FDD's Long War Journal

Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda’s scathing letter to troublesome employee Mokhtar Belmokhtar reveals inner workings of terrorist group

The rebel Syrian Military Council warned Hezbollah yesterday to remove its fighters from Syria within 24 hours or face “all measures.” A planned two-day meeting of the Syrian Opposition Coalition has stretched into six, as factions disagree over the coalition’s makeup, and the number of liberal members has been reduced. Russia is still considering sending […]

China

Confidential report lists US weapons system designs compromised by Chinese cyberspies

United States

Should the US Army buy a hybrid tank?

Israel

Defense Minister Ya’alon said that Israel “will know what to do” if Russia sends advanced antiaircraft weaponry to Syria. A high-level military intelligence delegation arrived in Moscow to convince Russia not to send advanced antiaircraft weaponry to Syria. An IDF official warned that Israeli intelligence is seeing the migration of global jihadists from Iraq, Pakistan, […]

Iran

Israeli or U.S. Action Against Iran: Who Will Do It If It Must Be Done?

Libya

French Foreign Minister Fabius said Tunisia, Algeria, Chad, Mali, and Egypt must work together to help Libya address the growing Islamist threat in the southern part of the country; al Qaeda uses the area for arms trafficking. Libya’s Agriculture Minister resigned, for security and personal reasons; he is the third cabinet minister to resign this […]

France

French police arrested a 22-year-old follower of “radical Islam” for the recent attempted murder of a French soldier in Paris. The suspect, identified as “Alexandre D.,” was filmed praying a Muslim prayer before stabbing the soldier several times in the throat. The crime is being treated as a terrorist act.

United Kingdom

Michael Adebowale, one of the two main suspects in the killing of a British soldier in Woolwich, was charged with murder and a related firearms offense. The other main suspect, Michael Adebolajo, remains hospitalized. Authorities warned of an increased risk of hostage attacks at prisons, after three Muslim prisoners who supported radical extremism held an […]

Taliban suicide assault team storms governor’s compound in Panjshir

While the attack had little military significance, the Taliban have demonstrated that they are able to strike in one of the most secured and peaceful areas of Afghanistan.

Egyptian jihadists call for attacks in Shiite countries

Mohammed Zawahiri, the brother of al Qaeda’s emir, is one of the 20 Egyptian jihadists who issued a statement calling upon Sunnis to launch attacks in Shiite-led countries in response to the Bashir al Assad regime’s offensive in Qusayr, Syria. Iran and Hezbollah have reportedly joined the fight in Qusayr alongside Assad’s forces.

US launches first drone strike in Pakistan in 6 weeks

The strike in North Waziristan killed seven people in an area administered by the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network. Senior Taliban commander Waliur Rehman is rumored to have been killed. The program had been put on hold for “political considerations.”

Libya

Libyan bloggers accuse government of inaction

Libya

Benghazi hospital blast highlights security crisis

Pakistan

The Taliban killed a police chief and and four policemen in an IED attack in Shangla, the son of a peace committee in a bombing in Swat, and a female anti-polio aid worker in a shooting in Peshawar. Security forces detained 14 suspects in the Peshawar attack. The WHO has suspended polio vaccinations in Peshawar.

Afghanistan

Two Taliban infiltrators killed seven Afghan policemen in Kandahar. The Taliban killed five bodyguards for a wireless communications company executive in an IED attack in Kabul, three soldiers in Helmand, three policemen in Jawzjan and three more in Kandahar. The secretary for the chairman of the senate was gunned down in Nangarhar.

Iraq

Insurgents killed over 50 Iraqis yesterday and 22 more today, including four Iraqi soldiers, in attacks throughout Iraq. Security forces killed three al Qaeda fighters in That Thar and detained three more in Albu Kamal as they crossed the border from Syria.

Hezbollah

Crossing into Syria with Lebanese pro-Assad militia

Yemen

Two South African tourists were kidnapped in the city of Taiz. The Iranian government strongly protested claims by Yemen’s foreign minister that it is smuggling weapons into Yemen.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Rise of al-Qaida Saharan terrorist

Nigeria

Security forces claimed that a courier who worked for Boko Haram’s emir, Abubakar Shekau, was killed while trying to cross into Niger. Shekau claimed victory over the military and said Boko Haram dodged the sweeping operation in the north.

Syria

Obama Asks Pentagon For Syria No-Fly Zone Plan

Tunisia

The trial of 20 suspects in the Sept. 14, 2012 attack on the US Embassy in Tunis opened today. In individual questioning, each suspect denied taking part in the crime; nine suspects are being held in custody. The government has accused the head of Tunisia’s Ansara al Sharia, Saif Allah Bin Hussein, a.k.a. Abu Iyadh, […]

Libya

A stockpile of weapons outside Brega that was to be destroyed exploded “in heat”; the munitions included 120 Grad missile launchers, 7 Grad missiles, 30 106 mm shells, a mortar shell, and seven C-5 missiles. Alashei Mahdi, the commander of the Qatrun’s Martyrs Brigade, an ethnic Tebu militia that has been guarding the massive Elephant […]