The Biden administration is reportedly debating removing Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) from the list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. However, while the group’s leader, Abu Muhammad al Jolani, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, attempts to portray HTS as moderate, a host of jihadist groups—many designated as Foreign Terror Organizations—fight under the banner of or are allied with HTS.
TTP emir Noor Wali Mehsud said that his group “is a branch of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” while traveling throughout Pakistan’s northern areas.
In the UNSC’s new report on the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and affiliated groups, the UN states that the Uzbek jihadist group, the Islamic Jihad Union, operates in Syria. This was not previously known.
According to a recently released report by a UN Security Council monitoring team, the Taliban is the “primary partner for all foreign terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan,” including al Qaeda. The only exception is the Islamic State, which opposes the Taliban.
According to the UN’s Jan. 2019 assessment, al Qaeda’s relationship with the Taliban is “long-standing” and “strong.” And al Qaeda “continues to see Afghanistan as a safe haven for its leadership.” The UN estimates that the Islamic State has several thousand fighters in Afghanistan as well.
The IJU is the second foreign jihadist group to highlight joint battlefield operations with the Afghan Taliban in recent weeks.
Katibat Imam al Bukhari (also known as the Imam Bukhari Jamaat), an Uzbek jihadist group that operates in Syria and Afghanistan, has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department today.
The Afghan military said it captured a German citizen who was fighting in Helmand province and belonged to the Taliban’s Red Unit, which serves as an elite unit that spearheads attacks on Afghan forces.
The IJU joins a list of jihadist groups that have publicized its training camps inside Afghanistan, including the Taliban, the Turkistan Islamic Party, and the Imam Bukhari Jamaat.
training camp joins similar training camps in Afghanistan advertised by the Taliban, the Turkistan Islamic Party, Imam Bukhari Jamaat, Harakat-ul-Mujahideen and others.
Ansar Jihad, a small al Qaeda-linked group comprised of Central Asians and Turkish fighters, has released another video of its training camps in northwestern Syria.
The Imam Bukhari Jamaat and the Islamic Jihad Union have claimed attacks in eastern and northern Afghanistan. Members of these two groups are also known to have operated in Syria.
Taliban forces have entered the city of Kunduz once again. In late September 2015, the Taliban and its jihadist allies captured the city and briefly held it before being forced to retreat to the surrounding areas.
The Islamic Jihad Union’s supporters have released dozens of images from the city of Kunduz. The photos document the group’s participation in the siege of the city. In the months leading up to the invasion, the IJU and its allies captured territory in the surrounding areas.
Hazrat, who is also known as Abu Hazefa, was killed in Kunduz, where a number of jihadist groups are fighting Afghan forces. He served as a Taliban military commander and also was a member of al Qaeda.
Earlier this month, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan officially swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s emir, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. On August 20, fighters from the Islamic Jihad Union followed in al Qaeda’s footsteps and pledged loyalty to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the newly appointed leader of the Taliban.
The al Qaeda and Taliban-linked jihadist group has operated under the radar of Western officials in Afghanistan, but continues to wage jihad alongside its allies.
Seven “militants” are reported to have been killed in a strike on a compound in an area administered by Sajna Mehsud.
The Treasury Department confirmed today that the head of al Qaeda’s Iran-based network, known as Yasin al Suri, is operational once again. Treasury also designated an additional “associate” of al Suri’s.
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The IJU continues to operate in eastern Afghanistan. The group said that fighters from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan as well as Pashtuns participated in attacks on US bases, and that the fighters have deployed a mine designed to down a US Apache.
After The Afghan Pullout, The Dangers For Central Asia
After The Afghan Pullout, The Dangers For Central Asia
Pakistan still global jihad hub
The raid took place in the Sayyidabad district, where on Aug. 6, 2011 the Taliban shot down a US Army Chinook helicopter and killed 28 US and Afghan special operations forces, including 17 Navy SEALs.
The al Qaeda-linked group claimed its fighters “help the Taliban in northern Afghanistan and provide them with military consultation” and are deployed in the Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Kandahar, Helmand, Nuristan, Badakhshan, Kunduz, and Balkh.
Mounir and Yassin Chouka, two Germans who are operatives in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Mevlut Kar, an Islamic Jihad Union facilitator, were added to the list of Specially Designated Global terrorists. All three have ties to al Qaeda.
So many foreign jihadis are arriving in the Afghan-Pakistan border area that “there are problems finding places for them to stay,” according to a recently captured terrorist.
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One of the commanders was the district leader and personally led assaults on US combat outposts in the area.