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

Popular
Editor's Pick

Politics

Frederic Hof: Israel-Syria peace is far off, but a truce is crucial

28 May 2025

The former US envoy to Damascus tells Al Majalla how to find a path to a lasting settlement and a new place in the Middle East, from his unique perspective and first-hand experience in Assad-era talks

Johaina Khaldieh

Opinion

The Israel-Houthi war achieves nothing and hurts both sides

28 May 2025

Killing Yemeni civilians further ruins Israel's global image. Meanwhile, the Houthis cannot defeat Israel militarily.

Anwar Al-Ansi

Sara Padovan

Business & Economy

The history of tariffs is still being written

29 May 2025

A US federal court has blocked Trump's tariffs and ruled that the president doesn't have unilateral authority to impose them, dealing a major blow to his economic policy

Toufic Chanbour

Culture & Social Affairs

Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha: Pulitzer Prize is a recognition of our story

26 May 2025

The US-based writer does not hold back in what he pens for American readers, nor is he censored. There is just one word that he is forbidden from using.

Houssam Marouf

Sara Padovan

Business & Economy

It’s time to build a regional climate fund

27 May 2025

As global climate finance falters and US support disappears, the MENA region faces a widening funding gap. Now is the time to create a regional climate finance mechanism.

Léa Eid

Sections

Regions

More

LATEST ISSUE