Tag Archives: Turkey

Pro-Al Qaeda ideologue criticizes joint bombings by Russia and Turkey in Syria

In a statement released last week, Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi, an influential jihadi ideologue aligned with al Qaeda, criticized Turkey’s cooperation with Russia against the Islamic State. Maqdisi warned jihadists and Islamists in Syria to rethink their decision to work with Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield, which has captured significant territory from the so-called caliphate in northern Syria.






Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s ‘grand jihad’ against the world

The Islamic State has released an audio message from Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. It is the first message from Baghdadi in nearly one year. Baghdadi frames the wars being fought in Iraq and elsewhere in sectarian terms and says that his men are waging a “grand jihad” against their many enemies.


Pentagon: Al Qaeda veteran in Syria was planning attacks against the West

The Defense Department announced today that Haydar Kirkan, a veteran al Qaeda operative who was plotting against the West, was killed in an airstrike in Idlib, Syria on Oct. 17. Kirkan was one of several al Qaeda leaders targeted in Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen during the month of October. The Pentagon emphasized that the airstrikes demonstrate the “transregional nature” of al Qaeda.


Town of Dabiq falls to Turkish-backed forces

The Syrian town of Dabiq, which has long been central to the Islamic State’s apocalyptic messaging, was captured by Turkish-backed rebel forces on Oct. 16. Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield says that more than 1,300 square kilometers of territory along Syria’s border with Turkey has been seized from the Islamic State since August.


Al Qaeda-linked foreign fighter recruiter designated by State Department

The State Department has designated Omar Diaby, who has recruited French men and women to wage jihad in Syria, as a terrorist. Diaby faked his death in 2015 so he could receive treatment for wounds he suffered. He resurfaced earlier this year. Diaby is infamous for producing a series of videos under the brand “19HH.” The videos have explicitly marketed his loyalty to al Qaeda.



Two US-backed groups clash in northern Syria

Jaysh al Tahrir, a group that has received several US TOW anti-tank missiles in the past, fought with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Aleppo. The SDF is the main anti-Islamic State fighting force for the United States and has received considerable support from the West.



Ex-Gitmo detainee, Islamic State’s leader in Chechnya designated by State Department

The State Department has added a former Guantanamo detainee, Ayrat Nasimovich Vakhitov, to the US government’s list of designated terrorists. According to press reports, Vakhitov was recently arrested in connection with the terrorist attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport. Also designated today is Aslan Avgazarovich Byutukaev, who leads the Islamic State’s forces in Chechnya.


US strikes al Qaeda’s ‘Khorasan Group’ in Syria

The US killed Rifai Ahmed Taha Musa in an airstrike this week. Musa first began working with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri in the 1980s and 1990s. US intelligence officials identified him as a key figure in al Qaeda’s so-called “Khorasan Group.” According to one of his former comrades, he was in Syria to promote unity between Al Nusrah Front and Ahrar al Sham.


Shabaab claims ‘Western intelligence officials’ targeted in airliner bombing

Shabaab, al Qaeda’s official branch in East Africa, has issued a statement claiming responsibility for a failed airliner bombing on Feb. 2. The group portrays the bombing as part of its ongoing war with “Western and apostate intelligence” services, but doesn’t explain how its adversaries in the CIA and other spy agencies were specifically targeted.






Turkey

Two weeks after Zuckerberg said ‘je suis Charlie,’ Facebook begins censoring images of prophet Muhammad


Turkey

Facebook complies with Turkish court order, starts censoring Prophet images



Islamic State

Kurdish defenders say Islamic State has retreated from Syrian border town of Kobane


Shabaab

Bomb explodes near Turkish delegation in Somalia day before president’s visit


Turkey

President Erdogan denounced the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for “incit[ing] hatred and racism.” Shabazz Suleman, a British jihadist who was among some 180 Islamic State fighters turned over to the terrorist group in October in exchange for 46 Turkish hostages, claimed that while in a Turkish prison he and fellow fighters were allowed contact […]





Iraq

Suicide bomber in Saudi border attack recruited family members to join ISIS: source


Iraq

World losing capacity to prevent conflict: UN refugee chief