Latest Articles about Terrorism
Briefs
Burkina Faso: Fears Grow Over Domestic Militant Threat A series of attacks in rural Burkina Faso have raised concerns over an increasingly active homegrown jihadist militant group operating in the West African country’s remote north. A fire at a primary school in Baraboule, in northern... MORE
Al-Shabaab Plays on Aid Distribution Role to Win Over Desperate Somalis
With a severe drought unfolding across Somalia, al-Shabaab militants have turned to distributing food aid in the country’s southern battlegrounds in a new strategy aimed at bringing locals on side. Two consecutive seasons of poor rainfall has led to livestock deaths and crop failure, forcing... MORE
‘Wilayat Haramayn’: Confronting Islamic State in Saudi Arabia
The threat of Islamist militancy to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been nearly continuous, in various manifestations, since the mid-1990s, with Islamic State (IS) only the latest iteration of this threat. The group’s Saudi Arabian affiliates are formed by regional and domestic networks made... MORE
Deadly Bomb Explosion in St. Petersburg Metro Exposes Vulnerability of Russia’s Cities
Midday on Monday, April 3, a homemade bomb filled with metal shrapnel exploded in a train car of the St. Petersburg metro as it was moving between stations. It was not rush hour, but the train was crowded: 14 people died and over 50 were... MORE
Before Boko Haram: A Profile of al-Qaeda’s West Africa Chief Ibrahim Harun (a.k.a. Spinghul)
In March 2017, 46-year-old Ibrahim Harun, who claims to be a citizen of Niger but was born in Saudi Arabia while his parents were on the hajj, was convicted in the court of the Eastern District of New York for a conspiracy to murder American... MORE
An In-Depth Profile of AQAP’s Qassim al-Raymi
With the sharpened U.S. focus on combating global terrorism, closer knowledge of al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) — and, crucially, its leadership — is becoming increasingly more important. Before the U.S raid in Yemen in February 2017, which according to... MORE
Shaykh Hassan Yakub Ali: The Powerful al-Shabaab Waali of Galmudug
In February, Shakyh Hassan Yakub Ali became the first al-Shabaab militant leader to issue threats against Somalia’s new president, Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed. Ali warned that the al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa would carry out sustained attacks throughout the four-year term of President Mohammed (a.k.a. Farmajo).... MORE
Afghan Forces’ Unexpected Win: The Killing of Qari Saifullah Akhter
The death in a clash with Afghan forces of long-time Pakistani jihadist Qari Saifullah Akhter, the emir of Pakistan’s Harkat ul Jihad e Islami, is both a surprising victory for Afghanistan’s security forces and an indication of the Taliban leadership’s recent attempts to rebuild frayed... MORE
Why Islamic State Has Failed to Expand in Yemen
Conditions in Yemen appear to be ideal for the expansion of an insurgent organization like Islamic State (IS). All the normal vectors for the spread of the virus of militant Salafism are present: grinding poverty; rampant youth unemployment; a weak and most often non-existent government;... MORE
To Afghanistan Not Syria? Islamic State Diverts Tajik Fighters South
In February, the Iranian government extradited five members of the same family originating from Hamadoni district, in southern Tajikistan, back to their home country (Radio Ozodi, March 2). Abdulfayz Vazirov, 33, and his sister Mohira Salimova, 32, left Tajikistan for Russia in the summer of... MORE