After years of trying to discipline him, the leaders of al-Qaida’s North African branch sent a scathing final letter to their most difficult employee, describing how he failed to turn in his expense reports and carry out orders. Moktar Belmoktar responded the way talented employees with bruised egos have in corporations the world over: He quit.  More »

Katy resident Frederick Buttaccio was killed in the attack on a natural gas facility in Algeria. Another Houston-area man also was taken captive. His fate is unknown.  More »

When al-Qaida tried in 2006 to blow up Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq oil processing facility, arguably the world’s most important petroleum hub, it was taken as a sign of strength that internal security had foiled the attack. U.S. State Department cables tell a different story.  More »

Al-Qaida last summer considered hijacking and detonating tankers in non-Muslim seas to provoke an “extreme economic crisis” in the West, according to documents seized from Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.  More »