Author: Fighel, Jonathan (Col. Ret.)

An arrested terrorist has revealed that the Mumbai terror attack operation was planned about six months in advance.

Al-Qaeda and its local affiliated terror groups adopted suicide attacks and have used this mode of operation as part of their terrorism repertoire. In fact, Al-Qaeda has become the dominant group in the global arena with regard to suicide terrorism. While this modus operandi remains

The military campaign against Afghanistan is only the initial foray in a long, hard— sometimes frustrating—struggle against terrorism. It would be a major mistake to target only Osama bin Ladin and his organization. Islamic radicals all over the world constitute a real and immediate danger

During the past 18 months, the Islamic Jihad has become the main initiator of suicide terrorism in Israel. The primary launching pad of the suicide bombers is the Palestinian autonomous city of Jenin—and in particular the poorer neighborhood known as the “refugee camp”. Of the

The Head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Ramallah, Ibrahim Abu Hijleh, who was arrested by Israel at the end of December 2002, has confessed to ordering DFLP squads to carry out terror attacks against Israeli targets.

On the 28th February 2003, the internet site Arabforum.net published an appeal to Muslims to betray their countries for the sake of Jihad. This site is popular among followers of Osama bin Ladin and his al-Qaida network, and is particularly designed to appeal to young

After the elimination of most of its bases in Afghanistan, al-Qaida has activated other camps in other countries. According to Western intelligence sources, some of these bases are in the former Soviet republic of Georgia and in the region of Chechnya. Nor have recent arrests—such

The 12 May 2003 bombings in Riyadh were dramatic evidence that al-Qaida is at work in the Saudi kingdom, the birthplace of the terror group’s founder, Osama bin Laden.

The Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front is basically a Sunni Salafist group that advocates Islamic rule in Turkey and considers Turkey’s present secular leadership to be “illegal.” In the past it has cooperated with various opposition elements in Turkey in attempting to destabilize the Turkey’s unique

In many cases, the mosque is the heart of the community both socially and spiritually. Any counter-terrorism activity in these places must be carefully planned. This includes not just the raid itself, but includes activities in the stages prior to and after the raid.

Police and military clashed with suspected terrorists, including three suicide bombers, 22 people were killed in a third day of violence started on 29 March 2004 in the Uzbek capital during a sweep to round up Islamic militants. According to Associated Press, attacks continued on

Initially, the “Qassam” rocket was perceived as a “improvised pipe” whose effectiveness was doubtful. Today, after such rockets caused four deaths and hunderds of shock-related conditions in the Israeli city of Sderot, their effectiveness, as a psychological weapon against civilians, is no longer in doubt.

A plot to blow up an El Al plane at Geneva’s international airport has been thwarted by Swiss intelligence agencies. The authorities uncovered a terrorist cell that was plotting to strike an Israeli plane while it was taking off through an RPG rocket attack in

Hamas, in an effort to appear more pragmatic, has chosen two so-called “moderates” to fill positions in the new Palestinian government. But what makes these individuals “pragmatic” is the fact that they are willing to negotiate with Israel in the short term, while still engaging

Hamas wishes to continue its naval Jihad with the help of its financiers and affiliates in Turkey. The basic Israeli assumption that a greater flow of goods and supplies via checkpoints in Gaza would diminish Hamas motivation to continue its naval aid operations seems to have been wrong.

The Gadhafi Development Foundation, organizers of the Amal (“hope”) ship, which set sail with humanitarian aid for the Hamas government in Gaza, was involved in humanitarian activities proven as back channel assistance to terror organizations. A closer look at the Libyan ransom payments to release

At present, it is difficult to say whether the citizens of Egypt elected Muhammad Mursi because of his personality and stunning charisma, or whether because the Muslim Brotherhood was the last organized party left standing in post-revolution Egypt, the only one that could really recruit

The election of Muhammad Mursi to the presidency of Egypt, and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt 84 years after its founding by Hassan Al-Banna, is an historical, political earthquake which will be discussed for years to come, whose significance will

Hamas perceives the fighting in Lebanon as a kind of laboratory, where they were able to closely study the I.D.F.’s operations, and learn from Hizbullah’s guerilla tactics.

Al-Qaeda could expand its activities into Lebanon exploiting the current conflict there. Such a move, already publicly urged by Al-Qaeda leaders, could not be ruled out despite the gap between the predominantly Sunni Muslim group and Lebanon’s militant Shiite Hezbollah.

In series of videotaped lectures by Sheik Feiz Mohammed, head of the “Global Islamic Youth Center” in western Sydney, Jews were called “pigs” and pronounced “on their way to hell”, in addition to children being urged to become martyrs for Islam.

Terror suspect Daniel Joseph Maldonado is the first American accused of training with al-Qaida in Somalia. He was returned to the U.S. last week and charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the U.S. and knowingly receiving military-type training from a

2006 was the “radicalization year” within the Palestinian society which elected Hamas to lead their affairs through a new government after the long traditional dominance of Fatah.

In 1821, Heinrich Heine famously wrote: “Where they burn books, they will end in burning human beings.” One century later, Heine’s books were among thousands of books torched by the Nazis which foreshadowed the blazing ovens of the Holocaust. One can not turn a blind

According to members of the Egyptian Jihad organization, the collapse of the financial markets and the stock exchange in the U.S. is another step in the collapse process of the American “empire” after a string of ongoing defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Following the military take over of Gaza by Hamas in summer 2007, some analysts still differentiate between the “military” and the “political” wings of Hamas, drawing on the similar distinction in the IRA to prove their case. The case of the late Hamas Minister of Justice

The 26 November 2008 terror offensive in Mumbai is unusual not only for India, but on an international scale too. Authorities in India said Thursday at least 155 people were killed and at least 327 injured when suspected Islamic militants attacked 10 sites in Mumbai.

According to the Lebanese Daily Star Newspaper web site , the Islamist Osbat al-Ansar group based in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ein al-Hilweh issued a Fatwa forbidding its members against fighting the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). “It is against our religion to fight

After eluding police for a quarter of a century the notorious founder of the Japanese Red Army was arrested on Wednesday in Osaka, Japan.

Dr. Abd al Aziz Rantisi published a written statement on Hamas’s official web site calling on Muslims all over the world to wage an economic Jihad against the United States.

A plot to blow up an El Al plane at Geneva’s international airport has been thwarted by Swiss intelligence agencies. The authorities uncovered a terrorist cell that was plotting to strike an Israeli plane while it was taking off through an RPG rocket attack in

The decision is all the more significant given the importance of external funding sources to the Hamas-led Palestinian government.