Terror Financing

Nigeria’s ransom economy has become one of the most visible indicators of the country’s widening security crisis in 2025. What once appeared as isolated banditry has transformed into a structured market shaped by data, negotiation patterns and clear regional specialisation. The model now intersects with organised crime, terror financing and the erosion of formal state […]

Sudan’s armed struggle entered a decisive and devastating phase between 2023 and 2025 as gold revenues, regional rivalries, and foreign sponsorship intertwined to empower the Rapid Support Forces. While Sudan’s wealth in minerals and agricultural land should have driven development, the political economy of conflict redirected these assets into a military patronage network. Central to […]

The use of legitimate business to finance terror groups has become a hallmark in the global security agencies. These front companies which run under the pretense of normal business allow terrorist groups to mask illicit financial operations, acquire resources and send money without much investigation. One example of such cases was uncovered by the authorities […]

In a 2025 campaign against the militias supported by the Iranian regime in Iraq, the United States has significantly expanded its penalties not only on the organizations, but also on the financial networks supporting them. On September 17, the official designation of four large groups, namely, Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al Shuhada, Harakat […]

Canada’s 2025 acknowledgement that Khalistani extremist groups receive funding from within its territory has introduced a critical new dimension in Indo-Canadian relations. The Finance Department’s national risk assessment lists Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) as terror-linked organizations benefiting from domestic support. This is the first time Ottawa has formally recognized […]

In 2025, global cocaine markets are in new territories of production and penetration that are increasingly intertwined with financing terrorist activities than ever before. The United Nations Office on Drugs and crime (UNODC) reports that cocaine production has reached a new high of 3,708 metric tons in 2023, and that its consumption has increased in […]

In July 2025, Tether, issuer of the world’s most circulated stablecoin USDT, froze $1.6 million in assets linked to a Gaza-based terror financing network. The move seized wallets attributed to BuyCash Money and Money Transfer Company, a monetary organization based in Gaza and already involved with unlawful transmission of finances to listed terrorist groups. The […]

With numerous convictions on terrorism funding that have taken place in Nigeria recently, the viability of the strategy that the country is employing to counter Boko Haram violence and other forms of extremism has once again become the topic of a debate. In July 2025, 44 cases of prison sentences of 10 to 30 years […]

In 2025, the European Union is going through a significant transformation of a counterterrorism strategy. The essence of this change is a growing propensity of marking activist networks, especially those promoting the rights of Palestinians as a national and continental security menace. The liberalization of EU terror listing has also put groups like Samidoun and […]

In 2025, the South African telecommunications firm MTN Group finds itself at the heart of a heated scandal involving suspicions of cooperation in terror financing linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). U.S. legal actions and legislative scrutiny have spotlighted MTN’s 49% ownership of Irancell, Iran’s largest mobile operator, which courts and authorities have […]

Money laundering and terrorist financing remain among the most persistent threats to global security, economic stability, and human rights. The recent joint call to action by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), INTERPOL, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signals a renewed urgency for coordinated, innovative, and scalable responses. Illicit Financial […]