Tag Archives: Al Qaeda

Somali President’s Palace Targeted by Al Shabaab Car Bomb

On August 30th, 2016, a bomb targeted the palace of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. The blast outside the SYL hotel killed 5 soldiers, 5 civilians, and wounding 30 others in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al Shabaab is an Al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia fighting to the Somali government and the AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) a peacekeeping mission, following the ouster of al Shabaab from Mogadishu in 2011.

This is far from al Shabaab’s first attack on government officials, defense forces or military compounds in Somalia. The day before on August 29th al Shabaab attacked military bases housing government and African Union troops. It’s also not the first attack on the president himself. President Hassan Sheik Mohamoud was in office for 2 days when Al Shabaab detonated explosives and opened fire on a conference the President was attending.
President Mohamoud is an Islamist activist who was a key figure in the Islamic Court Union. He was one of the founders of Mogadishu’s Simad University and known for moderating ICU meetings and clan disputes. He created a new Presidential party known as the Peace and Development Party (PDP), which was viewed as largely above clan politics according to a BBC News profile. Mohamoud is also known to be close to Al-Islah, the Somali branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Shabaab’s was once a part of the Islamic Court Union (ICU), which controlled much of Somalia under Sharia, Islamic law, before the ICU was driven out by an Ethiopian force in 2006. Al Shabaab emerged as a successful regional terror group, making multiple attacks on Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, and establishing close ties with Al Qaeda.

The ICU fractured with some Islamist groups (including now President Mohamoud) supporting the new government, and Al Shabaab continuing the insurgency. Al Shabaab’s goal remains establishing a state based on Islamic law and to abolish foreign influences.

Al Shabaab has seen some gains despite facing air strikes and operations from the Somali government’s allies. Al Shabaab has continued to maintain a strong presence south of Mogadishu, taking several key locations in 2015 and the beginning of 2016. Al Shabaab also recently announced the establishment of Sharia policing forces in Jilib, a city in Central Somalia.

Al Shabaab is currently facing competition in its role as the preeminent Jihadist organization however from the newly established Islamic State group in East Africa. Al Shabaab’s emir Ahmad Umar has warned members not to support IS, emphasized the group’s loyalty to Al Qaeda, and warned that traitors will be killed.

Islamic State announced the formation of an East Africa branch with training camps in Somalia in April of this year. The U.S. Treasury Department just recently listed IS East Africa leader Abdiqadir Mumin as a specially designated global terrorist. Mumin is a leader of an Islamic State group that is connected to individuals in East Africa.

Al Shabaab should be expected to continue to maintain the ability to strike at key targets in the Mogadishu area, despite AMISOM and Somali government efforts. It remains to be seen whether Islamic State will prove an effective competitor in Somalia.

Telling Obama What he Wants to Hear on Gitmo?

All thirteen Republicans on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have written a letter to President Obama, objecting to his continued transfer of Guantanamo detainees to other countries, specifically including the August 15th transfer of fifteen detainees to the United Arab Emirates, the largest such transfer to date.  The legislators note in their letter that those now being released or considered for release from the facility are especially high-risk:

“As you continue to draw down the prisoner population at Guantanamo Bay, you are releasing increasingly dangerous terrorists who are more closely linked to al-Qa’ida and attacks against the U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. This largest-ever release includes several who trained in al-Qa’ida training camps, were bodyguards for Usama bin Laden, and fought at Tora Bora. They were non-compliant with their interrogators and hostile towards the Joint Task Force Guantanamo guards.”

Regarding the process that led to the transfer, The Hill.com reports:

“Six of the 15 transfers were unanimously approved by the six agencies that make up the Periodic Review Board, according to the Defense Department. The remaining nine were approved after the board determined none of the detainees pose a continuing ‘significant threat’ to U.S. security.”

It’s worth noting that almost exactly one year ago, it was reported that fifty intelligence analysts operating out of CENTCOM had filed a complaint alleging that their assessments of ISIS and al-Nusra (al Qaeda’s branch in Syria) were being altered by their superiors to suggest that those groups were weaker than what the analysts had concluded.  The purpose of such alleged manipulation: to fit the Obama administration’s public narrative that we had ISIS and al-Nusra on the ropes.  Almost a year later, two congressional reports have recently confirmed that this intel was indeed systematically “cooked”.

Given what we now know unfolded at CENTCOM, and given President Obama’s investment in the narrative that Guantanamo is a terrorist-recruiting, values-betraying, funds-depleting mistake that must be shuttered, one has to ask: Is it possible that the Periodic Review Board, and/or those informing its assessments, are being subjected to pressure, unspoken or otherwise, to reinforce the Obama narrative on Guantanamo by downplaying the risks posed by transferring detainees held there?

Congress should be asking the same thing.

Islamic State Strike in Yemen May Reflect Change in Tactics

On August 29th, 2016 a car bomb killed 71 people including 54 pro-government militia and injured more than 90 in the southern Yemen city of Aden. The bombing targeted a military base, where hundreds of recruits for a Popular Committee militia loyal to Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansar Hadi.

The term Popular Committees refers to various local militias, whether supporters of Hadi or his opponents, the Iranian-backed Shia Houthi rebels.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. Both Islamic State, and its jihadist competitor, Al Qaeda are active in Yemen, with Al Qaeda having long roots in eastern Yemen through their affiliate Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, while Islamic State established a branch in the country following the outbreak of civil war in 2014.

Al Qaeda stands in opposition to both the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels and has targeted both sides in the ongoing civil war. These attacks have previously allowed Al Qaeda to expand in southern Yemen, giving more power and control over resources. Al Qaeda had been very successful in operating in Aden as recently as 2015, but came under increased pressure from Popular Committee forces allied with Hadi.

Al Qaeda forces have typically targeted enemy fighters or military units. Al Qaeda has a strong presence in southeast Yemen, and the ability to successfully target the military base demonstrates strength. Directly targeting enemy recruits has been a favored insurgency tactic in Afghanistan and Iraq as well.

In comparison, Islamic State has traditionally favored high profile attacks against Shia mosques and gatherings. Recent attacks from the Islamic State include: Sana’a mosques bombing at Badr and al-Hashoosh, killing at least 137 people in March.

The profile of the August 29th attack has more in common with Al Qaeda’s methods than Islamic States, and the change in operating procedures may be a reflection of internal divisions within Islamic State’s Yemen branch.  .

This attack puts the most recent death toll in the 18-month long Yemen civil war right around 10,000 by the U.N. and right groups. Conflict began in Yemen after Houthi rebels joined together with forces loyal to the ousted former Yemeni President Abdullah Ali Saleh seized the capital city of Sana’a and other key strategic territories beginning in September of 2014. Following a Saudi-led military intervention, Yemen forces loyal to President Hadi have retaken much of Southern Yemen.

Five Killed in Al Shabaab Attack on Police Headquarters

Five people have been killed and 20 wounded outside of Somalia’s Criminal Investigation Department headquarters in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu when two jihadists tied to Al Shabaab drove explosive-ladened cars into the gates of the building and five gunmen stormed the compound. All five of the attackers were killed, but not before they shot and killed a Somali soldier; the explosion also killed four civilians.

This is the second Al Shabaab attack in the past week. On July 26th, two vehicles packed with explosives detonated near Mogadishu Airport, killing numerous United Nations and African Union security officers; 13 people, three of which were civilians, were killed. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack through their Andalus News agency, the second largest radio station for the group. The latest strike is typical of Al Shabaab attacks: this modus operandi was seen in previous hotel bombings and in a recent attack on a military outpost.

Al Shabaab, which is an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, has also carried out strikes in neighboring Kenya and Uganda. Most notably, the group orchestrated an attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Shopping Center in 2013 that killed 67 people. The group controls large parts of Somalia but no longer has control over Mogadishu, from which it was expelled in 2011 by a coalition of African Union and United Nations troops. In its areas, it has strictly enforced Sharia Law.

Somalia, considered to be in “Very High Alert” by the Fragile State Index, is divided by a number of factions. Al-Shabaab operates freely in three separate pockets in the south of the country, but its territory is split by strips controlled by the U.N and African Union coalition. To the north is the Ethiopia-backed Federal Government of Somalia, the officially recognized government. Somalia has been inching toward stability since 2012, when a new internationally-backed government was put in place. The government controls Mogadishu but still faces challenges from Al-Shabaab insurgents.

The Somali government is also allied with the government of Puntland, a semi-autonomous state in the north of the country.

To the west is Somaliland, a self-proclaimed territory declared in 1991 after the fall of military dictator Siad Barre. The territory has its own currency, infrastructure, and constitution but is not recognized by any countries.

Al-Shabaab, continues to posess the ability to inflict attacks on the Somali capital at will, in an effort to destabilize the U.N and AU-backed government. Al Shabaab also continues to inflict attacks on Ethiopian troops in the north. The Mogadishu attacks have not succeeded in securing territory but have continued to put pressure on the Somali government and its allies.

Yet despite a number of successful airstrikes, efforts to bring stability to Somalia continue to meet setbacks as Al Shabaab maintains its operational tempo.

In addition to providing Al Qaeda a base of operations in East Africa, the presence of Al Shabaab poses a challenge to the security of Gulf of Aden, given Somalia’s strategic position at the horn of Africa and Al Shabaab’s close ties to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. As a result, stability in Somalia must remain a goal of the U.S. and its counterterrorism partners.

Mali and Morocco Continue to Crack Down on Islamist Insurgencies

Northern and Western African states are continuing to crack down on jihadist activities. Morocco arrested 52 men over an alleged plot to set up an Islamic State province in the country. According to authorities, the men were all Moroccan nationals and were planning attacks on targets, both inside and outside of the Kingdom; they specifically hoped to strike music festivals, seeing as they amass large crowds of people in a small space. After raiding the members’ homes, police found jihadist texts as well as operational manuals on how to construct explosives and chemical weapons; authorities also found multiple Islamic State flags. The jihadists were linked to IS cells originating in refugee camps in southern Algeria and the Sahel.

The Kingdom of Morocco is relatively stable compared to its neighbors and has taken a hard stance on combating Islamic terrorism. Morocco claims to have foiled over 150 terror cells since 2002, including 38 in the past four years with ties to jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria. This has not stopped Moroccan citizens from attempting to join however, with roughly 1,200 Moroccans traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State in the past 18 months.

In contrast to nearby Egypt and Libya, which have seen Islamist insurgencies battle for power, Morocco has successfully cracked down on the movements inside the kingdom. But with so many Moroccans going to Syria to join the Islamic State, there is a danger that returning fighters may overwhelm the Kingdom’s efforts.

To the south, Mali authorities arrested Mahmoud Berry, known by his alias Abou Yehiya, a senior jihadist in the group Ansar Dine; the group was responsible for an attack on a military base in Nampala, in the center of the country last week. The attack killed 17 soldiers and wounded 35. The jihadists briefly seized control of the base before Malian troops retook control of it, after fleeing to a nearby town to regroup.

Attacks in Mali have decreased since French forces intervened on behalf of the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in a civil war against insurgencies in Northern Mali backed by Al Qaeda. Ansar Dine in the northwest and Al Qaeda in the Mahreb in the northeast sought to seize control and create an Islamic state with Sharia Law.

Since then, various insurgencies affiliated with the group have attempted to destabilize the government and reestablish their area of operations with varying levels of success.

The arrests of jihadists in the two West African countries highlights the ways in which North African states are attempting to deal with the international rise of Islamist insurgencies. In particular, both the Morocco and Mali efforts demonstrates the importance of maintaining efforts to suppress suspected jihadist networks and prevent the establishment of sanctuaries.

Al-Shabaab Bombs Armed Guards Near Mogadishu Airport

United Nations and African Union facilities were struck by two suicide bombers on the morning of Tuesday, July 26th in Mogadishu, Somalia.

According to reports, two separate explosions occurred around the Mogadishu airport near an African Union base at around 9 a.m. Statements from Somali officials indicated that the first suicide bomber tried to speed through the barrier at the U.N. and A.U. Halene office using a car, but guards shot at the car until it was rendered inoperable and later exploded. Somali police say that following the initial breech, a second suicide bomber targeted the checkpoint attempting to follow behind the first attacker, was shot and immobilized, at which point the explosives strapped to him detonated.

According to police, many of the guards surrounding the base and escorting personnel to safety were killed or injured by the second bomber.  So far, thirteen individuals have been reported to have died; however, a anonymous police official indicated to Reuters that the guards were neither A.U., U.N., or Somali military. The guards killed in the attack were reportedly with an unnamed private security firm. This was confirmed by both A.U. and U.N. missions who claim neither units suffered fatalities in the dual bombardment.

Immediately proceeding the bombings, al-Shabaab cells claimed responsibility for the attack over their Andalus radio station. The station is known as the second largest al-Shabaab radio network distributing propaganda, and jihadi nasheeds (acapella singing).

Though al-Shabaab terrorists have conducted many terror operations inside Somalia in recent weeks, this particular attack on the U.N. and A.U. compounds was different in its modus operandi.  Specifically, Shabaab attacks are frequently followed by heavily armed insurgents aiming to hold a building or location for future operational purposes. These kinds of attacks can be viewed in the multiple hotel bombings and even the recent military outpost attack.

Yet, the July 26th Shabaab attacks occurred without a follow-on assault possibly because security at the outpost was not be conducive to such an attempt. While al-Shabaab gave no specific explanation for the attack in the broadcast, the A.U. and U.N. have aided the Somali government in large operations to rid al-Shabaab of territory in key areas of the Eastern Africa. The efforts of the African Union and the United States which helped kill 150 jihadists in a drone strike in March of this year make the international agency and US prime targets of the terrorist group. Additionally the killing of some of al-Shabaabs top commanders that occurred in April with the help of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) provides additional motive for al-Shabaab’s attack against the African Union and United Nations.

Despite the rumors regarding the fragmentation of al-Shabaab in the last year due to the rise of Islamic State, it still appears that the group’s ties to al-Qaeda have maintained, while its operational capabilities haven’t been derailed at the hands of AU and US offensives. The Somali government has yet to find a solution to the frequent terror attacks in or around its countryside. Additionally, the larger African Union has not been able to prevent the spread of al-Shabaab even with significant aid from the United States. Regardless of these setbacks for Somali security, there remains a possibility that al-Shabaab’s internal divisions will hinder the group from increasing its operational capacity in Easter Africa. After all, al-Shabaab, like any group or party that faces internal fragmentation, is susceptible to a break down in of communications, operations, and leadership, which ultimately jeopardizes its success. Indicators of such disunity would include: the continued rise of Islamic State branches in Eastern Africa, defections of al-Shabaab leadership from the party, and more assassinations of the groups own members from within.

Syrian Army Takes Control of Aleppo Road as Fighting Continues

The Syrian Army has taken major strides towards cutting off the roads in and out of rebel-held Aleppo. The Castello Road is the only road out of the Eastern part of Aleppo, which is currently controlled by Saudi-backed Jaysh al-Islam, an Islamist militia aligned with the Al Qaeda linked Ahrar al Sham and Jabhat Al Nusra. While Assad regime forces did not take control of the road itself, they gained significant territory near it and are now within 1 Kilometer of the road, well within range of light range weapons enabling the Syrian Army to fire on passing convoys. it is estimated that up to 300,000 civilians live in rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Additionally, rebels would be unable to obtain supplies from their counterparts in the northern part of the state of Aleppo.

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, has been a prominent battleground in the Syrian Civil War since 2012, when rebels took the eastern part of the city, forcing the Syrian Army to retreat to the west. In late 2013, government forces stepped up their aerial bombardment of the city. Russian involvement in 2015, including bombing campaigns targeting Syrian rebels have proved helpful to the Syrian Army, as they took a series of towns north west of the northern city.

Jaysh al-Islam, a group of approximately 20,000 fighters, seeks to “make Syria a country ruled by sharia law”. In November 2013, the group joined six other Islamist juntas around the country to form the Islamic Front. The Islamic Front contained a number of organizations ranging from the Kurdish Islamist Party, a small faction of Islamist Kurds, to Ahrar al-Sham, a group that was affiliated with the Islamic State until 2014 (when IS Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi killed a member of Ahrar al-Sham for suggesting that IS attempt to unite all Sunni rebel groups). Jaysh al-Islam also has ties to the Al-Nusra front, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda.

The seizure came after the Assad regime declared a three-day ceasefire for Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. Nevertheless, it seems that near Aleppo the fighting has continued, with the Syrian Army ironically having taken control of strategic territory.

Assad’s relative success in Aleppo would not have been possible without the help of Russia, who has conducted a series of air raids on the Areas north of Aleppo, areas which Assad’s forces now secure. Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and an economic hub, is geographically strategic, and taking it would cut off rebels south of the city. Additionally, it would allow it to cut off supply lines to rebels in Idlib and Hama, given that they receive most of their supplies from Turkish border crossings at Bab al-Salama and Bab al-Hawa.

The battle between Saudi-backed Jaysh al-Islam and the Iranian-backed Assad regime is a microcosm of the Syrian Civil War, and the larger sectarian tensions in the Middle East more generally. It is an example of one of the many proxy wars that the two nations have been fighting over who will be the dominant power in the region; specifically, both of them are supporting insurgencies within the other’s sphere of influence. But the conflict is also indicative of tensions between secularists and islamists. The Islamic Front, along with various other Syrian Rebel groups, seek to overthrow the secular Assad government and institute Sharia law. Saudi Arabia, whose own laws are also based on Sharia, supports Jaysh Al-Islam, while simultaneously facing a threat from Islamic State and Al Qaeda, both of whom seek to topple the monarchy they view as illegitimate, even while Jaysh al-Islam allied with Al Qaeda’s Jabhat Al Nusra. And of course Al Qaeda and IS, while both share a jihadist ideology focused on establishing the worldwide caliphate and imposing Sharia law, disagree on which one of them is the legitimate leader of this effort.

Al-Shabaab Bombs Second Mogadishu Hotel During Ramadan

On Saturday, June 25th, al-Shabab terrorists stormed the Mogadishu-based Nasa Hablod hotel after a suicide bomber detonated a vehicular IED at the resort’s entrance. The explosion, which blew a hole in the fencing and gate structure, allowed the jihadists to run inside the building and begin firing upon hotel guests and workers.

One witness described the shooters as rather indiscriminate in their hostility and that they were shooting at “everyone they could see.” After breaking through initial hotel security, the terrorists held themselves up inside the building and managed to take several hostages.

After clashing with jihadists for a number of hours, Somali security forces finally managed to kill the remaining culprits who were trapped on the upper levels of the hotel. Ultimately, the Nasa Hablod siege claimed the lives of 15 people and injured 34 others.

State Minister for the Environment, Buri Hamza, was reported to have been one of the deceased, according to Somali state police.

Hamza was a Canadian resident long known to have fought for the democratic cause in Somalia since his exodus to Canada in the 1990s. During his stay, he attended York University, obtaining a masters in environmental studies, and went on to raise a family in Toronto. In 2012, Hamza returned to Somalia as a legislator to the newly elected Federal Parliament. Since then, he has served several roles in the developing democracy which the country is attempting to solidify.

Hamza and other government officials illustrate the ideal target of al-Shabaab attacks and their efforts to curb citizens from participating in the Somali government. The democratic regime’s demise and its replacement with an Islamic theocracy is the ultimate goal of the Shabaab group, which heavily relies on intelligence information from the Amniyat, an al-Qaeda backed special operation apparatus. In recent years, the group has kept al-Qaeda’s direct influence over the Shbaab terror group, in addition to its other services of executing suicide attacks inside African nations, conducting assassinations, providing logistical support for operations, and interlinking the group’s local and regional commands.

Al-Shabaab’s frequency to attack attractive spots for government officials and tourists in Somalia’s capital city is most likely an operational direction commanded by the Amniyat. Earlier this month, on June 1st, Mogadishu’s  Hotel Ambassador was bombarded with a similar coordinated assault that lead to 16 deaths, two of which were members of the Somali Parliament.

A spokesperson for al-Shabaab, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Reuters news agency following the attack that the hotel was a target because it is frequented by apostate government members.

Yet, it is not only the Amniyat and their larger al-Qaeda handlers that identify hotels as prime targets. Somali residents outline the resorts’ political and tourist appeal as frequent providers of minimal sources of entertainment that allure many residential and foreign inhabitants within Somalia. They often cite hotels as areas for individuals to smoke shisha (tobacco), enjoy dance music, and play games such as dominoes and dice.

Since the increase in resort attacks, Somali residents have discussed their avoidance of hotels and other entertainment areas in Mogadishu. One civilian in particular, Ahmed Ali, said that he stopped going to hotels because they are seen as “death traps” and favorite targets for al-Shabaab.

The increase in al-Shabaab operations inside Somalia indicates resurgence in the group’s desire to wage direct war against the Somali government by specifically targeting government officials such as Buri Hamza, and other leaders closely associated to Western democracies. As Ramadan comes to a close, one should only expect al-Shabaab to continue to seek to exercise complex attacks against Somali government and western-linked targets.

Jordanian Intelligence Officers Killed in Terror Attack

Five Jordanians were killed in what the state called a “terror attack” on Monday June 6th. The attack occurred around 7:00 a.m. local time in the Palestinian refugee camp in Baqa’a, where around 100,000 refugees are sheltered.

Mohammed Momani, a government spokesperson, stated that the attack targeted Jordan’s intelligence agency office, housed along the main street of the camp. Three of the five Jordanians killed were listed as intelligence officers, while a telephone operator and a guard also died in the attack.

Al Rai newspaper reported that a single assailant armed with an automatic weapon drove towards the office and then began an assault on the camp’s intelligence compound. Reports suggest that the gunman is still at large.

The Baqa’a camp was founded in the late 1960s as a result of the Arab-Israeli war. Though originally sheltered in tents and scrap materials, the Palestinian refugees transitioned the shantytown into a sort of de-facto city for Palestinian refugees by using concrete materials and UN provided prefabricated shelters.

Alongside Palestinian refugees, Jordan also hosts refugees from the Syrian civil conflict, caring for over 600,000 displaced Syrians. Jordan’s second largest refugee camp, Zaatari, hosts around 80,000 and is located less than 20 miles from the Baqa’a camp, about an hour drive.

Still, no announcements have been made as to the identity of the individual who carried out the attack or his/her motive. In a statement to the press, Mr. Momani called the actions “cowardly,” and outlined that it was carried out by “people who are outside of our religion.”

Jordan is currently ruled by King Abdullah II, a Sunni Muslim, whose family has ruled Jordan since the early 1920’s. Despite being one of the United States key allies in the fight against Islamic State and other terrorist groups, Jordan rarely faces attacks against its government forces. Additionally, the General Intelligence Directorate of Jordan (GID) has had longstanding cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Efforts to combat terrorist activities in Jordan are ongoing. Most recently, in March, the GID foiled planned attacks by an Islamic State cell when Jordanian military operatives raided a residential building in Irbid, in which they killed seven suspected jihadist insurgents. At the scene, officials found weapons, ammunition, explosives, and detonators as well as plans to attack civilian and military sites.

The Wall Street Journal stated that officials in Amman, the capital of Jordan, indicated the refugee attack was conducted by Islamic State, considering the group’s recent declaration urging supporters to conduct operations during the month of Ramadan.

Jordan has long been a target of jihadist attacks, specifically from Al Qaeda in Iraq (the predecessor to Islamic State), led by Jordanian leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.  Zarqawi was the driving force behind the infamous 2005 hotel bombings that killed dozens and injured hundreds staying in and aroung western resorts in Amman.

Al-Qaeda continues to seek support and influence in the region by tapping into the Syrian conflict.

In May, al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, announced plans to extend recruitment to areas in and around Syria. Among the Al Qaeda officials believed to be conducting operations are Jordanian operatives Abul Qassam and Sari Shibab.

While Islamic State remains the most obvious culprit, the source of the attack in Baqa’a could also stem from ongoing struggle between the Jordanian government and the opposition led by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has long been known to drawn support from refugee Palestinians.  In recent months, the group has been pushing their political wing, Islamic Action Front, to boycott elections, among other protests, in an aim to topple the current regime. In recent years Jordanian security forces have accused Jordanian Muslim Brothers of cooperating with Hamas in weapons smuggling and training for attacks. Such tensions boiled over in April leading Jordanian officials to close down Muslim Brotherhood operations in the country.

Further complicating the attack are reports from Israeli intelligence of cooperation between Hamas and Islamic State “Sinai Province”. The cooperation between the two groups represents Hamas’ desire to target Egyptian security forces and destabilize Egyptian government after the military ousted the Muslim Brotherhood from power in 2013. Such an alliance could prove extremely destabilizing to the region, particularly if cooperation extends beyond Sinai and into Jordan.

As described by reports the assault on the intelligence office bears some resemblance to the operations of all three major terrorist groups: Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and Hamas.

It likewise remains a possibility that the gunman was unaffiliated with any specific group. If so, further determination of the perpetrator’s motivations will require a successful capture and interrogation by Jordanian security forces.

U.S. Permits al-Qaeda Linked Syrian Rebel to Enter Country

According to a McClatchy report on May 21st, 2016, the United States government permitted Labib al Nahhas, a foreign affairs director for the Syrian rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, to enter the country last December. While inside the country, Nahhas planned to speak with third parties who might be able to influence U.S. officials and policymakers, yet the report does not state with whom the meetings were with or if any meetings actually occurred.

Labib Nahhas is a Spanish national born in Madrid to a Spanish mother and a Syrian father. After the tragic death of both of his parents, at the age of four, Nahhas returned back to Syria to live with his extended family. Little is known about Nahhas’s childhood after moving back to Syria, but he appeared back in Europe in the late 1990s, when he attended Birmingham University in the United Kingdom. After graduating in 1999, Nahhas went on to work for a tech company in London, but still frequently traveled between France, the Netherlands, and the US.

In 2010, Nahhas returned to Syria and began working in the telecom industry while residing in Homs. By 2011, Nahhas had gotten involved in the Arab Spring demonstrations, which eventually transitioned into violent rebellions against President Bashir al-Assad’s government. In 2014, he relinquished himself from his role as director of the UK tech firm and increased his focus on the civil war, becoming a founding member of a rebel group that has since merged with Ahrar al- Sham.

Labib Nahhas is the current foreign relations director of Ahrar, while his brother sits on the Shura council of the group. The group, fully named, “The Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham”, seeks the implementation of a Sunni Islamic state in Syria, and after its founding in 2012, the group began fighting alongside other Syrian rebel forces, such as al-Nusra and Islamic State.

In addition to military action, Ahrar al Sham is also known to engage in governance activities in cooperation with other Islamist factions, including providing food aid, security, and law through sharia courts. The group serves as the leading member of the Islamic Front coalition of Islamist Syrian militias, and Ahrar al-Sham is currently the head of the IF political office in Syria.

Labib Nahhas has written several opinion pieces for prominent news sources, such as Telegraph and Washington Post, seeking to separate Ahrar from other “extremist groups.” Nahhas’s attempts to differentiate Ahrar ranges from stating they are “ultra-conservative” to claiming they are a “mainstream” Sunni Islamist group. Oftentimes, Nahhas claims the group is both in favor of a “moderate future for Syria that preserves the state and institutes reforms that benefit all Syrians,” while also a jihadist movement.

Nahhas, attempting to conjoin both Western and jihadist thinking, is at best contradictory and at worst intentionally deceptive in some of his claims.

In a Telegraph opinion piece, Nahhas stated: “there needs to be a major role for religion and local custom in any political arrangement,” a statement that appears juxtaposed to Ahrar’s desire for a moderate future.

Nahhas also declares in a Washington Post op-ed that his group has been falsely accused of having organizational links to al-Qaeda; however, Abu Khalid al-Suri, founding member of Ahrar al-Sham, is known to have been a member of al-Qaeda, and was even photographed with Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders.

Links to al-Qaeda don’t simply end with Suri either. A senior al-Qaeda figure, Sanafi al-Nasr, claimed to have sent al-Qaeda jihadists to assist Ahrar al-Sham in Syria back in 2014.

Ultimately, Nahhas’s claims of his group and their interests change both over time and with respect to who is listening, and such uncertainty with Ahrar al-Sham’s interests begs the question: why was Nahhas allowed into the United States in December of 2015.

One reason for his admission into the U.S. could be simple oversight because of his European passport and the fact that Ahrar remains off the list of terror organizations. Yet, it is most likely that U.S. officials knew he was coming due to how high profile a leader Nahhas is within the Western community.

According to McClatchy, several national security analysts said that U.S. authorities were likely to have known about Nahhas’s arrival due to his group’s connection with al-Qaeda’s Syria branch. Syrian specialist with the Atlantic Council, Faysal Itani, even claimed to have known about the visit during the time it occurred.

Regardless of the claims, knowledge of Nahhas’s arrival would only indicate that the current administration is accepting informal diplomatic discussions with questionable Syrian rebel groups, a method of diplomacy that appears both covert and precarious.