The Taliban’s “Real Men” video contradicts many of its public statements where the group claims it only seeks to liberate Afghanistan from occupation. Instead, it makes it clear that the Taliban views itself as a defender of Islam and part of the global jihad.
More than 20 jihadist, Islamist and other rebel organizations took part in the offensive to break the siege of Aleppo. It was likely one of the largest combined efforts in the history of the Syrian war.
The foreign jihadists are operating within Jaysh al Fateh’s renewed offensive in Latakia, in which several Free Syrian Army groups are also taking part.
The camp is named after the second Muslim caliph who was a companion to the Prophet Muhammad and who expanded the caliphate in the seventh century.
The Jaysh al Fateh alliance captured three more villages in the southern countryside of Aleppo during an offensive that began on June 17. The jihadist-led coalition has made steady gains in Aleppo province since May, further demonstrating al Qaeda’s prowess in guerrilla warfare.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al Nusrah Front have jointly issued a eulogy for Mullah Mansour, the Taliban’s chief leader. Mansour was killed in an American drone strike on May 21.
On May 6, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps lost the strategic village of Khan Touman to Jaysh al Fath, suffering its worse defeat yet in the Syrian war. Iranian officials and commanders alongside state outlets have publicly downplayed the loss and have vowed revenge to retake the town. They also level accusations that the West and its regional allies support “terrorists” who take advantage of ceasefires.
The Jaysh al Fath coalition, which overran the Idilb province in northwestern Syria last year, has launched a new offensive south of the city of Aleppo. The jihadists have released dramatic drone footage from the fighting, which centered on the town of Khan Tuman. Several of Jaysh al Fath’s member organizations have produced propaganda from the battle.
The fighters shown training in urban Aleppo in the video are part of the Uzbek battalion’s ‘commando forces’ in Aleppo.
The mainly Uzbek group, Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, has formally pledged allegiance to Al Nusrah Front. However, it was always under al Qaeda’s influence.
The Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham, Jund al Aqsa, and the Turkistan Islamic Party have launched significant operations targeting two Shiite villages in the Idlib province of Syria. Their attacks are a response to the siege of Zabadani, a southern Syrian city, by Bashar al Assad’s regime and its allies.
The Jaysh al Fateh coalition, which includes the Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham, and other allied-organizations, has launched a new offensive targeting the Al Ghab plain. The alliance claims to have already made significant gains.
Jihadist groups have announced the creation of Ansar al Sharia, a new alliance for the battle of Aleppo. Ansar al Sharia is the latest of several coalitions formed by the Al Nusrah Front and Ahrar al Sham this year.
Senior al Qaeda, Taliban, and allied jihadist leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 – 2017 Created by Bill Roggio Since 2004, the US has been conducting a covert program to target and kill al Qaeda and Taliban commanders based in Pakistan’s lawless northwest. The program has targeted top al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda’s […]
A media organization linked to Boko Haram, the jihadist group that controls large portions of northeastern Nigeria, has released images purporting to show children receiving weapons training.
The Washington Post cited Bill Roggio on Muqtada al Sadr’s threat to reactivate the military wing his militia that is assigned to attack the US and its interests. Reuters cited Bill Roggio’s report on an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader who was freed in Afghanistan and has returned to wage jihad in Kunduz. The Boston […]
‘Removing Godane from the battlefield is a major symbolic and operational loss to al-Shabaab,” the Pentagon’s spokesman said. But jihadist groups have withstood the loss of top leaders in the past.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar’s spokesman described the military press release and subsequent reporting in the Pakistani media as “nothing but complete lies,” and claimed that jihadists had moved out of the area long before the operation began.
The attack is the fourth by the US in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan since July 10; at least three al Qaeda leaders are thought to have been killed in one of the strikes.
The Pakistani government has blocked The Long War Journal website from being accessed inside Pakistan. The censorship began sometime in July 2012, and continues to this day.
The Pakistani terror group has carried out suicide and IED attacks in response to drone strikes that have killed the emirs of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Mullah Nazir Group, as well as a top Haqqani Network leader and members of the Turkistan Islamic Party.
The group has claimed three other attacks against Pakistani troops so far this year. A spokesman said today’s attack was executed to avenge Hakeemullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike.
The ISIS images are similar to videos and photographs of child training camps in Pakistan’s tribal areas that are run by the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, the Turkistan Islamic Party, and the Islamic Jihad Union.
Today’s strike is the second in Pakistan in six days. The Haqqani Network continues to operate freely in North Waziristan even though the group is closely allied with al Qaeda.
The terror group’s spokesman claimed the attack was carried out to avenge yesterday’s US drone strike that is said to have killed four members of the Turkistan Islamic Party.
Four “Arab fighters” are reported to have been killed by the US in Pakistan’s Shawal Valley. The drone strike is the first reported in Pakistan in two weeks.
Two unidentified militants were killed while riding a motorcycle in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan. The strike is just the second in Pakistan this month.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Abu Ubaydah Abdullah al Adam, a senior al Qaeda leader who serves as the intelligence chief for the terror group, was killed in a recent US drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
The Shawal Valley has been the focus of recent drone strikes in Pakistan. The strikes in Pakistan have been on the decline the past three months; the US has launched only eight since June 4.
The strike took place in Mir Ali, a known terrorist haven where the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Islamic Jihad Group, an IMU splinter group, are based.