While ISKP claimed responsibility for the Kerman twin suicide bombings, Iranian state media and officials are downplaying the Afghanistan connection and are instead pointing fingers at Israel. Despite internal crackdowns and heightened security measures, Iran treads carefully to avoid straining relations with the Taliban amid escalating tensions in the region.
Thabat, an al-Qaeda-affiliated media outfit, has released a series of infographics that are intended to highlight the group’s global reach and resiliency. The images trumpet a large number of purported attacks in Afghanistan, as well as America’s withdrawal from the country.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a voter registration office in Kabul, Afghanistan earlier today. It is the latest in a string of attacks carried out by the group inside the Afghan capital. More than 50 people were killed and over 100 others wounded, according to initial casualty reports.
In a newly released audio speech, Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani calls on his group’s rivals (including other jihadists) to “repent,” recognizes a new pledge of allegiance from the Caucasus, and urges Sunnis to fight Shiites throughout the Middle East.
The governor is a former leader in the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and his deputy is a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay and Taliban commander in Afghanistan.
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Al Qaeda has released a biography of Atiyah Abd al Rahman, a senior al Qaeda operative who served as Osama bin Laden’s chief-of-staff. Rahman “engineered” the December 2009 terrorist attack on Combat Outpost Chapman that killed seven CIA officials and a Jordanian intelligence officer.
Abu Hamza al Omani and several other unnamed “brothers and supporters” were killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan on May 5.