FDD's Long War Journal

Somalia

A French warship has joined EU Naval Forces for counter-piracy operations. Witnesses say that numerous military aircraft were seen over Barawe, forcing Shabaab to flee.

Uganda

Police issued a terror alert for Kampala regarding an imminent attack. This is the third such alert since September.

Kenya

Shabaab militants attacked a police patrol near the Somali border. Five policemen and three civilians were killed in the attack, along with two Shabaab fighters.

President Jonathan has given his support to the creation of an African rapid response force that could help fight Boko Haram. A Human Rights Commission is investigating rights abuses and illegal detention centers used to imprison suspected Boko Haram fighters.

Switzerland

Analysis finds confusion over ‘armed conflicts’

Tunisia

A news outlet has claimed that Ansar al Sharia may use female suicide bombers in forthcoming attacks. Security forces have recently arrested “many young people” in possession of pictures and leaflets of Osama bin Laden and Ansar al Sharia leader Abou Iyadh. Authorities refused to pardon Jabeur Mejri, who was imprisoned last year for posting […]

Al Qaeda official says force needed to establish sharia law in Egypt

Muhammad bin Mahmoud Rabie al Bahtiyti denounced both the current regime in Egypt and the previous Muslim Brotherhood-led government. He said he hoped the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood would give its supporters the chance to “review themselves and correct their path.”

Libya

A suspected arson attack destroyed a store of tank ammunition at the Brak airbase in Wadi Shatti. An official from the Sirte passport office was assassinated. The leader of the Barqa Political Bureau, the militia mainly responsible for the shutdown of Libya’s oil terminals, said the terminals will reopen on Dec. 15 if the government […]

Denmark

Denmark has offered to contribute up to 75 military personnel and a C-130J cargo aircraft to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali. Isaac Meyer a.k.a. Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, a convicted terrorist, was found guilty of assaulting Yayha Hassan, a poet who has criticized Islamist culture in Denmark.

Iraq

Iraqi troops in Anbar province repelled an armed assault from gunmen on the Syrian side of the border. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham killed three policemen in Abu Ghraib and nine civilians in Buhriz. Security forces killed two suicide bombers and captured an ISIS commander in Ramadi.

Syria

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham executed a mentally disabled man in Idlib for swearing. ISIS continued its attacks on Syrian Kurds in Aleppo, taking over homes and turning them into bases. Regime forces detained the wife of a nonviolent opposition activist in Damascus who is currently being detained. The Supreme Military Council […]

Yemen

The US killed three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in a strike on a vehicle in Hadramout province. Yemeni tribesmen reportedly attacked Saudi troops along the border.

Africa

How US and France are battling al Qaeda in Africa

Saudi Arabia

The Interior Ministry is expanding the kingdom’s jihadist rehabilitation program, due to fears that jihadists in Syria will engage in terrorism when they return; three more rehab centers are planned in addition to the two already in operation. The number of Saudis fighting in Syria has been estimated at between 800 and 900. An Interior […]

Al Qaeda

Saudis Fearing Syrian Blowback Expand Rehab for Jihadis

US drones kill 3 AQAP fighters in eastern Yemen

The strike targeted a vehicle in the eastern province of Hadramout, where Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has stepped up its presence.

Fierce fighting in central Somalia

Fighting continues in Somalia, particularly near the city of Beledweyne. The arrival of Ethiopian troops has not put a damper on Shabaab’s activities.

Israel

A senior IDF official said there is no possibility that forces will completely withdraw from the Jordan Valley. Defense Minister Ya’alon charged that every Iranian embassy in the world is a base for terrorism. The IDF will soon deploy a new satellite system aimed at increasing real-time observation capabilities. Officials estimate that Hezbollah possesses 5,000 […]

Egypt

Security sources alleged that members of Ansar Jerusalem have fled to Gaza and Mersa Matruh. The Army spokesman said security forces killed a leader of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis in North Sinai. Members of tribes in the country’s western region continue to voluntarily hand in weapons. The Salafi al Nour party claimed that the Muslim […]

Israel

Is Salafist Jihadism Making Inroads into the Israeli-Palestinian Arena?

Analysis: Afghan Taliban say drone strikes are proof US is a ‘paper tiger’

The Taliban claim that the US’ reliance on drones to target their leaders is not only ineffective, but also is evidence of American decline. The group uses Osama bin Laden’s own words to describe the US as a “paper tiger.”

Libya

A car bomb at the funeral of a Benghazi intelligence official yesterday killed one person and injured six others; it is thought to be the first time a car bomb has targeted a terror victim’s funeral in Libya, although the tactic is common in Iraq. Ansar al Sharia criticized the GNC’s recent declaration that sharia […]

Somalia

Shabaab has attacked Ethiopian and Somali troops near Beledweyne. A Djiboutian AMISOM soldier was killed while attempting to defuse undetonated RPGs. In Gedo, Somali national army and Ahlu Sunna fighters launched a joint offensive against Shabaab bases south of Garbaharey. A recent report details how aid agencies paid Shabaab during the 2011 famine. Shabaab attacked […]

Nigeria

According to President Jonathan, the Maiduguri attack confirms Boko Haram’s external sponsorship, and that poverty is not a factor in the insurgency. Borno state’s governor will give N100 million in compensation to Boko Haram victims. Borno has faced an upsurge in suspected Boko Haram abductions along a major motorway.

Australia

Authorities canceled the passports of 20 Muslim men from Sydney after the Australian intelligence agency assessed that they were planning to engage in politically motivated violence overseas. One of the 20 is Abu Bakr, who admitted making videos about jihad in Syria. Two Sydney men face charges regarding attempted travel to Syria to join al […]

Afghanistan

US needs millions more to complete Afghanistan’s ‘Pentagon’

Philippines

The government signed a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, under which the group gives up its goal of an independent state in exchange for power and wealth-sharing in a new autonomous region. Two days earlier, MILF rebels attacked a police station in Marawi City, taking the police chief hostage, killing a civilian, […]