US kills jihadist leaders in airstrikes in Somalia and Libya
The two leaders were identified as Abdirahman Sandhere from Shabaab, al Qaeda official branch in Somalia, and Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, from the Islamic State’s province in Libya.
Tag Archives: Al Qaeda
Al Qaeda seizes town, provincial capital in southern Yemen
Al Qaeda’s official branch in Yemen took control of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, and Jaar. The two towns were previously under al Qaeda control between May 2011 and the summer of 2012.
Al Qaeda leader praises Charlie Hebdo massacre in new message
Al Qaeda has released a new speech by Ayman al Zawahiri, who asks Allah to reward the “brothers in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” (AQAP) for helping “to complete” the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo’s offices in Paris.
Taliban claims hundreds of military personnel, government officials defect in Nuristan
The Taliban claimed that 338 security personnel and government officials defected to the jihadist group in the district of Waygal, which is in the embattled northeastern province of Nuristan.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb squadron ambushed in Libya
AQIM has released a eulogy for Hamid al Sha’iri, who led a “squadron” in Libya. Al Sha’iri and his men were traveling from Derna to Benghazi to fight General Khalifa Haftar’s forces when they were ambushed.
New Al Nusrah Front video shows moments before mass execution of Syrian soldiers
After overrunning the Abu Duhour airbase in Idlib province in September, Al Nusrah Front executed dozens of Syrian soldiers. A new video posted online by Al Nusrah highlights the dramatic tension just beforehand.
Taliban suicide assault squad pledges allegiance to emir Mullah Mansour
The Muaskar ul Fida is likely loyal to the Haqqani Network, an al Qaeda-linked Taliban group that is backed by Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment.
Al Qaeda has not been neutralized
Secretary of State John Kerry believes that al Qaeda’s “top leadership” has been “neutralize[d]” as “an effective force.” A brief look at al Qaeda’s position throughout the globe tells a different story.
Al Qaeda group claims credit for attack on hotel in Mali’s capital
Al Murabitoon, an al Qaeda group that operates in West Africa, claimed it executed the hotel siege in Mali in conjunction with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Jihadists storm Radisson hotel in Malian capital
The attackers were heard yelling “Allahu Akbar” and separated Muslims from non-Muslims. The hostage crisis is the second to occur in Mali this year, but the first to occur in its capital. Jihadists have increasingly been able to penetrate southern Mali after a French-led counterterrorism mission in the north.
The Taliban approves of Paris suicide assault
While western officials still seek to negotiate with the Afghan Taliban, the group continues to support attacks in Western countries. The Taliban said France’s “colonial policy” justified the murders in Paris.
Islamic State highlights ‘Sheikh Jalaluddin training camp’ in Afghanistan
The “Sheikh Jalaluddin training camp” is named after the Khorasan Province’s former mufti, or senior religious and legal scholar, who was killed by the US in an airstrike in Nangarhar in October. The Islamic State has advertised three training facilities in Afghanistan in the past two months.
Dozens of Afghan troops surrender to Taliban in Helmand
Sixty-five Afghan soldiers and several of their officers laid down their weapons and surrendered to the Taliban in the embattled district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand.
State Department offers rewards for information on 6 Shabaab leaders
The US State Department today announced a reward of up to $6 million for information leading to the whereabouts of Shabaab’s emir, Abu Ubaidah Ahmad Umar, who is loyal to al Qaeda head Ayman al Zawahiri. Five other Shabaab leaders now have rewards targeting them as well.
Deputy emir of ‘moderate’ Taliban faction oversaw ‘massacre of thousands of Shiites’
Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, the deputy leader of the so-called “High Council of Afghanistan Islamic Emirate,” was accused by Human Rights Watch of inciting and supporting the murder of thousands of Afghans, mostly from the minority Shiite Hazara sect, after the Taliban seized Mazar-i-Sharif in August 1998. He also sheltered Khairullah Said Wali Khairkhwa, one of five dangerous al Qaeda-linked Taliban leaders who were exchanged for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl.
Islamic State Sinai ‘province’ commander killed in Cairo, Egyptian government says
Egyptian officials say that Ashraf Ali Hassanein al Gharabli, a commander in the Islamic State’s so-called Sinai ‘province,’ was killed during a shootout in Cairo. He once belonged to Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, which split into separate factions. Whereas Al Gharabli joined the Islamic State, some of his comrades remained loyal to al Qaeda.
Rival Taliban factions clash in southeastern Afghanistan
At least 80 fighters from both sides are reported to have been killed during clashes between fighters loyal to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour and those from Mullah Mohammad Rasul’s dissident Taliban faction in Zabul province.
Al Qaeda front group claims success in key Syrian town
Jund al Aqsa, an al Qaeda front group, claims to have seized all or parts of Morek, a key town that sits on a major highway connecting Aleppo and Hama. In October, Jund al Aqsa broke with the Jaysh al Fateh coalition, which was co-founded by Al Nusrah Front, but the organization remains loyal to al Qaeda.
Senior IRGC officers killed during fighting in Syria
A brigadier general and a colonel from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were killed while fighting jihadists and rebels. Nine other IRGC members, including two lower-level officers, were also killed in Syria over the past three weeks.
British jihadists appear in Shabaab propaganda video
A new recruiting video released by Shabaab appears to feature at least two or three fighters from the UK. Shabaab, al Qaeda’s official branch in East Africa, has a history of recruiting from Britain.
Al Qaeda confirms death of ‘Khorasan’ military emir
“People such as these you do not hear a sound from them, they work in silence and leave in silence,” a prominent jihadist said of Sufyan al Maghribi, al Qaeda’s former military emir for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Maghribi was also a frequent contributor to Vanguards of Khorasan, al Qaeda’s magazine, under the nom de guerre Abu Isam al Andalusi.
Al Qaeda chief calls for jihadist unity to ‘liberate Jerusalem’
In a newly released audio message, Ayman al Zawahiri calls for unity to “liberate” Jerusalem. Zawahiri argues that the jihadists must strike the West and build Islamic states in the Levant and Egypt in order to achieve this goal.
Al Qaeda commander reported killed in northeastern Afghanistan
The US is thought to have killed Bilal al Tayibin, an Arab al Qaeda “key leader,” in an airstrike on the evening of Oct. 29 in Darin in Kunar’s Ghaziabad district. Two of Tayibin’s Afghan bodyguards are also said to have been killed in the attack.
Al Qaeda’s Kandahar training camp ‘probably the largest’ in Afghan War
In an interview with the Washington Post, General John Campbell described an al Qaeda camp in southern Afghanistan as “probably the largest training camp-type facility that we have seen in 14 years of war.” The camp is one of two raided by joint US-Afghan forces in Kandahar earlier this month.
UN official reportedly meets with Iraqi on al Qaeda sanctions list
UN representative Jan Kubis reportedly met with Muthanna Harith al Dari yesterday. The UN National Security Council’s Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee has accused Dari of funding al Qaeda in Iraq.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb honors Ansar al Sharia’s slain military commander
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released a eulogy for Mansur al Shalali (aka “Harun”), the slain military commander of Ansar al Sharia in Libya. AQIM notes that Shalali fought for several years in Algeria. The eulogy further underscores the tight relationship between AQIM and Ansar al Sharia Libya.
Shabaab’s leadership fights Islamic State’s attempted expansion in East Africa
Shabaab’s leadership has actively opposed the Islamic State’s expansion in East Africa. The Islamic State has made a major push via propaganda videos to encourage defections, but only a small cadre of Shabaab fighters has switched allegiance to the “caliphate” thus far.
Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham, Ajnad al Sham form anti-Russian alliance in Damascus countryside
Three jihadist groups have formed Jund al Malahim (“Soldiers of the Epics”), a joint operations room opposed to the Assad regime and Russian forces in the Ghouta region of Damascus.
Al Qaeda appears ‘moderate’ compared to Islamic State, veteran jihadist says
The second edition of Al Risalah magazine features an interview with Usama Hamza Australi, who joined al Qaeda in mid-2001 after leaving the Australian military. Al Qaeda senior leadership sent him to Syria to train Al Nusrah Front’s fighters in guerrilla warfare.
Al Qaeda operates in southern Helmand province
According to multiple reports, al Qaeda and its newest regional branch, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, are operating in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. Terrorists are being trained in Helmand to carry out operations throughout Southeast Asia. And As Sahab, al Qaeda’s propaganda arm, has operatives in the province as well.