
Jihadi Shooting Rampage Kills 1, Wounds 11 at Russian Tourist Attraction
Two gunmen opened fire on a group of twenty tourists at Russia’s Naryn-Kala fortress in Dagestan on Tuesday night, killing one and wounding 11 more.

Two gunmen opened fire on a group of twenty tourists at Russia’s Naryn-Kala fortress in Dagestan on Tuesday night, killing one and wounding 11 more.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) should not participate in any Syrian peace talks.

The chaotic nature of the Syrian civil war was illustrated by the presence of over a hundred representatives from opposition groups in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to lay the groundwork for peace talks with dictator Bashar Assad.

An interesting bit of information from the ongoing investigation into the backgrounds of San Bernardino jihadis Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik comes from Reuters, which was told by U.S. government sources that Malik “tried in vain to contact multiple Islamic militant groups in the months before she and Farook staged their attack, but her overtures were ignored” because the terrorists were concerned she might be a government informant.

San Berardino jihadis Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik took some steps to clean up their online footprint before launching the attack.

Iranian media are denying a report circulating in various Arab media sources, which has reached the White House, claiming that General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s notorious special Quds Forces, was injured in Syria by rebel fire while fighting on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA), which includes fighters trained by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has reportedly been decimated by widespread desertions.

Forces from the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad have been able to break the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS) siege of a key military airbase in the northern province of Aleppo, handing ISIS one of its worst defeats to date.

Al Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a new audio recording on Sunday, in which he called for an Islamist alliance against Russia and the West, and said his organization was ready to work with its previously despised offshoot ISIS against those common foes.

The Lebanese army reports the arrest of three Palestinians linked to the Islamic State, who were building an ISIS cell in the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh.

A round of Russian air strikes on the ISIS-free province of Latakia reportedly killed Basil Zimmo, a brigade commander in the U.S.-aligned “moderate” Free Syrian Army, along with a number of civilians.

After several days of pounding enemies of the Assad regime from the air – with a preference for bombing forces trained by the CIA and backed by the United States – Russia kicked in a swarm of 26 cruise missiles launched by its Caspian Sea fleet, some 900 miles away

The leader of the Kurdish YPG militia – the indispensable ground forces that have been holding the Islamic State at bay – reportedly welcomed the Russian bombing campaign, calling it “an important step” in the battle against ISIS.

On Wednesday morning, a member of the al-Qaeda franchise in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, posted a photo online of a colleague posing with his “brand-new U.S. machine gun,” which he claimed was handed over by the U.S.-trained Division 30. He even threw in a jaunty quote from Scarface: “Say hello to my little friend.”

The Obama administration has thrown in the towel on a plan to spend $500 million on training “moderate” Syrian rebels to fight ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the regime of Bashar Assad.

After days of insisting that all American gear was under the “positive control” of U.S.-trained New Syrian Force rebels, the Pentagon finally admitted over the weekend that al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front seized vehicle and ammunition from the token “moderate” force.

At the UN General Assembly meeting today, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for the rise of radical Islamic groups. He also demanded a global alliance to fight these groups.

Another massive embarrassment for the Obama administration, as U.S. officials finally admitted on Friday—after days of strenuous denials—that the latest group of “moderate” New Syrian Force rebels surrendered at least some of their weapons and vehicles to al-Qaeda in exchange for “safe passage” into Syria.

Kurdish leader Saleh Muslim argued this week that the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s brutal regime in Syria would be a disaster for the entire world.

Reports from several sources earlier this week claimed that the second wave of seventy “moderate” Syrian rebels trained and equipped by the United States had either surrendered or defected to the local al-Qaeda franchise, the Nusra Front. The Pentagon has cast doubt on these accounts.

The Uzbekistan Education Ministry issued an order that bans people under 18 years old from Friday prayer services, even during Eid at the end of September.

A video shows a young Uzbek jihadi male, aligned with al-Nusra Front, breaking down in tears right before he takes part in a suicide attack bomb mission in Syria. The attack against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces occurred in the town of Fua in Idlib province on September 18.

Someone claiming to represent the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s franchise in Syria, says the newest reinforcements for the U.S.-backed “moderate” Syrian force have already surrendered, according to a report in the UK Telegraph.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over as leader of al-Qaeda after the liquidation of Osama bin Laden, has released an audio message accusing ISIS leader and self-proclaimed “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of “sedition” and declaring war against the Islamic State.

Two U.S.-backed leaders of the of the first group of Syrian rebels deployed under the $500 million train-and-equip program authorized by Congress last year met with members of the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria last July and assured them that the American-trained force would not attack them, The New York Times (NYT) reported recently.