Islamic State | Al Majalla

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

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

Popular
Editor's Pick

Adrián Astorgano

Politics

Trump’s second term could shake up NATO, Ukraine and China

19 January 2025

The return of an unpredictable president will stir up global geopolitics for US allies and opponents alike in a world already much changed since he was last in office

Omer Onhon

Al Majalla

Profiles

Nawaf Salam: From ICJ president to Lebanese prime minister

19 January 2025

The former professor and diplomat was elected to oversee the International Court of Justice in The Hague less than a year before his country came calling. Who is he, and how will he approach his task?

Elie Kossaifi

A freed Palestinian prisoner gestures after being released from an Israeli jail as part of a hostage swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 20, 2025.

REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Politics

Israel opens Schrödinger’s box as Gaza ceasefire takes hold

19 January 2025

For months, Netanyahu has touted that he would not relent until he secures "total victory" over Hamas. But with the group still standing after the truce, it has essentially won.

Michael Horowitz

Sara Padovan

Business & Economy

US grabs Russia’s European gas share as others lack capacity

17 January 2025

As Ukraine pulls the plug on a major route for Russian gas into Europe, Türkiye and America stand to gain, but where does that leave Arab suppliers and Europe's consumer states?

Maher Chmaytelli

Ahmed al-Dalati, deputy commander-in-chief of Ahrar al-Sham

Politics

Syrian military leader: We decided to overthrow Assad in 2020

18 January 2025

In Part 1 of a two-part interview, Ahmed al-Dalati from Syria's Military Operations Command tells Al Majalla how the rebels prepared for the ouster, including building homemade drones

Ibrahim Hamidi

Sections

Regions

More

LATEST ISSUE

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

Trump’s second term could shake up NATO, Ukraine and China

Nawaf Salam: From ICJ president to Lebanese prime minister

Israel opens Schrödinger’s box as Gaza ceasefire takes hold

US grabs Russia’s European gas share as others lack capacity

Syrian military leader: We decided to overthrow Assad in 2020

OPINIONS

How to read Trump’s day-one trade actions

The new American imperialism

Farewell, David Lynch: A tribute to cinema’s last great surrealist

Stakeholders vie for oil and gas control in a post-Assad Syria

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter