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Al Qaeda
Can ISIS maintain its self-declared caliphate?
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Syria
The Islamic State is now said to control 35% of Syria’s territory, including over 98% of oil-rich Deir Izzour. The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front have stopped fighting the IS in Deir Izzour; some fighters turned over their weapons to the IS, but others retreated to Aleppo. Regime forces battled the IS near the Deir Izzour military airport, and regime airstrikes targeted the IS near the Al Kharrata oilfield. The IS stoned to death a woman accused of adultery in Raqqah, killed Islamic Front fighters with a suicide bombing in Aleppo, killed at least 90 regime forces yesterday…
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Iraq
World should help ‘generous’ Kurdistan: UN refugee chief
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Syria
Islamic State fighters surrounded and attacked the Shaar gas field in Homs, killing at least 23 guards and capturing others before taking it over. Syrian Kurds imposed a draft on adult males for six months’ “self-defense” service to help stave off the assault by the Islamic State in the north. The Islamic State clashed with the Islam Army in Reef Dimashq, battled the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front in Aleppo, and detained civilians as well as Islamic Front commanders and fighters in Deir Izzour. Al Nusrah and the Islamic Front clashed with regime forces in Homs; Reef Dimashq;…
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Syria
President Assad was sworn in for a third term; he called for “national reconciliation” but ruled out talks with the exiled opposition, and vowed to retake Aleppo and Raqqah. Regime forces battled the Islamic State near the Kweris military airport in Aleppo, carried out an airstrike on an IS-held area in Hasakah, and bombarded an IS headquarters in Raqqah. Over 100 Kurds from Turkey have come to help YPG fighters repel the IS advance in Kobani. The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front clashed with regime forces in Hama near Morek, where regime planes carried out 25 air raids;…
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Free Syrian Army
Obama’s request for Syrian aid runs into trouble
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Canada
ISIS Uses Andre Poulin, a Convert to Islam, in Recruitment Video
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Hezbollah
Why Hezbollah is playing a smaller role in this Iraqi conflict
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Syria
United Kingdom – ‘I would fight in Syria today if I could’
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US adds Norwegian AQAP bomb maker to list of terrorists
Anders Cameroon Ostensvig Dale, a Norwegian who joined al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in 2008, is thought to have been trained under AQAP bomb maker Ibrahim al Asiri or one of his lieutenants.
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Syria
The Islamic State pushed the Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic Front, and allied rebels out of Deir Izzour city, consolidating its hold over the province of Deir Izzour. The Islamic State also shot an Al Nusrah emir in Deir Izzour, killed civilians in a suicide car bombing targeting a Kurdish YPG camp in Hasakah, blew up a shrine and slaughtered the shrine’s guard and his son in Hama, and clashed with the Islamic Front and Jabhat al-Akrad in Aleppo. Regime airstrikes and barrel bombs targeted Islamic State-held areas in Aleppo in Der Hafer, Manbej city, al-Asadia; and in Deir Izzour,…
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Al Nusrah Front
Security situation may spark spy wars in Lebanon
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UN grants aid convoys access to rebel-held areas in Syria
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing the delivery of humanitarian aid through four Syrian border crossings all controlled by rebel groups.
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AQIM rejects Islamic State’s caliphate, reaffirms allegiance to Zawahiri
In a statement attributed to AQIM’s propaganda arm, the al Qaeda branch rejects the Islamic State’s caliphate and reaffirms its loyalty to Ayman al Zawahiri. The statement also reveals that AQIM has played a role in the mediation efforts between the Islamic State and its jihadist rivals in Syria.
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Egypt
ISIS defector speaks of life inside brutal jihadist group
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Syria
Abu Muhammad al Julani, the emir of the Al Nusrah Front, is said to be moving freely between the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo. Al Nusrah and the Liwa al Tawhid brigade are reported to be the main rebel groups defending Aleppo from attacks by both regime forces and the Islamic State. Al Nusrah and the Islamic Front battled the IS in Aleppo; and clashed with regime forces in Quneitra, and in Reef Dimashq near the Lebanese border and in Ghouta. Heavy fighting took place in Kobani between the Islamic State and Kurdish YPG forces; an IS emir from Egypt…
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Iraq
Underage fighters sacrificing childhoods to wage war in Iraq and Syria
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Al Nusrah Front issues ‘clarification’ on the creation of an Islamic emirate
The Al Nusrah Front has released a statement saying that it has not “yet” announced the creation of an Islamic emirate and it will only do so after other jihadist groups agree with the decision.
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Iran
ISIS in control of 60 percent of Syrian oil: sources
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Syria
The Islamic State now controls about 60% of Syria’s oil, having taken over most of the oilfields in Raqqah and Deir Izzour, and is advancing on the Kurdish-held oilfields in Hasakah. Responding to rumors that it had announced the creation of an Islamic emirate, the Al Nusrah Front said that while it seeks to establish one in accordance with sharia, the founding of such a state has not yet been announced. Regime aircraft targeted the Islamic State in Raqqah and in Deir Izzour. The IS clashed with Jaysh al Islam and the Islamic Front in Reef Dimashq; and battled Kurdish…
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Iraq
Inside the leadership of Islamic State: how the new ‘caliphate’ is run
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Europe
UN asks Europe to take Syrian refugees as region saturated
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Australian cleric who claimed to join Islamic State captured in Philippines
Musa Cerantonio claimed he arrived in Syria on July 3, but he was recently arrested in Cebu.
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Taliban calls for reconciliation in Syria, avoids mentioning Islamic State’s caliphate
The Taliban’s statement avoids any explicit mention of the Islamic State or its announced caliphate, even though the Islamic State has claimed that all Muslims must pledge allegiance to its leader.
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Syria
The Islamic State has been using weapons captured in Iraq to expand its offensive in Kurdish areas in the north, aiming to take over the entire Kobani region. In Deir Izzour, the IS arrested a number of drug users; allowed residents of Khasham to return to their homes if they “repented” and turned in one Kalashnikov per household; and accepted the allegiance of Ahrar al Sham and Al Nusrah Front fighters from the town of Al Tayane. In Aleppo, the IS fought against the Jabhat al-Akrad brigade and the Islamic Front in the northern countryside, and arrested many civilians in…
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Al Qaeda
Turkey faces threat from returning jihadists
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Islamic State
Islamic State militants on offensive against Kurds in northern Syria near Turkish border
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Al Nusrah Front
Lebanese jihadis pledging allegiance to the Islamic State
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Islamic State
Syria’s Druze reject autonomous statelet despite growing ISIS threats
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Syria
The Islamic State took over a number of villages near Ayn al Arab in northern Aleppo after YPG fighters withdrew. Islamic fighters and rebels battled both regime forces and the IS in Aleppo. The Al Nusrah Front clashed with Qabdat Al Shamal battalions and Omar Al Faroq battalions in Soran E’zaz in Aleppo over Al Nusrah’s going to the Turkish border to deal with abusive fighters and smugglers. The IS clashed with the Islamic Army in Reef Dimashq, and lost over 20 fighters to a regime air raid in Raqqah. Al Nusrah and the Islamic Front fought against regime forces…
