US drones launched the first strike in Yemen in 12 days, killing eight "militants" in an attack on an convoy in a southern town controlled by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers launched three missiles at a convoy of pickup trucks carrying AQAP fighters in the Al Mahfad area in the southern province of Abyan today, Xinhua reported.

The target of today's strike was not disclosed. Eight members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula were killed in the airstrike, and three more were wounded. No senior AQAP operatives or leaders are reported to have been killed.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters and leaders have regrouped in the Al Mahfad area after being driven from cities such as Zinjibar, Jaar, Lawdar, and Shaqra during a Yemeni military offensive that began in the spring of 2012 [see Threat Matrix report, AQAP regroups in Abyan province]. AQAP controlled the cities in Abyan, as well as other cities and towns in neighboring Shabwa province, after launching its own offensive in the spring of 2011.

The US has launched one other drone strike in Al Mahfad. That attack took place on May 18. Four AQAP fighters were killed when the drones launched missiles against a vehicle carrying grenades and suicide belts.

US expands drone strikes in Yemen

Since losing control of large areas of Abyan and Shabwa, AQAP has spread out into the provinces of Aden, Baydah, Al Jawf, Damar, Hadramout, Hodeida, Ibb, Marib, Saada, and Sana'a. Of the 31 drones strikes recorded by The Long War Journal over the past 11 months, 26 have taken place in the provinces of Aden, Baydah, Al Jawf, Damar, Hadramout, Hodeida, Ibb, Marib, Saada, and Sana'a.

The US has launched 11 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year. The last strike took place on May 20 in Baydah province; two AQAP operatives were reported killed.

In 2012, the US launched 42 drone strikes in Yemen against AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Sharia. The previous year, the US launched 10 drone and air strikes against the al Qaeda affiliate.

Although five senior AQAP operatives were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012, the group's top leadership cadre remains intact. In January, the Yemeni government claimed that Said al Shihri, the deputy emir of AQAP, died following an attack last fall; AQAP has not confirmed his death, however, and recently released a statement that hinted he may be alive.

The US has targeted both senior AQAP operatives who pose a direct threat to the US, and low-level fighters and local commanders who are battling the Yemeni government. This trend was first identified by The Long War Journal in the spring of 2012 [see LWJ report, US drone strike kills 8 AQAP fighters, from May 10, 2012]. Obama administration officials have claimed, however, that the drones are targeting only those AQAP leaders and operatives who pose a direct threat to the US homeland, and not those fighting AQAP's local insurgency against the Yemeni government.

For more information on the US airstrikes in Yemen, see LWJ report, Charting the data for US air strikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2013.

Iraqi soldiers wearing gas masks hold precursors used to make chemical weapons.

The Iraqi military announced today that it arrested five members of an al Qaeda cell that was seeking to manufacture chemical weapons, including sarin nerve gas, and plotting to conduct attacks within Iraq, Europe, and North America.

The Defense Ministry announced that it arrested the five members of the al Qaeda in Iraq cell and raided two factories in Baghdad that were used to research and manufacture the deadly chemical agents. The arrests were made with the help of undisclosed foreign intelligence services.

The chemical weapons cell was seeking to produce sarin as well as mustard blistering agents. The group had acquired some of the precursor chemicals as well as the formulas needed to manufacture the agents.

According to the Defense Ministry's spokesman, the cell was plotting to use remotely-piloted model aircraft to spray some of the chemical weapons sometime next week as Shia mourners commemorated the death of Imam Kadhum.

The cell also had contacts with a network that would have attempted to smuggle the chemical weapons for use in the United States, Canada, and Europe, the Defense Ministry said.

The report of an al Qaeda cell in possession of chemical agents is the second from the Middle East in the past two days. Yesterday, Turkish newspapers reported that members of an Al Nusrah Front cell were in possession of sarin gas, and were planning to conduct attacks at the Incirlik Air Base in Adana, and in Gaziantep, a city near Turkey's border with Syria. Other reports said that the Al Nusrah Front cell was planning to use the deadly nerve gas inside Syria. The reports have not been confirmed by the Turkish government.

The Al Nusrah Front for the People in the Levant is al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria. The group was formed by al Qaeda in Iraq, and its leader has openly sworn allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's emir. The Al Nusrah Front is one of al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliates. More that 10,000 fighters are estimated to be in its ranks, and the group is said to be absorbing entire units from the so-called secular Free Syrian Army.

Al Qaeda in Iraq has attempted to construct crude chemical weapons in the past, and has employed such weapons on the battlefield. In 2007, al Qaeda in Iraq launched more than a dozen chlorine suicide bomb attacks in Baghdad, Anbar province, and Diyala province. The chlorine gas strikes killed 32 Iraqis and poisoned over 600 more.

In Syria, the Al Nusrah Front is suspected of launching a chlorine gas attack in March of this year. Twenty-six Syrians, including 16 Syrian soldiers, were killed in the attack.

Al Qaeda has long sought to place chemical weapons in its arsenal. In 2002, CNN found videos of al Qaeda experimenting with chemical weapons at the Darunta camp near the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. The video showed al Qaeda members experimenting with a gas thought to be sarin or another nerve agent on dogs. Formulas to make sarin were also found at the camp.

Sources:

Iraq Smashes Al Qaeda 'Poison Gas Cell', SKY News
Iraq foils 'al-Qaeda nerve gas plot', Al Jazeera
Disturbing scenes of death show capability with chemical gas, CNN
Reports claim Al Nusrah Front members in Turkey were planning sarin gas attacks, Threat Matrix

A suicide bomber killed 10 Afghan students, two US soldiers, and an Afghan Local policeman in an attack today outside a school in Paktia province, a haven for the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network. No group has claimed the attack.

The suicide bomber, who was riding on a motorcycle, detonated his explosives near a boys' high school in the Chamkani district as a combined US Army and Afghan Local Police force was traveling nearby.

The chief of police for Paktia province said that 10 students, two US soldiers, and a member of the Afghan Local Police were killed in the blast. Five US soldiers and 20 Afghans, including many children, were also wounded, according to Reuters.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed that two of its soldiers and "several" Afghans were killed in an attack in the east, but did not provide specifics on the location of the attack or the nationality of the troops who died.

"Two International Security Assistance Force service member were killed during a vehicle borne improvised explosive device attack in eastern Afghanistan today," ISAF announced in a press release. "The attack also killed and wounded several Afghan civilians."

The US Army is deployed in Paktia province, and US Special Forces often partner with the Afghan Local Police, who are routinely targeted by the Taliban.

While no group has claimed credit for the attack, the Haqqani Network, a Taliban subgroup that is closely allied with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups in the region, is known to operate in Paktia and in the neighboring provinces of Paktika and Khost. The group is based in Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan, and is backed by Pakistan's military and Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The Haqqani Network rarely releases official statements claiming credit for attacks.

Today's suicide attack in Paktia is the fifth high-profile suicide bombing in Afghanistan by the Taliban and their allies in the past two weeks.

On May 29, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an al Qaeda affiliate, and the Taliban launched a joint suicide assault on the governor's compound in Panjshir. That same day, a suicide assault team attacked a Red Cross office in Jalalabad. The Taliban have denied involvement in the Jalalabad assault.

On May 24, a Taliban suicide assault team targeted a UN-linked NGO compound in Kabul. And on May 23, a suicide bomber killed seven people in an attack that targeted a local militia commander in Ghazni.

ISAF steps up raids against Haqqani Network in Paktia

The suicide attack in Paktia took place as ISAF has stepped up its raids against the Haqqani Network in the province. In the past week, ISAF and the Afghan military have reported six raids against Haqqani Network forces in the province. Ten Haqqani Network fighters were killed and eight more were captured during the raids.

On June 2, the Afghan military reported that ISAF helicopters killed six Haqqani Network fighters in the Zurmat district.

On June 1, ISAF said it killed three Haqqani Network fighters during two raids in the Gardez district. The next day, ISAF confirmed that a Haqqani Network commander known as Faizullah was killed in one of the two raids. Faizullah "conducted improvised explosive device attacks and intimidation campaigns targeting Afghan and coalition forces," "facilitated the movement of weapons and military equipment into the local area," and was "responsible for kidnapping operations and coordinated with senior leaders to carry out guidance within the Haqqani Network."

On May 30, ISAF wounded an "enemy of Afghanistan" during a raid that targeted a Haqqani Network leader in the Zurmat district. On May 29, another "insurgent" was killed in a raid that targeted a Haqqani Network commander in Zurmat.

And on May 28, ISAF and Afghan forces captured a Haqqani Network leader and seven "insurgents" during another operation in Gardez. The captured Haqqani Network leader served as an attack coordinator and facilitator, logistics specialist, and "intelligence operative for senior Haqqani leadership."

Sources:

Paktia blast kills students, US soldiers, Pajhwok Afghan News
Blast by school in Afghan east kills six students, two US soldiers, Reuters
ISAF Chopper Attack Kill 6 Taliban Militants in Paktiya, Khaama Press
ISAF Joint Command Operational Update - June 3
ISAF Joint Command Operational Update - June 2
ISAF Joint Command Operational Update - May 30
ISAF Joint Command Operational Update - May 28

The US State Department yesterday added the emir of the Nigeria-based Boko Haram terrorist group and four al Qaeda commanders to the "Rewards for Justice" list. The State Department also noted that the African organization and al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen and Saudi Arabia are cooperating to "strengthen Boko Haram's capacity to conduct terrorist attacks." The reward offers highlight the working relationships between African jihadist groups and al Qaeda.

The US announced the following rewards yesterday: up to $7 million for Boko Haram emir Abubakar Shekau; $5 million each for Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the head of al Qaeda's Those who Sign in Blood Brigade and Yahya Abu Hammam, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's commander in the Sahel; and $3 million each for Malik Abou Abdelkarim, an AQIM company commander, and Oumar Ould Hamaha, the spokesman for the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa.

The $7 million reward for Shekau puts him in the top echelon of wanted jihadist commanders. Ayman al Zawahiri has the largest price on his head, at $25 million. Shekau's bounty is just the same as the reward offered for Muhsin al Fadhli (the current leader of al Qaeda in Iran), and Ahmed Abdi Aw Mohamed (the head of Shabaab). It is just below the $10 million reward offered for Abu Du'a (al Qaeda in Iraq's emir), Mullah Omar (the emir of the Taliban), Hafiz Mohammad Saeed (the leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba), and Yasin al Suri (the former chief of al Qaeda's network in Iran).

The rewards of $5 million each for Belmokhtar and Hammam put them in a group of other wanted high-profile al Qaeda and affiliated leaders that includes Saif al Adel, Hakeemullah Mehsud, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Adnan G. el Shukrijumah.

In the Shekau reward offer, the State Department also noted that the African terror groups, which include Boko Haram, AQIM, and Shabaab, as well as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, are cooperating to boost Boko Haram's ability to wage jihad in the region.

"There are reported communications, training, and weapons links between Boko Haram, al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al Shabaab [al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia], and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which may strengthen Boko Haram's capacity to conduct terrorist attacks."

In a reciprocal relationship, as the terror groups are working to build Boko Haram, the Nigerian terror group is known to support al Qaeda's operations in neighboring Mali. Boko Haram commanders and fighters bolstered the forces of AQIM, MUJAO, and Ansar Dine during the time the groups controlled northern Mali from March 2012 to January 2013.

Abubakar Shekau

Shekau, who was added to the US's list of global terrorists in June 2012, took control of the organization after his predecessor was killed by Nigerian forces in 2010. He has overseen a burgeoning jihadist insurgency that has spread throughout northern Nigeria. Boko Haram has launched dozens of suicide attacks in Nigeria and hundreds of IED and armed attacks in the north.

Shortly after ascending to the top leadership position, Shekau "threatened to attack Western interests in Nigeria," expressed "solidarity with al Qaeda," and threatened the United States.

Shekau has backed up his threat to attack Western institutions. In August 2011, a Boko Haram suicide bomber attacked the United Nations headquarters in the capital of Abuja. Additionally, a number of Westerners have been kidnapped and ransomed in Nigeria.

In the announcement of the reward for Shekau, the group was called "a Nigeria-based terrorist organization that seeks to overthrow the current Nigerian government and replace it with a regime based on Islamic law."

Boko Haram was described as such despite the fact that the group has not been added to the US's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar

Belmokhtar is the leader of the al Qaeda-linked al Mua'qi'oon Biddam, or the Those Who Sign in Blood Brigade. He split with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb last December due to leadership issues with the group.

Although Belmokhtar split with AQIM in December 2012, he still conducts joint operations with the group as well as with MUJAO. Belmokhtar reports directly to al Qaeda's central leadership, according to his spokesman. Documents found by The Associated Press after French forces drove the al Qaeda alliance from their strongholds in northern Mali confirmed that Belmokhtar had a direct line to al Qaeda's central leadership.

His Those Who Sign in Blood Brigade is responsible for three major terrorist attacks in Algeria and Niger over the past several months.

In January, just after French forces invaded Mali to eject AQIM, MUJAO, and Ansar Dine from the north, Belmokhtar launched a large-scale suicide assault against the In Amenas gas facility in southeastern Algeria. More than 40 fighters carried out the attack and Belmokhtar claimed the operation in the name of al Qaeda.

In late May, Belmokhtar's force launched two suicide assaults, the first of their kind in Niger, targeting a military barracks in Agadez and a uranium mine in Arlit that supplies French reactors. The attacks were executed along with fighters from MUJAO, and Belmokhtar claimed their purpose was to avenge the death of Abou Zeid, a senior al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb commander who was killed while fighting in Mali earlier this year.

Yahya Abu Hammam

Hammam, the chief of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's operations in the Sahel region of North Africa, was added to the US's the list of global terrorists in January 2013. He assumed command last fall after his predecessor, Nabil Abu Alqama, was killed in a car crash.

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

Hammam has been waging jihad in North Africa since the 1990s. 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.

He has been "planning operations and kidnapping Westerners in North and West Africa," and "has played a key role in perpetuating AQIM's terrorist activities in West Africa and Mali, and participated in several AQIM terrorist attacks in Mauritania," according to the State Department.

He also 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.

Malik Abou Abdelkarim

Abdelkarim, a Malian citizen, is described by Rewards for Justice as "a senior leader of a company of fighters within" AQIM.

"Under Abdelkarim's command, his company has acquired weapons and conducted kidnappings and small-scale terrorist attacks in North and West Africa," State reported.

Additionally, "Abdelkarim was reportedly responsible for killing a seventy-eight year old French hostage in Niger in July 2010," and "[a]n attack in June 2010 carried out by Abdelkarim's company resulted in the death of 11 Algerian gendarmes."

Oumar Ould Hamaha

According to the State Department, Hamaha currently serves as the spokesman for MUJAO. Late last year, however, State identified him as a spokesman for Belmokhtar's outfit. He had previously served as a commander in AQIM.

"As a member of AQIM, Hamaha participated in kidnappings of foreigners for ransom, including the kidnapping of Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler from Niamey, Niger, in December 2008," State said in yesterday's reward offer. "Hamaha has also made threats against Westerners in Mali and has been associated with the abduction of Europeans in the region."

While he was in AQIM, he is said to have served as a deputy to Belmokhtar.

In December 2012, Hamaha identified himself as a spokesman for Belmokhtar's Those who Sign in Blood Brigade. Hamaha said that Belmokhtar remains in touch with al Qaeda's top leadership and claimed the split with AQIM was a calculated shift to facilitate attacks in the Sahara.

"It's so that we can better operate in the field that we have left this group which is tied to the 'Maghreb' appellation," he told The Associated Press. "We want to enlarge our zone of operation throughout the entire Sahara, going from Niger through to Chad and Burkina Faso."

Links to Rewards for Justice profiles

Wanted - Information leading to the location of Abubakar Shekau - Up to $7 Million Reward
Wanted - Information leading to the location of Mokhtar Belmokhtar - Up to $5 Million Reward
Wanted - Information leading to the location of Yahya Abu el Hammam - Up to $5 Million Reward
Wanted - Information leading to the location of Malik Abou Abdelkarim - Up to $3 Million Reward
Wanted - Information leading to the location of Oumar Ould Hamaha - Up to $3 Million Reward

The Taliban claimed credit for a suicide attack today at a base in the southern Afghan province of Helmand that killed seven Georgian soldiers. The suicide attack is the sixth of its kind by the Taliban and their allies in less than two weeks.

Today's suicide attack took place inside a Forward Operating Base manned by Georgian troops in the district of Now Zad in northern Helmand. Now Zad was largely under Taliban control before US Marines launched an offensive in 2010 to drive the group from the populated areas of the district.

Irakly Dzneladze, the chief of Georgia's military staff, stated that "[i]t was a terrorist attack on our base .... Six of our soldiers died, nine were wounded,"according to Reuters.

The International Security Assistance Force later noted that seven Georgian soldiers were killed "when enemies of Afghanistan attacked their position in southern Afghanistan with a vehicle borne improvised explosive device," or suicide car bomb.

The Taliban claimed the attack in a statement released on Voice of Jihad, their propaganda website. The attack "killed 20 foreign invaders and wounded dozens others," the Taliban claimed.

The suicide bomber was identified as "Abdul Ghafar from Kandahar province." According to the Taliban, Ghafar "detonated his truck laden with heavy-duty explosives inside a large ISAF base, located on the road in Angrak Karez area, causing the above mentioned casualties as well as destroying several tanks and vehicles parked inside."

The Taliban routinely exaggerate the effects of their operations and boost the counts of ISAF and Afghan personnel killed.

The Taliban have said they would step up attacks against "foreign invaders," or Coalition personnel operating under the command of the International Security Assistance Force as well as workers from non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan, and stressed that suicide and insider attacks would be used. [See LWJ report, Taliban promise suicide assaults, 'insider attacks' in this year's spring offensive.]

Today's suicide attack in Helmand is the sixth high-profile suicide bombing in Afghanistan by the Taliban and their allies in the past 10 days. The last major suicide attack, which took place on June 3, killed 10 Afghan students, two US soldiers, and an Afghan Local Policeman after US and Afghan soldiers were targeted outside a school in Paktia.

On May 29, the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Taliban launched a joint suicide assault on the governor's compound in Panjshir. That same day, a suicide assault team attacked a Red Cross office in Jalalabad. The Taliban have denied involvement in the Jalalabad assault.

On May 24, a Taliban suicide assault team targeted a UN-linked NGO compound in Kabul. And on May 23, a suicide bomber killed seven people in an attack that targeted a local militia commander in Ghazni.

The US Treasury Department has added an al Qaeda explosives expert who once served as the commander of the terror group's military committee to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The al Qaeda operative is based in Pakistan and supports the operations of al Qaeda's "paramilitary brigades" against Coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Today the US added 'Abd al Hamid al Masli, described as a "key improvised explosive device (IED) facilitator," to the list for "for acting for or on behalf of al Qaeda," Treasury stated in its press release announcing the designation. Al Masli is from Danar, Libya and is based somewhere in "Waziristan," a reference to Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan.

According to Treasury, al Masli "is the leader of an AQ [al Qaeda] electronics and explosives workshop in Pakistan, which is responsible for producing IED components for AQ senior leadership."

"From 2011 through 2012, al-Masli's workshop provided AQ paramilitary brigades in Afghanistan with timers, circuits, mines, and remote control devices for use in IEDs," Treasury continued. "Al Masli has also instructed AQ recruits on how to build detonators and, as of 2009, was personally in charge of IED component construction at the AQ electronics workshop."

Treasury also stated that al Masli "was part of AQ's military committee" beginning in mid-2011, and that he temporarily led the committee in 2010. Al Qaeda's military committee directs the terror group in waging war against local Muslim governments as well as its external operations, or attacks directed at the West.

He likely took command of al Qaeda's military committee after Abdullah Said was killed in a US drone strike sometime in late 2009 or early January 2010.

Al Qaeda "paramilitary brigades" and the Shadow Army

The mention of al Qaeda's "paramilitary brigades" is clearly a reference to the Lashkar al Zil, or the Shadow Army. The Shadow Army is known to have at least six brigades operating in the Afghan-Pakistan region. The paramilitary unit fields forces in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and also embeds military trainers within Taliban units in both countries. These trainers provide instructions for battling security forces in local insurgencies as well as knowledge, expertise, funding, and resources to conduct local and international attacks. [For more information on this unit, see LWJ report, Al Qaeda's paramilitary 'Shadow Army' from February 2009.]

The Shadow Army receives support from a host of Taliban groups in the region, including the Afghan Taliban, the Mullah Nazir Group, Hafiz Gul Bahadar's Taliban faction, and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, as well as a plethora of Pakistani terror groups such as the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiban, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The commanders of some of these groups, such as Ilyas Kashmiri (HUJI) and Badr Mansoor (HuM), and Farman Shinwari, have risen to top leadership positions within al Qaeda's Shadow Army.

The US has targeted and killed several of the Shadow Army's top leaders in drone strikes in Pakistan. Among those killed were Abu Laith al Libi, Abdullah Said al Libi, and Ilyas Kashmiri, the former emirs of the Shadow Army.

Two Shadow Army brigade commanders are also known to have been killed in drone strikes. In February 2012, US drones killed Badr Mansoor, a senior Taliban and al Qaeda leader, in a strike in Miramshah, North Waziristan. Mansoor ran training camps in the area and sent fighters to battle NATO and Afghan forces across the border, and linked up members of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen with al Qaeda to fight in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden described Mansoor as one of several commanders of al Qaeda's "companies" operating in the tribal areas. Before his death, he was promoted to lead al Qaeda's forces in the tribal areas [see LWJ reports, Bin Laden docs hint at large al Qaeda presence in Pakistan and Al Qaeda asserts authority in letter to Pakistani Taliban leader].

And in December 2010, US drones killed Ibn Amin, a dual-hatted Taliban and al Qaeda military commander who operated in the Swat Valley, in a strike in the Tirah Valley in Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency. Amin commanded the Shadow Army's Tora Bora Brigade.

The US launched a drone strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan today. Six "militants," including an unnamed "high value target," are said to have been killed in the latest attack in an area known to serve as a launchpad for operations against US forces in Afghanistan.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more advanced Reapers fired two missiles at a compound in the village of Mangroati in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan, according to Dawn. Six militants, including a "high value target," are reported to have been killed. The name of the senior operative thought to have been killed was not disclosed.

Today's strike is the first in Pakistan since the US killed Waliur Rehman, the deputy emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the group's leader in South Waziristan. It is also the first strike in Pakistan since Nawaz Sharif was sworn in as the country's prime minister. Sharif has repeatedly called for an end to drone strikes and is seeking to negotiate with the Taliban.

The last strike in the Shawal Valley took place on Dec. 28, 2012; five "militants" are reported to have died in the attack.

The Shawal Valley is a known haven for al Qaeda and other terror groups operating in the region. Last year, 10 of the 46 drone strikes in Pakistan, or 22%, hit targets in the Shawal Valley. Targeting in the area was heavy during the summer of 2012; at one point in time, seven of 10 strikes took place there.

Al Qaeda, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and Taliban fighters under the command of Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the leader of the Taliban in North Waziristan, are all known to operate in the Shawal Valley, which is near the Afghan border. The area is used to launch attacks across the border in Afghanistan. Additionally, Central Asia terror groups are known to operate in the area. On July 1, 2012, a US drone strike killed several members of the Turkistan Islamic Party, an al Qaeda-affiliated group that operates in Pakistan, China, and Central Asia.

Bahadar administers the Shawal Valley. In 2009, after the Pakistani military launched an offensive in the Mehsud areas of South Waziristan, Bahadar sheltered the families of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and Waliur Rehman [see LWJ report, Taliban escape South Waziristan operation].

Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign groups in North Waziristan, and requests by the US that action be taken against these groups, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Hafiz Gul Bahadar or the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. In June 2012, Bahadar banned polio vaccinations in North Waziristan, in protest against US drone strikes.

The US has launched 15 drone strikes in Pakistan so far this year, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. The number of strikes in Pakistan has decreased since a peak in 2010, when 117 such attacks were recorded. In 2011, 64 strikes were launched in Pakistan, and in 2012 there were 46 strikes.

The US has targeted al Qaeda's top leaders and its external operations network, as well as the assortment of Taliban and Pakistani jihadist groups operating in the region. The strikes have been confined mostly to North and South Waziristan. Of the 340 strikes recorded since 2004, 323, or 95%, have taken place in the two tribal agencies.

Afghan soldiers opened fire on US troops in eastern Afghanistan today, killing two US soldiers and a civilian, and wounding three other Americans. The attack took place in an area where the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network is known to operate.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed that two ISAF soldiers and "one US civilian" were struck down "when an individual wearing an ANA uniform turned his weapon against the ISAF service members in eastern Afghanistan."

ISAF indicated that more than one soldier was involved in the attack. One Afghan soldier was killed and another captured, according to ISAF.

"One shooter was killed and another arrested after the incident occurred," ISAF said in a follow-up press release.

A spokesman for the governor of Paktika said the killings occurred after an argument, and that three Americans were wounded as well, Reuters reported. The attacker was shot dead after opening fire, he said.

ISAF did not identify the location of the attack. A US military officer told The Long War Journal that the attack took place on a forward operating base in Paktika province, where the Haqqani Network, a Taliban subgroup linked to al Qaeda and supported by Pakistan's military and Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, is based.

Today's green-on-blue attack, in which Afghan forces attack ISAF personnel, is the first of its kind since May 4, when an Afghan soldier killed two ISAF troops in the west.

There have been seven reported green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan so far in 2013. Seven ISAF soldiers and two civilian advisers have been killed in the seven attacks since Jan. 1. The first attack took place on Jan. 6 in Helmand province.

At this point in the year, 11% of ISAF's deaths have resulted from green-on-blue attacks. Last year, green-on-blue attacks accounted for 15% of Coalition deaths. The attacks have tapered off in recent months as partnering of Afghan and Coalition troops has been reduced.

Since Jan. 1, 2008, a total of 79 insider or green-on-blue attacks have been reported against ISAF personnel in Afghanistan, killing 135 personnel and wounding 153 more. [See LWJ special report, Green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan: the data.]

Green-on-blue data remains "classified" by ISAF

While seven green-on-blue attacks have been reported so far this year, the likelihood is that the number is much higher. ISAF has not disclosed the overall number of green-on-blue incidents in which ISAF soldiers were wounded by Afghan security personnel, or the attacks on ISAF personnel that did not result in casualties.

ISAF told The Long War Journal in March 2012 that "these statistics ... [are ] ... classified."

"[A]ttacks by ANSF on Coalition Forces ... either resulting in non-injury, injury or death ... these stats as a whole (the total # attacks) are what is classified and not releasable," Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings, ISAF's former Press Desk Chief, told The Long War Journal. Cummings said that ISAF is "looking to declassify this number."

Inquiries as to why the overall statistic is classified went unanswered. More than one year later, the data remains classified.

Many green-on-blue attacks remain unreported. For instance, one such attack, on March 25 in Kandahar province, is known only because a reporter from The Long War Journal was present when the incident took place. In that attack, Afghan local policemen opened fire on a US base after US personnel tried to arrest a known Taliban commander at the ALP checkpoint [see LWJ report, The anatomy of green-on-blue tensions in Panjwai].

Insider attacks a key part of Taliban strategy

The Taliban claim to have stepped up their efforts to infiltrate Afghan security forces as well as "lure" and encourage Afghan security personnel to attack ISAF troops and advisers.

In October 2012, Taliban emir Mullah Omar released an Eid al-Adha message that urged followers to "[i]increase Increase your efforts to expand the area of infiltration in the ranks of the enemy and to bring about better order and array in the work." The statement continued: "We call on the Afghans who still stand with the stooge regime to turn to full-fledged cooperation with their Mujahid people like courageous persons in order to protect national interests and to complete independence of the country. Jihadic activities inside the circle of the State militias are the most effective stratagem. Its dimension will see further expansion, organization and efficiency if God willing."

Omar had previously addressed the issue of green-on-blue attacks at length in a statement released on Aug. 16, 2012. Omar claimed that the Taliban "cleverly infiltrated in the ranks of the enemy according to the plan given to them last year," and urged government officials and security personnel to defect and join the Taliban as a matter of religious duty. He also noted that the Taliban have created the "Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration" department, "with branches ... now operational all over the country," to encourage defections. [See Threat Matrix report, Mullah Omar addresses green-on-blue attacks.]

At the end of April, the Taliban announced that green-on-blue attacks would be a key part of this year's strategy.

"This year's spring operation, in accordance with its combat nature, will consist of special military tactics quantity and quality wise while successful insider attacks, to eliminate foreign invaders, will be carried out by infiltrating Mujahideen inside enemy bases in a systematic and coordinated manner," the Taliban announced on April 27.

A US drone strike two days ago killed a "key" local Taliban commander who was preparing to lead a group of fighters into Afghanistan, according to the Pakistani press. The drone strike has drawn the ire of newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been sympathetic to the Taliban in the past and seeks to negotiate with the terror group.

The June 7 drone strike in the Shawal area of North Waziristan killed a "key Pakistani Taliban commander" who was known as Mutaqi and Bahadar Khan, according to Dawn. The compound where Muqati and his followers were staying was struck "when a pick-up truck arrived from the bordering area of Afghanistan." Six fighters are thought to have been killed in the strike.

Mutaqi and his fighters "were planning to cross over into Afghanistan via Pash Ziarat valley, a strategic corridor linking the South and North Waziristan Agency and considered a gateway to Afghanistan," Pakistani intelligence officials told the news agency.

The Obama administration has asserted that the CIA-operated drones are no longer conducting "signature strikes" that target groups of fighters. Instead, the administration has claimed that the strikes are directed only at terrorists who present an "imminent threat" of attacking US soil.

Friday's drone strike sparked a harsh rebuke from Prime Minister Sharif. Yesterday, the Pakistani Foreign Office summoned the US Charge d'Affaires and issued a demarche.

"It was conveyed to the US [Charge d' Affaires] that the Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the drone strikes which are a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the Foreign Office noted in a press release. "The importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes was emphasized."

The US has conducted two drone strikes since Sharif's party won the parliamentary election in mid-May. Waliur Rehman, the deputy emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, a faction that fights the Pakistani government, was killed in a drone strike on May 29. Before his death, Waliur Rehman had said the Taliban is "attached" to al Qaeda, and acknowledged that his forces are at war with the Pakistani government.

US drones killed an al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula commander and five fighters in a strike today in northern Yemen near the border with Saudi Arabia.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers launched several missiles at two vehicles traveling in the Al Mahashma area in Al Jawf province, The Associated Press reported.

An AQAP commander known as Saleh Hassan Jredan or Hassan al Saleh Huraydan is reported to have been killed in the airstrike, along with his brother and four other fighters.

US drones have struck AQAP in Al Jawf three other times in the past. Two of the three strikes targeted top AQAP leaders. In September 2011, the US killed Anwar al Awlaki, the American propagandist, ideologue, recruiter, and operational commander, and Samir Khan, an American who ran Inspire Magazine, in an airstrike in the province. Awlaki sheltered at the homes of Islah leaders in Al Jawf before he was killed. And in January 2010, an airstrike targeted Qasim al Raymi, AQAP's top military commander. He and other senior AQAP officials survived the strike.

The last US drone attack in Al Jawf took place on Jan. 22; the US killed four AQAP fighters in a strike on a vehicle as it was leaving a training camp in the desert in the province.

US expands drone strikes in Yemen

Since losing control of large areas of Abyan and Shabwa, AQAP has spread out into the provinces of Aden, Baydah, Al Jawf, Damar, Hadramout, Hodeida, Ibb, Marib, Saada, and Sana'a. Of the 32 drones strikes recorded by The Long War Journal over the past 11 months, 27 have taken place in the provinces of Aden, Baydah, Al Jawf, Damar, Hadramout, Hodeida, Ibb, Marib, Saada, and Sana'a.

The US has launched 12 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year. The last strike took place on June 1; the drone targeted a convoy of pickup trucks carrying AQAP fighters in the Al Mahfad area in the southern province of Abyan. Eight AQAP fighters were killed as missiles slammed into their trucks.

In 2012, the US launched 42 drone strikes in Yemen against AQAP and its political front, Ansar al Sharia. The previous year, the US launched 10 drone and air strikes against the al Qaeda affiliate.

Although five senior AQAP operatives were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012, the group's top leadership cadre remains intact. In January, the Yemeni government claimed that Said al Shihri, the deputy emir of AQAP, died following an attack last fall; AQAP has not confirmed his death, however, and recently released a statement that hinted he may be alive.

The US has targeted both senior AQAP operatives who pose a direct threat to the US, and low-level fighters and local commanders who are battling the Yemeni government. This trend was first identified by The Long War Journal in the spring of 2012 [see LWJ report, US drone strike kills 8 AQAP fighters, from May 10, 2012]. Obama administration officials have claimed, however, that the drones are targeting only those AQAP leaders and operatives who pose a direct threat to the US homeland, and not those fighting AQAP's local insurgency against the Yemeni government.

For more information on the US airstrikes in Yemen, see LWJ report, Charting the data for US air strikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2013.

The International Security Assistance Force executed multiple operations targeting al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province late last week. In total, five operations were conducted in two districts on June 6 and 7, putting the number of operations targeting al Qaeda in Afghanistan at 10 so far this year.

On June 6, Afghan and Coalition forces targeted a "senior al Qaeda leader" in Kunar's Watahpur district. According to the ISAF press release, the targeted leader commands al Qaeda operations in Watahpur and neighboring Waygal district in Nuristan province, and oversees al Qaeda training in Nuristan. Specifically, he trains al Qaeda fighters and insurgents to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs), artillery, and "counter-interrogation techniques." He also is reported to plan and conduct IED, indirect fire, and direct fire attacks against Afghan and Coalition forces.

The raid resulted in the arrests of four "extremists," but ISAF did not identify their nationalities or the group or groups with which they are associated. The Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs was also contacted but gave no comment.

The following day, Afghan and Coalition forces again conducted two operations in Watahpur, searching for what ISAF described as an "al Qaeda linked senior leader." Two raids were carried out, resulting in the deaths of three insurgents, who were not identified. The targeted leader is reported to be responsible for al Qaeda training in Watahpur. According to ISAF, "senior al Qaeda leadership sends money, weapons, supplies and new recruits to him for instruction in terrorism operations." When the fighters' training is complete, he then leads the fighters on attacks targeting Afghan and Coalition forces.

ISAF told The Long War Journal that two separate senior al Qaeda leaders were targeted on June 6 and 7.

"We can confirm that the missions in Kunar referenced in [the June 8] update was for two separate known al Qaeda senior leaders [who are] operating within the area.

Also, despite not releasing the nationalities of the targets, ISAF did say there were "indications" of Arab foreign fighters. However, it is unclear if Arabs were among the killed or captured insurgents.

The two al Qaeda commanders who were targeted in Kunar are likely members of al Qaeda's Shadow Army, or the Lashkar al Zil. The paramilitary unit fields small units of conventional forces in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and also embeds military trainers within Taliban units in both countries. These trainers provide instructions for battling security forces in local insurgencies as well as knowledge, expertise, funding, and resources to conduct local and international attacks. The US Treasury Department added one such Pakistan-based trainer and commander of al Qaeda's "paramilitary brigades" to the list of global terrorists just last week. [For more information on this unit, see LWJ report, Al Qaeda's paramilitary 'Shadow Army' from February 2009.]

Also on June 7, two more joint Afghan-Coalition operations were conducted to the east of Watahpur, in Kunar's Darah-ye Pech district. Special operations forces searched for a "senior Taliban leader" who facilitates the movement of al Qaeda members in Waygal district to the north. ISAF mistakenly identified Waygal as being in Kunar when it is in fact part of Nuristan province.

ISAF additionally reported that the target of the Darah-ye Pech operations is the top military official for the Taliban in Waygal. As the top commander for the Taliban in the district, he has erected and enforced illegal checkpoints, kidnapped Afghan officials, and led attacks on Afghan and Coalition forces. One unidentified "extremist" was killed and another was wounded during the two raids.

Kunar and Nuristan are al Qaeda strongholds

Kunar and Nuristan provinces have been hotbeds of al Qaeda activity. Large areas of the two provinces are controlled by the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other groups. In parts of Nuristan, particularly in Waygal district, there are few Afghan or Coalition forces.

US forces withdrew from Waygal district in the summer of 2008 after a deadly assault on a remote combat outpost by a joint force of 200-400 fighters made up from the Taliban, Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, and al Qaeda's Shadow Army. Then in 2011, the Taliban overran the district and expelled the Afghan government. ISAF and Afghan forces have launched two raids in the district against al Qaeda's network so far this year.

The operations on June 6 and June 7 provide further evidence that al Qaeda and the Taliban are taking advantage of their safe havens in Nuristan to provide training for insurgents in the country. The province's strategic location also allows fighters safe passage across the border into Afghanistan from Pakistan, a source of much of the money, weapons, and manpower for the insurgency.

Al Qaeda has also retained a significant haven in Kunar province, the site of this week's operations. Watahpur district in Kunar is a known hub for al Qaeda and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror group backed by Pakistan's military and intelligence service. Several top al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders have been killed in the district over the past several years.

Although Afghan and Coalition forces still hold positions in Kunar, they have retreated from some districts. In early 2011, the US Army withdrew from the Pech River Valley in northern Kunar, the site of two operations on June 7. Prior to that, in April 2010, the infamous Korengal Valley was abandoned by US forces after sustained assaults by the Taliban.

Al Jazeera has published a letter that was purportedly written by Ayman al Zawahiri to the heads of al Qaeda's franchises in Iraq and Syria. Two senior US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal say the letter is genuine.

In the letter, dated May 23, Zawahiri rules on a dispute between the emirs of al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and the Al Nusrah Front in Syria. The disagreement has reportedly caused problems for al Qaeda's operations since it first became public in early April.

The dispute arose when Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who heads the ISI, tried to fold al Qaeda's operations in Iraq and Syria into a single organization, the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant." [See LWJ report, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al Nusrah Front emerge as rebranded single entity.]

A few days after al Baghdadi's April 8 announcement, Abu Muhammad al Julani, the emir of the Al Nusrah Front, responded with a message of his own. Al Julani rejected al Baghdadi's attempt to rebrand their efforts under a common banner and reaffirmed his oath of allegiance to Zawahiri directly, thereby bypassing al Baghdadi, who is al Julani's former commander in Iraq. [See LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front leader renews allegiance to al Qaeda, rejects new name.]

Zawahiri's ruling

In his letter, Zawahiri dissolves al Baghdadi's Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and admonishes both leaders, saying their operations are confined to their respective theaters for the time being. Al Baghdadi "was wrong when he announced the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant without asking permission or receiving advice from us and even without notifying us," Zawahiri writes.

Al Julani "was wrong" in rejecting al Baghdadi's announcement and "by showing his links to al Qaeda without having our permission or advice, even without notifying us."

The Al Nusrah Front will remain "an independent entity" under al Qaeda's "general command," Zawahiri says, while the ISI will continue to hold its seat inside Saddam Hussein's former nation state.

Zawahiri says both men can continue in their role as emir of their respective groups for one year, but they must each then "submit a report to the general command of [al Qaeda] about the progress of work." At that time, the "general command" will decide "whether to extend" their mandates.

In the meantime, the pair are to avoid infighting, and each is to support the other's operations as needed, including with "fighters, arms, money, shelter and security."

Old school al Qaeda talent overseeing efforts

The letter indicates that Zawahiri has appointed an al Qaeda leader known as Abu Khalid al Suri, "the best of men we had known among the Mujahidin," to make sure that his orders are carried out. Al Suri has been empowered to resolve "any dispute" between the two emirs "arising from the interpretation of this ruling." And if necessary, al Suri can "set up a Sharia justice court for giving a ruling on the case."

A longtime al Qaeda operative named Muhammad Bahayah, also known as Abu Khalid al Suri, was released from a Syrian prison in the wake of the rebellion against Bashar al Assad's regime. Bahayah is profiled at length in Brynjar Lia's Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of Al-Qaida Strategist Abu Musab al Suri.

Abu Musab al Suri, whose real name is Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, is a prominent al Qaeda ideologue who was reportedly freed from a Syrian prison alongside Abu Khalid. Lia describes Abu Khalid as Abu Musab al Suri's "life-long friend and companion."

Additional intelligence reporting on Abu Khalid can be found in leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessments, which describe him as Abu Musab's "close friend" and "pistol trainer" at training camps in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. The duo compiled a thick al Qaeda dossier, despite disagreeing with Osama bin Laden over key issues in the 1990s.

If the Abu Khalid al Suri mentioned in the letter is Muhammad Bahayah, then old school al Qaeda talent is now overseeing the organization's designs in Syria and Iraq.

Possible back story on the dispute

It is clear that al Baghdadi jumped the gun in announcing that al Qaeda's branches in Iraq and Syria would fight and operate under his leadership -- a move that was rejected by both the emir of the Al Nusrah Front and now al Qaeda's most senior leader.

Why, then, did al Baghdadi brazenly try to place Al Nusrah under his command? We cannot know for certain, and any answer requires speculation. But press reporting and posts on prominent al Qaeda-linked forums provide clues.

Just over two weeks prior to the dispute becoming public, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Al Nusrah Front "was deepening its ties to the terrorist organization's central leadership in Pakistan, according to US counterterrorism officials." These same anonymous officials "said they have seen a growth in communications among operatives from al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda in Iraq and al Qaeda's central leadership in Pakistan." They also reported "growing numbers of al Qaeda fighters traveling from Pakistan to Syria to join the fight with" Al Nusrah.

The newspaper continued (emphasis added): "The ties to al Qaeda's central operations have become so significant that US counterterrorism officials are debating whether al Nusrah should now be considered its own al Qaeda affiliate instead of an offshoot of al Qaeda in Iraq, as it has generally been viewed within the US government, according to a person familiar with the debate."

Thus, even before al Baghdadi's announcement it was clear that the Al Nusrah Front was growing in stature and was on the verge of becoming its "own al Qaeda affiliate."

The dispute between al Baghdadi and al Julani created quite a stir on pro-al Qaeda message boards and forums, with prominent jihadists taking sides. In late May, a little-known jihadist known as "Abu al Layth al Ansari" posted a 67-page study of the issue on the Ansar al Mujahidin web site. The study was summarized by BBC Monitoring.

Al Ansari claimed that al Baghdadi's organization "had got wind that Al Nusrah Front was internally discussing 'separating'... and that Al Nusrah had raised this request to al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri." Al Baghdadi then supposedly announced the merger in an attempt to "block" his former lieutenant's ascension to leader of his own al Qaeda affiliate.

BBC Monitoring cautioned that "it was not possible ... to verify the claims and it was unclear how [Al Ansari] had obtained his information." Perhaps this was not the origin of the dispute. However, it certainly does have a ring of truth of it.

The early April messages from al Baghdadi and al Julani contain a fair amount of quibbling over credit for establishing the Al Nusrah Front. And al Julani disobeys al Baghdadi's command, swearing allegiance directly to Zawahiri. This makes it possible, if not likely, that al Julani was trying to separate from the ISI before al Baghdadi's attempted power grab. Ironically, as reported by the The Wall Street Journal more than two weeks earlier, US officials were having the same conversation about the Al Nusrah Front's place in al Qaeda's pecking order.

In addition to The Wall Street Journal, other press outlets have reported on al Julani's and the Al Nusrah Front's direct ties to Zawahiri prior to the dispute with al Baghdadi. In December, for example, the German daily Die Welt cited "Western intelligence sources" as saying that al Julani is Zawahiri's "contact in Syria."

Leading the affiliates

In his letter, Zawahiri summarizes communications to and from the Al Nusrah Front and the ISI dealing with this issue. The letter reveals that Zawahiri has the capacity to communicate regularly with the two affiliates.

Zawahiri writes that he was caught off guard by the dispute that erupted in April, saying al Qaeda's most senior leaders were never "asked for authorization or advice" and had not "been notified of what occurred between both sides," only hearing "the news from the media."

Zawahiri explains that shortly thereafter, on April 11, he sent the two al Qaeda leaders a message telling them to stand down. Zawahiri writes that he "sought to resolve the dispute by sending a message" and wanted to freeze "the matter as it was before the dispute until the matter could be arbitrated," a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group reads.

Both groups did shutter their propaganda operations after the spat became public, which suggests they were waiting for the matter to be resolved and did not want to further exacerbate the situation. Curiously, however, their propaganda operations have not been restarted.

Zawahiri's missives in advance of his May 23 ruling were not ignored. "I received messages from both sides and from other sides," Zawahiri writes. The al Qaeda emir says he held "consultations with my brothers in [the] Khorasan and outside of it" to help resolve the issue.

It was after this back and forth that Zawahiri penned his ruling. Thus, Zawahiri's decision came 42 days after he initially wrote to both parties on April 11.

How al Qaeda's branches in Iraq and Syria react in the coming days and weeks will shed additional light on this episode.

A suicide bomber killed up to 16 civilians, including employees who worked at the supreme court in Kabul. The Taliban claimed credit for the deadly attack.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives-packed car as workers were boarding buses at the end of the work day just outside Afghanistan's highest court in the capital. Afghan officials reported that between 14 and 16 civilians, including women, children, and court employees, were killed in the attack.

Taliban Spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said his group executed the attack outside the courthouse, according to TOLONews.

Today's bombing in Kabul is the second suicide attack in the capital in two days, and the third major suicide attack in Afghanistan also in two days.

Yesterday, a team of seven suicide bombers took control of a building under construction that is just outside Kabul International Airport. The Taliban fighters lobbed rocket-propelled grenades at the airport complex; two hangars were damaged and two civilians were wounded. The attack also forced a temporary closure of the airport. Afghan security forces killed all seven attackers.

Also yesterday, in the southeastern province of Zabul, a six-man suicide assault team attempted to storm the provincial office in Qalat, the capital of Zabul. Policemen gunned down five of the attackers after the first suicide bomber blew up a truck packed with explosives at the main gate to the governor's compound. Fifteen civilians and three policemen were wounded.

The Taliban have said they would step up attacks against "foreign invaders," or Coalition personnel operating under the command of the International Security Assistance Force, workers from non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan, and "officials and workers of the stooge Karzai regime." The Taliban stressed that suicide and insider attacks would be used, and warned Afghans to "stay away from the bases of the invaders, their residential areas or working for them in order to avoid civilian losses." [See LWJ report, Taliban promise suicide assaults, 'insider attacks' in this year's spring offensive.]

Over the past three weeks, the Taliban have stepped up suicide operations against the Coalition, NGOs, and Afghan institutions. There have been nine high-profile suicide attacks, including the three attacks yesterday and today in Kabul and Zabul, against Coalition forces and Afghan security forces and institutions throughout Afghanistan in the past 18 days. The preceding six attacks are as follows:

On June 6, a Taliban suicide bomber killed seven Georgian soldiers in an attack inside a Forward Operating Base in the Now Zad district of northern Helmand.

On June 3, a Taliban suicide bomber killed 10 Afghan students, two US soldiers, and an Afghan Local Policeman after US and Afghan soldiers were targeted outside a school in Paktia.

On May 29, the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Taliban launched a joint suicide assault on the governor's compound in Panjshir.

Also on May 29, a suicide assault team attacked a Red Cross office in Jalalabad. The Taliban have denied involvement in the Jalalabad assault.

On May 24, a Taliban suicide assault team targeted a UN-linked NGO compound in Kabul.

And on May 23, a suicide bomber killed seven people in an attack that targeted a local militia commander in Ghazni.

The Treasury Department today designated four Lebanese men who operate for Hezbollah in four separate West African nations. Ali Ibrahim al Watfa (Sierra Leone), Abbas Loutfe Fawaz (Senegal), Ali Ahmad Chehade (Cote d'Ivoire), and Hicham Nmer Khanafer (Gambia) were all added to the list of Specially Designated Nationals.

The four men "have organized fund-raising efforts, recruited members, and in some cases styled themselves as ambassadors of Hezbollah's Foreign Relations Department," Treasury said. The designations "further expose the alarming reach of Hezbollah's activities and its determination to create a worldwide funding and recruitment network to support its violence and criminal enterprises around the world," a statement from Treasury said.

Treasury described Ali Ibrahim al Watfa as "the permanent Hezbollah liaison to Sierra Leone," who is responsible for a Hezbollah cell in the Freetown area. According to Treasury, he has "coordinated the transfer of funds from Sierra Leone to Hezbollah in Lebanon."

Abbas Loutfe Fawaz is "Hezbollah's leader in Senegal." Since 2006, Fawaz has increased his activities in Senegal. "Fawaz used supermarkets, which he owned and operated, in Dakar, Senegal, to raise funds for Hezbollah and attract supporters," Treasury said. Fawaz also discussed with Hezbollah officials in Lebanon the potential of sending Lebanese nationals in Senegal to Lebanon, if the group viewed them to be of use.

Ali Ahmed Chehade is the "Hezbollah Foreign Relations Department official for Cote d'Ivoire," according to Treasury. He has been responsible for coordinating the travel of Hezbollah members between Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire. Chehade was selected "by senior Hezbollah leadership" and is tied to Specially Designated Global Terrorist Abd Al Menhem Qubaysi.

Qubaysi is a "personal representative" of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's Secretary General.

Hicham Nmer Khanafer is an "influential Hezbollah member" in Gambia. Khanafer has "hosted weekly meetings for local Hezbollah members and supporters at his home, and he held weekly Hezbollah fundraising and recruiting drives at a local mosque," Treasury said.

Treasury targeting of Hezbollah networks in Latin America and Africa

In recent years, Treasury has expanded its operations against Hezbollah activities in Latin America and West Africa. For example, in May 2009, Treasury designated two key Hezbollah operatives, Kassim Tajideen and Abd Al Menhem Qubaysi, in Africa.

On Feb. 10, 2011, Treasury designated the Lebanese Canadian Bank "as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern." The designation "exposes the terrorist organization Hezbollah's links to LCB [Lebanese Canadian Bank] and the international narcotics trafficking and money laundering network," Treasury said.

Two weeks before the designation of the LCB, Treasury had designated Ayman Joumaa as well as nine individuals and 19 entities as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers. Joumaa's network "used LCB [Lebanese Canadian Bank] to launder narcotics proceeds," Treasury said. In addition, Treasury charged that "Hezbollah derived financial support from the criminal activities of Joumaa's network."

On Dec. 15, 2011, the US government sued the Lebanese Canadian Bank, two Beirut-based money exchange houses, and 30 auto dealers believed to part of the scheme, which had generated at least $480 million for Hezbollah.

The complaint filed by the US government stated that "Hezbollah members and supporters facilitate the smuggling of cash, including proceeds from the sale of used cars exported from the United States and narcotics proceeds, from West Africa to Lebanon; and finance and facilitate the purchase of some of the used cars in the United States." In reference to Ayman Joumaa, the complaint charged that "Joumaa's organization uses, among other things, Hezbollah couriers to transport and launder narcotics proceeds. Joumaa's organization pays fees to Hezbollah to facilitate the transportation and laundering of narcotics proceeds."

Additionally, the Lebanese Canadian Bank was said to have "knowingly conducted business with Hezbollah-controlled entities and individuals and entities linked to, among other things, African diamond smuggling, money laundering, and narcotics trafficking." The complaint also noted that "hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. currency are transported annually from Benin and other West African countries to Lebanon .... A significant portion of this money moves through courier and security networks controlled by Hezbollah or individuals affiliated with Hezbollah."

In June 2012, Treasury designated an additional four individuals and three entities linked to Ayman Joumma's network. More recently, in April 2013, Treasury named two Lebanese exchange houses as institutions of "primary money laundering concern" for their ties to Joumma's network and Hezbollah.

Mohammed al Zawahiri, the younger brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, and two other jihadist ideologues have released a statement criticizing the Democratic Jihad Party in Egypt. Ahmed Ashush and Jalal Abu Fotouh, both of whom are leading figures in Ansar al Sharia Egypt, are Zawahiri's co-signatories on the statement, which was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

"Jihad and Democracy are opposites and don't mix," the three jihadists argue in the opening lines of their statement. They add that democracy is "one of the greatest deceptions used by the enemies of" Islam and pushes people away from their obligation to perform jihad.

"So, we heard about America's agents founding the Democratic Jihad Party," SITE's translation reads. "Their Satan made it look good for them, to combine between light and darkness, and between tawhid [monotheism] and idolatry, but they failed and their goal was lost."

The Democratic Jihad Party was formed by former members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), a terrorist organization that was headed by Ayman al Zawahiri before its merger with Osama bin Laden's operation, and other former jihadists. Mohammed al Zawahiri headed the EIJ's military committee during the 1990s and was responsible for overseeing the organization's terrorist operations. Ashush was also a member of the EIJ, and admittedly consorted with leading EIJ figures in Afghanistan in the early 1990s.

Mohammed al Zawahiri and his two allies bristle at the notion that al Qaeda's emir would approve of the political party.

Some of the party's leaders "aren't known to have had any affiliation with jihad all their lives, and all of a sudden they have a title in the media such as the 'jihadi leader'," the three authors say. These same leaders "move every night from one satellite channel to another and attribute themselves to Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, may Allah preserve him, and say: Our Emir al Zawahiri said such-and-such."

The authors of the statement argue that while the party is supposed to be the political arm of jihadist groups, the groups' military operations are nonexistent, meaning the party's leaders have abandoned jihad. Sarcastically, they write: "We don't know in which crypts the military wings of these political arms disappeared!"

Al Bayan Media Foundation and Ansar al Sharia Egypt

The statement by Mohammed al Zawahiri, Ashush, and Fotouh was published by the Al Bayan Media Foundation on the group's Facebook page and jihadist forums. Al Bayan's Facebook page is updated infrequently, but posts on the page are decidedly pro-al Qaeda.

On June 6, the Al Bayan Media Establishment republished Ahmed Ashush's statement blasting Tunisian Islamist Rached Ghannouchi. One year earlier, Ghannouchi had criticized al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, whom Ashush openly praises.

On June 6, for instance, the group republished a statement by Ashush defending Ayman al Zawahiri against criticisms levied by Rached Ghannouchi of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda party. One year ago, Ghannouchi lambasted Zawahiri as a "disaster for Islam and for Muslims," adding that "al Qaeda's project is one of destruction and civil war."

Ashush responded at the time, claiming that Ghannouchi is a hypocrite who compromised his principles in the name of democracy. In contrast, Ashush argued, Ayman al Zawahiri should be praised for his "truthfulness and dedication" and for fully realizing the dawa (or call) of Sayyid Qutb, the intellectual godfather of al Qaeda and like-minded groups.

Ashush glorified Zawahiri, saying that he deferred to bin Laden's leadership because he "was not a man of the world, seeking a position or leadership, but rather a jihadist, who does his part wherever he is." Ashush even credited Zawahiri for the Arab Spring, arguing that Zawahiri was the one who "planted the seed of rebellion against tyranny" and supported the "Arab revolutions."

While denouncing Ghannouchi, Ashush praised Abu Iyad al Tunisi and his Ansar al Sharia group in Tunisia, as well as "all those who work for Islam in Tunisia." Ashush concluded by asking Allah to "protect our sheikh, Dr Ayman al Zawahiri, and all the mujahidin."

Ashush, like Mohammed al Zawahiri, is clear about his allegiance to al Qaeda. During an interview in late October 2012, for instance, Ashush said he was "honored to be an extension of al Qaeda."

In April, the Al Bayan Media Foundation's Facebook page advertised a then recent message from Ayman al Zawahiri that was disseminated by al Qaeda's As Sahab propaganda arm. Al Bayan also posted a link to the video.

In March, Ashush's eulogy of slain al Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al Libi was re-posted by Al Bayan.

In February, Al Bayan published a message by Fotouh calling on Muslims to support the jihad in Mali.

Mohammed al Zawahiri, who is featured at Ansar al Sharia Egypt's events, has also attempted to rally public support against France's role in Mali. In January, the younger Zawahiri hosted a protest outside of France's Embassy in Cairo and threatened the West with retaliation. Banners featuring Zawahiri's older brother and Osama bin Laden were featured at the event. One of Mohammed al Zawahiri's followers was also killed while fighting in Mali in May.

In September 2012, just days after the pro-al Qaeda rally in front of the American Embassy in Cairo, Al Bayan published a message from Ashush calling for the makers of the film "Innocence of Muslims" to be killed.

Ansar al Sharia in Egypt, like Ansar al Sharia groups elsewhere, is staunchly opposed to democracy, which it sees as inconsistent with its strict version of Islamic law. In their founding statement, Ansar al Sharia Egypt's leaders called for the implementation of sharia law. They also said they will work toward "the liberation of the Muslim lands from foreign invasion" and resist "modern colonialism, especially the Zionist-Crusader colonialism that is led by America and the West."

The latest statement by Mohammed al Zawahiri and his allies is cut from the same cloth as their previous missives.

In recent days, prominent online jihadists have used Twitter to discuss the fate of Saleh al Qarawi, who is reportedly being held in Saudi Arabia. Al Qarawi was a senior leader in the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a Lebanon-based group that has claimed responsibility for rocket attacks in Israel as well as the July 28, 2010 bombing of a Japanese oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

Al Qarawi reportedly suffered extensive injuries during a drone strike in Waziristan, Pakistan in 2012. His wounds were so grave, according to Asharq al Awsat, that he was forced to return to his native Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment. Al Qarawi was one of the kingdom's 85 most-wanted extremists when the Saudis reportedly arrested him on June 9, 2012.

Saleh al Qarawi, from the Saudi Interior Ministry's list of 85 most-wanted terrorists.

More than one year later, pro-al Qaeda jihadists are agitating for al Qarawi's release and denouncing the Saudis for supposedly reneging on an agreement not to hold him in custody.

One of these jihadists, according to BBC Monitoring, is Siyasi Mutaqa'id, "who was among the first to break the news about al Qarawi's return to Saudi Arabia" in 2012. Mutaqa'id claims that the Saudis struck a deal with al Qaeda that would lead to al Qarawi's freedom. In a series of tweets in late June, Mutaqa'id also claimed that al Qaeda may seek to retaliate against the Saudis for their violation of this supposed agreement.

Another jihadist, Al-Wathiq Billah, alleged in tweets on June 22 that the spies who betrayed al Qarawi's location are being hunted down, with the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan) taking the lead. According to BBC Monitoring, Billah levied an even more sensational charge, claiming that Saudi Interior Minister Muhammad bin Nayif struck the deal that led to al Qarawi's return. In Billah's telling, bin Nayif broke his agreement by jailing the Abdullah Azzam Brigades leader.

Still others have promoted al Qarawi's cause on Twitter and the Ansar al Mujahidin website.

It is not possible to verify the jihadists' various accusations, including the Saudis' supposed broken promise. At a minimum, their posts demonstrate that al Qarawi remains a popular figure, similar to other jailed al Qaeda operatives and jihadists who have inspired calls to action. Leading online jihadists, such as Abu-Sa'd al-Amili, have weighed in recently to lend their support to al Qarawi's cause.

Saudis claimed that al Qarawi operated inside Iran

When the Saudi government released its list of the top 85 most-wanted jihadists in February 2009, anonymous officials made a special effort to highlight al Qarawi's role. Saudi officials cited by The New York Times explained that al Qarawi "has been operating from Iran for three years," or since 2006.

The Times summarized comments made by a "Saudi security official," who explained that al Qarawi was "in charge of leading Al Qaeda's operations in the Persian Gulf and Iran, and of bringing new members into Afghanistan." This same official added that al Qarawi was "believed to have more than 100 Saudis working for him in Iran, where they move about freely."

A leaked State Department cable, dated Feb. 11, 2009, provides an additional detail concerning al Qarawi's Iran ties. The cable notes that he "received explosives training in Iran." The State Department added that al Qarawi "provided finds and recruits to late head of al Qaeda in Iraq Abu Musab al Zarqawi" and "worked to unify various branches of al Qaeda."

When the State Department designated al Qarawi a global terrorist more than two years later, on Dec. 15, 2011, the Iran connection was not mentioned. But the State Department confirmed that al Qarawi had "fought against US forces in Fallujah, Iraq" and worked with Zarqawi. In fact, al Qarawi has explained in propaganda messages that the Brigades started as an outgrowth of Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq.

Some of the online jihadists who have recently commented on al Qarawi's detention have bristled at the notion that he worked inside Iran, calling the accusation a Saudi lie.

Abdullah Azzam Brigades threatens Iran, Hezbollah

In addition to attacking a Japanese oil tanker and Israeli civilians, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades "has repeatedly articulated its intent to carry out attacks against Western interests in the Middle East," according to the State Department. "In 2010, for instance, the group expressed an interest in kidnapping US and British tourists in the Arabian Peninsula."

In more recent days, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades has also threatened Iran and Hezbollah over their participation in the Syrian war.

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, the Brigades released a message titled, "A Statement about the Aggression of the Party of Iran," on June 15. Sirajuddin Zurayqat, a Lebanese jihadist who has spoken on behalf of the Brigades, had previously posted excerpts from the statement on his Twitter feed.

The Brigades claimed that Iran and Hezbollah are waging a war "against Sunnis" and shedding their blood as part of their expansionist goals. The group also accused Hezbollah of spilling Muslim blood in Syria but refraining from attacking Israel.

"We on our side challenge Hassan Nasrallah [Hezbollah's leader] and his fighting elements to fire one bullet at occupied Palestine and claim responsibility for that bullet, whether from their areas in Lebanon or through their brigades in Syria, which fired thousands of shells and bullets upon unarmed Sunnis and their women, elderly and children, and destroyed their homes on top of them," the statement reads, according to SITE's translation.

Majid bin Muhammad al Majid, from the Saudi Interior Ministry's list of 85 most-wanted terrorists.

The Brigades have long supported the Syrian uprising. In a video message released on June 19, 2012, the group named its new emir as Majid bin Muhammad al Majid, who replaced al Qarawi as the group's leader. Like al Qarawi, al Majid was also included on Saudi Arabia's most-wanted list in February 2009.

In the video, al Majid said that the Syrian people should support the uprising against President Bashir al Assad's regime and additional rebellions against Muslim governments would follow. [See LWJ report, Abdullah Azzam Brigades names leader, advises against attacks in Syria's cities.]

The group's latest statement is consistent with its rhetoric since the beginning of the Syrian uprising, as it has repeatedly threatened Iran, Hezbollah, and Shiites in general. Whereas the Brigades' leadership reportedly received safe haven inside Iran for several years, the terrorist organization and the Iranian regime are now on opposite sides of the fight for the Assad family's former stronghold.

Similarly, other al Qaeda-linked jihadists have called for attacks inside Shiite-led countries as retribution for the ongoing fight by Iran and Hezbollah against Sunni forces inside Syria.

A suicide bomber killed four people in an attack in a Christian area of the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier today, according to the state-run Syrian media. The suicide bombing is the 24th reported in Syria so far this year.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vest "in the vicinity of the Greek Orthodox Virgin Mary Church in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Bab Sharqi in Damascus' Old City," The Associated Press reported.

It is unclear if the bomber was attempting to target the church or Christians, who are increasingly taking the government's side in Syria's civil war as Islamist militias are gaining power, or a nearby militia that is loyal to President Bashir al Assad.

The Syrian Arab News Agency, the official news outlet for the Assad regime, claimed that the suicide bomber "blew himself up amongst a group of citizens who were receiving medical services at the charity, killing four and injuring eight."

While no group has claimed credit for the attack, it was likely executed by the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria. The Al Nusrah Front has claimed credit for most of the attacks that have taken place in Syria since the civil war began two years ago.

Today's suicide bombing is the third in Damascus this month. The last attack took place just five days ago, when three suicide bombers assaulted a police station in the capital, killing five people.

Also, on June 11, two suicide bombers detonated their explosives at a police station in Damascus, killing at least 14 people.

So far this year, 24 suicide attacks and assaults have been reported in Syria; the Al Nusrah Front has claimed credit for 16 of them. The Muhajireen Army, which is led by a Chechen commander and has numerous foreign fighters in its ranks, claimed credit for two suicide assaults at a military airport in Aleppo that took place this month. In one of the assaults, ehe Muhajireen Army detonated an armored personnel vehicle on the base.

The Al Nusrah Front has claimed credit for 60 of the 76 suicide attacks that have been reported 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).

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, claimed it launched two suicide assaults and other attacks with Syrian rebel groups, including an Islamist unit and two Free Syrian Army brigades.

The Al Nusrah Front made the claims in a series of statements released on June 27 by its official media outlet, the Al-Manara Al-Baydha' Foundation. The statements were obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The attacks were carried out in conjunction with the Nasser Salahuddin Brigade, an Islamist group from the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front, and the Dera' al Assima, Liwa al Habib al Mustafa, and Liwa' al-Tawhid, three Free Syrian Army brigades that operate in Damascus.

The Al Nusrah Front said the two suicide assaults took place "in Eastern Ghouta in the countryside of Damascus" on April 22. Al Nusrah Front suicide bombers targeted two "barriers," or outposts, with explosives-packed cars.

"That was in order to open the way for the storming lions of the Al Nusrah Front and the Nasser Salahuddin Brigade to raid the two barriers and comb them," the statement said, according to SITE. The Al Nusrah Front claimed that "more than 150 soldiers" were killed and two tanks were destroyed in the operation.

In addition to the Ghouta suicide assaults, the Al Nusrah Front claimed to have launched multiple mortar and rocket attacks on April 22, with the help of the Dera' al Assima and Liwa al Habib al Mustafa brigades, against Syrian forces in the Damascus area.

And on April 10, according to a recent statement, the Al Nusrah Front and the Liwa' al-Tawhid Brigade executed a joint conventional military assault on a Syrian military unit.

"The raid started with two groups of immersers from the Al Nusra Front, with the support of a group from Liwa' al-Tawhid with a 23mm cannon and DShK" anti-aircraft machine guns, the statement said. The Al Nusrah Front fighters stormed the Syrian military positions and destroyed several tanks, the terror group claimed.

Free Syrian Army works with the Al Nusrah Front

The Al Nusrah Front is willing to work with Syrian rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army, and in its official statements has admitted to doing so.

In October 2012, the Al Nusrah Front claimed it commanded elements of the Al Fajr [Dawn] Islamic Brigade, a known Free Syrian Army unit, as well as "Chechens," likely from the Muhajireen Brigade, during an assault on a Syrian air defense and Scud missile base in Aleppo.

And in August 2012, the Al Nusrah Front said it launched a joint operation with the Battalion of the Mujahideen of the Companions [Al Sahaba Battalion] against a police station in the countryside of Damascus.

The Al Nusrah Front has also cooperated with Free Syrian Army units to establish sharia, or Islamic law, in Aleppo and in eastern Syria.

One of the founders of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riyad al Assad, has welcomed the Al Nusrah Front on the battlefield and has described the group as "our brothers in Islam." Riyad made the statements in an undated video that was uploaded on YouTube in March.

"We have offered martyrs and other things and, accordingly, nobody should blame us for this matter," he said. "The Al Nusrah Front has proved that it is proficient in fighting and has treated the people very nicely."

Riyad then said the Al Nusrah Front "thus far have not done anything wrong to anybody," disregarding the facts that the group has executed suicide attacks that have killed civilians and enforces a harsh form of sharia, or Islamic law, in areas under its control.

The US government is backing the Free Syrian Army despite the group's known ties to the Al Nusrah Front. The Obama administration announced on June 13 that it would arm Syrian rebels against President Bashir al Assad, who is backed by Iran and Hezbollah, after accusing the Syrian government of using chemical weapons.

The CIA has begun moving light weapons and possibly anti-tank missiles from Jordan to Syria, where they are to be given to 'elaborately' vetted opposition elements. The CIA is considering using special operations teams from the US, Jordan, and the UAE to train rebels. US officials say the effort will aim to produce trained moderate fighters faster than the growth of the Al Nusrah Front, which has added "thousands" of fighters this past year. Meanwhile, Saudi officials have offered to identify 'trusted' rebel fighters to be given shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.

But large numbers of Free Syrian Army fighters and even entire units are said to be defecting to the Al Nusrah Front. From Jan. 1 until the beginning of May, more than 3,000 Free Syrian Army fighters are thought to have taken their weapons and joined al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.

Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, has confirmed that it killed two of its top leaders, including Ibrahim al Afghani, who was on the US's wanted list for his ties to al Qaeda. Additionally, Hassan Dahir Aweys, another top leader, has been flown to Mogadishu and is reportedly in custody.

Shabaab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab confirmed yesterday that Afghani and another senior commander known as Abul Hamid Hashi Olhayi were killed during fighting in the town of Barawe.

"We have informed their widows of their deaths, as they must now wear the clothes of mourning," Musab told AFP.

Family members of the two slain commanders claimed they were executed by Shabaab fighters after being captured. Shabaab's spokesman denied that Afghani and Olhayi were executed, however, and maintained they were killed while resisting arrest.

"We deny reports that the men were killed after capture," Musab told AFP. "The two men were killed in a shoot out when they were resisting arrest on court orders."

Afghani had been at odds with Shabaab's emir, Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, after Afghani reportedly issued a statement that criticized the leader. Afghani, Aweys, Sheikh Abu Mansur Robow, and two other Shabaab leaders all accused Godane of being heavy-handed in his treatment of American jihadist Omar Hammami and two other foreign fighters. Hammami has criticized Zubayr on social media, and Zubayr reportedly sent intelligence agents to assassinate Hammami, whose fate is still unknown. Hammami is thought to be dead.

Afghani a longtime jihadist commander who was closely linked to al Qaeda

In early June, the US government's Rewards for Justice program offered a $5 million reward for Afghani, a.k.a. Ibrahim Hajj Jama and Abubakar al-Seyli'i, and also offered rewards for six other Shabaab leaders. [See LWJ report, 7 Shabaab leaders added to Rewards for Justice most wanted list.]

Although Afghani was said to have been targeted in a US drone strike in July 2011 outside Kismayo, reports of his death were not confirmed.

He previously served as Shabaab's regional governor of the Kismayo administration. In a March 2010 report, the Somalia Monitoring Group said Afghani is one of the group's top leaders, and listed him after Ahmed Abdi Aw Mohamed, Shabaab's leader, who is better known as Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr and Godane.

Afghani received his nom de guerre because he waged jihad in Afghanistan for years.

A leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessment, dated Aug. 6, 2007, describes Afghani as "an al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI) military commander known for his religious knowledge as well as loyalty and support for al Qaeda and the Taliban and for his continuing links to Afghanistan." The file continues: "Jama was one of the first founders of al Qaeda affiliated AIAI cells and one of the instigators of terrorist attacks in Somaliland."

Prior to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Afghani reportedly traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan along with Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayro, Shabaab's former military commander who was killed in a US airstrike in the spring of 2008. Afghani and Ayro were accompanied by 15 other "people from Somalia," according to the leaked JTF-GTMO file, and they went to Pakistan "to meet with the Somali community there." Afghani "traveled openly," while "Ayro and other members of the group traveled secretly and later moved on to Afghanistan."

Afghani maintained ties in Pakistan after Sept. 11, 2001. According to the leaked JTF-GTMO file, Afghani "established contact" with a former Guantanamo detainee named Abdullah Sudi Arale, who was from the same Somali tribe. The file identifies Arale as a "member of the East Africa al Qaeda (EAAQ) organization" and a "leader" of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union, which spawned Shabaab. Arale allegedly "served as a courier and facilitator between EAAQ and al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan." [For more on Arale, see LWJ report, The Gitmo Files: Fazul Mohammed continued to seek bin Laden's direction.]

Afghani, Arale, and Zubayr all belong to the Ishaak (or Isak) clan, a senior Somali official told The Long War Journal.

Aweys travels to Mogadishu

Hassan Dahir Aweys, the senior Shabaab leader who was listed by the US Department of State as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in November 2001, escaped Shabaab's infighting in Barawe by boat on June 20 and traveled to Galmudug region.

Aweys has since been flown to Mogadishu, purportedly to reconcile with the government, according to Reuters. Reports indicate that Aweys either surrendered to government officials or has voluntarily traveled to the capital to conduct talks. A photograph shows Aweys boarding an airplane, without handcuffs.

Government officials are said to be willing to reconcile with Aweys. But Shabelle News reported that Aweys was arrested upon his arrival in the capital.

Aweys is one of the most wanted jihadists in Somalia. He is known to have trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan during the 1990s and maintains links with al Qaeda's top leaders. He is also thought to have participated in the infamous "Black Hawk Down" incident in Mogadishu in 1993, when Somali fighters ambushed a US raiding party, resulting in a two-day battle that resulted in the deaths of 18 US soldiers and several hundred Somalis.

Today Shabaab hinted on its official Twitter account that it is conducting an internal purge. The group said that "disunity" is preventing it from waging jihad against "the Global Zionist-Christian Crusade."

Shabaab accused "the Kuffar [disbelievers, likely the Somali government, AMISOM, and the West] and the hypocrites" of plotting to "dismember the single Jama'ah [Ummah or Muslim community] and the unity of the Mujahideen" by "keeping them preoccupied with internal strife."

"The Mujahideen know full well the detrimental impacts of disunity and divisions on the course of Global Jihad and establishment of Shari'ah," or Islamic law, the group stated. "A Jama'ah that is divided and in disagreement cannot possibly confront the Global Zionist-Christian Crusade against Islam and the Muslims."

"As such, the leadership of HSM [Shabaab] is determined to take all legitimate measures to safeguard the Mujahideen against such divisions and disputes. Those who wish to plant the destructive seeds of disunity among the Mujahideen, will be strongly dealt with should they fail to desist," Shabaab said.

Hossam Abdul Raouf, editor of al Qaeda's "Vanguards of Khorasan" magazine. Image courtesy of SITE.

A new video released by As Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda arm, on jihadist forums on June 28 features Hossam Abdul Raouf, the editor of the terrorist organization's "Vanguards of Khorasan" electronic magazine.

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, the new release is Raouf's "first appearance in a video" from As Sahab. Raouf has been a prolific contributor to al Qaeda's publications. In 2008, for example, Raouf threatened terrorist attacks against Canada if the country did not remove its troops from Afghanistan. To date, however, Raouf has not achieved the celebrity of other jihadist ideologues who have been regularly featured in al Qaeda's videos.

Al Qaeda offers a brief biography of Raouf at the beginning of the new video, according to SITE. Raouf, an Egyptian, was born in 1958 and received a degree in agriculture. In early 1986, he "deployed to jihad against the Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan," and stayed there for nine months before returning to Egypt to work for the Agriculture Minister.

The biography states that Raouf could have taken computer classes in America in 1998 but refused to do so because of his hatred for the US and dedication to jihad.

In 1989, Raouf relocated to Pakistan, where he joined the Maktab al Khidamat (MAK), a precursor to al Qaeda that was established by Osama bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam. That same year, Azzam was killed and bin Laden assumed full control of the MAK.

Raouf worked for the group until the 1990s, serving as a treasurer, "financial and administrative director," and then as a "member in the editorial board of al Jihad Magazine." Al Qaeda says that Raouf moved to Kabul in 1995, where he ran charitable projects and an orphanage until the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It is not clear what he did in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

In 2005, Raouf "became the editor of Vanguards of Khorasan Magazine since its first issue." Al Qaeda adds that this was after the "blessed invasion of London in July 2005," a reference to the 7/7 bombings.

Focus on Arab Spring

In the latest video, Raouf focuses on the revolutions that have swept through Arab nations since late 2010, arguing that their potential remains unfulfilled because the old regimes have not been completely replaced by governments adhering to al Qaeda-style sharia law. Raouf's lament is a common one in al Qaeda's messaging.

In a November 2012 statement, for instance, Ayman al Zawahiri argued that Muslims must be made aware "of the necessity of being ruled by sharia and adhering to the judgments of Islam" and must "continue in their revolution until they uproot the remains of the corrupt regimes, and purify their lands of external humiliation and internal corruption." [See LWJ report, Zawahiri calls on Muslims to implement sharia.]

Raouf has long pushed al Qaeda's political agenda in his writings. The following brief summary is based on translations prepared by the SITE Intelligence Group.

After Pakistan held elections in 2002, Raouf published a short book titled "The Muslims Between the Pestle of Democracy and the Mortar of Dictatorship," which was published online by Nokhba Jihadi Media.

"There was a lot of talk about the necessity of instituting the democratic system in the Middle East and spreading the values of freedom and democracy in its societies, according to the claim of the American president and his administration," Raouf wrote in the introduction to the book's first edition. "Then, the parrots and the mercenaries in the Islamic world followed them to demand the condemnation of jihadi propensities to change the dominant reality of Muslims, and to instead call for the necessity of resorting to peaceful means, by instituting democracy, entering into parliamentary councils, and establishing official parties to fulfill this goal, with the use of legitimate ways to express their refusal to go out in peaceful demonstrations, etc."

Raouf went on to state that the book is intended to refute the thinking of Islamic scholars and students who believe that democratically-held elections are consistent with sharia law.

Nokhba Jihadi Media released a second edition of the book on jihadist forums on Oct. 9, 2011. Raouf re-wrote the introduction to address the so-called Arab Spring, arguing against the supposed "falsehood" of democracy, and claiming that his work is built upon the words of others, including Ayman al Zawahiri.

"We return to confirm that there is a vicious media campaign to convince Muslims of the behavior of false democracy as a lifestyle," Raouf wrote in the introduction to the second edition of his book. "The media outlets and press agencies repeat that the revolutions have achieved their goals and that there is no need to continue the demonstrations and the protests amongst the youth, men and the general public, and this is an attempt to kill the great revolutions, end the zeal and the chivalry in the hearts, and explode domestic conflicts amongst the supporters and the opponents of such popular movements."

Raouf also argued that the political turmoil in the Arab world had changed nothing, because sharia law had not been fully implemented. The "reality shows that no actual changes took place on the economic, social, security and political levels," Raouf wrote.

On June 21, 2011, Nokhba Jihadi Media released another article by Raouf, titled "The Connections between Jihad and the Contemporary Arab Popular Revolutions." Raouf argued that Libyans would not have needed to rely on intervention by the "Crusader" NATO if they were truly committed to jihad. Raouf again argued that sharia law must be implemented by the Libyan people.

New video, old message

Al Qaeda is clearly sensitive to the argument that its ideology has been overshadowed by the Arab Spring. The group has capitalized on the upheaval in various ways, including the establishment of a new arm in Syria. But al Qaeda did not start the revolutions, and Raouf finds it necessary to once again address the new political reality in his video debut.

Raouf claims, implausibly, that al Qaeda sparked the Arab Spring. Al Qaeda "broke the barrier of fear for the Arab peoples, so they revolted and ousted the agents of the Americans one after the other, and the Americans couldn't help them," Raouf says. It is a "falsehood" to say that al Qaeda does not approve of the revolutions, he adds.

Yet, in al Qaeda's view, the Arab Spring has still failed to deliver real change. "The current results of the revolutions that succeeded in ousting the rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen aren't on the level that we had hoped for, and the most exalted goals weren't achieved that were announced at the beginning of the revolutions," Raouf says.

Raouf speaks at length about the many problems Egypt has encountered in the post-Mubarak era. The longtime jihadist says that Egypt's struggles "distract" Muslims "from facing the real enemy from among the Crusaders, the Jews and their agents inside, and completing the goals of the revolution and on top of them, implementing sharia-based governance and carrying out their role in building and fixing what was done by the sinful hands that ruled Egypt for the past 60 years."

Repeating a message he has consistently delivered since at least 2002, Raouf maintains that democracy is unacceptable, and claims that only the implementation of sharia law will complete the revolutions.

"We also warn [Muslims against] accepting the alternative that they want to impose on us, making us like someone who sought shelter in fire from smoke, which is the establishment of a democratic, pluralistic, secular government, and that there is no problem if the head of state is Christian or Muslim or female, like someone said whom Allah blinded his insight," Raouf says.