ISIS DIVERSIFIES ITS PORTFOLIO
With its oil revenue dwindling as a result of ongoing Coalition military action, the Islamic State has increasingly turned to new financial ventures in order to bolster its flagging revenue stream. The terrorist group has renewed old profit ventures like car dealerships and fish farms as a way of making up lost profits. The group has also increased its focus on taxation of the individuals and businesses under its control; recent weeks reportedly have seen an expansion of the Islamic State's taxation of agricultural land, and it has imposed a 10% tax on poultry products generated by farms on its territory. (Business Insider, April 28, 2016)
KABUL FINDS NO HELP FROM ISLAMABAD
Afghanistan's government won't be receiving any assistance in its fight against the Taliban from its eastern neighbor. A top Pakistani foreign policy official has rejected the possibility that the country would accede to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's demands and either arrest or evict members of the militant movement from its soil. The official, foreign policy advisor Sartaj Aziz, has claimed that taking such steps would be "premature," and emphasized the need for Kabul to exercise greater patience in pursuing a negotiated solution with Taliban insurgents, as had previously been considered. "The reconciliation option cannot materialize in just two to four weeks and should be given due time because it is the only way to bring peace to Afghanistan," Aziz has said. (Voice of America, May 3, 2016)
A NEW ROLE FOR HAMAS
Iran wants to liberate Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, from the Islamic State - and it plans to deploy Hamas in order to do it. The Islamic Republic is reportedly attempting to coax the Palestinian terrorist group to take up arms and fight alongside its chief proxy, Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, to help retake the Iraqi city, which is home to several important Shi'ite holy sites. Iran's plans, however, are larger still; Tehran also wants to harness Hamas in order to expand its power in the oil-rich, Kurdish controlled city of Kirkuk. Doing so, however, hinges on Tehran successfully wooing the Palestinian movement away from its current position of general neutrality in the face of competing claims on its loyalty from both Iran and Saudi Arabia. (Jerusalem Post, April 25, 2016)
AL-QAEDA'S NORTHERN FRONT
In a marked shift in strategy, the Islamic State's chief ideological rival now appears to be embracing the group's dual priorities of territorial conquest and expansion. Al-Qaeda's Syrian franchise, Jabhat al Nusra, is now said to be poised to establish a proto-state in northern Syria, having managed to carve out a fiefdom of its own in the midst of the Syrian civil war. The move is made possible by the group's growing political and operational strength, which has expanded significantly in recent weeks as a result of overwhelming Coalition focus on the Islamic State in its military operations. (Foreign Policy, May 4, 2016)
HEZBOLLAH: ALL IN THE FAMILY
Lebanon's terrorist powerhouse has a new military chief. The Shi'ite militia has reportedly elevated Mustafa Mughniyeh to the role of military commander following the recent death in Syria of its longtime operations chief, Mustafa Badreddine. The Mughniyeh appointment represents a continuum of sorts; Hezbollah's newest military coordinator is the nephew of Badreddine, and the son of Imad Mughniyeh, the shadowy Hezbollah terrorist mastermind who was killed by Israel in Lebanon back in 2008. (London Asharq al-Awsat, May 17, 2016)
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