Briefs
Adel al-Abbab: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s Religious Ideologue
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) consists of several divisions: the Shura Council, which is the highest authority of the organization; the Media division; the Military division; and the Shari’a committee, which includes individuals such as Ibrahim al-Rubaish, Khaled Batarfi (a.k.a. Abu Miqdad al-Kindi) and... MORE
Rebel Leader Turned Counter-Terrorist: Tuareg’s Ag Bahanga
Western anxiety over the spread of al-Qaeda-style Islamist militancy in the vast and inhospitable Sahara and Sahel regions of northern Africa has had unforeseen consequences for the survival of hardcore nomadic rebels operating in this eternally porous region. For ethnic-Tuareg insurgent leaders like Mali’s Ibrahim... MORE
Fanning the Flames in Swat: A Profile of Ibn-e-Amin
The Talibanization of Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency (NWA) and South Waziristan Agency (SWA) in 2004-2006 stirred great concern within the international community with regard to Pakistan’s long-term security and increasing instability. It was perhaps the fall of the Swat district of Malakand Division in the... MORE
Back From the Grave: The Re-emergence of Houthi Rebel Leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the resilient leader of the Houthi rebellion in northwestern Yemen, was reported dead by a number of regional newspapers in the Arab realm as well as the Yemeni government in December 2009. However, recent reports indicate that Abdul Malik al-Houthi is alive... MORE
A Jihadist in the Sand: The Rise of Abdelmalek Droukdel, al-Qaeda’s Amir in Algeria
Abdelmalek Droukdel (a.k.a. Abu Musab al-Wadoud), the current amir of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), should be considered the real power behind the shift in focus of the Algerian jihad. Droukdel was an early volunteer in the struggle launched by the Armed Islamic Group... MORE
From Yemen to Detroit: The Expanding Influence of AQAP’s Sa’id al-Shihri
In the Saudi state television broadcast of a recorded conversation which took place on August 27, 2009 between Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Nayef and Abdullah Hassan Tali al-Assiri—moments before al-Assiri attempted to assassinate the prince via suicide bomb—Bin Nayef made mention of a woman and... MORE
Quiet in the Sulu Sea: The Elimination of Albader Parad
Philippine media is reporting that on February 21, 2010, leading Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) commander Albader Parad was killed along with five other fighters on the island of Jolo, in the volatile Sulu archipelago, in a confrontation with Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) 2nd... MORE
A Profile of Radical Jamaican-born Cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal al-Jamaikee
Shaykh Abdullah al-Faisal al-Jamaikee (The Jamaican), the radical Jamaican-born cleric, made international headlines when he was arrested in Mombassa, Kenya on New Year’s Eve, 2009. Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police Unity (ATPU) arrested al-Faisal in the suburbs of Nyali after he was leaving a local mosque with... MORE
February 2010 Briefs
END OF THE LINE FOR KUNDUZ SHADOW GOVERNOR Mullah Abdul Salam, the Taliban’s “Shadow Governor” for Kunduz Province has been captured in Pakistan after the much-touted arrest of the movement’s military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy of Mullah Mohammed Omar. Salam is a member... MORE
South Asia’s Architect of Jihad: A Profile of Commander Mohammed Ilyas Kashmiri
As the sun set on February 25, 2000, a group of Indian army commandoes allegedly crossed the tense Line of Control (LoC) that divides the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Pakistani-controlled portion of territory known as Azad (“Free”) Jammu and Kashmir... MORE