The Long War Journal Videos

Musicians threatened in Peshawar

2012-06-01T15:56:09Z

Al Jazeera English reports on the Pakistani Taliban's persecution of musicians in Peshawar.

'Inside an al Qaeda stronghold in Yemen'

2012-05-29T14:02:14Z

** Click the above image to watch **

A portion of correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad's report on al Qaeda in Yemen for PBS FRONTLINE:

In the above video, Ghaith visits Jaar, which al Qaeda captured a year ago without resistance from the Yemeni Army--which receives arms, training and intelligence from the United States. An al Qaeda spokesman, Fouad, took Ghaith on a tour of the large town and explained the way they are implementing Sharia, Islamic law. On the desolate streets, Ghaith encountered fighters he believed to be from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

School girls poisoned in Takhar

2012-05-24T14:59:00Z

Taliban Poisons 120 School Girls in Latest... by IBTimesTV International Business Times covers the poisoning of more than120 school girls and three teachers in Takhar province, Afghanistan. Local police believe that Taliban insurgents are responsible for the attack.

Free Syrian Army denies role in Damascus bombings

2012-05-17T18:34:12Z

A general in the Free Syrian Army denied responsibility for recent suicide bombings in Damascus, Syria's capital, in an interview with Al Jazeera. He also stated his belief that the attacks are false flag operations by the Syrian government designed to "discredit the pro-Democracy movement." US officials believe there is validity to the Syrian government claim that al Qaeda is operating in the country, however, and suicide attacks are a standard AQ and Salafi-Jihadist tactic. In addition, the Islamist group Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant has claimed responsibility for three previous suicide attacks, while denying it issued a recent video claiming the twin Damascus bombings on May 10. For more information, see additional Long War Journal coverage: Al Nusrah Front denies validity of Damascus suicide attack video Suicide bombers kill 55 in Syrian capital

Ambush in Zaranj

2012-05-15T13:46:18Z

Michael Phillips from The Wall Street Journal covers the aftermath of a Taliban ambush on US Marines in Zaranj, a town in southwest Afghanistan near the border with Iran.

'Our War: Ambushed'

2012-05-10T14:00:40Z

The BBC documentary "Our War: Ambushed" features candid helmet camera footage from soldiers of the British 1st Battalion Royal Anglian documenting their 2007 tour in Now Zad and Sangin districts in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The video includes a thorough diagram and corresponding footage of a close small arms engagement that resulted in the deaths of one British soldier and multiple Taliban insurgents.

Afghan Special Forces training

2012-05-08T15:04:01Z

A clip from a documentary about the training of Afghan commandos.

Operation Spear Gun

2012-05-02T18:12:08Z

Via DVIDs: US Marine Corps Captain Daniel F. O'Brien, Alpha Company Commander with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, talks about Operation Spear Gun in the village of Urmus, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Apr. 4, 2012. Operation Spear Gun was a five-day operation during which Coalition forces were sent to disrupt the insurgents' finances, control threats, and discover any improvised explosive devices that may be present in the village prior to Afghan forces assuming control. (US Marine Corps Motion Imagery by Sergeant Albert J. Carls/Released). Provided by I Marine Expeditionary Force (Fwd).

Aussie troops to leave Astan early; ANA and US troops search for HVTs

2012-04-30T13:42:36Z

This mid-April report from Australia's Sunrise covers the announcement by Prime Minister Julia Gillard that Australian troops will leave Afghanistan nearly a year early, and features video from a reporter embedded with US and Afghan troops on a mission in Ghazni.

Tension on the Pakistani-Afghan border in Paktika

2012-04-25T17:48:12Z

CNN reports on border tension between Pakistani and American and Afghan forces in Paktika province, including a NATO admission that American forces have returned fire over the border on four occasions since June.

'An Afghan police commando's story'

2012-04-23T13:38:34Z

The Guardian and the multi-media project Kabul: A City At Work profile police commando Hamidullah Zaker. Afghans have celebrated Zaker as a hero after seeing an iconic photograph of him responding to the recent insurgent attacks in Kabul.

Accused Bali bomb builder on trial in Indonesia

2012-04-20T13:58:44Z

Reuters covers the trial of Umar Patek, the Indonesian militant accused of building the explosives used in the Bali bombings on Oct. 12, 2002, as well as the devices used to bomb five churches in Jakarta on Dec. 24, 2000. All told, the explosives were responsible for killing an estimated 217 people, 202 in Bali and "about 15" in Jakarta.

Afghan insurgents launch coordinated offensive

2012-04-17T12:59:42Z

CBS News covers the recent coordinated attacks in Nangarhar, Paktia, and Logar provinces, as well as Kabul. For comprehensive Long War Journal coverage, see Taliban launch coordinated attacks in Kabul and 3 provinces.

Ansar al-Dine plans Islamic state in Timbuktu

2012-04-13T20:42:08Z

Al Jazeera covers the declaration of an Islamic state by Ansar al-Dine, an Islamist group "fighting alongside the main Tuareg rebel group in Mali."

Video: 'al Qaeda in Libya'

2012-04-09T13:40:13Z

A video posted on Youtube on March 26 is titled in Arabic "al Qaeda in Libya, woe to those who hate." The parade of technicals fly the black flag associated with jihadist groups, specifically al Qaeda in Iraq. Many of the banners include Arabic script of the Shahada (Islamic creed: "'There is no God, but Allah, and Muhammad is Allah's Messenger"), and the white or yellow sphere that was declared to represent the seal of Mohammed by the Islamic State of Iraq, a political front for Sunni insurgent groups spearheaded by al Qaeda in Iraq. The SITE Intelligence Group translated the Islamic State of Iraq's 2007 release announcing the flag. Among other specifications, it specifically describes the orb:

The line of "Muhammad is Allah's Messenger" should be in the shape taken by the Prophet's stamp that is found on many scripts of the Ottoman Empire. The scholar al-Bukhari said it was in the shape of three lines.
...
Some scholars said: "The stone of the Prophet's ring was Abyssinian and written on it was "No God, but Allah, and Muhammad is Allah's Messenger," with one line reading: "No God, but Allah," and the second line reading: "Messenger," and the third line reading "Muhammad."

The banner is also a reference to various hadith mentioning "the black banners of Khorasan":

The black flags will come from the East, led by mighty men, with long hair and beards ...
Now the people will give them what they asked for but they will not accept it until they will hand it over to a person from my progeny who will fill this earth with justice just as it was previously filled with oppression and tyranny. So if anyone of you finds this nation (i.e. from the east with black flags) then you must join them even if you have to crawl over ice.

From previous Long War Journal coverage of the reference:

The Khorasan is a region that encompasses large areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Iran. The Khorasan is considered by jihadis to be the place where they will inflict the first defeat against their enemies in the Muslim version of Armageddon. The final battle is to take place in the Levant - Israel, Syria, and Lebanon.

The political situation in Libya remains unstable, offering an opportunity for radical Islamist groups to assert themselves. Infighting by tribal and militia groups continues in southern and western Libya:

The European Union last week called on Tripoli to ensure parties to the conflict in the Sebha region of southern Libya lay down their weapons. Three days of clashes between rival tribal factions in late March left more than 70 people dead.
...
The interim government in Tripoli said this week it was concerned by fighting in the western coastal city of Zuwara. Ayoob Sufyan, a spokesman for the city government, told CNN the situation there was the worst violence since the height of the civil war last year. "The situation is terrible," he said. "It is a real war now." At least 26 people were reportedly killed in the western city Wednesday, al-Arabiya reports.