On March 19, Turkey’s defense ministry announced the death of two Turkish soldiers at the hands of “radical elements” in northwest Syria’s Idlib. The attack highlights Ankara's challenges in the Syrian province. Read more >
As the world continues to deal with the spread of COVID-19, jihadists have taken it upon themselves to exploit the situation for their own political gain and to offer advice to their own members. Read more >
Recently, Hezbollah has suffered losses it has not seen in years of fighting in Syria. Read more >
Iranian-backed militias are taking part in the battle for northwestern Syria. Read more >
Iranian-backed militia sites struck by what is thought to be Israeli warplanes Thursday morning. Read more >
Since the beginning of the year, Hay'at Tahrir al Sham has utilized at least 12 suicide bombers in defense of Idlib from advancing regime forces. Read more >
Heavy losses by Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias fighting in Syria. Read more >
A coalition of Qaeda-linked jihadist groups in northwestern Syria detail their recent operations. Read more >
Qods Force commander Qassem Soliemani and Popular Mobilization Forces deputy Abu Mahdi al Muhandis were terror and insurgency masterminds who were revered in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and beyond for their support of the Iranian-backed Shia militias and terrorist groups that have destabilized several countries in the Middle East. Read more >
Following a deadly rocket attack on a U.S. base in Iraq and subsequent U.S. airstrikes in response, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah Brigades threatens to further retaliate by continuing to target U.S. troops. Read more >
After a long-hiatus, the al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades announces its dissolution inside Syria. Read more >
For the first time in five years, the jihadist group has claimed an attack in its native Iraq. Read more >
The bombing came as Turkey also shelled the city. It is likely that as the Turkish advance continues, the Islamic State will further exploit the chaos inside northern Syria to regroup and conduct more attacks. Read more >
In the UNSC's new report on the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and affiliated groups, the UN states that the Uzbek jihadist group, the Islamic Jihad Union, operates in Syria. This was not previously known. Read more >
The Islamic State retroactively claimed last month's attack in Tripoli, Lebanon, was perpetrated by one of its soldiers. Read more >
The defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was neither final nor decisive, and policymakers should heed the War on Terror’s lessons to ensure the West doesn’t squander this advantage and enable ISIS, or its copycats and successor groups, to rally. Read more >
The Turkistan Islamic Party, "Incite the Believers" operations room and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham are all battling Bashar al-Assad's loyalists in Latakia, Syria. Read more >
Bill Roggio testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism, and examines the global terrorism landscape. Read more >
The US-backed Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) announced today that Baghouz has been liberated from the Islamic State. The US considers Baghouz to be the last village that was part of the jihadists' physical caliphate. However, a review of history and current operations shows that the Islamic State has not been entirely defeated. Read more >
Russian special forces are reported to have held a training event for the pro-regime Palestinian militia, Liwa al Quds. Read more >
Four Americans, including two service members, were killed when an Islamic State suicide bomber struck in Manbij, Syria earlier today. Read more >
President Trump claimed earlier today that the Islamic State has been "defeated" in Syria. But an unknown number of the group's top leaders, including presumably Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, remain alive. And there are likely thousands of fighters in both Syria and Iraq, where they operate as insurgents. Read more >
In the past 24 hours, the Islamic State has conducted more than one suicide bombing against US-backed forces in Hajin, Syria. One Islamic State "martyr" blew himself up near the Hajin hospital, which became the scene of intense fighting earlier this week. Read more >
The US-led coalition announced today that Abu al Umarayn and "several" other Islamic State leaders were killed in recent airstrikes in Syria. Umarayn was purportedly involved in the 2014 murder of Peter Kassig, a former US Army Ranger who was working as a humanitarian worker in Syria. Read more >
While the Treasury designation focuses on the four Iraqis' links to Hezbollah, which is described as "a terrorist proxy for the Iranian regime that seeks to undermine Iraqi sovereignty and destabilize the Middle East," it practically ignores the fact that one of them is the Secretary General of the Imam Ali Battalions, or Kata’ib Imam Ali, a key component of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an official military arm of the Iraqi state that reports directly to the prime minister. Read more >
Katibat Ghuraba al Turkistan, a smaller predominately Uighur jihadist group in northwestern Syria, recently trained with the elite Malhama Tactical thereby not only raising its credentials, but also its battlefield prowess. Read more >
Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the most powerful jihadist organization in Idlib province, has finally issued a statement addressing the agreement reached between Turkey and Russia last month. HTS vows to continue waging jihad, and warns that it doesn't trust Russia's "intentions," but does not directly repudiate the Sochi accord. Read more >
Iranian and Syrian officials on 27 August signed a military agreement that highlights their symbiotic relationship. Read more >
Despite official Lebanese claims to the contrary, the photos recently released by Hezbollah offer more evidence of how its forces coordinated with the Lebanese military in last year's battle near Arsal. Read more >
The public seldom hears from the reclusive Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who last released a speech nearly a year ago. But in his latest message, Baghdadi downplays the loss of his territorial caliphate while claiming the US has entered a new stage of "weakness." Read more >
The majority of coalition strikes over the past three months have been concentrated in Abu Kamal, a critical border crossing on the southern border between Iraq and Syria. Read more >
On July 15, Israel struck a military position near the Nayrab airport outside of Aleppo city. The latest attack is a component of an expanded Israeli campaign against the Islamic Republic's assets in Syria. Read more >
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has cut a deal with Bashar al-Assad's regime to exchange thousands of residents in Kefraya and al-Fouah, two predominately Shiite towns in the northern province of Idlib, for 1,500 prisoners held in Assad's prisons. Read more >
A small Turkish-speaking jihadist faction known as Fursan al-Iman took part in a joint raid against the Assad regime in Latakia province on July 10. Yesterday, it posted a picture of an Assad loyalist who was captured during the operation. It appears from the group's social media pages that Fursan al-Iman has been operating in and around the Jabal al-Turkman region since January 2018. Read more >
Ansar al-Islam raided an Assad regime military position in the Latakia province yesterday, killing more than two dozen Assad loyalists. The attack was widely celebrated on Sunni jihadist social media channels. Ansar al-Islam is a small jihadist group that originated in Iraq, but has fought in Syria for years. Read more >
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) in Afghanistan and Syria has long operated as part of the Taliban-al Qaeda axis. Earlier this year, however, the TIP's Syrian branch sided with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) during its battles with other rebel groups. This infighting and related events have complicated the picture with respect to the TIP in Syria. One TIP-affiliated outlet claimed earlier this year that the group's senior management had sent new leadership from Afghanistan to Syria. Read more >
Liwa Zulfiqar's secretary general was seen in a Syrian military operations room for ongoing operations in Syria's southern Deraa province. Read more >
The Islamic State announced today that Hudhayfah al-Badri, the son of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, has been killed during a raid on Syrian and Russian forces in Homs province. Al-Badri's death was announced via a graphic that is part of the Islamic State's "Caravan of the Martyrs" series, which has featured deceased jihadists from around the globe. The so-called caliphate has offered few details concerning al-Badri's purported death. Read more >
An Iranian-controlled Iraqi Shia militia advertised its presence in the current Syrian regime offensive in the southern province of Deraa. The photos provide evidence for Iranian involvement in the offensive. Read more >
Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (HTS) and its jihadist rivals in the "Guardians of Religion" organization have called on all Muslims to resist the Assad regime's new offensive in southern Syria. However, severe infighting has limited the jihadists' ability to launch sustained operations against the Assad regime and its allies. Read more >
Although Iranian-aligned forces have reportedly agreed to withdraw from a buffer zone near the Jordanian and Israeli borders, the threat of Iranian expansion remains high. Read more >
Various Shia militias from around the Middle East have expressed their support or condolences for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah Brigades, which was targeted in unclaimed airstrikes in eastern Syria on Sunday. Read more >
Saraya al Mokhtar sends its condolences and congratulations to the Hezbollah Brigades for being the target of recent airstrikes in eastern Syria. At the same time, the Bahraini group also unveiled a new logo. Read more >
US-backed Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) reportedly killed the Islamic State executioner Talip Akkurt, known by his nom de guerre Abu Talha al Turki, who burned two Turkish soldiers alive in Syria in 2016. Al Turki was reported dead following a June 7 SDF attack in Deir Ezzor’s Hajin town. Since... Read more >
The foreign fighters include one Canadian and three French-speaking militants. The latter bunch likely belong to Omar Diaby's Firqatul Ghuraba, a French jihadist outfit in Syria. Read more >
In a lengthy audio message released on Apr. 22, Islamic State spokesman Abu-al-Hasan al-Muhajir claims that the US is retreating from Iraq and Syria. He argues that his group is in a better condition than when the US withdrew its forces from Iraq in 2011. He advises the Islamic State's members that they should prepare for the war against the Russians and Iranians, who are filling the void left by the Americans. Read more >
Earlier today, Israel struck the T-4 military air base in Syria’s Homs Governorate. At least four Iranians including a Colonel died in the attack. Read more >
The US-led coalition said in a statement that "much work remains to defeat" Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's organization in Iraq and Syria. The statement is at odds with the White House's view that ISIS has been "almost completely destroyed.” Read more >
The White House declared on Apr. 4 that the "military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being almost completely destroyed." But ISIS continues to operate in several areas of Syria, as well as in Iraq, which wasn't even mentioned in the White House's statement. Read more >
Jihadists and Islamists in Syria have denounced the US government's decision to designate Katibat Imam al Bukhari (KIB) as a terrorist organization. The KIB's own statement on the designation includes misleading claims and some of those defending the group have their own al Qaeda links. Read more >
