The inauguration of Adama Barrow as president in the Gambia in January 2017 heralded a new era for the country, ruled previously for 22 years by strongman Yahya Jammeh. Among Barrow’s first actions in office was to reverse Jammeh’s declaration that the Gambia was an... MORE

Within a period of four years, Islamic State (IS) has risen from near defeat in 2010 to become one of the most successful modern insurgencies. At its height in 2014, it controlled 40 percent of Iraq. Three years later, soon to be eradicated from its... MORE

Kenya: On Alert as al-Shabaab Factions Clash   Kenyan security forces are on alert following reports of bloody clashes between al-Shabaab factions, which are said to have pushed fleeing militants across the border. The fighting is thought to have been prompted by the group’s execution... MORE

In the past few months, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) hit the headlines again as it carried out a massive attack in Gao, northern Mali, killing 77 people and injuring dozens more. Al-Mourabitoun, the group of Mokhtar Belmokhtar — so far, the “most-killed” terrorist... MORE

Though the West African nation of Burkina Faso (and its earlier incarnation as Upper Volta) has had a sometimes turbulent political history since gaining its independence from France in 1960, terrorism was not one of its problems until the creation of Ansar al-Islam, an Islamist... MORE

Introduction In the past few months, the conflict over the control of oil resources in Libya has deepened further, particularly after the takeover of the largest oil terminals of the Oil Crescent by the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces led by the controversial Libyan general... MORE

The formation of Hai’at Tahreer al-Sham (HTS, the Levant Liberation Commission) earlier this year was the al-Nusra Front’s most successful attempt thus far to form a coalition with other rebel groups in Syria. While al-Nusra had formed an alliance called Jabhat Fath al-Sham (JFS) last... MORE

Few terrorists have been able to achieve the level of success in perpetrating acts of terrorism as achieved by Khalid Shaikh Mohammad (KSM), the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. KSM, however, was not the only one in his family to plan and execute acts of... MORE

On April 12, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) released its annual report for 2016, assessing the country’s security threats (Ssg.gov.ge, April 23). Unsurprisingly, the report states that “the existence of occupied territories” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains “the main challenge,” with the... MORE

Trends in the two main theaters of jihadist activity in West Africa have moved in al-Qaeda’s favor in recent months. In the Mali/Sahel region, the formation of a new alliance has consolidated al-Qaeda’s position as the preeminent jihadist force in the region, while in Nigeria/Lake... MORE