Jaysh al Fateh, a jihadist-led coalition that includes al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and various groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army have launched a new offensive on government-held positions in the Latakia province. The assault has been named the “Battle of Yarmouk.”
The Turkistan Islamic Party released an audio message from its leader, Abdul Haq, on May 30. The message is the latest indication that Abdul Haq survived a US drone strike in 2010. The man identified as Haq blasts the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in 2015. Haq claims the IMU has “disappeared” since.
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) has released a series of photos documenting its “spoils” from a new round of fighting in Syria’s Aleppo province. Jaysh al Fath, an alliance of several groups, launched the offensive against Bashar al Assad’s regime and its allies earlier this week. The TIP is fighting alongside Al Nusrah Front, which is al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and Jund al Aqsa, an al Qaeda front group.
The Jaysh al Fath coalition, which overran the Idilb province in northwestern Syria last year, has launched a new offensive south of the city of Aleppo. The jihadists have released dramatic drone footage from the fighting, which centered on the town of Khan Tuman. Several of Jaysh al Fath’s member organizations have produced propaganda from the battle.
If confirmed, the Turkistan Islamic Party is not the only jihadist group to have used the US-made anti-tank missiles. The Islamic State, Al Nusrah Front, and the Caucasus Emirate in Syria have all released propaganda showing its forces using the TOW missiles.
After overrunning the Abu Duhour airbase in Idlib province in September, Al Nusrah Front executed dozens of Syrian soldiers. A new video posted online by Al Nusrah highlights the dramatic tension just beforehand.
The Uighur group continues to fight alongside Al Nusrah Front, an official branch of al Qaeda, in northwestern Syria.
The Uighur jihadist group plays a role in assisting Al Qaeda in northwestern Syria.
The Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham, Jund al Aqsa, and the Turkistan Islamic Party have launched significant operations targeting two Shiite villages in the Idlib province of Syria. Their attacks are a response to the siege of Zabadani, a southern Syrian city, by Bashar al Assad’s regime and its allies.
Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, claims to have overrun the Abu Duhour airbase in Idlib. Al Nusrah also says that more than 100 of Bashar al Assad’s fighters were killed and an additional 60 or so captured during the fighting.
The Jaysh al Fateh coalition, which includes the Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham, and other allied-organizations, has launched a new offensive targeting the Al Ghab plain. The alliance claims to have already made significant gains.
US intelligence agencies thought that Abdul Haq al Turkistani, a member of al Qaeda’s executive council, was killed in a drone strike in February 2010. But according to a jihadist media outlet, he was badly wounded but recovered and assumed command of the Turkistan Islamic Party in 2014.
The attack, which took place the Shawal Valley, a terrorist haven, is just the sixth recorded inside Pakistan this year. The US launched 117 drone strikes in Pakistan at the peak of the campaign in 2010.
The new video shows the group’s role in the recent fighting at Jisr al Shughur. The Turkistan Islamic Party has long fought in Syria alongside the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria.
The Turkistan Islamic Party, an al Qaeda-affiliated group that also operates in Afghanistan, Pakistan and China, operates in Syria under the moniker “Katibat Turkistani.”
The video focuses on ambushes and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in the provinces of Kunar, Laghman, Wardak, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, and Ghazni.
The al Qaeda-affiliated Turkistan Islamic Party has released images showing its fighters capturing an American-made Humvee in Afghanistan.
A popular jihadist figure in Syria has posted a picture of fighters allegedly from the Turkistan Islamic Party, an al Qaeda-affiliated group that operates in China and in Central and South Asia.
The military appears to be focused the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan as well as foreign fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Turkistan Islamic Party.
Operation Zarb-e-Azb appears to be aimed at the “bad Taliban” and foreign terror groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. It is unlikely the Haqqani Network or the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group will be targeted.
The military launched a limited raid that targeted TIP fighters in a village just outside of Miramshah.
“There are already ‘no go’ zones under Taliban control in Faryab and Jawzjan provinces,” according to a report.
The Pakistani terror group has carried out suicide and IED attacks in response to drone strikes that have killed the emirs of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Mullah Nazir Group, as well as a top Haqqani Network leader and members of the Turkistan Islamic Party.
The strike in Pakistan is the first reported in the country in more than a month. The Turkistan Islamic Party fighters were allied with Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who is considered by the Pakistani government to be a “good Taliban.”
A video has emerged showing the al Qaeda-linked jihadist group training five burka-clad women on pistols, assault and sniper rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers.
In recently released propaganda, the al Qaeda-linked group claimed two suicide attacks in Afghanistan and identified several fighters who have been killed in the country since 2007.
In the video, the children, some of whom appear to be no older than six, are shown firing handguns, AK-47 assault rifles, and a PKM machine-gun.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Abu Ubaydah Abdullah al Adam, a senior al Qaeda leader who serves as the intelligence chief for the terror group, was killed in a recent US drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
The strike took place in an area under the control of Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar, and is the first in a week.
Abdul Shakoor Turkistani, the leader of the Turkistan Islamic Party, is also in control of the terror camps. He was given the job just weeks before Osama bin Laden was killed.