Author: M Barbu

Boko Haram

Financing:
Kidnappings, robbery and extortion:
Boko Haram gets funding from bank robberies and kidnapping ransoms. As an example, in early 2013 gunmen from Boko Haram kidnapped a family of seven French tourists on vacation in Cameroon. Two months later, the kidnappers released the hostages along with 16 others in exchange for a ransom of $3.15 million.Any funding they may have received in the past from al-Qaeda affiliates is insignificant compared to the estimated $1 million ransom for each wealthy Nigerian or foreigner kidnapped.

Taliban

Highlights:

Established In: 1994;

Established By: Mohammed Omar;

Also Known As: Taleban;

Country Of Origin: Afghanistan;

Leaders: Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, Mullah Muhammad Rasul;

Key Members: Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, Mullah Muhammad Rasul;

Operational Area: Afghanistan, Pakistan;

Number Of Members: 60,000;

Involved In: Human trafficking, Massacres against civilians, Drug Traficking, Rapping, Executions;

General Info:

Al-Shabaab

Highlights:

Established In: 1996-1997

Established By: Ibrahim Haji Jaama’ Al-Afghani

Also Known As: Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, HSM, Al-Shabaab al-Islaam, Al-Shabaab al-Islamiya, Al-Shabaab al-Jihaad al Shabaab, As-Saḥab, Ash-Shabaab, Hezb al-Shabaab

ISIS – The return to Europe

In short

Over the last decade, ISIS is one of the most ferocious terror organizations in the world. Its horrible techniques of torturing and slaughtering its enemies (which is pretty much everyone else) is considered extreme even for other terrorists and gave it during its prime days a vile reputation.

Europe’s Critical Choices: Securing Ukraine Without Trump

To secure Ukraine and the continent, European countries must take action that Trump and Putin cannot ignore. This will require making three crucial but divisive choices on how to deploy financial and military capabilities.

There is little more U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration could do to signal that their objectives in Ukraine radically differ from those of Europe. And yet, Europeans continue to be in denial.

The Case for Partition in Western Sahara

Since 1991, the United Nations has led a series of fruitless efforts to resolve the standoff over Western Sahara. A swath of desert about the size of the entire United Kingdom, Western Sahara is claimed both by the Polisario Front—a rebel group that the UN recognizes as the legitimate representative of the region’s inhabitants—and by its northern neighbor, Morocco, which wants to cement its de facto control over what it considers its “southern provinces.” By now, the dispute may seem frozen—or worse yet, that might is beating right: over the past five years, Morocco has bypassed the UN and secured extralegal bilateral endorsements of its sovereignty from France, Spain, and, most consequentially, the United States. But recent events in Azerbaijan, Sudan, and Israel show how suddenly so-called frozen conflicts can shift—and the contours of the Western Saharan dispute are poised to shift dangerously. The Polisario Front has started to take on Morocco more aggressively in legal forums, challenging its right to exploit Western Sahara’s resources, and Morocco and its neighbor Algeria—a key backer of the Polisario Front—have begun a dangerous arms race.

The Coming Age of Territorial Expansion

Climate Change Will Fuel Contests—and Maybe Wars—for Land and Resources

Since the mid-twentieth century, the power dynamics and system of alliances that made up the postwar global order provided a strong check on campaigns to conquer and acquire territory—an otherwise enduring feature of human history. But rather than marking a definitive break from the aggression of the past, this era of relative restraint now seems to have been merely a brief deviation from the historical pattern. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to U.S. President Donald Trump’s avowed interest in acquiring Greenland, international land grabs are back on the table. Threats of territorial conquest are once again becoming a central part of geopolitics, driven by a new phase of great-power competition, growing population pressures, shifts in technology, and, perhaps most crucially, a changing climate.

Israel Eliminates 2 Iran-backed Terrorists in Separate Operations

Latest Developments

  • Hamas Commander in Jenin Killed During Israeli Operation: The IDF said on January 4 that under the direction of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, Border Police officers killed key Iran-backed Hamas figure Isser Saadi in Jenin. Saadi served as the “head of the Hamas terrorist network in the area,” the IDF said. During the encounter, troops eliminated another terrorist and located an M-16 rifle, a handgun, and other military equipment in the structure where Saadi was hiding. In a separate incident, troops killed an armed terrorist, the IDF stated.
  • Terror Group Acknowledges Fatalities, IDF Arrests More Than 250 Suspects: Since the launch of Operation “Iron Wall” in Jenin on January 21, Hamas has officially acknowledged the deaths of 14 members. Among the terrorists killed by Israeli troops are Qutaiba al-Shalabi and Muhammad Nazal, who murdered three Israelis near the West Bank village of al-Funduq on January 6. Israeli forces have arrested more than 250 suspects since the beginning of the offensive, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit told FDD’s Long War Journal.
  • Israeli Air Force Eliminates Iran-Backed Hezbollah Commander in Airstrike: The IDF said it had eliminated Khadir Sa’id Hashem in the Qana area of south Lebanon on March 4. Hashem was a senior figure in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force and served as a commander of a naval unit. He held several roles in the organization and played an extensive part in Hezbollah’s maritime smuggling operations. Hashem was also “responsible for planning and executing terrorist attacks in the maritime zone, including during the ceasefire,” the IDF remarked.

Craig Unger: Trump won’t betray Putin after 40 years of Russian money

Ever wonder why a US president would consistently align with Russian interests for decades? Investigative journalist Craig Unger has spent over ten years untangling the web of connections between Donald Trump, Russian money, and the Kremlin.

Since Trump’s return to office in January 2025, Politico has documented 29 instances where his positions aligned with Putin’s in his first month alone. But according to Unger, this pattern started long before the presidency – in Trump Tower, 1984, with a Russian businessman carrying $6 million in cash.

US says it killed military leader of Syrian Al-Qaida affiliate

The U.S. Army said Saturday it had killed a top military leader of Hurras al-Din, a Syrian branch of Al-Qaida that announced its dissolution in January.

The U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said in a statement that its forces on Feb. 23 “conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria, targeting and killing Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, the senior military leader of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din.”