Post-Peshawar terror attack, many Pakistani commentators have claimed that both civilian and army leadership are on the same page as the long-maintained distinction between the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban has been wiped out. Under the new counterterrorism National Action Plan, Pakistan has announced to ban around a dozen terror outfits, including notorious Haqqani network and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. These terror outfits have long been referred to as ‘strategic assets’ of the Pakistan Army to be used… Read More »Indo-Pak relations

When the United States began regular drone surveillance flights from the Republic of Chad over the Lake Chad Basin, the aim was ostensibly in support of the goal of the BringBackOurGirls campaign. But the humanitarian goal of finding the Chibok girls has since proved a convenient smokescreen to pursue larger interests of a more strategic nature in Africa’s Sahel zone, such as beating the Chinese to the newly discovered oil and gas fields of the… Read More »Terrorism in Africa

The ISIS is now calculating a new game plan as how it can spread its presence in a credible manner to attract hundreds of thousands recruits for its battle from the Arabian Peninsula and African region, mainly in North and West Africa. The ISIS is keen to take advantage of lawless situation of Africa. With insecurity in Mali, Libya, Nigeria and beyond, the terrorism map of Africa is being redrawn. Various experts including Abdullah Mamadou… Read More »ISIS expansion

The exponential expansion of the computer and information network which has helped turn the world into a ‘global village’ has also brought in its wake the all pervasive and difficult to tackle threat of cyber attack. Even as cyber space has significantly and radically transformed the way the individuals and societies communicate and interact, its silent and subtle fall out in the form of cyber invasion continues to be a matter of concern for countries… Read More »Crippling effect: Strong evolution could dominate cyber warfare

Since early 2012, with the ouster of President Amandou Toumani Toure in a coup, Mali has been heading towards a crisis. The ethnic Tuaregs under NMLA (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad) and the Islamic fundamentalist groups, who took advantage of the situation, are to be blamed for the total chaos that Mali is witnessing now. Due to utterly slow consolidation of a West African force-AFISMA (African-led International Support Mission to Mali), France stepped… Read More »Stabilizing efforts: The crisis in Mali and international intervention

While Afghanistan is moving towards some degree of uncertainty in view of no clear winner, the recent elections could in the long run bring a much needed change to infuse fresh blood into the system which has been paralyzed for some years. But as the fighting months are fast approaching, with the absence of a credible government at the moment will make the present situation further complicated going by recent surge of violence by the… Read More »Afghan elections

Recent gains by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and the well-publicized executions of captured journalists and aid workers have once again drawn US military assets and personnel into a civil war. While Iraq remains familiar terrain for both the political elite, the American public and the thousands who served in the Global War on Terror, a great deal of misinformation about what the US can and should do in addressing the civil conflicts in… Read More »ISIS crisis

Throughout history, Nigeria has been exposed to ethno religious violence and political discontent and has recently seen an escalation in associated violence threatening its sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace and stability. Nigeria’s militant Islamist group Boko Haram-which has caused havoc in Africa’s most populous country through a wave of bombings, assassinations and now abductions-is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. The Boko Haram could grow upto this level because initially the Nigerian… Read More »The growing Boko Haram strategy in Nigeria

Even though Nigeria is an extremely resilient nation, having survived successive military coups, a civil war, religious extremism and ethnic crisis, its fight to eradicate the ongoing insurgency led by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram is creating an unprecedented challenge for the country. Established in 2002, Boko Haram, considered an ultra conservative militant Islamist outfit, is fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government and create an Islamic State, in a bid to dis-associate the state… Read More »Tackling Boko Haram

A recently captured document written by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) reveals an unusual degree of self-reflection regarding the terrorist group’s short-lived control over parts of southern Yemen. Having retreated to historic safe havens in the interior following last year’s Yemeni military campaign, AQAP has returned to its insurgent roots as it reconstitutes its forces. As part of this regenerative process, it has undertaken a thorough review of its 2011-2012 occupation and administration in… Read More »Al-Qaeda in Yemen