Taliban overruns another district in Helmand
Taliban forces killed Nawa’s police chief while seizing the district center. The Taliban now controls six of Helmand’s 14 districts and heavily contest another seven.
Author Archives: Bill Roggio
AFRICOM masks military operations in Somalia as ‘self defense strikes’
The US military continues to classify combat operations against Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, as “self-defense strikes,” even though many of the incidents reported, such as the targeting of training camps and raids in Shabaab-held territory, are clearly offensive in nature.
UNAMA ‘condemns killing of at least 15 civilians’ in Coalition airstrike
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, issued a strongly-worded statement that “condemns” a US airstrike on Sept. 28 which targeted Islamic State fighters in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. United States Forces – Afghanistan is investigating reports that an airstrike in the Taliban controlled district of Achin in Nangarhar killed 15 civilians. […]
Indian commandos strike terrorists inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
India said it killed “up to 38 terrorists and Pakistani soldiers” in cross-border strikes against seven different targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India claimed it recorded the raids via drones. Pakistan denied Indian troops entered its territory.
2 AQAP leaders reported killed in latest US strikes in Yemen
CENTCOM announced the two strikes in Yemen, and noted that al Qaeda remains “a significant threat.” Press reports indicate that a “regional commander” known as Abdallah al Sanaani and a local commander known as Abu Khaled al Sanaani were among the AQAP operatives killed.
US lists Italian rapper turned Islamic State jihadist as global terrorist
Anas El Abboubi was briefly in Italian custody in June 2013, and fled to Syria after he was released. He is one of more than 50 Italians thought to be waging jihad in Syria.
US launches ‘self-defense strike’ against Shabaab in southern Somalia
The Obama administration and US military leaders continue to attempt to hide direct combat operations behind the mission of advising and assisting the “counterterrorism operations” of foreign governments and militaries.
US military hits another Islamic State chemical weapons facility in Iraq
US warplanes bombed an Islamic State chemical weapons factory near the town of Qayyarah. US forces based at Qayyarah Airfiled West, or Q-West, have been recently targeted with a shell containing a mustard agent.
Pakistani Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda operatives targeted in eastern Afghanistan
US and Afghan forces struck a group of leaders and operatives from the Pakistan-based Movement of the Taliban in South Waziristan, the Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda in the province of Paktika, according to reports from the region. At least one senior leader, known as Azam Tariq, is thought to have been killed in the strike.
US commander in Afghanistan downplays Taliban control of 10 percent of population
General John Nicholson said that while the Taliban control 10 percent of the Afghan population and contest another 20 percent, “the enemy is primarily in more rural areas that have less impact on the future of the country.”
Taliban promotes ‘Special Group’ training in northwestern Pakistan
The video of fighters purportedly training and firing RPGs in the open in Swabi indicates that the Taliban have returned.
Iraqi troops advance on key town south of Mosul
Iraqi forces retook control of Shirqat in order to secure its supply lines south of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul. The Islamic State is also thought to have fired a shell filled with a mustard agent at US troops nearby.
Afghan intelligence service destroys al Qaeda base in Zabul
The National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan intelligence agency, raided an al Qaeda encampment and killed five Pakistani terrorists in the southeastern province of Zabul.
Suspect in New York area bombings captured after shootout
The FBI has identified Ahmad Khan Rahami as a suspect in the Sept. 17 bombing in New York City that injured 29 people. Rahami was arrested after he was wounded in a shootout with police in Linden, New Jersey. Officials believe the bombings in New York City, Elizabeth, and Seaside Park may be linked.
India accuses Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed of attacking army base in Kashmir
Jihadists killed 17 Indian troops and wounded dozens more in a suicide assault on a military base in Jammu and Kashmir. Jaish-e-Mohammed is thought to have carried out a similar attack on an Indian air base in January.
US military kills Islamic State’s ‘Minister of Information’
The US military announced today that it killed Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, the Islamic State’s “Minister of Information” and central shura member, in an airstrike near Raqqah, the jihadist group’s capital in Syria, ten days ago.
TTP commander for North Waziristan touts operations in Pakistan
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan counters the Pakistani military’s claims that Operation Zarb-e-Azb has succeeded in defeating jihadists of all stripes in North Waziristan.
US confirms it killed Islamic State’s spokesman and external operations chief
The US military’s announcement discredits claims from Russia’s Ministry of Defense that one of its warplanes killed Abu Muhammad al Adnani, who served as the group’s top spokesman, recruiter, and head of its external operations branch, in an airstrike at the end of August.
Taliban threatens second provincial capital in Afghan south
Tarin Kot is the second provincial capital in the south that is under direct threat of a Taliban takeover. Lashkar Gah in neighboring Helmand province is also contested by the Taliban.
US military kills 13 AQAP fighters in latest strikes in Yemen
All three strikes took place in the province of Shabwa, where AQAP remains entrenched despite an offensive spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates to dislodge the group from southern Yemen.
‘Blood will be spilled’ if Anas Haqqani is executed, Taliban threatens
The Taliban threatened to attack “judicial installations” if the Afghan government follows through on executing Anas Haqqani, the brother of the group’s deputy emir who is also the operational leader of the Haqqani Network.
Taliban claims Kabul suicide assault near Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense
The Taliban claimed credit for today’s suicide assault near the Afghan Ministry of Defense in Kabul that killed more than 20 people, including Army and police officials. The attack is the latest in a string of deadly assaults in the capital city over the past several months. The attack began as the Taliban detonated “a […]
Another district in eastern Afghanistan falls to the Taliban
The Taliban continues to press its offensive in all regions of Afghanistan. Omna district in Paktika province fell to the Taliban after four days of fighting.
US adds Islamic State commander in Somalia to list of global terrorists
Abdulqadr Mumin, the leader of the small cadre of Islamic State fighters in the East African nation, defected from Shabaab late last year. He is said to kidnap and indoctrinate young Somali boys to bolster his ranks.
Former IMU cleric latest to denounce Islamic State
Abu Dher al Barmi, the former mufti of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who defected in 2014, apologized for joining the Islamic State and encouraged others who joined the organization to leave it for other jihadist groups.
Taliban storms district in eastern Afghanistan
The US military continues to extol Afghan security forces as they continue to lose ground to the Taliban. In the last 24 hours, the district of Jani Khel in Paktia fell to the Taliban.
US takes casualties in Helmand fighting
A senior Afghan official said that more than 80 percent of Helmand is Taliban controlled, and in many cases government forces are confined to district centers.
Influential Taliban commander pledges to new emir
The Taliban continue to bring disaffected leaders back into the fold. Anwar ul Haq Mujahid, the commander of the Tora Bora Military Front and the son of an influential Taliban leader who was instrumental in welcoming Osama bin Laden to Afghanistan after al Qaeda was ejected from Sudan in 1996, has sworn allegiance to the Taliban’s new emir.
Taliban presses offensive in multiple provinces
The Taliban is sustaining offensive operations through Afghanistan as Afghan security forces, backed by US airpower and special forces, continue to struggle with containing the jihadist group.
Powerful jihadist faction reconciles with the Taliban
The Taliban continue to bring recalcitrant leaders back into the fold. The Dadullah family and commanders from the Mullah Dadullah Front, a jihadist faction with close ties to al Qaeda, rejoined the Taliban and swore allegiance to its emir, Mullah Haibatullah.