Alex McQuade was a national security intern at the Brookings Institution. He recently graduated with a master’s degree in Terrorism and Homeland Security Policy from American University. Alex holds a BA in National Security Studies and Justice and Law, also from American University.
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Earlier this morning, five people were killed in an attack on a Jordanian intelligence service office at a Palestinian refugee camp near Amman.
Our rundown of this week's activity on Lawfare.
“For the first time in the two years since the leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, proclaimed the existence of an ‘Islamic caliphate’ straddling Syria and Iraq, the jihadi group is at real risk of losing much of the territory it holds.” According to the Guardian, “Four ISIS strongholds - two in Syria and two in Iraq - are now under concerted attack, and in all cases the militants defending them are struggling to contain well-organized
In a “room to room” battle, Al Shabaab attacked the Ambassador Hotel in Mogadishu last night leaving at least 15 people dead and more than 40 others wounded. The New York Times reports that the “militants detonated a deafening car bomb at the gates of a popular hotel in Somalia on Wednesday evening, and gunmen then stormed the hotel, leaving at least 15 people dead and creating a fiery scene of wrecked cars, crumbled buildings, panic, and smoke that stretch
U.S.-backed fighters in Syria are launching an offensive to capture the Manbij pocket from the Islamic State after weeks of quiet preparations. According to Reuters, the Manbij pocket is a crucial swath of territory in northern Syria.
“A human catastrophe is unfolding in Fallujah,” says Jan Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council. An estimated 50,000 civilians still remain trapped in the Iraqi city as the battle to reclaim it from the Islamic State’s grip continues.
Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was killed in a U.S. air strike over the weekend, throwing the Taliban into the second leadership shake-up in less than a year. Robert Chesney questioned if the AUMF was necessary for the strike in the first place.