Mullah Raouf Khadim, an ex-Guantanamo detainee, leads a contingent of fighters loyal to the Islamic State in Helmand, Afghanistan. Raouf and another top Taliban commander were previously forced out of their positions in the Taliban’s hierarchy. According to a leaked threat assessment, the jihadist had ties to at least two members of the so-called “Taliban Five.”
Groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba have previously been banned in Pakistan, but continue to receive the support of the military and intelligence establishment.
Seven “militants” are reported to have been killed in a strike on a compound in an area administered by Sajna Mehsud.
In a newly released video, a senior AQAP official states his organization planned the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo’s offices. AQAP chose the target and financed the operation, he says.
In addition to serving as a senior MSC leader, Abdallah al Ashqar is on the jihadist group’s military committee, is a “foreign relations official,” and a weapons facilitator.
Boko Haram has continued its murderous rampage against civilians and security personnel. While concentrated in northeastern Nigeria, the group’s recent attacks have also targeted Cameroon and its security apparatus.
A Pakistani Taliban splinter group released a nearly 17-minute video again pledging its allegiance to the Islamic State. The group primarily consists of low to mid-level former Pakistani Taliban officials from Khyber, Arakzai, Bajaur, Hangu, and Dir in Pakistan, and from Kunar, Logar, and Nangarhar in Afghanistan.
Fazlullah has presided over the fracturing of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which remains a dangerous terrorist group.
Hacker(s) purportedly serving the Islamic State took over CENTCOM’s official Twitter feed and YouTube page on Monday.
A newly released video shows Amedy Coulibaly, who killed a French policewoman and attacked a kosher market in Paris, swearing allegiance to the Islamic State. Coulibaly says he worked in concert with the Kouachi brothers, who attacked Charlie Hebdo’s offices and claimed allegiance to al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria launched a double suicide attack in a predominately Alawite neighborhood of Tripoli.
A senior AQAP official praises the Charlie Hebdo attack in a new audio message. Unverified statements also claim that AQAP ordered the attack.
One of the brothers responsible for the attack on Charlie Hebdo claimed to have met with Anwar al Awlaki. The other may have met with Awlaki as well. Meanwhile, another terrorist responsible for the siege of a kosher market claimed he was a member of the Islamic State.
Cherif and Said Kouachi were killed after holding a hostage at a print shop. Amedi Coulibalay, who is thought to have killed a policewoman, was killed while holding hostages at a Jewish deli.
One of the chief suspects in the attack on Charlie Hebdo reportedly received training at an al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) camp in 2011.
Two of the suspects are brothers who recently returned from Syria. One of the brothers was previously convicted and sentenced to prison in France for recruiting jihadists to fight for al Qaeda in Iraq.
Videos from the scene of today’s attack show the two gunmen engaging a French policeman on the streets of Paris. Two police officers are among 12 people killed in the terrorist attack on the headquarters of a satirical French magazine.
It is too early to tell who was responsible for today’s attack on Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine. Al Qaeda and other jihadists have repeatedly threatened the publication. By itself, however, this does not mean they were responsible.
Seven shadow governors were among those killed. The Taliban suffered losses in 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
The cover story of the Islamic State’s recently released issue of Dabiq, an English-language magazine, is written by an alleged al Qaeda defector known as Abu Jarir ash-Shamali. The group has been trying to win over al Qaeda’s and the Taliban’s supporters, but Shamali’s piece criticizes Osama bin Laden’s jihadist legacy and the Taliban. Shamali also provides new details about how al Qaeda is currently structured.
Despite a French-led counterterrorism operation in Mali and the Sahel, al Qaeda-linked violence continues to be a problem.
Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters assaulted and took control of the Multinational Joint Task Force base in Baga, Nigeria. The base was used by troops from Nigeria, Niger, and Chad to conduct counterterrorism missions.
The Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group was the target of the attack, and a “high-value target” is reported to have been killed.
A top al Qaeda operative known as Abu Anas al Libi has died in US custody while awaiting trial. Several documents recovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound discuss al Libi after he was released from Iranian custody in 2010. These files should be released to the public.
The Islamic State claims to have breached the perimeter of Camp Habbaniyah. The attack is reported to have been repelled by the Iraqi Army.
The Taliban have released videos of two training camps in northern Afghanistan over the past two weeks.
Rustam Asilderov, the former head of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate’s Dagestan province, swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al Baghdadi earlier this month. The move by Asilderov and other jihadists drew harsh criticism from their former superiors.
The al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr praised al Qaeda’s “martyrs” on Twitter. Among them is Adnan al Shukrijumah, an al Qaeda operative charged with attacking the West. Nasr’s tweets also shed additional light on the identity of another terrorist reportedly killed earlier this month.
Somalia’s National Security Agency said that the US killed the leader of the Amniyat. The US military later confirmed the report.
A newly released Ansar al Sharia video features Wissam Ben Hamid, a key figure in the security failures surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi. The video also shows Mohammed al Darsi, who appears to be the same jihadist released in exchange for a Jordanian ambassador earlier this year.