A former Guantanamo Bay detainee who serves as the head of the Afghan Taliban's military commission has resigned his position due to "ill health."

The Taliban announced the resignation of Mullah Adbul Qayoum Zakir in a statement that was released today on Voice of Jihad, the group's official website.

Zakir "resigned from the burdensome duties of the Military Commission because to his prolonged battle with ill health," the Taliban stated.

"The respected Zakir Sahib who carried out an admirable service during his time is a trustworthy, veteran and dependable leader inside the Islamic Emirate and his resignation was accepted by the leadership in an atmosphere of joy after reviewing his situation and due to his repeated requests," the statement continued.

The Taliban went on to refute reports that Zakir served as Mullah Omar's second-in-command.

Reports that Zakir had resigned first surfaced earlier this week in local news outlets such as the Afghan Islamic Press, a pro-Taliban news organization based in Peshawar.

Zakir is a former detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility who was transferred by the US in December 2007 to Afghan custody. He was quickly released by the Afghan government. Zakir, whose real name is Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, soon rejoined the Taliban and took over operations in the strategic Afghan South.

The Taliban welcomed Zakir back into the fold, and he was appointed the leader of the Gerdi Jangal Regional Military Shura, a regional military command that oversees operations in Helmand and Nimroz provinces.

The Taliban designated Zakir as their "surge commander" in 2010; in this role, he was assigned the task of countering the Coalition and Afghan surge of forces and the change of strategy to deny the Taliban safe haven in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. Zakir is considered to be one of the Afghan Taliban's fiercest and most committed commanders. He is also one of several senior Taliban leaders who are closely linked to al Qaeda. [See LWJ reports, The Taliban's surge commander was Gitmo detainee and Former Gitmo detainee leads top Taliban council, for more information on Zakir.]

Although Zakir has resigned as the Taliban's military commander, he is still "a member of the Leadership Council of Islamic Emirate and is busy working in other important Jihadi works which are comparatively easier," the Taliban said.

Map of Shabwa and Abyan provinces. Map from BBC

Yemeni media reported yesterday that the country's military is preparing for a new offensive against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on the heels of the three successful US drone strikes last week that killed over 60 militants from the terrorist organization. Yemeni Popular Committees, local armed resistance groups who played a large role alongside the military in pushing out al Qaeda and its local affiliate Ansar al Shariah from Abyan province in 2011, claimed yesterday that this new offensive comes in response to information they received suggesting an AQAP attempt to filter into Lawdar district in Abyan and seize control of it.

A southern commander, Mahmoud al Sabihi, reportedly arrived in Lawdar yesterday in order to lead the offensive against al Qaeda, which is to be supervised by the Yemeni Minister of Defense, Mohammad Nasser Ahmad. Al Sabihi's reception in Lawdar seemed to portend local support for the offensive, as he was greeted by leaders of the Popular Committees and the military commander of Yemeni forces in Abyan, Haydara Lahatal.

Sources within the Popular Committees said that forces from the 115th Infantry Brigade, the 2nd Mountain Patrol Infantry Brigade stationed in Belhaf, and from another brigade stationed in Ahwar would participate in the offensive. These forces had already positioned themselves in line with the military plan by midday, according to local sources.

Reports from later in the day claimed that the military has begun a forceful push towards the al Mahfad region, the location of the powerful April 20 strike. Local Yemeni news sources reported that a significant military force, including bulldozers, armored vehicles, military teams, and Defense Ministry and military soldiers seeks to return the lawless border region that has not been under Sana'a's control for over four years to the central government's jurisdiction. Shabwa and Abyan provinces, which surround the al Mahfad district, were largely under AQAP control from May 2011 till May 2012 when a Yemeni military offensive pushed AQAP militants underground. That offensive also spurred AQAP to move into the lawless border region in al Mahfad and establish a stronghold there as early as June 2012.

A security source told Yemeni news outlets that the offensive targeting al Mahfad is part of a massive government and military mobilization that would include spreading more than 1,500 soldiers across Shabwa and Abyan provinces.

There seem to be no signs of AQAP's retreat from the Abyan/Shabwa area following the three deadly drone strikes last week, the most prominent of which hit an AQAP training camp along the mountainous Abyan-Shabwa border. A tribal leader in Yemen's southern provinces told a Kuwaiti news source that following last week's strikes, more than 200 AQAP militants have resurfaced in the Shabwa-Abyan border region. AQAP militants were reported to have seized hospitals in Shabwa last week, particularly in Azzan, in order to treat those wounded in the barrage of strikes. Reports from those hospitals have confirmed that AQAP fighters brought their own doctors, some of whom were non-Arab, to the hospitals. Doctors from a hospital in Azzan reported that some of their patients spent a night side by side with wounded al Qaeda fighters.

The Afghan Taliban claimed that their forces hit an US Air Force AC-130 gunship with antiaircraft fire and forced it to land in the eastern province of Logar.

The Taliban released a video purporting to show their forces hitting what appears to be a US Air Force C-130 aircraft. The AC-130 is a heavily armed ground attack variant of the C-130 airframe.

The video "was posted on the Facebook page of Bot Shikan on April 27, 2014, and was promoted on the Twitter account of an Afghan Taliban website representative on April 29," according to the SITE Intelligence Group. The video also bears the logo of El Emara [The Emirate], the media arm of the Afghan Taliban.

The video shows a group of Taliban fighters firing antiaircraft machine guns mounted on the backs of pickup trucks. The video then shows tracer rounds fired at what appears to be a C-130. Several rounds appear to hit the aircraft and bright flashes are seen underneath the plane. The video then shows what the Taliban claim is the wreckage of the aircraft as well as footage of the plane as it lands on or near an airbase in Logar province. At the end of the video, the Taliban show a helicopter and another aircraft being fired upon.

The International Security Assistance Force has not reported that any of its aircraft have been shot down or crash-landed, and would neither confirm nor deny that the aircraft shown in this video was fired upon by the Taliban.

"We have no operational reporting at this time," ISAF Joint Command's Media Operations Desk told The Long War Journal.

The release of video of the C-130 coming under attack took place just one day after the Taliban claimed to have shot down a British Army helicopter in the southern province of Kandahar. ISAF confirmed that a helicopter crashed and five ISAF soldiers were killed on April 26.

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence denied that the Taliban shot down the Lynx helicopter, which is used by the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing "to ferry troops such as the SAS and SBS on missions, and are also heavily armed for supporting fire," The Telegraph reported. The Ministry of Defence instead claimed that the helicopter was likely brought down by a technical problem.

On at least one occasion, ISAF has denied a Taliban claim to have shot down a Coalition helicopter in Afghanistan, only to backtrack on the statement. In December 2013, the Taliban claimed to have shot down a US Army Blackhawk helicopter in the southern Afghan province of Zabul and killed six soldiers.

ISAF quickly denied the report and said that "initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash." Less than one month later, ISAF admitted that the Taliban were responsible for the downing of the Blackhawk. [See Threat Matrix report, Taliban claim credit for ISAF helo crash in Afghan south, and LWJ report, ISAF confirms Taliban downing of US helicopter in Zabul.']

On July 7, 2013, Omar Mohammed Othman, better known as Abu Qatada, was deported from the UK to Jordan to stand trial on terrorism charges. His deportation was the end of a legal fight in the UK that lasted more than a decade. Abu Qatada was first arrested in early 2001, only to be released and detained once again in October 2002. He spent years in British custody before a transfer agreement was finally reached between the two governments last year.

Since his return to Jordan, the man once dubbed Osama bin Laden's "European ambassador" has repeatedly weighed in on current events. He is not just commenting, however. He is providing ideological guidance to jihadists operating in Syria and North Africa. And al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, the Al Nusrah Front, now promotes messages from Abu Qatada online. In a recent latter published by Al Nusrah, Abu Qatada denounces Al Nusrah's rival in Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS).

Abu Qatada's ability to communicate with the outside world is troubling, US intelligence officials say, given the constellation of al Qaeda actors he has colluded with for decades. Western intelligence and law enforcement officials have compiled a thick dossier on his activities.

While Abu Qatada was held in the UK, some of his associates were detained elsewhere and transferred to US custody at Guantanamo. Declassified and leaked files describe the jihadist ideologue's place in the al Qaeda network.

"Abu Qatada was a London-based al Qaeda recruiter whose teachings influenced numerous extremists including some of the 9/11 hijackers, Richard Reid, and Zacarias Moussaoui," a leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessment of one of Abu Qatada's associates reads. Richard Reid plotted to detonate a shoe bomb aboard an airliner in late 2001, and Zacarias Moussaoui was slated to take part in a second wave of attacks following 9/11. Another leaked JTF-GTMO threat assessment describes Abu Qatada as a "prominent al Qaeda spiritual leader, recruiter, and financier." Other al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists, including some of those responsible for the 2004 Madrid train bombings, were also inspired by Abu Qatada.

Ally of Al Nusrah Front, Zawahiri

With the outbreak of jihadist infighting in Syria, some have turned to Abu Qatada for advice. The Al Nusrah Front, in particular, counts Abu Qatada as a key ally. Tensions between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) boiled over last year. ISIS was subsequently disowned by al Qaeda's general command in early February, and the group has been waging a propaganda campaign against Al Nusrah and its other detractors since then.

Al Nusrah relies on Abu Qatada and other prominent ideologues to counter ISIS' messaging.

During a break in his trial in January, Abu Qatada denounced ISIS for "ignoring instructions" from al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. ISIS will "disintegrate eventually," the jihadist cleric claimed, and its fighters have been "misled to fight a war that is not holy."

In a newly released letter, published by the Al Nusrah Front on April 28, Abu Qatada is even more critical of ISIS. [A copy of the cover of the pdf of Abu Qatada's letter is reproduced above.] The ideologue labels ISIS "the dogs of Hellfire," adding that he does "not hesitate to pass this judgment, because of their evil actions."

"I tried as much as possible to forward advice to them [ISIS] until they stopped listening to the word of truth, advice and guidance," Abu Qatada writes.

He goes on to praise the Al Nusrah Front as "the people of truth" and defends al Qaeda's senior leadership against the charges levied by ISIS' spokesman and backers, who claim that Ayman al Zawahiri has changed his ideology in such a way that al Qaeda is no longer Osama bin Laden's organization. "Nobody listens to these people except those similar to those making such claims, who do not know the history of people or their achievements," Abu Qatada argues.

In contrast to ISIS, Abu Qatada praises Al Nusrah's religious officials, including Sami al Uraydi, Abu Abdullah al Shami, and Abu Maryiya al Iraqi. He also praises Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, a popular al Qaeda-linked Saudi cleric who has sided with Al Nusrah.

Influence in North Africa, ties to Ansar al Sharia Tunisia's leader

The dispute with ISIS is, in some ways, a replay of the past. During the 1990s, the Armed Islamic Group (known as the GIA, an acronym of its name in French) waged an insurgency against the Algerian government. The group became notorious for its indiscriminate use of violence against not only civilians but also fellow jihadists.

Abu Qatada was one of the GIA's main backers in London. Al Ansar, a GIA publication based first in France and then the UK, published his writings. In one fatwa (edict), Abu Qatada even justified the GIA's targeting of women, reasoning that because Algerian forces killed the jihadists' wives it was permissible to kill the spouses of Algerian security officials. The GIA's intra-jihadist conflicts were too much for Abu Qatada, however, and along with other leading jihadists he eventually denounced the GIA's leadership. Abu Qatada's decision to abandon his support for the GIA was seen as a major ideological blow to the group.

Soon, a new organization called the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (better known as the GSPC) was established with assistance from al Qaeda's leaders. The GSPC became the international jihadist community's preferred group and eventually evolved into al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a formal branch of al Qaeda.

Abu Qatada retains a great deal of influence among jihadists in North Africa. In 2009, an AQIM commander demanded that he be freed in exchange for a European hostage. The hostage was killed when Abu Qatada was not freed.

Some of Abu Qatada's students continue to be leading players in the international jihad. One of them is Seifallah Ben Hassine (a.k.a. Abu Iyad al Tunisi), who was mentored by Abu Qatada in the UK.

Abu Iyad co-founded the Tunisian Combatant Group (TCG) in pre-9/11 Afghanistan "in coordination with" al Qaeda, according to the United Nations. The TCG became an arm of al Qaeda in Europe, plotting attacks against the US Embassy in Rome and other targets. The TCG was also involved in al Qaeda's assassination of Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud on Sept. 9, 2001.

Abu Iyad "was imprisoned in Tunisia after being captured in Turkey in 2003 for being a leader of an al Qaeda-affiliated organization," according to the UN. But he was freed in 2011, after the uprising in Tunisia began. He then established a chapter of Ansar al Sharia, which is tied to al Qaeda's affiliates (or branches), including AQIM.

Unsurprisingly, Ansar al Sharia Tunisia continues to honor Abu Qatada. The group repeatedly called for his release on its social media pages. And since Abu Qatada was deported to Jordan in July 2013, Ansar al Sharia has heavily promoted his writings.

In January of this year, a letter from Abu Qatada addressed to Ansar al Sharia Tunisia was featured on the organization's Twitter feed. Banner advertisements announcing the letter were downloaded by The Long War Journal at the time and can be seen here.

Abu Qatada says that Abu Iyad asked him to write the letter, which covers events in Libya, Syria, and Tunisia. Abu Qatada praises Abu Iyad, underscoring their close relationship, throughout the letter. He says Abu Iyad "is among the best of those I have known in intellect and estimation of matters," according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group. Abu Qatada calls on readers to rally around Abu Iyad, who "is the most knowledgeable of people of my intentions ... for he was the closest of people to me."

Ansar al Sharia recruits fighters for the Syrian conflict. But Abu Iyad did not want to lose Tunisia's youth to the jihad in Syria, Abu Qatada writes. According to the Jordanian cleric, however, the Tunisians' participation in the jihad there is a "blessed matter," even if some became too extreme upon arriving in the Levant.

Abu Iyad has commented on the infighting in Syria as well. In January 2014, he released a statement urging the rival factions to reconcile and focus their efforts on the Syrian regime. Abu Iyad said that he considers ISIS, the Al Nusrah Front, and all the jihadi factions to be his "brothers." He called on a number of al Qaeda ideologues, including Abu Qatada, to resolve the conflict. Chief among them, from Abu Iyad's perspective, was Ayman al Zawahiri, the "doctor of the Ummah" and "sheikh of the Mujahideen."

Since Abu Iyad's message was released in January, the situation in Syria has changed dramatically. Al Qaeda has officially disowned ISIS and so has Abu Qatada. It remains to be seen how much, if any, the Jordanian ideologue's rebuke influences matters in Syria. But some jihadists will continue to look to him for advice.

On April 27, the day before Al Nusrah released Abu Qatada's message denouncing ISIS, Ansar al Sharia Tunisia posted on its Twitter feed yet another banner promoting Abu Qatada's teachings.

A photo of an ambushed military vehicle in Shabwa from Twitter.

Reports in Arabic media outlets indicate that the Yemeni military is expanding its southern offensive against militants from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that began on April 28. Reports yesterday claimed that the Yemeni military offensive was centered on the axis leading from the towns of Mahfad and Ahwar in Abyan province to the city of Azzan in Shabwa. Others suggested that the Yemeni military was also operating in AQAP strongholds in Baydha province.

Yesterday AQAP militants ambushed a Yemeni military convoy outside the city of Azzan in Shabwa province, leading to the deaths of 15 soldiers and 12 militants. Before fleeing the scene, the AQAP militants reportedly kidnapped an additional 15 soldiers. Supporters of AQAP on Twitter posted images of the charred convoy and claimed that a prominent Yemeni commander, Mahmoud al Sabihi, was in the targeted convoy and managed to escape unhurt.

Today AQAP announced that it had executed three of the 15 kidnapped soldiers. Yemeni security sources told the Arabic media that locals found the bodies of the three executed soldiers, who appeared to have been severely beaten with iron tools prior to being killed. These same sources also claimed that AQAP released two of the 15 kidnapped soldiers last night after beating them as well.

In the past few days reports have also emerged that the Yemeni military has launched a parallel offensive in Sana'a province to root out the terror group's presence in the vicinity of the Yemeni capital. A security source told Arabic news outlets that the ongoing operations in Sana'a were being conducted by Yemeni special forces and commando units and that more operations in other provinces are imminent.

Reports had surfaced yesterday of an explosion that purportedly occurred in close proximity to the Police Academy in Sana'a while a graduation ceremony was being held that was attended by Yemeni President, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. No casualties or injuries were reported and the Yemeni Ministry of Defense quickly denied that any explosion had occurred. AQAP supporters on Twitter disseminated photographs of what appeared to be the aftermath of the explosion outside of the Police Academy.

Today the Yemeni Ministry of Defense's official spokesman, Mohammad al Qa'edi, stated that 72 AQAP militants have been killed so far in the offensive, although he did not clarify if that number includes those militants killed in the three US drone strikes on April 19-20. Al Qa'edi also claimed that 26 AQAP militants have been arrested and 12 improvised explosive devices have been defused.

Notably, al Qa'edi mentioned that Yemeni security services have arrested members of an al Qaeda cell that was plotting to kidnap a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates embassy, and added that another al Qaeda cell that was planning on kidnapping Saudi nationals was also dismantled. Yesterday, a Yemeni security official announced that five AQAP commanders were killed in clashes with the miltary in Shabwa province, and identified one of the slain militants as Abu al Qa'qa'.

In related news, on April 23, a Saudi official told Arabic news sources that Yemen has transferred the corpse of an AQAP militant who was killed in the US drone strikes on April 19-21 to Saudi Arabia for DNA testing. The Saudi official said the slain militant was a Saudi believed to have held a prominent role in the terrorist organization. Following the US drone strike during the night between April 20-21 in Shabwa, after which Yemeni helicopters landed at the site, suspicions emerged as to whether Ibrahim al Asiri, AQAP's master bomb maker, or another prominent AQAP figure was killed. However, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated an audio statement released by AQAP's media wing today, AQAP commander Jalal al Marqishi denied reports of the death of any AQAP commander as a result of the strike in Shabwa.

Photos from Twitter of AQAP militants seizing Yemeni military vehicles.

A group calling itself "al Qaeda in Kurdistan" sided with al Qaeda's emir against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham in the ongoing dispute over control of the jihad in Syria. In doing so, the group also renewed its pledge of "allegiance" to Ayman al Zawahiri and Mullah Mohammad Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, and said it would fight the ISIS if needed.

Al Qaeda in Kurdistan released its statement on a jihadist forum on April 25, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated it.

"We give the glad tidings to the Ummah of the renewal of pledging allegiance to the Sheikh of the Mujahideen, the wise man of the Ummah [Muslim community], Doctor Ayman al Zawahiri, may Allah make his foothold firm, and on top the Emir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar, may Allah preserve him, to listen and obey in enthusiasm and reluctance for jihad in the cause of Allah," the al Qaeda in Kurdistan statement said, according to SITE.

Al Qaeda in Kurdistan offered to "disavow from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham," the former al Qaeda affiliate that was recently denounced by al Qaeda's General Command.

"[T]here is nothing between us and them but the sword. We consider the disavowal from the group of the State to be like a surgical operation on the body and the structure of Qaedat al-Jihad and, Allah permitting, it will be a healing for us and an increase in our life," al Qaeda in Kurdistan said.

The group also expressed its "condolences and consolation" for Abu Khalid al Suri, Zawahiri's personal representative to Syria who was killed in a suspected ISIS suicide attack earlier this year.

The composition of al Qaeda in Kurdistan is unclear, but this may be the group that the US calls "Al Qaeda Kurdish Battalions."

Al Qaeda Kurdish Battalions was "established in 2007 from the remnants of other Kurdish terrorist organizations," and "has sworn allegiance publicly to other terrorist groups, including al Qaeda and al Qaeda in Iraq," the ISIS's predecessor, according to the US State Department's designation of the terrorist group in January 2012.

"QKB [Al Qaeda Kurdish Battalions] is comprised of former elements of Ansar al Islam, and other Kurdish Islamic movements loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) -- also known as AQI [al Qaeda in Iraq]," Jason Blazakis, the Director of the Bureau of Counterterrorism's Office of Terrorist Designations and Sanctions, told The Long War Journal at the time of the designation.

Al Qaeda in Kurdistan's split with the ISIS emerges as rumors have surfaced that the Al Nusrah Front for the people of the Levant, al Qaeda's branch in Syria, will establish a branch inside Iraq.

The Al Nusrah Front's emir, Abu Muhammad al Julani, has been at odds with Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of the ISIS, after the latter attempted to subsume the Al Nusrah Front into the Islamic State in April 2013. Al Julani refused, and was backed by Zawahiri.

Al Qaeda has attempted to mediate the dispute and has called on the ISIS to submit to sharia, or Islamic, courts in order to resolve the problems. Al Baghdadi has refused, and the ISIS and Al Nusrah began clashing in late 2013.

Al Qaeda commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the head of the al-Mulathameen Brigade and its sub-unit, the al-Mua'qi'oon Biddam. Image from Sahara Media.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a senior leader in the al-Murabitoon Brigade, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group that operates in West Africa, has recently sided with Ayman al Zawahiri in his dispute over Syria with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. Additionally, Belmokhtar called Zawahiri his "emir," or leader.

Belmokhtar, who is often portrayed as a desert bandit, addressed the conflict between the Al Nusrah Front for the people of the Levant, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham in an official statement posted on Twitter on April 29. The statement, which was signed by "Khalid Abu al Abbas, Member of the Shura Council of al-Murabitoon," was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. Khalid Abu al Abbas is a nom de guerre of Belmokhtar.

In the statement, Belmokhtar said that Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden, and Abdullah Azzam have been "at the forefront" of waging the "global project of jihad" against Muslim governments and the West, and have been seeking to restore "the rightly-guided Islamic Caliphate." Bin Laden was killed by the US in a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2012, and Azzam was killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Belmokhtar said that the recent infighting between the Al Nusrah Front and the ISIS, which was was disowned by Al Qaeda General Command earlier this year for failing to resolve issues in Syria, meant "that it is incumbent upon us to confirm our confidence and our commitment to the method and guidance of our emir, Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri, may Allah preserve him, out of our faith in the correctness of this method, which is built upon perception and correct jurisprudence, and steady, successful, and blessed steps."

"I call upon my mujahideen brothers in al-Sham [Syria] to return to the truth and to reconcile before the war comes for the fruit of your jihad and the best among your men," Belmokhtar continued.

His statement is the latest by jihadist leaders weighing in on Al Nusrah-ISIS dispute over ISIS' attempt to subsume jihadist groups in Syria. The ISIS has refused to enter into sharia courts in order to resolve the dispute, and its leaders have accused al Qaeda of turning away from the establishment of Islamic states.

Belmokhtar has been operating under al Qaeda's banner since split with AQIM

Belmokhtar's pledge to Zawahiri and al Qaeda officially dispels the reports that his split with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda's branch in North Africa, meant he no longer would work with the terror group. He broke off from AQIM in late 2012 due to a leadership dispute with the group. Abdelmalek Droukdel, the emir of AQIM, complained that Belmokhtar took orders only from Al Qaeda General Command and refused to deal with AQIM's bureaucracy.

A spokesman for Belmokhtar, Oumar Ould Hamaha, confirmed that Belmokhtar and his group, the Those who Sign with Blood Brigade, or al-Mua'qi'oon Biddam, remain under the orders of al Qaeda central.

Additionally, Belmokhtar's split was engineered "so that we can better operate in the field that we have left this group which is tied to the 'Maghreb' appellation. We want to enlarge our zone of operation throughout the entire Sahara, going from Niger through to Chad and Burkina Faso," Hamaha told The Associated Press in December 2012.

Despite splitting with AQIM, Belmokhtar's forces continued to fight alongside the group and Ansar Dine, AQIM's political front, in northern Mali.

Shortly after splitting from AQIM, the Those who Sign with Blood Brigade launched the deadly suicide assault on the In Amenas gas facility in southeastern Algeria. Belmokhtar released a video and claimed the In Amenas suicide assault under al Qaeda's banner.

"We in al Qaeda announce that we carried out the blessed commando operation," Belmokhtar said in the video, according to Sahara Media.

Additionally, the terror group called for the release Omar Abdel Rahman (the "Blind Sheikh") and Aafia Siddiqui ("Lady Al Qaeda") from US prisons, two common al Qaeda demands, as well as an end to the French intervention in Mali, in exchange for the release of American hostages captured at In Amenas.

In May 2013, Belmokhtar united his group with Ahmed el Tilemsi's Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO, another al Qaeda sub-group) to form the al-Murabitoon Brigade. Both Belmokhtar and el Tilemsi ceded control of the al-Murabitoon to an unnamed commander who has waged jihad against both the Soviets and the US in Afghanistan.

On Dec. 18, the US State Department added Belmokhtar's al-Mulathameen Brigade, his unit while he was in AQIM; the Those Who Sign in Blood Brigade; and the al-Murabitoon Brigade to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities.

Egyptian officials said that two suicide bombings today in South Sinai killed at least one Egyptian soldier and wounded nearly a dozen other people. Meanwhile, unidentified assailants detonated a small bomb near a traffic police post in Cairo's eastern Heliopolis suburb. The attack killed one policeman and wounded at least four others.

While the first bombing in South Sinai today appeared to target security personnel at a checkpoint near the town of el Tor, the second appeared aimed at workers from a tourism company, Reuters reported. Egypt's Interior Ministry said it was working to identify those responsible for the three attacks, which have thus far gone unclaimed.

The bombings in South Sinai came only a week after a senior Egyptian military official said the army had "complete control" of the Sinai Peninsula. "There is obvious stability in Sinai despite rumors that there are still terrorist elements and tunnels in north Sinai," said Major General Mohamed al Shahat.

Since July 3, 2013, there have been more than 330 reported attacks in the Sinai Peninsula, most of which were carried out against Egyptian security forces and assets, according to data maintained by The Long War Journal. Nearly all of these attacks have been confined to North Sinai.

However, suicide attacks by Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis), the dominant jihadist group in Egypt, were conducted in the South Sinai towns of el Tor in October and Taba in February.

In its claim of responsibility for the February bombing of a tourist bus in Taba, Ansar Jerusalem declared its intent to "target [the Egyptian regime's] economic interests everywhere to paralyze its hands from what they do to the Muslims."

If Ansar Jerusalem does take credit for today's suicide attacks, it would be the group's first claimed attack since Taba. In addition, the two bombings would be the fifth and sixth suicide attacks by the jihadist group since September 2013.

Ayman al Zawahiri, the head of al Qaeda, discusses the infighting in Syria and the history of al Qaeda's branch in Iraq at length in a newly released message entitled, "Testimonial to Preserve the Blood of Mujahideen in al Sham."

Zawahiri even extends an olive branch to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who leads the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), which has been disowned by al Qaeda. Zawahiri again calls on Baghdadi to leave Syria and return to the fight in Iraq. This has been al Qaeda's desire since the beginning of the dispute. If Baghdadi does so, then Zawahiri is apparently willing to welcome him back into the fold, despite all of the problems, from al Qaeda's perspective, that Baghdadi and ISIS have caused.

"Listen to and obey your emir once again," Zawahiri says when addressing Baghdadi, according to a translation obtained by The Long War Journal. "Come back to what your sheikhs, emirs, and those who preceded you on the path and immigration of jihad have worked hard for."

Baghdadi claims he is a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed's family. And Zawahiri flatters the rogue commander by saying that he should follow the path of his "grandfather" Hasan, a grandson of Mohammed who forfeited his role as leader of the Caliphate. Baghdadi and his supporters believe that he is the rightful new Caliph. But Zawahiri wants Baghdadi to be a "good grandson" by abandoning this claim and returning to the jihad in Iraq instead.

Zawahiri also calls on the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, to "immediately stop any fighting" that is an act of aggression against "their jihadist brothers." Al Nusrah and ISIS have been fighting each other for months.

History of al Qaeda's relationship with the ISIS and its predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)

Although Zawahiri's message is conciliatory on its face, it is also intended to undermine the ISIS' claim of independence.

Leading jihadist ideologues, including Hani Sibai, a longtime member of Zawahiri's Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), recently called on Zawahiri to address the situation in Syria once again. They wanted Zawahiri to discuss specific aspects of the dispute between the ISIS and al Qaeda, including whether or not the ISIS' leaders had sworn bayat (an oath of allegiance) to al Qaeda. If Baghdadi did not swear bayat, then he has not betrayed his oath to al Qaeda by disobeying Zawahiri's orders.

Some of Baghdadi's supporters have claimed that the ISIS emir never swore bayat to al Qaeda's leadership. Another claim made by the ISIS is that Baghdadi's bayat was not a full oath of allegiance, but instead merely a statement of support for al Qaeda's mission.

Zawahiri says that he decided to address the history of al Qaeda's relations with ISIS and its predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), out of respect for Sibai, who used his radio show to urge Zawahiri to comment.

Zawahiri describes much of his message as "testimony" and he relies on correspondence between al Qaeda's senior leaders and the ISI and the ISIS to make his case. The head of al Qaeda even cites two documents that were released by the Obama administration from the cache recovered during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. But he cites other documents as well. In an earlier message, Zawahiri ordered As Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda arm, to prepare the al Qaeda correspondence for publication.

The ISI is a "part" of al Qaeda's group, Zawahiri says. Although the ISI was initially established "without the permission or counseling" of al Qaeda, its leader sent a message to al Qaeda's general command "explaining how the state was established and pledging allegiance" to the group. The message was sent by Abu Hamza al Muhajir (a.k.a. Abu Ayyub al Masri), a longtime Zawahiri subordinate who was then al Qaeda's top leader in Iraq. The message indicated that Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the head of the ISI, had also sworn allegiance to al Qaeda and his oath was witnessed by a member of the sharia (Islamic law) committee.

Abu Hamza's "message stated that the ISI is a branch belonging to al Qaeda and explained that it was established in secret due to some political circumstances forced on them in Iraq back then," Zawahiri says.

In April 2010, both Abu Hamza and Abu Omar were killed in Iraq, thereby decapitating the ISI's leadership. Al Qaeda lost control of the selection process to determine who would be the ISI's new emir and, therefore, al Qaeda's leaders requested biographies for Abu Bakr and other ISI leaders who were chosen without the consent of al Qaeda's general command.

However, Zawahiri says, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi maintained the ISI's fealty to al Qaeda. After bin Laden was killed in May 2011, Abu Bakr issued a statement saying that Zawahiri has "faithful men" in the ISI. In late May 2011, a "liaison" for the ISI sent a message to al Qaeda's leaders asking if the ISI should "renew its allegiance publicly or secretly as before." Indeed, the ISI's spokesman publicly praised Zawahiri's selection as the new emir of al Qaeda.

Zawahiri goes on to cite additional messages showing that leaders within both the ISI and then the ISIS, including Baghdadi, continued to address him as their leader.

One of the thorniest issues Zawahiri must address is this: Why did al Qaeda acquiesce to the creation of the ISI, but not the ISIS, which merely expanded the ISI's presence into Syria?

Zawahiri offers several reasons. First, he says that the ISIS was created on the basis of a "rift" between jihadists, meaning Baghdadi and the head of the Al Nusrah Front, Abu Muhammad al Julani. The ISI did not suffer from this defect.

Second, Zawahiri states that the ISI was created in coordination with other jihadist groups in Iraq, whereas the ISIS tried to impose its will in Syria without consulting other groups. Not even the Al Nusrah Front, originally an extension of the ISI, was consulted, Zawahiri argues. And third, the declaration of the ISIS was "in clear violation" of the orders issued by al Qaeda's general command to its soldiers in Iraq and Syria "not to declare any official presence of al Qaeda in the Levant." In other words, al Qaeda sought to hide its hand in the Syrian rebellion.

Zawahiri goes on to say that the creation of the ISIS has led to much Muslim bloodshed and been a "political catastrophe for the people of the Levant." The ISIS has also been a gift to Assad, Zawahiri claims, because it has divided the jihadist cause.

The bloodshed and all of the other turmoil could have been avoided if the ISIS had followed the directions of "their emir," Zawahiri says, referring to himself.

Zawahiri again calls for the ISIS and other jihadist groups to resolve their differences in a common sharia court. Zawahiri has also now offered a fuller version of his case against the ISIS' leadership.

In the ongoing back and forth between ISIS and al Qaeda, including the Al Nusrah Front, the ball is now back in ISIS' court.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released a statement from a local leader in southern Yemen who was killed in a US drone strike two weeks ago.

The statement by Ali bin Lakraa' al Kazimi, who is described as "the former leader of its cell" in the Al Mahfad district in Abyan province, was released by "Ansar al Sharia News" yesterday and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. Ansar al Sharia is AQAP's political front in Yemen.

Kazimi was killed in a US drone strike that targeted an AQAP training camp in Al Mahfad on April 20. More than 30 AQAP fighters are said to have been killed in the drone strike and accompanying Yemeni airstrikes.

A Yemeni official told The Long War Journal that the April 20 airstrikes in Al Mahfad were intended to "destroy the [AQAP] base and sites in Al Mahfad, deter their recruiting and training capability," and kill "KSA [Saudi] fighters who returned from Syria." The Yemeni official said that "dozens [of Saudis have] infiltrated the border and joined AQAP."

In Kazimi's posthumous statement, he railed against the "Americanized Yemeni army, which wants to insult and humiliate the tribes in accordance with the guidelines of the Americans," according to the SITE translation.

This is a common argument made by AQAP in an effort to turn Yemeni tribesmen and soldiers against the government. For instance, in a video released by AQAP in October 2013 featuring suicide attacks, a scene was included in which an AQAP officer lectures captured Yemeni soldiers.

"Do you know that you and the Americans are in the same trench? The [American] spying drones are in the sky and you are on the ground," an AQAP leader tells the group of Yemeni soldiers in the video.

"What is the difference between you and the Americans? Haven't you thought about this issue? Haven't you considered yourselves and the Americans in one front? When Americans bombard our brothers with unmanned drones, who collect their bodies? It's you the soldiers. You take their bodies. You and the Americans are in one front," the AQAP leader chides the Yemeni soldiers.

Kazimi offered "condolences" to the families of the Ba Kazim tribe who have been killed in US drone strikes, and called on "all the free sons of the Ba Kazim tribe to stand in line alongside their mujahideen brothers."

The Yemeni military has recently launched a new offensive against AQAP in southern and central Yemen. Military forces have massed in Abyan and Shabwa provinces in the south, and in the central province of Baydah. All three provinces are known havens for AQAP. [See LWJ report, Yemen expands southern offensive against AQAP.]

The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, has issued a statement saying it will comply with Ayman al Zawahiri's orders with respect to the jihadist infighting in Syria. Al Nusrah has been at odds with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), which has been disowned by al Qaeda's general command.

In a recently released audio message, Zawahiri addressed Abu Muhammad al Julani, the emir of Al Nusrah, and made three demands. Zawahiri ordered Julani and Al Nusrah to "immediately stop any fighting" that is an act of aggression against "their jihadist brothers." Zawahiri reiterated his call for the establishment of an independent sharia (Islamic law) court capable of settle the ongoing dispute. He also said the jihadists should stop criticizing each other in the media.

In its reply to Zawahiri, Al Nusrah announces its "commitment" to comply with all three orders. While the group says it will stop attacking ISIS, it will respond defensively to any act of aggression. As soon as ISIS stops initiating attacks, Al Nusrah will stop returning fire "automatically." Al Nusrah says it is willing to submit to a sharia court, and will stop insulting its rivals on social media as well.

In mid-April, a group of jihadist ideologues, including senior sharia officials in Al Nusrah, called on Zawahiri to address the situation in Syria once again. The ideologues used social media to amplify their request of Zawahiri. They wanted Zawahiri to discuss the history of ISIS' relationship with, and allegiance to, al Qaeda's senior leadership.

Zawahiri obliged a little more than two weeks later. And now Al Nusrah has answered by saying it will follow Zawahiri's commands.

Zawahiri's message was largely conciliatory, with the al Qaeda emir even praising Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of ISIS. Zawahiri said al Qaeda would be willing to accept ISIS back into the fold if ISIS' leaders left the jihad in Syria.

In its own statement, the Al Nusrah Front indicates that it is willing to put an end to the infighting, too. This is the case despite the fact that Al Nusrah blames ISIS for instigating the conflict in the first place.

Al Nusrah blames ISIS for the death of Abu Khalid al Suri, who served as Zawahiri's chief representative in Syria until he was killed in late February. Al Suri was a founding member and senior leader in Ahrar al Sham, which is allied with Al Nusrah and is a prominent part of the Islamic Front, a coalition of several rebel groups.

Al Nusrah also blames ISIS for the death of Abu Muhammad al Fateh, a leader in the group who was killed along with other members of his family in Syria's Idlib province.

The Yemeni military killed at least 37 al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters during recent operations in the southern province of Shabwa. Among those killed were fighters from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Russia, and Somalia, Yemeni officials said.

The fighting in the Maifa district of Shabwa, which is part of a wide Yemeni military offensive to root out AQAP strongholds in the southern provinces, took place over the weekend.

"Most of those militants are from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Somali, [the Russian Republic of] Chechnya and other countries," a Yemeni official told SABA, the state-run Yemen News Agency.

Five of the Saudis who were killed in the fighting were identified as Ubadah al Sharori, Abdulrahman al Hutti, Abu Ubaidah Malek al Makki, Hussien al Budwi, and Bin Hayzoun, according to 26 September, a newspaper run by Yemen's Defense Ministry.

A Yemeni official told The Long War Journal that one fighter from Chechnya was identified as Abu Muslim al Shishani. An Afghan whose name has not been disclosed is said to have been "dressed up like he was in Kandahar," the Yemeni official said.

Since the launch of its offensive in the south early last week, the Yemeni government has stressed that foreigners are driving AQAP's jihadist insurgency. Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi highlighted this when he claimed that more than 70 percent of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is made up of foreigners.

But a senior Yemeni official told The Long War Journal that President Hadi's estimate of the number of foreign fighters in AQAP is far too high. The official said that although about 50 percent of AQAP's leadership cadre is believed to be non-Yemeni, the number of non-Yemeni foot soldiers is thought to be about 25 percent. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of Ansar al Sharia, AQAP's local political front, is thought to be non-Yemeni.

But the still relatively high number of foreigners in AQAP's leadership cadre and the rank and file should not be surprising as AQAP, which was formed in January 2009, resulted from the merger of al Qaeda's Saudi and Yemeni branches.

The presence of fighters from Somalia should come as no surprise as AQAP and Shabaab, al Qaeda's official branch in Somalia and East Africa, have provided support and manpower for each other's operations for years.

And the presence of fighters from far-flung jihadist battlefields such as Afghanistan and the Caucasus also is to be expected. Fighters from these theaters are currently flooding the Syrian battlefield and have been spotted in remote areas of Africa such as Mali as well.

Three weeks ago, over two hundred girls between ages 15 and 18 were kidnapped from their boarding school in northern Nigeria. Yesterday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video in which he threatened, "I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah."

The girls, who are not shown in the video, had returned to their school in Chibok, Borno State in northern Nigeria to take their final exams before they were kidnapped. Schools in the region had been closed earlier in the year in reaction to the uptick in Boko Haram-perpetrated violence.

In the nighttime attack on April 14, gunmen stormed the Government Girls Secondary School and loaded the students into a convoy comprised of some 60 vehicles, including 40 motorcycles. The girls were reportedly taken into a Boko Haram stronghold in the Sambisa forest where the group has fortified camps. Nigerian security forces have been unable to locate and rescue the victims.

The kidnapping occurred on the same day that Boko Haram bombed a bus station in Abuja, killing 75 people.

Exposing the Nigerian government's inability to tackle the problems presented by Boko Haram, there has been confusion as to how many girls were kidnapped. A Nigerian military official commented in an official briefing on April 16 that most of the girls had been freed with eight remaining in Boko Haram's custody. Borno State's police chief has since stated that around 223 girls were still missing, while 53 are believed to have escaped.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden," was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in November 2013. Shekau and two al Qaeda-linked Boko Haram leaders were added to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists in June 2012.

In its annual assessment of global trends in terrorism released last week, the US State Department noted that the government of Nigeria has "made little progress" in addressing the grievances of Nigeria's northern population. It advised the Nigerian government "to employ a more comprehensive strategy to address Boko Haram that combines security efforts with political and development efforts to reduce Boko Haram's appeal, address the legitimate concerns of the people of northern Nigeria, and protect the rights of all of Nigeria's citizens."

On May 3, US Secretary of State John Kerry pledged American support to aid the Nigerian government to return the girls to their families. However, it is not clear what the support will entail.

Fighters from Sabiri's Jamaat, which joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham earlier this year.

A jihadist group made up of Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Russians from the Caucasus that operates in Syria has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.

The group, known as Sabiri's Jamaat, swore allegiance to the ISIS in March, according to From Chechnya to Syria, a website that tracks fighters from the Caucasus and Central Asia who are waging jihad in Syria.

Sabiri's Jamaat is currently led by "Khalid ad-Dagestani," a jihadist from the Republic of Dagestan in the Russian Caucasus, according to a fighter who explained why the group joined the ISIS. The group's previous emir, Abdullo Tashkenti, was from Uzbekistan and we killed earlier this year.

The exact size of the group is not known, but likely has scores of fighters. In a video (below) released by the group back in January, at least 70 fighters are pictured. The speaker in the video says that the group is made up "Uzbekis, Tajiks, Chechens, and Dagestanis."

Several of the ISIS's flags are prominently displayed in the video. And the fighters appear to be well armed and equipped. At the end of the video, a small convoy made up of SUVs, minivans, cars, motorcycles, and a flat bed truck with anti-aircraft guns mounted on the back is shown. Then short clips of the group fighting at night are also shown.

A fighter from Sabiri's Jamaat claimed his group swore allegiance to the ISIS after the fighters from Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, attempted to confiscate its anti-aircraft artillery. Khalid ad-Dagestani then met with Omar Shishani, a Chechen who serves as a top military commander in the ISIS, and swore an oath to the jihadist group.

Jihadists from the Caucasus and Central Asia play a prominent role in fighting for al Qaeda and the ISIS inside Syria. Chechens command fighting units in both jihadist groups. An Uzbek known as Abu Hussein leads the Seyfuddin Uzbek Jamaat, which serves in the Al Nusrah Front. Two other Chechens known as Abu Walid al Shishani and Muslim al Shishani, also lead groups within the Al Nusrah Front. [See LWJ report, Chechen al Qaeda commander, popular Saudi cleric, and an Ahrar al Sham leader spotted on front lines in Latakia].

Additionally, some fighters from the Caucasus have remained neutral in the open dispute between the ISIS and the Al Nusrah Front. Al Qaeda disowned the ISIS earlier this year after a leadership dispute between the ISIS and Al Nusrah devolved into open warfare.

Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, or the Army of the Emigrants and Helpers, which is led by a Chechen known as Salahuddin al Shishani, has fought alongside both the ISIS and Al Nusrah and its allies such as Ahrar al Sham and the Islamic Front. Salahuddin's deputy is Abdul Karim Krymsky, a Crimean Tatar from the Ukraine.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, the former al Qaeda branch that was disowned by Al Qaeda General Command, has announced the existence of the "Zarqawi Camp" on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The Zarqawi training camp is named after Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the Jordanian jihadist who founded al Qaeda in Iraq, the predecessor of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. Zarqawi was killed in a US airstrike outside of Baqubah, Iraq, in June 2006.

The Al Baqiya Media Foundation, "an unofficial media affiliate" of the ISIS, announced the camp's existence in a 45-minute video that was released in late April, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained and translated the video. The camp is located in Eastern Ghouta, a district on the outskirts of the Syrian capital.

"Footage of the camp shows fighters running through obstacle courses; engaging in target practices and gun firing exercises, kidnapping, disarming, and maneuvering; and participating in hand-to-hand combat drills," SITE reported. The fighters are also seen studying sharia, or Islamic law, as well as distributing aid to children.

The Zarqawi Camp is the fourth such camp disclosed by jihadist groups in Syria in the past two months. In mid-March, 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. Its 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. Abu Ghadiya was killed in a US special operations raid in eastern Syria in the fall of 2008.

In the beginning of April, 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, released video of its training camp in Aleppo province. The video included footage of a bomb-making class.

The videos from ISIS, Al Nusrah Front, and Muhajireen Army training camps are reminiscent of others released by al Qaeda from the network of camps in Afghanistan during the 1990s. Al Qaeda used camps such as Khalden and Al Farouq to churn out thousands of foreign fighters who fought alongside the Taliban in the 55th Arab Brigade. But al Qaeda also selected graduates of the camps to conduct attacks in the West, including the Sept. 11, 2001 operation against the US.

The ISIS, although not officially part of al Qaeda since its dispute with the Al Nusrah Front boiled over earlier this year, has still indicated that it seeks to conduct attacks against the United States and the West.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the Afghan Taliban call themselves, announced yesterday that this year's spring offensive would, like last year's, target "the invaders and their spineless backers." Like previous spring offensives, the Taliban said they would target Coalition military forces and civilians, as well as the Afghan government, military, intelligence services, and tribal militias.

This year's spring offensive, called Khaibar after the Battle of Khaibar, will begin on May 12, the Taliban said in a statement released on their official propaganda website, Voice of Jihad. The Battle of Khaibar took place in 629 in Saudi Arabia. Muslim forces under the command of Mohammed laid siege to and defeated Jews living in Khaibar.

"By taking this name as a good omen for the current year, we ask Allah (SWT) to completely cleanse our country from the filth of the infidels and let their large bases be liberated, Allah willing," the Taliban stated.

The Taliban said "the main target" of Khaibar "shall be the foreign invaders and their backers under various names like spies, military and civilian contractors and everyone working for them like translators, administrators and logistics personnel."

"Similarly the blessed 'Khaibar' Jihadi spring operations shall target all high ranking government officials, cabinet ministers, members of Parliament, security officials, occupation backing officers in the Interior and Foreign Ministries, attorneys and judges that prosecute Mujahideen as well as agents in the National Directorate [Afghan intelligence] that pursue and torture Mujahideen," the statement continued.

The Taliban also promised to use "various modern military techniques," such as "back-breaking martyrdom strikes," or suicide assaults and bombings; "infiltrator operations," the insider, green-on-blue or green-on-green attacks, in which Taliban fighters infiltrate or turn Afghan forces against their countrymen or Coalition forces; rocket and mortar attacks on bases; and "head-on offensive operations against enemy gatherings."

Military bases, "diplomatic centers," military and civilian convoys, and other "facilities of foreign, interior, intelligence and Arbaki militia" would be the primary targets of Taliban attacks.

Additionally, the Taliban called on "all the workers of the crumbling Kabul regime" to turn on their government and promised to protect them if they did so.

"The Islamic Emirate assures them of a honorable, safe and a peaceful life if they forgo the enemy ranks and considers your protection our moral duty," the Taliban stated.

The Taliban have devoted significant efforts to stepping up attempts to kill NATO troops and foreigners by infiltrating the ranks of Afghan security forces. Additionally, the Taliban have offered refuge to government and security officials who defected.

Mullah Omar said as much in a statement released on Aug. 16, 2012, when he claimed that the Taliban "cleverly infiltrated in the ranks of the enemy according to the plan given to them last year [2011]," and urged government officials and security personnel to defect and join the Taliban as a matter of religious duty. He also noted that the Taliban have created the "Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration" department, "with branches ... now operational all over the country," to encourage defections. [See Threat Matrix report, Mullah Omar addresses green-on-blue attacks.]

In the announcement of the Khaibar offensive, the Taliban also reiterated that they would continue to wage "wage armed Jihad" until "the unconditional withdrawal of all invading forces from our Islamic country " and the establishment of an Islamic state, or a return to Taliban rule.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has ambitions of continuing the sacred obligation of Jihad with the backing of its Muslim nation until the expulsion of every last infidel invader and establishment of an Islamic government," the statement concluded.

Yemeni security services continue to note the death or capture of foreign fighters during the ongoing military offensive in the south. The Yemeni Ministry of Defense has reported that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leaders and fighters from Pakistan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Russia were killed, and two operatives from France were captured over the past several days.

A Pakistani known as Al Nakhaie and Mikassa, who was described as a "local terrorist chief," and a Saudi known as Abu Dujana, were killed in Shabwa, the Ministry of Defense said, according to Al Shorfa.

An Algerian known as Abu Ayoub al Jazaeri who served as "a local al Qaeda terrorist group leader" in Abyan province was found dead by Yemeni military forces in Wadi Dayqa in Abyan.

An AQAP leader from the Caucasus known as Taymour al Dagestani is also reported to have been killed during recent fighting in Shabwa. Dagestani was described as an explosives expert and his death was hailed as a major blow to the terrorist organization.

Additionally, two Frenchmen, who were identified as Mourad Abdulla Abad and Taha al Issawi, were captured at an airport in Shabwa on May 8 as they attempted to leave the country. Arabic news outlets described the two French nationals of Tunisian descent as having been involved in al Qaeda cells in Hadramout province.

The Yemeni government has noted that several foreign fighters, including Saudis, Chechens, Afghans, and Somalis have been killed during military operations in Abyan and Shabwa provinces that began on April 29. Yemen's president has claimed that more than 70 percent of AQAP's leaders and fighters are foreign; this estimate is believed to be extremely high, however. [See LWJ report, Saudis, Chechens, Afghans killed during recent fighting in southern Yemen.]

The Yemeni military is reporting success during its operation to reclaim AQAP strongholds in the south. The military said it has retaken Azzan and the Al Maifa district in Shabwa as well as the Al Mahfad district in Abyan province. Al Mahfad has served as an AQAP stronghold and the location of a training center since mid-2012.

AQAP has responded by stepping up attacks in central Yemen as well as in the capital of Sana'a. In the central province of Baydah, AQAP fighters killed six Yemeni soldiers in an ambush at a checkpoint.

In the capital, four Yemeni soldiers and three AQAP fighters were killed in clashes near the Ministry of Defense. The instability has forced the US to temporarily shut down the embassy's consular services.

Additionally, in Shabwa, three Yemeni soldiers are reported to have been killed after AQAP fighters ambushed a convoy that was transferring Yemen's defense minister, who was unhurt.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham captured and then executed 20 Iraqi soldiers yesterday in the north.

Iraqi officials said the soldiers were captured after the ISIS ambushed a military convoy in Ain al-Jahash in Ninewa province, Reuters reported. The ISIS fighters were dressed in Iraqi military uniforms and used Iraqi Army vehicles to "surprise" the troops, an Iraqi officer told the news agency.

The soldiers were taken and then "executed" shortly afterward, another officer said.

"All the soldiers' bodies bore bullet wounds to the head ... they were all executed and this is the hallmark of ISIL groups," another Iraqi Army officer told Reuters.

In the past, the ISIS has released videos of the execution of captured Iraqi soldiers and police. Earlier this year, the Anbar Division, one of 16 administrative areas in territory under its control or influence in Iraq and Syria, released two videos of the brutal execution of more than 20 Iraqi soldiers who were captured in Fallujah.

In March 2012, the ISIS captured and executed 27 policemen, including two commanders, in the city of Haditha in Anbar province. In that attack, a large convoy of al Qaeda fighters, some disguised as policemen, entered the town, and overran police and military outposts. The ISIS videotaped the attack and later released it.

Today's execution highlights the worsening security situation in Iraq. The ISIS controls Fallujah and its dam, 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.]

The Iraqi military launched an offensive just two days ago to retake Fallujah, but reports indicate the Army is plagued by desertions and the deaths of hundreds of its soldiers.

The US killed six al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in the first drone strike reported in Yemen in more than three weeks.

Today's strike, which took place in the Wadi Abida district in the central province of Marib, targeted a vehicle as it was driving in the village of Husoun al-Jalal, according to The Associated Press. Yemeni officials are attempting to identify the suspected AQAP fighters.

The exact target of the strike has not been disclosed. No AQAP leaders of operatives are reported to have been killed at this time. AQAP has not released an official statement on the strike.

The Wadi Abida of Marib province is a known haven for AQAP in central Yemen. The US has conducted five other drone strikes in Wadi Abida since October 2012. Two of those strikes took place this year, two occurred in 2012, and one was conducted in 2012. Twenty-eight AQAP fighters and two civilians are reported to have been killed in the six strikes, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal.

Today's strike took place as the Yemeni military has been on the offensive against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in its southern strongholds of Abyan and Shabwa provinces.

The Yemeni military is reporting success during its operation to reclaim AQAP strongholds in the south. The military said it has retaken Azzan and the Al Maifa district in Shabwa as well as the Al Mahfad district in Abyan province. Al Mahfad has served as an AQAP stronghold and the location of a training center since mid-2012.

A Yemeni military official is claiming that security forces have killed and wounded hundreds of AQAP fighters and dozens of leaders during operations in the south since April 29.

Fighters and commanders from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and France are reported to have been killed or captured during the ongoing Yemeni offensive. [See LWJ reports, Saudis, Chechens, Afghans killed during recent fighting in southern Yemen, and Pakistani, Algerian, French al Qaeda fighters killed or captured during Yemeni operation.]

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched 12 strikes in Yemen so far this year. Four of those strikes took place in April, four 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 Baydah province, during that time period.

AQAP and al Qaeda still seek to conduct attacks against the US. In a recent AQAP video featuring Nasir al Wuhayshi, who is both the emir of AQAP and al Qaeda's overall general manager, he said America remains a target.

"O brothers, the Crusader enemy is still shuffling his papers, so we must remember that we are always fighting the biggest enemy, the leaders of disbelief, and we have to overthrow those leaders, we have to remove the Cross, and the carrier of the Cross is America," Wuhayshi said.

Wuhayshi made the statement in the open to a gathering of more than 100 people.

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

The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), Abu Muhammad al Adnani, has released an audio message blaming al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri for the jihadists' infighting in Syria. The ISIS was formally disowned by al Qaeda's general command in February.

Adnani's new message is a response to Zawahiri, who had again called for reconciliation in an address earlier this month. Adnani rejects the overture, including Zawahiri's demands that the ISIS leave the battlefields of Syria and submit itself to a common sharia (Islamic law) court capable of settling its differences with other factions.

The ISIS' animosity for Abu Muhammad al Julani, who heads the Al Nusrah Front, is apparent throughout the message. Al Nusrah is al Qaeda's official branch in Syria. Adnani refers to Julani as a traitor and Al Nusrah's members as "thieves and traitors."

Prior to the revolution in Syria, Julani served as a lieutenant to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the head of the ISIS. In April 2013, however, Julani refused an order from Baghdadi to fold Al Nusrah's operations under the banner of the then newly-expanded ISIS, which had previously concentrated its efforts in Iraq. Julani instead reaffirmed his allegiance directly to Zawahiri. The bitter feud has not subsided in the year since.

Adnani's message begins with citations to several al Qaeda leaders: Osama bin Laden, Abu Yahya al Libi (a top al Qaeda leader killed in 2012), Sulaiman Abu Ghaith (bin Laden's former spokesman, who is now imprisoned in the US), and Abu Musab al Zarqawi (the deceased leader of al Qaeda in Iraq). Adnani uses the testimony of these four senior jihadists to undermine the legitimacy of the governments ruling in Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, saying they are not proper Islamic states. In the process, Adnani tries to portray the ISIS as the only entity ruling according to sharia, as al Qaeda's leaders have consistently advocated.

Oath of allegiance a key issue in dispute

A key issue in the dispute is the ISIS' former place within the al Qaeda hierarchy. Some within the ISIS and its supporters have claimed that the group did not really swear a full oath of allegiance to al Qaeda's emirs, but instead only pledged its support for al Qaeda. Earlier this month, Zawahiri addressed this claim in his own message, saying that the ISIS' predecessors were loyal to bin Laden and al Qaeda's leadership, and that the ISIS repeatedly addressed him as their emir.

The ISIS spokesman struggles to explain why his group was not a formal branch of al Qaeda before the dispute over Syria broke out. Adnani says that al Qaeda as it supposedly existed prior to the dispute "runs in our blood" and "has become rooted in our hearts." Adnani adds that he and his comrades "revered" and "glorified" al Qaeda "to the extent that we have not obeyed leaderships other than this leadership."

Adnani even mentions one of the same missives Zawahiri introduced as evidence of the ISIS' former loyalty -- a message to al Qaeda's general command from Abu Hamza al Muhajir, a Zawahiri loyalist who was a senior figure in the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) before being killed in 2010. "In this message, the ISIS emphasized 'its loyalty to the figures of the ummah as manifested in al Qaeda'," Adnani says, according to a translation obtained by The Long War Journal.

Adnani further explains that, in al Muhajir's message, the ISIS told al Qaeda: "You have the final say in leading jihad in the world. Although your organization has been dissolved in the ISIS land, you still have the final say in order to maintain the unanimous decision of the mujahideen and close their ranks." (Al Muhajir's group had not yet expanded into Syria, so Adnani's reference to it as the ISIS is anachronistic. It was the Islamic State of Iraq at the time.)

Adnani concedes that the ISIS' "emirs used to address al Qaeda as soldiers address their emirs, students address their mentor sheikhs, and juniors address their seniors." And he even admits that the ISIS has refrained from targeting the Shiite nation of Iran, because the ISIS was "acting upon the orders of al Qaeda to safeguard its interests and supply lines in Iran."

"Let history record that Iran owes al Qaeda invaluably," Adnani bristles.

The ISIS also has not operated inside Saudi Arabia or interfered in Egypt, Libya or Tunisia, so as to not "disobey the figures and leaders of jihad" in al Qaeda.

After saying that the ISIS has obeyed al Qaeda's directives in all of these ways, Adnani argues that the ISIS has not refrained from targeting Shiite civilians in Iraq, as repeatedly directed by Zawahiri. Adnani says the ISIS would have complied with this order if Zawahiri was its emir. But then Adnani immediately concedes, "We complied with your request not to target [the Shiites] outside Iraq, in Iran and elsewhere."

Still, Adnani insists that the ISIS was not under al Qaeda's command. He asks what assistance, financial or otherwise, al Qaeda has provided the organization, implying that the answer is none. Adnani claims that al Qaeda did not oversee the ISIS' operations. And Adnani argues that Zawahiri did not speak to the ISIS as an emir would until the disagreements in Syria erupted.

Demand for jihad throughout North Africa and Middle East

To quell the infighting, Adnani says, Zawahiri must "refute the allegiance" the Al Nusrah Front's Abu Muhammad al Julani has offered him. Zawahiri must declare all Shiites "infidels," according to Adnani, and he also has to declare the ruling regimes in several countries to be apostates.

Adnani's argument is curious because Zawahiri has repeatedly condemned the governments in at least some of the countries the ISIS spokesman mentions, including Egypt. The ISIS, however, does not like al Qaeda's calibrated approach to the post-Arab Spring world, in which al Qaeda sometimes uses tactics other than violence, including proselytization, to spread its ideology. Accordingly, Adnani wants al Qaeda to declare an open jihad in virtually every country throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

In the end, Adnani appeals to the other branches, or so called "affiliates," of al Qaeda. He requests "an official statement from all the branches of al Qaeda in all the regions stating their clear stances" concerning ISIS and its approach to waging jihad.