Al-Shabaab, the Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, has ramped up attacks as global attention focuses on defeating the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19). The militant group’s prolonged insurgency has left thousands of civilians in misery in the country, which has been without a stable government since... MORE

In the early hours of  April 15, around 350 German law enforcement officials arrested four Tajik asylum seekers in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the state prosecutor, the men, all between 24 and 32 years old and Tajik nationals, had formed a... MORE

At the end of March, Chadian president Idriss Déby announced the launch of a “merciless” offensive against ‘Boko Haram,’ albeit without clarifying whether Chad would target the larger faction, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), or the smaller faction, Jamaat Ahlussunnah lid-Dawa wal-Jihad (JAS)... MORE

Oman’s Delicate Domestic Balance Brian M. Perkins Oman’s longstanding financial and governance model is being tested like never before as the country’s economy continues to decline due to its historic reliance on oil, as well as the harsh economic impacts of COVID-19. These crises have... MORE

Arms trafficking via the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea has a long history. However, the wars in Yemen and the vast number of arms and materiel provided by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have ushered in a golden age for... MORE

Almost six years after al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent’s (AQIS) formation as the regional subsidiary of the infamous transnational jihadist group, the organization is reportedly shifting its violent campaign to Kashmir and India. On March 21, in one of its key Urdu language magazines, AQIS claimed... MORE

Between February 27 and March 5, Turkey conducted Operation Spring Shield to halt the Syrian Arab Army’s blitz offensive in Idlib and to press Moscow into brokering a ceasefire. Due to the grave risks involved in operating in the Syrian airspace, Turkish military planners opted... MORE

Attacks Demonstrate IS-CAP Evolution in Mozambique Brian M. Perkins Northern Mozambique has witnessed a significant escalation of operations by Islamic State Central Africa Province (IS-CAP) in recent weeks, with the group claiming two substantial attacks over a span of just three days. The attacks, which... MORE

The first quarter of 2020 saw a serious escalation of combat in Syria, albeit without much alteration in the political trends, and the arrival of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has exacerbated a fraught situation. Under the Astana process, which began in late 2016, Turkey, Russia,... MORE

On February 26, the U.S. State Department designated Ahmed al-Hamidawi, the new secretary general of the Iraqi Shia militia, Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), as a specially designated global terrorist (State.gov, February 26). The designation came amid ongoing tension between the United States and Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia... MORE