Abu Hammam al Shami, as pictured in a new Al Nusrah Front video, joined al Qaeda in the late 1990s and swore an oath of allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

An Al Nusrah Front video released on March 23 features Abu Hammam al Shami, an al Qaeda operative who swore bayat (an oath of loyalty) to Osama bin Laden and who has long served al Qaeda's senior leaders.

Abu Hammam is the latest al Qaeda veteran to criticize the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) in an Al Nusrah Front video. ISIS and Al Nusrah, which is al Qaeda's official branch inside Syria, have been engaged in a heated propaganda war.

Previous anti-ISIS videos produced by the Al Nusrah Front have featured Abu Firas al Suri, an experienced al Qaeda member who has waged jihad since the late 1970s, and Abu Sulayman al Muhajir, an extremist preacher from Australia who migrated to Syria and assumed a leadership position within Al Nusrah. Both Abu Firas and Abu Sulayman sought to undermine ISIS' legitimacy, and Abu Hammam's video expounds upon similar themes.

The Al Nusrah Front video was translated by Oren Adaki, an Arab-language specialist and research associate at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Abu Hammam's video centers on his experiences trying to broker a ceasefire with ISIS. The problems began, according to Abu Hammam, when ISIS fighters attacked an Al Nusrah Front brigade. Despite meeting with several ISIS leaders, Abu Hammam could not find any responsible officials within the group.

Abu Hammam claims that he even met with one of ISIS emir Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's chief deputies. Baghdadi's deputy supposedly told Abu Hammam that either ISIS will annihilate everyone else, or ISIS itself will be annihilated. When Abu Hammam suggested that their differences could be settled in a common sharia court, Baghdadi's deputy replied that they will bring their disagreements to a sharia court when the fight to the death is over.

The Al Nusrah Front finally brokered a ceasefire with ISIS when Abu Hammam met with Omar al Shishani, the Chechen ISIS leader. But the ceasefire agreement, which is shown during the video, was short-lived. Some ISIS leaders urged Shishani not to sign the agreement, Abu Hammam says, but Shishani entered into it. The deal required ISIS to stop fighting all of the other factions and to settle its disputes in a common sharia court.

Shishani asked Abu Hammam how long it would take for the agreement to take effect, and Abu Hammam says that he explained it would take two days to notify all of the relevant parties. Shishani told Abu Hammam to expedite the process, but before the deal could be ratified, ISIS detonated a car bomb. The bombing presumably brought the peace process to a halt.

Abu Hammam tries to underscore ISIS' reckless disregard for civilians. Although it is ironic to hear al Qaeda operatives denounce jihadists for killing civilians, al Qaeda's senior leadership and the Al Nusrah Front are attempting to take a more pragmatic approach to the jihad in Syria. They seek to avoid the mistakes of the past, which led to the alienation of the population. Al Qaeda is trying to build a broader base of popular support inside Syria and beyond.

In this vein, Abu Hammam claims that when ISIS withdrew from a Syrian town that was being attacked by the Free Syrian Army, it left behind booby traps. The ISIS headquarters was packed with explosives, including chlorine bombs. If the Al Nusrah Front had not subsequently defused the bombs, Abu Hammam says, the civilians in the village would have been devastated.

The predecessor to ISIS, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), is known to have used chlorine bombs in Iraq. So Abu Hammam's claims are at least plausible.

Swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden, works for top al Qaeda leaders

The Al Nusrah Front provides a detailed biography of Abu Hammam before he speaks in the video. His life story is filled with details connecting him to al Qaeda's most senior leaders.

Abu Hammam joined the jihad in Afghanistan in the late 1990s and spent one year at the al Ghuraba military camp, which was run by Abu Musab al Suri, a major jihadist ideologue whose teachings are still widely read.

He then moved on to al Qaeda's Al Farouq training camp, which provided basic instruction for new recruits, and was selected for more advanced training.

Abu Hammam finished second in his class at an al Qaeda special forces training facility. One of the 9/11 hijackers finished first in Abu Hammam's class, according to the Al Nusrah Front video.

Saif al Adel, who was a top al Qaeda military commander prior to 9/11 and remains a senior leader to this day, appointed Abu Hammam as the emir of a region in Kandahar. He was also named a trainer in one of al Qaeda's camps.

Abu Hammam swore bayat (an oath of loyalty) to Osama bin Laden with a handshake and was named the head of the Syrian jihadist contingent in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. He fought alongside al Qaeda in major battles, according to the Al Nusrah Front's biography.

In late 2001, after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan had begun, Abu Hammam fled with Saif al Adel. And he was appointed by another senior al Qaeda leader, Mustafa Abu al Yazid, to work in Iraq prior to the fall of Baghdad in 2003. Yazid was one of Osama bin Laden's most trusted lieutenants and became al Qaeda's general manager in 2005. Yazid was killed in a US drone strike in May 2010.

Abu Hammam stayed in Baghdad "on official duty from [al Qaeda's] general leadership in Khorasan" for four months prior to the Iraq War. During that time, he met with both Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who went on to head AQI before being killed in 2006, and Abu Hamza Al Muhajer (a.k.a. Abu Ayyub al Masri), who took over as head of AQI after Zarqawi's demise. Al Muhajer, a longtime subordinate of Ayman al Zawahiri, was subsequently killed in April 2010.

Abu Hammam was arrested by Iraqi intelligence and transferred to Syrian custody. But he was freed by the Syrians.

At the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, Abu Hammam was appointed as the head "of the mujahideen services office that was working in the benefit of the jihad in Iraq." Zarqawi "would send him men and he would train them militarily and return them to" Zarqawi's terrorist enterprise.

The Al Nusrah video does not indicate where this training took place, but it was likely inside Syria, which housed a significant training and facilitation network during the Iraq War. Not only was Abu Hammam released inside Syria, he mentions a series of arrests by "the Shiites" in 2005 that forced him to flee to Lebanon. He "then returned to Afghanistan another time at the request of the sheikhs there."

Sheikh Attiyah Abd al Rahman, "who was in charge of the foreign activities of the organization at that time," then "charged him with working inside Syria directly for al Qaeda." Rahman succeeded Yazid as al Qaeda's general manager, but he too was killed in an August 2011 drone strike.

Before Abu Hammam could assume his leadership duties in Bashar al Assad's Syria, however, he was arrested in Lebanon and imprisoned for five years. He was eventually released and "currently works in the position of the general military leader" in the Al Nusrah Front.

Muhsin al Fadhli, who has reportedly relocated from Iran to Syria.

Muhsin al Fadhli, a senior al Qaeda leader who once headed the organization's network in Iran, relocated to Syria in mid-2013, according to a report in The Arab Times on March 21. Citing anonymous sources, the publication reports that al Fadhli has joined the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria. He was apparently sent to the country after a dispute broke out between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS).

Al Fadhli was one of the trusted operatives who reported back to Ayman al Zawahiri on the dispute, according to the Arab Times, and he influenced al Qaeda's decision to eventually disown ISIS.

Today, al Fadhli reportedly recruits European Muslims to join the jihad in Syria and "trains them on how to execute terror operations in the western countries, focusing mostly on means of public transportation such as trains and airplanes."

The Arab Times account does not identify its sources and parts of it do not ring true. For example, al Fadhli's "four main targets" inside Syria are supposedly Bashar al Assad's forces, the Free Syrian Army, the Islamic Front, and ISIS. However, only two of these targets make sense in the current operational environment. The Al Nusrah Front is closely cooperating with the Islamic Front, which is a coalition of several jihadist and Islamist rebel groups, and also works with the Free Syrian Army.

Still, the story makes sense in the context of other known aspects of al Qaeda's operations.

Al Fadhli became the leader of al Qaeda's network inside Iran after a senior al Qaeda leader known as Yasin al Suri was detained by Iranian authorities. In July 2011, the US Treasury Department identified al Suri as the head of the network, which it said operates under an agreement between the Iranian regime and al Qaeda. Several months later, in December 2011, the State Department announced a reward of $10 million for information leading to al Suri's arrest.

This put pressure on the Iranians to shelve al Suri for a time. In February 2012, press reporting indicated that al Fadhli had replaced al Suri as al Qaeda's chief inside Iran. And in October 2012 the Treasury Department confirmed that al Fadhli had indeed filled in for al Suri.

But earlier this year, the US government announced that al Suri had assumed his leadership role inside Iran once again. In late January, Treasury and State Department officials spoke with Al Jazeera, saying that al Suri was supporting the Al Nusrah Front from Iranian soil despite the fact that Al Nusrah is currently fighting Iran's ally and proxies in Syria. In early February, the Treasury Department officially confirmed that al Suri has "resumed leadership of al Qaeda's Iran-based network after being temporarily detained there in late 2011."

With al Suri back in the game, al Qaeda had the operational freedom to deploy al Fadhli to Syria. Al Qaeda's senior leaders dispatched trusted operatives to Syria once the dispute between Al Nusrah and ISIS became heated. Therefore, al Fadhli's reported presence inside Syria makes sense in the context of al Qaeda's decision to reshuffle its personnel.

The Arab Times report draws from Kuwaiti sources, who have an interest in tracking al Fadhli since he is a native of their country. In 2009, the publication accurately reported that al Fadhli was then living along the Iran-Afghanistan border.

And according to the US government, al Qaeda's Iran-based network relies on Kuwait-based donors and facilitators, who support the Al Nusrah Front and other parts of al Qaeda's operations. This provides even more reasons for Kuwaiti authorities to keep close tabs on al Fadhli's movements.

Connected to high-profile terrorist plots against Western interests

If al Fadhli is indeed inside Syria and training recruits to attack the West, then this is a significant cause for concern among counterterrorism authorities.

Al Fadhli was first designated as a terrorist by the US Treasury Department in 2005. Treasury noted at the time that his dossier was extensive.

Al Fadhli has long been an elite member of al Qaeda. In early September 2001, Treasury explained, he "possibly received forewarning that US interests would be struck." The Sept. 11 operation was compartmentalized and only select members of the network received advance notice.

The Kuwaiti al Qaeda operative has been tied to the Oct. 6, 2002 attack on the French ship MV Limburg and the Oct. 8, 2002 attack against US Marines stationed on Kuwait's Faylaka Island. One Marine was killed during the Faylaka Island shootout. He may have also been involved in the bombing of the USS Cole on Oct. 12, 2000.

He went on to support Abu Musab al Zarqawi's operations inside Iraq.

An al Qaeda cell responsible for the 2009 plot against Camp Arifjan, a US military installation in Kuwait, had ties to al Fadhli. That cell was broken up by Kuwaiti authorities before it could launch an attack.

And Egyptian officials have alleged that still another plot, targeting the US Embassy in Cairo and other Western interests, involved al Qaeda's Iran-based network. The May 2013 plot was tied to a terrorist known as Dawud al Asadi, who had been in contact with the cell responsible in the months beforehand.

Dawud al Asadi is one of the aliases used by Muhsin al Fadhli, but Egyptian officials have not publicly confirmed al Asadi's real identity. Al Asadi reportedly put members of the cell in contact with Muhammad Jamal al Kashef, a longtime subordinate to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, as well as with other members of Jamal's network.

Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and spokesman after the 9/11 attacks, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, has been convicted on terrorism charges by a New York jury.

Abu Ghaith garnered international infamy after he appeared sitting next to bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders in a video that was filmed on Sept. 12, 2001. In the weeks that followed, his threats of additional attacks were seen as an ominous indication of things to come.

Additional attacks were averted, but Abu Ghaith continued to threaten Americans.

Threats against America

In a June 2002 statement Abu Ghaith argued that "Al Qaeda has the right to kill four million Americans, including one million children, displace double that figure, and injure and cripple hundreds and thousands."

In his memoir, At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA, former CIA director George Tenet says that an alarmed US government "had to consider the possibility that Abu Ghaith was attempting to justify the future use of weapons of mass destruction that might greatly exceed the death toll of 9/11."

In an audio recording that was also released in June 2002, Abu Ghaith claimed credit on behalf of al Qaeda for the Apr. 11, 2002, truck bombing of a Tunisian synagogue. NBC News and the Associated Press reported that the cell responsible for the bombing had been in touch with al Qaeda leaders inside Iran.

After he was captured in 2013, Abu Ghaith told the FBI that he was smuggled into Iran that same month.

A copy of Abu Ghaith's statement to the FBI can be found at Downrange, a publication launched by Kronos Advisory.

Between June 2002 and Apr. 2003, when Abu Ghaith says he was placed under house arrest by the Iranians, the al Qaeda spokesman continued to make provocative statements.

In July 2002, Abu Ghaith threatened more bloodshed. "Al Qaeda will organize more attacks inside American territory and outside, at the moment we choose, at the place we choose and with the objectives that we want," he said, according to an account published at the time by the Associated Press.

On Oct. 8, 2002, an al Qaeda cell that was reportedly recruited and indoctrinated by Abu Ghaith opened fire on US Marines stationed on Kuwait's Faylaka Island. One Marine was killed and another was seriously wounded.

Then, in Nov. 2002, al Qaeda terrorists attacked an Israeli hotel, killing 13 people, and tried to down an Israeli jetliner in Mombasa, Kenya. Abu Ghaith claimed credit for that operation on behalf of al Qaeda the following month.

Also in Dec. 2002, Abu Ghaith threatened additional attacks against the United States and Israel. Bin Laden's spokesman warned the Muslim world of the "danger of what America and its allies are preparing against Iraq and its people," which "is not limited to overthrowing the infidel regime and its dictator but is aimed at .  .  . Balkanizing this great country."

In his statement to the FBI, Abu Ghaith claimed that his statements in the latter half of 2002 were unconnected to al Qaeda's operations. But his claim does not ring true.

Al Qaeda has strict protocols for claiming responsibility for its attacks. That Abu Ghaith trumpeted the organization's culpability in Tunisia and Kenya strongly suggests he was coordinating with al Qaeda's most senior leaders at the time.

Admitted knowing Guantanamo detainee

Additional parts of Abu Ghaith's statement to the FBI in 2013 are uneven and do not square with other intelligence collected by US authorities.

For instance, the al Qaeda spokesman admitted to FBI agents that he knew Fayiz al Kandari, a Kuwaiti who is detained at Guantanamo, but omitted key details from his testimony. US officials have concluded that Fayiz al Kandari was a well-connected al Qaeda member and ideologue who had direct access to Osama bin Laden. [For more on Fayiz al Kandari, see LWJ report: Judge finds that Kuwaiti Gitmo detainee was no charity worker.]

After his "initial presentment," Abu Ghaith "stated that he will be 100% cooperative with interviewers whether or not he has a lawyer."

Using his blackberry, an FBI agent immediately showed Abu Ghaith a picture of Fayiz al Kandari, whom he recognized and identified. Abu Ghaith subsequently identified a picture of Anas al Kandari, a relative of Fayiz, as well.

Abu Ghaith said that the three of them "grew up in the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait together." He admitted to the FBI that he taught Anas and knew Fayiz in Kuwait, but sought to downplay the extent of these relations.

Anas al Kandari was killed during the Oct. 8, 2002, attack on US Marines based on Faylaka Island. As explained by Stewart Bell in his book, The Martyr's Oath, Anas and his fellow gunmen were recruited and indoctrinated by Abu Ghaith.

In his statement to the FBI, Abu Ghaith claimed that he only learned about the Faylaka Island incident through the media. There are good reasons to doubt his veracity.

While Abu Ghaith admittedly met with Anas and Fayiz in pre-9/11 Afghanistan, his testimony does not match other sources.

A leaked threat assessment prepared by Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) for Fayiz al Kandari notes that the Gitmo detainee "received advanced sniper training, arranged by [bin Laden's] guards, at the airport training camp in Kandahar." Abu Ghaith, Anas al Kandari, and some of bin Laden's sons also took part in this training, according to the JTF-GTMO file.

During his interview with the FBI, Abu Ghaith conceded that Anas al Kandari may have received some training, but claimed that Fayiz had not. Ghaith "did not believe that" Fayiz "attended a training camp in Afghanistan because" Fayiz "was like him (Ghaith), a spiritual preacher."

JTF-GTMO concluded that Fayiz trained at al Qaeda's al Farouq camp and the Khaldan camp, in addition to this training alongside Abu Ghaith in Kandahar.

The FBI agents who questioned Abu Ghaith wondered how Fayiz and Anas al Kandari were able to stay in secure al Qaeda guesthouses, train in al Qaeda camps, and otherwise have access to the terrorist group's resources. The FBI pointed out that "one could not simply show up without references or someone known/trusted by Osama bin Laden's group vouching for the person."

Ghaith "advised that he did not know if anyone had vouched for them."

JTF-GTMO's analysts came to the opposite conclusion. "It was probably [Fayiz al Kandari's] association with Ghaith, along with detainee's religious training, that allowed [Fayiz] to enter [bin Laden's] inner circle," the JTF-GTMO file reads.

Despite Abu Ghaith's admissions, his statement is probably still helpful for US officials interested in building a case against Fayiz al Kandari. Abu Ghaith placed both Fayiz and Anas al Kandari in al Qaeda facilities prior to 9/11.

In any event, Abu Ghaith's recruiting days for al Qaeda are now over.

Note: Parts of this article were previously published at The Weekly Standard.

Muslim al Shishani and Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini embrace. Also pictured [right] is Abu Tarab al Shishani.

A prominent Saudi cleric and a Chechen military commander in a unit of the Al Nusrah Front for the People in the Levant, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, celebrated together after recent heavy fighting against Syrian government forces in a mountainous area in the coastal province of Latakia. An emir of Ahrar al Sham is also seen in the video.

Muslim al Shishani, a Chechen jihadist and Al Nusrah military commander, is seen in a video with Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked Saudi cleric, after the Al Nusrah Front overran a Syrian military position in the eastern province. The video was posted on YouTube on March 26.

In the video, hundreds of jihadists are shown walking around the captured outpost as fires, presumably caused by the the fighting, are still burning. A tank and a pickup truck with a machine gun mounted in the bed are seen in the background. Gunfire is heard, but it sounds celebratory.

The camera follows the red-bearded Muslim as he praises the jihadists for defeating Syrian forces. At 0:58, the video pauses as Muslim is pictured with another Chechen commander, Abu Tarab al Shishani. The video then pauses again at 1:02 as Muslim and Muhaysini embrace.

The video again pauses at 1:53 and Abu Tarab al Shishani is seen embracing with the "Leader of Ahrar al Sham: Abu al Hassan", one of the leading groups in the Islamic Front. Senior al Qaeda leaders are known to have served in the top leadership circles of Ahrar al Sham.

The Al Nusrah Front has allied with Ahrar al Sham and a Salafist group known as Ansar al Sham, in an offensive to take control of areas in Latakia. The jihadist groups have seized a coastal village, "the Armenian Christian village of Kasab," and a border crossing with Turkey, according to Reuters.

Muhaysini, the Saudi cleric who moved to Syria in 2013 and has more than 240,000 followers on Twitter, has publicly supported the position of the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front in their dispute with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. When he launched an initiative in January to reconcile the groups by creating a sharia court to settle disputes, Muhaysini cited al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. In February, after the ISIS rejected his plan, Muhaysini called on ISIS fighters and leaders to defect and join the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front. [See LWJ reports, Popular Saudi cleric endorses Islamic Front, calls for cooperation with al Qaeda; Saudi cleric's reconciliation initiative for jihadists draws wide support, then a rejection; and Pro-al Qaeda Saudi cleric calls on ISIS members to defect.]

Muslim al Shishani has been waging jihad for three decades, according to a video biography that was released in November 2013 and translated by MEMRI.

Muslim "served in the air defense division of the Soviet army in Moldova" before the collapse of the Soviet Union, MEMRI reported. Afterwards he joined the jihad in Chechnya and fought alongside Ibn Khattab, a Saudi who led al Qaeda's International Islamic Brigade in Chechnya before he was assassinated by Russian forces in 2002.

"He worked with many leading figures in the Chechen-Arab units, including Abu Jafar and Ibn Khattab's successor Abu al Walid, and was eventually promoted to the position of field commander," according to MEMRI. He was captured by Russian forces in 2003 and released after two-and-a-half years in detention. In 2008, he formed a fighting unit in the Russian Republic of Dagestan. He had sworn allegiance to Doku Umarov, the slain emir of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Caucasus Emirate.

In 2012, Muslim left the Caucasus to wage jihad in Syria and led a group known as Jund al Sham, or the Army of Syria. His group, along with those under the command of Saifullah al Shishani and another Chechen known as Abu Walid al Shishani, merged with the Al Nusrah Front.

Chechen-led jihadist groups have been some of the fiercest units in the Syrian civil war. Chechens and others from the Russian Caucasus and even from the Ukraine hold prominent positions in jihadist units fighting in Syria. Omar al Shishani commands fighters in the ISIS and his fighters are routinely in the forefront of the fighting. Another Chechen, Salahuddin al Shishani, serves as the emir of the Muhajireen Army; his deputy is Abdul Karim Krymsky, a Crimean Tatar from the Ukraine. Hundreds of fighters from the Caucasus and Russia are known to fight in the ranks of the jihadist groups in Syria that are commanded by Chechen leaders.

Two senior Chechen commanders, Saifullah al Shishani and Muhammad al Shishani, have been killed so far this year while fighting Syrian government forces in Aleppo.

Video of celebration in Latakia:

A popular Saudi cleric who is closely tied to al Qaeda and its official branch in Syria praised the "lions" from the Islamic Caucasus Emirate who are battling Syrian government forces in a city near Aleppo.

Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, the Saudi cleric and a rising star in the jihadist world, lauded the fighters from the Islamic Caucasus Emirate in a short, 1:42 video clip that was uploaded on YouTube by Akhbar Sham three days ago. Akhbar Sham is a Russian-language website that supports the Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar (Army of Emigrants and Supporters, or Muhajireen Army), a group of foreign fighters led by commanders from the Caucasus.

Muhaysini praised the members from the Caucasus Emirate for their fighting against Syrian government forces in Shaykh Najjar, an industrial city just outside of Aleppo, according to a translation of the video by Oren Adaki and Boris Zilberman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"These are the omens of victory and they are the hordes of Muslims launched to the battle of Shaykh Najjar in response to the call of Allah, most high, 'I will make you victorious in my religion, and victory is upon you,'" Muhaysini said.

"And [the] Emirate of the Caucasus sends men, lions, from their own sons - at their forefront is Sheikh Salahuddin, Sheikh Abdallah Pashtuna, and others from the soldiers of Salahuddin. They have come to meet the demand of aiding the weak men, women, and children."

Sheikh Salahuddin is likely Salahuddin al Shishani, a Chechen who is the emir of the Muhajireen Army. Although Sheikh Abdallah Pashtuna has not been identified, his name indicates he may be a Pashtun from Afghanistan or Pakistan, or a fighter from the Caucasus who operated in the Afghan-Pakistan region.

Muhaysini also referenced Ibn Khattab and said that the fighters from the Caucasus are "returning the good deed" of Arabs who waged jihadi in Chechnya against the Russians. Khattab was a Saudi who led al Qaeda's International Islamic Brigade in Chechnya before he was assassinated by Russian forces in 2002.

"May Allah bless our brothers from the Caucasus, they are returning the good deed presented to them by their brother, Sheikh Khattab, the esteemed leader and those with him. And this is the power of faith. We ask that Allah accept the jihad from everyone and their assistance to Allah's religion," he said.

Muhaysini, a Saudi cleric who moved to Syria in 2013 and has more than 290,000 followers on Twitter, has publicly supported the position of al Qaeda, the Al Nusrah Front, and the Islamic Front in their dispute with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. When he launched an initiative in January to reconcile the groups by creating a sharia court to settle differences, Muhaysini cited al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. Muhaysini's initiative dovetailed with a message by Zawahiri calling for reconciliation.

In February, after the ISIS rejected his plan, Muhaysini called on ISIS fighters and leaders to defect and join the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front. [See LWJ reports, Popular Saudi cleric endorses Islamic Front, calls for cooperation with al Qaeda; Saudi cleric's reconciliation initiative for jihadists draws wide support, then a rejection; and Pro-al Qaeda Saudi cleric calls on ISIS members to defect.]

Recently, Muhaysini has been touring the battlefield. Just days ago, a video in which Muhaysini appeared after fighting in Latakia was published on the Internet. In the video, Muhaysini is seen embracing a Chechen military commander known as Abu Tarab al Shishani. The video features Muslim al Shishani, the leader of a group of fighters in the Al Nusrah Front, as well as a leader of Ahrar al Sham known as Abu al Hassan. [See LWJ report, Chechen al Qaeda commander, popular Saudi cleric, and an Ahrar al Sham leader spotted on front lines in Latakia.]

The Taliban launched two more suicide assaults in the Afghan capital of Kabul over the past 24 hours. In the attacks, the Taliban targeted the headquarters of the Independent Election Commission and a guesthouse run by an American charity.

The first suicide assault took place last night as a four-man Taliban suicide assault team attacked the guesthouse of Roots of Peace, "an international humanitarian organization working to unearth dangerous landmines in war-torn countries and [that] empowers the local communities scarred by these indiscriminate weapons." The charity also helps plant "sustainable crops."

The attack began as a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives outside the main entrance to the charity. Three heavily armed fighters then entered through the resulting breach and stormed the compound.

Afghan forces responded and killed the three remaining members of the Taliban suicide assault team after several hours of fighting. Two civilians outside of the guesthouse were killed in the crossfire. The occupants of the charity survived by hiding in the building during the fighting.

The Taliban claimed last night's attack on Voice of Jihad, their official website, and said they targeted a "church belonging to US embassy for converting the Afghans to Christianity, an abolished religion." The Taliban identified the members of the suicide assault team as "Muhammad Zaman ... from Paktia province ... Zabihullah from Wardak, Muhammad Islmail from Logar and Obaidullah from Kunduz provinces."

In today's attack, a suicide assault team stormed a building next to the Independent Election Commission headquarters. Four or five Taliban fighters occupied the building, then opened fire on the IEC headquarters. The Taliban fighters also reportedly fired up to 15 rockets at the building. Afghan security forces battled the Taliban fighters for five hours before killing them. No IEC workers were killed during the attack.

Over the past nine days, the Taliban have stepped up attacks in Kabul. The al Qaeda-linked group has launched four suicide assaults in the capital since March 20, two of which have targeted the IEC headquarters. On March 25, five members of a suicide assault team killed a candidate for provincial elections in Kabul, two IEC workers, and two policemen, in an attack on the IEC headquarters. And on March 20, a Taliban assault team killed nine people in an attack at the Serena hotel in Kabul.

The recent spate of attacks in the capital is likely the work of what US military officials have previously called the Kabul Attack Network. This network is made up of fighters from the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, and cooperates with terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and al Qaeda. Top Afghan intelligence officials have linked the Kabul Attack Network to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate as well. The network's tentacles extend outward from Kabul into the surrounding provinces of Logar, Wardak, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Kunar, Ghazni, and Zabul, a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal.

The Kabul Attack Network is led by Dawood (or Daud) and Taj Mir Jawad, military and intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Dawood is the Taliban's shadow governor for Kabul, while Taj Mir Jawad is a top commander in the Haqqani Network. In the US military files that were released by WikiLeaks, Taj Mir Jawad is identified as a key Haqqani Network leader.

The suicide assault, or coordinated attack using multiple suicide bombers and an assault team, is a tactic that is frequently used in Afghanistan by the Taliban and their allies, including the Haqqani Network, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, al Qaeda, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Suicide assaults are also commonly executed by al Qaeda and allied jihadist groups in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, and Nigeria.

Adam Gadahn, the American traitor who works with al Qaeda's General Command as a propagandist, has released a videotape acknowledging the death of Abu Khalid al Suri, the terror group's representative to Syria who was killed last month. In the video, Gadahn vows that al Qaeda will avenge Abu Khalid's death, and notes that he had served under the al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan.

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated the video, Gadahn's videotaped statement was released yesterday on the YouTube and Twitter accounts of a jihadist, and not on the al Qaeda-linked jihadist forums.

The video also does not bear the logo of As Sahab, al Qaeda's official media outlet. The video was posted by a jihadist who goes by the name "sticky bomb" and who is supportive of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.

Without directly naming the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), an al Qaeda splinter group disowned by al Qaeda's General Command last month, Gadahn intimates that the ISIS was responsible for Abu Khalid's death. Abu Khalid was killed in a suicide attack in Aleppo towards the end of February. While no group has claimed the attack, the ISIS has been actively battling the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front, and has used suicide bombers against both jihadist groups.

"The fingers of accusation have been pointed at a group that is known for its extreme nature and radical behavior, and its tyranny and its going against the people of Islam and jihad in Syria, and the scholars and knowledgeable ones from among the mujahideen everywhere," Gadahn says. He also claims that "thousands have fallen from both sides" during the jihadist internecine warfare.

Gadahn then says that he "cannot confirm nor deny the accusations that are directed at the aforementioned group for this sinful attack and condemnable crime," and calls for "a comprehensive investigation." After the investigation, al Qaeda would take "the necessary procedures against the perpetrators according to the Shariah of Allah."

Lamenting the death of Abu Khalid, the al Qaeda propagandist notes that he served under Abu Khalid as "a soldier in one of the jihadi groups" during "the time of the Islamic Emirate," a reference to Afghanistan during the time of Taliban rule.

"The days that I spent in that group [commanded by Abu Khalid] were unforgettable," Gadahn states.

Gadahn also notes that Abu Khalid was "a deputy to" Abu Musab al Suri (Mustafa Setmariam Nasar), who is a major al Qaeda ideologue. Gadahn indicates that Abu Musab remains in prison, presumably held by the Syrian government, by stating "may Allah release him" after mentioning his name. Abu Khalid himself also indicated in a message released in January that Abu Musab remained in custody. [See Threat Matrix report, Alleged message from Zawahiri's Syrian representative posted online.]

Abu Khalid al Suri was a longtime al Qaeda operative and a founding member of Ahrar al Sham, one of six Islamist groups in the Islamic Front. At the time of his death, Abu Khalid was a senior leader in Ahrar al Sham. Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's emir, appointed Abu Khalid as al Qaeda's special representative in Syria in 2013.

Egypt's Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim today announced the arrest of members of Kataeb Ansar al Sharia fi Ard al Kinanah (Brigades of Ansar al Sharia in the Land of Egypt). The jihadist group, which first announced itself in early March, had taken credit for more than a dozen separate shooting attacks in the governorates of Sharkiya, Beni Suef, and Giza in a statement released on March 17.

During the press conference, Ibrahim said that the group "included military cadres," Aswat Masriya reported.

Ibrahim also noted that Ahmed Abdul Rahman Abdu Hassan, also known as Abu Basir, was a member of the group. According to press reports, the jihadist was killed during clashes with Egyptian security forces on March 9. In its March 17 communique, Ansar al Sharia identified him as one of its commanders and asked that "Allah accept him."

A video confession aired during today's press conference had one of the Ansar al Sharia members saying he had been tasked by Abu Abdullah of Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis) to form the new group. The only known Ansar Jerusalem member with the name Abu Abdullah is Tawfiq Mohammed Freij, who died on March 11.

Prior to his death, Freij oversaw a number of Ansar Jerusalem's attacks in the Egyptian mainland, including the attempted assassination of Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim on Sept. 5, 2013.

It is still unclear whether this new Ansar al Sharia has any connections, aside from its similar name, to the Ansar al Sharia that threatened attacks in early July or the Ansar al Sharia that was founded by Ahmed Ashush.

Meanwhile, one soldier was killed and three policemen were wounded when their bus traveling in North Sinai was attacked by gunmen earlier today. Separately, Egyptian media reports said that Ansar Jerusalem fighters had started to target people suspected of being associated with the planned construction of a wall in the el Arish area of North Sinai.

On March 27, the Sinai-based jihadist group warned those who may help with the construction of the wall around el Arish that its fighters "will not relent in targeting you" and "will spare no effort in deterring and preventing you." Egyptian security officials have told AFP that reports of a full wall being built around el Arish are misleading as authorities are only planning "to build a wall south of the town to secure the airport and nearby agricultural fields used by militants as hideouts."

On March 27 an audio tape recording of high-level Turkish officials discussing Turkey's Syria strategy was leaked on YouTube. The meeting was held between Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff Yasar Guler, and Hakan Fidan, the head of the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT).

The leak went viral on social media due to Fidan's alleged proposal to stage an attack to justify future Turkish military operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Syria. President Abdullah Gul condemned the leak over national security concerns, and YouTube was banned in Turkey after the leak.

Tensions between Turkish security forces and ISIS have been on the rise, particularly in the past couple of weeks. In mid-March, the Turkish press reported that ISIS fighters had surrounded the Suleyman Shah tomb, which is located in northern Syria, 15 miles outside of Turkey's border, but is officially considered Turkish territory under the 1921 agreement with France. ISIS had taken control of the town of Jarablus near the tomb in January. Foreign Minister Davutoglu had responded to the reports with vows that Turkey would retaliate should there be an attack on the tomb, no matter which group the attacks came from.

Davutoglu's statement was followed by two key events. The first was an attack on March 20 by three militants against Turkish security forces manning a checkpoint in Turkey's Nigde province. Two security force members and police officer were killed, and the suspects were arrested. Prime Minister Erdogan and Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay immediately attributed the attack to groups operating in Syria.

According to Interior Minister Efkan Ala's statement, the three attackers carried ammunition and hand grenades, spoke Arabic, and are of Albanian and Kosovar origin. It was determined that the attackers were ISIS fighters from the ISIS-controlled Atmeh region in Syria and belonged to the Interpol's 1470-person al Qaeda list. Reportedly they had entered Turkey illegally from Hatay, a Turkish province on the Syrian border that has been increasingly exposed to the extremist actors in the Syrian opposition such as the Al Nusrah Front and Ansar al Sham.

The second event occurred the following day. In a video message published on YouTube on March 21, ISIS allegedly threatened to attack the Suleyman Shah tomb, giving Turkey three days to withdraw from the territory and bring down the Turkish flag. The tomb sits on approximately 2.5 acres and is symbolically protected by 15 Turkish soldiers. The video was later removed from YouTube and its authenticity was never verified. Although the deadline has passed, there have been no attacks on the tomb.

As tensions escalate along Turkey's border with Syria and the composition of extremists within the opposition diversifies, Turkish leaders are becoming uncomfortable. The 15-minute discussion on the leaked March 27 recording revolves mainly around ISIS and the tomb of Suleyman Shah. Throughout the meeting, all four officials repeatedly voice their concerns over the growing national security threat.

Although the whistleblowers who leaked the audio recording have emphasized that the plan proposed by Fidan involved staging purported ISIS attacks on Suleyman Shah, the recording may also be interpreted such that the plan was mentioned to illustrate the scope of the already existing ISIS threat. Fidan repeatedly raises the point that such a plan to defend the tiny Turkish territory from an alleged ISIS attack would be unnecessary and that the threat of extremism to Turkey reaches well beyond the Suleyman Shah issue.

Under the latter interpretation, the facts that there are ISIS fighters so close to Turkey's border, and that there have been ISIS attacks inside Turkey already, are sufficient justification for Turkey to conduct operations against ISIS inside Syria. The other people in the room also appear to agree with Fidan on this; they are simply saying that Turkey should seize the opportunity (the threat against the tomb) to act now if it is ever going to act against ISIS. When the foreign minister warns them about international law, Sinirlioglu says that in terms of international law, Turkey would be fine, because no one is going to condemn Turkey for wanting to protect itself against an al Qaeda-linked group.

As the conflict in Syria grinds on, Turkey's bordering towns are increasingly becoming hubs for Syrian extremists and militants. Turkey is being used as a transit country for international jihadists going to Syria, including those coming from Europe. Turkey has sent back 815 Europeans who have tried to cross from Turkey into Syria to join radical groups to their respective European countries, and 655 people were put on a search list.

Although Turkey has been a staunch supporter of the opposition since the beginning of the crisis, as the nature of the war in Syria changes, Turkey's national security is falling under the threat of radical groups. Turkish military and police have reportedly stepped up their border control efforts and particularly intensified checks in Gaziantep, the Turkish province across from the ISIS-controlled Jarablus.

Mervé Tahiroglu is a Research Associate and Turkey Specialist at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Al Malahim, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's media wing, released a new video over the weekend titled "The First Rain," which documents the welcomed return of operatives freed during the terrorist organization's attack on the central prison in Sana'a in February. The video includes statements from several of the escaped prisoners as well as from senior AQAP members such as al Qaeda's general manager, Nasir al Wuhayshi, and Ibrahim al Rubaish, a leading AQAP ideologue and theologian.

In the video, the welcoming party, held in an undisclosed location in Yemen, is shown with a large crowd of al Qaeda militants and supporters numbering at least 100 in attendance. Masked armed fighters flank the reception holding al Qaeda's black flags and singing songs in honor of the returning AQAP members.

The video begins with the testimony of AQAP member Munir al Boni, one of the February fugitives, who says that as soon as he was transferred into the central prison in Sana'a he began planning an escape with the other imprisoned militants, especially Saleh al Shawish, Mansour al Dalil, and Mobarak al Shabwani. The fighters decided on the weapons that would be needed for the attack from inside the prison, which included 10 hand grenades.

Next, Saleh al Shawish, an admitted al Qaeda bomb maker, describes the assault on the prison and says that the major explosion occurred precisely at the gate leading to their cells, facilitating their escape. He emphasizes the ease of the operation, saying, "The way out was simple, as soon as we left, we turned right and the guys were waiting for us at the end of the street."

Nasir al Wuhayshi, the emir of AQAP who was appointed al Qaeda's general manager in August 2013, gives an impassioned speech to the crowd of al Qaeda members and escapees.

"The journey of jihad continues and the trials on this path are always present," he says. Then he refocuses the attention of the crowd beyond the closer and lesser enemy, the Yemeni authorities, to the more important enemy beyond.

"We must remember, oh brothers, that we are fighting the greater enemy - the leaders of disbelief. We must bring down their leaders. We must eliminate the cross ... the bearer of the cross is America!", he states.

In a poetic speech after Wuhayshi's, AQAP's spiritual leader, Ibrahim al Rubaish, also reminds the crowd of the unfinished jihad despite the joy of recent successes. "On this day, happiness is mixed with sadness," he says, "we are happy for our brothers and we are sad for the rest of our brothers." He cites the imprisonment of al Qaeda "brothers" in Guantanamo, and in the Saudi prisons of Ha'ir and Dahaban, as well as in Palestine.

Mohammad al Sa'adi, another of the February fugitives, thanks Allah for his release and rejoices over his "complete freedom." In the same breath, he asks that Allah allow them to "slaughter the tyrants." Al Sa'adi also sends a message to "the brothers in the land of the two holy mosques," in reference to al Qaeda members in Saudi Arabia: "Be patient, we will not forget you." Another freed AQAP member, Omar al Marwani, pledges that the group will not forget those members still remaining in Yemeni prisons.

The 15-minute video includes a famous jihadi song playing in the background throughout, titled "As long as the prisons endure." The lyrics to this song assert that "[a]s long as the prisons endure, as long as they plot against us, we have made a promise, we will annihilate all the strongholds." The song continues, "We swear, oh Jerusalem we will not kneel nor be humiliated, we proceed in our jihad and we will be firm in our promise! Know, oh Jews, that we are the lions of demise, the love of jihad runs in our soul and in our eyes."

Less than two weeks ago, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, or ISIS, held a military parade in Fallujah and another parade in Abu Ghraib, a city in Anbar province that is just two miles from the capital of Baghdad.

Video of the two ISIS parades, which are thought to have taken place on March 20, was published on YouTube today. In the video of the Abu Ghraib parade [above], scores of assorted vehicles filled with ISIS fighters, waving al Qaeda's black banner and brandishing assault rifles, pass by a man as he records the event. No Iraqi Army or police presence is seen during the eight-minute video.

The vehicles parading down the busy street in Abu Ghraib include several up-armored HMMWVs, which were issued by the US to Iraqi security forces, as well as what appear to be double-cab pickup trucks issued to Iraqi security forces. Several pickup trucks are mounted with heavy machine and antiaircraft guns. And one large truck with what appears to be an artillery piece mounted on the back also passes the camera (beginning at 5:56 into the video).

The video of the ISIS march in the city of Fallujah [below] is nearly identical to that of the video taken in Abu Ghraib. Much of the same military hardware paraded in Fallujah on March 20 appears in the Abu Ghraib parade. The ISIS is thought to have driven the vehicles first in Fallujah, then traveled down the highway to Abu Ghraib.

The city of Abu Ghraib serves as the western gateway to Baghdad and is abutted by Baghdad International Airport. The prison at Abu Ghraib holds hundreds of jihadists who are loyal to the ISIS. Just 10 miles west of Abu Ghraib lies Karmah, which remains under ISIS control after falling to the terror group in early January.

The ISIS has retained control of the city of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, after storming both cities at the beginning of January. Several other cities and towns in Anbar, including Saqlawiyah, and Khaladiyah are also controlled by the ISIS.

The ISIS moved to take over large swaths of Anbar in early January after executing a complex suicide operation that decapitated the leadership of the 7th Iraqi Army Division in the town of Rutbah in December 2013. The 7th Iraqi Army Division is primarily responsible for security in Anbar. In the Rutbah attack, the ISIS laid a trap that killed the commanding general and 17 members of his staff and security detail.

After the attack, the ISIS took advantage of the political dispute between Sunnis and the Shia-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. As soon as Maliki ordered the Army to withdraw from the population centers in Anbar, the ISIS moved forces into Fallujah, Ramadi, and other cities and towns. The Iraqi government has been hesitant to launch a military operation against the ISIS in Anbar since its takeover of most of the province, and is instead encouraging the Sunni tribes to battle the al Qaeda group.

Across the border, in Syria, the ISIS controls territory along the Euphrates River Valley all the way to the provincial capital of Raqqah. Despite an ongoing dispute that has often broken out into open warfare with the Al Nusrah Front and allied Islamist groups such as the Islamic Front, the ISIS remains a formidable forces on both sides of the border.

The US killed three suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in the first drone strike in Yemen in nearly three weeks.

Today's strike targeted an AQAP training center in the Al Mahfad area of Abyan province, Xinhua reported. The remotely piloted Predators or Reapers fired three missiles at "two huts and a site used as a training center," killing three fighters and wounding four more, some seriously.

AQAP fighters collected the wounded and drove them to Azzan in Shabwa province, according to Barakish. The site that was targeted was recently featured in an AQAP propaganda video.

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

AQAP remains entrenched in the Al Mahfad area despite several Yemeni military operations that attempted to dislodge the terror group. The US launched three drone strikes in the Al Mahfad area in 2013; one in May, one in June, and one in July.

Today's strike is the first in Yemen since March 12, when US drones killed a local AQAP commander and his bodyguard in the northern province of Al Jawf.

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched eight strikes in Yemen so far this year. Four of those strikes took place in March, and three in January.

The pace of the drone strikes in Yemen decreased last year from the previous year (26 in 2013 versus 41 in 2012). The reduction in the number of strikes coincided with a speech by President Barack Obama at the National Defense University in May 2013. The strikes are being reduced as the US government is facing increasing international criticism for conducting the attacks in both Yemen and Pakistan.

The number of strikes might have been much lower in 2013 were it not for an al Qaeda plot emanating from Yemen that was uncovered by US officials in late July. The plot led the US to close down more than 20 embassies and diplomatic facilities across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The plot involved AQAP emir Nasir al Wuhayshi, who now also serves as al Qaeda's general manager.

Between July 27, after the plot was disclosed, and Aug. 10, the US launched nine strikes in Yemen; no drone strikes were reported for seven weeks prior to July 27. The burst in attacks was intended to disrupt the plot and take out AQAP's top leadership cadre and senior operatives. The US killed Kaid al Dhahab, AQAP's emir for Al Baydah province, during that time period.

For more information on the US airstrikes in Yemen, see LWJ report, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Yemen, 2002 - 2014.

A screen shot from a video of a Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar training camp in Aleppo, Syria. A jihadist wires a circuit board for a homemade bomb.

Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar (Army of Emigrants and Supporters, or Muhajireen Army), a group of foreign fighters led by commanders from the Caucasus, has released video of a training camp in Syria. The video includes footage of a bomb-making class.

Russian text at the beginning of the video states that the camp is located in the "Provence of Aleppo" and the video was recorded in "March 2014."

The video, which was published on YouTube on March 31 by Akhbar Sham, a Russian-language website that promotes the Muhajireen Army, shows the group's fighters training for various attacks against the Syrian military. The video was also promoted by Kavkaz Center, a propaganda arm of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Caucasus Emirate.

Shortly after the video was published, YouTube removed it for "a violation of YouTube's policy on depiction of harmful activities."

In the video, fighters, who are dressed in camouflage uniforms and have their faces covered, are seen shooting automatic assault rifles and machine guns at a range as an instructor issues orders in Russian. The instructor appears to be teaching the fighters to fire as a team, having some of the team members shoot while the others reload in order to have a continuous volume of fire on the target. In another scene, a fighter is given instruction on firing a sniper rifle.

Afterwards, an instructor fires live ammunition as a fighter low-crawls through an obstacle course. Another fighter is seen jumping over a wall.

And finally, the video shows fighters in what appears to be a bomb-making facility. Bomb-making supplies and tools, including solderers, circuit boards, electronic components, and what appears to be explosive materials, are seen as the camera pans across the room. The fighters are shown wiring a circuit board.

Explosive powder is placed into a small tin can, and then the fighters take small bomb out into a field, set the fuse, bury the bomb, and detonate it.

The video of the Muhajireen Army training camp was released just two weeks after the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's branch in Syria, announced that it is running two training camps in Syria. The Ayman al Zawahiri Camp is located in the city of Deir al Zour and is named after al Qaeda's current emir. The other camp, whose location was not disclosed, is called the Abu Ghadiya Camp and is named after the leader of the al Qaeda in Iraq facilitation network that was based in eastern Syria.

Historically, al Qaeda has used such camps to train fighters to wage local insurgency, selecting some recruits at the camps to conduct attacks in the West.

The Muhajireen Army is led by Salahuddin al Shishani, a Chechen. The group is closely allied with the Al Nusrah Front; Ahrar al Sham, another al Qaeda-linked group that is part of the Islamic Front; and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.

A screen shot from a video of a Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar training camp in Aleppo, Syria. Jihadists practice firing as a team .

In a statement released to its Facebook and Twitter accounts, a jihadist group known as Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) claimed responsibility for today's bombings near Cairo University. The attacks, which killed at least one police officer, wounded about half a dozen people.

Ajnad Misr said the bombs targeted "criminals that were known to have committed massacres," according to a translation by Oren Adaki of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. In its statement, Ajnad Misr said that slain Brigadier General Tarek al Mergawi was targeted for his involvement in the "killing of innocents, trespassing of honors, and participation in the Nahda massacre."

The group noted that today's bombings follow an increase in arrests of women. "If only the soldiers of tyranny knew that behind these women are men that will seek retribution, and that they have heroes that will seek revenge for what they dared to do to our women and for their trampling on our honor and for the prisons overflowing with our girls," the communique warned.

According to press reports, the first two bombs detonated almost simultaneously, and the third went off nearly two hours later. In its statement, Ajnad Misr said its fighters delayed the detonation of the third bomb due to the crowd of civilians in the area. The group further stated that it has canceled operations in the past that it believed would have harmed civilians.

In addition, Ajnad Misr claimed that it has previously carried out attacks in which the amount of explosives used was reduced to prevent harm to civilians. According to the group, this occurred on March 4, March 11, and March 29.

Ajnad Misr, which formally announced itself on Jan. 23, has said it is engaged in a campaign to target "criminal" elements of Egypt's current regime. Prior to today's statement, the group had claimed responsibility for seven attacks, all of which took place in the Cairo area.

The group, which was described by the Sinai-based jihadist group Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis) as "our brothers," last claimed an attack on Feb. 7, 2014.

Salahuddin al Shishani (left), a Chechen commander who leads the Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, and Abdul Karim al Ukrani (center), a Ukrainian, sitting behind an Imarat Kavkaz flag while in Syria.

Editor's note: Below is Bill Roggio's testimony to the House Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence on the threat posed by the Islamic Caucasus Emirate and the implications for US homeland security. If you wish to view the testimony with footnotes included, download the PDF by clicking here.

Chairman King, Ranking Member Higgins, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me here to discuss the terrorist threat emanating from the Caucasus. Unfortunately, as we saw nearly one year ago today at the Boston Marathon, the jihad in the Caucasus has already impacted lives here in the US.

There is still much we do not know for certain about Tamerlan Tsarnaev's travels in Dagestan and Chechnya, but we do know that, at a minimum, he was sympathetic to the jihadists operating there. Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother were, of course, responsible for the attacks on the Boston Marathon. As a report by the House Homeland Security Committee noted just last month, it "is reasonable to assume that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was at least inspired by" the "activity and ideology" of jihadists fighting in the Caucasus and he was "driven to take part in the vision of global jihad which they share with al Qaeda." Indeed, the Imarat Kavkaz or "IK" (otherwise known as the Islamic Caucasus Emirate) does have links to al Qaeda. And Tsarnaev is known to have sympathized with the IK and its fighters.

The IK has openly proclaimed itself a threat to the US and the West, and we should take these threats seriously. The US State Department certainly does. In May 2011, the State Department officially designated the IK as a terrorist organization. "The designation of Caucasus Emirate is in response to the threats posed to the United States and Russia," Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, the State Department's Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said at the time. "The attacks perpetrated by Caucasus Emirate illustrate the global nature of the terrorist problem we face today," Benjamin added. In June 2010, the State Department added Doku Umarov, who was then the emir of the IK, to the US government's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. And in May 2011, Foggy Bottom offered a reward of $5 million for information leading to Umarov's location. In both its June 2010 and May 2011 announcements, the State Department noted that Umarov and the IK pose a threat to the US and other countries. Indeed, Umarov described the IK as "a part of the global Jihad" in a July 2013 statement in which he called for further attacks aimed at disrupting Russia's plans for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Despite the fact that Umarov was recently killed, there are good reasons to suspect that the IK will continue to pose a threat to American and Western interests both in and outside of Russia. As with other al Qaeda-affiliated groups, the IK will continue to spend most of its resources waging insurgencies, both inside Russia and elsewhere. Still, in my testimony today, I will highlight several key reasons why the IK poses a terrorist threat to the West. Those reasons are:

Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda helped transform the insurgency in Chechnya from a nationalist one into part of the global jihad. Al Qaeda's senior leadership established its influence within the Caucasus long ago. While al Qaeda was headquartered in Sudan from 1991 to 1996, Osama bin Laden maintained a network of training camps and other facilities that shuttled fighters to several jihadist fronts, including Chechnya. During the 1990s al Qaeda and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) funneled cash and other support to Muslim rebels in Chechnya through a charity in Baku, Azerbaijan. Ayman al Zawahiri himself, then the head of the EIJ, as well as second in command of al Qaeda, set out for Chechnya in late 1996. He was accompanied by other dual-hatted al Qaeda-EIJ operatives. Zawahiri was arrested in Dagestan before he reached Chechnya and spent several months in prison. Zawahiri's trip to the region underscores, from al Qaeda's perspective, the importance of supporting the jihad in Chechnya.

Al Qaeda's efforts in Chechnya have clearly borne fruit. Two highly influential jihadists in Chechnya became closely allied with al Qaeda's senior leaders. Shamil Salmanovich Basayev (a Chechen) and Ibn al Khattab (a Saudi) established the Islamic International Brigade (IIB). "In October 1999," according to the United Nations Security Council committee responsible for sanctioning al Qaeda and Taliban affiliated groups, "emissaries of Basayev and al Khattab traveled to Osama bin Laden's home base in the Afghan province of Kandahar, where Bin Laden agreed to provide substantial military assistance and financial aid, including by making arrangements to send to Chechnya several hundred fighters to fight against Russian troops and perpetrate acts of terrorism." Also in 1999, bin Laden "sent substantial amounts of money to" Basayev, al Khattab and other jihadists in Chechnya. The money "was to be used exclusively for training gunmen, recruiting mercenaries and buying ammunition." By the end of 2002, IIB leaders "had received several million dollars from international terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda." Al Qaeda continued to raise funds for the IIB after the 9/11 attacks.

By 1995, the UN notes, "Arab Afghans" - that is, men from throughout the Arab world who traveled to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 1980s - accounted for a "substantial" number "of those fighting against Russian troops." Al Qaeda not only supported the jihad inside Chechnya, but also made sure to integrate Chechens into its operations in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda's elite "055 Brigade," which fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance, "included a number of Chechens, many of whom were believed to be followers of" IIB leaders. In October 2001, al Khattab supported al Qaeda's fight against coalition forces by sending "additional fighters to Afghanistan" and promising "to pay the volunteers' families a substantial monthly stipend or a large lump-sum payment in the event of their death."

Fighters from the Caucasus are present in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region to this day. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has identified "Chechen" fighters in Afghanistan as recently as May 2011, when it noted that a foreign fighter network in Kunduz "facilitates foreign suicide bombers including Chechens and Pakistanis throughout the province." A group calling itself the Caucasus Mujahideen in Khorasan announced its presence in October 2011, saying it was in direct contact with its "brothers" in Russia. The UN has noted that Umarov, the deceased head of the IK, supported both the Islamic Jihad Group and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Both groups are based in South Asia and closely allied with al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda has repeatedly highlighted the fighting in Chechnya in its propaganda videos. After the USS Cole bombing in October 2000, Osama bin Laden ordered his media committee to produce a propaganda video that included a reenactment of the Cole bombing, as well as footage from Chechnya and other jihadist hotspots. The plight of Muslims in Chechnya remained a theme in al Qaeda's messaging in the years that followed. And al Qaeda continues to present the fighting in Chechnya as part of its global jihad. In January of this year, Ayman al Zawahiri praised Chechen fighters, saying that the "fighting for Chechnya is another page of the pages of eternal jihad to as to achieve true justice in the name of Allah." Zawahiri asked if other jihadists would be willing to follow the Chechens' example: "Are we, as Muslims, ready to take the path of the Chechens, and enroll in the ranks of the fight in the name of Allah?" Zawahiri called on Muslims in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to follow the Chechens' lead in rejecting democracy and waging jihad.

The jihad in Chechnya has been used to recruit terrorists - including a number of the 9/11 hijackers - who were repurposed for attacks against American interests. As the 9/11 Commission reported, al Qaeda's Hamburg cell traveled "to Afghanistan aspiring to wage jihad in Chechnya," but al Qaeda "quickly recognized their potential and enlisted them in its anti-U.S. jihad." The Hamburg cell included the terrorists who flew the hijacked planes on 9/11. Some of the muscle hijackers from Saudi Arabia initially wanted to fight in Chechnya. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the mastermind of 9/11, also attempted to join the ranks of the main jihadist leader in Chechnya, Ibn al Khattab. And in August 2001, French authorities provided evidence to the US government that Zacarias Moussaoui, who was slated to take part in a follow-on attack after 9/11, had his own ties to Khattab.

The IK has adopted al Qaeda's tactics, including the use of suicide bombers in attacks against civilians. The organization has developed expertise in committing mass casualty terrorist attacks. Since the formation of the IK in 2007, the group has executed multiple suicide attacks against security forces, government officials, and civilians. The attacks have not been confined to the Caucasus region of Russia; IK has struck in the heart of Moscow several times. Two of the most deadly IK attacks in Moscow over the past several years are the January 24, 2011 suicide attack at the Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow that killed 35 people and wounded scores more and the March 29, 2010 suicide attack by two female bombers, or Black Widows, who killed 39 people in the Moscow metro.

Other major suicide bombings include the June 22, 2009 attack that wounded Yunus Bek Yevkurov, the President of the Republic of Ingushetia and suicide attacks on Oct. 21, 2013, Dec. 29, 2013, and Dec. 30, 2013 that targeted transportation nodes (a bus, a train station, and a trolley respectively) in the city of Volgograd. All of these attacks were executed by the suicide teams of the Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM), a unit that predates the IK and was responsible for attacks such at the school siege in Beslan, the destruction of commercial airlines, and the theater siege in Moscow. The IK is closely linked to the RSRSBCM.

The IK's threat against the 2014 Olympics in Sochi was real, despite the fact that no terrorist attack materialized. In June 2013, Doku Umarov called on his supporters to use "maximum force" to stop the 2014 Olympic Games. "Today we must show those who live in the Kremlin ... that our kindness is not weakness," Umarov said. "They plan to hold the Olympics on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many dead Muslims buried on our land by the Black Sea. We as mujahideen are required not to allow that, using any methods that Allah allows us."

The Russian government erected substantial security barriers in order stop terrorists from striking the Olympic festivities. It is likely that these measures either stopped an attack from occurring, or dissuaded the IK from attempting one. If the opportunity for an attack had presented itself, there is little doubt that the IK would have taken it. And the IK would not have discriminated between Russian government officials/civilians and others who were visiting the games from abroad. That is, the IK's threat against the Olympic Games was not just a threat against Russia, but was in fact a threat against the international community.

The IK operates as part of al Qaeda's global network. As we've learned over the past several years, the terrorist threat against the US can come from any part of al Qaeda's international network. The IK is integrated with this network. Today, this can best be seen in Syria, where multiple IK commanders and other affiliated fighters have joined the insurgency against Bashar al Assad's regime.

Jihadists from the IK play a pivotal role in the fighting in Syria, and leaders from the Caucasus command large numbers of Syrian and foreign fighters in several jihadist groups operating in the country. Those groups include the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria; the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, or ISIS, an al Qaeda splinter group; and the Islamic Front, an Islamist alliance that is allied with the Al Nusrah Front. Both the Al Nusrah Front and the ISIS are on the US government's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities.

Fighters from IK originally fought in the Kateeb al Muhajireen wal Ansar, or the Brigade of the Emigrants and Helpers. This group was formed in February 2013 and was led by Omar al Shishani (a Chechen). Kavkaz Center noted that the group "includes volunteers from the Caucasus Emirate." In March 2013, the group expanded and rebranded itself the Jaish al Muhajireen wa Ansar, or Army of the Emigrants and Helpers. Syrian jihadist groups merged with Abu Omar's forces at this time.

The Army of the Emigrants and Helpers served as the vanguard for jihadist forces in Syria. It was spotted at the tip of the spear during the fighting at nearly every crucial battle in 2013. The group launched joint assaults with the Al Nusrah Front and the ISIS to overrun Syrian military bases. The Army of the Emigrants and Helpers has shot down a Syrian helicopter with a surface to air missile and used a captured BMP armored fighting vehicle as a suicide car bomb in order to penetrate the perimeter at a Syrian military base.

The Army of the Emigrants and Helpers splintered in the fall of 2013 as ISIS and the Al Nusrah Front clashed over a leadership dispute and the former's unwillingness to submit to sharia courts. Abu Omar al Shishani took a faction of fighters and joined the ISIS. Three commanders, known as Saifullah al Shishani, Salahuddin Shishani, and Abu Musa al Shishani, joined the Al Nusrah Front. Salahuddin has even been photographed in Syria sitting in front of an IK flag. And another commander, known as Muslim al Shishani, reformed the Army of the Emigrants and Helpers and remained independent from, but allied with, the Al Nusrah Front and the ISIS.

The prevalence of IK fighters and leaders on the Syrian battlefield has serious, long-term ramifications for the global jihad. IK members are interacting with and sharing their tactical skills with Westerners and others. For instance, a jihadist who identifies himself as an American and is known as Abu Muhammad al Amriki has been seen in photographs with Omar al Shishani. He is also seen fighting alongside IK fighters and even speaks in Russian.

Thank you again for inviting me to testify today, and I look forward to answering your questions.

Ibrahim Bin Shakaran, a Moroccan who spent more than three years at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility before being released to Moroccan custody, has been killed while leading a jihadist group that fights Syrian government forces.

Bin Shakaran, who is also known as Abu Ahmad al Maghribi, Abu Ahmad al Muhajir, and Brahim Benchekroune, was "martyred, Insha'Allah, in battles for Hilltop # 45 in Latakia," according to Kavkaz Center, a propaganda arm of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate.

Bin Shakaran led a jihadist group known as Sham al Islam, which is based in Latakia and is comprised primarily of fighters from Morocco, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Bin Shakaran created the group "not only to recruit fighters for the Syria war, but also to establish a jihadist organization within Morocco itself."

Sham al Islam has been fighting alongside the al Qaeda's Syrian branch, the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, as well as Ahrar al Sham and the Army of the Emigrants and Supporters in an ongoing offensive in the coastal province of Latakia.

Sham al Islam was one of several rebel groups that fought in another offensive in Latakia in August 2013 in which major human rights abuses were committed. While Human Rights Watch noted that Sham al Islam was present during the offensive, it could not confirm if the group was involved in the atrocities committed. The group's allies, the Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, Ahrar al Sham, Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar (or Army of Emigrants and Helpers), and Suquor al Izz, were directly implicated. [See Report highlights al Qaeda affiliates' role in Syrian atrocities, from LWJ.]

Bin Shakaran is the second former Guantanamo Bay detainee from Morocco reported to have been killed in Syria while waging jihad for Sham al Islam. The other ex-Guantanamo detainee, who was known as Mohammed al 'Alami, was killed last year.

A December 2003 leaked threat assessment authored by Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) identified Bin Shakaran as a "high-ranking member" of the theological commission of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, an al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist organization. According to the assessment, he traveled to Afghanistan in November 2000, "attended basic and advanced training at the Al Farouq training camp," a known al Qaeda facility, "from January to May 2001," and then "rotated to the front lines near Kabul" in October 2001 after the US invaded Afghanistan.

Bin Shakaran fled Afghanistan as US forces pressed al Qaeda. He passed through the Afghan province of Logar, then to Pakistan's Waziristan tribal area, then to Bannu, and after that to Lahore with "two Pakistanis, three Arabs and a Turkmenistani."

The 2003 JTF-GTMO threat assessment recommended that Bin Shakaran remain in custody as he "poses a high risk as he is likely to pose a threat against the US, its interests, or her allies."

Despite the assessment, the US transferred Bin Shakaran to Moroccan custody in July 2004, and he was released shortly afterward by Moroccan authorities.

Bin Shakaran immediately returned to the fight. The Defense Department reported in 2008 that Bin Shakaran and another freed Guantanamo detainee known as Mohammed Bin Ahmad Mizouz were involved "in a terrorist network recruiting Moroccans to fight for Abu Musab al Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq." Zarqawi's group was responsible for killing and wounding thousands of US soldiers in Iraq.

"Recruits were to receive weapons and explosives training in Algeria from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, which has since become al Qaeda in the Lands of the Maghreb [al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb], before going to fight in Iraq or returning to Morocco as sleeper cells," the Defense Department noted.

Moroccan security forces arrested Bin Shakaran, Mizouz, and other members of the cell. Both men were convicted in 2007 for their roles in the terror recruitment cell; Bin Shakaran received a 10-year sentence and Mizouz only two years.

Bin Shakaran served only six years of his 10-year prison sentence. Shortly after being freed from a Moroccan prison, he was killed while waging jihad alongside al Qaeda and its allies in Syria.

The video accompanying Zawahiri's message shows a clip of Abu Khalid al Suri walking alongside Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri at the Al Farouq camp in Afghanistan in 2000.

Ayman al Zawahiri, the head of al Qaeda, has released an audio message eulogizing Abu Khalid al Suri, who served as Zawahiri's representative in Syria until he was killed by a suicide bomber on Feb. 23. Al Suri was also a founding member and senior leader in Ahrar al Sham, a powerful militant organization that helps lead the Islamic Front, which is a coalition of several rebel groups.

Al Qaeda has released a video accompanying Zawahiri's verbal message. The video contains images of other al Qaeda actors, but Zawahiri himself is not shown. Zawahiri's message and the accompanying video were translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Although the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) is not mentioned in the production, the video and Zawahiri's message are clearly aimed at the group, which was disowned by al Qaeda's general command in early February.

Top jihadists have accused ISIS of killing al Suri, and the group remains the most likely culprit in the slaying.

The video opens with a clip of Atiyah Abd al Rahman, who served as al Qaeda's general manager before he was killed in a US drone strike in August 2011. Rahman discusses the sanctity of Muslim blood and the importance of avoiding Muslim casualties while waging jihad.

Rahman's message, recorded long before ISIS became a player in the Syrian war, reflects al Qaeda's sensitivity to the criticisms the group has faced within the Islamic world. Al Qaeda has killed far more Muslims than non-Muslims in its campaign of terror. Here, however, Rahman's words are intended as a rebuke of ISIS.

The video then cuts to footage of Abu Khalid al Suri walking alongside Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri at the Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan in 2000. Al Qaeda's propagandists zoom in on footage of al Suri at the camp.

A longtime al Qaeda operative

Zawahiri says he knew Abu Khalid al Suri "from the days of the jihad against the Russians" and he knew al Suri "until his capture in Pakistan" approximately a decade ago. Abu Khalid al Suri "was a colleague of the professor of the mujahideen, Sheikh Abu Musab al Suri, may Allah release him very soon, Allah willing."

Abu Musab al Suri is a major jihadist ideologue whose teachings continue to influence al Qaeda's thinking. The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, openly follows Abu Musab al Suri's teachings. There are conflicting reports concerning his status in Syria, with some accounts saying he has been freed from Assad's prisons.

However, Zawahiri's message is the third instance in which senior al Qaeda leaders have used the phrase "may Allah release him" in reference to Abu Musab al Suri. This is a strong indication that he remains imprisoned.

Zawahiri re-established contact with Abu Khalid al Suri after the Syrian revolution. Zawahiri says the "last message" he received from Abu Khalid al Suri, prior to his capture in Pakistan, "was nearly ten years ago ... stating that he supported a speech I gave, where I said that victory is but the patience of an hour." After al Suri was captured "[c]ommunication was cut off between us, until the outbreak of the blessed Syrian revolution."

According to Zawahiri, Allah then "facilitated the communication between us after Allah relieved him and spared him from being captured by" Assad's forces. "He was to me and my brothers such a great advisor," Zawahiri says.

Abu Khalid warned Zawahiri that he sees in Syria "the seeds of sedition, which he experienced in Peshawar" -- a reference to jihadist infighting in the past, which al Qaeda ties to ISIS' actions in the present. Indeed, al Suri was a strong critic of ISIS and did not hide his rejection of the group's practices.

"This sedition that Abu Khalid saw and was warning about, Allah willed that it make him a martyr," Zawahiri says.

Without naming ISIS, Zawahiri calls on Muslims to reject any group that behaves like the former al Qaeda affiliate. "Every Muslim and mujahid must disavow all those who refuse arbitration" by an "independent" sharia court, Zawahiri says. Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups have repeatedly called on ISIS to submit itself to arbitration in a common sharia court, but ISIS has refused to abide.

"Every Muslim and mujahid must not be involved in the blood of the mujahideen," Zawahiri says, according to SITE's translation. "And for this, he must refuse to blow up their headquarters or kill their sheikhs." In addition, "[a]ll Muslims must not help whoever blows up the headquarters of the mujahideen and sends to them car bombs and human bombs, and stop supporting them in any form."

This is precisely how al Suri was killed.

Jihadist infighting in Syria reminiscent of the past

Zawahiri says that the infighting inside Syria reminds him of Algeria in the 1990s. Veteran jihadists within the Armed Islamic Group (commonly known by its French acronym, GIA) turned on one another and also indiscriminately slaughtered Muslims. Zawahiri says the GIA's infighting led first to the "spiritual death of that group, followed by [its] physical death."

In an effort to rectify the GIA's excess, in the late 1990s al Qaeda helped form the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (known as the GSPC) as an offshoot of the GIA. The GSPC then evolved into al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a branch of al Qaeda. Zawahiri personally oversaw AQIM's official merger with al Qaeda in 2006.

Zawahiri references a meeting he had years ago in Peshawar with Sheikh Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi, an influential jihadist ideologue now imprisoned in Jordan who has issued criticisms of ISIS' actions from his prison cell. According to the story, which the al Qaeda emir calls "funny yet sad," Zawahiri said that some had labeled him a disbeliever because he refused to "brand the Afghan mujahideen as disbelievers." To this Maqdisi allegedly replied, "You do not know that they [this same group] branded me a disbeliever because I did not brand you a disbeliever."

ISIS today labels everyone who does not agree with the group a disbeliever, including Abu Khalid al Suri.

Thirwat Salah Shehata, an Egyptian who long served as one Ayman al Zawahiri's top deputies, has reportedly been arrested in a suburb of Cairo.

Unnamed Egyptian officials who spoke with Agence France Presse and the Associated Press say that Shehata had traveled to Libya and Turkey before returning to his home country, where he was arrested.

Shehata was among the senior al Qaeda leaders who were sheltered inside Iran for much of the post-9/11 period.

In early 2011, Shehata released a statement supporting the Egyptian uprisings. He called on the people to "remain steadfast" and reject any economic concessions from then president Hosni Mubarak. "Indeed, the Pharaoh and his rotten party must depart," Shehata said in the statement, which he reportedly released from inside Iran. [See LWJ report, Ayman al Zawahiri's deputy releases statement in support of Egyptian opposition.]

Egyptian officials say Shehata was training militants in Libya

Sometime after his 2011 statement, Shehata left Iran. It is not clear when he left, but The Washington Post reported in February that US officials believed he had traveled to Libya. Egyptian officials have now confirmed Shehata's previous presence in Libya.

A former US official told the Post that Shehata is suspected of meeting with other senior al Qaeda leaders inside Libya in 2013. Among them are Abu Anas al Libi, who was detained by US forces in Tripoli in early October, and Zubayr al Maghrebi. Al Libi was wanted for his role in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and had also fled to Iran following 9/11.

According to the AP, Egyptian officials say Shehata "has been training militants in eastern Libya." These same officials say that he is currently being interrogated.

Al Qaeda has established an extensive presence in Libya.

For instance, a report released by the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in January referenced multiple intelligence reports documenting al Qaeda's activities in the country. One such report, authored by the CIA on July 6, 2012, noted that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the Muhammad Jamal Network have all "conducted training, built communication networks, and facilitated extremist travel across North Africa from their safe haven in parts of eastern Libya." [See LWJ report, Senate report: Terrorists 'affiliated' with multiple al Qaeda groups involved in Benghazi attack.]

Senior al Qaeda leaders such as Shehata have played a role in these efforts.

An "experienced operational planner"

Shehata is a veteran Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) and al Qaeda leader. The EIJ was headed by Ayman al Zawahiri and merged with Osama bin Laden's operation prior to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Shehata was a member of the EIJ's Shura council. According to the United Nations, Shehata also headed the EIJ's security committee, which "maintained information about individual members and how to reach them, documenting physical, psychological, academic and religious information about each member and determining the type of work he could do."

US intelligence officials have long tracked Shehata, and worried about his role in plotting international terrorist attacks.

In his book, At the Center of the Storm, former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet explains that US intelligence learned Shehata was in Saddam Hussein's Baghdad in 2002. This was prior to his relocation to Iran.

There was "credible information" that Shehata "was willing to strike US, Israeli, and Egyptian targets sometime in the future," Tenet writes. Shehata was also "linked to terrorist operations in North Africa, and while in Afghanistan he had trained North Africans in the use of truck bombs."

Years later, US intelligence was still on Shehata's trail. A classified intelligence file written in 2008 that was leaked to The Washington Post described Shehata as an "experienced operational planner" who is "respected among al Qaeda rank and file."

Jordanian authorities have arrested nine members of the Salafi jihadist trend, including a former Guantanamo detainee named Osama Abu Kabir, according to The Jordan Times.

Kabir was first captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 and transferred to Guantanamo in June 2002. He was detained there until November 2007, when he was transferred to Jordan and released. Kabir is known to have resumed his terrorist activities after his release.

According to the US State Department, Kabir was the leader of a terrorist cell in Jordan that plotted "attacks in Israel in retaliation for the Israeli incursion into Gaza." The cell was broken up in 2009 when Kabir and his associates were arrested. Kabir was reportedly sentenced to 15 years in prison, but for some unknown reason was at large until his recent arrest.

Late last year, Al Jazeera reported on its Arabic website that Kabir was wanted by Jordanian authorities once again. At the time, the Jordanians were cracking down on members of the Salafi jihadist trend. One of the members of the trend arrested in the security sweeps is Raed Hijazi, who served time in prison for his role in planned attacks inside Jordan at the turn of the millennium.

Kabir has also been identified as a member of the Salafi jihadist trend. The specific charges against Kabir have not been made public, but his arrest seems to be tied to Jordan's concerns about the jihad in Syria.

One of the other eight members of the trend recently arrested has "alleged ties" to the Al Nusrah Front, which is al Qaeda's official branch in Syria.

The leader of the Salafi jihadist trend has also claimed that the arrests are linked to the fight in Syria. "This campaign of arrests is the latest step by the state to intimidate and prevent Jordanians and other Muslims from defending their brothers in Syria," Mohammed Shalabi (a.k.a. Abu Sayyaf) told The Jordan Times.

Shalabi is well known for his longstanding ties to al Qaeda's operations in Iraq and Syria. He was previously accused of plotting to attack American targets in Jordan.

A "high" risk

The Long War Journal profiled Kabir in 2010 using declassified files prepared at Guantanamo. [See LWJ report, State Department: Former Gitmo detainee led terror cell in Jordan.]

A subsequently leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessment provides additional details.

The JTF-GTMO assessment, dated Aug. 11, 2005, noted that Kabir is "a possible member of al Qaeda" who "decided to go to Afghanistan to fight in the jihad against Coalition forces." The assessment concluded that he presented a "high" risk, "as he is likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests and allies." Despite being deemed a threat, however, JTF-GTMO recommended that Kabir be transferred to the control of another country as long as an acceptable transfer agreement could be reached.

Two years later, on Nov. 2, 2007, he was transferred to Jordan.

Tied to "experienced al Qaeda member"

Kabir traveled from Pakistan to Afghanistan alongside "an experienced al Qaeda member named Muhammad Aslam Bin Khan aka Muhammad Islam Barasi" in November 2001. The pair "fought on the front lines" before retreating to "set up their own ambush." But they were detained later that same month.

While in custody, according to the JTF-GTMO file, Kabir admitted that he had traveled to Afghanistan to fight the US. He did not hide his intent even when he was interviewed by the press in late 2001.

On Dec. 2, 2001, the Sunday Telegraph (UK) published an article detailing a visit by its reporters to a detention facility in Kabul. Kabir was one of the inmates the Telegraph interviewed. "I hate Americans - in the last 10 years they've shown what's in their hearts towards Islam," Kabir said during the interview. He went on to justify the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Kabir's companion in Pakistan and then Afghanistan, Muhammad Aslam Bin Khan, was an especially well-connected operative who had helped plot international terrorist attacks.

Aslam is described in the JTF-GTMO threat assessment as "an explosives expert" and member of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an al Qaeda-affiliated group based in Southeast Asia. Aslam had "ties to senior al Qaeda operational coordinator and JI founder, Hambali." Before being captured in 2003, Hambali had worked closely with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and had sheltered two of the 9/11 hijackers in January 2000, when they attended a key planning meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After 9/11, Hambali continued to plot attacks in Southeast Asia on behalf of al Qaeda.

The JTF-GTMO file indicates that Aslam was interviewed by the British Secret Intelligence Service after he was captured with Kabir. Aslam said he met Kabir in Pakistan and the duo went to Afghanistan to fight.

Aslam's terrorist career long predated his trip to Afghanistan in late 2001, however.

In 1996 and 1997, according to JTF-GTMO's file, Aslam was trained at an al Qaeda camp in the Philippines. "Between the summer of 1998 and his departure in 2001," Aslam "cased three potential bombing targets in Singapore." The "potential targets were the US Naval Port Facility in Singapore, the Singapore Water Pipeline, and nightspots frequented by US servicemen."

Aslam is of Pakistani descent but also a citizen of Singapore, where authorities first learned of his plotting after 9/11. According to a document released by Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs, one of Aslam's fellow Singaporeans told officials that Aslam had bragged about knowing Osama bin Laden and fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan.

The government of Singapore then started closely tracking Aslam's movements, but in early October 2001 he suddenly departed for Pakistan.

Aslam's detention inside Afghanistan the following month, alongside Kabir, then triggered a series of arrests in Singapore. The Ministry of Home Affairs says that officials were concerned that the news of Aslam's arrest would make members of his cell flee the country as well. Twenty-three people were detained in December 2001, and 13 of them were determined to be actively plotting against American interests.

More than a dozen years have passed since Aslam and Kabir made their way into Afghanistan to fight American forces.

In the years that followed his release from Guantanamo, Kabir has continued to seek ways to wage jihad.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham's "Southern Iraq Division" praised eight foreign fighters who conducted suicide attacks in the province of Babil.

Images of the eight foreign suicide bombers were published on the Twitter feed of the ISIS' Southern Iraq Division. The eight suicide bombers included "three Moroccans, two Tunisians, one Jordanian, one Saudi, and a man who was unidentified," according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained the images. "No information was provided about their operations, or biographical data other than their country of origin," SITE stated.

The ISIS has previously recently released similar propaganda that lauds foreign suicide bombers. In the beginning of March, the ISIS' "Baghdad Division" published the photographs of 30 suicide bombers, including 24 foreigners from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The short martyrdom statements for the fighters included the dates of their deaths as well as the operations in which they were involved. [See LWJ report, Dane, Uzbek among 30 suicide bombers eulogized by ISIS.]

ISIS' wilayats

The Southern Division and the Baghdad Division are two of the ISIS' 16 wilayats, or provinces or administrative districts, that span both Iraq and Syria.

A map of the ISIS' administrative areas, including the 16 wilayats, was published earlier this year. The ISIS map was obtained by The Long War Journal.

A legend (in the blue area in the bottom left hand corner) reads "Areas of presence or control; The Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham." The map details the 16 administrative districts, which are divided largely along existing provincial boundaries in both Iraq and Syria.

The Southern Division, which released the images of the eight foreign suicide bombers, is based in Babil province, located just south of Baghdad.

The Anbar Division is the largest in Iraq, and one of the most active. The ISIS controls Fallujah and other cities and towns along the Euphrates River Valley. Just recently, the ISIS held a parade that included captured Iraqi military hardware in Abu Ghraib, a city only two miles outside Baghdad. [See LWJ report, ISIS parades on outskirts of Baghdad.]

In Syria, the ISIS' seat of power is in Raqqah province. Top ISIS leaders, including Abu Bakr al Baghdadi a.k.a. Abu Dua, are known to have visited the city of Raqqah, the provincial capital.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham's 16 wilayats:

In Iraq:
Southern Division
Diyala Division
Baghdad Division
Kirkuk Division
Salahuddin Division
Anbar Division
Ninewa Division

In Syria:
Al Barakah Division (Hasaka)
Al Kheir Division (Deir al Zour)
Al Raqqah Division
Al Badiya Division
Halab [Aleppo] Division
Idlib Division
Hama Division
Damascus Division
Coast [Al Sahel] Division