Pieter Van Ostaeyen

Pieter Van Ostaeyen (1977) studied Medieval History with a specialization in the history of the Crusades (KU Leuven 1999) and Arabic and Islamic Studies, focusing on the history of Salah ad Din al-Ayyubi and the Assassins (KU Leuven 2003). Working as an independent analyst he has been analyzing the conflict in Syria and Jihadi activity throughout the country since 2011. In 2012 he began reporting on foreign fighters and global jihadism covering extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and The Islamic State. Currently he is working on a PhD at KU Leuven on different aspects of The Islamic State’s ideology and engaged in monitoring Jihadi activities in the Sahel