In another major blow to al-Qaeda, a U.S. drone strike last Monday in the North Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan killed the organization’s new number two commander, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman. The successful strike demonstrates the importance of continuing the drone missile campaign along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan as a cornerstone …
A string of coordinated cross-border terrorist attacks against Israelis launched from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula and Gaza yesterday underscored one of the ominous side effects of the “Arab Spring”: Egypt’s state security institutions have lost control over the Sinai region and are fighting a losing battle against Islamist terrorist groups and …
This summer, Boko Haram, Nigeria’s Islamist insurgency, has gained rapid notoriety following a string of brutal killings. While its attacks are domestic in nature, primarily targeting the Nigerian government, evidence reveals that Boko Haram has received support from international terrorist groups, namely al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Boko Haram’s …
Iraq’s fragile peace was shattered on Monday by a coordinated campaign of terrorist attacks in 17 cities that targeted Iraqi security forces and civilians, killing more than 70 people. The attacks occurred almost simultaneously in Baghdad, Karbala, Kut, Kirkuk, Najaf, and other locations and involved suicide bombers, car bombs, and …
The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday announced sanctions on six al-Qaeda leaders who have used Iranian territory to funnel money and recruits to al-Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan and to its bases in Afghanistan and Iraq. Treasury officials say the al-Qaeda leaders have been operating in and through Iran with the …
Turkish authorities arrested 15 suspected al-Qaeda militants this week and foiled a plot to bomb the U.S. embassy in Ankara shortly before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was scheduled to arrive in Turkey for a diplomatic conference regarding Libya. This should serve as a reminder that al-Qaeda has survived the …