The Jihadists’ Toolkit: Repurposed Items that Helped Taliban Win Afghanistan

A striking image recently surfaced on several jihadists' encrypted communications channels, featuring four ordinary everyday items repurposed as lethal tools of warfare. The image, featuring a Cheetah shoe, a yellow cooking o...

Taliban Governance shakeup: Haibatullah’s close aides appointed to secure Kandahar and Northern Provinces

Taliban Supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada has made several changes to Afghanistan’s governance structure, shuffling several ministers and deputies. However, the latest round of changes has been characterized by the...

Operation Baghar: A Watershed Moment in Pakistan's Counter-Terrorism Journey

In the last week of September 2003, a local asset, intelligence speak for an informant, with substantial access to local and global jihadist factions like Al-Qaeda, walked into a regional office of Pakistan's premier intellig...

Why Kurram Will Remain Unsettled

Kurram’s security mosaic has been altered and a traditional understanding of a cause and effect [read as retaliatory attacks between rival Sunni and Shia sects] does not offer a solution-based analysis. While histories are im...

Pakistan Remains Global Polio Hotspot as Militant Threats, Misinformation Impede Eradication Efforts

Despite decades of global efforts, Polio continues to remain a hazardous health challenge and casts a vast shadow over the public health landscape in Pakistan. On the 14th of January 2025, the Regional Reference Laboratory fo...

Amidst Diplomatic Makeover, Pakistan Strikes TTP in Afghanistan

Four days after 16 soldiers died in an assault by the Pakistani Taliban on a border post, Pakistan retaliated by striking the militant group inside Afghanistan, third time since August 15, 2021.The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan [...

Syrian Jail Claims Life of Al-Qaeda Veteran Fighter

Al-Qaeda linked encrypted channels have released a short biography of Muhammad Hussain Kanju, also known as Abu Hussain Lebanani. Hussain’s life as a militant exemplifies the transnational jihadi nature of Al-Qaeda, with his ...

Paragliders, Pagers and AI-Robots: The Intersection of War and Technology

In the changing technological landscape, both state and non-state actors are incorporating modern and novel gadgetry in their operations and strategy. The examples are Hamas’s use of paragliders and Israel explosives rigged p...

Pakistan Struggles to Protect Chinese Interests Amidst Consistent Attacks

Over the night of October 6, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack took place outside Karachi airport, targeting a Chinese convoy. Two Chinese citizens were killed in the attack on a convoy carrying Chine...