The Islamic State’s “Aden-Abyan Province” claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in Aden earlier today. The attackers targeted forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to Yemeni soldiers. The operations were a departure for the Islamic State, which has usually targeted civilian facilities in Yemen.
Based on an analysis by The Long War Journal, 29 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts are under Taliban control, and another 36 districts are contested. An interactive map details the locations.
The ranks of the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, continue to swell with foreign fighters.
The Islamic Jihad Union’s supporters have released dozens of images from the city of Kunduz. The photos document the group’s participation in the siege of the city. In the months leading up to the invasion, the IJU and its allies captured territory in the surrounding areas.
Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has posted several photos purportedly showing Russia’s airstrikes. Al Nusrah also posted two images of leaflets dropped by the Assad regime.
The Islamic State West Africa has routinely used women and girls to execute suicide attacks in the region. The group has deployed at least 52 female suicide bombers since June 2014. It is likely some of these women and girls were kidnapped and indoctrinated to conduct attacks.
Ahrar al Sham claims to have launched Grad rockets at the Hmeimim airbase in the Latakia province of Syria earlier today. Russian forces are stationed at the airbase.
Wardoj and Baharak are the latest districst to fall to the Taliban since the provincial capital of Kunduz was overrun on Sept. 28. The Taliban has seized control of 10 districts in five provinces.
Mullah Abdul Salam, the Taliban’s shadow governor for the embattled Afghan province of Kunduz, denied NDS reports that he was killed in a US airstrike. Salam is directing the fighting in Kunduz. Afghan soldiers are reported to have retaken the center of the city of Kunduz city and are battling the Taliban in several neighborhoods.
On the same day that Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, a mainly Uzbek jihadist group, swore allegiance to Al Nusrah Front, it claimed an attack on Russian forces in the Latakia province of Syria.
The mainly Uzbek group, Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, has formally pledged allegiance to Al Nusrah Front. However, it was always under al Qaeda’s influence.
If the Taliban’s takeover of Khaki Safid in Farah province is confirmed, the jihadist group has seized five districts in three provinces and the provincial capital of Kunduz in the span of three days.
A senior Afghan military official confirmed that US Special Forces engaged the Taliban outside of Kunduz Airport. Maintaining control of the airport is vital if Afghan security forces hope to regain control of Kunduz city.
Testimony to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade on the US counterterrorism strategy in Syria. “The West’s involvement is ad hoc, tactical and reactionary.”
The US State and Treasury Departments announced 35 designations today. The designations target the Islamic State’s foreign fighters, leaders, “provinces” and other related entities. Several jihadists from the West were included among the designees.
The Taliban reports cannot be independently confirmed as media reporting in the Afghan north has focused on Kunduz. But the Taliban has been accurate in its reporting of districts it has taken in the past.
The Taliban’s statements as well as its speedy offensive indicate that the effort to take Kunduz city was planned and coordinated in advance at the Taliban’s highest levels.
Photos released on Twitter by Taliban fighters and supporters show the jihadist group in control over the northern city. The Taliban raised its white banner over several buildings in Kunduz.
Reports from Afghan officials, residents and Taliban fighters inside Kunduz indicate that Afghan forces have been driven out of the city and the Taliban is in full control.
CENTCOM has conceded that rebels belonging to the so-called “New Syrian Forces” turned over equipment and ammunition to Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria. This is the latest setback for the US effort to train and equip Syrian rebels.
The IJU claims it is “controlling many territories bordering Tajikistan,” and released photographs purporting to show a small unit crossing into northern Afghanistan.
The Turkistan Islamic Party continues to highlight children in jihadist training. It is known to operate training camps for minors in both Syria and in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, which is mainly comprised of foreign fighters, has officially merged with the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria. Al Nusrah gains several hundred jihadists out of the deal, which was likely intended to bolster al Qaeda’s hand in the Aleppo province.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters today that David Drugeon, a French bombmaker who belonged to al Qaeda’s so-called “Khorasan Group,” and Abu Bakr al Turkmani, a senior Islamic State leader, have been killed in airstrikes. Drugeon was killed in July, while al Turkmani perished earlier this month.
Al Qaeda has released the third installment of its long-delayed “Islamic Spring” series, which features long-winded speeches by Ayman al Zawahiri. As in past editions of the series, Zawahiri argues that the Islamic State’s “caliphate” is illegitimate.
As the jihadist group mounts offensives in the northern province of Kunduz and the southern province of Helmand, it has also been consolidating its grip on areas in eastern Afghanistan, including within the Haqqani Network stronghold of Paktika.
The group, formerly known as Boko Haram, has used at least 47 women as suicide bombers since June 2014.
Saraya al Khorasani, an Iranian-backed Shiite militia that operates alongside the Iraqi military, released a video showing the “Sheikh Hajj Hamid Taqavi training center.” Taqavi was an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods Force general who was killed by an Islamic State sniper.
Pro-al Qaeda jihadists on Twitter are claiming that an al Qaeda veteran known as Abu Hassan al Tunisi was killed while fighting in Syria. The jihadists say he was a companion of Osama bin Laden and survived the Battle of Tora Bora in 2001. These details are unconfirmed.
The Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham, Jund al Aqsa, and the Turkistan Islamic Party have launched significant operations targeting two Shiite villages in the Idlib province of Syria. Their attacks are a response to the siege of Zabadani, a southern Syrian city, by Bashar al Assad’s regime and its allies.