On Sept. 11, Nasher al Khayr, an al Qaeda-affiliated media outfit, released a video celebrating the jihadists’ deadliest day. The video offers a history of the 9/11 plot, stressing the importance of “idea development” and jihadist safe havens.
Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior Taliban and Haqqani Network leader, was intricately linked to Al Qaeda. he viewed the two groups as inseparable “brothers.” The U.S. killed Sangeen and an Al Qaeda bomb maker in a drone strike in Pakistan in 2013.
The Taliban has announced the “interim” leadership of its newly restored Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. FDD’s Lpng War Journal profiles 22 of these figures, many of whom were sanctioned by the U.N. in 2001, are designated terrorists, or are former Guantanamo detainees. Multiple Taliban leaders have worked with al Qaeda.
The video of Dr. Amin al Haq is evidence that Al Qaeda commanders now feel secure enough to appear publicly in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Taliban-affiliated social media accounts claim that men from the Badri 313 special forces unit are providing “security” at the Kabul airport. Badri 313 is responsible for some of the Taliban’s key battlefield successes and has also conducted complex suicide missions.
Prospects for this resistance, lead by Amrullah Saleh, are dim. He has a formidable task ahead of him and his prospects are bleak. The Taliban will seek to crush this last bastion of resistance.
Ghazni is the tenth Afghan provincial capital to fall to the Taliban in the past week. Al Qaeda has deep roots in Ghazni. Osama bin Laden identified the province as a key safe haven for his men.
The U.S. transferred Abdul Latif Nasir from Guantánamo to his home country of Morocco. Nasir allegedly led forces during the 2001 Battle of Tora Bora and was a member of an al Qaeda training subcommittee.
The Taliban and al Qaeda advanced throughout Afghanistan after President Biden announced the withdrawal of American and NATO forces on Apr. 14.
The importance of the Taliban’s northern thrust cannot be understated. If the Taliban can deny Afghanistan’s government and its backers their base of power, Afghanistan is effectively lost.
A report by a U.N. monitoring team cites new intelligence concerning Sirajuddin Haqqani’s ties to al Qaeda. The report also mentions the Hattin Shura, which U.S. officials say is the most important decision-making body within al Qaeda.
The Afghan military targeted Al Qaeda’s network in four different districts in Helmand province over the past month. Al Qaeda was operating a “training center” and fighting alongside the Taliban.
Taliban will continue to wage its war against a weakened Afghan government to resurrect its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. A look at how the Taliban may attempt to achieve this goal now that U.S. forces, which were unable to prevent the Taliban from seizing key rural districts, will soon be gone.
In a statement released on May 9, Taliban emir Hibatullah (Haibatullah) Akhunzada boasts that security under his Islamic Emirate is exceptional. He again offers amnesty to the enemies of his group. He demands that the U.S. free the remaining Taliban prisoners and remove the group’s leaders from sanctions and rewards lists.
The Taliban denied that Osama bin Laden was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. and questioned whether he was killed by U.S. soldiers in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011.
The Taliban continues to promote its training camps that pump out jihadist fighters who indiscriminately attack Afghan civilians, soldiers and police.
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security killed an Al Qaeda commander and a Taliban leader during a recent operation in the eastern province of Paktika. The two supported Al Qaeda’s operations in the east and planned and supported high profile attacks.
The Taliban’s celebration of Mullah Saif ur Rahman Mansoor and the battle of Shahi Kot is a reminder of the Taliban’s enduring relationship with Al Qaeda.
The U.S. Treasury Department states in a Jan. 4 memo that al Qaeda is “gaining strength” in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s protection. The same memo points to the Islamic State’s “logistical hubs” inside Turkey.
The State Department revealed today that ‘Abd al Rahman al Maghrebi, a senior al Qaeda leader who heads the group’s propaganda arm and has served as its “general manager,” is based in Iran. Maghrebi and four others based in Iran were designated as terrorists.
The New York Times and other press outlets have confirmed that Abu Muhammad al-Masri, al Qaeda’s deputy emir, was killed in an Israeli operation in Tehran on Aug. 7. His death was originally reported on an al-Qaeda-linked social media account.
Mohammad Hanif was involved in the 2002 assassination attempt on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the suicide attack on the U.S. Consulate in Karachi that same year. He was killed in Farah province. But the Taliban somehow continues to maintain that Al Qaeda isn’t in Afghanistan.
The U.S. has confirmed that Husam Abd-al-Ra’uf, a senior al Qaeda leader, was killed in Ghazni province earlier this month. The head of the National Counterterrorism Center touts his death as a “major setback” for al Qaeda and one of its “strategic losses,” but that is doubtful.
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) claims that Husam Abd-al-Ra’uf, a senior al Qaeda leader, was killed in Ghazni province. FDD’s Long War Journal has not confirmed his death and the NDS provided conflicting details throughout the day.
In exchange for the release of dozens of imprisoned members from Mali’s prisons, Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has freed four hostages, three of them foreign. JNIM has since celebrated the prisoner swap, including a personal appearance by its overall emir, Iyad Ag Ghaly, in northern Mali.
The U.S. government, military, and intelligence services have provided inaccurate assessments of Al Qaeda’s strength in Afghanistan for more than a decade. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued that tradition by recent regurgitating that Al Qaeda has fewer than 200 fighters in the country. This estimate, like previous ones, should not be trusted.
The Taliban’s demand of the release of the wife of slain Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent leader Asim Umar is curious, as the group maintains that Al Qaeda does not have a presence in Afghanistan.
Anas Haqqani’s paean to his father is further evidence that he holds an important position in the Taliban.
The Taliban previously stated that the Abu Ubaidah Ibn Jarrah Training Center was located in Badakhshan province. Members of the Turkistan Islamic Party have trained at a Taliban camp in the province.
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss al Qaeda’s problems in Syria, where a series of disputes have upset the group’s chain of command.