Latest Articles about Syria
The Abdullah Azzam of Syria: A Profile of Abdallah Muhammad Bin-Sulayman al-Muhaysini
Since 2012, the Syrian civil war has been platform facilitating the rise of dozens of jihadist ideologues, clerics and fighters associated with Islamic State (IS), al-Qaeda’s affiliate Jabath Fatah al-Sham (previously known as Jabath al-Nusra) or the myriad Islamist groups fighting in the country. Few... MORE
Mazen al- Nahiri: Baathist Officer Turned Islamic State Commander
With the rise of Islamic State’s (IS) self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who made his first public appearance in July 2014, deviated from the norms of secrecy normally attached to any jihadist leadership (YouTube, July 5, 2014). With more militants from... MORE
Moscow Maneuvering to Become Supreme Arbiter in Syria
Last month (December 2016), the eastern half of Syria’s prewar most-populated city, Aleppo, held by opposition fighters since 2012, fell under a relentless assault from joint Iranian, Russian and pro-government Syrian forces The Syrian opposition fighters, together with some of the civilian population, were allowed... MORE
Moscow Seeks to Reinforce Trump’s Belief That Force Alone Can Defeat Islamic State
For at least the last 15 years, there has been an intense debate in both Russia and the West about how radical Islam can be defeated. Some argue that force alone is sufficient, but their opponents say that because radical Islam is an ideological project,... MORE
Terrorist Threat in Georgia Shifts From Exporting Militants to Homegrown and Returning Fighters
Mukhammad Khangoshvili, a 24-year-old inhabitant of the village of Duisi, in Pankisi Gorge, Georgia, was killed, on November 7, 2016, in a bombing of the Islamic State’s (IS) positions in the Iraqi city of Mosul (News.ge, November 8, 2016). Khangoshvili previously served as a bodyguard... MORE
Independent Russian Analysts Argue Moscow Secretly Cooperating With the Islamic State
In seeking to extract benefits from a disaster, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly been willing to actually manufacture such disasters so that their time, place and nature give him maximum advantage for action. Indeed, he has repeatedly demonstrated this tendency since 1999, when the... MORE
Moscow Pursues Enhanced Precision-Strike Capability
Moscow’s defense establishment annually reflects on achievements in modernizing and enhancing combat capability and readiness levels in the Russian Armed Forces. Late last year (December 22, 2016), Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu offered such detail with an upbeat message on the Russian military’s operations and exercises... MORE
Russian Mission in Syria Beset by Problems Despite Victory in Aleppo
The sudden recapture by Islamic State (IS) of the Syrian desert town of Palmyra has caused embarrassment and recriminations in Moscow at a time when the Russian strategy in Syria seemed to be working to plan and victory was close at hand. Opposition rebel forces... MORE
The Chechens Fighting for the Islamic State in Mosul
Analysts who have followed developments in Syria and Iraq have increasingly paid attention to the presence of Chechen fighters in the area since 2013. An influx of large numbers of Chechen militants to Syria created conditions for the appearance of ethnicity-based Chechen armed groups. ... MORE
From Hip-Hop to Jihad: A Profile of Italian Foreign Fighter Anas el-Abboubi
On September 28, 2016, the U.S. Department of State designated Islamic State (IS) member Anas el-Abboubi as a Special Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13244, which imposes sanctions on foreign individuals determined to commit acts of terrorism. El-Abboubi is the first Italian citizen... MORE