The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan launched a complex assault that included suicide bombers against a prison in Dera Ismail Khan, freeing more than 200 prisoners, including at least 30 "hardcore militants." The attack was likely carried out by the Ansar al Aseer, a joint Taliban and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan unit that has been designated to free imprisoned jihadists.

The attack began around midnight with a massive explosion outside the prison, which was followed by several more detonations designed to breach the prison walls. A team of Taliban fighters dressed in police uniforms then stormed the prison and engaged the guards while searching for imprisoned jihadists.

Outside the prison, teams of armed fighters deployed to block Pakistani security forces who attempted to reinforce the prison guards. Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns took control of a nearby hospital and a home and opened fire on Pakistani troops as they rushed to the prison, Reuters reported. Fighting lasted for more than three hours before security forces regained control of the prison.

The Taliban claimed credit for the attack, and said that hundreds of prisoners were freed. Spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed that more than 100 fighters and several suicide bombers executed the attack on the prison.

"We had sent around 150 fighters including a squad of suicide bombers. The aim was to free the inmates and it was a successful action as Taliban managed to free at least 300 prisoners," Shahid said, The Times of India reported.

A Pakistani official confirmed that more than 200 prisoners, including dozens of jihadists, escaped during the jailbreak.

"A total of 243 prisoners have escaped, six of them were later arrested by police," said a senior government official who was identified as Mushtaq Jadoon, according to Al Jazeera. At least "30 among the escaped prisoners were hardcore militants." The identities of those who escaped have not yet been disclosed.

Ansar al Aseer tasked to free prisoners

The midnight attack in Dera Ismail Khan was likely executed by the Ansar al Aseer, a joint unit created by the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

The two groups announced the formation of the Ansar al Aseer, which is specifically tasked to free jihadist prisoners and support their families, in January 2013. Adnan Rasheed, a dangerous Pakistani jihadist who was freed in a nearly identical jailbreak last year; Yassin Chouka, a wanted German commander in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; and Abdul Hakeem, a Russian IMU member released the video announcing the establishment of the group.

Rasheed is a Pakistani terrorist who was involved in the Dec. 14, 2003 assassination attempt against then-President Pervez Musharraf. A member of the Pakistani Air Force, Rasheed was sentenced to death for his role in the assassination attempt. The execution was never carried out and he was placed in a prison in Bannu, near Pakistan's tribal areas.

Rasheed worked for Amjad Farooqi, the Pakistani terrorist who engineered the two assassination attempts against Musharraf in December 2003 at the behest of al Qaeda leader Abu Faraj al Libi; Farooqi is suspected of involvement in other terror attacks as well. Farooqi was a member of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan; the Harkat-ul-Ansar and its successor, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen; Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami; and Jaish-e-Mohammed. He served as a close aide to Qari Saifullah Akhtar, the leader of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. In addition, Farooqi served as the group's representative to al Qaeda's International Islamic Front.

The Taliban committed to free Rasheed from prison. On April 15, 2012, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan launched a successful operation to free Rasheed and nearly 400 prisoners, including an estimated 200 Taliban fighters and jihadists, being held at a prison in Bannu. The operation was directed by Hakeemullah Mehsud, the emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and Waliur Rehman Mehsud, the group's former deputy who was killed in a drone strike in late May. More than 150 fighters assaulted the prison. Rasheed was later featured in a videotape celebrating the jailbreak.

Since his escape from prison, Rasheed has featured prominently in Taliban propaganda. In March 2013, Rasheed released a video that showed a squad of heavily armed Taliban fighters who he claimed are assigned to killed Musharraf. Rasheed said the "death squad" is split up into groups of "fedayeen, sniper team, special assault team, and close combat team."

And two weeks ago, Rasheed released a letter to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was wounded by the Taliban for advocating girls' education. Rasheed attempted to justify the attack in the letter, which said he was written in a personal capacity and not speaking for the Pakistani Taliban or any other jihadist group.

The US launched its second drone strike in four days in Yemen, killing three al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives today as they traveled in the south of the country.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers launched missiles at a vehicle carrying AQAP operatives as it drove through the town of Saeed in the southern province of Shabwa, The Associated Press reported.

Yemeni tribesmen told the news agency that "a known Saudi member" of AQAP was among the three fighters killed. The names of those said to have been killed in the strike have not been disclosed.

"The car in which the three were traveling -- two Yemenis and a Saudi -- was blown to pieces and all of them were killed outright," a Yemeni source told AFP, which also reported that there were two cars traveling together; one the vehicles escaped the strike.

Today's strike is the second in Yemen in four days. The previous strike, on July 27, which is said to have killed six AQAP fighters in the Al Mahfad area in Abyan province, broke a seven-week pause in drone activity in Yemen.

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched 14 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year, but the pace of the strikes has decreased since last year. 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. The strikes are being reduced as the US government is facing increasing international criticism for conducting the attacks in both Yemen and Pakistan.

Although six senior AQAP operatives, including the group's deputy emir, Said al Shihri, were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012, the group's top leadership cadre remains intact. Just two weeks ago, AQAP confirmed that al Shihri, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, was killed; he is thought to have died or to have been seriously wounded following a strike in October 2012.

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 Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, has claimed that it launched three separate operations in recent months with various other Syrian rebel groups, including Islamist units and the Free Syrian Army. In one of the attacks in Idlib, more than 2,000 fighters from seven different units participated in a two-week siege that resulted in the overrunning of several military camps.

The claims were made in a series of statements that were released on jihadist Internet forums on July 21 and July 29. The statements were obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The largest joint operation took place in the countryside in Idlib province between May 8 and May 22. The Al Nusrah Front claimed that "2,000 fully-equipped mujahideen" from eight different "brigades" fielded "8 tanks, a BMP armored vehicle," and an assortment of mortars, rockets, machine guns, and other heavy weapons.

In addition to the Al Nusrah Front, the other seven Syrian rebel units that participated in the attack were: Liwa al Tawhid, or Unity Brigade, a large Free Syrian Army unit; Ahrar al Shimal, a unit within the Liwa al Tawhid; Ahrar al Sham, a large Islamist unit that often fights alongside the Al Nusrah Front; Suqur al Sham; a Free Syrian Army unit in Idlib; Liwa al Hurriya, another Free Syrian Army formation; Liwa al Haq; Deraa al Thawra; and Deraa al Jabal.

The Al Nusrah Front explained that it decided to assist the Syrian rebel units after they failed to take control of the camps despite laying siege to the area for more than three months. The Syrian military units and government-backed irregular forces were defeated on May 22, the Al Nusrah Front claimed.

The al Qaeda-linked terror group also said that in another attack, on June 14, it worked with four other rebel groups to overrun "the Military Housing Foundation" in Idlib. During that operation, the Al Nusrah Front partnered with the Ahrar al Sham, Liwa al Tawhid, Ahrar al Shimal, and Liwa al Haq.

And in yet another attack, the Al Nusrah Front claimed it partnered with four other groups against "the brigades of transportation and armament in northern Deraa on the outskirtsof the city of Basra al Harir." The fighting began on July 27 and ended on July 29 after they gained "full control over the two brigades" and seized "all the weapons and equipment inside, such as anti-aircraft, armored vehicles, light weapons, ammunition" and other items.

Also fighting against the Syrian military during the recent operation in Basra al Harir were: Liwa' al Haramein, a unit in the Ahrar al Sham; al Qadisiyya Islamic Battalion, a Free Syrian Army unit; a group called Ansar al Sunnah, which is known to operate in Deraa; and the Islamic Jerusalem Brigade.

Previous joint operations by the Al Nusrah Front

The Al Nusrah Front, which this spring publicly joined al Qaeda and swore allegiance to its emir, Ayman al Zawahiri, often conducts joint operations with Free Syrian Army units and other Islamist brigades fighting in Syria. Currently, in northern Syria, the Al Nusrah Front has teamed up with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, another al Qaeda affiliate; Ahrar al Sham; the Ahfad al-Rasoul Brigade, which is backed by the government of Qatar; and the Islamic Kurdish Front, to battle Kurdish forces allied with the PKK.

There have been numerous other instances in which the Al Nusrah Front has aligned itself with other Syrian groups in both military and non-military operations. A year ago, 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 Jadida Artouz in the countryside of Damascus.

Additionally, in August 2012, the Al Nusrah Front imposed sharia, or Islamic Law, in conjunction with the Tawhid Brigade and the Ahrar al Sham Brigade in Aleppo.

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.

In November 2012, the Al Nusrah Front entered into an alliance with the Al Fajr Islamic Brigade and 12 other groups in Aleppo to establish an Islamic state.

More recently, in March, the Al Nusrah Front fought alongside the Ahrar al Sham Brigade to take control of the city of Raqqah, and then formed the "Sharia Committee for the Eastern Region" to impose and enforce Islamic law in the city and in other towns.

And in April, the Al Nusrah Front said it conducted a suicide assault with the help of the Nasser Salahuddin Brigade, and conventional attacks with the help of Dera' al Assima, Liwa al Habib al Mustafa, and Liwa' al Tawhid brigades, three Free Syrian Army units in Damascus.

A Pakistani Taliban commander said that the US killed three al Qaeda military "training experts" in a drone strike in North Waziristan that took place last weekend. Al Qaeda continues to support Taliban military operations in Afghanistan and conduct its own attacks despite claims from US commanders that the terrorist group is merely fighting for its survival in the country and maintains a minimal presence.

The US drone strike, which took place on July 28 in the Shawal Valley in North Waziristan, a known hub for terrorists crossing into Afghanistan, is reported to have killed four Arabs and four Taliban fighters.

The Taliban commander told Reuters that the Arab fighters were "al Qaeda training experts who had crossed the border from Afghanistan to look at ways of setting up a similar camp on Pakistani territory." The al Qaeda fighters were identified as "Abu Rashid from Saudi Arabia, Muhammed Ilyas Kuwaiti from Kuwait, and Muhammed Sajid Yamani from Yemen."

US intelligence officials who track al Qaeda in the region told The Long War Journal that they are aware of the reports of the deaths of the al Qaeda operatives, but would neither confirm nor deny them.

The Lashkar-al-Zil, or the Shadow Army, al Qaeda's paramilitary force that fields small conventional units in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, is known to operate training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan's tribal areas, which include North and South Wazirstan, host training camps for al Qaeda as well as a multitude of allied jihadist groups from inside and outside of Pakistan. In Afghanistan, al Qaeda is known to operate training camps in the remote northeastern provinces of Kunar and Nuristan.

The Lashkar-al-Zil embeds military trainers within Taliban units in both countries. These trainers provide instructions for battling security forces in local insurgencies and furnish knowledge, expertise, funding, and resources for conducting local and international attacks. The US Treasury Department officially acknowledged the existence of this unit when it added one such Pakistan-based trainer and commander of al Qaeda's "paramilitary brigades" to the list of global terrorists in June. [For more information on this unit, see LWJ report, Al Qaeda's paramilitary 'Shadow Army,' from February 2009.]

The US may have killed Abu Saif al Jaziri, a mid-level paramilitary commander from Algeria who works with the Haqqani Network in the region, in a drone strike on July 2 in North Waziristan. A Haqqani Network commander known as Maulana Akhtar Zadran and two Pakistani jihadists are also reported to have been killed in the strike.

US officials downplay al Qaeda's importance in Afghanistan

US military officials continue to downplay al Qaeda's presence in Afghanistan, despite ample evidence that the group is active in the country as well as in Pakistan.

In an interview on July 28, General Joseph Dunford Jr., the Coalition commander in Afghanistan, said al Qaeda was merely a "shell" of its former self, with only about 75 members in Afghanistan, who were mostly too busy trying to stay alive to plan attacks against the West, the New York Times reported.

Similarly, Major General Joseph Osterman, the deputy operations commander of the International Security Assistance Force, told Reuters last week that al Qaeda is fighting for its survival in Afghanistan and is isolated primarily in Nuristan province.

"They are less than 100, I would say, and they are in fact just trying to survive at this point," Osterman told Reuters. "I think what you find is that it's not necessarily that they have got a springboard in there."

Since the summer of 2010, Obama administration officials have been consistently claiming that 50 to 100 al Qaeda operatives are present in Afghanistan [for examples, see Threat Matrix reports, The 'only 50 to 100' al Qaeda in Afghanistan fallacy, from July 2010; and How many al Qaeda operatives are now left in Afghanistan?, from April 2011].

But a study by The Long War Journal that looks at ISAF's own reports on its raids against al Qaeda since 2007 paints a different picture. Since 2007, ISAF has conducted 357 reported raids against al Qaeda and allied groups in Balkh, Farah, Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Paktika, Sar-i-Pul, Takhar, Wardak, and Zabul, or 17 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. Many of these raids have taken place over the past three years.

ISAF's data on the location of al Qaeda's network is mirrored by al Qaeda's propaganda. Al Qaeda routinely reports on its Afghan operations in Vanguards of Khorasan, a magazine produced for its members and supporters. Al Qaeda has reported on operations in all of the provinces where ISAF has conducted raids.

At the end of June, after completing its transition of security responsibilities to the Afghan National Security Forces, ISAF stopped reporting on its raids against al Qaeda, shutting off a window into how it targets al Qaeda's network in Afghanistan.

The US launched its third drone strike in Yemen in the past five days, killing five al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives in an area in eastern Yemen that is said to be under the control of the terrorist group.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers launched a pair of missiles at a target in the Qatan Valley in Hadramout province today, killing five "al Qaeda militants," and wounding three others, Xinhua reported. Reuters said the missiles struck a car, while Xinhua reported that the strike took place at an "al Qaeda-held site in the Qatan valley" that is "used for training terrorists."

No senior al Qaeda operatives or leaders are reported to have been killed at this time. The identities of the al Qaeda operatives who were killed have not been disclosed.

Hadramout is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden's family, and the province has become an AQAP bastion over the past several years.

In 2012, the US stepped up drone strikes against AQAP in Hadramout. Prior to May 2012, there were zero US drone strikes in the province. From mid-May until the end of 2012, the US launched seven attacks in Hadramout. Seven of the 42 drone strikes in Yemen in 2012, or 17%, have taken place in the province. Today's strike in Hadramout is the first in the province so far this year.

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 35 drones strikes recorded by The Long War Journal over the past 12 months, 28 have taken place in the provinces of Aden, Baydah, Al Jawf, Damar, Hadramout, Hodeida, Ibb, Marib, Saada, and Sana'a.

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched 15 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year, but the pace of the strikes has decreased since last year. 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. The strikes are being reduced as the US government is facing increasing international criticism for conducting the attacks in both Yemen and Pakistan.

The US has stepped up attacks in Yemen; today's strike is the third in five days. Two days ago, on July 30, US drones killed three AQAP fighters, including a Saudi operative, in a strike in Shabwa province. The previous strike, on July 27, which is said to have killed six AQAP fighters in the Al Mahfad area in Abyan province, broke a seven-week pause in drone activity in Yemen.

Although six senior AQAP operatives, including the group's deputy emir, Said al Shihri, were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012, the group's top leadership cadre remains intact. Just two weeks ago, AQAP confirmed that al Shihri, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, was killed; he is thought to have died or to have been seriously wounded following a strike in October 2012.

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 US government has ordered 21 diplomatic facilities closed this weekend in response to an al Qaeda threat.

"The Department of State alerts US citizens to the continued potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula," a worldwide travel alert reads.

The alert continues: "Current information suggests that al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August."

The State Department has released a list of the diplomatic facilities to be closed. They are located in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Ordinarily, these facilities would be closed for part of the weekend. But the facilities would also normally be open on Sunday for business, as is custom in Muslim countries.

"The Department of State has instructed certain US embassies and consulates to remain closed or to suspend operations on Sunday, August 4th," Marie Harf, the State Department's deputy spokeswoman, explained to reporters. This was a "precautionary" step taken "out of an abundance of caution."

Some facilities may remain closed past Aug. 4, depending on the results of a security analysis, Harf added.

Multiple US embassy websites, such as the one for Cairo, have posted statements concerning the closures.

The US government has not provided any specific details concerning the threat at this time.

Citing US officials, the New York Times reports that there is "credible" intelligence indicating "that an al Qaeda regional affiliate might be plotting an attack sometime in the coming days."

CBS News reports that US intelligence officials have "picked up signs of an al Qaeda plot against American diplomatic posts in the Middle East and other Muslim countries," but the "intelligence does not mention a specific location, which is why all embassies that would normally be open on Sunday have been ordered to close."

September 2012: Al Qaeda-linked jihadists assault US diplomatic facilities

AQAP's tenth edition of Inspire magazine featured the September 2012 assaults on US diplomatic facilities.

The embassy and consulate closures come nearly one year after al Qaeda-linked jihadists assaulted multiple US diplomatic facilities.

On Sept. 11, 2012, jihadists with known al Qaeda ties, including Mohammed al Zawahiri, the brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, orchestrated a protest outside of the US Embassy in Cairo. The embassy's walls were breached and an al Qaeda flag was hoisted in place of the stars and stripes. The Cairo protest was infused with al Qaeda symbolism, with protesters chanting, "Obama, Obama, we are all Osama!" That same chant was heard at other protests in the following days as well. [See LWJ report, Al Qaeda-linked jihadists helped incite 9/11 Cairo protest.]

Later that same day, jihadists from several al Qaeda-linked groups attacked the US Mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing a US Ambassador and three other Americans. The terrorists responsible reportedly had ties to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), as well as other al Qaeda-associated groups and Ansar al Sharia in Libya.

A group of Egyptians who took part in the Benghazi attack had been trained in camps run by Muhammad Jamal al Kashef, a longtime subordinate to Ayman al Zawahiri. Al Kashef was in contact with Zawahiri during the months leading up the attack, and also has extensive, longstanding ties to the jihadists who incited the Cairo protest. [See LWJ reports, Old school Egyptian jihadists linked to 9/11 Cairo protest, Benghazi suspect and Communications with Ayman al Zawahiri highlighted in 'Nasr City cell' case.]

Two days after the attacks in Cairo and Benghazi, still another al Qaeda-linked jihadist played a role in an anti-American protest, in Sana'a, Yemen. The US embassy there was stormed on Sept. 13, 2012, after Sheikh Abdul Majeed al Zindani called for protests, according to The New York Times. Zindani is a known al Qaeda supporter.

The US Treasury Department had added Zindani to its list of designated terrorist supporters in 2004, calling him an Osama bin Laden "loyalist." Zindani "has a long history of working with bin Laden, notably serving as one of his spiritual leaders," Treasury explained. Zindani "has been able to influence and support many terrorist causes, including actively recruiting for al Qaeda training camps" and "played a key role in the purchase of weapons on behalf of al Qaeda and other terrorists."

On Sept. 14, 2012, the US Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia was ransacked by Ansar al Sharia Tunisia and other Salafi jihadists. Seifallah ben Hassine (a.k.a. Abu Iyad al Tunisi) is the head of Ansar al Sharia Tunisia and the co-founder of the Tunisian Combatant Group, which has been listed by the United Nations "as being associated with al Qaeda." In its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, published in May, the State Department noted that ben Hassine "was implicated as the mastermind behind the September 14 attack on the US Embassy," which involved "a mob of 2,000 - 3,000" people, "including individuals affiliated with the militant organization Ansar al Sharia."

In early November 2012, Ayman al Zawahiri issued a message saying that the September raids on American diplomatic facilities were "defeats" for the US. Zawahiri specifically mentioned the killing of the US Ambassador in Benghazi, as well as the raising of al Qaeda-style flags over US Embassies elsewhere. [See LWJ report, Zawahiri says raids on diplomatic facilities were 'defeats' for US.]

Earlier this year, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's 10th edition of its Inspire magazine featured the September 2012 assaults on US diplomatic facilities. The cover picture showed a black flag commonly used by al Qaeda being raised in front of one of the embassies. The feature article was titled, "We Are All Usama," a reference to the chant heard in Egypt, Tunisia, and elsewhere.

An al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader who commanded forces in the restive southern Yemeni province of Abyan is reported to have been killed in a US drone strike that took place in a neighboring province four days ago.

Al Khidr Husayn al Ja'dani is said to have been killed in the July 30 strike that targeted a vehicle as it was traveling through the town of Saeed in the southern province of Shabwa, according to Aden al Ghad, an Arabic-language newspaper in southern Yemen. Two Yemenis, including al Ja'dani and another operative from Lahj province, and a Saudi AQAP operative were initially reported to have been killed in the strike.

Al Ja'dani was described by Aden al Ghad as a "leading figure in the armed groups known as Ansar al Sharia," AQAP's political front. He is also said to be AQAP's overall commander in Abyan province. He is thought to have led a failed attempt to retake the city of Lawdar in 2012.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has not released a statement confirming or denying al Ja'dani's death.

Al Ja'dani replaced Abdul Mun'im Salim al Fatahani (Abdel-Monem al Fathani), the former emir for AQAP in Abyan province. Al Fatahani was involved in the October 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in the port of Aden that killed 17 US sailors and put the warship out of commission for months before it was repaired. Fatahani was also involved in a 2002 bombing in the Gulf of Aden that damaged the Limburg, a French-flagged oil tanker. One crew member was killed in the attack.

It is unclear if al Ja'dani was involved in AQAP's external operations, which include plots to conduct attacks in the West. Al Qaeda operatives and leaders may be involved in both internal and external operations. For instance, AQAP bomb maker Ibrahim Hassan al Asiri builds bombs and teaches others to do so for attacks both inside Yemen as well as against the West.

The US has targeted not only senior AQAP operatives who pose a direct threat to the US, but also 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.

The US has carried out 15 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year; three of those strikes have taken place since July 27. It is unclear if the strikes are part an effort to thwart attacks against US diplomatic facilities. The State Department will shut down 21 facilities in the Middle East and in other Muslim countries on Aug. 4 because of an unspecified threat linked to al Qaeda and its affiliates. US intelligence officials have said that AQAP is involved in this plot against diplomatic facilities and other US interests.

Two days ago, al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya in Sinai issued a new report to jihadist forums that condemned actions taken by Egyptian security forces in recent weeks. The report also alleged that Egyptian authorities are allowing Israeli drones to operate over the Sinai Peninsula.

In the statement, which was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, the Salafi jihadist group claimed that the media is colluding with the army by not detailing its actions. The army's actions have led to the deaths of a number of civilians in the Sinai, al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya claimed.

"The blood of the people of Sinai became cheap without a cost to the army elements, so there is no questioning or punishment," the statement said.

Al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya specifically noted seven events between June 29 and July 31, which it said were "crimes" by Egyptian security forces. In one incident on July 13, the statement alleged that "an Apache war plane fired a rocket at random due to a group of children playing with laser pointers and pointing them at the plane."

The last of the seven events noted by the group is the alleged presence of Israeli drones over the Sinai. According to the statement, the Egyptian army has allowed "Egypt's airspace to be open to the spy planes of the Zionist enemy." In recent days, "Zionists drones were spotted roaming the skies over El Arish and El Sheikh Zeweid, and the spy planes fired rockets at will at any target in North Sinai."

This is at least the second time that al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya has charged that Israeli drones are operating over the Sinai. In October 2012, the group made the claim in a statement posted to jihadist forums.

"In a dangerous development that is considered to be a clear attack on the sovereignty and the sanctity of our lands, the spy planes of the Zionist entity dared to penetrate Egyptian airspace more than once and for long distances, throughout the past week. Your mujahideen brothers have been able to track and monitor a number of pilotless drones belonging to the Jewish air force, which had penetrated into Egyptian airspace in several areas of the skies above the city of Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah and central Sinai," the group said at the time.

The Aug. 3 statement from al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya concluded by asking whether there are "reasonable and wise people in this army who still have loyalty to this religion and this Ummah, to stop the agents and the traitors from among the leaders of this army, and to bring back this army to the right path to fight the enemies of the Ummah, support this religion, and defend lands, lives and honors of Muslims???"

This latest statement from al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya is not the first report from Salafi jihadists on the situation in the Sinai since the ouster of Mohammed Morsi as Egypt's president in early July.

On July 14, a report detailing dozens of events in the Sinai between June 29 and July 12 was released to jihadist forums. The report denounced the Egyptian army for firing on protesters in the city of el Arish in North Sinai on July 5. The report also noted that in response to the events in el Arish, "simultaneous attacks" were launched at seven locations, including the el Arish airport and the intelligence headquarters in Rafah.

A week earlier, al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya had denounced the July 5 incident in a statement posted in jihadist forums on July 6. The group charged that the Egyptian army had opened fire and wounded at least 21 people who were protesting "in front of the district building in Arish during afternoon prayers on Friday."

"The matter cannot be denied, for the cameras and videos had recorded it and the video is on the internet," the statement said. "The people of Sinai in general will not stand aside, and the rise of the people of Arish after this crime and their taking control of the district building and expelling the army is only an example of that," the group said.

And on July 5, a representative of al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya in Sinai announced the formation of a new front, "Ansar al Sharia in Egypt," in the wake of Morsi's ouster. The group claimed to be readying for a fight, saying it will "make preparations and acquire means of power such as weapons and training," according to a statement obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

In recent days, security sources have claimed a number of successes in the operations against jihadists operating in the Sinai. Unfortunately, they have yet to provide hard proof, and numerous attacks were reported yesterday and today.

The US launched its fourth drone strike in Yemen in the past 10 days, killing four al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives in an area in central Yemen that is known to host jihadists. The strike takes place as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is at the core of an al Qaeda plot that forces the closure of more than 20 diplomatic facilities across the Middle East and Africa.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers launched several missiles at a vehicle today as it was traveling in the Wadi Abeedah district in Marib province, according to the Yemen Post. The drones also struck a nearby compound, the news outlet reported.

Four AQAP operatives, including "an al-Qaeda leader," are reported to have been killed in the strike on the vehicle. The identities of those killed has not been disclosed.

AQAP leaders are known to operate in Marib. In June, the general director of Al Madina district in Marib Province claimed that top al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leaders Nasir al Wuhayshi, Said al Shihri, and Qassim al Raymi were present in his district.

The US has stepped up attacks in Yemen; today's strike is the fourth in 10 days. The last strike, on Aug. 1, killed five AQAP fighters in the eastern province of Hadramout. On July 30, US drones killed three AQAP fighters, including a Saudi operative, in a strike in Shabwa province; a mid-level AQAP commander is reported to have been killed in the strike. The previous strike, on July 27, which is said to have killed six AQAP fighters in the Al Mahfad area in Abyan province, broke a seven-week pause in drone activity in Yemen.

The recent spike in attacks is likely related to the terror warning by the US that led to the closure of diplomatic facilities in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. US officials said they have intercepted communications between al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and Nasir al Wuhayshi, AQAP's leader and al Qaeda's general manager.

The strike also took place the day after the Yemeni government issued rewards of five million Yemeni Rials (an estimated $23,000) for 25 AQAP operatives who are "planning to carryout operations in the capital, Sana'a."

"The Yemeni government has taken all necessary precautions to secure diplomatic facilities, vital installations and strategic assets," according to a statement released by the Yemeni government.

Topping the list are Ibrahim Sulaiman al Rubaish, AQAP's leading ideologue and theologian and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, and Ibrahim Hassan al Asiri, the terror group's top bomb maker who has designed devices that are said to be undetectable by traditional screening methods.

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched 16 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year, but the pace of the strikes has decreased since last year. 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. The strikes are being reduced as the US government is facing increasing international criticism for conducting the attacks in both Yemen and Pakistan.

Although six senior AQAP operatives, including the group's deputy emir, Said al Shihri, were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012, the group's top leadership cadre remains intact. Just two weeks ago, AQAP confirmed that al Shihri, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, was killed; he is thought to have died or to have been seriously wounded following a strike in October 2012.

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.

Nasir al Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Image from the SITE Intel Group.

Nasir al Wuhayshi, the emir of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has recently been appointed to also serve as al Qaeda's general manager, an important position that has been held by some of the group's top leaders. The appointment of al Wuhayshi as general manager discredits the widespread claim that al Qaeda's "core" is based solely in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area.

Al Wuhayshi "had recently been appointed into the role by al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri," CNN reported. Al Wuhayshi's title was disclosed by RAND's Seth Jones as news of an al Qaeda plot broke over the weekend. That plot has led the US to close more than 20 diplomatic facilities in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

Al Wuhayshi is thought to be at the center of the latest al Qaeda plot. The US has intercepted communications between Zawahiri and al Wuhayshi in which the al Qaeda emir orders his general manager to execute an attack, McClatchy reported.

Al Wuhayshi served as Osama bin Laden's aide-de-camp from the late 1990s until after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and was with the al Qaeda master at the battle of Tora Bora. Al Wuhayshi fled to Iran, where he was eventually detained and deported to Yemen in 2003. Bin Laden's protégé escaped from prison in 2006 along with other jihadists who rebuilt al Qaeda's presence inside Yemen.

After his escape from prison, al Wuhayshi quickly established himself as al Qaeda's top man in Yemen. In November 2008, Ayman al Zawahiri publicly recognized him as al Qaeda's emir in Yemen. A few months later, in January 2009, al Wuhayshi announced that he was now the leader of AQAP, an al Qaeda affiliate that orchestrates the organizations's activities in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen and quickly began targeting the West.

Al Wuhayshi has now succeeded some of al Qaeda's top operatives as general manager of the global network. Other al Qaeda leaders known to have served as general manager since 9/11 include: Abu Faraj al Libi (from 2001 until his capture in Mardan, Pakistan in May 2005); Mustafa Abu al Yazid, a.k.a. Sheikh Saeed (from 2005 until his death in a US drone strike in May 2010); Atiyah Abd al Rahman (from 2010 until his death in a US drone strike in August 2011); and Abu Yahya al Libi (from 2011 until his death in a drone strike in June 2012).

The al Qaeda general manager's duties

Osama bin Laden outlined the makeup and responsibilities of al Qaeda's general manager in two letters to Atiyah Abd al Rahman that were written in 2010. The letters were two among thousands of documents recovered by US special operations forces during the raid to kill bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

In the Oct. 21, 2010 letter, bin Laden disclosed that the office of the general manager includes a "deputy" and two "second deputies." Bin Laden appointed Abu Yahya al Libi as Atiyah's deputy, and "Brother 'Abd-al-Rahman" and 'Abd-al-Jalil as second deputies. The appointments were for one year, and the leaders could retain their positions after their performance is evaluated. Additionally, a "military commander, and four or five other brothers" were to serve on the general manager's staff.

In a separate letter written to Atiyah sometime after May 2010, bin Laden appointed him general manager for a term of two years and outlined some of his duties, which included coordinating military and media activities, and communicating with al Qaeda's "regions," or affiliates, as well as allies such as the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.

In that same letter, bin Laden addressed the Western perception that al Qaeda has a core based along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and said the term "Central al Qaeda" is one that "was coined in the media."

"Consultation among brothers in any region will take place internally, though they will also consult with 'Central al Qaeda,'" bin Laden said to Atiyah. "This term was coined in the media to distinguish between al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and al Qaeda in the other territories. In my opinion, there is no problem with using this term in principle in order to clarify the intended meaning."

Bin Laden went on to clarify how the affiliates nominate their leaders, in coordination with al Qaeda's central leadership.

"The term of an Emir chosen by the influential people in each territory, in consultation with the central group, shall be two years, with the potential to be renewed," bin Laden wrote. "If there is delay in consulting with the central group due to a difficulty in communications, the term shall be one year, also with the potential to be renewed."

Bin Laden also detailed al Qaeda's mechanism for holding these territorial emirs accountable. "The Shura council in each territory will provide the Emir with recommendations and will write an annual report to be sent to the central group detailing the local situation, to include the progress of the local Emir in his activity and his dealings with the Mujahidin," bin Laden explained.

This same bureaucratic mechanism for appointing and evaluating the affiliates' leadership was referenced by Ayman al Zawahiri in a letter to al Qaeda's emirs in Syria and Iraq that was written in late May. The heads of the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq had a public dispute over who controlled al Qaeda's growing army inside Syria in early April. This forced Zawahiri to weigh in. Bin Laden's successor said 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 his letter to Atiyah, bin Laden also said that the decision to appoint a first or second deputy of any al Qaeda affiliate "should be done in consultation with the central group" and if "there is a problem with communications, then the matter will be temporary until consultation can be completed."

Overseeing and supporting the work of al Qaeda leaders tasked with attacking the West is within the general manager's purview, according to bin Laden's letter to Atiya.

Bin Laden told Atiyah to "nominate a brother to be responsible for the general duty of the external work [attacks abroad] in all of the regions." But if this is not possible, Atiyah should "take over that responsibility" himself.

Bin Laden identified Yunis al Mauritani , who was subsequently captured in Pakistan in 2011 and reportedly deported to his home country earlier this year, as the "official responsible for external work in Africa and west Asia." Al Mauritani is known to have coordinated al Qaeda's plots in the West prior to his capture.

Bin Laden asked Atiyah to "send two messages - one to Brother Abu Musab Abdul Wadud [the emir of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb] and the other to Brother Abu Basir Nasir al Wuhayshi - and ask them to put forward their best in cooperating with Shaykh Yunis in whatever he asks of them." Atiyah should "hint" to Abdul Wadud that AQIM provide Yunis "with the financial support" he "might need in the next six months, to the tune of approximately 200,000 euros."

The general manager's responsibilities, as outlined by bin Laden, were such that any work by the "brothers in Yemen ... outside the peninsula ... even within the territorial waters of the peninsula, is to be considered external work that requires coordination with" Atiyah's office. Bin Laden warned "the brothers in all the regions" of the "dangers of neglecting" this coordination with al Qaeda's general manager.

According to bin Laden's letter, al Qaeda's general manager was also tasked with "earmarking of the budget," providing detailed reports on the al Qaeda affiliates' leaders, attempting to unify the jihadi factions in Iraq, and disseminating bin Laden's advice to the regional emirs (including the necessity of using two suicide operatives in an attack, with one bolstering the spirits of the other).

Atiyah was told to oversee Ilyas Kashmiri's work in Pakistan and Afghanistan with respect to targeting top US officials, including President Obama and General Petraeus. Kashmiri was subsequently killed in a US drone strike in June 2011.

Bin Laden said Atiyah should coordinate the "external work" (i.e., targeting the West) of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, while also sending recruits with "toughness and discipline" to "the front with the Taliban." And Atiyah was charged with recommending trusted personnel capable of accompanying bin Laden.

How al Wuhayshi's portfolio will compare to Atiyah's is not known. But bin Laden's letters provide a useful overview of the role assumed by al Qaeda's new general manager.

Al Wuhayshi is especially well-positioned to coordinate the activities of al Qaeda's robust affiliates in the heart of the Middle East and Africa. And given AQAP's plotting against the US homeland, al Wuhayshi is an ideal candidate to make sure that the regional affiliates continue to devote some of their assets to targeting the West -- just as bin Laden specified in his letter to Atiyah.

The US State Department has added the emir of the Mullah Nazir Group, a Taliban subgroup based in South Waziristan that supports al Qaeda, to the list of terrorists. Pakistani military and government officials considers the Mullah Nazir Group to be "good Taliban," despite the group's historical support of al Qaeda and attacks on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Bahawal Khan, the leader of the Mullah Nazir Group (or Commander Nazir Group), was added today by the State Department as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Khan, who is also known as Salahuddin Ayubi, was named the emir of the group after his predecessor, Mullah Nazir, was killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan in early January 2013 [see LWJ report, Taliban name Mullah Nazir's replacement].

Khan "served as a sub-commander for [the Mullah Nazir Group] in South Waziristan and has fought with the Taliban since the late 1990s," State said in a press release announcing the designation today.

Khan is closely allied with al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and a plethora of terrorist groups in the area, US intelligence officials who track groups in the region told The Long War Journal after his appointment as emir of the Mullah Nazir Group.

In today's press release, the State Department highlighted the Mullah Nazir Group's support for al Qaeda and its participation in the jihad in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Khan and [the Mullah Nazir Group] have vowed to continue the group's activities, including supporting al Qaeda and conducting attacks in Afghanistan," State reported.

"Since 2006, [the Mullah Nazir Group] has run training camps, dispatched suicide bombers, provided safe haven for al Qaeda fighters, and conducted cross-border operations in Afghanistan against the United States and its allies," State said. "In addition to its attacks against international forces in Afghanistan, [the Mullah Nazir Group] is also responsible for assassinations and intimidation operations against civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

State linked the group to a 2008 suicide car bombing at an army brigade headquarters in Zari Noor, South Waziristan, and to an attack on a Pakistani Army camp in Wana in 2011.

On Feb. 26, the State Department added the Mullah Nazir Group to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations; State also added Malang, a subcommander, to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists at the same time.

Prior to his death in the January drone strike, Nazir was due to be added to the US's list of terrorists, Jason Blazakis, the Director of State's Office of Terrorist Designations and Sanctions, told The Long War Journal.

"We started the process of designating Mullah Nazir in 2012," Blazakis said. "The initial plan was to sanction him at the same time we designated the Commander Nazir Group and Malang Wazir. Mullah Nazir died before we were able to finalize his designation under E.O. 13224."

Background on the Mullah Nazir Group

Mullah Nazir was been an influential Taliban commander and had ties to numerous terrorist groups operating in the region, including al Qaeda, the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, and the plethora of Pakistani and Central Asia jihadist groups operating in the region. He had openly supported Taliban emir Mullah Omar and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and waged jihad in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Asia Times, Nazir rejected claims that he opposed al Qaeda, and affirmed that he considered himself to be a member of the global terror organization.

In June 2012, Nazir banned polio vaccinations in his areas, and claimed that the program is being used by the US to gather intelligence and conduct drone strikes in the tribal areas. His action followed that of Hafiz Gul Bahadar, another so-called "good Taliban" leader, who shut down the program in North Waziristan earlier that month.

Pakistan's military and intelligence services have considered Nazir and his followers "good Taliban" as they do not openly seek the overthrow of the Pakistani state and wage jihad only in Afghanistan. The government has negotiated several peace deals with Nazir and his group. Yet Nazir continued to provide safe have to top al Qaeda leaders and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, despite agreeing not to do so.

Several top al Qaeda leaders, including Ilyas Kashmiri, Abu Khabab al Masri, Osama al Kini, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, and Abu Zaid al Iraqi, have been killed while being sheltered by Nazir. [For more information on Nazir and al Qaeda leaders killed while under his protection, see LWJ reports, 'Good' Pakistani Taliban leader Nazir affirms membership in al Qaeda, and US drones kill 'good' Taliban commander in South Wazirstan.]

The Mullah Nazir Group is one of four major Taliban groups that joined the Shura-e-Murakeba, an alliance brokered by al Qaeda in late 2011. The Shura-e-Murakeba also includes Hafiz Gul Bahadar's group; the Haqqani Network; and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which is led by Hakeemullah Mehsud. The members of the Shura-e-Murakeba agreed to cease attacks against Pakistani security forces, refocus efforts against the US in Afghanistan, and end kidnappings and other criminal activities in the tribal areas.

The US launched two drone strike in Yemen in the past 24 hours, killing seven al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives in areas in southern and central Yemen where the terror group is known to operate. The strikes take place as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is at the core of an al Qaeda plot that has forced the closure of more than 20 diplomatic facilities across the Middle East and Africa. The Yemeni government has also claimed it broke up several plots to attack oil facilities in the country.

In the first strike, the remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers launched several missiles at two vehicles in the Markha area of Shabwa province, The Associated Press reported.

Seven AQAP operatives are said to have killed in the attack. The Yemen Post reported that one of the seven fighters killed was Sarhan al Thamlaqi, who was on a lsit of 25 wanted AQAP operatives.

In a second strike, US drones hit a target in Marib province, The Yemen Post reported. However casualties have not been reported at this time.

AQAP leaders are known to operate in Shabwa; the province was under AQAP control from May 2011 until the summer of 2012, when the Yemeni military launched an offensive to wrest control of Shabwa from the terror group.

The US has stepped up attacks in Yemen; today's strikes are the fifth and six in 11 days. The last strike took place yesterday in Marib province. An AQAP operative known as Saleh al-Tays al-Waeli is reported to be among those killed. Al Waeli's name appeared on a list, published on Aug. 5, of Yemen's 25 most-wanted terrorists who were plotting to conduct attacks in the capital of Sana'a and in a number of other governorates.

On Aug. 1, killed five AQAP fighters in the eastern province of Hadramout. On July 30, US drones killed three AQAP fighters, including a Saudi operative, in a strike in Shabwa province; a mid-level AQAP commander is reported to have been killed in the strike. The previous strike, on July 27, which is said to have killed six AQAP fighters in the Al Mahfad area in Abyan province, broke a seven-week pause in drone activity in Yemen.

The recent spike in attacks is related to the terror warning by the US that led to the closure of diplomatic facilities in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. US officials said they have intercepted communications between al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and Nasir al Wuhayshi, AQAP's leader and al Qaeda's general manager.

According to the Daily Beast, the intercepted communications between Zawahiri and Wuhayshi "happened in a conference call that included the leaders or representatives of the top leadership of al Qaeda and its affiliates calling in from different locations," and "more than 20 al Qaeda operatives were on the call." Representatives from groups such as the Taliban, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Boko Haram are said to have been in on the call.

Today's strikes also took place the day after the Yemeni government issued rewards of five million Yemeni rials (an estimated $23,000) for information leading to the arrest of 25 AQAP operatives who are "planning to carryout operations in the capital, Sana'a, in addition to a number of Yemeni governorates."

"The Yemeni government has taken all necessary precautions to secure diplomatic facilities, vital installations and strategic assets," a statement released by the Yemeni government said.

Topping Yemen's list are Ibrahim Sulaiman al Rubaish, AQAP's leading ideologue and theologian and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee; and Ibrahim Hassan al Asiri, the terror group's senior bomb maker who has designed devices that are said to be undetectable by traditional screening methods.

The Yemeni government claimed today to have disrupted a major plot to take over the city of Mukallah, the provincial capital of Hadramout, and target oil export terminals and facilities.

"The plan involved dozens of al Qaeda members dressed in Yemeni army uniforms storming the facilities," including the Al Dabbah and Balhaf export facilities, Al Jazeera reported.

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched 18 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year, but the pace of the strikes has decreased since last year. 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. The strikes are being reduced as the US government is facing increasing international criticism for conducting the attacks in both Yemen and Pakistan.

Although six senior AQAP operatives, including the group's deputy emir, Said al Shihri, were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012, the group's top leadership cadre remains intact. Just two weeks ago, AQAP confirmed that al Shihri, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, was killed; he is thought to have died or to have been seriously wounded following a strike in October 2012.

The US has targeted not only senior AQAP operatives who pose a direct threat to the US, but also 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 Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center (ITMC), a jihadist media unit tied to the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC), yesterday released the second episode in a series titled "Journey of Martyrdom." The approximately 31-minute video focused on Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal, a well-known jihadist in the Gaza Strip who was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on April 30.

The first episode in the series was released in early February 2013 and focused on MSC member Khalid Salah Abdul Hadi Jadullah (a.k.a. Abu Salah al-Masri). Jadullah, who was portrayed as an al Qaeda martyr, was a member of the MSC cell responsible for carrying out a cross-border attack that killed an Israeli civilian on June 18, 2012.

In the new video, which was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, a narrator provides background on Masshal, who reportedly partook in "confrontations against the Jewish enemy" during the al Aqsa Intifada. According to the narrator, "the spirit of jihad in the Cause of Allah burned in [Masshal's] chest."

The narrator praises Masshal for fighting alongside a number of Palestinian groups and performing "heroic acts," noting that he "had an important role in manufacturing and military preparation, and didn't leave one field without entering it to win one of the two good options [victory or martyrdom]." The narrator lauds Masshal for having "always rolled up his sleeves and used up his time in training the mujahideen to fight and shoot in the Cause of Allah."

When "the door of democracy became wide open in Palestine," the narrator says, Masshal left "the nationalistic and democratic organizations, and started the journey of searching for a clear way and a pure sect that helps him to carry out the obligatory duty of jihad in the Cause of Allah." Masshal soon started to follow Khalid Banat (Abu Abdullah al Suri), a leader in Jund Ansar Allah who had claimed to have fought with leading al Qaeda figures, including Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al Zarqawi.

According to the International Crisis Group, Banat's ability to recruit was pivotal in Jund Ansar Allah's rapid growth. Banat, who originally trained Hamas members, used his connections to appeal to "low-level Qassam members, who upon joining [Jund Ansar Allah] would acquire new and important-sounding titles."

After Hamas failed in an attempt to arrest Banat, Jund Ansar Allah declared Hamas to be impotent, and in early August 2009 Sheikh Abdel Latif Musa, another Jund Ansar Allah leader, declared an Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip, a move that greatly upset Hamas. Shortly after the declaration, Hamas forces clashed with Jund Ansar Allah fighters at Rafah's Ibn Taymiyyah Mosque. Numerous people from both Hamas and Jund Ansar Allah were killed in the fighting, including Musa and Banat.

According to the narrator in the MSC's new video, Masshal followed the incident at the mosque "with pain and surprise." The jihadist "saw the blood that was shed, the body parts that were scattered, and the homes that were blown up, and he saw that Allah's house was vandalized and the green banner [of Hamas] raised on its sad minaret," the narrator says.

After the incident and the demise of Jund Ansar Allah, the narrator explains, Masshal joined the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, which was headed by Abu al Walid al Maqdisi.

Al Maqdisi is a longtime jihadist who claimed to have fought alongside al Qaeda in Iraq in the early days of the Iraq war in 2003 before returning to Gaza and establishing the Tawhid and Jihad Group. A biography released by the group stated, however, that al Maqdisi was arrested by Egyptian security forces while trying to travel to Iraq. Al Maqdisi was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Oct. 13, 2012, along with Ashraf al Sabah, the former emir of Ansar al Sunnah.

According to the narrator, while in the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, Masshal "continued his project in manufacturing rockets and he had started making the first local version of the international Katyusha rockets." In addition, al Maqdisi viewed Masshal as "an example for the soldiers of tawhid of giving, sacrifice and courage," the narrator claims.

Eventually, the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, a consolidation of a number of Salafi jihadists groups in the Gaza Strip, was formed, the video continues. One of the groups included in the MSC was the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem. According to the narrator, when the MSC was formed, Masshal "had his place and role in this new jihadi project."

"He focused his efforts with his brothers in organizing the ranks and making preparations for confrontation with the enemies of Allah the Jews. He did very well in the rocket campaigns that the lions of the Council carried out, and he had a big share in manufacturing and firing, may Allah bless and reward him," the narrator adds.

The video alleges that Israeli authorities tried to assassinate Masshal on a number of occasions. The narrator specifically notes an incident during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012 in which an IAF airstrike killed "the mujahid Ahmad al-Nahhal."

In addition to comments from the narrator, the video includes clips from Masshal's mother, who says that "[w]hen he moved up to junior high he was changed from a student to a mujahid." His mother also slams Hamas, the ruling power in Gaza, for detaining her son for a month "without accusation." "Why would a mujahid be detained?," she asks.

Along with these comments, the video includes posthumous clips from Masshal. In one, Masshal warns "the enemies of Allah the Jews." He declares: "We will fight you with our weapons and all types of them. We will fight you with rockets and devices. We will fight you with rifles and bullets. We will fight you with the little and the many. We will fight you even if we have only sticks. We will shoot you with it, until we dedicate the whole religion to Allah."

In another clip, Masshal says that "[o]ur sisters in prisons and our brothers in prisons ... just want from us at every hour to fight the Jews and kill them all the time and everywhere."

Background on Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal

Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal, a well-known jihadist in the Gaza Strip, was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on April 30. According to the Israel Defense Forces, Masshal "manufactured, improved and traded different types of ammunition" for various jihadist groups in Gaza, and was involved in the April 17 rocket attack on Eilat from the Sinai that was claimed by the MSC.

Within hours of his death, the MSC released a statement through the Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center confirming that Masshal was a member of their organization. "He stepped everywhere there is jihad, wanting to die, so may Allah have mercy on you, Abu Ziad. The enemy sites will miss you, which you didn't hesitate for one day to pound with rockets," the group said.

The MSC statement, which was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, also said Masshal had held a "high position" in Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades, but he decided to leave the group after Hamas "entered the game of democracy and accepted the abandonment of the divine Shari'ah."

In addition to the statement, the MSC released a video on April 30 of Masshal. In the video, Masshal called on Muslims to participate in jihad and "light fire to the ground beneath the feet of the disbelievers and the apostates." He urged Muslims to take steps toward "returning to their religion and taking down all nationalist affiliations and stepping upon all secular and democratic banners."

Masshal also warned that Muslims must not "listen to those who want to mix between jihad, politics and democracy, for they don't mix at all. Jihad is a divine order and democracy is a disbelieving rule through something Allah didn't reveal." He stated: "Jihad is continuing until the Day of Judgment, and the justice or the injustice of anyone will not stop it."

Speaking of Hamas' al Qassam Brigades, to which he had formerly belonged, Masshal said: "He who looks at your state today will almost cry for you, for you have unfortunately become a tool in the hand of the government that governs in Gaza."

About a week after Masshal was killed, MSC official Abdullah Jihad al Ashqar (Abu al Muhtasib al Maqdisi) released an audio statement praising the slain jihadist. Al Ashqar lauded Masshal and said that he had "never visited him [Masshal] without finding his room full with materials for manufacturing and preparing rockets, and the materials of jihad."

He went on to say that Masshal "put most of his time in the folds of the jihadi work, such that even his family would miss seeing him due to his absence from him. He was not stingy with his money, so he would provide what he and his brothers required of equipment."

Al Ashqar also alleged that Masshal "was the first to have manufactured what is known as '107 rockets' [107mm Katyusha] in the Gaza Strip." Thanks to the work of Masshal, al Ashqar claimed, "a local copy of the 107mm Katyusha rocket... is [now] in the hands of all the mujahideen" in Gaza.

During his funeral, Masshal was wrapped in al Qaeda's black flag, which was first used by al Qaeda in Iraq but has been adopted by other al Qaeda affiliates.

Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem

The Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) is a consolidation of a number of Salafi jihadist groups operating in the Gaza Strip including, but not limited to: Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ansar al Sunnah. Sheikh Anas Abdul Rahman, one of the group's leaders, has said that the group aims to "fight the Jews for the return of Islam's rule, not only in Palestine, but throughout the world."

The MSC has taken responsibility for a number of rocket attacks against Israel, as well as the June 18, 2012 attack that killed one Israeli civilian. The group said the attack was "a gift to our brothers in Qaedat al Jihad and Sheikh Zawahiri" and retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden. In early February 2013, the MSC released a martyrdom video branding one of the terrorists killed in the June 2012 attack as an al Qaeda "martyr."

On Oct. 22, 2012, the MSC released a 32-minute-long video detailing some of its rocket attacks against Israel and threatening to "fight you [Israel] as long as we hold...weapons in our hands." In November 2012, the group carried out joint rocket attacks with the Army of Islam. Following the institution of a ceasefire that ended Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense, the MSC said that they were not truly a party to the ceasefire.

Over the past two years, the Israeli Air Force has targeted a number of MSC members. On Oct. 7, 2012, the IDF targeted Tala'at Halil Muhammad Jarbi, a "global jihad operative," and Abdullah Muhammad Hassan Maqawai, a member of the MSC. Maqawai, likely a former member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, died of his wounds. On Oct. 13, 2012, Israel killed Abu al Walid al Maqdisi, the former emir of the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ashraf al Sabah, the former emir of Ansar al Sunnah, in an airstrike. The two men were said to be leaders of the MSC. Numerous jihadist groups and media units as well as al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri issued statements following the death of the two jihadists.

More recently, in April this year, the IAF targeted and killed Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal, a well-known jihadist in the Gaza Strip, who was said to be a member of the MSC. On May 7, Masshal was eulogized by a senior member of the MSC who claimed that he never visited Masshal "without finding his room full with materials for manufacturing and preparing rockets, and the materials of jihad."

In June, jihadists in Syria called on Hamas members as well as members of other Palestinian factions in Gaza to join the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem.

Since its formation, the group has released a couple of eulogies for slain al Qaeda leaders. For example, in September 2012 the group released a eulogy to jihadist forums for Abu Yahya al Libi, a longtime al Qaeda leader from Libya, who was killed in a US drone strike in Mir Ali in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan on June 4, 2012. More recently, in mid-July, the group released a statement of condolence to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) after it confirmed the death of its deputy leader, Said al Shihri (a.k.a. Abu Sufyan al-Azdi).

The US launched two more airstrikes in Yemen, killing six more al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters as part of an effort to disrupt a global plot to target Western facilities and allied countries.

The first strike took place in the eastern province of Hadramout, a bastion for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The remotely piloted Predators or Reapers struck a vehicle in the Al Ayoon area, The Associated Press reported. Three AQAP fighters are said to have been killed in the latest attack.

The second strike killed three more AQAP fighters, in the Al Qutn area of Hadramout, AP reported. The three fighters were killed after drones struck their vehicle.

No senior al Qaeda operatives or leaders are reported to have been killed at this time. The identities of the al Qaeda operatives who were killed have not been disclosed.

Hadramout is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden's family, and the province has become an AQAP bastion over the past several years.

In 2012, the US stepped up drone strikes against AQAP in Hadramout. Prior to May 2012, there were zero US drone strikes in the province. From mid-May until the end of 2012, the US launched seven attacks in Hadramout. Seven of the 42 drone strikes in Yemen in 2012, or 17%, have taken place in the province. Today's strikes in Hadramout are the second and third in the province so far this year; the last strike was on Aug. 1.

Yesterday, Yemeni officials claimed that AQAP was plotting to attack Mukallah, the provincial capital of Hadramout, as well as the Al Dabbah oil and Balhaf gas export facilities, Yemeni officials claimed. AQAP fighters were to hit the city and facilities with fighters disguised as policemen. Today, Yemeni officials are distancing themselves from the claim.

The US has launched four strikes in Yemen in the past two days. Yesterday, US drones killed seven AQAP fighters in a strike in Shabwa. And late last night, the US killed four more fighters and two civilians in Marib.

The US has stepped up attacks in Yemen; there have been eight strikes in Yemen in the past 12 days. The location of the strikes highlights AQAP's geographical reach in Yemen: three of the strikes took place in Hadramout, two in Abyan, two in Marib, and one in Abyan.

On Aug. 6, the US killed an AQAP operative known as Saleh al-Tays al-Waeli and three other fighters in Marib. Al Waeli's name appeared on a list, published on Aug. 5, of Yemen's 25 most-wanted terrorists who were plotting to conduct attacks in the capital of Sana'a and in a number of other governorates.

On Aug. 1, US drones killed five AQAP fighters in the eastern province of Hadramout. On July 30, US drones killed three AQAP fighters, including a Saudi operative, in a strike in Shabwa province; a mid-level AQAP commander is reported to have been killed in the strike. The previous strike, on July 27, which is said to have killed six AQAP fighters in the Al Mahfad area in Abyan province, broke a seven-week pause in drone activity in Yemen.

The recent spike in attacks is related to the terror warning by the US that led to the closure of diplomatic facilities in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. US officials said they have intercepted communications between al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and Nasir al Wuhayshi, AQAP's leader and al Qaeda's general manager.

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched 20 drone strikes in Yemen so far this year. Despite the recent burst of activity, the pace of the strikes has still decreased since last year. 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. The strikes are being reduced as the US government is facing increasing international criticism for conducting the attacks in both Yemen and Pakistan.

Although six senior AQAP operatives, including the group's deputy emir, Said al Shihri, were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2012, the group's top leadership cadre remains intact. Just two weeks ago, AQAP confirmed that al Shihri, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, was killed; he is thought to have died or to have been seriously wounded following a strike in October 2012.

The US has targeted not only senior AQAP operatives who pose a direct threat to the US, but also 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 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, one of al Qaeda's two official affiliates operating in Syria, led a recent decisive rebel assault on a Syrian military airbase in the north. The group used a suicide bomber from "the Arabian Peninsula" to detonate an armored personnel carrier on the base, which was under siege for eight months before falling two days ago. Eight other groups, including the Al Nusrah Front, the Muhajireen Army, and Free Syrian Army units also took part in the joint operation.

The joint jihadist and Free Syrian Army force took control of the Minnigh airbase in Aleppo province on Aug. 6 after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) sent a BMP armored personnel carrier "that hardly moved due to its load of explosives" to strike the building where Syrian soldiers were holding out, according to an ISIL statement. The statement was released on Aug. 7 and was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

"The invasion began with preliminary bombing by the supporting men with artillery shells, mortars and heavy machineguns for three consecutive days," the ISIL said, according to SITE.

The ISIL then sent the BMP suicide bomber, "an emigrant lion from the Peninsula of Muhammad," to strike the Syrian troops. The massive blast was caught on video.

ISIL "storming groups," or assault teams, "entered from three axes towards the center" and overran the base after a day of heavy fighting. Scores of Syrian soldiers and dozens of ISIL and allied fighters are reported to have been killed in the assault.

The ISIL reported that "some brigades that had been stationed at the siege on the airport in the past months," were involved in the attack. The ISIL did not name the supporting units.

"Multiple units affiliated with the Syrian Military Council," a supposedly secular military command backed by the US, were involved in the assault, McClatchy reported. Also involved in the fighting were the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, another al Qaeda other affiliate in Syria, and the Muhajireen Army, an al Qaeda-allied unit made up of foreign fighters and Syrian Islamists.

The "nine brigades" that took part in the assault released a statement announcing the success of the operation, Reuters reported. "The airport has been fully liberated. The remnants of the Assad gangs are now being chased," the statement said.

Free Syrian Army routinely conducts joint operations with al Qaeda

Free Syrian Army units are known to conduct joint attacks and administer areas of Syria with al Qaeda's affiliates in Syria, despite claims from senior FSA leaders that they oppose the Al Nusrah Front and the ISIL.

Currently, in northern Syria, Free Syrian Army units are fighting alongside the the Al Nusrah Front; the ISIL; Ahrar al Sham; the Ahfad al-Rasoul Brigade, which is backed by the government of Qatar; and the Islamic Kurdish Front; to battle Kurdish forces allied with the PKK.

A year ago, 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), a Free Syrian Army unit, against a police station in Jadida Artouz in the countryside of Damascus.

Additionally, in August 2012, the Al Nusrah Front imposed sharia, or Islamic Law, in conjunction with the Tawhid Brigade, an FSA unit, and the Ahrar al Sham Brigade in Aleppo.

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.

In April, the Al Nusrah Front said it conducted a suicide assault with the help of the Nasser Salahuddin Brigade, and conventional attacks with the help of Dera' al Assima, Liwa al Habib al Mustafa, and Liwa' al Tawhid brigades, three Free Syrian Army units in Damascus.

Egyptian security officials alleged that an Israeli drone strike today killed five jihadists near Rafah. "The officials say the attack was in cooperation with Egyptian authorities," the Associated Press reported. The jihadists were reportedly preparing to fire rockets toward Israel, according to Ma'an News Agency.

Agence France Presse cautioned that "[t]he source of the strike was not immediately clear." Turkish news agencies reported that Egyptian helicopters had carried out the attack that killed the jihadists. The Times of Israel similarly reported, based on comments from an Egyptian official, that "the strike was carried out by the Egyptian military, and not the IDF."

An Israeli official, however, reportedly confirmed to ABC News that Israel was responsible for the strike. Five Egyptian sources told Reuters that Israel was responsible for the strike, which they said killed four jihadists, not five.

A statement released by the Egyptian army shortly after reports emerged said that an incident had occurred about 1.8 miles from the country's eastern border and that authorities were looking into the exact details. A couple of hours later, the army released a new statement, which said the incident was still being investigated but that reports suggesting an Israeli drone was responsible were false.

"The claim that there is coordination between the Egyptian and Israeli sides on this matter is totally false and contrary to reason and logic," an army spokesman said.

Long War Journal efforts to garner a response from IDF spokespeople were unsuccessful. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, an IDF spokesman said that "the army was not responding to the reports."

Today's incident comes a day after Israeli authorities closed Eilat's airport for a few hours due to a security assessment. Egyptian officials today said that a warning from them regarding plots by jihadists in the Sinai was shared with Israeli officials and led to the airport closure.

Israeli authorities have previously expressed concern that jihadists may try to target planes landing and taking off from the airport.

On Aug. 3, al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya in Sinai issued a statement alleging that Israeli drones were operating in the Sinai. According to the statement, the Egyptian army has allowed "Egypt's airspace to be open to the spy planes of the Zionist enemy." In recent days, "Zionists drones were spotted roaming the skies over El Arish and El Sheikh Zeweid, and the spy planes fired rockets at will at any target in North Sinai," the statement said.

Last week's statement was at least the second time that al Salafiyya al Jihadiyya has charged that Israeli drones are operating over the Sinai. In October 2012, the group made the claim in a statement posted to jihadist forums.

On Aug. 5, the Egyptian army issued a statement denouncing the claims of the Salafi jihadist group. In the statement, an army spokesman said that such reports were false and that the army would not allow the violation of its airspace or sovereignty.

Although the southern Israeli city of Eilat has not normally been a target of rocket fire from terror groups in the region, it has increasingly come under fire during the past two years. On Nov. 20, 2012, Ansar Jerusalem claimed to have fired rockets at Eilat, according to a statement that was obtained and translated by SITE. The same group also took responsibility for a rocket attack on Eilat in mid-August 2012.

More recently, in early July, Ansar Jerusalem issued a statement claiming responsibility for the firing of two rockets toward Eilat. Prior to that, in April, the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on Eilat.

On Aug. 7, the Daily Beast's Eli Lake and Josh Rogin reported that the US government's decision to shutter more than 20 diplomatic facilities was based in part on intercepted communications between al Qaeda's emir, Ayman al Zawahiri, and "more than 20 AQ operatives." Citing three US officials "familiar with the intelligence," Lake and Rogin described the communications as "a conference call that included the leaders or representatives of the top leadership of al Qaeda and its affiliates calling in from different locations."

Several US officials contacted by The Long War Journal have confirmed that the Zawahiri-led communication first reported by the Daily Beast did in fact occur.

As both Lake and Rogin have subsequently reported, the communication was much more complex than a typical "conference call," which they used as a shorthand description.

The original Daily Beast article set off controversy and speculation, with many assuming that such a communication would not take place because it would compromise al Qaeda's operational security. But much of that speculation was fueled by the idea that what had transpired was akin to an ordinary business call. It was not.

The Long War Journal is withholding additional technical details at the request of US officials.

Journalists at major media organizations contacted by The Long War Journal say that US government officials have warned against pursuing the story. Some journalists have been told that the idea of a "conference call" is "not credible."

Thus far, however, there does not appear to have been any official denial by the US government.

The original press reporting stated that the communication was between al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and Nasir al Wuhayshi, who heads al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Zawahiri appointed Wuhayshi to the position of al Qaeda's general manager during the discussion. [See LWJ report, AQAP's emir also serves as al Qaeda's general manager.]

But subsequent press reporting indicates that additional al Qaeda operatives were involved in the conversation. NBC News previously reported that "a third al Qaeda operative who was part of the communication did express a willingness to die in a suicide attack -- a request that had been denied in the past."

This means, of course, that NBC's sources have confirmed that the discussion was not limited to Zawahiri and Wuhayshi.

Other press reporting has rightly observed that al Qaeda has long maintained a sophisticated Internet-based communications infrastructure. A segment aired on Aug. 8 by CNN detailed how al Qaeda operatives communicate over the Internet.

Writing for The Week, Marc Ambinder noted that early reports said a courier had been intercepted and that this "might -- might -- mean that the US got its hands on a copy of the tape" without actually intercepting a communication in real-time.

Many of the details concerning how the communication was obtained, and what exactly was said during it, remain unreported.

While the camera's eye has been focused on the July designation of Hezbollah's so-called "military wing" by the European Union, the Iran-backed organization was dealt another blow. The government of Bahrain recently blocked the website of al Manar television, Hezbollah's official station, in a move Bahraini officials say is aimed at clamping down on terrorism in the island kingdom.

Al Manar was listed as a Specially Designated Terrorist Entity by the United States in 2006, which allowed for tougher sanctions to be levied against the media outfit. Two years earlier, Al Manar had been named to the US Terrorism Exclusion List. In March 2005, broadcasting regulators in the European Union banned satellite broadcasts of al Manar on the basis that the channel carried racist material and incitement.

Al Manar broadcasts have been banned by France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Brazil, Canada, and Australia, among others.

In April, Bahrain became the first Arab country to designate Hezbollah a terrorist entity. The move was followed by the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) announcement in June that it was placing sanctions on Hezbollah and looking for ways to curb the organization's activity in the Gulf.

Bahrain's blocking of the al Manar website was announced on Aug. 3 by the Minister of State for Communications, Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammad Al Khalifa, implementing the National Assembly's recommendations to take additional antiterror measures.

The Communications Ministry also blocked websites run by al Qaeda and its affiliates, including the Al Nusrah Front in Syria.

"With the increasing threat of terrorism, it is critical for Bahrain to join its allies and global partners in preventing the spread of extremist ideology through shutting off access to websites developed by internationally recognized terror groups, such as al Qaeda and Hezbollah," Sheikh Fawaz said in the Ministry's statement.

Although the move took place just as Iranian president Hassan Rouhani took the oath of office, the development is being viewed more through the domestic lens, coming about two weeks before anticipated protests by Bahrain's Shia opposition, set to take place on Aug. 14.

In addition, Gulf officials have increasingly expressed outrage at Hezbollah's military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al Khalifa has called Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah "a terrorist." While Sunni-Shia tensions have existed for some time, and Hezbollah's longstanding terror record has been visible for decades, Hezbollah's decision to send troops to fight alongside Assad is seen as the tipping point that led Bahrain and the other Gulf states to turn up the heat on Hezbollah at this time.

The GCC, which rejects the division of Hezbollah into military and political wings, is reportedly considering sanctions that are more comprehensive than the EU's.

Other actions against Hezbollah in Bahrain

Banning Hezbollah's website was not the first action taken by the Manama government against the Lebanon-based organization since it was blacklisted in April.

In May, Bahrain banned opposition groups from maintaining links with Hezbollah, according to Agence France Presse.

In June, Sheikh Rashid al Khalifa said Bahrain will probe possible Hezbollah activity in the kingdom, including "financial investments, commercial and economic activity, operations that masquerade as charities, bank accounts, money transfers and individual members of the organization to take the required legal procedures."

Kingdom officials have also recently accused Hezbollah's Iranian masters of instigating violence and stirring up the island's Shia population in an effort to gain political power in the Sunni-ruled, but Shia-dominated nation. Two years earlier, a confidential report filed by Bahrain with the UN Secretary General in April 2011 alleged that Bahraini opposition members were being trained in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon and Iran, but the reports were met with official denials by Iran, Hezbollah, and the Bahraini opposition, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The confidential report to the UN also alleged that Hezbollah and Bahrain's Shia opposition groups have met to coordinate political strategy and have used al Manar TV to mobilize Bahrain's opposition.

In early April this year, Bahraini MP Adil al-Asoumi called Hezbollah a threat not only to Bahrain but also to the rest of the Gulf region, and said, "[W]e call on our Gulf brethren to confront the terrorist organization to secure Gulf security."

A month later, Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al Khalifa tweeted that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is "declaring war on his own nation," the Bahrain News Agency reported. "Stopping (Nasrallah) and saving Lebanon from him is a national and religious duty," he added.

Other Gulf nations may be following Bahrain's lead. In June, Qatar deported 18 Hezbollah supporters as part of the GCC's measures against the group. Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon has said that his country will take action against Hezbollah as well, according to the Bahrain News Agency.

Bahrain is an ally of the United States and houses the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, which patrols the Persian Gulf. As the Wall Street Journal noted back in April 2011, neighboring Saudi Arabia has urged the US to back Bahrain's ruling Khalifa family, to help avert a scenario in which an overthrow in Bahrain could lead to Shiite unrest in Saudi Arabia and the spread of Iranian power in the region.

Toby Dershowitz is Vice President of Government Relations and Strategy at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), an al Qaeda-allied jihadist group, has released a video of attacks against a US base in Paktia province, and claimed to have deployed an "anti-helicopter fragmentation mine" in an effort to take out a US Army Apache.

The IJU video "was uploaded on YouTube on July 15, 2013, and promoted on jihadist forums on July 22," according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated the 48-minute Russian-language video.

The video features IJU fighters "Abu Osama" and "Zubeir," a Kazakh national. The IJU fighters are shown setting up several rocket attacks on a US base in Paktia, and are fired on by US Apache attack helicopters.

"We are taking positions, and we will hit the American infidels, Allah willing," Zubeir says at one point in the video while setting up an attack. "Kazakh and Pashtu brothers all in the same place on the path of Allah, praise be to Allah," another fighter says, stressing the international nature of the IJU rocket team.

The cameraman emphasizes that fighters from multiple countries are involved in attacks on US forces on a regular basis.

"Yesterday, we were on an expedition - Pashtun, Uzbek and Russian - and today - Tatar [likely Kazakhs] and Russian," the cameraman says. "Yesterday, 150 vehicles arrived, and today we will give them our warm welcome. Arabs say: 'Everything that is approaching is close.'"

In one scene, the IJU fighters are shown carrying what SITE described as "the prototype for an anti-helicopter fragmentation mine."

"The mine can hit a target at a distance of 300 meters," SITE continued. The cameraman describes the anti-helicopter fragmentation mine as an "unpleasant surprise" for the US helicopter crews. The IJU narrator indicates, however, that the mine was not fired.

"Unfortunately, the helicopter didn't fly over the area where we planted our 'surprise,'" he says.

No US helicopters are reported to have been shot down in such an attack.

Background on the Islamic Jihad Union

The Islamic Jihad Union (also known as the Islamic Jihad Group) is a splinter faction of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an al Qaeda-linked terror group that operates along the Afghan-Pakistani border. The IJU is based out of the Mir Ali region and maintains close ties with al Qaeda leader Abu Kasha al Iraqi, and with North Waziristan Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who controls the Datta Khel region. It is a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization.

Central Asians, Turks, and Germans make up a significant portion of the IJU. The German fighters are often referred to as German Taliban, and they carry out attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2009, the IJU released video of 'German Taliban villages' in Waziristan. Its fighters were seen training at camps and conducting military operations.

German members of the Islamic Jihad Union have been killed in combat inside Pakistan. Eric Breininger, a German man who converted to Islam, was killed while assaulting a Pakistani military outpost in North Waziristan on April 28, 2010. Three Uzbek fighters were also killed in the attack. Breininger was wanted for plotting attacks against US military bases and personnel in Germany.

Americans have also joined the Islamic Jihad Union. In recent years, two American jihadists, Abu Ibrahim al Amriki and Sayfullah al Amriki, have been featured in propaganda released by the Islamic Jihad Group (another name for the IJU).

The Islamic Jihad Union has been the target of several US airstrikes in Pakistan's tribal areas. The US killed Najmuddin Jalolov, the leader of the Islamic Jihad Union, in a Predator airstrike in North Waziristan on Sept. 14, 2009. Turkish members of the IJU were reported killed along with an al Qaeda commander in a US Predator strike in North Waziristan on June 19, 2010. And on Sept. 8, 2010, US drones killed Qureshi, an IJU commander who trained Germans to conduct attacks in their home country.

The International Security Assistance Force has also targeted the IJU numerous times during raids in Afghanistan. Since November 2008, ISAF has reported on 19 raids against the IJU in the provinces of Balkh and Kunduz in the north, and Khost and Paktia in the east, according to press releases compiled by The Long War Journal.

The US government continues to view the IJU as a threat. In January 2012, the US added Mevlut Kar, a dual German and Turkish citizen who is also known as Mevlut Zikara, to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Kar was a member of the IJU cell that attempted to attack US military personnel and civilians in Germany in 2007. The targets of the attack included Ramstein Air Base and Frankfurt International Airport. Three members of the cell were arrested before the plot was executed.

Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis), a Sinai-based Salafi jihadist group, yesterday announced that four of its fighters were killed in an apparent Israeli drone strike near Rafah. In a statement posted to jihadist forums that was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, the group said that its fighters were hit by an "unmanned Zionist drone" as they were preparing to fire rockets toward Israel.

According to Ansar Jerusalem, four members of a five-man cell were killed in the strike, which a number of unidentified Egyptian officials have said was carried out by Israel. "Our heroes rose to the rank of martyrs while fulfilling their jihadi duty against the Jews with a rocket launch operation against Jewish settlements," the statement said.

The four slain jihadists were members of tribes in the Sinai. The communiqué identified them as Hussein Ibrahim Salem al Tihi, from the Tiyaaha tribe; and Yusri Muhaareb al Saraarkah, Ibrahim Khalaf al Munei'I, and Muhammad Hussein al Munei'i, all from the Sawaarkah tribe.

According to Ansar Jerusalem, the four jihadists "had waited for the Jews at every turn and had made them taste the taste of fear and terror before they tasted wounds and blood." The surviving member of the cell was not named, but he was identified as the cell's "commander."

The statement further denounced "the appearance of the cooperation and collusion of the Egyptian army with the Jews." Prior to the strike, the statement claimed, Egyptian helicopters were seen above but withdrew "before the Zionist unmanned drone appeared to bomb the mujahideen with its bombs."

It asked, "So, to which side does this army belong and for whom does it work?" The statement went on to charge that the Egyptian army "no longer defends the borders of the country and fights its enemies; instead, the army's mission has become to protect the borders of the Jews and achieve American and Zionist interests."

Ansar Jerusalem's statement concluded with a warning "for the Jews." "[W]e will have our
revenge even if it comes after a while. So wait, for we are waiting, too," the communiqué threatened.In addition to the statement from Ansar Jerusalem, the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) released a statement today on the incident. The MSC statement, which was released through its media arm, the Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center, said the group was mourning with "deep sadness" the loss of the four Ansar Jerusalem fighters.

In addition, the statement said that an Israeli drone was responsible for the strike that killed the jihadists on Aug. 9. Like Ansar Jerusalem, which accused the Egyptian army of collaborating with Israel in the strike, the MSC in Jerusalem charged that the strike would not have occurred without "direct" coordination between Egypt and Israel.

An extensive funeral procession for the slain jihadists was held today in the Sinai. According to reports, during the funeral, which was attended by hundreds, those in attendance called for the end of the military's rule and chanted "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews! The army of Muhammad will return!" Additionally, the Associated Press noted that "it is believed that many who were present are wanted by police for carrying out near daily attacks on security forces in Sinai."

Some of the slain jihadists were wrapped in al Qaeda flags, while some of the vehicles in the procession appeared to have the black flags attached as well.

The Israel Defense Forces have not officially responded to the reports, but an Israeli official last night reportedly confirmed that Israel was responsible, in comments to ABC News. The official position of the Egyptian army as of last night was that authorities were investigating an incident near Rafah, but that reports of Israeli involvement were false.

Adding to the mystery of the incident, Egypt's state news agency now alleges that Egyptian helicopters carried out the strike, according to Reuters.

Yesterday's strike came just a day after Israeli authorities closed the airport in the southern Israeli city of Eilat for a few hours due to a security assessment. Egyptian officials said yesterday that a warning from them regarding plots by jihadists in the Sinai had been shared with Israeli officials and led to the airport closure.

Israeli authorities have previously expressed concern that jihadists may try to target planes landing and taking off from the airport.

While it is not clear where the jihadists from Ansar Jerusalem intended to strike in Israel, a reasonable assumption can be made that Eilat was the likely target. The city has increasingly come under fire during the past two years from Sinai-based jihadists.

On Nov. 20, 2012, Ansar Jerusalem claimed to have fired rockets at Eilat, according to a statement that was obtained and translated by SITE. The same group also took responsibility for a rocket attack on Eilat in mid-August 2012. More recently, in early July, Ansar Jerusalem issued a statement claiming responsibility for the firing of two rockets toward Eilat. Prior to that, in April, the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on Eilat.

Ansar Jerusalem

Ansar Jerusalem is thought to be behind most of the recent attacks originating from the Sinai, according to Israeli intelligence. The group, which is said to recruit within Egypt and abroad, has claimed credit for a number of attacks against Israel over the past year, including the attack on Sept. 21.

The deadliest attack was the Aug. 18, 2011 assault on a bus traveling near the border with Egypt in Eilat, which resulted in the deaths of eight Israelis and at least seven terrorists. Three Egyptian security personnel were also accidentally killed in the crossfire. In addition, Ansar Jerusalem has taken credit for a number of attacks against the Arish-Ashkelon natural gas pipeline as well as a number of rocket attacks against Israel.

On Oct. 15, the group threatened to attack Israel for the targeted killing of Abu al Walid al Maqdisi, the former emir of the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ashraf al Sabah, the former emir of Ansar al Sunnah. The two men were said to be leaders of the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem.

On Jan. 11, a video released by Ansar Jerusalem stated: "Here in Egypt, the fortress of the Ummah, the light of victory has begun to shine, and the light of dawn has appeared in the horizon. The Ummah has begun preparing for the moment to attack the occupying entity and get rid of its evil."

In March, the group issued a statement during President Obama's visit to Israel, which it called a "cancerous tumor." The jihadist group said that the visit's timing "has important implications" and accused "America and the Crusader West" of intervening in the so-called Arab Spring "to change the natural direction of these blessed revolutions, and prevent[ing] the Muslim peoples from achieving their true freedom and implementing their Islamic Shariah."

Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem

The Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) is a consolidation of a number of Salafi jihadist groups operating in the Gaza Strip including, but not limited to: Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ansar al Sunnah. Sheikh Anas Abdul Rahman, one of the group's leaders, has said that the group aims to "fight the Jews for the return of Islam's rule, not only in Palestine, but throughout the world."

The MSC has taken responsibility for a number of rocket attacks against Israel, as well as the June 18, 2012 attack that killed one Israeli civilian. The group said the attack was "a gift to our brothers in Qaedat al Jihad and Sheikh Zawahiri" and retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden. In early February 2013, the MSC released a martyrdom video branding one of the terrorists killed in the June 2012 attack as an al Qaeda "martyr."

On Oct. 22, 2012, the MSC released a 32-minute-long video detailing some of its rocket attacks against Israel and threatening to "fight you [Israel] as long as we hold...weapons in our hands." In November 2012, the group carried out joint rocket attacks with the Army of Islam. Following the institution of a ceasefire that ended Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense, the MSC said that they were not truly a party to the ceasefire.

Over the past two years, the Israeli Air Force has targeted a number of MSC members. On Oct. 7, 2012, the IDF targeted Tala'at Halil Muhammad Jarbi, a "global jihad operative," and Abdullah Muhammad Hassan Maqawai, a member of the MSC. Maqawai, likely a former member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, died of his wounds. On Oct. 13, 2012, Israel killed Abu al Walid al Maqdisi, the former emir of the Tawhid and Jihad Group in Jerusalem, and Ashraf al Sabah, the former emir of Ansar al Sunnah, in an airstrike. The two men were said to be leaders of the MSC. Numerous jihadist groups and media units as well as al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri issued statements following the death of the two jihadists.

More recently, in April this year, the IAF targeted and killed Hithem Ziad Ibrahim Masshal, a well-known jihadist in the Gaza Strip, who was said to be a member of the MSC. On May 7, Masshal was eulogized by a senior member of the MSC who claimed that he never visited Masshal "without finding his room full with materials for manufacturing and preparing rockets, and the materials of jihad." On Aug. 7, 2013, the MSC released a video to jihadist forums praising Masshal for having "always rolled up his sleeves and used up his time in training the mujahideen to fight and shoot in the Cause of Allah."

In June, jihadists in Syria called on Hamas members as well as members of other Palestinian factions in Gaza to join the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem.

Since its formation, the group has released a couple of eulogies for slain al Qaeda leaders. For example, in September 2012 the group released a eulogy to jihadist forums for Abu Yahya al Libi, a longtime al Qaeda leader from Libya, who was killed in a US drone strike in Mir Ali in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan on June 4, 2012. More recently, in mid-July, the group released a statement of condolence to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) after it confirmed the death of its deputy leader, Said al Shihri (a.k.a. Abu Sufyan al-Azdi).