The United Nations Security Council today added Ansar al Sharia in Libya to its al Qaeda sanctions list. "As a result of the new listings," the UN announced, "any individual or entity that provides financial or material support to" Ansar al Sharia Libya, "including the provision of arms or recruits, is eligible to be added to the Al Qaeda Sanctions List and subject to the sanctions measures."

The UN notes that the Ansar al Sharia chapters in Benghazi and Derna are associated with one another, but lists them separately under a heading that reads, "Entities and other groups associated with Al Qaeda."

Despite their separate listings, the two Ansar al Sharia groups operate together and have published their propaganda under a shared brand. Ansar al Sharia fighters from both Benghazi and Derna participated in the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the US Mission and Annex in Benghazi. Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed during the assault.

According to the UN, both Ansar al Sharia groups in Libya are "associated" with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an official branch of al Qaeda that remains loyal to Ayman al Zawahiri. They are both also tied to Ansar al Sharia in Tunisia, which orchestrated the assault on the US Embassy in Tunis on Sept. 14, 2012.

The UN added Ansar al Sharia Tunisia to its al Qaeda sanctions list in September. The UN found that, like its sister organizations in Libya, Ansar al Sharia Tunisia has "links to" AQIM.

There are well-established ties between Ansar al Sharia in Libya and Tunisia. The UN notes in its designation that Ansar al Sharia in Libya has a "support network in Tunisia."

In addition, the Benghazi chapter is tied to Al Mourabitoun, which is led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a former AQIM commander who established his own jihadist group. Belmokhtar is openly loyal to Zawahiri and, according to a previous designation by the UN, still works with AQIM despite his differences with the group's leadership.

Earlier this month, Agence France Presse obtained a copy of a dossier that was submitted to the UN to justify today's action. The documents provided to the UN show that 12 of the 24 jihadists who participated in the January 2013 siege of the In Amenas gas facility in Algeria were trained in Ansar al Sharia camps in Benghazi.

Belmokhtar commanded the terrorists responsible for the In Amenas siege and claimed responsibility for the raid on behalf of al Qaeda.

Britain, France, and the US moved to have Ansar al Sharia Libya added to the UN sanctions list earlier this month, and all 15 members of the UN Security Council had until today to agree to the sanctions. A consensus was reached and the sanctions were approved.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond praised the UN's decision in a statement. Hammond said that the Ansar al Sharia groups in Benghazi and Derna both "have links with Al Qaeda and are responsible for acts of terror in Libya, including bomb attacks, kidnappings, and murder."

Ansar al Sharia camps in Derna and Benghazi have been used to funnel foreign fighters to Syria, according to the UN. The camps in Benghazi have also shipped jihadists off to Mali.

Today's action by the UN confirms The Long War Journal's reporting and analysis. Numerous pieces of evidence tie the Ansar al Sharia organizations in Libya and Tunisia to al Qaeda's international network. See, for example, LWJ reports:

• State Department designates 3 Ansar al Sharia organizations, leaders
• Senate report: Terrorists 'affiliated' with multiple al Qaeda groups involved in Benghazi attack
• Ex-Guantanamo detainee remains suspect in Benghazi attack
• Al Qaeda and the threat in North Africa
• From al Qaeda in Italy to Ansar al Sharia Tunisia
• Al Qaeda ally orchestrated assault on US Embassy in Tunisia
• Al Qaeda's plan for Libya highlighted in congressional report

The US killed five suspected "militants" in the latest drone strike in Pakistan's jihadist haven of North Waziristan. The strike is just the second by the US in Pakistan this month.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or Reapers fired a pair of missiles at a compound "believed to be a hideout of suspected militants" in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, Xinhua reported.

Pakistani officials told Dawn that five "militants," including an unnamed "high value target," were killed in the strike. Al Qaeda, the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and other jihadist groups known to operate in the area have not released a statement announcing the death of any of the groups' leaders.

The Pakistani government, which has condemned US drone strikes in the past, including a Nov. 11 strike in Datta Khel, has not released a statement on today's attack. Several "foreign militants" were reported killed in the Nov. 11 airstrike.

The Datta Khel area of North Waziristan is one of several hubs for al Qaeda and other jihadist groups in North Waziristan. Some of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed by drone strikes in the area, including Mustafa Abu Yazid, Abdullah Said al Libi, and Zuhaib al Zahibi. [See LWJ report, 'Foreign militants' reported killed in latest US drone strike in Pakistan, for more information on Datta Khel.]

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.

The US has launched 19 drone strikes inside Pakistan this year. Nine of those strikes have taken place in Datta Khel.

All 19 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.

Ajnad Misr, or the "Soldiers of Egypt," has claimed credit for a terrorist attack on a police post near Helwan University in Cairo earlier today. Initial accounts say that five policemen were injured in the bombing, and several other bystanders were wounded as they fled the scene.

Ajnad Misr released its claim of responsibility on its official Twitter feed, and the claim was also picked up by other jihadist websites. The group first claimed attacks earlier this year. In a statement issued on Jan. 24, Ajnad Misr said it was responsible for two attacks that occurred in November 2013, as well as subsequent attacks in January. The jihadist organization then executed a string of additional attacks in Cairo and elsewhere in the months that followed, mainly focusing on Egyptian security personnel.

The bombing outside of a university is consistent with Ajnad Misr's modus operandi, as it has targeted security personnel in and around universities in the past. The jihadist organization struck Cairo University in October, and its justifications were nearly identical to those offered for today's bombing.

"This blessed operation comes after a rise in killing and maltreatment incidents against students," Ajnad Misr said in a statement released after the bombings last month. "And we have been avoiding targeting the criminal apparatus near universities ... til it was proven that they are carrying out systematic crimes [against students] without justification," the statement reads.

In its statement claiming responsibility, Ajnad Misr justified today's attack by saying that it witnessed female students being dragged away by security forces.

A Twitter feed that claims to serve as Ajnad Misr's media arm posted an image of women being dragged away, saying today's attack was revenge for the "sisters" who were assaulted. The image can be seen above.

Ajnad Misr has repeatedly stated that it is attempting to avoid civilian casualties as it lashes out at Egyptian officials. In April, for instance, the group said that it delayed the detonation of one of its bombs near Cairo University because it wanted to avoid striking the civilians in the area. Ajnad made the same claim in October, saying that it used less powerful explosives in order to avoid innocent citizens.

Another Egyptian jihadist group, Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM), or Ansar Jerusalem, is headquartered in the Sinai, and a faction from the group has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that controls large portions of Iraq and Syria. ABM has rebranded itself as the Islamic State's province in the Sinai.

In the past, ABM has described Ajnad Misr as "our brothers," but it is not clear what, if any, relationship there is between the two organizations currently. Ajnad Misr has not sworn allegiance to the Islamic State, and many details about the group remain unknown.

Two senior leaders of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the newest branch of the global jihadist group, were killed in a recent US operation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, AQIS' spokesman announced yesterday. One of those killed was a former Pakistani Army officer who had been directly linked to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an architect of 9/11. The other operative was a doctor who also served as a AQIS propagandist.

Usama Mahmood, the spokesman for AQIS, announced the death of the two leaders in a series of statements that were released today on his Twitter account. The tweets were obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Mahmood announced the "Martyrdom of Dr. Sarbaland (Abu Khalid) with his two young sons, [and] his brother-in-law, a former major in the Pakistani Army Adil Abdul Quoos." He described Qudoos and Sarbaland as "senior leaders of the group."

The two AQIS leaders and the two boys were killed "as a result of an American drop on the Afghan border, followed by bombing from spy aircraft" Mahmood claimed.

According to Xinhua, they were killed in a "drone strike along the [Pakistan-Afghanistan] border on November 9." No strikes were reported in Pakistan on Nov. 9, but there was a strike in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan on Nov. 11. If US ground forces were involved in the raid, then the operation may have taken place in Afghanistan, as US troops are not reported to have entered Pakistani territory.

Qudoos was known to be active in jihadist circles in the early 2000s while he served as a major in the Pakistani Army's signal corps. He is said to have owned the home in the garrison city of Rawalpindi where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested during a joint US and Pakistani raid in early 2003. Qudoos' father and brother lived in the residence at the time. His father, Abdul Qudoos Khan, is a doctor who is reported to have been a leader in the pro-Taliban and al Qaeda Jamaat-i-Islami political party; he may have known Osama bin Laden while living in Sudan in the 1990s.

Major Qudoos was arrested in March 2003 along with two colonels, Abdul Ghaffar and Khalid Abbasi, and charged by the Pakistani military with subversive activities. "One of the charges they faced was facilitation of al Qaeda-linked fighters," Imtiaz Gul wrote in his book, Pakistan, Before and After Osama. "They had also put associates of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind arrested from Rawalpindi in 2003, at army's hostels."

After a conviction, the former Pakistani major was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 2008 and quickly "immigrated with his family to the fields of jihad until Allah blessed him with martyrdom," Mahmood wrote.

The AQIS spokesman described Sarbaland as both "a skillful surgeon and a strategic ideologue for the group, and he provided many services to the Pakistani and Afghan jihad."

The US has killed one other AQIS leader since the group was founded at the end of the summer. On Oct. 11, the US killed Sheikh Imran Ali Siddiqi (a.k.a. Haji Shaikh Waliullah), a veteran AQIS leader who had a pedigree in Pakistani jihadist circles. The strike, which took place in North Waziristan, also killed a "good Taliban" commander who served in the Hafiz Gul Bahadar group. [See LWJ reports, US drone strike kills veteran jihadist turned senior AQIS official and AQIS leader, 'good' Taliban commander killed in 2 US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas.]

Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent was formed on Sept. 3 and includes elements of some of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India's most prominent jihadist groups. Since its formation, AQIS claimed credit for a Sept. 6 attack on a Pakistani naval vessel. During the operation, jihadists attempted to hijack the ship and fire missiles at US warships in the Indian Ocean. According to both the terrorist group and Pakistan's defense minister, Pakistani naval officers were complicit in the attack. [See LWJ Report, AQIS claims plot to strike US warships was executed by Pakistani Navy officers.]

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), an official branch of al Qaeda, has released a video rejecting the Islamic State's announced caliphate and chastising the group for sowing discord among jihadists.

The newly-released video stars Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari, a senior AQAP sharia official, who responds directly to a Nov. 13 speech made by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State. The video is titled, "A Statement about What was Contained in the Speech of Sheikh Abu Bakr al Baghdadi 'Even If the Disbelievers Despise Such'," and was first translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

In addition to rebuking Baghdadi and the Islamic State, Nadhari also renews AQAP's bayat (oath of allegiance) to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, and affirms Zawahiri's oath to Taliban chieftain Mullah Omar. Nadhari says "it is known" that al Qaeda "has had a pledge of allegiance to Mullah Omar...for nearly twenty years."

Al Qaeda has previously countered Baghdadi's claim to rule as "Caliph Ibrahim I" by implying that Omar is the rightful caliph and, unlike Baghdadi, has the broad support of recognized jihadist authorities.

Nadhari begins by saying that AQAP "did not want to talk about the current dispute and the fitna [sedition]" in Syria given that the jihadists are in a "sensitive stage in which the enemies of Islam" have "gathered together to fight" the entire Islamic ummah [worldwide community of Muslims].

"This war was and still is a Crusader war against all the honest mujahideen," Nadhari says, according to SITE's translation. "We took the position incumbent upon us to support our brothers with what we can, and we still hold to that position, as we believe in the necessity to support our mujahideen brothers, including all of their groups and entities, regardless of their inclinations."

However, according to Nadhari, the Islamic State has made it impossible to remain silent.

Direct response to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi

During his Nov. 13 speech, Baghdadi accepted the oaths of allegiance sworn by jihadists in Algeria, the Sinai in Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The oaths were clearly coordinated by the Islamic State to show international support for its caliphate project.

Baghdadi announced "the nullification" of all other jihadist groups in these countries. And he said that his jihadists had created "new wilayah [provinces] for the Islamic State" in each nation, with new provincial leaders to be appointed soon. Baghdadi said that all jihadists, and indeed all Muslims, now owe his official representatives their loyalty.

Baghdadi's speech was clearly a shot across AQAP's bow, as two of the oaths of loyalty came from anonymous jihadists in Saudi Arabia and Yemen -- that is, AQAP's turf. The logical implication is that AQAP has no real authority given that the caliphate has supposedly spread to its lands.

Nadhari counters by saying that Baghdadi's caliphate is not a widely accepted authority and was not established in an appropriate manner. "The announcement of the caliphate for all Muslims by our brothers in the Islamic State did not meet the required conditions," Nadhari says. "It did not go through consultation with the influential people of the Islamic Ummah, or at least through some of them from among the faithful scholars and leaders of the mujahid groups," or "others from among those who are well-qualified for consultation in the Islamic Ummah."

Al Qaeda and its official branches have made this argument before, pointing out that because Baghdadi's right to rule has not been blessed by recognized authorities, he is not really the caliph.

Nadhari stresses that al Qaeda is not opposed to establishing a caliphate. It is the "highest of our wishes" and "we strive to fulfill this establishment," he says. But Baghdadi's organization falls well short of al Qaeda's desired new empire.

AQAP's ideologue goes on to blame Baghdadi and the Islamic State for sowing dissent among jihadists far from their base of operations in Iraq and Syria. Their caliphate announcement in late June was particularly divisive. The "policy of our brothers in the Islamic State split the ranks of the mujahideen, and scattered them, in this sensitive phase in the history of the mujahid ummah," Nadhari argues. "This is one of the absolutely forbidden matters in the religion of Allah."

The Islamic State's caliphate announcement transferred "the infighting and sedition to other fronts" as they demanded that all Muslims now bow before Baghdadi. All Muslims who fail to do so are "deemed" by the Islamic State to be "sinners," Nadhari says.

"They added to that, cancelling the legitimacy of all of the groups that work for Islam in the Muslim world, whether jihadi or preaching, and they strove to split the ranks of the mujahideen by collecting pledges from within the mujahid groups," Nadhari continues, according to SITE's translation.

Nadhari then directly criticizes the Islamic State's attempt to establish provinces in several nations. The Islamic State's "false implants," which were "adopted since the announcement of the caliphate," are "cleaving the ranks of jihad throughout the Muslim world."

The Islamic State's leaders "announced the expansion of their caliphate in a number of countries in which they have no governance, and considered them to be provinces that belong to them, and they appointed governors in them, and canceled the jihadi groups in them that did not pledge allegiance to them," Nadhari says.

Later in the video, Nadhari adds that the Islamic State's "true" governance "should not exceed the geographical scope in which they control it in Iraq and Syria."

"As for the rest of the countries," Nadhari says, "they have no real entity, but just groups and individual fighters working to push away the assailing enemy." In other words, according to Nadhari, the Islamic State doesn't have a real organization outside of Iraq and Syria. The group cannot, therefore, claim to govern outside of these countries.

Nadhari blasts the Islamic State's caliphate project, saying AQAP holds "our brothers in the Islamic State responsible for all the consequences of these interpretations and dangerous steps, from weakening the strength of the mujahideen, which is an inevitable result of fighting."

"We make them bear responsibility" for "going too far in interpretations in terms of spilling inviolable [Muslim] blood under the excuse of expanding and spreading the power of the Islamic State," Nadhari says, according to SITE's translation.

Nadhari also fires back at Baghdadi for smearing AQAP's honor on the battlefield. Baghdadi alleged in his audio message earlier this month that Shiite Houthi rebels would not have been able to achieve the successes they've enjoyed in Yemen in recent months if real monotheists were present on the battlefield. In other words, Baghdadi's forces would not have allowed the Shiites to advance.

AQAP's sharia man says he and others "were hurt by what Sheikh Abu Bakr al Baghdadi said, and it hurt the Muslims in the trench of Yemen, when he said that the Houthis found no monotheists to fight them." This is false, Nadhari argues, and AQAP cannot believe "the likes of the Sheikh" would "say such a thing."

Still want peace among jihadists

Nadhari's video is al Qaeda's clearest condemnation of the Islamic State yet. Al Qaeda and its branches, including AQAP, have indirectly criticized Baghdadi's organization on multiple occasions. But more often than not, al Qaeda has attempted to preach unity among the jihadists.

It appears that Baghdadi's speech on Nov. 13, in which he made aggressive claims on territory far afield from his headquarters, finally prompted al Qaeda to condemn the Islamic State's caliphate in no uncertain terms. Ultimately, however, AQAP wants the jihadists to cease fighting one another.

Regardless of the Islamic State's transgressions, Nadhari stresses that AQAP just wants the infighting in Syria to end. Apparently reacting to press accounts saying the jihadists had stopped attacking one another, Nadhari says AQAP expresses "our utmost joy to having received good news about what we heard of signs of stopping the infighting among the mujahideen" in Syria. Nadhari wants the jihadists to push forward with these efforts.

Nadhari repeats al Qaeda's call for the jihadists to settle their differences in a common sharia court. The Islamic State has dismissed this proposal out of hand in the past.

And Nadhari attempts to keep the jihadists focused on the "Crusaders," warning that it is impermissible for anyone to work with them as they attack the jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Renewed oaths of loyalty to Ayman al Zawahiri and Mullah Omar

Nadhari says that AQAP rejects the Islamic State's "calls to split the ranks of the jihadi groups" around the world, and rhetorically asks how such a move could possibly serve the jihadists' interests. With respect to Zawahiri and Omar, Nadhari says that AQAP sees no reason for it to break its "covenant" or contradict its "pledge."

"We confirm to our brothers our loyalty to the promises, and renew the pledge of allegiance to our Sheikh Ayman al Zawahiri, may Allah preserve him, and the pledge of allegiance from him to Mullah Omar Mujahid, may Allah preserve him," Nadhari says. This declaration is necessary given that the "campaigns of the enemy from among the apostates and Crusaders have intensified on all the fronts."

"We hoped our brothers in the Islamic State [would] support and help, but they surprised us with these interpretations that collapse in the same body and separate the people," Nadhari says.

And the AQAP official says that the Islamic State should retract its attempt to expand into other lands. "We call upon our brothers in the Islamic State to withdraw the fatwa in removing the groups and splitting the ranks, for it is an attack and is unjust and [will lead to] breaking of relationships that Allah does not approve for His worshipers," Nadhari counsels.

Judging by its history, the Islamic State is not inclined to listen.

The Defense Department announced on Nov. 20 that five detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba were transferred to two nations. Three of the detainees were transferred to the Government of Georgia, while the other two were transferred to Slovakia.

Four of the transferred detainees are Yemenis: Abdel Ghalib Ahmad Hakim, Hussein Salem Mohammed, Slah Muhamed Salih al Zabe, and Abdul Khaled Ahmed Sahleh al Bedani.

Hisham Bin Ali Bin Amor Sliti, the fifth detainee transferred, is a Tunisian.

All five of the detainees were evaluated by President Obama's Guantanamo Review Task Force, which was established in January 2009. The task force concluded its work one year later and in its January 2010 report recommended that all five be transferred.

The task force did not conclude that the men should be outright released, but instead said they should be transferred outside of the US to a country that "will implement appropriate security measures." That is, the task force concluded that all five detainees pose some level of risk, but not enough to keep them in US custody indefinitely.

Leaked Joint Task Force - Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessments

Prior to the establishment of the Guantanamo Review Task Force, Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), which oversees the detention facility, wrote threat assessments for all five detainees. The assessments were subsequently leaked online.

JTF-GTMO assessed that three of the five were "high" risks to the US, its interests, and allies: Sliti, Hakim, and Mohammed. The threat assessments for all three recommended that they remain in the Defense Department's custody.

JTF-GTMO found that Zabe "poses a medium to high risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests and allies."

And the fifth who was transferred, Bedani, was deemed a "medium risk, as he may pose a threat to the US, its interests and allies."

JTF-GTMO recommended that both Zabe and Bedani be transferred to the custody of other nations. Zabe was recommended for transfer on Sept. 3, 2004, while JTF-GTMO recommended that Bedani be transferred as early as Dec. 16, 2006. However, JTF-GTMO's recommendations were contingent upon appropriate security measures being in place.

JTF-GTMO biographies for each of the five detainees

The JTF-GTMO threat assessments contain details and allegations concerning each of the former detainees' ties to al Qaeda and affiliated groups. The short biographies below are based entirely on the leaked JTF-GTMO files.

Abdel Ghalib Ahmad Hakim (internment serial number 686) is a Yemeni and was transferred to Georgia. Hakim was assessed by JTF-GTMO "to be a member of al Qaeda" and possibly "accompanied Osama bin Laden...throughout Afghanistan." He was "further assessed" to be a member of an al Qaeda cell created by al Qaeda facilitator Abu Zubaydah and al Qaeda military operations commander Abd al Hadi al Iraqi. This cell is commonly referred to as Abu Zubaydah's "Martyrs Brigade." Its "purpose" was to return "to Afghanistan to conduct remote controlled improvised explosive devices (IED) attacks against US and Coalition forces."

Hakim was captured during raids by Pakistani and American forces in Faisalabad, Pakistan in late March 2002. Abu Zubaydah and numerous other al Qaeda operatives were captured during these same raids. The safehouses where Hakim, Abu Zubaydah and the others stayed were "operated" by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani jihadist group that has long been closely allied with al Qaeda. Senior al Qaeda operatives in US custody identified Hakim as a jihadist who had trained at al Qaeda's al Farouq camp.

Hussein Salem Mohammed (internment serial number 1015) is a Yemeni who was transferred to Slovakia. Mohammed was an "al Qaeda facilitator located in Iran (IR) providing travel and false documents to Arab extremists attempting to enter Afghanistan (AF)." Senior al Qaeda facilitator Abu Zubaydah and other al Qaeda members in custody said that Mohammed "operated out of al Qaeda supported guest and safe houses in Iran and Afghanistan."

The details in Mohammed's file indicate that he worked for an early incarnation of al Qaeda's Iran-based network. While at times Iranian authorities have detained al Qaeda members, including eventually Mohammed, al Qaeda has also been allowed to operate inside Iran. During one of his stays at an al Qaeda guesthouse in Iran, "intelligence operatives took photos of al Qaeda and Taliban members who were present at the house." Several days later, "the Iranian agents returned with false passports for those fighters." However, Mohammed says he was detained by the Iranian police, "tried and convicted for being in Iran illegally," and eventually transferred to Afghan custody before being turned over to the Americans. Mohammed claimed that he "was tortured while in the custody of the Iranians." In addition, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) identified Mohammed "as a member of al Qaeda who had fled Afghanistan."

Other intelligence cited in the file indicates that Mohammed had detailed knowledge of "al Qaeda members," including Osama bin Laden's family members, and their "activities" inside Iran, as well as their "interaction with Iranian authorities." This knowledge "reflects" Mohammed's "close association with al Qaeda."

Abdul Khaled Ahmed Sahleh al Bedani (internment serial number 553) is a Yemeni who was transferred to Georgia. He was identified as an "al Qaeda associated fighter and a probable member of al Qaeda who admittedly traveled to Afghanistan (AF) to receive militant training." He "participated in hostilities against US and Coalition forces in Tora Bora, and possibly served as a fighter" in Osama bin Laden's 55th Arab Brigade. Bedani was "listed on al Qaeda-affiliated documents" and "has expressed his encouragement for and desires to engage in further hostilities against US forces." The JTF-GTMO threat assessment for Bedani identifies numerous al Qaeda personalities he allegedly came into contact with, as well as al Qaeda facilities, including guesthouses, where he stayed.

Two of the noteworthy al Qaeda personalities tied to Bedani in the leaked file are an al Qaeda commander known as Abu Thabit and Ibn Sheikh al Libi, who was appointed by Osama bin Laden to lead the jihadists' forces at the Battle of Tora Bora in late 2001. Bedani fled Jalalabad for Tora Bora in the same car as Abu Thabit, who was "second in command of a front line unit north of Kabul." US military intelligence analysts surmised that because Bedani was so close to Abu Thabit they "likely retreated from the front lines" together. This indicated to analysts that Bedani, like Abu Thabit, served in bin Laden's 55th Arab Brigade. At Tora Bora, Abu Thabit "commanded a multi-national camp called the Thabit Center" with a "20-man group composed of Algerians, Yemenis, Saudis, and Kuwaitis." Bedani served under Abu Thabi's command until his death.

Bedani attempted to escape Tora Bora, but was wounded "in a US helicopter attack during the attempt." Bedani's "account describes the first attempt by al Qaeda forces to escape from Tora Bora" under the direction of Ibn Sheikh al Libi, a senior jihadist who led the Khaldan camp in Afghanistan. When the escape attempt failed, al Libi instructed his surviving forces "to seek help with local villagers or enemy forces." Afghans took Bedani to a hospital, where he remained until Feb. 2, 2002, when he was transferred to US forces.

Slah Muhamed Salih al Zabe (internment serial number 572) is a Yemeni who was transferred to Georgia. Zabe was identified as "a member of al Qaeda and/or its global terrorist network" and "has demonstrated a commitment to jihad." He "has links to key facilitators in al Qaeda's international terrorist network, has participated in terrorist training, likely participated in direct hostilities against the US and coalition forces, and maintains the capability to do so if released." Zabe, a Yemeni, had lived in Saudi Arabia, so JTF-GTMO recommended that he be transferred to the kingdom, but it was "imperative" that he "be retained in the custody" of the Saudi government, otherwise military officials believed he should remain held by the US.

Zabe first traveled to Afghanistan for training in the late 1990s. He met with multiple senior al Qaeda operatives while attending al Qaeda's training camps and guesthouses. One of them was an al Qaeda operative known as Abu Zubayr, who "was involved in attempts to destroy US and British ships in the Straits of Gibraltar" before being "incarcerated in Morocco." Zabe lived with Abu Zubayr and his family in Afghanstan. After the Taliban fell in late 2001, Abu Zubayr helped Zabe flee.

Zabe was captured on Feb. 7, 2002 in an al Qaeda safehouse in Karachi, Pakistan. He was captured alongside Abdu Ali al Haji Sharqawi, a senior al Qaeda facilitator who was known as "Riyadh the Facilitator." Sharqawi, who is still detained at Guantanamo, was responsible for shuttling al Qaeda operatives around the globe.

Hisham Bin Ali Bin Amor Sliti (internment serial number 174) is a Tunisian who was transferred to Slovakia. Sliti's JTF-GTMO threat assessment contains a strong warning concerning the possibility of recidivism.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessed that Sliti was "among the top 52 enemy combatants at JTF-GTMO who pose the most significant threat of reengagement in acts of terrorism if released." JTF-GTMO warned, "If released without rehabilitation, close supervision, and means to successfully reintegrate into his society as a law abiding citizen, it is assessed [Sliti] would immediately seek out prior associates and reengage in extremist activities." US officials found that although Sliti "appeared cooperative during recent debriefings," he was not providing "anything of intelligence value" and appeared to be deploying "counter-interrogation techniques." Sliti "holds anti-US sentiment and on more than one occasion has threatened to kill members of the guard force."

Sliti was a member of the Tunisian Combatant Group (TCG), which acted as an arm for al Qaeda in Europe prior to the 9/11 attacks. In 2004, Sliti "was convicted in absentia on terrorism-related charges for his role in TCG suicide attacks, including a foiled attack against US military personnel at the Kleine Brogel Air Base in Belgium and assassination of the Northern Alliance leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud." The slaying of Massoud was a key part of al Qaeda's 9/11 plan, as it removed an effective opponent of the Taliban from the battlefield prior to the onset of US-led hostilities.

A version of this article was originally published at The Weekly Standard.

An ex-Guantanamo detainee based in northern Pakistan is leading an effort to recruit jihadists for the Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that controls large portions of Iraq and Syria.

Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost, who was detained at Guantanamo for three years, has sworn allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Dost's oath of allegiance was issued on July 1, just two days after Baghdadi named himself "Caliph Ibrahim I" and declared that his Islamic State was now a "caliphate."

Pakistani officials have accused Dost of recruiting jihadists for Baghdadi's organization. He is thought to be behind a graffiti campaign that aims to spread pro-Islamic State messages throughout northern Pakistan.

According to Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, Dost has even been named the head of the Islamic State's presence in the "Khorasan," an area that covers much of Central and South Asia, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.

US officials have confirmed to The Long War Journal that Dost is recruiting for the Islamic State. It is not clear how effective his efforts have been, given that Dost and his supporters are operating in areas that are strongholds for al Qaeda and the Taliban, both of which are opposed to Baghdadi's "caliphate" project.

Thus far, the Islamic State has had only limited success in Pakistan and elsewhere in attracting established jihadists to its cause. However, Dost, who is in his 50s, is a veteran jihadist leader.

Dost was originally detained in Pakistan in late 2001. He was transferred to US custody and detained at Guantanamo for three years. Dost was already a veteran jihadist with a thick dossier at the time.

But US officials transferred Dost from Guantanamo to Afghanistan in April 2005. Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), which oversees the detention camps, recommended that he be released or transferred due to his health problems. Dost "poses a low risk, due to his medical condition," JTF-GTMO concluded in a memo that was subsequently leaked. A combatant status review tribunal (CSRT) at Guantanamo also concluded at some point that Dost was no longer an enemy combatant.

In 2006, however, Dost was detained in Pakistan once again. He was subsequently part of a prisoner exchange between the Taliban and the Pakistani government in 2008. Dost and Taliban fighters in Pakistani custody were exchanged for Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan and dozens of Pakistani soldiers, all of whom were in the Taliban's custody. The deal was reportedly brokered by Baitullah Mehsud, who led the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban until his death in 2009.

A statement by Dost explaining his reasons for swearing allegiance to Baghdadi was included in a jihadist propaganda video posted online in July. The Long War Journal has obtained a translation of the video.

Dost claims that during his time in US custody, he had a vision predicting the establishment of Baghdadi's caliphate.

"While in Guantanamo in [2002]," Dost claims, "I saw a vision of a palace with a huge closed door, above which was a clock pointing to the time of 10 minutes before 12." Dost says he "was told that was the home of the caliphate" and so he "assumed then that the caliphate would be established after 12 years."

Coincidentally, the Islamic State declared its caliphate in 2014 - or 12 years after Dost's supposed vision.

Dost argues that ever since the caliphate fell in 1924 the Islamic ummah [worldwide community of Muslims] "has experienced phases of disagreement, division, failure and disputes" and "become divided into fighting groups and different small states" that fail to represent Islam. All Muslim governments are now null and void, Dost says, as they have been replaced by the caliphate with Baghdadi, the "caliph of the Muslims, the emir of the believers," as its leader.

Dost thanks Allah for the "opportunity to witness the establishment of the Islamic caliphate" under Baghdadi's leadership. He swears allegiance to Baghdadi and calls on all other Muslims to do the same.

The video of Dost's allegiance to Baghdadi includes a summary of his extensive biography. In the 1970s, Dost studied under a jihadist sheikh in Afghanistan. Some of the sheikh's students would go on to join al Qaeda. Dost joined the jihad against the Soviets in the late 1970s.

In 1979, Dost was among the radicals, led by Juhayman al Utebi, who laid siege to the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Juhayman and his men challenged the Saudis' right to rule over Islam's holy sites, but were eventually extracted by force from the mosque. That incident influenced the next generation of Islamic militants, including some of al Qaeda's leaders. Dost was arrested shortly after the siege, but somehow escaped and made his way to Peshawar, where he joined the jihad once again.

Dost soon became a prolific writer, publishing three magazines and authoring numerous articles and books.

According to his biography, Dost had "good relations with the Taliban and the mujahideen." Interestingly, Dost claimed the opposite during his combatant status review tribunal (CSRT) at Guantanamo, saying that he was at odds with the Taliban prior to his capture in late 2001. Dost is more forthcoming about his Taliban ties pre-9/11 now that he is free.

Dost says the Pakistanis detained him in 2006 because his book, "The Broken Chains," exposed the "truth" about the prisons in Pakistan and at Guantanamo. Since his release in 2008, he has been living with the tribes in Waziristan, Pakistan, where he holds "sharia workshops, meets with delegates, writes, tours the tall mountains of Afghanistan, and participates in the fields of struggle."

After his release from Guantanamo in 2005, Dost frequently portrayed himself as an innocent who was wrongly detained. In favorable press accounts, Dost claimed that the Americans had confiscated much of his poetry and refused to return it. Several of Dost's "poems" were also included in a volume compiled by advocates for the detainees. The book, "Poems from Guantanamo," was intended to portray the detainees in a sympathetic light. (Other contributors to the book are also known recidivists.)

Today, according to sources in Pakistan, Dost is producing "propaganda booklets" advocating on behalf of Baghdadi and the Islamic State's caliphate.

Four new terrorist training camps in Iraq and Syria, three of them operated by the Islamic State, have been identified by The Long War Journal. The identification of these camps, three in Syria and one in Iraq, brings the total number of jihadist-run camps identified in the two countries to 46.

On Nov. 14, US Central Command issued a statement noting that US or coalition airstrikes targeted an Islamic State training camp "east of Raqqah." That brought the total number of airstrikes against Islamic State training camps near Raqqah to five. Camps near Raqqah were previously struck on Sept. 22, on Sept. 27, on Oct. 3, and again on Oct. 8.

Photographs released on Twitter also purport to show the Islamic State utilizing locations in the city of Mosul, the capital of Iraq's Ninewa province, for the training of a "special forces unit." The unit, dubbed Qawat al Muhaam al Khaasa (Special Task Force), has been seen in photographs showing trainees rappelling off of buildings and bridges in Mosul. Some photos also purport to show the graduation of fighters in the unit. In other photographs, American-made weapons such as the M16 are clearly visible. Videos have also been uploaded to YouTube that show the Qawat al Muhaam al Khaasa unit in training.

And in a propaganda video entitled "Race Towards Good," the Islamic State showcased a training camp that is used exclusively by Kazakh fighters. The exact location of the camp is unclear, but it appears to be near Raqqah. The video showed the fighters receiving physical training and schooling in firearms such as American, Russian, and Austrian-made sniper rifles. The second half of the video showed Kazakh children being taught Arabic, as well as physical and military training. In one scene, a Kazakh child is shown assembling an AK-47 assault rifle. At the end of the video, a Kazakh child recites a speech for the camera, saying, "We're going to kill you, O kuffar [unbelievers]. Insha'allah [God-willing], we will slaughter you."

Most recently, another jihadist training camp has been identified in Syria, in the province of Latakia. It is operated by Jamaat Jund al Qawkaz (Caucasus), a group composed of Circassians, Chechens, Dagestanis, and other Caucasian ethnic groups. The group is independent and probably small, but is more than likely affiliated with the Al Nusrah Front, which is al Qaeda's Syrian branch, and the Caucasus Emirate. It might also be affiliated to Junud al Sham, a predominantly Chechen group led by Muslim Shishani, a specially designated global terrorist. While Jamaat Jund al Qawkaz has officially taken an anti-fitna stance, the group has promoted Al Nusrah propaganda, according to Aymenn al Tamimi. Video has also been uploaded to YouTube showing the Jamaat Jund al Qawkaz unit in training.

In addition to the four camps identified above, more evidence has emerged about another training camp identified by The Long War Journal two months ago. Photos were recently disseminated on Twitter showing a training camp that was run by Abu Yusuf al Turki. As The Long War Journal reported on Sept. 23, online jihadists described al Turki as a commander in the Al Nusrah Front who trained fighters how to become snipers. Al Turki was killed in initial US airstrikes in Syria against the so-called Khorasan Group, a name used by the US government to describe al Qaeda veterans embedded within Al Nusrah. After al Turki was confirmed killed, supporters released a video of his training camp, which is located in or near Aleppo.

Jihadist camps in Iraq and Syria

Since the beginning of 2012, a total of 46 camps have been identified as being operational at some point in time, 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 operational. In addition, this analysis is compiled using publicly-available evidence. It is likely that some training camps are not advertised.

Of those camps, 34 are located in Syria and 12 in Iraq.

The Islamic State has operated 25 camps (14 in Syria and 11 in Iraq). Al Qaeda's Al Nusrah Front 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 12 camps (11 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.]

The "Race Towards Good" video showcasing Kazakh Islamic State fighters and their children can be seen below:

The National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan's intelligence service, accused the Pakistan-supported Haqqani Network of executing yesterday's mass-casualty suicide attack at a soccer match in Paktika province. The accusation has been made just as the US has extended the US military's combat mission in Afghanistan for one year.

The NDS has "evidence that shows the Haqqani network was behind the attack in Paktika," Haseeb Sediqi, the intelligence organization's spokesman, told AFP today.

The Paktika suicide attack killed at least 57 people and wounded scores more. Many children are reported to have been killed or wounded.

Sediqi did not detail the nature of the evidence that linked the Haqqani Network to the attack. But the attack took place in Yahya Khel, a remote district in a province that is is heavily influenced by the Haqqanis, an al Qaeda-linked Taliban subgroup that receives support from the Pakistani military and intelligence services.

The suicide bomber is reported to have targeted Bawar Khan, a local police commander, and his police escort, according to Reuters. Khan, who was killed in the attack, had recently ejected the Taliban from the area.

The NDS has said in the past that it had evidence tying the Haqqani Network to other suicide attacks. The intelligence service released telephone conversations of Haqqani Network commanders Badruddin Haqqani and Qari Younis directing members of the suicide assault team that attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on June 28, 2011. Badruddin was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan one year later.

Yesterday's suicide attack in Paktika was followed by a bombing today in Kabul that killed two US soldiers and wounded another. Two US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they believe that the Haqqani Network was behind today's bombing, but did not elaborate.

The two attacks took place less than a week after a senior Pakistani adviser admitted that his government has no interest in pursuing the Haqqani Network. [See Threat Matrix report, Good Taliban are not our problem, adviser to Pakistan's prime minister says.]

Also, President Barack Obama has backtracked on ending the US combat mission by the beginning of next year, administration officials told The New York Times. US forces will be allowed "to attack the Taliban, the Haqqani network and other militants if intelligence revealed that the extremists were threatening American forces in the country." Additionally, US forces could accompany Afghan troops in operations as well as provide air support during combat operations.

The planned number of US forces deployed to Afghanistan has not changed, however; the US will draw down to 9,800 troops by the end of 2014, and below 5,000 by the end of 2015.

A Twitter account linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) today posted a biography of slain AQAP operative Samir Zafar Khan, founder of the terror organization's English-language Inspire Magazine. The biography describes him as a "Pakistani-American mujahid" known in jihadist circles as Qa'qaa' Al-Amriki. An American citizen, Khan was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011 along with Islamist American cleric Anwar al Awlaki, who served as AQAP's operational commander at the time.

The biography claims that Khan was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1985 and later spent his teenage years in Westbury, New York. He was 16 when al Qaeda carried out the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, DC, which Khan blamed on US policies. After the attacks, Khan allegedly refused to recite the pledge of allegiance and busied himself writing for the school newspaper, an experience that, according to the biography, aided him in his later publication of Jihad Recollections.

Jihad Recollections, a forerunner of Inspire Magazine, was founded in 2009 by Khan, who announced, "We have decided to take it upon ourselves to produce the first jihadi magazine in English."

Khan went on to start his own blog, titled "Inshallah Shaheed," which caught the attention of US intelligence officials, according to his biography. Indeed, media reports from the time indicate that US intelligence analysts noticed "an eerie similarity" between Khan's blog and the newly published Inspire Magazine. Khan's blog attracted considerable media attention, and Khan knew that he "had to stay under the guidelines of the laws regarding freedom of speech but at the same time, [he] knew the real truth wouldn't be able to reach the masses unless and until (he) was above the law."

Khan eventually relocated to Sanaa in October 2009, around the time that the final issue of Jihad Recollections was published online. His biography claims that Khan initially worked as a teacher, and that despite being followed by the FBI in Yemen he "managed to join the Muhjahideen brothers successfully." He was mentored by "Sheikh Anwar" al Awlaki, whom the Obama administration had labeled as one of AQAP's most dangerous leaders, and through him made many connections in Yemen's jihadist circles.

In Yemen, Khan launched Inspire Magazine, first released in the summer of 2010, and US authorities have confirmed that after his arrival in Yemen, his online efforts were coordinated with AQAP.

The biography claims that Khan founded Inspire Magazine "as an extention of Jihad Recollections, a magazine he described as 'America's Worst Nightmare.'" Khan would go on to edit eight issues of Inspire, contributing articles of his own, including one notoriously titled "How To Build A Bomb In the Kitchen of Your Mom."

A jihadist production, Inspire Magazine praises al Qaeda leaders such as Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri and carries sermons by jihadist figures such as Anwar al Awlaki. The magazine regularly incites lone-wolf attacks in the West and outlines various techniques to use in attacking Americans.

In its 12th issue, released in March 2014, the magazine devoted a lengthy section to what AQAP calls "Open Source Jihad," educating lone-wolf jihadists who do not have the ability to receive more formal training. The biography makes specific mention of an article penned by Khan in Inspire's second issue in which he wrote, "I am proud to be a traitor to America."

At this juncture, the tone of Khan's biography shifts, highlighting a lesson to readers. "Samir was just like you," the biography reads, "[h]e yearned for Hijrah." Hijrah is an Arabic word meaning "migration," and alludes to the journey the Prophet Mohammed and his followers made from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE in order to establish the first Islamic community. After his journey to Yemen, Khan "got to witness one of the important stages of Jihad but he came to realize the best way for an American Muslim."

Khan's biography concludes with his death along with Anwar al Awlaki as a result of US drone strike in Yemen's northern Jawf province. "The Mujahideen will remember him as the martyr of pen and designing," his biography reads, "[t]he traitor to America who died to support Islam." According to AQAP, Khan's legacy to the Muslim community is the revival of "the concept of lone Jihad." The biography ends with the following sentence: "Samir Khan, a journalist who became an activist, an activist who became a Mujahid and a Mujahid who became a martyr."

Khan's death, like Awlaki's, was perceived to be a significant blow to AQAP at the time. Former US National Security Adviser Fran Townsend commented: "Khan is unique in the sense that like al-Awlaki, he spoke English and had an appeal to the Western mind. He knew how to write and had the technical ability to use the Web."

The death of Khan posed a real problem for AQAP's efforts at Western recruitment. In the 10-year 9/11 anniversary supplement of Inspire, Khan had quoted AQAP leader and al Qaeda general commander Nasir al Wuhayshi, saying, "The media work is half of the jihad."

The Pakistani government condemned a US airstrike in North Waziristan that is reported to have killed members of two Taliban groups favored by the Pakistani establishment. The attack also killed several "foreign militants," a term often used to describe members of al Qaeda or other terrorist groups.

Today's strike, which was carried out by CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or Reapers, took place in the village of Garga in the Shawal Valley in North Waziristan, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in a press release.

Two missiles were fired at a compound in the village, killing eight people and wounding several others, The Express Tribune reported. According to the report, "militants loyal to the warlord [Hafiz] Gul Bahadar and the feared Haqqani Network operate in the area, as well as foreign Uzbek fighters." The Uzbeks are likely members of the al Qaeda- and Taliban-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

The identities of those killed in the strike have not been disclosed. No senior Taliban, Haqqani Network, or Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leaders or operatives are reported to have been killed in the operation.

The Shawal Valley, which spans both North and South Waziristan, is a known haven for al Qaeda and other terror groups operating in the region. A host of Taliban, Pakistani, and foreign terrorist groups gather in the Shawal Valley and then enter Afghanistan to fight US, NATO, and Afghan government forces.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the government "condemns [the] US drone strike in North Waziristan" and "regards such strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity and demands their immediate cessation."

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 operations 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 and shelter foreign terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. The so-called good Taliban also support and wage jihad in Afghanistan and India. [See Threat Matrix reports, Pakistan condemns drone strike that targeted 'good Taliban, and Good Taliban are not our problem, adviser to Pakistan's prime minister says.]

Today's strike took place just three days after the Haqqani Network launched a mass-casualty suicide attack in Afghanistan's Paktika province that killed a local police commander and more than 50 civilians at a soccer match. US officials also told The Long War Journal that the Haqqani Network was responsible for an IED attack that killed two US soldiers in Kabul the next day. [See LWJ report, Haqqani Network launched suicide attack at soccer game, Afghan intel claims.]

The US has targeted the Haqqani Network in other recent drone strikes in Pakistan. On Oct. 30, Abdullah Haqqani, who is said to have directed suicide operations in Afghanistan for the Haqqani Network, was reported to have been killed in an airstrike in the Birmal area of South Waziristan.

The US has launched 20 drone strikes inside Pakistan this year. Four of those strikes have taken place in the Shawal Valley, and nine more in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, which is also an al Qaeda and jihadist hub in the tribal agency.

All 20 attacks 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 Islamic State, the Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic Front, and Junud al Sham have been showcasing camps in Iraq and Syria that are being used to indoctrinate and train children to wage jihad. The groups have recently advertised a number of training facilities for children, including one located in Ninewa province in Iraq and others in Aleppo, in and around the Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital of Raqqah, and other areas of Syria.

In a propaganda video called "Blood of Jihad 2," the Islamic State highlighted a children's training camp in Iraq's Ninewa province. The video shows more than a dozen children being taught hand-to-hand combat, weapons handling, and what appears to be infantry tactics. The name of the training facility is apparently the "Abu Musab al Zarqawi camp," a tribute to the deceased founder of al Qaeda in Iraq, which was the precursor to the Islamic State. It is unclear if this facility is related to the "Zarqawi Cubs Camp" in Damascus, Syria or if multiple children's camps are named after the slain terrorist.

In another propaganda video titled "Race Towards Good," the Islamic State touted a training camp that is used exclusively by young Kazakh fighters. The exact location of the camp is unclear, but it appears to be situated near Raqqah. The video demonstrated the fighters receiving physical training and schooling in firearms such as American, Russian, and Austrian-made sniper rifles. The second half of the video showed Kazakh children learning Arabic, as well as physical and military training. In one scene, a Kazakh child was seen assembling an AK-47 assault rifle. At the end of the video, a boy recited a speech for the camera, saying, "We're going to kill you, O kuffar [unbelievers]. Insha'allah [God-willing], we will slaughter you."

The Syrian activist group Tahrir Souri tweeted that coalition airplanes targeted a children's training camp in Raqqah near the 17th Syrian Arab Army base on Nov. 23. A second activist group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, has also tweeted about training camps for children in Raqqah. In one tweet, the group reported on a training facility for children under 16. In an article titled "Islamic State group recruits, exploits children," the Associated Press reported that children are often targeted with forced recruitment, while others voluntarily attend these camps.

The Islamic State also runs a camp in Aleppo province in Syria called the "Shaddad al Tunisi camp." According to Aymenn al Tamimi, an expert on Syrian and Iraqi groups, the facility is run by the jihadist group exclusively for children and teenagers. In a photograph released by the Islamic State's Wilayat (provincial district) Aleppo, teenagers are clearly shown training in this camp.

Junud al Sham, a Chechen-led group operating in Syria's Latakia province, has also featured a youth training facility in its propaganda. While the video has since been deleted from YouTube, Joanna Paraszczuk of From Chechnya to Syria, a website that tracks Russian-speaking jihadists in Syria, reported that the children were shown undertaking military exercises in a classroom while observed by the emir of Junud al Sham, Muslim Shishani. Shishani, whose real name is Murad Margoshvili, has been blacklisted as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US State Department. He has sworn allegiance to the Caucasus Emirate, an al Qaeda-affiliated group that operates in the North Caucasus region of Russia.

The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, has advertised another children's camp on Twitter. In May, the terrorist group posted pictures of the "Ibn Taymiyyah camp" in Daraa, a southern province of Syria. The facility is named after a 13th century Sunni Islamic theologian whose teachings have become influential among contemporary jihadist groups. The Al Nusrah Front has also released pictures on its official Twitter feed about operations in Syria's Hama province showing an additional camp there.

Training camps belonging to two other large Islamist fighting groups, Jaish al Islam and Ahrar al Sham, have also been identified in Syria. The two groups operate within the Islamic Front, a powerful Islamist coalition of Syrian rebel groups. Jaish al Islam was reported to be running a training camp in Daraa, Syria. Ahrar al Sham, a close al Qaeda ally, was also shown to be maintaining a similar facility in Idlib province in northwestern Syria.

Jihadist training camps in Iraq and Syria

Since the beginning of 2012, a total of 51 camps have been identified as being operational at some point in time, 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 operational. In addition, this analysis is compiled using publicly-available evidence. It is likely that some training camps are not advertised.

Of those camps, 38 are located in Syria and 13 in Iraq.

The Islamic State has operated 27 camps (15 in Syria and 12 in Iraq). Al Qaeda's Al Nusrah Front has operated 10 camps in Syria. Various allied jihadist groups, including Ansar al Islam, Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, and Junud al Sham, have operated 14 camps (13 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.]

Fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban inside Camp Bastion, the large military complex in Helmand province that was evacuated by US and British troops just one month ago, continues for the third day. Meanwhile, in the capital of Kabul, the jihadist group overran a guest house used by foreigners and may have taken hostages.

The Taliban initially launched their attack on Camp Bastion on Nov. 27, and Afghan officials quickly claimed the assault was defeated and the jihadists did not penetrate the perimeter of the base. But the attack continued as the Taliban attacked Camp Bastion from two sides, according to Pajhwok Afghan News.

An Afghan Army general who commands a regiment in Helmand said that heavily armed fighters with assault weapons and suicide vests are still fighting Afghan forces inside the base.

"Some managed to get inside, took position, and started the gunfight," General Ayatullah Khan told Reuters.

The spokesman for the governor of Helmand province said that 27 Taliban fighters and five Afghan soldiers have been killed in the fighting so far. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi claimed that his fighters destroyed several aircraft and armored vehicles and killed a number of Afghan and foreign troops, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.

The Taliban launched two other offensives against Afghan forces in Helmand in the past two days. In the contested district of Sangin, 12 Taliban fighters and five Afghan troops were killed today in fighting at a base, TOLONews reported. And yesterday, four Afghan policemen were killed in a suicide attack in the Anzur Shali area of Helmand.

British and US forces handed over Camp Bastion, which served as the British headquarters in the country, to Afghan forces on Oct. 26. The base, along with neighboring Camp Leatherneck, which was the US Marine headquarters in the south, were the main hubs of counterinsurgency and air operations against the Taliban in Helmand, Nimroz, and Farah provinces. Leatherneck was also turned over to Afghan control on Oct. 26.

The Taliban have successfully breached security at Camp Bastion once in the past. On Sept. 14, 2012, a 15-man Taliban team penetrated the perimeter at the airbase, destroyed six USMC Harriers and damaged two more, and killed the US squadron commander and a sergeant. Fourteen of the 15 members of the assault team were killed, while the last was wounded and captured. Coalition forces captured one of the leaders of the operation days later, while the Taliban released a video that highlighted the attack.

Suicide assault in Kabul

Also today, Taliban fighters assaulted a "foreign guesthouse" just 200 meters from the Afghan parliament building in the capital, according to Pajhwok Afghan News. It is unclear which organization runs the guesthouse. The Taliban claimed it was run by "a Christian organization seeking to convert Muslims," Reuters reported.

According to eyewitnesses, "three gunmen in military uniforms" opened fire on the guesthouse, while others stormed the compound and engaged security guards inside. Two fighters wearing suicide vests are said to have entered the compound. Afghan officials said there may be hostages.

Today's attack in Kabul is the fourth major assault against Western targets in the capital this week. On Nov. 24, the Taliban killed two US soldiers in an IED attack that targeted a Western convoy in the city.

On Nov. 27, a suicide bomber killed five people, including a British national, in an attack on a British Embassy vehicle as it traveled in the capital. And on Nov. 28, two Taliban fighters were killed in a failed assault on the International Relief and Development compound in Kabul.

The recent attacks in the capital are likely executed by what the International Security Assistance Force and US military officials have previously called the Kabul Attack Network. This network is made up of fighters from the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, and pools resources and cooperates with terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and al Qaeda. Top Afghan intelligence officials have linked the Kabul Attack Network to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate as well. The network's contacts extend outward from Kabul into the surrounding provinces of Logar, Wardak, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Kunar, Ghazni, and Zabul.

The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that controls large portions of Iraq and Syria, and its supporters are marketing the Sinai as a destination for young recruits seeking to wage jihad.

On Nov. 10, the Sinai-based faction of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM), also known as Ansar Jerusalem, swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who heads the Islamic State. Shortly thereafter, ABM began marketing itself as the Islamic State's province in the Sinai.

The Islamic State does not really control the Sinai, but it is aggressively trying to marginalize competition from other jihadists in the area. And the group's supporters are calling on jihadists to help Baghdadi's organization build up its presence in the Sinai even further.

Two online jihadist propagandist shops, the Al Battar Media Establishment and the Media Front in Support of the Islamic State, have posted a six-page article on Twitter. The article is written by a jihadist known as "Abu Musab al Gharib." The cover of the article is shown above.

"O Muslim youths," Gharib writes, "hurry to consolidate the Islamic caliphate's province in Egypt starting from Sinai."

Gharib claims that the establishment of the Islamic State's Sinai province will lead to the unification of jihadists across Libya, Egypt, and the Levant. And this will supposedly make it easier for the jihadists to advance on Jerusalem. According to Gharib, this will also facilitate the "liquidating" of the Jews in Egypt, Golan, Jordan, and Lebanon.

In reality, the Islamic State's announced expansion has served only to further exacerbate tensions between Baghdadi's group and other established jihadist organizations. Baghdadi and his supporters claim that the Islamic State's "caliphate" has usurped the authority of jihadists in Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. The most powerful jihadist groups in these countries have refused, however, to acquiesce to Baghdadi's demands.

Gharib claims that residents of the Sinai have repelled invasions from "Crusaders" in the past and survived the Israeli occupation after the Six-Day War in 1967. But he denounces the Camp David Accords, agreed to by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1978, as the agreement supposedly only serves to protect Israel's borders.

The propaganda piece relies on standard jihadist motifs, including calls for attacks against both the "apostate" Egyptian Army and the "infidel Jews." For example, Gharib lauds the Aug. 18, 2011 cross-border attack outside of Eilat, Israel, during which jihadists attacked a bus and other civilian and Israeli security targets. Eight Israelis were killed in the multi-pronged attack.

Credible reports indicate that foreign fighters from the Levant, North Africa, Yemen, and elsewhere have traveled to the Sinai for training and other purposes. But the Sinai has not been thought of as a major jihadist destination, as the fighting has been much more intense in other hotspots, especially in Iraq and Syria, where the Islamic State is based.

It appears, however, that some of the Islamic State's supporters are trying to take advantage of ABM's announced allegiance to Baghdadi. Abu Musab al Gharib's article is likely aimed at both Egyptians and foreigners, as the Islamic State's supporters want the Sinai to be more of a destination for jihadists than it has been in the past.

The Islamic State's Wilayat Sinai (formerly known as Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, or ABM) recently took credit for the murder of William Henderson, an American who was killed on Aug. 6, 2014.

On its official Twitter page, Wilayat Sinai posted a photograph of various identification cards belonging to Henderson (see picture above). The pictured documents include his employee cards for Qarun Petroleum Company and the Apache Corporation, as well as his passport. According to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, Wilayat Sinai said that Henderson was killed in Egypt's western desert, but did not give much more information about the slaying.

Henderson worked as a "petroleum expert" for the two aforementioned companies when he was reported to have been killed in a carjacking in August. Press reports indicate that Apache released a statement confirming one of its employees had been killed. An obituary published in Oklahoma noted that Henderson "passed suddenly" while working in Egypt.

Henderson is the first American the Sinai group has killed. The terrorist group did not indicate how or where Henderson was killed, but it is generally thought he was killed near Cairo, in between Qarun and Karama.

The United States has not yet commented on the claim of responsibility.

The attack took place before ABM swore allegiance to the Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that controls large portions of Iraq and Syria.

On Nov. 10, an unidentifed jihadist released an audio statement on Twitter pledging bayat (oath of allegiance) on behalf of ABM to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and the Islamic State. Shortly thereafter, the jihadist group began to identify itself as the Wilayat Sinai (Sinai Province) of the Islamic State. And the Islamic State's supporters are attempting to turn the Sinai into a jihadist destination for young recruits.

The US has targeted senior leaders of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, including the group's emir, in three airstrikes in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar over the past nine days. Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, survived one of the airstrikes. Two of the airstrikes took place in areas where senior al Qaeda leaders have been targeted and killed over the past year.

The first reported strike targeted Fazlullah and senior leaders of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan as they were meeting in the district of Nazyan in Nangarhar on Nov. 24. Taliban commanders told The News that Fazlullah is alive, but two commanders, known as Assad Mehsud and Zarqawi, were among five leaders killed.

The second strike, which took place in Nangarhar's Shirzad district on Dec. 1, "killed three Taliban group commanders and two fighters," the spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar told the Associated Press. The identities of the Taliban leaders were not disclosed. A US intelligence official told The Long War Journal that a "leadership cell of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan" was targeted in the airstrike.

The third strike, which occurred on Dec. 2 in the village of Renay-Parchao, killed "some key militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan [Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan] Swat chapter," Dawn reported. The strike likely took place in Nangarhar's Lal Pur district, as the Kabul River runs through the district and makes up part of the border with Pakistan. Fazlullah originally led the Swat branch of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan.

Pakistani military and government officials have long accused the Afghan government of supporting and giving sanctuary to the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, which has declared war against the Pakistani state. The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan operates on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border, and has sheltered in areas outside of the Afghan government's control in the mountainous provinces of Kunar and Nuristan as well as in Nangarhar.

In addition to targeting the group in drone strikes in Pakistan, the US has killed senior Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan leaders inside Afghanistan. On Aug. 24, 2012, the US killed Mullah Dadullah (a.k.a. Maulana Mohammad Jamal), his deputy, Shakir, and 10 Taliban fighters in an airstrike in the Shigal wa Sheltan district in Kunar province. [See LWJ report, Bajaur Taliban leader, deputy killed in airstrike in eastern Afghanistan.]

Senior al Qaeda leaders killed where Pakistani Taliban commanders were targeted

Qaeda is known to be operating in two of the three districts in Nangarhar over the past year where the most recent strikes against the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan leaders took place.

In December 2013, the US killed two al Qaeda military commanders, three members of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and two members of the Afghan Taliban, in an airstrike in the Lal Pur district in Nangarhar. The seven jihadists were reported to be traveling to Kunar for a meeting. [See LWJ report, 2 al Qaeda commanders reported killed in US airstrike in eastern Afghanistan.]

The two al Qaeda commanders were described as "close companions of Ilyas Kashmiri," the renowned Pakistani jihadist who was killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan in June 2011. Kashmiri rose through the ranks of the Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, or HUJI, led Brigade 313, and ultimately served as the leader of al Qaeda's Lashkar al Zil, or Shadow Army, and as a member of al Qaeda's military shura at the time of his death. The Lashkar al Zil is al Qaeda's paramilitary unit that fields forces in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and also embeds military trainers within Taliban units in both countries. [For more information on this unit, see LWJ report, Al Qaeda's paramilitary 'Shadow Army,' from February 2009.]

In October 2014, the US killed al Qaeda leader Abu Bara al Kuwaiti in an airstrike in Lal Mandi in the Nazyan district. Abu Bara was at the home of Abdul Samad Khanjari, who is described as an al Qaeda military commander who doubled as the Taliban's shadow governor for the Achin district in Nangarhar. Afghanistan's National Security Directorate (NDS) said that Abu Bara "had close relations with the family of Ayman al Zawahiri, the al Qaeda leader."

Abu Bara was likely a member of al Qaeda's General Command. He was known to be a "student" and "comrade" of Atiyah Abd al Rahman, al Qaeda's former general manager who was also known as Atiyah Allah and 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. [See LWJ report, Senior al Qaeda leader reported killed in US airstrike in eastern Afghanistan.]

Al Qaeda and its allies have been heavily targeted by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in special operations raids over the past decade. ISAF publicized 338 raids from 2007 until the summer of 2013, when it ended reporting. Many senior jihadist leaders and operatives were killed or captured during those operations. [See LWJ report, ISAF raids against al Qaeda and allies in Afghanistan 2007-2013.]

The current targeting of senior al Qaeda and Movement of the Taliban leaders in eastern Afghanistan is a clear indication that the groups continue to operate in Afghanistan, often in the same locations, even as US forces continue to withdraw.

"The Iranian flag thrown upon the rubble of the residence of Tehran's ambassador following the explosion." Source: Al Malahem Media Foundation.

A Twitter account linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has claimed credit for an explosion that occurred early this morning in the diplomatic Hadda section of Sana'a outside the residence of the Iranian ambassador to Yemen. The timing of the attack, which occurred the week after the ambassador, Hossein Niknam, presented his credentials to Yemeni authorities, suggests that AQAP had been waiting for his arrival in the Yemeni capital.

AQAP stated that its fighters parked a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) outside the ambassador's house and detonated the explosive at precisely 9:02 a.m. While official reports suggested that one guard and two pedestrians were killed, the AQAP statement claimed that an unspecified number of people were wounded and killed in the attack, "including Iranians working at the embassy and its guards, in addition to the destruction of large sections of the residence."

The AQAP statement boasted that "despite the security precautions put in place by the Yemeni regime forces and the Houthi political committees, the mujahideen managed to park the explosive laden vehicle and detonate it." Additionally, the statement claimed that the explosion was so strong that it shattered the windows of nearby buildings allegedly owned by Yemeni officials and diplomats.

Iran has been accused of supporting the Houthis, northern rebels who hail from Yemen's Zaydi sect of Shiite Islam, since a civil war between the insurgents and Yemeni military forces erupted in 2004. Some indications of this alleged support include the Yemeni military's October 2009 seizure of an Iranian ship carrying anti-tank weapons, as well as a January 2013 joint US-Yemeni military operation that captured another ship containing a cache of weapons. Despite Iranian denials, markings on the confiscated weapons indicated they came from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. US officials reported that the weapons were headed to the Shiite insurgents in Yemen's northern provinces.

AQAP has capitalized on these suspicions of Iranian involvement and has made efforts to portray itself as the champion of Yemen's Sunni tribes in the face of the Shiite Houthi onslaught. The terrorist group routinely refers to the Houthis as "Iranian agents," and it has framed the insurgency as an Iranian political and sectarian plot to extend Shiite control throughout the Sunni world.

These longstanding accusations took on new significance when Iranian officials welcomed the Houthi rebels' southward military advance from their northern redoubts in Sa'dah province this summer, culminating in the fall of Sana'a in late September. Shortly thereafter, Ali Riza Zakani, a member of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament) commented, "Three Arab capitals have already fallen into Iran's hands," suggesting that Sana'a would be the fourth. Zakani added that the Houthi rebellion in Yemen is "a natural extension of the Iranian revolution." Ali Akbar Velayati, a seasoned Iranian politician and close adviser to the Supreme Leader announced, "The Islamic Republic of Iran supports the rightful struggles of Ansar Allah [the Houthis] in Yemen."

Today's bombing was not the first time AQAP has targeted Iranian interests in Yemen. Yemeni officials have claimed that AQAP was behind the July 2013 kidnapping of Iranian diplomat Nour Ahmad Nikbakht near the Iranian embassy in Sana'a. And Ali Asghar Asadi, Iran's economic attache in Sana'a, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the capital in January 2014 that was carried out by gunmen believed to belong to AQAP.

As the Houthis continue their march throughout Yemen, questions continue to arise regarding the extent of Iran's support of the rebellion. Although the degree of Iranian involvement remains unclear, today's bombing confirms that the Islamic Republic is being directly targeted by AQAP both for retaliatory reasons and as a public relations attempt to unite Yemen's Sunni population against Shiites and foreigners.

The following pictures were released along with the statement claiming credit for the bombing:

The caption reads: "A hole in the ground caused by the detonation of the explosive-laden vehicle - Sana'a."

The caption reads: "One of the bulldozers removing the rubble of the Iranian ambassador's house - Sana'a."

The caption reads: "The Iranian ambassador's house following the explosion - Sana'a."

The caption reads: "The Iranian ambassador's house following the explosion - Sana'a."

"Statement regarding the American hostage Luke Somers." Source: Al Malahem Media Foundation.

In a new video released by its media wing, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) threatened to kill American hostage Luke Somers if the US government does not meet its demands. The latest video features senior AQAP leader Nasser bin Ali al Ansi, who delineates what he calls American "crimes" throughout the Muslim world, and then includes a clip of Somers giving a statement.

Al Ansi begins his anti-American diatribe by citing alleged American "crimes against the Islamic world." He notes US support for the "Zionist occupiers," as well as "massacres and crimes" in a host of Muslim countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Somalia. Al Ansi also mentions the "Crusader campaign ... relying on aircraft," a reference to the covert US drone program that has intensified in Yemen since 2012.

Al Ansi then turns to the US-led raid on a cave in the Hajr as-Say'ar district of Hadramout province that sought to free a number of hostages held by AQAP during the night between Nov. 24 and Nov. 25. Eight hostages were rescued in that operation, which was reportedly carried out by US Special Forces, including members of the Navy's SEAL Team Six, and Yemeni counterterrorism agents.

Last week Yemeni officials confirmed that an unnamed American, Briton, and South African were said to be among the hostages and were moved prior to the operation. The Yemeni Defense Ministry's website quoted a Yemeni soldier who clarified that intelligence information indicated that AQAP had been holding 11 hostages. The remaining American hostage in question is apparently Luke Somers, who is featured in the latest AQAP video. Somers, a British-born American photojournalist, has been held by AQAP since his abduction in Sana'a in September 2013.

After condemning the American raid that sought to free Somers as "this latest foolish action" which killed an "elite group of mujahideen," al Ansi gives the American government an ultimatum: meet AQAP's demands within a timeframe of three days or Somers will "meet his inevitable fate." Although al Ansi does not specify AQAP's demands, he claims that the American officials "are aware" of them.

Al Ansi concludes his statement by personally warning President Barack Obama and the American government "of the consequences of proceeding in any other foolish action."

Following al Ansi's preface, Somers is shown providing a brief statement in which he pleads for his life. Somers states: "It's now been well over a year since I've been kidnapped in Sana'a. Basically. I'm looking for any help that can get me out of this situation. I am certain my life is in danger. So as I sit here now, I ask, if anything can be done, please let it be done."

Although some analysts may interpret the latest AQAP video as a reaction to or imitation of the Islamic State's hostage execution tactics, such analysis ignores recent developments in Yemen. AQAP's threat to execute Somers is a clear response to the recent US-led raid in Hadramout that freed eight hostages.

Mindful that the US is currently searching for the remaining hostages, AQAP is trying to use Somers as a negotiating card in an effort to extract concessions from the US administration. The video also is an attempt to show that there is a price to pay for US raids to free hostages held by AQAP.

Fighters from the Caucasus Emirate entered the Chechen capital of Grozny last night and launched a major assault on security forces and government buildings. The fighting, which lasted through the morning and is reported to have killed more than a dozen people, ended a relative lull in activity in the Russian Caucasus by the al Qaeda-linked jihadist group.

Heavily armed fighters entered the city at night and attacked a police checkpoint, the Press House, and a school, according to the Moscow Times. Videos posted by residents of Grozny show fighters exiting vehicles and fanning out across the city as well as volleys of gunfire.

The jihadists stormed the Press House, where various local media outlets are based, and took control of the building, which was eventually set ablaze during the fighting.

Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported that 10 policemen were killed and 28 more were wounded during the heavy fighting, ITAR-TASS reported. At least nine jihadists are also reported to have been killed during the assault.

A jihadist from the Caucasus Emirate claimed responsibility for the attack. A video and translation of the fighter's statement was published by Kavkaz Center, a media arm of the group.

"We are the Mujahideen of the Caucasus Emirate in the Province of Chechnya," the man states. "We entered the city of Jokhar [Grozny] by the order of Emir Khamzat. We are also under the oath of allegiance to Emir Abu Muhammad."

The jihadist claims that "Scores of Mujahideen entered the city" and said the attack was executed as an "Act of Retaliation for Russian minions' oppression of Muslim women, our sisters."

"This is a martyrdom operation, and we will fight till the death," he says.

The overnight fighting in Grozny is the first major attack in the Russian Caucasus carried out by the Caucasus Emirate since its former emir, Doku Umarov, was killed by Russian security forces in late 2013. Russian security forces heavily targeted the Caucasus Emirate in the run-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Additionally, large numbers of fighters loyal to the group have traveled to Syria to wage jihad against the regime of Bashir al Assad.

The Caucasus Emirate, which is now led by Ali Abu Muhammad, is responsible for numerous mass-casualty terrorist attacks in the Caucasus and in Russia, including in the capital of Moscow.

Before his death, Umarov said his group is "part of the global jihad," in a July 2013 statement in which he called for attacks aimed at disrupting the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Although the Caucasus Emirate failed to launch operations in Sochi during the Olympics, the group executed three suicide attacks on transportation targets in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in the months leading up to the games.

The Islamic Caucasus Emirate has close ties to al Qaeda. Some members of the group have fought in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And the International Islamic Battalion, a unit comprised of Arab and other foreign jihadists that fights in the Caucasus, has been led by senior al Qaeda leaders. The top leaders of the International Islamic Battalion have included al Qaeda commander Ibn al Khattab (killed in 2002); Abu al Walid (killed in 2004); Abu Hafs al Urduni (killed in 2006); and Muhannad (killed in April 2011).

Large numbers of jihadists from the Caucasus Emirate are currently battling alongside the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and the rival Islamic State.

Adnan G. el Shukrijumah, al Qaeda's operations chief for North America. Photos from the Rewards for Justice website.

The Pakistani military said it killed Adnan Shukrijumah, a senior al Qaeda leader who was tasked with plotting attacks in North America, during a raid in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan. Shukrijumah was a member of al Qaeda's external operations council and was involved with the 2008 plot to bomb subways in New York City and another plot to detonate fuel pipelines at JFK International Airport.

The Inter-Services Public Relations branch of the Pakistani military announced the death of Shukrijumah in a press release, and said he was killed in a raid in the Shin Warsak area of South Waziristan.

"In an intelligence borne operation, top al Qaeda leader Adnan Al Shukrijumah was killed by [the] Pakistan Army in an early morning raid in Shin Warsak, South Waziristan today," the ISPR statement, which was obtained by The Long War Journal, said. Additionally, "his accomplice and local facilitator were also killed in the raid." The ISPR also said a soldier was killed during the raid.

The Shin Warsak area is a known haven for al Qaeda, and is controlled by the Mullah Nazir Group, a Taliban faction that is favored by the Pakistani military and government as it does not seek to attack the Pakistani state. The Mullah Nazir Group does wage jihad in Afghanistan and shelter members of al Qaeda and other local and international terrorist groups.

The US has launched four drone strikes against al Qaeda in Shin Warzak since December 2008. In late 2012, the US killed two mid-level al Qaeda commanders, Abdul Rehman al Zaman Yemeni and Sheikh Abdul Bari, in two separate strikes. [See LWJ reports, Al Qaeda commander thought killed in South Waziristan drone strike, and US drones kill 3 'militants' in 1st strike in Pakistan in more than a month.]

Shukrijumah was born in Saudi Arabia and lived in the US for years. He attended a mosque in Florida where he mixed with radicals. At some point, Shukrijumah traveled to Afghanistan where he allegedly received training in al Qaeda's camps and was groomed by senior al Qaeda leaders for future missions. In 2003, FBI and US intelligence officials told the press that Shukrijumah then came back to the US to coordinate terrorist attacks on American soil after Sept. 11, 2001. He was placed on the FBI's most wanted list. [See LWJ report, Al Qaeda sleeper agent tied to 2009 NYC subway plot.]

Since 2003, Shukrijumah has been one of the most wanted al Qaeda terrorists in the world. On March 20, 2003, the FBI released a "Be on the Lookout" alert for Shukrijumah (a.k.a. Jafar al Tayyar, or Jafar "the Pilot"). In 2010, the US State Department's Rewards For Justice program offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture and prosecution, putting him in the upper tier of wanted al Qaeda leaders.

Shukrijumah has been identified as being a member of al Qaeda's external operations council and its operations chief for North America.

He is the second member of al Qaeda's external operations council to have been killed this fall. On Oct. 13, jihadists reported the death of Ahmed Abdulrahman Sihab Ahmed Sihab, who is also known as Abdulrahman al Sharqi. Sihab, a wanted Bahraini citizen who was on the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, is thought to have been killed in a drone strike in Pakistan or Afghanistan. [See LWJ report, Al Qaeda external operations leader reported killed .]