Islamic Courts Union fighters are taking control of military bases in Mogadishu vacated by withdrawing Ethiopian troops. Seven Somalis were killed in fighting between Shabaab and Sufi militias in the Galgadud region. Sheikh Sharif and Sheikh Aweys may meet in Egypt.
An estimated 720 Afghan policemen have been killed during the last six months of 2008. Most were killed in frontal attacks, Afghanistan’s interior ministry reported. Canadian soldiers killed a suicide bomber before he could attack in Kandahar province.
Police arrested two al Qaeda operatives attempting to conduct attacks during a religious festival in Karbala and detained two wanted men in Al Kut. A policeman was killed in a shooting in central Mosul. A Kurdish communist party leader was killed in Kirkuk.
Girls to marry militants, orders Taliban
Pakistan partially reopened NATO supply routes through Khyber to Afghanistan. Four terrorists were killed in US airstrikes in South Waziristan. The Taliban imposed sharia in Hangu, ordered all girls’ schools closed in North Waziristan, and murdered a tribal elder in Bajaur.
Teen trained to be suicide bomber feels tricked
Israel conducted more than 30 strikes in the Gaza Strip against Hamas targets. Hamas vowed a ‘painful response’ to yesterday’s strike that killed a senior Hamas leader. Palestinian police in the West Bank banned pro-Hamas rallies.
Ethiopian military convoys have been seen leaving Mogadishu. Two Ethiopian troops were killed in a bombing and eight people were killed in fighting in Mogadishu. Shabaab executed two Somalis in Burhakaba.
Coalition forces killed eleven Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) fighters during an operation targeting a commander in Kabul province. Coalition forces killed eight Taliban fighters and detained one during an operation designed to disrupt the foreign fighter and roadside bomb network in Zabul province.
A suicide bomber killed 23 and wounded 42 more in an attack on a tribal meeting in Yusafiyah. Two Awakening fighters were killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Hillah. Iraqi forces detained 10 al Qaeda fighters in Diyala and two insurgents near Makhmour.
Latest attack hits Taliban operating from a school in Baitullah Mehsud’s tribal areas. Four Taliban fighters reported killed in the strike.
Suspected US drone fires missiles in Pakistan
The Long War Journal’s roundup of the major developments in the primary and secondary theaters during the past year.
The government said the Khyber Pass will reopen to NATO supply convoys this weekend. Three policemen were killed in bombings in Peshawar and four civilians were killed in rocket attacks in Bajaur. The Taliban publicly executed a kidnapping gang leader in Kurram. Ten Taliban fighters were detained during fighting in Mohmand.
Hamas declares ‘day of wrath’ against Israel
US readying south Afghan surge against Taliban
Egypt MP: Hamas abandoning Gazans
Pakistan has FBI evidence of Mumbai links: India
Britain says US needs help to shut Guantanamo
An airstrike in Gaza killed Nizar Rayyan, a senior Hamas political leader, along with his wife, three children, and five other Palestinians. The IDF warned Rayyan’s family to leave the home but they would not. Ten other Palestinians were killed during airstrikes. Hamas fired 45 rockets into southern Israel.
The Ethiopian Army is preparing to withdraw its troops from Somalia in the next week. Ethiopian troops disarmed some Somali soldiers in Mogadishu. Somali troops killed a Shabelle Radio reporter in in Afgoi. The US will provide $5 million to Somali security forces.
Iraq has transitioned to full sovereignty as the status of forces agreement has taken effect. Iraqi forces detained 15 insurgent in separate raids throughout the country. Police killed three “gunmen” in Huwaiyja. Four police were killed in bombings in Mosul.
Twenty Afghan bodyguards of Musa Qala district leader Mullah Abdul Salaam were killed in a disputed incident. The spokesman for Helmand province claimed the Taliban conducted an assault at Salaam’s home, while the Afghan Army said the incident was the result of a dispute between the bodyguards. The Taliban said two of its fighters were […]
Unmanned aircraft targeted a vehicle in Karikot, the location of the last strike in 2008. All of those killed or wounded were from Turkmenistan.