Mullah Omar

March 3, 2020 | Thomas Joscelyn, Bill Roggio

Analysis: Taliban leader declares victory after U.S. agrees to withdrawal deal

Shortly after the Trump administration signed its accord with the Taliban on Feb. 29, Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada declared “victory” on behalf “of the entire Muslim and Mujahid nation.”...

September 23, 2019 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Joint raid targeted al Qaeda members in Taliban stronghold, U.S. and Afghan officials say

Taliban sites posted this photo from the aftermath of a joint U.S.-Afghan raid in Musa Qala. Late yesterday, U.S. and Afghan forces targeted al Qaeda members in Musa Qala, a Taliban-controlled district...

July 23, 2019 | Thomas Joscelyn, Bill Roggio

Taliban justifies 9/11 attack, blaming America’s ‘interventionist policies’

The Taliban justifies al Qaeda's attack on 9/11 as follows: "This heavy slap on their dark faces was the consequence of their interventionist...

June 13, 2019 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Senior al Qaeda official praises Taliban’s ‘victory’ in Afghanistan

Asim Umar, a senior al Qaeda official, has released a lengthy statement praising the Taliban’s “victory” in Afghanistan. He claims that America’s “defeat” proves that its superior technology...

June 7, 2019 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Al Qaeda eulogizes Zakir Musa, as his successor is named

Al Qaeda has reacted to the death of Zakir Musa, a young jihadist commander killed by Indian forces on May 23, by releasing a glowing eulogy and a video promoting the group’s efforts in Kashmir. Musa...

May 20, 2019 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Assad’s forces battle jihadists for key terrain in Latakia

For more than a week, forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad have attempted to capture Kabani, a key location in the coastal Latakia province. Assad’s men have met stiff resistance from jihadists in the ar...

May 11, 2019 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Al Qaeda video emphasizes unity with Taliban’s Islamic emirate

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March 19, 2019 | Thomas Joscelyn, Bill Roggio

Why the Taliban should be required to renounce al Qaeda in any deal with US

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March 5, 2019 | Thomas Joscelyn, Bill Roggio

UN: Al Qaeda continues to view Afghanistan as a ‘safe haven’

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February 15, 2019 | Bill Roggio |

Jihadist suicide bomber kills dozens of Indian troops in largest attack in Kashmir in decades

More than 40 Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel have died as a result of a car bombing reportedly carried out by the Pakistan-supported Jaish-e-Mohammad in city of Pulwama, near Srin...

November 28, 2018 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Trump Once Called the Taliban Five ‘Killers.’ Now He’s Negotiating With Them

Negotiating with terrorists won’t bring peace to Afghanistan.

May 26, 2017 | Thomas Joscelyn

Unfinished Business

Donald Trump is fond of claiming that his predecessor mismanaged America's role in the world. "And I have to just say that the world is a mess. I inherited a mess," the president noted durin...

January 30, 2017 | Thomas Joscelyn

The Final Obama Scandal

Co-written by Stephen F. Hayes.  Less than 24 hours before the official end of the Obama presidency, while White House staffers were pulling pictures off the walls and cle...

January 10, 2017 | Michael Ledeen |

Trump’s Great Iranian Opportunity

The great Ayatollah Hossein Boroujerdi is briefly out of prison, where he had been held in miserable conditions for a decade. He is one of those dissidents who are so beloved by the Iranian peopl...

January 4, 2017 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Russia’s New Favorite Jihadis: The Taliban

More than 15 years into America’s war in Afghanistan, the Russian government is openly advocating on behalf of the Taliban. Last week, Moscow hosted Chinese and Pakistani e...

November 9, 2016 | Clifford D. May |

The war against history

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” This, as you may recall, was the slogan of the totalitarian state imagined by Georg...

August 29, 2016 | Thomas Joscelyn, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Zawahiri’s Revenge

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham — which has now rebranded itself "the Islamic State" (IS) — is trying to position itself as the new leader of the global...

May 31, 2016 | Thomas Joscelyn The Long War Journal |

Analysis: Iran has supported the Taliban’s insurgency since late 2001

On May 21, an American drone strike ended Mullah Akh...

October 21, 2015 | Bill Roggio, Thomas Joscelyn

Are We Losing Afghanistan Again?

“ALLAH has promised us victory and America has promised us defeat,” Mullah Muhammad Omar, the first head of the Taliban, once said, “so we shall see which of the two promises wi...

July 30, 2015 | Thomas Joscelyn

Mullah Omar’s Death Is A Big Blow To Al Qaeda—And A Win For ISIS

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has confirmed on his official Twitter account that Mullah Omar...