Two Britons who fought in Syria and were arrested upon returning to Britain after their families cooperated with the police were sentenced to long prison terms on Friday. The case has provoked debate over how to reduce the risk posed by returning jihadists without discouraging their families from cooperating with the authorities. The two men, […]
Jihadists in Syria write home: ‘My iPod is broken, I want to come back’
French jihadists complain about the cold, not knowing how to fight and how their iPods are running out Letters from French jihadists home to their parents have revealed the misery, boredom and fear suffered by Islamist recruits as the gloss fades from their big adventure. In a series of letters seen by Le Figaro newspaper, […]
Lebanese men killed in Syria were framed, report
The families of Lebanese men killed in Syria last week say their relatives were more interested in nice clothes and vacations than fighting a civil war. Yet Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime branded them foreign jihadists — and their deaths set off three days of new spillover violence.
Dozens of Kuwaitis enlist in Free Syrian Army
Dozens of Kuwaitis “jihadists” have crossed the Turkish border into Syria to support the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) fight against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Kuwaiti news report stated on Sunday.
Syrian U.N. envoy blames al-Qaeda for Damascus blasts
The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the “terrorist attacks” in Syria on Thursday, urging all parties to the 14-month conflict to cease armed violence and comply with a U.N.-backed peace plan as the Syrian envoy accused al-Qaeda of masterminding the attacks against his country. Two suicide car bombers killed 55 people and wounded nearly 400 […]
Are terrorists the wild card in Syria’s power struggle?
The twin suicide car-bombings that reportedly killed 55 people and wounded 372 in Damascus on Thursday prompted a familiar set of responses: State television blamed unspecified “terrorists” for the atrocity, in keeping with its habit of linking all anti-regime violence to jihadist extremism;
jihadists, weapons moving from Iraq to Syria, official
Jihadists are moving from Iraq to Syria, as are weapons being sent to opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Iraq’s deputy interior minister told AFP on Saturday. Assad has been attempting to crush an uprising against his rule since March 2011, and thousands of people have been killed.
Split seen between bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, report
Osama bin Laden and the deputy leader of al Qaeda “parted ways” six years ago, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said Thursday. The official said bin Laden had been “marginalized” by his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who helped bin Laden found al Qaeda in 1988 and led its operation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
What if Osama Bin Laden Had Been Captured?
The killing of Osama bin Laden this week by US Navy SEALs in Pakistan has raised questions about what might have happened if bin Laden had been captured alive.
Al Qaeda confirms Osama bin Laden’s death
Al Qaeda released a statement on jihadist forums Friday confirming the death of its leader, Osama bin Laden, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites. The development comes days after U.S. troops killed bin Laden in a raid on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.