- Syria’s al-Nusra splits from al-Qaeda, changes its name
- Lister and Zimmerman + Cafarellaon al-Nusra’s rebranding
- Afghan forces fail to turn back Taliban, lose 5% of territory
After a breakdown of the recent cease-fire in Syria, Russian and Syrian air forces have resumed a bombing campaign that has extensively used cluster munitions, killing and maiming dozens of civilians, a leading human rights group said in a report released Thursday. – Washington Post’s Checkpoint
FPI Senior Policy Analyst Tzvi Kahn writes: The Obama administration should abandon the agreement with the Kremlin and immediately implement Plan B, the only strategy that stands a meaningful chance of turning the tide of the war. If Washington accedes to Moscow’s demands, Russian aggression against the Syrian people will likely endure, further threatening hundreds of thousands of lives and ensuring the Assad regime’s ultimate victory. – Foreign Policy Initiative
Charles Lister writes: International military action against Jabhat al-Nusra does seem all but inevitable. At the same time, however, the consequences for doing so have become even more concerning. Ultimately, what remains of the mainstream opposition risks being dragged into an international escalation that appears fueled by a desire to combat al Qaeda with an insufficient appreciation for the complexity of Syria’s broader dynamics. – Foreign Policy
Katherine Zimmerman and Jennifer Cafarella write: Al Qaeda has set a trap for the U.S. in Syria. Basing policy on the formal affiliation of a group to al Qaeda creates a major national security risk as al Qaeda and other organizations play these rules against us. American policymakers should instead make decisions based on the threat Salafi-jihadi actors pose using an understanding of their inherent ideology and objectives. By those measures, the new group remains a core part of the global Salafi-jihadi movement of which al Qaeda is the leader. – AEI’s Critical Threats
[N]early eight months later, those three districts are firmly under the control of the Taliban — and, in fact, government forces were never able to clear them and install the new officials. It is the same story in much of the rest of Kunduz Province, where the Taliban control or have mined many roads and have enforced their ban on smoking and listening to music in several areas. – New York Times
Five U.S. Special Operations troops, fighting alongside their Afghan counterparts, were wounded recently while battling Islamic State militants in Afghanistan’s Nangahar province, the top U.S. general there said Thursday. – Washington Post’s Checkpoint
Last week’s Islamic State bombing of a protest rally in Kabul that killed 80 people and injured over 200 more came amid a major assault by the Afghan army — and U.S. special operations forces — on the group’s stronghold in eastern Afghanistan. – Foreign Policy’s The Cable
Due to sloppy management of an Afghan National Army vehicle-maintenance program, the cost to maintain vehicles has risen significantly and made it difficult for the ANA to carry out military operations, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko finds. – Defense News
Efforts to help Afghans internally displaced in their home country have been hindered by a lack of coordination among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and resistance by some Afghan provincial governments, according to an inspector general's review. – The Hill
The Afghan government lost control or influence of nearly 5 percent of its territory between January and May, the U.S government's top watchdog on Afghanistan said in a report on Friday, an indication of the challenges its forces are facing. - Reuters
The Islamic State group presence in Afghanistan is directly linked to the parent organization in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. Army general in charge of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan said on Wednesday. – Associated Press