Tag Archives: Al-Qaeda

Dream of a caliphate as an Islamist homeland is receding. Mohammad Bash via Shutterstock Elisa Orofino, Anglia Ruskin University A “proto-state”, a “socio-political movement, the ”beast“ – all names given to a single group that, at its height, seemed to embody the west’s worst nightmare. You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, here. Islamic State …

A gathering during the 73rd anniversary of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2019. Eko Siswono Toyudho/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University After its return to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban are again imposing their religious ideology, with restrictions on women’s rights and other repressive measures. They are presenting to the world an image …

Ali Mohamed Gedi (left), then Somali prime minister, speaks during a meeting with clan elders to discuss the surrender of weapons from the Mogadishu community in 2006. Peter Delarue/AFP via Getty Images Mohammed Ibrahim Shire, University of Portsmouth The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab insurgent group and the Somali government have remained locked in a violent stalemate for years. Other than lives lost, …

Scott Lucas, University of Birmingham The decades-long conflict in Afghanistan was always far more than a simple case of the Taliban versus the Afghan government, or a US-led “war on terror”. This is because Afghanistan is not a single country in the sense of a legitimate system accepted by the vast majority. Beyond the capital Kabul, it is more a …

Michele Groppi, King’s College London There is no other way to put it. The west’s failure in Afghanistan will be remembered as one of epic proportions. Not only has the coalition of nations that entered the country 20 years ago failed to export their values – they have failed to bring any stability to local governments or security to local …

Kenyan military troops and US marines carry out a joint military exercise in Manda Bay near the coastal town of Lamu. EPA/Simon Maina Stig Jarle Hansen, Norwegian University of Life Sciences Two significant attacks have been carried out by al-Shabaab in recent weeks. On 6 January 2020, the Somali-based terrorist group attacked a Kenyan military base close to the former …

A military drone replica is displayed in front of the White House during a protest against drone strikes on January 12, 2019 in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Paul D. Williams, George Washington University The United States has used airstrikes against al-Shabaab forces in Somalia since January 2007, including armed drone strikes from June 2011. From early 2017, …

Alaa Al-Marjani/AAP Greg Barton, Deakin University Have we flattened the curve of global terrorism? In our COVID-19-obsessed news cycle stories about terrorism and terrorist attacks have largely disappeared. We now, though, understand a little more about how pandemics work. And ironically, long before the current pandemic, the language of epidemiology proved helpful in understanding by analogy the way in which …

Hundreds gather for prayer at the scene of a massive truck bomb attack in Mogadishu in October 2017, the deadliest to hit conflict-torn Somalia. Mohammed Ibrahim Shire, University of Portsmouth In September 2014, a US drone strike killed Al-Shabaab’s most influential leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane. The immediate assumption was that Godane’s death would weaken the group and reduce its capacity …