IC Finds ‘Greater Immediate Domestic Threat’ from Wide Range of Lone Actors Than ISIS
"A lot of these violent extremism threats don't fit into nice, neat ideological buckets," FBI director warns. Keep Reading
Al-Qaeda After Ayman al-Zawahiri
All along, al-Qaeda has remained relevant, expanded its military campaigns in several countries, and maintained a resilient organizational structure filled with senior leaders with years of experience. Keep Reading
PERSPECTIVE: Which Lessons Learned from the War on Terror Can Help Us Confront Domestic Terrorism?
In light of the recent Capitol Hill riots, there has been a growing realization that domestic terrorism is now a greater threat to the homeland than internationally linked militant jihadist threats from groups like ISIS, al Qaeda, al Shabaab, etc. Keep Reading
AI, Augmented Reality Could Allow Terrorists to Wage More ‘Spectacular’ Attacks, Intel Warns
NIC: Global jihadist groups will likely be "largest, most persistent" terrorism threat over next 20 years. Keep Reading
AQAP Calls UN Claim of Leader’s Arrest ‘Miserable Attempt to Wage a Psychological War’
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it was "not surprised" at the UN report "but we did not expect that lying would be to this extent to the public." Keep Reading
69 Former Guantanamo Detainees Confirmed to Have Returned to Terror Still at Large
Out of 729 detainees transferred out of Gitmo, ODNI said 125 have been confirmed as reentering terrorism, while noting that the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation put the number at 130. Keep Reading
Islamic State and al-Qaeda Linked to African Insurgencies
Some analysts see a Faustian bargain between IS or al-Qaeda and insurgencies that are driven by local grievances associated with corrupt governments that have marginalized those far from the national capital. Keep Reading
Syrian Militant and Former al-Qaeda Leader Seeks Wider Acceptance in First Interview with U.S. Journalist
Over most of two decades, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani’s life has been a roadmap of Islamist militancy in Iraq and Syria. He joined the fight against U.S. forces in Iraq and was jailed by the Americans. He became a commander within the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq. Keep Reading
Officials Try to Sway Biden Using Intelligence on Potential for Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan
That could potentially open the door for Al Qaeda to rebuild its strength within the country, according to American officials. Keep Reading
Making Sense of Iran and al-Qaeda’s Relationship
The nature of the relationship between al-Qaeda and Iran is one of the most contentious debates in the counterterrorism community, dividing analysts, policymakers and government officials. Keep Reading
Taliban Celebrates 2002 Battle in Which It Defended Al Qaeda
The Taliban eulogized Mullah Saif ur Rahman Mansoor, its commander who led both Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters against U.S. forces at the battle of Shahi Kot in Paktia province in 2002. Keep Reading
Jihadi Movements 2021: ISIS, al Qaeda and Hayat Tahrir al Sham
In early 2021, the jihadi movement was the most splintered it had been since prior to 9/11 when al Qaeda was one among many jihadi groups. The movement had three main poles. Keep Reading
Al-Qaeda Leader Threatens Myanmar in New Video
The video is styled like a short documentary, with footage of Western commentators spliced together with scenes of soldiers in Myanmar committing atrocities against civilians. Keep Reading
The Conflict Between al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Sahel, A Year On
The conflict between JNIM and ISGS is among the deadliest in the world. What the inter-jihadi battles across the broader Middle East and Africa have in common is that they are either cyclical or gradually decline. Keep Reading
Al-Qaeda and ISIS Use ‘Great’ Capitol Attack to Inspire Operatives, Incite Violence
"The incident of breaking into the Congress is only a little bit of what will happen to them," says AQAP leader. Keep Reading
Al-Qaeda’s Soon-To-Be Third Emir? A Profile of Saif al-`Adl
By the time he died in May 2011, Usama bin Ladin had already identified his successor. Under the terms of his organization’s 2001 merger with Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), the former leader of EIJ Ayman al-Zawahiri was to be the next emir of al-Qa`ida. Keep Reading
Turkey’s Al-Qaeda-Linked Charity Spreads its Wings in South Asia
The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı, or IHH) was described as an arms smuggler in UN Security Council documents and was investigated for running a line of support to armed jihadist groups in Syria. Keep Reading
Terrorism and Counterterrorism Challenges for the Biden Administration
“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,” goes the famous 19th-century epigram by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Keep Reading
Implications of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s New Leadership
In late November, more than five months after al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) leader Abdelmalek Droukdel died in a raid by French forces, the group announced that Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Annabi would take over as the new emir. Keep Reading
In Syria’s Idlib, Washington’s Chance to Reimagine Counterterrorism
The dangers in Idlib are well known. In 2019, the Syrian regime, backed by Russian airpower, mounted offensives that pushed back rebel forces, killing at least 1,600 civilians and driving 1.4 million others from their homes. Keep Reading