Fighters linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Syrian al-Qalamoun are reportedly mobilizing and moving closer to the border with Lebanon ahead of a battle along the country’s eastern border. Lebanese and Syrian security sources said in comments published on Tuesday in al-Akhbar newspaper that ISIL fighters are […]

  BEIRUT: Families of soldiers killed during the 2013 Sidon clashes slammed the country’s politicians Sunday for protecting suspects accused of attacking the military, and demanded death sentences against those accused of killing troops. The large protest staged in Martyrs’ Square in Downtown Beirut was attended by the families of martyred soldiers and their supporters, […]

  Israeli soldiers violated on Saturday night the Blue Line that demarcates the border between Lebanon and Israel, announced the army in a statement on Sunday. It said that three soldiers crossed overnight the border line near the southern town of Kfarkila. Nearby Lebanese troops took up defense positions in the area. Fifteen minutes later, […]

  BEIRUT: Three Lebanese citizens recently deported from the United Arab Emirates arrived at Beirut airport Sunday, with more expected to come later as the reasons for their expulsion are still unclear. Sources at Beirut airport said that three Lebanese citizens arrived from the Emirate of Sharjah, a day after four other deportees flew in […]

  BEIRUT: UAE’s prime minister assured his Lebanese counterpart Saturday that his country has no official policy of targeting Lebanese citizens, one day after the Gulf government decided to deport 70 families. Lebanon’s Prime Minister Tammam Salam raised the matter with his Emirati counterpart, Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, on the sidelines of an […]

  A military expert dismantled on Saturday a bomb located in the border town of al-Abboudiyeh in the northern district of Akkar, the state-run National News Agency reported. NNA said that a suspicious body was found in a parking lot in the town. An army expert arrived swiftly at the area and inspected the body, […]

  A meeting was held between the representatives of parties affiliated to the March 14 alliance to discuss the final draft of their political document and the establishment of its National Council that the coalition is set to unveil on its 10th anniversary, which will be celebrated on Saturday afternoon in BIEL in downtown Beirut. […]

Armin Rosen

ISIS just accepted Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance. On March 7, the Nigerian jihadist group, which has killed 11,000 people since 2011 and 6,000 people in 2014 alone, pledged itself to the Islamic State.

Today, an audio recording whose authenticity has confirmed by an official ISIS media arm accepted the Nigerian organization’s pledge.

As Aaron Zelin, a terrorism researcher with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy explained to Business Insider on March 10th, ISIS would have to send emissaries to northern Nigeria to work out the terms of the relationship between the groups after accepting Boko Haram’s pledge.

Boko Haram’s domains, which include a self-declared Islamic state in a fairly remote corner of northeastern Nigeria, would become a "valiyat" or province of the caliphate, and Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau would assume the title of "vali," or provincial emir.

  BEIRUT: The U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization lauded progress made to improve Beirut’s international airport after conducting a routine inspection of its facilities Thursday. The visiting delegation was impressed with measures taken towards improving defects mentioned in a previous ICAO inspection report carried out in 2012, a statement released by Lebanon’s Civil Aviation Organization, […]