure of power in the February 1 coup. AA spokesperson, Khine Thu Kha, said that the AA was “together...with the people” and... MORE

Colombia Faces Mixed Futures in Negotiations with FARC and ELN  Jacob Zenn In 2016, Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) concluded a peace deal that has led to a reduction of violence in the last five years. However, one FARC faction consisting... MORE