Afghanistan: Taliban Moves Quickly to Name New Leader Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was killed in a US drone strike early on May 21, a move that might have initiated the Taliban’s second leadership crisis in less than a year, but the group quickly appointed... MORE

The two-year anniversary of Boko Haram’s kidnapping of more than 250 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria passed on April 13, 2016. Evidently, international interest in the Chibok kidnapping has waned. Even after CNN aired footage from a video showing 15 of the schoolgirls there... MORE

U.S. government charges levied against seven Iranian hackers in March over cyber-attacks against 46 financial institutions and the infiltration of the computer control system of a New York dam has renewed concerns about Iran’s engagement in cyber-terrorism against the United States (Al Jazeera, March 25).... MORE

Since the March 2015 release of Islamic State’s (IS) “Tunis for us and not for the apostates” video, there has been a significant increase in the level of jihadist violence in Tunisia. Much of this has been driven by IS, which coordinates its grimly characteristic... MORE

Nigeria: Another Small Victory Against Boko Haram According to reports this month, Nigerian troops uncovered a Boko Haram bomb-making factory near the border town of Ngala, Borno State, Nigeria. Army spokesman Sani Kukasheka Usma, keen to promote the find as the latest success in Nigeria’s... MORE

A series of arrests this year in India has highlighted how India has been unable to escape its overtures as Islamic State (IS) continues its attempts to expand its geographical and online reach beyond Iraq and Syria. While IS propaganda has so far struck a... MORE

The rise of Islamic State in Iraq has contributed to the increasing prominence of Iraq’s Shia militias. However, while the militias are united in their desire to defeat IS, there are nonetheless clear divisions among them arising from narrow self-interest, differing ideologies and political loyalties,... MORE

With the emergence of a group in Somaliland calling itself Jahba East Africa, it appears Islamic State (IS) is becoming an independent entity in Somalia’s insurgency. This development will likely complicate the conflict both for the African Union forces in the country and the indigenous... MORE

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud appears intent on shaking off the perceived lethargy of the Saudi royals in international efforts to combat terrorism, forming a 35-nation anti-terrorism coalition. The coalition has been promoted by Muhammad bin Salman, Salman’s son and the Saudi Defense... MORE

Shortly after his May 2015 inauguration, President Muhammadu Buhari gave the Nigerian military until the end of that year to defeat Boko Haram. As the deadline approached, Buhari assured the public the jihadist organization had been “technically” defeated (Naij, February 6). In December 2015, the... MORE