ISAF targets al Qaeda facilitator in eastern Afghanistan

May 17, 2013
By Patrick Megahan & Bill Roggio

The International Security Assistance Force has balked at mentioning al Qaeda in press releases since the end of January.

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Uzbek national in Idaho arrested, charged with supporting the IMU

May 16, 2013
By Bill Roggio

Fazliddin Kurbanov is charged with supporting the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, training others to purchase and assemble components of a bomb, and possessing an "unregistered destructive device."

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Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin suicide bomber in Kabul kills 6 Americans, 9 Afghans

May 16, 2013
By Lisa Lundquist

The Taliban's spring offensive promised a renewed focus on suicide attacks targeting ISAF forces. Today's suicide bombing in a residential area also injured 39 Afghan civilians.

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Al Nusrah Front's emir to be added to US terrorism list

May 16, 2013
By Bill Roggio

Sheikh Abu Muhammad al Julani, the emir of al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, swore allegiance to al Qaeda's leader just over one month ago.

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Tensions continue to escalate in Tunisia

May 15, 2013
By Thomas Joscelyn

The Tunisian government has interfered in Ansar al Sharia Tunisia's events and may refuse to grant the group permission to hold its third annual congress. Ansar al Sharia's leaders have responded with statements condemning the Ennahda regime.

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IMU suicide bomber targeted top police commander in Quetta

May 13, 2013
By Bill Roggio

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan said yesterday's attack, which killed eight people, was executed by a man whose daughter carried out a suicide bombing last year.

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Egyptian interior minister: Al Qaeda cell plotted suicide attack against Western embassy

May 11, 2013
By Thomas Joscelyn

Egypt's interior minister said that three members of an al Qaeda cell that was plotting to attack a Western embassy have been arrested. The cell received training in Iran and Pakistan and contacted al Qaeda in Algeria. The cell also has ties to the so-called Nasr City Cell.

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Panjwai district chief of police: 'Pakistan has been trying to bring Afghanistan under its control'

May 11, 2013
By Bill Ardolino

District Chief of Police Lieutenant Colonel Sultan Mohammad discusses the roots of the insurgency, the Kandahar massacre, poppy eradication, and Panjwai's improvement in security.

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Follower of Mohammed al Zawahiri dies in attack in Mali

May 10, 2013
By Thomas Joscelyn

Abu Obeida Sharif Khattab, an Egyptian who appeared in at least two videos with Mohammed al Zawahiri, died in an attack along with three other Egyptians in Mali earlier this month. Mohammed al Zawahiri is the younger brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri.

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Tunisian indicted in New York linked to Canada terror plot

May 9, 2013
By David Barnett

Ahmed Abassi, a Tunisian national, has been indicted for fraudulently applying "for a work visa in order to remain in the United States to facilitate an act of international terrorism." Abassi, who previously lived in Canada, is tied to a terror plot linked to al Qaeda elements in Iran to blow up a commuter train between Canada and the US.

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ISAF launches multiple raids against IMU as fighting season heats up

May 8, 2013
By Patrick Megahan

Raids against the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan continue at an unprecedented pace. There have been five raids against the group in Afghanistan so far this month and 26 this year.

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Danish jihadist killed while fighting for Muhajireen Brigade in Syria

May 7, 2013
By Bill Roggio

Before waging jihad in Syria, Kenneth Sørensen spent time in Yemen at Zindani's Imam University as well as in Lebanon, Egypt, and Libya.

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Taliban claim bombing at political rally, name new emir of Kurram

May 6, 2013
By Bill Roggio

A politician from the pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl party was targeted because he "handed over dozens of Arab mujahideen to America" after the battle of Tora Bora. Hafiz Dolat Khan is the Taliban's new emir in Kurram.

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ISAF kills 2 'Arab'-linked commanders in Nuristan

May 5, 2013
By Bill Roggio

One of those killed, Saleh Abd al Aziz Hamad al Luhayb, was wanted by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of the Interior. The International Security Assistance Force will not describe him and others with links to "Arabs" as al Qaeda.

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Israel reportedly strikes multiple targets in Syria in recent days

May 4, 2013
By David Barnett

The Israeli Air Force is suspected of being behind two recent airstrikes in Syria. One of the strikes targeted Fateh-110 surface-to-surface missiles at a Damascus airport, while the other allegedly targeted a research center in Jamraya that was also targeted in January.

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Afghan soldier kills 2 ISAF troops in latest green-on-blue attack

May 4, 2013
By Bill Roggio

The two ISAF soldiers were killed in western Afghanistan. So far this year, there have been six such attacks, which account for 13 percent of ISAF's deaths.

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President Assad said he will not step down before elections. The father of the deputy foreign minister was kidnapped in Daraa. The rebel Judicial Council, which includes the Tawheed Brigade, al-Sham Liberals, and the Al Nusrah Front, clashed with another rebel group, the Ghurabaa al-Sham, which the Judicial Council had accused of plundering factories in Aleppo. Four Judicial Council members were killed, but the Ghurabaa al-Sham has retreated, and dozens of its members are being held captive by the Judicial Council. Rebels captured several Alawite villages in Hama.

A curfew was imposed on Maiduguri as the campaign against Islamist groups continued. Military forces killed 10 fighters, arrested 65 more, and seized stockpiles of weapons, including RPGs. Many Borno state residents have fled to the Cameroon border. Kabiru Sokoto, the alleged Boko Haram ringleader behind the deadly Christmas Day 2011 bombing, was arraigned. Witnesses testified that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau considered Sokoto part of the group's governing "shurah," and that Boko Haram had received 40 million naira from an Algerian terror group. Prosecutors said Sokoto had run a terror camp outside Abuja and trained over 500 men how to make IEDs.

The army's Thunderbolt battalion raided Benghazi's arms market, shutting it down after confiscating weapons along with contraband alcohol and drugs, and leaving 10 mobile units for security at the market. Bombs and an RPG were thrown at three army posts in Benghazi last night.

The Tuareg MNLA claimed its forces were attacked in the town of Anefis by militants from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa; two Tuareg fighters and seven Islamists are said to have been killed in the ongoing clash. The Malian army said the MNLA was fighting not with MUJAO but with another group, the MAA, which is comprised of Malian Arabs from north of Timbuktu.

Members of two terror cells arrested on May 9 said they tried to set up a jihadist camp near Nador for launching attacks on Morocco. The "Attawhid" and "al-Mouahidoun" cells had ties to other extremist groups in Mali, Belgium, and Spain, including the coastal enclave of Melilla. The cells also planned schools, and recruited fighters for jihad against Morocco. Over the past 10 years, Moroccan security services have dismantled some 130 terrorist cells, and prevented 266 attacks on "security facilities, tourism sites, foreign diplomatic missions, synagogues and churches." Between 2005 and 2008, security services dismantled some 15 terrorist cells in Morocco.

Abdallahi Ould Mohamed Ghailani, a guard at the Salah Eddine prison, was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for spying for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; he facilitated communications between Salafist prisoners and terrorists outside. Four university students were sentenced to five years in prison and fined for trying to send jihadists to Mali. Prosecutors asked that Canadian suspect Aaron Yoon, who tried to train with al Qaeda in Mali and to recruit other jihadists, receive a 10-year sentence.

The State Department added Al Nusrah Front emir Sheikh Abu Muhammad al Julani ito its list of global terrorists. The FBI is questioning New Hampshire resident Musa Khadzhimuratov, a Chechen refugee and former separatist fighter, about his ties to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. In Idaho, Uzbek national Fazliddin Kurbanov pled not guilty to charges of supporting the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and teaching people how to bomb public transportation.

Security forces killed nine Taliban fighters in an airstrike in Paktika province and seven more in Ghazni. Russia is considering deploying troops to the Afghan-Tajik border, citing a "general destabilization of the situation" in northern Afghanistan.

Forty-three Iraqis were killed after two bombs were detonated outside of a Sunni mosque in Baqubah. The second bomb was detonated after people rushed to help the victims of the first blast.

Russia delivered advanced Yakhont antiship missiles to Syria under an existing contract; they have a range of some 180 miles. Two archbishops kidnapped by Arabic-speaking rebels on April 22 are still missing.

Authorities closed the Rafah crossing with Gaza in response to the kidnapping of seven security personnel by Islamist gunmen on May 16. A senior Hamas official called on Egypt to open the crossing. Due to the situation in the Sinai, the international peacekeeping force in the area has been put on a state of alert.

Security forces killed 13 Shabaab fighters while repelling assaults in the towns of Farwaley and Ara As. Four civilians were killed as Shabaab launched attacks in El Barde.