Backed by Russian airstrikes, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has in recent months renewed a military campaign to recapture the strategic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State (IS) (Al-Bawaba [Palmyra], March 15; Al-Alam [Tehran], March 15), one that will continue in spite of Russia’s... MORE

As Tunisian jihadists with Islamic State (IS) in Libya come under increasing military pressure from local and international forces, they appear to be returning home with the intention of capturing territory. That manifested itself this month in the attack on the border town of Ben... MORE

A series of raids by Pakistani counterterrorism forces in recent months has resulted in the arrest of several members of Hizb ut Tahrir (HuT). The group remains an insidious threat to the country and one that should not be overlooked. While it has not yet... MORE

AQIM’s Resurgence: Responding to Islamic State Jacob Zenn and Dario Cristiani Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allied militant groups have undergone something of an operational revival since late 2015, expanding their area of operations and mounting high-profile attacks in Burkina Faso and... MORE

January marks a year since Islamic State announced its official expansion into Afghanistan. On January 26, 2015, Abu Muhammed al-Adnani, Islamic State’s chief spokesperson, released an audio statement in which he declared the establishment of Wilayat Khorasan, a branch of the group “encompassing Afghanistan, Pakistan... MORE

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has more men, is better equipped and funded, and holds more territory than at any time in its history. The only point at which the organization has enjoyed comparable strength was in the aftermath of the popular uprising against... MORE

It is increasingly evident that each time the relations between India and Pakistan improve, India-focused jihadist groups from across the Pakistani border attempt to disrupt it with attacks in the Indian states of Kashmir, Punjab, and elsewhere. The inevitable aim of these is to upset... MORE

In an unexpected move on December 26, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), captured the Tishreen Dam close to Manbijin, Syria (YPGrojava, December 30, 2015). This operation, conducted with support of the U.S.-led coalition against the... MORE

The Chinese authorities have claimed that since 2013, “hundreds” of Uyghurs have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State and other jihadist organizations; such claims have been used as justification for new counter-terrorism policies (Xinhua, July 29. 2014). Alleged linkages between rising... MORE

The Egyptian government’s state of alert, under which dozens of activists were arrested ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, did not prevent militants from the Islamic State group in Sinai from claiming the lives of several policemen and soldiers across the country’s... MORE