Category Archives: Al-Qaida

US and Taliban close to deal to allow peace talks, Trump envoy says

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Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy for peace in Afghanistan, says agreement would reduce violence and allow ‘intra-Afghan’ talks

US and Taliban negotiators are close to an agreement that would reduce fighting and allow full peace talks among Afghans, a top US official said on Sunday, a day after insurgent forces stormed the strategic northern city of Kunduz.

But only hours after Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born US diplomat overseeing negotiations for Washington, spoke the Taliban attacked a second Afghan city, Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province, an official said.

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Taliban launches ‘massive’ attack on Kunduz in northern Afghanistan

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Assault comes as US continues to seek agreement with insurgent group on ending what is America’s longest war

The Taliban have launched a new attack on one of Afghanistan’s largest cities, Kunduz, the government said on Saturday, even as the insurgent group continued negotiations with the US on ending America’s longest war.

The militants, who have demanded that all foreign forces leave the country, now control or hold sway over roughly half of the country and are at their strongest since their 2001 defeat by a US-led invasion.

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Trial for five men charged with planning 9/11 to start in 2021, 20 years after attack

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US charged the five with war crimes that include terrorism, hijacking and nearly 3,000 counts of murder for their alleged roles

A military judge has set a trial date for five men held at Guantánamo Bay and facing the death penalty for their alleged role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks – nearly 20 years after the atrocities took place.

Judge Col W Shane Cohen set a start date of early 2021 in an order setting motion and evidentiary deadlines on Friday. The five defendants include Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a senior al-Qaida figure who has portrayed himself as the mastermind of the 11 September 2001 attacks and other terrorist plots.

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US military drone shot down over Yemen

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Two US officials say drone was brought down on Tuesday south-east of the capital Sana’a

A US military MQ-9 drone has been shot down in Yemen’s Dhamar governate, south-east of the Houthi-controlled capital Sana’a, two US officials have said.

A Houthi military spokesman had earlier said that air defences had brought down a US drone.

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New wave of terrorist attacks possible before end of year, UN says

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UN report warns threat from Islamist extremist groups remains high

The United Nations has warned that a recent pause in international terrorist violence may soon end, with a new wave of attacks possible before the end of the year.

In a report, specialist monitors at the UN security council paint a worrying picture of a global Islamist extremist movement that continues to pose a significant threat despite recent setbacks.

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Hamza bin Laden: the end of a dynasty, but not al-Qaida

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Osama bin Laden’s son was being groomed to be new leader of group responsible for 9/11

For most of the decade that followed the 9/11 attacks in 2001, hardly a day passed without news about al-Qaida. In the last year, by contrast, the Guardian has mentioned the group 11 times.

The event that has put it back in the spotlight is not a terrorist strike against the “Crusader-Zionist alliance” or the “hypocrite, apostate regimes” of the Middle East but the death of a high-profile member.

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Somali forces end siege at hotel raided by militants that killed 26

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Briton and Canadian-Somali journalist among dead in suicide bombing and shooting in Kismayo claimed by al-Shabaab

Special forces in Somalia have ended an all-night siege at a hotel raided by armed Islamic militants, officials have said.

The death toll from the attack in the southern port city of Kismayo, which began on Friday evening, has risen to 26 people, including a prominent Canadian-Somali journalist and several foreigners.

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Malian jihadist leader said to have been killed by France is alive

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Amadou Koufa appears in video three months after French armed forces minister declared him ‘neutralised’

A senior jihadist leader in Mali whom France said it had killed last November survived the attack and appears in a new propaganda video mocking French and Malian forces.

The French armed forces minister, Florence Parly, told parliament a few days after the 22 November raid that Amadou Koufa, a radical preacher and senior leader of a militant group linked to al-Qaida, was one of 35 fighters who had been “neutralised”.

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Mali attack: 37 civilians killed in armed raid on village

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Children among victims in area hit by ethnic violence in which hundreds died last year

Armed men killed 37 Fulani civilians on Tuesday in central Mali, where ethnic violence cost hundreds of lives last year, the government said.

Violence between Fulani and rival communities has compounded an already dire security situation in Mali’s semi-arid and desert regions, which are used as a base by jihadist groups with ties to al-Qaida and Islamic State.

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