Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Terrorism Finance and Wildlife Poaching

Terrorism Finance and Wildlife Poaching

Last month, al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate based in the Horn of Africa, released a recruitment video showcasing its appetite for poaching. In the video, al-Shabaab members boasted that they don't need hunting permits, proclaimed that jihad is the “tourism of the ummah (nation),” and then proceeded to kill and mutilate a giraffe that was roaming in Kenya’s Boni National Reserve.

Links between terrorist organizations and poaching is a topic that has generated a fair amount of debate. A 2011 publication by the Elephant Action League (EAL) has served as a focal point for the discussion, alleging that proceeds from poaching may comprise up to 40 percent of al-Shabaab’s operating budget.

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Related Articles

An Engaging Look at U.S. – China Relations

BOOK REVIEW: Breaking the Engagement: How China Won and Lost AmericaBy David Shambaugh / Oxford University PressReviewed by: Paul HeerThe Reviewer — [...] More

Report for Tuesday, June 10, 2025

8:34 America/New_York Tuesday, June 10 [...] More

A Closer Look at the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on Defense Spending

OPINION COLUMN -- “The one Big Beautiful [Reconciliation] Bill currently making its way through Congress, in combination with [fiscal 2025] base [...] More

Dead Drop: June 6

THE TANGLED WEB: For an excellent deep dive into the meaning and mechanics of Ukraine’s stunning deep strike into Russia that destroyed or damaged [...] More
China’s ‘Leap Forward’ in Drone Weapons

China’s ‘Leap Forward’ in Drone Weapons

DEEP DIVE – China’s military is in the midst of an innovation and manufacturing boom in drone weaponry — a “leap forward,” as one expert put it, that [...] More

Report for Monday, June 9, 2025

8:39 America/New_York Monday, June 9 [...] More