The Fedayeen-i-Islam claimed credit for yesterday's failed suicide assaults on two Pakistani airbases in Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan.

The two Fedayeen-i-Islam suicide assault teams targeted Pakistani Air Force Base Samungli, which hosts two squadrons of F-7 interceptor aircraft, and Khalid Army Aviation Base, which is also known as Quetta Airfield, in a coordinated attack. Two teams of heavily armed fighters attempted to breach the perimeter of the bases but were repelled by security forces, according to reports.

Eight fighters attacked Samungli and six more attacked Khalid. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, the public affairs branch of the Pakistani military, "5 Terrorists were killed outside PAF Base Smungli [sic] and 3 were apprehended," and "6 Terrorists were killed outside Khalid Army Aviation Base Quetta." The ISPR said that "a]ll PAF [Pakistani Air Force] and Army Aviation assets remained safe.

Pakistani officials claimed that all of the attackers appeared to be "foreign," or non-Pakistanis. Balochistan's home minister told Dawn that "[a]ll dead terrorists seem to be Uzbeks."

Jihadist groups on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have viewed air bases and airports as significant targets. Two of the more prominent attacks over the past several years include the Afghan Taliban's assault on Camp Bastion in Helmand in September 2012 (two US Marines were killed, and six Harriers were destroyed and two more were damaged); and the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's attack on Pakistani Naval Station Mehran in Karachi in May 2011 (10 Pakistani troops were killed, and two US-made P-3C Orion maritime surveillance planes were destroyed and another was damaged).

The last major attack on an airport in Pakistan took place on June 9, when 10 members of a suicide assault team struck Jinnah Airport in Karachi. All 10 attackers and other 18 people, including 11 security guards and four airport workers, were killed during the fighting. The airport was shut down for 12 hours as the fighting took place. Both the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan claimed the attack. The two groups have launched joint assaults in the past in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. [See LWJ report, IMU involved in suicide assault on Karachi airport.]

Fedayeen-i-Islam led by top terrorists in Pakistan

The Fedayeen-i-Islam is a subgroup of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, one of several Taliban groups operating in Pakistan. The Fedayeen-e-Islam is an alliance between the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, the anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and Jaish-e-Mohammed. The group is currently led by Ghalib Mehsud, a commander who was thought to be in the running to replace Hakeemullah Mehsud, the former emir of the movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who was killed in a US drone strike last year.

The Fedayeen-e-Islam's previous emir was Qari Hussain Mehsud, the notorious Taliban commander who trains child suicide bombers; his nickname was Ustad-i-Fedayeen, or the teacher of suicide bombers. He was involved in the May 2010 Times Square bombing plot as well as the December 2009 suicide attack against the CIA at Combat Outpost Chapman in Khost province, Afghanistan. [For more information, see LWJ report, Taliban eulogize Qari Hussain, chief of suicide and international operations.]

Other former leaders of the Fedayeen-e-Islam include Asmatullah Moaviya, the leader of the Punjabi Taliban who also serves as an al Qaeda "company" commander in Pakistan's tribal areas; and Qari Mohammad Zafar, the Lashkar-e-Janghvi commander who was wanted by the US government for his involvement in the Karachi Consulate bombing in 2006 and was killed in a US drone strike in February 2010.

The Fedayeen-e-Islam has been behind several major suicide attacks in Pakistan, including coordinated suicide attacks in Lahore and Karachi in March 2011 that killed 16 Pakistanis, and a suicide assault on a police training center in Lahore in March 2009.

The Taliban have praised the Afghan soldier who turned his weapon on a group of senior-level Coalition officers on Aug. 5 and killed a US Army major general and wounded more than a dozen troops. The Taliban described the insider, or green-on-blue attack, as "a heroic act" and called on other Afghan security personnel "to take advantage of their positions and their important functions in contributing in jihad against the disbelievers."

The statement was released on Aug. 13 in Arabic on Voice of Jihad, the official website of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," the name the Taliban used while ruling the country up until the US invasion after the 9/11 attack. The statement was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The Taliban said that Rafiqullah, the Afghan soldier who killed Major General Harold Greene, deputy commanding general of Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan, was a "martyr." Also wounded in the Aug. 5 attack at the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul was a German brigadier general, two Afghan generals, an Afghan officer, and eight American and two British soldiers.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers this attack a heroic act on the part of the martyred soldier, and a memorable pride for him, his family, and all the Afghan people."

The Taliban also encouraged other Afghan security personnel to turn on Coalition forces.

"We tell the rest of the soldiers, police, and security men in the Kabul administration to follow the footsteps of these heroes, and to take advantage of their positions and their important functions in contributing in jihad against the disbelievers," the statement concluded.

The Taliban did not claim credit for the attack, but praised it nonetheless, as the group seeks to encourage other members of the security forces to kill foreign forces and then defect if they survive.

Mullah Muhammad Omar, the leader of the Taliban, addressed the issue of green-on-blue attacks in a statement released in August 2012. In that statement, Omar claimed that the Taliban "cleverly infiltrated in the ranks of the enemy according to the plan given to them last year." He urged government officials and security personnel to defect and join the Taliban as a matter of religious duty, and then warned that "the day is not far away that the invading enemy will flee Afghanistan."

Omar also noted in 2012 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.]

The attack that killed Greene is the third reported green-on-blue attack in Afghanistan so far this year, and the sixth to have taken place in Kabul since January 2007, according to The Long War Journal's statistics.

The number of reported attacks on Coalition personnel in Afghanistan has dropped steeply since a high of 44 in 2012. Last year there were 13 such attacks. [For in-depth information, see LWJ special report, Green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan: the data.] The decline in attacks is due to several factors, including the continuing drawdown of Coalition personnel, reduced partnering with Afghan forces, and the adoption of heightened security measures in interactions between Coalition and Afghan forces.

The US killed three suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in an airstrike in a province in eastern Yemen where the terror group has been battling the government for control. The strike is the second by the US in Yemen in the past week.

"The three armed men were traveling in a vehicle along a desert stretch between Yemen and Saudi Arabia's border [in Hadramout province] when the drone shot two rockets at them. All three are dead," a local Yemeni official told Reuters.

No senior AQAP leaders or operatives are reported to have been killed in the drone strike. AQAP has not released a statement concerning the strike.

Yemeni officials, including President Hadi, have said in the past that only the US possessed the ability to strike at a moving vehicle inside Yemen.

The ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, Hadramout province has become an AQAP bastion over the past several years. AQAP has regrouped in Hadramout and other provinces after losing control of major cities in Abyan and Shabwa to government forces starting in late spring 2012.

In May 2013, the Yemeni government claimed it foiled a plot by AQAP to establish an Islamic emirate in Hadramout's Ghayl Bawazir area. In July of this year, AQAP distributed leaflets in Seyoun that said the jihadist group is establishing an emirate in Hadramout and will impose sharia, or Islamic law. Heavy fighting between the military and the government has been reported there in the past several months as AQAP seeks to hoist its flag over the province.

Background on US strikes in Yemen

The US has launched 16 strikes in Yemen so far this year. Today's strike is the first since Aug. 7, when the US struck a compound in the Wadi Abida area of Marib. Three AQAP fighters were killed in that strike, which was the first recorded in Yemen in two months.

The US launched 14 drone strikes in Yemen between March 5 and June 14. The timing of the strikes coincided with a Yemeni military offensive to dislodge AQAP from strongholds in Abyan and Shabwa provinces.

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 scheme, which led the US to close down more than 20 embassies and diplomatic facilities across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, involved AQAP emir Nasir al Wuhayshi, who now also serves as al Qaeda's general manager.

Between July 27, 2013, after the plot was disclosed, and Aug. 10, 2013, 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 AQAP's plan and take out its 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 video released earlier this year that featured Nasir al Wuhayshi, the terrorist leader 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.

Al Malahem Media, the official propaganda arm of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has released a new English-language magazine titled, "Palestine, betrayal of the guilty conscience." The slickly-produced publication was released online on Aug. 16 and, as a piece of propaganda, seeks to capitalize on anti-Israeli sentiment.

The magazine is similar to AQAP's Inspire magazine, which has encouraged jihadist recruits to carry out individual acts of terrorism. The authors of the 24-page production portray their message as being part of the same "school" of thought that has led to a long line of terrorist attacks against American and Israeli interests, including those planned by al Qaeda's senior leadership.

AQAP encourages jihadists to commit a new terrorist attack against American and Israeli interests, portraying the possible new attack as being consistent with a long line of other operations, including those planned by al Qaeda's senior leadership.

"The statements, views and strategies expressed herein are those in line with September 11, [the] Muhammad Merah Operation, the Brussels Museum Shooting and [the] Boston Bombings," the magazine reads. "This booklet is a collection of statements regarding this school plus a couple of ways to arm yourselves," it continues. "This work is prepared to help the reader find a way to support his Muslim brothers in Palestine and Gaza."

As in past AQAP publications, aspiring jihadists are given do-it-yourself instructions on how to build bombs. A section by the "AQ Chef" adapted from the first issue of Inspire shows how to build pressure cooker bombs like those used in the Apr. 15, 2013 Boston bombings. A photo glorifying the Tsarnaev brothers, the perpetrators of the attack, is included.

Another section, adapted from the 12th issue of Inspire, shows readers how to build a car bomb like the one used in the failed May 1, 2010 Times Square attack. That operation was carried out by Faisal Shahzad, who was trained by the Pakistani Taliban, and a photo of Shahzad accompanies the instructions.

AQAP provides a list of potential targets in the US and Britain where a car bomb could be deployed. The list includes specific locations such as Times Square, the Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Georgia, the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the headquarters for General Atomics in San Diego, California. General Atomics is a defense contractor that develops unmanned aircraft systems and sensors, among other products.

Confronting the imagined Zionist-Crusader conspiracy

AQAP's newest online magazine features the writings of prominent al Qaeda leaders and operatives, both deceased and alive, including Osama bin Laden and Abu Yahya al Libi. A piece by Samir Khan, an American who helped produce Inspire magazine before he was killed in a US drone strike, is also included.

One page includes quotes from Nasir al Wuhayshi, the head of AQAP and general manager of al Qaeda's operations. Wuhayshi's words are excerpted from the AQAP film, "Here We Start, And At Al-Aqsa We Will Meet."

Wuhayshi says that demonstrations are not enough to counter the Zionist-Crusader alliance, a conspiratorial motif that is often included in al Qaeda's propaganda. "No, demonstrations must be followed by explosions, and civil disobedience by military rage, and we must cut aid to the Zio-Crusader and kill those of the Crusaders whom we find on our land, and destroy Western interests until Europe and America stop their support of the Jews and stop the killing there and order their agents, the treasonous rulers, to open the border-crossings to Gaza and Palestine," Wuhayshi says.

Another AQAP leader, Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari, also stresses the importance of confronting the imagined Zionist-Crusader conspiracy. Nadhari's statement first appeared in an audio message released earlier this year. The "cursed state of Jews is nothing without the American aid and support," Nadhari says. "The Jews and the Americans are sharing the same trench in fighting the Muslim ummah [community]. So it is incumbent upon all Muslims to fight this Zio-Crusader enemy who has allied against the Muslim ummah."

"The same way Muslims are obliged to fight and repel the Zionist Jews, they are obliged to fight America and their allies, the allies of the Jews in the killing of Muslims," Nadhari argues.

Nadhari is a prominent AQAP ideologue whose writings have also been featured in al Qaeda publications focusing on the jihad in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A spokesman for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's branch in the tribal agency of Mohmand has claimed that the group executed the recent suicide assaults on two Pakistani airbases in Quetta in conjunction with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

The statement was issued by Ihsanullah Ihsan, spokesman for Omar Khalid Khorasani, the leader of the Taliban in Mohmand, and published on the Twitter feed of Omar Khorasani, the leader's "Personal Assistant." The full statement is republished at the end of this article.

"[A] martyrdom operation took place between the night of 14th August and 15th August, by 16 Martyrdom Operators of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Jamaat-ul-Ahrar), Mehsud Division and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, attacked 2 airbases in Quetta," read the statement, which was released in English. "This attack started from 11:00 at night and carried on till early next morning. In the last news we received it was reported that 1 ammunition depot was destroyed, 2 jets were destroyed and around 35 security officials were killed."

The Taliban also said the group would "avenge the atrocities being carried out in Waziristan and upon the rest of the Pakistan people," referring to the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan that is targeting select jihadist groups, including the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Pakistani officials said that the coordinated suicide assaults on Pakistani Air Force Base Samungli, which hosts two squadrons of F-7 interceptor aircraft, and Khalid Army Aviation Base, were carried out by 14 jihadists, 11 of whom were killed and three were captured. The Pakistani military reported no casualties and said the suicide assault teams did not penetrate the perimeter of the base.

The attack on the Quetta airbases was initially claimed by a jihadist group known as the Fedayeen-i-Islam. [See LWJ report, Fedayeen-i-Islam claims suicide assaults on Pakistani airbases.]

Ihsan's statement does not contradict the Fedayeen-i-Islam's claim of responsibility for the attack, however. The Fedayeen-i-Islam is a mashup of jihadist groups that also includes elements from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

The IMU has conducted joint operations with the Taliban on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the past. The most recent joint attack in Pakistan took place on June 9, when the IMU and the Taliban launched a suicide attack on a terminal at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi that killed at least 18 Pakistanis, including 11 security personnel, and 10 jihadists.

In one of the more prominent attacks, IMU/al Qaeda leader Bekkay Harrach, who was also known as Al Hafidh Abu Talha al Almani, was killed while leading an assault on Bagram Airbase in May 2010. Harrach led a team of 20 fighters assembled from the ranks of al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, according to his martyrdom statement. Before his death, Harrach produced propaganda for al Qaeda in which he threatened to attack Germany.

The IMU has also claimed it executed the May 29, 2013 suicide assault on the governor's compound in Panjshir in concert with the Afghan Taliban.

Mohmand Taliban under command of able leader

Omar Khalid al Khorasani is a top leader in the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and is considered one of its most effective and powerful commanders in the tribal areas. He maintains close ties to al Qaeda and is believed to have given sanctuary to Ayman al Zawahiri in the past.

Khalid is also allied with Qari Zia Rahman, the dual-hatted Taliban and al Qaeda leader who operates in Pakistan's tribal agencies of Mohmand and Bajaur as well as in Afghanistan's provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. For the past six years, Rahman has eluded US efforts to kill him. Rahman has established and runs suicide training camps used to indoctrinate and train female bombers. [See LWJ report, Al Qaeda, Taliban create female suicide cells in Pakistan and Afghanistan]. In August 2011, Khalid claimed credit for a female suicide attack in Peshawar.

Khalid has been active in the Taliban's propaganda machine since the death of Osama bin Laden, and has been vocal in his support of al Qaeda. In mid-May 2011, Khalid vowed revenge on Pakistani and US forces for the death of Osama bin Laden, just two weeks after the Abbottabad raid that resulted in his death.

"We will take revenge of Osama's killing from the Pakistani government, its security forces, the Pakistani ISI, the CIA and the Americans, they are now on our hit list," Khalid said. "Osama bin Laden has given us the ideology of Islam and Jihad, by his death we are not scattered but it has given us more strength to continue his mission."

In early June 2011, Khalid said the Taliban have been behind the spate of attacks in Pakistan, and he again threatened the US.

"Our war against America is continuing inside and outside of Pakistan. When we launch attacks, it will prove that we can hit American targets outside Pakistan," Khalid said.

In the same interview, Khalid said that Ayman al Zawahiri is al Qaeda's "chief and supreme leader." He stated this more than one week before Zawahiri was officially declared emir of al Qaeda.

In March 2012, Khalid released a propaganda tape in which he said the Taliban seek to overthrow the Pakistani government, impose sharia, or Islamic law, seize the country's nuclear weapons, and wage jihad until "the Caliphate is established across the world." [See LWJ report, Taliban commander wants Pakistan's nukes, global Islamic caliphate.]

Khalid initially gained prominence during the summer of 2007, when he took over a famous shrine in Mohmand and renamed it the Red Mosque in honor of the radical mosque in Islamabad whose followers had attempted to impose sharia in the capital.

The Mohmand Taliban took control of the tribal agency after the Pakistani government negotiated a peace agreement with the extremists at the end of May 2008. The deal required the Taliban to renounce attacks on the Pakistani government and security forces. The Taliban said they would maintain a ban on the activities of nongovernmental organizations in the region but agreed not to attack women in the workplace as long as they wore veils. Both sides exchanged prisoners.

The Taliban promptly established a parallel government in Mohmand. Sharia courts were formed, and orders were given for women to wear the veil in public. "Criminals" were rounded up and judged in sharia courts. Women were ordered to have a male escort at all times and were prevented from working on farms. The Taliban also kidnapped members of a polio vaccination team.

In July 2008, Khalid became the dominant Taliban commander in Mohmand after defeating the Shah Sahib group, a rival pro-Taliban terror group with ties to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Pakistani military claimed it killed Khalid in January of 2009, but the Taliban denied the report, and he has since surfaced.

The Pakistani government placed a $123,000 bounty on Khalid's head in 2009. But Pakistan has failed not only to arrest or kill Khalid, it has yet to capture or kill any of the terrorist leaders on that bounty list. The US succeeded in killing Baitullah Mehsud, who topped the list, in a drone strike in South Waziristan in August 2009, and Hakeemullah Mehsud, Baitullah's successor, in another strike in November 2013.

Omar Khorasani's tweet and Ihsanullah Ihsan's full statement:

statement regarding Quetta Air Base Attack. pic.twitter.com/A6DZQ9gmu0

— Omar Khorasani (@OmarAlkhorasani) August 15, 2014

The US State Department today added two jihadists to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists; one is the spokesman for the Islamic State, and the other supports the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria.

State added Said Arif, an Algerian national who fled France in 2013 while under house arrest to join the Al Nusrah Front, and Abu Mohammed al Adnani, a Syrian who is the Islamic State's top propagandist.

Said Arif

Arif, whose real name is Omar Gharib, has been involved with al Qaeda and other jihadist movements since the early 1990s. He is wanted by both the French and Algerian governments.

"Arif is an Algerian army officer deserter, who travelled to Afghanistan in the 1990s, where he trained in al Qaeda camps with weapons and explosives," the State Department said in a press release announcing the designations. "Arif is a long-time terrorist who was a suspect in the al Qaeda December 2000 plot to bomb the Strasbourg Christmas market."

He is said to have traveled to Pakistan, the Panski Gorge in Georgia, and then Syria, where he worked with al Qaeda in Iraq emir Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Syrian security forces detained Arif and deported him to France in 2004.

French authorities prosecuted Arif and 25 other members of the "Chechen Network," a group of jihadists from France and North Africa who trained with Chechen rebels, in 2006.

"In 2002 the Chechen Network was accused of plotting to blow up the Eiffel Tower and conduct chemical attacks and attacks on malls and police stations in France," State said. Arif was convicted aiding terrorist groups and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"Arif publicly declared that al Qaeda was planning to attack an American military base in Spain using chemical weapons," State said.

In 2012, he was placed under house arrest. In October 2013, Arif disregarded the house arrest and fled to Syria, where he returned to al Qaeda's fold and joined the Al Nusrah Front.

Abu Muhammed al Adnani

Adnani, a Syrian national, serves as the "official spokesman for and a senior leader of" the Islamic State, the successor to al Qaeda in Iraq that broke with the global terror group after declaring a caliphate in Iraq and Syria in late June.

Adnani is the Islamic State's "main conduit for the dissemination of official messages, including [the Islamic State's] declaration of the creation of an Islamic Caliphate." He announced the formation of the caliphate and the rebranding of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham as the Islamic State on June 29. [See LWJ report, ISIS announces formation of Caliphate, rebrands as 'Islamic State'.]

State described Adnani as "one of the first foreign fighters to oppose Coalition forces in Iraq before becoming [the Islamic State's] spokesman."

Adnani has released several controversial statements as the Islamic State and its predecessor's spokesman. In February 2012, he called for jihadists in Iraq to slaughter the Shia, just as Abu Musab al Zarqawi's forces did from 2005 to 2007. He also threatened to attack the United States.

In May 2014, Adnani railed against al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and blamed him for the infighting between the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State. He also denied that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the Islamic State's emir, had sworn allegiance to Zawahiri. [Earlier this year, Zawahiri offered evidence that Baghdadi did indeed swear bayat]. Ironically, Adnani released a statement in 2011 praising Zawahiri after he succeeded Osama bin Laden.

Adnani's whereabouts are currently unknown. He is rumored to have been killed on July 24 after the Iraqi military launched an airstrike in Mosul that targeted a large gathering. His death has not been confirmed and the Islamic State has not released a martyrdom statement praising Adnani.

Designations follow UN blacklisting of six Al Nusrah and Islamic State operatives

The State Department's designations take place just days after the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2170, calling for "all United Nations Member States to act to suppress the flow of foreign fighters, financing and other support to Islamist extremist groups in Iraq and Syria." In addition, the Aug. 15 resolution demanded that "ISIL [Islamic State], Al Nusrah Front and all other entities associated with al Qaeda cease all violence and terrorist acts, and immediately disarm and disband."

The UN resolution also blacklisted six Al Nusrah and Islamic State operatives, including Arif and Adnani, and said they had been added to the UN Resolution 1267 al Qaeda Sanctions List.

The other four operatives blacklisted by the UN are, according to Reuters, Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al Charekh, a Saudi who serves as "a leading terrorist internet propagandist" and commander for the Al Nusrah Front in Latakia in Syria; Al Nusrah Front financiers Hamid Hamad Hamid al Ali and Hajjaj bin Fahd al Ajmi, who are both from Kuwait; and Abdelrahman Mouhamad Zafir al Dabidi al Jahani, a Saudi who "runs [the Al Nusrah Front's] foreign fighter networks."

Kuwait's UN envoy, Mansour Ayyad Al Otaibi, who expressed regret at the designation of the two Kuwaitis, assured that the blacklisting can be removed and will not be permanent. The UN designation notes that Kuwaiti designee Hamid Hamad Hamid al Al is associated with both the Islamic State and Al Nusrah. According to the Kuwait Times, al Ali "has collected large donations from Kuwait to support Nusrah Front in Syria, most notably for purchases of arms and equipment.. [and] also arranged travel for a number of foreign fighters to Syria."

The US military is launching airstrikes in support of the recent push by Iraqi special forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga to retake the Mosul Dam and surrounding towns lost to the Islamic State earlier this month. Invoking the War Powers Act, President Barack Obama said the strikes, which "will be limited in their scope and duration," are designed to protect US personnel based hundreds of miles downriver from the Mosul Dam.

The US airstrikes near the dam started on Aug. 16, when the US military noted in a press release that it was conducting airstrikes "near Irbil and the Mosul Dam." US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said the nine airstrikes, which "destroyed or damaged four armored personnel carriers, seven armed vehicles, two Humvees and an armored vehicle," were launched "under authority to support humanitarian efforts in Iraq, as well as to protect US personnel and facilities."

CENTCOM issued two more press releases on Aug. 17, both noting that airstrikes took place "near the Mosul Dam." CENTCOM said the strikes destroyed "ten ISIL armed vehicles, seven ISIL Humvees, two ISIL armored personnel carriers, and one ISIL checkpoint."

In the Aug. 17 press release, the military added that the strikes were launched "to protect critical infrastructure" and "support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish defense forces, who are working together to combat ISIL [the Islamic State]."

And today, CENTCOM said the military launched 15 more strikes in the Mosul Dam area. "The strikes damaged or destroyed nine ISIL fighting positions; an ISIL checkpoint; six ISIL armed vehicles; an ISIL light armored vehicle; an ISIL vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft artillery gun, and an IED emplacement belt," CENTCOM said.

Since the US air campaign around Mosul Dam began three days ago, American forces have conducted a total of 40 reported strikes: nine on Aug. 16, 16 on Aug. 17, and 15 today, according to The Associated Press.

Evolving US mission in Iraq

The missions of protecting "critical infrastructure" and supporting Iraqi Army and Peshmerga offensive military operations were not part of President Obama's initial reasoning for launching airstrikes against the Islamic State in northern Iraq. Obama authorized the use of force to protect minority Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar and halt the Islamic State's advance on Irbil, the capital of Kurdistan, where US personnel are based.

Obama invoked the War Powers Act in a letter to Congress that was released yesterday to explain the reasons for expanding the strikes to support offensive military operations by Kurdish and Iraqi forces.

"On August 14, 2014, I authorized the US Armed Forces to conduct targeted air strikes to support operations by Iraqi forces to recapture the Mosul Dam," Obama stated in the letter. "These military operations will be limited in their scope and duration as necessary to support the Iraqi forces in their efforts to retake and establish control of this critical infrastructure site, as part of their ongoing campaign against the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," which is now called the Islamic State.

Obama said further that "the failure of the Mosul Dam could threaten the lives of large numbers of civilians, endanger US personnel and facilities, including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and prevent the Iraqi government from providing critical services to the Iraqi populace."

The US air campaign appears to be having some success. The Peshmerga, backed by Iraqi Special Forces, SWAT units, and aircraft, are said to have retaken several towns and villages north of Mosul, including Batmay and Telskef.

Iraqi and Kurdish officials are saying the Islamic State forces at the dam have been been defeated, but the complex cannot be occupied as there are still IEDs seeded throughout. Fighting is said to be taking place on the west bank of the dam, The Washington Post reported. The Islamic State has denied reports that its forces have withdrawn from the Mosul Dam.

Up until Aug. 7, the Obama administration resisted entering the fray in Iraq. The US sat on the sidelines and resisted Iraqi pleas for air and other support as the Islamic State and its allies seized control of much of Anbar in January and then stormed through Ninewa, Salahaddin, and Diyala provinces beginning in June. Additionally, the Islamic State has consolidated its control of several provinces in Syria and entered into areas it lost there earlier this year.

President Obama had campaigned on withdrawing all US forces from Iraq by the end of his first term, and kept his campaign promise when he failed to negotiate a deal to keep US forces in country after December 2011. Obama referred to the Islamic State as the "jayvee team" in an interview with The New Yorker that was published in January of this year. Since then, the "jayvee team" has stormed throughout Iraq and Syria and has taken control of significant territory in both countries. This has forced Obama to reengage militarily in Iraq, even if only in the north.

The US government today added the Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) to the foreign terrorist organization list and labeled the group a specially designated global terrorist entity.

In its announcement, the State Department describes the MSC as "an umbrella group composed of several jihadist terrorist sub-groups based in Gaza" and notes that it "has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on Israel since the group's founding in 2012."

One of the group's first high-profile attacks came on June 18, 2012, when MSC fighters launched a cross-border attack on an Israeli construction site. One civilian was killed in the raid. The group dedicated the attack as a "gift" to Ayman al Zawahiri and its "brothers" in al Qaeda, adding that it was "retaliation" for the killing of Osama bin Laden. Addressing "Sheikh Zawahiri," the group said it was "continuing with our pledge of allegiance on the path of jihad."

In February 2013, the MSC released a video portraying one of the jihadists killed in the June 2012 attack as an al Qaeda "martyr." An online banner advertisement for the video included a picture of the MSC jihadist, as well as photos of lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and Anwar al Awlaki, the AQAP ideologue who was killed in a US drone strike.

On March 21, 2013, the MSC launched several rockets into Israel. The attacks coincided with a visit by President Barack Obama to the country. In advance of the president's trip, the MSC condemned the US and Israel on its social media pages, labeling Obama the new leader of the "Crusaders."

During a joint press conference held with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shortly after the MSC's rocket strikes, President Obama mentioned the attacks. "We saw the continuing threat from Gaza again overnight, with the rockets that targeted Sderot," Israel, Obama said. "We condemn this violation of the important cease-fire that protects both Israelis and Palestinians -- a violation that Hamas has a responsibility to prevent."

While Obama said that Hamas should prohibit such violence, he did not outright accuse the group of launching the rockets. And indeed the MSC claimed responsibility, calling the president a "Roman dog."

The MSC also claimed rocket attacks against Israel in April and August of 2013.

"In addition to these physical attacks," the State Department notes, "the MSC released a statement in February 2014 declaring support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," or ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham).

The MSC's statement of support for the ISIS was dated Feb. 2, the same day that al Qaeda's general command disowned the ISIS. In its statement, the MSC blamed the ISIS' rivals in Syria for the infighting between jihadists. In a string of tweets that were also written on Feb. 2, the MSC defended the ISIS after the group rejected an initiative by Sheikh Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, who had attempted to broker a peace deal between the ISIS and its jihadist foes.

Although the MSC's statement of support for the ISIS shows that some of the group's members have been in the ISIS camp, the current status of the relationship between the two jihadist organizations is unclear. It does not appear that the MSC has sworn allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of ISIS, which was rebranded as simply the Islamic State in late June. At the time, Baghdadi's supporters declared that he ruled as "Caliph Ibrahim" over a caliphate that stretches across much of Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State has demanded the allegiance of all other jihadist groups as part of its caliphate claim.

Interestingly, the same month that the MSC expressed its support for Baghdadi's organization, the group also issued statements mourning the deaths of al Qaeda "martyrs." One of them was Abu Khalid al Suri, who served as Ayman al Zawahiri's chief representative in Syria before he was killed in late February 2014. It is widely suspected that the ISIS was responsible for al Suri's death, as the al Qaeda veteran was a prominent critic of Baghdadi and his followers.

One day after suffering a defeat at the Mosul dam by the Peshmerga and US and Iraqi forces, the Islamic State and its allies beat back an Iraqi Army assault that was designed to retake control of the central city of Tikrit. The Islamic State and its allies have now repelled three Iraqi military attempts to regain Tikrit, the capital of Salahaddin province, which has been out of government control for more than two months.

Earlier this morning, Iraqi forces launched "a wide military campaign to liberate the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State," All Iraq News Agency reported. "The security forces will liberate the city and eliminate the ISIL [Islamic State] terrorists," an Iraqi official told the news agency.

But the Iraqi forces, which attacked Tikrit from several directions, broke off their assault by the afternoon after taking "heavy machine gun and mortar fire" from the south, and encountering "landmines and snipers" west of the city, Reuters reported.

"Residents of central Tikrit said by telephone that Islamic State fighters were firmly in control of their positions and patrolling the main streets," Reuters noted.

The Islamic State and its Baathist allies in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit have defeated two other attempts by the Iraqi military and supporting militias to reestablish government control of the provincial capital, which fell to the Islamic State and its allies on June 11.

At the end of June, Iraqi forces air assaulted into Tikrit University to the north of the city while ground forces advanced from the south. That offensive stalled and Iraqi forces withdrew from the city after heavy fighting.

And on July 15, Iraqi soldiers and supporting militias advanced on the city from the south, but withdrew one day later after being drawn into a deadly complex ambush that included IED traps, suicide bombers, and snipers.

The latest failed Tikrit offensive highlights the poor state of the Iraqi armed forces. The military has often been forced to cobble together units since at least four of Iraq's 16 regular army divisions are no longer viable. The Long War Journal estimates that at least seven divisions have been rendered ineffective since the beginning of the year [see Threat Matrix report, US advisers give dark assessment of state of Iraqi military].

In many areas of Iraq, the military is fighting alongside poorly trained militias who are ill-suited to conducting offensive operations. Additionally, SWAT and special forces, while highly trained and likely more motivated than regular forces, are often being misused as infantry.

The Iraqi military and the government have been unable to regain control of large areas lost in Ninewa, Salahaddin, and Diyala provinces after the Islamic State and its allies began their offensive on June 10. Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and other major towns and cities in northern and central Iraq are firmly under the control of the Islamic State or contested.

The Islamic State also holds most of Anbar as well as northern Babil province. Fallujah and other cities and towns fell after the Islamic State went on the offensive in Anbar at the beginning of January. The Iraqi military has been unable to retake areas in Anbar lost earlier this year. Half of Ramadi, the provincial capital, is said to be under the Islamic State's control. The military recently airlifted 4,000 militiamen to Ramadi, a further indication that the two Iraqi divisions stationed in Anbar, the 1st and the 7th, are no longer cohesive fighting forces.

The only places where the Islamic State and its allies have lost ground are in some areas of northern Iraq where they encroached into territory controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga. Earlier this month, the Islamic State took over the Mosul Dam, the city of Sinjar, and a series of towns and villages north and east of Mosul after the Peshmerga retreated, often without a fight. The Peshmerga recently retook the Mosul Dam and those same villages, but only after the US military intervened and launched a series of airstrikes that targeted Islamic State armored personnel carriers, technicals, convoys, mortar pits, and other military targets.

The Islamic State beheaded an American reporter who was captured in Syria in 2012, and threatened to kill another if the US military does not halt its air campaign against the jihadist group in northern Iraq.

Today the Islamic State posted a video of the beheading of James Wright Foley, a journalist who was captured by the group in Binesh, Syria on Nov. 22, 2012. The English-language video, which is titled "A Message to America," was released by the Al Furqan Media Foundation, a media arm of the Islamic State, and obtained by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The video begins with a clip of President Barack Obama explaining the reasoning for the US military's re-engagement in Iraq. Then, the video cuts to Foley, whose hands are cuffed behind his back and is wearing an orange jumpsuit, and an Islamic State fighter dressed in black.

Foley blames the United State for his death because it launched airstrikes against the Islamic State, and urges his brother, who is in the US Air Force, to quit the military.

"I guess all in all, I wish I wasn't an American," Foley says just before the Islamic State fighter brandishes a knife and begins to saw off his head.

The video then shows Foley's body on the ground, with his head placed on top of it.

Before he beheads Foley, the Islamic State executioner says, in non-native English with a British accent, that the American journalist is to be killed because the US attacked Muslims in Iraq. The Islamic State fighter also says that the US is now fighting "an Islamic Army."

"You're no longer fighting an insurgency, we are an Islamic army and a State that has been accepted by a large number of Muslims worldwide, so effectively, any aggression towards the Islamic State is an aggression towards Muslims from all walks of life who have accepted the Islamic Caliphate as their leadership," he says.

"So any attempt by you, Obama, to deny the Muslims their rights of living in safety under the Islamic Caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people."

After beheading Foley and displaying his mutilated corpse, the Islamic State fighter then appears with Steven Joel Sotloff, another American journalist who was captured in Syria on Aug. 4, 2013.

"The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision," the Islamic State fighter says as he grasps the collar of the orange jumpsuit worn by a terrified Sotloff.

The Islamic State is clearly seeking to deter the United States from conducting further airstrikes in Iraq. The US began airstrikes against the Islamic State on Aug. 7 after President Obama directed the military to halt the Islamic State's advance on Irbil, the Kurdish capital, and support humanitarian operations to the Yazidi minority trapped on Mount Sinjar. US military operations were expanded on Aug. 15 by Obama to support a Kurdish offensive to retake the Mosul Dam and surrounding villages. The US military has destroyed numerous Islamic State armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles, artillery pieces, technicals and pickup trucks, and fixed fighting positions in the airstrikes.

The US military attempted to rescue "a number of American hostages held in Syria by the Islamic State," the Department of Defense's spokesman said today. The rescue attempt failed as the hostages were not at the location of the raid.

"The United States attempted a rescue operation recently to free a number of American hostages held in Syria by the [Islamic State,or ISIL]," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement released on the Department of Defense's website. "This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL. Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location."

The exact location of the raid inside Syria, which took place early this summer, was not disclosed by the US military.

Kirby indicated that top tier US special operations forces -- two squads of Army Delta Force -- were involved in the rescue operation, according to The New York Times. "In this case, we put the best of the United States military in harms' way to try and bring our citizens home," Kirby said.

One soldier was wounded in the raid. Kirby indicated that the military will continue to seek to free the US hostages.

"The United States government uses the full breadth of our military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring people home whenever we can," he said. "The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will work tirelessly to secure the safety of our citizens and to hold their captors accountable."

The Islamic State is known to hold one American journalist, Steven Joel Sotloff, who was captured near the Syria-Turkey border in August 2013. Kirby was clear that there are multiple hostages. At least three other Americans, Austin Tice, and two others who have not been named at the request of their families, are known to have disappeared in Syria. A US intelligence official told The Long War Journal that Tice and the other two Americans are also being held by the Islamic State.

The US has launched at least one other special operations raid in Syria since 2008. In October 2008, special operations forces killed Abu Ghadiya, a senior al Qaeda leader who has been in charge of the group's Syrian network since 2005, and several aides during a raid in Albu Kamal. The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, has named a training camp after Abu Ghadiya.

Military continues airstrikes against Islamic State despite threats

The military's announcement of the hostage rescue operation took place just one day after the Islamic State beheaded James Wright Foley, an American journalist who was captured by the group in Binesh, Syria on Nov. 22, 2012. A videotape of the execution was released on the Internet.

The Islamic State has threatened to kill Soltoff if the US does not end the airstrikes against the jihadist group in northern Iraq.

"The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision," Foley's executioner said as he grasped the collar of the orange jumpsuit worn by a terrified Sotloff.

But the US military said today that it is continuing air operations in Iraq. In a press release issued by US Central Command, the military said it executed 14 airstrikes against Islamic State "terrorists in support of Iraqi security force operations, using fighter, remotely piloted and attack aircraft."

"The strikes destroyed or damaged six ISIL Humvees, three IED emplacements, one mortar tube, and two armed trucks," CENTCOM said.

CENTCOM confirmed that the US military has launched "a total of 84 airstrikes across Iraq ... and of those 84 strikes, 51 have been in support of Iraqi forces near the Mosul Dam."

The US military has aided the advance of the Iraqi military and Kurdish Peshmerga to retake the Mosul Dam and nearby towns after the Peshmerga retreated after putting up little opposition in early August.

Earlier today, US Secretary of State John Kerry referred to the Islamic State as "evil" in a statement condemning the execution of Foley.

The US Treasury Department has added a Taliban hawala, or money exchange, that is based in Pakistan, its owner, and a Taliban commander to the US list of global terrorists and entities. The designations are part of the US government's effort to target the Taliban's financial network.

The Treasury designation, which was released today, added the Basir Zarjmil Hawala and its owner Haji Abdul Basir, along with a Taliban commander known as Qari Rahmat to the US government's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

The Basir Zarjmil Hawala and Haji Abdul Basir

The Basir Zarjmil Hawala "is based in Chaman, Balochistan Province, Pakistan," Treasury stated in its designation. Chaman, a Pakistani city that borders Afghanistan's Kandahar province, is known as a forward command hub for the Taliban operating in Afghanistan. Top commanders are known to live in Chaman and direct operations in Afghanistan from the city. [See LWJ report, Senior Taliban commander based in Pakistan detained in Kandahar.] Pakistani officials routinely look the other way as the Taliban conduct their business in Chaman and elsewhere in Pakistan.

"Taliban senior leaders in Quetta, Balochistan Province, Pakistan, and Chaman have preferred to transfer money to Taliban commanders through the Basir Zarjmil Hawala and the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar hawala, which the Treasury Department and the United Nations sanctioned in June 2012," Treasury stated. [See LWJ report, US Treasury targets money exchanges, owners, for funding Taliban, for more information on the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar hawala.]

Treasury stated that the Basir Zarjmil Hawala "distributed thousands of dollars to Taliban commanders in Chaman, and in 2012 it conducted thousands of dollars in transactions related to weapons and other operational expenses for the Taliban." Additionally the hawala has "made use of Pakistani banks to provide money to Taliban members."

Basir, the hawala owner, has "transferred money to Taliban elders, and facilitated the travel of Taliban informants to Afghanistan, "[i]n addition to running the money exchange and serving as "the principal money exchanger for Taliban senior leadership in Pakistan."

Qari Rahmat

Rahmat, who "has been a Taliban commander since at least February 2010," is now the Taliban's leader in Achin district in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. He commands an estimated 300 fighters.

As part of his duties, he has directed attacks again the Afghan government and security forces as well as Coalition forces. He has served as a "facilitator who emplaced improvised explosive devices," and he "collects taxes and bribes on behalf of the Taliban," "provided lethal aid, housing, and guidance to Taliban fighters," and "provides intelligence information to the Taliban."

US has targeted Taliban's financial network in Pakistan in the past

Treasury's designation of the Basir Zarjmil Hawala and its owner are part of an effort by the US government to shut down the Taliban's financial support network that is based in Pakistan.

In February of this year, the US added Saidullah Jan and Yahya Haqqani, two senior leaders in the Haqqani Network, a Taliban subgroup, to the terrorism list for providing financial support to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Both Haqqani Network leaders traveled to the Gulf States to raise funds for the Taliban [See LWJ report, US adds 3 senior Haqqani Network leaders to terrorism list.]

In November 2012, the US added Rahat Ltd., a Pakistan-based hawala, and its owner, Mohammed Qasim, along with the owner and manager of the Quetta, Pakistan branch, Musa Kalim, to the list of global terrorist and entities. [See LWJ report, US adds Pakistani hawala, 2 Taliban financiers to terrorism list.]

And in June 2012, the US added the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange (HKHS) and the Roshan Money Exchange (RMX), and the owners of HKHS, Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai and Haji Khairullah Barakzai, to the terrorism list for supporting the Taliban. Both exchanges operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan. [See LWJ report, US Treasury targets money exchanges, owners, for funding Taliban.]

In April 2012, the US designated Mohammed Mazhar, the director of the Al Akhtar Trust, and Mufti Abdul Rahim, the leader of the Al Rashid Trust, for supporting al Qaeda and the Taliban. Both the Al Akhtar Trust and the Al Rashid Trust have provided material support to al Qaeda and the Taliban. [See LWJ report, US designates 2 Pakistanis for running al Qaeda and Taliban charitable front groups.]

In September 2011, the US designated Hajji Faizullah Khan Noorzai and his brother Hajji Malik Noorzai for aiding the Taliban. Treasury described Malik as "a Pakistan-based businessman who, with his brother Faizullah, has invested millions of dollars in various businesses for the Taliban." Faizullah's address is listed as Chaman. [See LWJ report, US adds 5 al Qaeda, Taliban, Haqqani Network, and IMU facilitators to terrorist list.]

Pakistan has done little to crack down on the Taliban and Haqqani Network financiers, who often work openly inside the country.

Pictured, from left to right: Aziz Haqqani, Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, Yahya Haqqani, and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Images from Rewards for Justice.

Yesterday, the US State Department's Rewards for Justice Program posted new rewards for five members of the Haqqani Network, the dangerous Taliban subgroup that operates in eastern, central, northern, and southern Afghanistan and is based in Pakistan.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational leader of the network, had his existing reward raised from $5 million to $10 million. This puts him in the top tier of wanted global jihadists. The other jihadists who have a $10 million reward offered for their capture are: Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, a.k.a. Abu Dua, the emir of the Islamic State; Mullah Muhammad Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban; Hafiz Saeed, the head of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba; and Yasin al Suri, the chief of al Qaeda's network in Iran. Only al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri has a higher bounty, at $25 million.

Rewards for Justice also posted new rewards of up to $5 million each for Khalil al Rahman Haqqani, Yahya Haqqani, Abdul Rauf Zakir, and Aziz Haqqani. Three of them have been designated by the US as global terrorists, and one has not been mentioned by the US in the past.

Khalil al Rahman Haqqani, Siraj's uncle, was added to the US' list of terrorists in February 2011. Khalil is a key fundraiser, financier, and operational commander for the Haqqani Network, and has been crucial in aiding and supporting al Qaeda's military, the Lashkar al Zil, or Shadow Army.

Qari Rauf Zakir, the head of the Haqqani Network's suicide operations in Afghanistan as well as the group's operational commander in Kabul, Takhar, Kunduz, and Baghlan provinces, was designated a global terrorist on Nov. 5, 2012. Zakir is considered to be a close advisor to Siraj, and also runs the network's training program.

Yahya Haqqani, a senior leader who has served as acting emir as well as a key financier and logistician, was designated on Feb. 5, 2014. He has close ties to al Qaeda, and often serves as a liaison with al Qaeda operatives in the region. He also supports Qari Rauf Zakir's operations.

Unlike the other four Haqqani Network leaders, Aziz Haqqani has not been designated as a global terrorist by the US government. He is described as "Sirajuddin's brother and is involved in logistical operations and command decisions involving cross-border attacks on ISAF and Afghan forces."

Additionally, Aziz "also plays a key role in HQN's [Haqqani Network's] operations in Kabul and in major attacks throughout Afghanistan." This means that Aziz is a senior leader in the Kabul Attack Network.

Background on the Haqqani Network

The Haqqani Network is a powerful Taliban subgroup that operates primarily in the Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia, and Paktika, but also has an extensive presence in Kabul, Parwan, Logar, Wardak, Ghazni, Zabul, Kandahar, Baghlan, Kunduz, and Takhar. In addition, the network has expanded its operations into the distant Afghan provinces of Badakhshan, Faryab, and Kunar, according to ISAF press releases that document raids against the network. In central Afghanistan, the Haqqani Network coordinates suicide operations and complex assaults with groups such as the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda, Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, in what ISAF used to call the Kabul Attack Network.

The Haqqani Network has close links with al Qaeda, and its relationship with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISID) has allowed the network to survive and thrive in its fortress stronghold of North Waziristan. The terror group has also extended its presence into the Pakistani tribal agency of Kurram.

In North Waziristan, the Haqqanis control large swaths of the tribal area and run a parallel administration with courts, recruiting centers, tax offices, and security forces. In addition, the Haqqanis have established multiple training camps and safe houses that are used by al Qaeda leaders and operatives and by Taliban foot soldiers preparing to fight in Afghanistan.

The Haqqani Network has been implicated in some of the biggest terror attacks in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, including the January 2008 suicide assault on the Serena Hotel, the February 2009 assault on Afghan ministries, and the July 2008 and October 2009 suicide attacks against the Indian Embassy.

The terror group collaborated with elements of Pakistan's military and intelligence service in at least one of these attacks. American intelligence agencies have confronted the Pakistani government with evidence, including communications intercepts, which proved the ISID's direct involvement in the 2008 Indian Embassy bombing. [See LWJ report Pakistan's Jihad, and Threat Matrix report Pakistan backs Afghan Taliban, for additional information on the ISID's complicity in attacks in Afghanistan and the region.]

In the summer and fall of 2011, the US and the Afghan government linked the Haqqani Network and Pakistan's intelligence service to the June 28, 2011 assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and the Sept. 13, 2011 attack on the US Embassy and ISAF headquarters. Shortly after the September attack, Admiral Michael Mullen, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused the Haqqani Network of being one of several "[e]xtremist organizations serving as proxies of the government of Pakistan."

In May 2014, the Haqqani Network orchestrated the release of five senior Taliban commanders who were being held by the US at Guantanamo Bay. All five Taliban commanders have extensive ties to al Qaeda. The five leaders were exchanged for Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier who abandoned his post in eastern Afghanistan and was held by the Haqqani Network for five years. The Taliban hailed the release of their five leaders as a major victory.

A short video released on Twitter on Aug. 21 features three fighters from the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, shortly before they head off to fight the Islamic State's forces north of Aleppo.

The Islamic State, which was disowned by al Qaeda's general command in early February and has been fighting Al Nusrah for months, seized a number of towns north of Aleppo earlier this month. According to some accounts, the group managed to capture 13 towns in a surprise offensive that began on Aug. 13, catching its jihadist rivals off guard. In recent days, the Islamic State has advanced on the town of Marea, which is considered a key hub for jihadist and Islamist groups opposed to Bashar al Assad's regime.

It is in this context that the Al Nusrah Front's video was produced by its so-called correspondents network. The video is titled, "Quick Words from Muhajirin and Ansar Heading to Repel the Aggression of the Kharijites." The title means that both foreign fighters (Muhajirin) and local jihadists (Ansar) are heading off to counter the Islamic State, whose members are described as "Kharijites," a derogatory term that refers to extremists who justify the killing of their co-religionists.

"We in the Al Nusrah Front only fight to raise the word of Allah, to make the oppressed triumphant," the first fighter shown in the video says. "We only fight to get rid of the enemy Bashar and his soldiers. We have come to fight them so that we can impose Allah's laws on the country. We have not come to oppress people, steal from people, or take their property ... we have come to impose Allah's laws."

The fighter's words highlight a key distinction between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State. Whereas Al Nusrah has focused most of its resources on opposing the Assad regime, and embedding itself within the insurgency, the Islamic State has concentrated on seizing territory, often at the expense of its fellow jihadists and other rebels. This land grab in Syria, coupled with its stunning advances in Iraq, has fueled the group's claim that it now rules over a caliphate with its emir, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, being called "Caliph Ibrahim." The Islamic State has demanded the loyalty of all other jihadists in service of its self-declared caliphate.

"I advise the members of the Islamic State, your emirs and sharia experts, I advise you to not listen to them," the first fighter continues. "They are misrepresenting the matter to you. They have said that we are apostates and that we are a community of apostasy .... By Allah, I ask you by Allah, come to us and give us one proof that we are apostates or that we have fallen into apostasy. We have not fallen into apostasy and we have not fought alongside the apostates or infidels, in any shape or form."

The fighter then calls on members of Baghdadi's organization to defect. "I advise you, oh Islamic State members, oh Islamic State soldiers, return to the truth. Leave this invalidity .... Leave your ways of fighting the mujahideen and Muslims in order to raise the word of al Baghdadi or Adnani." Abu Mohammed al Adnani is the Islamic State's spokesman and was designated by the US government as a terrorist on Aug. 18. Adnani is known for his fire-breathing rhetoric and fierce denunciations of the Islamic State's rivals, including al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri.

Addressing the foreign fighters who joined the Islamic State, the first fighter says, "Do not waste your immigration to the land of al Sham [Syria]. You have not come to fight the supporters of the religion and Allah or the soldiers of Allah, almighty. Allah almighty, thank Allah, has sent us to the land of al Sham so that we can fight the infidels." The fighter continues, "And now you have changed your location and are now fighting the mujahideen who have come to fight the enemies of Allah. I advise you, return to the truth. Listen to the clerics, they have talked about this issue. You are the ones in the wrong ... some of them have even deemed you khawarij. Listen to the words of the clerics, not those of your emirs or your sharia authorities."

The second fighter shown in the video says the Islamic State has "come to occupy land and make the spilling of blood and property of Muslims permissible and have started to fight Muslims in cold blood."

"They say that every Muslim who does not pledge bayat [allegiance] to Baghdadi is an apostate, and that is in contradistinction to Islamic law," the second fighter continues. "Who placed him a Caliph over the Muslims? Who even declared a caliphate? They by themselves declared a state and then declared a caliphate and began killing Muslims and making their blood and property and honor permissible [to violate]."

A third fighter promises to fight as long as it takes to thwart the Islamic State's advances. "We will remain in the north [as long as] we have to defend ourselves, with Allah's permission," the third fighter says. "We do not run away, with Allah's permission." To the Islamic State's jihadists, the Al Nusrah fighter says, "You have come to fight the mujahideen, lions of jihad who wanted to fight in Allah's cause, and you listen to your emirs and shari'a clerics. By Allah, on the day of resurrection Allah almighty will ask you why did you kill? And Baghdadi, Adnani, and any other sharia cleric among you can help you with this!"

Similar pleas from the Al Nusrah Front and others have not stopped the Islamic State's advances against their fellow jihadists. The Islamic State's rivals have suffered key defeats in eastern Syria, as Baghdadi's group has consolidated its control over a significant amount of territory.

It remains to be seen if the Al Nusrah Front and its allies can turn back the Islamic State's momentum in the intra-jihadist fighting, while also fighting Assad's forces.

Sanafi al Nasr is sitting on the far left in the picture above.

The US Treasury Department today imposed sanctions on two jihadists who act as "key financiers" for al Qaeda and the Al Nusrah Front, which is al Qaeda's official branch in Syria.

One of the two, Abdul Mohsen Abdullah Ibrahim al Sharikh, is a senior al Qaeda leader whose role in the terrorist network was first exposed by The Long War Journal in March. Sharikh is known as Sanafi al Nasr, or the "Cultivator of Victory." US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal that he leads al Qaeda's victory committee, which is responsible for al Qaeda's strategic planning and policy. [See LWJ report, Head of al Qaeda's 'Victory Committee' in Syria, for more background on Nasr and his al Qaeda role.]

Treasury does not note Nasr's role as the head of the victory committee, but it does say that he became one of the Al Nusrah Front's "top strategists" and a "senior" leader in the group after relocating to Syria in the spring of 2013. Prior to the move, Nasr served "as a key financial facilitator" for al Qaeda in Pakistan and then, temporarily, as the head of al Qaeda's network in Iran.

Along with "other al Qaeda fighters," Nasr moved to Syria just before the rivalry between the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State reached a boiling point. Nasr is fiercely opposed to the Islamic State, which has been disowned by al Qaeda's general command.

Treasury cites Nasr's prolific use of Twitter in its designation, noting that he "has used social media posts to demonstrate his aspiration to target Americans and US interests." His Twitter feed currently has almost 22,000 followers. Nasr has also used Twitter to provide updates on al Qaeda's leadership. In April 2013, he reported that Abu Ubaydah Abdullah al Adam, who served as al Qaeda's intelligence chief, was killed in a drone strike. And in July 2014, he tweeted that six of his "dearest comrades" were killed in an airstrike in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Nasr identified three of them as Taj al Makki, Abu Abdurahman al Kuwaiti, and Fayez Awda al Khalidi.

The Treasury Department also reveals new details about Nasr's role in al Qaeda's network in Iran. In "early 2013," Nasr served as the "chief of al Qaeda's Iran-based extremist and financial facilitation network."

Nasr held this position until Yasin al Suri, another senior al Qaeda figure, was allowed by the Iranians to resume his role in that same capacity. Al Suri was temporarily removed as the head of the Iran-based network after the US government exposed his position and offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture in 2011.

Like Nasr, another former head of al Qaeda's Iranian presence, a Kuwaiti named Muhsin al Fadhli, has also reportedly relocated to Syria.

In March, jihadists on Twitter, including Al Nusrah Front officials, falsely claimed that Nasr had been killed while fighting Bashar al Assad's forces. While Nasr was severely wounded in the fighting, he survived and made his escape from death known on his Twitter feed.

Nasr has long been included on Saudi Arabia's list of most wanted terrorists and extremists. According to US intelligence officials previously contacted by The Long War Journal, Nasr is one of Osama bin Laden's third cousins. He comes from a family of al Qaeda jihadists, and two of his brothers were once held at Guantanamo. Nasr's well-established jihadist pedigree and ties in the Gulf have contributed to his fast rise within al Qaeda's ranks.

Kuwaiti national also designated

A Kuwaiti national named Hamid Hamad Hamid al 'Ali was also designated by the Treasury Department today. Al 'Ali has "referred to himself" as an "al Qaeda commando," according to Treasury, and has raised funds for both Al Nusrah and its parent al Qaeda.

Al 'Ali "has raised tens of thousands of dollars to help" the Al Nusrah Front "purchase weapons and supplies as well as directed donors in Kuwait to send financial and material support to the terrorist organization." He has personally "traveled to Syria to deliver funds to" Al Nusrah and has also "used students in Kuwait to courier funds to the group."

In addition to his fundraising activities, al 'Ali has "facilitated the travel to Syria of individuals wishing to fight for" Al Nusrah and "provided these individuals with money to deliver to the terrorist organization."

Earlier this month, the Treasury Department designated three other financiers, at least two of whom are Kuwaiti nationals. The third has been linked to Kuwait and also works with al Qaeda's Iran-based facilitators. Kuwait grants jihadists a permissive environment in which they can raise funds.

On Aug. 6, the United Nations adopted Resolution 2170 condemning human rights abuses by extremist groups in Iraq and Syria and sanctioned six individuals associated with those groups. Both Sanafi al Nasr and Hamid Hamad Hamid al 'Ali have been added to the list of terrorists designated under the resolution.

Iraqi and Syrian towns and cities seized by the Islamic State and its allies. Map created by Patrick Megahan and Bill Roggio for The Long War Journal. Click to view larger map.

The Islamic State is close to cementing its control in the eastern Syrian province of Raqqah today after it overran the Tabqa military airport. The airbase is the last Syrian military stronghold in Raqqah.

Islamic State fighters "took control over wide areas of the airbase" after launching a massed assault earlier today, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A number of Syrian soldiers and allied "militiamen" withdrew "towards Athraya Area" after heavy fighting. Syrian warplanes attacked Islamic State fighters inside and outside of the airbase, indicating the military has lost control of the facility.

This Islamic State removed a nearby checkpoint to allow Syrian forces "an attempt to give the regime forces a path in order to retreat from the airbase and to avoid the violent clashes with them inside the airbase," the Observatory later reported. "The warplanes that were in the airbase of [Tabqa] have been towed to another airbase in the Syrian Badeya and to the Military Airport of Deir Ezzor."

The jihadists "took control" of the base "almost completely," the Observatory said in a later update.

The Islamic State took heavy casualties during the fighting. According to the Observatory, over 100 Islamic State fighters were killed and 300 more were wounded. Twenty-five Syrian soldiers were killed and dozens more were wounded.

The city of Tabqa, which is just north of the city, and the nearby Thawra Dam have been under the control of Islamist forces since February 2013. The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's branch in Syria, seized the city and dam, and control was transferred to the Islamic State sometime after the two Islamist groups split over the dispute over who controlled the jihad in Syria.

The Islamic State currently controls the city of Raqqah, the provincial capital and its de facto capital in Syria, and other towns and cities along the Euphrates River.

Earlier this month, the Islamic State defeated the 93rd Brigade of the Syrian Army. The unit was deployed from Idlib province to Raqqah in 2012 to reinforce the military's weakening position in the province. On Aug. 23, the Islamic State published a video of "its brutal execution of Syrian soldiers" captured during the fighting, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. One soldier was beheaded.

The Islamic State "had also reported the killing of an IS [Islamic State] media member, Abu Usama al Ansari, during the operation," SITE reported. "Footage shows one of the suicide bombers, Abu Hajer al Jazrawi, reading his will, and shows fighters storming the area and killing the soldiers it encounters." Based on his name, the suicide bomber appears to be a Saudi.

The Islamic State controls most of eastern Syria and has recently advanced further into Aleppo province, where it is threatening the Al Nusrah Front as well as the allied Islamic Front. In Iraq, the jihadist group controls much of Anbar, Ninewa, Salahaddin, and Diyala provinces, as well as areas in northern Babil.

The US began launching airstrikes against the Islamic State in the northern areas of Ninewa after ignoring pleas by the Iraqi government to help halt the advance of the jihadist group for the past year. The Islamic State first took over areas in Anbar
in January, then launched its blitzkrieg in the north in June. The US intervened only after the Islamic State seized the Mosul Dam and advanced into areas controlled by the Kurds. The airstrikes have helped the Kurds and the Iraqi military retake the dam and surrounding areas.

On Aug. 22, the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, posted a short video featuring nine captured members of Lebanon's security forces. Al Nusrah is using the kidnapped men in its propaganda war against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization that is fighting alongside Bashar al Assad's forces in Syria.

The video, titled "Who Will Pay the Price?," shows the nine hostages sitting on the ground in front of Al Nusrah's black banner. The first of the hostages to speak is a recruit who signed up to fight for the Lebanese army. He calls on the people in his home village to protest until all of Hezbollah's fighters are removed from Syria. If Hezbollah does not exit the Syrian war, he is made to say by Al Nusrah, all of the hostages will be killed.

A second Lebanese soldier then speaks, echoing the threat made by the first: Hezbollah must remove its forces from Syria, or the hostages will be killed. He says that he is a Shiite and he wants his family and all Shiites in Lebanon to protest against Hezbollah.

Two more soldiers then call on upon their family members and fellow citizens to blockade the roads in Lebanon, making it more difficult for the group to operate. One of them accuses Hezbollah of targeting Sunni families in Lebanon.

Another hostage says that Al Nusrah will answer every one of Hezbollah's operations in Syria with an attack against Shiites in Lebanon. And still another addresses Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, asking him if it is acceptable within Islam to kill Muslim women and children. Of course, al Qaeda and its branches have killed many Muslim women and children.

Toward the end of the video, the first hostage is shown again and he claims that he and his fellow hostages were not coerced into making their statements. Still another hostage closes out the video by praising Al Nusrah. The statements made by the hostages should not be accepted at face value, however, as the video is a propaganda ploy by Al Nusrah.

The hostages were all reportedly captured in early August, during intense fighting in Arsal, which is in northern Lebanon on the Syrian border. Interestingly, fighters from both the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State, the al Qaeda offshoot that is at odds with Al Nusrah, participated in the operations against Lebanese security forces.

According to Gulf News, the two jihadist groups are believed to be holding 28 hostages. Eighteen of them are being held by Al Nusrah, while the remaining 10 are being held by the Islamic State. In total, 26 of them have been identified. [For more on the hostages, and attempts to free them, see LWJ report: The Muslim Scholars Committee and the Lebanese tinderbox.]

In a continuing escalation of violence, Boko Haram has now taken its campaign to another level, seizing and controlling large swaths of land in Nigeria's northeast. The group's five-year rampage has killed over 10,000 people, and the government's declaration of a state of emergency last year in the northeastern states of Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa has done little to quell the violent insurgency. Boko Haram capped its recent takeover of Gwoza, a Borno town with a population of 50,000, by declaring an Islamic caliphate in the region.

Celebrating this achievement, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video over the weekend, which was obtained by AFP. In the 52-minute film, Shekau declares the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria, asserting that "[f]or us there is nothing like Nigeria but Islamic Caliphate." He does not mention the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi or his recent declaration of a caliphate.

In Boko Haram's latest video, Shekau is shown standing in front of three SUVs, wearing military fatigues with a Kalashnikov slung across his body, as he rants to the camera while holding a notebook in his left hand from which he reads. He claims: "Allah commands us to rule Gwoza by Islamic law. In fact, he commands us to rule the rest of the world, not only Nigeria, and now we have started." Filmed in what looks to be a forest clearing, the video does not clearly indicate whether Shekau is in Gwoza or at some other location.

As in other Boko Haram videos, Shekau appears flanked by four of his fighters who each stand at attention, wearing a mask and holding the muzzle of a rifle. He declares that Boko Haram is responsible for recent attacks in Abuja, Damaturu, Damboa, and other areas of the country, and thanks Allah for their success.

Shekau further declares that the areas of Nigeria under Boko Haram's control now constitute a caliphate, stating, "We are in an Islamic Caliphate. We have nothing to do with Nigeria. We don't believe in this name." The UN humanitarian office, OCHA, confirmed reports earlier this month that Gwoza was controlled by the rebels.

During the first week of August, Boko Haram stormed Gwoza, killing at least 50 people, and raising its flag over the area. At the time of the attack, there were no Nigerian forces present to protect civilians.

Gwoza and its surroundings are no stranger to Boko Haram. In February, 121 people were killed in the village of Izghe, and on May 25, over 20 churchgoers were killed in Gwoza town during a service. The following day, six churches were among many properties set alight in Gwoza by the insurgents. Gwoza's emir, Alhaji Idrissa Timta, was shot and killed by Boko Haram members in May. His successor, who is also his son, went missing in the Boko Haram attacks on Gwoza that occurred on Aug. 6.

Since early August, the Gwoza area has been subject to several more attacks. On Aug. 23, Boko Haram hit a police training academy outside of Gwoza for the third time this month. In the latest attack, at least 35 Nigerian police officers went missing. The Nigerian government has "refused to confirm whether the officers were killed in the raid, taken by Boko Haram, or had gone in hiding from the armed fighters," however.

The video also contains footage of Boko Haram fighters raiding villages, and Nigerian soldiers running away from the insurgents. Boko Haram members are shown walking alongside and behind several trucks and vehicles mounted with heavy machine guns. The video also shows that Boko Haram has more than one armored personnel carrier for its operations. And footage is included of Boko Haram fighters pillaging what looks to be a recently raided military base; the viewer is shown boxes of bullets and other ammunition, mortars, and other artillery being loaded into trucks.

In the latest message, Shekau vows to strike back at local community members who have joined vigilante groups in the region to protect themselves and their families. Going further, Shekau threatens:

And I swear by Allah that we will never stop killing you, because Allah commanded us to kill people like you. If we pity you and spare you, one day you will become infidels. So, to us, having pity on you is an act of disbelief. You can continue to run or hide your identities in women's attire, but we will get to you and remove the women's clothing off of you. Then, while you are shouting for mercy, we will strike, smash your heads and kill you all. Even if you don't do anything to us we will kill you .... We would do it even to avenge our brethren. You killed our brethren in large numbers.

He also vaguely threatens the United States, Israel, and France, saying: "Who is America in the sight of Allah? .... We don't fear you at all. .... We were the ones who carried out all these attacks. Not just Gwoza, all the attacks you see in Borno or any country we are the ones carrying them out. This is the life for us; it is our world and we are living it out.... This is the speech I have to make; which is a warning for worse things to come. Better submit to Allah before it becomes too late."

At the end of the video, Boko Haram includes gruesome footage showing approximately 20 men in civilian clothes lying on their stomachs with their hands tied behind their backs being executed by gunfire at close range. Two other men are beaten to death with shovels after they allegedly tried to escape dressed as women.

Responding to the video, the Nigerian military rejected Shekau's claims, releasing a statement on Twitter stating that Nigeria's "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Nigerian state is still intact." The military has also promised to mount an offensive in the northeast "soon."

In addition to Gwoza, several other areas in Nigeria's north, particularly in Borno state, as well as one town in Yobe state, are thought to be under Boko Haram's control

The video provides the first reported instance of Shekau referring to a larger caliphate, a term and goal frequently mentioned by Islamic terrorists around the world, but it may suggest that Boko Haram's aims are not exclusively local. In a video released last month, Shekau had voiced his support for Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, as well as for leaders of al Qaeda and the Taliban.

It is unclear whether Shekau's declaration of a caliphate in Nigeria amounts to an attempt to link his group to the Islamic State caliphate recently claimed in Syria and Iraq by al Baghdadi, or "if he is referring to a separate Nigerian caliphate."

Today the BBC reported that some 480 Nigerian troops have fled Boko Haram and crossed over the border into the Cameroon, and are being accommodated in the town of Maroa. The soldiers are said to have fled clashes with Boko Haram in the border towns of Gamboru Ngala and Banki in Borno state; the terror group killed over 300 people in Gamboru Ngala in May. The Nigerian military dismissed reports of a rout or mass defection and claimed the soldiers were conducting a "tactical manoeuvre."

A group of commanders from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan has broken away from the organization and formed Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. The creation of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a blow to the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, as a top commander from Mohmand and his followers are among those who have defected.

The announcement of the formation of the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan) was posted on the Twitter pages of Ihsanullah Ihsan, the former spokesman of the TTP, and Omar Khorasani, the "Personal Assistant" of Omar Khalid Khorasani, the former emir of the TTP in Mohmand. Omar Khalid was a senior leader in the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar released a lengthy video (1:25) that was published on YouTube as well as Ihsan and Omar's Twitter pages. The new group includes Taliban factions from the tribal agencies of Mohmand, Bajaur, Khyber, and Arakzai, and the districts of Charsadda, Peshawar, and Swat.

The group is headed by emir Maulana Qasim Khorasani, and Ihsan is its spokesman. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar's shura, or executive council, includes: Omar Khalid al Khorasani, the powerful commander from Mohmand; Mansoor Nazim Shura and Maulana Haidar from Arakzai; Maulana Adbullah from Bajaur; Qari Ismail from Khyber; Qari Shakil Haqqani from Charsadda; Mufti Misbah from Peshawar; and Maulana Yasin from Swat.

Qasim, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar's emir, says that "the leadership of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan is a victim of narrow, personal objectives."

One of the commanders "says the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan was formed for a purpose but the organization made mistakes and there were some internal differences," Arif Rafiq, an Adjunct Scholar at the Middle East Institute, told The Long War Journal. "So they are forming a new group to serve its original purpose of establishing an Islamic state."

Omar Khalid is a powerful commander who was in the running to take over the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan after the death of then emir Hakeemullah Mehsud in a US drone strike late last year. Omar Khalid is close to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, and has said that the Taliban seek to overthrow the Pakistani government, impose sharia, or Islamic law, seize the country's nuclear weapons, and wage jihad until "the Caliphate is established across the world." [For more information on Omar Khalid al Khorasani, see LWJ report, Quetta airbase attacks carried out by Pakistani Taliban, IMU.]

Omar Khalid al Khorasani's defection from the Movement of the Taliban has been telegraphed for some time. In February, he announced the execution of 23 Pakistani troops as the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan was engaged in negotiations with the government. The Taliban had called for all of its branches to halt attacks during negotiations.

The formation of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar indicates that some Taliban leaders either "see [TTP emir Mullah Fazlullah] as weak and want to have a more consolidated leadership of like-minded folks, or they took advantage of the fracturing and are now asserting their autonomy/independence," Rafiq said. Fazlullah has largely been silent since taking control of the Movement of the Taliban late last year. He is thought to be hiding along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and has been spotted in Nuristan several times.

The Mehsud branches of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which are primarily based in South and North Waziristan, are also "opposed to Fazlullah," Rafiq said. The Mehsud and the Taliban in Kurram are also said to have broken away from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, according to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.

Rafiq observed that "[t]his new organization seems to represent a rejection of Fazlullah's leadership and is an attempt to create a counter-umbrella organization."

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is the second splinter group to break away from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan this year. In February, Ahrar-ul-Hind, which is headed by Maulana Umar Qasmi, a former leader in the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was formed after the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan opened peace talks with the Pakistani government. The group claimed to be based in Pakistan's "urban areas." Less than one month after announcing its formation, Ahrar-ul-Hind took credit for a suicide assault on a courthouse in Islamabad.

Asad Mansour, the spokesman for Ahrar-ul-Hind, declared, "It is very clear that Shariah can never be attained through talks." [See LWJ report, Pakistani jihadists form Ahrar-ul-Hind, vow to continue attacks.]

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan was established in December 2007 with the goals of overthrowing the Pakistani government, establishing an Islamic state, and imposing sharia law. The group's first emir, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a US drone strike in 2009. The group is closely tied to al Qaeda and attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in New York City in May 2010.

The Islamic State released photographs that document its recent takeover of the Syrian Air Force's base in Tabqa in Raqqah province.

The photographs, which were published yesterday on the Internet, show the aftermath of the Islamic State's latest conquest against the Syrian military. Islamic State fighters overran the Tabqa airbase last weekend. [See LWJ report, Islamic State fighters assault last Syrian stronghold in Raqqah.]

Tabqa was the last bastion for Syrian military forces in Raqqah province, which is now fully under the control of the Islamic State.

The photographs from Tabqa show what appear to be the bodies of dozens of Syrian soldiers who were killed during the fighting. The Islamic State also provides images of several Syrian soldiers, including at least one pilot, who were captured during the assault.

One photograph shows seven captured soldiers kneeling on the ground as Islamic State fighters shoot them from behind. The Islamic State has previously released similar photographs of Iraqi soldiers who were executed by the jihadist group.

Additionally, the Islamic State published photographs of various weapons systems and munitions that were captured or destroyed during the takeover of the airbase. At least three MiG fighters, as well as anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons systems, tanks, and anti-aircraft guns, were seized or destroyed by the Islamic State.

Photographs from Tabqa

Islamic State fighters stand on top of a tank as the bodies of dead Syrian soldiers lie in the foreground:

An Islamic State fighter brandishes a knife in front of a group of captured Syrian soldiers:

Islamic State fighters execute captured Syrian soldiers:

An abandoned Syrian Airforce MiG fighter:

Two abandoned Syrian Airforce MiG fighters in a shelter:

Missiles seized by the Islamic State at Tabqa:

Crates of munitions now under the control of the Islamic State: