Yearly Archives: 2017

Islamic State suicide team strikes Kabul mosque

The Islamic State’s Khorasan province, like the main branch in Iraq and Syria, has had no qualms about targeting Afghan civilians, particularly Shiites, in mass-casualty suicide attacks in mosques and other locations.





Russian terrorist swore allegiance to Baghdadi before stabbing assault

An Islamic State production featuring the young man responsible for stabbing rampage in the Russian city of Surgat is similar to past videos released by the group. The jihadist swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi before his day of terror. The video also contains a clip of a young Russian child beheading a captive.


Taliban retakes district in northern Afghanistan

The Taliban continues to demonstrate that it can conduct concurrent operations across the country, while Afghan forces largely remain on the defensive. The district of Khamab in Jawzjan has gone back and forth between Taliban and government control over the past several years.


Taliban vows to continue its “Jihad” against US

Taliban spokesman Zahibullah Mujahid denounced Trump’s decision to remain engaged in Afghanistan and said that Taliban fighters will “sustain our Jihad.” Additionally he repeated the canard that the Taliban does not pose a threat to foreign countries.


Trump takes hard line on Pakistan for supporting terrorist groups

With words unprecedented for a US president, Trump called out Pakistan for harboring and supporting terrorist groups that target and kill US citizens and said there would be a radical change in policy toward the South Asian nation. Trump indicated the US would work to increase ties with India, Pakistan’s neighbor and greatest enemy, a move sure to both enrage as well as frighten Pakistani elites.




Islamic State explosives expert, security official designated as terrorists

The US State Department announced today that Islamic State leaders Ahmad Alkhald and Abu Yahya al-Iraqi have been named specially designated global terrorists. Alkhald was the “explosives chief” for the “terrorist cell” that carried out Nov. 2015 assault in Paris and the Mar. 2016 Brussels bombings. Al-Iraqi “oversees ISIS security in Iraq and Syria.”





US lists Hizbul Mujahideen as a Foreign Terrorist Organization

The brief designation omitted Hizbul Mujahideen’s support for al Qaeda in the past, as well as its relations with other jihadist groups in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba. Hizbul Mujahideen’s emir was officially listed as a global terrorist in June 2017.











IRGC-controlled militia accuses US of strike to hide Islamic State raid near Syrian border

An Iraqi-Shiite militia controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed yesterday that its forces came under fire from American artillery shells in the vicinity of Jamouna, Syria. A US Defense spokesman rejected the allegation. The Islamic State posted footage of a raid in that area on the same day that shows the Shiite militia’s flag, strongly suggesting an attempt by the Shiite-jihadist militia to cover up an attack by the Sunni-jihadist group, muddy the waters and shift the blame to the United States.


US killed Shabaab commander in recent strike

US Africa Command (AFRICOM) confirmed that its July 30 “kinetic strike” killed Ali Jabal, a Shabaab commander who led forces and conducted attacks in Mogadishu and the Banadir regions in southern Somalia. The targeting of Shabaab leaders has not prevented the group from regaining ground in the south.



Australia disrupts ‘sophisticated’ plot directed by the Islamic State

Australian authorities say they broke up an especially “sophisticated” Islamic State plot in late July. The so-called caliphate wanted to bring down an airliner using an improvised explosive device (IED). The Islamic State even shipped the IED components to the suspects in Australia. The accused men were also allegedly experimenting with a bomb intended to disperse hydrogen sulfide.