Libya
Report: Qatar arming Islamist extremists
Report: Qatar arming Islamist extremists
The al Qaeda-linked Caucasus Emirate joins the Al Nusrah Front and other jihadist groups in offering condolences to Ahrar al Sham.
The Islamic Front identified Sheikh Hashim al Sheikh, who is also known as Abu Jaber, as the new emir of al Qaeda-allied Ahrar al Sham.
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has released a statement honoring the Ahrar al Sham leaders killed in yesterday’s explosion. Al Nusrah says they were among the “best” of men and leaders.
Several influential al Qaeda members have used their Twitter feeds to mourn the slain leaders of Ahrar al Sham and the Islamic Front. The jihadists were killed in an explosion earlier today. One well-connected jihadist, who appears to be an al Qaeda media operative, claimed that the head of the Islamic Front had been in communication with Ayman al Zawahiri.
Blast kills leader of Syrian Islamist group, other top figures
The Islamic Front announced today that more than one dozen of its senior leaders were killed in a car bombing in Idlib. Among the slain leaders is Hassan Abboud, who was the leader of Ahrar al Sham and the head of the Islamic Front’s political office. Abboud was especially close to Ayman al Zawahiri’s representative in Syria.
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has announced its responsibility for the detention of 45 UN peacekeepers in Syria. The group claims its actions are justified because the UN supposedly works “against Muslims.”
Held by IS for 40 days, a Turkish photographer tells his story
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and the Islamic Front, a coalition of several rebel groups, are using their social media pages to highlight their involvement in the rebels’ assault on the Quneitra border crossing.
The Islamic Front, a coalition of several leading insurgent groups in Syria, has issued a statement rejecting any attempt by its fellow insurgency groups to unilaterally create a new government.
Who controls Syria’s oil?
With the fall of Mayadin as well as Shujail, the home town of the Al Nusrah Front’s emir, the Islamic State controls contiguous territory along the Euphrates River Valley from the town of Jarabulus, which borders Turkey, in Syria’s northern Aleppo province to the town of Anah in Anbar province in Iraq.
Syrian Kurdish leader: Turkey turns blind eye to ISIS
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Harakat Hazm: America’s new favorite jihadist group
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has rejected a charter signed by a number of other leading insurgency groups. Al Nusrah argues that the charter is not rooted in proper Islamic principles, among other supposed flaws.
Syria’s moderate rebels still losing ground to extremists
Ayman al Zawahiri has released an audio message eulogizing Abu Khalid al Suri, who was killed on Feb. 23. Zawahiri confirms that he knew al Suri since before the 9/11 attacks and that they had been in direct communication after the beginning of the Syrian revolution.
Adam Gadahn, al Qaeda’s American propagandist, lamented the death of Abu Khalid al Suri, Zawahiri’s personal representative in Syria, and called for an investigation into the suicide attack that killed him.
Muslim al Shishani, a Chechen jihadist and military commander in the Al Nusrah Front, and Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked Saudi cleric, celebrate after defeating Syrian government forces during fighting in the mountains of Latakia. A “leader of Ahrar al Sham: Abu al Hassan,” is also on scene.
ISIS enforces strict religious law in Raqqa
High-profile jihadists in Syria, including those with known ties to al Qaeda, are reporting that Sanafi al Nasr — one of al Qaeda’s highest-ranking leaders — has been killed.
Defying allies, Qatar unlikely to abandon Syria rebels
In a video released on March 18, the Al Nusrah Front identifies Abu Firas al Suri as a leader within the group. Al Suri, who has a long al Qaeda pedigree, was dispatched to Syria from Yemen to try to mediate the dispute between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.
Twice during congressional hearings last year, The Long War Journal warned that jihadists were looking to secure Mohammed Zammar’s release in Syria. Zammar recruited the Hamburg cell, including the suicide hijack pilots for 9/11.
Mohammed Zammar, who recruited al Qaeda’s Hamburg cell, has reportedly been freed inside Syria. His freedom was negotiated by Ahrar al Sham, an al Qaeda-linked group.
Siege of Syrian arms depot in Tal Al Jabiyeh exposes chemical weapons fears
Sanafi al Nasr heads al Qaeda’s “Victory Committee” and has relocated to Syria. He has become a vocal critic of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) and has been allied with ISIS’ main jihadist rivals, including the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria.
The Ibn Taymiyya Media Center (ITMC) has published a banner honoring the “martyrdom” of Abu Khalid al Suri, who was one of al Qaeda’s top men in Syria. The ITMC is the propaganda arm for Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) and also publicizes propaganda on behalf of Ansar Jerusalem.