Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #aqim

Most recents (16)

NEW: Just released @UN report warns of "heightened threats emerging" from #ISIS #alQaida affiliated groups worldwide

"This is especially true in parts of West and East #Africa" per the report, based on member state intelligence
In West/East #Africa, affiliates of #ISIS #alQaida "can boast gains in supporters and territory under threat, as well as growing capabilities in fundraising & weapons, for example, in the use of drones" per the @UN report
#ISIS in #Syria "has evolved into an entrenched insurgency, exploiting weaknesses in local security to find safe havens & targeting forces engaged in counter-ISIL operations" per the @UN report
Read 55 tweets
#Sahel: Today, #JNIM released the video "If they fight you, fight them". It's been almost three years since JNIM released their last full-length video with combat footage, namely "And the Battle Continues".
#Sahel: This could be explained by several factors: First, the focus has been on the political line; second, JNIM's official media presence has declined significantly, and this is against the backdrop of several key media figures (in #Algeria and #Mali) being killed
#Sahel: The decline is particularly relevant when compared to #ISGS, which received major boost from its formal integration into #IslamicState's organizational infrastructure & media apparatus. However, this last video marks the effective recovery of #JNIM media wing Al-Zallaqa.
Read 20 tweets
[THREAD] 1/ Over the past year, the Islamic State claimed 2767 military operations. The overwhelming majority of these attacks targeted Sunni Muslims, although the group never described them as such. 40 attacks were against Shia civilians. 34 attacks against Christians/churches.
2/ Detail about the methodology: I gathered the data from the 53 issues of IS weekly magazine al-Naba’ published in 2020 (cf. the front page of the issue 219). For every single claimed attack, I analysed the following information: target, weapons used, spoils of war, geolocation. Image
3/ The first finding is that IS was a bit less active in 2020 than in 2019: - 423 military operations. #Iraq was in the first place. #ISWAP and to a lesser extent #ISCAP were on the rise and regularly on the front page of al-Naba'. #ISKP and IS in East Asia were much less active. Image
Read 9 tweets
NEW: @USAfricaCommand warns #alQaida-linked #alShabaab "remains adaptive, resilient, and capable of attacking Western & partner interests in #Somalia & East #Africa" in final @DoD_IG report on US counterterrorism ops in Africa
Despite ongoing train/advise/equip efforts by US, others "The Somali government...has not met milestones for the development of its security forces" per @DoD_IG Sean O’Donnell

#Somalia #alShabaab
In North #Africa, #alQaida in the Islamic Maghreb (#AQIM) & #ISIS-#Libya "significantly degraded & currently pose no threat to the US homeland & a minimal threat to US interests in the region" per @DoD_IG Sean O’Donnell
Read 43 tweets
#Libya ripe for #ISIS exploitation

Member states estimate branch has just 100s of fighters, but "1 Member State put it as high as 1,400" per @UN report

"Persistent lawlessness & preoccupation /interfactional fighting will create opportunities for ISIL-Libya to thrive further"
#Libya remains "integral" to #ISIS plans in #Africa per @UN report

"It remains an important outreach post between the core and #ISIL affiliates on the continent"
"Between February & April 2020, #ISIL-#Libya resumed activity in the south, coinciding with surging ISIL activity in the core conflict zone [#Iraq/#Syria]" per @UN

"It maintains sleeper cells in the coastal cities, including #Tripoli"
Read 7 tweets
Working on a project the last couple of months about the history of #Al_Qaeda and where it is now. A big takeaway: there has probably never been a moment when the group is so manipulated, influenced, and even controlled in places by state powers.
The role of state intelligence services in manipulating and using terrorist groups for their own ends remains nearly absent in Terrorism Studies; most people even think it's all "conspiracy theory" talk. But it's such a massive operational factor that this is weird.
.@ReuelMGerecht once wrote that the 'nonstate' actor ... designation [of Al-Qaeda] was always more myth than fact". If he overstated, it wasn't by much. ocregister.com/2011/05/07/reu…
Read 12 tweets
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (#AQIM) has confirmed the death of its Algerian leader Abdelmalek Droukdel (aka Abu Musab Abd al-Wadud) in a French operation in northern Mali, without naming a successor. France had announced his death on 5 Jun saying he died on 3 June.
The audio message was delivered by AQIM's media chief Abu Abd al-Ilah Ahmad who delivered four messages but gave no info about who may succeed Droukdel. AQIM senior figure Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Annabi in my opinion is a strong contender.
The AQIM media chief offered condolences to jihadists in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Tunisia and Algeria on the death of "your emir". This highlights the broader/overarching role played by the AQIM leader with regard to jihadists in the Sahel (#JNIM) and not just in North Africa.
Read 5 tweets
#AQMI #AlQaeda confirme officiellement, par la voix d’Abou Abdallah Ahmed responsable des médias, la mort d’Abou Moussaab Abdel Wadoud #Droukdel « au nord #Mali suite à une frappe de la #France » // #AQIM confirms officially the death of it’s emir due to a French strike in Mali
Dans une compil +11 le resp. media:
1. À la #France la guerre n’est qu’à ses débuts et elle ne fléchira pas avant le retrait du dernier soldat français d’Afrique alors que vous voyez de vos propres yeux comment les peuples de la région se rallient à nos demandes de vous chasser
2. Aux gouverneurs apostats [...] vous constatez l’impuissance de la #France & de l’#ONU de prémunir contre les frappes des moujahudin malgré l’équipements [...]revenez à votre raison avant qu’il ne soit trop tard [...] et de subir le sort de Kadhafi, BenAli, Bouteflika ou Haftar
Read 6 tweets
L’#EI évoque les combats avec #AlQaeda #AQIM #JNIM qualifiés d’apostat « les apostats d’#AQ sont venus en convois combattre dans le #Liptako, ils n’ont pas été ciblés [...] quel rapport avec les négos /certains de leurs commandants vivent à #Timiaouine & #Tinzouaten en #Algérie » Image
PT parmi les affrontements évoqués avec #AQ « un à la frontière entre le #BurkinaFaso et #Ghana »
Titre du long article du journal de l’#EI « #Liptako cimetière des croisés et des apostats / les soldats du califat combattent sur plusieurs fronts au #Sahel dont un est fasse à la milice d’#AlQaeda » Image
Read 3 tweets
NEW: #France-led op to kill #alQaida in the Islamic Maghreb emir Abdelmalek #Droukdel eliminated "the most senior-most decision-maker of #AQIM and the likely architect of the Sahel-based jihadist movement" per updated @USAfricaCommand assessment
"Droukdel’s leadership & capabilities enabled #alQaida’s #Mali-based organizations to significantly increase instability in the #Sahel" per @USAfricaCommand Dir of Intelligence Rear Admiral Heidi Berg
#Droukdel "was the engineer behind expanding #AQIM’s ideology throughout the #Sahel & #Maghreb, & more recently into western #Africa, where #alQaida aligned elements have conducted attacks & kidnappings from #Nigeria to #Cote d’Ivoire" per @USAfricaCommand Adm Berg
Read 3 tweets
#Sahel source propre #AQMI « Abou Moussab Abdel Wadoud est bien mort »
#AQIM source « Abu Moussab Abdel Wadoud is dead » cc @FRANCE24 Image
De source propre « le responsable de la branche médiatique de #JNIM al-Zallaqa est mort auprès de #Droukdel #AQMI // #JNIM head of media organ al-Zallaqa died along #AQIM’s emir » probablement il s’agit de Tawfik Chouaaib
Read 7 tweets
THREAD: If al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb #AQIM confirms the reported death of its leader Abu Musab Abd al-Wadud (aka Abdelmalek Droukdel), who might it name as successor?
The first person that comes to mind is Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Annabi, who is described as the head of AQIM's 'Council of Elders'. He's been the public face of AQIM and delivered most of its messages in 2019 on the subject of the Algeria protests.
Another figure in the group is AQIM's head of media, Abu Abd al-Ilah Ahmad, but he doesn't have a strong profile.
Read 9 tweets
BREAKING: #France Minister of the Armed Forces @florence_parly confirms French, partner forces killed the leader of #alQaida in the Islamic Maghreb (#AQIM) during a June 3 operation in northern #Mali
Per @florence_parly #AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel was a member of #alQaida's steering committee and helped oversee all Al Qaida affiliated groups in northern #Africa, including JNIM
.@USTreasury sanctioned Abdelmalek #Droukdel in 2007, citing his involvement with attacks on the 2007 Algerian prime minister's office and a Dec 2006 attack on a US bus company in Algiers
treasury.gov/press-center/p…
Read 8 tweets
#AQIM in a 33:16 for the 1st time admits the death of Abu Iyadh alTunsi #Tunisia & Yehya Abu alHumam #Algeria in #Mali. They been reported killed north of #Timbuktu a year ago feb 2019 by #Barkhane Image
The audio compilation by Abu Mosaab Abdel Wadud, head of #AQIM, is mostly about Abu Iyadh remembering his role in many countries of the #Sahel, as Shura prominent member, here we see him in the funeral of Mohamad al-Zhawi head of Ansar alSharia #Libya killed in #Benghazi Image
The compilation ends with a diapo of fallen jihadi leaders starting with Sayed Qotb, Abdallah Azzam, Anwar al-Awlaki etc and ends with Qassem al-Rimi killed by US drone in #Yemen a few weeks ago. ImageImageImageImage
Read 3 tweets
Amid the ongoing conflict in NW #Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (#HTS) continues to evolve in intriguing ways - into a more politically mature & intelligent jihadist movement.

It's current leadership clearly seeks to position itself somewhere between #MuslimBrotherhood & #AlQaeda.
There's now little question that #HTS no longer represents #AlQaeda.

It's clearly still an extremist movement, but signs continue to add up indicating that it's developing into something qualitatively different than the Jabhat al-Nusra of 2014-15 - a "Shami #Taliban," perhaps.
Most recently in the public space, #HTS issued a statement acknowledging its willingness to abide by an externally-negotiated (by #Turkey, #Iran & #Russia) ceasefire.

That was a first.

Its never happened before in #Syria & it's not a move any #AlQaeda affiliate would ever take.
Read 15 tweets
#Russia-n mercenaries are now showing up everywhere in #Africa: one country in particular is the #CAR where Russians are also providing weapons. Also present in the #Niger Delta of #Nigeria actually helping the rebels that target the western oil companies. bit.ly/2KkU0OD
Fascinating story on how #Russia entered the #CAR. It was blocking a delivery of weapons from #France to #Bangui so #Macron told CAR President to go and convince Russia to unblock the sale. Instead Russia saw an opportunity to sell its own weapons to CAR. bit.ly/2rj8kyH
3 #Russian journalists killed in #CAR while filming #Wagner, the private military firm run by Evgeny #Prigozhin used especially in #Syria, part of #Putin's inner circle. Documentary was part of @tzurrealism, supported by Mikhail #Khodorkovsky.
Read 41 tweets

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