Mohammed Atef

November 1, 2023 | Caleb Weiss |

Shabaab claims several al-Qaeda leaders present during infamous ‘Black Hawk Down’ incident

In a newly released video – touted as a documentary by Shabaab – the Somali jihadi group claimed that as many as 10 al-Qaeda leaders and figures were present during the infamous ‘Black Hawk Down’...

October 27, 2022 | Caleb Weiss |

Analysis: Al Qaeda ideologue calls for jihad in Sudan, provides guidelines

Earlier this month, Bayt al Maqdis, a jihadi publishing house believed linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a book compiled of various letters written by the ideologue Abu Hudhayfah...

July 20, 2021 | Thomas Joscelyn |

U.S. transfers Guantánamo detainee who allegedly led forces at Tora Bora

The U.S. State Department announced on July 19 that Abdul Latif Nasir, a detainee held at Guantanamo since 2002, had been transferred to his native country of Morocco. Nasir’s transfer from Guantánamo...

August 8, 2018 | Thomas Joscelyn |

The Al Qaeda-Iran Connection

Twenty years ago today, al Qaeda carried out its most devastating terrorist attack prior to the September 11 hijackings. On the morning of August 7, 1998, two al Qaeda operatives drove explosive-laden...

June 13, 2014 | Thomas Joscelyn

Their 9/11 Role

One of the five senior Taliban leaders transferred to Qatar in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl played a key role in al Qaeda’s plans leading up to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks....

February 6, 2013 | Bill Roggio The Long War Journal |

Prominent al Qaeda Leader Killed in Drone Strike in 2012

Al Qaeda announced the death of Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed, a longtime senior jihadist leader and military commander who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan sometime in the spring...

February 1, 2013 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal

Ansar al Sharia Egypt Calls on Muslims to Resist France in Mali

Ansar al Sharia Egypt, an extremist group headed by an al Qaeda-allied jihadist, has called on Muslims to pray...

November 28, 2012 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal

Ansar al Sharia Egypt Founder ‘Honored to be an Extension of al Qaeda’

In an interview with the Cairo-based publication Al Shuruq al Jadid in late October, Ahmed Ashush, the fo...

November 20, 2012 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal

Ansar al Sharia Egypt Releases Founding Statement

Ansar al Sharia Egypt has published its founding statement online. The group says that "preaching and jihad are two wings that are indispensable to the spread of Islam," according to a translatio...

October 26, 2012 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal

Al Qaeda-Linked Jihadists Helped Incite 9/11 Cairo Protest

Several al Qaeda-linked jihadists helped incite the protest outside the US embassy in Cairo on Sept. 11. The jihadists include senior members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), a group that merged...

July 12, 2012 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal

Bin Laden Loyalist Transferred from Guantanamo to Sudan

The Defense Department announced on Wednesday that Ibrahim al Qosi, a Guantanamo detainee who long served deceased al Qa...

May 23, 2011 |

John Brennan Is Still Wrong on Gitmo Detainee

A recently leaked threat assessment prepared at Guantanamo draws into question the Obama administration’s analysis of a detainee who was transferred to Yemen shortly before all future trans...

January 31, 2011 | Jonathan Schanzer The National Interest

Watch the Islamists

An estimated three dozen Islamist militants reportedly escaped from an Egyptian prison on Sunday amid the chaos that has enveloped the country. This did little to quiet the raging debate over the...

May 13, 2010 | Thomas Joscelyn Weekly Standard |

Al Qaeda Still in Iran

 A very significant piece of reporting from the Associated Press this morning. Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman report that Iran is allowing top al Qaeda leaders based in Iran to leave, "raising...

August 6, 2008 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal

The Hamdan Verdict

Salim Hamdan, an admitted driver for Osama b...

December 14, 2006 | World Defense Review

Not Being Had by Al-Itihaad

The news from the Horn of Africa continues to be worrisome. The recent catastrophic floods that swept through the region have not slowed the advance of the radical Islamists, who in June seized c...