FDD's Long War Journal

Iran

US-Iran Thaw Grew From Years Of Behind-the-Scenes Talks

NSA

US weighs option to end dual leadership role at NSA, Cyber Command

The Shin Bet announced the closure of two Hamas-linked charities in the Jerusalem area. Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel is opposed to the current proposals related to Iran’s nuclear program. IDF officials said attempts at arms smuggling into Gaza are on the rise. Officials denied accusations that Israel poisoned late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with […]

Egypt

Security forces reportedly killed three Islamist militants during clashes in the Sinai. Al Gamaa al Islamiya said it plans to demonstrate against a new protest law. The head of the Cairo office of Iran’s Al Alam Channel was arrested. A Sinai resident reportedly turned in three SA-7 missiles to authorities who are asking residents to […]

Libya

Heavy fighting erupted in east Tripoli after reports that the leader of the Misrata Nosoor Battalion had been killed at a checkpoint; two people have been killed and 21 wounded. A central Tripoli hotel has been hit in the ongoing clash, and guests are being evacuated. A Benghazi security official narrowly escaped being killed by […]

Nigeria

President Jonathan extended the state of emergency in Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa states due to “security challenges”; the Adamawa state governor objected. A Nigerian official said Nigeria needs Cameroon’s help in order to “silence” Boko Haram; Cameroon claims to have already stepped up security along the Nigerian border. The UN said Boko Haram members could […]

Pakistani Taliban name Mullah Fazlullah as new emir

The firebrand cleric from Swat replaces Hakeemullah Mehsud to lead the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Fazlullah led the Taliban takeover of Swat and neighboring districts in 2007. He is currently sheltering in Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

China

Tiananmen Attack Linked to Police Raid on a Mosque in Xinjiang

Al Qaeda

US holds talks about Yemen detention center for Guantanamo inmates

Mali

Malian officials believe that the recent killing of two French journalists in Kidal was probably a botched operation by a terrorist linked to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which took credit for the murders. Baye Ag Bakabo, a prime suspect, is an ethnic Tuareg and former member of the AQIM brigade commanded by Abdelkrim […]

United Kingdom

The heads of MI5, MI6, and GCHQ testified that they defend, not undermine, democracy and freedom; 34 terror plots in England have been disrupted since the London Tube bombings in July 2005; the revelations of NSA leaker Edward Snowden have helped al Qaeda; and “terrorist tourism” is a growing threat to Britain, and hundreds of […]

Afghanistan

The bodies of seven Afghan soldiers who were captured by the Taliban last week and then executed were found in Zabul. Security forces killed seven Taliban fighters in Kandahar, Wardak, and Paktika. The NDS captured a Taliban suicide attack planner and executioner in Paktika.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

Inside Yemen special army unit battling Qaeda

Israel

Inside the IDF’s satellite communications battalion

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia’s Shadow War

Iran

Saudi nuclear weapons ‘on order’ from Pakistan

Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham

Inside Syrian town living under al Qaeda reign of fear

Key jihadi ideologue: Jihad against Egyptian army is ‘religious duty’

In a recent article, key jihadi ideologue Sheikh Abu al Mundhir al Shinqiti called on Egypt’s Muslims to wage jihad against Egyptian security forces. He further urged Egyptian Muslims to do all they can to support the mujahideen, in particular those in the Sinai, already fighting Egypt’s army.

Iraq

An Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham suicide bomber killed seven policemen after ramming an explosives-laden oil tanker into a police station in Al Salam. “Gunmen” killed a senior judge in Mosul. Security forces captured al Qaeda’s deputy governor for Baghdad during a raid in Taji.

Syria

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham executed a male nurse accused of spying for Turkish intelligence, and tried to destroy a monument to freedom in Raqqah. An air force intelligence officer was killed by a suicide car bombing at an intelligence headquarters in al-Sweida province along with eight other soldiers. Ahrar al Sham […]

Turkey

Authorities seized chemical materials from a three-vehicle convoy that was attempting to cross the border near Reyhanli into Syria on Nov. 2; two of the three drivers managed to flee into Syria but a third was arrested. The confiscated materials, which “could be transformed into weapons,” the Army said, included about a ton of sulphur […]

Afghanistan

US trashes, sells its unwanted gear in Afghanistan

Egypt

Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood who fled Egypt after the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi have been reorganizing in a number of locations including Turkey, Qatar, and the UK. A court upheld a ban on the Muslim Brotherhood. Security forces arrested 11 suspects during continued operations in the Sinai. Gunmen in the Sinai shot and killed […]

Kenya

Security forces arrested 21 refugees from the Hagadera camp as they headed towards Somalia to join Shabaab. A confidential security report estimates that over 300 Kenyan Shabaab operatives are currently in Kenya. The chairman of the National Security and Administration Committee blamed the intelligence gathering system for the fact that none of those responsible for […]

Mali

A Mauritanian news agency said it had received a claim for the recent murders of two French journalists in Mali from fighters linked to Abdelkrim al-Targui, a senior commander of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Among the 35 suspects questioned so far about the crime are four “commandos,” two of whom are linked to […]

Libya

After three days of debate, the GNC still has not decided on the fate of the Libya Revolutionary Operations Room. Shaban Hadia, the head of the LROR, denied pressuring the GNC in its deliberations, but did admit that the LROR deployed at the GNC yesterday and “are just protecting it” from an unspecified “threat.” A […]