The role of terrorist-backed media has emerged as an area of concern not only in the West but across the Middle East as an increasing number of individuals are incited to violence by these outlets. Saudi Arabia is the latest country to shut down Al-Manar.
Shabaab continues to demonstrate that it can penetrate high-security areas in Mogadishu, even after losing many of its major urban strongholds in southern and central Somalia.
While most Shabaab attacks are located in the capital of Mogadishu or in the south, the jihadist group maintains the ability to launch operations in the country’s central regions.
The Ugandan military confirmed that 12 of its troops were killed after the al Qaeda branch assault a base in Janale near the capital of Mogadishu. Shabaab had claimed fighters from its Sheikh Abu Zubayr Battalion killed 50 troops while overrunning the facility.
The Uzbeks may have been members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, whose leader recently swore allegiance to the Islamic State, or the splinter Islamic Jihadi Union, which remains loyal to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Both groups are known to operate in North Waziristan.
New US sanctions on two Qatari citizens expose Doha’s uneven response.
No date was given for the ambush, but it was likely recent as the jihadist group has promised to step up attacks during the holy month of Ramadan.
Al Qaeda’s official branch in Somalia continues to be a threat inside Somalia and to neighboring countries, despite an ongoing African Union mission in the country that has driven the group from many of its strongholds.
“Mullah Mohammad Umar ‘Mujahid’ is still the leader in the present hierarchy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” the Taliban stated in a hagiography of its emir.
Shabaab took control of the hotel and trapped several government officials. The al Qaeda branch continues to strike at high-security locations in Mogadishu.
While Nigeria and its military partners are wresting control of northeast Nigeria from Boko Haram, it is becoming apparent that the fight against the jihadist group will continue regardless of the group’s ability to hold land.
Al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia continues to demonstrate that it can penetrate security at the heavily protected areas in the capital and carry out deadly attacks.
The Taliban continue to exact a heavy toll on poorly armed and trained policemen, who have been thrust into the front line of Afghanistan’s insurgency.
The US has launched multiple airstrikes and raids against Shabaab’s leadership cadre over the past decade.
The small Alpine country has become an extremist hub, where Hamas enjoys support, Iranian intelligence maintains a significant presence, and jihadist groups such as the Islamic State are drawing members and planning attacks.
A Belgian news report said authorities have foiled several terrorist attacks in Belgium and arrested a number of suspects who had returned from fighting with the Islamic State in Syria. While up to 400 Belgians are reported to have gone to Syria to join the IS, the actual number is thought to be higher, and […]
Shabaab emir Ahmed Abdi Godane and several senior leaders of the group are rumored to have been at a Shabaab camp when it was targeted by a US airstrike.
Shabaab was attempting to free prisoners held at the intelligence headquarters in the Somali capital.
British ambassador Peter Westmacott warned that among the 70 UK jihadists arrested after returning to Britain, a number were carrying “very specific” instructions for terrorist missions in the UK. British intelligence is coming close to identifying the Islamic State jihadist who beheaded American journalist James Foley; among those being investigated is UK rapper-turned-jihadist Abdel Majed […]
Foreign Secretary Hammond said the Islamic State jihadist whose videotaped murder of US journalist James Foley was published yesterday appears to be British, and warned that “there are a significant number of British nationals in Syria and Iraq operating with extremist organisations” and accordingly the Islamic State presents “a direct threat to the UK’s national […]
Lebanese Army chief Gen. Kahwagi said as many as 20 of the soldiers kidnapped by Islamists in Arsal are missing and possibly dead; 17 other security personnel were also taken captive. Former Free Syrian Army spokesman Ahmad al Qusair, the go-between in contacts of the Muslim Scholars Committee and the militants, said negotiations for the […]
A group of Lebanese clerics with links to Islamist groups mediated a ceasefire between the Lebanese military and fighters from the Islamic Front and the Al Nusrah Front in Arsal, which let as many as 2,000 Islamist fighters escape with over captive 35 Lebanese security forces.
Muslim al Shishani, a Chechen jihadist and military commander in the Al Nusrah Front, and Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked Saudi cleric, celebrate after defeating Syrian government forces during fighting in the mountains of Latakia. A “leader of Ahrar al Sham: Abu al Hassan,” is also on scene.
Sahal Iskudhuq, a senior Shabaab commander who served as a high-ranking member of the Amniyat, Shabaab’s intelligence unit, is reported to have been killed in a drone strike.
Somali and Ethiopian troops have successfully captured key areas near the town of Bardale in Bay region.
A car laden with explosives rammed into the gates of a police station in Beledweyne, allowing other jihadists to storm the compound.
Yesterday’s suicide attack was preceded by a large Shabaab military rally in a town nearby.
A martyrdom video for Kaldet til Islam leader Shiraz Tariq has surfaced, indicating that he died fighting with jihadist forces in Latakia last month.
A Kazakh national and two Kyrgyz citizens who recently returned from fighting in Syria have been arrested in the southern region of Osh on terrorism charges. Authorities say the three men had been dispatched from Syria by the Union of Islamic Jihad (IJU) to conduct terrorist activity in Kyrgyzstan.
In two new messages, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula official Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari denounced the recent crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and praised the actions of jihadists throughout the region and beyond.