These are the major events from March 20 for Iran and for al Qaeda operations in Yemen and Africa. Please see the Iran News Roundup, the Gulf of Aden Security Review, and the weekly Threat Update for more details.
Al Qaeda Global
Al Qaeda is promoting a narrative that the U.S. is attacking Sunni civilians worldwide.Libya
Tensions are rising in Tripoli between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and militias from the western Libyan city of Misrata.West Africa
Al Qaeda’s General Command approved the unification of four groups in the Sahel under the new name, Jama’a Nusrat al Islam wa al Muslimeen (JNIM).Horn of Africa
Relations between the Somali Federal Government (SFG) and the Gulf states are declining.Al Qaeda is promoting a narrative that the U.S. is attacking Sunni civilians worldwide.
Al Qaeda’s al Sahab media foundation released a bulletin drawing parallels between the U.S. raid on an al Qaeda headquarters in Yemen on January 29 and the U.S. airstrike on an al Qaeda gathering in northwestern Syria.
Tensions are rising in Tripoli between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and militias from the western Libyan city of Misrata.
Misratan militias opened fire on a pro-LNA demonstration in Tripoli, in which protesters called for militias to leave the capital and for the formation of a unified security force. LNA commander Khalifa Haftar threatened to attack Tripoli unless the Misratan militias disarm. Misratan parliamentarians stated that they would suspend all contact with the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) until the protesters issue an apology for anti-Misrata statements made during the protests. The GNA recently brokered a ceasefire between rival militias in Tripoli. This renewed escalation of violence underscores the GNA’s inability to provide stability and security to Libya’s capital. (Recommended reading: Ignoring History: America's Losing Strategy in Libya)
Al Qaeda’s General Command approved the unification of four groups in the Sahel under the new name, Jama’a Nusrat al Islam wa al Muslimeen (JNIM).
It lauded the unification of the umma, Muslim community, in the Sahel under the leadership of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb emir Abdelmalek Droukdel. Droukdel had praised JNIM previously for taking this step. Al Qaeda’s General Command called on JNIM to respect the local population, including local elders, to teach them Islam, and to continue the fight against enemies of Islam.
Relations between the Somali Federal Government (SFG) and the Gulf states are declining.
The SFG blamed the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen for an attack on a refugee vessel in the Red Sea on March 16, which killed at least 42 Somali refugees. Regional competition for influence in Somalia has also heightened tensions between the SFG and the UAE, a member of the coalition, in recent weeks.
The al Houthi-Saleh faction is using a campaign of ballistic missile attacks and propaganda to rally its base and pressure the Saudi-led coalition.
Al Houthi-Saleh forces claimed to strike a target in central Saudi Arabia, near the Saudi capital of Riyadh, for the second time since February 2017. Al Houthi-Saleh forces have fired more ballistic missiles in the first months of 2017 than in any other period since the beginning of the conflict, though these missiles rarely strike intended coalition targets. Al Houthi-Saleh missile attacks will harden the Saudi-led coalition’s resolve against agreeing to a ceasefire with the al Houthi-Saleh bloc. (Recommended reading: How the U.S. Should Re-Engage in Yemen)
President Hassan Rouhani defended his economic record following intense criticism from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials.
President Hassan Rouhani Rouhani stressed that the most pressing problems facing Iran “cannot be solved in the short term.” He noted that neither his own administration nor “the next ten” administrations can resolve all of Iran’s issues. Rouhani stated that his administration “is proud” of the fact that “the path” it “has chosen” to tackle Iran’s problems “is the right way.” Rouhani’s comments mark the president’s first major public response to Supreme Leader Khamenei and other officials’ attacks on Rouhani’s implementation of the Resistance Economy doctrine. The Supreme Leader, meanwhile, reiterated his disapproval of Rouhani’s economic record in a speech commemorating Nowruz, the Persian New Year.