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Recent Appearances... Rantburg
Abu Anas Abu Anas al-Qaeda Europe 20031230  
Abu Anas Al Shamy Abu Anas Al Shamy Al-Qaeda Arabia 20050705  
Abu Anas Al-Liby Abu Anas Al-Liby al-Qaeda Africa: Horn Libyan Big Shot 20020316  
    accused of plotting the 1998 American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Arrest in Sudan was a false alarm -- misidentified.

Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar thanks Hezbollah for continued support — Hodhod Yemen News Agency
2024-09-16
Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
Chief Yahya Sinwar thanked Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed
...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged...
Hasan Nasrallah for the Lebanese resistance group's support in the battle against the Israeli enemy in the first letter since he was elected as the head of the Paleostinian resistance group's politburo.

In the letter, Sinwar thanked Sayyed
...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged...
Nasrallah for his message of condolences and congratulations over martyrdom of former Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
in Tehran on July 31st.

''We received your kind message with great appreciation and esteem. Your condolences and congratulations on the martyrdom of our comrade and your fellow fighter in the fight and resistance the late leader Mr. Ismail Haniyeh ''Abu al-Abed'', and his lover companion brother Wasim Abu Shaaban ''Abu Anas'', were deeply valued.''

''We thank you for your solidarity, mixed with sincere and noble feelings, which has been demonstrated by your blessed actions on the fronts of the Axis of Resistance®, in support, backing, and engagement in this battle. We ask Allah to bless your efforts, and to protect you and your country from all harm,'' Sinwar said in his letter to Sayyid Nasrallah.

The Hamas chief stressed, meanwhile, that the resistance movement ''will remain, as always, steadfast in honoring the blood of the deaders.''

''The high principles advocated by the late leader Abu al-Abed will remain constant and present, guiding our movement and fighters,'' Sinwar's letter read.

He vowed to continue fighting ''the Zionist project'' alongside the Axis of Resistance®, ''until the occupation is defeated and swept away from our land, and our independent state with full illusory sovereignty is established with Jerusalem as its capital.

Link


Iraq
ISIS members captured in Baghdad, Nineveh: Iraqi security forces
2024-09-12
[Rudaw] Two suspected members of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) were arrested during operations in Baghdad and Nineveh provinces, Iraqi national security forces announced on Tuesday.

The Iraqi forces said in a statement they captured Abu Anas al-Iraqi in Baghdad, and he was involved with the group’s Salahaddin cell.

"After the liberation operations concluded, the terrorist once again went to the capital of Baghdad, where he forged official documents impersonating his deceased brother," the statement added.

"He also forged a fake death certificate in his real name, but our men were watching, and he was apprehended," the Iraqi forces added.

In a separate operation in the Makhmour district of Nineveh, the security forces said they arrested Allawi Shat for working for ISIS in an administrative position in Baghdad.
Related:
Makhmour district: 2023-12-03 ISIS attack in Makhmour kills Iraqi soldier: Peshmerga
Makhmour district: 2023-10-24 Peshmerga, Iraqi army clash near Makhmour camp
Makhmour district: 2023-09-19 Kurdish Security Council says arrested ISIS official in Makhmour
Related:
Nineveh: 2024-09-03 Explosive allegedly left by ISIS kills four in Nineveh
Nineveh: 2024-08-31 Iraqi airstrikes kill 14 suspected ISIS fighters in Anbar UPDATE: US troops involved, 7 maimed
Nineveh: 2024-08-13 Two Yazidi women kidnapped by ISIS terrorists returned from the Syrian side
Related:
Baghdad: 2024-09-03 Iraq arrests ‘prominent’ ISIS leader in Baghdad: PMF
Baghdad: 2024-09-03 ISIS no longer a threat: Iraqi PM tells coalition commander
Baghdad: 2024-09-01 15 Dead, 7 U.S. Troops Hurt In Raid Targeting Suspecting ISIS Militants
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Drone attack kills former ISIS leader, wounds civilian in Aleppo
2023-07-08
[NPASYRIA] On Friday, a drone targeted with missiles a cycle of violence on a route to the town of Baza’a in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, resulting in the killing of the driver and the wounding of an individual, who was near the targeted scene.

An exclusive source told North Press correspondent that "the drone targeted the cycle of violence on a route links between Baza’a and the city of al-Bab east of Aleppo, killing its driver and wounding a civilian who was near the targeted site."

The attack was carried out with four Ninja missiles that are usually used to target leaders of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) in several areas in northwest Syria.

The source noted that the initial information indicates that the targeted driver is called "Homam Abu Anas," who hails from the city of Hasakah, northeast Syria, and that he was likely a former leader of ISIS, while the maimed individual "Adnan al-Derai’y," is a civilian from Baza’a.

Link


Iraq
Three dangerous terrorists captured in Baghdad
2023-02-28
[Shafaq News] The Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency within the Ministry of Interior decalred the capture of three dangerous faceless myrmidons in the bustling capital city of Baghdad.

According to a statement released by the agency, the intelligence forces have managed to apprehend three wanted terrorists, who were deemed as high-risk threats to national security. Among them was a notorious terrorist nicknamed Elias Abu Wahib, a prominent figure in bad boy circles who had been carefully monitored by the intelligence agency following his escape to a neighboring country.

In addition, the forces were able to capture another dangerous individual known as Abu Anas, who was found to have been operating within the ranks of ISIS, specifically within the self-proclaimed "State of the South."

Furthermore, a third terrorist was apprehended, who had been providing critical logistical support to members of ISIS in what was known as the "Diyala sector."

It is worth noting that this individual also acted as a support and surveillance element within the orchards of the same governorate, providing valuable information about the movements of security forces in the area.
Link


Africa North
Prominent terrorist leader killed by security forces in North Sinai’s El-Arish
2022-08-21
[AlAhram] Prominent terrorist leader Jamil Suleiman Zuraei, also known as Abu Anas, and his son were killed on Friday in an operation by the Armed Forces in El-Arish city, the capital of North Sinai governorate, a well-informed source told Ahram Online.

Abu Anas was one of the top leaders of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
terrorist group’s branch in North Sinai, the so-called "Sinai Province," formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis.

Although the terrorist group had announced in May 2022 that Abu Anas had been killed, this turned out to have been disinformation, as his body was not found at the time, the sources said.

According to the sources, Abu Anas was hiding in the vicinity of the fence of El-Arish Airport, which is under construction, when he and his son — both of whom were armed — were targeted.

The sources also revealed that other leading bad boyz were potted in operations over the past week; some of them were Paleostinian runaways.

The most prominent among them was Hamza al-Zamili, the mufti of the terrorist group, who was leading a cell in the Gelbana village in North Sinai, close to the navigational strip of the Suez Canal, according to the sources.

Since 2013, the army has been launching one operation after another against terrorist forces in North Sinai, among the most important of which was Comprehensive Operation Sinai launched in 2018 (COS 2018).

As a result, the rate of terrorist attacks in North Sinai has declined in the past few years following massive security and military operations.
Link


Britain
Manchester Arena Bomber's Brother ISIS Link Discovered Before Attack
2021-04-26
[LIBYAREVIEW] The British daily national newspaper based in London, The Times, reported that security services had found turban content on Ishmale Abedi’s phone, two years before the Manchester Arena attack occurred. The terrorist content was found on the Facebook account of Ishmale Abedi, the Manchester Arena bomber’s older brother, two years before the attack that killed 22 people.

Authorities discovered a photo of a Jordanian air force pilot whose plane went down in Syria in 2014 when they searched the account. ISIS pilots shot down First Lieutenant Muath al-Kasasbeh’s F-16 fighter jet and burned him to death as a prisoner. "Looking for seasoned firewood," Ishmale captioned a photo of al-Kasasbeh taken shortly before he was set on fire.

Ishmale was also photographed sitting next to the son of Abu Anas al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda official. A pistol was in the hands of the son. Ishmale was also seen carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, an anti-aircraft gun, and a machine gun, according to the account. In one, he was dressed in camouflage with an Isis flag engulfed in fire behind him, the British newspaper said.
Link


Iraq
Asayish dismantles a huge ISIS network extending in Kurdistan
2021-04-21
[SHAFAQ] The Internal Security Forces (Asayish) of Kurdistan dismantled a large ISIS network with tentacles extending to multiple governorates of the Region.

The Asayish tracked and apprehended 22 ISIS operatives in 22 separate security operations in al-Sulaymaniyah, Garmyan, Shemchemal, Sayyid Sadiq, and Bashdar.

The Asayish identified and detained a group of terrorists; most notably "Abu Ali al-Jamili", who served in the terrorist organization of ISIS as the "Wali of Fallujah". He was arrested upon his attempt to enter the region using a fake ID.

Among the other terrorists, there were "Bin Laden al-Kurdi", "Habib", "Abu Anas", "Dr. al-Bukhari", "Abu Shhab", "Muhammad al-Kurdi", and "Anas al-Kurdi" who joined ISIS in 2020 via social media. al-Kurdi used to train ISIS Death Eaters in "explosives manufacturing" and took part in several terrorist operations.

Upon investigation, the Internal Security Forces of al-Sulaymaniyah were able to trace a network of ISIS operatives plotting to conduct a series of terrorist operations.

After obtaining arrest warrants by the Asayish Investigative Magistrate, the Operation squads of the Asayish in al-Sulaymaniyah, Garmyan, west al-Sulaymaniyah, Raperin, and Sharazur embarked on a large-scale operation to arrest the 22 wanted terrorists. They already have organized themselves in sleeper cells.

The 22 arrestees confessed to attempting to establish ISIS sleeper cells in preparation for serial attacks in the region. They were trained on explosives manufacturing. Their plans included blasting many targets, abduction, assassinating security officers involved in ISIS combating, and destroying gravestones of Martyrs who perished in the ISIS war.

The Asayish said that the arrestees were taught the terrorist ideology on social media and used it to recruit people, promote their ideology, and expand their gangs.

The Asayish administration expressed gratitude to the Asayish officers who worked on the case in al-Sulaymaniyah, Garmyan, west al-Sulaymaniyah, Sharazur, and Raperin, and the people of Kurdistan Region for their support and cooperation, stressing that it will spare no effort to curb and abort any terrorist plots that might threat Kurdistan and its people.

Related:
Al-Sulaymaniyah: 2016-11-09 Iranian commander met PKK leader in Iraq: News report
Related:
Garmyan: 2021-04-19 Peshmerga official reveals the site from which kafri attack was launched
Garmyan: 2019-07-01 Explosion kills one, injures two in Kirkuk
Garmyan: 2010-03-01 Hundreds of Children Found in Mass Grave in Kirkuk
Related:
Sayyid Sadiq: 2018-07-15 Religious TV channels: The Shirazi family’s path to influence
Sayyid Sadiq: 2018-07-07 Shirazi religious channels, hijacking the Shiite sphere
Related:
Bashdar: 2010-08-24 Iranian artillery resumes shelling of border regions
Related:
Al-Bukhari: 2020-11-13 IMU Leader Killed in Afghan Forces Operation in Faryab: MoD
Al-Bukhari: 2020-07-10 Taliban react to photos of Afghan forces published by KIB’s Syrian wing
Al-Bukhari: 2018-08-18 Saudi Forces Arrest Armed 'Extremist' after Gunfight
Link


Home Front: WoT
Osama bin Laden's ex-London spokesman is ‘freed early from 25 year US jail term because he is at high risk from Covid due to his obesity' and 'will return to the UK within weeks'
2020-10-12
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • Egyptian native Adel Abdel Bary, 60, was jailed over the 1998 terror attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224

  • He was the leader of the London branch of Egyptian Islamic Jihad,
    ... Ayman al-Zawahiri‘s outfit...
    which merged with Al Qaeda

  • His long legal battle meant he was sentenced in 2015 after 16 years on remand

  • A judge ruled last week he could be released early amid coronavirus fears

  • He had been serving his sentence in the ADX Florence supermax prison

  • Bary - who had struck a plea deal - is at risk because he is obese and has asthma

  • He is currently in a US immigration and customs enforcement detention facility

  • He cannot be placed under Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures because he has already served his sentence

  • UK officials are mulling over whether to ask if he can stay in America

  • He is the father of ISIS jihadi Abdel-Majed Abdel who is in jail in Spain
Related:
Adel Abdel Bary: 2015-02-07 Egyptian jailed in US over Africa embassy bombings
Adel Abdel Bary: 2015-01-21 Latest al-Qaida Trial Gets Underway in New York
Adel Abdel Bary: 2013-12-14 Abu Anas Al-Libi New York terror trial date fixed
Related:
Abdel-Majed Abdel: 2020-04-22 Spanish Police arrests Egyptian man who is one of the most wanted ISIS members in Europe
Abdel-Majed Abdel: 2016-03-10 Names of 22,000 IS members said leaked to news channel
Abdel-Majed Abdel: 2015-02-07 Egyptian jailed in US over Africa embassy bombings
Related:
Egyptian Islamic Jihad: 2019-09-12 Al Qaeda leader calls for new terror attacks against US, allies
Egyptian Islamic Jihad: 2019-08-23 Pentagon chief confirms death of Qaeda’s Hamza bin Laden
Egyptian Islamic Jihad: 2019-03-23 US adds Amaq, Al Hayat outlets to terror list for ISIS propaganda
Link


Down Under
'We will take over': Australian leader of extremist Islamic group says US riots are 'opportunity' for Muslims to seize global leadership, impose Sharia law
2020-06-06
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • Australian Muslim preacher Ismail al-Wahwah predicts Islam will replace US
    ...also known as Abu Anas, the Hebron-born Palestinian taxi driver applied for asylum in Australia in 1997. He was previously deported from Indonesia, then briefly ran off to Syria to play at caliphate in 2013 ...
  • His Hizb ut-Tahrir group is a global Islamist movement pushing for a caliphate
    ... the Islamic Liberation Party is active in about fifty countries and banned in thirteen of them last I heard, claiming about a million followers plus the enthusiastic graduates who moved on to real jihadi groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS. The national emirs report to Number 1, Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta, a Palestinian Jordanian Islamic scholar ...
  • It wants to replace world governments with Islamic system based on Sharia law

  • Mr al-Wahwah said American riots were an 'opportunity' for Muslims to exploit
Related:
Ismail al-Wahwah: 2014-10-15 Islamist fascists force gender segregation on non-Muslims at public meeting
Ismail al-Wahwah: 2013-01-14 Wahwambulance for a Hizbie hatemonger
Ismail al-Wahwah: 2011-11-15 Aussie sheik's passport seized in Jordan
Related:
Hizb ut-Tahrir: 2019-12-02 Usman Khan came to UK security services' attention at age of 15 for hate-preaching
Hizb ut-Tahrir: 2019-11-24 Bangladesh arrests 15 extremist suspects in major sweep
Hizb ut-Tahrir: 2018-10-20 Anjem Choudary Released from Prison
Related:
Ata Abu Rashta: 2005-10-31 Non-violent, yet dangerous: Hizb-ut-Tahrir
Ata Abu Rashta: 2004-12-27 Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami -- The Islamic Liberation Party
Link


Terror Networks
Does leadership decapitation lead to the demise of terrorist organizations? Study sez:
2019-11-11
[MITPressJournals] Does leadership decapitation lead to the demise of terrorist organizations? Can the United States undermine or destroy terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida by arresting or killing their leaders? What explains organizational resilience to leadership targeting? Leadership decapitation, or the killing or capturing of the leaders of terrorist organizations, has become a core feature of U.S. counterterrorism policy. Many scholars and analysts claim that it weakens terrorist organizations and reduces the threat they pose. Unsurprisingly, they saw the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, as a major tactical victory for President Barack Obama and for the broader war on terrorism. Despite the success of this operation and subsequent attacks on al-Qaida leaders, decapitation is unlikely to diminish the ability of al-Qaida to continue its activities in the long run. Rather, it may have counterproductive consequences, emboldening or strengthening the organization.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has killed or captured many al-Qaida leaders as part of a general campaign to decapitate the organization. It has employed a variety of military operations to achieve this objective, including raids by Special Operations forces. Both bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, were killed as a result of such raids. On October 5, 2012, U.S. forces captured Abu Anas al-Libi, an al-Qaida leader, in a raid in Libya. The United States has also relied heavily on drone strikes to target al-Qaida leaders and other militants in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen.

In June 2012, Abu Yahya al-Libi, then al-Qaida’s deputy leader, was killed in Pakistan in a drone strike coordinated by the Central Intelligence Agency. Highly experienced, al-Libi served an important operational function within the organization. Scholars and policymakers saw his death as a significant blow to an already weakened al-Qaida.2 Nine months earlier, a Hellfire missile fired from a U.S. drone killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American cleric linked to a number of terrorist plots in the West. On August 22, 2011, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, believed to be the organization’s second-highest leader, was reportedly killed in a drone strike in Pakistan.3 Rahman served an important communicative function between bin Laden and lower-level operatives. Ilyas Kashmiri, reputed to be a senior member of al-Qaida and the operational commander for Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, was killed in a drone attack in South Waziristan on June 3, 2011.4 These examples illustrate the frequency with which the United States has targeted al-Qaida leaders and operatives over the past few years, speciªcally through the use of drone strikes.5

Despite these and other instances of successful targeting, al-Qaida remains a resilient terrorist organization. Applying a theory of organizational resilience, I examine why targeting al-Qaida’s leadership is not an effective counterterrorism strategy and, indeed, is likely counterproductive. A terrorist group’s ability to withstand attacks is a function of two factors: bureaucratization and communal support. Analyzing both when and why certain terrorist groups are able to survive leadership attacks, this article differs from existing work by providing a more nuanced lens through which to evaluate the effectiveness of counterterrorism policy.
The center of gravity of Islamic terrorism is their grievance that we occupy their countries and kill their people. Stop doing this and their grievance disappears. Attacking their leaders or footsoldiers will never, ever win the war.
The center of gravity of Islamic terrorism is that we have not surrendered and converted to their faith — that’s what their term for the non-Muslim world, Dar al-Harb, the House of War, means. There is only one way, from their perspective, for their grievance to disappear, and that is for us to become members of the Borg. But killing lots of them will discourage the jihadi faction for a while.
Related:
Dar al-Harb: 2018-07-09 Why Muslim Rapists Prefer Blondes: A History
Dar al-Harb: 2011-01-18 Al-Qaeda and organized crime: two sides of the same coin
Dar al-Harb: 2009-02-24 No jihad in India, says Darul Uloom Deoband
Link


Iraq
Anbar antics: 60 US mil vehicles arrive at base, big turban tied up
2019-05-24


Dozens of U.S. military vehicles arrive in western Iraq: source

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Dozens of U.S. military vehicles have arrived in the American military base in Iraq’s western Anbar province, a security source was quoted saying by local media.

A convoy of more than 60 military vehicles arrived Monday at Ain al-Assad airbase in al-Baghdadi region, Iraqi Kurdish website BasNews quoted the source saying, adding that the convoy was escorted by tight ground security and an air cover.

Reinforcements have been on the rise at the airbase recently, the source said.

Tensions have risen recently between Washington and Iran as the U.S. administration sent bombers and aircraft carriers to the Middle East to counter what it described as potential threats against U.S interests from Iran. Tehran responded with warnings that it was ready to counter American threats.

The uneasy atmosphere prompted a number of Western countries to announce withdrawal of some of their military or civilian workers in Iraq.

Estimates put the number of U.S. troops at Ain al-Assad at 5000.

Iraqi intelligence arrest senior Islamic State leader in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi military intelligence services arrested on Wednesday a senior Islamic State leader in the western province of Anbar.

The Iraqi Military Intelligence Directorate, in a statement, said that its troops “arrested Abu Anas al-Samarei, the military adviser of an Islamic State commander, who was responsible for collecting weapons from citizens, who serve in the Iraqi security apparatus.”

Samarei, according to the statement, was arrested during a military operation in Annah district of Anbar.
Link


Africa Horn
Al-Shabab Executes Foreign Fighter In Southern Somalia
2018-11-14
[RADIOSHABELLE] Residents in Jilib district in Middle Jubba region say al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
has executed a foreign jihadist on suspicion of having links with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
branch in the Horn of Africa country.

The foreign fighter identified as Abu Anas al-Misri from Egypt was killed in kaboom on a mosque in the rebel-held town on Monday night, according to sources.

The myrmidon group has also placed in durance vile
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
several Somali and foreign al-Shabaab members during an operation which is part of a clampdown on elements trying to join ISIS affiliate.

Reports from the region suggest that a tension is brewing between fighters within the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab group fighting to topple the UN-backed Somali Federal Government in Mogadishu.

Al-Shabaab has been driven out of key areas in southern Somalia, including Mogadishu in 2011, but, the group still capable of staging attacks in the country’s capital.

Link



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