Syria
War profiteers plunder Syria
Monthly Archives: May 2014
Hamas
Hamas denies ISIS presence after Gaza jihadist killed in Syria
Jordan
The organizers of the 20-nation “Eager Lion 2014” military exercise, which is currently underway, said that no Israeli troops are involved and no chemical weapons are being used in the training. About 7,500 US troops are currently in Jordan, of whom 6,000 are engaged in Eager Lion. After several US government personnel were chased by […]
Libya
Airstrikes by General Haftar’s forces hit Islamist targets in Benghazi, including a February 17 militia base and an Ansar al Sharia base in Gwarsha; military operations by Haftar’s forces are ongoing in the city. Ansar al Sharia’s Benghazi commander, Mohammed Al-Zahawi, called Haftar’s Dignity Campaign a “war against Islam” and said Ansar al Sharia would […]
Kenya
Police claimed to have arrested two terror suspects in Mandera county: Yunis Mohammed Osman, a Somali, and Mahabub Aden Adow, a Kenyan. Osman had escaped from the Dadaab refugee camp, and Adow had ben previously charged with terrorism and freed on bail. Antiterrorism police arrested Mbaraka Omar Ramadhani, a Tanzanian member of Shabaab who was […]
Nigeria
Gunmen in Kogi state killed a monarch after dragging him out of his palace, and also killed a local vigilante head. Gunmen killed four people as they were sleeping in Wat village in Jos, and injured several others. Authorities arrested one suspect in the May 20 Jos market bombing. A Chibok official said four of […]
Libya
US urges citizens to leave Libya immediately
US to end presence in Afghanistan by end of 2016
The US will maintain 9,800 troops for training and counterterrorism missions until the end of 2015, halve that number by the beginning of 2016, and then pull out all troops by the end of that year.
Jailed jihadist ideologue says the ISIS is a ‘deviant organization’
The Al Nusrah Front is promoting a new statement purportedly written by Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi, who denounces the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). Despite being jailed in Jordan, Maqdisi claims to have taken part in the efforts to end the jihadist infighting in Syria. Maqdisi also says he informed al Qaeda head Ayman al Zawahiri of his role.
United States
President Obama is planning a further reduction in US troop levels in Afghanistan, drawing down to 9,800 by the end of this year, diminishing to half that by the end of 2015, and leaving just embassy staff by late 2016. If no agreement regarding status of forces is reached with Afghanistan, there is a possibility […]
Al Nusrah Front
Swedish spy chief warns of rise of Islamist threat
Syria
Senior Hezbollah commander Fawzi Ayoub a.k.a. Abu Abbas was killed while fighting in Nawa in Deraa. An OPCW team investigating alleged chlorine gas attacks in the town of Kfar Zeita in Hama was attacked on the way but managed to visit the town. The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front battled regime forces in […]
Tajikistan
Tajik authorities are investigating a video purporting to show a Tajik jihadist in Syria, identified as Nusrat Nazarov, along with 21 other fighters. In the video, Nazarov denounces prominent Tajik mullah Hoji Mirzo Ibronov, who has said there is no holy war in Syria. Nearly 200 Tajiks are thought to have gone to Syria to […]
Shabaab takes credit for double suicide bombings in Djibouti
The al Qaeda branch has officially opened a new front in the Horn of Africa.
Turkmenistan
A group of militants led by Ghulam Destghir Topan crossed over from Afghanistan’s Faryab province into Turkmenistan, killed three Turkmen soldiers, and stole their weapons before returning to Afghan territory. In late February, militants crossed over from Badghis province and killed three Turkmen border guards. Parts of Afghanistan’s northern border provinces of Faryab and Jawzjan […]
Russia
Security forces claimed to have killed five militants during a May 24 raid in Sagopshi, Ingushetia, in which a policeman and his wife also died. The five suspects were blamed for the murder of Ingush Security Council secretary Ahmed Kotiev in August 2013.
Free Syrian Army
Obama Close to Authorizing Military Training of Syrian Rebels
Al Qaeda
Boko Haram shows changing al Qaeda threat
Libya
Mohamed Zahawi, the head of Ansar al Sharia’s Benghazi brigade, warned the US against intervening in Libya on the side of Haftar Khalifa’s forces. The EU’s envoy said terrorist groups in the east, particularly Ansar al Sharia, pose a threat that extends beyond Libya’s borders. Haftar’s forces said they destroyed Islamist weapons stockpiles in Sidi […]
American took part in suicide bombings, Al Nusrah Front sharia official says
A top sharia official in the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, says that a suicide bomber who recently took part in a coordinated assault was known as Abu Hurayra al Amriki, or Abu Hurayra “the American.” The bomber’s identity has not been confirmed by US officials.
Libya
US Training Elite Antiterror Troops in Four African Nations
AQAP eulogizes commander killed in April drone strike
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released a eulogy for the fallen emir of Mahfad, Ali bin Lakraa’ al Kazimi al Awlaki, who was killed by a US drone strike in late April.
AQAP documents confiscated by Yemeni military
The Yemeni media reported today that documents confiscated during the southern offensive in Shabwa and Abyan provinces include communications between AQAP commander Jalal al Marqishi and a commander in Abyan’s Mahfad district.
Nigeria
Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base and police barracks in Buni Yadi in Yobe state, killing at least 25 security personnel and 10 others, and setting fire to the base, the barracks, a courthouse, and the home of the district chief. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo met last week in Ogun state with Boko Haram […]
Qatar
Syrian Rebels Describe US-Backed Training in Qatar
Inter-Services Intelligence Agency
Geo TV owners print front-page apology to Pakistan’s ISI spy chief
Syria
The Al Nusrah Front announced the creation of the “Baas Foundation for Production and Military Development” and urged Muslim weapons experts worldwide to submit ideas to improve al Qaeda’s arsenal in Syria and beyond. Al Nusrah carried out two car bombings in Homs city, followed up with rocket attacks on rescuers; and four suicide attacks […]
Bahrain
A court sentenced five people to prison for planning attacks on the US Navy base, Safriya palace, and Gudaibiya palace; using hot air balloons to disrupt aviation; and trying to help wanted Bahrainis to escape into Iraq. The cell allegedly plotted with fugitive terrorist Abdulraouf Al Shayeb. Six members of the so-called Al Ashtar Brigades […]
Suicide bombers attacked Western soldiers in Djibouti
Two Somalis, a man and a woman, detonated their bombs at a restaurant in Djibouti known to be frequented by Western troops.
Kenya
An estimated 10 Shabaab fighters ambushed a Kenyan Defense Force patrol in Lamu and killed two soldiers. The Kenyan troops killed at least one Shabaab fighter after destroying a pickup truck in a counterattack.