Abdulaziz al-Omari, one of the five hijackers on board American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center on 9/11, devoted part of his final will and testament to the shaykhs (religious scholars) who provided him rigid religious... MORE

On February 27, a counterterrorist operation regime in Kabardino-Balkaria was extended to parts of the republican capital Nalchik, and the Chegem and Cherek districts. The counterterrorist operation had been established earlier in parts of the Elbrus and Baksan districts. The introduction of a counterterrorist operation... MORE

There are increasing signs that North Caucasus style unrest may be spreading to nearby Krasnodar Krai, in particular to Sochi, the planned site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Authorities in Sochi today (February 25) defused an improvised explosive device (IED) that had been placed on... MORE

As Punjab governor Salman Taseer came out of a restaurant in an upscale area of Islamabad, one of his bodyguards uttered the slogan “Allahu Akbar” and fired on the man he was supposed to guard, killing him on the spot. The assassin in the January... MORE

The new act of terror committed by suicide bombers in Dagestan on February 14 appears to have been a continuation of a series of attacks across Russia carried out by the North Caucasus armed resistance movement, which over the years has become increasingly capable of... MORE

Special Report from Yemen

On February 22, Dmitry Medvedev made a surprise trip to North Ossetia. In Vladikavkaz, the Russian president chaired the first meeting of the Russian National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK) ever held outside of Moscow. Attacks in Kabardino-Balkaria the previous several days may have prompted Medvedev’s extraordinary... MORE

Insurgency-related violence was reported across the North Caucasus this past week. In Dagestan, an explosion hit a food store in the city of Kizilyurt in the early hours of February 17, injuring a security guard, who was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds to the legs. When... MORE

Almost one year after the military coup that overthrew former Nigerien president Mamadou Tandja, the people of Niger are in the process of choosing a new president. One of the most important challenges that the new president will face is the increasing role that al-Qaeda... MORE

The story of 23-year old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to blow up North West Airlines Flight 253 en-route from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25, 2009, presents a vehicle for distinguishing between political but non-violent radicalization and wholesale conversion to the jihad ideology.... MORE