Tigray Defense Forces Resist Ethiopian Army Offensive as Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethnic Militias Enter the Fray
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 19 Issue: 10
(source: eremnews.com)
After nearly seven months of fighting, the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region shows no sign of abating. Instead, the highly predictable has occurred: the war has metastasized into a grinding insurgency that could continue for years. The ethnic-driven conflict has the potential to destabilize not only Ethiopia, but also the broader northeast African region (Terrorism Monitor, December 17, 2020).
The war in Tigray began on November 4, 2020 when security forces aligned with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) attacked Northern Command Headquarters staffed by federal troops from the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) (Nazret, November 2020). The ENDF responded by targeting TPLF forces and quickly securing most of Tigray’s major towns, including the regional capital, Mekelle. Three weeks l
Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed Narrowly Avoids Assassination: A Political Conspiracy or Islamic State Plot?
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 19 Issue: 10
(source: startribune.com)
On May 6, Maldives’ Speaker of Parliament and former President Mohamed Nasheed was seriously injured in an assassination attempt outside his home in the capital, Male. The improvised explosive device (IED) blast also wounded members of his security team and bystanders, including a foreign national. Although jihadists elements remain the primary suspect for the attempt on Nasheed’s life, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Maldivian security agencies have not made any statements on the matter, but indicated that the attack was possibly the work of Islamist extremists (Hindustan Times, May 9). Three suspects identified were Mujaaz Ahmed, Thahumeen Ahmed, and Ahmed Adhuham from the Male and Hulhumale areas. They were arrested during initial security operations based
Briefs
One Year After the Death of
Abdelmalek Droukdel AQIM Falls into Obscurity
Jacob Zenn
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has been considered a stalwart affiliate of al-Qaeda since its predecessor organization, the Salafist Group for Preaching Combat (GSPC), pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda in 2006 (Terrorism Monitor, April 5, 2007). The GSPC leader who pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda, and therefore AQIM’s first leader, was Abdelmalek Droukdel. He led AQIM until his death in a U.S.-supported French operation in northern Mali last year (France24, June 25, 2007). Contrary to reports of Droukdel being uninvolved in operations, videos leaked by either the French or Algerian intelligence services showed that he had been meeting with the Sahel’s top jihadists, Iyad ag Ghali and Hamadou Kufa, in the months before his death (europe1.fr, February 2). Indeed, it was because of informants within the Sahelian jihadist ranks that Droukdel’s location was identified and he was subsequen
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan: Is China in its Crosshairs?
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 19 Issue: 9
(source: thehindu.com)
On April 21, a car packed with explosives detonated in the parking lot of the Serena Hotel in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province. Five people were killed and another twelve were injured in the attack (Dawn, April 21). Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the deadly explosion (The News, April 23). An umbrella grouping of Pashtun militias that operate in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas, the TTP wreaked havoc in Pakistan between 2007 and 2014. It carried out countless attacks on military installations, convoys, police stations, schools, and places of worship for minority religious sects. The violence it unleashed claimed the lives of over 80,000 soldiers and civilians in this period (Terrorism Monitor, March 26). However, the TTP’s capacity began to weaken in 2014, relegating it to “near-irrele
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