Al Qaeda figure tied to kidnappings reported killed in Mali
Baye Ag Bakabo is linked to several of AQIM's kidnappings in Mali, including the operation that left two RFI journalists dead in 2013. Read more >
Baye Ag Bakabo is linked to several of AQIM's kidnappings in Mali, including the operation that left two RFI journalists dead in 2013. Read more >
Edmund Fitton-Brown joins hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio to discuss his team’s most recent report on Afghanistan. Fitton-Brown is a former British diplomat. He is currently coordinator of the U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban. Powered by RedCircle Take a... Read more >
A report by a U.N. monitoring team cites new intelligence concerning Sirajuddin Haqqani's ties to al Qaeda. The report also mentions the Hattin Shura, which U.S. officials say is the most important decision-making body within al Qaeda. Read more >
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the basic epistemological problems that plague analyses of al Qaeda nearly 20 years after 9/11. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll see jihadists fighting everywhere from West Africa to Southeast Asia. They aren’t the dominant force in... Read more >
The U.S. State Department is offering a reward of up to $7 million for information concerning the leader of AQIM, Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi. State says al-Anabi "is expected to play a role in al Qaeda’s global management." Read more >
The Afghan military targeted Al Qaeda's network in four different districts in Helmand province over the past month. Al Qaeda was operating a "training center" and fighting alongside the Taliban. Read more >
Taliban will continue to wage its war against a weakened Afghan government to resurrect its Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. A look at how the Taliban may attempt to achieve this goal now that U.S. forces, which were unable to prevent the Taliban from seizing key rural districts, will soon be gone. Read more >
Hosts Tom and Bill discuss recent statements by al Qaeda concerning the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Al Qaeda has commented on Palestinian issues often, but otherwise has had little to do with the situation. Bill also discusses his updated map of the war in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has... Read more >
Shabaab has controlled the central Somali town of Bacaadweyne for over a month thanks to a forced political deal with the local clan. Read more >
Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn discuss President Biden’s to withdraw U.S. military forces from Afghanistan. It’s understandable that he doesn’t want any more Americans to die there, but the Afghans continue to fight a global jihadist threat. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll... Read more >
The Taliban demanded that all U.S. forces leave by May 1. It has threatened to resume attacks on U.S. forces if they do not leave by the date agreed upon in the Doha Accords. Read more >
The Taliban denied that Osama bin Laden was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. and questioned whether he was killed by U.S. soldiers in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011. Read more >
Based on reports from Al Qaeda, the United Nations, and press reports, the terror group and its allies are operating in 21 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. Read more >
The Taliban continues to promote its training camps that pump out jihadist fighters who indiscriminately attack Afghan civilians, soldiers and police. Read more >
The emir of Jaysh al-Ummah in Gaza, Sheikh Mujahid Abu Hafs al-Maqdisi, offers solutions to solve the 'Palestinian case' while accusing Palestinian leaders of corruption. Read more >
Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security killed an Al Qaeda commander and a Taliban leader during a recent operation in the eastern province of Paktika. The two supported Al Qaeda's operations in the east and planned and supported high profile attacks. Read more >
The Taliban's celebration of Mullah Saif ur Rahman Mansoor and the battle of Shahi Kot is a reminder of the Taliban's enduring relationship with Al Qaeda. Read more >
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri threatens Myanmar in a newly released video, which attempts to connect the plight of Muslims there to the jihadists' global struggle. Read more >
Khalid Batarfi, the emir of AQAP, appears in a video released today. His commentary proves that he was not detained late last year, as some reports said. Read more >
Edmund Fitton-Brown again joins the podcast to discuss the United Nations Security Council's latest report on ISIS and Al Qaeda. Read more >
According to a newly released report by a UN Monitoring Team, AQAP leader Khalid Batarfi was captured in Oct. 2020. FDD's Long War Journal has not confirmed Batarfi's arrest. Read more >
In episode 42 of Generation Jihad, hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's comments on the U.S.-Taliban deal. They explain why there isn't much for the Biden administration to assess. The Taliban was never interested in peace and hasn't taken any steps to break with al Qaeda. Read more >
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has sent a message of support to its fellow al Qaeda branch for recently killing five French soldiers. Read more >
Caleb Weiss joins Tom and Bill to discuss France's intervention in West Africa. Branches of both Al Qaeda and ISIS are fighting for territory, but France's patience may be starting to wear thin. Read more >
The Taliban cannot be trusted to live up to any agreement when it won't admit that Al Qaeda remains in Afghanistan, under its protection Read more >
The U.S. Treasury Department states in a Jan. 4 memo that al Qaeda is "gaining strength" in Afghanistan under the Taliban's protection. The same memo points to the Islamic State's "logistical hubs" inside Turkey. Read more >
The State Department revealed today that 'Abd al Rahman al Maghrebi, a senior al Qaeda leader who heads the group's propaganda arm and has served as its "general manager," is based in Iran. Maghrebi and four others based in Iran were designated as terrorists. Read more >
Afghan security forces continue to target Al Qaeda as the Taliban promises that it won't allow allow foreign fighters to attack the West, even though the Taliban claims Al Qaeda doesn't exist inside Afghanistan. Read more >
The effort to degrade and contain Shabaab without will be all the more difficult without a U.S. presence in the country. Read more >
Despite the repeated targeting, killing, and capturing of Al Qaeda leaders and operatives, the Taliban maintains that the terror group does not operate in Afghanistan. Read more >
In an interview with the Islamic State's Al-Naba newsletter, Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, attempts to paint al Qaeda's efforts in the region as rife with internal squabbles and disunity. Read more >
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the decisions awaiting the incoming Biden administration with respect to the ongoing conflicts in several countries. They also discuss the State Department’s decision to delist al Qaeda’s Uighur affiliate. Powered by RedCircle Take a look around the globe today and you’ll see jihadists... Read more >
Mohammad Hanif was involved in the 2002 assassination attempt on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the suicide attack on the U.S. Consulate in Karachi that same year. He was killed in Farah province. But the Taliban somehow continues to maintain that Al Qaeda isn't in Afghanistan. Read more >
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the demise of Husam Abd-al-Ra’uf, al Qaeda’s media chief. Afghan forces hunted him down in a Taliban-controlled village nearly eight months after the U.S. State Department trumpeted the Taliban’s supposed counterterrorism assurances. Read more >
The U.S. has confirmed that Husam Abd-al-Ra’uf, a senior al Qaeda leader, was killed in Ghazni province earlier this month. The head of the National Counterterrorism Center touts his death as a "major setback" for al Qaeda and one of its "strategic losses," but that is doubtful. Read more >
Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) claims that Husam Abd-al-Ra’uf, a senior al Qaeda leader, was killed in Ghazni province. FDD's Long War Journal has not confirmed his death and the NDS provided conflicting details throughout the day. Read more >
The U.S. government has designated Ahmed Luqman Talib as a terrorist, saying he uses his gemstone business to help move people and money for al Qaeda. Read more >
U.S. officials continue to maintain that the Taliban committed to a "reduction in violence" as part of the withdrawal agreement. The deal says no such thing, and the Taliban continues to mount attacks. Read more >
Edmund Fitton-Brown joins hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio to discuss his work for the United Nations Security Council. Read more >
Senior U.S. officials claim there are fewer than 200 al Qaeda members in Afghanistan. Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn explain why that estimate, like all others before it, isn’t credible. Read more >
The U.S. government, military, and intelligence services have provided inaccurate assessments of Al Qaeda's strength in Afghanistan for more than a decade. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued that tradition by recent regurgitating that Al Qaeda has fewer than 200 fighters in the country. This estimate, like previous ones, should not be trusted. Read more >
In this week's edition of the Islamic State's weekly Al-Naba newsletter, the jihadist group claims a series of wide-ranging operations across the Sahel. This includes last month's massacre of French aid workers in Niger, as well as a spate of battles with al Qaeda's men. Read more >
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss al Qaeda’s weak media output on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 hijackings. Read more >
Al Qaeda has released a video message featuring Ayman al Zawahiri, who criticizes Al Jazeera at length. Although the video was released on the anniversary of the 9/11 hijackings, it was likely timed to coincide with the normalization of relations between Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Read more >
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss the prevalence of conspiracy theories in the post-9/11 era. Read more >
Hosts Tom Joscelyn and Bill Roggio discuss how the Chinese Communist Party’s repressive policies in the Xinjiang region could drive more people into the jihadists’ arms. Read more >
The Taliban continues to use the signature terror tactic of Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups despite signing a deal with the U.S. that facilitates the withdrawal of American troops from the country. Read more >
Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn discuss what al Qaeda looks like in 2020. Read more >
This time, the Taliban denied a Department of Defense report that Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent cooperates with the Taliban by claiming AQIS isn't inside the country. Read more >
Pakistan remains a "safe haven" for a host of regional terror groups, including the Afghan Taliban and its integral subgroup, the Al Qaeda linked Haqqani Network, according the the State Department's newly released Country Reports on Terrorism 2019. Read more >