The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, issued a strongly-worded statement that “condemns” a US airstrike on Sept. 28 which targeted Islamic State fighters in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. United States Forces – Afghanistan is investigating reports that an airstrike in the Taliban controlled district of Achin in Nangarhar killed 15 civilians. […]
The US-led coalition has killed 13 Islamic State leaders in and around Mosul, Iraq in the past month. Three of them were Chechens, highlighting the important role that foreign fighters play in the group’s chain of command. According to Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Colonel John Dorrian, another fallen jihadist was responsible for manufacturing chemical weapons to be used in the defense of Mosul.
India said it killed “up to 38 terrorists and Pakistani soldiers” in cross-border strikes against seven different targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India claimed it recorded the raids via drones. Pakistan denied Indian troops entered its territory.
The Turkistan Islamic Party, a Uighur jihadist group connected to al Qaeda, continues its long tradition of showing children trained for jihad.
CENTCOM announced the two strikes in Yemen, and noted that al Qaeda remains “a significant threat.” Press reports indicate that a “regional commander” known as Abdallah al Sanaani and a local commander known as Abu Khaled al Sanaani were among the AQAP operatives killed.
Anas El Abboubi was briefly in Italian custody in June 2013, and fled to Syria after he was released. He is one of more than 50 Italians thought to be waging jihad in Syria.
The Quds Brigade, known as Liwa al Quds or the Syrian Arab Army Fedayeen, is a Palestinian paramilitary group fighting on the side of Bashar al Assad in Aleppo.
The Obama administration and US military leaders continue to attempt to hide direct combat operations behind the mission of advising and assisting the “counterterrorism operations” of foreign governments and militaries.
Thomas Joscelyn testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. The hearing is titled, “Libya’s Terrorist Descent: Causes and Solutions.”
A top IRGC commander said the Guard, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Syrian Arab Army provide intelligence to Russia for airstrikes in Syria.
A senior commander in the Iraqi Asa’ib Ahl al Haq militia who was close to IRGC-QF commander Qassem Soleimani has been killed in Aleppo, Syria.
US warplanes bombed an Islamic State chemical weapons factory near the town of Qayyarah. US forces based at Qayyarah Airfiled West, or Q-West, have been recently targeted with a shell containing a mustard agent.
US and Afghan forces struck a group of leaders and operatives from the Pakistan-based Movement of the Taliban in South Waziristan, the Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda in the province of Paktika, according to reports from the region. At least one senior leader, known as Azam Tariq, is thought to have been killed in the strike.
The video shows the aftermath of an ambush on Malian troops in central Mali last month. The jihadist group’s two battalions that operate in central and southern Mali continue to threaten the region.
This comes just days after Shabaab recaptured towns in the same region after Ethiopian troops withdrew.
On July 18, an Afghan refugee named Riaz Khan (also known as “Muhammad Riyad”) assaulted passengers on a train in Würzburg, Germany with an ax and a knife. Nearly one week later, on July 24, a Syrian refugee identified as Mohammad Daleel blew himself up outside of a music festival in the German city of […]
General John W. Nicholson Jr., who leads NATO’s Resolute Support and US Forces Afghanistan, said yesterday that the US is hunting al Qaeda in Afghanistan’s Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika, Ghazni, Kunar, Nuristan and Nangarhar provinces. His comments are just the latest indication that al Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan has been underestimated.
General John Nicholson said that while the Taliban control 10 percent of the Afghan population and contest another 20 percent, “the enemy is primarily in more rural areas that have less impact on the future of the country.”
The IRGC’s construction arm is helping to develop a massive complex in a Shiite shrine in Najaf Iraq. Its partner, the Headquarters for the Restoration of Holy Shrines, is a front organization for the Qods Force.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said today that the Islamic State’s stronghold inside Sirte, Libya has been reduced to “a single square kilometer” and a “single neighborhood.” As of Sept. 21, the US has launched 161 airstrikes against the so-called caliphate’s men inside the city.
The video of fighters purportedly training and firing RPGs in the open in Swabi indicates that the Taliban have returned.
Iraqi forces retook control of Shirqat in order to secure its supply lines south of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul. The Islamic State is also thought to have fired a shell filled with a mustard agent at US troops nearby.
The complaint filed in the case against Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is accused of planting bombs in New York and New Jersey on Sept. 17, omitted any reference to the Islamic State. But a newly released page from Rahami’s notebook shows that he mentioned Abu Muhammad al Adnani in the context of being unable to travel abroad for jihad. Prior to his demise in August, Adnani repeatedly told followers to strike in their home countries if they were unable to emigrate to the lands of the so-called caliphate.
Catherine Herridge of Fox News has shared nine pages from Ahmad Khan Rahami’s journal with The Long War Journal. Rahami is accused of placing bombs in New York City and New Jersey on Sept. 17. His notebook contains multiple references to jihadi figures.
The FBI is seeking information on two “unknown individuals” to question them about luggage that contained an improvised explosive device on 27th street in Manhattan on Sept. 17. The two men allegedly “removed an improvised explosive device from the luggage, and then left the vicinity leaving the device behind but taking the luggage.”
The Islamic State’s Furat Media Establishment has released a short video allegedly showing a captured Russian intelligence agent. The man is made to address Russian President Vladimir Putin directly and plead for his life.
Authorities recovered a handwritten journal from Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is charged with carrying out bombings in New York and New Jersey on Sept. 17. The notebook allegedly contains praise for Osama bin Laden and Anwar al Awlaki.
Shabaab claims to have captured two towns in central Somalia after Ethiopian troops reportedly withdrew from their nearby bases.
The State Department has designated Jund al Aqsa in Syria as a terrorist organization. The Long War Journal previously exposed Jund al Aqsa as an al Qaeda front group. Al Qaeda veterans have been embedded within the organization and Jund al Aqsa’s “general command” remains loyal to al Qaeda’s leaders.
The National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan intelligence agency, raided an al Qaeda encampment and killed five Pakistani terrorists in the southeastern province of Zabul.