The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and elements from the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) have driven the Islamic State out of the battleground city of Kobane in northern Syria.

After beginning an assault on the city in September of last year, Islamic State fighters were forced to retreat after a continued campaign of resistance by the YPG, backed by elements of the Free Syrian Army and US airstrikes. Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a US-designated terrorist organization to which the YPG is affiliated, and fighters from the Iraqi Peshmerga also assisted YPG forces in Kobane.

In a statement released by the YPG, the organization said "For 134 days, our fighters of the People's Defense Units (YPG)/Women's Defense Units (YPJ), men and women of Kurdistan, lovers of freedom from four parts of Kurdistan and other countries, came to a heavy battle, and conducted a great resistance against Daesh's [a term for the Islamic State] terrorism."

The YPG continued by thanking those who fought with them, saying, "At first we are grateful to our people in Kurdistan who relentlessly supported the resistance, especially our people in Bakur (North Kurdistan). We would like to thank the members of the Anti-Daesh International Coalition who contributed an active support with airstrikes. We thank the Burkan al Furat joint operations room and those brigades of the Free Syrian Army who fought shoulder to shoulder with our forces. We repeat our thanks to our Peshmerga brothers who were of a great support to us in this battle."

The Burkan al Furat is an alliance of YPG forces, elements of the Free Syrian Army, and elements from the Islamic Front which formed to fight the Islamic State in northern Aleppo province. The Islamic Front is a coalition of Islamist and jihadist groups that is closely allied with the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), which backed the forces fighting the Islamic State in Kobane with airstrikes, made clear that the fight in the area is still not decided.

"While the fight against ISIL [Islamic State] is far from over," CENTCOM said, "ISIL's failure in Kobani has denied them one of their strategic objectives." CENTCOM also makes clear that around 90 percent of the city is cleared of Islamic State fighters. While anti-Islamic State forces are largely in control of the city, the Islamic State still controls a good portion of the countryside outside the city.

A now deleted YouTube video uploaded by 'Amaq News,' an unofficial Islamic State propaganda outlet, proclaimed to show the Islamic State still controlling the Aleppo road into Kobane as of Jan. 25. So far, no other propaganda has been released by the Islamic State about the situation in Kobane.

Kobane central to Islamic State and Coalition's information campaigns

The Islamic State made its push to take control of Kobane in September. An Islamic State military force, which included tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, and infantry, began moving on villages (more than 350) surrounding Kobane. By the beginning of October, the villages were under Islamic State control and Kobane was surrounded from three sides; the fourth side borders Turkey, and it was sealed.

The US and allied forces began launching airstrikes in Kobane on Sept. 27, 2014. The targets of the air campaign included armored vehicles, troop concentrations, fighting positions, ammunition dumps, command, control, and communications centers, and training facilities. Despite the air campaign, the Islamic State advanced into Kobane in the beginning of October.

By mid-October, more than one third of Kobane was under Islamic State control and fighters had advanced to the city center.

FSA and Peshmerga reinforcements began arriving via Turkey by the end of October. By mid-November, the YPG and its allies launched their counteroffensive, and retook the city center. On Jan. 23, after more than two months of heavy fighting, the YPG controlled 70 percent of Kobane and forced the Islamic State to withdraw the bulk of its forces from the city.

Both the Islamic State and the US-led Coalition have invested significant resources during the battle for the Kurdish enclave. The town, while of little strategic significance, came to symbolize the Coalition's fight against the Islamic State in Syria.

The US-led Coalition has launched 606 airstrikes on the Islamic State in Kobane between Sept. 27, 2014 and Jan. 20, 2015, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal and Military Edge. That represents more than 71 percent of the total number of coalition airstrikes in Syria during that timeframe.

The Islamic State has also emphasized the fight in Kobane. In the past the jihadist group has been keen to promote its successes in the area. The Islamic State has even used John Cantlie, a captured British reporter, to counter claims that it was losing ground in October 2014. [See LWJ report, Islamic State uses British hostage in propaganda video to rebut Western, Kurdish claims.]

The Islamic State has also poured significant resources into Kobane. While no official estimate of the number of its fighters killed has been provided, it is likely in the hundreds based on press reporting. And the Islamic State has also lost some key local commanders during the fighting, including two Saudis known as Sultan al Safri al Harbi and Sheikh Othman al Nazeh.

US Central Command press releases also indicate that scores of Islamic State tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery pieces were destroyed during the fighting.

It is unclear what the impact of the loss of Kobane will have on the Islamic State. The jihadist group has made advances in other areas of Syria and in Anbar province, Iraq during the battle near the Turkish border, indicating that despite taking casualties and the destruction of a number of its armored vehicles, the group has not spent its entire force and can remain on the offensive elsewhere.

Videos from Kobane

Video showing Kurdish forces celebrating in Kobane:

Another video showing Kurdish forces celebrating in Kobane:

Video showing the FSA group Dawn of Freedom Brigade celebrating with Kurdish forces:

Video showing the YPG flag flying over Kobane:

Several foreign fighters were among seven suspected jihadists who were killed in the latest US drone strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan.

The CIA-operated, remotely piloted Predators or Reapers fired two missiles at a compound and a vehicle in the Shawal Valley, killing "seven suspected militants," Dawn reported.

"The compound was razed to ground whereas a vehicle inside the compound was blown into pieces," the Express Tribune reported.

Three of those killed are said to be "foreigners," a term used to describe foreign fighters from Arab countries or from regional groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan or the Turkistan Islamic Party. Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups have not announced the deaths of any senior leaders, commanders, or operatives.

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

The US has launched 24 drone strikes in the Shawal Valley since September 2010. Abdul Shakoor Turkistani, the former emir of the Turkistan Islamic Party, was killed in a strike in August 2012; while three al Qaeda military trainers were killed in an attack there in August 2013.

US strikes in Pakistan

Today's drone strike in North Waziristan is the third reported in Pakistan this year. The last attack, on Jan. 15, targeted a compound belonging to Sajna Mehsud, a Taliban commander in South Waziristan. Two Uzbek fighters were reported killed in the strike.

Last year the US launched 24 airstrikes inside Pakistan; 19 of those strikes took place in n North Waziristan and four more in South Waziristan. The number of operations has decreased since the program's peak in 2010, when 117 attacks were recorded by The Long War Journal. [See LWJ report, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2015.]

The US continues to target and kill al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in Pakistan's tribal areas despite previous claims by Obama administration officials that al Qaeda has been decimated and only two "core" al Qaeda leaders remain active. Al Qaeda also remains active outside of Pakistan's tribal areas in the provinces of Baluchistan, Punjab, and Sindh, where US drones do not operate.

A video uploaded to YouTube appears to show a large Hezbollah Brigades convoy transporting weapons, troops, and armored vehicles to the front to fight the Islamic State.

Several American-made military vehicles, including an M1 Abrams tank, M113 armored personnel carriers, Humvees, and Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAP), as well as Iranian-made Safir 4x4s and technicals (armed pickup trucks) are in the convoy.

The Hezbollah Brigades is US-designated foreign terrorist organization that has been involved in killing American soldiers in Iraq.

At one point in the video, a transport truck is shown carrying an M1 Abrams tank. The Hezbollah Brigades' flag is flying over the tank and other US-made vehicles. The M1, which is the main battle tank of the US Army, has been sold to and utilized by the Iraqi Army.

The screen shot above marks the first evidence of Iranian-backed militias having M1 tanks at their disposal. It is unclear if the Hezbollah Brigades seized the M1 from an Iraqi Army unit that dissolved in the face of the Islamic State's onslaught, or if the Iraqi military gave the militia the tank. Several Iraqi M1s have been photographed after being destroyed by the Islamic State.

The Hezbollah Brigades, or Kata'ib Hezbollah, receives funding, training, logistics, guidance, and material support from the Qods Force, the external operations wing of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The radical militia has joined the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq. In addition, other Iranian-supported Shia militias, such as Asaib al Haq, Badr Organization, and Muqtada al Sadr's Promised Day Brigades have played a prominent role on the battlefield. these militias have played key rolls in securing Amerli, Baiji, and Jurf al Sakhar, and are on the forefront of the fighting in Diyala province.

The United States designated the Hezbollah Brigades as a terrorist organization in July 2009. On the same day, the US added a Qods Force commander who supported the "Special Groups," such as the Hezbollah Brigades, to the list of specially designated global terrorists. The so-called Special Groups are responsible for the deaths of hundrends of US and allied soldiers between 2004 and 2011. [For more information, see LWJ report, US sanctions Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades and Qods Force adviser.]

The organization has also been responsible for several American deaths during the war in Iraq. The US State Department described the Hezbollah Brigades as "a radical Shia Islamist group with an anti-Western establishment and jihadist ideology that has conducted attacks against Iraqi, US, and Coalition targets in Iraq."

The group has been directly linked to the murder of two UN employees in November 2008. Additionally, the Iranian-backed extremists conducted attacks against US and Iraqi forces, using explosively-formed penetrators and improvised rocket-assisted mortars, which have been described as flying improvised explosive devices.

Despite this, the group was assisted by US airstrikes when Iraqi and Kurdish forces broke the siege of Amerli in Salahaddin province. The US military said it launched airstrikes against the Islamic State outside of the town "[a]t the request of the Government of Iraq" and "in support of an operation to deliver humanitarian assistance to address the humanitarian crisis and protect the civilians trapped in Amerli." [See LWJ report US aided Hezbollah Brigades in breaking Islamic State siege of Iraqi town]

Video of Hezbollah Brigades convoy:

Note: A version of this article was first published at The Weekly Standard.

Two gunmen entered the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli Tuesday morning. When their shooting rampage was over, at least ten people had been killed. For jihadists in Libya, the hotel was an inviting target. Foreign diplomats, Western tourists and officials from Libya's rival governments are known to frequent it. Indeed, the victims were five foreigners, including an American, and five Libyans.

The American killed in the attack has been identified as David Berry. According to The New York Daily News, Berry is a former US Marine who worked as a security contractor for Crucible, LLC. The company's web site says that Crucible "provides high-risk environment training and global security solutions to employees of the U.S. Government, NGOs, and multinational corporations who live and work in dangerous and austere locations worldwide." The company has not identified the client Berry was working for at the time of his death.

In the past, it could take weeks or months for a terrorist organization to take credit for an attack. Sometimes there is no claim of responsibility at all. Before the siege of the Corinthia Hotel had even been ended, however, a group calling itself the Islamic State's province in Tripoli claimed on Twitter (see image above) that the attack was the work of its members. In short order, the group posted photos of the two gunmen (seen on the right), identifying one as a Tunisian and the other as being from the Sudan.

The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that controls much of Iraq and Syria as a self-declared "caliphate," announced the establishment of several "provinces" in North Africa and the Middle East in November of last year. The group's provinces are more aspirational than real, as none of them controls much territory.

Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who heads the Islamic State, argues that all other jihadist groups, and indeed all Muslims, in his provinces' territories owe him their loyalty now that the caliphate has expanded. From Baghdadi's perspective, this means that more established jihadist groups, such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen, are now null and void. AQAP, which rejects Baghdadi's assumed role as "Caliph Ibrahim," naturally takes offense to the Islamic State's proclamations. An already heated rivalry became even testier after the Islamic State's announcement in November.

Baghdadi's international sway is often exaggerated. The Islamic State has failed to usurp the power of organizations such as AQAP and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), both of which remain loyal to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. AQIM and its allies maintain a strong presence in Libya. And we cannot be sure how much of an operational relationship there is between the Islamic State's headquarters in Iraq or Syria and the groups that fight in Baghdadi's name in Libya and elsewhere.

Regardless, the Islamic State's international network, and the threat it poses to American interests, is real. The establishment of "provinces," which was intended to cut into al Qaeda's dominant share of the global jihadist market, has had some success.

In fact, Berry is not the first American victim of the Islamic State's provinces.

Late last year, the Islamic State's province in the Sinai claimed responsibility for the death of a petroleum worker named William Henderson. The Sinai province was formed by a faction of another group, Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM), which split over the rivalry between al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Henderson was actually killed in August 2014, before ABM's Sinai presence officially swore allegiance to the Islamic State's Baghdadi. But there are credible reports of cooperation between ABM and the Islamic State before their formal alliance.

The Sinai province has launched a string of attacks already this year, focusing on Egyptian security forces and others.

Earlier this week, Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani, announced the formation of a province in the "Khorasan," a geographical region that covers Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of neighboring countries. A former Pakistani Taliban leader was named as the Khorasan province's "governor." His deputy governor is a former Guantanamo detainee known as Abdul Rauf Khadim.

The Islamic State's Khorasan province is not the strongest jihadist organization in its home turf. The Taliban, al Qaeda and their allies have a much firmer foothold in South Asia. And the Khorasan province's leaders include jihadists who lost internal power struggles in their previous organizations, paving the way for the Islamic State to garner their allegiance. Khadim, for example, was once a senior Taliban commander. After Khadim was forced out of the Taliban, Khadim and his supporters threw their lot in with Baghdadi. It wasn't the pull of the Islamic State that led Khadim to switch allegiances, so much as the Taliban's push, which was caused by Khadim's disagreements with his fellow jihadists.

Still, Khadim has been an effective commander and the Khorasan province is already active in southern Afghanistan. There have been skirmishes between Baghdadi's followers and their rivals in the Taliban, which is clearly gunning for Khadim. One report says that the Taliban has captured Khadim and dozens of his followers, but that has not been confirmed.

In the months to come, the Islamic State's provinces will claim more victims, including perhaps more Americans.

The Taliban claimed last evening's attack at Kabul International Airport that killed three American contractors. The insider or green-on-blue attack, where a member of the Afghan security forces kills Coalition personnel, is the first of its kind recorded this year.

The attacker, who was dressed in an Afghan military uniform, killed the three contractors and wounded one, Major General Haq Nawaz Haqyar, the commander of Afghan police at the airport, told Pajhwok Afghan News. An Afghan was also killed in the shooting, Haqyar said. It is unclear if the Afghan who was killed was the shooter.

The US Department of Defense confirmed that three Americans and an Afghan were killed in the shooting.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Muhajid claimed the attack in two statements on his Twitter account, and said it was executed by Ihsanullah, an "infiltrator ... from Laghman province working inside Kabul airport."

"The attack killed 3 American terrorists and wounded 4 others before the infiltrator was martyred by return fire," Muhajid claimed. The tweet included the hashtag "Khaibar," a reference to the Taliban's offensive that was announced in May 2014. The Taliban said it will continue to launch insider attacks, as well as encourage Afghan soldiers to execute such operations.

The Taliban have devoted significant effort into attempts to kill NATO troops and foreigners by infiltrating the ranks of Afghan security forces. Mullah Omar affirmed this in a statement released on Aug. 16, 2012, when he claimed that the group had "cleverly infiltrated in the ranks of the enemy according to the plan given to them last year [2011]," and he urged government officials and security personnel to defect to the Taliban as a matter of religious duty. Omar also noted that the Taliban had created the "Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration" department, "with branches ... now operational all over the country," to encourage defections. [See Threat Matrix report, Mullah Omar addresses green-on-blue attacks.]

Overall number of insider attacks still unknown

The last known insider attack took place on Sept. 16, 2014 in the western province of Farah. In that attack, an Afghan soldier gunned down a Coalition trainer inside a military base.

The previous attack occurred on Aug. 5 at a training center in Kabul. An Afghan soldier killed a US major general and wounded 16 more military personnel, including a US brigadier general, a German general, five British troops, and at least one Afghan officer. The Taliban did not claim credit for the attack, but praised the Afghan soldier who executed it.

There were four insider attacks recorded in Afghanistan in 2014, according to The Long War Journal's statistics. The number of reported green-on-blue attacks on Coalition personnel in Afghanistan has dropped steeply since a peak of 44 in 2012. In 2013, there were 13 such attacks. [For in-depth information, see LWJ special report, Green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan: the data.]

The decline in attacks may be due to several factors, including the continuing drawdown of Coalition personnel, reduced partnering with Afghan forces, and the adoption of heightened security measures in interactions between Coalition and Afghan forces.

However, many insider attacks remain unreported. If an attack by Afghan personnel does not result in a death or injury, and it is not reported in the press, the Coalition will not release a statement on the incident.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was disbanded at the end of 2014, told The Long War Journal in March 2012 that "these statistics," the number of attacks that did not result in a casualty, are "classified."

"[A]ttacks by ANSF on Coalition Forces ... either resulting in non-injury, injury or death ... these stats as a whole (the total # attacks) are what is classified and not releasable," Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings, ISAF's former Press Desk Chief, told The Long War Journal. Cummings said that ISAF is "looking to declassify this number." The number was never declassified.

Ibrahim al Rubaish (left) and Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari (right) are both AQAP ideologues. Along with eight other jihadists, including two from the Al Nusrah Front, they issued a statement addressing the Caucasus jihadists who have defected to the Islamic State. This image is taken from an AQAP video that was posted online last July.

When a senior Islamic Caucasus Emirate (ICE) commander in Dagestan and others swore allegiance to the Islamic State in mid-December, it caused an uproar among jihadists in the Caucasus. The emir of ICE, Ali Abu Muhammad al Dagestani, issued a stinging rebuke, saying the defections were a "treacherous act" and "caused a split among the mujahideen."

More than one month after the defections, the controversy is still an issue for al Qaeda and its allies.

On Jan. 28, a statement from ten veteran jihadist ideologues was posted on the web site for Vilayat Dagestan, which is one of ICE's so-called "provinces." The jihadists denounce the defections and argue that the Islamic State's self-proclaimed "caliphate" is illegitimate because it was not established according to sharia law.

Their statement was first obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Two of the signatories are Harith al Nadhari and Ibrahim Rubaish, both of whom are senior ideologues in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Nadhari, one of AQAP's most senior sharia officials, has become a fierce critic of the Islamic State. Rubaish, an ex-Guantanamo detainee, provides the ideological justifications for AQAP's attacks and plays a key role in collecting donations for the group.

Two others who signed the release are Sami al Uraydi, the senior sharia official for the Al Nusrah Front in Syria, and Abu Mariya al Qahtani, another Al Nusrah sharia official. Qahtani was once one of the jihadist group's highest ranking sharia officials, but he was reportedly replaced in that capacity. He has been highly critical of al Qaeda's response to the Islamic State's rise, but is apparently still in Al Nusrah.

The participation of sharia officials from both AQAP and Al Nusrah demonstrates a degree of coordination across al Qaeda's branches. And this is not the first time officials from two al Qaeda branches have coordinated their messaging with respect to the Islamic State. In mid-September, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and AQAP published a joint statement encouraging jihadist unity in the face of American-led airstrikes in Syria. Both AQIM and AQAP have rejected the Islamic State's "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria but wanted the jihadists to unite against their common enemies. The gambit failed, as the Islamic State remains opposed to all other groups in Syria.

Other well-known jihadist ideologues who signed the statement include Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked cleric who works closely with Al Nusrah, and Hani Sibai, a longtime ally of Ayman al Zawahiri dating back to the days when they were both in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ). Four others signed it as well.

The ten signatories say that they "have received the recent news" out of the Caucasus "about the arrival of the sedition of the [Islamic] State and the splitting" of the jihadists' ranks, and they "fear that the rifle will be turned away from the enemy that assails the religion and honor, to be turned against the chests of your mujahideen brothers," SITE's translation reads.

The "declaration by the [Islamic] State of a Caliphate is invalid" according to sharia law, they argue, because Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's organization did not build a proper consensus within the Ummah (community of worldwide Muslims) before making its announcement.

They contend that the Islamic State did not consult with "the honest scholars of the Ummah and their sincere local leaders and their ilk" before declaring Baghdadi to be "Caliph Ibrahim." The Islamic State's jihadist critics have consistently made this same argument against the group.

The authors repeat a common al Qaeda argument: Declaring the establishment of an Islamic emirate (or state) is foolish as long as the US remains a global power. They say that Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri ("the mujahid sheikh"), and Attiyah Abd al Rahman (a deceased al Qaeda leader) all held this view. It is, therefore, "vanity" to establish emirates "under the shadow of the global system of disbelief led by America," because this system does not "stop interfering in the lands of the Muslims."

The ideologues go on to cite an anti-Islamic State booklet by another al Qaeda ideologue, Abu Qatada, as well as an AQAP-produced lecture series starring Nadhari to further buttress their arguments.

The statement's signatories also discuss the ICE jihadists' pledge of allegiance to the emir of the group, Ali Abu Muhammad al Dagestani. The Caucasus jihadists who swore allegiance to the Islamic State broke their oaths to Dagestani, but the authors do not want this to lead to more jihadist infighting. They argue that "breaking the pledge" to Dagestani "does not give permission for sacred blood to be shed," according to SITE. In other words, the authors do not want the infighting that has hampered the jihadists' efforts in Syria to spread to the Caucasus.

Still, Dagestani is lauded in the statement, which describes his appointment as the emir of ICE as a "blessing." The authors say that Dagestani "is following the steps of the previous trustworthy ones," including Ibn Khattab, Shamil Basayev, Abu al Walid, and Doku Umarov. All of those named as Dagestani's predecessors are deceased al Qaeda-linked jihadi leaders who served in the Caucasus. Umarov was Dagestani's immediate predecessor as the head of ICE.

Given that Dagestani is an appropriate leader for ICE, the ideologues argue, the Caucasus jihadists' "loyalty" to him is "required by sharia" and "it is forbidden to break it."

It is unclear what, if any, effect the joint statement will have on tensions in the Caucasus.

The Vilayat Dagestan web site is currently trumpeting additional statements from the same al Qaeda ideologues who jointly authored the message.

Wilayat Sinai, or the Sinai Province of the Islamic State, claimed responsibility for a series of attacks throughout the Sinai yesterday via posts on Twitter. In a statement released earlier today, the organization said the operations were revenge against the Egyptian government for imprisoning the "sisters" (Muslim women). Two pictures of the attacks, one of which can be seen above, were posted with the statement.

The same justification has been offered by Ajnad Misr ("Soldiers of Egypt") for its operations in Cairo and elsewhere. The jihadists claim that devout Muslim women are being oppressed by the government and, therefore, need to be avenged.

Wilayat Sinai said in its statement today that complex assaults were carried out against the Egyptian military and police in El Arish, Sheikh Zuweid, and Rafah. The raid in El Arish appears to have been the most sophisticated, as it involved three explosives-laden vehicles.

Interestingly, the group says that it launched the assaults, utilizing almost one hundred fighters (a claim that cannot be independently verified), after nighttime curfews went into effect. It did so to supposedly minimize the loss of civilian life.

The Islamic State and its so-called "provinces" are not known for their concern for civilian casualties in the Muslim majority world. In contrast, Al Qaeda and its branches have attempted to steer their violence away from Muslim civilians. And, interestingly, Wilayat Sinai's claim in this regard is again similar to how Ajnad Misr says it carries out its operations inside Egypt.

Ajnad Misr, which was designated as a terrorist organization by the State Department in December, is an offshoot of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis ("ABM") and has not sworn allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's organization.

ABM's Sinai faction, however, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State last November and was quickly rebranded as the group's Sinai "province."

The number of casualties caused by the attacks varies across press accounts.

According to an Egyptian health official who spoke with Agence France Presse (AFP), at least 40 people were killed and dozens more were injured. Other reports say the number of casualties was lower. Wilayat Sinai's statement implies that the number of people killed or wounded is much higher.

Regardless, the attacks are clearly the deadliest ones conducted by the group since it swore allegiance to the Islamic State.

The New York Times reports that the series of raids were carried out on the North Sinai security directorate headquarters, an army base, various security checkpoints, a hotel, the capital of the province, and a security camp.

Wilayat Sinai claimed several terrorist operations in late December, one on a natural gas pipeline that extends into Jordan and two others on Egyptian military vehicles.

The group has repeatedly targeted the Egyptian military in the Sinai, and killed dozens of soldiers in October, leading security forces to impose curfews in the North Sinai. Wilayat Sinai specifically mentions those curfews in today's statement.

According to CNN, hundreds of police and troops have been killed in the last year and a half, since the military's ouster of President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013.

According to one report in the Financial Times, Wilayat Sinai's large-scale operations may have spurred smaller cells in other cities to also strike targets in Suez, Cairo, and Port Said.

Despite the military's crackdown since October, security forces are clearly unable to prevent these types of significant, multi-stage assaults from happening, highlighting flaws in Egypt's ability to combat the jihadists.

Following Thursday's raids, Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) released a statement on the army spokesman's Facebook page announcing it would ramp up operations to crackdown on militants in the Sinai. And President Abdul Fattah al Sisi cut his trip to an African Union summit in Ethiopia short due to the attacks.

In addition to the photo shown above, Wilayat Sinai released this photo from yesterday:

The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, has fought against Harakat Hazm (the Hazm Movement) outside of Aleppo in recent days. Hazm is one of the few rebel groups to receive limited American aid in the Syrian war.

Leaders of the Hazm Movement have praised Al Nusrah in the past. And the two organizations have fought side-by-side at times, drawing into question Hazm's reliability as a Western partner. Hazm has also partnered with other al Qaeda-linked jihadist groups.

But Al Nusrah is repeating the tactics it has employed in the recent past by attempting to take ground from Hazm. Late last year, Al Nusrah turned on the Syrian Revolutionaries' Front (SRF), another Western-backed rebel group that has repeatedly fought alongside al Qaeda in Syria. Just as Al Nusrah took towns and villages from the SRF in Idlib, it is now seizing Hazm positions outside of Aleppo. And the fighting between Al Nusrah and the Hazm Movement is reportedly spreading elsewhere.

When Al Nusrah launched its offensive against the SRF in late October 2014, one of the organization's propaganda arms on Twitter released videos and statements accusing the SRF of committing various crimes against Syrian civilians. Al Nusrah also justified its attacks by claiming that its fighters had been unjustly imprisoned by the SRF.

Al Nusrah's propaganda, which is intended to portray its offensive as just, repeats these same themes with respect to Hazm.

Al Qaeda's Syrian branch has released a 3 minute, 27 second video accusing Hazm of shelling civilians and torturing prisoners. The video introduces several witnesses, who discuss their alleged mistreatment by Hazm. Images of the purported damage done by Hazm's shelling are also shown. While it may be true that Hazm abused the prisoners, Al Nusrah is not known for treating its captives gently.

Several screen shots from the Al Nusrah Front video are shown below.

In a separate statement released via Twitter on Jan. 30, the Al Nusrah Front says it has reclaimed the Sheikh Salman Camp from the Hazm Movement. Al Nusrah claims that Hazm seized the camp three months ago and has held several Al Nusrah fighters captive there. Al Nusrah argues that, along with other factions, it participated in "liberating" the camp two years ago. Al Nusrah alleges that the Hazm Movement shelled civilian areas in the surrounding villages as it battled for control of the camp.

The Hazm Movement has used its social media pages to respond. On Jan. 29, the group released a statement on its Facebook page saying that it would withdraw "from all the positions" its fighters were defending on the fronts surrounding Aleppo. Hazm appealed to other rebel groups to intervene, and enforce an agreement that prevents rebel infighting in and around Aleppo. Hazm also accused Al Nusrah of being "takfiri," and of following an "extremist ideology."

The Islamic Front, an alliance of several rebel groups, has attempted to act as an intermediary between Al Nusrah and the Hazm movement. A statement released on the Islamic Front's official Twitter feed on Jan. 29 is signed by two groups, Ahrar al Sham and Suqur al Sham.

The organizations say they are saddened by the news of the infighting between their Muslim "brothers," and recommend that the conflict be settled in an independent sharia court. The statement implicitly takes Al Nusrah's side in the fight, however. "We are prepared to reclaim the rights claimed by our brothers in Al Nusrah Front against Harakat Hazm," the Islamic Front statement reads. The representatives from Ahrar al Sham and Suqur al Sham say they "trust" the Hazm Movement will not refrain from "settling any wrongs done by them."

Ahrar al Sham, an al Qaeda-linked organization, is the most powerful organization in the Islamic Front, holding key leadership positions in the coalition.

In another statement, dated Jan. 30, the Hazm Movement says that it has "confidence" in the Islamic Front to end the dispute. But Hazm also says that the Islamic Front should deal first with the "attacker," meaning the Al Nusrah Front, and not the defender.

As the infighting has raged on, the Levantine Front, another rebel coalition that operates outside of Aleppo, has released its own statement saying the Hazm Movement has joined the alliance. Hazm's move is likely intended to provide it with cover in the face of the jihadists' advances.

The Al Nusrah Front's strategy for northern Syria was made clear late last year, when its forces moved against the SRF, consolidating its hold on positions throughout Idlib in the process.

The Hazm Movement now finds itself in the same crosshairs.

Al Nusrah's propaganda video seeks to undermine Hazm Movement

The Al Nusrah Front's propaganda video introduces several witnesses, who allege that the Hazm Movement shelled civilian areas during the infighting and also tortured its prisoners. The video is the same type of production Al Nusrah released last year when it was fighting the Syrian Revolutionaries' Front in Idlib. The claims made in the video should not be taken at face value, as they are an attempt to claim the moral high ground in the fight against the Hazm Movement.

Screen shots from the video can be seen below:

The US killed four suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters in a drone strike today in southern Yemen. The strike is the second reported in Yemen this week.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired missiles at a vehicle as it traveled in Al Saeed in Shabwa province, Reuters reported. Four suspected AQAP fighters were killed in the attack, according to The Associated Press.

The identities of those killed in the US counterterrorism operation have not be disclosed. AQAP has not released an official statement announcing the death of senior leaders or operatives.

The strike is the second in Yemen this week, as well as the second so far this year. Last year, US drones hit 23 targets in Yemen. AQAP's leadership has remained intact and the group has remained a threat to Yemen as well as the international community, despite a concerted US air campaign that was ramped up in 2009. AQAP claimed credit for directing the recent terrorist attack in Paris, France.

The last strike, on Jan. 26, is controversial as one of the three purported AQAP fighters who was killed was just 13 years old. According to The Yemen Times, AQAP said that the 13 year-old, identified as Mohammed Saleh Duaayman, was a member of the group and that the family receives support from the jihadist group after his father and a brother were killed in a US drone strike late last year.

"Mohammed's family emphatically deny that he was a member of Al-Qaeda," The Yemen Times reported. But "Their home is covered in Al-Qaeda flags ..."

Both strikes this year took place after Houthi rebels overran the capital of Sana'a and forced President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the government to resign. Hadi was a staunch supporter of US counterterrorism efforts, including drone strikes, despite local and international criticism.

The Houthis, a Shiite minority that is backed by Iran, is no friend of the United States. The group's motto is "Death to America," and it is expected that support for US operations will wane as Houthi influence grows.

Additionally, Sunni tribes who oppose the Houthi incursion into central and western Yemen may turn to AQAP in the absence of a Sunni-led government. Earlier this week, AQAP claimed it conduct joint operations, under the guise of Ansar al Sharia, its political front, against the Houthis in Marib. AQAP release a statement titled "Tribes of Marib and Ansar al Shariah Repel a Houthi Campaign in Marib of Northern Yemen," which was obtained by the SITE Intelligence Group. AQAP claimed it assassinated a Houthi leader in Sana'a during the "campaign."

The Islamic State has beheaded the last of the Japanese hostages it was holding. Freelance journalist Kenji Goto Jogo was beheaded by the infamous "Jihadi John" in a video released by the jihadist group.

Two weeks ago, the Islamic State gave an ultimatum to Japan. This demand included the payment of $200 million in return for sparing the lives of Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa. On Jan. 24, private contractor Yukawa was purported to have been beheaded by the group in an audio message also featuring Goto. After this release, the terrorist group changed its demands. Instead of a monetary ransom, it asked for the release of Sajida al Rishawi, a would-be female suicide bomber who failed to detonate in Jordan in 2005. Rishawi was tied to al Qaeda in Iraq and has been imprisoned in Jordan awaiting a death sentence since her failed plot.

Japan was said to have been negotiating for the release of Goto and a captured Jordanian pilot who was downed by the Islamic State in December. However, the negotiations reportedly became "deadlocked" according to the BBC. The video released today made no mention of the fate of the pilot.

The ultimatum and subsequent beheadings came after Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister, pledged $2.5 billion in non-military aid for the Middle East, including $200 million for those fighting the Islamic State. [For more information on this, see LWJ report Islamic State gives ultimatum to Japan.]

Yukawa, who was captured by the Islamic State back in August, was allegedly a security contractor before going to Syria. In a video post to social media when Yukawa was initially captured, he claimed he was a photographer according to a translation by SITE Intelligence Group. The other hostage, Goto, was a freelance journalist who has worked in various hotspots throughout the Middle East. His family lost contact with him in October and his wife reportedly received ransom demands of $8.5 million in November.

"Jihadi John" is the same Islamic State militant who beheaded James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Cawthorne Haines, Alan Henning, and Peter Kassig. He is believed to be a British citizen.

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's emir for the tribal agency of Bajaur has defected and joined the Islamic State's branch in the Khorasan. Maulana Abu Bakr is the latest Taliban commander to defect to the rival jihadist organization.

The Islamic State's Wilayat Khorasan, or Khorasan province, announced that Abu Bakr "has left Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan and given bayat [oath of allegiance] to Khaleefa tul Muslimeen Sheikh Abu Bakr al Baghdadi Hafizahullah at the hand of Wali [governor] of Wilayah Khurasan Hafiz Saeed Khan Hafizahullah."

The short announcement was published in Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, and English on the Internet today. The Khorasan is a geographical region that covers Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of neighboring countries.

The Islamic State did not indicate if Abu Bakr was given a leadership position in its Khorasan province, although given his stature, he likely is the group's commander for Bajaur. He took command of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan in August 2012, after his predecessor, Mullah Dadullah, was killed in a US airstrike in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar that same month.

Abu Bakr has advocated for global jihad and the establishment of Islamic caliphate.

"We will continue fighting until we achieve our current objectives of sharia [Islamic law], caliphate, jihad, honor and our sacrifices," he stated during an interview that was released in January 2013. He also indicated that a large number of fighters in his presence were "refugee mujahideen," or foreign fighters.

Islamic State peels off commanders from fractured Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan

Abu Bakr joins several other mid-level Taliban emirs who have defected from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan as well as the Afghan Taliban over the past several months.

The first jihadist in the Afghan-Pakistan region to defect to the Islamic State is said to be Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay. He reportedly pledged bayat to Baghdadi just two days after the self-styled "caliph" declared the formation of caliphate and named it the Islamic State. Dost is thought to be directing the Islamic State's recruiting and propaganda in the region. [See LWJ report, Ex-Gitmo 'poet' now recruiting for the Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan.]

In October 2014, five regional emirs from the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan: Hafiz Dolat Khan from Kurram, Hafiz Saeed Khan from Arakzai, Maulana Gul Zaman from Khyber, Mufti Hassan Swati from Peshawar, and Khalid Mansoor from Hangu, along with Shahidullah Shahid, the former spokesman, left the group and joined the Islamic State. [See LWJ report, Discord dissolves Pakistani Taliban coalition.]

In mid-January, another group of mid and low level Taliban commanders in both Pakistan and Afghanistan pledged allegiance to Baghdadi. [See LWJ report, Pakistani Taliban splinter group again pledges allegiance to Islamic State.]

Abu Muhammad al Adnani, the Islamic State's spokesman, named the leaders of Khorasan province on Jan. 27. Hafiz Saeed Khan was appointed the emir of Khorasan province, and Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim as the deputy governor. Khadim, a former Guantanamo detainee and senior Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan, has been operating in Helmand province on behalf of the Islamic State. Khadim and a number of his followers are said to have been detained by the Taliban, however the report has not been confirmed. [See LWJ reports, Ex-Gitmo detainee leads contingent of Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan, and Former US Marine killed by Islamic State's Tripoli 'province'.]

The fracturing of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan has provided the Islamic State with the opportunity to gain a foothold in the region. The Islamic State has peeled off disaffected or marginalized Taliban commanders from various Taliban groups to stock the leadership cadre of Khorasan province. But aside from Khadim's previous efforts in southern Afghanistan, the Khorasan province has had little impact on the jihad in South Asia to date.

Ansar al Sharia Libya, an al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, released a series of pictures in late January that are intended to highlight its governance efforts near Benghazi. The organization gained international infamy after the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on the US Mission and Annex in the city. Ansar al Sharia fighters from both Benghazi and Derna participated in the raids, which left four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, dead.

The propaganda photos were posted on a Twitter feed maintained by Ansar al Sharia's media arm, Al Raya Media. That feed was subsequently suspended by Twitter.

The group has been locked in a fierce battle with forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar since last year. Ansar al Sharia Libya leads the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC), an alliance of jihadist groups seeking to control Benghazi.

Ansar al Sharia recently confirmed that its leader, Mohamed al Zahawi, had succumbed to wounds he sustained during an airstrike late last year. Zahawi's death had been rumored for months, but there was no confirmation until his family, and subsequently Ansar al Sharia itself, confirmed it.

The photos are undoubtedly intended to project power and influence in and around Benghazi at a time when the group is battling for control of the city and its suburbs. General Haftar's forces similarly claim to control most of Benghazi and the surrounding neighborhoods. According to multiple reports, the city of Benghazi has suffered extensive damage during the fighting between the jihadists and Haftar's men.

A flag commonly associated with the Islamic State, which claims to rule as a caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria, can be seen in photos of a building under the group's control. A number of Ansar al Sharia vehicles are shown flying the same flag. However, this does not mean that the group has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State. The same images show a black banner typically associated with the Al Nusrah Front, an official branch of al Qaeda in Syria, and al Qaeda in the lower right hand corner. The same type of flag was adopted by a number of organizations prior to the rivalry between the Islamic State and al Qaeda. In addition, a number of groups loyal to al Qaeda have used the same type of banner. Still, there are rumors on social media that some Ansar al Sharia's followers have defected to the Islamic State.

The pictures, reproduced below, show a building that allegedly serves as a police headquarters for Ansar al Sharia.

Several photos show vehicles belonging to the group's security personnel, who seek to enforce their radical version of sharia law in and around Benghazi, as well as elsewhere in Libya.

Ansar al Sharia propaganda photos showing "police" forces

In what is perhaps its most brutal execution video to date, the Islamic State burned alive a Jordanian pilot who was captured in late December 2014 after his warplane was purportedly shot down over Syria.

The Islamic State murdered First Lieutenant Mu'adh Yusuf al Kasasibah, the Jordanian pilot, at the end of a lengthy 22-minute-long video that was released by the group today, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

"The video shows media footage of Jordan's involvement in the U.S.-led coalition against IS [Islamic State] and then shows al Kasasibah discussing Jordan's operations in a news-style monologue bearing a black eye," according to a summary by SITE.

"Afterward, the video goes back and forth between shots of al Kasasibah surrounded by fighters and shots of aftermath of bombings. At the end of the video, al Kasasibah stands inside of a cage and is burned alive by fighters," SITE noted.

Kasasibah, who is dressed in the same orange shirt and pants worn by other prisoners who have been executed by the Islamic State, cries out in horrible pain as he is burned alive.

Kasasibah's F-16 was downed in Raqqah province in Syria on Dec. 24, 2014. The Islamic State claimed it shot down the aircraft. US officials subsequently denied that the plane had been downed by the Islamic State. [See LWJ report, Islamic State shoots down Jordanian warplane in Raqqah, captures pilot.]

The Islamic State demanded that the Jordanian government free Sajida al Rishawi, a would-be female suicide bomber for al Qaeda in Iraq, the predecessor of the Islamic State, who failed to detonate at a hotel in Amman in 2005, in exchange for the pilot. Her husband successfully detonated his bomb in the same operation. Her brother was also a senior leader and aide to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the founder of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Kasasibah is the third foreigner to be executed by the Islamic State in the past two weeks. Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, two Japanese citizens, were beheaded by the group. The Islamic State demanded $200 million in ransom and also intertwined their release to the release of Rishawi. [[See LWJ report, Islamic State beheads second Japanese hostage.]

The Islamic State has publicized the executions of American and British hostages, as well as mass executions of Iraqi and Syrian soldiers and auxiliaries. But none of them have been burned alive. The other victims were all either shot or beheaded.

According to an unconfirmed report, Jordan has threatened to respond to the murder of Kasasibah by expediting the execution of Islamic State members and other jihadists who are currently in custody.

The US military targeted the chief of Shabaab's external operations and intelligence branch in a drone strike that took place in Somalia last weekend. The US has not confirmed the death of the jihadist leader. Shabaab is al Qaeda's official branch in Somalia and East Africa.

The drone strike, which targeted Yusuf Dheeq, was announced earlier today during a press briefing by Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby.

"US Special Operations forces conducted a strike south of Mogadishu, using unmanned aircraft and several Hellfire missiles," Kirby stated. "This operation was a direct strike against the al-Shabaab network, and the terrorist group's chief of external operations and planning for intelligence and security. His name was Yusuf Dheeq."

Kirby stated that the US military is "still assessing the results of the operation" and it is unclear if Dheeq "no longer breathes."

Kirby stated that the strike was launched "in consultation and coordination" with the Somali government, and confirmed the existence of a "cell" of military and intelligence specialists who are tracking and targeting Shabaab's leadership.

"[T]he cell is still there and still performing a vital function, but we don't talk about the size of the footprint there," Kirby stated.

US targets Shabaab's Amniyat

Dheeq's death would be "another significant blow to al-Shabaab and their ability to conduct, plan, prepare for and - and strike against targets inside and outside Somalia," said Kirby.

Dheeq's responsibilities, as "intelligence and security chief and director of external planning," Kirby continued, would make him the leader of Shabaab's Amniyat.

The Amniyat is a key organization within Shabaab. It is instrumental in executing suicide attacks inside Somalia as well as in Kenya and other African nations, conducting assassinations, providing logistics and support for operations, and integrating the group's local and regional commands. A top Amniyat official known as "Hassan" is said to have received direct instructions from al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri on training operatives in Africa. [See LWJ report, UN warned of Shabaab ally's 'new and more complex operations' in Kenya, and Threat Matrix report, Zawahiri's man in Shabaab's 'secret service'.]

The Amniyat is also responsible for protecting Shabaab's emir, and in the past has carried out executions for the group's leader. American Shabaab commander Omar Hammmani, senior Shabaab leader Ibrahim al Afghani, and other leaders were assassinated by the intelligence service on the orders of former emir Ahmed Abdi Godane.

The US has targeted top leaders of the Amniyat in the recent past. The US killed Tahlil Abdishakur, the previous leader of the Amniyat, in an airstrike in Somalia on Dec. 29, 2014.

In January 2014, the US killed Sahal Iskudhuq, a senior Shabaab commander who served as a high-ranking member of the Amniyat, in another airstrike. And in October 2013, US Navy SEALs targeted but failed to capture or kill Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, who is also known as Ikrima. US officials described Ikrima as Shabaab's external operations chief, and said he was in close contact with al Qaeda's general command in Pakistan and directed attacks in Kenya. [See LWJ report, Weekend attacks in Somalia deal Shabaab a double blow.]

Third US strike against Shabaab's top leaders

Dheeq is the third senior Shabaab leader targeted by the US since early September 2014. In addition to Abdishakur, the US killed Ahmed Abdi Godane, the previous leader of Shabaab, in another airstrike. Several of the group's leaders and commanders were also killed along with Godane, who was also known as Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr.

Shabaab immediately name Sheikh Ahmad Umar as Godane's replacement. Umar re-affirmed the group's allegiance to al Qaeda.

"The leadership also renews its pledge of allegiance to al Qaeda and its leader, Sheikh Ayman al Zawahiri, may Allah protect him," the statement reads, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Lieutenant General Vincent R. Stewart, warned during congressional testimony yesterday that the "security challenges" the US faces are "more diverse and complex than those we have experienced in our lifetimes." Stewart delivered his remarks to the House Armed Services Committee during a hearing devoted to assessing worldwide threats.

While Stewart addressed diverse national security issues, much of his written testimony was focused on what was once called the global war on terror.

Al Qaeda in Syria may "expand its territory," while threatening the West

The Islamic State's advances in Iraq and Syria have understandably garnered most of the headlines since the middle of last year. But the Islamic State's rivals in the Al Nusrah Front, an official branch of al Qaeda, have been gaining ground over the past several months. And the DIA is concerned that Al Nusrah will continue to advance inside Syria and elsewhere, while also enabling senior al Qaeda operatives to plan attacks against the West.

The DIA expects Al Nusrah "will try to expand its territory in 2015 beyond its Syrian operating areas and enhance its operational capabilities in Lebanon, where it already conducts operations."

"As part of the larger al Qaeda network," Stewart writes, "we are concerned about the support Al Nusrah Front provides to transnational terrorist attack plotting against US and Western interests." In particular, he highlighted the threat posed by the so-called Khorasan Group, "a cadre of experienced al Qaeda operatives that works closely with and relies upon al Nusrah Front to provide personnel and space for training facilities in northwestern Syria." The Khorasan Group "is primarily focused on transnational terrorist attack plotting."

In the past, US officials have tried to draw a line between the Khorasan Group and Al Nusrah, as if the two were almost distinct entities. [See LWJ report, Analysis: CENTCOM draws misleading line between Al Nusrah Front and Khorasan Group.] In reality, both are simply al Qaeda. And Stewart's testimony makes it clear that the Khorasan Group's operatives are deeply embedded within Al Nusrah.

The US-led coalition struck Al Nusrah and the Khorasan Group in September of last year, but has not made targeting al Qaeda in Syria a priority since then.

The DIA thinks that the airstrikes "probably killed a number of senior al Nusrah Front and Khorasan Group operatives, but the group almost certainly has maintained some capability to continue plotting against Western interests."

Air campaign damaging, not defeating Islamic State

The implication of Stewart's testimony is that the air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is only somewhat effective in containing the organization. Stewart refers to the group by an acronym of its previous name, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (or ISIL).

Since Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's fighters stormed their way through much of Iraq last spring and summer, he writes, "coalition airstrikes have resulted in the removal of a number of ISIL senior leaders and degraded the group's ability to operate openly in Iraq and Syria." And ISIL has hit a natural barrier to its expansion as "[s]eizing and holding Shia and Kurdish-populated areas of Iraq...will continue to be difficult."

However, the DIA expects "ISIL to continue entrenching itself and consolidating gains in Sunni areas of Iraq and Syria while also fighting for territory outside those areas." He predicts that ISIL will "continue limited offensive operations, such as the group's recent operations in Syria and in Anbar province of Iraq."

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government continues to need substantial external support. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) remain "unable to defend against external threats or sustain conventional military operations against internal challenges without foreign assistance," Stewart writes.

A "stalemate" in Afghanistan

US-led forces have been battling jihadists for control of Afghanistan since late 2001. But the jihadists are far from defeated, and the situation is likely to get worse in the wake of America's drawdown in forces. While the DIA expects the Afghan government to be able to protect major urban areas, the jihadists will continue to use their safe havens in rural areas to challenge the state's authority.

The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) "remain stalemated with the Taliban-led insurgency," Stewart explains. The DIA expects the ANSF "to maintain stability and security in Kabul and key urban areas while retaining freedom of movement on major highways."

"However, the Taliban, al Qaeda, and their extremist allies will likely seek to exploit the reduced Coalition presence by pressuring ANSF units in rural areas, conducting high profile attacks in major population centers, and expanding their safe havens," the DIA chief warns.

The Afghan National Army (ANA) "will continue to struggle with permanently denying the insurgents freedom of movement in rural areas," Stewart writes.

Each of the main Afghan organizations charged with battling the insurgents is plagued by serious problems. The ANA is "constrained by its stretched airlift and logistical capacity," and suffers from "[h]igh attrition" rates. The Afghan National Police (ANP) suffers from "manpower shortages, inadequate training, attrition, logistics shortfalls, and the corrosive influence of corruption." And the Afghan Air Force (AAF) "is not a reliable source of close air support and still struggles with recruiting qualified pilots and technicians."

As a result of these problems and the jihadists' resilience, the "Taliban will probably sustain the capability to propagate a rural-based insurgency that can project intermittent attacks in urban areas through at least 2018."

Al Qaeda is eyeing a continuing decline in Western counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan as an opportunity, according to Stewart. Al Qaeda "will continue to use its remaining paramilitary units, trained recruits, and extremist affiliates and allies to target Western interests in South Asia and worldwide."

And Ayman al Zawahiri's organization "also will likely try to expand its limited presence in eastern Afghanistan ... in the face of continued [counterterrorism] pressure from Pakistan" and less resistance from Western forces.

Competition between the Islamic State, al Qaeda

Several parts of Stewart's testimony deal with the competition between the Islamic State (or ISIL) and al Qaeda. The DIA chief says that al Qaeda's "core" is "now focused on physical survival following battlefield losses" and "is trying to retain its status as the vanguard of the global extremist movement, being eclipsed now by ISIL's rising global prominence and powerful competition for adherents."

The notion of a "core" al Qaeda is a fuzzy one in the US government's lexicon, as it is rarely, if ever, precisely defined. And the DIA's assessment is at odds with other conclusions in his testimony.

As Stewart himself testified, al Qaeda will likely try to expand its presence in Afghanistan in the coming months. So its "battlefield losses" have not been that devastating. Moreover, "core" al Qaeda operatives staff the Khorasan group and Al Nusrah, which the DIA believes could continue to grow throughout 2015, while also threatening the West.

"Core" al Qaeda operatives are stationed throughout the world, including inside al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The general manager of al Qaeda's global network, Nasir al Wuhayshi, also serves as the emir of AQAP, a regional branch of al Qaeda. The rise of the Houthis, Shia rebels in Yemen who receive some support from Iran, over a Sunni government allied with US interests, has greatly complicated America's counterterrorism mission. "Current conditions are providing AQAP operational space," Stewart notes.

And the DIA director explains that despite the challenge from ISIL, al Qaeda "core" in Pakistan "continues to retain the loyalty of its global affiliates in Yemen, Somalia, North Africa, Syria, and South Asia."

The Long War Journal assesses that these "affiliates," which al Qaeda refers to as "branches," are currently stronger than ISIL's international network. ISIL has cut into al Qaeda's market share as the "vanguard" of the global jihadist movement, but it has not "eclipsed" al Qaeda.

Still, Stewart and the DIA are rightly concerned about the "spread of ISIL beyond Syria and Iraq." Stewart mentions ISIL "affiliates in Algeria, Egypt, Libya," which give Baghdadi's group "a growing international footprint that includes ungoverned and under governed areas."

In Egypt and Libya, ISIL's followers are a rising threat. The Sinai faction of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM), which officially joined ISIL in November, has increased its capacity for significant attacks on the Egyptian police and military. Other jihadist groups that are not aligned with ISIL, including Ajnad Misr, remain a problem.

In Libya, ISIL has gained a foothold because of the return of hundreds of foreign fighters from Iraqi and Syrian battlefields. The attack on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli last month underscores ISIL's growing capabilities inside the country. "ISIL has increased its presence and influence in Libya, particularly in [Derna], where it has begun establishing Islamic institutions," Stewart writes. ISIL does have a significant presence in Derna, but so do other jihadist groups that are not part of Baghdadi's international coalition. The Mujahideen Shura Council in Derna and its constituent groups remain a prominent force, but they are not loyal to ISIL. Similarly, the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council and Ansar al Sharia carry out the bulk of the fighting in Benghazi. They are not part of ISIL's coalition either.

And in Algeria, the jihadists loyal to ISIL have executed some attacks, but they do not yet appear to be a major force.

Pakistan "remains concerned about ISIL outreach and propaganda in South Asia," Stewart explains. ISIL has launched a nascent effort to build up its presence in the region, garnering the support of former Pakistani Taliban commanders and Afghan Taliban castoffs. But here, too, ISIL's reach is not nearly as pronounced as the Taliban or al Qaeda and its allies, few of whom have endorsed Baghdadi's "caliphate" project.

However, Stewart says, the "robust foreign terrorist fighter flow" will continue to benefit ISIL and help the organization expand its international presence.

A US drone strike in southern Yemen on Jan. 31 killed Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari, a senior al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) sharia official. Nadhari's death was confirmed in a "martyrdom" statement issued by the group via Twitter and other web sites earlier today.

Nadhari praised the attack on Charlie Hebdo's offices just days after the massacre on Jan. 9. He did not claim responsibility for the operation, but another senior AQAP official subsequently did.

The AQAP statement announcing Nadhari's death was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. AQAP confirms that Nadhari worked for its sharia committee, and says that three other fighters were killed in the drone strike.

AQAP portrays the bombing that killed Nadhari as being part of a working agreement between the US and the Shia Houthis rebels who overran Yemeni government positions in recent weeks. The drone strike "came a few hours after the completion of the deal for the Houthis to take control of the administration of the country with an American and regional collusion," the statement reads, according to SITE's translation. "The Houthis have become a loyal partner to America in preserving its interests and executing its plans in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula."

The Houthis receive at least some support from Iran. And AQAP frequently claims that they are part of an alleged US-Iranian axis that is opposing Sunni Muslims throughout the region.

An influential al Qaeda ideologue

AQAP's "martyrdom" statement identifies Nadhari as being a senior sharia official in the group, but says little else about his al Qaeda role.

The Long War Journal previously assessed that it is possible Nadhari also served as one of Nasir al Wuhayshi's deputy general managers in al Qaeda's global network. Documents recovered in Osama bin Laden's compound show that al Qaeda's general manager has deputies who are appointed to help him carry out his work. Nasir al Wuhayshi serves as both AQAP's emir and as al Qaeda's general manager, but his deputies have not been publicly identified.

Al Qaeda had consistently elevated Harith al Nadhari's media profile, meaning he was considered a key ideologue for the global organization.

In addition to having his work promoted by AQAP, Nadhari's writings have been featured in Nawa-e-Afghan Jihad ("Voice of the Afghan Jihad"), a magazine that publishes the works of top al Qaeda leaders and their closest allies. For example, an edition of the magazine published last year included a piece from Nadhari on "ideology and teachings."

In addition to the Charlie Hebdo attack, Nadhari regularly commented on events far from Yemen. In August 2013, he discussed the turmoil in Egypt.

In July 2014, Nadhari joined other senior AQAP leaders in defending Ayman al Zawahiri and veteran jihadist ideologues against their critics. Nadhari's message was clearly aimed at supporters of the Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that claims to rule as a "caliphate" over large parts of Iraq and Syria. Nadhari was a staunch critic of the Islamic State and he released a series of statements attempting to undermine its legitimacy.

In October 2014, he was among the al Qaeda ideologues who attempted to portray the US-led bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria as part of a "Crusade" against the Islamic world. While preaching jihadist unity, Nadhari also issued a thinly-veiled critique of the Islamic State's "caliphate" in the statement.

In January, Nadhari released guidelines for how jihadists should wage suicide operations. Al Qaeda has been attempting to rein in the violence carried out be its fighters, and his guidelines demonstrated the organization's sensitivity to attacks that alienate the populace.

Shortly before his death, Nadhari joined nine other jihadist ideologues in releasing a statement that addressed defections to the Islamic State in the Caucasus. The statement was co-signed by two AQAP sharia officials, including Nadhari, as well as two sharia officials from the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria.

Jordanian officials reportedly released Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi, a pro-al Qaeda, anti-Islamic State jihadist ideologue earlier today. And the news was quickly celebrated by Maqdisi's allies on social media.

A Twitter feed associated with Abu Qatada, one of Maqdisi's closest comrades, tweeted the news of the release. One tweet praises Allah and shows a picture of the two longtime jihadist thinkers sitting together. The picture can be seen above, with Maqdisi on the reader's left and Abu Qatada on the right.

The pair has helped lead al Qaeda's ideological attack against the Islamic State, which claims to rule over large parts of Iraq and Syria as a "caliphate." Al Qaeda officially disowned Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's organization in February 2014.

The celebratory tweets posted in Abu Qatada's name were quickly retweeted by other al Qaeda jihadists, including Sami al Uraydi, a Jordanian who serves as the Al Nusrah Front's chief sharia official. The Al Nusrah Front is al Qaeda's official branch in Syria.

Abu Mariya al Qahtani, another official in Al Nusrah, praised Maqdisi's release. And so did Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked cleric who works with Al Nusrah in Syria. Muhaysini tweeted the photo shown above as well.

Maqdisi's release comes just days after the Islamic State posted a grotesque video online showing a Jordanian pilot, Mouath al Kasaesbeh, being burned alive.

No official explanation for Maqdisi's release has been given. But a Jordanian "security source" told Reuters that "Maqdisi was expected to denounce the immolation of the Jordanian pilot" as being contrary to "faith values."

And a Jordanian television station is already advertising an "exclusive interview" with Maqdisi, who is expected to criticize the Islamic State once again.

One of the Islamic State's most influential critics

It has long been assumed that Jordanian authorities are willing to tolerate some of Maqdisi's activities, as he is one of the Islamic State's most authoritative critics within the jihadist community. But such an arrangement puts the Jordanians in the awkward position of being tacitly allied, even if only on occasion, with a thinker who strongly backs al Qaeda and its leader, Ayman al Zawahiri.

In January 2014, Maqdisi denounced the Islamic State's fatwas, which "obligate Muslims to make a grand pledge of allegiance to [Abu Bakr al] Baghdadi as a caliph." Maqdisi also explained that the fatwas from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), as it was known at the time, led to the shedding of Muslim blood and incited jihadists "to disobey the authorities' orders, particularly the orders of Sheikh Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri."

While still imprisoned in May 2014, Maqdisi released a statement blasting the Islamic State as a "deviant organization." The message was promoted online by the Al Nusrah Front.

In the jailhouse letter, Maqdisi revealed that he had attempted to broker an end to the dispute between the Islamic State and al Qaeda, as the two jihadist organizations have been openly at odds since April 2013. He claimed to have advised Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who heads the Islamic State, and Zawahiri. He even said that he had been in direct contact with Zawahiri, whom he referred to as "our beloved brother, the Sheikh, the Commander."

Maqdisi has been periodically released from prison, only to find himself behind bars once again. He was released for a time in mid-June of 2014 and, in short order, issued another statement concerning the Islamic State. He refused to disavow his rebuke of the group from the month before, saying the speculation that Jordanian authorities put him up to it was false. Officials in the Al Nusrah Front praised Maqdisi's short-lived freedom at the time.

Jihadists from around the world have attempted to impeach the Islamic State's credentials by relying on Maqdisi's teachings. For instance, Ali Abu Muhammad al Dagestani, the head of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate (ICE), has spoken of Maqdisi, along with Zawahiri and other al Qaeda ideologues, in glowing terms. Some ICE jihadists have defected to the Islamic State, but web sites affiliated with the organization continue to advertise Maqdisi's anti-Islamic State writings.

Maqdisi's animosity for the West and the US is clear. On Sept. 30, 2014, he and other jihadist thinkers released a proposal calling for a ceasefire between the warring factions in Syria. Their main argument was that the Islamic State, Al Nusrah and other groups had a common enemy in the "Crusaders." The US-led coalition began bombing Syria one week earlier. The proposed ceasefire appears to have been rejected by the Islamic State.

Last December, the Guardian (UK) reported that Abu Qatada and Maqdisi had attempted to negotiate with the Islamic State on behalf of Peter Kassig, an American aid worker who was held captive by the group. Their effort failed as Kassig was ultimately beheaded. Some al Qaeda officials objected to Kassig's murder on the grounds that he was assisting Muslims in Syria and had been welcomed by their co-religionists. In their view, therefore, it was illegal under sharia law to kill him.

Jihadist groups operating in Iraq and Syria continue to highlight their training facilities in Iraq and Syria. Since Dec. 28, 13 new camps have been identified by The Long War Journal. Of these, four are in Iraq while the other seven are in Syria.

The total number of jihadist training camps that have been identified in both countries is now at 78; at least 10 are thought to be no longer in operation and 15 to 20 have been hit in Coalition airstrikes.

Six of the camps that have been recently identified belong to the Islamic State, the al Qaeda splinter group that now controls significant portions of land in Iraq and Syria. These facilities include:

• The "Abu Abdul Rahman al Bilawi Camp" in northern Babil province, Iraq. This camp is named after the slain Islamic State leader who was killed by the Iraqi Security Forces near Mosul in June 2014.
• The "Sheikh Abu Ibrahim Camp" which is near al Rutbah in Iraq's Anbar province. The camp was identified after the Islamic State posted pictures showing the graduation of the class "Abu Anas al Ansari," who was a local emir of the Islamic State before he was killed near the al Walid border crossing in late 2014.
• A camp for children, which was not named, that is located in Tal Afar in Iraq's Ninewa province. In a translation by SITE Intelligence Group, the video featured a young Turkish boy who said "I have emigrated with my father, my mother, and my brothers from Turkey. We came to pledge allegiance to Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. I wish from Allah to select me as a martyr."
• The "Abu Musab al Zarqawi Camp" in Kirkuk province, Iraq. Photos showing recruits at the camp showcased physical training, as well as training on clearing buildings. The camp is named after the founder and former emir of al Qaeda in Iraq, which is now the Islamic State. Zarqawi was killed in a US airstrike in 2006.
• A camp run by the Islamic State's "Knights of War Battalion," which appears to be located at the Tal Afar airbase. In the video released by the jihadist group, recruits for this unit were shown undergoing firearms training, close quarters combat training, and small unit tactics training. Several hangars at the airbase appear to have been destroyed in possible airstrikes, however, these ruins were utilized the Islamic State's training. On Jan. 20, pictures were released that appear to show fighters training near the city of Tal Afar. The Knights of War Battalion may be another "special unit" of the Islamic State, similar to the Qawat al Muhaam al Khaasa (Special Task Force). It is possible the latter group was also present in the video. [See LWJ report, More jihadist training camps identified in Iraq and Syria.]
• The "Sheikh Osama bin Laden Camp," which is named after the slain co-founder of al Qaeda, who was killed in a US special operations mission in Pakistan in 2011. The camp, which is thought to be located in Raqqah province, has been in operation since before the Islamic State changed its name from the Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham.

Two camps operated by the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, have been identified:

• An unnamed camp in Idlib province in northwestern Syria. On Jan. 9, the Al Nusrah Front released a series of images on its official Twitter account detailing the facility, which appears to be different than previous camps shown by the group in Idlib. The pictures also appeared to have been taken a few weeks prior to release, as the weather conditions in the photos did not match the weather conditions in Idlib at that time. [See accompanying map above for more information on other Al Nusrah Front camps in Idlib.]
• An unnamed camp located in Quneitra province in southern Syria. Al Nusrah released several photos from this camp on its Twitter account for its southern Syria operations. More than three dozen recruits were shown taking part in firing exercises, physical training, and marching.

The following five training facilities are operated by jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria that are allied with the Al Nusrah Front or the Islamic State:

• The al Qaa'qaa Camp in al Hasakah province, Syria. While the camp was showcased in a video released on Jan. 22, it has been in operation for quite some time. Late last year, Ansar al Islam fought alongside the Al Nusrah Front and Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, the Syrian branch of the Caucasus Emirate, in a key battle in Aleppo province. The al Qaa'qaa Camp is the second camp identified that belongs to Ansar al Islam. The other camp, the Sheikh Rashid Ghazi Camp, is located in Ninewa province, Iraq. [For more information on Jamaat Ansar al Islam, see LWJ report Ansar al Islam coordinating with the Al Nusrah Front, Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar in Aleppo.]
• An unnamed camp that is run by Ansar Sham, a group that operates in Latakia province and is part of the larger Islamic Front coalition, which is closely allied to the Al Nusrah Front. Late last year, Ansar Sham released a video of a training camp it runs in Latakia. In the video, recruits underwent small unit tactics, weapons training, as well as physical training.
• A training camp for children that is run by the al Qaeda and Taliban-linked Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP). TIP's official media wing released photos of the facility, which appeared to be in a captured villa somewhere in the northern Syrian countryside, showing more than a dozen children taking part in the training. The TIP in Syria operates alongside Al Nusrah in Idlib and also likely in Aleppo province.
• A camp run by the Kurdish Islamic Front, a Kurdish faction of the larger Islamic Front coalition> The group showcased the camp in a video released in early April 2014. The video showed its fighters training with weapons as well as learning how to assault and clear a building. On Dec. 8, the Kurdish Islamic Front and Liwa al Haq, another group within the Islamic Front, merged with Ahrar al Sham, which is part of the Islamic Front. Ahrar al Sham is an al Qaeda-ally that closely operates alongside the Al Nusrah Front.
• A camp run by the Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, or Oneness and Jihad Battalion. In a video released by the jihadist group, its fighters were shown receiving training on technicals (armed pickup trucks), how to assault and clear buildings, take people captive, as well as weapons and physical training. This relatively small organization, which broke away from the Al Nusrah Front, largely consists of Uzbek fighters. Even after breaking from Al Nusrah, the two maintain good relations and close battlefield ties. Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad also has ties to the larger Uzbek group, the Imam Bukhari Jamaat.

Jihadist training camps in Iraq and Syria

Since the beginning of 2012, a total of 78 camps have been identified as being operational at one point in time. Of those camps, 58 have been found in Syria, and 20 in Iraq. Ten of these camps are used to indoctrinate and train children.

Information on the camps has been obtained from jihadist videos and images, 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. At least 10 of the facilities are thought to no longer be in existence. Additionally, between 15 and 20 of the camps, primarily from the Islamic State, are thought to have been hit during Coalition airstrikes; it is unclear if those camps are still operational. It is likely that there are training camps that have not been advertised.

The Islamic State has operated 36 camps (19 in Iraq, 17 in Syria). The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, has operated 16 camps inside Syria. Allied jihadist groups have run 26 other camps (25 in Syria and one in Iraq); nine of those camps are run by jihadist groups from the Caucasus, three by Uzbek jihadist groups, and jihadists from Gaza, Morocco, and Kazakhstan each run one camp.

In the past, al Qaeda has used its network of camps not only to train fighters to battle in local insurgencies, but also to identify potential recruits for attacks against the West as well as support a host of allied jihadist groups.

Note: This article has been updated to note that Foreign Policy has confirmed the US-led coalition launched airstrikes in Raqqa earlier today.

A statement attributed to the Islamic State claims that an American woman who was being held hostage, Kayla Jean Mueller, was killed during Jordanian airstrikes earlier today. The statement contains a photo set showing a building that was allegedly struck by Jordanian bombers.

The claim could not be independently verified and its overall veracity is questionable.

One photo published by the group can be seen above and others at the end of this article. The web page containing the announcement also purports to publish Mueller's address in Arizona, her telephone number and email address.

Several elements of the statement and the photos immediately draw into question the claimed circumstances surrounding Mueller's alleged death.

The Islamic State set off an international controversy when its fighters burned a Jordanian pilot alive. Conveniently, the group now claims that Jordan's bombers killed an American hostage. It is not clear how the Islamic State knows the bombers that supposedly hit this area were Jordanian, as opposed to other coalition aircraft.

Moreover, the statement says that Mueller was killed by the "fire" caused by the bombings. This is, again, convenient given the manner in which Mu'adh Yusuf al Kasasibah was executed. It is an attempt to draw moral equivalency between Jordan's attacks on the Islamic State, and the means by which the Islamic State killed a Jordanian pilot. In fact, the group's supporters have been aggressively making "an eye for an eye" justifications on social media since the grotesque execution video was first aired.

The Islamic State says that Mueller was killed during Friday prayers in the city of Raqqa, which serves as the de facto seat of its "caliphate." The implication is that the Jordanians were bombing during a holy time for Muslims.

The statement also alleges that no jihadists were killed, only Mueller, despite "continuous raids" on the location for more than one hour. This would be an incredibly inefficient use of Jordan's airpower, if true, as its bombers are surely targeting locations that can do the most damage to the Islamic State's positions. And it is not clear how the building shown in the photos could still be standing at all, even with significant damage, if the bombers really struck this precise location for more than one hour.

As of this writing, the coalition had not yet announced any airstrikes in Raqqa today. The latest statement from CENTCOM says that, from 8 am on Feb. 5 to 8 am Feb. 6 (local time), the coalition conducted ten airstrikes. Nine of the airstrikes took place near Kobani, targeting "nine [Islamic State] tactical units" and destroying two of the organization's "fighting positions." The tenth airstrike hit "multiple storage and staging facilities" near Al Hasakah.

Citing a CENTCOM official, however, Foreign Policy subsequently confirmed that the US-led "coalition conducted multiple airstrikes Friday in the Raqqa area against Islamic State targets" and the strikes "involved both US and coalition planes."

Jordan did launch airstrikes in Iraq and Syria today. Citing Jordanian state television, CNN reports that the Jordanian armed forces claimed to have hit Islamic State "training centers, arms and ammunition depots."

While it is certainly possible Mueller has been killed, the Islamic State's description of how she was allegedly killed could very well be a propaganda ploy. Specific details in the Islamic State's message, such as no other deaths caused by the coalition's bombings in Raqqa, do not ring true.

Other photos released by the Islamic State:

Yesterday, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed that one of its senior sharia officials, Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari, had been killed in a US drone strike on Jan. 31 in southern Yemen. Jihadists aligned with al Qaeda's international network quickly issued their condolences upon hearing the news.

"He was a worthy son of Islam who worked towards the establishment of a caliphate on the path of the Prophet," Wilayat Dagestan, a "province" of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Caucasus Emirate (ICE), said in a statement on its official web site. "This brother left us exactly at a time when we acutely need scholars like himself," the message continues, according to a translation obtained by The Long War Journal.

Wilayat Dagestan has been embroiled in a controversy, as its former leader and other ICE members swore allegiance to the Islamic State late last year. It is not clear how much sway they have in Dagestan and elsewhere at the moment, but the group's propaganda arm remains loyal to al Qaeda. The defectors were denounced by ICE's emir, Abu Muhammad al Dagestani, who named a new leader for the jihadist group's Dagestan "province."

Nadhari was one of the ten jihadist ideologues who endorsed Dagestani as ICE's leader, and denounced the defectors, in a statement that was issued shortly before his death. Wilayat Dagestan's statement commemorating Nadhari implicitly recognizes the controversy over the defectors, as it references the supposedly proper way to re-establish the "caliphate" and the necessity of having "scholars" such as him. One of al Qaeda's central critiques of the Islamic State's "caliphate" is that it was not established according to the Prophetic method, as Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and his subordinates did not first build support for their endeavor among recognized jihadist authorities.

Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked cleric who works closely with the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, openly mourned Nadhari on his Twitter feed. Muhaysini changed the profile image on his Twitter feed, which has approximately 345,000 followers, to a picture of Nadhari.

Muhaysini also posted an image of himself alongside Nadhari to commemorate his fallen comrade. The image can be seen to the right.

The SITE Intelligence Group reports that Sirajuddin Zurayqat, a leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Lebanon, similarly praised Nadhari in a pair of tweets. "May Allah have mercy on Sheikh Harith al Nadhari and accept him among the martyrs, and may He make our mujahideen brothers stand firm in the Arabian Peninsula," Zurayqat wrote, according to SITE. "Here are American drones flying over the agents of Iran to kill soldiers of the Most Gracious in the Yemen of faith."

The "agents of Iran" referenced in Zurayqat's tweets are the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis are backed, at least in part, by Iran. And AQAP consistently portrays America's actions in Yemen as being part of a supposed Iranian-American axis that is fighting Sunni Muslims throughout the greater Middle East. Zurayqat played upon this same theme in his tweets mourning Nadhari's death.