UAE’s Crackdown on Gold Refineries: Strengthening Counter-Terrorism Efforts
The UAE has discontinued 32 local gold refineries for three months for neglecting to follow anti-money laundering laws, as the country strengthens its crackdown on financial offences. The Ministry of Economy undertakes a series of inspections on movements related to the trade and manufacture of precious metals and gemstones to ensure adherence to anti-money laundering […]
UAE’s Role in Counter-Terrorism: Addressing Autonomous Weapons and Digital Threats
The UAE has urged the international community to address the core causes of intolerance and extremism, including opposing disinformation on the internet and social media. Salem Al Zaabi, Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who oversaw the UAE’s delegation to the biennial United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week, was attended by Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head […]
IMCTC’s Fight Against Terrorism: Saudi Arabia’s Financial and Strategic Support
In Feb 2024, Prince Khalid bin Salman, minister of defence and director of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC), reported Saudi Arabia’s promise of $26.6 million in backing of the coalition. He stated this while inaugurating the second session of the IMCTC defence ministers in Riyadh. Ministers of […]
Qatar Hosts Global Dialogue on Women’s Role in Counter-Terrorism Efforts
International parliamentarians urged the importance of functioning to ensure women’s participation in combating terrorism and stopping violent extremism and determining the challenges and solutions required to improve their parliamentary representation in security and defence committees, in addition to sustaining capacity building that women parliamentarians need in approaches to combat terrorism and extremism and its legislation. […]
GCC and EU Forge Stronger Security Alliance with Focus on Counter-Terrorism
Two years after the European and the Gulf Cooperation Council disclosed their strategic partnership, they passed another landmark by maintaining a high-level meeting on security cooperation and counter-terrorism. All 33 member countries of the two coalitions were observed, with most represented by their foreign ministers. Security collaboration between the two groups has been born out […]
Iraq’s Multi-Faceted Counterterrorism Strategy: A Focus on ISIS and Militia Groups
The immediate terrorist threats within Iraq are the remains of ISIS’s Iraq province and Iran-aligned militia groups (IAMGs), which include U.S.-designated Kata’ib Hezbollah, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, and Harakat al-Nujaba. The U.S.-designated Kurdistan Workers’ Party, placed in the mountains of northern Iraq, functions in the vicinity of Sinjar, Ninewa province, in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR). […]
Terrorism in the Gulf: U.S. Initiatives and Regional Security
In recent times, the partnership between the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in defence and counter-terrorism matters has entered a crucial phase, driven by the pressing need to manage escalating security threats in the region. This upsurge in collaboration, echoed by Dan Shapiro, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East […]
Arab Gulf Security 1: Coordinating Counter-Terrorism Among GCC Nations
Security forces from all six Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations had carried out a series of counter-terrorism exercises, codenamed Arab Gulf Security 1. Hosted by Bahrain, the most undersized of the six Gulf Arab states, the country’s Ministry of Interior states the scenarios involve “invasion, rescue and the handling of insurgents”. The GCC comprises […]
Counterterrorism in Kuwait: Arrests, Foiled Plots, and International Cooperation
Kuwait is an active player in international fora and regularly partakes in counterterrorism training. The nation is a member of the Global Coalition to Beat ISIS and co-leads the Foreign Terrorist Fighters Working Group with Türkiye and the Netherlands. Kuwait has started its Financial Action Task Force mutual evaluation process. Recently, Kuwait has imprisoned a […]
Collaborative Defense: UAE and Bahrain’s Joint Military Exercise Against Terrorism
The UAE and Bahrain condemn, in their strongest terms, terrorism in all of its forms and continuously renew their commitment to combating terrorism and beating the extremist ideologies that fuel violence perpetrated by murderous terrorist groups, including Daesh, Al-Qaeda, and others. The threat of terrorism and extremism is a day-to-day challenge that targets the security […]