The Islamic State's Amaq News Agency has released a short statement claiming responsibility for the assault on a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany yesterday. Twelve people were killed and dozens more injured when a lorry was rammed into the market. Two attacks in Germany earlier this year were "remote-controlled" by the group's digital operatives. Read more →
The US military announced the deaths of Bilal al Utabyi, al Qaeda's deputy leader for eastern Afghanistan, and Wahid al-Junabi, a senior al Qaeda explosives expert. Both were killed on Oct. 23 in the airstrike that also killed Faruq al Qahtani, al Qaeda emir for eastern Afghanistan. Read more →
Photos have emerged of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, in Aleppo, Syria. Forces allied with the Syrian government declared victory this past week. Read more →
Sham al Islam, a group founded by former Moroccan detainees at Guantanamo Bay, has merged with a local Syrian faction in order to "unify the ranks" and to "protect the jihad" in Syria. Read more →
The establishment of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) is an extension of Iran's plan to export the revolution, which keeps war against Sunni extremists from reaching the country's borders, a senior adviser to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force argues. Read more →
The US military said it destroyed 14 tanks "and other equipment" that was captured by the Islamic State after it overran the Syrian city of Palmyra and the nearby Tiyas Military Airfield. Read more →
State has upped the reward for Abu Bakr al Baghdadi as the Islamic State has been under significant pressure in Iraq. The $25 million reward puts Baghdadi on par with Ayman al Zawahiri, the emir of al Qaeda. Read more →
The coordinated assault blamed on jihadists has left nearly a dozen Burkinabe soldiers dead. Read more →
As the Islamic State has taken the ancient city of Palmyra and battle rages on in the outskirts for T4 military air base, two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers have been announced killed in Palmyra. IRGC-backed Fatemiyoun Division have fought in the area, augmenting Syrian forces backed by Russian air power. Read more →
The US has killed or captured approximately 250 al Qaeda and al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent leaders and members in Afghanistan in 2016. US officials have downplayed the extent of al Qaeda's presence in the country for years. After the raids this year, US intelligence should prepare a fresh assessment. Read more →
The Pentagon announced today that three members of the Islamic State's external operations arm were killed in an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria on Dec. 4. All three worked for Boubaker Al-Hakim, a notorious French-Tunisian jihadi who was killed on Nov. 26. Hakim and his network had been plotting attacks against Western targets, according to Defense Department. Read more →
The Islamic State threatened further attacks in its "war on polytheism," meaning against Christians and Jews, in Egypt and elsewhere. The group and its predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), have assaulted Coptic Christians in the past. Read more →
