The Islamic State has released a new video (titled “Kill Them Wherever You Find Them”) featuring the terrorist team responsible for the Nov. 13, 2015 coordinated attacks in Paris. Some of the jihadists address the camera before or after committing grisly executions that were broadcast in previous videos.
In the past, the Taliban has adeptly manipulated the West’s desire for peace negotiations to extract concessions at little to no cost.
In a video released earlier this month, an Islamic State defector known as Antar al Kindi claims to expose the group’s “lies.” Al Kindi apologizes to Ayman al Zawahiri and other al Qaeda leaders. The video is part of an ongoing propaganda battle between the Islamic State and al Qaeda.
The League of the Righteous, which has threatened Americans in Iraq and also carried out several kidnappings, is the prime suspect. The Shiite militia has denied any involvement in the abduction of the three Americans.
Tariq Mahmoud Ahmed Al Sawah, an Egyptian held at Guantanamo since 2002, has been transferred to the Government of Bosnia. Despite compiling a lengthy dossier as an expert bomb maker on behalf of al Qaeda, US officials recommended that he be transferred. Al Sawah became a prolific source on al Qaeda and other detainees during his time in custody, and Joint Task Force – Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) concluded that his fellow jihadists may seek retribution if he tried to rejoin their ranks.
The 13th edition of the Islamic State’s Dabiq magazine is filled with anti-al Qaeda and anti-Taliban arguments. Previous editions of Dabiq included similar attempts to undermine al Qaeda’s and the Taliban’s jihadist credentials.
The attack was claimed by Khalifa Umar Mansour, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan’s leader for Peshawar and Darra Adam Khel, who is also responsible for attacking a military school in Peshawar in 2014 and an airbase near the same city in 2015.
An American citizen, Amin al Baroudi, pleaded guilty to violating US sanctions by providing “tactical equipment” to Ahrar al Sham, which is allied with al Qaeda’s arm in Syria.
Masood Azhar, the Jaish-e-Mohammed emir, has been placed under house arrest and in protective custody at least three other times in the past.
Despite a French-led counterterrorism mission throughout the Sahara and Sahel, Al Qaeda has been able to retain the ability to launch attacks in Mali and increasingly in neighboring countries.
Despite being pushed out of several of its urban and rural strongholds, the Al Qaeda branch continues to prove its potency in the capture of the African Union base.
Indonesian police have linked the attack to a jihadist based in Syria. Two jihadists factions in Indonesia, Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid and Mujahidin Indonesian Timur, have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State.
Al Qaeda has released two audio messages and a written statement from Ayman al Zawahiri in the past day. Two of the messages contain condemnations of Saudi Arabia. The third focuses on Southeast Asia.
The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan said that a “Special Unit” from the Mujahideen Special Group “successfully targeted” and killed Pakistani security forces guarding the vaccination center. The Taliban has targeted the anti-polio drive in the past, accusing it of being a vehicle of Western intelligence services.
The Islamic State’s Wilayat Khorasan says that three jihadists attacked the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad, Afghanistan earlier today. At least two of them detonated suicide belts.
The Department of Justice announced today that an American named Maalik Alim Jones has been charged with supporting Shabaab, al Qaeda’s regional branch in East Africa. Jones was allegedly a member of Shabaab’s Jaysh Ayman unit, which is responsible for launching attacks against Kenyan forces.
On at least three separate occasions in the past, US officials, including President Obama’s own Guantanamo Review Task Force, recommended that Fayez al Kandari remain in US custody. Kandari also lost his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Joint Task Force – Guantanamo deemed him a “high risk” to the US, its interests and allies.
Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, a member of al Qaeda’s paramilitary force in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was involved in a double suicide attack in Khost, Afghanistan in 2009.
Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration said in a statement that it has accepted two Guantanamo detainees who “have been cleared of any involvement in terrorist activities, and are being released.” But that is not true. Neither one of the detainees was “cleared” by President Obama’s Guantanamo Review Task Force. One of the two was previously deemed a “high risk” by Joint Task Force – Guantanamo.
Despite the exchange of threats between Israel and Hezbollah, the latest attack in the Shebaa Farms does not indicate a large-scale confrontation is on the horizon.
The reintroduction of US and British forces in Helmand has not prevented the districts of Nowzad, Musa Qala, and Sangin from falling to the Taliban.
The Islamic State’s Libyan “province” claims to have captured the town of Bin Jawad on the Mediterranean coast. The group also launched attacks on oil facilities in two of Libya’s ports.
While the operations against the Taliban prisons in Nahr-i-Sarraj and Now Zad highlight potential capabilities of Afghanistan’s Special Security Forces, they also emphasize the worsening security situation in Helmand province.
The assault on the airbase is thought to have been executed by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based jihadist group with close ties to al Qaeda. Jihadists reportedly said they were going to avenge a Jaish-e-Mohammed operative who was executed for his role in the 2001 assault on India’s Parliament.
The Islamic State’s so-called Khorasan “province” has set up a radio station to broadcast propaganda in Afghanistan. Officials have tried to jam its signal, but the station is also disseminating its content online via multiple platforms.
This month, the Popular Mobilization Force began harassing Christians in Baghdad by suggesting women wear the hijab, or veil, and instructing the minority not to celebrate Christmas.
A US military spokesman said earlier today that five members of the Islamic State’s external operations arm were killed in recent airstrikes. Some of the jihadists are believed to have ties to the terrorist cell that struck Paris on Nov. 13.
A video released by the Imam Bukhari Jamaat shows children training with various weapons, reading the Koran, practicing mathematics, and learning Sharia and Arabic.
The coordinated assaults are likely intended to show that the jihadist group is still able to mount such attacks, despite some claims to the contrary.
Problems within the Islamic State’s Yemen Province continue to mount as three senior leaders, including two members of the province’s Security Committee and a member of the Preaching Committee, and 28 more fighters reject the group’s governor.