Boko Haram Overruns Multinational Joint Task Force Base
Boko Haram overwhelmed Nigerian and allied troops and overran the Multinational Joint Task Force base in northeastern Nigeria yesterday. At around 5 a.m. yes...
Chad
Holding Assad Accountable
Co-authored by Gregory D. Koblentz The United States and possibly allies are preparing to launch military strikes against Syria in response to Syrian president Bashar al-As...
Op-eds
Global al Qaeda: Affiliates, Objectives, and Future Challenges
Chairman Poe, Ranking Member Sherman and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the threat posed by al Qaeda. We have been asked to “examine the nature of...
Legislative Testimonies
New Ideas for Cooperatively Preventing WMD Attacks from the Middle East
The danger that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from the Middle East will be used against the United States or its allies has been heightened by several recent developments. These develop...
Policy Briefs
MUJAO Leader Says Belmokhtar is Alive
The leader of the al Qaeda-linked Movement for Tawhid [Unity] and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) has contradicted reports that wanted jihadist military commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar was killed in Ma...
Op-eds
France Confirms Death of Senior AQIM Commander Abou Zeid
French President François Hollande issued a statement confirming the death of Abdel Mejid Abou Zeid, a top al Qaeda commander who served as the deputy to Yahya Abu Hammam, the head of al Q...
Op-eds
Confusion Reigns in Confirming Deaths of Senior AQIM Leaders in Mali
By LWJ Staff The fate of fugitive al Qaeda affiliate Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the mastermind of the deadly terrorist assault against an Algerian gas plant in January, remains uncerta...
Op-eds
Chadian Forces Claim Raid Killed Top Algerian Jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar
By LWJ Staff Chadian military forces in Mali claimed to have killed fugitive al Qaeda affiliate Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the...
Op-eds
Emir of Ansar Dine Added to US, UN’s Terrorist Lists
Both the United States and the United Nations have added Iyad ag Ghali, the emir of the Mali-based, al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine, to their lists of global terrorists. Ghali was instrumental in the...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda’s Plan for Libya Highlighted in Congressional Report
An unclassified report published in August highlights al Qaeda's strategy for building a fully operational network in Libya. The report ("Al Qaeda in Libya: A Profile") was prepared by the f...
Op-eds
Saudi Arabia Is Arming the Syrian Opposition
What could possibly go wrong?
Op-eds
As The West Lets Down Its Guard
The United States is now following Europe’s precedent of cutting military spending in the name of shoring up its economy.
Op-eds
Sudan’s Elections: What Now?
With all but the cynically duplicitous, willfully blind, or invincibly ignorant acknowledging that the elections in Sudan last week were more of a farce than a demonstration of the Sudanese peopl...
Op-eds
Sudan: Looming Crises, Strategic Opportunities
While international attention remains riveted on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the western Darfur region – it has been less than two weeks since an Antonov transport belonging to the S...
Op-eds
Milestone in Partnership to Counter Terrorism in the Sahel
By Dr. J. Peter Pham Last Saturday, military personnel from the Unites States and thirteen African and European countries wrapped up a joint military exercise in the Malian capi...
Op-eds
The War on Terrorism in Africa: Assessment and Prospects
The end of one year and the beginning of another is a good time both to take stock of where we have been and to look ahead at the paths we are likely to take and the battles which we will have to...
Op-eds
Khartoum’s Partners in Beijing
Last week, some 200 baton-wielding policemen prevented Mia Farrow and members "Dream for Darfur" group from holding a rally near the site of Cambodia's "killing fields" to urge the People�...
Op-eds
Securing Africa
On February 6, 2007, President George W. Bush launched a major evolution in American military posture when he formally announced that he had directed the Pentagon to establish a new unified...
Op-eds
Jihadi Regime
As Americans debate whhich presidential candidate is best to confront the jihadists or at least preempt their offensives worldwide, the latter almost seized a key African country for the forthcom...
Op-eds
The Battle for Libya: Implications for Africa
As battle lines crisscross between the rebels marching west to overthrow him and loyal military units taking the offensive against rebel-held towns in the eastern Libya, Colonel Muammar al-Qadhaf...