The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan again rejected the Islamic State and said its emir, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, is illegitimate and his followers kill “innocent mujahideen.”
According to the Department of Justice, Syed Farook was influenced by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (Inspire) magazine and the teachings of Anwar al Awlaki. Shortly after the San Bernardino shooting, an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was posted on a Facebook page associated with Farook’s wife, Tafsheen Malik.
A US military spokesman touted the strikes that killed the three Islamic State leaders as “an example of how we’re able to decimate networks.”
An American who fought for Shabaab in Somalia has reportedly surrendered to African Union forces. He turned himself in after swearing allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State. Shabaab’s leaders, who remain loyal to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, have been purging defectors.
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.
The Islamic State’s Al Bayan “news” bulletin describes the San Bernardino terrorists as “soldiers” of the “caliphate” in English, but as “supporters” in Arabic. The group has not claimed that the shooters received any operational direction or assistance. Federal authorities are still investigating that possibility.
The ‘Amaq News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic State, issued a statement saying the San Bernardino shootings were the work of the jihadist group’s “supporters.” However, the message is not an official claim of responsibility and didn’t include any details that were not already available in the Western press.
Tashfeen Malik, one of the two San Bernardino shooters, reportedly swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al Baghdadi as the attack got underway. This is consistent with what the Islamic State tells its followers to do and other terrorists have done the same in the past.
In a memo submitted to the UK parliament, British Prime Minister David Cameron claimed that seven terrorist plots have been broken up in the UK in the past 12 months, the number of terrorism-related arrests is up 31%, and the Islamic State has an “external operations structure in Syria” that is devoted to planning attacks in the West.
The Islamic State has claimed three attacks in the North African country. The latest, a suicide bombing, was intended to show that Tunisia is not safe, according to the jihadist group.
An Islamic State supporter on Twitter released a graphic summarizing the “caliphate’s” annual media output. The Islamic State’s various “provinces” produced 710 videos, 1787 photo reports, and 14,523 other images from late 2014 to late 2015. While The Long War Journal has not independently verified these statistics, the graphic is consistent with previous reports released by the Islamic State and its predecessor organizations.
The Islamic State’s Sinai “province” claimed responsibility for a bombing at a hotel in the Sinai earlier today. The group continues to run a prolific insurgency and has proven it is capable of committing mass casualty terrorist attacks against civilians as well.
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.
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.
The Islamic State released a photograph of the bomb as well as what it claims are images of passports of Russians who were killed in the explosion and subsequent crash, in issue number 12 of its English language magazine, Dabiq.
A woman detonated her vest as French special police raided an Islamic State safe house in a Paris suburb. Police were searching for Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national who is suspected of plotting the Nov. 13 suicide assault that killed at least 129 people in the French capital. Abaaoud was killed during the raid.
Russian officials say an improvised explosive device with a “capacity of up to 1 kg [2.2. pounds] of TNT” brought down an airliner in the Sinai on Oct. 31. Between the apparent Sinai jet bombing and the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, the Islamic State has killed more than 350 civilians in high-profile terrorist operations since the end of October.
The Islamic State has sought to execute terrorist attacks in the West for well over a year. Abdelhamid Abaaoud has been featured by the Islamic State in its propaganda for plotting terrorist attacks in Europe in the past. Belgian police raided Abaaoud’s cell and killed two of his accomplices in January during a shootout in Brussels.
The strikes that targeted “Jihadi John” and Abu Nabil should serve as a reminder that 14 years after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, the military and intelligence establishment remain hyper focused on targeting individuals in the hopes of causing the collapse of jihadist groups.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s coordinated terrorist attacks throughout Paris. The group has released a statement and an audio recording of the claim in several languages. The Islamic State says “eight brothers equipped with explosive belts and assault rifles attacked precisely chosen targets in the center of the capital of France.”
Kurdish forces have entered the Iraqi town of Sinjar, which was seized by the Islamic State in August 2014. The offensive in Sinjar is part of a broader operation intended to disrupt the Islamic State’s supply lines running from Iraq into Syria.
With the help of Russian airstrikes, Bashar al Assad’s military and paramilitary allies have broken the Islamic State’s siege of the Kweiris air base in Aleppo province. Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed militant organizations supported the Syrian military’s offensive.
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.
The Islamic State’s Aleppo “province” has released a video congratulating its brothers in the Sinai “province” for downing a Russian airliner on October 31. The video is at least the fourth time that the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the crash. The group has not provided evidence proving its culpability thus far, but Western officials say it is increasingly likely.
Russian airstrikes targeted the Islamic State throughout Syria this past week. The self-declared “caliphate” released dozens of propaganda photos claiming that the Russians damaged bridges and buildings in Raqqa, and killed civilians in a marketplace in Al Bukamal. Civilian casualties have been confirmed by other sources. Meanwhile, Western officials say it is increasingly likely that the Islamic State’s co-called Sinai “province” downed a Russian airliner in the Sinai on October 31.
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.
The Islamic State’s so-called Sinai “province” has issued at least three official claims of responsibility in the downing of a Russian airliner. The group has not explained how it allegedly brought down the jet, however. Egyptian officials dismiss the claims as “propaganda.” America’s top intelligence official has said a terrorist attack is “unlikely,” but possible.
Photos released by the jihadist group show its “Third Armored Brigade” using US-made MRAPs to train in northern Iraq.
The Islamic State continues to harass Iraqi troops and Shiite militias around the central city of Samarra. Jihadists recently overran several areas near Samarra and deployed foreign suicide bombers during its assault.
Sayyid al Shuhada said it would “strike and destroy” Saudi interests, not just in Iraq, but inside the kingdom. The militia, which operates as part of the Iraqi government, Iran, and the US-backed Popular Mobilization Committee, is led by Abu Mustafa al Sheibani, a dangerous commander who is listed by the US as a global terrorist.