Libyan Islamic Fighting Group joins al Qaeda
The North African based terror group officially is welcomed into the al Qaeda fold by Ayman al Zawahri and al Qaeda in Afghanistan commander Abu Laith al Libi.
The North African based terror group officially is welcomed into the al Qaeda fold by Ayman al Zawahri and al Qaeda in Afghanistan commander Abu Laith al Libi.
Over 60 reported killed as Sunni insurgent group battles al Qaeda after a local leader of the Islamic Army of Iraq was kidnapped in Madain. Osama bin Laden calls for Sunni insurgents to unite and reject the tribe and nation.
The Somalia Battlefield December 25, 2006 to January 3, 2007. Light blue – Ethiopian & TFG advances. Green – ICU territory. Orange – recent clashes. Click image to view. Click the map for an animated view of the TFG and Ethiopian operations against the Islamic Courts from December 25 to January 3 The Islamic Courts […]
CBN’s Erick Stakelbeck followed up his report on western Pakistan with a look at the other forgotten front in the Long War: Somalia. We’ve documented the rise of the al Qaeda backed Islamic Courts Union. Erick interviewed Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and me, as well Adam Hassan, a representative of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia Erick […]
Islamic Courts, Ethiopian troops dance in south central Somalia Somalia. Cities in red indicate ICU controlled territory. Click map to view. As the Islamic Courts Union presses forward with consolidating power in southern and central Somalia, the chance of a battle between the army of the Islamic Courts and Ethiopian troops currently in country has […]
Map of Somalia, recent gains by the Islamic Courts marked in red. Click map to view. Somalia continues the slide into the darkness of a radical Islamist state. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the al Qaeda linked leader of the Islamic Courts is consolidating power in Somalia by taking control of vital lines of communications, organizing […]
The Imam Bukhari Jamaat and the Islamic Jihad Union have claimed attacks in eastern and northern Afghanistan. Members of these two groups are also known to have operated in Syria.
It is unclear if the downing of the US Blackhawk in Zabul province, which killed six US soldiers, was caused by RPGS or “if the low-flying aircraft set off a bomb hidden on the ground.” Last year, the Islamic Jihad Union tested an anti-helicopter fragmentation mine with the intent of bringing down an Apache.
The ISIS images are similar to videos and photographs of child training camps in Pakistan’s tribal areas that are run by the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, the Turkistan Islamic Party, and the Islamic Jihad Union.
Mounir and Yassin Chouka, two Germans who are operatives in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Mevlut Kar, an Islamic Jihad Union facilitator, were added to the list of Specially Designated Global terrorists. All three have ties to al Qaeda.
Ahmad Khalaf Shabib al Dulaymi supports al Qaeda in Iraq as well as the global network, while Atilla Selek supports the Islamic Jihad Union and has operated in Pakistan.
FDD’s Long War Journal responds to the former ambassador’s assertion that assessments of Afghanistan once again becoming a terrorist safe haven are false.
One of the co-leaders of the deadly Kabul Attack Network bragged about his role in deadly attacks in the Afghan capital. The Taliban commander, known as Taj Mir Jawad, is the Taliban’s deputy minister of intelligence.
A Tajik commander in the Al Qaeda-linked Jamaat Ansarullah who was appointed to lead several districts in northern Afghanistan continues to celebrate the group’s ties to the Taliban.
Qari Baryal led an element of the Kabul Attack Network, which attacked Coalition and Afghan forces, as well as civilians, in an around Kabul. He is closely allied with Al Qaeda and has received financial support from Iran.
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.
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.
Based on reports from Al Qaeda, the United Nations, and press reports, the terror group and its allies are operating in 21 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
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.
According to a recently released report by a UN Security Council monitoring team, the Taliban is the “primary partner for all foreign terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan,” including al Qaeda. The only exception is the Islamic State, which opposes the Taliban.
The Taliban claims it does “not allow anyone to use the soil of Afghanistan against other countries including neighboring countries.” Some have uncritically accepted this claim. But it is obviously false.
While these training videos are often mocked, including by the spokesman for Resolute Support and US Forces – Afghanistan, the graduates from these camps have been effective at battling Afghan security forces.
The video is the latest in a string of Taliban propaganda that shows its fighters going through training.
The Taliban’s own statements and actions as well as Qaeda’s propaganda and operations easily disproves the Taliban’s denial that foreign fighters are in Afghanistan.
Scores of Taliban recruits train in broad daylight at the Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah Training Camp.
Katibat Imam al Bukhari released two sets of photos this month showing captured weapons from overran Afghan military posts.
The State Department has released its Country Reports on Terrorism 2017. As in past reports, State says that “Iran has allowed AQ [al Qaeda] facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least 2009, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria.”
According to a new report published by the United Nations, al Qaeda’s “alliance with the Taliban and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan remains firm,” as al Qaeda and the Taliban are “closely allied.” Some of the UN’s Member States consider al Qaeda’s global network to be a bigger long-term threat than the Islamic State.
The video highlights the worsening security situation in the Afghan north, including Baghlan, where 12 of the province’s 14 districts are contested and one is controlled by the Taliban.
The Afghan military said it captured a German citizen who was fighting in Helmand province and belonged to the Taliban’s Red Unit, which serves as an elite unit that spearheads attacks on Afghan forces.