Defense chief defends decision to throw out plea deal for 9/11 defendants
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken for the first time on his decision to throw out a plea deal for the accused mastermind of al-Qaidaโs 2001 attacks and two other defendants.
Russia's Wagner has deadliest loss in Africaโs Sahel, highlighting the region's instability
Dozens of Wagner mercenaries were killed by jihadis and rebels over the weekend in northern Mali in what one analyst describes as the largest battleground blow to the shadowy Russian group in years.
ICC convicts al-Qaida-linked leader of abusing prisoners in Mali
The International Criminal Court has convicted an al-Qaida-linked extremist leader of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Maliโs historic city of Timbuktu.
Expanding extremist groups in Africa fuel worries that they could attack the US or Western allies
Violent extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are growing in size and influence across Africa, fueling worries that as they improve their tactics, they could attack the U.S. or Western allies.
Jihadis from Africaโs Sahel have crossed into Nigeriaโs north, a new report says. A lot is at stake
A new report says there is mounting evidence that jihadi fighters who had long operated in Africaโs volatile Sahel region have settled in northwestern Nigeria after crossing from neighboring Benin.
US airstrike targeting al-Qaida leader in Syria killed a farmer, American military says
The U.S. military said an airstrike in Syria in May 2023 that was targeting an al-Qaida leader killed an innocent civilian instead.
Russian military trainers arrive in Niger as relations deteriorate with the US
Russian military trainers have arrived in Niger to reinforce the countryโs air defenses as the western African nation pulls away from close cooperation with the U.S. in counterterrorism efforts, turning instead to Russia for help as it fights Islamic insurgents in the Sahel region.
IS militants kill at least 18 people in an attack on villagers collecting truffles in eastern Syria
Syria's activists and pro-government media say Islamic State militants have killed at least 18 people in an attack on villagers collecting truffles in eastern Syria.
Mali's government will probe Tuareg rebel leaders as crucial 2015 peace deal appears to crumble
Maliโs military government has announced an investigation into the Tuareg rebel leaders who signed a peace agreement in 2015 and now accuse the government of failing to comply with it.
UN experts say Islamic State group almost doubled the territory they control in Mali in under a year
Islamic State extremists have almost doubled the territory they control in the West African country of Mali in less than a year.
UN announces release of 5 staff members kidnapped by al-Qaida in Yemen 18 months ago
The United Nations says five staff members who were kidnapped in Yemen 18 months ago by an al-Qaida affiliate have walked free.
US releases Guantanamo prisoner once tortured at CIA sites
A onetime al-Qaida courier has been released after serving more than 16 years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center and enduring torture at clandestine overseas CIA sites.
Jihadi violence hits Benin, shows spread across West Africa
Violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, which has wracked much of West Africaโs inland Sahel region for more than seven years, is spreading to the region's coastal states and Benin is the hardest hit.
US hits al-Shabab finance facilitators with sanctions
The Treasury Department said Monday that it has sanctioned a group of high-ranking members of the Somalia-based al-Shabab militant group, who act as key middle men between the group and local companies in Somalia.
The downside: US strike shows Afghanistan still terror base
The Biden administration is holding out the CIA operation that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri as a monumental strike against the global terror network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001.
EXPLAINER: Who was al-Zawahri โ and why did US kill him?
A U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan this weekend killed Ayman al-Zawahri, who helped Osama bin Laden plot the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and helped ensure al-Qaida survived and spread in the years after.
Iraqi held by US at Guantanamo pleads guilty to war crimes
An Iraqi man who has been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center for more than 15 years has pleaded guilty to war crimes charges for his role in al-Qaida attacks against U.S. and allied forces along with civilians in Afghanistan.
UN: Taliban faces threat from Islamic State, new resistance
U.N. experts say Afghanistanโs Taliban rulers are maintaining close ties with al-Qaida as they consolidate control over the country, and their main military threat is coming from the Islamic State extremist group and guerrilla-style attacks by former Afghan government security personnel.
Hunger grips Burkina Faso due to increasing jihadi violence
Hunger is soaring across conflict-ridden Burkina Faso, a result of increasing violence by jihadi rebels linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, which has killed thousands and displaced millions, preventing people from farming.
US and Russia clash over use and impact of UN sanctions
The United States and its allies clashed with Russia and China in the U.N. Security Council over the usefulness and impact of U.N. sanctions, currently imposed on countries from North Korea to Yemen and Congo as well the al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups and their affiliates and supporters.
Qatar diplomat emphasizes engagement with Taliban at forum
Qatarโs diplomatic point man for talks with the Taliban says countries should engage Afghanistanโs new Taliban rulers, warning that isolation could lead to a wide-reaching security threat, as happened when al-Qaida used the country as a base to plot the 9/11 attacks.
Pentagon chief: al-Qaida may seek comeback in Afghanistan
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the al-Qaida extremist group that used Afghanistan as a staging base to attack United States 20 years ago may attempt to regenerate there following an American withdrawal that has left the Taliban in power.
Taliban takeover prompts fears of a resurgent al-Qaida
The speedy Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has revived alarms about a resurgent al-Qaida and new terrorism threats against the U.S. The group's danger to the United States had been eclipsed in the past two decades by other threats, but experts are concerned that al-Qaida could again be given unfettered safe harbor by the Taliban.
Biden: Greater threats than Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
President Biden says that even with the Taliban in power in Afghanistan, he sees a greater threat from al-Qaida and its affiliated organizations from other countries.
UN urges world to push Afghanistan from battlefield to talks
The U.N.โs top envoy for Afghanistan is urging the international community to do everything possible to push the Taliban and the government from the battlefield back to the negotiating table.
Austin: Al-Qaida could regroup in Afghanistan in 2 years
Top Pentagon leaders say there is a โmediumโ chance that extremist groups will present a threat to the U.S. homeland within two years of the American military departure.
UN official: Terrorists using pandemic to stoke extremism
โTheir tactics are appealing to new groups across the ideological spectrum, including racially, ethnically and politically motivated violent extremist groups,โ Voronkov said. Coninsx heads the committeeโs Executive Directorate, which was established in 2004 to assess how the U.N.'s 193 member nations are implementing counter-terrorism measures, recommend ways to address gaps, facilitate technical assistance, and analyze counter-terrorism trends. โThe proliferation of extreme right-wing terrorism is also a cause of increasing concern,โ she said, adding that included racially and ethnically motivated violence. Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun rejected Cleverlyโs remarks as โgroundless attacks,โ calling them โpurely politically motivatedโ with no basis in the facts. โAs a victim of terrorism, China has taken resolute measures to firmly fight terrorism and extremism,โ Zhang said.
Pompeo hits Iran for al-Qaida support on his way out
WASHINGTON โ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused Iran of having secret ties with the al-Qaida network and imposed new sanctions on several senior Iranian officials. In a speech to the National Press Club just, Pompeo attacked Iran for alleged secret ties with al-Qaida, citing newly declassified intelligence suggesting Tehran harbored the groupโs No. Pompeo claimed that ties between al-Qaida and Iran vastly improved in 2015, when the Obama administration, along with France, Germany and Britain, were finalizing the nuclear deal. โIran decided to allow al-Qaida to establish a new operational headquarters, on the condition that al-Qaida operatives inside abide by the regimeโs rules governing al-Qaidaโs stay inside the country.โHe said that since 2015, Iran has given al-Qaida leaders greater freedom of movement inside Iran and have provided safe havens and logistical support to al-Qaida. He said Iran has had โa crystal-clear and defendable recordโ in fighting al-Qaida and IS terrorism.
Temporary US Pentagon chief makes rare visit to Somalia
WASHINGTON โ The Pentagon's acting defense secretary has made a rare visit to Somalia, a conflict-plagued nation in the Horn of Africa where American forces have been assisting in the fight against al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabab. Just hours after Miller's visit, the Somali government announced that a suicide bombing in Mogadishu killed at least seven people, and the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility. Trump is expected to order a withdrawal of most or all of the 700 U.S. troops based in Somalia before he leaves office Jan. 20. Miller has been in the Middle East and parts of north Africa this week on his first international trip as acting defense secretary. Miller, who previously headed the National Counterterrorism Center, has not been nominated by Trump for Senate confirmation as Pentagon chief.
NATO, acting US Pentagon chief discuss Afghanistan
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller speaks during a meeting with Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis at the Pentagon, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. โWe support the Afghanistan peace process, and as part of it, we continue to adjust our presence,โ Lungescu said. At least two government security troops were killed and four others wounded on Friday in a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul. Last week, Trump fired U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, installing three staunch loyalists in top defense jobs, with Miller, who mostly recently served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, as acting defense secretary. Esper had worked with military leaders to talk Trump out of complete troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Syria.
US, Israel worked together to track and kill al-Qaida No. 2
The United States and Israel worked together to track and kill Abu Mohammed al-Masri, a senior al-Qaida operative in Iran earlier this year, a bold intelligence operation by the two allied nations that came as the Trump administration was ramping up pressure on Tehran. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim, File)WASHINGTON โ The United States and Israel worked together to track and kill a senior al-Qaida operative in Iran earlier this year, a bold intelligence operation by the two allied nations that came as the Trump administration was ramping up pressure on Tehran. The revelations that Iran was harboring an al-Qaida leader could help Israel bolster its case with the new U.S. administration. Iran denied the reports, saying the government is not harboring any al-Qaida leaders and blaming the U.S. and Israel for trying to foment anti-Iranian sentiment. Hezbollah never commented on reports and Lebanese security officials did not report that any citizens were killed in Tehran.
Afghanistan claims killing an al-Qaida leader wanted by FBI
This image released by the FBI shows the wanted poster of al-Qaida propagandist Husam Abd al-Rauf, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Muhsin al-Masri. Al-Qaida did not immediately acknowledge al-Rauf's reported death. The violence and al-Rauf's reported killing threaten the face-to-face peace talks and risk plunging this nation beset by decades of war into further instability. The agency released a photograph late Sunday afternoon it described as al-Rauf's corpse, which resembled FBI images of the militant leader. Al-Qaida did not immediately acknowledge al-Rauf's reported death.
Charlie Hebdo artist seized by gunmen recalls sheer terror
PARIS The Charlie Hebdo caricaturist who was forced at gunpoint to open the satirical newspapers door to two al-Qaida extremists described on Tuesday the moments of sheer terror from the attack in January 2015, and the feelings of guilt and powerlessness she endured long afterward. Seventeen people, including 12 in and around Charlie Hebdo's offices, four at a kosher supermarket and a policewoman, were killed. The attack at the newspaper happened during a weekly meeting, and the victims included most of the paper's editorial staff. Sad and Chrif Kouachi targeted Charlie Hedbo because they believed the newspaper blasphemed Islam by publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. It is the law of men that rules, and not the law of God, as the terrorists would have it.The day the trial opened, last week, Charlie Hebdo reprinted the caricatures.
Critics of US-Taliban deal say militants can't be trusted
It did give critics of the deal another reason to say the Taliban shouldnt be trusted. So far the U.S. has reduced U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan from 12,000 to 8,600 a target reached ahead of schedule. Critics of the deal like Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., say the agreement is simply a cover for withdrawal.I have serious concerns with how this agreement has been pursued," Waltz said. I cant talk about the things that I have seen, Pompeo said on Fox News Channels Special Report. The U.N. report also reported six meetings between al-Qaida and Taliban senior leaders during the past 12 months while U.S.-Taliban talks were ongoing.
French forces kill al-Qaida's North African commander
BAMAKO โ BAMAKO, MaliFrench forces have killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of al-Qaidaโs North Africa affiliate, the Franceโs defense minister announced late Friday, in what would be a major victory for France after years of battling jihadists in the Sahel. French Defense Minister Florence Parly tweeted that Droukdel and several of his allies were killed Wednesday in northern Mali by French forces and their partners. It was not immediately clear how his identity was confirmed by the French. He was widely seen as the symbolic leader of al Qaidaโs North African branch, whose operational center for attacks shifted to northern Mali over the past decade. That led to the French military invasion of the region in 2013 seeking to counter Islamist extremist designs on southern Mali and the capital, Bamako.
High court allows bigger award in 1998 embassy bombings case
The Supreme Court is allowing a bigger award of money to victims of the 1998 bombings by al-Qaida of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The case the Supreme Court ruled in involves lawsuits filed by victims and their families against Sudan. A court initially awarded the group more than $10 billion, but an appeals court threw out about $4 billion of the award that was punitive damages. The Supreme Court said Monday that the appeals court was wrong and that a federal law, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, allows punitive damages in the case. The court reinstated a portion of the $4 billion in punitive damages and sent the case back to the appeals court for additional proceedings.
White House: bin Laden son killed in US Operation
Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Fox News Channel in a late August interview that it was "my understanding" that Hamza bin Laden was dead. Video released by the CIA in 2017 that was seized during the 2011 U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden showed Hamza bin Laden with a trimmed mustache but no beard at his wedding. The kingdom stripped Osama bin Laden's citizenship in 1994 while he was living in exile in Sudan when Hamza bin Laden was just a child. On May 2, 2011, the Navy SEAL team raided Abbottabad, killing Osama bin Laden and his son Khalid, as well as others. In August 2015, a video emerged on jihadi websites of al-Zawahri introducing "a lion from the den of al-Qaida" Hamza bin Laden.