Christopher Lee Cornell, the 20 year old Cincinnati man also using the online persona "Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah" on social media, was arrested by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force on January 14, 2015 for allegedly planning to plant pipe bombs at the U.S. Capitol and then open fire on those nearby.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) January 14 release of a video claiming responsibility for the deadly attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris provides not only confirmation of its involvement, but also insight into the group’s methods of operation.

Following the January 7 armed attack on staff members of the French satirical news publication, Charlie Hebdo, French media sources have quoted a witness report that one of the shooters stated, "Tell the media that this is al-Qaeda in the Yemen," in reference to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Based on the long history of incitements against the newspaper by al-Qaeda (AQ) and AQAP, this account should not be dismissed.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement has proven to be resilient following the death of Mukhtar Abu al-Zubeir (AKA Ahmed Abdi Godane), largely putting to rest statements from Washington that the group had been diminished.

We always hear about the overwhelming social media campaigns by the Islamic State (IS), and how they flood the internet with gruesome images of beheadings, threats, military achievements, and victories. But what about al-Qaeda (AQ) fighters and supporters? After all, geographically speaking, they include a much larger array of areas and groups, from AQ in Afghanistan, Shabaab al-Mujahideen in Somalia, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Algeria, and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).