Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by the Americans on June 7, 2006. Shortly after his death, his successors fulfilled his wishes by announcing the existence of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)
AAP Image/Yonhap
In an extract from his new book, The Mind of the Islamic State, Robert Manne unpacks the split between IS and Al Qaeda.
A burnt ancient manuscript at the Ahmed Baba Centre for Documentation and Research, in Timbuktu.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
The ICC sentence against Al-Mahdi for destroying ancient artifacts at Timbuktu sends the right message that the international community will not tolerate the destruction of heritage sites.
Somalia security escort Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy to a regional summit in Mogadishu, the first in 35 years.
Reuters/Feisal Omar
Al Shabaab is facing stress under increased pressure from the government and the regional states. But it should also be noted that predictions of its collapse have come and gone before
EPA/Zouhir al Shimale
A volunteer force that provides humanitarian aid in the worst of conditions, the White Helmets are the target of some very caustic conspiracy theory.
EPA/Divyakant Solanki
The US seems stuck in War-on-Terror mode even though reality has moved on.
The dust has yet to settle.
Anthony Correia/Shutterstock.com
Scarred by disastrous wars and thousands of deaths caused by terrorism, the world is still reeling from the events of September 2001.
Jabat Al-Nusra goes its own way.
Orient News TV/EPA
When it comes to the Syrian opposition, it’s practically impossible to separate ‘moderates’ from ‘extremists’.
EPA/Jawed Kargar
Afghanistan’s jihadist groups have plenty of disagreements, but they also trade fighters, training, and weapons.
Police guard the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray after a priest was killed.
Ian Langsdon/EPA
France needs to find a place for Islam in its fiercely secular state.
Prepaid cellphones are just one of many technological tools used by criminals and terrorists.
flip phone image via shutterstock.com
Throwaway phones are just one piece of the ever-widening technological arsenal of extremists and terror groups of all kinds.
EPA/Georgi Licovski
Ashraf Ghani has accused citizens of abandoning their country under the ‘slightest pressure’.
Terror on the beach in Grand Bassam.
Legnan Koula/EPA
The gun attack at a hotel marks another bloody chapter in West Africa’s fight against Islamist militancy.
Without the perfect-storm conditions of post-invasion insurgency, this most potent expression of al-Qaedaism yet would never have risen to dominate both the Middle East and the world in the way that it does.
Reuters/Stringer
The final article of our series on the historical roots of Islamic State examines the role recent Western intervention in the Middle East played in the group’s inexorable rise.
The site of an al-Qaida attack in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in January 2016.
REUTERS/Joe Penney
Western commentators tend to see ISIS and al-Qaida attacks as fueled by ideology. But in Africa, such attacks are more often turf wars in the illicit drug trade.
A flag-waving Islamic State fighter takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria’s northern Raqqa province.
Reuters/Stringer
How far back in history does one have to go to find the roots of the so-called Islamic State? The first article in our series on the genesis of the terrorist outfit considers some fundamentals.
On the lookout after the attack in Ouagadougou.
Reuters/Joe Penney
Burkina Faso is on its way to becoming a healthy and stable democracy – and that’s got West Africa’s jihadists riled.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who the French authorities say helped plan the Paris attacks.
Reuters
In the flurry of activity since Paris was attacked, the reasons it happened in the first place risk being forgotten.
As President Barack Obama extends America’s military presence in Afghanistan, Australia is determining what’s next for its military role.
Dan Peled/AAP
After 14 years of continued military presence and a decision by President Obama to keep US forces in Afghanistan, what is the next step for Australia’s role in the Afghanistan war?
One of many: a Free Syrian Army fighter.
Reuters
Russia has started bombing some of the groups machinating against Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Who are they, and what do they want?
Don’t believe the hype.
Reuters
Life in the caliphate wasn’t exactly as advertised for one group of former fighters.