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Analysis: The “bonds are close” as the Pakistani Taliban benefits from its Afghan safe haven
The United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team reports that “the bonds are close” between the Afghan Taliban and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. The Pakistani Taliban trains at Al Qaeda camps and has received high-tech weapons systems from the Afghan Taliban
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Pakistani Taliban’s emir renews allegiance to Afghan Taliban
Noor Wali Mehsud has renewed the TTP’s allegiance to the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the wake of the jihadis’ victory. The Taliban has released numerous TTP and al Qaeda figures from the former government’s prisons in recent weeks, including Faqir Mohammed.
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Pakistani Taliban claims suicide bombing in Quetta
The TTP claimed yesterday’s suicide bombing in Quetta, Pakistan, saying the “martyrdom-seeking” operation targeted Pakistani officials.
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Pakistani Taliban splinter factions officially rejoin group
The Pakistani Taliban announced today that two splinter factions, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Hizb-ul-Ahrar (HuA), have rejoined the organization.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 21 – An ISIS Jailbreak in Afghanistan
ISIS orchestrated an assault on the main prison in Jalalabad earlier this month. Afghan officials immediately accused the Taliban of planning the attack.
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UN sanctions emir of the Pakistani Taliban
Muft Noor Wali Mehsud’s Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which remains allied with Al Qaeda, has stepped up small scale operations against Pakistani security forces in both North and South Waziristan over the past several months.
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Pakistani Taliban says leading ideologue and comrade killed in clash
The Pakistani Taliban announced today that its leading ideologue, Khalid Haqqani, has been killed alongside one of his colleagues. Haqqani was a key jihadist thinker and author for the group.
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Al Qaeda growing stronger under Taliban’s umbrella, UN finds
According to a recently released report by a UN Security Council monitoring team, the Taliban is the “primary partner for all foreign terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan,” including al Qaeda. The only exception is the Islamic State, which opposes the Taliban.
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Pakistani Taliban claims 2 suicide bombings
The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings this month, one in Balochistan and the other in Swat. At least 11 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the attack in Swat. The jihadists controlled Swat from 2007 to 2009, when Pakistani forces removed them from power. The group has claimed at least 5 “martyrdom” operations thus far in 2018, after claiming 11 in all of 2017.
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State Department: Pakistan continues to provide safe haven for Taliban, allied jihadists
The State Department’s newly released Country Reports on Terrorism says that Pakistan “did not take substantial action against the Afghan Taliban,” including the Haqqani Network, in 2016. The Taliban’s leadership has long had a presence in Pakistan.
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American soldier killed fighting Islamic State in Afghanistan
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.
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Pakistani Taliban confirms senior al Qaeda commander killed in Afghanistan
The Pakistani Taliban confirmed today that Qari Muhammad Yasin, a senior al Qaeda military commander, was killed along with three of his “companions” in a US drone strike on Mar. 19. The airstrike was carried out in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province. Yasin was a member of the Punjabi Taliban, which includes jihadists from various other Pakistani terrorist organizations who are aligned with al Qaeda.
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Pakistani Taliban spokesman says reports of joining Islamic State are ‘lies’
Earlier today, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani denied reports that his group was going to join Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s Islamic State. Khorasani said that these reports are “false” and based on “lies.” There are multiple indications that al Qaeda helped reorganize the current Pakistani Taliban coalition this year.
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Pakistani Taliban rejects Islamic State’s ‘self-professed caliphate’
The Pakistani Taliban has released a lengthy statement rejecting Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s claim to be the new caliph. The group praises Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, as well as deceased al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his successor, Ayman al Zawahiri.
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Mapping the emergence of the Islamic State in Afghanistan
The Islamic State claims it operates in multiple Afghan provinces, and runs a training camp in Farah.
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Al Qaeda condemns Pakistani Taliban’s attack on Peshawar school
The spokesman for al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has released a statement condemning the Pakistani Taliban’s attack on a Peshawar school earlier this week, calling it “un-Islamic.”
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Afghan Taliban releases statement condemning attack on Pakistani school
The Afghan Taliban has released a statement condemning the Pakistani Taliban’s attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.
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Discord dissolves Pakistani Taliban coalition
The spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban announced that he and five other leaders had defected to the Islamic State this week. The bulk of the organization had already broken off earlier this year.
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Social Media Jihad: Open interview with al Qaeda’s sharia official in Pakistan
Asim Umar, al Qaeda’s top sharia official in Pakistan, will be holding a Q&A session online in May. The appearance is being promoted on social media.
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Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula releases 12th issue of Inspire magazine
AQAP’s latest edition of Inspire magazine purports to show jihadists how to make car bombs similar to the one used by Faisal Shahzad, who was responsible for the failed May 2010 bombing in Times Square.
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Al Qaeda praises Taliban emirs Hakeemullah Mehsud and Mullah Fazlullah
The statement, released nearly a month after Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike, said his death “was very heavy on our souls and pained us.”
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Social Media Jihad: AQIM praises Hakeemullah Mehsud
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has joined other jihadist groups in releasing a statement praising Hakeemullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban commander killed earlier this month. Ansar al Sharia Tunisia posted the message on one of its official Facebook pages.
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Shabaab offers condolences to Mullah Omar and Zawahiri over Hakeemullah Mehsud’s death
Shabaab’s statement praises Hakeemullah Mehsud, who was recently killed in a US drone strike, and offers condolences to Mullah Omar and Ayman al Zawahiri.
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Gaza-based Jaish al Ummah praises Hakeemullah Mehsud
Like AQAP’s statement on Mehsud’s death, Jaish al Ummah praised Hakeemullah and “the tribes of Waziristan” for fighting the “crusader enemy” in Afghanistan.
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AQAP praises Hakeemullah Mehsud and Pakistani Taliban
In a new statement, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula offered its condolences for the death of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the former emir of the Pakistani Taliban. The terror group praised Mehsud and the Pakistani Taliban for providing haven to foreign fighters.
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US grabs Pakistani Taliban commander from Afghan intel
Latif Mehsud, a top deputy to Hakeemullah Mehsud, the emir of the al Qaeda-linked Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, is said to have been captured by US forces while being escorted by the NDS after conducting a meeting to exchange Afghan prisoners for cash.
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Report: American-supplied arms fell into al Qaeda’s hands
According to Syrian opposition sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, some light weapons and ammunition “funneled” by the CIA into Syria have been captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al Qaeda affiliate.
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Report: Al Qaeda conference call led to US diplomatic closures
The Daily Beast reports that a conference call involving “more than 20 al Qaeda operatives” is what prompted the closing of more than 20 US diplomatic facilities.
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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.
