Abu Muhammad al Filistini, the recently killed leader of a Palestinian jihadist faction in Syria, was recently eulogized by a reported senior commander in the al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Lebanon. Filistini, whose real name was Ibrahim Khaza’il, was also reportedly a member of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.
The Taliban videotaped a nighttime assault on an Afghan base in the highly contested district of Khakrez in Kandahar province. The base was overran and the Taliban loitered there into daytime without fear of reprisal for Coalition and Afghan air forces.
Strikes in 2018 have been concentrated in and around the town of Jilib, whihc has been identified as a Shabaab safe haven.
The State Department announced today announced today that seven ISIS-affiliated groups have been designated as terrorist organizations. Underscoring the so-called caliphate’s growth outside of Iraq and Syria, the move targets ISIS affiliates in Bangladesh, Egypt, the Philippines, Somalia, Tunisia and West Africa. Two ISIS leaders in Africa were named as specially designated global terrorists as well.
The operations, which occurred alongside French special forces, were to reportedly kill or capture Abu Walid al Sahrawi, the leader of the so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
The coordinated suicide bombings and subsequent assaults are the first major attack of its kind to hit Mogadishu this year.
The Taliban killed more than 20 soldiers during a nighttime raid on an Afghan military base. Security in Farah has deteriorated over the past several years and Afghan officials now say the provincial capital is again threatened by the Taliban.
The funerals further highlight Iran’s support of Bahraini Shia militias.
The new branding further highlights Saraya al Ashtar’s role within the Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance” in the Middle East.
US forces killed four Shabaab terrorists in a strike in southern Somalia. The strike is the second since Feb. 19.
On January 19, the Pentagon released its new National Defense Strategy, which prioritizes “inter-state strategic competition” from China and Russia over “terrorism.” In many ways, the strategy makes sense. However, the threat from ISIS and al Qaeda has not been eliminated. The jihadists are fighting around the globe, everywhere from West Africa to Southeast Asia.
The deadly IED blast comes just a week after major French raids on JNIM positions and leaders near the borders with Algeria.
US forces have conducted four strikes in Somalia in 2018, all of which targeted Shabaab.
On select measures of the Iran threat, the 2018 document is remarkably consistent with themes from past assessments. Yet, in this latest assessment, additional attention is paid to the country’s evolving cyber aptitudes and to its turbulent domestic politics.
The State Department has designated Ansaroul Islam, a Burkinabe jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda’s network in Mali, as a terrorist organization. FDD’s Long War Journal has tracked the rise of the group since its founding in late 2016.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a shooting at a church in Kizlyar, a town in Dagestan, earlier today. Russian officials have confirmed that at least five people were killed and four more wounded.
The Taliban has consistently stated over the past decade that it does not seek to share power with the Afghan government, and the only peace possible begins with the US abandoning the country.
French forces conducted near simultaneous raids and airstrikes on three jihadist targets belonging to al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).
Pakistan supported jihadist groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed continue to attack Indian security forces in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
General Bajwa and Pakistani officials can pontificate all they like about how their country has eliminated terrorism and no longer permit terrorists to use its soil to attack another country. A look at the facts tells another story, and that is one of Pakistani duplicity.
The report also notes that the US State Department has pressed the Iraqi government for the return of the tanks, but this has not happened.
Sajna Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan, not in Afghanistan like some Pakistani officials have claimed. Sajna lead the group’s powerful Mehsud faction, was close to al Qaeda, and was responsible for murdering thousands of Pakistanis.
In the early hours of Feb. 10, a day before the 39th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran, an Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) entered Israeli airspace from Syria.
The US Treasury Department has further exposed the Islamic State’s international network by designating three facilitators as terrorists. The men have operated in the Philippines, Somalia, Turkey and elsewhere. One of them operates a business in Turkey that has acquired drone components for the so-called caliphate.
Sajna Mehsud, the deputy emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Paksitan and the leader of its powerful Mehsud faction, it reported to have been killed along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. However his death has not been confirmed by the US government or the Taliban.
The US Treasury Department designated three jihadist facilitators who work for Sheikh Aminullah, a key al Qaeda and Taliban facilitator based in Peshawar, Pakistan. All three have allegedly facilitated Aminullah’s travels to the Gulf, where he has presumably raised funds. Two of the newly-sanctioned jihadists have been tied to operations in Afghanistan.
The United States conducted 131 counterterrorism strikes in Yemen, CENTCOM told FDD’s Long War Journal.
The camps were used by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other terrorist groups.
US forces conducted a record 120 strikes in Yemen in 2017 and appears to be operating at a similar tempo thus far in 2018.
The leader of Saraya Ghuraba Filistin invites Lebanese jihadists, and specifically other Palestinians in the Ain el Helwe refugee camp, to join his group and fight inside Syria.