A 1995 cease-fire failed to lessen hostilities between the KNPP and Burmese government.  Military action by the government in the Karen region over the past year has caused mass destruction in villages and unknown numbers of non-combatant deaths.  Many Karen and other ethnic minorities have established refugee camps along the Burma-Thailand border, where groups like the KNPP are likely to be based.  <P> It is expected that the KNPP will remain active in Burma, so long as the government maintains its aggressive stance against minorities in the region.  Incidents carried out by the KNPP thus far have not caused significant damage, but as membership and alliances are expected grow, the KNPP may consider larger scale and more dangerous attacks.  <br />  <br />

Kata'ib al-Junayd al-Jihadiyah (Junayd Jihadist Brigades) is a terrorist organization operating in Iraq that has only been responsible for one attack, in which the group kidnapped two truck drivers working for the US military. Despite releasing a video shortly after the kidnapping demanding that efforts to rescue the hostages be stopped, the group revealed nothing about their political goals. The identity and location of the two hostages remains unknown.<br /><p><br />Kata'ib al-Junayd al-Jihadiyah is named after famous Iraqi Sufi cleric, Junayd al-Baghdadi. Sufi mysticism is not doctrinally-aligned with either the Sunni or Shia branches of Islam. Somewhat surprisingly, since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a growing number of Sufi clerics, a majority of whom find their religious roots in Baghdad, have voiced their support for the Iraqi resistance, Wahabi extremism, and Osama bin Laden. It is possible that this group is a radical manifestation of Sufi frustration with Coalition forces, who are increasingly perceived as occupiers rather than liberators.<br />

Kata'ib al-Junayd al-Jihadiyah has only committed one attack in its history. However, armed attacks and kidnappings of foreigners committed by self-purported resistance groups are very common in Iraq. Group motives range from the very specific (release of a particular leader) to the very general (opposition to the "Zionist and Western crusade"). Many groups also commit acts of violence simply for financial gain. It appears that Kata'ib al-Junayd al-Jihadiyah has a general anti-occupation political agenda, as it issued no monetary demands, and given the uncertain state of affairs in Iraq, it is assumed that the group is still active.