Latest Terrorism Monitor Articles
Turkey Anxiously Weighs Cost of Escalation with Syria
After a long thaw, Turkish-Syrian relations reached new heights in 2009 as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad initiated a new phase in bilateral relations. In September of that year, visa restrictions were lifted and cross-border trade flourished. High-level... MORE
Unrest in Syria Shaping a New Strategic Triangle of Hezbollah, Iran and Egypt
The final outcome of the unrest that continues to shake the broader Middle East remains in the balance. The grassroots protests that ushered in the fall of despots in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya and continue to rile ruling power structures in Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, and... MORE
Jaish-e-Muhammad’s Charity Wing Revitalizes Banned Group in Pakistan
Often tagged as the second most lethal India-centric terror group based in the Pakistani Punjab, Jaish-e-Muhammad (Army of [the Prophet] Muhammad - JeM) is once again raising its head under the guise of charity in an apparent attempt to revitalize its fledgling stature in the... MORE
Turkey Afraid Syria Will Target Its Kurdish Achilles’ Heel
Syria ended its support for the Kurdish rebels of the Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (PKK) in 1998 and expelled PKK-leader Abdullah Ocalan, a move that ultimately led to his arrest in Kenya the next year. Now Turkey fears that Syria could use the PKK again against... MORE
BRIEFS
KENYA’S NAVY JOINS COUNTERTERRORIST OPERATIONS OFF SOMALIA Kenya’s navy has joined the Kenyan military offensive in Somalia with operations designed to end al-Shabaab or third-party resupply or arms, fuel and other material to al-Shabaab-held territories in southern Somalia, secure Kenyan waters from terrorist infiltrators and... MORE
Clan and Conflict in Somalia: Al-Shabaab and the Myth of “Transcending Clan Politics”
Clan identity and Islam are central pillars of Somali society, with clan dynamics and inter-clan rivalries magnified by decades of state collapse. Al-Shabaab - the dominant Islamist militia controlling much of southern and central Somalia - claims to “transcend clan politics,” yet reality on the... MORE
Islamist Militants of the Philippines Restructure to Intensify the Anti-Government Jihad
As it has done many times before, Abu Sayyaf is showing its ability to adapt and survive in the wake of predictions of its demise. As recently as May, an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson said that Abu Sayyaf would no longer have... MORE
The Three Strategies behind Iran’s Projection of Naval Power
News of the deployment of Iranian warships across the Atlantic Ocean as far as the Gulf of Mexico has raised new concerns regarding the Islamic Republic’s growing projection of naval power (Mehr News, September 30; Press TV October 5). The news follows other alarming reports... MORE
BRIEFS
AL-SHABAAB COUNTEROFFENSIVE IN MOGADISHU THREATENS AFRICAN UNION’S MILITARY GAINS The cautious consolidation of its control over Mogadishu by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) encountered a pair of serious setbacks in late October as al-Shabaab Islamists ambushed a Burundian patrol on October 20 and... MORE
A Portable War: Libya’s Internal Conflict Shifts to Mali
Mali, like its neighbor Niger, is facing the return of an estimated 200,000 of its citizens from Libya. Most are Malian workers and their families who have been forced to flee Libya by the virulently “anti-African” forces that have seized power in that country. Some,... MORE