Alexander Sehmer
Alexander Sehmer is the editor of the Jamestown Foundation’s Terrorism Monitor. He works as a journalist and consultant, and is the co-founder of the political risk research company Claritage Emerging Markets. He has contributed to a number of publications and worked for Al Jazeera English, The Independent and ITV News. He has an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.
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Articles by Alexander Sehmer
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Syria: al-Qaeda Looks to Revive Its Fortunes An attack on Syrian government forces in the country’s Hama governorate appears to have been intended to raise the profile of a rejuvenated...
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Libya: Foreign Powers Keep Militias Well Supplied Libyan General Khalifa Haftar handed back control of four key oil ports—Ras Lanuf, Es Sider, Zueitina and Hariga—to the National Oil Corporation (NOC)...
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Iraq: Baghdad Takes ‘Retribution’ on IS in the South The killing by Islamic State (IS) militants of Iraqi security force personnel that the group had been holding hostage has prompted...
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Syria: Government Forces Move on the South Syrian government forces have begun their assault on parts of Syria’s southwest, effectively ending a ceasefire agreement in place since last year and...
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Somalia: The Gulf Crisis Spills Into the Horn of Africa Somalia is officially neutral in the Gulf split with Qatar, but it has become a political battleground for the dispute...
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Iraq: What to Expect From Muqtada al-Sadr Iraq’s parliamentary elections have left Muqtada al-Sadr politically ascendant, a development that will sit uneasily with both the United States and Iran and...
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Libya: Foreign Fighters and Trouble in the South Clashes between rival tribes in Libya’s southern Fezzan region re-escalated on May 11. However, the situation reflects more than just tribal rivalries,...
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Libya: Haftar’s Brief Absence Exposes LNA Divisions Khalifa Haftar, the Libyan National Army (LNA) chief, has returned home, ending rumors that he had been incapacitated by ill health and was...
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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...
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Nigeria: Talking to Boko Haram A presidential offer of amnesty for Boko Haram fighters who lay down their weapons has had little apparent effect on militant activity in northeastern Nigeria,...
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Libya: Tackling Foreign Fighters in the South A new offensive by the Libyan National Army (LNA) is aimed partly at expelling foreign fighters, but the capture of alleged al-Qaeda infiltrators...
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Nigeria: Dapchi Abductions Put Government Under Pressure The recent abduction in Nigeria of more than 100 schoolgirls by militants likely linked to Islamic State (IS) has undercut the Nigerian government’s...
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Indonesia: Influential Islamic State Cleric Goes on Trial Indonesia has put on trial an Islamist cleric alleged to have been behind the 2016 shooting and suicide bombing attack in Jakarta....
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Algeria: AQIM Loses Its Media Chief Algerian security forces have killed the chief propagandist for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). This is a victory for Algeria’s security services, which...
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Afghanistan: Peace Talks Remain a Distant Prospect Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government appear further off than ever after unofficial attempts to restart discussions coincided with an...
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Burkina Faso: Mali Militants Claim Attacks A Mali-based al-Qaeda alliance has claimed a number of attacks in neighboring Burkina Faso, a development that could foreshadow an alliance with local jihadists...
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Pakistan: Government Losing Out to the Islamists Pakistan freed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest on November 24, one of a number of recent incidents that have shown...
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Yemen: Saudi Arabia Takes Aim at Hezbollah Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a long-range missile targeting the Saudi capital of Riyadh on November 4. The missile, apparently destined for King Khalid...
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Mauritania: Blasphemy Case Raises Islamist Ire Mauritania’s efforts to curtail Islamist extremism have seen success in recent years, but protesters calling for a blogger to be put to death for...
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Egypt: Hasm Movement Takes a More Islamist Tone The Hasm Movement’s bomb attack on the Myanmar embassy in Cairo adds weight to claims that the group, which portrays itself as...
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Libya: Islamic State Still Holding Out Fighters with Islamic State (IS) are clinging on in Libya despite the loss of their stronghold in Sirte last year. The country’s continuing political...
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Afghanistan: The Need for New Ideas With the commitment of thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, Kabul is also eager for a shift in Washington’s attitude toward Pakistan. Meanwhile, plans...
Terrorism Monitor: The Drone Special Issue
The U.S. drone program has proved to be an efficient tool for targeting terrorist bases and eliminating militant leaders within the ranks of groups like the Taliban and al-Qaeda. After...
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Iraq: Political Differences and Outside Influences As Iraq moves into the next stage of its campaign against Islamic State (IS), political rivalries, sectarian divisions and the outside influence of regional...
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Cameroon: Boko Haram Stepping Up Attacks Two suicide bombers killed at least 14 people and wounded another 30 in northeast Cameroon on July 12 in an attack on a bustling...
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Egypt: The Rafah Attack and Hamas Under Pressure Militants in northern Sinai killed at least 26 Egyptian solders in a suicide car-bomb attack on two military checkpoints near Rafah on...
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Iran: Striking Back at Islamic State A coordinated attack in the Iranian capital of Tehran, supposedly by Islamic State (IS), has prompted a furious response from the Iranian government. Among...
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Mali: Limited Progress on Sahel Joint Force The proposed anti-terror joint force of the Sahel G5 nations — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger — received a boost this...
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Indonesia: Eyes on the Islamists The Indonesian military has said it is beefing up defenses in parts of the country in anticipation of an expansion of Islamic State (IS) activities....
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Libya: Unease in Tripoli Despite UAE Talks Libya’s Khalifa Haftar had his forces stage a military parade on May 16 to mark the third year of his Libyan National Army...
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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...
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Somalia: Ramping up Action on al-Shabaab Somalia’s recently elected president has declared “war” on al-Shabaab and offered an amnesty to militants who lay down their weapons, backing his rhetoric with...
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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...
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Mali: al-Qaeda Alliance a Warning to Islamic State An attack on a Malian military base in Boulikessi that left 11 soldiers dead has been claimed by the newly formed jihadist...
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Somalia: One Step Closer to Defeating al-Shabaab In the build up to his election as Somalia’s president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed announced he would invite al-Shabaab for a “sit down and...
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Kenya: Mombasa a Focus for Islamic State Police in Kenya’s costal region arrested two suspected members of Islamic State (IS) on February 18. The pair had reportedly returned from Syria...
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Afghanistan: Taliban Divisions a Boon for Islamic State Gunmen in Afghanistan’s Jowzjan Province killed six aid workers with the International Committee of the Red Cross on February 8. Two other...
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France: What Lies in Store for Returning Militants? French authorities have detained one of the county’s most high-profile Islamists who, after reportedly growing disillusioned with Islamic State (IS), left Syria,...
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Egypt: An Intensifying Problem With Islamist Militancy A suicide bomber blew himself up at a Cairo church close to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in December, killing at least 25 people,...
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MOROCCO: SECURITY SERVICES MAKE GAINS AS TERROR THREAT GROWS Moroccan investigators arrested an alleged jihadist with links to al-Qaeda in the city of Azrou in November. The man, a computer...
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SOMALIA: PRO-IS FIGHTERS EXPLOIT CLAN LOYALTIES Islamic State-linked (IS) militants took over the port town of Qandala in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region early on October 26, apparently facing little resistance...
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MALI: ISLAMIC STATE CONSIDERS ITS ALTERNATIVES Islamic State (IS) has acknowledged a pledge of allegiance from a fledgling group of Islamist fighters in Mali following several recent cross-border attacks by...
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MYANMAR: GROWING FEARS OVER ROHINGYA FIGHTERS Gunmen killed nine police officers in a series of raids on border posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state on October 9, an area where tensions...
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JORDAN: SATIRIST’S KILLING HIGHLIGHTS RADICALIZATION FEARS Protesters in Jordan demanded the resignation of both Prime Minister Hani al-Malki and Interior Minister Salama Hammad in September, following the murder of Nahed...
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KENYA: SEEKING PARTNERS FOR A NEW TERROR STRATEGY Jordan’s King Abdullah has promised greater counter terrorism support to Kenya during a meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi. The...
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INDONESIA: LONE-WOLF ATTACKS SHOW NEED FOR GREATER DERADICALIZATION EFFORTS On August 28, an 18-year-old Indonesian man attempted to stab a Roman Catholic priest during a church service in Medan, in...
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Philippines: MNLF Hardens Stance Toward Abu Sayyaf Four members of the Southeast Asian militant group Abu Sayyaf were killed in the southern Philippines during a confrontation with members of the...
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Iraq: Islamic State Targets KRG-Administered Oilfield Islamic State (IS) fighters attacked the Bai Hasan oil field in Kirkuk, northern Iraq on July 31, killing at least four people, including oil...
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NICE ATTACK SPOTLIGHTS FRENCH JIHADIST RECRUITER The Bastille Day terror attack in the French city of Nice, which saw 84 people killed when a Tunisian truck driver ploughed through crowds...
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TURKEY: ISLAMIC STATE SHIFTS TACTICS WITH ISTANBUL ATTACK A suicide attack on Turkey’s Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul on June 28 left at least 41 people dead and more than...
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JORDAN: SUICIDE ATTACK RAISES FEARS IN SYRIA’S NEIGHBOR A suicide car bomber killed six members of Jordan’s security forces and injured 14 others at a military post on the border...
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LIBYA: CLOSING IN ON ISLAMIC STATE’S STRONGHOLD Libyan forces have had a run of luck against Islamic State (IS) fighters in recent weeks, with two separate militias capturing several towns...
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Afghanistan: Taliban Moves Quickly to Name New Leader Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was killed in a US drone strike early on May 21, a move that might have initiated...
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Nigeria: Another Small Victory Against Boko Haram According to reports this month, Nigerian troops uncovered a Boko Haram bomb-making factory near the border town of Ngala, Borno State, Nigeria. Army...
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Germany: Do Terrorists Want to Target Europe’s Nuclear Facilities? Alexander Sehmer German newspapers reported this month that documents about a German nuclear facility were found at the Brussels apartment of...
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SOMALIA: PUNTLAND CLASHES SHOW GROWING AL-SHABAAB THREAT Government forces in Somalia claim to have killed more than 100 al-Shabaab fighters in a major clash in Puntland, located in the country’s...