Violence and Security

Expanding Islamist Violence & Sovereignty Disputes Between Af-Pak Are Destabilizer for South Asia

December 02, 2022

Increasing border clashes at the Af-Pak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) border over disputed lines of sovereignty are being fueled by the expanding violence of Taliban Islamists in both countries.
Maldives Arrests Point to Indian Ocean Islamist Extremism Ecosystem

November 30, 2022

Maldives police arrested a group of pro-IS collaborators suspected of plotting a high-casualty terror attack which, in the aftermath of an Islamist assassination attempt earlier this year on the country’s former president, underscores the permissive environment for Islamist extremism in the Indian Ocean geospace.
IS Militant Attack in Northwest Iraq Warns of Need for Security Cooperation

November 23, 2022

A lethal attack by IS militants on in Iraqi army post in northwestern Iraq’s Kirkuk Governorate was the first incident in almost one year, but was nonetheless a reminder of the need for security vigilance and cooperation between the Iraqi military and Kurdish peshmerga forces in the face of resilient and durable IS sleeper cells still operating in the former caliphate geography of Iraq and Syria.
Convicts’ Escape Reminds of Militant Islamism Problem in Bangladesh

November 22, 2022

Two death-row, militant Islamists convicted of lethal machete and knife attacks against gree-speech bloggers in Bangladesh escaped in what appeared to be a coordinated maneuver as police accompanied them to a court hearing, easing concerns that the Islamist radical group ABT(Ansarullah Bangla Team) may be staying a resurgence in the Muslim-majority South Asian state.
Recent IRGC Missile Attack in Gulf of Oman Points to Disruption of Commercial & Military Activity in International Waters

November 22, 2022

The recent drone attack by the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) Air Force on a Liberian-flagged commercial oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman comes only a few months after IRGC interference with US naval activity in the same area, signaling the Islamist regime’s use of naval disruption to interfere with military and commercial aciticities in international waters.
Hezbollah Exploits Honorary Consul System for Rogue Diplomacy Promoting Worldwide Islamist Extremism

November 22, 2022

According to a newly released report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and ProPublica, Iran-backed-Lebanon-based Islamist terror group Hezbollah is effectively exploiting the system of "honorary consuls" with Hezbollah operatives and sympathizers who function as rogue diplomats helping to secure financing and money laundering, accomplish narcotics trafficking, and develop private and public sector collaborators, for Islamist extremist operations worldwide.
U.S. Federal Court Sentences Kansas Woman for ISIS Activities in Syria

November 07, 2022

A Kansas woman known by the moniker “Empress of ISIS” was sentenced to 20 years in practice by a U.S. federal court for her terrorism activities in Syria, where she trained women and girls for an all-female battalion supporting the Islamist terror group’s activities in the Middle East, and for her role in planning possible jihadist actions inside the United States.
IS Militants Perpetrate Shiraz Shrine Attack in Iran

November 02, 2022

Iran's Islamist regime has vowed revenge against the "takfiri" perpetrators, a category used for Sunni hardliners, after IS militants claimed responsibility for a multi-casulaty attack on a Shiite shrine in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, with Tehran's leadership characterizing the sectarian attack as opportunist violence by external actors aiming to destabilize the country during the weeks'-long mass protests after a young Kurdish woman was killed in police custody on charges of violating the regime's sharia headscarf policy.
Al-Qaeda Branch Makes Gains in Northwest Syria

October 26, 2022

The al-Qaeda affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group has taken control of the large city of Afrian in northwestern Syria, in a move signaling the durability of the jihadist threat inside Syria, where poor governance by Damascus, feuding US-supported Kurdish factions and Turkish-supported Islamist militant groups, and continuing external interference by external states has created growing opportunities for resurgent jihadism as a threat to the security environment of the geopolitically crucial Eastern Mediterranean region.
Islamist Militants Continue Major Advances in Mali in Sign of Expanding Jihadist Footprint Across West Africa

October 18, 2022

Militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) continue their campaign of violence and radicalization in Mali, last week her eating major flows of internally displaced persons (IDPs), civilian casualties, and economic destruction, in a pattern that defines the expanding footprint of the various jihadist groups operating across the region of West Africa.