Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Ayman al Zawahiri	Ayman al Zawahiri	Gamaa Islamiya	Africa North				20060214	Link
	Ayman al Zawahiri	al-Qaeda	Afghanistan-Pak-India	Egyptian	At Large	Second in Command	20051027	Link
Ayman al-Zawahiri	Ayman al-Zawahiri	al-Qaeda	Terror Networks	Egyptian	At Large	Second in Command	20040111
	Ayman al-Zawahiri	Egyptian Islamic Jihad	Terror Networks				20011011
	Ayman al-Zawahiri	Jamaat al-Jihad al-Islami	Africa: North				20040421	Link
	Ayman al-Zawahiri	Al-Tawhid wal Jihad	Africa North				20060327	Link
	Ayman al-Zawahiri	al-Gamaa al-Islamiya	Africa North				20020615
	Ayman al-Zawahiri	Muslim Brotherhood	Britain				20050712
	Ayman al-Zawahiri	Fath-e-Islam	Afghanistan				20020830
	Ayman al-Zawahiri	Learned Elders of Islam	Terror Networks				20031123

Home Front: WoT

Did Team Trump Get the Wrong Abbey Gate Bad Guy?

2025-03-07

[PJMedia] During President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, he announced that with the help of American intelligence agencies and Pakistain, the planner of the Abbey Gate terrorist attack in Afghanistan was being brought to America at that moment to "face the swift sword of American justice."

It was an exhilarating moment. The news may have prompted a small feeling of "closure" among the families of the 13 American service members who died in that Afghanistan calamity on Joe The Big Guy Biden
Joe <q>The Big Guy</q> Biden

...46th president of the U.S. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass....
's watch.

But the Paks may have handed over the wrong guy. They say that Mohammad Sharifullah is "a commander of the ISIS (ISIS) affiliate in Khorasan Province (ISKP) [and was] an Afghan national captured in an operation conducted in the Pakistain-Afghanistan border
...also known as Pashtunistan, home of ignorance, poverty, and automatic weapons...
region." The Pak Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump in a statement for "appreciating Pakistain’s role and support in counterterrorism efforts across the region."

But, could it be that the Paks, who hid the late Osama bin Laden
...... who has left the building......
from the Americans for years, engaged in yet another subterfuge to stick it to us? Of course the Paks could have done that.

A former CIA "targeter" whose job was to find bad guys in Afghanistan says whoever told the Trump team that this Mohammad guy was the shot-caller for the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
is lying to them.

Someone is lying to you @realDonaldTrump

Here are the names responsible below for Abbey Gate. The attack had two joint Masterminds, Sirajuddin Haqqani and Sanaullah Ghafari.

This is like when we picked up a fake mastermind for the 2012 Benghazi attacks, Ahmed Abu Khatallah.… https://t.co/qfEGAuMaO6 pic.twitter.com/W5sgFU3I4e
— Sarah Adams (@TPASarah) March 5, 2025

Adams, who now works for the Defense Department, uses open source materials and sometimes calls her old contacts in Afghanistan to run down leads while looking for bad guys and connecting the dots for articles and books.

She thinks a different person was the actual shot-caller for a suicide kaboom at Abbey Gate at the Kabul Airport in those frantic days before the U.S. ignominiously bugged out.

The man who helped plan the attack, Adams believes, is Hafiz Haqqani, of the notorious Haqqani terror network, and who has connections to Al Qaeda's one-time number-two bad guy, Ayman Al Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...>
. In fact, Adams believes the man who told the boom jacket-wearing terrorist the precise place to detonate his bomb for maximum U.S. casualties is Zawahiri's son-in-law.

Here’s a hard truth:

Hafiz Haqqani—the terrorist on the ground at Abbey Gate who told the suicide bomber he was in the best position to kill the most U.S. soldiers and to detonate—is the son-in-law of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Yes, you read that right. He’s a Zawahiri and a…
— Sarah Adams (@TPASarah) March 5, 2025

First, you have to understand what Adams believes is the leadership apparatus of the Taliban. She believes the Taliban is wholly infused by Al Qaeda. Adams says the families have intermarried. She says three of the top leaders of the Taliban have the last name of Bin Laden.

Adams is the first to point out that the United States bankrolls the Taliban — and by extension Al Qaeda and the Bin Laden family — $40 to $80 million per week.

As I reported previously, USAID money was used for a lot of the payoff to the terrorists.

Adams's claims were verified in a February congressional hearing.

Adams isn't new to finding ~~bandidos~~ Death Eaters who try to hide. She's written a recent work about the Abbey Gate terror plot called "HKIA: Know Thy Enemy."

She also found all the planners of the Benghazi terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2012, and wrote about them in her book, "Benghazi: Know Thy Enemy."

Remember that Secretary of State Crooked Hillary Clinton
...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away. Politix is not one of her talents, but it's something she keeps trying to do...
, Jake Sullivan, and Obama aide Susan Rice told Americans that the Benghazi attack was a misunderstanding that grew out of a movie no one watched — for which the movie maker was tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
in America by President Obama. But Adams wouldn't rest until she tracked down every one of the ~~bandidos~~ Death Eaters who killed her CIA compatriots and America's Ambassador to Libya.

After last night's announcement, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.com that the FBI and American intelligence worked to get their hands on the planner.

But Patel need only remember his own frustrations as a DOJ investigator involved for a time in the Benghazi prosecution to inform this latest case. In his book, "Government Gangsters," Patel was frustrated that "when it came to Benghazi, the B.O. regime, the F.B.I. and the D.O.J. wanted to seem tough on terrorism, so they kept minimal prosecutions open and brought up big-sounding charges that we couldn’t support."

And before he became the nominee to head the FBI, Patel told the Shawn Ryan show that the top brass "went and got basically the wrong guy [involved in Benghazi]. And then we prosecuted that wrong guy. Not that he wasn’t a part of it. He just wasn’t like the top tier of guys I would have gone after. And they screwed up the prosecution because they didn’t listen to us."

🚨BREAKING NEWS: The masterminds behind the Abbey Gate attack are Sirajuddin Haqqani and Sanaullah Ghafari. So why was a fake mastermind detained and extradited to the U.S.—and who is telling our American President @realdonaldtrump it was someone else?

If you haven’t read our… pic.twitter.com/JCM8nOi0Z6
— Sarah Adams (@TPASarah) March 5, 2025

Patel, more than most, understands that he'd better get the right guy targeted and act accordingly.

Link

Afghanistan

RUMINT: Hamza, son of Osama bin Laden, alive and preparing attacks on the West

2024-09-15

[KhaamaPress] According to new intelligence reports, the late Osama bin Laden
...... who is no longer with us, and won't be again......
’s son, who was reported to have been killed in 2019, is alive and is allegedly taking control of al-Qaeda while planning attacks against Western targets.

The Daily Mail, citing defense experts, reported that Hamza bin Laden is alive and secretly leading the terrorist organization. According to the reports, his brother Abdullah is also connected to the group. al-Qaeda is reportedly regrouping and preparing for future attacks on the West.

In September 2019, former U.S. President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
confirmed that Hamza bin Laden had been killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation in an area between Afghanistan and Pakistain.

However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
on Thursday, the Mirror reported, based on intelligence analysis, that Hamza bin Laden survived the U.S. attempts to kill him.

Colonel Richard Kemp, the former head of British forces, has warned that Hamza is using Afghanistan’s territory, where "he seems to have a wide and open field for activity" and "intends to avenge his father’s death and achieve victory."

It is noteworthy that Osama bin Laden, the criminal mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, was later killed in a 2011 operation in Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
, Pakistain.

The report suggests that Hamza, along with his brother Abdullah bin Laden, is secretly leading and reviving al-Qaeda.

Under Hamza bin Laden’s leadership, al-Qaeda has reportedly established around 10 training camps in Afghanistan and has built ties with other anti-Western terrorist groups.

This bit matches other reports we’ve seen.

The report states that Hamza bin Laden, 34, spends most of his time at a terrorist base in Jalalabad, Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
Province. The report claims that the Taliban
Taliban

...mindless ferocity in a turban...
leaders are reportedly aware of Hamza bin Laden’s efforts to revive al-Qaeda and regularly meet with him.

Yet, the Taliban has not issued any comment regarding the report.

Despite the assumption that Saif al-Adel
...holed up in Iran from 2002 until 2010, when he made bail and moved back to the Pak-Afghan border...
now leads al-Qaeda after Ayman al-Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...>
’s death, the Mirror reports that Hamza bin Laden is becoming a prominent figure in the group’s resurgence, aiming to carry on his father’s legacy and planning attacks on Western targets.

The resurgence of al-Qaeda under Hamza bin Laden’s leadership raises concerns about the group’s renewed strength and capacity to orchestrate global terror attacks. The possibility of coordinated efforts with other terrorist organizations, like ISIS, amplifies the threat.

Reports claim that the situation is eerily similar to the conditions that preceded the 9/11 attacks, highlighting the growing threat to global security.

Link

Terror Networks

Terrorist attacks in Dagestan: battered ISIS returns to the Caucasus

2024-06-26

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Semenov

[REGNUM] The terrorist attacks in Dagestan, where synagogues and a church were targeted and Russian Orthodox Church priest Nikolai Kotelnikov was brutally murdered, may have been part of ISIS's global strategy to attack civilians, primarily Christians.

Thus, since the beginning of June in Africa (in the Congo, as well as in Mozambique), numerous terrorist attacks have been carried out against local Catholics and Protestants, when ISIS militants broke into Christian villages and carried out massacres of civilians there, and terrorist information resources such as “ Al-Naba” covered these crimes widely.

After the attacks in Dagestan, the ISIS-Velayat Khorasan* media center Al-Azaim also published a message praising the “Caucasian brothers.” Although ISIS has not directly claimed responsibility, such a statement could serve as evidence of the terrorist organization's involvement.

Attacking churches is also a characteristic feature of the ISIS-Caucasus Velayat terrorists*. This group was disbanded at the end of 2017 by the “central command of ISIS” after almost all of its cells were destroyed by federal forces. Nevertheless, in the future, individual ISIS adherents continued terrorist activity in the North Caucasus.

So, in February 2018, on Forgiveness Sunday, there was an attack on a church in Kizlyar. Then the terrorist Khalil Khalilov killed 5 parishioners and was himself liquidated. ISIS Central Command claimed responsibility for the attack, calling Khalil ad-Dagestani a “soldier of the caliphate.”

But after the terrorist attacks at Crocus City Hall in April of this year, there were signs of a revival of ISIS in the Russian Caucasus. Although the first signals sounded even a little earlier, after a group of six terrorists was eliminated in the Ingush Karabulak. However, at that time no direct connection was established between them and ISIS, or at least such evidence was not voiced.

In April, information appeared that ISIS - Velayat Caucasus (Ingushetia sector) published an audio message about the situation of the group. It indicated that this terrorist organization was becoming stronger, larger and more active and was going to choose a “new emir” (the last one was eliminated in 2021).

On April 22, militants possibly linked to ISIS attacked a police patrol in Karachaevsk in Karachay-Cherkessia, killing two law enforcement officers and wounding a third, and seizing their service weapons.

On April 28, suspected ISIS militants attacked a police post in the village of Mara-Ayagy of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. The terrorists drove up to the post, threw explosives and opened fire, killing 2 police officers and injuring at least 4 people. All attackers were eliminated.

The current terrorist attacks in Dagestan can serve as confirmation that the group has begun to restore its positions in the Caucasus. And here we need to pay attention to the history and specifics of the Caucasian wing of ISIS and its appearance on Russian territory.

FROM “ICHKERIA” TO “CAUCASUS EMIRATE”
The roots of the emergence of ISIS as a global terrorist project should be sought in the arrival in Iraq of a group of al-Qaeda jihadists from Afghanistan led by Abu Musab Az-Zarqawi, who began to implement his own concept of jihadism, entering into increasing disputes with the leaders of this structure, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. And in the Caucasus, the prologue to the emergence of ISIS in this part of the Russian Federation was the arrival of foreign jihadist fighters in the region, primarily from Arab countries.

The first jihadist to go to Chechnya was Ali Fathi al-Shishani, a veteran of the war against the USSR in Afghanistan, an ethnic Chechen from Jordan. This happened even before the first Chechen war, in 1993. Then Fathi, having arrived in Ichkeria, created a “Salafi Islamic jamaat”, consisting of young indigenous Chechens and some Chechens of Jordanian origin. In essence, this is where the spread of Wahhabism in the most radical version of Salafi jihadism in the Russian Caucasus begins.

After the outbreak of war in December 1994, Ali Fathi played an important role in facilitating the recruitment of Arab fighters from Afghanistan. Among those he personally invited was Samir Salih Abdallah al-Suwailim, better known as Khattab, who soon became the leader of all foreign jihadist fighters in Chechnya. But then it was too early to talk about Ichkeria joining the global jihadist project led by Al-Qaeda*, although there were, of course, connections between them.

Although Khattab denied any contact with bin Laden, stating that "there are no relations between them due to the great distance and difficulties of communication," both sides did maintain dialogue through their representatives in the 1990s and early 2000s years.

There was also correspondence between them, which resulted in a heated discussion about strategy, as Khattab and bin Laden had completely different worldviews, and each tried to convince the other of the superiority of their approaches to “jihad.” It was also characterized by personal rivalry between them, especially due to Khattab's growing authority within the jihadist community.

Bin Laden was obsessed with fighting the "Judeo-Christian alliance" and focused his strategy on attacking the "distant enemy", primarily the US and Israel. Khattab, on the contrary, sought to establish an Islamic system in Chechnya and then use it as a base for violent expansion into the neighboring territories of the Russian North Caucasus. Until his death in 2002, Khattab never threatened the United States.

After Khattab was eliminated, his successor as commander of foreign jihadists in Chechnya was Abu al-Walid al-Ghamdi, just like Khattab, a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Al-Walid's approach to the ideas of "jihad" was even more radical. It was he who began to openly call for the use of suicide bombers and justify the recruitment of women to carry out suicide bombings. Al-Walid was killed by fighters of the Vostok battalion in Chechnya on April 16, 2004.

Abu Hafs al-Urduni, who replaced al-Walid, was a Jordanian and finally brought foreign Salafi jihadists in the Caucasus into the service of al-Qaeda, and its most radical wing led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who became the “founder” of ISIS.

In particular, Abu Hafs was mentioned in the report of US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the UN Security Council back in 2003. He was stated to be part of an alleged international network led by al-Zarqawi, from which ISIS emerged.

On November 26, 2006, Abu Hafs al-Urduni was killed in a shootout with Russian special forces in Khasavyurt. And the last commander of the “Arab Muhajirs” in Chechnya was Melfi al-Hussaini al-Harbi, known as Muhannad, who replaced al-Urduni.

Mukhannad began his activities in the Caucasus in 1999 in the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia, populated mainly by ethnic Chechens - Kists. Muhannad lectured on the history of Islam, actively introducing the ideology of Wahabism in the region and preaching the principles of Salafi jihadism. In which, it should be noted, he succeeded, since subsequently many people from this gorge became significant figures among foreign jihadists in Syria and, above all, in the structures of ISIS.

In October 2006, the head of the separatist entity “Ichkeria” (CRI), Doku Umarov, appointed Mukhannad as one of the three deputies of Magomet “Magas” Yevloev, who headed the Ingush sector of the separatists.

After Umarov in September 2007 proclaimed the formation of a new militant organization in the North Caucasus called the Caucasus Emirate in place of the ChRI, Mukhannad was declared his naib, or deputy. This was evidence of the strengthening of the position of Salafi jihadists in the Caucasus, who have become the mainstream of Chechen separatists.

This also emphasizes the role of Muhannad himself, who gained much more influence on the decision-making of the Imarat than his predecessors during the times of Ichkeria. On April 21, 2011, Ramzan Kadyrov told reporters about the destruction of Mukhannad as a result of a special operation that took place on the same day in the Chechen Republic.

FROM “CAUCASUS EMIRATE” TO “ISIS – CAUCASUS VELAYAT”
The Caucasus Emirate tried to distance itself from international terrorist networks, declaring itself as an independent center of world “jihadism,” although it was not against receiving help from the same Al-Qaeda and accepting its emissaries.

But after the liquidation of Doku Umarov, starting in November 2014, the leaders of the so-called. The “jamaats” of the “Caucasus Emirate”, one after another, began to swear allegiance to ISIS (which, since 2013, has been able to carry out widespread expansion in Syria and Iraq) and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

First, the so-called “Chechen jamaat”, whose leaders swore allegiance to ISIS, their example was followed by Dagestan “jamaats”. And then they were joined by the Ingush, whose leader, although he did not directly swear allegiance to Al-Baghdadi, nevertheless declared support for ISIS. Ultimately, the then head of the Caucasus Emirate, Abu Muhammad (Aliashab Kebekov), found himself isolated and was soon eliminated by Russian security forces.

Thus, the regionalist jihadist project in the Caucasus was replaced by a global jihadist project under the banner of ISIS.

“Central” ISIS announced the creation of the group “ISIS - Velayat Kakaz” on June 23, 2015 and appointed its leader Rustam Asildarov. Thus, ISIS-Caucasus has become part of a wider terrorist network.

This could largely be due to funding issues, since, on the one hand, Western curators were losing interest in the Imaratu, and, on the other, Al-Qaeda, which had previously supported Caucasian terrorists, was plunging into an increasingly deeper crisis.

The participation of jihadists from the Caucasus in the Syrian conflict and their joining the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq created a connection between the “caliphate” and Caucasian militants, including financial ones. This predetermined the flight of field commanders from the Caucasus Emirate to the banners of ISIS. Moreover, many of them understood that their time in the Caucasus had expired, and if they did not try to leave it, finding something to do in other branches of ISIS, they would soon be liquidated by federal forces.

On December 4, 2016, Russian intelligence services reported that they had killed Asildarov and four of his accomplices during a raid in Makhachkala. Aslan Batyukaev became the new leader of ISIS in the North Caucasus.

However, after his appointment in 2017, he was forced to leave the Russian Caucasus to save his life, hiding abroad. At the same time, ISIS - Caucasus Velayat was apparently dissolved by the ISIS Central Command as having ceased to exist. Although terrorist attacks on behalf of ISIS continued in the Caucasus, they were carried out either by lone terrorists or by autonomous cells not associated with the central command.

But at the very beginning of 2021, an attempt was made to restore ISIS - Caucasus Velayat. Then Batyukaev returned to Russia. This attempt seemed unsuccessful, since he was killed along with his group of five militants as a result of a special operation by the forces of the police regiment. A. A. Kadyrov on the outskirts of the village of Katyr-Yurt.

However, it is possible that this was not the only group that penetrated the territory of the Russian Federation, and it was from that time that ISIS sleeper cells that were activated in Dagestan began to be restored in the Russian Caucasus. It also cannot be ruled out that the current terrorist activity in the Russian southern regions is supported by “third forces” with which Russia is waging war in Ukraine.

Actually, the unexpected appearance of Batyukaev in the Russian Caucasus at the beginning of 2021 after his disappearance could have been supervised by external actors who were already trying to restore the terrorist network in order to open a second front if necessary. And this moment has come.

Link

Afghanistan

Al Qaeda chief invites foreign fighters to train in Afghanistan, target West: 'Safe haven for terrorists'

2024-06-11

[FoxNews] Al Qaeda’s leader in Afghanistan, Saif al-Adl, issued a call to foreign fighters around the world to migrate to Afghanistan and join the ranks of the jihadi terror group.

A new report in the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal highlights the call from al-Adl and is so far the clearest indication from al Qaeda for foreigners to come to Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in 2021.

Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of the Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital that this message officially pronounces Afghanistan as a safe haven for terrorists.

"Al-Qaeda is firmly ensconced in Afghanistan, and has established training camps in 10 provinces, as well as religious schools, safe houses, a weapons depot, and a media operations center … al-Qaeda is telling us it plans to use this terror infrastructure to attack the West," he warned.

The terror group has established these terrorist training camps across Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, including in Panjshir, once the center of anti-Taliban resistance. The United Nations estimates al Qaeda has around 600 members in its ranks, but Roggio believes that the official estimates of their strength over the years have been consistently low.

"Al Qaeda’s infrastructure and safe haven within Afghanistan gives the terror group the opportunity to capitalize on Adl’s call for its supporters to migrate to the country," Roggio and co-author Caleb Weiss wrote in their report.

Adl recently released a pamphlet titled "This is Gaza: A War of Existence, Not a War of Borders," which exploits the anger over Israel’s war in Gaza to encourage people to gain training, experience, and knowledge about how to carry out attacks against "Zionist" and Western targets.

Adl’s pamphlet states "the continuation of the genocide in Gaza calls for the Islamic peoples to strike all Zionist interests (both Western and Jewish) in all Islamic lands." The appropriate response, according to Adl’s vision, are tragedies such as the 9/11 and Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, taking the fight to the enemy. The report also notes that Adl praises and encourages homegrown terrorism within Western countries which act as a deterrent force in domestic territories.

The reality that al Qaeda is championing Afghanistan as a ground to stage terrorist attacks on the West over 20 years after 9/11 is not a surprise to many observers of the region.

"The fact that al Qaeda leaders are now calling for foreign fighters to come to Afghanistan substantially increases the odds of foreign fighters heading there. This development will be unsurprising for hawks who warned about the dangers of withdrawing from Afghanistan," Max Abrahms, terrorism expert and professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Fox News Digital.

Adl envisions Afghanistan as a model for Muslims around the world to settle in and holds up the Taliban as a model of Islamic governance for future Islamic states to emulate. Many observers and policymakers assessed that al Qaeda’s focus would remain on local affairs in Afghanistan and other countries the group operated in. The latest call from Adl contradicts these claims and shows that al Qaeda is looking beyond Afghanistan’s borders with ambitions to target the West.

A United Nations report in February 2023 noted that Adl became al Qaeda’s third emir, replacing Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded Usama bin Laden and was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2022. Adl’s leadership differs from bin Laden and Zawahiri as he served in the Egyptian army, bringing with him more military experience than his predecessors. He left Egypt to join the mujahideen and fight off the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. He later went on to join al Qaeda after it was established in 1988 and helped plot major international terrorist attacks, including the suicide bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

The 2020 Doha Agreement, negotiated under former President Trump and implemented by President Biden, laid the groundwork for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces in exchange for a pledge from the Taliban to prevent any terrorist organization from using Afghan soil to threaten or attack the United States or its allies. It was never clear at the time whether the Taliban would ever formally sever its longstanding ties with al Qaeda.

The U.S. Intelligence Community Annual Threat Assessment states that while al Qaeda has reached an operational nadir in Afghanistan and Pakistan, its "regional affiliates on the African continent and Yemen will sustain the global network as the group maintains its strategic intent to target the United States and U.S. citizens."

Link

-Obits-

AQAP announces the death of its emir Khalid Batarfi

2024-03-11

[Twitter]

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announces the death of its emir Khalid Batarfi. pic.twitter.com/yvzlcAiWg2
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) March 10, 2024

Le Monde adds:

Batarfi had appointed his successor back in February 2020, following the death of his predecessor, Qassim al-Rimi, in a US dronezap or Yemen.

Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
has announced the death of its leader Khalid Batarfi and named a successor, SITE Intelligence Group reported Sunday, March 10. The monitoring service said Batarfi's body was shown in footage released by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...
(AQAP) in a burial shroud and wrapped in a flag bearing the jihadist group's name.

"God took his soul while he patiently sought his reward and stood firm, immigrated, garrisoned, and waged jihad," SITE quoted an AQAP veteran as saying of Batarfi in the nearly 15-minute video. There were no immediate details of the time or cause of Batarfi's death. He was believed to be in his 40s.

The United States considers al-Qaeda's Yemen branch the most dangerous faction of the global jihadist network, and the State Department designated Batarfi in 2018 a "global terrorist". SITE said the group had named its new chief Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, who last appeared in a video released in February 2023 urging Sunni rustics to join AQAP.

The Sunni bad boy group thrived in the chaos of years of war since 2014 between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s. AQAP has carried out operations in Yemen against both the Huthis and government forces.

It has also carried out sporadic attacks abroad, including on the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo
...Pix/Hebdo2.pngA lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
in 2015 and a 2019 mass shooting at a US naval base in Florida, in which a Saudi Air Force officer killed three American sailors.

Update from the Times of Israel at 2:15 p.m. ET:

Khalid al-Batarfi had a $5 million bounty on his head from the US government over leading the group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula over years that saw him imprisoned, freed in a jailbreak, and governing forces in Yemen amid that country’s grinding war.

Though believed to be weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected US drone strikes killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP has long been considered the most dangerous branch of the extremist group still operating after the killing of founder Osama bin Laden.

Al-Qaeda released a video showing al-Batarfi wrapped in a white funeral shroud and al-Qaeda’s black-and-white flag. Terrorists offered no details on the cause of his death and there was no clear sign of trauma visible on his face. Al-Batarfi was believed to be in his early 40s.

In the announcement, the group said Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki would take over as its leader. The US has a $6 million bounty on him, saying al-Awlaki “has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.”

Why is the new guy worth 20% more than the dead one was?

Estimates provided to the UN put AQAP’s total forces as numbering between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops,

…how very tawdry and commonplace…

as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies, and ransom operations, according to the UN.

…smuggling weapons and ransom operations being the usual occupations of Yemeni lads when they’re feeling feisty. Currency counterfeiting is a bit more technical than they usually get up to, but every group contains at least a few eager to learn and better themselves…

Under al-Batarfi, AQAP fell further under the influence of al-Qaeda fighter Saif al-Adel, now believed to lead the terror group after the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in a US drone strike in Afghanistan in 2022. That came as Yemen has been locked in a war between the Houthi rebels, who hold the capital, Sanaa, and a Saudi-led coalition backing the country’s exiled government based in Aden.

“Since 2020, Saif al-Adel has been able to convince al-Batarfi of his strategic approach, focused on confronting Western states and their allies in Yemen — the Saudi-led coalition, the Aden-based government, the United Arab Emirates and its allies — rather than confronting the Iranian-backed Houthi movement,” a 2023 report by the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies said.

Al-Adel is believed to be in Iran, part of a longtime al-Qaeda presence in the Islamic Republic. That’s long been denied by Tehran but backed up by documents seized in the 2011 US raid in Pakistan that killed bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

Good to know.

Al-Batarfi’s ties to al-Adel had strained relations in AQAP, experts say. However, it has seen the terrorists become armed with bomb-carrying drones — something the Houthis now use to target shipping in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Very interesting — a hint that not only is Iran sheltering Al Qaeda’s top leaders, but supplying at least one of its key franchises as well.

AQAP “developed unmanned aerial systems capabilities, establishing a specialized drone unit, with operational training from the Houthis,” a UN report from January says.

That goes well beyond hinting. And the Houthis would only help their enemy on direct orders from Tehran.

“It prioritizes liberating its prisoners to replenish ranks; in September, the Houthis released several AQAP members and explosives experts.”

The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni extremist group. However, AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years while the terrorists continue to attack Saudi-led coalition forces.

Me and my brother against my cousin. Me and my cousin against the outside world.

Yemen’s history and tribal structure long has seen alliances rapidly shift, something its late strongman President Ali Abdullah Saleh referred to as “dancing on the heads of snakes.”

Al-Batarfi, born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, traveled to Afghanistan in 1999 and fought alongside the Taliban during the US-led invasion. He joined AQAP in 2010 and led forces in taking over Yemen’s Abyan province, according to the US.

In 2015, he was freed after an AQAP raid that saw the terrorists capture Mukalla, the capital of Yemen’s largest province, Hadramawt, amid the chaos of the war. A photo at the time showed al-Awlaki with a Kalashnikov rifle, posing inside a government palace there.

AQAP was later pushed out of Mukalla but has continued attacks and been the target of a US drone strike campaign since the administration of then-president George W. Bush.

In 2020, there had been claims that al-Bartafi had been detained, which later were denied. In 2021, he appeared in a video by the terror group and referred to the January 6 riot at the US Capitol as “only the tip of the iceberg of what will come to them, God willing.”

Link

Afghanistan

Resurgent al-Qaida training camps latest black eye from Biden Afghanistan withdrawal

2024-02-25

[JustTheNews] UN report claims al-Qaida now has eight training camps in Taliban-controlled country.

Two reports released just days apart are providing stark new evidence of the lasting consequences of President Joe Biden’s bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan and his administration’s dealings with the Taliban ever since.

The United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team reported late last month that the terrorist group al-Qaida, though weakened from its heyday in the early 2000s, has reconstituted as many as eight training camps and five religious training schools known as madrassas on Afghan soil under the Taliban’s rule while also increasing its propaganda operations and recruitment.

“The relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaida remains close, and the latter maintains a holding pattern in Afghanistan under Taliban patronage,” the report stated bluntly. “Regional States assess that the presence of Al-Qaida senior figures in the country has not changed and that the group continues to pose a threat in the region, and potentially beyond.”

You can read the full report here.

While the UN report blamed the Taliban for its hosting of al-Qaida, the Biden administration continued to send massive humanitarian dollars to the Afghan regime, in many cases through the UN and global charities, according to a separate report from an American watchdog.

John Sopko, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, reported a few days after the UN report was issued that the United States accounted for all but $300 million of the $2.9 billion in humanitarian aid sent to the Taliban since the withdrawal of American troops in August 2021. Most of it, he noted, came in cash.

“The U.S. is the largest international donor, having provided about $2.6 billion in funding for the UN, other PIOs, and NGOs operating in Afghanistan since August 2021,” the report noted. “More than $1.7 billion of that funding came from State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support humanitarian activities.”

You can read Sopko's report here.

Experts said the flow of cash to help the Taliban while it allows al-Qaida to flourish sends a dangerous message to bad actors, and much of it is routed through the very UN that issued the report.

“America is the biggest funder of this thing. So the United States taxpayer is disproportionately on the hook paying for these activities,” former Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates said recently.

And coupled with the billions in high-tech weaponry Biden left behind in Afghanistan, the dynamic is creating heartburn in Congress.

“This administration has a history of giving money to terrorist organizations, abandoning $80 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan so the Taliban can run around with our M4s and our Blackhawks, and all of our equipment. They have an American last agenda,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told the Just the News, No Noise television show last week.

The Taliban, of course, claims it does not harbor al-Qaida and that the UN report was “propaganda.”

"There is no one related to al Qaeda in Afghanistan, nor does the Islamic Emirate allow anyone to use the territory of Afghanistan against others," the Taliban said in a statement.

But U.S. officials told Just the News they have significant intelligence of al-Qaida’s presence and reconstitution inside Afghanistan since the Taliban overthrew the democratically elected government as U.S. troops were withdrawing in 2021.

They noted that when U.S. drones killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2022, he was living inside a Taliban Cabinet member’s guest house in Kabul’s diplomatic district.

U.S. officials added they are concerned by al-Qaida’s resilience, especially since American intelligence efforts have less visibility inside Afghanistan since the bungled withdrawal.

The UN report, culled from intelligence from its various member nations, said that while al-Qaida does not have the capability to command and conduct long-range terror attacks like 9/11 right now, it is clearly showing signs of expansion and regional reach after years of diminishment from the Bush to the Trump years.

“Al-Qaida was reported to have established up to eight new training camps in Afghanistan, including four in Ghazni, Laghman, Parwan and Uruzgan Provinces, with a new base to stockpile weaponry in the Panjshir Valley,” the report said. “Some camps might be temporary.

“Five Al-Qaida madrasas operate in Laghman, Kunar, Nangarhar, Nuristan and Parwan Provinces,” it added. “The group maintains safe houses to facilitate the movement between Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Provinces of Herat, Farah and Helmand, with additional safe house locations in Kabul.”

Equally troubling, the Islamic State terrorist group is also showing resiliency in several regions of the world, particularly Afghanistan, the UN warned.

“Member States assessed that, despite the recent loss of territory, casualties, and high attrition among senior and mid-tier leadership figures, ISIL-K continued to pose a major threat in Afghanistan and the region,” it noted.

Link

Afghanistan

On eve of 9/11 Anniversary, U.S. officials continue to downplay Al Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan

2023-09-17

Long, detailed, and with a useful map. Herewith, the opening set-up:

[LongWarJournal] On the eve of the 22nd anniversary of Al Qaeda’s deadly attacks on New York and Washington, American intelligence officials further minimized the terror group’s safe haven in Afghanistan and its global reach. The U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that “Al Qaeda is at its historical nadir in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and its revival is unlikely” is directly at odds with intelligence gleaned by the United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, which recently reported that Al Qaeda is running training camps, safe houses, and a media operations center throughout Afghanistan.

The assessment of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan was briefed to reporters on Sept. 8 by two unnamed U.S. intelligence officials. In addition to Al Qaeda being at a “historical nadir,” its “ability to threaten the United States from Afghanistan or Pakistan is probably at its lowest point,” the officials claimed, according to CNN.

Oddly, the intelligence officials surmised that Al Qaeda is weak because the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan meant that Al Qaeda fighters no longer had a “proving ground” to battle U.S. forces.

Additionally, the intelligence officials claimed that Al Qaeda “was left without ‘leadership talent’ and “strategic guidance’” after the U.S. killed Al Qaeda emir Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike at a Taliban safe house in Kabul in the summer of 2022, CNN reported.

The intelligence officials dismissed the UN Monitoring Team’s report as “an outlier within the UN system” and “‘wildly out of whack’ with intelligence collected by the US and its partners,” CNN noted.

However, the UN Monitoring Team’s report closely tracks with information on Al Qaeda’s historical and recent operations in Afghanistan that has been gathered by FDD’s Long War Journal.

A HISTORICAL NADIR?
The unnamed intelligence officials were incredibly dismissive of the Monitoring Team’s report, which was released in early June. According to the Monitoring Team, the Al Qaeda camps are located in six Afghan provinces: Helmand, Zabul, Badghis, Nangarhar, Nuristan, and Kunar. Additionally, the Monitoring Team noted that Al Qaeda has established “safe houses” in Farah, Helmand, Herat and Kabul, and opened a media operations center in Herat.

Despite the assertions of the U.S. intelligence officials Al Qaeda was known to have a significant presence in the provinces of Helmand, Farah, Zabul, Kunar, Nuristan, and Nangarhar prior to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. There is no indication that Al Qaeda abandoned these provinces with post-U.S. withdrawal. As the Monitoring Team has noted and FDD’s Long War Journal has independently assessed, the Taliban-Al Qaeda relationship remains strong.

Link

India-Pakistan

Army major, among three, martyred in gun fights with terrorists in KP

2023-09-02

[GEO.TV] An army major and another soldier were martyred during an intelligence-based operation conducted by the security forces in North Wazoo

Wazoo District’s Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
’s general area, the military’s media wing said in a statement on Friday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said when the security forces launched the operation a "party of snuffies was spotted and intercepted by Major Amir Aziz, who was leading the operation from the front".

During the exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed while another was injured.

However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
29-year-old Major Amir and 27-year-old Sepoy Muhammad Arif were martyred during the heavy exchange of fire.

The army’s media affairs wing said that the sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate the snuffies present in the area.

"Security forces of Pakistain are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our soldiers further strengthen our resolve," the ISPR said.

TIRAH EXCHANGE OF FIRE
The report of Major Aziz and Sepoy Arif’s martyrdom came minutes after the ISPR had shared that a soldier was martyred while a terrorist was killed during an exchange of fire in the Khyber district.

The ISPR said that on the night between August 31 and September 1, a fire exchange took place between the army troops and the snuffies in the general area of Tirah in Khyber District.

The troops "effectively" engaged at the terrorists’ location, resulting in the killing of one terrorist, the ISPR said.

"The killed terrorist remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces and killing of innocent civilians."

During the intense exchange of fire, Havildar Muntazir Shah, 36, having fought gallantly, embraced martyrdom.

NATION CANNOT BE "COERCED" BY TERRORISTS: GEN MUNIR
Earlier today, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir vowed that the nation cannot be "coerced" by "cowardly tactics of the terrorists" who hold the "misbelief that they can challenge the iron resolve of the soldiers and writ of the state".

As per the military’s media wing, the army chief passed the remarks while visiting Bannu in KP where, a day earlier, nine soldiers were martyred when a jacket wallah went kaboom! himself near a military convoy in the Jani Khel area.

"The army, law enforcement agencies and the nation can never be coerced by the cowardly tactics of the terrorists, who have a misbelief that they can challenge the iron resolve of the soldiers and writ of the state," Gen Munir said while interacting with officers and troops deployed in the area.

The COAS further said that the nation has "fought for long and will continue to fight the menace of terrorism till the end".

"The nation pays rich tribute to those who have laid their lives and their sacrifices will forever be honoured," he added.

Link

India-Pakistan

One terrorist killed, two injured in North Waziristan shootout

2023-06-13

[GEO.TV] One terrorist was killed and two others injured in an exchange of fire that took place between security forces and the miscreants in the general area of Spinwam,

...a charming name for a nasty little jihadi spot...

North

Wazoo District, the public relations arm of the military said in a statement.

As per the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), one terrorist was killed and two others sustained injuries after the troops engaged with them at their location. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from them.

"The killed terrorist remained actively involved in terr activities against the security forces as well as the killing of innocent citizens," the ISPR added. It further said that residents of the area appreciated the operation and expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the area.

The engagement with the turbans came a day after armed forces bumped off three turbans while four others were maimed in a gunbattle in the general Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
area in North Waziristan district, the ISPR had said.

The military's media wing had said that the soldiers fought gallantly but three of them were martyred in the intense exchange of fire that took place on the night between June 9 and 10.

"Own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location and resultantly three turbans were sent to hell, while four turbans were maimed. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists," a statement released by the ISPR read.

The martyred soldiers were identified as Subedar Asghar Ali, 40, Sepoy Naseem Khan, 26, and Sepoy Muhammad Zaman, 22.

The ISPR further stated that a sanitisation operation was being carried out to eliminate any other turbans found in the area.

"Armed forces of Pakistain are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve," it reiterated.

Link

India-Pakistan

Three soldiers martyred, terrorists gunned down in exchange of fire in N Waziristan

2023-06-12

[GEO.TV] The armed forces bumped off three forces of Evil while four others were maimed in a gunbattle in the general Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
area in North Wazoo

Wazoo district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday.

The military's media wing stated that the soldiers fought gallantly but three of them were martyred in the intense exchange of fire that took place on the night between June 9 and 10 (Friday and Saturday).

"Own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location and resultantly three forces of Evil were sent to hell, while four forces of Evil were maimed. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists," a statement released by the ISPR read.

The martyred soldiers were identified as Subedar Asghar Ali, 40, Sepoy Naseem Khan, 26, and Sepoy Muhammad Zaman, 22.

The ISPR further stated that a sanitisation operation was being carried out to eliminate any other forces of Evil found in the area.

"Armed forces of Pakistain are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve," it reiterated.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Washington opens a terrorist second front against Russia

2023-05-27

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

by Kirill Semenov

One of the leaders of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group, which holds the Syrian Idlib, Abu Maria al-Qahtani , said that the HTS intends to focus on confrontation with Iran, and hence Russia, which act as allies Syrian government. This became known on May 24, when a translation of al-Qahtani's article was published.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group actually emerged in 2012 as the Jabhat al-Nusra group, which was a branch of the Islamic State of Iraq terrorist organization. After ISIS declared itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in 2013, Jabhat al-Nusra refused to swear allegiance to it and came under the auspices of al-Qaeda. In 2017, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was created, which announced the severance of all ties with al-Qaeda and became a rival group led by Abu Muhammad al-Julani.

The call to move away from the course of the fight against the United States and move on to confrontation with Iran, voiced by the leaders of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was apparently made under the influence of Washington. The United States has long been sending HTS signals through publications by recognized experts and think tanks about the possible removal of this terrorist organization from the relevant lists if it meets a number of conditions.

It is obvious that Washington is waiting for the HTS to abandon hostility towards the United States and reorient itself to the fight against the opponents of the United States, and at the same time to include Al-Qaeda branches in this process - their HTS will have to lead. Thus, the Americans can not only eliminate the threat from the unruly al-Qaeda, which must be disbanded, but also direct its branches to subvert US rivals such as Iran and Russia.

In particular, Abu Maria al-Qahtani criticizes the appointment of Saif al-Adl as the new head of al-Qaeda instead of the murdered Ayman al-Zawahiri . He points out that he is al-Adl in Iran, and therefore it is not clear to him how he will lead the organization, being under the control of the local authorities and the IRGC. Therefore, Abu Maria calls on all branches and branches of Al-Qaedato withdraw from this organization, and Al-Qaeda itself to disband in order to oppose Iran as a “united front”.

In fact, HTS intends to lead the front of jihadist groups against Iran and Russia, replacing in this role the "central apparatus" of Al-Qaeda as the main coordinating body.

"Roadmap" of the legalization of terrorists
Back in 2021, the International Crisis Group, funded by the Soros Foundation, produced a report that formulated proposals for the Biden administration on Washington's attitude towards HTS. In particular, it stressed the need for the United States to work with its European allies and Turkey to “ push the HTS to take further action to address key local and international issues and set clear targets that, if met, could enable the HTS to decommission himself labeled "terrorist"," the document noted.

US and Ukraine bring in new jihadist fighters to fight Russia
In this regard, a "road map" was proposed, which contained proposals on what needs to be done by HTS so that NATO countries eventually stop treating it as a terrorist organization. In the future, it was supposed to support similar changes in the status of HTS in the UN, where "terrorist marks" should also be removed from it.

As a result, according to the idea of the Americans, HTS should acquire a legal status and it is with her that negotiations should be conducted on the future of the Syrian region of Idlib.

Western countries are now ready to increase stabilization support for "critical services" in Idlib, provided that HTS expands the space for Western NGOs to work, supports the activities of civil society organizations and "shows a clear commitment to political and religious pluralism."

In turn, recent events related to the restoration of Syria's membership in the Arab League and Ankara's readiness to normalize relations with Damascus may force Washington to intensify efforts to legalize HTS. The United States continues to oppose Syria's exit from the regime of international isolation and, perhaps, will seek to more actively support any opponents of Bashar al-Assad , who were previously refused assistance.

The most powerful and organized anti-government group in the SAR is the HTS. By taking the group under guardianship, the United States can prevent the solution of the Idlib problem through a Syrian-Turkish compromise. Such a compromise implies the establishment of control over the region by the Syrian government with certain concessions to the opposition.

Washington can also use HTS to put pressure on Turkey.
Recently, there has been growing tension for control over resources between pro-Turkish groups from the Syrian National Army and the HTS. This group seeks to become the only significant opposition force that has closed on itself all external support for the remaining afloat Syrian rebels, whom it would like to attach to its own forces along with the territories under their control.

In addition, the HTS-controlled region of Idlib is already being used to recruit foreign fighters to take part in the fighting in Ukraine on the side of the Kyiv regime. In particular, militants from the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group, which consists mainly of Chechens, have already arrived in Ukraine from Idlib, and so-called. "Albanian group".

Also, through their outreach activities, resources affiliated with HTS , including numerous Telegram channels, began to openly support the United States and Western countries, as well as Ukraine in conflict with Russia. A few years ago, direct support of these states by such jihadist structures seemed unthinkable.

ISIS terrorists are also in the focus of US attention

In addition to the HTS, the United States will continue to use fighters from another terrorist organization, ISIS (or IS ), to destabilize Syria.

In January 2022, there was a mass escape of ISIS militants from the Al-Hasakah prison in northeastern Syria, held by the US military and the Kurdish left-wing radical SDF. Among the fugitives were, among other things, high-ranking commanders of the group. Thanks to this, it was possible to significantly increase the combat capability of this terrorist organization. Especially given the fact that many of the fugitives made it to ISIS bases in central Syria.

However, even after this escape, the flow of both recruits and veterans of ISIS, smuggled out of Kurdish prisons under American control in northeast Syria, continued.

It is significant that these prisons contain both experienced militants, as well as young people and children. They at least continue to receive the appropriate ideological pumping from the "senior comrades"; they are taught both the skills of warfare and the conduct of terrorist attacks.

The increased activity of ISIS in Syria in recent months has led to heavy fighting this spring, in April and May, in the area of the Syrian city of Al-Qaum. Then the ISIS militants were able to take control of several settlements, and government forces only with the support of Russian PMCs and aviation managed to squeeze them back into the desert.

The growth of this terrorist activity is due to the fact that from the camps and prisons in the territory held by the Americans and Kurdish militants, groups of ISIS terrorists are purposefully “dumped” from time to time, which penetrate into the territories controlled by the government. These "emissions", of course, are controlled by the US military and the SDF, which open the appropriate corridors for this.

Such actions of the Americans have three goals.

First, to reduce tension in the camps themselves through the release of the most trained and active militants from there.

Secondly, through the activation of ISIS militants in the Syrian desert, open a second front against Russia, which will force it to divert its capabilities to the Syrian theater of operations. However, as the battles for Al-Qaum showed, government forces without Russian support are still ineffective in conducting counter-terrorism operations.

Second after Afghanistan. In Syria, a fatal blow is dealt to US hegemony
Thirdly, the activity of ISIS will serve as an excuse not only to maintain, but also to increase the American military presence in the Syrian northeast. Its declared goal is to prevent the revival of ISIS. Therefore, as long as ISIS is active, supporters of continued American intervention in Syria will always have an appropriate argument for Congress.

At the same time, the Americans will support the persistence of this threat of a “rebirth of ISIS” through the use of their own channels for replenishing terrorist cells exclusively in the desert areas controlled by the Syrian government. At the same time, these “dumpings” of ISIS militants from prisons and camps will be dosed and will allow maintaining the level of escalation that the Americans need, and if necessary, the flow of militants can be blocked.

Link

Afghanistan

Daily Evacuation Brief April 28, 2023

2023-04-28

[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS

SAUDI ARABIA EVACUATES AFGHANS TRAPPED IN SUDAN – An undisclosed number of Afghan citizens who had been caught between the opposing forces in Sudan were successfully evacuated to Jeddah yesterday. It is believed approximately fifty Afghans remain in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country. Saudi Arabia reportedly conducted the evacuation after an official request was made by the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry.

BLOWBACK FROM ‘RECOGNITION’ REMARKS CONTINUE – After the UN’s Deputy Secretary General made remarks that led some to believe that recognition of the IEA would be discussed at next month’s UN meetings, criticism has continued to mount. Yesterday, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission added its voice to the chorus and stated flatly that any attempt to recognize the regime while the bans on females in classrooms and humanitarian work remain in place is unacceptable. The AIHRC statement is just one of many from international human rights organizations who are warning against such a move. However, the UN has walked back the comments, and representatives from the nations that will attend the meetings have reiterated that recognition was never on the agenda. The drama illustrates some dysfunction among the various UN agencies in their messaging and the Director for Human Rights Watch Asia, Patricia Grossman, highlights some of the confusion issuing out of New York and Geneva. The report can be found by scrolling down to our Daily WTF section.

PAKISTAN’S CRACKDOWN ON CRIME HAS BEEN BLOODY, 6 POLICE KILLED IN SHOOTOUT IN SINDH – The government announced in March that it intended to tackle the issues of street criminals in conjunction with an all-out assault on terrorism. The police have definitely made good on the promise to reduce crime but it has come at a tremendous cost. Yesterday, a shootout took place between police and members of a kidnapping/ransom criminal network in Sindh Province on Wednesday. Police reacted to a tip and mounted an operation to try and recover the son of a local mill owner near Jageer. A gun battle broke out and 5 police officers were killed at the scene with another perishing en route to medical attention. It is not clear if any of the criminals were killed or arrested and the fate of the kidnapped boy is not yet known. The incident is just one of several deadly encounters the Police force has been involved with as they ramp up their efforts on both the criminal and terror fronts.

TWO SEPARATE BUS ACCIDENTS KILL 17, MANY INJURED – Bus accidents in Balkh and Kandahar Provinces on Thursday claimed the lives of at least 17 people, and many others were reportedly injured in the accidents. A Taliban spokesman has said that negligent driving and fatigue have caused an uptick in fatalities over the holiday.

CONFLICT TRACKER
Nangarhar: An operation by a currently unidentified Resistance group is said to have taken place near Torkham (Bandar area) that resulted in the deaths of 6 Taliban and 5 others were wounded.

NEXT 24 HOURS
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL VOTE CONDEMNING TALIBAN EXPECTED – In an afternoon session on Thursday, the UNSC was expected to vote on a demand for the Taliban to reverse its restrictions on women’s education and work. The resolution was drafted jointly by the United Arab Emirates and Japan. Barring a veto from any of the permanent members of the council, the resolution was expected to pass. The vote could be significant leading into the Doha meetings from 1-2 May in Doha, Qatar which could well see a new strategy shift for dealing with the Taliban. UPDATE: The resolution passed unanimously late on Thursday.

Daily Evacuation Brief | April 27, 2023

[AfghanDigest] LAST 24 HOURS

RUSSIA ‘DROPS THE HAMMER’ ON THE TALIBAN – The Russian Foreign Minister made several remarks during a press conference in the US about Russia’s stance with regard to the Taliban. He proclaimed that Russia would not recognize the Taliban until it fulfilled its international obligations. Of primary importance to Russia was the formation of an inclusive government that represents not only ethnic minorities but opposing political views. He also added that the rights of girls and women must be respected. However, he also articulated that the Taliban are the ‘reality’ and must be dealt with on the ground in Afghanistan. Finally, he said Russia is supportive of the upcoming meeting in Doha which is to be hosted by the UN Secretary-General. Sergey Lavrov was in New York as Russia assumed the role of the presidency of the Security Council. Russia, Iran, and other regional powers have consistently stuck to the criteria Lavrov outlined but the Taliban leadership in Kandahar appears unwilling to compromise.

RUMORS OF US/TALIBAN COOPERATION AGAINST ISIS AND AL QAEDA CONTINUE TO SWIRL – Several regional News outlets have published stories about purported secretive meetings in Qatar and the UAE, between leaders of the Taliban’s intelligence unit (GDI) and select US intelligence agencies. The reports cite unnamed ‘sources’ who described the meetings as cordial and focused on limited areas of cooperation with regard to threats of mutual concern. The date of the meeting was not released but the sources said they had taken place recently. There has been no official confirmation of any such meetings but rumors of limited intelligence exchanges have circulated for many months and several analysts believe the drone strikes that resulted in the death of the al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were coordinated with elements from the Ministry of the Interior.

POISONINGS AT WEDDING PARTY IN FARYAB – A source said that nearly 20 guests who attended a wedding in the province were poisoned and had fallen ill. The source said that preliminary investigation results suggest that guests were served pomegranate juice that had been laced with sleeping pills. There were no suspects named at the time of the report. The case is eerily similar to an incident that occurred in Faryab in 2015. Approximately 40 people were reputedly poisoned during a dinner at a wedding ceremony event in the Province and investigators believed the case was perpetrated by a jealous rival who had been involved with the Taliban-led poisoning of Afghan school girls that affected roughly 300 children in Herat Province the same year.

WHILE THE US ADMINISTRATION HAS ‘CONFIRMED’ THE TALIBAN ASSERTION OVER THE DEATH OF THE MASTERMIND OF THE ABBEY GATE BOMBING, OTHERS DISAGREE – Several Afghanistan observers and members of the former regime’s intelligence service and military say the Taliban and the US Government are wrong and the plotter is alive and is possibly living in Kunar Province. While the identity of the corpse discovered after a security operation in Southern Afghanistan earlier this month has not been released, those claiming knowledge of the situation say they got the wrong man. They have identified Abdullah Omar Bajawari as the actual planner of the Abbey Gate attack. At this point, it is not clear who was killed and what role he may have played in the attack. US officials continue to assert, with high confidence, that the man killed by the Taliban was indeed responsible for the deadly attack. More information will likely be released over the coming weeks to provide clarity.

NEXT 24 HOURS
SEVERE WEATHER ALERTS HAVE BEEN ISSUED IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN – A strong storm system is expected to roll across both countries over the coming week. Heavy rain, strong winds, and hail will be widespread and emergency management agencies are warning agricultural workers and the transport sector about the possibility of flooding. The system could be met by a high-pressure system loitering over China and India which would cause it to remain over Pakistan, potentially into the first week of May. At-risk Afghans who reside in areas under threat from this system should set aside drinking water and food as the expected flooding is expected to pollute local drinking water supplies and disrupt the transport systems.

Link

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