Syria

Spotlight on Global Jihad (July 28 – August 3, 2016)

The main event of this week was the campaign over the city of Aleppo, which is surrounded by the Syrian Army and its allies. On July 28, 2016, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, leader of the Al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria), announced the establishment of a new framework called the Fateh al-Sham Front. ISIS continued to
Read more...

Spotlight on Iran* (July 17 – 31, 2016)

Iranian minister of defense, said Iran was proud of the support it gave the “resistance front,” and that it deployed advisors to Syria to aid in recruiting the Syrian public for the struggle against the country’s enemies. Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, commander of the Basij wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), recently visited the region
Read more...

Spotlight on Global Jihad (July 21-27, 2016)

The wave of terrorist attacks in Germany and in France continues: in the city of Ansbach in southern Germany. In the ITIC’s assessment, both of these were ISIS-inspired attacks carried out in response to ISIS’s call to kill civilians in the West. At the same time, ISIS continues its wave of terrorist attack and guerrilla
Read more...

ISIS: An Overview and Future Trends*

A year ago I gave a presentation at the First International Intelligence & Special Forces Conference about the campaign conducted by the United States and the international coalition against ISIS. My bottom line was that the campaign had not yet succeeded in reducing ISIS’s military and governance capabilities, and that the organization was getting stronger.
Read more...

Spotlight on Global Jihad (July 14-20, 2016)

The main events of the week were two terrorist attacks in France and Germany, carried out by lone wolf terrorists. In both cases, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks Some two months ago, ISIS called on its supporters in the West to carry out attacks intended to kill civilians/
Read more...

Spotlight on Iran* (July 4-17, 2016)

Mohammad Bagheri, newly appointed commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces, held a press conference where the said that improving Iran’s military capabilities and supporting “the oppressed peoples of the region” were at the top of the Iranian military’s priority list. A new group of snipers from the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade, operating under the
Read more...