Taliban takes another district in southern Afghanistan
The fall of Musa Qala puts the Taliban in effective control of northern Helmand, and will allow it to threaten the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.
Tag Archives: Afghanistan
US adds Haqqani Network commander to list of global terrorists
Siraj Haqqani’s brother, Abdul Aziz, is a key military commander who directs operations for the Haqqani Network and also is a member of the Kabul Attack Network. He is the 14th Haqqani network leader added to the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists since 2008. All have ties to al Qaeda.
Jundallah emir killed in northern Afghanistan, NDS claims
Hazrat, who is also known as Abu Hazefa, was killed in Kunduz, where a number of jihadist groups are fighting Afghan forces. He served as a Taliban military commander and also was a member of al Qaeda.
Central Asian groups split over leadership of global jihad
Earlier this month, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan officially swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s emir, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. On August 20, fighters from the Islamic Jihad Union followed in al Qaeda’s footsteps and pledged loyalty to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the newly appointed leader of the Taliban.
New Taliban emir accepts al Qaeda’s oath of allegiance
The Taliban’s new emir, Mullah Mansour, has publicly accepted Ayman al Zawahiri’s oath of allegiance. The public acceptance of Zawahiri’s pledge demonstrates that Mansour has no intention of breaking with al Qaeda.
Full statement of Mullah Mansour accepting al Qaeda’s oath of allegiance
The full text of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour’s statement, entitled “New Amir of Islamic Emirate thanks and accepts all who pledged allegiance.”
Taliban raise flag over captured district in Helmand province
The Taliban took control of Now Zad in Helmand province in late July even though Afghan forces were backed by US air support, video from the fighting shows.
Taliban continues terror attacks in Afghan capital
The attacks in Kabul and elsewhere over the weekend have caused top Afghan officials to accuse the Pakistani government of continuing to back the Taliban even while hosting peace talks.
US drone strike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan
Five suspected jihadists were killed in the strike, which took place in the al Qaeda and Taliban haven of Datta Khel.
3 al Qaeda branches issue joint eulogy for Mullah Omar
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb commemorate Mullah Omar’s jihadist career in a joint statement. The al Qaeda branches highlight Omar’s decision to harbor Osama bin Laden, even as the international community demanded that the Taliban turn him over.
Taliban touts camp in Paktia province
The “Training Camp Shaheed Ustaz Aasim in the Lions Den” is said to be in the Zurmat district in the eastern Afghan province. The district is a known bastion of the Haqqani Network and has hosted al Qaeda fighters in the past.
Jalaluddin Haqqani supports new Taliban emir, calls for unity
The influential veteran jihadist leader has endorsed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour as the new emir of the Taliban, and urged others to pledge to him, according to the Taliban.
Taliban deny reports of Jalaluddin Haqqani’s death
Reports surfaced that veteran jihadist leader Jalaluddin Haqqani died in 2014, but the Afghan Taliban have gone on the record stating that the patriarch of the Haqqani Network is alive.
The Taliban’s new leadership is allied with al Qaeda
The Taliban’s new emir is Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. His top two deputies are Moulavi Haibatullah Akhunzada and Siraj Haqqani. Both Mansour and Haqqani are allied with al Qaeda.
The Taliban confirms Mullah Omar is dead
The Taliban’s spokesman has confirmed that Mullah Omar, the so-called “Emir of the Faithful,” is dead.
Taliban overruns another district in northern Afghanistan
The district of Kohistanat in once-peaceful Sar-i-Pul is the latest to fall to the Taliban. Kohistanat is a known gathering place for Arab, Uzbek, and Pakistani jihadists.
Taliban overrun base, capture and release 100 Afghan security personnel
The Taliban have remained on the offensive in Badakhshan province, where Afghan security forces are struggling to maintain security.
Islamic Jihad Union details its involvement in Taliban’s Azm offensive
The al Qaeda and Taliban-linked jihadist group has operated under the radar of Western officials in Afghanistan, but continues to wage jihad alongside its allies.
US airstrike kills one of Osama bin Laden’s most trusted commanders in Afghanistan
Abu Khalil al Sudani worked with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri for years. He was a member of al Qaeda’s shura council and directed suicide operations. Osama bin Laden’s files reveal that he was one of al Qaeda’s most trusted leaders. The airstrike that killed Sudani took place in the Bermal district of the Paktia province, where the US operated a base before withdrawing its forces.
Taliban parades in northern Helmand
A video released by the Taliban shows its fighters in the northern Helmand district of Kajaki operating US-made equipment, including Humvees, overrunning a military base, and parading through the district center.
Message attributed to Mullah Omar takes aim at the Islamic State
The Taliban has released a new statement attributed to Mullah Omar saying that his men have been ordered to “forcefully prevent” anyone from sowing dissent in the jihadists’ ranks in Afghanistan. Although the statement doesn’t mention the Islamic State or its followers by name, the Taliban clearly has Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s organization in mind.
Pakistani Taliban confirms death of Khorasan province spokesman, calls for Afghan Taliban and Islamic State to ‘end their dispute’
The spokesman for the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan said it “will avenge” the death of Shahidullah Shahid “from the Americans and its allies.” He also claimed a peace council was formed to mediate the dispute between the Islamic State and the Afghan Taliban.
Islamic State says emir for Khorasan province is alive
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost said that Hafiz Saeed Khan is alive, but did confirm that Khorasan province’s deputy emir and spokesman were killed last week in US airstrikes.
Afghan intelligence claims US killed Islamic State’s emir for Khorasan province
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) claimed that the US killed Hafiz Saeed Khan, the Islamic State’s leader for its Khorasan province in an airstrike in Nangarhar. The US has killed top leaders of jihadist organizations in the past, only to watch these groups expand.
Islamic State’s spokesman for Khorasan province thought killed in US airstrike
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security claimed that the US killed Shahidullah Shahid, the Islamic State’s spokesman for its Khorasan province, in a recent airstrike in eastern Afghanistan. The death of Shahid, the former spokesman for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, has not been confirmed.
Deputy emir of Islamic State’s Khorasan province reported killed in US drone strike
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Intelligence said that “Gull Zaman,” his deputy, and five fighters were killed in a US drone strike in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.
Wanted Saudi al Qaeda leader reported killed in Afghanistan
Mansur al Harbi, a Saudi who served as a senior al Qaeda military leader, trainer, and facilitator is said to have been killed by the US in an airstrike in Afghanistan over the past several days. His death has not been confirmed.
Treasury designates Taliban liaison to al Qaeda
Prior to his capture in July 2014, Maulawi Abdul Rashid Baluch was a senior Taliban member whose activities ranged from waging guerrilla warfare against NATO and Afghan forces to narcotics trafficking. Rashid also served as a liaison to al Qaeda, arranging “planning meetings” between senior Taliban leaders and al Qaeda members in Karachi, Pakistan.
Jihadists tout Taliban ‘special forces’ training camp in Afghanistan
The Taliban and allied groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al Qaeda, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, and Lashkar-e-Taiba are known to have run dozens of camps inside Afghanistan even as the Coalition was present.
Islamic State’s Khorasan province beheads former shura member who defected back to the Taliban
Sa’ad Emarati, a senior jihadist commander as well as a member of the “Khorasan Shura,” was executed for leaving the Islamic State and rejoining the Taliban.