Latest Articles about Terrorism
Islamic State’s Female Enforcer in Mosul: A Profile of Umm Anas (a.k.a. Hajiah)
Halla Diyab Female militants’ roles within the Islamic State (IS) have recently evolved, breaking from their more conventional functions as recruiters and online propagandists for the jihadist cause. Increasingly, women act as vehicles of oppression against other female militants within the group. This departure from... MORE
Back from the Dead: The Turkistan Islamic Party’s Abdul Haq al-Turkistani
Jacob Zenn One of the key militant groups in the Jaysh al-Fateh coalition in Syria, the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is made up of more than 1,000 Uighurs from China’s westernmost Xinjiang region. [1] The TIP attributes its founding to Hassan Mehsum, who was killed... MORE
August 2016 Briefs (Free)
THE RETURN OF GADHAFI’S GENERAL: ALI SULEIMAN KANA Nicholas A. Heras The international coalition to combat the Islamic State (IS) has recently begun to expand and intensify its activities in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte. In July, three French Special Forces soldiers were killed... MORE
Chinese Military Promises Aid to Syria
China has announced a shift in its foreign policy toward Syria. During a visit to Damascus on August 14, People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Rear Admiral Guan Youfei (关友飞) noted that this year marks the 60th anniversary of relations between the two countries. He further... MORE
Boko Haram: Abu Musab al-Barnawi’s Leadership Coup and Offensive in Niger
On August 3, Islamic State (IS) announced that Habib Yusuf (a.k.a. Abu Musab al-Barnawi), the son of Boko Haram founder Muhammed Yusuf, was the new wali (governor) of its “West Africa Province,” the name IS gave to Boko Haram after Abubakar Shekau pledged loyalty to... MORE
Political Turmoil in KRG Risks Hindering Kurdish Efforts Against Islamic State
Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq have been some of the most effective in tackling Islamic State (IS) on the ground, but the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) itself has been mired for more than a year in political turmoil over the extension of President Masoud Barzani’s... MORE
Al-Shabaab Aims for ‘Hearts and Minds’ With Establishment of Islamic Police Force
Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, claims to have established a religious police force in an area it controls in southern Somalia, seeking to push forward its Islamist agenda even as it struggles to hold on to its territory in the face of the advance... MORE
Al-Shabaab Leader’s First Audio Message Suggests Morale Is Low Among Somali Militants
After nearly two years of silence, al-Shabaab leader Sheikh Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah has released his first audio message, a fiery rant that appears aimed at motivating his beleaguered fighters as they battle African Union (AU) troops in southern Somalia. The 44-minute audio recording, released... MORE
Why Islamic State Is Clinging on to the Syrian City of Manbij
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) officially launched its operation to take the city of Manbij on May 31. It is one of the most strategic and difficult operations the SDF – an alliance that includes Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) fighters as well as Syrian... MORE