Sunday May 2nd, 2021 will mark ten years since U.S. Navy Seals killed al-Qaeda’s longtime leader Osama bin Laden in a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The sense of optimism following the operation targeting the elusive terrorist leader| The Soufan Center
Last week, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced a drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, shifting to 2,500 troops in early January just before President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is set to assume office| The Soufan Center
In the last two decades, massive efforts of the so-called Global War on Terror (GWoT) in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (AfPak) region resulted in severe blows to al-Qaeda. However, the group maintains deep, covert roots in the AfPak's jihadist landscape, ensuring its longevity in the region| The Soufan Center
A recently released report by the UN Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team confirms what many in the counterterrorism community have been warning about — ties between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda remain strong and could grow stronger after the United States completes its troop withdrawal| The Soufan Center
