Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Blacklisting the Brotherhood
The Trump administration made history on November 24, 2025, when it issued an executive order calling for the U.S. government to designate “certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as Foreign Terrorist...
Op-eds
How Did the United States End Up on the Same Side as the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen?
Extremism in Yemen has never solely been a Yemeni problem. Terror organizations with global ambitions have long operated from the country. Civil war has drawn in neighbors and regional powers like Iran,...
Insights
Iran’s New IRGC Deputy Chief Is Responsible for American, Iranian, and Israeli Deaths
Ahmad Vahidi, a veteran of the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was named its deputy commander on December 31, 2025, by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The IRGC was established in 1979...
Insights
Yemen’s Southern Secessionists on the March
The rapid expansion of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen is moving the balance of power and may lead to a redrawing of the map. Forces aligned with the STC, which...
Policy Briefs
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula kills 4 Yemeni soldiers in complex suicide assault
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) attacked the headquarters of the 1st Support and Reinforcement Brigade in Abyan, a southern coastal governorate in Yemen, on October 21. The complex suicide...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula donates aid to Gaza residents
The Shahada News Agency, a propaganda arm of Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, reported on August 19 that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) successfully sent aid to needy Palestinians...
Op-eds
Turkey’s Ties to Al-Qaeda Entities in Yemen Threaten Regional Security
“Turkey is a country that loves us, and we love it,” declared Abu Omar al-Nahdi, a former emir in al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch and now the leader of the newly formed Change and Liberation Movement in...
Policy Briefs
AQAP praises Shabaab’s activities in East Africa
In the latest issue of its Sada al-Malahem magazine, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) heaped significant praise on recent operations conducted by Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch in East...
Op-eds
Shabaab advertises creation of “special forces” unit
In a newly released video, Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, announced and advertised the creation of its new so-called ‘special forces’ unit. The new unit also has its own specific training...
Op-eds
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula names new emir; U.S. has $6 million bounty on his head
In a newly released video, Ibrahim al-Qosi, a veteran official within al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), announced the sudden death of AQAP’s emir, Khalid al-Batarfi. At the same time,...
Op-eds
Shabaab claims several al-Qaeda leaders present during infamous ‘Black Hawk Down’ incident
In a newly released video – touted as a documentary by Shabaab – the Somali jihadi group claimed that as many as 10 al-Qaeda leaders and figures were present during the infamous ‘Black Hawk Down’...
Op-eds
U.S. offers $5 million reward for Shabaab’s deputy emir
The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Abukar Ali Adan, the deputy leader of Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch in...
Op-eds
On eve of 9/11 Anniversary, U.S. officials continue to downplay Al Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan
On the eve of the 22nd anniversary of Al Qaeda’s deadly attacks on New York and Washington, American intelligence officials further minimized the terror group’s safe haven in Afghanistan and its...
Op-eds
Jihadis issue vague threats against World Cup
In online statements, both al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al Qaeda’s general command issued vague threats against the FIFA World Cup and its host Qatar. Islamic State supporters have additionally...
Op-eds
Analysis: Al Qaeda ideologue calls for jihad in Sudan, provides guidelines
Earlier this month, Bayt al Maqdis, a jihadi publishing house believed linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a book compiled of various letters written by the ideologue Abu Hudhayfah...
Op-eds
US government sanctions several Shabaab officials and affiliated individuals
Today the United States government sanctioned a total of 14 individuals belonging to or associated with Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a list of nine...
Op-eds
U.S. kills Al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri in drone strike
Al Qaeda emir Ayman Zawahiri was confirmed killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul on Sunday in the first air strike conducted in Afghanistan since U.S. forces completely withdrew from country last year....
Op-eds
Ayman al Zawahiri is alive; Taliban and Al Qaeda “remain close,” UN reports
Ayman al Zawahiri, the head of Al Qaeda who served as Osama bin Laden’d deputy on 9/11, “is confirmed to be alive” and is “communicating freely,” according to a report from the United Nations’...