Latest Articles about Military/Security
Kyrgyz Officials Blamed for Ethnic Unrest in Osh
On May 2nd, a group of international experts presented their view of Kyrgyzstan’s violence in June 2010, which took the lives of 470 and displaced over 400,000 people. Finish MP Kimmo Kiljunen reported findings of the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission (KIC) in Bishkek, summarizing over five... MORE
Moscow Kills Rebel Leaders in Kabardino-Balkaria, but was it a Mortal Blow?
April was an extremely successful month for the Russian security forces in the North Caucasus, following the liquidation of Israpil Validzhanov, the leader of the Dagestani jamaat on April 18, and of Emir Mukhannad, a well-known Arab volunteer in the ranks of the Chechen armed... MORE
Jordan’s New Generation of Salafi-Jihadists Take to the Streets to Demand Rule by Shari’a
Jordan has not escaped the political turmoil and street confrontations that have enveloped the Middle East during the so-called “Arab Spring.” The on-going debate between the Jordanian government and protestors seeking political reform in Jordan escalated on March 24 when one man died and scores... MORE
Bin Laden’s Neighbors Say Compound Was Under Surveillance Since 2005
Contrary to statements released by Pakistani intelligence agencies denying any knowledge of the occupants of the Abbottabad compound raided by American Special Forces units on May 1, there is evidence that the occupants of the compound housing Osama bin Laden were well known to Pakistani... MORE
Regime Changers And Constitutional Parties In The Georgian Opposition
With the onset of warm weather, radical opposition groups in Tbilisi plan their seasonal regime-change campaign. Judging by their latest declarations, their tactic remains unchanged since 2007: instigating disorder in the capital’s streets to provoke the authorities into using force, hoping thereby to de-legitimize the... MORE
From Islamist Agitator to Taliban Target: Pakistan’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Early Life and Education Maulana Fazlur Rehman was born into a religious family in 1953 in Dera Ismail Khan, one of the more underdeveloped areas in Pakistan. His ancestors came from Kandahar. Due to the severe and harsh winters in Kandahar, they would migrate to... MORE
Latest Russian Claims of Victory in North Caucasus Ring Hollow
The Russian propaganda machine described the death of each and every secondary member of the armed resistance movement in the North Caucasus as having done "irreparable damage to the insurgency." If the man killed in the fighting is among the volunteers from the Gulf States,... MORE
Insurgency-related Violence Reported in Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan
Russian law-enforcement agencies conducted a special operation today (April 29) in the village of Progress, located on the administrative border between Kabardino-Balkaria and Stavropol Krai. According to the National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK), 16 people suspected of involvement with the “armed underground” were killed in the... MORE
Russia Placing Itself Above the Fray in Libya
Russia has signaled that it can leverage its veto in the UN Security Council to entrap NATO in a protracted conflict in Libya. On April 26, Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told the media that Russia would not support a new Security Council resolution, if... MORE
The Jubaland Initiative: Is Kenya Creating a Buffer State in Southern Somalia?
Several reports circulated through the international media in early April indicating that a new semi-autonomous state, tentatively named Jubaland (or alternately “Azaniya”), would be created in southwestern Somalia to contain the Somali militant outfit Harakat al-Shabaab. Jubaland is purportedly being created by Kenyan authorities to... MORE