Online jihadists are claiming that an al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr has been killed in an airstrike in Syria. Nasr’s death is not confirmed and he has been reported dead before. The latest claims come from al Qaeda members who apparently knew Nasr and interacted with him online.
A senior al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr recently claimed on his Twitter feed that David Drugeon, an alleged al Qaeda bombmaker from France, had been killed in Syria. But there are good reasons to take Nasr’s testimony with a grain of salt.
Al Qaeda-linked Twitter feeds, including one attributed to a senior al Qaeda leader, are claiming that Idris al Balushi was killed during a counterterrorism raid by Pakistani forces. Balushi is purportedly the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. His death has not been confirmed.
Sixteen jihadists, including 11 from the Al Nusrah Front and Ahrar al Sham, have issued a statement on behalf of the “muhajireen” (foreign fighters) saying they will continue to fight the Islamic State throughout Syria.
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and its allies have formed a coalition of groups to go on the offensive in Idlib. One of the coalition’s first propaganda videos features Al Nusrah fighters firing an American-made TOW missile on a Syrian regime target.
The al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr praised al Qaeda’s “martyrs” on Twitter. Among them is Adnan al Shukrijumah, an al Qaeda operative charged with attacking the West. Nasr’s tweets also shed additional light on the identity of another terrorist reportedly killed earlier this month.
A senior al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr has tweeted that Muhsin al Fadhli was killed in the bombing raids in Syria last week. Both Nasr and al Fadhli are part of the so-called “Khorasan group.” Al Fadhli may have been killed, but his death has not been confirmed. And there are sound reasons to treat Nasr’s tweets with skepticism.
Abu Muhammad al Julani seeks to undermine public support for airstrikes in Syria by arguing that citizens in the West, and not just their rulers, will pay the price for the war. Julani also discusses Al Nusrah’s fight against Hezbollah and urges jihadists not to join the West in the fight against the Islamic State.
An al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr is a part of the so-called “Khorasan group,” which was dispatched to Syria by Ayman al Zawahiri. Like another member of the group, Nasr was once the head of al Qaeda’s Iran-based network.
Several influential al Qaeda members have used their Twitter feeds to mourn the slain leaders of Ahrar al Sham and the Islamic Front. The jihadists were killed in an explosion earlier today. One well-connected jihadist, who appears to be an al Qaeda media operative, claimed that the head of the Islamic Front had been in communication with Ayman al Zawahiri.
The Long War Journal first exposed one of the two, a jihadist known as Sanafi al Nasr, as a senior al Qaeda operative in March. Al Nasr is a senior al Qaeda leader who relocated from Pakistan to Syria last year. Treasury reveals that he previously served as the head of al Qaeda’s Iran-based network.
A periodic review board has recommended that Fouzi Khalid Abdullah Al Awda, a Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo since 2002, be transferred to his home country. Jihadists on Twitter celebrated the ruling before it was released to the public.
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.
Sanafi al Nasr, a senior al Qaeda leader who was reportedly killed in Latakia, Syria in late March, is alive. Nasr leads an al Qaeda committee responsible for the group’s strategic planning and policy.
High-profile jihadists in Syria, including those with known ties to al Qaeda, are reporting that Sanafi al Nasr — one of al Qaeda’s highest-ranking leaders — has been killed.
In a video released on March 18, the Al Nusrah Front identifies Abu Firas al Suri as a leader within the group. Al Suri, who has a long al Qaeda pedigree, was dispatched to Syria from Yemen to try to mediate the dispute between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.
Sanafi al Nasr heads al Qaeda’s “Victory Committee” and has relocated to Syria. He has become a vocal critic of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) and has been allied with ISIS’ main jihadist rivals, including the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria.