Islamic State | Al Majalla

The US-led Operation Inherent Resolve coalition against the Islamic State (IS) trains SDF fighters in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022.

Where does the counter-IS mission stand after Sharaa-SDF deal?

An SDF shift away from the US partnership and the risk of IS resurgence could undo years of hard-won progress in the fight against terrorism

Caroline Rose 21, Apr 2025

IS jihadists are currently active in at least 28 countries across the African continent.

Lina Jaradat

Ten years after its inception, IS finds new sanctuary in Africa

Ten years ago, al-Baghdadi declared an Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and Syria. But after being largely defeated in the Middle East, the terrorist group has found new places to regroup around the world.

Charles Lister 29, Jun 2024

Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces guard a house during a raid against suspected IS fighters in Raqqa, the jihadist group's former de facto capital in Syria, on January 29, 2023.

Back with a bang: Islamic State rears its head in Syria again

Five years after its decimation in the Middle East, the terrorist group that once proclaimed a 'state' has used Africa and Central Asia to regroup, and is now resurgent in its former heartlands.

Charles Lister 04, Apr 2024

Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda, suspected of taking part in the attack on a concert hall that killed 137 people in Moscow, which IS-KP claimed, sits inside the defendant's cage on 24 March 2024.

AFP

ISKP: Who are the murky terrorists behind the Moscow concert hall attack?

The Islamic State Khorasan Province has a history of carrying out attacks in central Asia, but its leadership and structure are largely opaque. Al Majalla explains.

Abdullah F. Alrebh 30, Mar 2024

Jihadists were able to portray the presence of US troops as an 'occupation', which some extremists fell prey to, birthing the first wave of jihadist terrorism, which lasted through the 1990s.

Eleanor Shakespeare

How jihadists exploited the aftermath of the First Gulf War to build a global terrorist network

Jihadists were able to portray the presence of US troops in the region as an 'occupation', which some extremists fell prey to, birthing the first wave of jihadist terrorism in the 1990s.

Charles Lister 12, Aug 2023

A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

Spain to Bring Back Spanish Families from IS Camps in Syria

Spain has decided to bring back several Spanish wives, widows and children of Islamic State fighters from detention camps in northeastern Syria, a government source said on Monday, confirming a…

21, Nov 2022

Taliban fighters pictured in Laghman Province. They began a lightning offensive earlier this year. (Photo: Getty Images)

Central Asia’s Security and the Transition in Afghanistan

The Taliban are losing control in northern Afghanistan to the Islamic State. In the past few months, the terrorist group has carried out a Transition in Afghanistan Series of bombings at Shia…

Bruce Pannier 13, May 2022

1- An ISIS official announcing the capture of Tabqa air base to residents of Raqqa province, Syria, August 24, 2014. (Stringer/Reuters)

ISIS’s Leadership Crisis

It is only February, and already, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) has had a rough year. ISIS’s supporters quickly went from cheering on a large prison break in northeast Syria to learning,…

Haroro Ingram, Craig Whiteside 25, Feb 2022

A fully veiled woman collects items near the house in which the leader of Islamic State leader Abdullah Qardash died during a raid by US special forces in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, on Feb, 4, 2022. - AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

US Diplomat Says Killing of ISIS Leader Reduces Effectiveness of Extremist Group

ISIS has not yet announced a new successor to its leader Abdullah Qardash, who was killed this week in a complex airdrop in a town located in an area overlapping the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and…

Jiwan Soz 12, Feb 2022

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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses Iranians on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (portrait), in Tehran on June 4, 2025.

KHAMENEI.IR / AFP

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A demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while gathering with others during a rally in solidarity with the government against Israel's attacks on Iran on June 14, 2025.

ATTA KENARE / AFP

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What would happen if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz?

18 June 2025

The strait carries up to 20% of the world's oil exports at around 20 million barrels of oil each day. Any closure could cost the global economy greatly, even if only for a short time.

Amer Ziab Al-Tamimi

Eduardo Ramon

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LATEST ISSUE

Where does the counter-IS mission stand after Sharaa-SDF deal?

Ten years after its inception, IS finds new sanctuary in Africa

Back with a bang: Islamic State rears its head in Syria again

ISKP: Who are the murky terrorists behind the Moscow concert hall attack?

How jihadists exploited the aftermath of the First Gulf War to build a global terrorist network

Spain to Bring Back Spanish Families from IS Camps in Syria

Central Asia’s Security and the Transition in Afghanistan

ISIS’s Leadership Crisis

US Diplomat Says Killing of ISIS Leader Reduces Effectiveness of Extremist Group

How Israel upended Khamenei’s strategic patience doctrine

How Israel pulled off its unprecedented strike on Iran

Iran is further from regime change than Israel thinks

What would happen if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz?

Will Iran-Israel strikes derail Trump's Mideast vision?

OPINIONS

Secrets and surveillance: a look at Washington’s spy museum

Syria reinforces its borders to stop any Israel-Iran spillover

How Israel upended Khamenei’s strategic patience doctrine

Attacks on Iran make a nuclear bomb more likely

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