Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed Hossein Salami as the new chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on April 21, replacing Mohammad Ali Jafari after 12 years in command. Salami previously served as deputy commander to Jafari for a decade.
The Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency has released a video of eight jihadists in Sri Lanka swearing allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before a series of bombings on Easter Sunday. The video is similar to a string of others released by Amaq since mid-2016.
The Islamic State has released three written statements and a video claiming responsibility for the bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. The video shows the terrorists’ leader, Zahran Hashim, and seven others swearing allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
A small team of Islamic State jihadists assaulted the Ministry of Communications in Kabul on Apr. 20. It was the latest in a string of attacks on government ministries and other official sites in the Afghan capital.
Today’s claim marks the first time the Islamic State has claimed any activity in Central Africa.
The Taliban has consistently refused to negotiate with the Afghan government, and said the composition of the delegation to Doha indicates that it represents the Afghan government.
Al Qaeda’s Uqba bin Nafi Battalion claimed its first attack since October 2018.
In March, the leader of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) called on various al Qaeda figures to offer more rhetorical support for the group’s cause. Al Qaeda’s general command responded earlier this month with a statement declaring its solidarity with the TIP and Muslims oppressed by the Chinese government.
The Rawi Network extends around the globe. One of its leaders is a former captain in Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard. It was first established to help Saddam evade sanctions in the early 1990s.
AFRICOM announced the death of Abdulhakim Dhuqub, the second in command of the Islamic State’s network in Somalia.
Zakir Musa uses the message to paint a picture for the future of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind’s jihad in the Kashmir–a jihad without ties to Pakistani guidance, with fighters sourced from throughout the region, and focused on the implementation of Sharia, or Islamic law, in Kashmir through terror.
The Islamic State has released its first official attack claim from northern Mali.
French forces reportedly killed dozens of jihadists after a three-week long operation in central Mali.
Unlike previous years, the Taliban does not prioritize attacks on US and NATO forces, but instead sets its crosshairs on those working for the Afghan government, military, and police. The statement is yet another clear indication that the Taliban will not share power with the Afghan government, but instead seeks to impose its will on the country.
The Taliban decried the upcoming Afghan Loya Jirga for Peace as a tool of “the invaders and their stooges,” and called on all Afghans to shun the jirga.
The strike takes place as US and African Union backed Somali forces attempt to wrest territory held by Shabaab. US Africa Command recently estimated that Shabaab controls one quarter of Somalia’s territory.
A Taliban suicide bomber attacked US forces outside of Bagram Air Base, the largest US military installation in Afghanistan.
The State Department announced today that it intends to designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The IRGC’s activities span the globe.
The Islamic State’s Amaq News Agency, one of the jihadist group’s official media arms, released its first combat video from Mali earlier today. The brief video claimed to show an ambush on French forces somewhere near Mali’s border region with Niger. While no specific date was given, the video likely portrays last month’s Islamic State […]
While strikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula have waned over the past year, they have not halted all together. AQAP remains a significant threat.
The Islamic State issued several claims of responsibility for attacks by the group known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
At least 15 people were killed yesterday when Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, detonated a car bomb on one of Mogadishu’s busiest roads. The bombing was just the latest in a string of car bombs that have hit the Somali capital this week. Those 15 people were killed when the car bomb detonated […]
Human Rights Watch has documented dozens of civilians who have been murdered by both jihadists and government forces in Burkina Faso. This helps exacerbate the conditions that allow jihadists to operate in the region.
Shabaab’s suicide assault killed the Deputy Minister and 14 others in Mogadishu.
The US-backed Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) announced today that Baghouz has been liberated from the Islamic State. The US considers Baghouz to be the last village that was part of the jihadists’ physical caliphate. However, a review of history and current operations shows that the Islamic State has not been entirely defeated.
The jihadist conglomerate, as suspected, claimed Sunday’s deadly siege on a military base in central Mali.
In a speech released earlier this week, Islamic State spokesman Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir claimed that the group remains a “reality” despite its territorial losses. He also references the terrorist attack by a white supremacist in New Zealand earlier this week.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the Trump administration’s top envoy for talks with the Taliban, claims that he is already satisfied with the Taliban’s counterterrorism assurances. But the Taliban’s close relationship with al Qaeda stretches from the 1990s until today. The Taliban should be required to publicly renounce al Qaeda in any final deal with the US. Even then, the break would need to be verified.
The head of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), Abdul Haq al-Turkistani, has called on jihadist “scholars” to do more to address the plight of Uighurs. Al-Turkistani addresses his message to Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhunzada, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and a number of al Qaeda ideologues.
While no group has yet to officially claim the assault, al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims is widely suspected.