As the momentum of opposition demonstrations targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gains in the face of an increasingly violent crackdown by the state, questions are emerging as to the survivability of a regime widely considered to be among the most autocratic in the region.  Like... MORE

The secret U.S. operation in Pakistan’s garrison city of Abbottabad in early May has exposed Pakistan’s terror underbelly. The operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden triggered severe international criticism against Pakistan for allegedly sheltering the al-Qaeda chief for almost six years.... MORE

On May 31, police in Kabardino-Balkaria reported that they prevented an attempt to assassinate the president of the republic, Arsen Kanokov. According to a police source, two roadside bombs, the biggest of them containing five kilograms of TNT, were placed at the entrance to the... MORE

May 2011 ended with a loud statement made by US President Barack Obama in Paris, in which he declared the leader of the North Caucasus-based armed resistance, Doku Umarov, a terrorist, a move bound to please Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The US president further pledged... MORE

The role of jihadis in the Jordanian city of Irbid, the country’s third largest, has increased exponentially since their emergence in post-2003 Iraq. Owing to its proximity to the Jordanian-Syrian border, Irbid emerged as a transit point for Salafi-Jihadis heading to Iraq or Lebanon between... MORE

Tarkhan Gaziev is one of the most notable field commanders in Chechnya’s interminable rebellion against the Russian state. At various times during the second military campaign since 1999, he held a number of top military positions within the Chechen armed underground resistance. Gaziev commanded a... MORE

On May 20, two bodyguards of South Ossetia’s leader Eduard Kokoity were killed in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia. According to some reports, Alim Kabulov and Oleg Ikaev were at the Vladikavkaz airport to meet Kokoity, who was expected to return from Moscow on the same day.... MORE

The US State Department on March 26 designated the Caucasus Emirate under Presidential Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists, terrorist organizations or acts of terrorism. The State Department said in a statement that the action would “help stem the... MORE

The capture of Indonesian terrorist Umar Patekin in January and the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May, both in Abbottabad, Pakistan, may prove to be two of the final blows to the reeling Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. Between January and May,... MORE

The term “jamaat,” considered native to the North Caucasus in view of the operations undertaken there by the armed resistance, is clearly spreading beyond the region’s borders. The Russian special forces recently did not even attempt to hide the existence of an Islamic underground cell... MORE