Said al Shihri died “after succumbing to wounds received in a counter terrorism operation” late last year, the Yemeni government said. The Saudi press and a prominent jihadist have also claimed that al Shihri is dead.
Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al Khazmari al Zahrani, who is better known as Abu Maryam al Zahrani, is thought to be based in Pakistan and has been spotted in Iran.
The latest strike took place outside of Sana’a. Over the past year, the US has expanded the drone campaign throughout all of Yemen.
The suicide bomber targeted the funeral of a policeman in Tuz Khurmatu. The attack is the fourth suicide bombing in the country in nine days.
The strike took place in Al Jawf province, where Anwar al Awlaki was killed two years ago. The US has launched three drone attacks in Yemen in four days.
Abdullah Bawazir fought against US forces in Iraq and escaped from a Yemeni prison in June 2011, according to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He was killed in a drone strike in Hadramout on Dec. 24, 2012.
Three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters who were captured by security forces but freed in April 2012 were killed in the attack.
Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria claimed credit for the first two suicide attacks reported in Syria this year. The attacks were launched to avenge reported atrocities in a village in Idlib.
Three policemen and all five members of the suicide assault team were killed during an eight-hour-long firefight. The Taliban claimed credit for the attack.
“We in al Qaeda announce that we carried out the blessed commando operation,” Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the emir of the Those who sign with Blood Brigade, said in a video.
One of the Saudi AQAP fighters was identified as Ismail bin Jamil. The US has launched two strikes so far this year.
Abdul Rahman al Nigeri is leader of the special operations group in Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s Those who Sign with Blood Brigade. He began his career in jihad with GSPC, and then joined al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The group responsible for the raid on a natural gas field in eastern Algeria has demanded the release of two well-known jihadists: Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (a.k.a. the “Blind Sheikh”) and Aafia Siddiqui (a.k.a. “Lady Al Qaeda”).
A pamphlet released by the Mullah Nazir group announced that it would continue to follow in the footsteps of its slain emir, and named the top leaders of the group. Nazir has supported al Qaeda and waged jihad in Afghanistan.
Several months before his death in May 2011, Osama bin Laden ordered al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to stand down with respect to hostage negotiations. The terror master said he would negotiate with France concerning AQIM’s hostages. Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s spokesman recently confirmed that he still answers to al Qaeda central.
A terrorist group headed by Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed credit for the raid on a natural gas field in Algeria. Belmokhtar is a longtime Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb commander, but split from the group last year. Belmokhtar’s spokesman has said that he still answers to al Qaeda central.
National Directorate of Security personnel repelled the suicide assault team after it detonated a bomb at the main gate and entered the compound.
“With the rescue attempt, France has voluntarily signed Allex’s death warrant,” the terror group said in an official statement. Shabaab later announced he was executed. The French intelligence agent has been held by Shabaab since July 2009.
This is the third time that Ansar al Sharia Tunisia has used social media to update Ali Ani al Harzi’s case. In December, the group prayed for his release and published photos of the FBI agents who interviewed him.
Sheikh Aifan Sadoun Aifan al-Issawi, an Iraqi parliamentarian and one of the leaders of the Sunni tribal “Awakening,” was assassinated while inspecting a road construction project near Fallujah.
Ansar Jerusalem recently released a 52-minute video detailing the group’s attack from the Sinai into Israel on Sept. 21 that killed one Israeli soldier. The new video also sheds some light on the group’s formation.
Shabaab displayed the body and equipment of a French commando who was wounded and captured late last week following a failed hostage rescue in Somalia, and later died. The terror group also said the “fate” of hostage Denis Allex will be announced soon.
The Mujahideen Ansar took credit for the IED attack in Razmak. The attack took place just one day after Hakeemullah Mehsud called for jihadists in North Waziristan to stop attacking the Pakistani military and focus efforts on NATO forces in Afghanistan.
French commandos from the General Directorate for External Security attempted to rescue Denis Allex, one of their operatives captured in 2009. The French said they believe Allex was killed in the raid; Shabaab denied the claim.
A jihadist alliance made up of the Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham, and the Islamic Vanguard seized control of the Taftanaz air base in Idlib.
Several policemen were wounded in the attack. In what appears to be a separate incident, one policeman was killed by a sniper reportedly tied to extremist groups in the area.
Mazlum, an Afghan national, facilitated suicide and IED attacks in Baghlan and Takhar provinces. He is the first al Qaeda-linked operative known to have been killed or captured in Afghanistan so far this year.
Sheikh Yasin Al Kuwaiti, who was killed in a US drone strike on Jan. 8, was a “key al Qaeda paramilitary commander” who was “very high up the food chain,” a US intelligence official who tracks the terror group in Pakistan’s tribal areas told The Long War Journal.
Four senior and midlevel al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are reported to have been killed in the seven strikes since the beginning of the New Year.
The al Qaeda-linked Movement for Tawhid [Unity] and Jihad in West Africa created the Abdullah Azzam, Al Zarqawi, and the Abu al Laith al Libi battalions, as well as the Martyrdom-Seekers Battalion. These join the previously established Osama bin Laden Battalion.