An Islamic State production featuring the young man responsible for stabbing rampage in the Russian city of Surgat is similar to past videos released by the group. The jihadist swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi before his day of terror. The video also contains a clip of a young Russian child beheading a captive.
Thomas Joscelyn’s testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee’s Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry into the United States on what happens to the Islamic State after it loses its territory in Iraq and Syria.
According to US Forces-Afghanistan, Jawed Khan, a “senior director of media production” for the Islamic State’s Wilayah Khorasan (ISIS-K), “was killed in an airstrike in Achin, Nangarhar Province on June 3.”
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for its first major attacks inside Iran earlier today. Although the group has long fought Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria, it had never struck Tehran. Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani previously admitted that his organization had abided by an order from al Qaeda’s senior leadership to refrain from attacking in Iran.
International authorities are investigating the possibility that a “network” assisted Salman Abedi in the Manchester Arena bombing earlier this week. The investigation stretches from the UK to Libya, where Abedi’s younger brother and father have been detained. His brother, Hashim, has allegedly admitted prior knowledge of the plot and that the siblings were Islamic State members.
The policy debate concerning Syria must reflect on-the-ground realities. The war is a complex, multi-sided affair with no easy solutions.
An American soldier was killed while fighting the Islamic State’s jihadists in eastern Afghanistan. While the Wilayah Khorasan (or Khorasan province) has suffered significant losses since early 2016, it still maintains a significant operational capacity and can mount high-profile attacks.
The eighth edition of the Islamic State’s Rumiyah magazine features a cover story on Ahmad Abousamra, who was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List in 2013. Abousamra was the “chief editor” of Dabiq, the Islamic State’s English-language magazine, and also one of al Qaeda’s fiercest rhetorical opponents. He described al Qaeda’s leaders and pro-al Qaeda ideologues as the “Jews of Jihad.”
