The two biggest terrorist organizations in the world are joining forces in Syria to fight U.S. backed rebels.
The Associated Press reports that leaders from ISIS and Al Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, agreed in northern Syria during meetings to stop fighting each other to focus on destroying rebels in Syria before teaming up to focus on the Al-Assad government.
The two terrorist groups had been fighting to determine who would be the main group attempting to overthrow the Syrian government.
The rebels, who are backed by airstrikes by U.S. aircraft on ISIS positions, are considered to be relatively weak and disorganized compared to their terrorist opposition. A combined force could be too much for the rebels to defeat.
The news of the joining of forces comes as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff admitted the possibility of U.S. combat troops returning to Iraq.
“I’m not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by U.S. forces, but we’re certainly considering it,” Dempsey told the House Armed Services Committee.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been severely wounded in one of the airstrikes aimed at stopping the advance of the terrorist group.
Iraqi officials said Sunday that al-Baghdadi was struck during a U.S. airstrike on a convoy near the town of Qaim in western Iraq.
In addition to the wounding of the group’s leader, several key ISIS officials were killed in the attack including al-Baghdadi’s right hand man, Auf Abdulrahman Elefery. Twenty terrorists total were killed in the airstrike on the ISIS leader.
Baghdadi was an Islamic preacher who radicalized after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. He later received training from al-Qaeda and lead the ISIS breakaway from al-Qaeda with designs to be the main Islamic terrorist group in the world.
Officials say that airstrikes over the weekend killed over 50 ISIS terrorists in addition to the strike that wounded al-Baghdadi. President Obama has said he will send an additional 1,500 troops to the region to “train” the Iraqi army.
Al Qaeda killed at least 33 people on Monday during an attack on a city in central Yemen.
The terrorists seized a central Yemeni city as they’ve launched an offensive against the Shi’ite Muslim Houthis that are in control of the Yemeni capital. The country is considered a prize for the terrorist group because it shares a border with Saudi Arabia.
Al Qaeda marched into al-Odayn, a city of 200,000, and raised their flag over the city’s local government offices. Witnesses say the invasion took only a few minutes and that local officials gave no resistance to the terrorist group.
“They came in at midday, invaded the town, chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Greater) and seized the government compound unopposed,” the witness said.
The Houthi forces have used the capital as a base to spread out across the nation in an attempt to drive the terrorists out of the city.
The head of the FBI has confirmed that an al-Qaeda cell that was struck last month in Syria is likely still working on a plan to attack the United States and its allies.
“Given our visibility we know they’re serious people, bent on destruction,” FBI Director James Comey said. He added they’re looking to make the attack “very, very soon.”
The revelation came during an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Comey said that at least a dozen Americans have been confirmed to be fighting alongside the ISIS terrorists and al-Qaeda related groups. He said that anyone confirmed to be associated with the terrorists and then return to the United States will be tracked “very carefully.”
Comey said that Americans should be more confident in the government after 9/11.
“[The government is] better organized, better systems, better equipment, smarter deployment. We’re better in every way that you’d want us to be since 9/11.”
President Obama gave a confusing speech to the American people Wednesday night where he said that he would fight Islamic terrorism and that terrorists would have no place to hide…
But then he said that ISIS, the group that beheaded two Americans and has carried out mass killings of Christians across Iraq, is not Muslim and thus not an Islamic terrorist group.
“ISIL is not Islamic,” the President said. “No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim.”
The President then went on to say that even though they are not Islamic, they used to be the Iraq branch of the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
“It was formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria’s civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border,” Obama said. “ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.”
The President did acknowledge the Christians who have been killed and driven from their homes by the Islamic terrorist group.
“This includes Sunni and Shia Muslims who are at grave risk, as well as tens of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities,” Obama said. “We cannot allow these communities to be driven from their ancient homelands.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will step up and be a part of the international coalition to destroy the Islamic terrorist group Islamic State.
Netanyahu addressed the statements of President Obama in an address where he also warned Iran against acquiring nuclear weapons. Netanyahu said that Islamic State is no different than terror groups like Hamas, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and al-Shabab.
“These groups must be fought. They must be rolled back and they must ultimately be defeated. That’s why Israel fully supports President Obama’s call for united actions against ISIS,” Netanyahu said.
“All civilized countries should stand together in the fight against the radical terrorism currently sweeping the Middle East, Netanyahu added. “And we are playing our part in this continued effort. Some of the things are known; some of the things are less known.”
Netanyahu said to the Muslims around the world they need to realize that Israel is an ally against Islamic extremism and that perhaps some Arab nations need to re-evaluate their relationships with Israel.
“They understand Israel is not their enemy but their ally in the fight against this common enemy. I believe that presents an opportunity for cooperation and perhaps an opportunity for peace.”
The U.S. has confirmed the head of an Islamist group in Somalia has been killed s part of a U.S. drone strike.
Ahmed Abdi Godane, who had run the group Al-Shabab during terror attacks in Somalia along with attacks on Christian villages and churches in surrounding countries, died when a drone strike took out a facility used for terrorist training. Ten other terrorists died in the attack.
President Obama hailed the successful strike as an example of his administration’s plan to fight terrorism.
“Godane’s removal is a major symbolic and operational loss to the largest Al Qaeda affiliate in Africa and reflects years of painstaking work by our intelligence, military and law enforcement professionals,” the White House said in a statement.
Al-Shabab is most notorious for the assault on Kenya’s Westgate Mall that killed 68 people and wounded 200.
A U.S. drone strike targeted the leader of an Islamic terrorist group in Somalia on Monday.
Pentagon officials confirmed the U.S. targeted the head of Al-Shabaab, a Al-Qaeda related group that had been fighting against the Somalia government.
“We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said.
Somali officials say that Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of al-Shabaab, might have been killed in the strike and they’re working to confirm his death. The air strike came after al-Shabaab attacked a high security prison in an attempt to free several terrorists. All terrorists were reported killed in the assault along with three government soldiers and two civilians.
The U.S. has periodically carried out air strikes in Somalia against terrorist headquarters and training centers.
Al-Shabaab is mostly active in rural areas of the country after losing control of major cities in 2011 after an offensive from Somali and African Union forces.
The Islamic extremists who have taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria have posted a message online to America.
We will drown you in blood.
The Islamic State said Tuesday that it will attack Americans “in any place” because of the air strikes against their terrorist groups and that they would “drown” Americans in blood. The message, which was in English, was accompanied by photographs of victims of snipers in Iraq and an American who was beheaded during the Iraq War.
The U.S. airstrikes on the terrorist group has allowed Kurdish forces to make gains in the last week. On Monday the fighters were able to take back the country’s largest dam that provides power to most of Iraq.
The off-shoot group of Al-Qaeda, which was determine to be “too extreme” for the Al-Qaeda leadership, has so far focused on capturing land for their own Islamic state rather than launching western attacks. However, the airstrikes from the U.S. is the first direct assault on the terrorists by a major western power.
While the world has only recently become aware of the brutality and extremism of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, late Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden reportedly had been warned about the group before his death in 2011.
The London Daily Mail is reporting that a letter found in the Bin Laden compound after the removal of Osama Bin Laden outlined the dangers of the group calling themselves the Islamic State.
The letter had Bin Laden calling for anyone connected to al-Qaeda to immediately sever their ties with Islamic State because of their “extreme brutality” and said the group obtained and had been using chemical weapons even on mosques.
The United States began air strikes last week against ISIS over their continued attempts to take over Iraq. The U.S. also has announced they will be providing weapons to the Kurdish fighters in the northern part of Iraq to help drive the terrorists away from villages housing tens of thousands of Christian and Jewish refugees.
International aid drops have been conducted in northern regions where the terrorists have trapped refugees in mountain regions.
