The Syrian Army claims to have retaken the city of Palmyra from the Islamic State. Bashar al Assad’s forces, backed by their Iranian and Russian allies, are battling Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s jihadists on several fronts. The Islamic State frequently claims “martyrdom operations” against Syrian regime fighters in Aleppo province, Deir Ezzor, and elsewhere.
The Syrian regime is trying to recapture the city and Russian troops appear to be helping in the endeavor. This also comes just days after Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will be withdrawing the “main part” of its forces in Syria.
It is unclear if the US or Russia killed Amr al Absi, the Islamic State’s governor for the Syrian province of Aleppo. The US launched an airstrike in northern Syria on March 3, where Absi is said to have been killed.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has invested significant resources to prop up Bashar al Assad’s regime. Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, who oversees all of the Shiite militias active in Syria, is directing operations in the battle of Aleppo.
Al Nusrah Front and Ahrar al Sham have issued eulogies for Zahran Alloush, the leader of Jaysh al Islam, who was killed in an airstrike outside of Damascus on Dec. 25. Alloush portrayed himself and his organization as “moderate” in comparison to the Islamic State, but that was not an apt description for him.
The Islamic State released a photograph of the bomb as well as what it claims are images of passports of Russians who were killed in the explosion and subsequent crash, in issue number 12 of its English language magazine, Dabiq.
With the help of Russian airstrikes, Bashar al Assad’s military and paramilitary allies have broken the Islamic State’s siege of the Kweiris air base in Aleppo province. Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed militant organizations supported the Syrian military’s offensive.
The Islamic State’s Aleppo “province” has released a video congratulating its brothers in the Sinai “province” for downing a Russian airliner on October 31. The video is at least the fourth time that the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the crash. The group has not provided evidence proving its culpability thus far, but Western officials say it is increasingly likely.
Russian airstrikes targeted the Islamic State throughout Syria this past week. The self-declared “caliphate” released dozens of propaganda photos claiming that the Russians damaged bridges and buildings in Raqqa, and killed civilians in a marketplace in Al Bukamal. Civilian casualties have been confirmed by other sources. Meanwhile, Western officials say it is increasingly likely that the Islamic State’s co-called Sinai “province” downed a Russian airliner in the Sinai on October 31.
Photographs show the notorious Qods Force commander addressing Iranian officers and Hezbollah forces in Latakia. Iran is reported to have deployed significant forces, estimated at thousands of troops, to support the Assad regime’s offensive in northwestern Syria.
Abu Muhammad al Julani, the head of al Qaeda’s Al Nusrah Front in Syria, addresses Russia’s intervention in an audio message. Julani calls for reprisal attacks against Russians and says the jihadists must strike Shiite villages in order to extract concessions from Bashar al Assad’s regime.
The designations include three jihadists from the Russian Caucasus, including Omar al Shishani’s deputy and a Turkey-based “overseas emissary.” A recruiter from the United Kingdom was also designated.
Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has posted several photos purportedly showing Russia’s airstrikes. Al Nusrah also posted two images of leaflets dropped by the Assad regime.
On the same day that Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, a mainly Uzbek jihadist group, swore allegiance to Al Nusrah Front, it claimed an attack on Russian forces in the Latakia province of Syria.
Salahuddin Shishani, the former emir of the Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar who now leads a group of jihadists from the Caucasus in Syria, swore allegiance to the new leader of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, giving a small boost to a group that has been plagued by defections.
Ali Abu Muhammad al Dagestani led the Islamic Caucasus Emirate during defections to the Islamic State. He openly stated his allegiance to Al Qaeda and the global jihadist group also provided him support.
An audio recording of Abu Muhammad al Julani, the emir of the Al Nusrah Front, introduces a newly-released video produced by the group. The video highlights Al Nusrah’s purported military gains and ends with a clip of Ayman al Zawahiri calling for jihadist unity.
Russia says Muhammad cartoon publication illegal
Chechen Leader Kadyrov Doesn’t Consider IS A Threat To Russia
Vanguard of Syria’s Uprising, Now on the Run From ISIS, Weighs a Bleak Future
The Supreme Court decided in closed session yesterday to designate the Islamic State and the Al Nusrah Front as terrorist groups and ban them from Russia. The decision follows the defection of several Dagestani factions of the Caucasus Emirate to the Islamic State. Foreign Minister Lavrov warned that recent US sanctions against Russia will negatively […]
Sentences were handed down on Dec. 23 against 57 men accused of engaging in the October 2005 attacks on police and government facilities in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. Five received life sentences, including former Guantanamo detainee Rasul Kudayev.
US firm finds malware targeting visitors to Afghan government websites
Residents of Yandi in Chechnya reported that masked men, presumably government forces, torched several homes on Dec. 8. After the deadly militant attack in Grozny on Dec. 6, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov had vowed to raze the homes of relatives of those responsible for the killings.
Turkey not expected to revise Syria policy
Dozens of fighters fanned out across the Chechen capital and attacked police and other government targets. The Press House was set ablaze.
At least 16 people have been killed in a clash between suspected Islamist militants and counterterrorism police in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. Ten policemen are among the dead, and dozens of people have been wounded, in fighting that broke out at a publishing house and a school. A video surfaced claiming that the attack […]
Syria says US-led strikes have not weakened Islamic State
Russia claims Islamic State is supplying half of all Afghan heroin coming to Europe
Syrian link suspected in Chechen murder in Ankara