Iraq
Iraqi soldier tells of desertion as militants attacked refinery: ‘Our officers sold us out’
Monthly Archives: July 2014
Iraq
In Iraq, death toll rises among Shiite recruits battling insurgency
Afghanistan
Pakistan Claims Win Against Militants Along Afghan Border, but Enemy Slips Away
Europe
UN asks Europe to take Syrian refugees as region saturated
Australian cleric who claimed to join Islamic State captured in Philippines
Musa Cerantonio claimed he arrived in Syria on July 3, but he was recently arrested in Cebu.
Taliban calls for reconciliation in Syria, avoids mentioning Islamic State’s caliphate
The Taliban’s statement avoids any explicit mention of the Islamic State or its announced caliphate, even though the Islamic State has claimed that all Muslims must pledge allegiance to its leader.
Pakistan
Crime spree helps Pakistani Taliban squirrel away cash before raids begin
Al Qaeda
Dabiq: the smiling face trying to sell Iraq-Syria ‘caliphate’
Afghanistan
The Taliban killed six de-miners in an attack on a convoy in Herat and a general in a magnetic mine attack in Kabul. The European Union said the results of the presidential election must be audited. The United Nations said civilian casualties are the highest they have been since 2009.
Iraq
Kurdish members of parliament as well as cabinet ministers said that they would boycott the government. The military claimed it killed 35 Islamic State fighters in Fallujah and Ramadi, 30 more in Rabiah, and an additional 25 Islamic State fighters in Babil. The Islamic State killed four policemen near Tikrit.
Syria
The Islamic State has been using weapons captured in Iraq to expand its offensive in Kurdish areas in the north, aiming to take over the entire Kobani region. In Deir Izzour, the IS arrested a number of drug users; allowed residents of Khasham to return to their homes if they “repented” and turned in one […]
Lebanon
A military judge issued an arrest warrant for B.M., a defector from the Syrian army suspected of membership in the Islamic State who allegedly was recruiting fellow Syrians for suicide attacks against the Assad regime. The suspect, who was arrested on the Beirut-Bekaa highway, had fought with the Islamic Farouq Brigades in Syria. Demonstrators carrying […]
Afghanistan
Karzai agrees to UN proposal for the audit of 3.5 million votes
Afghanistan
Afghan aid is dropping, but how fast is too fast?
Sweden
‘Malmö has not become safer for Jews’: rabbi
Social Media Jihad: Zawahiri on how to build an Islamic state
Sanafi al Nasr, a senior al Qaeda operative, reposted part of a message from Ayman al Zawahiri that was released in January. The excerpt deals with how al Qaeda thinks an Islamic State should be built. It is intended as a rebuttal to the Islamic State’s announced caliphate, which al Qaeda still has not officially addressed.
Al Qaeda
Turkey faces threat from returning jihadists
Iraq
Fallujah key to defeating Islamic State in Iraq
Israel
The Israeli military claimed to have hit over 750 targets in Gaza so far on the third day of its offensive, including 320 Hamas targets such as underground tunnel networks and rocket launching sites last night. Of the 250 missiles and mortars launched from Gaza towards Israel in recent days, the Iron Dome interceptor has […]
Palestinian Territories
Palestinian officials said Israeli strikes in Gaza that began on July 8 have killed at least 77 Palestinians so far. Militants in Gaza continued to launch missiles into Israel; both Islamic Jihad and Hamas’ Al Qassem Brigades have claimed attacks. President Abbas has denounced the Israeli attacks, and has not criticized Hamas for launching missiles […]
Iraq
Bruised Iraqi army leans on Shi’ite militias, volunteers
Turkey
A Shiite mosque in Istanbul was vandalized twice in two days. Following a July 7 agreement by Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden to develop an “action plan” to prevent jihadists from returning to Europe, Turkish authorities have begun talking to families of jihadists and investigating aid organizations that allegedly […]
Islamic State
Islamic State militants on offensive against Kurds in northern Syria near Turkish border
US drone strike kills 6 ‘militants’ in North Waziristan
The strike took place in an area of North Waziristan that has served as a command center for al Qaeda’s military.
United Kingdom
Prime Minister Cameron said new laws to help track Internet and telephone records will be implemented next week as part of emergency measures due to the “grave” terrorist threat to national security posed by extremists in Iraq and Syria. The new laws restore powers that were invalidated by a European Court of Justice ruling last […]
United States
Defense Secretary Hagel said the Islamic State poses a threat to the US as well as to Europe and other US allies in the Middle East. The Treasury Department today sanctioned a Lebanon-based Hezbollah technology procurement network with subsidiaries in China and the United Arab Emirates, and yesterday sanctioned a U.A.E.-based petroleum products company and […]
United States
Hagel suggests Islamic State militants pose threat to US homeland
Al Nusrah Front
Lebanese jihadis pledging allegiance to the Islamic State
Afghanistan
The Taliban took control of Char Sada district in Ghor. A suicide assault team killed four policemen and five civilians in an attack on the police headquarters and the governor’s compound in Kandahar. The military said it killed a senior Taliban commander and 17 fighters in Helmand. Two soldiers were killed in IED attacks.
Islamic State
Syria’s Druze reject autonomous statelet despite growing ISIS threats