After launching an operation to recapture the central Iraqi city of Baiji last week, Iraqi troops and Shiite militias retook the oil refinery, the city center, and several districts. The city has exchanged hands multiple times in the past. The US military continues to provide airstrikes that support the Iranian-backed militias.
The Department of Defense confirmed that the senior al Qaeda strategist, who was dispatched years ago by al Qaeda from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region to Syria, was killed in an airstrike on Oct. 15. Nasr’s death is a blow to al Qaeda.
Jalaluddin, the former mufti for Khorasan Province, rose thought the jihadist ranks in the Afghan-Pakistan region and was mentored by Sheikh Aminullah, an influential Taliban leader and al Qaeda facilitator, before defecting to the Islamic State. He taught at the Ganj Madrassa, which is listed by the US as a terrorist facility.
Photographs show the notorious Qods Force commander addressing Iranian officers and Hezbollah forces in Latakia. Iran is reported to have deployed significant forces, estimated at thousands of troops, to support the Assad regime’s offensive in northwestern Syria.
Abu Muhammad al Julani, the head of al Qaeda’s Al Nusrah Front in Syria, addresses Russia’s intervention in an audio message. Julani calls for reprisal attacks against Russians and says the jihadists must strike Shiite villages in order to extract concessions from Bashar al Assad’s regime.
The US military’s raid on two large al Qaeda camps in the Shorabak district of the Kandahar province highlights al Qaeda’s significant footprint in Afghanistan more than 14 years after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The video showing an attack on Nigerian troops in Borno state was released as the jihadist group killed over 30 in suicide attacks in neighboring Chad.
The Iraqi military claimed it targeted Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of the Islamic State, as he was traveling to meet with other commanders of his organization at a location on the border with Syria. The fate of Baghdadi, who has been reported killed or wounded several times in the past, is unknown.
The Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front, Al Nusrah Front and Ahrar al Sham all claimed to have captured the so-called UN Hill from the Assad regime earlier today. The Southern Front previously rejected collaboration with Al Nusrah Front.
The Islamic State has issued a statement claiming to have captured several key towns north of the city of Aleppo. The group’s campaign in Aleppo province had stalled until Russia began targeting some of its opposition, including Free Syrian Army units.
Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani is the third senior Iraqi military adviser who has been killed in the Syrian-Iraqi theater since the beginning of the year.
The Taliban said it seized control of the districts of Garziwan and Pashtun Kot in Faryab. The fall of the two districts took place just one week after the Taliban attempted to seize control of Maimana, the provincial capital.
The Islamic State’s “Aden-Abyan Province” claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in Aden earlier today. The attackers targeted forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to Yemeni soldiers. The operations were a departure for the Islamic State, which has usually targeted civilian facilities in Yemen.
The designations include three jihadists from the Russian Caucasus, including Omar al Shishani’s deputy and a Turkey-based “overseas emissary.” A recruiter from the United Kingdom was also designated.
Qari Fasihuddin, the “Jihadi-in charge” of Badakhshan, is the second shadow governor to deny reports that he was killed in a US airstrike since the Taliban took control of Kunduz and several districts in the Afghan north.
Based on an analysis by The Long War Journal, 29 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts are under Taliban control, and another 36 districts are contested. An interactive map details the locations.
The Islamic Jihad Union’s supporters have released dozens of images from the city of Kunduz. The photos document the group’s participation in the siege of the city. In the months leading up to the invasion, the IJU and its allies captured territory in the surrounding areas.
The Islamic State West Africa has routinely used women and girls to execute suicide attacks in the region. The group has deployed at least 52 female suicide bombers since June 2014. It is likely some of these women and girls were kidnapped and indoctrinated to conduct attacks.
Mullah Abdul Salam, the Taliban’s shadow governor for the embattled Afghan province of Kunduz, denied NDS reports that he was killed in a US airstrike. Salam is directing the fighting in Kunduz. Afghan soldiers are reported to have retaken the center of the city of Kunduz city and are battling the Taliban in several neighborhoods.
A senior Afghan military official confirmed that US Special Forces engaged the Taliban outside of Kunduz Airport. Maintaining control of the airport is vital if Afghan security forces hope to regain control of Kunduz city.
Testimony to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade on the US counterterrorism strategy in Syria. “The West’s involvement is ad hoc, tactical and reactionary.”
The US State and Treasury Departments announced 35 designations today. The designations target the Islamic State’s foreign fighters, leaders, “provinces” and other related entities. Several jihadists from the West were included among the designees.
Reports from Afghan officials, residents and Taliban fighters inside Kunduz indicate that Afghan forces have been driven out of the city and the Taliban is in full control.
CENTCOM has conceded that rebels belonging to the so-called “New Syrian Forces” turned over equipment and ammunition to Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria. This is the latest setback for the US effort to train and equip Syrian rebels.
The Turkistan Islamic Party continues to highlight children in jihadist training. It is known to operate training camps for minors in both Syria and in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, which is mainly comprised of foreign fighters, has officially merged with the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria. Al Nusrah gains several hundred jihadists out of the deal, which was likely intended to bolster al Qaeda’s hand in the Aleppo province.
Al Qaeda has released the third installment of its long-delayed “Islamic Spring” series, which features long-winded speeches by Ayman al Zawahiri. As in past editions of the series, Zawahiri argues that the Islamic State’s “caliphate” is illegitimate.
As the jihadist group mounts offensives in the northern province of Kunduz and the southern province of Helmand, it has also been consolidating its grip on areas in eastern Afghanistan, including within the Haqqani Network stronghold of Paktika.
The group, formerly known as Boko Haram, has used at least 47 women as suicide bombers since June 2014.
Saraya al Khorasani, an Iranian-backed Shiite militia that operates alongside the Iraqi military, released a video showing the “Sheikh Hajj Hamid Taqavi training center.” Taqavi was an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods Force general who was killed by an Islamic State sniper.