In a pair of videos released in late October, two leading AQAP ideologues preached jihadist unity in the face of the US-led coalition’s bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria. One of the videos also included thinly-veiled criticisms of the Islamic State’s declared caliphate.
A popular pro-al Qaeda jihadist ideologue who relocated from Saudi Arabia to Syria last year has criticized the Islamic State’s rivals on his Twitter feed. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini says that the failures of various jihadist leaders have driven the youth into the Islamic State’s arms.
Pakistan: Court Acquits a Suspect Charged in the Murder of Daniel Pearl
The spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban announced that he and five other leaders had defected to the Islamic State this week. The bulk of the organization had already broken off earlier this year.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has released a statement once again calling on jihadists in Syria to unite against their common enemies, especially the US. AQAP and other jihadists are portraying the US-led bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria as part of a “Crusade” against Muslims.
Sheikh Imran Ali Siddiqi, a senior official in al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), was killed in a US drone strike earlier this month. After 9/11, Imran founded Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Almi (HUMA), an al Qaeda-linked group thought to be responsible for an attack on the US Consulate in Karachi and other Western interests.
Photo of ‘American soldier fighting with IS group’ is fake
The Al Nusrah Front has announced that a Lebanese soldier, Mohammed Antar, has defected to the jihadist group. Al Nusrah has released a photo and video of Antar, which are part of the organization’s ongoing propaganda campaign against Iran, Hezbollah, and the Lebanese government.
The Al Nusrah Front continues to use its Lebanese hostages in its propaganda campaign against Iran and Hezbollah.
Nasser bin Ali al Ansi, an AQAP leader, is featured in a new video calling on rival jihadists in Iraq and Syria to unite against their common enemies. Al Ansi says the jihadists should form a “coalition” to strike America.
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the newest branch of al Qaeda’s international network, has released a nine-page statement giving its version of the attacks on two Pakistani frigates on Sept. 6. AQIS claims that all of the operatives, except one, were “serving officers in the Pakistani Navy.”
A senior al Qaeda official known as Abu Dujana al Basha urges jihadists not to join the Islamic State, a former branch of al Qaeda that was disowned by al Qaeda’s senior leaders in February.
One of the first reported casualties of the US-led bombing campaign earlier this week was an Al Nusrah Front commander known as Abu Yusuf al Turki. He had been training al Qaeda snipers in Syria. He was previously suspected of plotting to attack the 2004 NATO summit in Turkey.
Four of the al Qaeda operatives designated by the State Department have supported the jihad in Syria. One of them may be tied to a key leader in the so-called “Khorasan Group,” which was planning attacks in the West. A fifth al Qaeda veteran designated today was sent to Libya by Ayman al Zawahiri in 2011.
The al Qaeda-linked Caucasus Emirate joins the Al Nusrah Front and other jihadist groups in offering condolences to Ahrar al Sham.
AQIS has claimed two attacks in Pakistan. On Sept. 2, the group assassinated a Pakistani officer. An AQIS spokesman claims that the group attempted to take over a docked Pakistani ship on Sept. 6 and fire missiles at American warships.
Less than one week after Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in an American airstrike, Shabaab has named a new leader and publicly reaffirmed its allegiance to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri.
Abu Firas al Suri long served as a clandestine figure in al Qaeda’s international terrorist network. Today he serves as the Al Nusrah Front’s spokesman. He is tasked with defending Al Nusrah’s capture of more than 40 UN peacekeepers.
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.”
A video released by the Al Nusrah Front features three fighters shortly before they head off to fight the Islamic State’s jihadists, who have advanced on rebel positions north of Aleppo.
Ansar al Sharia and its allies have captured a key Libyan special forces base in the city of Benghazi. The base fell after days of heavy fighting and Ansar al Sharia is celebrating the spoils of its victory on its official Twitter page.
A Twitter user known as “Shaybat al Hukama” tweeted, and then quickly deleted, his explanation of al Qaeda’s relationship with the Taliban. Al Hukama appears to be well-connected to al Qaeda media operatives and leaders.
Sanafi al Nasr, a senior al Qaeda operative, reposted part of a message from Ayman al Zawahiri that was released in January. The excerpt deals with how al Qaeda thinks an Islamic State should be built. It is intended as a rebuttal to the Islamic State’s announced caliphate, which al Qaeda still has not officially addressed.
Hani Sibai, a longtime ally of Ayman al Zawahiri, has called on al Qaeda to issue a statement regarding the Islamic State’s announced caliphate.
Nasir al Wuhayshi, who is the emir of AQAP as well as al Qaeda’s general manager, has released a poem praising Ayman al Zawahiri as the “Sheikh father.” A video from two leading AQAP ideologues decrying the “slander” of jihadist leaders was released shortly afterwards. Al Qaeda members are trumpeting the messages as rebuttals to the Islamic State and its newly announced caliphate.
In a court filing earlier this week, the US government argued that the only suspect in custody for the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya should remain in pretrial detention. Prosecutors cited his “extensive contacts” with senior members of other jihadist organizations and plans for additional attacks as reasons to keep him behind bars as he awaits trial.
Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi fears that the Islamic State will use its recent land grab and claim of ruling over a caliphate to go after its jihadist rivals.
ISIS militants outline chilling 5-year plan for global domination
Iraq crisis: al Qaeda forces seize Mosul and Tikrit – live
Thomas Joscelyn discusses the Bowe Bergdahl – Taliban prisoner exchange and the five dangerous Taliban leaders who were released, the first American suicide bomber in Syria, and the overall war.