HTS releases photos from battles with the Islamic State in Hama
The battles between the jihadist forces come as both are also engaged in wider battles with the regime in Hama province.
Yearly Archives: 2017
US kills local AQAP commander in airstrike
The strike is the latest in a series that have targeted the entirety of AQAP’s network in the war-torn country.
State Department offers rewards for 2 Hezbollah leaders
The State Department announced today that it is offering rewards for information concerning the whereabouts of two senior Hezbollah operatives. One of the two, Talal Hamiyah, is the head of Hezbollah’s External Security Organization, which oversees worldwide terrorist plots. The other, Fuad Shukr, “played a central role” in the Oct. 1983 Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. That suicide bombing helped inspire a generation of Shiite and Sunni jihadists.
Taliban storms base in northwestern Afghanistan
In what has become an all too common, the Taliban has released yet another propaganda video that shows it fighters occupying an Afghan military base during the daytime after overrunning it in a nighttime assault.
Islamic State attacks rival jihadists in Hama province
The Islamic State claims to have captured several villages from its jihadist rivals in Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS) in Hama province. The Islamic State’s assault on HTS came just days after HTS launched its own offensive against Assad regime positions in Hama.
Taliban parades forces openly in Nimroz
As with previous propaganda videos, the Taliban demonstrates that it can organize its forces for assaults on bases and district centers and execute attacks over extended periods of time, or parade its troops in the open, without fear of being targeted from the air by Afghan or Coalition forces.
Iraqi troops, Iranian-backed militias eject Islamic State from Hawija
Islamic State forces still control a small pocket of villages to the north and east of the town, but are now surrounded.
Analysis: Ayman al Zawahiri argues jihadists can’t deceive America
In a new message, Ayman al Zawahiri holds up the Taliban-al Qaeda relationship as a model for jihadists around the globe. He also critiques the jihadists and Islamists in Egypt and Syria who think they can “deceive” America and achieve power by placating the US.
US Special Forces troops killed during joint patrol in Niger
US AFRICOM has confirmed that three US Special Forces troops have been killed in an ambush near Mali. The three are the first American soldiers to die in combat in the country.
Pakistan’s intelligence service ‘has connections with terrorist groups’
Mattis and Dunford placed all of the blame for Pakistan’s support of terrorist groups on the ISI, and essentially absolved Pakistan’s government and the military of any responsibility for incubating and supporting regional and global jihadist organizations.
‘Hasm’ claims responsibility for attack targeting Myanmar embassy in Cairo
The Egyptian militant group, Hasm, claimed responsibility yesterday for its attack against Myanmar’s embassy in Cairo a day earlier, noting that it was a response to Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims. “This bombing served as a warning to the embassy of murderers, killers of women and children in the Muslim Rakhine State [in Myanmar], and […]
Analysis: Jihadist attacks on the rise in northern Burkina Faso
The attacks represent a significant increase in jihadist attacks in northern Burkina Faso. In addition, the use of improvised explosive devices, previously unknown to the country, is on the rise.
Lessons learned from 15 years in Afghanistan: SIGAR
The Congressionally mandated Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) issued a detailed report evaluating the current challenges facing the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the lessons learned from America’s nearly 15-year campaign in the country. The report argues that security priorities guiding US decisions early in the war effort negatively impacted […]
Islamic State claims its ‘soldier’ stabbed two women at Marseille train station
The Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency claimed that two stabbings at the Saint-Charles train station in Marseille, France were the work of its “soldier.” Separately, an attack in Edmonton, Canada is being investigated as a terrorist act.
US resumes strikes against Islamic State in Libya
US Africa Command launched airstrikes against the Islamic State in Libya for the first time in eight months. AFRICOM also revealed to FDD’s Long War Journal that an estimated 800 to 900 Islamic State fighters were killed during Operation Odyssey Lightning’s air campaign in Sirte last year.
US-led coalition kills 3 Islamic State ‘drone experts’ in eastern Syria
The US-led coalition announced that three Islamic State figures were killed in airstrikes in Mayadin, Syria between Sept. 12 and 14. All three worked for the so-called caliphate’s drone program. The US has carried out a targeted air campaign against the group’s personnel in or near Mayadin since earlier this year.
Taliban fighters promise to ‘play with the skulls’ of dead American soldiers
“The brave and Mujahid nation of Afghanistan rejects disbelief, apostasy, democracy, and slavery!” said one fighter interviewed in the Taliban’s latest propaganda video.
“Last half century proves that this land was and will be the land of Islam and Jihad.”
FAQ after allegations of another ballistic missile test by Tehran
Getting the right answers on allegations surrounding an alleged Iranian ballistic missile launch requires asking the right questions. The following eight questions make sense of the English and Persian language news reporting surrounding the Khorramshahr ballistic missile.
IRGC promotes more drone strikes against the Islamic State
This week, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Corps (IRGC) publicized more drone strikes in eastern Syria, allegedly against Islamic State positions by the Iraqi border.
Tensions mount as Iraqi militias boost numbers in contested areas while Kurds hold referendum
As tensions mount between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, several Iranian-backed group have deployed more troops to contested areas near Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu. As both sides remain steadfast in their claims to the oil rich province, tensions continue to mount and the risk of military escalation rises.
Pakistani foreign minister: ‘We don’t have the assets to match’ Haqqanis and LeT
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif accused the United States of creating jihadist groups such as the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Taiba, and supporting them to this day.
Islamic State, Taliban claim Kabul attack during Secretary of Defense’s visit
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State’s Khorasan “province” claimed responsibility for an assault on the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan this morning. The attack coincided with a visit by Secretary of Defense James Mattis to the country, although it appears he was not at the airport at the time.
Islamic State radio tries to quell controversy over takfir
The Islamic State’s Al Bayan radio station has released several religious lectures dealing with an internal controversy over takfir, the practice of excommunicating other Muslims and denouncing “polytheists.” The so-called caliphate tried to quell the controversy by repealing a problematic memo earlier this month.
LWJ Map Assessment: Taliban controls or contests 45% of Afghan districts
As the United States enters a new phase of its war in Afghanistan, FDD’s Long War Journal presents a renewed assessment of the Taliban’s strength and disposition, with new interactive features.
JNIM claims large assault in Kidal, Mali
After almost one month of media silence, al Qaeda’s JNIM returns to social media to claim responsibility for a complex assault on UN forces near the northern Malian city of Kidal.
Taliban retakes district in Afghan northwest
The district of Kohistan in Faryab province has changed hands twice over the past several months.
US strikes Islamic State camp in Libyan desert
The US carried out six airstrikes against an Islamic State camp “approximately 150 miles southeast of Sirte” on Sept. 22, according to US Africa Command. The bombings reportedly killed 17 jihadists and destroyed three vehicles.
Iraqi forces launch offensive against Islamic State in Hawijah
The Iraqi government launched a new offensive against the Islamic State in the Hawijah pocket earlier today. Hawijah is considered one of the group’s two remaining strongholds inside Iraq. The other is in the western Anbar province, where the Iraqi government began new operations on Sept. 19.
Iran highlights Qods Force commander killed by the Islamic State
Iran has divulged more details about a senior officer from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Qods Force who was killed in Syria last month. The 32-year old Col Morteza Hosseinpour-Shalmani (AKA Hossein Qomi) died afteran Islamic State ambush near Jamouna, which is about 37 miles northeast of the US base of Tanf by the Iraqi border in eastern Syria. The operations commander of the Iranian-led Iraqi contingent in Syria, he was leading a unit of Seyyed al Shuhada Brigades that included Iranian-embedded soldiers.
Islamic State rescinds one of its most problematic religious rulings
The Islamic State has rescinded a May 17 memo that even some of the group’s ideologues considered too extreme in its religious rulings. The memo reportedly exacerbated leadership disputes within the self-declared caliphate.