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.
An Afghan policeman opened fire on Romanian soldiers in Kandahar and wounded one before being killed in return fire. The insider, or “green-on-blue,” attack is the fourth of its kind recorded so far this year.
The Islamic State’s Khorasan continues to target Shiites in mosques and other civilian areas. At least 50 people were killed in the suicide attack.
Resolute Support released a statement confirming that the attack “did cause casualties” and said it would release more details at a later time. The Pentagon later confirmed that two US soldiers were killed.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s assessment, based on data provided by the US military, is the best case scenario of the security situation for the country. At best, Afghanistan is a “stalemate.”
The Taliban displayed US-supplied HUMVEES and Ranger pickup trucks used by the police and military that were captured or destroyed. The Taliban also seized a large quantity of rocket propelled grenade launchers, machine guns, rifles, mortars, and other weapons.
One Shabaab fighter from the “Mogadishu Attack Network” was killed. The strike is the second of its kind reported by AFRICOM over the past month.
Approximately 57 of the 82 soldiers at an Afghan National Army base in the southern province of Kandahar were either killed, wounded or captured during the attack.
The Taliban is demonstrating that it can sustain operations in all theaters of Afghanistan. The three districts are located in three different regions of Afghanistan.
The Afghan government said all of those killed were civilians, while the Taliban claimed its attack killed “intelligence officers.”
The son of Mullah Haibatullah, the emir of the Afghan Taliban, killed himself in a suicide attack that targeted Afghan forces in the southern province of Helmand earlier this week.
Additionally, the US State Department noted that Somali security forces “remained incapable of securing and retaking towns from al-Shabaab independently,” and while not explicitly stated, hinted that the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is failing.
The Pakistan military recoiled after Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense called on Pakistan to launched operations against “terrorist centers” throughout the country, including in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Quetta.
After ignoring numerous false Taliban claims that it killing dozens of US soldiers, Resolute Support – NATO’s mission in Afghanistan – today denied the Taliban’s latest boast.
Nawa district, which is adjacent to the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, was under Taliban control for nine months before Afghan forces could muster the strength to mount an operation and retake it.
Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve said that Iraq’s Iranian-backed militias “deserve a share of the credit for their sacrifices” in the battle to liberate Mosul, yet calls for Iraqis to unite to prevent the return of the Islamic State.
The Taliban has issued 11 official statements on Voice of Jihad where it has wrongly claimed to have killed 45 American soldiers, and Resolute Support ignored them. Yet when the Islamic State falsely claimed it killed two Americans, Resolute Support quickly jumped into action to refute it.
AFRICOM continues to describe offensive operations against al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia as “self defense strikes.” The July 4 strike in southern Somalia targeted a Shabaab “troop concentration.”
While denouncing the designation of Syed Salahuddin, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that “Pakistan has a demonstrated and longstanding commitment of combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”
State’s designation focused on Syed Salahuddin’s activities in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. But Salahaddin his direct ties to Paksitan’s military and intelligence services, and supports jihad in Afghanistan and India.
CENTCOM announced today that Abu Khattab al Awlaqi, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s emir for the Shabwah province in Yemen, was killed along with two associates in a June 16 airstrike that targeted “terrorist compounds and attack networks in Yemen.”
A Taliban suicide bomber targeted security personnel and civilians as they lined up to collect their pay prior to the start fo Eid al Fitr. The Taliban has targeted Kabul Bank branches in the past.
The governor of Darzab confirmed that Taliban fighters overran the district just one day after Islamic State fighters attacked the administrative complex.
US Central Command said that the Iranian-made drone was shot down after it “displayed hostile intent and advanced on Coalition forces.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has responded by shutting down the de-confliction hotline and warning that all US aircraft would now be considered hostile targets.
The Taliban suicide team used tactics that have been perfected by multiple jihadist groups on numerous battlefields over the past decade and a half.
Today’s insider attack, also known as green-on-blue attack, is the second of its kind in the past week, and the third reported so far this year. The attack took place on a base that was overrun by Taliban fighters two months ago.
General Bajwa made the statement despite the fact that drone strikes have killed scores of top tier terrorist leaders, including mortal enemies of the Pakistan state, and Pakistani officials have passed along actionable intelligence to terrorists to avoid raids.
Haqqani Network commander Abu Bakar and two close aides from the Afghan province of Paktika were killed in the attack, the fourth drone strike recorded in Pakistan this year.
While the Taliban wants to distance itself from the May 31 suicide truck bombing that killed more than 150 people because of the problems related to civilian casualties, it also appears to want to halt the execution of Taliban prisoners.