The strike took place in an area in Paksitan’s tribal agency of South Waziristan that is administered by Sajna Mehsud, who heads a splinter faction that broke away from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan (TTP) in May 2014.
The Movement of the Taliban is capable of organizing, training and executing attacks such as today’s assault on the Air Force camp near Peshawar despite the military offensive that is targeting the group in North Waziristan.
Five veteran jihadists, including three members of al Qaeda’s management council, have reportedly been released from custody in Iran as part of a hostage exchange. The details of their detention and release from Iranian custody are murky.
Jihadist groups in Afghanistan continue to operate training camps despite the presence of coalition troops.
While the Saudi-led coalition has made gains towards the proclaimed Houthi capital in Sanaa, the Iranian-backed Shiites continue to hit the coalition hard in both Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia.
Mullah Manan and Mullah Yacoub’s pledge to Afghan Taliban emir Akhtar Mohammad Mansour closes a major rift that existed after Omar’s death was announced on July 31.
The raid that killed “Khuram,” the al Qaeda leader, took place in the same district in Paktika province where 15 Pakistani Taliban fighters were reported killed last week.
A senior al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr recently claimed on his Twitter feed that David Drugeon, an alleged al Qaeda bombmaker from France, had been killed in Syria. But there are good reasons to take Nasr’s testimony with a grain of salt.
The Taliban freed more than 140 of its fighters and 200 prisoners in a coordinated suicide assault on a jail in the southeastern Afghan province of Ghazni.
Al Qaeda has released the second installment in the “Islamic Spring” series, which features lectures by Ayman al Zawahiri. The al Qaeda leader again calls for jihadist unity in Iraq and Syria. He also encourages young jihadist recruits to follow in the footsteps of successful terrorists.
The Islamic State’s newest edition of Dabiq magazine features an interview with Abul Mughirah al Qahtani, who is identified for the first time as the head of the “caliphate’s” Libyan “province.” Qahtani complains bitterly about the Islamic State’s jihadist and Islamist rivals. He notes, for example, that Ansar al Sharia has failed to swear allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and says the group is close to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
AQAP’s latest edition of Inspire magazine includes an article by Ibrahim Ibn Hassan al Asiri, who describes al Qaeda’s plan to attack Charlie Hebdo in Paris.
Both the Taliban in Pakistan and its ally, al Qaeda, have stepped up their presence in eastern Afghanistan over the past several years.
Earlier today, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani denied reports that his group was going to join Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s Islamic State. Khorasani said that these reports are “false” and based on “lies.” There are multiple indications that al Qaeda helped reorganize the current Pakistani Taliban coalition this year.
The Uighur jihadist group, with its longstanding ties to al Qaeda, continues to play a pivotal role assisting Al Nusrah Front in northwestern Syria.
Al Qaeda’s branches and allies have held or continue to control ground in Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Mali, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Libya, contrary to the narrative that only the Islamic State seeks to take territory.
The latest editions of AQAP’s Inspire and the Islamic State’s Dabiq were published online today. Both English-language magazines praise the 9/11 attacks.
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in the Levant, posted a series of images from its successful raid on the Abu Duhour airbase. Al Nusrah and its allies had long fought the Syrian regime for control of the airbase, which is located in the Idlib province of Syria.
In an audio message released today, al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri argues that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s Islamic State is illegitimate. Zawahiri says Muslims are under no obligation to swear allegiance to Baghdadi, and al Qaeda does not recognize the Islamic State as a “caliphate.” Despite their differences, Zawahiri says that if he were based in Iraq or Syria he would cooperate with the Islamic State in the fight against the West and other common enemies.
Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, claims to have overrun the Abu Duhour airbase in Idlib. Al Nusrah also says that more than 100 of Bashar al Assad’s fighters were killed and an additional 60 or so captured during the fighting.
Among those who eulogized Mullah Omar in the September 2015 edition of Al Sumud include al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, former Islamic Caucasus Emirate leader Abu Usman Gimrinsky, al Qaeda-linked cleric Abdullah al Muhaysini, and Specially Designated nationals Hani al Siba’i and Sheikh Hamid bin Abdallah al ‘Ali.
In a speech before the UK parliament today, Prime Minister David Cameron said that two British nationals recently killed in airstrikes carried out by the US and UK were plotting attacks in Britain. Both were members of the Islamic State. One of the two was well-known for computer hacking and online recruiting.
The photos show Shabaab’s Sheikh Abu Zubayr Battalion again overrunning an African Union base in Somalia.
Mullah Mansour Dadullah, who has rejected the appointment of Mullah Mansour to replace Mullah Omar, also said that the Taliban’s leadership is based in Pakistan. He has not expressed a desire to join the Islamic State.
Yesterday, the Islamic State claimed that AQIM’s entire Al Ansar Battalion in Algeria had defected. In a statement released online today, AQIM responds by saying that fewer than 10 fighters from the battalion have joined Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s cause.
The fifth installment of the Taliban’s “Army of Badr” video series highlights the oaths of loyalty sworn by Ayman al Zawahiri and Siraj Haqqani to the Taliban’s new emir, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. The video is the latest piece of evidence that the jihadist “syndicate” continues to threaten Afghanistan 14 years after the US-led invasion of the country.
While the Islamic State gets most of the attention for the training camps it runs for children, it is not the only jihadist group in Syria that does so.
One Iraqi soldier was killed today as the military raided a Hezbollah Brigades headquarters while searching for 18 Turkish construction workers who were kidnapped in Baghdad.
The Ugandan military confirmed that 12 of its troops were killed after the al Qaeda branch assault a base in Janale near the capital of Mogadishu. Shabaab had claimed fighters from its Sheikh Abu Zubayr Battalion killed 50 troops while overrunning the facility.
The video shows an attack on a convoy between Goundam and Timbuktu in northern Mali in July.