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Former Israeli prime minister says Qatar funded Iran’s IRGC
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed to declare Qatar an “enemy state” if reelected to lead the government. Among the reasons he cited was Qatar’s alleged funding of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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Iran’s war against regional states: UAE bore the brunt, Iraqi Kurdistan still under fire
The ceasefire between the US and Iran has largely held since April 8, and large-scale Iranian barrages targeting predominantly Arab states have ended. However, some attacks, particularly against Iraqi Kurdistan, have continued.
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Israel targets Hamas leaders in Qatar
Israel attacked a gathering of senior Hamas members in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday afternoon. Israel has said it is awaiting confirmation if the operation was successful, while Hamas has denied that its leaders were killed in the attack. However, Hamas acknowledged that five members of its delegation died in the strike, including the son of senior member Khalil al Hayya.
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Qatar’s growing footprint in Africa
Qatar pledged over $250 billion in investments across Africa this summer as it continues to mediate between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.
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Iran launches missile attack on US base in Qatar
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked US forces at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in response to the June 21 US airstrikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Analysis: Al Jazeera platforms Hamas’s “resistance” at annual conference
Qatar-funded Al Jazeera provided a platform to two Hamas officials on its panels at the media organization’s recent annual conference. One speaker, Osama Hamdan, praised the October 7 massacre in Israel and the “philosophy of resistance.”
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Analysis: Don’t over-concentrate US forces in the Middle East
US military bases in the Persian Gulf confront two challenges, one military and the other political. FDD’s Ryan Brobst, Bradley Bowman, and Behnam Ben Taleblu survey the two challenges and propose a way to address them.
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Jihadis issue vague threats against World Cup
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as al Qaeda’s general command, have issued communiques denouncing Qatar and the World Cup as a means to degrade the morals of the Arabian Peninsula. The Islamic State’s supporters have additionally issued their own infographics, calling for attacks on the games.
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AQAP responds to Al Jazeera documentary
Al Jazeera released a documentary alleging that Bahrain and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula work together. Today, the al Qaeda branch denied this accusation in a letter to the editor.
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Analysis: Gulf governments sponsored anti-Semitic hate preachers during Ramadan 2019
Hate preachers were hosted by Gulf governments at multiple events during Ramadan 2019. The Government of Qatar continued to be the worst offender in this regard.
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Analysis: America’s Gulf allies still sponsor hate preachers
America’s Gulf allies — Qatar, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait — still sponsor hate preachers during Ramadan.
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CIA releases video of Hamza bin Laden’s wedding
The US has released a video from Hamza bin Laden’s wedding, providing a more recent image of Osama’s heir than was previously available. The video was recovered during the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in May 2011. FDD’s Long War Journal assesses that the wedding likely took place inside Iran, where Hamza was detained until being released sometime in 2010.
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US and Gulf nations sanction 8 jihadists in Yemen
The US Treasury Department and several Gulf States announced today that eight jihadists in Yemen have been designated as terrorists. The newly-sanctioned terrorists serve either the Islamic State’s Yemeni branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or both.
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Analysis: Qatar’s ill-timed hostage deal increases pressure on Washington
Qatar recently secured the release of Qatari hostages, including members of the royal family. But its diplomatic victory was marred by reports that a multi-million dollar ransom was paid to a US-designated terrorist group and an al Qaeda-linked joint venture in Syria.
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Pentagon: 11 al Qaeda terrorists killed in airstrikes near Idlib, Syria
The Pentagon announced that 11 al Qaeda operatives were killed in a pair of airstrikes near Idlib, Syria earlier this month. One of them, Abu Hani al Masri, is described as “a legacy al Qaeda terrorist with ties to the group’s senior leaders, including Ayman al Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.”
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Taliban rejects peace talks, emphasizes alliance with al Qaeda in new video
A new video from the Taliban features several images and clips of al Qaeda leaders, further demonstrating that the two remain firmly allied more than 15 years after the 9/11 hijackings.
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Analysis: Jund al Aqsa’s deep Gulf roots
Jund al Aqsa, a US and UN designated terrorist organization, was subsumed by al Qaeda’s rebranded Syrian branch in early October. The group had deep ties to al Qaeda’s fundraising network in the Gulf prior to the merger.
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Jihadists and other rebels launch new offensive in Aleppo
Al Qaeda’s rebranded guerrilla army in Syria is fighting alongside other jihadists, Islamists and Free Syrian Army-branded rebels in an offensive intended to break the Assad regime’s siege of Aleppo. Most of the participating groups belong to two coalitions: Jaysh al Fath (“Army of Conquest”) and Fatah Halab (“Aleppo Conquest”). These same two alliances tried and failed to break the siege earlier this year.
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Analysis: Deterring Gulf States from backing the new Al Nusrah Front
Washington should take a series of steps to stop nations from supporting the newly rebranded version of Al Nusrah Front in Syria.
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Analysis: State Department identifies Gulf shortcomings on counterterrorism efforts
The State Department’s newly released Country Reports on Terrorism for 2015 suggests that several Gulf States still have a lot of work to do when it comes to terrorist fundraising.
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Analysis: Qatar still negligent on terror finance
New US sanctions on two Qatari citizens expose Doha’s uneven response.
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Ban Ki-Moon shakes hands with alleged al Qaeda emir
The United Nations Secretary General greeted ‘Abd al Wahhab al Humayqani at Geneva for peace talks in his capacity as a member of the Yemeni government in exile’s delegation. The US listed Humayqani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and described him as al Qaeda’s emir for Al Baydah province in Yemen as well as a financier, recruiter, attack planner, and ideologue.
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Qatar recalls ambassador from Egypt in dispute over Libya strikes | Reuters
Qatar recalls ambassador from Egypt in dispute over Libya airstrikes
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Afghanistan
1 of the Taliban 5 back in the game
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Afghanistan
Officials: Detainee swapped for Bergdahl suspected of militant activities
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Al Qaeda
Freed al Qaeda agent was part of proposed swap for Americans jailed in Qatar
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Analysis: Qatar embraces admitted al Qaeda operative
Qatar continues to celebrate the release of Ali Saleh Kahlah al Marri, an admitted al Qaeda sleeper agent, from a US federal prison last week. The prime minister of Qatar has even reportedly called al Marri to congratulate him.
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Analysis: Freed former al Qaeda operative was part of intelligence dispute
The story of how Ali Saleh Kahlah al Marri was first identified and arrested became a key part of the dispute between Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the CIA. Al Marri, who was recently released from a US prison, admitted that he was an al Qaeda sleeper agent.
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Analysis: Former al Qaeda operative freed, sent home to Qatar
Ali Saleh Kahlah al Marri, who served as an al Qaeda sleeper operative, has been released from an American prison and returned to Qatar.
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Al Nusrah Front
Al Nusrah Front, ISIS appoint new Lebanon hostage mediator: report
