AQAP suicide bomber kills nearly 100 Yemeni troops in capital
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed credit for today’s attack, which targeted troops from the Central Security Organization as they practiced for a parade.
Category Archives: Long War Journal
US drone strike kills 2 AQAP fighters in central Yemen
A Yemeni and a Somali were reported killed in yesterday’s strike in Baydah province.
ISAF captures Taliban liaison to Peshawar Shura
The Taliban commander is linked to Dost Mohammed, the shadow governor of Nuristan, and has helped “foreign fighters and suicide bombers” conduct attacks in the Afghan north.
Omar Hammami releases part 1 of autobiography
The American commander in Shabaab says he is “still alive and well (by May 16 2012)” and details his life, including his radicalization and fighting in Somalia up until he joined Shabaab.
US adds Taliban financier, Haqqani Network operative to terror list
Abdul Baqi Bari has funneled money to both al Qaeda and the Taliban, and has accepted funds from Osama bin Laden. Bakht Gul serves as a top aide to Badruddin Haqqani, and has helped “foreign fighters” enter Afghanistan.
US airstrike kills 2 AQAP operatives in eastern Yemen
The US has conducted six drone strikes in Yemen over the past week.
Pakistani Taliban release video of Bannu jailbreak
Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan emir Hakeemullah Mehsud and South Waziristan leader Waliur Rehman Mehsud are shown organizing the jailbreak.
US drone strikes kill 7 AQAP fighters, 8 civilians in Yemen
The strikes took place in the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula-controlled city of Jaar.
Omani jihadist killed in US airstrike in ‘Khorasan’
Abu Hamza al Omani and several other unnamed “brothers and supporters” were killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan on May 5.
Mullah Dadullah Front claims assassination of Afghan High Peace Council member
The powerful Taliban subgroup is led by former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mullah Zakir, and is closely tied to al Qaeda.
Senior Afghan peace council member assassinated in Kabul
Arsala Rahmani was gunned down in Kabul. He was a senior member of the Afghan High Peace Council who served as a deputy education minister during the Taliban’s rule.
Afghan security forces kill 3 ISAF troops
Two British soldiers were killed in an attack by Afghan Uniformed Police in Helmand today, and a US soldier was killed by an Afghan soldier in Kunar.
US drone strikes kill 11 AQAP fighters
An Egyptian is reported to have been killed in one of two strikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula units in southern Yemen.
Taliban leader confirms infighting and vows revenge, plots to kill Quetta Shura leadership
Taliban leader Mullah Ghulam Hassan issued a 27-minute-long videotape denouncing the arrest and torture last month of Maluvi Mohammad Ismail by the Taliban’s Quetta Shura. In an unprecedented move, Hassan vowed revenge for Ismail’s mistreatment and threatened to kill senior Quetta Shura leadership.
Suicide bombers kill 55 in Syrian capital
The coordinated suicide attack targeted a military intelligence center in Damascus; nearly 400 people were wounded in the complex assault.
US drone strike kills 8 AQAP fighters
The strike targeted a convoy of Ansar al Sharia leaders in Jaar in Abyan province.
Bin Laden docs hint at large al Qaeda presence in Pakistan
Badr Mansoor led just one Pakistani “company,” and has been reported to have more than 2,000 fighters under his command. For the last three years, the US government has maintained that al Qaeda has only 300 to 400 operatives in Pakistan and that the network is on the verge of defeat.
US disrupts latest AQAP airline plot
US and European security services are on the lookout for similar bomb plots after foiling the latest AQAP attempt to blow up an airliner.
Security and stability in Afghanistan: progress and risk
The Department of Defense’s semi-annual report on Afghanistan says it is making progress towards security and stability. But progress needs to be considered alongside risks. And risks are high and increasing.
Analysis: Spinning Iran and al Qaeda, part 2
The Combating Terrorism Center’s report on the bin Laden files gets a basic fact about the history of the relationship between Iran and al Qaeda wrong.
AQAP overruns Yemeni Army bases, kills 32 soldiers
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters attacked two bases outside of Zinjibar. Forty troops were wounded and at least 28 were captured.
Al Qaeda releases video of American captured in Pakistan
The videotape is the first real proof that al Qaeda is holding Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped in Lahore in August 2011.
USS Cole bomber killed in US drone strike in Yemen
The Yemeni Embassy said Fahd al Quso was killed in an airstrike in Shabwa province. A US intelligence official told The Long War Journal that Quso was the target of a strike.
Analysis: Spinning Iran and al Qaeda, part 1
A new report by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point, which has been widely cited, concludes that relations between Iran and al Qaeda are “antagonistic.” Documents showing collusion between the two were not released by the CTC, however. And the CTC ignored much other evidence that got in the way of its conclusion.
Bin Laden docs: Al Qaeda asserts authority in letter to Pakistani Taliban leader
The letter shows a confident al Qaeda leadership working to maintain order and consistent behavior within the ranks of its affiliates in Pakistan.
US drones kill 10 in North Waziristan
The strike took place in the Shawal Valley in North Waziristan. Al Qaeda and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan have sheltered in the area in the past.
Taliban suicide bomber kills 20 in Pakistan’s northwest
The movement of the Taliban claimed credit for the suicide bombing in Pakistan’s contested tribal agency of Bajaur.
Bin Laden told Shabaab to hide al Qaeda ties
The letter from al Qaeda’s emir to Shabaab leader Sheikh Muhktar Abu Zubayr confirms an August 2010 report from LWJ that detailed al Qaeda’s instructions to downplay links between the two terror groups.
Bin Laden advised relocation of some leaders to Afghanistan due to drone strikes in Waziristan
In late 2010, the al Qaeda emir said some of the group’s leaders and operatives should relocate from North and South Waziristan to the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar, Nuristan, Ghazni, and Zabul.
Analysis: Nearly all of bin Laden’s documents should be released
Only a tiny fraction of Osama bin Laden’s files have been released. Nearly all of them should be.