Blog
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November 05, 2015'Help A Militant, Avoid Burning In Hell' -- Al-Qaeda's New Fund-Raising Campaign
The fund-raising campaign asking Al-Nusra Front supporters to fund travel costs for new militants suggests that Nusra's Russian-speaking battalion is undertaking a recruitment drive.
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October 30, 2015
Tajikistan's Crackdown On Islam 'Helps IS Recruiters'
A Tajik diaspora leader in Russia says a crackdown by Tajikistan's government against Islamic political and religious groups and certain forms of Islam has played into the hands of Islamic State (IS) recruiters.
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October 24, 2015
Afghan Fighting Reaches Turkmenistan's Border
Afghanistan's problems are now clearly visible from Turkmenistan's side of their border, and despite Ashgabat's efforts to keep its neighbor's affairs from spilling over the frontier, fighting has now reached Turkmenistan's doorstep.
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October 18, 2015
'Next Generation' Stars In IS Terror-Training Video Of 'Caliphate Cub'
A video shared on social media is the latest instance of Russian-speaking IS militants going beyond merely dressing up their tots to show devotion to the radical Islamist group, and actually instructing them in the ways of warfare.
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October 13, 2015
Afghans Debate Fifth Columnists
In a country ravaged by great power intervention, regional rivalries, competing ideologies and intense personal and factional rivalries, Afghans are engaged in an endless debate over who among their elites are serving their foreign masters.
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September 22, 2015
Taliban-Aligned Uzbek Suicide Bomber Attacks Shi'ite Village In Syria
An Uzbek militant has carried out a suicide truck bombing in the predominantly Shi'ite town of Fua in Idlib Province, part of a major attack against Bashar al-Assad's Syrian forces by Islamist factions led by Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front.
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August 15, 2015
Why Zawahri's Pledge To Taliban Could Be A Boon For IS
One major difficulty for Ayman al-Zawahri in pledging to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour is the recent -- and highly damaging -- revelation that the Taliban lied about Mullah Omar's death for two years, even issuing statements in his name.
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August 13, 2015
Why The Taliban Criticized An IS Video As 'Horrific' And 'Un-Islamic'
When militants affiliated with the extremist group Islamic State (IS) issued a video showing prisoners being blown up with explosives, the Afghan Taliban condemned it as "horrific."
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August 11, 2015
Taliban-Aligned Uzbek Militant In Syria Speaks Out Against IS
An Uzbek militant who claims to be fighting alongside the Taliban-aligned Imam Bukhori Jamaat in Syria has criticized the Islamic State (IS) group in an interview with RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.
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June 25, 2015
Islamic State Not Yet Seeking Central Asia Expansion, Report Says
In contrast to news reports and analyses warning that Islamic State is seeking to establish a foothold in Central Asia, a new report says the extremist group does not currently see the region as an area of interest.
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June 22, 2015
Video Captures Moment Bomb Strikes Afghan Parliament
A Taliban car bomb struck the Afghan parliament building on June 22, causing injuries to civilians but leaving the lawmakers unharmed. Video distributed by Afghan officials shows debris and smoke inside the parliament building as the bomb went off. Security officials said six gunmen and a suicide bomber had all been killed. (Handout video)