The Long War Journal (Site-Wide)

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• Analysis: Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces in Iran’s game plan
• Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces close in on Tal Afar
• Al Qaeda’s general command comments on ‘martyrdom’ of senior figure in Afghanistan

Analysis: Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces in Iran’s game plan Posted: 23 Nov 2016 01:56 PM PST The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have announced plans about securing the border with Syria and pushing into the country following the Islamic State's defeat in Iraq. There are discussions in Western policy circles that PMF's movement is part of a broader Iranian strategy to establish a land corridor stretching from Iran to the Mediterranean. Tehran, however, is pursuing objectives in Iraq and Syria

Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces close in on Tal Afar Posted: 23 Nov 2016 11:42 AM PST The Popular Mobilization Forces continues to flex its military muscles in Iraq. The PMF has surrounded Tal Afar and has promised it would lead the offensive to retake the city, despite Iraqi and US claims that the group would only operate in rural areas of western Mosul.

Al Qaeda’s general command comments on ‘martyrdom’ of senior figure in Afghanistan Posted: 23 Nov 2016 02:22 AM PST Al Qaeda's general command has released a statement commenting on the "martyrdom" of Faruq al Qahtani and others. They were killed in an American airstrike on Oct. 23 in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden's files show that Qahtani was tasked with establishing new safe havens for al Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2010, if not earlier.