Even as 2006 commenced, Iraq remained the most viable and strategically vital theatre for al-Qaida. The organization’s combined efforts with the Taliban and allied movements would eventually thrust Afghanistan into … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Faltering Along The Way To Jihad
During this tumultuous period, in the time since Abu Faraj al-Libi was captured and Hamza Rabia killed, the American press particularly emphasized the remaining and new al-Qaida commanders climbing in … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Replenishment And Admonishment
A renewed urgency swept through the encampments of al-Qaida and their allied movements in 2005. It would be a mistake to assume that the jihadist focus on paramilitary and political … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Obdurate Militancy
With Hassan Ghul captured in early 2004, the intrinsic bond of the Iraqi and Afghan insurgencies may have been imperiled, but Ghul’s interrogation displayed the organizations’ adamant intent on merging, … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Mesopotamian Expansion
Abdulhadi al-Iraqi held sway over paramilitary operations due to his proximity with the Taliban and links with al-Qaida infrastructure in the FATA. Thus, he was prominent within internal operations. Yet … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Disputes And The Order Of Battle
In late 2003, the collective American conscious disregarded the war in Afghanistan and observed with intense focus the happenings of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as the militant determined to … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – A Lion Emerges
Unsurprisingly, Nashwan Abdulrazzaq Abdulbaqi al-Tamir, the leader of Brigade 55, known as Abdulhadi al-Iraqi, commanded the al-Qaida paramilitary response to the American invasion. His frontline lieutenants in the north, Abdulsalam … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Dawn of the Insurgency
The captures of Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and his nephew Ammar al-Baluchi thoroughly disrupted the current and potential mechanics of al-Qaida external operations. Now the two represented an abundant wealth of … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – Parrying The Pakistanis
After the debacle of Damodola, it seemed unlikely that the US would engage in another unilateral airstrike operation in the populated regions of the FATA in sovereign Pakistan. Thus far … Continue reading SERIES: Predators Of The Khorasan – Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah
Khalid Sheikh Mohamed struggled to maintain an al-Qaida momentum in 2002, yet still had well placed assets both local and beyond. His subordinates the Rabbani brothers, continued to manage safehouses … Continue reading SERIES: Dark Years Of Al-Qaida – The Perfume Letter Plot and Failaka Island
Chronicles in Zealotry 