Thomas Joscelyn's testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee's Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry into the United States on what happens to the Islamic State after it loses its territory in Iraq and Syria. Read more >
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its most recent statistics on Guantanamo recidivism this week. 208 former detainees are either confirmed or suspected of rejoining the jihad. 188 of them were transferred or released during the Bush administration and the remaining 20 by the Obama administration. The estimated number of recidivists has steadily climbed since 2008, when the government first provided statistics on this topic. Read more >
The Islamic State's Amaq News Agency released a video purportedly showing the two terrorists responsible for yesterday's assault on a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France. One of the two, identified as Abu Jalil al Hanafi, swears allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi on behalf of himself and his comrade. The Islamic State has also released a profile of Mohammad Daleel, the jihadist who blew himself up in Ansbach, Germany on July 24. The biography indicates that Daleel was a veteran of the jihad in Syria. Read more >
In a memo submitted to the UK parliament, British Prime Minister David Cameron claimed that seven terrorist plots have been broken up in the UK in the past 12 months, the number of terrorism-related arrests is up 31%, and the Islamic State has an "external operations structure in Syria" that is devoted to planning attacks in the West. Read more >
The White House announced today that Fadhil Ahmad al Hayali (a.k.a. Hajji Mutazz), the deputy leader of the Islamic State, was killed in an airstrike on June 18. US military officials previously reported that he had been killed in December 2014. Al Hayali was one of the most senior leaders in the "caliphate," and had wide-ranging responsibilities. Read more >
Ansar al Sharia Libya now operates a radio station in Benghazi and several Twitter feeds. The group is at war with General Khalifa Haftar's forces, but is promoting its governance efforts even while in the thick of battle. While a senior sharia official has defected to the Islamic State, there is no indication the group as a whole has followed suit. Read more >
The State Department today announced that Denis Cuspert has been added to the US government's list of specially designated global terrorists. Read more >
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, has tweeted a series of photos purportedly showing the aftermath of the US-led coalition's airstrikes in Idlib. Prior to today, the coalition had not announced any airstrikes against Al Nusrah since the first day of the bombing campaign in Syria. Read more >
Ansar al Islam, a jihadist group founded in northern Iraq in September 2001, has claimed a number of attacks against the Iraqi government since the rebel offensive began earlier this month. Read more >
In a newly released three-page statement, Ayman al Zawahiri again says that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) owed its allegiance to al Qaeda's senior leadership before disobeying orders. Any pledges of allegiance collected by the ISIS since then "are null pledges, because they arose from a direct violation of my command as his direct emir," he states. Read more >
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, has rejected a charter signed by a number of other leading insurgency groups. Al Nusrah argues that the charter is not rooted in proper Islamic principles, among other supposed flaws. Read more >
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, is using Twitter to raise funds for a new Islamic institute. Read more >
The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) has rejected an overture by the head of al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri. Read more >
The Al Nusrah Front has issued a statement saying it will comply with Ayman al Zawahiri's orders with respect to the ongoing dispute with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). Read more >
Ayman al Zawahiri offers an olive branch to the head of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), which has been disowned by al Qaeda. But he also details the history of ISIS and its predecessor in Iraq, saying the leadership of this group was a part of al Qaeda. Read more >
Abu Sulayman al Muhajir used his Twitter account to condemn the killing of Abu Muhammad al Fateh, the Al Nusrah Front's leader in the province of Idlib, Syria. Sulayman says that Fateh joined al Qaeda in Iraq in 2005 and went on to become a confidante of Abu Muhammad al Julani, Al Nusrah's emir. Read more >
Jihadist ideologues have mounted a social media campaign to ask Ayman al Zawahiri to more fully explain al Qaeda's conflict with its former branch, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). Read more >
A video released by the Al Nusrah Front stars Abu Sulayman al Muhajir, a jihadist ideologue who serves as a sharia official in the group. Sulayman discusses al Qaeda's organizational scheme and hierarchy, as well as the ongoing conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). Read more >
Three prominent Al Nusrah Front officials have now tweeted a message to Ayman al Zawahiri. The message asks him to address specific hot button issues in the infighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham and Al Nusrah. Read more >
A group of jihadist ideologues has published a message addressed to Ayman al Zawahiri. They call on Zawahiri to address the specific problems they have encountered with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), which has been disowned by al Qaeda. Read more >
Abu Khalil al Madani has released an audio message calling on the jihadist groups in Syria to form a common sharia committee, as well as a security committee. Much of his message echoes the mediation efforts of the past. Read more >
A banner dedicated to Abu Khalid al Suri is being posted on Twitter. The banner shows him both after his "martyrdom" and as a younger man. Read more >
Ayman al Zawahiri has released an audio message eulogizing Abu Khalid al Suri, who was killed on Feb. 23. Zawahiri confirms that he knew al Suri since before the 9/11 attacks and that they had been in direct communication after the beginning of the Syrian revolution. Read more >
Muhsin al Fadhli, a senior al Qaeda leader from Kuwait, is now operating inside Syria as part of the Al Nusrah Front. Al Fadhli has been tied to a string of plots against Western interests. Read more >
An Al Nusrah Front video features Abu Hammam al Shami, an al Qaeda veteran who swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and has served al Qaeda's senior leaders since the late 1990s. Abu Hammam criticizes the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) in the video. Read more >
Al Maqreze Media has released a statement saying that Ayman al Zawahiri "will not be speaking on our station. We will be raising crucial questions for all concerning the conflict in Syria." Read more >
An Al Nusrah Front video released on March 17 features Abu Sulayman al Muhajir, who was an extremist preacher in Australia. Abu Sulayman says he relocated to Syria, where he was part of al Qaeda's mediation effort in the dispute between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). He criticizes ISIS in the video. Read more >
Hassan Abboud has posted a series of pictures of himself with Abu Khalid al Suri, al Qaeda's top operative in Syria until his demise this past weekend. Al Suri was a founding member of Ahrar al Sham, which Abboud leads. Read more >
Ayman al Zawahiri has released an audio message addressing the infighting between various jihadist factions inside Syria. Although Zawahiri does not address any group or individual by name, his message was clearly aimed at the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), one of al Qaeda's two official branches fighting inside Syria. Read more >
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has issued a statement mourning the death of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's deputy leader, Said al Shihri. The statement quickly made the rounds on jihadist social media sites. Read more >
