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American missionary abducted in Niger freed after nearly 10 months of captivity
Kevin Rideout, who was abducted by gunmen from his home in Niger’s capital of Niamey last October and held by the Islamic State, was freed this week in Libya. The exact nature of his release remains murky, but Rideout has thanked Libyan officials for their efforts.
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Libyan parliament speaker claims maritime deal with Turkey invalid but open to renegotiation
House of Representatives Speaker Aguila Saleh has declared the 2019 Libya-Turkey maritime agreement illegitimate, arguing that it lacked parliamentary ratification and was concluded amid Libya’s unresolved civil conflict. The deal, signed after Turkey’s military intervention on behalf of the Tripoli-based government, expanded Ankara’s maritime claims in the eastern Mediterranean and provoked sharp opposition from Greece, Egypt, and the European Union. Saleh’s call for multilateral negotiations—including Greece, Egypt, and Turkey—underscores Libya’s continued fragmentation and signals a potential challenge to Ankara’s long-term military and energy ambitions in the region.
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French forces report killing Al Qaeda veteran in Mali
France says its forces killed Yahia Djouadi, a senior veteran of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, inside northern Mali. The raid comes after France and its European allies are set to withdraw from Mali.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 17 – The CIA in Libya
Former CIA Officer Sarah Carlson discusses her career as a counterterrorism analyst, the jihadist scene in Libya and the U.S. evacuation from Tripoli in 2014.
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Russian air defense systems outmatched by Turkish drones in Syria and Libya
After many years of conflict in Syria and Libya, the involvement of Turkey, Russia and other powers is leading to increasingly sophisticated clashes between the latest UAV and air defense technology. The use of new technology has ramifications for future conflicts in the Middle East and provides an emerging model for how regional powers are fighting proxy wars to redraw the balance of power in the region.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 9 – The Drone Wars
Hosts Bill Roggio and Tom Joscelyn discuss the history of America’s drone campaign against al-Qaeda and ISIS.
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US military again strikes Islamic State in Libya
The US military launched its second airstrike against the Islamic state near the town of Murzuq in the past week.
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U.S. kills 8 Islamic State fighters in Libya airstrike
The U.S. military killed eight Islamic State fighters yesterday in the first recorded airstrike against the group in more than one year.
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Islamic State loyalists fight on in Libya
The Islamic State’s loyalists raided a military camp in southern Libya on May 4, targeting a prison inside the facility. In an appearance late last month, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi praised the jihadists in Libya, saying that they and other Islamic State representatives are fighting a “battle of attrition.”
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AQIM claims Tuareg youth killed in US airstrike
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has released a statement claiming that the victims of an American airstrike on Nov. 29 “were a group of Tuareg youth” and not members of the organization. US Africa Command previously said that 11 AQIM “terrorists” were killed and three vehicles destroyed in the “precision airstrike near Al Uwaynat, Libya.”
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US strikes target al Qaeda in Libya, Somalia
The US military hit al Qaeda’s branches in Somalia and Libya twice over the past several days, killing 20 fighters in strikes that appear to have targeted the groups’ military capacity.
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Former Egyptian officer turned al Qaeda loyalist reportedly captured in Libya
The Libyan National Army (LNA) claims to have captured Hisham al-Ashmawy, a former Egyptian officer who defected to the jihadists’ cause. Ashmawy has been accused of orchestrating jihadist operations in both Egypt and Libya. The Egyptian government alleges that he has been involved in a series of terrorist attacks targeting officials.
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US airstrike kills Islamic State terrorist in northern Libya
This is the first strike since early June, when the United States targeted both the Islamic State and Al Qaeda in separate strikes in Bani Walid.
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US Counterterrorism strikes: Tempo remains high in Somalia and Yemen, transparency improves
In 2017, LWJ reported unprecedented levels of airstrikes in Somalia and Yemen. Thus far in 2018, the United States has sustained its high strike tempo in Somalia and improved transparency on its air campaign in Yemen. Strikes in Pakistan have leveled off, however press restrictions make tracking operations there difficult. In Libya, the U.S. has targeted jihadists sparingly.
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US kills four Islamic State terrorists in Libya strike
The United States has conducted three counterterrorism strikes in Libya in 2018.
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ISIS targets elections in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya
Since late April, the Islamic State has claimed a string of operations targeting elections in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The group’s spokesman, Abu al-Hasan al-Muhajir, threatened Iraq’s upcoming election on May 12 and the jihadists are carrying out operations accordingly.
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American forces kill senior al Qaeda leader in Libya
The US military announced that it killed Musa Abu Dawud, a high-ranking al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb leader in Libya, in an airstrike last weekend. Dawud is an established jihadist who has been in the fight with the GSPC and AIQM for at least three decades.
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2017: A record year for US counterterrorism strikes
The pattern of operations in 2017 in what the Obama administration used to call areas outside of active hostilities indicates that the US will continue the reinvigorated air campaign in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya in the coming year.
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US air campaign in Libya moves south
The United States conducted two strikes against the Islamic State in central Libya, its southernmost strikes in the Libyan air campaign.
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US resumes strikes against Islamic State in Libya
US Africa Command launched airstrikes against the Islamic State in Libya for the first time in eight months. AFRICOM also revealed to FDD’s Long War Journal that an estimated 800 to 900 Islamic State fighters were killed during Operation Odyssey Lightning’s air campaign in Sirte last year.
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US strikes Islamic State camp in Libyan desert
The US carried out six airstrikes against an Islamic State camp “approximately 150 miles southeast of Sirte” on Sept. 22, according to US Africa Command. The bombings reportedly killed 17 jihadists and destroyed three vehicles.
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Islamic State fighters overrun checkpoint in Libya, behead captives
Jihadists loyal to the Islamic State overran a checkpoint manned by the Libyan National Army (LNA) yesterday. A spokesman for the LNA confirmed that 11 victims were beheaded.
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How many fighters does the Islamic State still have in Libya?
The State Department’s newly released Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 says that “many members” of the Islamic State’s Libyan branch fanned out across the country after the battle for Sirte last year. Sirte had served as the group’s stronghold inside Libya.
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Ohio man pleads guilty to terror charges after attempting to join ISIS in Libya
The Department of Justice announced today that Aaron Travis Daniels pleaded guilty terror-related charges after trying to join the Islamic State in Libya last November. Daniels had been in contact with an Islamic State “external attack planner” who encouraged him emigrate to North Africa for jihad, according to the DOJ.
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UK officials still investigating ‘wider conspiracy’ behind Manchester attack
British officials say they are still investigating a possible “wider conspiracy” behind the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22. Meanwhile, British interior minister Amber Rudd told BBC News that security services are “looking at 500 different plots” with 3,000 possible terrorists on the “top list” and 20,000 “underneath that.”
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Islamic State claims attack on bus carrying Coptic Christians in Egypt
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s massacre of at least 28 Coptic Christians traveling on a bus in Minya, Egypt. The group’s arms in both the Sinai and mainland Egypt have repeatedly targeted Copts. The Egyptian government has retaliated by bombing suspected training camps in Libya.
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Analysis: UK investigating possible ‘network’ behind Manchester attack
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.
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Pentagon: Bombs struck Islamic State’s ‘external plotters’ in Libya
During his last press briefing as Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter said that some of the Islamic State jihadists recently targeted in Libya were “external plotters, who were actively planning operations against our allies in Europe.”
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US bombs 2 Islamic State camps south of Sirte, Libya
The US bombed two Islamic State camps 28 miles southwest of Sirte, Libya last night. The camps were located in a remote desert location, but were part of the jihadists’ plan to mount a comeback in the more populated areas of Libya. The Islamic State lost control of Sirte late last year.
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Analysis: Islamic State claims historically high number of suicide attacks in 2016
The Islamic State claims to have carried out 1,112 suicide attacks in Iraq and Syria during 2016. Additional suicide bombers were deployed in Libya and elsewhere. If the group’s claims are accurate, then the so-called caliphate has been using “martyrs” at a historically high rate.
