The Long War Journal (Site-Wide)

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• Al Qaeda linked to more than 250 West African attacks in 2016
• US airstrike kills Islamic State external operations facilitator in Raqqah
• Qassem Soleimani credits supreme leader with recent victories

Al Qaeda linked to more than 250 West African attacks in 2016 Posted: 07 Jan 2017 10:03 AM PST With at least 257 al Qaeda-linked attacks in Mali and its neighboring countries, this represents a significant uptick in the al Qaeda-led insurgency in northern Mali in recent years.

US airstrike kills Islamic State external operations facilitator in Raqqah Posted: 06 Jan 2017 02:18 PM PST Mahmud Al Isawi was killed as the US-led coalition has stepped up its efforts to help drive the Islamic State from its Syrian capital. The Pentagon said that 16 "significant members" of the organization's external operations network have been killed in 2016.

Qassem Soleimani credits supreme leader with recent victories Posted: 06 Jan 2017 02:11 PM PST Iranian media report that Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, has delivered an address extolling the leadership of Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Soleimani is back in Iran after visiting eastern Aleppo, and purportedly inspecting an Iraqi Shiite militia last month.