After a series of deadly attacks, Jaysh al-Ayman, an elite al-Shabaab unit formed about five years ago to carry out operations inside Kenya, has emerged as the deadliest terrorist cell in the East African nation. Although it started life in Somalia, the al-Qaeda affiliate’s Kenya... MORE

Western Sahara: Algeria Plane Crash Highlights Tensions A plane crash in Algeria that left more than 200 people dead and prompted three days of national mourning has unexpectedly thrown a spotlight on tensions over Western Sahara. As many as 257 people were killed when an... MORE

Renewed fighting in southern Libya around the Kufra and Sabha oases demonstrates the difficulty of reaching anything more substantial than temporary and fragile political agreements in the region. The parties to the seemingly intractable conflict in the south include a range of legitimate and semi-legitimate... MORE

Afghanistan is no stranger to brutal terrorist attacks, but this year began with a series of particularly vicious deadly attacks in Kabul, the only secured and highly fortified city in the country. Even more worryingly, most of these attacks were claimed by the local franchise... MORE

Since the emergence in 2013 of the Islamic State of Syria and al-Sham, later Islamic State (IS), followed by its declaration of a caliphate, the British government has estimated that over 850 British citizens and residents travelled to join the group in Iraq and Syria.... MORE

Ahrar al-Sham (Ahrar) is one of the largest rebel groups in Syria. In December 2016, like other groups, it suffered a major blow at the hands of the forces of the al-Assad regime, resulting in the loss of the city of Aleppo. The defeat in... MORE

Al-Shabaab attacks are on the rise in Kenya. From concerns about threats to the recent Kenyan elections to stepped-up attacks in Kenya’s coastal Lamu county, this uptick in activity has authorities across the region concerned (see Terrorism Monitor, June 16, 2017; see Terrorism Monitor, February... MORE

Vasyl Hyrtsak, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), announced, on March 9, that a prominent public figure, in collusion with the Moscow-backed leadership of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), part of the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas, had been systematically transporting weapons... MORE

Of late, al-Qaeda's South Asia branch has been proactive and forceful in its campaign against India and its neighbors. A “code of conduct,” released by the group in June 2017, signaled an expanded geographical scope by including Afghanistan and Myanmar into its supposed domain of... MORE