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Generation Jihad Ep. 8 – The Islamic State’s Foundational Texts
Craig Whiteside joins hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn to discuss his new book, The ISIS Reader: Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement.
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Online ‘news’ agency reposts oath of allegiance to Baghdadi amid suspensions
Nashir News Agency, which disseminates content on behalf of the Islamic State, reposted an oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The statement reaffirming the jihadis’ fealty to Baghdadi comes in the middle of a crackdown by Telegram, which has suspended dozens of Nashir accounts since the beginning of the month. The bay’ah statement is not new, as it has been circulated in the past.
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Islamic State claims church bombings in Egypt
The Islamic State has claimed credit for bombings at two Coptic churches in the Egyptian cities of Tanta and Alexandria earlier today. The attacks killed dozens of people and wounded approximately 100 others. The so-called caliphate has a history of targeting Christians in Iraq, Egypt and Libya.
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Treasury, UN sanction 2 senior leaders in al Qaeda’s Syrian branch
The US Treasury Department and the UN have added two senior jihadists to their terror sanctions lists. Both of them were leaders in the group formerly known as Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria. Treasury’s announcement provides new details about al Qaeda’s operations in Syria, including the organization’s history and personnel.
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State Department designates founding member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
The State Department has designated Ibrahim al Banna as a terrorist. Al Banna has served as an al Qaeda official in Yemen since the 1990s. He originally joined the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) and has been one of Ayman al Zawahiri’s loyalists for decades.
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Islamic State claims Cairo church bombing part of its ‘war on polytheism’
The Islamic State threatened further attacks in its “war on polytheism,” meaning against Christians and Jews, in Egypt and elsewhere. The group and its predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), have assaulted Coptic Christians in the past.
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Town of Dabiq falls to Turkish-backed forces
The Syrian town of Dabiq, which has long been central to the Islamic State’s apocalyptic messaging, was captured by Turkish-backed rebel forces on Oct. 16. Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield says that more than 1,300 square kilometers of territory along Syria’s border with Turkey has been seized from the Islamic State since August.
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Analysis: Islamic State advertises war crimes in video
A video disseminated by the Islamic State celebrates the group’s depravity. Warning: This article includes graphic images of violence.
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Analysis: ISIS, allies reviving ‘Baghdad belts’ battle plan
The Islamic State of Iraq appears to be using the same plan it implemented in 2006, when it seized Baghdad’s surrounding “belts” and launched attacks into the capital.
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State Department confirms al Qaeda in Iraq leader has relocated to Syria
Al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility for a deadly string of bombings inside Iraq on Aug. 10. The State Department also confirmed that the ISIL’s emir has relocated to Syria.
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Analysis: Al Qaeda’s Iraqi, Syrian affiliates jointly battle Kurds
Despite a dispute between the emirs of the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the two al Qaeda branches are jointly fighting against their Kurdish enemies.
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Pakistani Taliban leader discusses ‘global jihad,’ Syria in al Qaeda video
Maulana Asim Umar, a Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda propagandist, is featured in a new message disseminated by As Sahab. Umar calls on Indian Muslims to take part in the “global jihad” and emphasizes the importance of the fight in Syria.
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Al Nusrah Front releases first official messages in 2 months
Al Qaeda’s Al Nusrah Front has released four new messages, the first such productions in two months. The Al Nusrah Front and Islamic State of Iraq suspended their propaganda operations after a dispute erupted in early April. Ayman al Zawahiri ruled on the dispute in a letter and their propaganda operations have now been restarted.
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Al Nusrah Front leader renews allegiance to al Qaeda, rejects new name
Abu Muhammad al Julani, the head of the Al Nusrah Front, has rejected a call by the head of al Qaeda in Iraq to change his organization’s branding. Al Julani also renews his organization’s oath of allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri.
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Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al Nusrah Front emerge as rebranded single entity
Al Qaeda in Iraq’s emir announced a new brand for his organization’s efforts in Iraq and Syria: the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.” The name replaces all previous names used by the group, including the Al Nusrah Front in Syria, which was a creation of AQI.
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Al Qaeda in Iraq launches suicide assault in Kirkuk
The tactic of the suicide assault is being employed with increasing frequency by al Qaeda and its affiliates and allies in all of the major theaters of the Long War.
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Suicide bomber kills 42 Iraqis at Shia mosque
The suicide bomber targeted the funeral of a policeman in Tuz Khurmatu. The attack is the fourth suicide bombing in the country in nine days.
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AQAP eulogizes jihadist who fought in Iraq and was killed in US drone strike in Yemen
Abdullah Bawazir fought against US forces in Iraq and escaped from a Yemeni prison in June 2011, according to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He was killed in a drone strike in Hadramout on Dec. 24, 2012.
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Suicide bomber kills Iraqi lawmaker who was prominent Awakening leader, and 5 others
Sheikh Aifan Sadoun Aifan al-Issawi, an Iraqi parliamentarian and one of the leaders of the Sunni tribal “Awakening,” was assassinated while inspecting a road construction project near Fallujah.
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Syrian jihadists, including al Qaeda’s Al Nusrah Front, form Mujahideen Shura Council
The establishment of the Mujahideen Shura Council in Deir al-Zour is a step in the unification of jihadist groups in Syria. Syrian opposition groups rally around the Al Nusrah Front after the terrorist designation by the US.
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Al Qaeda in Iraq claims nationwide attacks that killed more than 100 Iraqis
The Islamic State of Iraq said the offensive was launched “in application of the directives of Sheikh Mujahid Abu Bakr al Baghdadi,” the terror group’s emir.
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US adds Al Qaeda Kurdish Battalions to list of terror groups
The terror group was formed in 2007 and operates under the aegis of al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq.
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Al Qaeda in Iraq claims Baghdad suicide attack, bombings
Al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq said it targeted the institutions of the “Safavid government” as the country is on the brink of a political and sectarian crisis.
