Monthly Archives: March 2009

Pakistan

Baitullah Mehsud took credit for recent attacks against security forces and threatened to attack the US. Security forces arrested 50 suspects in the Lahore police academy attack. Two men who claimed to be police recruits disappeared from a hospital. The Supreme Court restored Shahbaz Sharif as Chief Minister of Punjab.



Pakistan

US proposes $2.8b military, $7.5b economic aid to Pakistan




Yemen

Yemen raises number of wanted militants to 154



Iraq

Iraq starts policing borders with unmanned planes


Philippines

Although the deadline set by Abu Sayyaf for beheading one of three Red Cross hostages has passed, the governor of Sulu province has indicated that all three hostages are still alive. The government has declared a state of emergency in Sulu province, while the Red Cross continues an emotional appeal for the release of the […]


Afghanistan

Thirty-four Taliban fighters and the mayor of Khost city were killed, and 12 Taliban fighters were captured during fighting and bomb attacks in Khost and Uruzgan provinces. A NATO spokesman said the US cannot be left to shoulder the burden in Afghanistan alone. France pledged to boost civilian aid.


Iraq

A truck bomb attack on a police station in Mosul killed seven Iraqis and wounded 38 more. An intelligence officer in the Ministry of Interior was killed in a bombing in Baqubah. Four policemen and three civilians were wounded in separate bombings in Mosul. Security forces detained 60 wanted men in Basrah and 31 more […]



MILF defends Abu Sayyaf hostages


Baitullah Mehsud takes credit for Pakistan attacks, threatens US

Pakistan’s Taliban leader threatened to strike in Washington and said the recent attacks on the Lahore police training center, a military convoy in Bannu, and a special police unit in Islamabad were in response to the US air campaign targeting Taliban leaders in Pakistan’s tribal areas.


Yemeni detainee at Gitmo to be freed

The US Justice Department has agreed to release a Yemeni detainee from Guantanamo. The detainee, Ayman Saeed Abdullah Batarfi, is a well-educated orthopedic surgeon who allegedly worked for al Qaeda and assisted the organization’s chief anthrax scientist.





Iran

Gates prefers sanctions to diplomacy for Iran


Iran

On the eve of a conference on Kabul, Iran’s deputy foreign minister rejected the role of NATO forces in the country. “The presence of foreign troops cannot bring peace and stability for Afghanistan,” Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzade said. “It encourages radicalism.”



Pakistan

A terrorist assault on a police training center in Lahore killed more than 30 recruits and officers. The South Waziristan-based Fedayeen-e-Islam said it conducted the attack. A Taliban suicide bomber killed four security personnel in Bannu. Security forces launched a new operation in Khyber.




Pakistan

Pakistan: Lahore under Siege, Hostage Crisis Engulfs the City


Afghanistan

A suicide bomber dressed as a policeman killed nine people, including five policemen, and wounded several others in an attack on a police station in Kandahar’s Andar district. Three policemen were killed in an IED attack in Paktia province.


Iraq

Insurgents killed two security personnel and wounded six more during attacks in Mosul. Three Awakening fighters were killed near Hillah. Security forces detained seven wanted men in Babil, four men behind a politician’s murder in Ninewa, and a “dangerous” wanted man in Amarah. The British have begun their withdrawal from Iraq.


Pakistan

Pakistan: Home-grown Al-Qaeda led militants ‘behind Lahore attack’


Yemen

Saudi Jihadist accuses Iran of sponsoring al Qaeda