For context on the Moscow attack, here is an essential reading list of CTC Sentinel articles. CTC Sentinel is the flagship publication of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. 1. The Enduring Duel: Islamic State Khorasan’s Survival under Afghanistan’s New Rulers (AUGUST 2023) ctc.westpoint.edu/the-enduring-d…

New York Times: "Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, held an hourslong online meeting in March with an elite group of strategists from all the Iran-backed militias and told them to get ready for a war with Israel with a scope and reach — including a ground invasion — that would mark a new era, according to two participants from Iran and Syria" New York Times: "Some people familiar with the operation said that a tight circle of leaders from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas helped plan the attack starting over a year ago, trained militants and had advanced knowledge of it."

1. Thread: In a landmark publication @CTCWP Sentinel has released the first of two special issues examining the biological threat.

https://twitter.com/CTCWP/status/1519360610978443265

2. The feature article by West Point & U.S army scientists anticipates the exploitation of tunable viral agents in a new age of bioterror.

https://twitter.com/CTCWP/status/1519361015980433408?t=f7MMMf23e3aQiipLM4Lt7g&s=19

1. Mega thread a year on from January 6 on CTC Sentinel's spotlight on the nexus to violence of far-right extremism. @CTCWP Sentinel is the flagship publication of West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, widely viewed as the nation's leading terrorism research center. 2. It is my privilege to oversee CTC Sentinel. Well before Jan 6 it was clear that violent far-right extremism was a gathering threat. We have engaged with the best and the brightest scholars and practioners to shed light on the threat vectors, dynamics and entities of concern.

1. Is AQ leader Ayman al-Zawahiri alive? The analyst @abdsayedd points out that in his new video Zawahiri mourns Abu Muhammad Sudani killed circa 15-Oct 2020. This seems to date the recording to some time after that. 2. It was reported by @hxhassan that according to his sources Zawahiri died that same month October 2020.

https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1327310792383983616?s=19

On this anniversary, our deepest sympathies are with those who have lost loved ones to terrorism. Responding to the threat has been a noble undertaking. We deeply appreciate those who've served. Their sacrifices have saved many lives. The threat endures. ctc.usma.edu/september-2021/ 1. It has been 20 years since 9/11. In the wake of the attacks, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC) was established to provide cadets and policymakers with best-in-class research so that they could better understand and confront the threat.

Former Acting CIA Director @MichaelJMorell's recounting of what it was like on Air Force One on 9/11 is one of the most compelling pieces of testimony you will ever see. It is part of the special "Twenty Years After 9/11" issue of @CTCWP Sentinel. For our full interview with @MichaelJMorell see ctc.usma.edu/twenty-years-a…

1. In the last several years the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point @CTCWP has published authoritative research on ISK, the ISIS branch which claimed the Kabul airport bombing. 2. This 2018 @CTCWP study by @AmiraJadoon is essential reading
ctc.usma.edu/allied-lethal-…

Breaking: Khalid Batarfi, the leader of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, is under arrest, UN report reveals. The report states he was detained in “an operation” in Yemen in October. Here is my story for CNN cnn.com/2021/02/04/pol… Also significant: The UN report states that no member state has been able to confirm reports of the death from natural causes of al Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in October.

With @BillGates warning that a bioterror attack involving a pathogen with a high death rate “is kind of the nightmare scenario” & potentially the next big global threat, we asked five top thinkers to what extent the CT community needs to revisit the threat ctc.usma.edu/a-view-from-th… One of our panelists, @JCZarate1, assessed that "the severity and extreme disruption of a novel coronavirus will likely spur the imagination of the most creative and dangerous groups and individuals to reconsider bioterrorist attacks."

Thread in light of the November 2019 London Bridge attack: There have been previous terrorist attacks in Europe involving attackers wearing fake suicide vests. One example. The Jan 2016 Paris Police Station knife attacker google.com/amp/s/amp.theg…

Thread: Some tentative observations on the Sri Lanka Easter Day terror attacks. This was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in history. Given the number of attackers and locations (including on opposite sides of the country) targeted in a short space of time it would likely have required significant coordination and planning.

Historical context 1/5: An al Qaeda linked plot to target Christmas market in Strasbourg was thwarted in 2000. Historical context 2/5: One of November 2015 Paris attackers was from Strasbourg.

Surabaya church attacks: One family responsible, police say - bbc.co.uk/news/world-asi… The Surabaya attacks saw a confluence of several trends @CTCWP Sentinel has been tracking...