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AQIM claims attack on Algerian gas plant
AQIM says the attack is meant to show that it can target Algeria in “whatever area we want, and to let you know that your fortifications that you have made will not prevent the strikes of the mujahideen from reaching you.”
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British hostage discusses American airstrikes on Islamic State’s media kiosks
The Islamic State has released a new video featuring John Cantlie, who has been held hostage by the group since 2012. Cantlie speaks from the ruins of a media kiosk that was bombed in Mosul, Iraq. While Cantlie is made to downplay the importance of the media kiosks, the Islamic State itself recently trumpeted them as “one of the cornerstones” of its media strategy.
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Ayman al Zawahiri’s brother released from Egyptian prison
Mohammed al Zawahiri, the younger brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, was released from an Egyptian prison earlier this week. He was imprisoned in Egypt in 1999, but released following the uprisings in 2011. He quickly became a prolific advocate for al Qaeda’s jihadist ideology. Along with other al Qaeda-linked jihadists, he helped orchestrate the protest outside the US Embassy in Cairo on Sept. 11, 2012.
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Islamic State details operations against jihadist rivals in Derna, Libya
An infographic in the Islamic State’s Al Naba newsletter highlights the “caliphate’s” fighting against both its jihadist rivals and the Libyan Army in the eastern city of Derna. The Islamic State was forced out of Derna’s center last year, even as it gained ground elsewhere in Libya.
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‘Hezbollah and Harakat al Nujaba are the twins of resistance,’ Iraqi militia spokesman says
Harakat al Nujaba has a long history with Hezbollah and Iran, in both Iraq and Syria. “The blood of Hezbollah which flowed in the land of Iraq is our responsibility for so long as we exist,” the group’s spokesman said.
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Islamic State claims killing Russian soldiers at Palmyra
The Syrian regime is trying to recapture the city and Russian troops appear to be helping in the endeavor. This also comes just days after Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will be withdrawing the “main part” of its forces in Syria.
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Al Qaeda insider returns to Twitter, discusses group’s global leadership
An al Qaeda media operative known as Shaybat al Hukama returned to Twitter on Feb. 15 after having his previous accounts suspended. Hukama has implied that Saif al Adel, a senior al Qaeda leader wanted for his alleged role in the 1998 US Embassy bombings, is in Syria to lead the fight against the Russians.
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Islamic State uses 2 women in suicide attack at Nigerian mosque
At least 22 women were killed as two female suicide bombers launched a coordinated assault at a mosque in the north. The Islamic State West Africa (Boko Haram) has used 105 women and girls as suicide bombers, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal.
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Jihadist propaganda outlet denies Islamic State military commander killed in US airstrike
Omar al Shishani’s status has been uncertain since the US announced it targeted him last week, and it is still unknown if he is dead, alive, or seriously wounded.
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AQIM targets beach resort in Ivory Coast
Al Qaeda continues to prioritize targeting hotels, which are considered soft targets, across the African continent. AQIM has launched assaults on several hotels in West Africa in recent months, while Shabaab regularly targets hotels in Somalia.
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Al Nusrah Front raids rebel group’s headquarters in Idlib province, seizes weapons
Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, raided the 13th Division’s headquarters and seized its weapons. The 13th Division, which has received US-made TOW missiles, has long coexisted with the jihadists in northwestern Syria. But that all changed in the past 48 hours as al Qaeda’s men stormed its locations.
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Former Egyptian special forces officer calls on scholars to support al Qaeda’s jihad
Hisham Ali Ashmawi, also known as Abu Umar al Muhajir, released an audio message earlier this month calling on Egyptian scholars to support jihadists in their fight against President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s government. Ashmawi, a former Egyptian special forces officer, leads an al Qaeda-linked group named Al Murabitoon.
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Osama Bin Laden’s Files: Al Qaeda provided feedback on Pakistani Taliban’s charter
Al Qaeda leaders Abu Yahya al Libi and Atiyah Abd al Rahman provided detailed feedback on the Movement of the Taliban’s proposed charter.
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US adds 2 HIG explosive experts to list of global terrorists
State linked Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin explosive experts Abdullah Nowbahar and Abdul Saboor to a suicide attack that was carried out by a young woman that killed 12 people in Kabul. Additionally, Saboor has been linked to a suicide attack that killed six Americans.
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Omar al Shishani was ‘badly wounded’ in US airstrike
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that Shishani “was seriously injured” and taken to a hospital in Raqqah province, where he was treated by a European doctor.
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Caucasus Emirate in Syria highlights role in Aleppo fighting
The small North Caucasian group does not play a significant role in the fighting, however, its inclusion is still important as it provides extra manpower to al Qaeda and its other allies against the regime and Kurdish forces.
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US special operations forces raid Shabaab in southern Somalia
The involvement of US special operations forces in the Awdigle raid and the heavy resistance put up by Shabaab indicates that the objective was to capture a high value target.
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Afghan forces withdraw from district in Uruzgan
Over the past year, the Taliban have seized control of, or contested, a number of districts in a belt that spans southwestern Herat, eastern Farah, northern and central Helmand, Uruzgan, and northwestern Kandahar. The Taliban have historically used these safe havens to organize operations against neighboring districts and provincial capitals.
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US targeted senior Islamic State military commander in airstrike in Syria
The US military claimed it targeted and possibly killed Omar al Shishani, a capable field commander for the Islamic State, in an airstrike in Shadaddi. Shishani’s death has not been confirmed.
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ODNI: 204 former Guantanamo detainees are confirmed or suspected recidivists
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 204 former Guantanamo detainees are confirmed or suspected of reengaging in terrorist or insurgent “activities.” The number of ex-detainees on the US government’s recidivist list has steadily grown since an estimate was first made public in June 2008.
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Osama Bin Laden’s Files: The military commander’s ‘Chief of Staff Committee’
The creation of the Chief of Staff Committee is one way al Qaeda has ensured that it can adapt to US counterterrorism operations designed to kill key leaders and operatives.
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US military strikes Shabaab training camp
More than 150 Shabaab fighters are said to have been killed in a strike on a Shabaab camp north of the capital of Mogadishu.
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Turkistan Islamic Party continues to train children in Syria
While the Islamic State gets most of the attention for its training of children, several other jihadist groups in Syria, many of which foreign al Qaeda groups, also do the same.
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Ansar Dine claims four attacks in Mali
Al Qaeda groups operating in Mali continue to be a threat to both local and regional security.
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Islamic State-linked ‘news’ agency claims 90 suicide attacks launched in February
‘Amaq News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic State’s online propaganda operations, released an infographic claiming that the “caliphate” launched 90 “martyrdom operations” in Iraq, Syria and Libya in February. The propaganda outfit previously claimed that the Islamic State carried out 85 suicide attacks in Iraq and Syria in January. These figures have not been independently verified.
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Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula hosts large rally in Mukallah
Al Ather “news” agency, which publishes propaganda for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and its front, Ansar al Sharia, has released a series of photos showing a large rally in the city of Mukallah. AQAP captured Mukallah in early April 2015.
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Islamic State’s governor for Aleppo reportedly killed in airstrike
It is unclear if the US or Russia killed Amr al Absi, the Islamic State’s governor for the Syrian province of Aleppo. The US launched an airstrike in northern Syria on March 3, where Absi is said to have been killed.
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Iraqi Shia militias show US-made equipment on road to Samarra
Iranian-backed Shia militias in Iraq continue to showcase both the ownership and usage of US-made vehicles and equipment.
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Osama Bin Laden’s Files: Boko Haram’s leader wanted to be ‘under one banner’
A letter recovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound reveals that Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, sought direct contact with al Qaeda’s deputy leader at the time. There is abundant evidence that Boko Haram was supported by al Qaeda’s international network until Shekau swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in 2015.
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Osama Bin Laden’s Files: Letters to the ‘Commander of the Faithful’
Newly released documents from Osama bin Laden’s compound reveal that al Qaeda was skeptical about statements issued in Mullah Omar’s name. As of early 2010, bin Laden apparently was not communicating regularly with Omar. Letters from later that same year show, however, that bin Laden likely did begin corresponding with Omar. Bin Laden argued in one letter that the West had been weakened by the war in Afghanistan and the mujahideen simply needed to be patient.
