INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 4/17/2015

ISIS: THE STATE OF TERROR

In a review this week in the Washington Post, Rosa Brooks called ISIS: The State of Terror "smart, granular," "nuanced and readable" and said it "should be required reading for every politician and policymaker." J.M. Berger interviewed with The Arab Weekly and appeared at an event at the New America Foundation (video below), as well as checking in with the War on the Rocks podcast and The Loopcast the previous week. Co-author Jessica Stern will appear on CSPAN's Book Talk with Brian Lamb this weekend.




RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Australian Foreign Fighters: Risks and Responses
In this Analysis, Andrew Zammit argues that Australians fighting in Iraq and Syria pose a threat to Australia’s security and examines the options for responding to that threat, including through non-coercive means.

Indonesia’s Lamongan Network
A network of extremists in East Java illustrates how support for a local jihadi struggle in Poso, Central Sulawesi is linked to support for the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), now called Islamic State. Understanding that network could lead to more effective counter-extremism programs.


ISIS WATCH

Ohio Man Trained in Syria Is Charged With Planning Terrorism in U.S.
An Ohio man who trained with a terrorist group in Syria was accused by federal prosecutors on Thursday of returning to the United States with the goal of mounting an attack at home, the first example of a pattern that counterterrorism officials have long feared. But it was unclear who sent the man -- al Qaeda or ISIS.

An American Journalist Explains Why He Had To Flee Iraq
The Reuters bureau chief in Baghdad abruptly fled Iraq last week after receiving death threats for his recent report on human rights abuses by Shiite paramilitary forces that are fighting alongside Iraqi government troops against the self-described Islamic State, or ISIS.

Prisoner, maid, sex slave: ISIS bride shares her story
CNN's Arwa Damon share the story of Hanan, who says she was forced to marry an ISIS Sharia police chief to win save her father's life.

Nigerian Military Focus on Area Where Abducted Girls Are Believed Held
Nigerian military operations against Boko Haram are focusing on a northeastern forest where officials believe more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped a year ago are being held, the government’s counter-insurgency spokesman said Wednesday.

ISIS Launches Offensive Against Iraqi City of Ramadi
The Islamic State extremist group launched an offensive Wednesday in Iraq’s western Anbar province, capturing three villages near the provincial capital of Ramadi in what was the most significant threat to the city by the Sunni militants to date.

Kansas Man John Booker Indicted in ISIS-Inspired Bomb Plot Against Fort Riley
A federal grand jury in Kansas has indicted a Topeka man on charges he planned to carry out a suicide bombing at an Army installation on behalf of the terror group ISIS.

TERROR WATCH

American wounded in Pakistan in apparent terrorist shooting, police say
An American teacher was critically wounded Thursday in Karachi after being shot in the head in an apparent terrorist attack

The State of al-Qaeda
If we are to accept Zawahiri’s edict that more than half the battle is in the media space, a landscape of perpetual news cycles driven by social media, then from his own definition, Al Qaeda Central is failing.

Al-Shabab recruiting in Kenyan towns
Somalia's Islamist al-Shabab militants are recruiting heavily in north-eastern Kenya, according to evidence gathered by the BBC.

War in Yemen Is Allowing Qaeda Group to Expand
Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen took control of a major airport and an oil export terminal in the southern part of the country on Thursday, expanding the resurgent militant group’s reach just two weeks after it seized the nearby city of Al Mukalla and emptied its bank and prison.

Cuba to Be Removed From U.S. List of Nations That Sponsor Terrorism
The White House announced on Tuesday that President Obama intends to remove Cuba from the American government’s list of nations that sponsor terrorism

Buy the new book ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger.

Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam

Labels: Weekly-Brief

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