1 The Long War Journal

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) captured two Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan commanders during separate raids in northern Afghanistan over the past two days. Special operations forces have captured five IMU operatives during five raids in the Afghan north so far this year.

Today, ISAF forces captured a a leader from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and another "insurgent" in Baghlan's Burkah district. The leader "is believed to have overseen intelligence operations for an IMU network and for coordinating IED emplacement in the province," ISAF stated in a press release. He also served as "a Taliban facilitator who provided safe haven for Taliban insurgents traveling through Burkah district."

And on Feb. 8, ISAF forces captured another IMU commander during an operation in Yangi Qal'ah district, Takhar province. The captured leader was an explosives expert who was "assisting with the planning of an impending high profile attack," according to ISAF. He is also known to have coordinated the building of IEDs and their movement in the province. One other suspected insurgent was detained during the raid.

The last operation targeting the IMU, which took place on Jan. 29, captured a IMU commander in Baghlan province. The commander was responsible for conducting assassinations and coordinating the supply of weapons to insurgents. That operation followed two other raids in early January which killed an IMU facilitator and captured an IMU leader who also served as a Taliban commander.

In the five raids reported by ISAF that targeted the IMU this year, three have taken place in Baghlan and two have taken place in Takhar. All three raids in Baghlan have occurred in the district of Burkah, which has long served as a safe haven for the IMU and the Taliban.

Additionally, on Feb. 7, ISAF also reported that its forces captured a senior Taliban leader who worked closely with the militant group Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) during an operation by Afghan and Coalition forces in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province. The commander is believed to facilitate suicide operations and "manages the recruitment, training and movement of insurgents to conduct attacks." He is also accused of using his "village leadership position to recruit suicide bombers and insider attack facilitators" from the local high school.

Both HIG and the IMU are known to have bases in the tribal regions of Pakistan and to support suicide bomber facilitation inside Afghanistan. On Sept. 18, 2012, a female HIG suicide bomber killed 12 people, mostly foreign workers, in an attack on a bus near Kabul International Airport.

Background on the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a key ally of al Qaeda and the Taliban, and supports operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as plots attacks in Europe. The IMU is known to fight alongside the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and has integrated into the Taliban's shadow government in northern Afghanistan. [For more information on the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, see LWJ report, IMU cleric urges Pakistanis to continue sheltering jihadis in Waziristan.]

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan fighters often serve as bodyguards for top Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda leaders. Apart from its operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the IMU has stepped up attacks in Central Asian countries as well. In September 2010, the IMU took credit for an ambush that killed 25 Tajik troops, and also threatened to carry out further attacks in the Central Asian country.

The IMU has claimed credit for numerous suicide assaults in Afghanistan, including the May 19, 2010 attack on the US military airbase in Bagram, the Oct. 15, 2011 assault on the Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Panjshir, and the Oct. 29, 2011 suicide attack that targeted an armored bus in Kabul.

The IMU has been a prime target of special operations forces in Afghanistan. Last year, special operations forces conducted at least 38 raids against the IMU; in Badakhshan, Baghlan, Faryab, Logar, Helmand, Kunduz, Takhar, and Wardak, or eight of Afghanistan's 34 provinces; according to ISAF press releases compiled by The Long War Journal.

In October 2012, the US Treasury Department added Qari Ayyub Bashir, the "head of finance" for the IMU, to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Bashir also serves as a member of the group's shura, or executive council. Identified as an Uzbek national, Bashir is based out of Mir Ali, in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. As the IMU's lead financier, he provides financial and "logistical" support for IMU operations in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and fundraises from outside the region.

Last spring, ISAF killed the two previous IMU leaders for Afghanistan, in raids just a few weeks apart in Faryab province. [See LWJ report, Special operations forces kill newly appointed IMU leader for Afghanistan, for more information.]

Additionally, the US has targeted the IMU's leaders and network in Pakistan's tribal areas. US drones have killed the last two emirs of the IMU. On Aug. 4, 2012, the IMU announced that its emir, Abu Usman Adil, was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan, and named Usman Ghazi as the new leader of the al Qaeda-linked terror group. Adil had succeeded Tahir Yuldashev, the co-founder of the IMU, who was killed in a drone strike in September 2009.

Adil is credited with increasing the IMU's profile in Pakistan and Afghanistan after the death of Yuldashev, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Whereas Yuldashev had been content with confining the group's operations largely to Pakistan's tribal areas, Adil pushed to expand operations in northern and eastern Afghanistan, as well is in the Central Asian republics.

Muhammad Jamal al Kashef, a main suspect in the Benghazi consulate assault, from a video posted by the Al Marsad News Network. Courtesy of SITE Intelligence Group.

Egyptian prosecutors have uncovered a treasure trove of information in the so-called "Nasr City Cell" case, including correspondence between the terrorist who headed that cell and al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. The Nasr City cell allegedly plotted various attacks inside Egypt and has connections to the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

One of the two terrorists who led the Nasr City cell is Muhammad Jamal al Kashef (a.k.a. Abu Ahmad), who served Zawahiri in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad in the 1990s.

A computer recovered during a raid on an apartment in the Nasr City neighborhood of Cairo on Oct. 24, 2012 includes correspondence between Jamal and Zawahiri. Two such letters were discussed in the Egyptian press last week. The revelation is important for many reasons. For instance, Jamal's trainees reportedly participated in the Benghazi attack, which left four Americans, including a US Ambassador, dead.

The letters do not deal with the assault in Benghazi. They were written beforehand and summarize Jamal's various nefarious activities, including inside Libya.

Letters to Zawahiri

Cairo's Al Yawm al Sabi first published one of the letters from Jamal to Zawahiri. The letter was apparently written in late 2011. The Long War Journal has obtained a translation of the original Al Yawm al Sabi account.

"My Dear Sheikh Abu Muhammad," Jamal begins, referring to Zawahiri by his kunya. Jamal goes on to call Zawahiri an "asset" for Islam and prays for Allah to enable Zawahiri to establish an Islamic state.

Jamal also thanks Allah "for the blessing of communication with my brother and teacher Sheikh Ayman." Jamal says he has greatly desired to see Zawahiri after his release from an Egyptian prison, "so that I can be by your side, which is an honor for me."

Because he was "banned for travel" and his "name was on a list of international terror in more than one Arab country," Jamal says, he could not reach Zawahiri. Jamal even tried, to no avail, to travel using fraudulent documents.

"So I resorted to send another person who was with me in prison," Jamal writes. He then explicitly mentions an "agreement" that was struck with Zawahiri. "Agreement was reached on jihadist action inside Egypt, irrespective of the conditions inside the country. We believed in the necessity of establishing a jihadist entity in Egypt."

Jamal writes that he "encouraged the youths by virtue of my past record to work with you." Somewhat cryptically, Jamal notes that he does not know Zawahiri's "opinion of establishing an effective jihadist organization in Egypt against the Zionist-Crusaders... or exploiting the security vacuum for advocacy and religious media promotion." It is not entirely clear what Jamal means.

Jamal then summarizes his work to date. Jamal's letter reads like a request for additional resources, given all that he has accomplished thus far. Jamal says he had established "solid forces from the cadres we trust here and an advanced base outside Egypt in Libya to take advantage of the conditions in Libya after the revolution." This was done "in order to buy weapons and also attract elements not known in Egypt."

Jamal writes that he formed "groups for us inside Sinai," an especially interesting revelation given that some jihadist groups there have openly proclaimed their allegiance to al Qaeda.

Shortly after he was released from prison in early 2011, Jamal began work. He complains that he "received an amount of money from our brothers in Yemen," a reference to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), "but it was much less than what is required." Zawahiri is "aware" of the "huge amounts of money" needed to purchase arms, set up training camps, move vehicles into the Sinai Peninsula, and "provide for the families of the brothers who work with us."

Transporting small arms and missiles from Libya into Egypt is expensive, Jamal writes. "We point out that part of the strategy of international action relies on heavy weapons like mortars and Grad Missiles." It is therefore necessary for them, Jamal continues, to request assistance from brothers who are either "hard-pressed" or "miserly."

At the conclusion of the letter, Jamal says he wanted "to speak with our brother Shakir in Yemen on this matter," but he was prevented from doing so due to "harsh circumstances." Jamal requests that Zawahiri reply to his plea for further assistance.

Cairo's Al Ahram published excerpts from another letter a few days after Al Yawm al Sabi's account. Al Ahram reported that the letter was dated Aug. 18, 2012. It includes some of the same details as the first, plus additional information.

In the second letter, Jamal calls the Sinai the "the next confrontation arena with the Jews and the Americans" and notes that Libya can be used as a passageway to other important areas, including Mali. He mentions forming "a solid nucleus" of trustworthy persons "who showed steadfastness during the prison days" to send abroad to wage jihad.

Jamal also makes two other noteworthy points. He says that he was a member of Zawahiri's contingent of guards. And he says he was the "teacher" in 1996 for the "brothers in Yemen," including "Abu Basir, Abu Hurayrah, and Abu al Zubayr Adil Ubab."

Abu Basir is an alias for Nasir al Wuhayshi, the emir of AQAP. Likewise, Qasim al Raymi, AQAP's military commander, is also known as Abu Hurayrah. Abu al Zubayr Adil Ubab is a well-known AQAP ideologue.

The excerpts of Jamal's letter published by Al Ahram therefore connect him to the most senior AQAP leaders, whom he reportedly contacted in order to get in touch with Zawahiri.

In sum, Jamal's letters to Zawahiri read like status reports, in which he summarizes his history and recent actions in an attempt to procure additional support. Jamal's mention of an "agreement...on jihadist action inside Egypt" that was struck with Zawahiri through an intermediary in 2011 is among the most significant revelations in the letters.

Additional pieces of correspondence found on the Nasr City cell's computer, including any responses from Zawahiri, would further illuminate this relationship. But the contents of these two letters show that Jamal is operating within al Qaeda's orbit. He defers to Zawahiri's leadership and says that he has received financial support from AQAP.

Jamal's ties to senior al Qaeda-linked jihadists, including those who incited the Sept. 11, 2012 anti-American protest in Cairo, are evident in other sources as well. [For more information, see LWJ report, Old school Egyptian jihadists linked to 9/11 Cairo protest, Benghazi suspect.]

Ties to Benghazi attack

According to Al Ahram's account, Jamal's second letter was written on Aug. 18, 2012 -- less than one month before the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. Multiple published reports confirm that some of Jamal's trainees took part in that attack.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that "[f]ighters linked to" Jamal were among those who assaulted the US Consulate. "Intelligence reports suggest that some of the attackers trained at camps [Jamal] established in the Libyan Desert, a former U.S. official said."

The New York Times has cited "American officials" as saying that some of the participants came from "the Muhammad Jamal network, a militant group in Egypt."

CNN reported that "many" of the attackers "are believed to be Egyptian jihadis" and that "an Egyptian jihad network," a reference to Jamal's network, was involved.

A member of the Nasr City cell who was killed during the Oct. 24 raid was allegedly involved in the Benghazi attack, although the precise details of his participation are not clear.

In addition, numerous additional ties between the Nasr City cell and al Qaeda have been found.

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda in Iraq's affiliate in Syria, led an assault today that resulted in the takeover of a major dam on the Euphrates River in northern Syria. Additionally, the terror group claimed credit for a suicide assault on an intelligence headquarters in the city of Palmyra.

The Al Nusrah Front spearheaded today's assault on the "strategic" dam in Thawra in Raqqa province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Nusrah Front led "other factions" of the insurgency to take control of Thawra, which "is considered one of the most important cities in north-east of Syria," and its dam, which is the largest in the country.

The Syrian military melted in the face of the Al Nusrah Front-led attack, the Observatory reported on its Facebook page. The group also published video of jihadists in control of the dam.

"The regime has not shown any serious resistance to the rebel takeover, the leaders of the security services were flown out of the cities with helicopters, they are now stationed at the Tabqa military airport," the human rights group reported.

The fall of Thawra puts the Al Nusrah Front and its rebel allies in virtual control of the Euphrates River Valley. Thawra is upriver from Deir al Zour, a major stronghold of the Al Nusrah Front and jihadist allies. The Al Nusrah Front has banded together with nine other Islamist groups to create the "Mujahideen Shura Council," which is modeled after a group with the same name that was formed by al Qaeda in Iraq in 2006 and which eventually became the Islamic State of Iraq. Al Nusrah has also imposed sharia, or Islamic law, in Mayadin and has a strong presence in Abu Kamal, which is on the border with Iraq.

Rebel groups also seized control of the Baath dam in Raqqa province and the Tishrin hydroelectric dam in Aleppo province, according to The Associated Press.

Control of the Euphrates River Valley will solidify Al Nusrah Front's lines of communication with al Qaeda in Iraq in Anbar province.

The Al Nusrah Front routinely conducts joint operations with other jihadist groups, as well as with supposedly secular rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army. The al Qaeda affiliate's ranks have been growing, and it is now estimated to have upwards of 10,000 fighters in its ranks.

Due to its organization and prowess on the battlefield, the terror group has become popular and is recruiting from other rival groups. The Nusrah Front has overrun three major military bases and conducted multiple suicide assaults, or "storming operations" as Al Nusrah calls them, on security and intelligence bases and headquarters throughout the country.

Al Nusrah Front claims suicide assault in Palmyra

Also today, the Al Nusrah Front claimed credit for the Feb. 6 suicide assault on an intelligence headquarters in the city of Palmyra in Homs province.

The terror group said it executed the attack "after a whole month of monitoring and planning," according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated the statement. A squad of five fighters assaulted the gate at sunrise, killing several guards, which then opened "the way for their martyrdom-seeking brothers ...."

The first suicide bomber "stormed in with his vehicle laden with 3 tons of explosives" and breached the inner gate. The second suicide bomber rammed "his truck laden with about 4.5 tons of explosives" into the heart of the compound. A third suicide bomber attacked a separate "State Security" compound about a half a mile away

The Al Nusrah Front said "private sources" claimed that "400 elements from the security forces" were killed in the attacks. Reports the day of the assault in Palmyra said that between 12 and 19 security personnel were killed [see Threat Matrix report, Suicide assault team hits Syrian intelligence in Palmyra].

An al Qaeda affiliate

On Dec. 11, 2012, the US designated the Al Nusrah Front as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The designation stated that the emir of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Du'a (a.k.a. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi al Husseini al Qurshi), "is in control of both AQI and Al Nusrah."

At the same time, the US added two senior Al Nusrah leaders, Maysar Ali Musa Abdallah al Juburi and Anas Hasan Khattab, both members of al Qaeda in Iraq, to the list of global terrorists; the US did not add the emir of Al Nusrah, Sheikh Abu Muhammad al Julani, to the list, however. [See LWJ report, US adds Al Nusrah Front, 2 leaders to terrorism list, for information on the designation of the Al Nusrah Front and the two leaders.]

Despite Al Nusrah's known affiliation with al Qaeda and its radical ideology, Syrian opposition groups, including the supposedly secular Syrian National Coalition, have rallied to support Al Nusrah. Immediately after the US designated Al Nusrah as a terrorist group, 29 Syrian opposition groups signed a petition that not only condemned the US's designation, but said "we are all Al Nusrah," and urged their supporters to raise Al Nusrah's flag (which is the flag of al Qaeda) [see LWJ report, Syrian National Coalition urges US to drop Al Nusrah terrorism designation].

The Al Nusrah Front has used al Qaeda's signature tactic -- the suicide bomber and suicide assault team -- to target Syrian security forces. The Al Nusrah Front has now claimed credit for 49 of the 59 suicide attacks that have taken place in Syria since December 2011, according to a tally by The Long War Journal (note that multiple suicide bombers deployed in a single operation are counted as part of a single attack). Seven suicide attacks have now been reported in Syria so far this year; Al Nusrah has claimed credit for six of them.

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US Lieutenant General James Terry, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and Deputy Commander of US Forces, recently provided an update on the development of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). He made two important points: the ANSF has taken responsibility for security for a large part of Afghanistan, and yet substantial work still remains to build a force that can sustain itself after ISAF withdraws in 2014.

Afghan National Army deploys armored transport vehicles.

ANSF combat units are leading more combat operations and assuming security responsibility for most of the population

ANSF combat forces have transitioned to the lead in combat operations in much of Afghanistan. ISAF forces had a "partnering" relationship in which ANSF and ISAF worked side by side in both planning and executing combat operations. Starting in June 2012, the ANSF and ISAF began transitioning to a new 'Leading/Supporting' relationship. ISAF began withdrawing full combat brigades and replacing them with smaller support brigades, while partnered ANSF units transitioned to leading operations with the US teams in support.

Transfer of security responsibility to the Afghan National Security Forces..

Concurrently, the ANSF began taking over the security responsibility for areas of Afghanistan. This process was planned for five phases, or tranches. The first tranche started the transfer of security responsibility to the ANSF in July 2011. The latest phase, Tranche 4, will begin in March. With this phase, the ANSF will have taken ownership of areas that contain 87% of Afghanistan population.

As a result of these two processes, the ANSF has assumed responsibility for security for a large portion of Afghanistan. While these transfers are substantial, they do not include the areas most affected by the Taliban insurgency:

Kunar and Nuristan provinces in the north

Paktia, Paktika, and Khost provinces in the east

Panjwai and Maywand districts in western Kandahar province

Sangin, Musa Qala, and Kajaki districts in northern Helmand province

These areas will transfer to the ANSF sometime in 2014.

Afghanistan is currently in the winter lull. Fighting will pick up in again in April as this summer's fighting season resumes, providing a major test of ANSF's ability to maintain security across Afghanistan.

Substantial work remains in developing ANSF combat support units

While the ANSF's combat units are relatively mature, its combat support units are much less so. Development activity has shifted to building these units. Looming over this is the impending withdrawal of US and ISAF forces from Afghanistan, the vast majority of which will leave by the end of 2014. While the US/ISAF provides most of the ANSF's combat support functions right now, there are no plans to continue this support after 2014. This leaves the ANSF with limited time (and money) to build of its own capability. Therefore, the ANSF has scaled back on its plans. Instead of building the combat support units to the standards of Western armies, the units will be built to lower, although still effective, Afghan standards.

One example of the necessary scaling back is medical evacuation of battlefield wounded. For Western armies, the wounded are evacuated by helicopter directly from the battlefield to a fully equipped military hospital. For the ANSF, however, evacuation will be done using ground transportation, and the wounded will be evacuated to the nearest civilian medical facility. Another example is fire support. Currently, US/ISAF provides ubiquitous fire support with attack aircraft and helicopters. But fire support from the Afghan Air Force will not be available by 2014, if ever. Consequently, the ANSF will have to rely on fire support from ground units, which would mean 60mm mortars for infantry companies and 122mm howitzers for infantry battalions and brigades.

Other Afghan combat support units being built include armored transport vehicles, logistics, counter-IED, and transport helicopters.

But the essential fact remains that the ANSF will be substantially on its own after 2014. It will have to live with whatever it can build by then.

One day after the largest dam in Syria fell to jihadists spearheaded by al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, Islamist fighters seized control of a nearby airbase. Jihadists have now taken control of four major military installations in Syria since October 2012.

"Rebel fighters from several islamist factions have fully taken over the al-Jarrah military airport," according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which closely tracks the Syrian civil war. Five "rebels" were killed, and more than 40 "regime forces" were wounded or captured during the fighting.

A video of Islamist fighters battling at the al-Jarrah airbase was released on YouTube. Several aircraft are seen in hangars, and others, which appear to be unserviceable, are parked on the sides of the runway. Cases of ammunition are seen stacked next to what appears to be an operational MiG fighter that is inside a hangar.

A fighter from the Islamist faction known as the Ahrar al Sham Brigades, a jihadist group in Syria, is heard saying that the aircraft "are now in the hands" of the group.

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, also participated in the assault on the al-Jarrah airbase, a US intelligence official who is monitoring al Qaeda's operations in Syria told The Long War Journal. Yesterday, the Al Nusrah Front led other Islamist groups in taking over the dam in nearby Thawra.

The Al Nusrah Front and Ahrar al Sham have conducted several joint operations against President Assad's regime. In mid-January, the two groups teamed up with the Islamic Vanguard to seize control of Taftanaz, a key Syrian air force base in Idlib province. After the assault, videos of the jihadists touring the base and inspecting seized tanks, armored vehicles, and helicopters were posted on YouTube, LiveLeak, and other video sharing websites [see LWJ report, Al Nusrah, jihadist allies overrun Syrian airbase].

In addition to the al-Jarrah airbase and Taftanaz, two other major military installations have now been overrun by the Al Nusrah Front since the beginning of October 2012. On Dec. 10, the Al Nusrah Front and allied jihadists took control of the Sheikh Suleiman base, or Base 111. Arab and Chechen fighters participated in the assault on Sheikh Suleiman, which is said to be a key research facility linked to the regime's chemical weapons program [see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front, foreign jihadists seize key Syrian base in Aleppo].

And on Oct. 11, Al Nusrah, the supposedly secular Free Syrian Army, and Chechen fighters overran a Syrian air defense and Scud missile base in Aleppo [see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front commanded Free Syrian Army unit, 'Chechen emigrants,' in assault on Syrian air defense base].

Over the past several months, the Al Nusrah Front and its allies have effectively seized control of the Euphrates River Valley and have secured lines of communication with Al Nusrah's parent group, al Qaeda in Iraq [see LWJ report, Al Nusrah front spearheads capture of Syrian dam, claims suicide assault].

"Inaam," a slain American jihadist praised by the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan recently released a video of so-called "martyrs" that includes two previously unknown jihadists from the United States and Britain. The two Western jihadists were mentioned with some of al Qaeda, the Taliban and other allied groups' top commanders as well as numerous fighters who have been killed while waging jihad.

The video, which was released on jihadist forums on Feb. 6, was produced by Umar Studio, the media arm of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. The Taliban video was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The video consists of images of scores of top terrorists leaders killed over the past four decades, to include Abdullah Azzam and Osama bin Laden, the co-founders of al Qaeda; "Qari Tahir Jaan," or Tahir Yuldashev, and Abu Usman Adil two previous emirs of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; "Saif-ul-Islam Khattab," or Ibn Khattab, a previous leader of the Arab fighters in Chechnya; Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the founder of al Qaeda in Iraq; Baitullah Mehsud, the founder of the The Movement of the Taliban; Nek Muhammad and Abdullah Massoud, two senior Taliban leaders in South Waziristan (Abdullah Massoud was also a detainee at Guantanamo Bay); Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the Afghan Taliban's military commander; senior al Qaeda leaders Mustafa Abu Yazid and Abu Laith al Libi; and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas.

The Taliban identifed the Western jihadists as "Inaam," who is from "America," and "Abbas", who is from "Britain." The full identities of Inaam and Abbas are not disclosed, nor have their deaths been reported in the press. The Taliban did not disclose the date or locations of their deaths, or how they were killed.

Inaam and Abbas may have been killed in Pakistan, perhaps in a drone strike or while fighting the Pakistani security services. The US thought to have killed at least three Brits in drone strikes in 2010. Abdul Jabbar, in an airstrike in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan on Sept. 8. 2010. Jabbar was said to have been appointed as the future leader of the so-called Islamic Army of Great Britain. And on Dec. 10, 2010, another strike in the in Datta Khel is said to have killed Abu Bakr and Mansoor Ahmed [see LWJ report, British, German jihadists involved in Europe plot killed in Predator strikes, and Threat Matrix report, 'White' Britons reported killed in North Waziristan strike].

Both Inaam and Abbas are mentioned with a group of Taliban commanders and fighters who were killed in the tribal agencies of Bajaur, Arakzai, Mohmand, and North and South Waziristan, the settled districts of Lakki Marwat and Attock, and in the Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkwa province.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, is a close ally of al Qaeda. The two groups train and fight together in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Documents seized from Osama bin Laden's compound showed that Hakeemullah communicated directly with al Qaeda's top leaders [see LWJ report, Bin Laden docs: Al Qaeda asserts authority in letter to Pakistani Taliban leader].

Hakeemullah personally praised bin Laden in the videotape that featured Inaam and Abbas.

"We can only please Allah if we are killed fighting in His Cause," Hakeemullah said, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. "One example is of Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah have mercy on him. He endured so much difficulties and won Allah's blessing by sacrificing his life in the Cause of Allah."

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, and allied jihadist and so-called secular rebels have taken control of yet another Syrian military base. The base is the second to fall to jihadists in the past two days.

Last night the Al Nusrah Front, together with the Tawhid Brigade and the Muhajireen Group, stormed the base of the Syrian military's 80th Regiment (or Brigade), which is situated near the main airport in Aleppo in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The three jihadist groups and "others" had taken "over [the base of the 80th Regiment] fully last night," the Observatory, which closely monitors the civil war, reported on its Facebook page. One "rebel" and three Syrian soldiers were killed in the fighting.

The Muhajireen Group is a jihadist outfit allied with the Al Nusrah Front. The term 'muhajireen' means 'emigrants,' a strong indication that many of its fighters are from outside of Syria.

The Tawhid Brigade is a unit in the Free Syrian Army, which is touted in the Western press as a secular fighting force. The Tawhid Brigade operates in Aleppo and is known to have ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist political party.

Video of "weapons seized by the rebels after taking the 80th regiment" was published on YouTube. A large supply of assault weapons is seen in the video.

The Al Nusrah Front has been leading the fight to take over the main airport in Aleppo since at least December 2012 [see Threat Matrix report, Al Nusrah Front on the offensive in Aleppo].

Second base to fall

The 80th Regiment's headquarters in Aleppo is the second Syrian military installation to fall in the past two days. Yesterday, the Ahrar al Sham Brigades, another jihadist group, and the Al Nusrah Front took control of the al-Jarrah airbase in Thawra. Operational Syrian military aircraft were seized by the jihadists during the assault.

Two days ago, the Al Nusrah Front led other Islamist groups in taking over Syria's largest dam, which is also located in Thawra.

The Al Nusrah Front has cooperated with the Free Syrian Army and the Muhajireen Group to take control of military bases over the past several months. The Muhajireen Group teamed up with Al Nusrah to overrun the Sheikh Suleiman base, or Base 111, in mid-December. Arab and Central Asian fighters are reported to have participated in the battle [see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front, foreign jihadists seize key Syrian base in Aleppo].

And on Oct. 11, Al Nusrah, the Free Syrian Army, and Chechen fighters overran a Syrian air defense and Scud missile base in Aleppo [see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front commanded Free Syrian Army unit, 'Chechen emigrants,' in assault on Syrian air defense base].

An al Qaeda affiliate

The Al Nusrah Front has used al Qaeda's signature tactic -- the suicide bomber and suicide assault team -- to target Syrian security forces. The Al Nusrah Front has now claimed credit for 49 of the 60 suicide attacks that have taken place in Syria since December 2011, according to a tally by The Long War Journal (note that multiple suicide bombers deployed in a single operation are counted as part of a single attack). Eight suicide attacks have now been reported in Syria so far this year; Al Nusrah has claimed credit for six of them.

The al Qaeda affiliate's ranks have been growing, and it is now estimated to have upwards of 10,000 fighters in its ranks.

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, continues to steamroll over President Bashir al Assad's forces in eastern Syria. After taking control of a dam, a city, and a military base just days ago, the terror group seized control of the town of al-Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasakah today. Five foreign jihadists were among those reported killed.

"Rebel fighters from Jabhat al Nusrah have taken almost full control over the city of al-Shadadi, after violent clashes that lasted for 3 days," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on its Facebook page.

The Observatory, which closely tracks the Syrian civil war, stated that the Al Nusrah Front "used several suicide car bombs during the 3 days of fighting."

More than 30 Al Nusrah Front fighters, including five "non-Syrian fighters," and 100 Syrian security personnel were killed in the fighting. Additionally, "tens of civilian workers at the Syrian oil company were killed after Al Nusrah fighters took large parts of the oil fields and the residential quarters of the workers."

The Observatory said the five foreign Al Nusrah Front fighters "were Kuwaiti and Iraqi."

Foreign fighters are known to play a significant role in the Al Nusrah Front. Jordanians, Iraqis, North Africans, and Russians from the Caucasus are known to fight in the ranks of the Al Nusrah Front. The Al Nusrah Front is an affiliate of al Qaeda in Iraq, and is commanded by Abu Du'a, AQI's emir, according to the US State Department.

The Observatory also published a video of Al Nusrah Front fighters celebrating in al-Shadadi. The fighters chant "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) and "Nusrah, Nusrah, Nusrah." Bodies of dead Syrian security personnel are also shown as the cameraman walks through a compound.

The Al Nusrah Front's takeover of al-Shadadi is the latest in a string of successes by the al Qaeda affiliate this week. Yesterday, Al Nusrah took control of the headquarters of the Syrian Army's 80th Regiment headquarters in Aleppo. Earlier this week, the Ahrar al Sham Brigades, another jihadist group, and the Al Nusrah Front took control of the al-Jarrah airbase in Thawra. Operational Syrian military aircraft were seized by the jihadists during the assault. In addition, the Al Nusrah Front led other Islamist groups in taking over Syria's largest dam, which is also located in Thawra. [For more information on the Al Nusrah Front's recent military successes, see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front, foreign jihadists overrun another Syrian military base]

A "confidential letter" from Abdelmalek Droukdel, the emir of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, to his fighters in northern Mali shows that the group sought to use the country to wage a global jihad. But Droukdel instructed his followers to mask their operations and "pretend to be a 'domestic' movement" so as not to draw international attention and intervention.

The lengthy letter from Droukdel, who is also known as Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, was found by The Associated Press at a compound in Timbuktu that had been occupied by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Large portions of the letter are missing, but the existing pages provide valuable insight into Droukdel's view of the situation in Mali. More importantly, they show how al Qaeda seeks to use local Islamist insurgencies to further its international goals of establishing a global caliphate and waging jihad against the West.

The letter is not dated, but was written sometime after AQIM and its allies, the Movement for the Oneness and Jihai in West Africa (MUJAO) and Ansar Dine turned on an erstwhile ally, the Movement for the Liberation of Northern Azawad (MNLA), after the groups seized control of northern Mali in March 2012.

Droukdel begins his letter with a prediction that the West is likely to intervene in Mali.

"[T]he great powers with hegemony over the international situation, despite their weakness and their retreat caused by military exhaustion and the financial crisis, still have many cards to play that enable them to prevent the creation of an Islamic state in Azawad ruled by the jihadis and Islamists," he says.

"And so, It is very probable, perhaps certain, that a military intervention will occur, whether directly or indirectly, or that a complete economic, political and military blockade will be imposed along with multiple pressures, which in the end will either force us to retreat to our rear bases or will provoke the people against us ..." he continues.

France ultimately intervened in Mali last month after the al Qaeda-led jihadist alliance launched an offensive to take central and southern Mali. The jihadists likely would have succeeded had France not intervened, as the Malian military was in retreat.

Later in the document, Droukdel urges his followers in Mali not to draw attention to al Qaeda's international intentions lest it invite Western intervention.

"As for foreign policies, you must adopt mature and moderate rhetoric that reassures and calms," he writes. "To do so, you must avoid any statements that are provocative to neighboring countries and avoid repeated threats. Better for you to be silent and pretend to be a 'domestic' movement that has its own causes and concerns. There is no call for you to show that we have an expansionary, jihadi, Qaeda or any other sort of project."

Droukdel then notes the importance of keeping Mali under al Qaeda's sphere of influence in order to keep it as a "refuge" and a base for operations.

"Gaining a region under our control and a people fighting for us and a refuge for our members that allows us to move forward with our program at this stage is no small thing and nothing to be underestimated," he notes. "The enemy's constant, persistent effort now is to not leave any safe havens for the Mujahedeen. So take that into account."

Droukdel then outlines a plan to mask AQIM's use of Mali as a base for global jihadist operations. He tells his followers to cooperate with Ansar Dine, the local jihadist group in northern Mali. And he orders AQIM in Mali to split into two groups: one that would fall under operational control of Ansar Dine in order to administer northern Mali, and the other which would handle "external activity." This, Droukdel says, will shield Ansar Dine from foreign scrutiny and allow it to retain control of northern Mali.

"In external activity, connected to our global jihad, we would be independent of them (Ansar Dine)," Droukdel says. "We would ensure that none of that activity or its repercussions is attributed to them, as care must be taken over negative impacts on the project of the state."

"A portion of the Mujahedeen of al-Qaida would be set aside and put under the complete control of the emir of Ansar Dine to participate in bearing the burden of running the affairs of the liberated cities," he continues. "The other portion would remain completely independent of Ansar Dine and its activity would be limited to jihadi action outside the region."

Droukdel's plan to cooperate with local jihadist groups to further al Qaeda's ends, and mask that cooperation, is a common tactic. Osama bin Laden, the former emir of al Qaeda, instructed Mukhtar Abu al Zubayr, the leader of Shabaab, to hide Shabaab's ties to al Qaeda so as not to draw foreign attention. Bin Laden's order was first reported by The Long War Journal in August 2010; the report was confirmed when the US government declassified just 17 of the thousands of letters and documents seized from bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan after the May 2011 raid.

Al Qaeda has also sought to mask its operations behind the aegis of local jihadist groups in Yemen and the Middle East as well as elsewhere in North Africa. Ansar al Sharia in Yemen was formed to serve as a political front for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, while Ansar al Sharia groups have sprung up in Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Egypt over the past few years. Similarly, the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant was formed in January 2012 as a front group for al Qaeda in Iraq. Longtime al Qaeda operatives serve in leadership roles in all of these groups.

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, claimed credit today for two suicide attacks that occurred within the past two weeks.

The Syrian terror group claimed credit for the attacks in the capital of Damascus and the town of al-Shadadi, which it took over just days ago, in a series of statements released on its Twitter site. The statements were obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

In the first statement, the Al Nusrah Front said it launched a complex suicide attack, or a "storming" operation, as the group calls it, against the "al-Thalatheen in the al-Yarmouk camp in Damascus," according to SITE. A suicide bomber, identified as Abu al Fawz al Ansari, "drove directly, immersing himself in the heart of the barracks of the [thugs] on al-Thalatheen Street," and killing an estimated 70 members of President Assad's security forces. After the suicide attack, Al Nusrah fighters lobbed mortar rounds at the complex, and then "15 of the Front's lions stormed" the building.

Al Nusrah released photographs of the suicide attack and the fighters launching mortars at the Damascus compound [see images above].

In a separate communiqué, the Al Nusrah Front detailed the takeover of the town of al-Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasakah. In the statement, the group indicated that it assaulted a military headquarters with a suicide attack.

"As for the city, no one was left except some apostates who escaped the martyrdom-seeking operation in the military security headquarters, and the mujahideen besieged them and tightened the noose around them," the Al Nusrah Front stated.

This is consistent with previous reports of suicide attacks in al-Shadadi, which until today have not been claimed [see Threat Matrix report, Suicide bombers kill 14 Syrian security personnel, and LWJ report, Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate seizes control of another town].

The Al Nusrah Front has used al Qaeda's signature tactic -- the suicide bomber and suicide assault team -- to target Syrian security forces. Some of these attacks have been carried out in conjunction with supposedly secular Free Syrian Army units as well as with allied jihadist groups.

The Al Nusrah Front has now claimed credit for 51 of the 61 suicide attacks that have taken place in Syria since December 2011, according to a tally by The Long War Journal (note that multiple suicide bombers deployed in a single operation are counted as part of a single attack). Nine suicide attacks have now been reported in Syria so far this year; Al Nusrah has claimed credit for eight of them.

An al Qaeda affiliate

The al Qaeda affiliate's ranks have been growing, and it is now estimated to have upwards of 10,000 fighters in its ranks.

Due to its organization and prowess on the battlefield, the terror group has become popular and is recruiting from other rival groups. The Nusrah Front has overrun four major military bases and conducted multiple storming operations on security and intelligence bases and headquarters throughout the country.

Yahya Abu Hammam, the emir of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's operations in the Sahel. Image from the ANI.

The US added the head of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's operations in the Sahel region of North Africa to the list of global terrorists yesterday.

Yahya Abu Hammam, whose real name is Jemal Oukacha, was added by the US to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists for his "key role in the group's ongoing terrorist activities in North Africa and Mali," the US Treasury Department stated in a press release.

"Today's designation supports ongoing international efforts to isolate AQIM, deny its members the benefits of their violent and criminal acts, and help restore Mali's territorial integrity," Treasury stated.

Hammam has been waging jihad in North Africa since the 1990s, according to Magharebia.com, which profiled the AQIM emir in October 2012. He was detained by the Algerian government for 18 months, then released. He subsequently joined the Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat, which eventually morphed into AQIM in 2006.

"In 2004, he joined fighters in northern Mali and southern Algeria where he served under the command of Khaled Abou El Abbas, who was then emir of the Sahara," Magharebia.com reported. Hammam fought in northern Mali and Mauritania, where he was involved in several attacks against the Mauritanian military. In one such attack, in 2005 against the Lemgheity barracks, 17 Mauritanian soldiers were killed.

Prior to being appointed the head of AQIM's operations in the Sahel, he served as the group's emir in the northern Malian town of Timbuktu. Under his rule, numerous Muslim shrines were destroyed and civilians were beaten for the slightest infractions of sharia, or Islamic law.

Hammam was named the emir of the Sahel after his predecessor, Nabil Abu Alqama, was killed in a car crash. Upon taking command, Hammam named Abdel Mejid Abou Zeid as his deputy. Zeid leads the Taregh Ibn Ziyad brigade, which operates throughout Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and southern Algeria. Zeid's brigade is responsible for the beheading of the British hostage Edwin Dyer in May 2009. Algerians, Mauritanians, Malians, and Moroccans are known to fight with both Hammam and Zeid.

The US said that Hammam "as of late 2011 ... reportedly had possession of multiple European hostages." The French accuse Hammam of executing Michel Germaneau, an elderly aid worker, in July 2010. AQIM has brought in tens of millions of dollars by kidnapping European hostages for ransom.

Hammam is known to be close to Abdelmalek Droukdel, the emir of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

AQIM, in alliance with the Movement for the Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and Ansar Dine, seized control of northern Mali in March 2012. France ultimately intervened in Mali last month after the al Qaeda-led jihadist alliance launched an offensive to take central and southern Mali. The jihadists likely would have succeeded had France not intervened, as the Malian military was in retreat.

A document written by Droukdel that was found at an AQIM command center in Timbuktu after the town fell to the French exposed the terror group's plan to use northern Mali as a base to conduct attacks in the region and against the West.

Hezbollah's flag is draped over the coffin of General Hassan Shateri, who was killed in Syria. Image from the Fars News Agency.

On Feb. 13, press reports stated that General Hassan Shateri had been killed in Syria. The circumstances and exact date of Shateri's death are not entirely clear, however.

Iran's embassy in Beirut said that Shateri, a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, had been killed by "armed terrorists" while traveling from Damascus to Beirut. Iran's Fars News Agency said that Shateri had been killed by the "Zionist regime's henchmen." The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that Syrian rebels were responsible for Shateri's death.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army claimed that Shateri did not die on Feb. 12, as many reports had suggested. According to the spokesman, Shateri had been killed in Israel's strike on a weapons convoy near the SSRC facility in Jamraya in late January.

Shateri is "the highest-ranking Iranian official killed in Syria's uprising" to date, according to the Wall Street Journal. Shateri's importance is further seen by the fact that his family was notified of his "martyrdom" by the head of Iran's Quds Force, Major General Qassem Soleimani, according to Abna News Agency. As Iranian-Israeli analyst Meir Javedanfar noted, Soleimani "does not confirm the death of any ordinary IRGC person."

Photos from Shateri's funeral in Tehran on Feb. 14 show Soleimani sobbing as well as IRGC head Mohammad Ali Jafari and Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. Shateri's ties to Hezbollah were also apparent during the funeral, as at one point a Hezbollah flag was seen on top of his coffin.

In addition, Shateri was compared to former Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyah, who was killed in February 2008 in Damascus. Influential cleric Hojatoleslam Panahiyan said: "Shateri was no less than Mughniyah. He had a special place, in the way that he will be missed and his purity. That's all that can be said as his secret contributions cannot be mentioned." Mourners at Iran's embassy in Beirut on Feb. 14 included a number of Hezbollah officials.

Background on Hassan Shateri

Hassan Shateri, a.k.a. Hessam Khoshnevis, who was added in 2010 to the US's list of global terrorists along with three other IRGC leaders "for their roles in the IRGC-QF's support of terrorism," was a senior commander in the IRGC as well as the director of the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon (ICRL).

According to the Treasury Department designation, Shateri provided "technical support to Hezbollah's reconstruction efforts in Lebanon and to the expansion of the terrorist group's private communications network." In addition, he was "President Ahmadinejad's personal representative in Lebanon."

A recent report in Asharq Al-Awsat gives more details on Shateri's activities in Lebanon. According to the report, Shateri was sent to Lebanon in 2006 and "controlled several funds amounting to $200 million a year used to replace Hezbollah's lost arsenal and rebuild its missile sites close to the demarcation line with Israel." Additionally, he "sat on Hezbollah's Central Command and helped shape the party's policies with advice from Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah." More importantly, Shateri helped with "the creation of an 'inner-state' in Lebanon."

In Lebanon, Shateri also reportedly had a thriving real estate company in addition to a "business empire" that included "banks, shopping malls, hotels, transport companies, radio and television networks, newspapers, and travel agencies."

The Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon (ICRL), which Shateri headed, was also designated in 2010 by Treasury. According to Treasury, the ICRL "was established by the Government of Iran after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict and functions as a key channel for Iran's support to Hezbollah reconstruction efforts in Lebanon." In addition, it "financed and facilitated Hezbollah's infrastructure and private communications network that enables the terrorist group to communicate securely."

A senior al Qaeda commander who waged jihad for more than 20 years in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Chechnya, and the Sudan was killed in a French airstrike in Mali.

A Sudanese jihadist announced the death of "Mujahid Sheikh" Abu Hazim al Sudani in a statement released today on al Qaeda-linked Internet forums. The statement was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Abu Hazim was a leader of al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Niles, an al Qaeda affiliate in Sudan, a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal. Abu Hazim had traveled to Mali to serve with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb at the beginning of Operation Serval, the French operation launched against the al Qaeda-linked jihadist groups that threatened to take over Mali, the intelligence official said.

According to the jihadist who published Abu Hazim's martyrdom notice, the Sudanese commander's "blood was spilled as a result of bombing by the French during the latest Crusader campaign in Mali." The date and location of the French airstrike were not disclosed.

French warplanes have launched numerous airstrikes in the effort to retake central and northern Mali from the jihadist alliance of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa. The French intervened in Mali in January after the jihadist alliance pushed southward and threatened to take the capital of Bamako.

Abu Hazim was a well-traveled and seasoned commander who had fought, preached, and trained in multiple jihadist theaters over the past four decades. He had spent "twenty-something years with emigration, jihad, garrison and captivity," and fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan, in "the jungles of the Philippines," and on the "borders of Chechnya." He had "roamed all over Sudan, east and west," and also was present in Darfur.

"Mujahideen and martyrs graduated at his hands, and the knights of Cuba [Guantanamo] and the martyrs of Iraq and Somalia testify for him," his martyrdom statement says.

He reportedly had been detained several times by Sudan's intelligence service, and was supposedly interrogated by the CIA once.

"Each time he got out of prison he was stronger and more determined. The prisons and their cells didn't dissuade him," the statement says.

Abu Hazim's death in an airstrike comes as no surprise. In October 2012, Malian officials reported that hundreds of foreign jihadists had arrived in the northern towns of Gao and Timbuktu. More than 150 Sudanese fighters were said to have traveled to Timbuktu alone, according to multiple news reports.

Sudan has a long history of hosting al Qaeda and supporting its global and regional jihad. Until they were kicked out by the Sudanese government after US pressure, Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, other al Qaeda leaders, and a host of fighters maintained their base in the country.

Al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Niles, an al Qaeda affiliate in Sudan, has operated in the country for years. In the beginning of January, the US added two al Qaeda-linked operatives who murdered a US diplomat and his driver in Khartoum in 2008 to the list of global terrorists. A video of the two terrorists, who escaped from prison in 2010, was released in December 2012. Last month, the terror group launched a "student wing" at the University of Khartoum.

Sudanese jihadists continue to operate in multiple theaters, including in nearby Somalia. In 2007, Abu Talha al Sudani was killed in a US airstrike in Somalia in 2007. Al Sudani was al Qaeda's ideological and strategic leader in East Africa. Along with bin Laden, Zawahiri, and other top al Qaeda leaders, he was involved the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

A Facebook page entry by Ansar al Sharia Egypt showing Sheikh Adel Shehato after his arrest.

The US has not been granted access to the senior members of the so-called "Nasr City Cell" who were arrested late last year, according to several American officials familiar with the case. The Nasr City Cell is an al Qaeda-linked group that reportedly plotted acts of terrorism inside Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, Libya, and Mali.

The cell has also been tied to the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, during which four Americans, including US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, were killed.

Egyptian authorities first detained members of the cell during a raid in the Nasr City neighborhood of Cairo on Oct. 24, 2012. The US government has asked Egypt for permission to interview the senior-most detainees in custody, according to intelligence and law enforcement officials contacted by The Long War Journal. Thus far, the Americans have been rebuffed.

The senior cell members in Egyptian custody include Muhammad Jamal al Kashef (a.k.a. Abu Ahmed), a longtime jihadist who corresponded with al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri in 2011 and 2012, and Sheikh Adel Shehato, a senior Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) figure who has openly proclaimed his allegiance to al Qaeda's ideology.

According to multiple press accounts, some of the participants in the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack were trained in camps established by Jamal inside Libya. Shehato was one of several al Qaeda-linked jihadists who helped instigate a protest outside of the US Embassy in Cairo earlier that same day. [For more on Jamal's ties to the jihadists involved in the Cairo protest, see LWJ report: Old school Egyptian jihadists linked to 9/11 Cairo protest, Benghazi suspect.]

American officials have not been able to interview either Jamal or Shehato despite their high-profile ties to the al Qaeda-led terror network.

Both Jamal and Shehato were imprisoned during the tenure of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, released in 2011, and re-arrested in late 2012.

Correspondence with Ayman al Zawahiri

Communications between Jamal and Ayman al Zawahiri were uncovered during the investigation into the Nasr City Cell.

Jamal is deferential to Zawahiri in the letters and clearly sees himself as the al Qaeda leader's subordinate, praising Zawahiri and saying that it would be an "honor" to sit next to him. Jamal summarizes his past, including his stint as a bodyguard for Zawahiri during the 1990s, and recent activities. He also asks for additional financial support, saying he has received funds from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) but the amount is insufficient for his operations.

Jamal explains in the letters that he has set up camps in Libya and the Sinai and has also dispatched Egyptian terrorists to Mali.

The Egyptian press has reprinted the entirety of a letter written in late 2011 and excerpts of another written on Aug. 18, 2012. Two press accounts concerning Jamal's letters to Zawahiri that appeared in Al Yawm al Sabi and Al Ahram were previously summarized by The Long War Journal. [See LWJ report, Communications with Ayman al Zawahiri highlighted in 'Nasr City cell' case.]

A third Egyptian press report, published by Cairo's Al Jumhuriyah earlier this month, contains still more excerpts from Jamal's Aug. 18, 2012 letter.

Al Jumhuriyah reported that Ayman al Zawahiri was presented with "several offers" in the letter, including training jihadist cadres to be sent abroad to gain additional experience.

Jamal asks the al Qaeda master, "Do you still hold the same view of setting up a jihadist entity against Zionist-crusaders, or do you opt for Dawa work?" This query was made in reference to the post-revolutionary Egypt. The term "Dawa" includes proselytizing and charity work intended to woo new converts.

"With God's grace we set up that base in Libya. Also with God's grace we succeeded in setting up a group led by Malik al Masri, who is known to brother jihadists in Libya," Jamal writes.

"We reached Mali and set up a nucleus led by our brother Nasir al Masri," Jamal adds. "We need a direct and swift recommendation of brother Nasir from Shaykh Abu Mus'ab. We will keep you posted on the situation in Mali in the next message."

Thus, the letter reads like a status report, in which Jamal promises to keep Ayman al Zawahiri up-to-date on his activities in Mali and elsewhere. The identities of the individuals in Libya and Mali mentioned by Jamal are not clear.

Jamal pleads for additional support in his August 2012 letter: "Our financial depletion has curtailed our ability to purchase and enhance the weaponry useful to us in our clash in Egypt, although they are abundant in Libya and can easily be transported to Egypt."

Jamal explains that he has set up groups inside the Sinai. "We would like to point out that the biggest faction in Sinai is the Salafi front," Jamal writes. "They are well known. They were responsible for anti-gas pipeline operations and we know them personally."

Sheikh Shehato

In addition to publishing excerpts of Jamal's letter, Al Jumhuriyah also examined the various roles played by the Nasr City Cell's members. Sheikh Shehato is described as one of the cell's leaders and as being responsible for training and giving orders to the other members. [For more on Shehato and the Nasr City Cell, see LWJ reports: Egypt arrests pro-al Qaeda jihadist tied to Benghazi suspect, and More al Qaeda links to Cairo terror cell reportedly found.]

Salafi jihadist groups with ties to al Qaeda have been agitating for the release of the Nasr City Cell's detained members. For instance, Ansar al Sharia Egypt posted a picture of Sheikh Shehato entering an Egyptian courtroom in late December. The group, which is headed by an openly pro-al Qaeda jihadist named Ahmed Ashush, criticized the Muslim Brotherhood for allowing the prosecution to continue. The Facebook post can be seen at the top of this article.

Similarly, Mohammed al Zawahiri has professed Jamal's innocence in the Benghazi attack.

ISAF has announced that a Taliban operative who facilitated insider attacks was killed last week in Kunar province along with an associate. The operative was responsible for the May 11, 2012 green-on-blue attack in Kunar that killed one American soldier and wounded two others.

According to yesterday's ISAF press release, a Taliban facilitator named Mahmood and his associate Rashid, "a former Afghan National Army soldier who facilitated and assisted with insider attack planning and execution," were killed in a security operation in the Ghaziabad district of Kunar province on Feb. 13.

The relevant part of the ISAF operational update for Feb. 13 states: "Afghan and coalition forces killed two insurgents during an operation in Ghaziabad district, Kunar province, Tuesday. During the operation, the security force observed two individuals engaged in insurgent activity. The security force engaged the insurgents with a precision strike, killing both."

In August 2012, the Taliban released a 34-minute video showing Taliban commanders in eastern Kunar province separately 'welcoming' two Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers suspected of killing US and Afghan soldiers in green-on-blue attacks. Featured in the video was "Ghazi" Mahmood from Gereshk district in Helmand, who, the Taliban claimed, gunned down "a dozen American troops" in Kunar on May 11. [See Threat Matrix report, Observations on Taliban video 'welcoming' rogue ANA soldiers.]

ISAF had previously reported that Mahmood was killed last fall. On Sept. 15, 2012, an airstrike in the Bar Kunar district of Kunar province killed a Taliban insider attack planner named Mahmood. At the time, ISAF said the slain Mahmood was responsible for the May 11, 2012 insider attack in Kunar. [For more information, see LWJ report, Al Qaeda 'facilitator' killed in Kunar airstrike.] ToloNews reported that Mullah Jalal, a Taliban leader for Ghaziabad district, was killed in another airstrike that same day in Kunar; Jalal had been shown in the Taliban video welcoming Mahmood. ISAF later retracted its claim that Mahmood was killed in the September strike; Mahmood was subsequently interviewed by The New York Times earlier this year.

According to the LWJ Special Report, Green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan: the data, approximately half of the attackers manage to escape after the attacks, and many take refuge with the Taliban. Reports such as yesterday's, of inside attack planners and operatives being tracked down and killed or captured, are rare.

Kunar province, where the Taliban facilitator and his associate were killed, has remained a haven for al Qaeda and the Taliban. Over the past few months, ISAF has been targeting al Qaeda-linked Taliban operatives in Kunar's Ghaziabad district as well as other parts of Kunar. [See LWJ reports, Al Qaeda-linked Taliban commander targeted in Kunar raid, and ISAF launches another raid targeting al Qaeda in Kunar.]

Green-on-blue attacks have dramatically decreased since the beginning of the year. Only one such attack, on Jan. 6, has been reported so far in 2013. There were 61 green-on-blue attacks against ISAF personnel reported in 2012; 11 of those attacks took place in August. The decrease in attacks may be attributed to the drawdown in ISAF forces as well as the reduced partnering of NATO and Afghan personnel.

Faqir Mohammed. Image courtesy of AfPax Insider.

Faqir Mohammed, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's former deputy emir and a previous leader in Bajaur, is reported to have been captured by Afghan intelligence officials along the Afghan-Pakistan border. The report is unconfirmed.

Faqir is said to have entered Nangarhar province from the Pakistani tribal agency of Khyber, an Afghan intelligence official told Dawn.

"Maulvi Faqir and his four accomplices who had entered Nangarhar from Bajaur Agency were apprehended near Basawal on Torkham Road near the border of Khyber Agency's Tirah Valley," the Afghan intelligence official told the Pakistani news agency yesterday. "Yes I can confirm their names as they had told us. Maulvi Faqir, Shahid Umar, Maulana Hakeemullah Bajauri, Mualana Turabi and Fateh are the people who have been arrested."

Pakistani intelligence officials also told The Associated Press that Faqir is in custody. Afghanistan and Pakistan have not officially announced the capture of Faqir, however.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan is known to operate in Nangarhar province. ISAF aircraft targeted the group in Nangarhar's Deh Bala district in August 2010.

The Tirah Valley is a known haven for the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other Pakistani terror groups. Safe havens in the valley enable these terror groups to launch attacks inside Pakistan as well as across the border in Nangarhar province. The US launched four drone strikes against terror groups in the Tirah Valley in Pakistan; all four strikes took place in 2010. The US killed Ibn Amin, a dual-hatted Taliban and al Qaeda military commander who operated in the Swat Valley, in a December 2010 drone strike in the Tirah Valley,

Before being sidelined by the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in early 2012 over leadership issues, Faqir led the Taliban in Bajaur for years. He is also tied to some of al Qaeda's top leaders, including the group's emir, Ayman al Zawahiri. In the past, Faqir sheltered Ayman al Zawahiri and other senior al Qaeda leaders; one of the first US drone strikes in Pakistan targeted Zawahiri and other top commanders in an area controlled by Faqir.

Faqir recently appeared on a videotape with Maulvi Abu Bakr, the new emir for the Taliban in Bajaur [see LWJ report, Sidelined Pakistani Taliban commander back in good graces]. In the video, which was produced sometime in December 2012, Faqir confirmed that differences between himself and other leaders in Bajaur had been resolved after Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy, Mullah Fazlullah, who is also the emir of the Taliban in the Swat Valley, mediated the dispute.

Abu Omar al Chechen and fighters from the Muhajireen Brigade.

A commander from the Russian Caucasus known as Abu Omar al Chechen is a key leader in the Muhajireen Brigade, a jihadist group that fights alongside the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant against the regime of President Bashir al Assad. The Muhajireen Brigade, whose members include fighters from the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, has played a vital role in overrunning several major Syrian military installations over the past year.

Abu Omar "is an Emir of Mujahideen Brigade of Muhajirs, or migrants ... which also includes volunteers from the Caucasus Emirate," according to Kavkaz Center, a media arm of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Caucasus Emirate. Kavkaz Center posted a video of an appeal by Abu Omar on its English-language website on Feb. 7.

In the video, Abu Omar, sporting a red beard and what appears to be a North Face cap, is seen seated among 19 heavily armed jihadists, many of whom are masked. Two of the jihadists are seen holding al Qaeda in Iraq's flag. The Al Nusrah Front, with which the Muhajireen Brigade is closely allied, is al Qaeda in Iraq's affiliate in Syria, according to the US government [see LWJ report, US adds Al Nusrah Front, 2 leaders to terrorism list].

According to Kavkaz Center, the Muhajireen Brigade "is one of the most active units of Mujahideen fighting in Syria against the Alawite regime of Assad and Iranian mercenaries rafidites [those who reject Islam]."

"Chechen fighters," often described as fighters from the Caucasus and southern Russia, have been spotted on the Syrian battlefield for months. In October, a group of "Chechen emigrants" is known to have fought, along with an element from the Free Syrian Army unit, under the command of the Al Nusrah Front to take control of a key Syrian air defense and Scud missile base in Aleppo. The Long war Journal speculated at the time that the group included members of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate [see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front commanded Free Syrian Army unit, 'Chechen emigrants,' in assault on Syrian air defense base].

The Muhajireen Group is known to have participated in two other major assaults against Syrian military bases since the October operation in Aleppo.

In mid-December, the Muhajireen Group teamed up with the Al Nusrah Front to overrun the Sheikh Suleiman base, or Base 111. Arab and Central Asian fighters are reported to have participated in the battle.

And last week, the Al Nusrah Front, together with the Tawhid Brigade and the Muhajireen Group, stormed the base of the Syrian military's 80th Regiment (or Brigade), which is situated near the main airport in Aleppo in eastern Syria.

Doku Umarov, the emir of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, has praised the "mujahideen" in Syria as well as the fighters from the Caucasus. In November, Umarov released a speech on the Kavkaz Center website that addressed the jihad in Syria.

"I appeal to the brothers, and I want to stress that we, the Mujahideen of the Caucasus, pray for you, make Dua [supplication to Allah], ask Allah to help you with His angels, that Allah helps you in every way,' he said.

In the speech, Umarov warned the Syrian jihadists not to "replace the regime of Bashar al-Assad, using Turkish, or Saudi, or Egyptian, or American, or English money, with another idol under the guise of democracy."

Umarov was added to the US's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists in June 2010. The US added the Islamic Caucasus Emirate to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in May 2011.

On its Facebook page earlier this week, Islamisk Budskab in Denmark claimed that Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane was killed while fighting in Syria.

A former Guantanamo detainee named Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane has reportedly been killed while fighting in Syria. The Copenhagen Post and other Danish media outlets have cited multiple sources indicating that Abderrahmane was killed earlier this month, but the Danish intelligence agency (PET) has not yet confirmed or denied these reports.

Abderrahmane, who was born to a Danish mother and an Algerian father, was detained while fleeing Afghanistan in late 2001 and transferred to the Guantanamo detention facility, where he was held until early 2004.

According to a leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessment dated Dec. 6, 2003, US officials deemed Abderrahmane a "high" risk "threat to the US, its interests, or its allies."

JTF-GTMO also recommended that Abderrahmane be retained in the Defense Department's custody. However, less than three months later, on Feb. 24, 2004, he was transferred to his home country of Denmark.

The Facebook page for a group named Islamisk Budskab in Denmark announced Abderrahmane's martyrdom earlier this week. The group, which has al Qaeda in Iraq's flag on the header of its Facebook page, said that Danes should be "proud" of Abderrahmane because he finally achieved his goal.

The group wrote that Abderrahmane "was a man who could not stand to see Muslims suppressed, so a few months ago he traveled to Syria to once again perform Jihad and do his duty to fight Allah's enemies." Islamisk Budskab also set up a bank account for donations to support Abderrahmane's wife and two daughters.

Controversial remarks after transfer from Cuba

After his transfer from Guantanamo, Abderrahmane made a number of controversial comments to the press. American officials had him sign an agreement that he would not wage jihad against the US or its allies. Such agreements were standard at Guantanamo, according to senior intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal.

But after he left Guantanamo in 2004, Abderrahmane announced that the agreement was the equivalent of "toilet paper." Citing Abderrahmane's appearance on Danish television, BBC News reported that the ex-Gitmo detainee promised to "try to find a way to Chechnya."

"I am going to Chechnya and fight for the Muslims," Abderrahmane swore. "The Muslims are oppressed in Chechnya and the Russians are carrying out terror against them."

Abderrahmane also said that Danish officials may be legitimate targets for terrorist attacks given their support of the Iraq War.

Despite his controversial remarks, Abderrahmane was given a job at the postal service. He was "convicted of stealing credit cards" while working as a postman in 2007, according to The Copenhagen Post.

"GSPC member and al Qaeda sympathizer"

The leaked JTF-GTMO threat assessment describes Abderrahmane as a well-connected member of the GSPC (or Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat), a jihadist group that maintained significant ties to al Qaeda before formally merging with bin Laden's operation and renaming itself al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in 2007.

JTF-GTMO found that Abderrahmane "was recruited to be a courier" for the GSPC, and "transported equipment, money and false documents between the United Kingdom (UK), Algeria, Germany, Spain, Mali, and Denmark."

JTF-GTMO further alleged that Abderrahmane "was involved with the highest leadership of the GSPC while conducting his courier duties."

Several well-known al Qaeda-linked jihadists are listed as Abderrahmane's associates in the JTF-GTMO file.

One of them is Abu Hamza, the former imam of the Finsbury Mosque in London who was arrested by British authorities in 2004 and extradited to the US in October 2012 to stand trial on terrorism charges. Abu Hamza has well-known ties to al Qaeda. JTF-GTMO alleged that he was a "close associate" of Abderrahmane.

A second jihadist listed in the file is Jaffar al Jazeeri, an al Qaeda facilitator who greeted Abderrahmane in Afghanistan in August 2001. Abderrahmane was just beginning to cement his ties to al Qaeda in Afghanistan when the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred, according to JTF-GTMO.

And a third jihadist listed in the file is Bensayah Belkacem, the leader of the so-called "Algerian Six." Belkacem and five others were initially suspected of plotting an attack on a US Embassy and other targets in late 2001, but were acquitted by a Bosnian court of the charges.

American officials detained the six and transferred them to Guantanamo in 2002. Five of the six ultimately had their habeas corpus petitions granted by a DC District Court judge and were transferred. Belkacem had his petition denied and he remains at Guantanamo. He is one of the 55 detainees currently held at Guantanamo who has been approved for transfer by the Obama administration.

Belkacem is described in the leaked threat assessment for Abderrahmane as an "al Qaeda contact" and Osama bin Laden's "representative in the Balkans."

Abderrahmane had "connections" to Belkacem, JTF-GTMO alleged, but the substance of these ties was not specified.

In addition, the JTF-GTMO file reads: "[Abderrahmane] is also associated with many GSPC members that are also associated with the Al Qaeda Zarqawi network." This last bit of intelligence is especially intriguing as it is known that members of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) have played an instrumental role in setting up the Al Nusrah Front in Syria. Jihadists who fought alongside deceased AQI emir Abu Musab al Zarqawi have taken on leadership roles within Al Nusrah.

If these latest reports concerning Abderrahmane's fate are accurate, then it is likely he died fighting for Al Nusrah or one of the other al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria, such as the Muhajireen Brigade, which includes leaders and fighters from the Islamic Caucasus Emirate. His desire for 'martyrdom' was, therefore, finally granted.

Malik Ishaq, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, waves to throngs of supporters after he is released from custody in 2011.

Pakistani police arrested Malik Ishaq, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, at his home in Rahim Yar Khan, just one week after his terror group claimed credit for a bombing in Quetta that killed at least 90 people. Ishaq has been accused of direct involvement in numerous terrorist attacks but has never been convicted in a Pakistani court.

Pakistani police have not disclosed the reason for Ishaq's arrest, nor how long he will be in detention. "It was not immediately clear on what charges he was arrested," Dawn reported.

Last week, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed credit for the murder of more than 90 Pakistanis, mostly minority Shia, after detonating nearly one ton of "high-grade" explosives in the capital of Baluchistan province. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed credit for numerous terror attacks in Pakistan, and has released videos of executions of captured Shia prisoners.

Ishaq has been in the custody of the Pakistani government in the past. He was detained in 1997 after admitting to murdering more than 100 Pakistanis, but was subsequently released by Pakistan's Supreme Court in July 2011. Ishaq has dodged numerous convictions by murdering and intimidating witnesses, and even once told a judge that "dead men can't talk." [See Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the "lack of evidence," from Dawn, for more information on Pakistan's inability to convict Ishaq and his intimidation of witnesses.]

Ishaq doesn't hide his disdain for the political system in Pakistan, and made it clear at the time of his release in 2011 that he intended to continue to wage jihad.

"We are ready to lay down lives for the honor of the companions of the Holy Prophet" Ishaq said after he was released from custody in 2011. He was met by "Kalashnikov-wielding supporters on a Land Cruiser motorcade," Dawn reported.

Ishaq has also been accused of plotting numerous terrorist attacks while in custody, including the March 3, 2009 assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's links to al Qaeda, Taliban

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is an anti-Shia terror group that has integrated with al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal areas. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has an extensive network in Pakistan and often serves as al Qaeda's muscle for terror attacks. The group has conducted numerous suicide and other terror attacks inside Pakistan and Afghanistan. In particular, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is well known for carrying out sectarian terror attacks against minority Shia, Ahmadis, Sufis, and Christians in Pakistan.

The US designated the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2003. In 2010, the US added two of the terror group's top leaders, Amanullah Afridi and Matiur Rehman, LeJ's operations chief, to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

The Treasury Department described Afridi as "a key figure in directing terrorist-related activities of LeJ for several years." Afridi previously "prepared and provided suicide jackets for al Qaeda operations, trained suicide bombers and trained the assassin of Pakistani cleric Allama Hassan Turabi," a prominent Shia cleric. Turabi, a prominent Shia cleric, was killed in June 2006 in Karachi by a 16-year-old Bangladeshi suicide bomber.

Rehman is a top operational leader said to manage al Qaeda's 'Rolodex' of fighters who have passed through training camps and safe houses. Treasury described Rehman as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's "chief operational commander" and a "planning director" who has "worked on behalf of al Qaeda."

Lashkar-e-Jhanghvi commanders have also been killed in US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas. In February 2010, the US killed Qari Mohammad Zafar, a senior Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leader as well as a leader of the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Fedayeen-i-Islam, in a drone strike in North Waziristan. Zafar was behind multiple terror attacks in Pakistan and was wanted by the US for murdering a consular official in Karachi.

Pakistan added the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to its list of terror organizations in August 2001, yet has done little to crack down on the group.

Afghan and Coalition troops captured six insurgents during a raid two days ago that targeted a leader from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The security forces launched the raid in northern Afghanistan, in the Kunduz district of Kunduz province. This is the seventh operation targeting the group in Afghanistan so far this year, according to ISAF press releases compiled by The Long War Journal.

ISAF did not provide many details regarding the operation or the target, but did state that the targeted leader "is allegedly instrumental in manufacturing, procuring and distributing improvised explosive devices for use in attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the province." ISAF did reveal to The Long War Journal that the fighters arrested were Afghan and affiliated with the IMU.

However, ISAF said that "there are no indications of foreign involvement," which contradicts the assertion that the captured insurgents are affiliated with the IMU, whose leadership is based in Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan. When questioned by The Long War Journal on the IMU's foreign ties, specifically with its leadership in Pakistan, a spokesman for US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) responded as follows:

Speaking from my USFOR-A perspective, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US Department of State in 2000. This FTO designation plays a critical role in our fight against terrorism and helps us curtail support for terrorist activities.

While this response shows that ISAF believes Afghanistan remains a central front in the fight against foreign terrorist networks, it lacks clarity as to how al Qaeda and its affiliates, such as the IMU, are operating in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

ISAF has indicated numerous times in the past, in its own press releases, that the IMU's leadership cadre is based in Pakistan, and that the Afghan IMU network takes direction from those Pakistan-based leaders. For instance, when the IMU's top leader for Afghanistan was captured in 2011, ISAF said he was "a key conduit between the senior IMU leadership in Pakistan and senior Taliban leadership in Afghanistan."

"He assisted both groups by directing insurgent movement for training and operations between the two countries, coordinating suicide, explosive device, and mortar attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout northern Afghanistan," ISAF stated in the press release announcing his capture.

Based on The Long War Journal's study of the IMU, the group continues to exercise control of the network in Afghanistan. Abu Usman Udil, the previous leader of the IMU, who was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan in April 2012, was instrumental in ramping up the IMU's operations in Afghanistan. His successor, Usman Ghazi, is said to be equally committed to the fight in Afghanistan.

It may be the case that the six IMU fighters captured two days ago were Afghan, but it is highly unlikely that the network they are involved with is not receiving support and guidance from across the border in Pakistan.

2 IMU leaders captured in northern Afghanistan

Communications with Ayman al Zawahiri highlighted in 'Nasr City cell' case

Al Nusrah front spearheads capture of Syrian dam, claims suicide assault

Afghan National Security Forces take over security operations

'Islamist factions' seize Syrian airbase

Pakistani Taliban praise slain American, British jihadists

Al Nusrah Front, foreign jihadists overrun another Syrian military base

Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate seizes control of another town

Al Qaeda in Mali sought to hide foreign designs

Al Nusrah Front claims suicide attacks in Damascus, al-Shadadi

US adds senior AQIM commander to terrorist list

Senior IRGC official killed in Syria 'was no less than Mughniyah'

Veteran Sudanese jihadist killed in French airstrike in Mali

US officials denied access to 'Nasr City Cell' suspects

Taliban insider attack facilitator killed in Kunar

Former Taliban emir Faqir Mohammed reported captured by Afghan intel

Chechen commander leads Muhajireen Brigade in Syria

Ex-Guantanamo detainee reportedly killed in Syria

Pakistan arrests Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leader Malik Ishaq

Multiple insurgents captured in raid targeting IMU leader