In a recently released audio message, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ideologue Ibrahim al-Rubaysh addresses demonstrations against the Charlie Hebdo attack and calls for more attacks against the West.
The State Department today announced that Denis Cuspert has been added to the US government’s list of specially designated global terrorists.
The US-led coalition conducted three airstrikes near near Kobani, Deir al-Zor and Raqqa in the past day. Kurdish forces have recaptured more than a third of villages (“128 of some 350”) surrounding Kobane. Jordan has launched 56 airstrikes in retaliation for the death of Lt. Muath al-Kasasbeh, the pilot murdered by the Islamic State. The […]
Members of Shabaab shot and killed a member of Somalia’s Federal Parliament in Mogadishu. Jihadists attacked a police station in Bossaso in Puntland; at least two of the attackers were killed and three others captured. A land mine targeting Turkish workers in Mogadishu killed one person.
Pro-government forces launched a new offensive to take Benghazi from Islamist militias; more than 40 people have been killed and dozens injured. The country’s warring parties will resume UN-sponsored peace talks on Feb. 10. A strike by security personnel has closed Libya’s last onshore oil export terminal.
The Ansar al Din Front in Syria has released a statement mourning the death of Harith al Nadhari, a sharia official in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who was killed in a US drone strike on Jan. 31. The statement is further evidence that Ansar al Din is, at a minimum, closely allied with al Qaeda’s international network.
Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim was a senior Taliban leader before joining the Islamic State and being appointed the deputy emir of Khorasan province.
The Interior Ministry announced that it arrested 32 extremists who were plotting spectacular attacks on “civilian and military sites around the country.” Operations to apprehend more suspects remain ongoing in Kasserine, near the Algerian border.
Nigeria is postponing upcoming elections for six weeks to focus on an offensive against Boko Haram. Nigeria, along with Benin, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad have jointly pledged to deploy an additional 8,700 troops in the fight against the jihadist group.
Nigerien forces repelled attacks by Boko Haram on the border towns of Bosso and Diffa; 109 jihadists and four soldiers were killed, and 17 soldiers were wounded. Shortly afterward, a young boy blew himself up in Diffa’s market, killing five.
Boko Haram has attacked Niger for the first time. Fierce counterattacks by Chadian and Nigerian forces reportedly killed over 100 Boko Haram fighters. A Chadian general was also wounded in the battle.
Houthi rebels in Yemen say they intend to form a new government
UAE to resume airstrikes against the Islamic State, U.S. officials say
Djamel Beghal, the charming and chilling mentor of Paris jihadist attackers
Jihadists aligned with al Qaeda’s international network mourned the death of Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari, a senior AQAP sharia official, shortly after AQAP confirmed that he had been killed in a US drone strike.
The Islamic State claims that an American hostage was killed during Jordanian airstrikes earlier today. However, the statement could very well be a propaganda ploy, at least in part.
The immolation of Mu’adh al-Kasasibah
Pentagon loses track of weaponry sent to Yemen in recent years
Jordan has reportedly released Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi. The move was celebrated by al Qaeda jihadists on social media, including those belonging to the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria.
In a recently released audio message, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ideologue Ibrahim al-Rubaysh addresses demonstrations against the Charlie Hebdo attack and calls for more attacks against the West.
Islamic State executes three of its Chinese militants: China paper
Afghan troops fight insurgents near Pakistan border, 18 killed
Jordanian jets return after striking at Islamic State targets in Syria: sources
Jordan considers expanding role in Coalition to hit Islamic State in Iraq
Rebel shelling rocks Syrian capital
At least eight people were wounded and possibly five killed after the Islam Army, a Syrian rebel group, attacked Damascus with a barrage of rockets and mortar rounds. At least 54 rebels may have been killed after regime troops attacked their positions in the Damascus suburb of Douma, according to Xinhua via Syrian National TV. […]
The Somalian government announced that a US drone strike killed Shabaab’s external operations chief last weekend. Suspected jihadists attacked a police station in Bosaso, injuring one and destroying a vehicle. Airstrikes in the Lower Jubba region killed 27 Shabaab fighters, according to local government authorities.
An Egyptian court sentenced 230 people, including a prominent activist, to life in prison after their conviction for “rioting, inciting violence and attacking security forces.” One person was killed when unknown assailants firebombed a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Cairo.
Gunmen stormed the al-Mabrook oilfield south of Sirte, killing 12 people, including at least three foreigners; jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State are suspected. The UAE sent a second plane load of supplies to aid civilians in Libya. The Libyan Army lost 11 soldiers killed and 25 wounded battling Islamist forces near derma; the jihadists […]
Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari, a senior sharia official in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed in a US drone strike on Jan. 31. Al Qaeda had consistently elevated Nadhari’s media profile, meaning he was considered a key ideologue for the global organization.