One day before Tuesday’s US airstrike in southeastern Syria, Iranian media announced the death of an Afghan militiaman in the vicinity of the Tanf military base, where coalition forces are training Syrian insurgents fighting the Islamic State.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for its first major attacks inside Iran earlier today. Although the group has long fought Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria, it had never struck Tehran. Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani previously admitted that his organization had abided by an order from al Qaeda’s senior leadership to refrain from attacking in Iran.
The strike against pro-Syrian government militias is the second in the past month. The US military is training Free Syrian Army-branded militias in the area to battle the Islamic State.
Over the past three weeks, dozens of people in Kenya have been killed by Shabaab in assaults and improvised explosive device attacks.
While the US military insists that the loss of Raqqah and Mosul will deal a “a decisive blow” to the Islamic State, the group still controls a significant amount of terrain in both Syria and Iraq.
British officials identified two of the three men suspected of carrying out the June 3 terror attacks in London. At least one of them was well-known to counterterrorism officials and even appeared in a documentary about extremism in the UK.
The video comes as the crisis in Marawi enters its second week. The video details Islamic State-loyal fighters destroying religious symbols and vandalizing the inside of the church.
The Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency claims that the so-called caliphate’s “fighters” were responsible for yesterday’s attacks at London Bridge and Borough Market. At least seven people were killed and 48 others injured.
Hashem Saffiedine is the head of Hezbollah’s powerful Executive Council, making him the second-most important man in the organization behind its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. He is also Nasrallah’s heir apparent as Hezbollah’s Secretary General. According to the State Department designation, Saffiedine poses a serious risk of committing terrorist acts against the United States and threatening its national security.
According to the NDS, the suicide bombers trained at the Mawlawi Ahmad Madrassa in Chaman, a border town in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. The Taliban denied it executed the attack.
A van carrying three terrorists was rammed into a crowd of people on London Bridge last night. The terrorists then drove to Borough Market, where they jumped out and began stabbing people. All three were shot and killed by armed officers. At least 7 people died as a result of the attack.
Major powers involved in the Syrian war are racing to maximize gains from the crumbling Islamic State in southern and eastern Syria. The continued advancement of pro-Syrian regime forces and Iranian-backed militias toward the US-held Tanf base – as well as the potential advance of both sides toward the Iraqi border area – raise the risk of further clashes that may draw in the US and Russia, though the latter has been unwilling to challenge US strikes against a pro-regime convoy and Syrian warplanes this year.
The government of Philippines says that an attack that left more than 30 people dead at the Resorts World Manila (RWM) casino was a botched robbery. However, the Islamic State claims that one of its supporters carried it out.
Major General Qassem Soleimani, the chief of the Guard Corps’ Qods Force, has been photographed allegedly with Iranian-backed Iraqi militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the northwestern countryside of Iraq near the Syrian border. The photo’s precise location and date are yet unconfirmed; however it surfaced on May 29.
The Taliban has issued a second statement denying any responsibility for the May 31 bombing in Kabul. Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) has accused the Haqqani Network and Pakistan of orchestrating the attack. The Taliban claims the NDS is lying and defends the Haqqanis, once again affirming their key role in the organization.
The Afghan Taliban paraded its forces in the daylight without fear of being targeted after overrunning the district center of Waghaz in the southeaster province of Ghazni last month.
The Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency has released its first video from the fighting in the southern Philippine city of Marawi. Jihadists loyal to the so-called caliphate launched their offensive in Marawi more than a week ago.
A Taliban video shows an Afghan military helicopter blowing up just after it lands on a remote outpost on the top of a mountain. The Taliban has infiltrated military outposts in the past and conducted similar attacks.
A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives in the Afghan capital this morning. The bombing was carried out near the German Embassy. At least 80 people were killed, according to initial casualty reports.
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, released a nearly hour-long video celebrating al Qaeda’s legacy and promoting its war as part of the global jihad. The group also advertised its “Mohamed Atta Training Camp for Martyrdom Seekers.”
Two bombings in the Iraqi capital killed more than 30 people and wounded dozens more. The Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility for both, saying that Shiite “polytheists” had been targeted. The first bombing struck near a popular ice cream shop in the Karrada district of Baghdad.
An official Taliban spokesman described jihad as “obligatory worship” and said that there would be no cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
British officials say they are still investigating a possible “wider conspiracy” behind the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22. Meanwhile, British interior minister Amber Rudd told BBC News that security services are “looking at 500 different plots” with 3,000 possible terrorists on the “top list” and 20,000 “underneath that.”
The raid, which occurred last year, was a joint operation that included several al Qaeda groups in Mali. The video is likely meant to show that the raid was a precursor to the merger that would from the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s massacre of at least 28 Coptic Christians traveling on a bus in Minya, Egypt. The group’s arms in both the Sinai and mainland Egypt have repeatedly targeted Copts. The Egyptian government has retaliated by bombing suspected training camps in Libya.
The Pakistani Taliban said it retaliated against the Pakistani military for a US drone strike that killed Abdullah, a “master in electronics.” The US has launched at least three drone strikes in Pakistan so far this year.
CENTCOM announced today that “three senior foreign fighters” in the Islamic State were killed in recent weeks. Two of them were reportedly involved in the group’s “external operations” and one of them was a trainer in the “Cubs of the Caliphate” program, which indoctrinates youth. The third jihadist helped oversee the Islamic State’s use of small drones.
The Taliban continues its offensive in Kandahar. Afghan officials report that at least 18 soldiers were killed and four more were captured during another Taliban assault on a military base in Shah Wali Kot.
The parade detailed a large presence inside Samarra for Muqtada al Sadr’s Peace Brigades.
Taliban fighters overran a large military base earlier this week, and launched attacks on other installations throughout the province. The fighting in Kandahar takes place as the Taliban remains on the offensive on several fronts throughout the country as part of Operation Mansouri.