Tag: Al Qaeda

Deadliest jihadist attacks in Europe since 2004

On March 11, Spain marks 20 years since Europe’s worst Islamist attack when militants claiming to be acting on behalf of Al-Qaeda bombed commuter trains in Madrid, killing 192 people and wounding nearly 2,000 others. The perpetrators said the attack was revenge for Spain’s role in the US-led invasion of Iraq. A decade later, jihadists invoked the West’s intervention against the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria to unleash a new wave of […]

At least 138 civilians killed in deadliest Burkina Faso attacks since 2015

  by Armel BAILY Agence France Presse OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Suspected jihadists have massacred at least 138 civilians in Burkina Faso’s volatile north in the deadliest attacks since Islamist violence erupted in the west African country in 2015, officials said Saturday. President Roch Marc Christian Kabore denounced an attack near the borders with Mali and Niger, where jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State have been targeting civilians and soldiers. “Several injured have […]

US offers $7 million for leader of Al-Qaeda’s N. Africa arm

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US State Department posted a $7 million reward Wednesday for information leading to the location or identification of Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The department said Anabi was declared the emir of the northern Africa region branch of Al-Qaeda in November 2020 and his predecessor, Abdelmalek Droukdel, was killed five months earlier. It said Anabi is an Algerian citizen also known […]

Key Al-Qaeda leader killed in Afghanistan

  by Mushtaq MOJADDIDI Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Afghan forces have killed a top Al-Qaeda militant wanted by the United States, as the government on Sunday accused the Taliban of still keeping close ties with the Islamist militant group. Abu Muhsin al-Masri, an Egyptian national believed to be the group’s number-two in the Indian sub-continent, was targeted in eastern Ghazni province, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said in a statement. The National Directorate of […]

Al-Qaeda North Africa confirms chief is dead: SITE

BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — Al-Qaeda’s North Africa wing has confirmed that its Algerian chief Abdelmalek Droukdel is dead, according to SITE, the US watchdog for extremist groups. France said early this month that its forces killed Droukdel in northern Mali near the Algerian border, where it says the group has bases it uses to carry out bombings and abductions of Westerners. “After nearly two weeks, AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) has officially acknowledged the […]

French forces kill leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

by Daphné BENOIT and Didier LAURAS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — France said its forces have killed the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, in a blow to the group behind a string of deadly attacks across the troubled Sahel region. Abdelmalek Droukdel was killed on Thursday in northern Mali near the Algerian border, where the group has bases from which it has carried out attacks and abductions of Westerners in the […]

Al Qaeda heir Hamza bin Laden is dead – US media

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza, chosen an heir to the leadership of Al-Qaeda, has been killed, US media reported Wednesday citing American officials. NBC News said three US officials had confirmed they had information of Hamza bin Laden’s death, but gave no details of the place or date. The New York Times subsequently cited two US officials saying they had confirmation that he was killed during the last two years […]

Tensions rise as new inmate attack fuels French prison strikes

by Marie DHUMIERES / Joseph Schmid Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – French police fired tear gas to break up a picket line of striking prison guards at Europe’s biggest jail on Friday, as a fresh assault by inmates on staff at a facility in Corsica fueled demands for better security. The scuffles at the huge Fleury-Merogis prison just south of Paris came as unions were pressing a fourth day of strikes across France sparked by a […]

Turkey urges Russia, Iran to stop Syria offensive on Idlib

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – Turkey on Wednesday called on Russia and Iran, the two chief allies of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, to halt an air offensive on the rebel-held Idlib province near the Turkish border. Ankara has been working closely with Russia and Iran to end the Syrian conflict over the last months but has stepped up pressure on Moscow and Tehran as the bombardments on Idlib intensified. “Iran and Russia should fulfil their responsibility. […]

Pakistan summons US ambassador over Trump tweet

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) – Pakistan has summoned the US ambassador, an embassy spokesman said Tuesday, a rare public rebuke after Donald Trump lashed out at Islamabad with threats to cut aid over “lies” about militancy. Ambassador David Hale was asked to go to the foreign office in the Pakistani capital on Monday night, after Islamabad responded angrily to the US President’s allegations that it provided safe havens for militants in the latest spat to rock their alliance. […]

Judgement day for brother of French Jewish school shooter

by Pierre ROCHICCIOLI and Clare BYRNE Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – A French court will rule on Thursday whether the older brother of a jihadist who shot dead seven people, including three French soldiers and three Jewish children, in 2012 was complicit in the killings. The trial of Abdelkader Merah, brother of Mohamed Merah, is the first arising out of a wave of violence by mostly homegrown radical Islamists that has claimed the lives of more […]

NY suspect confesses IS inspired, ‘felt good’ after attack

by Jennie MATTHEW / Thomas Urbain in Paterson Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – The Uzbek immigrant behind New York’s worst attack in 16 years confessed to acting in the name of the Islamic State group and “felt good” about the killings, having planned an assault for a year, investigators said Wednesday. The shocking details emerged after federal agents questioned Sayfullo Saipov in a Manhattan hospital, injured with a police bullet to the abdomen after […]