Latest Articles about South Asia
Al-Qaeda’s Media Doctrine: Evolution from Cheerleader to Opinion-Shaper
Al-Qaeda has always regarded media work as a key weapon in its arsenal, although the group has no claim to originating the use of the media as a weapon for the mujahideen. The Afghan Islamist insurgent organizations—especially Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami and Ahmad Shah Masoud Jamiat-e-Islami—ran... MORE
A Report from the Field: Gauging the Impact of Taliban Suicide Bombing
The following study is based on field research carried out in the summers of 2003, 2005 and the spring of 2007 in 15 Afghan provinces including: Paktia, Nangarhar (Jalalabad), Panjshir, Balkh (Mazar-i-Sharif), Takhar, Bamiyan, Kabul and Herat. Specific assistance was granted by the United Nations,... MORE
Shamshatoo Refugee Camp: A Base of Support for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Two years after the Pakistani government banned it from publication, Shahaadat Daily newspaper, funded by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan (Islamic Party of Afghanistan), is again available on the streets of Peshawar (Ariana Television, May 6). The daily has published articles that denounce... MORE
South Waziristan’s Maulvi Nazir: The New Face of the Taliban
Pakistan is experimenting with the Taliban yet again. The primary focus of the effort is to de-link the Taliban from al-Qaeda and bring them back into the Pakistani sphere of influence. Uzbek militants have been the first “casualty” of this re-alignment. Potentially, remaining Arab militants... MORE
Afghanistan’s Drug Trade and How it Funds Taliban Operations
The opium economy in Afghanistan is a key component of the counter-insurgency campaign, yet remains one of the most difficult issues to tackle. It is a critical problem facing international efforts to create a functional government in Kabul that can prosecute counter-terrorism on its own... MORE
Jihadi Website Advises Mujahideen on Equipment to Bring to Iraq
On April 19, the jihadi website alfirdaws.org posted an in-depth article on the necessary equipment for the mujahideen in Iraq. The information was in response to a posting by a user who inquired about the most important equipment a fighter must prepare before joining the... MORE
Latest al-Zawahiri Tape Targets American Society
In an hour-plus videotaped interview broadcast on May 5, al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri answered questions from an unnamed interviewer from al-Qaeda's video arm, al-Sahab Productions. The topics addressed covered the range of issues usually focused on by al-Qaeda leaders in videos, including Iraq, Afghanistan,... MORE
Dressed in Black: A Look at Pakistan’s Radical Women
Radical women in Pakistan are increasingly being used by male jihadi groups and extremists, including religious political parties, to serve their interests and promote their cause. This year's protests by women clad in black burqas of the Jamia Hafsa seminary in front of the Lal... MORE
Kuwaiti Cleric Hamid al-Ali: The Bridge Between Ideology and Action
Hamid bin Abdallah al-Ali is an influential Salafi cleric in Kuwait. He is designated by the U.S. government as a global terrorism financier and supporter, yet his website is registered in Vancouver in Washington state. Figures such as al-Ali are critical to the education and... MORE
U.S.-TURKISH INTERESTS COLLIDE IN IRAQ, BUT MESH IN AFGHANISTAN AND KOSOVO
Turkey and the United States are increasingly at odds over the entwined issues of the Kurdistan Worker’ Party (PKK) mounting hit-and-run guerrilla operations from northern Iraq into southeastern Turkey and Washington’s reluctance to rein in those activities, along with plans by the Kurdish Provisional Government... MORE