Since the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul to the Afghan Taliban on August 15, 2021, the security situation for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan has considerably improved. The TTP had established its bases in eastern Afghan provinces after the... MORE

Nigeria’s Ansaru Raises Profile on al-Qaeda’s Media Agenda Jacob Zenn After several years of a media hiatus following Boko Haram Shekau faction’s and Islamic State in West Africa Province’s (ISWAP) attacks, al-Qaeda’s de facto Nigerian branch known as Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis-Sudan (Ansaru) reemerged in October 2019... MORE

In his first speech following the official declaration of the Islamic State’s (IS) caliphate in 2014, the new caliph, Abubakr al-Baghdadi, delivered his famous audio statement titled, “A Message to the Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah in the Month of Ramadan.” In the speech, al-Baghdadi... MORE

On December 18, 2021, Afghan Taliban soldiers disrupted the erection of a security fence by the Pakistani military along the two countries’ mutual border and seized spools of barbed wire (Express Tribune, January 3). Defending his government’s move to disrupt the fencing work, the Afghan... MORE

Diyala is located 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, and is considered a “road-knot” between four Iraqi provinces, including Diyala and Sulaymaniyah, Wasit, and Salah al-Din. In addition, roads which pass through Diyala can lead to Anbar province or Mosul. Therefore, any militant group that wants... MORE

ISCAP's Congo Branch Changes Tactics to Targeting Civilians Jacob Zenn Although the nature of ties between the Islamic State’s (IS) centralized leadership and the Islamic State in Central Africa Province’s (ISCAP) Congo branch have been intensely debated among analysts, the Congo branch’s changing tactics reveal... MORE

In the secretive world of Chechen militants in Syria, the limelight often is shunned and garrulity is considered a sin. Propaganda videos posted online or occasional interviews with journalists or researchers rarely feature these fighters talking about their backgrounds or disclosing personal information. A great... MORE

Sanan Khan Qureshi is the current chairman of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (“Long live Sindh Nationalist Front,” or JSQM), a Sindhi nationalist and separatist political organization in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh. At the young age of 19 years, Sanan was elected unopposed as the JSQM... MORE

Jaal Marroo is the nom de guerre of Kumsa Diriba, who currently commands the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Marroo has been a commander in the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) since at least 2016, when he oversaw an OLF-led offensive in western sections of the state... MORE

On November 10, India hosted the Third Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, which saw the participation of National Security Advisers from India, Iran, Russia and three Central Asian states. Given the long-running India-Pakistan battle for influence in Afghanistan and ongoing Sino-Indian border tensions, Pakistan and... MORE