The Counterterrorism Bureau at Israel’s National Security Council has warned Israeli citizens that Iran and Hezbollah are still plotting attacks against Israelis abroad. In addition, the bureau warned of an increasing threat “of global jihad attacks in Africa.”
According to an article in the Washington Post earlier this week, AQIM is leading the jihadist coalition in Mali.
Robert Fowler, a Canadian diplomat who was kidnapped by Mokhtar Belmokhtar in 2008, considers Belmokhtar’s group to be ideologues. Fowler has also reportedly said that Belmokhtar was the “principal intermediary between AQIM and al Qaeda in Pakistan” at some point.
The Daily Beast reported that the brother of a key suspect in the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi is an al Qaeda in Iraq facilitator.
A new Ansar al Sharia group has been established in Mali. According to press reports, the group’s leaders are “close to” the official spokesman for Ansar Dine.
According to a Moroccan press report, Ansar al Sharia Morocco does not hide its sympathy for AQIM, uses the same flag as other Ansar al Sharia chapters, and is suspected of recruiting jihadists to fight in Syria.