Author Archives: Lisa Lundquist

Libya

At least five people were killed in clashes between the Islamist Libya Dawn forces and the Libyan national army in Tripoli. A retired security officer was murdered in Benghazi, where 30 people were assassinated last week. An Operation Dignity commander said the Islamic State is controlling Ansar al Sharia, the Revolutionary Council in Benghazi, and […]


France

Interior Minister Cazeneuve said there are about 1,000 French jihadists who have traveled to Syria and Iraq or plan to go this year, an increase of 74 percent. The Interior Ministry also recently said that 180 of the 930 French nationals who have traveled to Syria or Iraq for jihad have left. Authorities are reportedly […]




Syria

Coalition airstrikes hit the large Koniko gas plant in Deir Izzour, which also houses an Islamic State prison; granaries in the IS-held city of Manbej in Aleppo; three local oil refineries and a plastics factory in Raqqah; and in Markadah in Hasakah. About 1,500 Kurdish fighters have joined the YPG in recent days to battle […]



Lebanon

Wanted Islamists Shadi al Mawlawi and Osama Abu Mansourd are thought to be forming a group in Tripoli with links to the Islamic State or the Al Nusrah Front. A Tripoli politician reported suspicious activity threatening his home after being criticized in social media by extremist groups. Former premier Saad Hariri said the Syrian National […]


Iraq

Islamic State targeted air strikes could be extended to Syria, Britain’s PM hints



Spain

A court remanded in custody Mohamed Said Mohamed, thought to be the leader of an Islamic State recruiting cell based in Melilla and in the Moroccan city of Nador. Spanish and Moroccan authorities arrested nine members of the cell, all Moroccan except for the leader, a Spaniard, in raids on Sept. 26. Spain has conducted […]



United States

President Obama said US intelligence had underestimated the threat posed by the Islamic State and overestimated the Iraqi Army’s ability to confront the group. He also said part of the solution will be military. “We just have to push them back, and shrink their space, and go after their command and control, and their capacity, […]


Iraq

Obama: US underestimated rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria




China

A court in Xinjiang sentenced Gheni Hasan and Nurmemet Abidilimit to death for the murder of Juma Tayir, a pro-government imam at China’s biggest mosque, and for leading terrorist groups; a third man received a life sentence on related charges. Hasan was said to have trained group members to “murder patriotic religious figures.”



Australia

After jihadist arrests, Australian mufti rejects Islamic State fatwa


Libya

Libya: Send us more arms or face wider terrorism threat


Syria

The Islamic State advanced in Hasakah after clashes with Kurdish YPG forces. Coalition airstrikes targeted the Islamic State in Aleppo, Deir Izzour, and Homs; coalition airstrikes were carried out also in Deraa, Hama, Hasakah, and Idlib. The pace of the air campaign in Syria is said to be now similar to that in Iraq, with […]


Iraq

US hits jihadists in Syria as UK bombers fly over Iraq



Iran

Iran threatens to attack ISIS ‘deep’ inside Iraq


Jordan

Jordan, along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, joined in US-led airstrikes on the Islamic State in northern Syria. The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood condemned Jordan’s participation in the fight against the Islamic State. The Secretary General of the Arab Federation for Combating Counterfeiting and Forgery warned that Islamic State members have acquired forged passports from […]



Nigeria

The military claimed it killed more than 40 Boko Haram insurgents in clashes in Damboa, Konduga, and Beneshek in Borno state over the past three days. The Boko Haram fighters attempting to take Konduga yesterday arrived in a dozen trucks, but were repelled. The military said 11 soldiers were killed and three were missing after […]


France

Authorities have begun formally investigating three French jihadists recently returned from Syria who are suspected of preparing terrorist attacks; two of them have links to Toulouse shooter Mohamed Merah. The three suspects, who were already subject to investigation since September 2013 for ties to the “Artigat” network of jihadists in southern France, were arrested in […]


United Kingdom

One day after the British military was authorized to join the international coalition’s airstrike campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq, two Cyprus-based Tornado jets have completed a reconnaissance mission. Trevor Brooks a.k.a. Abu Izzadeen, a convicted terrorist from east London who is one of 11 Islamists arrested on Sept. 25 and 26, was charged […]