While the common narrative among US military and diplomatic officials is that the Taliban is taking control of districts to boost its negotiating position in so-called peace talks, the reality is that the Taliban has a long term military plan to gain control of strategic areas in order to reestablish its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Since 2015, the Houthi insurgents in Yemen have launched a myriad of ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and at various sites across Yemen. FDD’s Long War Journal has mapped these missile launches.
Since July 2018, the UN Security Council has published at least four reports documenting al Qaeda’s close and longstanding relationship with the Taliban.
The Taliban has denied responsibility for the deadly attack that killed and wounded scores of civilians. However the Taliban’s denial is not credible. It controls the two districts in the area where the bombing took place.
In the UNSC’s new report on the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and affiliated groups, the UN states that the Uzbek jihadist group, the Islamic Jihad Union, operates in Syria. This was not previously known.
According to a recently released report submitted to the UN Security Council, the Islamic State’s central leadership replaced the group’s head in Afghanistan earlier this year. The leadership change reportedly occurred after an Islamic State “core delegation” visited the country.
Mizan district was under siege for more than one year before it fell. Security in Zabul province, which is a known haven for al Qaeda and straddles the border with Pakistan, has deteriorated over the past five years. Al Qaeda operated a base in Mizan as recently as Sept. 2016.
Amrullah Saleh was responsible for killing and capturing thousands of Taliban commanders and fighters during his tenure as NDS chief and during his brief stint as interior minister.
Both Iranian media and media linked to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces have reported different narratives surrounding the events of a purported explosion at an Iraqi base last week. However, Iranian media has confirmed at least one Iranian was killed at the base.
The Taliban has ramped up its suicide operations over the past month. It has claimed six suicide operations. Two more have gone unclaimed.
The Taliban describes al Qaeda’s Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the US as a “heavy slap on their dark faces,” claiming it “was the consequence of their interventionist policies and not our doing.” Additionally, the Taliban says it will not talk to the Afghan government, will fight Afghan security forces to the end, rejects the presence of foreign forces on Afghan soil, and calls western culture uncivilized.
Trump’s acquiescence to Pakistan, which has backed the Taliban’s deadly insurgency in Afghanistan, occurs less than two years after he accused Pakistan of providing “safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror”. Trump also said Pakistan returned billions of dollars in US aid with “nothing but lies & deceit.”
Security in Badakhshan has gradually worsened over the past five years since the Afghan military and police took full control of security in the province. Al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist groups have a significant presence in the northern province.
The Taliban has used female suicide bombers in the past. Years ago, a wanted commander known as Qari Zia Rahman established training camps to indoctrinate women and young girls to carry out the gruesome attacks.
US military and diplomatic officials have claimed that attacks such as these are designed by the Taliban to increase its leverage in so-called peace talks with the US. In reality, the Taliban has all the leverage it needs. The Taliban is preparing the ground for the next stage in the war by targeting and weakening Afghan forces in major cities and outlying areas.
The commandos are the most effective Afghan military formation and are at the tip of the spear in the fight against the Taliban. Yet they often take heavy casualties while battling the Taliban.
Pakistan is a state where those who push the bounds of what is acceptable to the military and Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, including jihadists, politicians, journalists, and activists, end up missing or are found murdered. Pakistan has weathered nearly two decades of international condemnation over Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, yet he and his terrorist entities have not only survived, but thrived.
Two leaders of al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), a Moroccan national and a local Malian, were designated as terrorists today.
Afghan officials confirmed the Taliban took the district after security forces retreated. Paktika is in the sphere of influence of the Haqqani Network, the influential Taliban subgroup that is closely allied with al Qaeda as well as Pakistan’s military and Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.
A Taliban suicide assault team attacked a hotel in the northwestern Afghan province of Badghis earlier today, killing six police officers and two civilians. The attack took place just days after the Taliban reportedly committed to protect residential areas in order to limit civilian casualties. Afghan officials said five Taliban “suicide bombers” launched the attack […]
The al Qaeda branch continues to utilize the suicide assault to target popular hotels and government buildings across Somalia.
If history is any guide, Laskahr-e-Taiba leader Hafiz Saeed and his cadre will dodge the charges and continue to provide support to a wide range of terrorist groups, including al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban.
Ayman al-Zawahiri has released a new message entitled, “Don’t Forget Kashmir.” He criticizes the Pakistani Army and intelligence services at length, saying they can’t be trusted to support the jihad against Indian forces. He also calls upon Muslim scholars to explain that it is “individual duty” to support the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate.
Abdul Hameed Lelhari, the new emir of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH), claims that a Pakistani agency recently tried to rein in the jihad in Kashmir by cutting a deal with his group. AGH and al Qaeda have repeatedly argued that Pakistani-backed jihadist groups are pursuing nationalist goals, as opposed to a supposedly purer ideological vision.
A suicide bomber dispatched by the Taliban detonated his explosives-laden vehicle outside of a facility run by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) in Ghazni earlier today. Preliminary casualty reports indicate that upwards of 200 people were either killed or wounded, including schoolchildren.
The Houthi’s fundraising campaign ended earlier this week. Today, the Houthi-ran Sam FM radio station reported that the group raised over $100,000 for Lebanese Hezbollah.
The Afghan government is unable to administer 64 districts from the district centers, according to a recent survey. The fact that a district cannot be administered from its district center is a clear indication that the government cannot control the district.
The Islamic State’s men in the Sahel claims another large-scale attack on Nigerien troops near the borders with Mali.
The State Department’s latest terrorist designations include a Hizballah operative who serves as the “Chief of Hizballah Unit 200” and the Balochistan Liberation Army, which targets Pakistani forces and civilians. State also amended its previous designation of Jundallah, which targets Iranian forces, to include Jaysh al-Adl as an alias for the group.
The Taliban has overrun another district in northern Afghanistan. The district of Qush Tepa in Jawzjan province – which was previously contested – was taken by the Taliban earlier today after several days of fighting, both Afghan officials and the Taliban confirmed. The governor of Jawzjan province said that the Taliban shut down all roads […]