![](https://www.longwarjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/19-01-03-HTS-image.jpg)
Jihadist group consolidates control in northwestern Syria
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a US and UN-designated terrorist organization, has strengthened its grip on northwestern Syria in recent weeks. HTS has seized ground from rival insurgents.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a US and UN-designated terrorist organization, has strengthened its grip on northwestern Syria in recent weeks. HTS has seized ground from rival insurgents.
The “Incite the Believers” operations room has called for an independent sharia court to settle the disputes between rival insurgents in Syria. “Incite the Believers” was established by the “Guardians of Religion” organization, Ansar al-Din Front, and Ansar al-Islam late last year.
US counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia shows no signs of slowing down despite a report last week that said the Pentagon plans to reduce its role there. The US has launched four strikes against Shabaab during the first week of 2019.
Counterterrorism operations against AQAP have significantly tapered off in 2018 after a massive increase in 2017. The strike that killed Jamal-al Badawi is the first in Yemen since mid-September 2018.
CENTCOM confirms that Jamal al-Badawi, an al Qaeda veteran who has been wanted for his role in the USS Cole Bombing, was targeted in an airstrike earlier this month. Press reports indicated that Badawi perished, but CENTCOM says his status is still being investigated.
The Islamic State’s loyalists claimed more operations in Somalia in 2018 than in 2016 and 2017 combined. The group has also expanded its operations to include tactics normally associated with its larger rival, Shabaab.
Abu Dujana al-Qasimi, the Saudi spokesman for Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM), released a short audio message yesterday warning tribes in Mali not to cooperate with the “Crusader enemy.”
Afghan security officials denied Shib Koh fell to the Taliban, but a video recently released by the Taliban shows its fighters in full control of the district center.