Souad Mekhennet

Washington, D.C.

Reporter covering national security, Middle East, North Africa, terrorism, Europe.

Education: Diploma, Johann-Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt/M. Political Science (International Relations, Peace and Conflict Research), History, Psychology, Sociology; Henri-Nannen-Journalism school, Hamburg

Souad Mekhennet is a correspondent for The Washington Post’s national security desk, and she has reported on terrorism for the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and NPR. She was a 2012 Nieman fellow at Harvard University, and she is a visiting fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies as well as the Geneva Center for Security Policy. She was also named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Mekhennet first reported for The Post in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, delving into the backgrounds of the Hamburg cell and w
Latest from Souad Mekhennet

German police arrest 25 over far-right plot to overthrow government

The group subscribed to conspiracy theories including QAnon and the Reichsbürger movement, which denies the existence of the modern German state, authorities said.

December 7, 2022

Rise in Iranian assassination, kidnapping plots alarms Western officials

The Iranian government has stepped up its efforts to kidnap or kill government officials, activists and journalists around the world, alarming Western officials.

December 1, 2022

Flow of Russian gas and cash entangled German state in dependent web

A state-backed climate foundation became an emblem of Germany’s craving for natural gas and its dependent, murky relationship with Moscow.

November 23, 2022

Ukraine live briefing: Russia to get more Iranian-developed drones, officials say; first train from Kyiv arrives in Kherson

Meanwhile, power outages plague Ukrainians and Rishi Sunak pledges $59 million for Ukraine during his first visit as prime minister.

November 19, 2022

Iran will help Russia build drones for Ukraine war, Western officials say

Moscow and Tehran have agreed on a plan to assemble Iranian-designed weapons on Russian soil.

November 19, 2022

Accused Pelosi attacker’s history shows blurry lines of radicalization

David DePape’s online extremism mutated across fringe movements. Analysts say this “side switching” is increasingly common.

October 31, 2022

The brazen murder that spotlighted Berlin’s timid Russia policy

The unwillingness to punish President Vladimir Putin for a killing in Berlin ordered by Moscow added to the Kremlin’s sense of impunity before the Ukraine war.

August 5, 2022

Zawahiri’s legacy: Querulous bands of militants and a chance for rebirth

The end of the Zawahiri era finds the al-Qaeda movement in a state of disarray, experts say, but also offers the terrorist group a chance for some rebirth.

August 2, 2022

U.S. kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in drone strike in Kabul

Both Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden escaped U.S. forces in Afghanistan in late 2001, and Zawahiri’s whereabouts had long been a mystery.

August 2, 2022

After invasion of Ukraine, a reckoning on Russian influence in Austria

The invasion of Ukraine has accelerated a reckoning in Austria on the risks for countries that fall under Moscow's sway.

July 5, 2022