Violence and Security

Al-Qaeda Is Stronger than Ever

November 29, 2018

17 years since it perpetrated the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US homeland, al-Qaeda is stronger than ever, due to a combination of the group’s ability to successfully plant its Islamist ideology among impoverished populations in failed states and to blowback from US military strategies carried out under the umbrella of counterterrorism policy.
Afghan Taliban Remain Defiant Despite America’s Longest War

November 29, 2018

The Taliban, the largest and strongest of myriad Islamist extremist groups fighting for control over Afghanistan, remain resilient and increasingly successful in their jihad, despite the almost $1 trillion spent in the Afghan counter-jihad by the US in America’s longest war.
Boko Haram Maintains Advantage over Nigerian Military

November 29, 2018

The Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram carried out a lethal attack on the town of Gudimbali, a key blow to the Nigerian military’s claims that it is making measurable progress in combating the jihadi group aiming to install sharia law across West Africa.
US Treasury Department Designates Kenyan as Terrorist Financier

November 29, 2018

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) recent designation of a Kenyan citizen as a terrorist serves as a reminder of the ongoing resilience of the Islamic State’s (IS) global financial networks used to fund Islamist terror operations.
Officials Suspect Afghan IS of Attack on Shiite Neighborhood

November 28, 2018

Officials suspect the Islamic State (IS) branch in Afghanistan of perpetrating a recent, high-casualty, twin-bombing suicide attack on a wrestling club in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Kabul.
New Mexico Compound Trained Youth in Jihad

November 28, 2018

Testimony from a teen detained by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation last month on a Taos, New Mexico, compound revealed that an adult at the compound was training teens and children in jihadi ideology and military techniques.
Al-Shabaab Continues Jihad in Somali with Suicide Attack

November 28, 2018

Al-Shabaab continues its relentless war to overthrow the fragile government in Somalia and to impose sharia law throughout the country with yet another suicide-bombing attack against local state offices in the capital city of Mogadishu that killed numerous government officials and civilians, including many children from a Quranic school located near the blast.
US Confirms Death of Leader of IS Branch in Afghanistan

November 28, 2018

US military sources have confirmed the airstrike kill of the leader of the Islamic State’s (IS) branch in Afghanistan known as IS-Khorasan, an outcome experts acknowledge as significant for the US-led international effort to gain control over an area that has been an especially fertile recruiting and operational space for Islamist terror groups.
Dutch Authorities Hold Knife Attacker Avenging “Offense to Islam”

November 28, 2018

Dutch police are holding an Afghan man on terrorism charges after he traveled from Germany and perpetrated a knife assault on travelers in Amsterdam's central train station this past weekend, an attack he claimed was vengeance for offense to Islam and related to the cancelled cartoon contest involving Islam's prophet Mohammed.
Dutch Politician Cancels Cartoon Contest Amid Islamist Threats

November 28, 2018

Dutch politician Geert Wilders announced the cancellation of a cartoon contest seeking entries depicting Islam’s prophet Mohammed, after growing signs of social unrest and a death threat against Dutch citizens by Islamist hardliners from Pakistan who called the contest offensive and blasphemous.