Taliban touts more elite ‘Red Unit’ fighter training on social media
The Taliban again highlighted the Red Unit, the group's special operations unit that spearheads its assaults throughout Afghanistan. Read more >
The Taliban again highlighted the Red Unit, the group's special operations unit that spearheads its assaults throughout Afghanistan. Read more >
AFRICOM has stepped up its air campaign against Shabaab since the beginning of the year, targeting the group 33 times. Read more >
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the rise of ISIS and how the idea of building a caliphate in Iraq evolved over time. Bill witnessed the jihadists' earliest state-building efforts during multiple embeds in Iraq. Read more >
As U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calls for the Taliban to honor a non-existent commitment to "reduce violence," the Taliban continues to train for war. Read more >
On March 19, Turkey’s defense ministry announced the death of two Turkish soldiers at the hands of “radical elements” in northwest Syria’s Idlib. The attack highlights Ankara's challenges in the Syrian province. Read more >
Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn profile Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) new emir, Khalid Batarfi. Read more >
The Taliban has taken credit for 17 attacks per day against Afghan security forces. Despite promises from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the Taliban would "destroy" Al Qaeda, the Taliban has not lifted a finger against the group. Read more >
In a follow up to episode one, hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn explain why wishful thinking in Afghanistan has led the U.S. to portray the Taliban as something it is not. True peace is not on the horizon. Read more >
Last week, AQAP released an audio message form its new emir, Khalid Batarfi. In it, Batarfi renews his allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri on behalf of AQAP. He also praises the Taliban and Shabaab. Read more >
Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn review the U.S.-Taliban withdrawal agreement and why it isn't a true peace deal. Read more >
Al-Qaeda's general command has released a three-page statement celebrating the U.S.-Taliban withdrawal agreement as a "victory" for the Taliban. Al-Qaeda calls on Afghans and the mujahideen to bolster the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Read more >
Each week the Generation Jihad podcast will bring you a new story focusing on jihadism around the globe. Read more >
Al Qaeda's branch in West Africa, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, has released a statement saying it is willing to meet with the Malian government -- but only after French and allied forces withdraw from the area. Read more >
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claims the Taliban has agreed to "destroy" al-Qaeda as the U.S. withdraws from the country. The text of the withdrawal agreement doesn't say that and the Trump administration hasn't explained how the Taliban's alleged "break" from al-Qaeda will be verified or enforced. Read more >
The author is a designated terrorist closely allied with al Qaeda. That's not mentioned. Neither is al Qaeda. Read more >
Taliban fighters are training in the open in a mountainous area that should be easily identified by the U.S. and Afghan militaries. Read more >
The White House has confirmed that AQAP's leader, Qasim al-Rimi, was killed in a counterterrorism operation. Rimi served as a "deputy" to Ayman al-Zawahiri, meaning that he was likely part of al-Qaeda's global management team. Read more >
The kidnapping took place less than three months after the Taliban and the U.S. conducted a prisoner exchange that freed three senior Haqqani Network leaders and two America professors. The Haqqani Network is thought to be behind the latest kidnapping. Read more >
According to a newly released UN monitoring team report, al-Qaeda's relations with the Taliban "continue to be close and mutually beneficial." The relationship has continued despite al-Qaeda's reported concerns over the Taliban's talks with the U.S. Read more >
Al-Qaeda's senior leadership released a statement praising the jihadists in Mali and elsewhere in Western Africa for confronting the "Crusaders." Al-Qaeda's management team encourages them to dismantle the "French and American project" across the region. Read more >
More than 500 members of American military families, including over 100 Gold Star families, have filed two lawsuits: one against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and another against eight multinational companies that operate in Afghanistan. Read more >
The Department of Justice has unsealed an updated indictment against Jehad Serwan Mostafa, an American who has long served as a senior figure in Shabaab. The FBI alleges that Mostafa has played a role in Shabaab's explosives department, among other jobs. In 2011, he served as an emissary for Ayman al-Zawahiri. Read more >
In exchange for two kidnapped U.S. and Australian professors, the Afghan government freed dangerous Taliban and Haqqani Network leaders Haji Malik Khan, Anas Haqqani, and Qari Abdul Rasheed Omari. Read more >
If confirmed, this would represent another major blow to al Qaeda's Uqba bin Nafi Battalion. Read more >
Two statements, which were released by al Qaeda's general command and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, were addressed to Shabaab yesterday in a coordinated messaging campaign. Read more >
Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security claims it has confirmed that Asim Umar, the emir of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, was killed during a Sept. 23 raid in Helmand province. Other key AQIS leaders were also killed in the fighting. Read more >
In 2001, Omar was unwavering in his position that the Taliban was religiously obligated to protect Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda cadre. The Taliban has remained true to Omar's words, and fought an 18 year long war to defend the terror group. Read more >
Afghan officials have identified several AQIS members who were killed during a controversial raid in Musa Qala, Helmand earlier this week. They have also posted images purportedly documenting the weaponry, explosives and cash seized at the jihadists' compound. Read more >
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has repeatedly made it absolutely clear that the aim of this Jihad is the end of occupation and establishment of an Islamic government," the Taliban says in a recent statement. Read more >
On Sept. 19, Thomas Joscelyn testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs at a hearing titled, "The Trump Administration's Afghanistan Policy." His testimony focused on the close working relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Read more >
A raid against a Taliban explosives warehouse in Ghazni highlights the enduring relationship between the Taliban and al Qaeda. Read more >
On Sept. 14, President Trump released a statement saying Hamza bin Laden was killed in an American "counterterrorism operation." However, key questions concerning Hamza's life and death remain unanswered. Read more >
On the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 hijackings, Ayman al-Zawahiri defends the attack. He claims in a new video that all of the Islamic scholars' arguments against the hijackings have been "refuted." The video also features various al-Qaeda leaders from around the globe. Read more >
The past week has seen the harshest fighting between the two jihadist groups since April. Read more >
U.S. Central Command says an airstrike targeted al Qaeda in Syria (AQ-S) "leadership at a facility north of Idlib, Syria" earlier today. Jihadis on social media say the facility belonged to Ansar al-Tawhid, which is one of several al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria. Read more >
The Taliban continues to churn out propaganda that promotes jihad and the training of its fighters even as it is simultaneously negotiating an agreement with the United States that will lead to the withdrawal of US forces. Read more >
Shabaab's "Then Fight the Leaders of Disbelief" video series features clips of various al Qaeda figures from the past and present. Shabaab argues that Somali hotels are legitimate targets because they serve as "heavily fortified bases" for the government and its allies. Read more >
The bombing, which leveled a police station and killed and wounded scores of people, is the latest in a series of terror attacks in the capital. The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation continues to claim the Taliban can be an "effective counterterrorism partner"despite the Taliban's repeated use of terror tactics. Read more >
Mizan district was under siege for more than one year before it fell. Security in Zabul province, which is a known haven for al Qaeda and straddles the border with Pakistan, has deteriorated over the past five years. Al Qaeda operated a base in Mizan as recently as Sept. 2016. Read more >
The Taliban describes al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the US as a "heavy slap on their dark faces," claiming it "was the consequence of their interventionist policies and not our doing." Additionally, the Taliban says it will not talk to the Afghan government, will fight Afghan security forces to the end, rejects the presence of foreign forces on Afghan soil, and calls western culture uncivilized. Read more >
Trump's acquiescence to Pakistan, which has backed the Taliban's deadly insurgency in Afghanistan, occurs less than two years after he accused Pakistan of providing "safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror". Trump also said Pakistan returned billions of dollars in US aid with “nothing but lies & deceit.” Read more >
Security in Badakhshan has gradually worsened over the past five years since the Afghan military and police took full control of security in the province. Al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist groups have a significant presence in the northern province. Read more >
Pakistan is a state where those who push the bounds of what is acceptable to the military and Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, including jihadists, politicians, journalists, and activists, end up missing or are found murdered. Pakistan has weathered nearly two decades of international condemnation over Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, yet he and his terrorist entities have not only survived, but thrived. Read more >
Al Jazeera released a documentary alleging that Bahrain and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula work together. Today, the al Qaeda branch denied this accusation in a letter to the editor. Read more >
Two leaders of al Qaeda's Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), a Moroccan national and a local Malian, were designated as terrorists today. Read more >
Ayman al-Zawahiri has released a new message entitled, "Don't Forget Kashmir." He criticizes the Pakistani Army and intelligence services at length, saying they can't be trusted to support the jihad against Indian forces. He also calls upon Muslim scholars to explain that it is "individual duty" to support the Taliban's Islamic Emirate. Read more >
CENTCOM says the U.S. targeted a group of al Qaeda operatives in Syria who were "responsible for plotting external attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians." According to jihadists online, the operatives belonged to Hurras al-Din (the "Guardians of Religion" organization). Read more >
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), an al Qaeda-affiliated group, has released a series of images showing a large number of fighters preparing for battle in Syria. The TIP has been a key jihadist group within the insurgency for years. Read more >
Asim Umar, a senior al Qaeda official, has released a statement praising the Taliban's "victory" in Afghanistan over the US. He also criticizes ISIS for dividing the jihadists' ranks, praying that Allah ends the "fitnah." Read more >
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent's spokesman has released a glowing eulogy for Zakir Musa, who led Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) until his death in May. AQIS has also released a video calling on jihadis to join its cause in Kashmir. And AGH has named Musa's successor. Read more >