Events over the past week highlight the deteriorating situation in the country NWFP/FATA map. Red agencies are openly controlled by the Taliban; yellow are under threat. Click map to view. Over the past week, the Taliban have been very active in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province. The Taliban attacked the town of Tank, re initiated its […]
Sunnis try to blast al Qaeda out of Iraq
Muslim insurgents shot 3 Thais, including a teacher, and 4 others were wounded in bombings in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces. The Thai government has asked Malaysia to not sell weapons to Muslim insurgents and clamp down on the border. The 11 insurgents captured last week are not believed to be Malaysians.
NATO and Afghan forces have captured several Taliban leaders over the past 2 days, including a commander in Khost, an unnamed commander in Helmand and the team responsible for the assassination attempt on a senior tribal leader in Kandahar. Eight Taliban and 5 police were killed after the Taliban attacked a police station in Uruzgan.
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1 teacher, elderly couple shot dead in Thailand’s restive south
Two ISI agents are among 11 arrested for murder of agent in Bajaur. A senior cleric at the Lal Masjid gave the government 7 days to impose Sharia law. The Council of Islamic Ideology urged the government to oppose those challenging the government’s writ, while the government is considering movin the madrassa outside the capital. […]
A Deadly US-Iran Firefight
Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow said the British servicemen captured in the Shatt Al Arab waterway may be tried. “”The legal phase concerning these British soldiers has started and if charges against them are proven, they will be punished.” Italy’s central bank has taken effective control over Sepah, the Iranian state bank.
The Afghan Army, back by local militia, killed 70 Taliban and cleared 400 Taliban from the Nad Ali district in Helmand province. Two Taliban were killed and 12 captured during operations in Nangarhar and Paktia provinces. The US is considering supporting local Afghan and Pakistani tribesman against al Qaeda.
Saad bin Laden, Osama’s son, Saif al-Adel, Suleyman Abu al-Ghaith, Muhammad Shouki al-Islambuli and other senior al Qaeda leaders are sheltering in Iran, according to Middle East experts. Al Qaeda continues to recirute and train suicide bombers in Pakistan and send them to Afghanistan.
Bangladesh executed six top leaders of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), including Shaikh Abdur Rahman, JMB’s leader and Bangla Bhai, the military commander. JMB signed Osama bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa that created the International Islamic Front. Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai were captured in the spring of 2006.
Another stiff test for Musharraf
An Ethiopian helicopter was shot down by Islamic Courts fighters in Mogadishu as heavy fighting in the capital entered its second day. Seven more Ethiopian troops were killed in the fighting.
Who will fight this Talibanisation?
The Iranian IRGC navy capture of 15 British sailors was a premeditated act. Iran has released more letters and video of the sailors’ “confessions.” Oil is at a yearly high of $66 due to the crisis.
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Talibanisation of society: Madrassa students getting leniency
Fighting has resumed between Uzbek al Qaeda and the Taliban in South Waziristan, although a new ceasefire may be in effect. The Taliban has kidnapped female poll workers in Bannu. Bajaur’s assistant political agent “expressed concern over the tribesmen™s inability to prevent” the murder of ISI agents.
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Looming jihadi anarchy in Pakistan