Briefs
The Warlords Return to Afghanistan: Atta Mohammad Noor
On June 21, the Afghan warlord Atta Mohammad Noor pledged to mobilize the public of his native Balkh province to fight the Taliban (TOLO News, June 22; Twitter.com/Atamohammadnoor, June 21). The announcement came as the Taliban has made dramatic territorial gains in the country, having... MORE
Iran’s Man in Nineveh: Waad Qado and the PMF’s 30th Brigade
On May 12, the U.S. Department of State released its annual report on International Religious Freedom. Though the report drew media attention for calling out abuses of religious freedom from geopolitical rivals to the United States, including Russia and China, what received less attention was... MORE
Latest Profiles
Arrested and Released: A Profile of Iranian-Backed Militia Commander Qassim Musleh
On May 26, Iraqi security forces arrested Qassim Musleh, a prominent Shia militia leader. He is the commander of the strategically important western Iraq sector within the Iranian-backed militia umbrella organization, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Authorities were not quick to provide media sources with... MORE
Polisario Leader Continues 48-Year Struggle for Western Saharan Independence: Brahim Ghali
Brahim Ghali, the 73-year-old leader of the Polisario Front in Western Sahara, was flown to Spain in April in order to receive medical treatment. Amid speculation that Ghali could be suffering from cancer, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) confirmed in a statement on April... MORE
Nigeria’s Gombe State Paradox: The Rise and Fall of Three Boko Haram Militant Leaders
Since 2015, only three terrorist attacks have been carried out in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Gombe by the major insurgent groups in the country, which are Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), the al-Qaeda-linked Ansaru, and the Boko Haram faction led by the now... MORE
The Long Arm of Turkish Drones: A Post-Mortem Analysis of the Life and Times of Syrian Born PKK Leader Sofi Nureddin
Contemporary Turkish counterterrorism campaigns rest on sophisticated, close cooperation between the Turkish military and national intelligence with a pronounced use of drones. This was reflected in a recent operation, which targeted one of the top Syrian-Kurdish figures of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), Halef al-Muhammad,... MORE