Mokhtar Belmokhtar became a “legend” in jihadism in the Sahel for masterminding numerous terrorist attacks, including the hostage-taking operation at In Amenas gas plant in Algeria in 2013. However, it had been unknown whether or not Belmokhtar was active since 2015. In September 2021, Aymen... MORE

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the 48-year-old leader of the Haqqani Network (HN), has gained considerably from the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul. This was underscored on September 7, when the Taliban unveiled its interim government and announced that Sirajuddin would be in charge of the powerful... MORE

On February 2, an armed group leader appeared in a short video clip and threatened to invite terrorists and other criminal armed groups from neighboring African countries to destabilize Nigeria. The clip was captured during a reconciliation event organized in the forest by self-appointed negotiator... MORE

Introduction With the fall of Kabul on August 15 and the reestablishment of the Afghan Taliban government, an uptick in Islamist terrorism in neighboring Pakistan appears inevitable. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is taking the lead in perpetrating terrorist strikes in Pakistan with a sharp surge of... MORE

Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund is the new Prime Minister of Afghanistan in the Taliban's interim government formed in September (Dawn, September 7). The Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, but delayed the announcement of the interim government twice. Its ministers were ultimately unveiled after three... MORE

Two years after his death, al-Qaeda has confirmed that Shaikh Asim Umar, the founding amir of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), al-Qaeda’s south Asian franchise, was killed. Umar died in a U.S. and Afghan forces joint raid on September 23, 2019 in the Musa... MORE