Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief

Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief.

DUBAI | Msn News | 06 Sep 2014 : :  Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across the subcontinent.

In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership of transnational Islamist militancy.

Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as a glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.

Counter-terrorism experts say al Qaeda's aging leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanized young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border.

Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a "caliph" or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims.

The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi's followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions.

As well being an indirect repudiation of Islamic State, the announcement could pose a challenge to India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi. He has already faced criticism for remaining silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim, underscoring fears that his Hindu nationalist followers will upset religious relations in the majority Hindi nation.

However, while al Qaeda is very much at home in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, due to influential contacts and a long presence there, it is a minnow compared to local militant groups in terms of manpower and regional knowledge. (Courtesy : Retures, Msn News )

U.S.: Qaeda affiliates surge, attacks on the rise.

U.S.: Qaeda affiliates surge, attacks on the rise.

The State Department in its Wednesday report counted
9,707 terrorist attacks around the world in 2013, resulting
 in more than 17,800 deaths and more than 32,500
 injuries. (File photo: Reuters)

Al arabiya | 01 may 2014 : : Terrorist attacks have increased more than 40 percent worldwide between 2012 and 2013, the State Department said Wednesday in its annual global terrorism report, adding that a surge in aggressive al-Qaeda affiliates in the Middle East and North Africa poses a serious threat to U.S. interests and its allies. 

Losses in al-Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan and Afghanistan have “accelerated” the network’s decentralization. That has resulted in more autonomous and more aggressive affiliates, notably in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, northwest Africa and Somalia, it said.( Courtesy : Al arabiya )

Suicide attack in Baghdad cafe kills 12 people.

Suicide attack in Baghdad cafe kills 12 people.

BAGHDAD | 21 March 2014 : : A suicide bomber struck inside a Baghdad cafe overnight where customers were watching a football game on TV, killing at least 12 people and wounding 38, Iraqi officials said Thursday.

The attack in the western Washash neighborhood took place late on Wednesday night, two police officers said. The bomber had mingled with the cafe crowd and set off his explosives-laden belt as they watched the game.

A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Iraq has been struck by a surge in violence unseen since 2007, relentless attacks that have become the Shiite-led government's most serious challenge.

Violence has spiked since last April, when security forces cracked down on a Sunni protest camp north of Baghdad in clashes that left 45 dead.

Scores of people have been killed in the Iraqi capital, in recent attacks that have targeted busy areas, restaurants and other public places.

On Tuesday, a series of bombings struck both commercial streets and security forces in Baghdad and its surroundings, killing 15 people.

No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, but they bear the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda breakaway group that frequently uses car bombs and suicide attacks to target public areas such as cafes, restaurants, mosques and markets to undermine the government's efforts to maintain security in the country.

According to the UN 8,868 people were killed in Iraq last year the country's highest death toll since a peak of sectarian bloodletting in 2007. ( Courtesy : Dawn )

                 

100 die as Iraq forces battle Al Qaeda.

Over 100 die as Iraq forces battle Al Qaeda.

Gunmen walk in the streets of the city of Falluja, 50 km
 (31 miles) west of Baghdad January 3, 2014. Sunni
Muslim tribesmen backed by Iraqi troops fought al
 Qaeda-linked militants for control of Iraq's western
 province of Anbar on Friday. — Photo by Reuters

RAMADI | AFP | Iraq | 05 Jan 2014 :: More than 100 people were killed on Friday as Iraqi police and tribesmen battled Al Qaeda-linked militants who took over parts of two Anbar provincial cities, announcing one an Islamic state.

Parts of Ramadi and Fallujah, west of Baghdad, have been held by militants for days, harkening back to the years after the 2003 US-led invasion when both cities were insurgent strongholds.

Fighting began in the Ramadi area on Monday, when security forces removed the main anti-government protest camp set up after demonstrations broke out in late 2012 against what Sunni Arabs say is the targeting of their community.

Anger at the government among the Sunni minority is seen as one of the main drivers of the worst violence to hit Iraq in five years.

Police and tribesmen fought in Ramadi and Fallujah on Friday against militants from Al Qaeda-linked group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which operates in Iraq and Syria, security officials said.

At least 32 civilians and 71 ISIL fighters died in the clashes, the officials said, adding that they did not know how many police and tribesmen were killed.

Fallujah was the target of two assaults after the 2003 US-led invasion, in which American forces saw some of their heaviest fighting since the Vietnam War.( Courtesy : Dawn )

Arrest head of Qaeda.

Lebanese troops arrest head of Qaeda-linked group

The 'emir' of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades was arrested
 by the intelligence services of the Lebanese
 army in Beirut. (File photo: Reuters)

Al Arabiya News |1st jan 2013 :: Lebanese troops arrested the leader of the al-Qaeda-linked group responsible for a double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Lebanon in November, the defense minister told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday.

Maged al-Maged, the "emir" of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, "was arrested by the intelligence services of the Lebanese army in Beirut," Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said, without specifying when the arrest took place.

"He was wanted by the Lebanese authorities and is currently being interrogated in secret," the minister added.

On Wednesday, Sirajeddin Zreikat, member of the Sunni Muslim extremist group, appeared to have had his Twitter account suspended.

Zreikat has claimed responsibility for attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut which killed 25 people.

He also warned there would be more attacks in Lebanon, if Hezbollah continued to send troops to support President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria's on going civil war.

In an interview with Al Arabiya News on the day of the embassy attack, former Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr said “What is happening in Syria is an international war, all regional parties are involved. Iran, Lebanon and Turkey are heavily involved,” adding that the “Syrian and Lebanese people are the victims of this global war.”(Courtesy : Al Arabiya )

Iraq general among 15 killed attacking Qaeda: army

Iraq general among 15 killed attacking Qaeda: army 

When the assault began, the soldiers were hit by
suicide bombers, and when they entered buildings
 several booby traps exploded, the sources said.

BAGHDAD | AFP | 22 dec 2013 ::  Five senior Iraqi officers, including a major general, and 10 soldiers were killed Saturday in clashes with insurgents in the west of the country, military sources reported.

Major General Mohammed al-Karoui and the other 14 all died in an assault on “a hideout of the Al Qaeda network” in Sunni-majority western Anbar province near the border with Syria, the sources said.

They were killed attacking a militant camp near Rutba, 380 kilometres west of Baghdad, senior officers said.

When the assault began, the soldiers were hit by suicide bombers, and when they entered buildings several booby traps exploded, the sources said.(Courtesy:Dawn)

Al Qaeda-linked rebel leader reported killed in Syria.

Al Qaeda-linked rebel leader reported killed in Syria.

Los Angle Time | 24 Sep 2013 :: A leader of an Al Qaeda-linked rebel group in Syria has been assassinated, activists said Monday, further inflaming hostilities between opposition fighters and potentially throwing into greater disarray those trying to oust PresidentBashar Assad.

Abu Abdullah Libi, the self-styled emir of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the northern province of Idlib, was killed Sunday when the vehicle he was riding in was sprayed with bullets, rebels and activists said.

One activist with close ties to the Islamic State said Libi was probably on his way to the village of Hazano, where fighting between his group and mainstream Free Syrian Army rebels erupted earlier in the day, in a bid to negotiate a cease-fire.

As Libi passed through a Free Syrian Army checkpoint, his vehicle came under fire from several directions, said the activist, who goes by the alias Junood for security reasons. Other activists and rebels said the ambush happened on a stretch of highway not controlled by any one group and was carried out by unknown assailants.

A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army denied that its fighters were involved, although the group is far from cohesive.

The incident is certain to cause a further fracturing of the relationship between the two rebel groups, which have by turns fought alongside and against each other.  Activists in Idlib said they feared the Islamic State would retaliate and there would be more fighting.

That would be one more setback for the rebels, whose foreign backers have been slow to send promised military aid because of fears that extremists in their midst are gaining influence.  Fighters within the Free Syrian Army increasingly accuse the Islamic State of being interested only in seizing areas already controlled by the opposition to establish an Islamic caliphate.(Courtesy:Los Angle Time)

Iraq officials say bombings kill at least 14.

Iraq officials say bombings kill at least 14.

Officials say separate attacks in Iraq have killed at least 14
civilians and wounded dozens. (File photo: Reuters)

Baghdad | 11 Sep 2013 :: Officials say separate attacks in Iraq have killed at least 14 civilians and wounded dozens.

Police say the deadliest of Tuesday’s attacks took place near the eastern city of Baqouba, where three car bombs targeted outdoor markets, killing at least 10 civilians and wounding 34. Baqouba, a former al-Qaeda stronghold, is 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.

In the town of Latifiyah, about 30 kilometers south of Baghdad, a bomb hidden inside a coffee shop killed four and wounded 14.

Three medical officials confirmed the figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

Violence in Iraq has intensified since April to levels not seen since 2008. More than 4,000 people have been killed over the past five months.(Courtesy:Al Arabiya)

Al Qaeda affiliate urges attacks on Egyptian army.

Al Qaeda affiliate urges attacks on Egyptian army.

DUBAI | Reuters | 31 Aug 2013 ::  One of al Qaeda's most militant affiliates has called on Egyptians to take up arms against their army, saying a bloody crackdown on Islamist protesters showed peaceful methods were futile, according to an Internet statement posted on Saturday.

Scores of Egyptian security forces have been killed in a series of attacks by suspected Islamist militants - mostly in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula - since Islamist President Mohamed Mursi was deposed last month.

Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood renounced violence decades ago and denies any links with militants, including those in Sinai who have gained strength since President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down in 2011.

"There is nothing more right in God's religion (Islam) than those who speak of the infidelity, reneging on Islam and abandonment of religion, and call for the necessity to fight these armies, foremost of which is the Egyptian army," said Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, spokesman for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to the Arabic recording.

"The Egyptian army is part and a mere copy of these armies which are seeking in a deadly effort to prevent God's laws from being adopted and trying hard to consecrate the principles of secularism and man-made laws," he said.

Mounting insecurity in Sinai worries the United States because the area is next to Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, as well as the Suez Canal.

Adnani lashed out at the Brotherhood and the smaller, Salafist al-Nour party, saying they have been co-opted to non-violence and what he called the futile secular approach to power through elections and democracy, which he said had left Muslim Brotherhood members either in jail, dead or fugitives.(Courtesy:Reture)

Death toll in Lebanon bombings rises to 47; al-Qaeda blames Hezbollah.

Death toll in Lebanon bombings rises to 47; al-Qaeda blames Hezbollah.

Sheikh who is linked to Sunni group friendly with Hezbollah arrested as suspect, after surveillance video shows him at site of explosion

BEIRUT | 24 Aug 2013 ::  Lebanese security forces arrested a suspect on Saturday in connection with the devastating double bombing the day before that killed at least 47 people in the northern city of Tripoli, the state news agency said.

The National News Agency identified the suspect as Sheik Ahmad al-Ghareeb, and said police took him into custody at his home in the Miniyeh region outside Tripoli. It said al-Ghareeb, who has ties to a Sunni organization that enjoys good relations with Lebanon’s powerful Shiite Hezbollah militant group, appears in surveillance video at the site of one of the explosions.

The coordinated explosions Friday outside two mosques in Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni city, raised already simmering sectarian tensions in fragile Lebanon, heightening fears the country could be slipping into a cycle of revenge attacks between its Sunni and Shiite communities. For many Lebanese, the bombings also were seen as the latest evidence that Syria’s bloody civil war — with its dark sectarian overtones — is increasingly drawing in its smaller neighbor.

Lebanese police officials said Saturday 47 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in the attack. Some 300 people were still in the hospital a day after the attack, 65 of them in critical condition, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The United States, United Nations, and Arab League strongly condemned the violence and the loss of innocent lives.

Meanwhile, al-Qaeda claimed Saturday that Hezbollah, backed by Iran, was behind the bombings in Tripoli. The organization’s North African branch, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, said via social media that it was “certain” that Hezbollah was behind the “heinous act” in Lebanon. The organization also vowed to retaliate for the attack.

For its part, Iran said the instability in Lebanon plays into the hands of “the Zionists,” aka Israel.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi “strongly condemned” the terror attacks and said “takfiri,” or Sunni Muslim extremists, were trying to sow unrest and create strife between the different communities in Lebanon, Iran’s news agency IRNA reported.(Courtesy:The Times of Israel)

Suicide bomber kills eight Kurdish security personnel in Iraq.

Suicide bomber kills eight Kurdish security personnel in Iraq.

TIKRIT | Retures | 28 Jul 2013 ::  A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives blew himself up near a Kurdish security forces patrol killing at least eight of them early on Sunday, police said.

The attack took place in the centre of the ethnically mixed town of Tuz Khurmato, 170 km north of the capital Baghdad, in a notoriously unstable region over which both the central government and autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan claim jurisdiction.

No group claimed responsibility but suicide bombings are the trademark of Al Qaeda, which has been regaining momentum in its insurgency against the Shia-led Baghdad government.

More than 4,000 people have been killed by militants in Iraq this year, of which more than 800 were killed in July alone, according to violence monitoring group Iraq Body Count.

Sectarian tensions across the region have been inflamed by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, putting growing strain on Iraq, where Kurds, Shia and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable way of sharing power.

Sunni insurgents, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, have been recruiting from Iraq's Sunni minority, which resents Shia domination of their country since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.(Courtesy:Dawn)

Gunmen kill five Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq.

Gunmen kill five Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq.

A family walks past the site of a car bomb attack at the
 neighbourhood of Tobchi in Baghdad, July 21, 2013. (Reuters)

 Kirkuk  | Reuters | 22 Jul 2013 :: Gunmen killed five members of the Kurdish security forces at a checkpoint in northern Iraq on Sunday, bringing the day’s death toll from bombings and shootings across the whole country to 14.

The attacks are the latest in a campaign of violence that has raised fears of a return to full-blown sectarian conflict in a country where Kurds, Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable way of sharing power.

The checkpoint attack took place in al-Zad, a town near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. In a separate attack, gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul on Sunday, killing two people.

Recent attacks have targeted mosques, football fields, commercial areas and cafes where people often gather to socialize after breaking their daily fast for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

“The holy month of Ramadan should be a time for spirituality and forgiveness instead of increasing violence and division,” said Martin Kobler, in his final statement as the United Nations envoy to Iraq.

“I am deeply saddened that my last words as the SRSG (UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative) for Iraq have to be linked to violence and criminal acts,” Kobler said.

In other incidents on Sunday, a bomb exploded near a fish market in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, killing three people. Another bomb detonated close to the house of a Sunni government-backed militia member, killing three of his relatives, police said.

Further south, gunmen shot dead a Sunni preacher (Imam) near his home in the southern city of Hilla, police and medics said.

Sectarian tensions in Iraq have been inflamed by the civil war in neighboring Syria, which has drawn in Shi’ite and Sunni fighters from Iraq and beyond to fight on opposing sides.

Sunni insurgents, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, have been recruiting from Iraq’s Sunni minority, which resents Shi’ite domination of their country since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Nearly 600 people have been killed in militant attacks across Iraq so far this month, according to violence monitoring group Iraq Body Count.

That is still well below the height of bloodletting in2006-07, when the monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)

Taliban say still focussed on Pakistan.

PESHAWAR | AFP |17 Jul 2013 ::  Pakistani Taliban commanders on Tuesday rejected suggestions they were sending fighters to Syria, saying some have gone there independently but the movement’s focus remained on Pakistan.

They said some militants, mainly Arabs and Central Asians, had gone to fight the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, but a senior Taliban leader dismissed reports of them setting up camps in Syria.

The tribal areas of northwest Pakistan along the Afghan border have long been a magnet for militants from across the Muslim world eager to fight US-led Nato forces in Afghanistan.

But since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011, foreign militants have flocked to Syria, where disparate groups are seeking his downfall.

Some media reports in recent days have claimed that scores or even hundreds of Pakistani Taliban are among them and that they have set up camps in Syria.

A senior commander who sits on the shura of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said there was no tactical shift and no decision had been made to send forces to Syria.

“There is no reality in these reports, we have far better targets in the region, Nato troops headed by the Americans are present in Afghanistan,” he said on condition of anonymity.

“We are already in a war with Pakistani troops. We support the mujahideen’s struggle in Syria but in our opinion, we have a lot more to do here in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

The TTP is an umbrella group for numerous factions trying to bring down the Pakistani state and impose Sharia law. It has ties to the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda.

“The great evil (America) is here in Afghanistan, troops from 30 kafir (non-believer) countries are attacking innocent people in Afghanistan, so Bashar al-Assad is not that important for us,” the TTP commander said.

“Obama is the big evil, Americans are a much bigger evil for us. The Taliban shura has never discussed sending mujahideen to Syria.”

Another mid-ranking TTP commander in Miramshah said some fighters had gone to Syria “in a personal capacity”.

A third senior TTP cadre said those who had gone were mostly Arabs, Uzbeks and Chechens.

More than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad erupted, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai dismissed claims of the TTP setting up camps in Syria as “a publicity campaign” by some of the militants.

“But we cannot deny the fact that they are quite ambitious and want to send a clear message to the world that they are still very strong and have strong linkages with other local and international groups,” he said.

However, Ismail, an Arab fighter from Al Qaeda, said that he planned to join the fight against Assad. “I am going to Syria in the next few days, my family will stay here,” he said.

“Our mujahideen are going not only to Syria but also to Lebanon, Egypt and other Arab countries.”

Saifullah Khan Mehsud, the executive director of the FATA Research Centre and an expert on the tribal zone, said fighters had been going to Syria from Pakistan for at least a month and a half.

“Most of them are foreigners but Pakistanis have also joined them,” he said.—AFP (Courtesy:Dawn)