Tag Archives: Pakistan

The Dynamic Terrorism Landscape and What It Means for America

On Feb. 2, Bill Roggio testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security at a hearing titled, “The Dynamic Terrorism Landscape and What It Means for America.” His testimony focused on the state of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and Pakistan, and the growing threat of global jihadism.



In fight against Islamic State, the Taliban holds major advantage

The Taliban has the advantage in all of the key areas, save one. The Taliban has state sponsors, terrorist allies, regional support, a marked superiority in weapons and numbers, and controls all of Afghanistan. ISKP can only match the Taliban in one area, and this the will to fight and persevere.






Veteran Al Qaeda leader killed in western Afghanistan

Mohammad Hanif was involved in the 2002 assassination attempt on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the suicide attack on the U.S. Consulate in Karachi that same year. He was killed in Farah province. But the Taliban somehow continues to maintain that Al Qaeda isn’t in Afghanistan.


Analysis: Don’t trust estimates of Al Qaeda’s strength in Afghanistan

The U.S. government, military, and intelligence services have provided inaccurate assessments of Al Qaeda’s strength in Afghanistan for more than a decade. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued that tradition by recent regurgitating that Al Qaeda has fewer than 200 fighters in the country. This estimate, like previous ones, should not be trusted.



UN sanctions emir of the Pakistani Taliban

Muft Noor Wali Mehsud’s Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which remains allied with Al Qaeda, has stepped up small scale operations against Pakistani security forces in both North and South Waziristan over the past several months.










Afghan intelligence confirms death of AQIS emir

Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security claims it has confirmed that Asim Umar, the emir of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, was killed during a Sept. 23 raid in Helmand province. Other key AQIS leaders were also killed in the fighting.


Trump caves to Pakistan on Afghanistan

Trump’s acquiescence to Pakistan, which has backed the Taliban’s deadly insurgency in Afghanistan, occurs less than two years after he accused Pakistan of providing “safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror”. Trump also said Pakistan returned billions of dollars in US aid with “nothing but lies & deceit.”



Pakistan again arrests Lashkar-e-Taiba emir Hafiz Saeed

Pakistan is a state where those who push the bounds of what is acceptable to the military and Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, including jihadists, politicians, journalists, and activists, end up missing or are found murdered. Pakistan has weathered nearly two decades of international condemnation over Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, yet he and his terrorist entities have not only survived, but thrived.





Khalilzad flip flops on Pakistan, Taliban’s relationship with al Qaeda

In his testimony to Congress in July 2016, Zalmay Khalilzad called for designating Pakistan a State Sponsor of Terrorism for its support of the Taliban, noted the enduring Taliban-al Qaeda alliance. Today he praises Pakistan for its desire for peace in Afghanistan and claims the Taliban will be an effective counterterrorism partner.


Examining the Global Terrorism Landscape

Bill Roggio testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism, and examines the global terrorism landscape.


Pakistan claims to ‘crack down’ on Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Again.

If the past is any guide, the efforts are merely eyewash to placate Western governments in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from Pakistani soil. Pakistan has claimed it has shut down JuD offices and detained its top leaders in the past, only to allow the offices to reopen and the leaders free months later.