Robin Simcox joins hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio to discuss the ongoing jihadist threat in Europe and efforts to combat extremism in the U.K. and elsewhere. Simcox is the director of the London-based Counter Extremism Group.
Hamza bin Laden, the son of Osama, has released a new audio message in which he provides “advice for martyrdom seekers in the West.” Hamza’s message was disseminated less than a week after Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader Qasim al Raymi released a similar call for individual attacks in the West.
In a short video released yesterday, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) leader, Qasim al Raymi, reiterated his group’s call for “lone mujahid” attacks in the West. AQAP was an early innovator of the concept of “individual jihad,” but has been eclipsed by its rivals in the Islamic State in recent years. Raymi is attempting to move AQAP back to the fore of the “lone mujahid” effort.
The Defense Department has confirmed that Boubaker al-Hakim, a French-Tunisian Islamic State leader, was killed in Raqqa, Syria on Nov. 26. Al-Hakim had ties to Ansar al Sharia Tunisia, an al Qaeda-affiliated group, before defecting to the Islamic State’s cause. He admittedly assassinated one Tunisian politician in 2013 and knew the assailants responsible for a second slaying.
AQAP’s latest edition of Inspire magazine includes an article by Ibrahim Ibn Hassan al Asiri, who describes al Qaeda’s plan to attack Charlie Hebdo in Paris.
The leader of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent says that attacks by al Qaeda’s branches against supposed “blasphemers” were ordered by al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. He claims that several murders in Bangladesh and Pakistan were part of this campaign, which also includes the Charlie Hebdo massacre earlier this year.
Djamel Beghal, the charming and chilling mentor of Paris jihadist attackers
Various jihadist groups around the world have commented on the terrorist attacks in Paris and have lauded the terrorists as “heroes.”
A newly released video shows Amedy Coulibaly, who killed a French policewoman and attacked a kosher market in Paris, swearing allegiance to the Islamic State. Coulibaly says he worked in concert with the Kouachi brothers, who attacked Charlie Hebdo’s offices and claimed allegiance to al Qaeda.
A senior AQAP official praises the Charlie Hebdo attack in a new audio message. Unverified statements also claim that AQAP ordered the attack.
One of the brothers responsible for the attack on Charlie Hebdo claimed to have met with Anwar al Awlaki. The other may have met with Awlaki as well. Meanwhile, another terrorist responsible for the siege of a kosher market claimed he was a member of the Islamic State.
One of the chief suspects in the attack on Charlie Hebdo reportedly received training at an al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) camp in 2011.
It is too early to tell who was responsible for today’s attack on Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine. Al Qaeda and other jihadists have repeatedly threatened the publication. By itself, however, this does not mean they were responsible.