Violence and Security

Home Countries Hesitate to Repatriate Foreign Fighters

April 22, 2019

Thousands of foreign fighters who joined the Islamic State (IS), as well as wives and children of IS fighters, are now living an uncertain future in custody in camps in former caliphate territory, as home country governments are loathe to repatriate them in what is likely to be a complex legal process with uncertain political and social effects.
Al-Qaeda Affiliate Ramps up Operations in Sahel

April 22, 2019

Burkina Faso is facing a major escalation of Islamist violence by the local al-Qaeda affiliate, which is seeking to recruit from the predominantly Muslim Fulani ethnic group in an intensifying campaign to bring sharia regimes to the Sahel region of the African Continent.
Jihadist Groups Place Growing Pressure on West Africa

April 22, 2019

Various jihadist groups are expanding their operations in the West African countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin from their core activities in Nigeria and Mali, collaborating with criminal networks trafficking in weapons and narcotics to weaken the region’s already fragile states and to secure an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.
IS Defeat Gives Rise to Mutating Islamist Extremism

April 22, 2019

The battlefield defeat of the Islamic State (IS) caliphate in its core territories does not mean the end of global Islamist extremism, but rather may give rise to a mutating Islamism operating in local and regional contexts but linked through multi-media networks that promote an ideology of long-term jihadist hegemony.
Al-Shabaab Branding Strategy May Hold Key for Defeat

April 22, 2019

The Somali Islamist extremist group al-Shabaab’s sophistication in crafting a brand that appeals to its core constituency of “youth,” the Somali name of the organization, means branding and security experts may be able to cooperate in policymaking responses that can disrupt the brand and degrade the popular legitimacy of the Islamist group over time.
IS Spokesman Calls for Revenge Attacks for NZ Mosque Massacre

April 22, 2019

The Islamic State’s (IS) official spokesperson has called for Muslims worldwide to support the project of the caliphate by perpetrating revenge attacks for last week’s massacres at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
EU Agency Seeks to Tackle Anti-Muslim Hatred in Europe

April 22, 2019

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights recently used the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, as a springboard to call for European society and governments to “tackle the hatred Muslims face in their daily lives” across the continent.
Security Experts Warn of Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan

April 22, 2019

International security experts warn that the current US negotiations with the Taliban, aimed at facilitating US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, could lead to the organization’s capture of the Afghan state and the creation of a regime that will use the country as a platform for projection of regional and global jihadist activities.
Iran Threatens US over IRGC Terrorist Designation

April 10, 2019

Iranian responses to the US’s designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization include chants of “death to America” in the Iranian Parliament, Iran’s designation of the US Central Command as a terrorist group, and threats against American troops in the Middle East.
Libya Chaos Creates Fertile Ground for Islamist Militants

April 10, 2019

Islamist militants continue to take advantage of the chaotic civil war conditions in Libya since the collapse of the state after the fall of the Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, attacking both civilians and targets of the weak Libyan National Army in a strained war of attrition involving Islamic State fighters.