“Six Resolute Support service members died as a result of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack in Bagram, Afghanistan,” the international coalition confirmed. Bagram is a high priority target for the Taliban.
The Muaskar ul Fida is likely loyal to the Haqqani Network, an al Qaeda-linked Taliban group that is backed by Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment.
Jihadist groups in Afghanistan continue to operate training camps despite the presence of coalition troops.
The fifth installment of the Taliban’s “Army of Badr” video series highlights the oaths of loyalty sworn by Ayman al Zawahiri and Siraj Haqqani to the Taliban’s new emir, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. The video is the latest piece of evidence that the jihadist “syndicate” continues to threaten Afghanistan 14 years after the US-led invasion of the country.
The jihadist group has reacted similarly to the designation of Haqqani Network leaders in the past. Additionally, the Taliban disputed the claim that Abdul Aziz Haqqani is “a senior member of the Haqqani Network,” as State said.
Siraj Haqqani’s brother, Abdul Aziz, is a key military commander who directs operations for the Haqqani Network and also is a member of the Kabul Attack Network. He is the 14th Haqqani network leader added to the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists since 2008. All have ties to al Qaeda.
Five suspected jihadists were killed in the strike, which took place in the al Qaeda and Taliban haven of Datta Khel.
The influential veteran jihadist leader has endorsed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour as the new emir of the Taliban, and urged others to pledge to him, according to the Taliban.
Reports surfaced that veteran jihadist leader Jalaluddin Haqqani died in 2014, but the Afghan Taliban have gone on the record stating that the patriarch of the Haqqani Network is alive.
The Taliban’s new emir is Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. His top two deputies are Moulavi Haibatullah Akhunzada and Siraj Haqqani. Both Mansour and Haqqani are allied with al Qaeda.
Abu Khalil al Sudani worked with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri for years. He was a member of al Qaeda’s shura council and directed suicide operations. Osama bin Laden’s files reveal that he was one of al Qaeda’s most trusted leaders. The airstrike that killed Sudani took place in the Bermal district of the Paktia province, where the US operated a base before withdrawing its forces.
The video focuses on ambushes and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in the provinces of Kunar, Laghman, Wardak, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, and Ghazni.
Recently released letters recovered in Osama bin Laden’s compound reveal that key Pakistani leaders, including the brother of Pakistan’s current prime minister, sought out negotiations with al Qaeda. Pakistan intelligence also communicated with al Qaeda leaders through jihadist intermediaries to discuss a possible truce.
Haqqani Network, Taliban Quetta Shura must for talks’ success: Pakistan.
A Turkish soldier and an Afghan civilian were killed in the blast. The attack on NATO’s envoy to Afghanistan takes place as rumors of peace talks between the Taliban, the Afghan government, and the US persist.
Dawn calls out the Pakistani state for obscuring its purported ban of the Haqqani Network and Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
Haqqani Network and Jamaat-ud-Dawa: Banned or not?
Although numerous news outlets have reported that the Haqqani Network and Jamaat-ud-Dawa have been banned in Pakistan, no official announcement of the group’s status from the government or Ministry of Interior has been released.
Pakistani government tight-lipped about ban on Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Haqqani Network
Officials, Experts Look to Clear Up Rumors of IS Militants in Afghanistan
Groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba have previously been banned in Pakistan, but continue to receive the support of the military and intelligence establishment.
US welcomes reports of Pakistani plan to ban Haqqanis
Kerry holds security talks in Pakistan after school massacre
Afghanistan, Pakistan work on ‘joint terrorist list’
On Dec. 20, the Defense Department announced the transfer of four Afghans to their home country. Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) deemed all four to be “high” risks to the US, its interests and allies. All four are veteran insurgents, according to JTF-GTMO.
From Florida to al Qaeda: terror group’s external operations chief spent last years at Iran-Pakistan-Afghan border
Members of the Haqqani Network, the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group, and “Uzbeks” are reported to have been killed in an attack in the Shawal Valley.
The accusation is made as the US has extended the combat mission in Afghanistan for one year.
Nine of the 19 drone strikes in Pakistan this year have occurred in the jihadist hub of Datta Khel in North Waziristan.
“Why should America’s enemies unnecessarily become our enemies,” the adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs to Pakistan’s prime minister said of Taliban factions like the Haqqani Network and the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group.