The photo offers a rare look into jihadist governance in the Sahel, in which jihadists loyal to both al Qaeda and the Islamic State wield both direct and indirect control over many rural areas.
Shabaab has controlled the central Somali town of Bacaadweyne for over a month thanks to a forced political deal with the local clan.
Mozambique, however, claims the fighting is still ongoing for control over the city. If its capture is confirmed, this is the second major town to fall under the control of the Islamic State’s local wing.
Almost 300 people have been killed in a series of mass killings in Niger and on a military position inside Mali. The Islamic State has officially claimed just one of the attacks, but it is believed to have carried out all of the massacres.
Both wings collectively represent the Islamic State’s Central African Province, which the UN recently noted as one of the Islamic State’s most ‘dependable’ affiliates.
Shabaab says it freed more than 400 prisoners from the central prison of Bosaso in northern Somalia, however, this number remains unconfirmed. The group also reiterates that prison assaults are one of its main goals in its fight against the Somali state.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has sent a message of support to its fellow al Qaeda branch for recently killing five French soldiers.
The governor of Kenya’s Mandera County recently stated that Shabaab is controlling “over 50 percent’ of northern Kenya and “more than 60 percent” of Mandera. Kenyan authorities have quickly scrambled to contradict these claims.
Additionally, the U.S. State Department will also designate three of the Houthis’ top leaders as global terrorists.
Shabaab killed several military officials in a suicide bombing today in Galkayo. This is just the latest in a renewed assassination campaign that has targeted a wide range of high profile Somali leaders this year.
Saraya al Mokhtar is now the second Bahraini militia to be designated as terrorists for ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Shabaab briefly occupied a Somali military base and its adjacent town yesterday following a major assault in central Somalia.
France has claimed it killed Bah Ag Moussa, an important JNIM commander, in a recent military raid in northern Mali. JNIM has not yet commented on the news.
In an interview with the Islamic State’s Al-Naba newsletter, Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, attempts to paint al Qaeda’s efforts in the region as rife with internal squabbles and disunity.
Both the Islamic State and its local affiliate, the Allied Democratic Forces, have linked yesterday’s prison break in DRC to a recent speech by the official Islamic State spokesman.
At least 1,300 inmates were freed in an operation conducted by the Allied Democratic Forces, the Islamic State’s local affiliate.
In exchange for the release of dozens of imprisoned members from Mali’s prisons, Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has freed four hostages, three of them foreign. JNIM has since celebrated the prisoner swap, including a personal appearance by its overall emir, Iyad Ag Ghaly, in northern Mali.
In this week’s edition of the Islamic State’s weekly Al-Naba newsletter, the jihadist group claims a series of wide-ranging operations across the Sahel. This includes last month’s massacre of French aid workers in Niger, as well as a spate of battles with al Qaeda’s men.
In the first official Bahraini militant statement since the announcement of a peace deal between Bahrain and Israel, Saraya Wa’ad Allah says it is opening its doors for recruitment for a new sub-unit dedicated to attacking Israelis on the island.
At least one US soldier was wounded in the blast, while two Somali troops were also killed. This is the third time the group has reported clashing with American troops inside Somalia since Aug. 24.
In two days, Shabaab has launched two suicide assaults across southern Somalia. Additionally, it continues to target high-ranking government officials in a renewed assassination campaign.
Yesterday’s statement is just the group’s second attack claim since its revival late last year. While Ansaru stated its men were behind an attack on Nigerian security forces, all recent raids in Kaduna State have been on civilians. It is thus likely that Ansaru is attempting to indicate its role in the growing ethnic violence in the state.
JNIM claims its first suicide bombing of the year on French troops in the Timbuktu region of northern Mali.
Yesterday’s drone strike was the first US airstrike on the Islamic State in Somalia this year.
Shabaab’s suicide bombing against Somalia’s top general is the latest in the group’s recent attacks against government officials. The bombing also continues the current spate of increased suicide bombings across the country.
The Taliban denies that an Uzbek jihadist group, Katibat Imam al-Bukhari (KIB), operates in Afghanistan. The Taliban falsely asserts that photos recently posted by the KIB were “falsified by anti-peace circles.”
Katibat Imam al-Bukhari, a Taliban-loyal Uzbek group that operates in both Afghanistan and Syria, again promotes its Afghanistan operations. This comes as the Taliban has attempted to deny the presence of foreign fighters inside the country.
The Islamic State’s Central African Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has seen a rapid expansion in claimed activity in recent months. At the same time, it has tried to exploit the global coronavirus pandemic to recruit individuals.
In the span of four days, the Al Qaeda branch has claimed the use of two suicide car bombings on Somali and Turkish military bases in two different areas of Somalia.
AQIM has released an audio message confirming the death of its longtime emir, Abdulmalek Droukdel.