Latest Articles about Terrorism

Briefs
Tajikistan Maintains Cool Ties with the Taliban Jacob Zenn Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, several Central Asian states have accepted the reality on the ground and engaged the Taliban. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, for example, began initiating dialogue with the Taliban in... MORE

China and Pakistan: Strains in the All-Weather Partnership?
Introduction China and Pakistan have formally launched Phase II of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship venture in China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). During Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Beijing on February 3-6 for the Winter Olympics, the two... MORE

The Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan and Militant Mergers Bolster Baluch Insurgents in Pakistan
On January 20, a bomb blast at a crowded market killed three civilians and injured more than 25 others in Lahore. The attack was executed by the Baluch Nationalist Army (BNA), a newly formed Baluch ethno-separatist group, who made its presence known in Pakistan (Dawn,... MORE

Al-Hasakah Prison Break Sparks Fear of Islamic State Resurgence in Iraq
Islamic State (IS)’s territorial control in Iraq after 2014 was preceded by the organization’s ”Breaking the Walls” campaign of prison breaks in 2012-2013. It is not surprising, therefore, that IS’ January 20 assault on al-Sina'a prison in al-Hasakah, Syria, which aimed at freeing thousands of... MORE

Briefs
Chinese Interests Come Under Pressure in Myanmar’s Insurgency Jacob Zenn China’s involvement in economic projects in Pakistan has riled ethnic-based insurgent groups, which believe their peoples’ interests are being ignored, or worse, trampled upon (Terrorism Monitor, May 7, 2021). In Myanmar, however, this trend of... MORE

Ties that Bind? Deconstructing the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban’s Partnership and Counter-Terrorism Options for Pakistan
In late December 2021 and early January 2022, Afghan Taliban fighters stationed at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, also known as the Durand Line, disrupted the border fencing near the Kunar and Nimruz provinces (Dawn, December 23, 2021; Express Tribune, January 3; Terrorism Monitor, January 14). [1]... MORE

In the Name of the Mahdi: An In-depth Look at Bangladeshi Militant and Propagandist Mushtaq Arman Khan
In early May 2020, the Bangladeshi police counter-terrorism unit arrested 17 members of the banned terrorist group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), in Dhaka. At the time of the arrest, the JMB operatives planned to join Imam Mahdi, the spiritual redeemer of Islam, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.... MORE

Muhammad al-Uyghuri: The New Face of IS Khorasan’s Anti-China Propaganda
On October 8, 2021, an Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) operative detonated a suicide bomb inside of Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan, reportedly killing more than 50 people and wounding over 100 others (The Express Tribune, October 8, 2021). The attack targeted Shia... MORE

Direct Action Cells: Greece’s Fourth Generation of Post-Junta Urban Guerrillas
On May 15, 2021, a new anarchist organization, that four months earlier had been calling itself the Direct Action Cells (DAC), released a claim taking responsibility for multiple arson attacks across Athens and Thessaloniki. Of the twenty attacks included in the claim, all but four... MORE

India’s Armed Forces Special Powers Act Comes Under Scrutiny After Nagaland Killings
On December 4-5, 2021, an Indian Army Special Forces unit gunned down 14 civilians at Oting village in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. Mistaking six coal miners returning home from work for insurgents, the security forces shot them dead. Eight other civilians were killed in... MORE