Mullah Raouf Khadim, an ex-Guantanamo detainee, leads a contingent of fighters loyal to the Islamic State in Helmand, Afghanistan. Raouf and another top Taliban commander were previously forced out of their positions in the Taliban’s hierarchy. According to a leaked threat assessment, the jihadist had ties to at least two members of the so-called “Taliban Five.”
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So much for the Taliban wanting to have “cordial relations on basis of mutual respect with all the countries of the world ….”
Mentor of Charlie Hebdo gunmen has been UK-based
Meet the shadowy figure recruiting for the Islamic State in Afghanistan
Islamic State ‘recruiting Afghan fighters’
A Pakistani Taliban splinter group released a nearly 17-minute video again pledging its allegiance to the Islamic State. The group primarily consists of low to mid-level former Pakistani Taliban officials from Khyber, Arakzai, Bajaur, Hangu, and Dir in Pakistan, and from Kunar, Logar, and Nangarhar in Afghanistan.
Fazlullah has presided over the fracturing of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which remains a dangerous terrorist group.
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Remnants of Bagram Airfield
Seven shadow governors were among those killed. The Taliban suffered losses in 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
Smaller NATO mission has big job to train Afghan army in time
The cover story of the Islamic State’s recently released issue of Dabiq, an English-language magazine, is written by an alleged al Qaeda defector known as Abu Jarir ash-Shamali. The group has been trying to win over al Qaeda’s and the Taliban’s supporters, but Shamali’s piece criticizes Osama bin Laden’s jihadist legacy and the Taliban. Shamali also provides new details about how al Qaeda is currently structured.
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Limited options leave Afghan refugees reluctant to return home
The Taliban have released videos of two training camps in northern Afghanistan over the past two weeks.
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Asmatullah Muawiya is said to have been targeted in one of the two strikes that took place today in Shawal area of North Waziristan in Pakistan.