Iraq
US forces move into Iraq with security mission
Monthly Archives: June 2014
Morocco
Morocco protects mosques from religious extremism
Kenya
The Red Cross said 52 people are missing following a suspected Shabaab attack on the coastal town of Mpeketoni on June 15; the next day 15 more people were killed in an attack on a nearby village. President Kenyatta claimed that the attack was politically motivated and not the work of Shabaab. Witnesses claimed that […]
Iraq
UN investigators warn of wider sectarian war across Iraq, Syria
Libya
US officials said that Ahmed Abu Khattala, the alleged ringleader of Ansar al Sharia’s deadly September 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, was captured by US commandos during a raid near Benghazi on June 15. Khalid Hafter, head of the “Operation Dignity” forces, warned foreign militants to leave Libya or be killed there; […]
Iraq
Iraq’s Maliki defies call to reach out, accuses Saudis of ‘genocide’
US adds AQAP leader involved in embassy plot to terrorist list
Shawki Ali Ahmed al Badani was involved in the 2013 plot to attack US diplomatic facilities throughout the world, as well as the US embassy in Sana’a and a suicide attack that killed more than 100 Yemeni soldiers. The US targeted Badani in a drone strike late last year.
Yemeni tribal leader joins AQAP
Southern Yemeni tribal leader Tareq al Fadhli broke the terms of his house arrest in Aden and announced that he has joined AQAP.
ISIS, Iraqi forces battle for capital of Diyala
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham is pressing its offensive into Diyala province to the northeast of Baghdad in order to cut off the road from Baghdad to Samarra.
Algeria
Security forces dismantled a terrorist cell in El Oued in Souf, near the Tunisian border, that was financing jihadists across the border in Kasserine. Eleven people were arrested and 115,000 euros was seized during the raid.
Spain
Spanish authorities arrested nine members of a jihadist cell in Madrid yesterday that recruited fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham in Syria and Iraq. The cell is led by Moroccan national Lahcen Ikassrien, 47, a former Guantanamo detainee who was handed over in 2005 to Spain, where he was released after […]
United Kingdom
The trial of two suspected terrorists, Erol Incedal, a British national of Turkish origin, and Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadjar, a British national of Algerian origin, who are both 26 and from London, was delayed until October. The Court of Appeal recently blocked the government’s attempt to hold the first completely secret criminal trial, ruling that while the […]
ISIS releases a variety of videos
The videos document an attack on a police station, the freeing of prisoners, and the details of the group’s 18 core tenets.
Jihadists celebrate release of influential ideologue from Jordanian prison
The jihadist ideologue known as Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi has been released from a Jordanian prison. Officials in the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and other jihadists are celebrating Maqdisi’s release.
Pakistan
The Pakistani military has claimed it killed more than 170 “terrorists” in a series of “precise strikes” in North Waziristan. The military claims no civilians were killed, and said most of those killed were “Uzbeks” or members of the Turkistan Islamic Party.
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed two poll workers and a policeman in an attack on a convoy that was transporting ballots in Helmand, and five members of a family in an IED attack in Kandahar. The United Nations said that al Qaeda and allied groups remain a major threat to Afghanistan and the wider region.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham took control of Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq. The military claimed it killed 20 ISIS fighters in airstrikes in Balad and an ISIS commander from Algeria and four aides in Fallujah. The military also claimed it retook Jurf al Sakhar and killed 28 ISIS fighters.
Pakistani forces focus on ‘foreigners’ in North Waziristan operation
The military appears to be focused the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan as well as foreign fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Turkistan Islamic Party.
ISIS ‘a transnational jihadist group’
Thomas Joscelyn discusses Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, its goals to establish a caliphate and current offensive in Iraq, the destabilizing influence of Iran, and the West’s lack of strategy to deal with jihadism.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham’s quiet war minister
Little is publicly known about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham’s war minister. But he was appointed in April 2010 and the war ministry he leads has been in charge of planning the group’s operations in the past.
Germany
German police arrested French jihadist Tewffik Bouallag in Berlin as he arrived on a flight from Istanbul. Bouallag, a native Frenchman, reportedly fought in Syria with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham and is thought to have returned to Europe to recruit fighters for Syria or to plan attacks.
Iran
Iraq forces blunt ISIS advance, US Embassy bolsters security
Afghanistan
My Search for the Taliban Five
Afghanistan
The defense minister claimed that 146 Taliban fighters, 39 civilians, and 18 soldiers were killed during election day violence. A Taliban suicide assault team killed three policemen in an attack in Kandahar; seven members of the Taliban team were killed in the attack. The Taliban killed 11 civilians in an IED attack in Samangan.
Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham’s Salahaddin Division released photographs of the execution of scores soldiers captured at Tasfirat prison in the city of Tikrit. The ISIS killed 15 people in bombings in Baghdad, and launched attacks on Tal Afar and Tarmiyah. The military claimed it killed 80 ISIS fighters in airstrikes in […]
Syria
Regime forces attacked an ISIS office in Hasakah, clashed with ISIS fighters over the Sha’r gas field in Homs, and attacked the ISIS headquarters and sharia court in Raqqah city in Raqqah. The regime airstrikes against ISIS strongholds in eastern Syria were coordinated with Iraq. The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front battled regime […]
Lebanon
A Saudi news outlet claimed that Hezbollah is sending more fighters into Syria as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham continues its offensive in Iraq. Gunmen from Syria crossed over into Arsal but fled back across the border when Lebanese forces fired at them. Firefighters in Akkar stopped a blaze from reaching a […]
Kenya
Suspected Shabaab gunmen attacked Mpeketoni police station in Lamu county, then set fire to three hotels, a restaurant, and a police station before fleeing. At least six people were killed in the attack, but the casualty count is likely to rise; the Red Cross was unable to visit the town due to ongoing violence. Political […]
Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula killed eight people while opening fire on a bus that was transporting medical personnel. Troops from the Presidential Guards surrounded a mosque in Sana’a that is run by former President Saleh after rumors of coup swirled in the capital.
ISIS takes control of Tal Afar
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham continues to consolidate its grip on Ninewa province.