The Pakistani terror group has carried out suicide and IED attacks in response to drone strikes that have killed the emirs of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Mullah Nazir Group, as well as a top Haqqani Network leader and members of the Turkistan Islamic Party.
The strike reportedly killed 15 civilians who were traveling in a wedding convoy. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters are thought to have been traveling with the convoy.
In addition to conducting operations with the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, Ahrar al Sham was involved in the recent takeover of a large cache of weapons and munitions owned by the Free Syrian Army.
Jordanian authorities reportedly arrested Raed Hijazi in November. According to the 9/11 Commission report, Hijazi was a key member of a terrorist cell that was broken up in late 1999. The cell was planning multiple attacks in Jordan at the time.
Muhammad bin Mahmoud Rabie al Bahtiyti denounced both the current regime in Egypt and the previous Muslim Brotherhood-led government. He said he hoped the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood would give its supporters the chance to “review themselves and correct their path.”
The strike targeted a vehicle in the eastern province of Hadramout, where Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has stepped up its presence.
The Taliban claim that the US’ reliance on drones to target their leaders is not only ineffective, but also is evidence of American decline. The group uses Osama bin Laden’s own words to describe the US as a “paper tiger.”
The Islamic Front took control of Free Syrian Army warehouses that are stocked with Western supplies and that were raided by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham late last month.
On its newly established Twitter account, AQAP also criticized Yemeni soldiers for fighting alongside US forces and said the military is ignoring the fight against Shia Houthi rebels in the north.
A suicide bomber created a breach in the outer wall of the Ministry of Defense, and a team of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters stormed several buildings. A Western doctor and a Filipina nurse are said to have been executed during the assault that resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people.
The four battalions broke from the Ahfad al Rasoul Brigade after one of the group’s top leaders defected to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.
Boko Haram’s recent brazen assault on a military base in northern Nigeria has shown that the insurgency has not been quelled and the group is capable of shifting its tactics. Given the group’s history of attacks during the Christmas holiday, authorities have reason to be apprehensive.
Haitham el Menai further praised his brother Shadi and said anyone “who defends our children” should be treasured. Shadi el Menai, who was last seen in September, is believed to still be in North Sinai.
In its latest video, Ansar Jerusalem showed footage of the Nov. 20 car bombing in North Sinai that killed 11 Egyptian security personnel. The video also video featured a clip from former al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
More than 20 security personnel and at least six civilians were killed as hundreds of Boko Haram fighters attacked the base on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Maiduguri.
Adam Gadahn, an al Qaeda propagandist and spokesman, has released a video denouncing the capture of top al Qaeda operative Abu Anas al Libi. While calling for vengeance, Gadahn tries to portray al Libi as an innocent who was wrongly detained.
An unnamed Punjabi jihadist is reported to have been killed in a strike in the Miramshah area, which is administered by the Haqqani Network.
The charter of the newly formed Islamic Front indicates that the group is willing to work with al Qaeda’s two branches inside Syria.
The Chechen-led Army of the Emigrants and Helpers in Syria has sworn allegiance to the head of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. The group is awaiting approval from the head of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Caucasus Emirate.
Abu Abdullah al Libi fought against US forces in Iraq, the Ghaddafi regime in Libya, and against Bashir al Assad’s regime before being killed in Syria in September.
For the past few days, Ansar al Sharia has been battling Libyan security forces in the city of Benghazi. More than one year after the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the US mission, the al Qaeda-linked Ansar al Sharia remains a potent force.
The formation of the Islamic Front has been characterized as a blow to al Qaeda, but the new Islamist alliance shares al Qaeda’s goals and continues to fight alongside the global jihadist group.
The recent deaths of top Haqqani Network leaders Nasiruddin Haqqani and Ahmad Jan will hurt the organization, but without a comprehensive strategy to fight jihadist groups beyond the tactic of targeted killings, will not lead to its collapse.
Testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on al Qaeda’s network in Africa and the threat it poses to the US
Three Haqqani Network commanders are reported to have been killed in a drone strike at a seminary in a settled area of Pakistan’s northwest that appears to have targeted Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani Network. The strike is the first outside of the tribal areas in four years.
The group has claimed three other attacks against Pakistani troops so far this year. A spokesman said today’s attack was executed to avenge Hakeemullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike.
The Sinai-based jihadist group said the attack was in response to the arrest and interrogation of Muslim women by Egyptian security forces, and warned of additional attacks if imprisoned women are not released.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al Qaeda-linked group, has claimed responsibility for twin suicide attacks on the Iranian embassy in Beirut.
The strike took place in an eastern province of Yemen where AQAP has been regrouping over the past year.
Yesterday’s attack, which targeted the meeting site of the Loya Jirga that will vote on the Bilateral Security Agreement with the US, killed 13 Afghans.