The spokesman for al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Usama Mahmood, has released a statement calling on all Muslims, including rival jihadist organizations in Syria, to unite against the US.

The statement, titled "American Aggression on Iraq and Syria...O! Muslims Unite for the Guardianship of Al-Haram," is dated Oct. 15 but was not released via Mahmood's official Twitter feed until Nov. 3.

"The attack on Iraq and Syria is not against a particular group or organization," the AQIS message reads, "instead it's an attack on [the] entire Ummah [worlwide community of Muslims] aiming to terminate every Islamic and Jihadi movement which aims to stand against the tyranny and believes in the establishment of Shari'ah."

The statement continues: "The objective of this attack is the defence of Israel, protection of the global rule of tyranny and the subjugation of the Muslims."

"Once again we call upon the Muslims worldwide to stand in support of the Mujahidīn against the American coalition and join this fard-al-ayn (absolute obligation of) Jihad to gain freedom, to protect their Deen, to guard their holy places and to establish the supremacy of Shari'ah," Mahmood's statement reads.

The AQIS spokesman addresses all of the jihadists in Iraq and Syria, saying that the only way the US can be defeated is if they unite. The Islamic State, led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, has been fighting against the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, as well as other jihadists, since last year. Mahmood does not name the Islamic State, which was disowned by al Qaeda's general command in February, or the Al Nusrah Front, but his message is clearly aimed at them and other jihadists.

"Also our message to the Mujahidīn of Iraq and Syria is that the elimination of American aggression is concealed in the brotherhood and union of all the Jihadi groups and organizations, reversion towards Allah (swt) and in fighting against this infidel coalition in firm ranks," Mahmood writes.

AQIS is the newest branch of al Qaeda's international organization. Al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri and other al Qaeda leaders announced the establishment of the group in early September. Shortly thereafter, AQIS claims to have attempted an audacious attack on Pakistani warships.

Mahmood's statement is the latest indication that al Qaeda is attempting to use the US-led coalition's airstrikes in Iraq and Syria to bring an end to the jihadists' infighting.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a regional branch of al Qaeda that is led by Nasir al Wuhayshi, who is also al Qaeda's global general manager, has repeatedly called on the rival jihadists to unite against their common enemies in the West. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), another branch of the global terrorist network, has joined AQAP in attempting to use the coalition's airstrikes as a basis for a jihadist truce.

Some of the Islamic State's fiercest al Qaeda-linked critics have also issued calls for unity. In late September, for example, a number of influential jihadists proposed a ceasefire between the Islamic State and its jihadist foes. The initiative was put forth by several well-known al Qaeda ideologues who have criticized the Islamic State in the past.

Critique of the Islamic State's caliphate

Even while calling for the jihadists to close ranks against the US, Mahmood implicitly critiques the Islamic State's claim to rule as a caliphate. When the Islamic State unilaterally announced its nascent caliphate in late June, the group demanded allegiance from all other Muslims. This caused further friction in the jihadists' ranks.

Mahmood lists "unity, brotherhood and cooperation" as the keys to "victory and success" when it comes to "the establishment of [the] caliphate."

Mahmood says the caliphate, which many jihadists say they are fighting to resurrect, must be "attributed with Shūra (mutual consultation)...based on the safety of wealth and blood of Muslims," and "a symbol of brotherhood and unity of Muslims."

In al Qaeda's view, the Islamic State's caliphate is none of these things. As AQIM officials pointed out in July, the Islamic State did not consult with recognized jihadist leaders before announcing its caliphate. And instead of leading to cooperation, the organization's land grab only exacerbated the tensions between Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's men and their counterparts in other jihadist groups.

Still, Mahmood argues, the jihadists' desire to resurrect an Islamic caliphate should lead them to focus on the West and its allies. "Therefore your guns should be pointed towards the enemy," Mahmood writes, immediately after describing what the caliphate should look like.

American "defeat" in Afghanistan, global jihad necessary

Mahmood concludes his statement by portraying the jihadists as the victors in Afghanistan. He also praises Mullah Omar, the head of the Taliban, for his leadership.

The AQIS spokesman gives "glad tidings of a humiliating defeat of America and its allies in Afghanistan and Khorasan after a period of thirteen years." For jihadists, the Khorasan is a region that covers much of Central and South Asia.

Mahmood says that the jihadists' victory "is a result of the blessed ongoing Jihad under the leadership of Amīr-ul-Mominīn Mullah Muhammad Umar Mujahid (may Allah protect him)." The title "Amīr-ul-Mominīn" means "Commander of the Faithful," a title that is usually reserved for the ruling caliph. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi has tried to usurp this title for himself.

Shortly after Baghdadi proclaimed himself to be "Caliph Ibrahim," al Qaeda reaffirmed its allegiance to Mullah Omar and released an old video of Osama bin Laden swearing bayat (an oath of allegiance) to the Taliban master. Thus, al Qaeda implies that Mullah Omar, not Baghdadi, is the rightful caliph.

AQIS emphasizes that while Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria are all important, the US is a global entity and must be confronted as such. "We also want to remind the Mujahidīn everywhere in the world that our enemy is arrayed against the Muslim Ummah all over the world," Mahmood writes. "Its [America's and its allies'] interests are spread all over the world."

It is necessary "to pay full scale attention" to the front lines in "Syria and Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia," Mahmood argues, but "targeting the interests of the enemy worldwide through the global movement of Jihad is the way of getting rid of this symbol of tyranny and violence."

Thus, AQIS wants the jihadists to unite against the US-led coalition, and to strike its interests anywhere they can.

A wanted al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader who was involved in last year's plot that forced the US to close more than a dozen diplomatic facilities across the world has been been killed in the yesterday's US drone strike in central Yemen. AQAP's emir for the central province of Baydah, where the jihadist group is battling encroaching Houthi rebels, was also killed in the same airstrike.

AQAP confirmed the deaths of Shawki Ali Ahmed al Badani and Nabil al Dhahab in an official statement released by by the group's media arm. The statement was obtained by the SITE Intelligence Group.

AQAP said that Badani and Nabil were killed "in an American Crusader bombardment from a drone on the evening of Monday, 10 Muharram 1436H, 3 November 2014," according to SITE. "The two knights, and with them, a group of their mujahideen brothers, were dismounted by three Crusader bombardments."

The US launched a drone strike yesterday in Radaa in Baydah province that hit multiple targets. At least 20 AQAP operatives were reported to have been killed. Initial reports indicated that two AQAP bombmakers, known as Ayyash al Eid and Ahmad Jarallah, were killed. Their deaths have not been confirmed. [See LWJ report, US drone strike kills 20 AQAP fighters in Yemen.]

The strike took place as AQAP has fought Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels who took control of the capital of Sana'a in mid-September and have since advanced into western and central Yemen. AQAP has fought pitched battles against the Houthis in Baydah; hundreds of people are reported to have been killed in the fighting. AQAP has capitalized on the Houthi advance to rally Sunnis to fight on their side.

The jihadist group accused the US of conspiring with Shia Houthi rebels to kill Badani and Nabil.

"The rockets of the American drones that killed the martyrs, Nabil al Dhahab and Shawqi al Badani, and their friend, raised the curtain on the truth of the American-Houthi enmity, which cannot be promoted or given but to the foolish and stupid; this bogus enmity in which the Houthis chew with the slogan of "Death to America, Death to Israel", it was smashed against the sound of American rockets," the statement said. "It [the US] fights with its spying and bombarding in one trench with the Houthis, side by side, against the Muslims in Yemen."

AQAP also said that the US is also cooperating with Shiites in Iraq who are supported by Iran to "repeat the Iraqi scene exactly, where the Crusaders and Rafidha [a derogatory term for Shiites] piled on top of them to kill, capture, and violate the honor of the Muslims in the Land of Two Rivers [Iraq]."

Targeted in the past

Badani has been targeted by US drones in Yemen at least once in the past year, with disastrous results. On Dec. 12, 2013, US drones attempted to killed Badani but accidentally killed 15 civilians as they traveled in a wedding party in Radaa in the central province of Baydah.

Nabil, who was the brother-in-law of Anwar al Awlaki, has also been targeted by the US over the past several years. In May 2012, Nabil and his brother Kaid were in the crosshairs of US drones, but survived the strike. Kaid served as the emir for Baydah before he was killed in August 2013; Nabil took his place as leader of the province.

Badani wanted for embassies plot

Badani is one of the most wanted AQAP operatives in Yemen. In July, the US Department of State added him to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists for his role in al Qaeda's network and involvement in terrorist plots in Yemen and throughout the world.

Badani "played a key role in a plan for a major attack in summer 2013 that led the United States to close 19 diplomatic posts across the Middle East and Africa," State said in its designation. [See LWJ report, US adds AQAP leader involved in embassy plot to terrorist list.]

The diplomatic facilities were closed after American officials learned that al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri had communicated, via a complex Internet-based system, with more than 20 al Qaeda operatives around the world. The al Qaeda terrorists reportedly discussed a possible attack on a US embassy or consulate. During the communications, Zawahiri also made it known that he had appointed Nasir al Wuhayshi, the head of AQAP, as the new general manager of al Qaeda's global operations. [See LWJ report, AQAP's emir also serves as al Qaeda's general manager.]

The US also linked Badani to a 2012 plot to attack the US Embassy in Sana'a as well as a suicide attack in the Yemeni capital May 2012 that killed more than 100 Yemeni soldiers.

Badani has been described by the Yemeni government as one of "the most dangerous terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda." In 2013, the Yemeni government offered a reward of $100,000 for information leading to his capture.

This article has been updated to include information from a US Central Command press release that claimed the targeting of five Al Nusrah Front locations.

The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, has posted a series of photos allegedly showing the aftermath of the US-led coalition's airstrikes in Idlib. The photos were posted on a Twitter feed belonging to Al Nusrah's "correspondents' network." US Central Command later confirmed it launched five airstrikes against the so-called "Khorasan Group."

Since the airstrikes first began in Syria on the night of Sept. 22, most of the coalition's bombs and missiles have targeted positions, equipment, weapons and fighters belonging to the Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that is Al Nusrah's jihadist rival in Syria.

The US government announced on Sept. 23 that some of its initial strikes hit al Qaeda's "Khorasan group," which is led by senior al Qaeda leaders and has been plotting attacks against the West. The Khorasan group was embedded within the Al Nusrah Front, with some of the group's leaders doubling as officials in Al Nusrah.

Since those strikes against the Khorasan group, however, Al Nusrah's positions have not been in the coalition's crosshairs until yesterday. The jihadist group has not claimed that the coalition has bombed its fighters or facilities since Sept. 23, when Al Nusrah released a set of photos similar to those tweeted earlier today.

While the US and its partners have launched hundreds of bombings against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the US government had not, until today, announced any additional strikes against Al Nusrah since the first day of the bombing campaign in Syria.

That has changed. Today US Central Command issued a press release announcing the targeting of "five Khorasan Group targets in the vicinity of Sarmada, Syria, using bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft."

"We are still assessing the outcome of the attack, but have initial indications that it resulted in the intended effects by striking terrorists and destroying or severely damaging several Khorasan Group vehicles and buildings assessed to be meeting and staging areas, IED-making facilities and training facilities," the press release continued.

Al Nusrah claims that its photos, seen below, show one of its headquarters in Harem, a small city in the Idlib province that sits on the border with Turkey, after coalition missiles leveled it. Al Nusrah argues that civilians were the airstrikes' principal victims, but this is a self-serving claim.

Since late October, Al Nusrah has gone on the offensive against the Syrian Revolutionaries' Front (SRF), capturing several towns and villages from the rebel group. The SRF, which is backed by the West, and Al Nusrah have long been allied against Bashar al Assad's regime. But Al Nusrah turned on the SRF and its leader, Jamal Maarouf, in Idlib, accusing the group of attacking Syrian civilians. This was likely a pretext for Al Nusrah's advance on SRF-controlled positions.

It is not publicly known if the new round of airstrikes against Al Nusrah has anything to do with its recent fighting against the SRF in Idlib.

Al Nusrah Front photos purportedly showing the aftermath of coalition airstrikes in Idlib

The Long War Journal has identified three new training camps operated by jihadists in Syria. The camps are run by the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria; the so-called "Khorasan Group" within Al Nusrah; and a Chechen jihadist group known as Khalifat Jamaat. This brings the total number of jihadist camps discovered in Iraq and Syria to 42.

In an undated video posted to Facebook on Nov. 6, a camp affiliated with the Al Nusrah Front was shown in the Damascus countryside. The video is likely older as the group's logo in the upper right is no longer used in official propaganda. Nevertheless, Al Nusrah likely still runs the camp or one nearby as it still operates in the city and wider province.

The second camp is affiliated with the Khorasan Group, which is a group of veteran Al Qaeda operatives embedded within Al Nusrah (as such, Khorasan Group camps are labeled under Al Nusrah in the accompanying map above). US Central Command released a press statement saying that airstrikes targeted "IED-making facilities and training facilities" near Samarda, Idlib on Nov. 5, 2014.

The third camp is affiliated with a Chechen jihadist group called Khalifat Jamaat. According to From Chechnya to Syria, a website that tracks North Caucasian fighters in Syria, Khalifat Jamaat has an estimated 80 to 90 Chechen fighters in its ranks and operates out of the northwestern province of Latakia. This group split from the Islamic Front's Ansar Sham earlier this year. Its leader, Abdul Hakim Shishani, is a veteran of the fighting in Chechnya.

Jihadist camps in Iraq and Syria

Since the beginning of 2012, a total of 42 camps have been identified as being operational at some point, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. Information on the camps has been obtained from jihadist videos, news accounts, and US military press releases that note airstrikes against the training facilities. It is unclear if all of the training camps are currently in operation. In addition, this analysis is compiled using publicly-available evidence. It is likely that some training camps are not advertised.

Of those camps, 31 have been located in Syria and 11 in Iraq.

The Islamic State has operated 22 camps (12 in Syria and 10 in Iraq). The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch, has operated nine camps in Syria. Various allied jihadist groups, including Ansar al Islam, Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, and Junud al Sham, have operated 11 camps (10 in Syria and one in Iraq).

Historically, al Qaeda has used its training facilities to fuel local insurgencies while selecting individuals from the pool of trainees to conduct attacks against the West. [See LWJ report, Jihadist training camps proliferate in Iraq and Syria, for more information on the camps; and Islamist foreign fighters returning home and the threat to Europe, on the threat that jihadists training at camps in Iraq and Syria pose to the West.]

US Central Command [CENTCOM] attempted to distinguish between the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, and the so-called Khorasan Group in yesterday's's press release that detailed airstrikes in Syria.

CENTCOM, which directs the US and coalition air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, denied that the five airstrikes targeted "the Nusrah Front as a whole" due to its infighting with the Syrian Revolutionaries' Front, but instead claimed the attacks were directed at the Khorasan Group.

"These strikes were not in response to the Nusrah Front's clashes with the Syrian moderate opposition, and they did not target the Nusrah Front as a whole," CENTCOM noted in its press release.

The CENTCOM statement goes a step further by implying that the Al Nusrah Front is fighting against the Syrian government while the Khorasan Group is hijacking the Syrian revolution to conduct attacks against the West.

"They [the US airstrikes] were directed at the Khorasan Group whose focus is not on overthrowing the Asad regime or helping the Syrian people," CENTCOM continues. "These al Qaeda operatives are taking advantage of the Syrian conflict to advance attacks against Western interests."

Before stating this, CENTCOM noted that members of Al Nusrah are part of the Khorasan Group.

"The Khorasan Group is a term used to refer to a network of Nusrah Front and al Qaeda core extremists who share a history of training operatives, facilitating fighters and money, and planning attacks against U.S. and Western targets," CENTCOM said.

However the Al Nusrah Front disagrees with CENTCOM's attempt to draw distinctions between the Khorasan Group and "the Nusrah Front as a whole." In a series of tweets from its media branch in Idlib, where the strikes took place, Al Nusrah decried the attacks as being directed against the group. Al Nusrah released photographs purporting to show a headquarters and some of its infrastructure that were destroyed in the airstrikes. [See LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front tweets photos allegedly showing aftermath of coalition airstrikes.]

CENTCOM's attempt to distinguish between the Al Nusrah Front and the Khorasan Group is curious given that some of Nusrah's top leaders are seasoned al Qaeda leaders who are also top officials in the Khorasan Group. Among them are Muhsin al Fadhli, a Kuwaiti who started working with Al Nusrah in 2013, and an al Qaeda leader known as Sanafi al Nasr.

Fadhli was a target of the first wave of US airstrikes in Syria, which killed Abu Yusuf al Turki, a senior jihadist who was suspected of taking part in an al Qaeda plot to assassinate President George W. Bush at a NATO summit in 2004. Al Turki trained snipers for the Al Nusrah Front, but his career began years before Al Nusrah was even established.

Sanafi al Nasr is a good example of just how integrated the Al Nusrah Front is with other parts of al Qaeda's international network. Nasr leads a strategic planning committee for al Qaeda's senior leadership and also serves at the highest levels of Al Nusrah. The US Treasury Department has described Nasr as one of the Al Nusrah Front's "top strategists" and a "senior" leader in the group. Nasr is involved in both Al Nusrah's fight against the Assad regime and the planning of mass casualty attacks in the West. [For more on Sanafi al Nasr, see LWJ report: Treasury designates 2 'key' al Qaeda financiers, Head of al Qaeda's 'Victory Committee' in Syria and Senior al Qaeda strategist part of so-called 'Khorasan group'.]

The Al Nusrah Front itself is an official al Qaeda branch. Abu Mohammed al Julani, Nusrah's emir, has sworn allegiance to al Qaeda's leader, Ayman al Zawahiri. And when Zawahiri sided with Nusrah in its dispute with the rival Islamic State, Zawahiri assigned Syria to the Al Nusrah Front.

The US recognizes the Al Nusrah Front as an official terrorist group. In December 2012, the State Department listed it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization [FTO]. Additionally, two Al Nusrah operates were listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

In the 2012 FTO designation, State noted that the Al Nusrah Front itself was "an attempt" by al Qaeda "to hijack" the Syrian revolution.

"Al Nusrah has sought to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition while it is, in fact, an attempt by AQI [al Qaeda in Iraq, the founder of the Al Nusrah Front] to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes," State continued.

Today, CENTCOM implied that the Al Nusrah Front was fighting the Assad regime whereas the Khorasan group is attempting to hijack the Syrian civil war. The truth is that there is no firm dividing line between Al Nusrah's role in the anti-Assad fight and its anti-Western designs. The Khorasan group is merely a group of senior al Qaeda leaders who are embedded within Al Nusrah, and they have been attempting to identify Western recruits who joined the fight in Syria but can be repurposed for attacks in their home countries or elsewhere abroad.

This is entirely consistent with al Qaeda's modus operandi elsewhere. Al Qaeda is principally an insurgency organization, which seeks to challenge and supplant various governments throughout the Muslim-majority world. Its regional branches, such as Al Nusrah and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), will continue to devote some part of their resources to attacking the West.

That is, al Qaeda is devoted to both guerrilla warfare and plotting spectacular terrorist attacks in the Western world. It does not make sense to pretend that there is some wide gulf between these two objectives. After all, al Qaeda's so-called Khorasan group is pursuing both aims at the same time. CENTCOM is wrong to suggest, therefore, that the Khorasan group is substantively different from Al Nusrah. Both are simply al Qaeda.

Berlin -- The small Central European country of Austria has recently made headlines because of its jihadi teenagers who have gone to fight in Syria. But Austria's radical Islam problem stretches beyond the Islamic State's recruitment of young Austrian men and women. The Alpine state has become a hub of extremism that includes not only Islamic State terrorism but also Iranian nuclear proliferation activities as well as active support for Hamas.

Islamic State activity in Austria

"ISIS: Austria is terror hotspot," ran the headline of an interview published in September by the Österreich newspaper's online news outlet.

In April, Samra Kesinovic, 17, and Sabina Selimovic, 15, two Austrian girls who had been radicalized by a local mosque, departed to join the Islamic State in Syria. The girls left notes in their bedrooms that said "Don't look for us. We will serve Allah--and we will die for him," according to Austrian police.

Regretting their decision, the girls sought in October to return to Vienna. The girls, of Bosnian background, are now believed to be in Raqqah, the Islamic State's so-called capital, in Syria. "Jihadi brides" is the term some reports have used to describe the girls' alleged status as wives of Islamic State combatants.

Then in late October, Sabina denied that she wanted to return to Austria, telling the French magazine Paris Match that she wished to stay in Syria because she feels "free" there. "[Here] I can practice my religion," and, "in Vienna I couldn't," she said.

Austrian security experts believe she was strong-armed into denying that she is being held against her will.

The Austrian radical Islamic preacher Mohammed Mahmoud, who has been a key figure in creating the Central European jihadist movement, is also believed to have played a crucial role in the establishment of the Islamic State. "Mohammed M. from Vienna is IS co-founder," the Vienna-based Kurier daily titled its mid-October report. The paper based its piece on a new book by Behnam Said, an expert on Islam, who noted that Mahmoud's name appears on a document urging support for the Islamic State.

The Turkish government reportedly released Mahmoud from custody in August in exchange for Turkish hostages held by the Islamic State. After returning to Raqqah, Mahmoud married Ahlam Al-Nasr, the so-called "poet of Islamic State." Mahmoud had burned his Austrian passport in a public display, which was filmed and then posted on the Internet.

In an email response to a Long War Journal media query, Karl-Heinz Grundböck, a spokesman for Austria's interior ministry, said that "according to current information there are approximately 150 Austrians" fighting as foreign combatants in Syria. "More than 60" Austrian fighters have returned from Syria, he said. Grundböck flatly denied that Austria is a hub of jihadist activity.

In a separate case of adolescent jihadism in Vienna in late October, the Islamic State offered $25,000 to Mertkan G., a 14-year-old boy, to detonate a series of bombs in Vienna. According to Austria's largest mass circulation daily, Kronen Zeitung, Mertkan, the son of Turkish immigrants who lived in Austria for eight years, planned to bomb the Westbahnhof train station, and had downloaded instructions from the Internet on how to assemble explosives.

"An attack of this kind would have ended bloodily and caused many casualties," an Austrian terrorism expert said. Mertkan, who had planned to travel to Syria to join Islamic State, is currently incarcerated.

In August, Austrian authorities arrested nine Chechens, who had been granted asylum, for attempting to engage in jihad for the Islamic State in Syria. Two of the nine Chechens had tried twice to enter Syria. A 17-year-old boy and a woman are among the members of the Chechen group.

"Vienna has served as the de facto base for Islamist extremists from southeastern Europe, a place to recruit, raise and hide funds, and radicalize, thanks to Austria's permissive laws and weak enforcement mechanisms," wrote former NSA intelligence analyst John Schindler, who has a deep expertise in jihadist activity in the Balkans and Austria. "It's an exceptional terrorist or Salafi radical in Bosnia who has not spent some time in Austria. It says something that the most notorious Salafi mosque in Vienna is located directly across the street from a major military base," Schindler continued.

Significant support for Hamas

The Austrian capital has also seen significant activity over the years by Hamas, a radical Islamist organization designated as a terrorist entity by both the European Union and the United States. In 2010, Omar al Rawi, a Social Democrat member of the Vienna City Council, spoke at an fiercely anti-Israel rally in the city, calling for the "continuation of the struggle" of the nine anti-Israel activists killed on the ship Mavi Marmara. Israel had intercepted the ship for its attempt to break a legal naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The anti-Israel rally, which attracted 10,000 people, including many Islamists, featured a sign calling for "Hitler to wake up."

In mid-October, the online Vienna news and analysis website Die Jüdische published an article titled "Fighting Islamic State, Ignoring Hamas." According to the report by Die Jüdische's editor-in-chief Samuel Laster, Austria's interior ministry conducted a workshop against "hate and agitation." The event covered preventative efforts in the areas of online radicalization, countering foreign fighters, and hate crimes.

Muslim preacher Adnan Ibrahim has criticized the Islamic State for killing Muslims, but praised Hamas for murdering "non-believers" and Israelis. Despite this, Carla Amina Baghajati, spokeswoman of the Islamic community in Austria, termed him a "liberal," Die Jüdische reported.

Strong Iranian presence in Vienna

Iran's regime maintains a strong presence in Vienna, largely because it is the headquarters of OPEC and the IAEA. Porous counterterrorism laws make it easy for Iranian agents to continue work on evading nuclear sanctions.

In 2012, The Telegraph reported: "At least two visits this year to Vienna by a senior departmental director have been used to carry out transactions worth millions of euros, according to sources. Western officials confirmed the official is a regular visitor to the Austrian capital and has traveled for extended stays each year since 2007."

The senior departmental director is from Iran's Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation. The US Treasury Department designated both the agent and the Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation for illegal nuclear proliferation activity.

According to The Telegraph, the agent's network brought into Europe funds that were "handed to money lenders in Austria, Germany and Italy. Payments from the network have been documented as transfers to accounts as far as Russia and China to pay for goods that are subsequently sent to Iran." Austria's interior ministry said there was "no criminal investigation" in connection with Tehran allegedly using its financial system to launder money.

Austria's 2012 domestic agency report stated: "In the period under review, concrete proliferation-relevant activities were observed in connection with North Korea and Iran."

Challenging counterterrorism environment

The mushrooming recruitment by Islamic State, and the presence of a large pocket of support for Hamas, pose major challenges for Austria's struggling counterterrorism establishment. Even so, Iranian intelligence's extensive network, including agents who have previously carried out a 1989 terrorist attack with impunity in Vienna, will remain Austria's greatest terror threat for the foreseeable future. The interrelationship among the three jihadist movements -- Hamas, Iran's regime, and the Islamic State -- playing out in Austria helps to explain why critics view the relatively small Central European country as a danger zone.

Benjamin Weinthal reports on European affairs for The Jerusalem Post and is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow Benjamin on Twitter@BenWeinthal

An unidentified jihadist speaking on behalf of the media office of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM), which is also known as Ansar Jerusalem, has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State. The announcement was made in an audio recording posted on an ABM Twitter feed and also on jihadist forums.

There have been multiple reports in the past indicating that ABM had joined the Islamic State, but those quickly proved to be misleading. On Nov. 4, for instance, ABM denied that it had sworn bayat (or oath of allegiance) to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who heads the Islamic State. The denial was issued after a statement saying that ABM had pledged allegiance to Baghdadi's group was circulated online and picked up by the press. ABM quickly said that it had nothing to do with the statement.

The unnamed jihadist in the newly-released audio recording, however, says that he represents ABM's media wing and the group has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State. He also calls on all other Muslims to do the same.

The recording has been translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The ABM jihadist says that he and others "announce our pledging allegiance to Caliph Ibrahim" and will "hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah."

"We call on Muslims everywhere to pledge allegiance to the Caliph and support him, as obedience to Allah and as their application of the absent duty of the era," the jihadist continues, according to SITE's translation.

While the Islamic State has an international network of supporters, it has struggled to win the allegiance of other established jihadist groups. Some veteran jihadists, ranging from Southeast Asia to Africa, have pledged their loyalty to Baghdadi. But most of the Islamic State's support comes from younger jihadist recruits. Al Qaeda's regional branches and other leading jihadists have refrained from offering their loyalty.

The jihadist in the ABM recording expresses frustration with the fact that more "mujahideen" have not committed to Baghdadi.

According to SITE's translation, he says: "Our message to our mujahideen brothers in all the fronts: To what are you looking at? To what are you aspiring? A State has been established for Islam and Muslims, and a Caliph was appointed for them and to be an Emir of the Believers, yet you slacken through your failure to support it, and you are weak to stand under its banner in a time when the whole world has piled on top against it. What is wrong with you? What is your excuse, O mujahideen, all of you?"

Known ties between ABM and Islamic State, but details remain murky

Curiously, the jihadist featured in the ABM recording is not identified -- either by his nom de guerre (alias), or by his position within the group. It is not publicly known who he is, or what his exact title is within the organization.

Much about ABM's leadership structure, including even the identity of the group's emir (or overall leader), remains unknown. The man in the latest ABM audio recording does not identify himself as ABM's emir.

Since the beginning of this year, there have been multiple reports indicating ties between ABM and the Islamic State.

Egyptian security officials claim that the Islamic State has been assisting ABM in its operations. A senior ABM commander told Reuters in early September that the Islamic State was teaching the organization how to set up terrorist cells. "They teach us how to carry out operations. We communicate through the Internet," an anonymous ABM commander explained to Reuters. "They don't give us weapons or fighters. But they teach us how to create secret cells, consisting of five people. Only one person has contact with other cells."

In August, ABM beheaded four Egyptians, accusing them of being "spies" for Israel. The group released a video of the slayings that was similar to the Islamic State's productions. The Islamic State released a video showing the beheading of James Foley, an American journalist, one week earlier and it is likely that ABM's own recording was inspired by the Islamic State's gruesome display.

Al Qaeda has objected to such videos, reasoning that they do damage to the jihadists' brand and turn away more prospective followers than they woo. At the time, therefore, ABM's beheading video was seen as an indication that the group was being influenced by the Islamic State, which has rejected al Qaeda's guidelines for waging jihad and been disowned by al Qaeda's general command. [See LWJ report, Ansar Jerusalem beheads 4 Egyptians accused of being Israeli 'spies'.]

In the past, ABM's propaganda has also demonstrated al Qaeda's influence over the group. [See LWJ report, Al Qaeda's expansion into Egypt.]

If the latest recording speaks for ABM's chain-of-command, then the Egyptian jihadist organization is now part of the Islamic State's international project.

But there have been disputes within ABM concerning the rivalry between the Islamic State and al Qaeda. An alleged ABM statement pledging loyalty to Baghdadi was quickly disavowed by the group earlier this month. This is an indication that there is disagreement within the organization on this matter.

Citing Western officials "familiar with intelligence reports on the group's internal communications", The New York Times reports that there is a dispute between ABM's leadership in the Nile Valley and the Sinai. While the Sinai contingent has been in favor of allying with the Islamic State for months, "some of the Nile Valley leadership remains loyal to Al Qaeda in its theoretical disputes and rivalry with the Islamic State."

The dispute within ABM's leadership ranks may lead the group to split into two organizations.

Despite a Nov. 7 announcement that a new inclusive Yemeni cabinet was formed in an effort to defuse the ongoing political stalemate in the country, there has been no indication of a deescalation of terrorist activity by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The Houthi rebels, Shiite Zaydi Muslims who hail from Yemen's far north, swung down from their stronghold in Sa'ada province to take Amran in July and overrun the Yemeni capital in late September. Since then, AQAP has capitalized on the crisis by declaring an open war on the Shiite rebels and has escalated its terrorist attacks in conjunction with the rebels' southward military advance.

The newly formed Yemeni cabinet, which includes Houthi representatives, marks the latest attempt to solve the crisis currently facing Yemen and to create a functioning government that can restore a semblance of peace to the country. However, over the weekend, AQAP carried out a series of high-profile attacks in central and eastern Yemen, including one targeting US ambassador Matthew H. Tueller, indicating that a political solution to the Houthi crisis will not readily translate into a deescalation of clashes between the Shiite rebels and AQAP.

Attacks in Ibb, Bayda, and Hadramout

AQAP claimed that at least 25 Houthis were killed on Nov. 7 in clashes that began the previous morning at 10:00 a.m. in Ibb province. A statement released by the terrorist organization indicated that the fighting began when about 500 Houthi fighters headed towards the Najd al Adan region in Ibb province. AQAP fighters reportedly opened fire on the Houthis while they were in the process of cordoning off a main road in the area, resulting in the deaths of 25 fighters. AQAP claimed that none of its operatives were hurt in the exchange.

In Bayda province, the site of prolonged Houthi-AQAP clashes for nearly a month, AQAP carried out a coordinated suicide attack that claimed the lives of "tens" of Houthis. The initial attack, carried out by Mu'adh al Khawlani via a vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), targeted a health center in the Manasseh area of Radaa city at 1:00 a.m. on Nov. 8 as about 70 Houthis gathered there.

In conjunction with the suicide attack at the health center, AQAP carried out a triple suicide attack at a local school (also in Manasseh) used as a gathering place and weapons warehouse by the Houthis. According to the statement released the same day, four AQAP fighters stormed the school and immediately clashed with the Houthis on site. The first AQAP attacker launched a missile at a Houthi checkpoint in front of the school and subsequently detonated his suicide belt amid a Houthi crowd, killing around 25 people immediately. Two other suicide bombers also detonated their explosives shortly after the first, while the fourth AQAP attacker managed to emerge unscathed from the clashes at the school that lasted for about 12 hours.

In eastern Hadramout province, AQAP claimed that it killed several Yemeni soldiers as they were driving a military vehicle along the Shibam - Seyoun road on Nov. 8. An AQAP statement said that an improvised explosive device (IED) completely destroyed the vehicle, killing six soldiers and wounding the others who were on board.

Attacks targeting US ambassador, former Yemeni president

On Nov. 8, AQAP announced that two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that the group had planted in front of the residence of Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in Sana'a were uncovered before they were detonated. The statement clarified that AQAP fighters had intended to detonate the IEDs as US ambassador Matthew H. Tueller left Hadi's residence. Tueller met with President Hadi on Nov. 8 in his Sana'a residence for over an hour, and the AQAP statement claimed that the explosives were found just minutes before the ambassador exited the Yemeni president's house.

On Nov. 9, AQAP released a statement claiming credit for an explosion that took place on Nov. 6 in front of the residence of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The statement indicated that jihadists planted two IEDs in front of the western entrance to Saleh's residence. The IEDs were detonated on Nov. 6 at around 9:00 p.m., and the AQAP release did not provide any additional details about this attack.

AQAP also claimed credit for an attack in Sana'a on Nov. 9 targeting Houthi military positions in the city. AQAP fighters reportedly opened fire on a group of Houthi soldiers driving a military truck along Zayed Street in Sana'a at around 10:10 p.m. on Nov. 9. The AQAP statement released the same the day indicated that all seven Houthis on board were killed as a result of the attack.

These latest attacks in Sana'a, particularly those targeting the US ambassador and the former Yemeni president, are telling signs of AQAP's growing operational capabilities throughout Yemen. AQAP has been capitalizing on the current political and military unrest in the country to the point that it has now set its sights on high-level political targets, a marked departure from its assassination campaign targeting local and low-level intelligence and military personnel.

At least 48 students were killed and 79 injured when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at a high school in Potiskum, Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria. The blast occurred during the Monday morning assembly at the Government Comprehensive Secondary Science School. The bomber was dressed as a student and he reportedly hid the explosives in a type of backpack popular with students.

When Nigerian soldiers arrived at the scene, they were pelted with rocks by community members who accused the military of not doing enough to protect them from terrorist attacks launched by Boko Haram.

Boko Haram was designated a terrorist group by the U.S. Department of State in November 2013. The group, whose name loosely translates to "Western education is sin," has been engaged in an increasingly violent campaign against the Nigerian government and Western interests to create an Islamic caliphate in northeastern Nigeria.

In recent months, Boko Haram has continued taking control of cities and villages across northeastern Nigeria. In August, the jihadist group took control of Gwoza in Borno State and Buni Yadi in Yobe State, amongst other villages. Continuing its assault, the group took over Michika in Adamawa State in October and more recently, captured Mubi, the commercial center of Adamawa State. SaharaReporters reported that as of Nov. 10, the group took control of the Maiha Local Government Area in Adamawa state.

Over the weekend, Boko Haram released a new video highlighting their control over northeastern Nigerian towns. The video, sent to AFP, showed a somewhat different side of the jihadist group and its leader, Abubakar Shekau. Though he typically dresses in army fatigues, Shekau is shown wearing light blue vestments with an olive green robe while he stands on a makeshift pedestal speaking under the arched doorway of a room. In his speech, Shekau dismissed earlier Nigerian government claims of a ceasefire and celebrated, "We have indeed established an Islamic caliphate."

The video also includes footage of Boko Haram fighters driving a tank and other vehicles in various unidentified towns. The release shows what looks to be a combination of townspeople and Boko Haram fighters cheering the group as members drove a tank in the street.

Shekau also used the video to express his support for jihadist groups around the world. Towards the end of the clip, a photograph of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is shown with an excerpt of a statement wherein the group proclaimed a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

The video is just the latest in a string of releases. Shortly after kidnapping over 200 school girls from their boarding school in Chibok, Borno State, Boko Haram released a video wherein Shekau took responsibility for the mass abduction and threatened to sell the girls. A few months later, Shekau mockingly fired back at the worldwide social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls in another video, saying "Nigerians are saying BringBackOurGirls, and we are telling Jonathan [Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan] to bring back our arrested warriors, our army." Despite recent government assurances that a deal to free the captives was in the works, the girls remain in Boko Haram's captivity, and Shekau declared that they had been converted to Islam and "married ... off."

As part of its campaign, Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted schools and other parts of the education system, echoing yesterday's attack. The Chibok kidnapping was perhaps the most notorious incident, but not the first. Bornn State's school had been closed earlier in the year to protect students from the increasing violence. The kidnapped girls had returned that week to sit for their final exams. Since 2011, Boko Haram has "reportedly killed over 70 teachers and destroyed 900 school buildings since 2011" in Borno State alone. In September, the jihadist group attacked a teacher training college in Kano, killing at least 15 people.

The US reportedly killed six jihadists today in an airstrike in an area of Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan that has in the past served as an al Qaeda command and control center.

The CIA operated, remotely piloted Predators or Reapers launched a pair of missiles at a compound and a vehicle in the village of Dawa Toi in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, The Express Tribune reported. The strike destroyed the vehicle and damaged the compound, according to local tribesmen.

Six "local and foreign militants" were killed and three more were wounded in the attack, the Pakistani newspaper reported. The identities of those killed were not disclosed. Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other jihadist allies known to operate in the area have not announced the deaths of senior leaders or commanders.

Pakistan "condemns" drone strike

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quick to denounce today's drone strike in Datta Khel.

"The Government of Pakistan condemns the US drone strike that took place at Dawa Toi, North Waziristan Agency on 11 November 2014 at 1546 hours," a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states. "Pakistan considers such strikes a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially at a time when our authorities are engaged in taking decisive action against terrorist elements in North Waziristan Agency. Pakistan demands a cessation of such strikes in future."

The Pakistani government routinely denounces US airstrikes as "a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity," even though it is known that the government has given the US permission to launch strikes against al Qaeda in North and South Waziristan.

The Pakistani government typically objects to strikes that target the so-called "good Taliban" such as the Haqqani network and the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group. These Taliban factions do not advocate attacking the Pakistani state, but do support jihadist groups that wage war on the government. The so-called good Taliban also support and wage jihad in Afghanistan and India. [See Threat Matrix report, Pakistan condemns drone strike that targeted 'good Taliban.]

Datta Khel an al Qaeda hub

The US has carried out 18 drone strikes inside Pakistan this year. Eight of those strikes have taken place in Datta Khel.

All 18 strikes have taken place since June 11. The US drone program in Pakistan was put on hold from the end of December 2013 up until June 11, 2014 as the Pakistani government attempted to negotiate a peace deal with the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, an al Qaeda-linked group that wages jihad in Afghanistan and seeks to overthrow the Pakistani state.

The Datta Khel area is administered by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the top Taliban commander for North Waziristan. Bahadar provides shelter to senior al Qaeda leaders as well as terrorists from numerous Pakistani and Central Asian terror groups.

Datta Khel is a known hub of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. While Bahadar administers the region, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and allied Central Asian jihadist groups are also based in the area. The Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army, is also known to operate a command center in Datta Khel.

Some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed in drone strikes in Datta Khel, including Mustafa Abu Yazid, a longtime al Qaeda leader and close confidant of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri; Abdullah Said al Libi, the commander of the Shadow Army; and Zuhaib al Zahibi, a general in the Shadow Army. Yazid, al Libi, and al Zahibi were killed in 2010.

Despite US government claims that al Qaeda's core has been "decimated" in Pakistan's tribal areas, leaders of the terror group continue to operate in the region, including in Datta Khel.

The US killed six al Qaeda leaders and operatives in a drone strike there on July 10. Their deaths were reported by Sanafi al Nasr, a senior al Qaeda leader based in Syria who communicates with al Qaeda's leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He identified three of those killed as Taj al Makki, Abu Abdurahman al Kuwaiti, and Fayez Awda al Khalidi. [See LWJ report, 6 al Qaeda operatives thought killed in recent drone strike in Pakistan.]

Another strike, on July 19, killed eight militants, including two commanders from the Punjabi Taliban, a conglomeration of jihadist groups from Pakistan's Punjab province. The Punjabi Taliban commanders' names were not disclosed by Pakistani officials. Asmatullah Muawiya, the leader of the Punjabi Taliban, also serves as an al Qaeda commander and he has been agreeable to conducting peace talks with the Pakistani government. [See LWJ report, US drones target 'Punjabi Taliban' in North Waziristan strike.]

And an Aug. 6 strike killed five jihadists, including unnamed "foreigners," a term reserved for al Qaeda and other allied groups not originating in Pakistan.

The US reportedly killed seven al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters in a drone strike early this morning in the southern Yemeni province of Shabwa. The strike took place in the Azzan region of the province, located about 80 kilometers from the coast and long considered an AQAP stronghold in the country.

The remotely piloted Predators or Reapers attacked the AQAP fighters as they were gathered "under a group of trees" in Azzan, according to tribal sources. Some Yemeni military sources reported that the strike targeted AQAP fighters as they were driving a small truck through Azzan. The Yemeni Ministry of Defense claimed that the seven terrorists killed in the operation were in the process of planning an attack in the area using a vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), a tactic of choice by AQAP.

Local and tribal sources also suggested that two additional strikes took place during the night between Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 between the towns of Azzan and Mayfaa in Shabwa. However, no information regarding those alleged attacks is forthcoming.

While the exact target of the strike has not been disclosed, and it is unclear if any senior AQAP leaders or operatives were among those killed or targeted, it appears the US launched the attack in support of Yemeni military operations against a local AQAP threat.

This morning's operation highlights a continuing trend of the US targeting local AQAP commanders and fighters who are waging a local insurgency against the Yemeni government. This trend was first identified by The Long War Journal in the spring of 2012 [see LWJ report, US drone strike kills 8 AQAP fighters, from May 10, 2012].

This contradicts a US Department of Justice white paper that claimed the drone program will target only those AQAP operatives who "present an 'imminent' threat of violent attack against the United States."

The US has carried out 21 strikes in Yemen so far this year; several of those strikes have targeted AQAP's local network. The US ramped up its air campaign in Yemen in 2009, and has conducted 106 air and cruise missile strikes in the country since the program was expanded. Ten of those attacks took place in 2011, 41 in 2012, 26 in 2013, and 23 so far this year. Prior to 2009, the US launched one airstrike, against al Qaeda in Yemen in 2002.

The US continues to target AQAP, which is considered to be one of al Qaeda's most dangerous branches, despite the virtual collapse of the Yemeni government. The US has relied on the central government and the Yemeni military and intelligence service to provide political support and targeting information in the campaign against the jihadist group's network. But the expansion of Shiite Houthi rebel control into areas of central and western Yemen, the fracturing of Yemen's security forces, and AQAP's positioning of itself as the defender of Yemen's Sunnis may make operations against the terrorist network more difficult over time.

The last strike, on Nov. 4, killed at least 20 AQAP fighters in Baydah province. The AQAP fighters were killed as they were battling the Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a newly formed Pakistani jihadist group, released photographs of the suicide bomber who attacked the Wagah border crossing to India on Nov. 2.

Ihsanullah Ihsan, the spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, sent three photographs of "brother Hanifullah (Hamza)" to The Long War Journal. Hanifullah "carried out successful martyrdom operation on murtad [a Muslim who rejects Islam] army in Wagah Lahore," Ihsan said in the email.

One of the photographs shows Hanifullah sitting in a field. In another photograph, he is sitting in front of a green screen, likely recording his martyrdom statement. The third image appears to be the announcement for his upcoming video.

The Nov. 2 suicide attack at the Wagah border crossing, which is just east of Lahore, killed more than 50 people and wounded over 100. The suicide bomber detonated his vest hundreds of yards from the area where Pakistani and Indian border guards put on a daily display of lowering their flags that attracts thousands of people.

After the attack, both Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Jundullah both claimed credit for the suicide attack in Wagah. But Jamaat-ul-Ahrar's spokesman immediately identified the suicide bomber as Hanifullah and promised that a video of the attack was forthcoming. He also rejected competing claims of responsibility for the attack by other jihadist groups as "baseless."

Ihsan said the suicide bombing was "the revenge of the killing of those innocent people who have been killed by Pakistan Army particularly of those who have been killed in North Waziristan." The Pakistani military launched an operation in North Waziristan in mid-June and has targeted the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and foreign jihadist groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Other Pakistani Taliban factions such as the Haqqani Network and Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group have not been targeted in the operation.

The Pakistani military has claimed it targeted "terrorists involved in Wagah border suicide attack" in an airstrike in the tribal agency of Khyber on Nov. 11. "Intelligence sources believe that the mastermind and handlers of Wagah border incident might be among the dead," Dawn reported.

Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the newest branch of the global jihadist group, is known to operate in Khyber. On Oct. 11, the US killed Sheikh Imran Ali Siddiqi, a member of AQIS's shura, or executive council, in a drone strike in the tribal agency. AQIS has incorporated various jihadist groups from Pakistan, India, Burma, and Bangladesh, and seeks to overthrow these governments and impose sharia, or Islamic law. [See LWJ reports, AQIS leader, 'good' Taliban commander killed in 2 US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas and US drone strike kills veteran jihadist turned senior AQIS official.]

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which was formed in late August after a leadership dispute with the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, is comprised of jihadist factions, including the Mohmand Taliban branch, that have been involved in deadly suicide attacks and assaults throughout Pakistan. Just two weeks before the group officially announced its formation, it participated in a joint suicide assault with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan on two Pakistani military airbases in Quetta. [See LWJ reports, Taliban splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar forms in northwestern Pakistan and Quetta airbase attacks carried out by Pakistani Taliban, IMU.]

Omar Khalid al Khorasani, one of the top leaders of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, is closely allied with al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri.

The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that currently controls large portions of Iraq and Syria, has released a new audio message from its leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. The Islamic State's emir is defiant in the recording, saying his group will continue its fight against all of its enemies.

Baghdadi was rumored to have been killed in airstrikes that took place sometime on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8. Some Iraqi officials claimed Baghdadi had been mortally wounded. But no firm evidence emerged to back up those claims. And Baghdadi references events that took place since those airstrikes, thereby demonstrating that he is alive.

On Nov. 10, jihadists in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen swore allegiance to Baghdadi and the Islamic State's caliphate. In the newly-released audio recording, Baghdadi accepts their oaths of allegiance and praises the jihadists who made them.

Baghdadi gives glad tidings and announces "the expansion of the Islamic State to new lands, to the lands of al Haramain [meaning Saudi Arabia] and [to] Yemen, and to Egypt, Libya and Algeria."

Baghdadi accepts "the bayat (oath of allegiance) from those who gave us bayat in those lands," pronounces "the nullification of the groups therein," and announces the creation of "new wilayah [provinces] for the Islamic State, and the appointment of wali [provincial leaders] for them."

The Islamic State's emir calls on "every" Muslim to "join the closest wilayah to him, and to hear and obey the wali appointed by us for it."

Baghdadi's statement is deliberately provocative as he is saying that all other jihadist groups, especially those that have not pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, are nullified. The Islamic State's ideologues have argued that, with the reestablishment of an Islamic caliphate, all other jihadist groups owe their allegiance to Baghdadi as the caliphate expands into their lands.

The Islamic State made this argument in late June, when its leaders announced that the group was now a caliphate. "The legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations, becomes null by the expansion of the [caliphate's] authority and arrival of its troops to their areas," the Islamic State's founding statement reads.

The swearing of bayat from jihadists in several countries on Nov. 10 was, therefore, intended to legitimize the Islamic State's right to rule over the jihadists' affairs within those nations. Long established jihadist groups operating in those countries, including al Qaeda's official branches, obviously do not agree, as they have not sworn allegiance to Baghdadi.

Indeed, in three of the five cases (Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen), the announcements of allegiance to Baghdadi came from unidentified jihadists who do not represent any well-known jihadist groups. In Algeria, the announcement came from a group of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) veterans who have broken away from their parent organization and are now known as Jund al Khilafa. The Algerian-based jihadists had already sworn allegiance to Baghdadi earlier this year.

The announcement from Egypt was made by an anonymous jihadist representing a faction of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM), or Ansar Jerusalem, in the Sinai.

Baghdadi praises the jihadists in the Sinai specifically, offering them his congratulations because they "have carried out the obligation of jihad" and "terrified the Jews."

It appears that ABM is already marketing itself as the Islamic State's "wilayah," or province, in the Sinai, as that is how the group refers to itself on its official Twitter feed. ABM's Twitter page has been taken down repeatedly over the past several months. The latest iteration was posted online in the past few days.

The Islamic State leader rails against the "Crusaders" and the "Jews," whom he blames for conspiring to launch the airstrikes against the jihadists.

Baghdadi also references President Obama's decision to send 1,500 additional military advisors to Iraq, claiming that this demonstrates the coalition has been unable to stall the Islamic State's advances with airstrikes alone. The Obama administration announced the president's decision to deploy additional forces on Nov. 7, shortly before Baghdadi was supposedly hit in an airstrike.

Baghdadi concludes by calling on the soldiers of the Islamic State to cause "volcanoes" of jihad to "erupt" everywhere.

The Iraqi military and Iranian-backed Shiite militias are reported to have liberated the central city of Baiji from the Islamic State and are close to breaking the siege on the nearby oil refinery. The Shiite militias, which are heavily supported by Iran's Qods Force, are playing a key role in recent gains against the Islamic State. US airpower has supported the militias and Iraqi government forces.

General Abdul Wahab al Saadi, the senior commander in the area, announced the "liberation of Baiji" earlier today on Iraqi state television, The Associated Press reported. Several Iraqi military officers also claimed success in Baiji, which hosts Iraq's largest oil refinery.

Iraqi officials told Reuters that security forces have advanced to within one kilometer of the refinery, which has been surrounded by Islamic State fighters since the beginning of the summer. Officers claim that Islamic State fighters who are retreating are being targeted by aircraft.

Security forces and the Shiite militias have killed 17 Islamic State fighters over the past 24 hours, according to All Iraq News.

Asaib al Haq, or the League of the Righteous, a Shiite militia that is responsible for killing hundreds of US soldiers in Iraq between 2006-2011, is known to be fighting in Baiji. Al Ahad TV reported that the militia, along with Iraqi Army units, killed Ala Burhan al Tikriti, an Islamic State commander who "supervised the execution of the massacre at Camp Speicher," an Iraqi base outside of Tikrit where hundreds of Iraqi troops were murdered. Numerous videos of the League of the Righteous fighting alongside Iraqi forces in Baiji have also been published on YouTube and other video sharing sites.

The League of the Righteous was formed in 2006 as an offshoot of Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army. The militia, which has been trained by Hezbollah and Qods Force, was the largest and most powerful of what the US military called the Special Groups, or militias backed by Iran. The group was at the forefront in using EFPs, or explosively formed penetrators, the deadly mines that can penetrate US armored vehicles. Hundreds of US soldiers were killed in EFP attacks.

Three of the group's top leaders, including its military emir, Akram Abbas al Kabi, are listed by the US as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. [See LWJ report, US sanctions Iranian general for aiding Iraqi terror groups.]

Iranian militias spearheading Iraqi assaults against the Islamic State

The Iraqi government has grown dependent on Iranian-backed Shiite militias ever since the Islamic State launched its offensive to take large swaths of northern, central and eastern Iraq in mid-June. The Islamic State's summer offensive, combined with the group overrunning most of the western province of Anbar beginning in January, cause the collapse of nearly half of Iraq's Army divisions.

The militias deployed to Samarra, the provincial capital of Salahaddin, as the Islamic State took control of the nearby cities of Tikrit and Baiji. Samarra is home to the Al Askari Mosque, one of the most revered religious sites in Shia Islam.

Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Qods Force, the special operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was spotted in Samarra directing the defense of the city.

The Shiite militias were at the vanguard of the fighting in two other recent successes: driving back the Islamic State from Amerli in Salahaddin province and from Jurf al Sakhar in northern Babil province.

At the end of August, the League of the Righteous and the Hezbollah Brigades, another Iranian-supported militia, supported Iraqi troops in breaking the Islamic State's hold on Amerli. The Hezbollah Brigades is listed by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. [See LWJ reports, US airstrikes in Amerli supported deadly Shia terror group and US aided Hezbollah Brigades in breaking Islamic State siege of Iraqi town.]

At the end of October, the League of the Righteous, the Hezbollah Brigades, and the Badr Brigade, yet another Iranian-supported militia, drove the Islamic State from Jurf al Sakhar.

After the town was liberated from the Islamic State, photographs and videos of the militias celebrating the victory alongside Iraqi troops were published on the Internet. Soleimani was photographed with several members of Shiite militias in Jurf al Sahkar. One photograph purported to show Soleimani along with Hadi al Amiri, the head of the Badr Brigades, The Washington Post reported.

The US, either intentionally or unintentionally, has supported the Shiite militias' gains. US and coalition aircraft launched multiple airstrikes in Baiji, Amerli, and Jurf al Sakhar as the militias and Iraqi forces began their offensives. Most recently, the US conducted 28 airstrikes in Baiji between Oct. 18 and Nov. 12, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal and Qualitative Military Edge.

The deployment of Iranian militias in Sunni areas such as Baiji and Jurf al Sakhar is certain to complicate the fight against the Islamic State. While the Islamic State has lost territory, the jihadist group has positioned itself as the defenders of the Sunnis against Iran and its Shiite proxies in the Iraqi government.

On Nov. 10, an unidentified jihadist from Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM), otherwise known as Ansar Jerusalem, declared his group's allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who leads the Islamic State. As The Long War Journal reported at the time, ABM quickly began marketing itself on its official Twitter feed as the Islamic State's wilayat, meaning province (or state), in the Sinai.

The group's Twitter feed was subsequently taken down, but quickly replaced as part of a regular cat and mouse game played by the social media company and the jihadists.

Earlier today, the Sinai jihadists returned to Twitter with a new video and it is again marketing itself as the Islamic State's official wilayat. The banner shown above was used to advertise the video on Twitter.

The video, which is nearly 30 minutes long, shows the Islamic State's clear influence in terms of branding and its production style. Special effects have been added to highlight the devastation wrought by some of the jihadists' attacks.

But little is known about the ABM faction that swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi earlier this week. And the organization's latest production does not shed any additional light on how the relationship is actually organized.

According to credible reports, while an ABM faction in the Sinai has been itching to join the Islamic State since earlier this year, another ABM group in the Nile Valley remains loyal to al Qaeda's senior leadership.

Baghdadi and the Islamic State are attempting to usurp the authority of any non-aligned jihadists by claiming that once the group's "caliphate" has spread into new a territory existing jihadist organizations are immediately nullified. This is the significance between the Sinai jihadists being rebranded as the Islamic State's official arm inside Egypt. According to Baghdadi and his supporters, now that the Islamic State has a presence inside the Sinai, all other jihadists, and even all other Muslims, owe their loyalty to Baghdadi's representatives.

In an audio message released earlier this week, Baghdadi said that his group would identify a leader for each one of its so-called provinces, including in the Sinai. It is not immediately clear if any such leader is shown in the video.

Towards the beginning of the new video, as well as in scenes thereafter, the Sinai jihadists execute alleged spies in a brutal fashion. For some unknown reason, however, the group decided not to show scenes from a previous video produced this past summer in which the Sinai jihadists beheaded several men accused of being spies. ABM's beheading video was likely influenced by the Islamic State, which had decapitated an American journalist the week before.

Much of the Sinai jihadists' new video focuses on the group's attacks against Egyptian security forces, using mortars, grenades, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other weapons in its assaults.

The video highlights the jihadists' animosity for the US (showing a clip of President Obama), Israel, as well as the Egyptian government and military.

A screen shot of the Twitter page on which the video was first posted can be seen below. Also shown are various pictures taken from scenes in the video.

A Twitter feed representing ABM in the Sinai reappeared online earlier today.

The video shows Sinai jihadists firing mortars.

Multiple scenes show IEDs destroying Egyptian security vehicles and other targets. This scene showed a vehicle immediately after an IED was detonated.

The scene immediately was played in slow-motion and backwards to emphasize the devastation caused by the jihadists' attack.

A jihadist is shown with his face obscured to protect his identity. He is wearing a shirt that is made to look like the Islamic State's flag.

A jihadist raises an Islamic State black banner over a tank.

A jihadist speaks, kneeling before arms and ammunition, for a couple of minutes towards the end of the video.

A short clip of President Obama is shown in the video.

The Sinai jihadists have launched attacks against Israel and the group's animosity for Israel is made clear once again in the new video.

The US targeted al Qaeda's network in Syria in one of the 20 airstrikes that took place between Nov. 12 and Nov. 14. While the US military has said the strike was carried out against al Qaeda's so-called Khorasan Group, the targets indicate that local infrastructure used by the Al Nusrah Front were hit.

US Central Command, or CENTCOM, noted that it "struck terrorists associated with a network of veteran al Qaeda operatives, sometimes called the 'Khorasan Group,' who are plotting external attacks against the United States and our allies" in one of the attacks.

The airstrike took place "in northwest Syria west of Aleppo." The exact target of the strike was not disclosed, nor was the result of the operation. The strike took place on Nov. 13, according to CNN.

The Khorasan Group is part of the Al Nusrah Front, which is al Qaeda's official branch in Syria. It is comprised of a group of senior al Qaeda leaders and operatives who are embedded within Al Nusrah. The al Qaeda veterans have been attempting to identify Western recruits who joined Al Nusrah and can be repurposed for attacks in their home countries or elsewhere abroad. [For more information on the Khorasan Group, see LWJ report, Analysis: CENTCOM draws misleading line between Al Nusrah Front and Khorasan Group.]

The US has targeted the Khorasan Group on two other occasions since launching airstrikes in Syria on Sept. 22. The US launched eight airstrikes against al Qaeda west of Aleppo on Sept. 22, and another five strikes in Sarmada on Nov. 5.

In its announcement explaining the Sarmada airstrikes, CENTCOM went out of its way to note that it "did not target the Nusrah Front as a whole," but instead the attacks were "directed at the Khorasan Group whose focus is not on overthrowing the Assad regime or helping the Syrian people."

In reality, there is no firm dividing line between al Qaeda's so-called Khorasan Group and the rest of Al Nusrah. Indeed, the US military's airstrikes on Sept. 22 and Nov. 6 hit the Al Nusrah Front 's infrastructure, which is used to wage its local insurgency against the Assad regime. Among the targets hit were IED-making facilities, a munitions production facility, a communication building, command and control facilities, training camps, staging areas for fighters, and vehicles.

One of the first reported casualties in the Sept. 22 airstrikes was an al Qaeda veteran named Abu Yusuf al Turki, who trained snipers for the Al Nusrah Front. While the snipers could be repurposed in Mumbai-style attacks in the West, their primary focus has been combatting Bashar al Assad's forces and their Iranian-backed allies. [For more on Abu Yusuf al Turki, see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front trainer suspected of plotting against 2004 NATO summit killed in US airstrikes.]

The Al Nusrah Front has posted photos from the Sept. 22 and Nov. 6 airstrikes on its official Twitter feeds. In the accompanying tweets, the group describes the targets hit as belonging to Al Nusrah, including buildings that have served as its headquarters.

Ahrar al Sham officials have claimed on Twitter that their facilities have also been hit in the US airstrikes. This has not been confirmed. If true, this is further evidence that the US military's offensive is hitting targets that are associated with al Qaeda's insurgency against the Assad regime. Ahrar al Sham is an al Qaeda-linked group that is primarily focused on overthrowing Assad. It is closely allied with the Al Nusrah Front.

The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that controls large portions of Iraq and Syria, has released a new video showing the mass beheadings of Syrian soldiers. The video also includes a scene purportedly showing the severed head of Peter Kassig, who was kidnapped in late 2013. Kassig is a former US Army Ranger who was serving as an aid worker in Syria at the time of his disappearance.

As in past videos, the Islamic State's executioner, a man dubbed "Jihadi John" in the press because he speaks with an English accent, is featured. He taunts the West, saying that the Islamic State cannot wait to face American ground troops.

Unlike previous videos, however, the gruesome beheading of Kassig is not the centerpiece of the production. He had already been killed by the time the video cuts to his corpse.

The Islamic State's media department begins by offering a selective history of the Islamic State and its predecessors, starting with the creation of Abu Musab al Zarqawi's organization in Iraq. Zarqawi, who was killed in June 2006, swore allegiance to al Qaeda emir Osama bin Laden in 2004, officially merging the two organizations. The current Islamic State evolved out of Zarqawi's group.

After scenes of fighting in Iraq and Syria, the video shows the mass beheadings of Syrian officers and pilots.

A group of Islamic State fighters dressed in camouflage is shown leading the Syrians to their slaughter. They are led by the head executioner, "Jihadi John," who presumably killed Kassig. One by one the Islamic State executioners select knives from a bin. (The image at the beginning of this piece shows "Jihadi John" selecting his knife.)

"Jihadi John," the head executioner then speaks, addressing President Obama directly as the "dog of Rome."

"Today, we are slaughtering the soldiers of Bashar, tomorrow we'll be slaughtering your soldiers," the executioner says. He claims that the Islamic State will end this "final crusade" and then begin slaughtering people on "your streets."

The scene of the mass execution of the Syrians is shot in a sadistic fashion, so as to highlight the drama of the moment, with closeups of the soldiers' faces and the Islamic State's henchmen fondling their knives before they begin cutting their victims' necks.

Although the terrorists committing these war crimes are not specifically identified, they clearly come from various ethnicities and nationalities around the globe.

Last week, jihadists from Algeria, the Sinai in Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen all swore allegiance to Baghdadi in audio messages that were clearly coordinated by the Islamic State. The new video highlights these oaths, playing excerpts from the audio messages as the production moves from location to location on a map intended to represent the Islamic State's claimed territorial expansion.

The video also replays audio of a speech by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi that was released on Nov. 13. Baghdadi accepted the oaths of allegiance in that speech, saying the Islamic State had expanded "to new lands, to the lands of al-Haramayn [Saudi Arabia] and Yemen to Egypt, Libya and Algeria."

With less than two minutes left in the 16-minute video, "Jihadi John" returns, standing over the head of a man he claims is Kassig. He says that Kassig fought against Muslims during the war in Iraq. He taunts Kassig by saying the dead man "doesn't have much to say," as his "previous cellmates have already spoken on his behalf."

Again addressing Obama, the terrorist says: "[Y]ou claim to have withdrawn from Iraq four years ago. We said to you then that you are liars, that you had not withdrawn. And that if you had withdrawn you would return after some time."

"You returned," he says to Obama, "here you are, you have not withdrawn." America has hid behind its proxies, "Jihadi John" claims, but its forces "will return in greater numbers than before."

Citing Zarqawi, the Islamic State's executioner says the "spark has been lit in Iraq" and that they are "eagerly awaiting for the remainder of your armies to arrive."

Scenes from new Islamic State video, titled "although the disbelievers dislike it"

The video highlights the oaths of allegiance that jihadists from several countries swore to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi last week:

The video replays part of Baghdadi's audio message, released on Nov. 13, during which he accepted the oaths of allegiance and claimed that the Islamic State's "caliphate" had expanded into new lands:

The video begins with a highly selective history of the Islamic State's evolution from al Qaeda in Iraq:

The Syrian soldiers executed in the video are lined up with their executioners standing behind them:

The Islamic State's fighters play with their knives before beheading the Syrian soldiers:

Editor's note: A version of this article was originally published at The Daily Beast.

Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's Islamic State, the al Qaeda offshoot that controls large portions of Iraq and Syria, has claimed to have beheaded yet another Western hostage, along with more than a dozen captured Syrian soldiers. In a newly-released video, a henchman for the group stands over what appears to be the severed head of Peter Kassig, a former US Army Ranger turned aid worker who was kidnapped in Syria in late 2013.

From the Islamic State's perspective, such videos serve multiple purposes. They are meant to intimidate the organization's enemies in the West and elsewhere, show defiance in the face of opposition, and to convince other jihadists that Baghdadi's state is the strong horse. Al Qaeda, the Islamic State's rival, long ago determined that graphic beheading videos do more harm than good for the jihadists' cause, as they turn off more prospective supporters than they earn. But the Islamic State has clearly come to the opposite conclusion, cornering the market on savagery.

There is no doubt that the Islamic State's ranks have swelled over the past year. Young recruits, in particular, have been attracted to the organization's brazen violence. But Baghdadi has had much less success in attracting the allegiance of established jihadist organizations, many of which remain openly loyal to al Qaeda.

At first blush, Baghdadi had a big day on Nov. 10. Jihadists from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen all swore allegiance to Baghdadi in what was intended to be a show of global support for the self-appointed caliph. The Islamic State has been attempting to win the support of jihadists at the expense of al Qaeda, so the messages were widely heralded by Baghdadi's boosters. Indeed, the group highlighted the oaths of allegiance in today's beheading video.

Baghdadi accepted the various loyalty oaths three days later in an audio message released on Nov. 13. The Islamic State leader's speech served multiple purposes. It demonstrated that he was alive, contradicting thinly-sourced claims that he had been killed in airstrikes earlier in the month. And it gave Baghdadi the opportunity to praise his new minions, blessing them as his official representatives.

Baghdadi offered "glad tidings" as he trumpeted "the expansion of the Islamic State to new lands, to the lands of al Haramain [meaning Saudi Arabia] and Yemen, and to Egypt, Libya and Algeria." Baghdadi accepted "the bayat (oath of allegiance) from those who gave us bayat in those lands" and pronounced "the nullification" of all other jihadist "groups therein." He also announced the creation of "new wilayah [provinces] for the Islamic State" in all five countries, adding that the group would appoint "wali [provincial leaders] for them." All jihadists in these areas, and indeed all Muslims, must now obey the Islamic State's official representatives, according to Baghdadi and his supporters.

Of course, the Islamic State doesn't really have provinces stretching from North Africa through the heart of Arabia. But how strong is Baghdadi's network in all five countries? The short answer is: We don't really know.

In three of the five countries--Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen--the jihadists who swore loyalty oaths to Baghdadi were anonymous. And they don't represent any well-established terrorist organizations either.

For instance, the Islamic State has failed, thus far, to garner the allegiance of Ansar al Sharia Libya, which is notorious for its role in the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks in Benghazi and remains one of the most powerful jihadist organizations in eastern Libya. None of Ansar al Sharia's allies in the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, the Islamist coalition fighting General Khalifa Haftar's forces for control of territory, pledged allegiance to Baghdadi. The Islamic State has supporters in Libya, particularly among the jihadist youth. But other groups are still, by all outward appearances, more entrenched.

Similarly, the messages from Saudi Arabia and Yemen were attributed generically to the "mujahideen" in both countries. Baghdadi and his supporters have attempted, and failed, to woo al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on multiple occasions.

AQAP, which is headquartered in Yemen, is the strongest jihadist group in the heart of Arabia. Some have assumed that the only person keeping AQAP loyal to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri is Nasir al Wuhayshi, a protégé of Osama bin Laden who serves as both AQAP's leader and as al Qaeda's global general manager. There is no basis for this assumption. There are al Qaeda loyalists throughout AQAP's chain-of-command.

A few AQAP ideologues have been quite vocal in their support for the Islamic State, but there was an interesting twist in this part of the story this past week.

Mamoon Hatem has been the Islamic State's most zealous supporter within AQAP. Hatem frequently uses his Twitter feed, which has been suspended multiple times, to sing the Islamic State's praises. Hatem encouraged Baghdadi to proclaim himself the new caliph even before the Islamic State's caliphate announcement in late June. Before this past week, it was reasonable to assume that Hatem may break away from AQAP to form his own branch of the Islamic State.

That is still a possibility. Curiously, however, Hatem refused to endorse the group of unknown "mujahideen" in Yemen who swore allegiance to Baghdadi on Nov. 10. In a series of more than 20 tweets, Hatem admitted that he tried to get AQAP to switch allegiances from Zawahiri to Baghdadi. But Hatem explained that he failed for a number of reasons. And he said that the pro-Islamic State message out of Yemen would only exacerbate the many difficulties AQAP currently faces inside the country. This was no time to jump ship, Hatem argued, given that AQAP is hunted by the US while also embroiled in a vicious fight against the Houthis, Shiite rebels who have barnstormed throughout the country.

Hatem said he still wants the Islamic State to expand the territory under its control, including to parts of the Arabian Peninsula. But he doesn't want Baghdadi to do so in a way that further divides the jihadists. Hatem said the men loyal to Baghdadi inside Yemen include "students," but offered few other details. Hatem's tweets indicate that, once again, the Islamic State is attracting the jihadist youth while failing to secure the loyalty of more seasoned fighters.

As a result, we know next to nothing about the jihadists in Saudi Arabia and Yemen who now claim to take orders from Baghdadi. The Islamic State may have cadres of fighters in both countries, but no one can publicly identify them at this point and there is no reason to believe they are nearly as strong as al Qaeda.

We do know something about the Islamic State's adherents in Algeria, as they first swore allegiance to Baghdadi well before their announcement on Nov. 10. They are veteran jihadists who have defected from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). When they first came out in support of Baghdadi earlier this year, they identified themselves as AQIM's "central division," a little-known faction within AQIM. They now call themselves Jund al Khalifa, a name that is intended to explicitly connect them to Baghdadi's caliphate. Jund al Khalifa has already beheaded a French hostage in service of the Islamic State's cause, but there is no way of telling how many fighters are under its control.

The announcement out of Egypt was the most significant, as it came from a faction of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), otherwise known as Ansar Jerusalem. No jihadist group in Egypt is more prolific than ABM, which has been responsible for dozens of attacks against members of the Egyptian military and security services, Sinai tribesmen, Israelis, and others. Oddly, however, the ABM jihadist who pledged to obey Baghdadi was not identified in his message. Neither his alias, nor his role within ABM, was given. Credible accounts, including one by The New York Times, point to divisions within ABM. The Sinai faction of ABM has been itching to join the Islamic State since earlier this year, but their Nile Valley counterparts remain loyal to al Qaeda. Thus, at least part of ABM remains in al Qaeda's corner.

This is not to suggest that the Islamic State's gains in the Sinai should be dismissed. It is likely that Baghdadi has officially gained the allegiance of a number of fighters. The Islamic State's influence in the Sinai has long been clear. Both Egyptian officials and ABM leaders have said that the group has been working with the Sinai jihadists for months, thereby increasing their operational capacity. And a video released on Nov. 14 portrays ABM as the Islamic State's new province in the Sinai.

In the days and weeks that follow, we will likely learn more about the jihadists who now represent the Islamic State in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Baghdadi emphasized in his message on Nov. 13 that his organization now has provinces in each of these five countries. And because his caliphate has spread into those nations, Baghdadi argues, existing jihadist organizations have been nullified.

The logical implication of Baghdadi's argument is that the official branches of al Qaeda--such as AQAP in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, as well as AQIM in Algeria and Libya--are now illegitimate if they do not submit to the caliphate's claimed authority. This makes it incumbent upon the Islamic State's leadership to demonstrate that their network's presence in these nations is meaningful, and goes beyond audio messages from unknown figures.

The Islamic State's international network is real. It remains to be seen just how strong it really is. With more videos released like today's, young jihadists will continue to flock to Baghdadi's cause. While a smattering of established jihadists around the globe have backed Baghdadi, the Islamic State's base of support is found in new recruits. That is, Baghdadi's followers are predominately hotheads, young men and women who are emboldened by horrific beheadings.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al Qaeda's official branch in North Africa, has released a new video that showcases two Western hostages. The hostages, a French national and a Dutch national, both appeal to their respective governments to intervene in order to free them.

The video was produced by Al Andalus Media, AQIM's media wing, and then disseminated online. The video has been translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The first hostage to speak, Serge Lazarevic, appears to be positioned in a vehicle with al Qaeda's black flag situated in the background. Speaking to the camera, Lazarevic says: "I seize this opportunity to solemnly call on Francois Holland, President of the Republic of France, to do everything to free me. I am very sick. My stomach hurts. I suffer from high hypertension, asthma, a knee ulcer. I feel that my life is in danger since the French intervention in Iraq. I ask you, Mr. President, to do all you can for my liberation, because you are responsible for all that will happen to me."

Lazarevic then mentions that five Taliban leaders were exchanged for US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. He notes: "In the past you freed all the French, and I am the last. I hope not to be the eighth on the list of the French killed in the Sahel. Obama liberated the only American soldier in exchange for five Taliban leaders."

He ends by addressing his family: "I say hello to my family, my mother [unclear], my daughter Diane Nihatovitch, her husband, the children, and my sister. I ask that everything be done for my release. I also ask the French people to help my family for my freedom. Thank you."

Lazarevic, who holds both French and Serbian citizenship, was seized in 2011 in Mali by AQIM forces there. He was kidnapped along with another French national, Philippe Verdon, who was killed last year by AQIM in Mali.

The second hostage to speak is Sjaak Rijke, the Dutch national. Rijke, who has been held captive for more than 1,000 days, appears to be speaking from location separate from Lazarevic's. Sitting in front of a white sheet, Rijke identifies the date as being Sept. 26, 2014, indicating that he was still alive as of almost two months ago.

Rijke says his health is deteriorating, and he also mentions the Bergdahl prisoner swap. He states: "I want to send a message to my government and inform them that until now, I've not received anything official with respect to the negotiations while at the same time we see that the American government released five Taliban captives to get one American rescued, captive returned. I'm suffering from serious back problems and I'm not well emotionally. I'm in extreme circumstances and a difficult security situation. As of today, I hold my government responsible for any harm that comes to me."

Rijke ends by appealing to his family and the citizens in Holland, saying, "[P]lace as much pressure to the government so that they take serious steps to come to a quick solution and that they respond to the demands of the mujahideen. Please help me. Please."

Rijke was abducted by AQIM in Mali in 2011. He was kidnapped at a hotel in the Malian city of Timbuktu along with a German national, a Swede, and a South African. The status of the other hostages is unclear.

AQIM has a history of taking Western hostages

AQIM has a long history of taking hostages to fund its activities. In 2010, Michel Germaneau, a French hostage held by AQIM, died while in captivity. And in 2013, four French hostages were released by AQIM after being held for three years; it is speculated that a ransom of 20 million Euros was paid to free them.

Before that, AQIM was responsible for the kidnapping of Spanish nationals in Mauritania and an Italian and French national in Mali in 2009, as well as many more abductions throughout North Africa.

The al Qaeda branch's prolific kidnappings have even led senior al Qaeda leaders to tighten their control over the hostage-taking operations.

In November 2010, AQIM emir Abdelmalek Droukdel made a surprising claim in a video that was aired on Al Jazeera. Droukdel said that France would have to negotiate with Osama bin Laden himself to secure the release of several French hostages. [See LWJ report, Analysis: Al Qaeda central tightened control over hostage operations.]

A recently issued report on the status of Afghanistan by the US Department of Defense has described al Qaeda as being primarily confined to "isolated areas of northeastern Afghanistan." But information on Afghan military and intelligence operations against the global jihadist group contradicts the US military's assessment.

The Defense Department released its "Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan" in October. The report, which "covers progress in Afghanistan from April 1 to September 30, 2014," contains only nine mentions of al Qaeda. Five of those mentions simply reference the mission to conduct "counterterrorism operations against remnants of core al Qaeda and its affiliates."

The US military's report states that "[s]ustained ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] and ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] counterterrorism operations prevented al Qaeda's use of Afghanistan as a platform from which to launch transnational terrorist attacks during this reporting period."

Then the report goes on to describe al Qaeda as "isolated" in the northeastern part of the country, a reference to the remote mountainous provinces of Kunar and Nuristan.

"Counterterrorism operations restricted al Qaeda's presence to isolated areas of northeastern Afghanistan and limited access to other parts of the country," the report continues. "These efforts forced al Qaeda in Afghanistan to focus on survival, rather than on operations against the West. Al Qaeda's relationship with local Afghan Taliban organizations remains intact and is an area of concern."

Al Qaeda's operations contradict US military claims

For years, the US military has claimed that al Qaeda is constrained to operating in northeastern Afghanistan, but ISAF's own data on raids against the terrorist group and its allies has indicated otherwise. According to ISAF press releases announcing operations between early 2007 and June 2013, al Qaeda and its allies were targeted 338 different times, in 25 of 34 of Afghanistan's provinces. Those raids took place in 110 of Afghanistan's nearly 400 districts. [See LWJ report, ISAF raids against al Qaeda and allies in Afghanistan 2007-2013.]

Continuing this pattern, while the latest DoD report, which covers the period between April 1 and Oct. 30 of this year, claims that al Qaeda is restricted to northeastern Afghanistan, reported Afghan military and intelligence operations during the same time period indicate that al Qaeda remains active beyond Kunar and Nuristan.

The most high-profile operation against al Qaeda was conducted in Nangarhar province in October. Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security reported that al Qaeda leader Abu Bara al Kuwaiti was killed in a US airstrike in Lal Mandi in Nangarhar's Nazyan district. The airstrike took place at the home of Abdul Samad Khanjari, who was described as al Qaeda's military commander for the province.

Abu Bara likely served in al Qaeda's General Command. He was close to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, and had served as an aide to Atiyah Abd al Rahman, al Qaeda's former general manager who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan in August 2011. Abu Bara wrote Atiyah's eulogy, which was published in Vanguards of Khorasan, al Qaeda's official magazine. US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal that Abu Bara was the most senior al Qaeda leader killed in Afghanistan in years. [See LWJ report, Senior al Qaeda leader reported killed in US airstrike in eastern Afghanistan.]

Another senior al Qaeda leader known to operate in Afghanistan is Qari Bilal. In August, Afghan officials said that he commands more than 300 fighters in the northern province of Kunduz, where several districts are controlled or contested by the Taliban. Bilal is also a member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an al Qaeda-linked group that has integrated its operations with the Taliban in northern Afghanistan.

Bilal escaped from a Pakistani jail in 2010, entered Afghanistan, and was subsequently captured by ISAF special operations forces in 2011. He was later freed by Afghan officials and rejoined the fight. [See LWJ report, Senior IMU leader captured by ISAF in 2011 now leads fight in northern Afghanistan.]

This month, Afghan officials announced the capture of Eqbal al Tajiki, a citizen of Tajikistan who served with al Qaeda's network in Kunduz. Sediq Sediqi, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that Eqbal "is an active member of the al Qaeda network" who was "transferred by his colleagues to northern parts of Afghanistan to carry out terrorist activities," according to Afghan Channel One TV. Sediqi said Eqbal had "received terrorist training in North Waziristan for three years."

Eqbal may have been a member of the Qari Salim Group, "a high-profile Al Qaeda affiliate" that is commanded by Qari Khaluddin, Pajhwok Afghan News noted in October. Khaluddin "had recently trained in Pakistan's city of Quetta." The group is said to have been plotting to attack a military base in Kunduz.

Another al Qaeda group known to be operating in Afghanistan is Junood al Fida. In early October, Junood al Fida released video that purported to show the group taking control of the district of Registan in the southern province of Kandahar.

Junood al Fida, which is comprised of Baluch jihadists, has sworn loyalty to the Taliban but also describes Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri as "Our Shaykh al Habeeb" [beloved leader] and its "Ameeruna" [our chief]. The group's propaganda routinely attacks the US. [See LWJ reports, Baloch jihadist group in southern Afghanistan announces death of commander and Jihadist group loyal to Taliban, al Qaeda claims to have captured Afghan district.]