In the biggest day yet in the air campaign against the Islamic State, the US and the UK jointly launched 24 strikes against the group in Iraq and Syria, bringing the totals so far to 233 in Iraq and at least 62 in Syria. The US signed an agreement with the new Afghan government to […]
The US and Afghanistan signed the Bilateral Security Agreement, which allows the US to base troops in the country after the end of this year. The Taliban denied claims by the Afghan military that 45 jihadists were killed during recent fighting in Sangin in Helmand province. Security forces captured a Taliban shadow district governor in […]
The Islamic State destroyed an Iraqi armored column and took control of a police station in Albu Aytha north of Ramadi. The US military launched 11 airstrikes against the Islamic State near the Mosul Dam, Fallujah, and northwest of Baghdad. The Islamic State killed eight people in bombings in Babil and eight more in Karbala. […]
The Islamic State has seized 325 Kurdish villages around Ayn al Arab. The Islamic State beheaded four YPG fighters, three of whom were female, and displayed their heads in Jarabulus. The leader of Kurdish PYD forces called for weapons for Kurdish fighters outgunned by the Islamic State in Kobani. Turkey claimed that the Islamic State […]
At least five people were killed in clashes between the Islamist Libya Dawn forces and the Libyan national army in Tripoli. A retired security officer was murdered in Benghazi, where 30 people were assassinated last week. An Operation Dignity commander said the Islamic State is controlling Ansar al Sharia, the Revolutionary Council in Benghazi, and […]
Interior Minister Cazeneuve said there are about 1,000 French jihadists who have traveled to Syria and Iraq or plan to go this year, an increase of 74 percent. The Interior Ministry also recently said that 180 of the 930 French nationals who have traveled to Syria or Iraq for jihad have left. Authorities are reportedly […]
Eight members of a Taliban suicide assault team and eight Afghans were killed during an attack on a district center in Paktia. A suicide bomber killed four policemen and three civilians in Kabul. The Taliban killed five policemen during fighting in Jawzjan province. President Ashraf Ghani will sign a security pact with the US that […]
A US drone strike killed two “Arabs” and two Taliban fighters in the first drone strike in South Waziristan in one and a half years. The Pakistani government condemned the strike. Seven people were killed in a bombing at a refugee camp in Hangu.
A suicide bomber detonated his car bomb at a police station in Paktia; casualties were not disclosed. The Taliban killed a civilian in a bombing in Takhar. The military claimed it killed 12 Taliban fighters during an operation in Faryab. At least six Taliban fighters escaped from a prison in Herat.
Officials claimed that the US killed 18 Islamic State fighters in airstrike in Mosul. The military said it killed 25 Islamic State fighters in Dhuliyah, and a “judge” and six fighters in Fallujah. The Islamic State killed six policemen in Sharqat and four men in Mosul.
Coalition airstrikes hit the large Koniko gas plant in Deir Izzour, which also houses an Islamic State prison; granaries in the IS-held city of Manbej in Aleppo; three local oil refineries and a plastics factory in Raqqah; and in Markadah in Hasakah. About 1,500 Kurdish fighters have joined the YPG in recent days to battle […]
An al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula suicide bomber killed one person after driving his car into a Houthi field hospital north of Sana’a. AQAP claimed credit for launching a rocket attack on the US Embassy in Sana’a.
Wanted Islamists Shadi al Mawlawi and Osama Abu Mansourd are thought to be forming a group in Tripoli with links to the Islamic State or the Al Nusrah Front. A Tripoli politician reported suspicious activity threatening his home after being criticized in social media by extremist groups. Former premier Saad Hariri said the Syrian National […]
A court remanded in custody Mohamed Said Mohamed, thought to be the leader of an Islamic State recruiting cell based in Melilla and in the Moroccan city of Nador. Spanish and Moroccan authorities arrested nine members of the cell, all Moroccan except for the leader, a Spaniard, in raids on Sept. 26. Spain has conducted […]
President Obama said US intelligence had underestimated the threat posed by the Islamic State and overestimated the Iraqi Army’s ability to confront the group. He also said part of the solution will be military. “We just have to push them back, and shrink their space, and go after their command and control, and their capacity, […]
A court in Xinjiang sentenced Gheni Hasan and Nurmemet Abidilimit to death for the murder of Juma Tayir, a pro-government imam at China’s biggest mosque, and for leading terrorist groups; a third man received a life sentence on related charges. Hasan was said to have trained group members to “murder patriotic religious figures.”
The Islamic State advanced in Hasakah after clashes with Kurdish YPG forces. Coalition airstrikes targeted the Islamic State in Aleppo, Deir Izzour, and Homs; coalition airstrikes were carried out also in Deraa, Hama, Hasakah, and Idlib. The pace of the air campaign in Syria is said to be now similar to that in Iraq, with […]
The US destroyed four Islamic State armed vehicles and a fighting position in airstrikes in Irbil. The Islamic State killed 11 civilans and two soldiers in bombings in Mahmudiyah, Mishada, and Tuz Khurmatu.
The US killed two AQAP fighters in a drone strike on a vehicle in Al Jawf. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula retaliated by firing an M72 LAW rocket at the US Embassy in Sana’a and wounding several Yemeni guards. Houthi rebels agreed to withdraw their forces from the capital.
Jordan, along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, joined in US-led airstrikes on the Islamic State in northern Syria. The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood condemned Jordan’s participation in the fight against the Islamic State. The Secretary General of the Arab Federation for Combating Counterfeiting and Forgery warned that Islamic State members have acquired forged passports from […]
The military claimed it killed more than 40 Boko Haram insurgents in clashes in Damboa, Konduga, and Beneshek in Borno state over the past three days. The Boko Haram fighters attempting to take Konduga yesterday arrived in a dozen trucks, but were repelled. The military said 11 soldiers were killed and three were missing after […]
Authorities have begun formally investigating three French jihadists recently returned from Syria who are suspected of preparing terrorist attacks; two of them have links to Toulouse shooter Mohamed Merah. The three suspects, who were already subject to investigation since September 2013 for ties to the “Artigat” network of jihadists in southern France, were arrested in […]
One day after the British military was authorized to join the international coalition’s airstrike campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq, two Cyprus-based Tornado jets have completed a reconnaissance mission. Trevor Brooks a.k.a. Abu Izzadeen, a convicted terrorist from east London who is one of 11 Islamists arrested on Sept. 25 and 26, was charged […]
The Taliban beheaded 15 people, including family members of local police, in Ghazni. The Taliban are in control of much of Sangin district in Helmand. ISAF killed several Taliban commanders in an airstrike in Laghman. The military claimed it killed 55 Taliban fighters in Laghman.
The US launched seven airstrikes against Islamic State targets near Kirkuk, Baghdad, and Al Qaim. Britain, Belgium, and Denmark agreed to join the US in targeting the Islamic State inside Iraq, but not in Syria. The headquarters element of the 1st Infantry Division will deploy to Iraq.
Coalition airstrikes have halted most of the oil production in Deir Izzour, a source of Islamic State income, and a coalition airstrike today killed a senior IS official near Deir Izzour city. Coalition airstrikes also targeted an IS headquarters in Menbej city in Aleppo, as well as IS camps, checkpoints, and facilities in Raqqah. Some […]
Abou Malek al Talleh, the Al Nusrah Front’s emir for Qalamoun, warned that “jihadists are in their thousands across Lebanon, awaiting the permission to start the battle” and that Al Nusrah has “managed to break all the security barriers in all Lebanese regions,” and he promised a quick solution to inmates of Roumieh Prison. A […]
Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt said Denmark will send four operational planes and three reserve aircraft to join the international coalition’s air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq. Parliament is expected to approve the plan, which also includes the deployment of 250 pilots and support staff, next week. Authorities reported that 349 blank passports had been […]
The Parliament voted to approve the deployment of six Tornado jets to support the air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq. Defence Secretary Fallon said the campaign would be long and would not consist of a “series of immediate hits,” and would be aimed at preventing the “slaughter of civilians” by the terrorist organization. […]
The US launched 11 airstrikes against the Islamic State in Irbil, Kirkuk, and Baghdad provinces. France also conducted airstrikes in Iraq. Prime Minister Abidi said the Islamic State is plotting attacks in Paris and New York City. The military claimed it killed 18 Islamic State fighters in Jurf al Sakhar. Five people were killed in […]