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It may return if more structural concerns in counter-terror thinking and policies are not addressed over time

The al Qaeda video showing its current head Ayman al-Zawahari declaring a renewed bout of jihad in the Indian subcontinent has triggered widespread alarm in the region, especially in India. The alarm over a video may seem exaggerated but there are enough reasons for India to worry.

Remember the Kremlin Watchers of yore during the height of the cold war and their best-sellers on the Evil Empire? And the scary stories on communism they used to disseminate? And how the newspaper columns of those days were filled with their analyses? And the so-called classified documents of the Soviet State and Communist Party to which they managed to have access and which they used liberally in their writings and books?

Sections of the Spanish media, quoting the authorities investigating the Madrid blasts of March 11,2004, have reported that the terrorists, who orchestrated the blasts, had used the mobile telephones as timers for the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) along with copper detonators, different from the aluminium detonators used in the past by the ETA, the Basque terrorist organisation. According to one report, the IEDs had the alarms set for 7-39

The birth of AQIS at the time when al Qaeda is loosening its grip over the jihadist movement in the Middle East, which has been taken over by the Islamic State (IS), raises questions about al Qaeda's possible resurgence in South Asia.

With the death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the primary question that looms over Al Qaeda is who will replace him as the next chief.

Attention has to be focussed on Saudi Arabia as it enters a period of transition and uncertainty in the wake of reports about a deterioration in the health of King Fahd, who has been admitted in hospital. In the absence of authentic reports on his health, rumours are rife that his end may be near.

Within a fortnight of the death of Osama bin Laden, news came of the appointment of a senior al Qaeda leader, Saif Al-'Adl, as the interim chief, indicating clearly an internal tussle for the leadership of the global terrorist group, raising, in the process,

That is the latest position of the Government of Begum Khaleda Zia, the Bangladesh Prime Minister, in the face of growing international pressure spearheaded by the member-countries of the European Union (EU) to act against terrorist groups operating from Bangladeshi territory.

ACT 1: March 2002. Abu Zubaidah, a Palestinian member of Al Qaeda, was arrested in Faislabad in Pakistani Punjab by the Pakistani authorities and handed over to the USA's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was the operational chief of Al Qaeda; his arrest was a major breakthrough, we were told. This is hardly supported by the report of the 9/11 Commission.

How big a catch is Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a 40-year-old Libyan married to a Pakistani, fluent in Urdu and Arabic and suffering from lucoderma, whose arrest was announced by the Pakistani authorities at Islamabad on May 4,2005?

The victory of Taliban in Afghanistan is altering the Islamist jihad landscape, making it more complex as various actors engage in regional and strate

like the ISI, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba or the Indian Mujahideen, the al Qaeda will not meet much success in India because the Indian Muslims are happy with their lot in a secular, democratic country and even al Zawahiri understands that.

Two decades down the line, the “War on Terror” remains far from over

While the year 2003 saw many acts of terrorism in South, South-East and West Asia, as well as in Chechnya in Russia, very few major acts of terrorism were reported from Central Asia. In fact, ever since the US-led coalition went into action against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Central Asian Republics (CARs) have remained largely free of major acts of terrorism

There has been no credible evidence so far of any mastermind having orchestrated the various serious acts of jihadi terrorism reported during 2003, whether from Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq or Turkey. The available evidence indicates that all these incidents were planned and executed by local elements, which share the pan-Islamic ideology of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the International Islamic Front (IIF), b

The US has pledged to lift sanctions against the Taliban and help in lifting multilateral sanctions against the group as well.

The tragedy of 9/11 ended international negligence of Afghanistan’s need to stabilise and develop on a sustainable basis.

Though small at the moment, the ISKP has the potential to gain momentum from the rebuilding of Afghanistan post US withdrawal

Before engaging with the Taliban on counterterrorism, the global community needs to realise that this move will have both political limitations and re

The top job for now will possibly go to someone already blessed by Zawahiri, but the future al-Qaeda could be much more Afghanistan-Pakistan centric as the group looks towards a new era of ideological and operational leadership

The AQAP are addressing climate change-related issues to gain popularity amongst the masses of Yemen

The Al Qaeda in Iraq, headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is of Jordanian origin, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the blasts directed at three hotels in Amman on November 9,2005, in which about 60 innocent civilians, the majority of them Jordanian nationals, were killed. There is no valid reason for doubting the claim.

The fast–tracking of US–Taliban talks, and the following meeting between Trump and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan cannot be sold as one of

This deal temporarily shields US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, but has directly harmed Afghan civilians, security forces and allies in the region.

The frequent targeting of the terrorist leaders by the US military and the CIA has spawned a fundamental question—whether the OTH CT capability can

While every counter-terror theatre works on its own specific requirements and variables, Pakistan is a completely different ball game.

While new initiatives, platforms, and exercises attest to the growing synergy in Indo-African defence and security partnership, the true potential con

The spillover of terrorist activity from West Asia to Africa has had devastating consequences for the continent

Can good sense prevail in Washington once again? Military action in Libya will generate anti Americanism, which will swell the ranks of Al Qaeda and cause the "Arab Youth" bulge to find a frightening outlet.

With the Taliban taking over in Afghanistan, India must engage more closely with Central Asia for both strategic security concerns and trade

China needs to strategically reconsider its calculations in South Asia amidst the ongoing shift in the region.

The exasperation of Porter Goss, the Director of the US' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with Pakistan's role in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other remnants of the Al Qaeda, is evident from his remarks on bin Laden during an interview with the "Time" magazine which has been carried by it this week

This two-part series examines the importance of community policing and how it can be useful in dealing with India’s internal security challenges.

Amidst the US-China power struggle, global counterterrorism cooperation needs to be strengthened.

If indeed Hamza Bin Laden is dead, the succession battle within Al Qaeda could get muddled.

With Al Qaeda far from being vanquished, and Pakistan and Bangladesh inevitably turning into jihadi outposts in the emerging pan-Islamist network in Asia, India is more than likely to be caught in the vicious tail-wind of the next wave of terrorism, gathering momentum since 9/11.

Conflict resolution and political problem-solving in other countries are not traits that Chinese diplomats excel at. It remains to be seen how China walks this tightrope in Afghanistan, which remains a fractured crucible of contradictory ethnic and political interests

As foreign fighters pour into Ukraine to assist it, questions are raised about what would become of these volunteers as the definition of “foreign f

The Taliban, ably helped by Pakistan, the US’s frontline ally in its global war on terror, has badly dented the notion of US invincibility. Despite President Joe Biden’s efforts in recent months to reassure allies that “America is back”, there is a wariness about both US commitment and its competence.

International jihadi terrorism of the Al Qaeda model will continue to pose the most serious challenge to the intelligence and counter-terrorism agencies and the police forces of the world in the short and medium terms, that is, for another five to 10 years. It shows no signs of any dilution of motivation and determination.

Before the elections in the beginning of this year, the authorities of the Iraqi Government had announced warrants for the arrest of 29 Iraqis and foreigners, who, according to them, are either former members of the Saddam Hussein Government or part of the Abu Mus¿ab al-Zarqawi terrorist network of the Al Qaeda.

Even with the hierarchical decapitation of Hamas by Israel, it is likely that the group would resurface in another avatar

As a nation impacted heavily by terrorism, India has done well to continue to bring the world back to focus on the issue that was receding from global headlines.

Can Iran and India come together to manage the Afghanistan crisis and the security threat posed by it?